Announcement Regarding The Becoming Series
So I have a little bit of an announcement to make, now that the ink is dry on the paperwork.
There will not be six books in The Becoming Series.
There are a variety of reasons that this is going to happen, but the primary reason is that, contrary to the outlines I drafted almost two years ago, there just isn’t enough material left to get an entire sixth book written for this series. I’d rather give you guys five great quality books than six so-so books. This isn’t, of course, the only reason I’ve made this decision, but this is the primary reason for it.
So what I’m doing is this: Book five is being retitled to The Becoming: Redemption. Instead of publishing a sixth novel, Permuted is going to reissue The Becoming: Origins, BUT Origins will have an added bonus of including two never-before-released novellas, one called “My Brother’s Keeper,” which is a story about the twins Sadie and Jude O’Dell, and a currently untitled story that tracks Remy Angellette when the outbreak reached New Orleans. Both of these stories take place before or concurrently with book one in the series. The Becoming: Origins will still include the novellas “Brothers in Arms” and “Origins.”
Hopefully all you guys are understanding about the need for these changes to take place, but I promise you that, in exchange, Redemption is going to be EPIC.
NIGHTFALL (The Agency Series #1) Now Available!
I am very, very excited to announce that my newest novel, Nightfall, is now available for purchase on Amazon!
Beyond the FBI, the CIA, and the Secret Service, there’s an organization known simply as The Agency.
And within The Agency are those who fight against the creatures of our nightmares.
As one of the best covert operatives in the United States’ employ, Ashton Miller travels the world, infiltrating the lairs of drug lords, arms dealers, and mercenaries and dispensing swift justice to those who deserve it. Until one day when he runs into another operative in the middle of his assignment. An operative who shouldn’t even be there.
Zachariah Lawrence is thrilled to meet another covert, especially one as talented as Ashton Miller. The attraction between them is undeniable, and Zachariah is elated when they’re assigned to work together on a mission to drop a document to Nathan Chambers, a notorious arms dealer who leaves a trail of dead bodies in his wake.
There’s a reason why Chambers is so dangerous. And as Ashton and Zachariah work together, they find themselves on the wrong side of supernatural creatures they never knew existed. And now, these monsters are out for their blood.
Nightfall is the first book in The Agency Series. What’s The Agency Series, you ask? Why, it’s the four-book prequel series for the upcoming novel The Unnaturals; it focuses on two of the main characters from that novel and their (very, very interesting) backstory that leads up to all of the events in that particular series. And it has been a lot of fun to write this first book, so I’m looking forward to seeing the reactions I get for it. š
If you would like to purchase Nightfall, you can view the purchase page on Amazon right here. Nightfall is available for only $0.99 in ebook format for a limited, introductory period, so if you’d like to try out a new series from me but are iffy if you’ll like anything non-zombie that I’ve written, then now is definitely a good time to grab your copy!
As an aside, I’ve been trying to get the book uploaded to Barnes & Noble for those of you who prefer to purchase books from that retailer, but there appears to be something wrong with their system or something, because it isn’t letting me upload it. In the meantime, the version I’ve uploaded for purchase on Amazon is DRM-free, which means you can use Calibre to covert it to any format you need so it can be read on any ereader of your choosing. If you’d like to go that route and need some assistance with this, please feel free to get in touch with me, and I’ll be happy to help! š
If you purchase and read the book, reviews are definitely encouraged! You can leave a review on the Amazon product page, or you can leave a review on the book’s Goodreads page.
Current Projects, October 2014
I have been horrible about getting over here and updating my site lately, but in my defense, Iāve had a lot of stuff going on in my life since July and havenāt had the time to even think about this kind of thing.
To smooth things over into the new month, Iām going to take a few moments to update you guys on my current writing projects and where everything stands as of right now.
Hereās my list of Current Projects. This should give readers some idea of whatās in the pipeline and what will (hopefully) be released someday. This also explains why Iām so erratic when it comes to posting and being active, both here and on my assorted social media sites. A busy author means a distracted author!
Things that are contracted by a publisher will be noted; otherwise, assume that it hasnāt been sold yet or a publication date hasnāt been set yet.
Note that books that have been published are no longer on the list.
The Becoming Series
The Becoming: Descent
The Becoming Series, Book 5. Zombie fiction / post-apocalyptic thriller. The direct continuation of The Becoming: Under Siege. With the loss of their new lives, Cade and her companions are forced to try to pick up the pieces and go in search of a member of the group that has gone missing.
Status: Completed, turned in to publisher. Publication date, September 2015.
The Becoming: Redemption
The Becoming Series, Book 6. Zombie fiction / post-apocalyptic thriller. This one picks up where Descent will leave off. Cade et al have the opportunity to save the world. I canāt say much more about this one until Descent is in the wild for readers to indulge in.
Status: First draft in progress.
The Becoming: My Brotherās Keeper
The Becoming Series, Book 6.5. Zombie fiction / post-apocalyptic thriller. Jude and Sadie OāDellās story.
Status: In the idea / outline sketching stages.
The Unnaturals Series
The Unnaturals
The Unnaturals Series, Book 1. Urban fantasy / covert-ops thriller. The first book in the series. Two special agents are transferred to a sector of the US government that investigates supernatural activity and get more than they bargained for.
Status: Completed, turned in to publisher. Publication date, November 2015.
Hellforged
The Unnaturals Series, Book 2. Urban fantasy / covert-ops thriller. Sequel to The Unnaturals. After the events of the first novel, Riley Walker is forced to go on the run as forces stronger than her make her destruction their goal.
Status: First draft in progress.
The Agency Series
Nightfall
The Agency Series, Book 1. Urban fantasy / covert-ops thriller. First book in a prequel series to The Unnaturals. Nightfall tells how Zachariah and Ashton met and how The Unnaturals was formed.
Status: First draft in progress.
The Deadening Series
The Deadening: Collapse
The Deadening, Part 1. Serialized Novel. Horror / historical western. In an 1868 silver mining town, the sheriff, a schoolteacher, and an outlaw team up to protect the townās citizens from a mysterious outbreak of violence.
Status: First draft in progress.
Stand Alone Novels
Small Town Dead
Standalone novel. Horror / pandemic fiction / post-apocalyptic. A small town is turned completely upside down when an Ebola outbreak begins to spread through their town and the military quarantines them.
Status: First draft in progress.
There are a ton of other books on my list of future projects, but they wonāt make an appearance on my list until I actually start on some point of the process on them.
Taking a Trip Down Memory Lane…
So I took a trip down Memory Lane recently (no, not the Memory Lane in Birmingham, AL), thanks in part to the #SoulBooks hashtag on Twitter, and it resulted in me doing a mad scramble for a whole lot of great books I havenāt read since I was a kid. In the process, I found and bought this:
I can hear you guys now: what in the world? Why is an author who writes in the horror and urban fantasy genres buying a book called The Bubble Gum Christmas, of all things? I mean, I write about zombies and demons and vampires and werewolves and all manner of evil, icky nasties, and Iām purchasing books wherein Santa Claus loses his beard due to showing off while blowing gum bubbles (as he does) and elves use (what else?) more bubble gum to stick a fake beard on because Santa isnāt Santa without a beard? What in the world sort of crack have I been smoking?
Thereās a funny little story about this book. You see, The Bubble Gum Christmas is the very first book I ever learned how to read. Like, ever. I was, I think, three or four years old and so excited that Iād figured out how to read it that I went running to my mom and read the entire book to her right then and there.
So this is why The Bubble Gum Christmas has a special place in my heart: itās the very first book I ever read by myself, and it fueled a love of reading and, eventually, a love of writing that got me where I am sitting today.
In the vein of the #SoulBooks hashtag on Twitter, what books hold a special place in your heart?
The Jessica Meigs Super-Massive Giveaway Extravaganza!
During the month of July is my birthday, and you know what that means? Itās time to celebrate!
This year, I figured we could celebrate my birthday in style with the Jessica Meigs Super-Massive Giveaway Extravaganza!
So whatās the details?
There will be a giveaway every week in the month of July!
For the first weekās giveaway, Iāll be doing a random drawing for a set of ebooks for The Becoming, The Becoming: Ground Zero, The Becoming: Revelations, The Becoming: Origins, and The Becoming: Under Siege in the format of your choice. This drawing will happen on July 9, 2014.
For the second weekās giveaway, Iāll be drawing for the lucky winner to receive audiobooks from Audible.com of The Becoming, The Becoming: Ground Zero, and The Becoming: Revelations. Unfortunately, due to the nature of Audible, only people in the United States will be eligible for this prize. This giveaway will take place on July 16, 2014.
For week three, Iām doing something a little more special: Iām sending the winner for that week autographed paperback copies of The Becoming, The Becoming: Ground Zero, The Becoming: Revelations, and The Becoming: Under Siege! This drawing will happen on July 23, 2014.
What happens with week four, you ask? Well, week four has the GRAND PRIZE DRAWING.
The Grand Prize winner for the month of July will receive the massive, action-packed, super-awesome prize package that includes:
– a $50 Amazon, iTunes, or B&N gift card (winnerās choice of retailer);
– a set of autographed paperbacks of The Becoming, The Becoming: Ground Zero, The Becoming: Revelations, and The Becoming: Under Siege;
– a set of Audible audiobooks for The Becoming, The Becoming: Ground Zero, and The Becoming: Revelations (US winners only, sadly);
– a set of ebooks for all of the Becoming Series, including The Becoming: Origins;
– and a set of the super-awesome, reasonably rare Becoming Series bookmarks.
(Note: If you win one of the smaller prizes, this does not disqualify you from winning the grand prize package; however, the prize you won during the smaller giveaway will be excluded from the grand prize pack.)
So how do you enter to have a chance to win any of these super-awesome prizes?
You have multiple ways to enter:
1. You can friend me on Facebook (assuming youāre not already a friend) and comment to THIS POST (please comment only once; wall posts for entry will be discarded);
2. You can follow me on Twitter and tweet the following: āIāve entered to win The @JessicaMeigs Super-Massive Giveaway Extravaganza! Hereās how you can win: http://bit.ly/1qS7Pon ā;
3. You can comment to this post.
Only one entry per person or Twitter handle, please.
Want to earn two extra entries into the contest? Thereās two easy ways to do that!
1. You can subscribe to my mailing list! This will earn you one extra entry into the contest;
2. You can leave an honest review on Amazon on any of my books (see THIS POST for links to the Amazon pages). If you choose to do this, please email a link to your review to my email at jessica.meigs@gmail.com
Deadline for entry is July 31st, 2014 at midnight CST.
Winners will be added to an Excel spreadsheet and selected via an internet-based randomized number selector.
Good luck to all of you, and spread the word about this contest to all your friends!
BIG ANNOUNCEMENT! The Unnaturals Series to Be Published by Permuted Press!
Ladies and gents, I am very, very, VERY excited to announce that I have signed a contract with Permuted Press for them to publish The Unnaturals Series!
Whatās The Unnaturals Series, you ask? For those of you who have been loitering around for a while and remember the long-ago days of 2012, itās my urban fantasy/covert-ops/horror series! I originally self-published a version of the first book, titled The Unnaturals, back in I think September 2012, and I sold 300-some copies before I removed it from sale in late November 2012 to do some rewrites and start the submission process to publishers. Shortly afterward, I got an agent, who loved the book and helped make it even better, and after some work, we got it placed at Permuted Press, who really truly did make the best offer out of the ones we did get.
So whatās the series about? Well, hereās the synopsis my agent and I worked up:
Riley Walker is one of the worldās best covert operatives, employed by a top-secret sector of the U.S. government known only as the Agency. Highly skilled and lethal in a fight, Riley is fiercely independent and adamant that she work alone after the mysterious death of her partner in an assignment gone wrong.
All that changes when sheās thrust onto a new assignment investigating the deaths of twenty-seven Agency operatives. Forced to work with twelve-year Agency veteran Scott Hunterāa stickler for following orders and a loner by natureāRiley doesnāt get a chance to protest before she and her new partner are passed to a sector of the Agency that they never knew existed: The Unnaturals. There, they meet Ashton Miller and Zachariah Lawrenceāone the Director of The Unnaturals, the other the groupās top field agentāand learn of the existence of creatures out of their wildest dreams: Vampires. Demons. Werewolves. And even more. And itās up to them to prevent these creatures from harming humanity and taking over the world.
But then everything goes horribly wrong when Riley and Scott are attacked by vampires and Zachariah is taken. As Riley and Scott race the clock to track down the one weapon that is capable of killing the powerful vampires, they uncover a web of lies from the unlikeliest of sources in the Agency, one that they never saw coming and arenāt sure they can survive.
And thatās just book one.
There will be six full-length novels in the series at this point, with assorted short stories and novellas inserted all up in between them. Right now, the book listing is as follows:
Book One: The Unnaturals
Book Two: Hellforged
Book Three: With Teeth
Book Four: Crucifixion
Book Five: Reaper
Book Six: Equinox Rising
I am really freakinā excited to get this series out there and in the hands of readers. Itās been stewing in my brain in some way, shape, or form since early 2012, and I think itās ready to get out!
So whoās looking forward to the new series?
Current Projects, May 2014
Hereās my list of Current Projects, updated from my last post in mid-March. This should give readers some idea of whatās in the pipeline and what will (hopefully) be released someday. This also explains why Iām so erratic when it comes to posting and being active, both here and on my assorted social media sites. A busy author means a distracted author!
Things that are contracted by a publisher will be noted; otherwise, assume that it hasnāt been sold yet or a publication date hasnāt been set yet.
Note that books that have been published are no longer on the list.
The Becoming Series
The Becoming: Descent
The Becoming Series, Book 5. Zombie fiction / post-apocalyptic thriller. The direct continuation of The Becoming: Under Siege. With the loss of their new lives, Cade and her companions are forced to try to pick up the pieces and go in search of a member of the group that has gone missing.
Status: First draft in progress.
The Becoming: Redemption
The Becoming Series, Book 6. Zombie fiction / post-apocalyptic thriller. This one picks up where Descent will leave off. Cade et al have the opportunity to save the world. I canāt say much more about this one until Descent is in the wild for readers to indulge in.
Status: Outline written, awaiting Descentās completion.
Jude and Sadieās Story (Currently Untitled)
The Becoming Series, Book 6.5. Zombie fiction / post-apocalyptic thriller. Jude and Sadie OāDellās story.
Status: In the idea / outline sketching stages.
The Unnaturals Series
The Unnaturals
The Unnaturals Series, Book 1. Urban fantasy / covert-ops thriller. The first book in the series. Two special agents are transferred to a sector of the US government that investigates supernatural activity and get more than they bargained for.
Status: Completed, status update pending.
Nightfall
The Unnaturals Series, Book 0.5. Urban fantasy / covert-ops thriller. Prequel to The Unnaturals. Nightfall is a three-part book that tells how Zachariah and Ashton met and how The Unnaturals was formed.
Status: First draft in progress.
Hellforged
The Unnaturals Series, Book 2. Urban fantasy / covert-ops thriller. Sequel to The Unnaturals. After the events of the first novel, Riley Walker is forced to go on the run as forces stronger than her make her destruction their goal.
Status: First draft in progress.
The Deadening Series
The Deadening: Collapse
The Deadening, Part 1. Serialized Novel. Horror / historical western. In an 1868 silver mining town, the sheriff, a schoolteacher, and an outlaw team up to protect the townās citizens from a mysterious outbreak of violence.
Status: First draft in progress.
Stand Alone Novels
Small Town Dead
Standalone novel. Horror / zombie fiction / post-apocalyptic. Side novel in The Becoming Series. An EMT travels from Tuscaloosa, Alabama, to her hometown in the midst of a zombie outbreak in a desperate attempt to reunite with her family.
Status: Outlining / planning stages.
Short Story Projects
āRevenantā
The Unnaturals Series. Short story. Urban fantasy / covert-ops thriller. Riley and Scott are tasked with finding a way to rid a familyās residence of a particularly vicious poltergeist.
Status: outlined, pending writing this fall for a Creative Writing project.
There are a ton of other books on my list of future projects, but they wonāt make an appearance on my list until I actually start on some point of the process on them.
THE BECOMING: UNDER SIEGE Now Available!
Yes, you read that right, folks! The Becoming: Under Siege, book four in The Becoming Series, is now available for purchase from major e-Retailers!
It has been almost two years since the Michaluk Virus outbreak began, and Remy Angellette has helped her friends establish Woodside, a walled-in community of survivors in South Carolina. But underneath the veneer of simplicity of their day-to-day lives, not all is as it seems. Dr. Derek Rivers, a former CDC scientist who was involved in the virusās testing, has come close to a cure for the virus, and heās used it to cure Ethan Bennettāwho promptly begins to show strange side-effects from the cure. Despite her pleas, Derek delays giving the cure to Remy, who has found herself beginning to dance a fine line between sanity and madness as the virus continues its relentless attack on her brain.
When Dominic Jackson smuggles Remy out of the community on a supply run and brings back a set of twins that theyāve rescued, hundreds upon hundreds of infected follow them back to Woodside. Within hours, the community is besieged by the infected, who attack the main gates and slowly begin to surround the community. Desperate to get the cure and all the information about it out of Woodside before the infected get in, two members of the community pack the doctorās samples and notes and slip out of Woodside to search for a still-operational CDC facilityābut not before Remy steals a dose of the cure and injects herself with it.
As the communityās gates collapse under the assault from the other side, one of the communityās members manages to get in touch with the military, begging them for assistance before they all end up dead. But will they be able to survive until the military shows up to help themāor will they end up dead at the hands of the infected after nearly two years of survival?
Want to purchase The Becoming: Under Siege?
You can CLICK HERE to purchase a copy of The Becoming: Under Siege from Amazon…
…and you can click RIGHT HERE to buy a Nookbook copy from Barnes & Noble!
The ebook is also available DRM-free from Smashwords if that’s your preference. š
Other retailers, such as Kobo and iTunes, will be available soon!
THE BECOMING: ORIGINS on Sale for $2.99!
In celebration of the release of The Becoming: Under Siege, I’ve marked down the price of The Becoming: Origins from $4.99 to $2.99 for the entire month of April! So be sure to grab your copy at the lower price while you can!
In January 2009, the Michaluk Virus escaped from the Centers for Disease Control and decimated Atlanta, Georgia. It spread to the major city centers of the southeast, wrecking havoc in Memphis, Birmingham, Mobile, Jackson, Biloxi, and New Orleans.
This is the story of how it began.
In THE BECOMING: ORIGINS, Brandt Evansās life is spiraling out of control. Depressed at the way his life is heading and desperate to help his sister pay for school, he accepts an offer from Dr. Derek Rivers that will result in either a large paydayā¦or his death.
Instead, what results is the beginning of the end of the world.
In THE BECOMING: BROTHERS IN ARMS, Theo and Gray Carter find themselves surrounded by chaos, death, and misery on all sides. As their worlds collapse around them, both are forced to do the unimaginable to not only ensure their survival but to protect each other from the cannibalistic infected that cross their paths.
Weaponless and alone, the two brothers quickly learn that the only thing they can count on is each other.
**This edition of stories from The Becoming universe features a revised and rewritten edition of THE BECOMING: BROTHERS IN ARMS, previously released in March 2012.
You can pick up your discounted copy of The Becoming: Origins from Amazon by clicking here.
And you can grab your copy from Barnes & Noble by clicking on this link.
Hanging My Proofreading Services Shingle
Hi, all!
I used to offer some editing services, but I’ve recently scaled it back to proofreading services. I thought I’d post a notice to all indie authors and publishers that I’m now offering proofreading services for their manuscripts at a very low rate of $2.00 per 1,000 words. You can find more information about the service and how it works by clicking here.
