Thursday's Heroes, Heroines and Villains - Second triad from Moon Summoned #MFRWauthor #fantasy

 Moon Summoned available for download at most venues

Heroine - Egeria

The harsh rasp of a strange man’s voice woke her. Where was she? Dried scallas and peppers hung from the rafters of the -- loft? She put her feet on the rough wood floor. Memories surfaced slowly. She was Egeria and this was her home. She turned her head and stared at the huge empty bed. Where was Malara? Egeria had no memories of ever sleeping alone in the loft. Always her sister had been with her.

“Where is she?” the stranger bellowed. “Malara ails.”

“Don’t shout. Egeria’s moon-touched and slow, but she obeys.”

The sound of her father’s voice drew her to the opening where a ladder led to the lower floor of the farmhouse. She stared at the stranger. Who was he?

“She should be here to tend the fire and fetch the eggs for my breakfast.”

Egeria frowned. Why did this man give orders? The farm was Malara’s legacy from their mother. She smoothed the skirt of the dress she’d slept in and pulled on the fleece-lined ankle boots. As she climbed the ladder, a wave of dizziness nearly made her fall.

She glanced around the large main room. Fireplaces stood at either end. Around one was a circle of chairs. Near the second, a more massive one, stood a long table flanked by benches and chairs at the ends. On the wall near a door, an open cupboard held dishes. Pans and kettles hung from hooks on the stone wall of the hearth.

“What kept you?” A muscular man with red hair grabbed her arm. “See to your chores.”

“Who are you?” Only garbled sounds emerged. Where were her sister and her brother?

“Idiot.” The man pushed her toward the hearth. “The fire. The eggs. Can’t you remember anything from one day to the next?”

Egeria raked ashes from the banked fire. She added kindling to the glowing coals. When the flames leaped high, she reached for several logs. This return to a routine stirred memories. She donned her cloak and lifted the egg basket.

Outside she opened the door of the pullet house. Straw spilled from the waist-high shelves on three sides of the narrow shed. She collected eggs from beneath the squawking layers. Then she spread grain in the feeding trough. Her thoughts churned with bits of knowledge.

As she returned to the house, her brother hailed her. “You are late. Has he been at you again?”

She turned. “Who?” Her tongue felt less tight.

He stepped back and shook his head. “He wouldn’t dare take you the way he has Malara. No man would harm one touched by the Mistress.” He frowned. “’Tis foolish to tell you these things for you don’t understand.” He opened the kitchen door.

His words set off an avalanche of thoughts. Tave was her father’s name. Trag, her brother’s. There’d been trouble and many soldiers. Then the stranger had come.

She put the egg basket on the table. Malara stood at the hearth. Strips of shoat sizzled on the flat stone griddle that jutted from the side of the huge fireplace. Steam rose from a kettle hanging on a hook.

The stranger put his arms around Malara and stroked her abdomen. “Are you sure you nest my son?”

Daughter, Egeria thought. How did she know that?

Malara bowed her head. “The Mistress has withdrawn her blessings from me these past two lunars. What else can it be?”

He touched her pale gold hair. Tenderness showed in his light brown eyes. He released Malara and turned to the table where Egeria placed dishes. “One place only. The rest of you eat when I’m done.” He raised his fist.

“Radon, don’t strike her,” Malara cried. “She follows a routine and your coming has made a change. She’ll learn the new pattern in time.”

He rested his elbows on the table. “Should the coming child be a girl, will it be like her?”

“If the Mistress gives me one of her daughters, I’ll rejoice. Egeria sees things we don’t. Wait ‘til you see how her garden grows and the amount of honey from her hives.” She placed a full plate in front of him.

He caught her hand. “Be glad I’m only a former soldier and not a follower of the gray priests. You’d be beaten for speaking of the whore you worship.” He shook his head. “When I took this farm as payment for my time of service, I thought I’d have an inner court of two women. After my brother arrives I’ll visit Angara and choose a handmaiden from the pens.”

Tears filled Malara’s eyes. “Radan, you can’t bring a strange woman to upset the harmony of the house.”

“Fool. I’m allowed as many women as I have coins to pay the taxes. This farm is rich. In the spring, a women’s court will be built. Then none but my eyes can feast on my women.”

Hero - Jetan

Just before the evening meal, Egeria heard an equis neigh. Radan opened the door, shouted a greeting and ran into the yard. “Jetan, come to the house. Why did you take so long to reach the farm?”

Egeria watched the men. The newcomer’s green eyes shone with laughter. His light red hair hung in a braid to the middle of his back.

“Been busy. Stopped here and there to earn coins by tending beasts.” He pointed to the equis. “This beauty was a gift from the Thamaturg after I treated his favorite mare. I’ve coins aplenty.”

Radan laughed. “For poor boys we’ve prospered. Look at my farm and house. Makes Pa’s look like nothing to brag about. There’s an orchard and a woodlot across the road that’s mine, too. Trag, take his equis.”

They brushed past Egeria. Their faces showed they shared a heritage, but the younger man was taller and leaner. He moved with a lithe grace. His eyes held none of the anger that smoldered in his brother’s eyes.

“Set a second place,” Radan ordered. “Jetan comes to stay a bit. Tave, fetch the jug of fermenti and move your things into Trag’s room.”

Malara offered hot herb-scented cloths. The man washed and sat at the table.

“My thanks, lady,” Jetan said.

Radan punched his brother’s shoulder. “No thanks needed. She does what is right to honor a guest. Have you grown soft since I last saw you?”

Jetan shook his head. “Just using the manners Ma taught us.”

“The family? Have they recovered from the earth shakes?”

“Last I heard. Not been home for more than a year. Ma was ailing. Pa beat her bad when the last born was a girl. Couldn’t help her so I left. I won’t go back.”

Radan poured fermenti into two small cups. “Neither will I. We’re best gone. Nothing for us there.” He touched his cup to Jetan’s. “You can find a place here. Lots of families need a man with coins to pay their taxes.”

Egeria placed a platter of fried pullet and hearth-roasted taters on the table. Radan gestured to Malara. “She’s first woman of my court. Carries my quickened seed.” He pulled her onto his lap. “Next week I’ll go to Angara and fetch a second woman.”

Jetan pointed to Egeria. “And her?”

Radan snorted. “Moon-touched. Locals believe to bed her will bring ill luck. Don’t want to stir them so I leave her alone.”

Jetan lifted a piece of pullet from the plate. Moon-touched? He could swear he’d seen awareness in her blue eyes. His gaze followed her movements at the hearth and his body heated with thoughts of plowing her. If he could win her, there would be no thoughts of sharing with Radan. Where did she sleep? Though if she was proscribed, he’d have to be wary. “Maybe I should visit the pens. Been near three months without a woman.”

Radan shook his head. “One of us must stay and I’ve a great need to get away. Since taking the farm at harvest, I’ve been no further than the village. Spend some days here and see if there’s a woman on one of the nearby farms you fancy.”

Jetan’s gaze drifted to Egeria. She walked like a filly newly come into season. Moon-touched? Maybe and maybe not.

The Villain - Gamish

Gamish, the Thamaturg, sat on the high seat in what had been the banqueting room of the house he’d taken from a wealthy merchant. She’d protested the seizure. To solve the problem, he’d stopped her heart.

He’d made changes in the house for his was an austere nature. Gone were the paintings, sculptures and delicate furniture. The white marble floor had been metamorphosed into a livid blue that reminded him of the merchant’s face at the moment of her death. The changes pleased him as did the extensive glass-covered gardens where he grew the herbs and flowers he used in the censor.

He lifted a dirose from a vase and watched the oily liquid drip from where he’d removed a thorn. He took care that none of the oil touched his skin for the burns were slow to heal.

His thoughts weren’t completely on his guests. He had other concerns. The servants of the Lord of Shadows had won their first battle with the creatures of the Mistress, but a second confrontation would soon take place. The things his minions and fetches had revealed had convinced him that somehow the Three had escaped to complete the ritual of transfer. Somewhere in Keltoi there were women who could hold her power. Surely they were as yet as weak as suckling babes. If he could find them before they learned control, he could subvert them and thus bring defeat to his co-rulers.

Knowledge, he thought. He must seek the identities of those who would come. He rose and strode from the hall. His gray-blue robe billowed like a storm cloud driven by a gale force wind. He reached the basement chamber where he used his talents to seek and destroy. One of his coterie was sent to the pens for a slave. While he waited for her arrival, he selected herbs from his stores. Into the censor he placed hellbane, mistle and mandra. A few drops of dirose oil completed his preparations.

Two priests dragged a wild-eyed girl into the room. Once she was shackled to the wall, Gamish dismissed the men. He tore the coarse wool robe from her trembling body. She screamed and he savored her terror. Tears ran down her cheeks. He caught them in the censor where they beaded on the dirose oil. He slashed her wrist and captured the stream of blood in the censor’s well.

With a glowing coal taken with tongs from a brazier, Gamish set the herbs aflame. A cloud of dark foul-smelling smoke rose. He inhaled the aroma and laughed. The girl’s eyes widened with fear. He swung the censor until the smoke clung to her naked body.

“Show me the one I seek, the one chosen by the Mistress of the Moons to stand against the Thamaturg of the Lord of Shadows. Become her voice.”

Slowly the fetch’s features took on a fragile beauty. Her pale blonde hair darkened to a light gold.

He grasped her breast. “Who are you? I would know your name.”

“M ... m ... moon-touched.”

He laughed. The girl’s altered features changed. “Do you want my services, Thamaturg. For a price I’ll walk with you.”

He waved the censor. “Begone, Mistress of the Dark. The Lord of Shadows has no need of you.”

The second face, at once beautiful and ugly, disappeared. Gamish stared at the girl. She screamed and struggled against the chains. Her body arched and the metal links beat against the stone in a syncopated rhythm. He heard her spine crack.

Too soon dead, he thought. There was more he needed to know. If the one he would call when it suited him hadn’t interfered, he would have more than a face to identify the one he had to seek. His laughter gurgled. The Mistress’ choice was flawed. How could a moon-touched female resist his power? He poured the smoldering contents of the censor over the fetch and watched the process of disintegration. Now only he would know the face of the one who would never be Healer.

Wednesday's Writer's Tip - Keeping The Reader's Interest Part 4 #MFRWauthor #amwriting

Now comes the tricky part where some succeed and some fail. There are many genres and sub-genres of fiction. In this day of crossing genres the writer has things to consider. Romance, Mystery, Fantasy, Suspense, Science Fiction are all major genres and they all have ways to interest a reader. A lot of writers don't write straight major genres but do a mixture of the two. That's where the problem comes in. Are you writing a somance with some aspects of suspense, mystery or one of the other genres? Or are you writing suspense with a bit of romance. Staying in the lines has become harder every day. What you need to do is examine the story you are writing and see where it falls. Then you need to know the conventions of those genres you've chosen.

One of my books is a medical suspense with a touch of romance. Finding the balance was hard because now only did I have to consider the medical aspects of the story, I had to look at the suspense elements plus the romance ones. The book on writing Structuring Your Novel From Basic Idea To Finished Manuscript lists 17 sub-genres. I won't list them but as you can see this gives you a lot to play with and to blend. I've written straight romances and some with bits of other genres. I've done the same in the mystery genre. Sometimes it's hard.

In some novels presenting interesting ideas about life, art and people can grab a writer's attention and keep them reading. I remember once reading a book where the art of glass blowing played a large role and remember how fascinated I was with this. There are other stories. Pride and Prejudice is one of my favorites and learning about the manners and actions of people to their environment interested me and kept me reading.

Tuesday's Inspiration - Characters inspired by Anne Lamott

While reading Bird by Bird again, I came across this little bit about how we don't know our characters immediately. I've found this while writing. First there's the sketchy rough draft that pays more attention to the plot than to the characters. Two or maybe three drafts later, suddenly I know my characters. That is when the book suddenly falls into place.

Being a draft writer, I spend time figuring how the story will go. Not that it always follows that sketchy rough draft. That's because as the characters become more real they take on dimensions I didn't expect.

Right now I'm writing a book Wizards of Frye. Once again there's a dragon who suddenly developed a personality and because of this he has a viewpoint in the book. Didn't really expect that though in the second book in the series the dragons had personalities but they didn't have viewpoints the way this dragon has. This has spilled over onto the other characters in the book. At least to the hero and heroine. Becauseof the way then react and interact with the dragon who is so old he ca't remember his name when he was green and young. He is now yellowed with age.

So spend time with your characters. Listen to them and suddenly they will become animated and be more than the words on the paper. Also remember when you start the book you really don't know them. Knowing takes watching them grow and change.

Meandering On Monday with Janet Lane Walters #MFRWauthor #poem

Meander 1 - Poem Cat and Mouse

Smile a subtle grin in Mond Lisa fashion.
What was once the mouse
Has tuned around to fight.
The cat is in the corner
And all around the house
There is a gathering of darkness
Of what should never be.
The mouse will tease and play the cat
And then it will escape
To sit in its little hidey hold.
Oh, who us the cat.
It's you.

Meander 2 - Nutcracker - The yearly show. This year was great and I saw all three grandchildren perform on the same night. There are nine performances, I believe so the chances of this happening is rare. Grandson is in all the performances. Boys are scarce. The children all performed flawlessly. I'm very proud of them.

Meander 3 - Writing is going not as fast as I wanted but this will change. There are always other things to do at this time of year. The wizards will soon all be typed in and then there will be a last run through. I'm pretty sure it will be good in January. As for the other project we need to meet but there are some ideas coming and so we will meet, hopefully soon so I can get the show on the road. For my friend, this heroine is very different from her others who usually speak their minds. Will have fun figuring what she wants to happen.

Sunday - My Books - Searches Affinities Book 3 #MFRWauthor #fantasy #adventure

Searches - J. L. Walters - Book Three of Affinities

Having found a safe place in a tower fortress, the four and their companions set out to find what they need to defeat Dom Senet and He Who Walks With Evil. They divide into three groups. The first group seeks the focus stones that enhance their affinities. The second group looks for the remaining artifacts, the swords, the staffs, the flutes and the scrying bowls. The third group sets out to find those with their affinities to round the groups to four of earth, four water, four air and four fire. Their strength will be needed in the final battle.

Available : Searches (Affinities Book 3 - Young Adult Fantasy, Books We Love), https://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-searches-1214668-153.html. https://store.kobobooks.com/en-us/ebook/searches-1, http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/searches-jl-walters/1116731969?ean=2940046502701, https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/318995

Saturday's Blurbs - Books by S. B. Redstone

.

Lance Forrester is a dreamer. After a celebrated career as an astronaut and engineer, he and a friend built a secret spacecraft to seek their destinies in the stars. But, his friend died. Now that Lance has terminal cancer, he hopes to convince Sage who he hasn’t seen since high school, to join him on his quest to reach an advanced alien civilization and immortality.

Sage Saint Charles lived a wild and notorious life in Hollywood before she descended into obscurity as a social recluse. Sage has regrets, more regrets than a person should have. When her drowsy eyes open, in hospice care, an unfamiliar old man is standing at her bedside.

Stardust Dreams is a love story. This unique tale of hope and faith is so realistic you just might feel you’ve gone along on their madcap adventure into the galaxy. Unfortunately, true life is not a child’s fairy tale. If Lance and Sage are to achieve their happiness , they must first overcome the emotional scars of their pasts. With every turn of the page, you’ll delight in the fascination and mystery of unknown worlds and destinies.   

***

A psychopathic killer on a quest leaves behind a string of brutal murders, and to find the Who, the police must first discover the Why...

Detective Aubrey McKenzie has been assigned to investigate the murders. A lovely, fabulously wealthy, dark-haired Scot, whose iron will was forged in the inferno of human tragedy, Aubrey is stymied by the lack of solid clues. Now she must rely on her paranormal ability to apprehend the killer—an ability that has been invaluable in her police work but has made a disaster of her social life. Fate teams Aubrey with Detective Joshua Diamond, a handsome, talented, and compassionate man who is more than happy eating a greasy bacon-cheeseburger and wearing clothes that should have been thrown out with the trash. In a race against time, Aubrey and Joshua must overcome their vast differences—and their attraction for each other—and discover the identity of this elusive killer, and the quest this fiend is on, before more lives are destroyed.

Bio

My first published novel, A Sinister Obsession, a mystery thriller, was published by Black Opal Books. Stardust Dreams is my second novel, published by them as well. It was my first romance novel with a sci/fi backdrop. Prior to writing novels, I was a successful writer of short stories that were published on the web and in print. In addition to my fiction pursuits, I am a retired Licensed Clinical Social Worker and School Psychologist. I wrote a psychology/personal improvement book, Taming Your Inner & Outer Bullies, Confronting Life’s Stressors And Winning, which was released by New Horizon Press Books. I have been featured on radio programs, write articles on human nature and relationships, and do lectures. I reside with his wife, computer, and golf clubs in New York and Florida. I am a member of the Romance Writers of America and International Thriller Writers.

Friday - S. B. Redstone - Talking About Heroes, Heroines and Villains

1. Do you write a single genre or do your fingers flow over the keys creating tales in many forms?

I write in many genres and subgenres. This what I said to myself. If Shakespeare, Hemmingway, and James Patterson can write stories that intrigue them, so could I. I have no interest in being a Stephen King, my mentor, who has been writing, as far as I am concerned, tedious horror. My first novel, as yet not published is a horror story with romance and fantasy elements. My first published novel, A Sinister Obsession is a mystery thriller with subgenres of romance and a paranormal female detective. My current novel, Stardust Dreams, is a senior romance with a science fiction background. The novel I am now working on is a serious comedy drama about the lives of seniors in a magical fifty-five and over retirement community. I write my novels in my head first and let my imagination have no boundaries.

Does your reading choices reflect your writing choices?

Yes. I’ll read any book from horror to romance if the characters are interesting and the plot is unique. And the same goes for the stories lurking in my unconscious. However, I am now leaving violence and focusing on more senior romance stories, the world I live in.

Are there genres you wouldn’t attempt?

No. I would like to write a great story in all genres from children books to young adult to adult but their connection would probably be my desire to continue to explore human nature and relationships, having been a clinical social worker and school psychologist in my first two careers.

2. Heroes, Heroines, Villains. Which are your favorite to write?

Honestly, I love them all. When creating great characters like Lance Forrester, Sage Saint Charles, Medora, and Detective Aubrey McKenzie they become so real, I often forget they’re characters, and instead, wonder if I’ve met in real life. Villains offer me an opportunity to write more dramatic scenes, more graphic use of language, and diabolical dialogue. I’ve been asked about writing female characters before, and I’ve said being married for nearly forty-five years, having a daughter, working in education surrounded by women, and being a therapist with female patients, have all given me great insights into the nature of women, but I always consult with my wife to double check my accuracy.  

3. Heroes. How do you find them? Do pictures, real life or plain imagination create the man you want every reader to love? Do they come before the plot or after you have the idea for the story?

The plot arrives in my mind first. Then, I think of the characters that would fit the story. My heroes reveal themselves in my mind. I don’t create them. Lance Forrester in Stardust Dreams and Detective Joshua Diamond are loveable dreamers who overcome their heartfelt tragic pasts to help the less fortunate. They have deep passions and are undaunted by obstacles. As Michelangelo was to have said, his characters were in the marble, he just had to release them. My heroes are not me and are me. They do not come from real life. However, many of the cast do as they are pieces of past patients, infamous celebrities, and people I’ve known.  

5. Villains or villainesses or an antagonist, since they don’t always have to be the bad guy or girl. They can be a person opposed to the hero’s or heroine’s obtaining their goal. How do you choose one? How do you make them human?

In Stardust Dreams Lance Forrester will seek a traveling companion to join him on his quest for immortality in the galaxy. I didn’t want an ordinary woman to join him. Sage Saint Charles sort of auditioned for the role in my mind. She is a complex character who had made a mess of her first life and who struggles not to make a mess of her second one. She fights against Lance’s wish to have her fall in love with him. As I’ve said, my careers as a therapist and school psychologist have given me great insights into human nature and relationships. I see all sides of human nature and that makes for realistic characters. In addition, my wife was a New York talent agent and through her knowledge of the business and my interactions with actors and actresses, I had a good sense of their unique natures.     

6. What is your latest release? Who is the hero, heroine and or the villain?

Stardust Dreams is an epic love story that takes place in the near future, on a beautiful alien planet, and then back to Earth two hundred thousand years into our future. Lance Forrester, scientist and astronaut, has built a spaceship to take him on a one way journey into the stars. Not wishing to go alone, he asks Sage to join him. Not wishing to spoil the mystery of my novel, I will say that Lance will meet a loving alien culture with countless mysteries and surprises. In the third part, Lance will return to Earth’s future to find its inhabitants suffering from the devastation of human nature and mother nature. He just might be their savior. 

7. What are you working on now?

I am completing a novel, If We’re Dreaming, Don’t Wake Us! It is my first comedy drama in the style of a Neil Simon play, Plaza Suite. It showcases an ensemble cast of senior citizens in a magical fifty-five and over retirement community. They are given the miracle of youth and good health to live their early lives over again. Some will find greater happiness and some will foolishly destroy it. It essentially explores the lives of senior citizens and grandparents who struggle with infirmity, depression, lost dreams and family crises.

8. How can people find you?

http://sbredstoneauthor.com

https://twitter.com/sbredstone

https://www.facebook.com/steven.rosenstein1

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5336425.S_B_Redstone

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=stardust+Dreams+S.+B.+Redstone

Thursday - My Heroes, Heroines and Villains - Moon Summoned #MFRWauthor #fantasy

 Moon Summoned _ First Heroine - Ashiera

Twilight darkened the sky before Ashiera found a hiding place in a dark alley doorway. The stench of rotting fish and the brine-laden air made her swallow against the burning fluid that rose in her throat. Rustling noises brought a prayer that none of the alley’s denizens would attack her. She dozed, woke and dozed again. Memories of the past rose in broken fragments, but each time she woke, she found more pieces were joined.

Sieper. Bits of the things she’d heard years ago in the marketplace were remembered. Rumors of his ability to read the weather surfaced. How could he possess such a talent? The Mistress touched women, never men. Did he serve the Lord of Shadows? He’d spoken of ownership and of her as being a reward from the Cabal. Had Sieper been one of the men who had lurked and awaited the arrival of the gray priests?

She sighed. Would she ever regain all the memories of the time before her capture?

She rolled the too long trouser legs and used a scrap of cloth torn from her gown as a belt. The sleeves of the shirt hung well below her hands and she pushed them up. How fortunate she’d been to find Sieper’s clothes on the line. As she’d fled through the alleys, she’d peered into the streets. The few women she’d seen had been escorted by one or even several men.

While she waited for true dark, she fingered the scar on her wrist. Her hand flew to her mouth and she stifled a scream.

An obese man, head shaved and scalp oiled, faced her. He held a metal rod with a serpent curled around the staff. A globe of swirling mist topped the rod. Her body trembled. The evil in the priest’s thoughts nauseated her. The serpent raised its head. The fangs bit into her wrist and sent molten fire through her veins. An endless scream echoed in her head and she sought darkness as she had before.

When Ashiera emerged from the place where night was eternal, a few stars shone in the sky. A pale sliver moon had risen. She struggled to her feet and exercised muscles stiffened by the cramped position.

Flee. Leave the city.

The urgency of the command made her lose all caution. “Who are you?”

The Place of Choosing. You must go there.

“Where is this place?

In the Shanara Mountains.

As she left the wharf area, she slid from shadow to shadow. Now and then she heard footsteps, but whoever walked the streets moved with the same caution she employed. Finally the waterfront lay behind and she strode along a broad avenue where the Seat of Judgment stood behind a high wall. The Seat was no longer a refuge since the gray priests resided there now. Shepas barked warnings. Several times she froze and fought the urge to run and, perhaps draw attention to her flight.

At last, she reached the market near the north gate. Guards in gray uniforms trimmed with waxy yellow marched two by two in front of the gate. Was she trapped? Was there no way out of the city?

First Hero _ Sieper 

A moan of pleasure escaped the lips of the woman named Ashiera. As Sieper found his release, his arms tightened around her. He rolled to his side and held her against his chest. His lips brushed her honey-colored hair. He inhaled the fragrance of the herbs she used as a rinse. As always, her amber eyes were devoid of expression.

Sunshine streamed through the windows of the sleeping chamber, clothing them in colored light. Chips of multi-hued crystals embedded in the headboard of the massive bed splashed bright tints on the sheets.

He stroked her smooth skin. “The Cabal and his mind mages named you as an undead. Thus I claimed you as my reward for their use of my ship for their cargoes.” His jaw clenched for the service hadn’t been a willing gift but one demanded. No man of Keltoi dared to refuse the orders of the priests of the Lord of Shadows.

She pressed her lips against his chest. For years, he’d carried her image in his heart, but he’d never believed she would be his for more than the single night they’d once shared. Since then, his life had changed again and again. From deck hand to officer and then to ship owner.

He thought of the day he and the Wind Skimmer had sailed into Zandara. The holds had been filled with exotic goods from the other nomes and, he’d had hopes of enough profit to outfit a second ship. Alas, those dreams had come to naught. The priests had seized control of Keltoi. Since the defeat of the Mistress, the gray robes and their minions had ruled the nome. Their taxes had eaten most of his profits and for nearly thirteen years he’d sailed at their bidding.

His hands curled into fists. “I’ve worked hard and dreamed of a fleet of ships, but these hopes slip further from my grasp.” He stared into Ashiera’s empty amber eyes. “Why do I tell you these things? Do you even hear me?”

For an instant, he thought he saw a flicker of awareness in her eyes. A foolish thought. Under the Cabal’s torture, her mind had fled.

Gently he stroked her face and traced her lips. Nineteen years ago she’d been his for a night. He’d been the one she’d chosen for her passage from maiden to woman. Their joining, hot and urgent, had created a dream of forever with her.

He caressed her breasts. Her nipples tightened and she moved against him. Though her mind had fled, her body remembered the ways of passion. He wanted to hear his name on her lips, but since the day he’d claimed her from the pens, she hadn’t spoken.

He kissed her. Regret that he’d begun what there wasn’t time to finish filled his voice. “My love, we must leave soon. The Wind Skimmer sails on the evening tide. Until I return you will bide with Maran’s wife.” He pulled her to her feet. “Remember, you are mine.”

Was that a flash of denial he saw in her eyes? Her forehead wrinkled and she opened her mouth. A croaking sound emerged. He waited. Would she speak?

First Villain - Lugal

Lugal, the Cabal, stared into the globe atop the serpent rod and willed the mists to clear and show the past. He never tired of watching the defeat of those who had served the Mistress of the Moons. The battle had depleted his predecessor’s powers and had allowed Lugal to challenge for the rod that marked him as one of the Triad of rulers. The swirling clouds parted to reveal a woman’s face.

A roar of rage rose from his lips. He knew that one. He’d questioned her and watched the serpent animate and mark her with its fangs. Thus, she belonged to the Lord of Shadows. What had gone wrong? Had her flight into darkness nullified the venom? The veins of his neck were engorged with rage. He sought to clear her face from the globe.

“Not so! I won’t have this.”

His jaw clenched and he thought of what he’d seen nearly thirteen years before. The then Cabal and the mind mages had joined the champions of the Gladius and the minions of the Thamaturg. The forces of the Mistress had been defeated. His anger escalated. Something had gone wrong and now, a second eclipse approached.

The globe darkened. The woman’s face vanished. Lugal’s anger erupted.

As though a miniature cyclone entered the room, wind whipped his robe. Papers whirled through the air. The draperies at the windows shredded beneath the storm. The shutters crashed against the wall. Outside the sky darkened. Lightning flashed and crackled. Rain fell in torrents.

Slowly, Lugal’s rage subsided. He lumbered down the hall to the audience chamber of the place that had once been the Seat of Judgment. Upon his entrance, the coterie of first-level mind mages rose. He walked to the dais. As he sat, his robes swirled around his ankles. “The woman. The one who was a seer, Ashiera. Bring her from the pens.” His fleshy fingers tightened around the rod. The snake stirred.

The Right Hand snapped his fingers. Two mages departed the chamber. A short time later, they returned. The master of the pens walked between them.

“Where is she?” Lugal asked.

The pen master knelt on the first step. “Two months ago a sea merchant, one Sieper, came to me. He bore an order from you giving him his choice of women. After he paid the tax, he took her.”

Lugal leaned forward. Why hadn’t the man reported the incident? He curbed the desire to lash the pen master’s mind. He had no time to train another. He turned to the Right Hand. “Send mages and guards to the sea merchant’s house and bring the pair to me.” If she’d slipped from his grasp his plans for gaining ascendancy were ruined.

Four mages marched from the room. Lugal called for food. Women dressed in diaphanous robes of rainbow hues glided across the gray-tinged yellow marble floor. One bore a flagon of wine. Others held platters of fruit, cheese and sweets. Three women played flutes, two plucked lyres and one tapped a hand drum. Half dozen women danced to the music, contorting their bodies into near impossible positions.

Lugal leaned forward. He ran his tongue over his fleshy lips. While sampling succulent bits of pina, manga and quava, he selected the women who would attend him this night. He reached for a wine cup and signaled the servant to pour. He slid his hand beneath her thigh-length robe and kneaded her hip.

Once his appetite for food had been sated, he clasped rung-clad fingers on his obese abdomen. His thoughts centered on his plan to seize control of the priesthood. The Lord of Shadows had no need for swords of fire or noxious and poisonous vapors when he and his mind mages could use the winds to control the people. Lugal wondered why he had to share the rule with Sargon and Gamish.

He nodded. His quest for supremacy had been born in poverty. His skills as a thief had brought him to the attention of the priests and his talent had been revealed. Rapidly he had risen until he’d become the Right Hand of the former Cabal. He would succeed in Keltoi just as he had since entering the service of the Lord of Shadows.

Hours passed before the quartet of mages returned. They bowed and their leader spoke. “The sea merchant’s house is closed and the servants are gone. His ship sailed on last evening’s tide.”

“The woman?”

“She must have gone with him.”

Lugal’s hands clenched. “Send the fastest clipper and an octet of mind mages after him. The woman is mine.” He rose and in a swirl of robes lumbered from the audience chamber.

Wednesday's Writer's Tip - Holding The Reader's Attention - Part 3 #MFRWauthor #amwriting

As a writer, you want people to read your words and if you've written more than one book, you want them to return again and again. Wanting is one thing but finding ways to keep them interested in your book will make them want to return for more.

Tip 5 -Chapter endings - Finding a way to end the chapter to make the reader desire to read on. I'm sure you've all been reading a book and you keep saying "Just one more chapter." This writer has found a way to keep you turning those pages. One way to do this is to end each chapter leaving them wondering what will happen next. I once heard a writer say "Don't end the chapter or a scene with the character falling asleep unless you can make them falling asleep thinking about one of their problems." That will entice the reader to read on. So end the chapter with a question, not necessarily a real question but with a hint of what may happen next. Stir their curiosity to find the answer to the perhaps unasked or asked question.

Tip 6 - Making what seems impossible sound possible. This is especially important when writing a book with some kind of paranormal influenced story. I once ended a chapter with one of the main characters learning he had to die before he could live. Hard to imagine but I know readers wanted to learn what this meant and so they read on. Suddenly what seemed impossible can be possible and draw the reader onward.

Tuesday's Inspiration - Polaroids Bird By Bird - Anne Lamott #MFRWauthor #inspired

 Since I'm reading Bird by Bird again I'm having fun. Each chapter in this book inspires me and makes me think. When she talks about Polaroids I suddenly had several thoughts. One is that a story starts with an idea that often is hazy and one must wait for the story to develop. The second is that the story doesn't always develop is quite the way I imagined.

I have a series of mysteries. They all began with a hazy idea and a character who leaped into my thoughts. A nurse nearing retirement age. Why did I want to make her into a mystery solver I'm not sure. The story sort of began with an idea of walking on egg shells. I sat down to write. I was going to have murders happen in the hospita.. Suddenly I had a picture of a Victorian house and this great front porch with a swing and a first floor tenant. The story merged from the hospital murders to a neighborhood one.

So you see, the hazy idea when developed became a different story than what I initially thought it would be. The initial picture when developed showed me things differently that first imagines. After finishing the book I knew I'd gone in the right direction. But the idea of murders in a hospital remained in my thoughts and the heroine from that first mystery finally found murder, not in a hospital but in a nursing home. Waiting for the picture to develop gave me two stories instead of one.