Yeah, this is exactly what the title says. Spoiler: the author is me.
I’ve been in a bit of funk this week. I organise myself on a quarterly basis, and I’ve realised that, although I’ve done a lot of stuff over the last three months, writing was not one of them. There was plotting and planning and trying to write. Actual words? Not so much.
Not writing makes me miserable. Beating myself up about not writing, weirdly, doesn’t improve this. So I decided to focus on having a fun time with niece, nephew and puppy (more about him later). In fact, we had a really awesome sleepover this week, that went amazingly. So amazing in fact that I totally forgot everything else. The next day when an email from a friend alerted me to the fact that The Last God had launched.
Whoops!
Having realised this massive oversight on my behalf, I knew immediate action was required, so I promptly—buried myself in a computer game. This felt like the latest diaster in a series of really chaotic years and my bruised ego couldn’t handle it. While not the worst thing that could happen, I’d been looking forward to the launch and had a lot of things planned—none of which got done. Worst of all, this was entirely on me.
I might still be wallowing now, in fact, but I watched a video by Sarra Cannon on YouTube, and something she said, “progress, not perfection,” jumped out at me. Sarra says this a lot—it is practically her mantra. I agree with the sentiment, and it is back of mind as I go about my daily life. But I really needed to hear that today.
I also realised that I have the inspiration to get on with things right in front of me. Kel, one of the Last God’s two main characters, has had the absolute worst deal out of life. He’s gone from pampered prince with a handsome boyfriend he is stupidly in love with (and who loves him), to a nobody digging graves on behalf of a god who hasn’t even come into existence yet. Kel wallows, sure—but then he gets up and digs the next grave, because if he doesn’t, there’s the chance of zombies, but also because digging graves makes his world better for the other people in it, and sending the dead on their way is, even if not what he wanted out of life, a worthwhile thing to do.
This reflection gave me another lightbulb moment: one of the reasons I got into this miserable, chaotic, forgetting my own book launch state, was the lack of writing. When I am making words, I am in my happy place. I feel good for hours afterwards. My family say I smile more, I am more fun to be around and I take disasters in stride. So, even though I have a few more urgent things to do today, as soon as I’ve shared my not-quite-new release on social media, I will be cracking open my work-in-progress and making some long overdue words. Before that, however…
The Last God.
Kel, a former prince turned gravedigger, serves the Unknown God. Bitter about the gods’ neglect of their people, Kel’s limited patience with the divine is tested when his former lover, now a famous general, shows up in the tiny town of Farport. Done with being the gods’ plaything, Kel quits the priesthood—only to discover that the unknown god has plans for him and his ex.
Iscar’s shocked to discover that the prince who was too good for a lowly soldier now follows the god of outcasts. He’s even more shocked when the unknown god declares himself to be War and claims Kel as his high-priest. Having experienced all war’s horrors, Iscar is determined to free Kel from the god, escorting him to Celestial City in an attempt to win Kel away.
Kel fights his attraction to Iscar and struggles with his duty to his god. Iscar’s belief that the gods are just, and reward those who are deserving, is challenged by their journey. His allegiance is no longer to the gods, but to his love. But Kel, consumed by doubt, cannot see what a man—or a god—would want in him.
The Last God went out on Tuesday. People who preordered it directly from Ninestar got it early, but for everyone else, it is now available directly from your retailer of choice: Amazon, Apple, Barnes and Noble, Kobo, Smashwords, etc. Hope you enjoy it and don’t forget to do something for your soul today!