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Guns & Smoke: BOOK TRAILER!


In a world where safety is a luxury and honor is found only among outlaws, two people attempt to outrun dangers lurking around each corner and the tragedies that define them.

Bonnie is an outlaw on the run. Beautiful but dangerous; her dark past stalks her like the crater beasts that roam the desert. As the notoriously cruel outlaw Jones sends his henchmen to track her down and retrieve the gun she stole from him, Bonnie hopes she can stay one step ahead. Because if he catches her, a fate worse than death awaits.

Jesse always dreamed of leaving the farm to explore the ruins of the big cities he’d heard about his whole life. He just never imagined he’d be forced to flee after strange men burned down his rural mountain town and murdered everyone he loved. Responsible for his kid brother and searching for an uncle he’s never met before, he isn’t sure he can navigate the perils of life among con artists and thieves long enough to find him.

Their two paths collide as they find themselves thrown together on the adventure of a lifetime.

Together, they may just discover that life is about more than just surviving.

Guns & Smoke releases in paperback and e-book platform wide on July 10, 2021! You can preorder by clicking here!

Thanks for reading, Abbie

 
 

Guns & Smoke: Meet the Cast!

Twenty years ago, the world went to shit. Government representatives were assassinated. Bombs dropped around the entire country. Millions died. Lawless chaos rose up. Those who remained in cities fell victim to gangs of madmen who seized control of the world, from trading to the agriculture industry to human trafficking for slave labor. Life became about surviving, and the American Dream evaporated. They called it the Culling.

Guns & Smoke is a story of the ones who were left behind.

Bonnie

Bonnie is an outlaw on the run from her dark past. A fate worse than death chases her when she spots a handsome blue-eyed stranger on the streets of Vegas.

Jesse James

Jesse James knew only life on the farm in the sparse north. One night, flames destroy his world and he’s forced to flee with only the clothes on his back and his little brother, Harry. The last thing he expects when they come to Vegas is to be robbed by a beautiful stranger with hate (and desire) in her eyes.

Harry “The Kid” James

Don’t call him Harry. He goes by the “Kid” and he’ll set you straight. The Kid has seen more than he should at 10-years-old, but he’s the glue that keeps Bonnie and Jesse from murdering one another.

Will Ellis

Will Ellis knows exactly who he is, and he’s not ashamed to show himself. He grew up in tent city with Bonnie. His father is a murdering psychopath.

Sixgun Ellis

Sixgun Ellis is a certified psychopath, with a gun.


 
 

Why You Gotta Be So Rude?

As spring comes upon us, that time has returned: what’s been up?

First and foremost, in February, Lauren and I revealed the cover for our upcoming novel, Guns & Smoke!




It was SUCH a joy to see everyone’s excitement for the cover reveal! We officially started our pre-order promotions. If you’re interested in finding out more, head over to my Guns & Smoke page for more information! We hope to have the paperback available for preorder soon. 🙂

Guns & Smoke was out for copyedits during the month of February. Being as this is my first time working with an editor, I was slightly nervous. I didn’t know what to expect. Guns & Smoke has seen many iterations and been edited and drafted what feels like a hundred times by this point. When the edits arrived, I was almost afraid to look. But, then… it was mostly clean up! The majority of our editor’s notes were punctuation (which I’ve learned I’m terrible at), word repetitions, and suggestions on how to make sentences more succinct.

At the same time, our novel was out to beta readers. This was the first time we’d put the project in front of readers since changing the genre from YA to Adult, and straight dystopian, to dystopian-western-romance. I usually don’t get nervous when it comes to a small group of people reading my books. I didn’t really this time. It’s only as we get further into the process that my fears and imposter syndrome start creeping up on me. Anyway, the point to this is to talk about our wonderful beta readers and the feedback that they gave to us. While it wasn’t all good, I really felt like the suggestions that we were given made a lot of sense.

We had a marathon work day recently where we finished up copyedits and did rewrites. As always, those days are physically and mentally exhausting, but they are also a ton of fun. The only problem is sometimes we get off task. What do you expect though? We have fun together!

Now, let’s take a list at my to do list from last month, and I’ll let you know how I did.

  1. Finish A Shield of Stars Rewrites

  2. Read The Anatomy of Prose: 12 Steps to Sensational Sentences (DONE) and 13 Steps to Evil: How to Craft Superbad Villians by Sacha Black

  3. Film videos for Lauren’s Authortube Channel

  4. Get marketing emails for indie bookstores sent

  5. Clean up edit of A Shield of Stars

  6. Film TikTok content

  7. Read A Court of Silver Flames by Sarah J Maas

  8. Read A Vow So Bold & Deadly by Brigid Kemmerer

  9. Read Lore by Alexandra Bracken

  10. Social Media/Blog Prep for Guns & Smoke marketing

While I didn’t finish everything on my list, I did accomplish a lot. A Shield of Stars has been a bit of a thorn in my side because it seems once I find my stride, I hit another roadblock. A lot of it has been because I’m really struggling with my health and mental health lately. That’s part of why I titled this post “Why You Gotta Be So Rude?” Because my brain tries to trick me, and it’s really, really rude.

The biggest thing I’m trying to do right now is remind myself that I’m not some super human that can do everything, and to give myself a little grace. I’m also trying to sort out therapy right now, because my therapist had to take a professional break. I need to get myself back into it so I can be sure I’m taking care of me come time for the launch of Guns & Smoke!

I’ve taken on the task of proofreading Guns & Smoke. I just finished my first pass via a printed copy, and now I have to upload everything into the final draft so we can make those changes. She’s thicc yall.

So what does the next month hold?

I’m so glad you asked! (Just…go with it, eh? :))

  1. Create a realistic timeline for A Shield of Stars to have queries ready to go by the end of the year.

  2. Start my rewrites/developmental edits for A Shield of Stars

  3. Genre research reading (I have several books in the docket, so I won’t list them)

  4. Film a bunch of promo videos and create a coherent schedule of promo graphics

  5. Finish proofreading Guns & Smoke

  6. Create a coherent plan for partnership w/indie bookstore

  7. Schedule book tour(s) for G&S launch

  8. Build ARC team for G&S

  9. More marketing work for G&S

  10. Get back in the gym!

  11. Remember to take a breath!

  12. Writer’s Retreat Weekend!

I am especially excited for the last item on that list! Guns & Smoke is only the first book in a series (and sequel series, prequels, various novellas, it goes on and on and on), and we already have a base outline for the sequel novel! While we aren’t sure exactly when we plan to publish it, I’m hopeful it’ll be sometime next year.

That being said, Lauren and I booked an AirBnB in the middle of nowhere about an hour or so away from home where we can lock ourselves up for three and a half days and try to pump out as much of a draft as we can. It’s going to be a lot of fun!

Thanks for coming along on this crazy ride, my friends. It’s a pleasure.

Always, Abbie

 
 
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