New Release sample: LIARS' QUEST

NEW AND AVAILABLE TODAY!

In paper, ebook and audiobook.

If you'd like to taste test before buying, check out a few episodes from Season 1 of the Ye Olde Dragon's Library storytelling podcast.

Note: If you were listening during Season 1, this was a work-in-progress, and an experiment, where I asked for input from listeners, to help in the final revisions and polishing process. There are slight differences in details between the original podcast episodes of LIARS' QUEST, and the book now available online in bookstores and from audiobook apps. Not noticeable, unless you were really listening closely. If you were -- Thanks!

The sequel, BEASTLY BEAUTY, is scheduled to be released on the podcast in September, as well as in print, ebook, and audiobook. Stay tuned. Better yet, look for the Ye Olde Dragon's Library group on Patreon, join, and support the podcast -- and claim free short stories and other goodies as they become available!

*****

 “Leach potion, mi’lady?” Ash asked. She looked up at Leena and caught her breath at the brief expression of hurt and anger that touched her face, gone as quickly as it appeared.

“A tonic originally created, they say, to ease the suffering of those awakening to their inborn magic but having a hard time of it.” She rested a hand on Ash’s shoulder, guiding her to walk a little faster as they cut a corner across the horse meadow and came to the low, raw stone wall separating it from the cow pasture. “Magic doesn’t always arise easily for those chosen to bear the weight. Sometimes the power hurts. Sometimes it steals the mind. Sometimes it crushes the body with a heavy burden that the bearer never recovers from. Why do you think seers are usually blind? Why do you think so many healers are twisted and broken in some way? The magic needs a power source, and when the channels for power to feed that magic are blocked or are thin and twisted, the magic draws its strength from the flesh of the possessor, who is then possessed. The master becomes the servant.” She inhaled slowly, deeply, with thin lines forming around her eyes and mouth, just for a moment. “Watch your feet.”

Ash flushed and caught herself before she tripped over a stone partially hidden in the tall grass. She had been so fascinated by the subtle play of emotions on Leena’s face, she had ignored the land around them. A snort escaped her when she saw the brown deposits dotting the field. This was not a good place to be distracted. Best to watch where she put her feet for the time being.

New Release: PLANTWISE

 

They talked long into the stormy winter nights. That spring, Arden traveled everywhere across Westerland, and when it was safe, crossed the borders to the farming and woodland communities of neighboring kingdoms, seeking the old stories and half-forgotten and only rumored bits of the most ancient magic. She visited huts and cottages where the hedgelores were kept by word of mouth and herb mistresses stored their memories in tiny living trees. She spent days digging through ancient libraries full of dusty scrolls and newly printed books, looking for stories and theories. Glynna had never encountered another green magic-wielder during her decades traveling the continent, and Arden didn’t dare cross the sea to another continent to seek out another plantwise with more knowledge and experience than Glynna. Until Yeshen heard their prayers and sent the Steward to talk with them, they could only work based on speculations.

Spring turned to summer and Arden was busy with her usual duties during the growing season. She sometimes wept in gratitude that she wasn’t so distracted with her new quest that she shorted Westerland. The harvest was doubly bountiful that year, and all her travels served to spread the blessing of her magic, even into neighboring kingdoms. Glynna just chuckled when they received news of that and reminded Arden that magic and Giftings needed to be shared, and grew more powerful with the sharing.

Still, despite the bounty she had brought to Westerland, Arden was relieved to settle down after the harvest. She talked to herb wives and lore masters and ancient grannies and gaffers sitting at the fires as winter howled around them and tried to reach down the chimneys.

When spring came again, so did the Steward.

Storytellers Episode: Ye Olde Dragon's Library podcast, featuring JIM DORAN

 Today's storyteller episode of the Ye Olde Dragon's Library podcast is a chat with Jim
Doran, who has two stories in the Ye Olde Dragon Books classic monster anthologies: Frankenstein's Manor and Lonely is the Hunt.

If you haven't listened to the podcast yet, or if you're coming in some time later, it's Episode #12, and released on Saturday, June 24. How about stepping over to the podcast page and listen, then come back here? You'll be glad you did! https://yeoldedragonbooks.com/ye-olde-dragons-library-storytelling-podcast/

Below is Jim's online information, where you can find him and

learn more about his books, along with the covers of all his books. If you like fairytales that take a different angle, and you enjoyed Once Upon a Time or 10th Kingdom ... these books might just be right up your alley!

Website and blog: https://jimdorantales.com

On Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/KingdomComeFantasyNovel

On Twitter:  https://twitter.com/JDoran711

On Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/jimdoranauthor/

On Amazon:  https://www.amazon.com/stores/Jim-Doran/author/B082ZC8R6N

Upcoming release sample: LIARS' QUEST

Leena escorted Ash out of the castle. Lady Charlotte asked her to do it to protect her from Winston’s few manservants who were loyal enough to try to harm her. Ash glimpsed one of them and wondered if the wrinkly, sour-faced man had some kind of magic that he would try to use against her. She couldn’t imagine any other way he could best her.

“Hmm, they’re all like that,” Leena said, when she caught Ash watching the man as they crossed the main courtyard of the castle. “Only the desperate are willing to put up with the pitiful wages my father offers, and they’re the only ones Lathia doesn’t terrify.”

Ash didn’t feel any tingling or stinging in her two stars, but she suspected using her two birthmarks to detect the presence of magic might be a dangerous kind of mistake. When she asked if the manservants had any magic, Leena laughed under her breath.

“If they ever had any, they foreswore it or stifled it, working for my father. He’s the sort who won’t allow anyone around him to be more powerful. People say my mother’s family has magic in their blood, but what fledgling magic she had faded away after she married him.” She didn’t continue until they had crossed the dancing meadow that lay between the castle’s outer walls and the first of the pastures for horses and cattle. “My patron fears that the leach potion still exists, and my father or perhaps his father obtained a large supply of it, and they erased what magic my mother had, and I might have had.”
 

Lookee -- Cool stuff I found in research!

 

New Release: PLANTWISE

Arden’s fifteenth birthday had been like a silent signal to other kingdoms with sons looking for brides. Two days before Maddix arrived on a surprise visit, Prince Brandon of Ambray came on a long diplomatic mission. He made it clear that he wasn’t there entirely to discuss trade agreements and problems with brigands on the shared border with Westerland. He was a wonderful dancer and didn’t even blink the first time he saw Arden riding astride, in trousers, rather than side-saddle. Prince Tomas of Zashenbourg had choked and stumbled when he saw her riding, but he had a lovely baritone voice and could compose funny rhymes at a moment’s notice. Both princes made it clear they extended their stays to inconvenience each other, and Maddix. Arden was slightly ashamed to realize she liked how Maddix glared at the other two princes, and she felt a funny sense of gleeful pride when he lost his elegant manners and snarled at them.

He managed to meet up with her for a few moments of privacy in the gardens at dusk. Just long enough for one startling stolen kiss before her closest companion and lady’s maid, Caitlyn, caught up with them. That was all they had, but it was enough to dream on for months afterward.

That sudden influx of suitors slapped Arden hard with a realization she hadn’t fully considered, except as something far off and slightly unreal: when she married, she would have to leave Westerland. The more she thought about leaving the fields and forests, the farms and villages she loved, the little ache deepened in her soul. How could she be happy in her new home if she had abandoned her first duty, her first love? The thought of Westerland having no one to guard the grasses and wild flowers and encourage the grain to grow tall and sweet saddened her. As the winter snows deepened, she confided her trepidation to Glynna. If only there were some way she could leave part of herself in the land of her birth.
 

COUNTDOWN UNTIL RELEASE DAY

 

Countdown!!

LIARS' QUEST releases June 30, in print, ebook, and audiobook.

I'm near the end of the first draft of BEASTLY BEAUTY, the next book in the Enchanted Castle Archives. It's a lot of fun, but you'll need to read LIARS' QUEST first.

Still looking for reviewers for this book. Anyone interested? Message me and I'll send you the Book Funnel link ASAP.

What's the book about?

Two maidens, spoiled lady and clever servant, accuser and accused, are sent on a quest to prove who is innocent. Awakening magic and quirky companions make the journey … interesting.

From YeOldeDragonBooks.com

Oh, and did I mention that right now you can pre-order the book at a discount?

Storytellers Episode, Ye Olde Dragon's Library, featuring Cassandra Hamm

Today we chat with author Cassandra Hamm, who has stories in multiple anthologies, and is the coordinator as well as contributor for the upcoming anthology, THE SUN STILL RISES, in honor of the late fantasy author Lani Forbes. 

She has two stories in anthologies by Ye Olde Dragon Books:

SHADOW OF THE CINCHONA GROVE, in When Your Beauty IS the Beast

OCEAN SHACKLES, in Tales From The Tower

Here are some of her covers.

After you've listened to the podcast, either on your favorite podcast app or on the Ye Olde Dragon Books site:

 https://yeoldedragonbooks.com/ye-olde-dragons-library-storytelling-podcast/

and you'd like to find her and learn more about her and her books, here's where to look:

Instagram: @cassandrahammwrites

Facebook: Cassandra Hamm, Author Website: 

https://www.cassandrahamm.com

New Release: PLANTWISE

 

NOW AVAILABLE

In paper, ebook and audiobook.

PLUS, if you'd like to get a taste of the story before buying, check out the Ye Olde Dragon's Library storytelling podcast, and listen to a few chapters.

2 chapters of PLANTWISE are released each week. If you don't want to wait to hear the end of the book, you can buy the book in all three formats from your favorite online bookstore or audiobook app or at Ye Olde Dragon Books -- www.YeOldeDragonBooks.com

What's Steward's World? What's the story of PLANTWISE?

STEWARD'S WORLD

 

Magic can be learned, earned, or Gifted -- given to a person with magic potential, along with all the experience and wisdom of the one who Gifts it. Sometimes, magic-users forget the first and most important rule: Yeshen made magic to be shared, used for good. If it is stolen, hoarded, and bound with lies, it turns to poison, ruining one kingdom after another.

 

In this world of many kinds and strengths of magic, a war has been simmering for centuries, waiting to break out. Durmad waits, exiled beyond the Cascade Mountains, sending his agents into multiple kingdoms, to steal magic, enslave magic-users, and corrupt kings to serve him and his plans.

 

Steward stands against him, the duty and the magical ability passed from father to daughter, mother to son. The tides of magic and powers and the strength of kingdoms are shifting, as allies and pawns move into place in preparation for what could be the war to decide the fate of the world.

  

 

PLANTWISE

 

On her christening day, Princess Arden was Gifted with plantwise magic, a blessing to her father's farming kingdom of Westerland. Immediately, schemers began working to arrange a marriage between her and Maddix, prince of Stonemount, the neighboring kingdom and ally of Westerland.

 

Guided by agents of the despot, Durmad, Maddix grew up preparing to take over multiple kingdoms, by any means necessary. Arden was the first of several targeted brides, to marry, give him sons, and use those sons to take over their grandfathers' kingdoms.

 

Just in time, Arden resisted and escaped Maddix's schemes. To punish her, he stole the magic apple tree she created to defend Westerland, then he set out to destroy those she loved. With her daughter's life in the balance, Arden devised a desperate scheme to humiliate Maddix and save her child.

 

Her mentor warned her many times not to play by Maddix's rules, or she would risk losing everything.  What would it take for Arden to learn that lesson -- and would she learn it in time?

 

 

Princess Wronged seeks justice against Prince Not-so-charming, and learns revenge is a dish best served … not cold, but by someone else.

 

 

NOW AVAILABLE!

 

From Ye Olde Dragon Books

www.YeOldeDragonBooks.com

In paper, ebook and audiobook.

What's your listening pleasure?

We've got it!

Off the Bookshelf: THE WIZARDS OF ONCE: TWICE MAGIC, by Cressida Cowell

 

Audiobook

Narrated by David Tennant

Xar is a boy wizard, Wish is a girl warrior. They're friends, but wizards and warriors aren't supposed to be friends. They're supposed to hate and fight and kill each other. However ... Xar has broken a few important magical rules, and he's a trial to his father, the king of the wizards. Wish has a magic eye and has the power of magic that affects iron, which is supposed to be able to fight magic. She's clumsy and messy and accident-prone, and an embarrassment to her perfect, regal, icy mother, the queen of the warriors.

Naturally, the two misfit children would find each other and cause all sorts of havoc. That was in the previous book. Now they're both in trouble, locked up one way or another to protect them and try to straighten them out. Xar escapes an inescapable prison against all logic, and breaks into the warrior fortress to fetch Wish to help him on a mission to destroy the witches that have returned to the Badwoods. Hunted by witch sniffers and warriors and Droods and angry wizards and all sorts of nasty creatures who want to steal Xar and Wish's magic, the children are on a quest to get the magical ingredients for a spell that will save their world. If their parents will let them.

Delicious fun and silliness. It sounds like a cast of thousands, but this is only the amazing vocal range of David Tennant playing all the characters, creating sound effects, and even singing some extremely silly songs.

Thank goodness there's another book  in the series waiting in the queue!

Upcoming release sample: PLANTWISE

 “What is this world coming to, when healers are attacked with impunity?” Glynna’s light dimmed and she floated away from Arden and Dylon a few steps. “What kind of a fool is Durmad, that he thought his magic was strong enough to overpower Yeshen’s laws, and his tools wouldn’t suffer?”

“He doesn’t care about his tools. Grandfather is convinced the attack was to kill him, perhaps us both, not to capture and enslave us.”

“Perhaps …” Arden shuddered and the grass under her feet waved as if a breeze blew hard against it. “Auntie, what if that was the goal, to kill Prince Ambrose? What if there was someone waiting to take his Gifting before he died? Can someone steal a Gifting, if the holder is so badly injured they’re about to die, and … I don’t know … they’re tricked into giving the Gifting to the wrong person?”

“I’ve never heard of such a thing, but that sounds like something Durmad is nasty enough, desperate enough, arrogant enough, to attempt.” Sparks snapped around her and she shuddered. “What is this world coming to?” She reached out to Dylon again. “Tell Ambrose to be doubly careful. Not just of himself, but you. After all, you are his obvious heir, and whoever wants to claim his Gifting when he is gone has to get you out of the way. If not kill you outright, then at the very least separate the two of you long enough to finish their plan.”

“I will never leave his side,” the young man promised.

Book Trailer: PLANTWISE

 

Storytellers Episode, Ye Olde Dragon's Library podcast, featuring OHIO TRAIL MIX authors, part 2

 Today's guests are Ohio authors who participated in the Ohio Trail Mix anthology: Adventures and Inspiration along the Ohio Literary Trail.

Have you listened to the podcast yet?

If not, LISTEN first, then come back here for information on how to find the authors and learn more about their books!

Go to your favorite podcast app, or visit the Ye Olde Dragon Books website:

https://yeoldedragonbooks.com/ye-olde-dragons-library-storytelling-podcast/

 

If you'd like to learn more about the authors and what they've published, what they're working on now, and what's coming up, here are some of the ways to find them and get to know them:

 

Betty Kulich

 Website: Transformed-Image.com, Facebook: Transformed-Image, Instagram: Transformed_Image, Email: Contact@Transformed-Image.com, Amazon:   https://rb.gy/50eibc

 Titles:

The River: A Spiritually Transforming Journey (Christian Fiction & Book One of a Apocalyptic Trilogy: The Coming Darkness & This Present Evil Age

El Rio (The River in Spanish)

Radical Abundance: More Than We Can Ask Or Think (Anthology of 50 Devotionals, purchased through the author's website)

Ohio Trail Mix

  

Rebecca Waters

 Website: www.WatersWords.com, Amazon Author page:  https://www.amazon.com/stores/author/B00IJZM63M?ingress=0&visitId=a4e7dbbd-71f7-4260-ab25-3d6e43463025

 Titles:

Libby's Cuppa Joe (2019)

Breathing on Her Own (2014)

Learn more! Visit my site & Read my blog  

Let's connect! Follow me on Twitter & Like me on Facebook

 

JPC Allen

Website/blog: https://jpcallenwrites.com, Sign up for newsletter in sidebar:  https://jpcallenwrites.com/about/, Amazon author page:  https://www.amazon.com/stores/JPC-Allen/author/B08X1Y6FMH?

JPC Allen started her writing career in second grade with an homage to Scooby Doo. She’s been tracking down mysteries ever since and written mystery short stories and a novel. Her Christmas mystery. A Rose from the Ashes, was a Selah-finalist at the Blue Ridge Mountains Christian Writers Conference in 2020. Her first novel, a YA mystery, A Shadow on the Snow, released in 2021. Online, she offers tips and prompts to ignite the creative spark in every kind of writer . She also leads workshops for tweens, teens, and adults, encouraging them to discover the adventure of writing. Coming from a long line of Mountaineers, she is a life-long Buckeye. Follow her to the next mystery at Facebook, Instagram, Bookbub, Goodreads, and Amazon.

 

Bettie Boswell

Website: bettie.boswell.author@gmail.com, Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bettie.boswell.9, Twitter: https://twitter.com/BboswellB

 Titles

Coming July 2023-Hoping for Treasure-a Christian split time romance set during present day and post WW2

Lucy and Thunder-a picture book about overcoming fear-Mt. Zion Ridge Press

Coming sometime in 2023-Dottie's Dream Horse-a chapter book set during WWII-Elk Lake Publishing

Coming December 2023-Novella for MT. Zion Ridge Christmas in Ohio Anthology

Coming in 2024-Hidden Names, 3 Guidepost devotional contributions, Caleb and Great-Grandpa Fred,  My Mother

Ohio Trail Mix Anthology-A Mazza Mystery- a collection of short stories involving literary sites in Ohio (2022) Ye Olde Dragon Books

Free to Love-Prequel to On Cue-Christian Historical Romance, split time (2022) Mt. Zion Ridge Press

On Cue-A Christian Romance with heart and humor! (2020) Mt. Zion Ridge Press

Skateboarding- non-fiction-Apex/North Star Editions (2022)

Kaleidoscope: A Collection of Standards Based Lessons, Alfred Pub. 2017-Contributing Author and illustrator

From the Lake to the River: Buckeye Christian Fiction Anthology 2018, Fred's Gift, Mt. Zion Ridge Publishing-Author and cover artist for 1st ed.

Teacher Created Materials: social studies worksheets and a leveled reader, Sidetracked, published in December 2019

Devotional contributor for publications by Southern Christian Writer's Conference: Christmas Blessings-2019, Day by Day-2020, A Memoir of Mothers-2022

Orff Echo Magazine Articles: Don't Let Science Bug You; Drums, Drums Everywhere and Not a Music Room to Spare; A Medieval Masterpiece

The Christian Standard Magazine Articles: Chester Bullard: Restoration Pioneer; Broken Windows, Closed Doors, Lighted Windows

 

Michelle L. Levigne

 www.Mlevigne.com, www.MichelleLevigne.blogspot.com, www.YeOldeDragonBooks.com, www.MtZionRidgePress.com, MichelleLevigne@gmail.com

 Over 100 published novels, novellas, and short stories in SF, fantasy, romance, suspense, cozy -- YA, Middle Grade, adult, and women's fiction.

 

Upcoming Release: LIARS' QUEST

THE START OF A NEW SERIES

Have you heard the episodes on the Ye Olde Dragon's Library podcast?

Plenty of time to catch up!!

THE ENCHANTED CASTLE ARCHIVES

 

The enchanted castle lies somewhere in the enchanted forest, which touches all kingdoms.

At one time or another. There's no predicting when the portal into the forest will open.

Getting in is difficult.

Getting out is even harder.

The castle moves about in the forest, needing an anchor. And a princess.

The forest moves from kingdom to kingdom.

Until two wanderers stumble inside, and meet in their separate quests to break curses and find answers.

 

 

LIARS' QUEST

 

An orphan servant, Ash successfully masqueraded as a boy until she was nearly 15 -- then a spoiled brat nobleman's daughter accused her of assault.

A quixotic justiciar got involved, and with both girls revealed as liars, sentenced them to a quest. Ostensibly, the one who succeeded in accomplishing the list of deeds would be proven the innocent, injured party.

Ash fled to avoid being captured by the spoiled brat's servants and forced to do all the quest work for both of them. Along the way, she stumbled in and out of trouble and learned a great deal of magic -- including the magic born into her blood.

Her traveling companions: Fang the bunny, who complicated things when he was only partially turned into a vampire, and a spirit ring, to allow the justiciar to spy on her adventures. When the ring decided to become Ash's friend, then things got interesting.