Saturday, December 30, 2017

BLADE OF INNOCENCE, Highlander the TV series fan fiction

Excerpt from Chapter 11 of the fan novel now available on Wattpad:

            She didn't care about her aches and stiffness.  Darcy let out a giggle as she finished warming up and started across the mats to the sword rack.  Things were fine between her and Duncan again, Amanda wanted to take her shopping that afternoon "to get some bait to solve your man troubles," and her arm was healing nicely.  She couldn't wait to see how well she did today in her lessons.

            "My sword's missing!"  Her wail cut through the unusual silence of the long room and echoed back to her.

            Confusion, anger and a sense of having been robbed cut through her.  Darcy stood still for two seconds, then turned to run to Duncan's office.  The door opened before she reached it.  Detective McGee stepped out, followed by Duncan.  The red-haired detective looked as rumpled and frustrated as always.  Duncan smiled tightly at her.


            "Your sword, Darcy?"  McGee asked in that quiet tone of voice that usually meant deep trouble for someone -- usually not her -- when her father used that tone of voice.

            "Duncan lets me use it for practice.  I was hoping to buy it someday.  What's going on?"

            "That explains the mystery fingerprints."

            "What's going on?"

            "About what time did you get here yesterday?"

            "I don't know.  Maybe seven, seven-thirty."

            "Was the sword in its rack when you were here?"

            "Yeah."  Darcy felt her face heat in a blush.  "I checked on it.  I mean, it's my sword, y'know?"

            "We know," Duncan said, nodding.

            "You were with MacLeod until when?" the detective continued.

            "About midnight."  Darcy glanced back and forth between the two men.  "Duncan, what's -- "

            "Somebody killed Andy last night, Darcy," Duncan explained.  He held out a hand, as if he thought she might lose her balance.  "That sword was found by the body."

Friday, December 29, 2017

Book of the Week: HERO BLUES

Excerpt:

Kicking off, she floated up over the McCreedy boys' heads and snatched three shovels, two picks and a bag of blasting caps from outstretched hands. The items turned invisible the moment she pulled them inside her Ghost field. Jane snorted, muffling laughter as the McCreedys just stood there, hands grasping at empty air, their mouths dropping open. She didn't pause to hover in mid-air and enjoy the moment, but darted away to the crumbling face of the reservoir. A little extra oomph to her Ghost field, and she parted the cement molecules enough to shove the tools into the center of the reservoir's retention wall. There they would stay until the Ghost came to retrieve them, or the sub-standard construction finally eroded. Without the pressure of the scummy lake behind it, Jane estimated the wall would last another four or five years. More's the pity.


She flew back and found the McCreedy boys stumbling around, trying to find their tools. Did they actually think they had dropped their stolen booty and couldn't find anything in the open gravel yard, in the light of the nearly full moon? What kind of idiots was she dealing with tonight?

"That's a rhetorical question if I ever heard one," she said, and didn't bother to keep her voice down.

"Who's there?" Slick, the oldest McCreedy boy bellowed.

"Who do you think?" she shouted back.

Coming through the Ghost field, her voice dropped nearly two octaves. One of these days, she considered doing something to the field so it would sound like her own voice. Until then, the residents of Fendersburg would continue to believe the Ghost was a man.

"Hey, Ghost, long time no see," Jeff, the third boy said with a vacuous grin.

"Idiot," Clint, the fourth, snarled. He tried to elbow his older brother, but misjudged the distance and nearly fell off his feet. "Nobody can see the Ghost."

Jane didn't wait for the usual fight to break out among the McCreedy boys. She swooped down among them and picked up the rest of their demolition tools. Spray-paint cans, two hoes, charcoal lighter fluid and three boxes of matches. Those joined the other tools in the center of the retaining wall.

When she came back to the truck, she found the boys had scattered, running along the edges of the reservoir. Ten IQ points higher, and they might have had the sense to jump back in their truck and get out of there. But no, the McCreedy boys were intent on doing damage. It was hard to decide if they considered it their right, or their duty. Jane flew over the stinking water of the reservoir, trying to ignore the smell of pea soup algae gone out of control, and listened to the boys shouting directions to each other.

Some people seemed to think that if they couldn't see the Ghost, then the Ghost couldn't hear them.

Thursday, December 28, 2017

Book of the Week: HERO BLUES

Excerpt:

"Looks like another busy night for the Ghost," Jane muttered as she swooped down through the crystal-clear, stifling hot night air, and came in for a landing. "Goody gumdrops."

Bald tires, a road badly in need of patching, and overgrown bushes and trees hanging over the edges of the crumbling blacktop meant the McCreedy boys had to drive slowly up the steep hill and follow the hairpin turns instead of bouncing up and over. Jane appreciated their caution. She was in a bad enough mood without carrying the guilt and dismay of saving a McCreedy's life tonight. She had just painted her nails and didn't want to risk chipping them, if she had to lunge to catch a rusty bumper and keep the truck from going over the edge.

With her luck, she would get tetanus or hepatitis or any of a dozen diseases hiding in the thick coating of filth that kept the McCreedy truck from falling apart.

Unlike the other Gifted she had grown up with, Jane wasn't bullet-proof or made of steel. She could fly, she could go invisible. She could walk through solid objects and heal broken bones within a couple hours. That didn't mean she was impervious to pain or disease, and she needed a decent night's sleep even more desperately than most people. Or at least, most people in the backwards town of Fendersburg.

"Told ya it was broke," a whining McCreedy voice crowed, just before the truck crashed into the lopsided gate of the reservoir.

"Told you to get it fixed," Jane muttered, and stepped back as the truck skidded to a stop in the gravel yard of the reservoir. How many times had the Ghost made surveys of all public property, listed the necessary repairs, the accidents waiting to happen, and gave those lists to the town council? She had lost count. She had even sent the list three times to the Fendersburg Trumpet, and the newspaper actually printed the lists and demanded action. Nothing had happened.

As evidenced by the broken lock on the fence and the lack of a single spark when Willy's truck hit it open. That fence was supposed to be electrified, to stop mutants like the McCreedy boys from breaking in.

"Let's go have some fun!" Willy chortled, and slid out of the driver's seat. He reached into the back of the truck and pulled out tools for his brothers.


Most of the tools had price tags still attached. Jane sighed at that evidence that Joe-Bob over at the hardware store still hadn't repaired his burglar alarm from the last time someone broke in. She supposed she'd hear an angry tirade in the morning, about how the Ghost hadn't stopped the burglars. Honestly, how could anybody resist when the door wouldn't stay locked and Joe-Bob left the lights on half the time, so anybody walking by could see what was waiting to be stolen and no one was in the store?

Wednesday, December 27, 2017

The War Room: BOOK TRAILERS

I now have all my book trailers available for viewing on this blog.

Just go to the Pages listing in the right-hand column, below the links and archive listing.

You can view a video and get a taste for what's in some of the series I've written, and also view the book covers. For more information, you can go to my website, or the publishers' websites.

Lots to choose from!

Right now, here's the introductory video .....




Tuesday, December 26, 2017

Book of the Week: HERO BLUES

This continues the feature on books set in my weird little town of NEIGHBORLEE, OHIO.

Think of a place that's part Mayberry, part Roswell, part Eureka, and part Buffy's Sunnyvale -- but without the vampires or aliens.

Yeah -- MAGIC!
A little creepy at times, a lot of fun, and always something going on. For those who live there, the odd events are kind of shrugged off with a, "Ho, hum, so what ELSE is new?" attitude. And what's really odd is that newcomers don't really notice. Of course, then there's the "we don't want you here, go away" vibe that some people get, so they don't stick around long enough to notice something strange is going on.



All of this is leading up to the release of the next Neighborlee, Ohio book published by Uncial Press: DORM RATS. Otherwise known as Growing Up Neighborlee, Book 2.

HERO BLUES



Superheroes have it rough -- especially when the towns they protect expect them to fix everything, from forgetting to fill their gas tanks to children running wild to the consequences of a lack of common sense. Jane is finally fed up with being the Ghost, notifies the citizens in her town of mental midgets that she’s quitting, and sets off to make a new life and solve some mysteries of her own.
First item on the list: return to Neighborlee, the town where she was found as an abandoned child. Jane knows there are others like her: abandoned children with unusual powers. Where did they come from, how did they get to Neighborlee and other towns like it, and why are the Gifted -- as they call themselves -- the way they are?
As Jane retraces her childhood, she is pleased to discover that some people remember her. She settles in, makes a new place for herself, and is welcomed by the people and the town itself. That’s important, because Neighborlee protects its own -- and those who don’t fit in are soon driven away. She makes contact with others like her and slowly earns their trust and confidence.
However, it’s a bumpy process. Living in the “weirdness capital of the United States, possibly the world,” means being extra cautious. Even when it comes to someone with superhero powers. Or maybe especially someone with superhero powers.
Then someone -- or something -- from outside her understanding makes contact. It or he or they promise Jane not only answers to the questions she’s had all her life, but a way to go home, wherever her real home might be. It’s everything she’s ever wanted … or is it?

Saturday, December 23, 2017

BLADE OF INNOCENCE, Highlander the TV series fan fiction

Excerpt from Chapter 10 of the fan novel now available on Wattpad:

            "Got a minute?" Duncan said, stepping up to the bar. 

            Joe's Place wasn't open yet Tuesday morning, but the door was unlocked for the employees to come in.  For the moment, Joe was alone at the counter, working on the same beer tap that had been giving him trouble for the last month.

            "A few."  Joe glanced up, smiling.  His smile froze and then faded.  Duncan realized how he had to look;  stiff posture, the extra lines around his mouth.  "Problem?"

            "I don't know yet.  It depends on what you say."

            "Uh oh."  He tried to smile again.  "Something I did?"


            "Joe, I know you try not to interfere with my life.  It makes things awkward, being friends when you're my Watcher.  I appreciate it."

            "Big problem."

            "Did you tell that kid to get close to Darcy Porter?"

            "What kid?"  Joe put down the screwdriver and rested both hands on the bar.  Duncan had his complete attention now.

            "Andy somebody."

            "Andy Blaine?"  He flinched, visibly realizing too late he had given away too much. 
         "I assume since Martha is his grandmother, she's Josh's Watcher."  Duncan tried to smile.  "Don't worry -- I'm not asking and I won't do anything about it either way."

            "Thanks," Joe said with a wry grin.  Then a moment later his eyes widened and his grin faded.  "What do you mean, get close to Darcy?  Like recruiting her?"

            "I hope he isn't.  I haven't heard what he's been saying to her.  Hopefully it's just a lot of romantic mush."

            "Romantic."  He rested both hands on the edge of the bar.  "Are you telling me that boy is romancing the daughter of an Immortal?  He should know better than that."

            "Something wrong with that?"  Duncan tried to look innocent when he felt great relief.  His instincts had not been wrong.  "Darcy's a nice girl."

            "I'm gonna kill him," Joe muttered.

Friday, December 22, 2017

Book of the Week: LONDON HOLIDAY

Excerpt:

"Right, and yet not entirely." Angela took hold of my hand. "My dear Athena... How I wish you weren't so perceptive, that you hadn't inherited your grandfather's gifts and the responsibilities that come with them. And yet I know, from long years of experience, we are born to duties and burdens, and we destroy our souls if we refuse them." She took a deep breath, exhaled slowly, all the while gazing into my eyes. "First, I sent them away because there are things I don't want Bethany to hear. I'm afraid Doni will have to hear what I tell you someday. When she starts having dreams of her own.

"And that is the second thing. You are right. You are an appointed guardian of Neighborlee, and so shall Doni be, when she is older."

"Why don't you want Bethany to know?"

"Her bloodline has done enough already for Neighborlee. Her mother was another foundling, just like your grandfather, like Lanie Zephyr and her friends, like several others in our town."

"Her mom?" I shivered, the cold coming from deep inside, as I remembered when Bethany's mother died. We were only nine. Sometimes being young helped to make the heavy sadness fade, but other times it just made the impact worse, and last longer.

Then I knew. I understood. Fragments of those sad, confusing days bobbed up to the surface of my memories. They connected like they were magnets, drawing to each other, forming pictures without any effort on my part.

"Mrs. Miller... She didn't die of a heart attack, did she?" I whispered.

Angela gripped my hand tighter and shook her head.

Six years ago, there were strange buzzing sensations in the ground and an electrical storm that lasted nearly two whole days. Other people didn't seem to notice the electrical tingles in the air, in the soil, but Granddad sympathized with me and let me stay home from school, curled up on the couch with him, where we both kept our feet off the ground. Mrs. Miller had left the diner on an errand during a lull between lunch and dinner, and didn't come back. A freak storm had struck, sending people diving for cover, driving rain horizontally. When it cleared up, she was found collapsed in an alley between two stores on the Mall, drenched and white like all the blood had been drained out of her, cold and dead.

Part of me wanted to yank my hand free of Angela's and run away. If I tried, she probably wouldn't hold onto me, keep me there. Not with her hand, anyway.

Thursday, December 21, 2017

Book of the Week: LONDON HOLIDAY

Excerpt:

Doni slipped her little hand into mine as we sat around the white wrought iron café table in the main room of Divine's and sipped pineapple sherbet floats while I talked about my dreams. Angela didn't react. Her expression didn't change, except that maybe that funny little smile, not quite a smirk but an indication that she knew more than anyone else about what was going on... Well, it didn't quite fade, but it wasn't as strong as usual. She didn't ask me any questions, just focused her big blue eyes on me and listened until I ran out of words. Angela had a way of listening that made me think she heard more than anyone said. It would have been a relief not to have mentioned some of the things I had experienced in my nightmares, just pictured them in my mind and have them transfer directly to hers.

I finished my story, and the four of us sat, sipping in comfortable silence, for a few more minutes. Actually, I felt a lot better, like some pressure had been removed. Maybe it would be more accurate to say that having told Angela, I had fulfilled a responsibility I didn't know I had.

That made sense, I realized. Angela and Divine's Emporium were there in Neighborlee to protect it, or us, or maybe... Well, to be honest, sometimes I was sure there were things in our town that had to be contained in our town. So maybe Divine's protected the world from Neighborlee, instead of just the special people, the oddness, being hidden from the world? By telling Angela about my dream, I was helping her to guard us, or guard something else?

"Guardians," Angela murmured. Her little superior smile definitely changed back to a smirk when I flinched at her word, coming so soon on the heels of my thoughts.

Yeah, I could definitely believe Angela read minds.

"Bethany, would you and Doni go upstairs and get one of my moonlight journals from the chest in my bedroom?" Angela reached inside the neck of her dress and drew out a thin silver chain with a long, crystalline skeleton key hanging from it, and handed chain and key to Bethany.

As the two of them held hands and hurried out of the room, heading for the stairs, Angela's smile faded entirely.

"It's real, isn't it?" I whispered. "The things in my dreams." I swallowed hard. "And you don't want Doni to hear what you're going to tell me about fighting it."

Tuesday, December 19, 2017

Book of the Week: LONDON HOLIDAY

This continues the feature on books set in my weird little town of NEIGHBORLEE, OHIO.

Think of a place that's part Mayberry, part Roswell, part Eureka, and part Buffy's Sunnyvale -- but without the vampires or aliens.

Yeah -- MAGIC!
A little creepy at times, a lot of fun, and always something going on. For those who live there, the odd events are kind of shrugged off with a, "Ho, hum, so what ELSE is new?" attitude. And what's really odd is that newcomers don't really notice. Of course, then there's the "we don't want you here, go away" vibe that some people get, so they don't stick around long enough to notice something strange is going on.


All of this is leading up to the release of the next Neighborlee, Ohio book published by Uncial Press: DORM RATS. Otherwise known as Growing Up Neighborlee, Book 2.

LONDON HOLIDAY

It started with an overnight stay at Divine’s Emporium and a high school computer programming assignment. Athena found an unusual video camera, hooked it up to her computer, and videotaped her cousin, London, whom everyone called Doni. She thought nothing of it, after all the other odd events of that night.
 
After all, Neighborlee, Ohio was the weirdness capital of the United States, and Divine’s Emporium was the caretaker, the way to control all that weirdness and keep the magic tamed. At least, that was what everyone who saw the strange things and people and events chose to believe.
 
Three years later, in an experimental computer class in college, Athena and her teammates chose to create a social media site as their project. The site, called FlopDrop, needed a hostess. Doni agreed to be the foundation for all the images of the hostess, whom they named London Holiday.
 
To the surprise of the team and the class--and the disgust of their rivals and enemies--FlopDrop took off. London Holiday and her CGI friends became overnight Internet sensations. London seemed to take on a life of her own.
 
By the time Athena and Doni realized that their artificial person had become a self-aware Artificial Intelligence, they weren’t quite sure what that harmless experimentation three years ago had created. Were they midwives at the birth of a new lifeform…or repeating Dr. Frankenstein’s mistakes on an even bigger scale?


Monday, December 18, 2017

Whatcha Doin'? LINDA WOOD RONDEAU, Time to Talk!

Today is your chance to talk with featured author LINDA WOOD RONDEAU about her book, The Fifteenth Article, or about other books she's working on, questions her writing has brought up, related topics.

The floor is Hers, and Yours!

About the Author:

Award winning author, LINDA WOOD
RONDEAU writes to demonstrate our worst past, surrendered to God becomes our best future. A veteran social worker, Linda now resides in Hagerstown, Maryland. Readers may visit her web site at www.lindarondeau.com. Contact the author on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Google Plus and Goodreads.  


Just a recap:


The Fifteenth Article is a futuristic, political thriller set in the late 21st century. The world slumped into a second dark age due to war, famine, and disease. Eventually, people tired of warfare, put down their arms and formed a global democracy called The Accord. However, corruption soon followed, The Accord fell and was replaced by a phony democracy called The Constitutional
Government of United Earth, so named for the Fourteen Articles of Constitution. The world is divided into nineteen provinces, each province containing a primary city, the polluted areas outside the cities referred to as the outworld, inhabited by defectors, nomads, and marauders. When the book begins, Charles Devereaux, governor of Western America walks into the euthanasia chamber. His successor, Edwin Rowlands, is also slated to replace the ailing President. His climb to power will give him the votes to pass his proposed Preservation Act, or The Fifteenth Article. This legislation would make defection to the outworlds, once a right under The Accord, an act of treason, both past and present, punishable by death without trial. Outworld factions in opposition to the current world government are now threatened, including the thriving Network of Western America, a system of six communities, former states, led by Jacob Goodayle, a Christ follower, who proposes secession from the Constitutional Government. General Kinnear’s Revolutionary Army proposes a military takeover. Ahmed Fared, Jacob Goodayle’s adoptive brother and Second Governor of Western America, believes reform can be managed within the existing government that would prevent civil war and a third dark age. Who will be the voice of reason within the ensuing chaos?

Sunday, December 17, 2017

Whatcha Doin'? LINDA WOOD RONDEAU, part 2

An essay relating to Linda Wood Rondeau's featured title, The Fifteenth Article:

WHAT WAS AND WHAT MIGHT BE


When we look back and then forward, we discover that the adage is true:

The more things change
The more things stay the same.

My recent release futuristic political thriller, The Fifteenth Article, takes place in the last part of the 21st century, circa 2073, only fifty-six years from now. I thought we might take a drive down memory lane fifty-six years or so beginning with 1961.

The first year of the 1960’s proved to be a transition year—one that would propel society toward major political, social, financial, and scientific change.


Political Climate:

Political upheaval has existed since Cain was ousted from the known establishment of his time because he’d murdered his brother. A new hierarchy developed from Cain’s replacement, Seth. And so, the beat goes on, as the song of 1967 echoed.



In 1961, America’s involvement in Southeast Asia ramped up. So, began the divide between hawks and doves, a division that would define American politics for the next several decades. On the world stage, construction of the Berlin Wall became a symbol of the sharp divide between east and west, communism and capitalism, a free society and a controlled society.  

The Fifteenth Article, portrays mankind as still in flux. The world survived tsunamis, pandemic, and global war to form a short-lived democratic global government called The Accord. However, the system was too weak, and a new government took its place called The Constitutional Government ordered by Fourteen Articles of Constitution.

Like all governments, factions arise that are dissatisfied and threaten world stability, including a would-be Caesar who has manipulated the constitution to set himself up as a new world dictator.

Where governments exist,
there will always be those
who will rise up in protest.



Social Climate

The 1960’s was a decade of enormous social change, especially civil rights.

Much of what transpired in the later part of the decade stemmed from the early clashes of unrest and civil disobedience.

Perhaps the most famous civil unrest came from the Freedom Riders, who tested the Supreme Court decision Boynton v. Virginia by riding racially integrated interstate buses into the South.



In 2017 the world population is estimated at 7.5 billion compared to 4 billion just 56 years ago. In my fictional world of 2073, the population is only 2 billion. Because of labor shortages, genetic engineering produced a classification of sub-humans called “memes.”
Since the days of The Exodus,
the human spirit has yearned to be free.
 We who believe know such true freedom
is only found in Christ.

As do those in 2073, called Christ Followers.


Economic Climate

1961 saw the end of a ten-month recession that began in April 1960. Though the recession ended, unemployment remained high.

In the fictional world of 2073, cities comprise the largest economic centers of the world’s nineteen providences. Outworlds are inhabited by non-citizens. Some are defectors who gave up their citizenship for more personal freedom. The largest and most organized of these outworlds is The Network, a series of six communities formerly known as states. They have become illegally self-governing. However, the Network is the largest provider of food for the cities. They have been allowed to exist in return for a tithe of goods. However, their growth threatens the concept of a global government.

Since early history, the economy has determined who controls what.



Cultural Climate

Culture has always been reflected in a society’s entertainment fads and every-day life. In a pluralistic society, conflict arises when one group forces their preferences or religious ideations upon another. In 1961, America considered itself a Christian nation. Most attended a house of worship or held association with a religious denomination.

In the fictional world of 2073, organized religion was blamed for a great war between Christians and Muslims called The Schism. As a result, society outlawed religious expression of any kind.

            History has shown that the quest for domination has always been disguised in the form of outward religiosity. Those who follow the Lord know that true religion begins in a heart that has been surrendered to a sovereign God.

            In a future world, with the demise of outward manipulation of what is deemed right Christianity, Christ Followers have set aside denominational differences and have banned together in common knowledge that God is still on the throne and remains involved in Mankind’s walk on this Earth. That as long as the earth endures, summer, winter, and harvest will remain.

Science and Technological Climate

Since the discovery of fire,
Mankind has adored the newest gadgets.

            In 1961, touch-tone technology had been developed but did not come into wider use until 1963. In a future world, communications will be managed through a micro device, illegal for outworlds but still in use. The micro is a computer-like device that can be held in the palm of one’s hand and connects through the Mainframe.

In fact, in the domed cities, every aspect of life is monitored and controlled through the Mainframe. While crime is virtually non-existent, personal freedom has all but vanished. 



Since the dawn of history, men have sought for life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Will 2073 bring society closer or farther from this goal?



Tomorrow: Come back to chat with Linda via the comments section.

Whatcha Doin'? LINDA WOOD RONDEAU

Today starts a NEW feature here on the blog.

On Sunday, the featured author will speak to you about a current work-in-progress or an upcoming book.

On Monday, YOU the readers get to speak to the author. She'll answer your questions about what is posted here on Sunday and Monday, or other books you've read by her, and maybe if you're good have a giveaway of some kind.

Easy, right?

In the words of Khan ... let us begin ...

Today's featured author. The first brave soul to participate in Whatcha Doin'?

LINDA WOOD RONDEAU

Featured title: The Fifteenth Article

The Fifteenth Article is a futuristic, political thriller set in the late 21st century. The world slumped into a second dark age due to war, famine, and disease. Eventually, people tired of warfare, put down their arms and formed a global democracy called The Accord. However, corruption soon followed, The Accord fell and was replaced by a phony democracy called The Constitutional Government of United Earth, so named for the Fourteen Articles of Constitution. The world is divided into nineteen provinces, each province containing a primary city, the polluted areas outside the cities referred to as the outworld, inhabited by defectors, nomads, and marauders. When the book begins, Charles Devereaux, governor of Western America walks into the euthanasia chamber. His successor, Edwin Rowlands, is also slated to replace the ailing President. His climb to power will give him the votes to pass his proposed Preservation Act, or The
Fifteenth Article. This legislation would make defection to the outworlds, once a right under The Accord, an act of treason, both past and present, punishable by death without trial. Outworld factions in opposition to the current world government are now threatened, including the thriving Network of Western America, a system of six communities, former states, led by Jacob Goodayle, a Christ follower, who proposes secession from the Constitutional Government. General Kinnear’s Revolutionary Army proposes a military takeover. Ahmed Fared, Jacob Goodayle’s adoptive brother and Second Governor of Western America, believes reform can be managed within the existing government that would prevent civil war and a third dark age. Who will be the voice of reason within the ensuing chaos?


LATER THIS AFTERNOON, an article by Linda, discussing the background of the book. Fascinating stuff, folks!

About the Author

Award winning author, LINDA WOOD RONDEAU writes to demonstrate our worst past, surrendered to God becomes our best future. A veteran social worker, Linda now resides in Hagerstown, Maryland. Readers may visit her web site at www.lindarondeau.com. Contact the author on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Google Plus and Goodreads.  


Saturday, December 16, 2017

BLADE OF INNOCENCE, Highlander the TV series fan fiction

Excerpt from Chapter 9 of the fan novel now available on Wattpad:

            "Mac?"  Josh stepped out into the hall, a hammer in one hand, a box of nails in the other, his carpenter's apron bulging with supplies.  He grinned as Duncan waved and continued his leisurely stroll down the hall.  "Thanks for coming.  We could really use six hands for this job today.  My other helpers couldn't come.  I thought it'd just be Andy and me today."

            Andy.  The name caught Duncan's interest.  There couldn't be two Andy's working on renovating the factory building, could there?  Duncan could almost hear Amanda chuckling.  He told himself to be honest -- it wasn't just his role as Darcy's guardian that made him want to check out the young man.


            "Hey, Andy?" Josh called, as Duncan stepped through the doorway into the half-walled room.  "This is Duncan MacLeod.  An old friend.  He's going to be helping us for a while."

            "Hi."  Andy was the red-head who had been working with Josh when Duncan first came in on Friday.  He wore faded jeans and his blue flannel shirt hung open, revealing decent abs -- he didn't get that condition from just carpentry work, Duncan decided.

            Then Duncan saw the tattoo on the young man's wrist and his assessment ground to a halt.  Dark blue, clear and unblurred from recent application, a narrow ring with the familiar triangular insignia inside.

            Watcher.  Not Josh's Watcher.  What had Darcy said about Andy being Martha's grandson?  Martha came with Josh's team to open up new missions.  Watching seemed to run in families.  Where else could they get recruits without exposing themselves to people who might think they were crazy?

            "Nice to meet you," Duncan said, shaking the young man's hand.  His own hand felt slightly clammy as he released him.  It was an effort not to keep watching Andy.  He turned to Josh and held out his sweatshirt-clad arms.  "What do you want me to do?"

            As he and Josh and Andy finished assembling a long section of wall studs and hoisted it into place, then fastened it down and started hanging the drywall, Duncan thought about what he had seen, the implications.  He stole glances at Andy whenever he could without it seeming obvious.  The young Watcher seemed not be paying any attention to him at all.  Duncan found that almost amusing.  He remembered the few times he had walked into a room full of Watchers.  Everyone had stared, either openly or so furtively it had been ludicrously obvious.  Maybe this young man didn't know who Duncan MacLeod was.

            Now that's a blow to your ego, isn't it? Duncan chided silently.  He had to grin at that.

Friday, December 15, 2017

Book of the Week: DIVINE KNIGHT

Excerpt:

Angela's thoughts and her heart skittered away from that knowledge. She threw herself into laughing and teasing with her friends among the students, pointed out new treasures she had brought into the shop, and listened to her regular customers talk about plans for the rest of their break, or term papers they were working on.

She almost forgot about her dreams by the time she closed up the shop and went upstairs to make dinner. The warmth of the spring day had collected in her apartment. After opening the windows and turning on the ceiling fans, she decided the heat wouldn't dissipate fast enough to suit her. She made a salad and a fresh batch of iced tea and went out into her garden to enjoy the soft breezes coming up the slope from the Metroparks.

"Where are you?" she whispered, startling herself.

Where had that thought come from? Who had she been talking to?

The aching feeling inside her hinted at memories she had either put away for the sake of self-preservation...or she had lost altogether. But how could that be? Taking a deep breath to brace herself, Angela moved backwards in her memories, investigating that disturbing dream from the night before. Perhaps the answer was there? She tried to see the knight's features inside the shadows of his helmet, tried to make out the colors of the garden, anything that would give her a stronger clue to where and when, if this was nothing but a dream, or a valid memory. And if a memory, why had she put it so far away in her mind that she had forgotten it?

More important: Why was it coming back to her now? What magic was at work, sifting through the images filling her memories from her very long, full life, attempting communication in those pictures? Friendly magic, warning her? Or inimical magic, attempting to paralyze her with fear, or distract her from something she needed to sense so she could protect against it?

A queasy ripple in the net protecting the shop yanked Angela out of her thoughts. Her heart leaped as she looked around. The shadows had grown long all around her, like cold, dark hands reaching from the night to enfold her. Her hands and knees shook faintly as she hurried to gather up her dishes and go back into the shop. That shiver of fear bothered her more than the sudden certainty that something was out there in the darkness, watching her.


Worse was the realization that she had lost all sense of time and location, just long enough to be terrified. Which was ridiculous. She had done it to herself. Hadn't she?

Thursday, December 14, 2017

Book of the Week: DIVINE KNIGHT

Excerpt:

The students from Willis-Brooks College who didn't go home for spring break descended en mass in the afternoon, in search of candy and old movies and used books. Angela let the bustle and laughing voices divert her. She watched them, reading their spirits, seeing who had grown a little more sensitive to the magic pervading the entire town, and who had let their ideas of success and their goals for the future make them a little less aware than the last time they had visited her.

Despite being so late into the school calendar, there were always a handful of students who hadn't come out to visit Divine's yet, and their amazed, confused, fascinated reactions amused her. The ones who shriveled up a little inside themselves as they walked through the shop and sensed the magic waiting to burst out, the thin spots where otherness tried to come through--those particular students made her want to cry a little more than usual, when she saw someone resist the call of magic. If they would listen and open their eyes and other senses to the wonder around them, the potential for magic in their lives, they could embark on amazing, fulfilling lives.

But there were always a few who sensed the silent song of magic, and resisted, closing their ears and souls to it. They wouldn't come back to Divine's again this school year, and they likely would transfer to another college next year. Saying no in their spirits to Divine's Emporium changed them in some way, so that living within the boundaries of Neighborlee became like itching powder constantly sifting through their clothes, or a mosquito hum by their ear. They would flee the irritation. As always, witnessing this pivotal moment in those strangers' lives and knowing how they would choose broke Angela's heart. Yet today, for some reason, it hurt more than ever.

As if she had witnessed someone precious to her make the same choice, repeatedly. Destiny broke the rules to offer the chance and choice, again and again through the centuries, and yet he--she was sure the person was a he--kept saying no, growing colder and more calloused and deaf as the years ground on.

Wednesday, December 13, 2017

Christmas Bazaar -- See YOU There?

Still haven't gotten all your Christmas shopping done?

I'm going to be at a huge Christmas bazaar in Akron THIS SATURDAY.


Several writer friends and I will be sharing a double booth. Come see us!
Tamera Lynn Kraft, Mary Ellis, Shellie Arnold, and me!

For more information, follow this link to go to the Facebook page for the event.

Hope to see you there!

Tuesday, December 12, 2017

Book of the Week: DIVINE KNIGHT

This continues the feature on books set in my weird little town of NEIGHBORLEE, OHIO.

Think of a place that's part Mayberry, part Roswell, part Eureka, and part Buffy's Sunnyvale -- but without the vampires or aliens.

Yeah -- MAGIC!
A little creepy at times, a lot of fun, and always something going on. For those who live there, the odd events are kind of shrugged off with a, "Ho, hum, so what ELSE is new?" attitude. And what's really odd is that newcomers don't really notice. Of course, then there's the "we don't want you here, go away" vibe that some people get, so they don't stick around long enough to notice something strange is going on.

All of this is leading up to the release of the next Neighborlee, Ohio book published by Uncial Press: DORM RATS. Otherwise known as Growing Up Neighborlee, Book 2.

DIVINE KNIGHT


Equinox: Maurice has a day of full-size freedom to spend with his true love, Holly. Their day of fun ends in panic, when Angela is attacked and the defenses of Divine's Emporium are breached. In the search to find out who hired thieves to steal books full of inimical magic from the shop and provided them with magic charms to do it, Angela's memories are stirred. Strange dreams disturb her sleep and she asks questions she hasn't thought of in decades. 

Ethan Jarrod, a particularly gifted P.I. with some mysteries of his own, joins forces with local P.I. John Stanzer to identify Angela's enemies. Is Jarrod the knight from her dreams, or the final weapon of her enemies, to destroy all the magic of Divine's Emporium and Angela herself?


Monday, December 11, 2017

Off the Bookshelf: ICE CHILD, by Evangeline Denmark

Want a lovely little Christmas treat?

This short story takes less than an hour to read, although maybe you should try to read it slowly and savor each line. Like the hero, Sipp, the author has proven her master craftsmanship.

Denmark takes a faerie tale trope that appears in many cultures -- a child of ice or snow, a child with suspicious or unknown parentage, a child who all fear because of so many unanswered questions -- and puts her own spin on it. Sipp is considered evil because he looks different, because the fearful and superstitious and self-righteous believe that what makes him different makes him dangerous. Only two people in his short life have given him love and encouragement. The loss of one destroys his dreams ... and when he finds himself, he fears he must give up the other. (Can't tell you any more than that, because then you might not read the story! And you really gotta ...)

Of course, faerie tales do have happy endings, but like many things in the faerie realms, it isn't quite what we suspect or expect.

Sipp hides from the cold, fears snow, tries not to hear the voices in the frozen wind, but like so many of us, he is hiding from his true nature and letting the fears and prejudices of others blind and imprison him. When he breaks free ... watch out.

Beautiful short story. Parable. Lesson. Promise. Like C.S. Lewis talked about in his autobiography, Surprised by Joy, this is one of those moments of near-painful longing and satisfaction, and the hint of otherworldly music. Okay, put another author on my must-read-everything-she's-done list.

Saturday, December 9, 2017

BLADE OF INNOCENCE, Highlander the TV series fan fiction

Excerpt from Chapter 8 of the fan novel now available on Wattpad:

            Saturday afternoon, Detective McGee showed up at the old factory building and interrupted Duncan and Josh in a discussion over whether to put a half-wall in the front room of the clinic, or whether to put a service window in the wall.  Neither one knew the man was there until he asked them where he could find Darcy.

            "Hello, Jack," Josh said.  "Darcy?  I think she's in the office, if she's finished with the dishes.  What's up?"

            In answer, McGee dug in his pocket and brought out a clear plastic bag.  Inside was a silver, heart-shaped locket.  Engraved on it were the words: "Darcy, Sweet Sixteen. June 30, 1991."


            "Where did you find this?" Duncan asked, when Josh seemed to go pale, and his fist clenched around the bag.

            "On the body of one of those street punks who beat up on her yesterday," the detective answered.

            Duncan went with Josh and Geneva, accompanying Darcy downtown to identify her assailants in the morgue.  Because it was Darcy's locket, McGee needed her testimony, not just Josh and Duncan's.  Their word was needed too, since they had fought with the gang members.

            The morgue attendant only tugged down the sheets far enough to show the faces of the three dead youths.  Shock was still visible.  They looked very young in death, under the grime and smears of blood.

Friday, December 8, 2017

Book of the Week: HAVE YOURSELF A FAERIE LITTLE CHRISTMAS

Excerpt

Angeloria had a highly inconvenient allergy to mistletoe and holly.

Usually, that wouldn't be much of a problem. How many months of the year did mistletoe flourish, after all?

Unfortunately, Lori's need to run away from the Fae Enclaves coincided with Christmas. The last thing she wanted was to retreat back into the shelter of the Enclave where she had grown up, because that would leave her prey to her matchmaking great-aunts and their odious choices of the perfect husband for her. Lori didn't want to get married to an Enclave wimp--someone who would keep her anchored in the Enclaves for the rest of her life. She wanted an adventurer who explored the Human world on a regular basis. Someone who thought satellite feed and a DVD collection to rival all the major studios were basic necessities of life.

If she went back to the Fae Enclaves any time in the next two months, her great-aunts would force her into dreary formal wear. Then they would drag her through a long chain of visits and teas and social functions that made Socrates' public execution sound like a jolly good time by comparison.
Besides, regular contact with the Human world provided her with a fresh, ongoing supply of dark chocolate and diet cherry cola.

If she could get out of the hotel where she had retreated to hide from the mad proliferation of holiday decorations before she sneezed herself to death, while changing colors and creating rainbow-streaked light shows for a two-yard radius.


"It's not even something a doctor could help me with," Lori explained, when her two best friends snapped their fingers and conjured up boxes of allergy medicine and calamine lotion, and settled down in her favorite suite at the Waldorf-Astoria. "It's psychosomatic. I was traumatized as a child, when Dickens had Scrooge talk about a stake of holly through the heart. I mean, I was there when he wrote it down and read it aloud and laughed at what a clever line it was." She shuddered. "You can't imagine the mental image."

Thursday, December 7, 2017

Book of the Week: HAVE YOURSELF A FAERIE LITTLE CHRISTMAS

Excerpt

The communications sphere shimmered into being while Harry relaxed in the hot tub--another wonderful invention of Humans. Fortunately for him, and whoever might be calling at this time of the morning, the sphere remained opaque.

"I gave at the office," Harry said, before his caller could identify himself.

Alexi's rich, rolling laughter made him grin. Nothing like a call from his favorite rebellious cousin to take a morning from interesting and frustrating to fun.

"How's that non-magical betting system working out for you?" Harry asked, as he snapped his fingers to bring a towel over and got out of the hot tub. He tapped the communications sphere, activating it so it shimmered into transparency. Alexi and Megan's faces appeared before him. He was glad he had opted for the towel.

Harry wasn't a skinny geek by any means, but Alexi had inherited the family build and good looks, along with the family curse. Harry was white-blond and buff, but Alexi had it squared. No, make that cubed. Harry wouldn't have minded if Megan, who he really liked, saw him in the altogether--if he just didn't have the awful suspicion she would have been comparing him to Alexi and feeling sorry for him.

Still, despite all the advantages Alexi had in looks and freedom and a real job in the Human world, along with a knock-out wife who hadn't needed to trap him by going into Need, Harry preferred his smaller troubles. Alexi had nearly been doomed to spending eternity without magic. Sure, Megan had rescued him from that, and Harry wouldn't have minded being rescued by someone as smart and gorgeous and fun as Megan, but he was aware enough to know it would have rankled. He had a ridiculous, immature longing to be the White Knight, rescuing damsels in distress.


"What's up, Cuz?" He gave an extra yank to his towel, just in case.

Tuesday, December 5, 2017

Book of the Week: HAVE YOURSELF A FAERIE LITTLE CHRISTMAS

From Uncial Press

Excerpt:

"Sweetheart, you know that our magic is little more than illusions," Megan began. She squeaked and turned red when Alexi nudged her hard enough she nearly fell out of the booth in the dark corner of the casino where they were currently working.

"I don't know any such thing." Bethany pulled out her ace card. She had held it to herself, a secret treasure, for the past five years. "I know you can do real magic. I saw you."

"Real magic?" Alexi gave her a convincing frown of confusion.

"Just as real as your pointed ears." Bethany smirked when he reached up to yank his tangled mane of silky blond hair down around his ears, only catching himself at the last minute. "I saw you two working real magic, that first time we worked together. I've caught you doing magic since. Of course, I've been looking for it." She played all her cards. "So, are you like witches or wizards? Is there a real Hogwarts?"

"Actually--" Alexi jerked, having received a hard nudge from Megan now. He grinned at his wife. "Whether there is or isn't, that doesn't matter. What makes you want an invisibility spell, in particular?"

"Besides the way you two seem to have some kind of force field or invisibility spell, so nobody ever mobs you?" Bethany sat back in her booth and crossed her arms. "I've seen the groupies come after you, when you finish a show. It's like a switch is flipped or something. One minute they see you and home in on you like vultures. The next, they just don't see you, and they go wandering off. And when we're out like this?" She gestured around the room. "When I'm with you, nobody sees me, either. Why do you think I asked you to come up to my suite, instead of meeting somewhere? If someone sees me out on the street before I meet you, it's a lost cause."

"She's good," Megan murmured.

"We're magicians. Illusion is what we do," Alexi said with another grin.


"You're more than magicians. So, what are you?" Bethany sat forward, elbows planted on the table, projecting belligerence and determination as hard as she could.