Christmas Blessings to You!

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 21^st 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?

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 21^st 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 21^st 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.  

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.

Off the Bookshelf: 15 DAYS TO WRITE AND SUBMIT A SHORT STORY, by Joe Bunting

This is a workbook meant to go with the writing book, "Let's Write a Short Story!" by the same author.

Keep in mind that with many aspects of creative writing, what works for one person does not mean it must and will work for everyone else. We all have unique brains and unique viewpoints and approaches to the task of writing. This workbook will be helpful for people who have never tried writing short stories, or those who are novices at writing, period. For those who are "set in their ways" in terms of coming up with a story idea, a plot, organizing, researching, revising, this might chafe in places.

The cardinal rule in writing, once you get past the mechanics, is that there basically are no rules. You have to do what feeds your soul and take the route that works for you.

That being said, this is a handy little workbook that is worth following at least once, just to figure out what you can do, how it can help, and maybe even teach you a new approach -- and new approaches can sometimes solve problems you weren't even aware you had. You know, those brainstorm, bolt of lightning moments.

The exercises take some of the fear and angsting (yeah, I made up that word, so sue me!) out of trying to sit down and write a short story for the first time, because the author starts out by asking for only an hour of your time every day. He chops up the tasks and exercises into bite-size pieces. Very helpful. There's wise advice scattered throughout, such as keeping a notebook or recorder or something at hand at all times to capture those moments of inspiration that always seem to come at the most awkward and inconvenient moments. (For me, that's usually in the 10 minutes before the service starts on Sunday morning. Don't know why ... but yes, I keep a thick notebook in my purse. I've also resorted to the Dragon dictation software for my iPhone, to get ideas down when I'm on a long drive and can't pull over to the side of the road every other mile to write down another idea.)

Along with exercises such as reading assignments, there are resources that could prove helpful, and questions to answer to untangle ideas and fill in blanks.

Try it at least once. You might be surprised what help it can give you.

Off the Bookshelf: HOW TO MARKET A BOOK, 3rd Edition, Joanna Penn

There's a very good reason why this is the 3rd edition of this book: Authors read it, need it, use it -- and the frightening jungle of marketing your own book keeps growing and changing and coming up with new possibilities and hurdles and traps to overcome.

The author learned everything she is passing along by DOING. By paying attention and figuring out what worked, what didn't, and why.

Of course, there's the old adage that 50% of marketing works, but no one is quite sure which 50% it is.

You have to figure out what your book needs, what the specific market and audience might be, and then what will work in those specific circumstances.

One important piece of advice the author repeats: Don't try to do it all. Depending on your progress in the whole writing-and-promoting-and-marketing journey, you won't be ready to do it all, you won't need to do it all, and trying to do it all will drive you crazy, along with using up time and energy you still need to pursue your writing career.

Starting with the basics of marketing principles and book fundamentals, then moving on to tricky things like platforms, social media, self-publishing tips, book launches, video, podcasts, advertising, and more, you can figure out exactly what you need, what you should do, and what you're able to do. Start small, start slowly, build up confidence and skill, and expand your reach when it feels right for you.

This is a book writers can keep going back to again and again, adding to their arsenal. And as the market and marketing possibilities and opportunities change, there will probably be new editions, to take it all in.

Off the Bookshelf: WRITING SUCCESS, Your Book from Start to Finish to Publication

Featuring writing advice and guidance and how-to from names in the writing business:

Karen Ball
Erin Taylor Young
James Scott Bell
Mary Demuth
Tricia Goyer
Cindy Coloma
Erin Macpherson
Allie Pleiter
Susan Mary Warren

Got some questions about a part of preparing to write your book, writing it, revising and editing it, promotion? You can probably find an answer in this book. Or what's better, ideas for how to handle your problems. One great thing about this book is the authors offering their advice are honest enough, humble enough, to tell you that just because it works for them, that doesn't mean that's the ONLY way to handle that part of the writing process. We're all different. We all have different viewpoints, different needs, different barriers. Take what you learn from this book and adapt it to suit your needs. Don't ever cripple yourself by forcing yourself to do it the way someone else does, exactly as they do it, just because that person is famous.

This is a BIG book. There is a lot of useful information in here. Take your time going through it. Even if the section you're reading doesn't deal with anything that's giving you a problem. Probably in the future you will have trouble, and you might just have an easier time because of what you read here. Of course, you'll have the book to refer to in the future. Just saying ...

Off the Bookshelf: TORN, by Amanda Hocking

YA fantasy here, with enough of an intricately built world, I admit to having some trouble getting "into" it by the first book I read NOT being the first book.

Does that make any sense?

I picked up easily enough on the dynamics, the warring factions, the history of the heroine, without feeling like I had to wade through annoying data dumps. Yet there was always this sense of having missed out on inside information that everyone else knew. It interfered with being able to lose myself in the story.

However, that is MY problem, not the fault of the writer.

Wendy discovered in a previous book that she was a Changeling -- a baby born to another family, a Human family (mansklig) is taken , and a Trylle baby is left in his or her place, to be raised by them. Which apparently led to some real problems for Wendy and her unwilling -- drafted, shanghaied? -- mother and brother. Now she is "home," with her real mother, who just happens to be the queen, so Wendy has a lot of catching up to do, to prepare to take her mother's place.

This book just dumps more unpleasant surprises on her. Including politics and political marriage pressure. Ugh. And then there's this guy she thinks she loves, who is being all disgustingly noble and trying to discourage her, and he's just confusing her. Then this guy named Loki shows up who's charming and urges her to run away with him, but he kind of works for the bad guys ... Yeah, who can resist a handsome charming bad boy? I have to wonder if this book was written before or after Tom Hiddleston smirked his way across the big screen... (Yeah, I could look it up but I'm not gonna. Doesn't matter. This Loki belongs to the author, not Marvel.)

I had heard about Amanda Hocking for several years, and finally got hold of one of her books. I wish I had started at the beginning, though. And when I make a serious dent of depletion in my to-be-read pile (think the Leaning Tower, ready to bury me) I definitely have the first Trylle book on my hunt-and-devour list.

Off the Bookshelf: SECRETS IN DEATH, by JD Robb

Admit it, we've all wanted to take someone who has spread gossip about us and, at the very least, give them a face-plant somewhere messy and publicly humiliating. Gossips are the lowest of the low, worse than murderers, in a lot of ways. Shakespeare got it right when one character wailed about the destruction of his reputation. The suffering of a mortal wound either heals or it ends with death, but when your reputation has been shredded, it's hard to make it stop. Especially in the modern age of social media.

Dallas is on the scene -- as in, catching the victim's body as she bleeds out in a fancy bar -- when Larinda Mars, a notorious gossip reporter dies. It's natural that Dallas should take it a little personally that someone got slashed almost under her nose. She knows she saw the murderer, but identifying him or her is going to take some work because Mars had a lot of potential victims in her radar, including Dallas and those closest to her. But Mars' worst attacks weren't even public. She was a blackmailer, and making a very hefty profit from threatening to expose everyone's worst secrets and private pain. So who exactly did Mars push to the breaking point?

Another captivating jaunt into the future of New York homicide investigations, and all the complex personalities and relationships that just keep growing and changing in the In Death series. Can't wait until the next book comes out. I'm #91 in the queue at the library for DARK IN DEATH ... which doesn't come out until next year!

Off the Bookshelf: FAIREST, by Marissa Meyer

FAIREST is a play on, "Mirror, mirror on the wall, who's the fairest of them all," and gives it a really wrenching twist.

How?
Well, to start with, the "fairest" of them all doesn't look in mirrors. In fact, by the end of the book, all mirrors are outlawed.
The face she shows the world isn't hers -- stolen, in fact.
"Fair" has so many different connotations.

Meyer shows just what a talented writer she is by making us LIKE the evil stepmother/wicked witch/cruel enchantress character, Queen Levana, of the Lunar Chronicles. How? By showing how she became what she was, the reasons for the things she did. Seen through Levana's eyes, feeling her pain, you almost want to root for her. It's hard to hate someone who seems to have the whole world and all the cards stacked against her.

In many ways, yes, she is the best ruler Luna ever had ... but considering the self-centered, egotistical cretins who came before her, that's really not saying much. Maybe the worst kind of criminal is the one who honestly has good intentions. Or at least has convinced herself her intentions are good. But you know what they say about a road paved with good intentions.

If you love the Lunar Chronicles, you don't want to miss this part of the story, no matter how much it makes you squirm.

Off the Bookshelf: IRON DAUGHTER, by Julie Kagawa

Okay, call this the Overdrive Effect.

Take a print book off the to-be-read pile. Read it. Really like it. Want MORE. Go to Overdrive and find e-book versions of the next couple books in the series. Borrow the next 3 books from the library, in e-book format. Instant gratification.

And then you have a deadline to read those 3 books in the next 3 weeks. And you DO it. Because the stories are good. And it also helps if 2 of the 3 books are novellas ...

This is the 2nd novel, and the third story in the Iron Fey series.

IRON DAUGHTER takes up after the novella, Winter's Passage, in which Meghan fulfills her promise to go to the Unseelie Court/Winter Court in payment for Prince Ash helping to rescue her brother from the Iron King's realm.

When the story starts, she is still a miserable guest in the Winter Court. Ash is either not there, or he's pretty nasty to her. Not a good time for a girl who beat the Iron King and finds out she's a half-breed faerie princess, but basically nobody likes her. You'd think the girl would be finally coming into her own. Learning magic, finding out she's a princess, and all that. Except that her magic doesn't seem to work. Bummer.

Things get worse when she's accused of murder and theft and blamed for starting a war. Fortunately, some old friends and allies show up, and former nemeses turn into allies, as they set off on a quest -- and run from people who want to kill them all, starting with Meghan -- to return a magic scepter and stop the war. Major heartbreak. Major danger. Meghan proves she's a pretty tough kid, doing what's right no matter how much it hurts. And yeah, messing up when it comes to her love life because after all, she is still a kid in high school.

Loved it when she got to attend the prom -- purely for magical energy-gathering purposes, of course -- and the jerks who snubbed and mocked her end up hitting on her, and she's the envy of every single girl in the school because of the two guys who are her escorts. Yes, two escorts.

Can I say I'm totally tempted to download the next 3 or 4 books in the series and binge-read them, too? Alas, I must desist, because I have some deadlines to make, writing-wise. Best to save more Iron Fey books as rewards for getting work done. Reward yourself and read as many of these as you can!

Off the Bookshelf: SUMMER'S CROSSING, by Julie Kagawa

Another novella in the Iron Fey series.

This one is told through the eyes of Puck, Robin Goodfellow, and a dozen other names among the Fey. Puck is the ultimate mischief-maker and rabble-rouser. A good ally to have on your side, if you can trust him to stay on your side.

Puck was once good friends with Ash, prince of the Winter Fey, otherwise known as the Unseelie Court. Ash has vowed to kill Puck, blaming him for the death of the girl he loved. Now things are complicated because Ash and Puck are both in love with Meghan Chase, heroine of the Iron Fey books.

Ash has a vow to fulfill to Meghan, and a promise to fulfill to a rebel Fey queen that he can't get out of. Before Ash can find their ally, Grimalkin, he has to steal something from the Seelie Court. Much against his will, he accepts Puck's help.

Things get a lot more complicated when Oberon shows up and points out to Puck that if he betrays Ash while he's in the Summer Court, then his rival will be destroyed ... and Puck can finally win Meghan's heart.

Will Puck double and triple-cross and pay his debts or just add to them?
Read and find out!

Off the Bookshelf: WINTER'S PASSAGE, by Julie Kagawa

The next book in the Iron Fey series is a novella.

Right on the heels of the events of THE IRON KING, Meghan and Ash head back into the land of faery. She made a deal with Ash and now she has to follow through. In return for his help in rescuing her brother, kidnapped by the Iron King, Meghan must go with him to the court of Queen Mab.

Of course, magical creatures -- frightening ones -- are hunting for the half-blood daughter of King Oberon.

Their chase takes readers into some more creepy yet fascinating spots where the world of the faery overlaps the Human world, with magical creatures living opening among them -- and Humans don't see, or at least don't notice.

Of course, when Meghan finally gets to the icy underground kingdom of the Unseelie Court, things don't look very good at all. And that's the subject of the next book, IRON DAUGHTER.

Thank goodness for Overdrive and borrowing e-books from the library, and being able to download and start reading instantly. I wanna know what happens next!

Book of the Week, FELIN-RU, Wildvine Book 3

Wildvine Series
Book 3
Fantasy

From Writers Exchange

            “Doc?” Daniel resisted the urge to yank on his guardian’s sleeve. He felt very small and lost.

            

A rocky mountainside spread around him, sloping downward to the foot of the Silver Mountains reservation. This was where all the rangers and investigators and scientists who had studied wind and rain directions and angle of descent said he should have come through the mountains, that day he was found.

            “Daniel?” Khyber stood on his other side, bracketing him between her and their teacher. “Are you okay?” she said, dropping to a whisper, and squeezed his shoulder. “You’re white.”

            He shook his head, though now that she said it, he did feel a little queasy.

            This was wrong. Very wrong. He looked at a row of three trees and his mind told him he should see a pile of boulders instead. He saw a gouge in the landscape where water runoff had worn away softer soil between the bedrock of this slope -- memory said he should find slabs of moss in scarlet and purple, and a slight mound instead of a gap in the rock. Daniel tried to remember the wind and rain and flashes of lightning Khyber had described when she went through the same storm only a few hundred yards away.

            Nothing.

            Something did flicker at the back of his mind, a memory trying to surface, but he got hazy images of sunshine and trees and emerald lawns and heard flickers of laughter.

            Those shadowy creatures from his dreams were there, though. Big and black, towering over him, only the jewel-toned eyes distinct in sapphire, emerald, and a deep purple that made him think of snow-topped mountains at dusk.

            Dr. Harland linked their arms and drew him close. “What’s wrong?” He signaled the ranger retracing the “scene of the crime” to stop.

            “Sit him down,” Khyber urged.

            Daniel grinned crookedly as he realized that the world was tilting. He leaned against Dr. Harland while Khyber dabbed at his face with her red bandanna and the contents of her canteen.

            A cat-like creature with green and silver fur peered through Khyber’s loose hair, perched on her left shoulder, watching Daniel most solemnly.

            That was enough. He shut his eyes tight and clenched his fists and wished the illusions to go away.

Book of the Week, FELIN-RU, Wildvine Book 3

Wildvine Series
Book 3
Fantasy

From Writers Exchange

            She knew mud and cold and darkness and the ache in her head and the squirming little boy in her arms. He took a deep breath and she instantly pressed her hand over his mouth to smother another squall. He struggled for a little bit, until she tightened her arms around him. Then he quieted. Just like all the other times he had tried to protest their silence and stillness.

            They had to be quiet. They had to sit perfectly still here in the darkness. They had to stay where they were and never move again.

            “Why” had no part in survival.

            The world consisted of the darkness and the smell of rotting wood around her, the slimy feeling against her bare arms and the sharpness of splinters against her back, the chill mud squishing between her bare toes -- and the smell of dirty diaper coming from the little boy.

            After a time, the darkness grew grainy and turned to gray. She looked up into an immense, reeking darkness. She looked straight forward and watched the darkness shift into more gray with patterns running through it.

            Gradually, in time with the pulsing of growing ache in her head, the patterns turned into trees. She sat inside a huge, rotted hollow tree, holding a blond, filthy little boy in her arms.

            She wore shredded green flannel pajamas. The little boy wore a diaper and a T-shirt. Both of them were streaked with mud and darker marks.

            Her mind shied away from examining too closely to see what those darker marks were.

Book of the Week, FELIN-RU, Wildvine Book 3

Wildvine Series
Book 3
Fantasy

From Writers Exchange

Daniel was a mystery, found injured, lost, and unconscious on a mountainside after a freak storm. His miracle recovery and then his brilliant mind made medical history. 

Wren lost all her memory after witnessing the murders of her parents. The trauma in their childhoods unlocked Talents that it would take years for them to explore and understand.

Grown, Daniel escaped his university existence, and set out to explore and search for answers to the mysteries in his life. Taking refuge with a school friend's family, he met Wren, and the two discovered an instant bond of mind and soul and heart. Guarded by the mysterious, interdimensional shadow creatures Daniel knew only as the felin-ru, they dared to try to make a life together.

Off the Bookshelf: THE IRON KING, Julie Kagawa

Book 1 of the Iron Fey series.

Be honest -- what girl wouldn't want to find out she was a faery princess?

Read Meghan's story, and you'll probably change your mind. For one thing, there's finding out that your father isn't your father, and this cold-hearted, coldly beautiful faery king has just announced you're his little girl, but he really, really didn't want a father-daughter reunion. Ever. Then there's the faery king's wife to deal with. She can be kind of nasty toward the illegitimate daughter. Then there are the other denizens of the faery world, who make the political game players in Congress look like a bunch of runny-nose Kindergarteners in need of a nap and a diaper change. (Well ... yeah! And a good paddling and a looooong time out. But that's another story altogether.)

Then there's the whole problem of iron being deadly to the residents of the faery realms.

So when a new king shows up, with not only immunity to, but power over iron, things are starting to get shaken up pretty badly. It's war, like the realms of faery have never known it.

And guess who's in the middle, because as a half-breed,she's immune to iron? Yep. And Meghan thought being teased by the pretty and popular and nasty kids at school was rough. Oh, yeah, and the Iron King has kidnapped her little brother and left a pretty nasty, matricidal changeling in his place. Just to force Meghan to come to him, on his turf. Because he has big plans for her. This girl's got a lot on her plate. Fortunately -- or maybe unfortunately -- she's got some magical friends, or at least allies on her side. Maybe. Turns out one isn't sure if he should help her or kill her.

Yeah, and you wanted to be a faery princess?

I gotta remember to look for the next book in the Iron Fey series when I hit the bookstore tomorrow. Fascinating.

Book of the Week, ISTORICA, Wildvine Book 2

Wildvine Series
Book 2
Fantasy

From Writers Exchange

“They’re kinda stupid, aren’t they?” Bree whispered when they reached the top of the stairs.

Twist-feather hit the door with her elongated tail so it banged shut without Khyber having to reach back and close it.

“They’re just jealous of us,” Khyber answered after a moment of thought. She shared a grin with Bree, then choked a moment later when the little girl reached up and twined her warm little fingers through hers.

There, very clear, like a zap of lightning from her toes to the ends of her hair, yet cool and refreshing -- that was the sealing of their filar bond.

Now Khyber believed.

She slid her books into the crook of her other arm and turned her hand to grip Bree’s little hand. They started down the hallway to the living room where the Council waited.

Can you hear me?

Bree’s wide-eyed delight brought a bubble of laughter into Khyber’s throat.

Filar, remember? She tipped her head back, gesturing with her chin toward the door of the living room. “We’ve got some work to do. Let’s get it done so we can get away from everybody and figure things out.”

“Like what?” Bree reached up her free hand, offering to take some of Khyber’s books.

“Well … do you like the top bunk or the bottom? You’re probably staying with us, and I have bunk beds.”

“We’re sisters now, aren’t we?”

“Better than sisters,” Khyber said, two steps away from the living room door.

They paused in the doorway and the pleased smile and nod from her grandmother and from Kirstan made her feel several feet taller.

Book of the Week, ISTORICA, Wildvine Book 2

Wildvine Series
Book 2
Fantasy

From Writers Exchange

“Maybe you have another gift awakening,” Jayra said.

“Huh?” Khyber turned so fast on one heel, she nearly knocked herself off both feet as she stared at her mother. Where had those words come from? If Jayra was had tapped the parent-child bond, Khyber should have felt it.

The kl’resti, Twist-Feather, chuckled and spun like a corkscrew through the air above the picnic grounds in the Logon town park. She shifted through the rainbow three times before coming to rest on the teen girl’s right shoulder. Her butterfly wings folded into her back and she took on the feathery cat features that seemed to be her favorite shape.

“You’ve been restless since we got to the park,” her mother said.

“Don’t frighten her,” her father, Kyle said, coming up to the picnic table with an armload of blankets to put on the ground.

“What’s to be frightened of?” Khyber grinned, immediately relaxing, and shrugged to launch Twist-Feather back into the air. “Being an Istorica is boring.”

“It’s a headache,” he corrected with a grin for his wife. He shuddered in exaggeration and turned to head back to their truck.

“Make up your mind,” Jayra said, sticking her tongue out at him, earning a chuckle from their daughter. “It can’t be boring and frightening.”

Book of the Week, ISTORICA, Wildvine Book 2

Wildvine Series
Book 2
Fantasy

From Writers Exchange

Khyber was Istorica for the exiles--the one entrusted with remembering all their history, everything they learned. Despite the support of Grandmother, Dayree, she felt she had let down her family by not being able to step between worlds and take the exiles home.

She had many gifts, but it was her talent for telling stories that offered the exiles a chance to reach out and find others with Talents, lost on Earth. However, enemies had followed the exiles to Earth, and the only way to protect her family, her village, was to live separated from them, under a false name. 

For the sake of the exiles, Khyber would do whatever it took...and in the process found her way home.

Off the Bookshelf: 13 TREASURES, Michelle Harrison

Tanya can see faeries. She has the second sight. She doesn't know why or how.

Problem: the fairies are doggone mean. They cause problems, they do things to her she has to lie about to cover up, because no one else can see the faeries, no one believes in faeries. She's turning into a problem child.

When Tanya's mother can't take it anymore, she ships the problem child off to the country, to the family estate. Florence, Tanya's grandmother, doesn't want her there.

Finding out why Florence doesn't want Tanya around takes until the end of the book. The proud old woman has some pretty awful, painful secrets and fears. Meanwhile, odd things are happening. Fabian, the boy who lives in the house, seems to be both nemesis and ally. Then there's the odd old woman, Mad Morag, who some people say is a witch. And the catacombs where people have gone missing,disappearing altogether. And the mystery of a 14-year-old girl who disappeared 50 years before, who is tangled up in the lives of everyone in the house. Because she's still 14.

There is magic and curses, broken promises and and liars and schemers. When Tanya sets out to help someone who is unfairly accused of a horrible crime, she steps into a trap that has been waiting to close on her since the day she was born. Will she escape? Will she survive?

Do I have to say it? Read the book! It's one of those quiet books that get you tangled and drawn in before you know it. Read it in big chunks. Reading just a chapter at a time won't do.

Book of the Week, JA'HANNA, Wildvine Book 1

Wildvine Series Book 1
Fantasy

From Writers Exchange

"Ha!" Neelian shrieked, as she popped out of thin air onto the gravel of the trail. She lunged, off balance and disoriented for a precious two seconds.

Dayree spun sharply left, when common sense said to turn right and leap onto the trail.

Neelian fell to her knees on the place where Dayree should have been. Her triumphant cry turned to a yelp of pain.

Dayree's skin tingled on her left arm. She turned, sensing power at work like when her father created an illusion solid enough to hold in her hands. Neelian appeared only three steps away. Dayree twisted back toward the trail, putting all her strength into her legs. Neelian let out a shriek, echoed by her brother and cousin as they stumbled onto the gravel path and lunged at Dayree.

She leaped out of their way and threw herself straight at Neelian.

Dayree wished she could Skip, just once. Anywhere away from here. To her parents' suite. To the Council's chamber, to prove to them she did have Talent. To the forest gate. Even twenty steps away, to startle her enemies and give her time to flee.

Neelian yelped and her arms automatically closed around Dayree as their chests collided.

The world went blank for a heartbeat, then reappeared, with the sunlight at a different angle and brighter. The smells were no longer of green, moldering forest life but flowers and stone baking in the hot afternoon sunlight.

Neelian collapsed to the grass, retching, shaking, her wheat-toned skin like alabaster. Dayree staggered backwards a few steps, straining to find Noris and Miklan before they attacked.

Her hand touched iron bars. She turned, stumbling, and stared at the forest gate.

Ten steps into the outer gardens, Dayree could think clearly enough to wonder how that had happened. The forest gate was nearly ten minutes' walk from the spot on the trail where the three had ambushed her. Neelian had only enough strength and control to Skip from one floor to the next in the Clan House, and that effort left her breathless and dizzy for a good ten-count. How had they Skipped so far?

Book of the Week, JA'HANNA, Wildvine Book 1

Wildvine Series
Book 1
Fantasy

From Writers Exchange

Another stick snapped. Leaves rustled. Her hunter was clumsy. Her cousin, Kedrin, said the overconfidence of one's opponents was often the best weapon to turn against them.

Branches rustled, off to her left. Between her and the trail. She paused and pretended to examine a skinny, prickly little plant with one long stem, one blossom and only four leaves.

In that pause, only six or seven seconds at the most, she heard more movement. Branches rustling, the scratching sound of thorns on cloth, twigs snapping underfoot. When the faint, almost non-existent breeze died for a few seconds, she even heard breathing.

More than one person followed her, making clumsy attempts at stealth. They were all together in one place. No one had thought to separate to surround her.

She was too far from the gates to call for help. Dayree whispered a prayer to D'hune and straightened from her pretend examination of the plant. She stretched her arms to the sky and forced a yawn. Let them think she was tired and not paying attention.

Too bad the stealth games her cousins taught her had to be used against her own clan, rather than the Tobrizz or other enemies.

Book of the Week: JA'HANNA, Wildvine Book 1

Wildvine Series
Fantasy

From Writers Exchange

In multiple worlds, universes and dimensions of reality, there are tales of Hub Worlds, where many different realms can meet and intersect. Some travel between worlds through the power of the mind and Talents born into the blood, while others are chosen through vision and prophecy and step between worlds with the power of talismans. None can go to the others' worlds, except when they meet in a Hub World.

Wildvine County, somewhere in the United States, is that pivotal point where the travelers from

multiple worlds and universes meet.


Dayree was born to a powerful family in the Taksearhe Clan. She was expected to have strong Talents, yet her gifts never emerged. Mocked by some, ignored by others, she took the opportunities offered to her and explored other gifts, becoming a craftsman and then a teacher. In the process, she found her soulmate, Jayx.


Years later, when their village was threatened by rebels who wanted to control their world, Dayree's gift awakened, enabling her talented cousin to evacuate the entire village to safety--stepping through the vortex between worlds, to a planet called Earth.

Book of the Week: NOVA VENDETTA #2: The Truce

Commonwealth Universe

Downfall Era/Era I

The Sorendaal/Pirate novels

From Writers Exchange

“What’s been going on outside?” Niall finally asked, when the hubbub finally calmed down and people went back to their bunks, got in line to use the sanitary cabinets now that there was hot water available, or gathered at the other table groupings to talk. Kimber and Sureena and the leaders of the prisoners in the other compartment joined the command team and Dr. Hallbar. It was time for a serious conversation, to finally get facts and decide what they could do.

“All clear, Doctor.” Selendon’s voice came through the medical insignia pin on the doctor’s collar. “Tell them whatever they want to know. It’s the only way we’re going to survive.”

“Tell me, Commodore,” Niall said, struggling to keep his voice calm, though it still felt like his throat had been scraped with sand, “did you authorize--“

“Absolutely not. And you should know that the ship punished those skabblenaqs before we even knew what was going on.”

“How?” He met Dr. Hallbar’s gaze, saw the shift to bleakness mixed with something like weary horror.

“Everything that could go wrong in the room where they conducting their questioning,” the doctor began.

“This is no time for niceties, Dru,” Selendon cut in. “Call it what it was, torture, plain and simple. The ship turned everything backwards in the room. We’re still trying to untangle the programming, figure out if it was a cascade failure on a massive scale, or this ship of … it’s our ship, not mine any longer.” A gusting sigh came through the connection, buzzing a little. “Our ship might just be sentient. Somehow. An angry, confused, hurting, frightened child, lashing out at the ones who hurt its friends. Or maybe even part of its consciousness. Who knows? We have no access to any of the research, any of the theories or science behind what the researchers were doing when they built the ship. Too much was either lost or deliberately destroyed and hidden.”

Book of the Week: NOVA VENDETTA #2: The Truce

Commonwealth Universe

Downfall Era/Era I

The Sorendaal/Pirate novels

From Writers Exchange

At the end of twelve days, Niall was escorted to the captured RA ship -- expected. The cargo bays had been modified into dormitories, and all the former crew of the Nova Vendetta were housed there -- also expected. The section where Niall was left contained almost all of his command crew -- not expected. He hadn’t identified anyone by name, but then again, Selendon also hadn’t asked about any of his tribe.

Everyone wore clothes similar to his. Simple, long tunics and loose trousers and shipboard-boots with magnetic plates in the soles. Dark cloth in blue, green or brown, with the silver sensor threads woven into a loose square over their hearts. Niall looked around the dormitory room with bunks for thirty and found an unoccupied bunk. He assumed it was unoccupied because the sleeping sack was still rolled up on one end, unlike the other bunks. Most of them had bags hanging from the support posts, just like the bag given him when he was finally dismissed from Selendon’s office for the last time. There were a few personal items in his bag, retrieved from his prison quarters. He assumed everyone else had been given the opportunity to find something they valued, to take to their next point of incarceration.

“They fixed the engines,” Nesta said, approaching him.

“Their mistake.”

“They’re listening,” Doc said from a bunk two rows away.

“We’ve had bigger challenges.” Niall sat down and settled the bag at his feet. He closed his eyes and felt the rumble of the engines coming up from the deck, through his boots. Flickers of his hallucination-dreams came to him, and he shivered deep inside as he imagined the Nova Vendetta had welcomed him home.