Cecily Magnon Day 3

Welcome Cecily Magnon.

Hi Julie!

Thank you so much for giving me a chance to post a little something for your blog.  This is great and I really appreciate the opportunity.

I'm a new author, having just published my first book in May of 2014. I really can't believe, it's been less than one year and I'm now working on the fourth book for the Order of the Anakim series.  These past few months have been both exciting and frightening.  Self-publishing is crazy! It's one of those things that seem so innocent, but once you drink the Kool-aid, it slaps you in the face and makes you grow like a weed on crack!

Like most writers, I put a piece of my soul in everything that I write.  The characters and the stories are so much a part of my life that it sometimes feels like I'm living in two worlds at once.  But, it's also because of that personal connection and that personal investment that can make writing for the public such a frightening experience.  As a writer, I can't help, but have those moments of doubt and fear.  It becomes a roller-coaster ride with the highest highs and the lowest lows.

I can't even count how many times, I've told myself to quit, but there's something about the art and my love for words that keep me going and I just get my butt back in the chair and start typing again. I'm hoping there a divine reason for my stubbornness and it's not just because I'm a glutton for punishment. LOL!

So, let me tell you a little bit about the Order of the Anakim series.  The Guardians of The Order are tall, hot men, who can kick ass, and melt hearts. They're endowed with elemental powers that they use to protect against the growing forces of the demon hordes. When I first started writing this series, I really wanted to use angels for my heroes, but at the same time, I didn't want actual angels because I couldn't think of them as "sexual" beings. I wanted my heroes to have all the human qualities that would make them vulnerable, but they also needed to be strong and enduring.  I thought that I could have more flexibility, if I used a superhuman type.  That's where the angelic descendant idea came from.

The series starts with Gathering Storm and Elysa Amalfi.  Elysa is our entry into the world of the Anakim and how she finds out that she is descended from angels.  She learns that despite her sheltered life, she has a much greater destiny awaiting her. In the first book, Elysa comes face to face with that destiny and the hidden world that was kept from her.

The series continues with Dark Skies.  In the second installment, Elysa is well ingrained within The Order, but the demon hordes are growing in strength.  They're up to no-good and they are just screwing with The Order.The second book takes a darker turn as The Order splinters and our heroes are tested in other ways.
Just a little warning -- this book end in a cliff hanger. I know some people hate that, while others don't mind. The demons are more prevalent in this book and my demons, especially Queen Ashtaroth, have an appetite for sex.
So, another little warning -- there is definitely more sex in this book.

I'm currently working on Tempest Dawn.  Initially, I had meant for Tempest Dawn to be the last book in the series, but as this story is evolving, I have a feeling; the series will not be ending here.  Part of my challenge, but a fun challenge nonetheless, is that I don't outline.  I can't.  I've tried it, but it doesn't work for me.  The fun thing is that I'm finding out what's going on, the same time I'm writing things down.  It's almost like I'm part of the audience rather than the writer.  It's great!

Tempest Dawn is starting out with some new characters that have been lured or influenced by the demons in one way or another.  There are lots of motives between all the groups and I think Tempest Dawn is going to reveal what those are.  We'll see where the characters take this. Yes, I'm a slave to their whim. What I do know is this, there is a battle looming between good and evil, and just like in any battle, lives will be lost. Whose lives? I don't know yet, but Tempest Dawn will give us the clues that will build up to the battle that will decide that fate of humanity.