Rainbow Aesthetic

“When I think about her, I’m immensely happy.” – Rose

❤️🧡💛💚💙💜

There’s this Thursday Aesthetic thing that writers do on Twitter… (I’m always like seventeen years behind on everything, so you probably know more about it than I do. 😂)

Anyway, the theme for this last week was rainbow (which is kind of perfect). So, I made this one for Rose and Kara. ❤️

And I figured I’d share it with you guys, too. 😊❤️

P.S. – If you’ve read The Assassins of Light, you probably recognize that quote. 😉

Rollercoaster-y

 

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Just a forewarning: The Reign of Darkness (Book 4 of the Creatures of Darkness  series) is going to be an emotional-rollercoaster. And this teaser is from one of the rollercoasteriest (I’m allowed to invent words, right?) scenes of the book.

That’s all I can tell you without giving away any spoilers. But I sincerely love this moment of the book, and I hope you do, too. ❤️

I hope you all have an awesome weekend! ❤️❤️❤️

Character Interviews

Last month, a few of my readers came up with some interview questions for their favorite characters from the Creatures of Darkness series. Well, Rose Foster, Kara Unnarsdóttir, and Erik Olafsson have answered your questions! 😊 (No one asked Kallias any questions. Poor guy. 😂)

I hope you enjoy! ❤️

P.S — I apologize ahead of time for Rose’s sarcasm, but…well…you knew it was coming. 😂

ROSE FOSTER:

Question: “Rose, have you ever played any kind of sport?”

Rose’s Answer: “Does Mathletes count? No? I didn’t think so. What part of nerd do you not understand?”

Question: “Rose, we missed your first few weeks of being a vampire. What was that like?”

Rose’s Answer: “Amazing. Agonizing hunger for blood, out-of-control power, and a strained relationship with my boyfriend. What’s not to like?”

Question: “Rose, your brother didn’t act too surprised by your relationship with Kara. It made me curious: did you ever ‘come out’ to him as bisexual? Have you had other girlfriends?”

Rose’s Answer: “Ummm, define ‘come out?’ I mean, basically, when I was a kid, I wanted to marry Wonder Woman, and he figured it out on his own. Also, define ‘girlfriends?’ You’ve met me, right? I’m really bad at the dating thing. Blushing and stammering, on the other hand, I do very well.”

KARA UNNARSDÓTTIR:

Question: “Kara, how old were you when you first became a warrior?”

Kara’s Answer: “I always thought of myself as a warrior, but my first actual battle was when I was sixteen. Do you remember the scar I showed Rose in The Tomb of Blood? That was from my first battle. At that point, I was still inexperienced and naïve, but within a few years, I became the most dangerous warrior on the battlefield. 😊 Practice makes perfect. Well, that, and a bit of trickery. 😉”

Question: “Kara, did you use a battle-axe when you were human?”

Kara’s Answer: “Ha. No. Battle-axes are actually very heavy, and compared to the men I usually fought, I was small. If I’d fought with a battle-axe, it would’ve slowed me down too much. I was trained to use one, but in battle, I usually used a sword and shield, like most warriors. I didn’t start using a battle-axe until I became a vampire. As a vampire, I have supernatural strength, so I can wield one easily. And they’re a lot of fun to use. 😁”

Question: “Kara, I was wondering: why do you get so close to Rose when you’re trying to seduce her? Is that just something you like to do, or does it have something to do with her being a vampire?”

Kara’s Answer: “Nice observation! Yes, it very much has to do with her being a vampire. Vampires are intensely affected by scent—specifically, the scent of blood. And obviously, the closer someone is, the more the scent of blood affects us. It makes it harder to think, and our instincts start to take over. I knew that Rose wanted to be with me, but I also knew she overthinks and overanalyzes everything. So, I hoped, if I could get her to think just a little less…well…you saw what happened. 😉”

Question: “Kara, who originally wrote that poem you recited to Rose in The Assassins of Light? Is it a real Old Norse poem?”

Kara’s Answer: “Haha, well, uh…for the sake of the story, let’s just say it was a commonly-known poem during the Viking Age. Maybe commonly quoted at weddings? (In real life, it may have been written by this really weird, modern writer by name of Britney Jackson??? She’s pretty unknown, so you probably haven’t heard of her. 😁)”

ERIK OLAFSSON:

Question: “Erik, did you and Kara hate each other when you first met?”

Erik’s Answer: “Eh, well, I don’t think she was too fond of me when we first met, but she warmed up to me, I think. Maybe? The fact of the matter is…I’d just died. I’d lost everything familiar to me, and I’d unwittingly fallen in love with a sociopath who would manipulate me for the rest of the eternity. And then, there was Kara—a fellow Norse warrior who’d done the exact same thing. We understood each other. And as much as she might act like she has no sympathy for me, the truth is…she saved me from a lot of the situations that Alana put me in. I don’t know what I would’ve done without her. So, while, no, we weren’t always as close as we are today, we were always kind of friends. I mean, she nearly killed me every time I looked at her wrong or said anything disrespectful, but…that’s just how Kara makes friends, I think. 😂”

Question: “Erik, who’s the better warrior: you or Kara?”

Erik’s Answer: (Looks over his shoulder for Kara) “Are you trying to get me killed?!!! I mean, look, I’d like to say that I’m the better warrior (for the sake of my ego), but then, she’d kill me, just to prove a point. So, let’s just forget this conversation ever happened, okay? Okay?! Please?!!!”

Question: “Erik, which friend would you call your best friend: Kallias or Kara?”

Erik’s Answer: “Do I have to pick one? Kallias and I have been friends for many centuries. We understand what each other needs. He’s a thinker, not a feeler, and I’m a feeler, not a thinker. He tells me when I’m being rash and sensitive, and I tell him when he’s being a jerk. It’s a very important kind of friendship. But where Kallias and I are different, Kara and I are similar. She understands me in ways no one else does. Not to mention, we were both manipulated by Alana. No one else knows what that’s like. I can talk to Kara about things that I know Kallias wouldn’t understand. So, you see, I need both friendships. They’re both my best friends.”

That’s all we have for now! Thank you for the awesome questions! Love you guys! ❤

New Teaser/Excerpt for THE REIGN OF DARKNESS

I tried to resist. But then, I had good writing days, and I got excited and…oops! Teaser! 😂 I hope you like it! ❤️

Talulah stormed into the room, her long coat swaying around her figure. “Could someone explain to me why there are dismembered bodies outside my colony?” She froze as soon as she saw Rose and Kara. She glanced at the blood-soaked battle-axe in Kara’s hands and rolled her eyes. “Oh. I should’ve known.”

Kara flashed a cocky smirk at her. “You’re welcome.”

“Since we killed their scouts, they’ll probably send an army,” Rose warned Talulah.

“Hopefully just one army,” Kara muttered, “and not…all of them.”

“So, we should probably get everyone into the tunnels,” Rose added.

Talulah sighed, “I can’t tell whether you two CAUSE trouble or just attract it.”

“I think,” Rose said with a thoughtful frown, “I attract it. She causes it.”

Talulah lifted her eyebrows. “Please, tell me you AT LEAST have a plan.”

Rose smiled. “I do, actually.”

“She also brought an army,” Kara added.

Talulah glanced back and forth between them. “Wait. What?”

from my upcoming book, The Reign of Darkness

Book Four of the Creatures of Darkness Series

©️ Britney Jackson

Teaser/Excerpt from THE REIGN OF DARKNESS

For my Game of Thrones fans. 😉

Excerpt:

“You…want to be my date to a wedding?” Rose sputtered, her eyes wide.

Kara faced away from Rose as she finished getting dressed. “You’ll need protection.”

“I can kill people with my mind,” Rose muttered. “I can protect myself.”

Kara turned toward her. “Do you not want me as your date, Rose?”

“Of course I do,” Rose said. “I just didn’t think you’d want to come.”

Kara strode toward her with sure, purposeful steps, and Rose took a step back, startled, as Kara invaded her space. But Kara just smiled and reached past Rose, snatching up the weapon belt from the bed. “Why?” Kara said. Her black and blue hair fell over one shoulder as she tilted her head to the side, lifting her eyebrows at Rose. “Because I’m scared of commitment and emotional intimacy?”

Rose stepped back, wincing a little. “I…never said that.”

Kara just shrugged. “You didn’t have to.”

Rose sighed, “Okay.” She straightened, blushing, as she asked, “Kara, will you be my date? At a weird wedding. In a weird place. With weird people.”

Kara crossed her arms, her intense, light blue eyes flashing with mischief. “Rose, you just insulted me. You’ll have to be more persuasive than that.”

Rose blinked in shock. “Umm…”

Kara laughed, “I’m kidding! Just let me grab some weapons.”

“Yep,” Rose mumbled, watching as Kara returned to the dresser, where she’d left all of her weapons. “I’m sure that’s what everyone says before a date.”

Kara glanced back at Rose. “How many weapons do you have?”

“I have my dagger. So, one,” Rose said. “Two, if you count telekinesis.”

Kara laughed, “Your telekinesis counts as like fifteen weapons by itself.”

“Oh,” Rose said. “Well, sixteen, then.”

Kara grabbed a few extra daggers. “You’ll need more.”

“More than sixteen?” Rose asked incredulously. “For a wedding?”

Kara held out a handful of regular-sized daggers. “Here. Take these.”

“Ooh, like flowers. Except sharper,” Rose said dryly. “You know, Kara, I think they just want us to attend the wedding. Not kill the wedding party.”

Kara shrugged one shoulder. “I’m always prepared to kill someone.”

“Not sure that’s a good thing, but okay,” Rose said under her breath. She sighed, “I don’t even know why they want me there. I don’t know these people.”

“Well, they know you,” Kara told her.

“No,” Rose corrected, as she shoved Kara’s daggers into her backpack—because where else was she going to put them? “They don’t know me. They’ve never met me. They just know someone who has glowing, red eyes and godlike power.”

Kara turned toward her, raising an eyebrow. “Yeah, that’s you.”

Rose shrugged. “They say that, at any given time, there are seven people in the world who look exactly like you. Maybe there are others who fit the description.”

“You think there are seven people in the world with eyes that glow red, and the power to do pretty much anything they want with their minds?” Kara said.

Rose shrugged—with a little less confidence this time. “Maybe?”

“No,” Kara said simply. “If there were anyone else in the world like you, they’d already be dead. Because I would have killed them. On Aaron’s orders.”

“You didn’t kill me,” Rose pointed out.

“Because we needed your help with Alana,” Kara said easily.

Rose gave her a skeptical look. “That’s the only reason?”

Kara’s icy blue gaze shifted toward Rose. “I’m just saying,” she said, her lips curving, “if you take away Alana, the war, the impending apocalypse, and all of those odd, little things you did that made me fall in love with you, you have a totally different situation. I would’ve sliced off your head and been done with it.”

Rose frowned. “You just slipped a declaration of love inside a speech about decapitating me, and you call me odd?”

Kara stepped closer to Rose, her light blue eyes sparkling. “And for the record, nothing scares me,” Kara said with a smile. “Not even weddings.”

“Clearly, you haven’t read anything by George R.R. Martin,” Rose muttered.

from my upcoming book, The Reign of Darkness

Book Four of the Creatures of Darkness series

© Britney Jackson

Depression and Writing

I posted this about a week ago on Facebook, and I’m in a slightly better place emotionally (just slightly, not much). But I decided to post it here, too, because a friend suggested that it might encourage someone else who is feeling the same way. So, if you, like me, have MDD (major depressive disorder) or any other form of depression, you’re not alone. ❤️ We’re going to get through this. We’re going to find our healing. We just have to keep fighting. ❤️

Here’s the original post:

I know I’ve probably mentioned this plenty of times before, but I love quotes. I have notebooks full of my favorite quotes everywhere. Well, I have this one in almost every writing notebook I own because it’s one of my absolute favorites. And I like to look at it, especially when I’m hurting.

You guys know I don’t like to talk about this. It usually takes me until after I’m starting to come out of it to find courage to tell anyone. But I’ve been fighting through a particularly rough patch of depression for the last month or so. And when I say “particularly rough,” I don’t say that lightly. Even after so many years, there’s still so much shame around mental illness and suicidal thoughts that I can’t bring myself to reach out to people, even when I know I should. My books are helping me work through that shame—but still, it’s a lot easier to say that a character is feeling a certain way than to admit that you are.

There were a couple of weeks this month when I thought I was coming out of it, but every time, I’d just wind up plummeting back to where I was before. I’ve been feeling a little better today, and I’ve been writing surprisingly well today. (And good writing days have been very hard to come by lately.) So, I’m really hoping this isn’t another one of those false alarms—where I’m just going to fall into that dark place again before the end of the night. But for now, I’m just going to keep hoping really hard and keep writing. And wait for the writing to heal me, like it always does. ❤️

And just in case you can’t read my handwriting, here’s the quote:

“I think writing really helps you heal yourself. I think, if you write long enough, you will be a healthy person. That is, if you write what you need to write, as opposed to what will make money, or what will make fame.” – Alice Walker (author of The Color Purple)

Happy Rambling

My author’s copy of The Assassins of Light came in this week, and I’m so giddy because… 1) it’s so pretty!!! 😍 And 2) three books later, this feeling still hasn’t gotten old—that magical feeling of holding my work in my hands, of touching the solid form of the story that was once stuck in my head, of holding in my hands the story and characters that I love with all of my heart. ❤️❤️❤️ I’ve had a lot of rough days lately, so I’m very grateful for such a genuine burst of happiness this week. 😊❤️ Anyway, I’ll quit my happy rambling so you can look at the pretty book!!! 😍😍😍

THE ASSASSINS OF LIGHT is available!

Both versions are finally up on Amazon!!! (I could cry with relief! ❤️)

Guys, I really hope you enjoy this book! ❤️ I poured everything into it and more. ❤️ This one has a tiny bit less action than usual, but so much more emotion, romance, friendship, and mystery. It’s also a lot…(ahem) steamier than usual, so…for those of you who have been waiting for that, this is the one. 😁 You can also expect to see a lot more puzzle pieces of the mystery surrounding Rose’s power. In the (incredibly vague) words of Erastos, “answers are coming.” 😊 Anyway, here it is, and I really, really hope you like it! ❤️❤️❤️

They haven’t put them together in one link yet, so here’s the separate links:

Kindle: http://a.co/aK7HCz5

Paperback: http://a.co/g75IA1X

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