October Happenings

Hello Lovely Readers, 

And Happy October❣🧡 We were fighting some nasty colds recently so I missed our intended post(s) and snippet(s). Last month was also birthday parties and back-to-school...and I can't believe I'm even typing this, but our little one just started preschool! Like, wha...?? Where did the time go! It just seems to be moving faster and faster, I swear lol. 

Right now, I'm working on Dawn as much as possible, as well as trying to get Worlds ready for recording🤞 Updates to come as soon as I have them. But as usual, any and all excerpts (plus other extras) are available in full on the Patreon Page😊 https://www.patreon.com/JMLink. 

I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend. Enjoy☕🍂🍁🎃

Askara #4 Before the Dawn (Roz & Xaphan's story) sneak peek cont'd...

Wells closed his eyes for a moment, clearly struggling with telling the big Askari no. Well, that was his problem, Roz thought. They might work for the same people, but there were lines, and for her this was one of them. If he chose to report her, it’d be a first too. Her record was immaculate; she pursed her lips.

     She also knew most of the other spec ops were just as uncomfortable with the idea of having to exchange blood with their newfound allies as she was, but true to their character, they'd put duty first. That’s what she was trying to do. Until the ambassador blindsided her with a whole different kind of Askari, as her gaze flicked over him once more where he stood behind Wells. He was bigger than the others. The wicked claws at the end of each of his long, thick fingers seemed bigger too. Oh, she had an answer alright...

“I suppose I'll have to find Representative Aderus,” Wells said. “Maybe he can help solve this situation.”

    “Understood,” Roz replied with relief. It was a relief that was short-lived as the dread-lock things atop Xaphan’s head suddenly lifted. There was a deep throated hiss and then he made to lunge at her. Roz jerked, her entire body going immediately on the defensive as instinct and years of training prepared her for the hit she knew was coming... Until it didn’t.

     Roz tore her gaze away from his deadly claws. It was a fake, she realized when he growled softly, watching her with bright yellow eyes. Was he serious right now?? Her thoughts flew. You mother— “Am I dismissed, sir?” Roz breathed through her nose.

     “Wha—yes!” Wells had stepped to the side, his eyes still wide. “Yes, dismissed. Thank you, Captain.”

     Roz gave the big Askari a lasting glare and spun to leave. So, she’d been right. He did want to fight her, she thought, her heart still slamming in her chest. She shook her head as she stalked down the hallway...

There was only one thing that helped calm her down when she got this riled, Roz thought as she drew up short. Hopefully Sanchez answered his comm...and on that note, she headed for the training room.


Before the Dawn, by J.M. Link
Copyright 2024, J.M. Link
All rights reserved
*unedited & subject to change*

We're Back!

Hello Lovely Readers,

Oh, gosh. I'm sorry I haven't posted here in so long! I've been working hard to get back on track as far as a posting schedule, though. And for the sake of brevity, this one will still be short, as my days are usually planned down to the minute now to allow for writing time #toddlerlife

But how have you all been?? Well, I hope😊💕 I've definitely missed this blog, and I'm delighted to finally be able to share an excerpt from our current WIP, Askara Book 4, Before the Dawn, Roz & Xaphan's story. So exciting!!

I've also been working on a little side project; more to come soon. Right now I'm off to work on Dawn. Hehe, happy reading...

Chapter One

No fucking way.

Captain Rosalind Carter thought, as she eyed the nasty-looking massive Askari with the scar lurking behind Ambassador Wells. She remembered him well from the team’s initial meeting with the alien species on the bridge of the Amendment. The top of her head came to right beneath his chiseled chin: which was saying something, because she wasn’t a small woman. Didn’t matter. The bigger they were, the harder they fell, in her experience. Though she had yet to spar with one of the demonic-looking beings, and had already been briefed on how much stronger, heavier and faster they were than humans. But shit, his looks weren’t even what made her recoil. This was the one whose creepy yellow eyes had followed her around nonstop the entire time on the bridge during the team’s first “meet and greet”; as soon as he’d spotted her, in fact, Roz remembered, and he had snapped his sharp shark teeth in her general direction too. Either he didn’t care for her—which, fine by her, the feeling was mutual—or he’d been trying to size her up.

She figured it was to fight, since they were a warrior species, as she understood it, and the team had been warned to watch their body language and power poses so as not to seem threatening...

“No, thank you. Mm-mm,” was all she said. Short, sweet and to the point. That was usually how she came across…unless she was looking to spar, then she loved to talk shit.

Wells cleared his throat. The middle-aged man seemed like your typical politician, but she was getting the sense he was more formidable than he appeared...

“Captain Carter, was it?? In case I wasn’t clear, Representative Krim and Jinn have already volunteered to help all your teammates fully bond with their havats,” he said, glancing at the huge Askari. “You’re the only one that Representative Xaphan volunteered to help specifically, and as none of the other Askari appear comfortable performing such an intimate act…”

The male clicked, a sound of impatience if she ever heard one, and Roz denied the shiver that ran down her spine. She held her ground. “And I don’t blame them, but I can approach someone else myself if I have to. You have my answer, sir.”

He wasn’t technically her superior, but she addressed him as such anyway out of respect. And how the hell had she gotten herself into this situation anyway? Roz clenched her teeth in frustration. Call it intuition, but this was why she’d tried to tag their doctor, or healer, or whoever Jadar was as soon as they’d figured out that the team needed Askari blood to complete the “bonding” of their black alien body suits, because she didn’t want to have to deal with this one.

Xaphan.

  

***

Xaphan watched the large, delicately muscled female—delicate, compared to his kind—retreat swiftly down the passageway away from him. He could sense the ambassador still cowered beside him, and acknowledged that lunging at her in the diplomat’s presence probably wasn’t the best decision. He regretted nothing, however, as he continued to stare at her retreating form with a soft growl.

The sight piqued something inside of him, and Xaphan tilted his head, going still while he tried to place it.

The feeling was new, and fierce, and it took him by surprise…

Struggle as he might, but he could not remember a time he had ever given chase to a female before. To be true, since it was always they that found him, there’d been little need for him to go hunting in lust as other males often did for the chance to secure a breeding. But she, this Earther…she seemed to be giving him that opportunity, it occurred to him as his nostrils flared—whether she knew it or not. And Xaphan could not be more pleased.

Finally! Something to slake his lusts in this desolate system while they prepared for an attack he still mostly believed would not happen. Which was, he deemed, a whole other matter. All the same… He thought. Yess, all the same. This would do nicely. Then he snikted and lifted his chin to catch her lingering scent in the air.

Xaphan knew she would be much easier to track with a healthy havat, having sensed before there was something very wrong with the Earthers’ new bonds. Fortunately for him, he’d imprinted her scent the first time he saw her.

“Uhm, are you alright Representative Xaphan?” The ambassador made a small noise next to him. “I can have someone find Representatives Jadar, or Aderus, right away if you’re not feeling well.”

“No need,” he growled. Xaphan leveled the male with a stare, watching him cower again before he made to escape the annoying diplomat. “We are done here,” he grunted with single-minded intent.

Xaphan intended to track her. He was going to track Captain Carter...

In truth, he had attempted to do so more than once since spotting her, but the others kept him busy: Braxas, or Aderus, or Jadar. Their plans of warring with the humans for Askara came first, this he knew. Still. That did not mean he could not enjoy the prospect of catching her alone, he thought with a rolling click. Especially now, with what Jadar and the slight female with wild tresses had discovered: that their fighters needed Askari blood to complete the bonding of their havats... and Xaphan knew as soon as he’d heard it, that he wanted to be the one to give to her, Carter, as he continued tracking her through the passageways.

She was harder to impress than he figured. Especially when he’d never had issue impressing his own kind before. But humans were difficult, he snorted. One never knew what contorted reasonings were behind what they did, as they were all unfortunately coming to understand. It was no matter. He just needed to find her alone, Xaphan plotted. Because he had absolutely no intention of standing in the shadows while she asked other males for their blood. He would be the one to give to her, or none at all... He was unsure where she had been thinking to go, however…until he stopped again, clicking slowly.

His tresses lifted, and he turned his head toward the access to what the humans called their training room. It was a large space where they fought for sport, or as practice for warring, and if her scent didn’t tell him for certain, then another pulse from his havat plainly did.

Xaphan had found her.

Before the Dawn, by J.M. Link

Copyright 2024, J.M. Link

All rights reserved

*Full Prologue & Chapter One available @* https://www.patreon.com/posts/askara-series-4-103312576

Patreon Launch

I am so pleased to announce that the Patreon Page is now LIVE❣ everybody!

For all of you that have been asking and messaging, I've really just been in awe💞 I swear, I have THE best group of readers ever. You guys are awesome😊

Below you'll see I pasted the About section from the site, as well as the Membership information. Our first excerpt is from Collide's new extended edition, which is at 72,000 words and counting, but I'd really love for our next excerpt to be from Roz and Xaphan's book--which still doesn't have a title yet, it'll come to me. You might also notice a couple of new book covers in the collage above...but before anyone goes rushing off to Kindle to see if they're available (cringe), MidAutumn and Moloch are actually never-before-seen covers for current WIPs. In a way, I guess you could consider this their cover reveal. I wanted to include them on the Page, however, as a reminder of its purpose which is to bring these stories to life. That is exactly what your monthly subscription will be helping to do, and as I've stated before, I cannot thank you enough🙏

The first 25 subscribers will also receive an Askara bookmark and pen set as part of our 1st giveaway--I will post a pic soon. Right now, though, I'm off to the writing cave to see if I can't add some word count before this mommy has to pick up her little one. 

I hope everyone is having a wonderful day!

Hugs,

💖JM

                                                                        

 About JM Link

Hi there, and welcome to my Patreon Page :)

If you're here, I'm assuming you want more. That's exactly what I want too! And it's why I'm asking for your help. Because the truth is, I need more time to get all of the wonderful stories inside my head out and onto paper for you all to enjoy. More freedom to juggle the demands of a high-stress day job with the very serious responsibility of being the best mommy I can be to the cutest toddler. And last, but certainly not least, I need the financial figures to be able to continue to do what I love, and what many of you are hopefully here to help support (for which, I cannot thank you enough <3). So, if you're wondering just how you can get those steamy characters' stories you've been dying to read that much faster, and you are truly in a position to afford a few extra bucks a month, then please consider subscribing.

How will my Patreon subscription help, and what do I get out of it??

So, typically, creators will offer several tiers at varying price points that come with increasing perks. But for the sake of making it easy and affordable, I've kept it at just 1 tier of $5; at least until we can get enough Patrons to free up more of my time so that I can, in turn, offer more ;) Like art, swag and even character letters: All things I'd love to be able to do as the Page grows. For now, however, the idea is that I be using any/all time afforded by your contributions to decrease the hours I must work at my day job so that I can write more--as much as possible!

Along those lines, this Page was created with the following goals in mind:

• $1000 per month will pay for our childcare <3

• $2000 per month--I'll be able to drop my day job hours back down to part-time (just 1 or 2 days a week). Woohoo!!

• $3000 per month----I'll be able to work per diem (just a few days a month). Even more time to write and I'll also be able to start paying down my massive student loan debt, as well as afford an expanded editing team. If by some miracle we are able to hit this goal...I will probably cry. No joke.

That's great, but what exactly will my $5 per month subscription get me? I need details

Each month I will post a minimum of at least one Patreon-exclusive WIP excerpt, along with one other additional perk, including, but not limited to: Day in the life video shorts, Q&A sessions, new audio release giveaways (first come, first served), new e-book release giveaways, limited numbers of signed print giveaways, and swag giveaways *when available (pens, bookmarks etc). While I may have offered these things in the past via social media or through my Mailing List, they will now be entirely exclusive to Patreon.

A lot of this stuff other authors offer for free on their social media sites or Mailing Lists. What gives?

Oh, how I wish I were one of those authors that could do it all! Lol But we all work at our own pace. My creative process has always been on the slower side, unfortunately, and time is money. There is a very nice post on my blog with all the details of our current situation if you care to read more (https://jmlinkblog.blogspot.com/2023/02/whats-new-2023.html), but basically, my time is so much more limited now that without the potential contributions from this Page--which other authors may not need to do due to varying circumstances--I will have to take a very significant hiatus from writing simply because we can no longer afford it. As authors, we are not paid to write, but to publish, after all, and as is more or less known in the indie community, it takes around 20-25 published books for most of us to sustain ourselves comfortably on writing alone. I'm not even close to that number, ha.

But I could be, with your help ;) So let's do this! 

With love,

JM

Membership

The Book Club 

$5 / month

Your subscription is so appreciated. Each month I will post a minimum of at least one unedited, Patreon-exclusive WIP excerpt/chapter, along with one other additional perk, including, but not limited to:

• New audio release giveaways (first come, first served)

• New e-book release giveaways

• Limited numbers of signed print giveaways

• Swag giveaways *when available (pens, bookmarks etc)

• Day In The Life video shorts

• Q&A sessions

• 
  
• Exclusive content
• Private community
• Early access
• Work-in-progress updates (digital)
• Complete post archive
• Exclusive voting power
• Live Q&As
• Digital e-book or publication

Still interested in subscribing? You can do so here 😊

What's New, 2023

Hello My Lovely Readers💕

So, this post is later than promised because it turned into something completely different than what I had planned. It's a doozy too, so I apologize in advance.

First off, let me say, I rarely like to post anything too personal or negative, simply because many of you tune in here looking to get lost in the worlds we authors create. You don't want to hear about our personal struggles or financial woes (or at least I assume you don't). I've also always tried to take a positive approach in life, put things into perspective, insofar as we all have problems and most people in the world are far worse off. But after much agonizing back n forth, I decided to take a few minutes here to get a little real with ya'll... 

I'll start with the news in a nutshell, and that is that I have decided to start a Patreon Page.

For those of you unfamiliar, Patreon is kind of how it sounds: a platform that's been around for a while where you can pay a small monthly contribution (as a patron) to your favorite artists/writers to help support them in their craft. In return, you get special access and rewards. Why am I doing this?? Well, moment of truth: it is becoming abundantly clear to me that unless I can find a way to bring in a bit more money every month, I will be forced to take a significant hiatus from writing to go back to my day job near full time in order to help support my family. That was actually what I was doing this past year and a half after we barely managed 3 months of maternity leave by deferring my mortgage-sized student loan payments. In that time, I rarely had the time or energy to write, especially while pumping. When my health then began to deteriorate again, however--the whole reason I've worked part time these past few years while attempting to write, but that's another story for another time--I was forced to drop my hours back down and we made the very difficult decision to cash out my 401K to help us get by. 

As I know all you working parents out there can relate, most of our money now goes to pay for daycare, which is basically a second mortgage, and our student loans, which are more than our mortgage. Side note: Even with recent loan forgiveness, my debts do not qualify because they are private consolidated, not federal--something we were all encouraged to do years ago when the federal rates on some loans were as high as 12%, but I digress. I also had to have a very honest and difficult conversation with myself. What would I be getting paid per hour if I divided the time I currently spend on all things writing-related (blogging, social media posts, promo, designing, and oh yeah, writing haha) by the amount I actually take home per year from writing? Let's just say, it was less than half of minimum wage😶

All that said, I realize these are struggles that EVERY family faces. We're not special. In fact, I consider us very privileged even to have a house. Or to afford daycare. Or to take a maternity leave. Or to have a 401K to cash out in the first place. Which is why I was so torn about this post. It's also why I'll be setting my Patreon tier(s) as affordable as possible and asking that only those that can truly afford to give consider a subscription.

I just want to mention too, that we do not live lavishly. We bought our modest little house (that needs far too much work) from my mom a few years ago and I can't even remember the last time we went on a real vacation. Our cars are used and paid for. But I'm not posting this expecting pity, or handouts, or anything of the sort. Rather, I'm just trying to help everyone understand why I will be moving more of my activity onto this platform. Really, just in the hopes that I can get paid in some form for that time and it will also be helping me to work a little less, afford an expanded editing team and pay off our well over 6-digit student loan debt so that I can do what I truly love to do, and that is write!

Case in point, as I type this, it is 2am and I've been working on this post for almost 3 hours lol. I'm far more limited in my time now, as you may have guessed. Whereas before I would think nothing of pulling a 12hr writing day and forego sleep and a meal to pour my heart onto pages, now I am limited to about 6 hours per day Monday through Friday on non-day job days because baby and family come first. And that is only if little man is healthy and happy and there are no other "life things" on my plate. Hubbs and I have also been trying very hard to prioritize our health--exercise, cooking, downtime, sleep. Which I totally empathize can feel like insurmountable tasks in today's demanding world💗

At any rate, I think I've said my piece. Now I just want to thank you all so much, from the bottom of my heart, for reading this and for all your support, buying and loving my books. More than that, you are A-mazing and I love every last one of you💞

I'll share more as soon as I'm able to get the Page up and running. Facebook and this blog will remain active and I'll post when I can, but as mentioned, all things excerpts, sample chapters, Q&As, giveaways, signed prints, character art, swag etc *when available* will be moved to the Patreon Page and newsletters will only be sent when we have a release or promo.

For now, though, I will stop chatting your ear off and let you get back to whatever you were doing before this blogpost took up so much of your time ;)

Hugs Times Infinity,

JM💖

Post-Baby Update

Hi, Everybody 👋

Wow, I apologize! I really didn't mean for a whole 9 months to go by without an update! Especially since I realized the other day it probably would have been nice to let everyone know that all is okay--baby is wonderful, I'm fully recovered (though chronically sleep-deprived) and hubbs is great too. 

Our son was born Sept 23rd: A healthy, beautiful boy 😊💖 Ugh, I just want to eat his cheeks lol. He's been pulling himself up and taking first steps; I think we're in for it now. It's just so amazing being a first-time Mommy...but man, I won't lie and say it's bliss haha. As all you parents out there know, caring for a baby is HARD work. My recovery was pretty rough, I couldn't walk for the first week so it took me a little while to get back on my feet (literally). I'm also still breastfeeding/pumping, which takes a lot of my time and energy. Side note: I am hungry all of the time, you guys lol. Like I just want ALL the food to the point that eating has become a full-time job. Not that I'm complaining. I love to eat. Yum.

In other news, we were finally able to tackle finding a nice daycare for little man so I think some normalcy is back in sight as far as a writing schedule. But I just wanted to post a quick update to let you all know not to worry. We're doing great, and thank you so much for all the lovely comments/messages 🙏 You guys are the best 💓

I did just finish training at a new day job with better schedule and hours--life is good *grin*--so you can bet I'm seriously itching to get banging on the keyboard again. I'll post another update soon!

Hugs,

💞JM

Yay, Spring!

Hi guys,

If you're wondering why those progress bars haven't budged yet, full disclosure, I am still running quite a bit behind. But I swear, I do have a good reason lol. So, remember that life-altering news I mentioned on the FB Page back in Feb?? Well...we're pregnant!! 😁💞 TOTAL surprise. Even though, yes, I do "know how things work" 😂

As you can imagine it's been a little crazy here trying to prepare. A lot of half-finished DIY projects that we've been scrambling to complete, including getting a small army in to finish painting the whole interior of our house. We basically had to pack up every room, clean out our entire basement and live out of suitcases for almost 2 weeks last month but I am so glad and grateful that it's done! The office/writing cave has been converted into a nursery, but that's just fine by me because I really don't mind writing with my feet up on the guest bed (though nap attacks are a little dangerous). 

I've already laid out a writing schedule for this month, so barring anything unforeseen, I should be able to stick to it. Especially now since I started the second trimester and things have been smoooth sailing--no more nausea and/or 12-hour sleep days, ugh, thank you very much. But we are super psyched for this babe-to-be and can't wait to be parents💓 Bonus: I'll definitely have the life experience to draw from now to write into my books 😏 haha

In the meantime, hang in there🙏 Those books are coming!

Hugs💕

JM

February Update

Happy 2021, everybody!

I know, I kind of fell off the blogging wagon completely last month but I am officially back in the writing cave, working on several things atm because I find it helps keep things flowing😉 But first, I wanted to share some amazing new character art of Tori & Aderus by The Great Sam Muraski. What do you think?! 😍 I love it so much💞

In writing news, Fae Veil Series book2 (Lizzie's story) is officially started. And then I plan to begin Roz & Xaphan's story (Askara book4) shortly. I'll tell you that I'm really hoping to increase my usual novel length this year. It's one of the last big things on my list of goals as a newer writer, because length has always been a struggle for me--probably because I'm slower than dirt lol. But I'm really excited to give these stories more girth, more for you all to fall in love with. That said, there will likely be extended editions for Collide and/or Worlds in the near future, which I'll keep you abreast of as soon as they're available. 

But for now it's busy, busy getting our next books written. *knuckles cracking* I'm off to get to it!

Hope you're all staying healthy,  

💖JM