Legends of Windemere Fantasy Bundle #1
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Smorgasbord Posts from Your Archives – Travel – Almost Taken by Sharon Marchisello
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Enemies of the Dawn Fangs: Priests and Paladins
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Many consider vampires, especially the Dawn Fangs, to be the top of the food chain among the civilized species. They aren’t as obvious as dragons and not as bestial as trolls, which is why they really stand out. For all you know, you’re neighbor can be a vampire and you’re being used as a cover to keep them hidden for suspicion. What would they hide from if they’re considered an ultimate predator? There are three major dangers for the vampires of Windemere and we’re looking at them this week.
The strangest thing about this topic is that we’re going to be discussing those who would be considered the good guys in most stories. This is clearest when you start talking about priests and paladins, especially the Duragians. For those who have been following the blog for a few years or read Legends of Windemere, one of the bigger supporting cast characters was Aedyn Karwyn. He is a priest of Durag the Sun God, which locks that group into the hero side. Yet, in War of Nytefall, they appear as enemies to the main characters and take on the role of ‘villains’. Paladins in general are going to be a continuing problem for Clyde and his friends since those holy warriors aren’t known for restraint or nuance. People will see these characters threaten the ‘heroes’, die like henchmen, and do things that come off as villainous, but only because we’re seeing it from the target’s side. Oddly enough, this wasn’t much of a challenge when writing the story, so I hope it isn’t that bad for readers.
While the Duragians are the most common holy enemies of vampires, most priests, priestesses, and paladins go after these creatures. On the other side, vampires will sometimes go out of their way to hurt these people. That is rare though because holy magic is one of the biggest banes of the undead. Their energy is the antithesis to the vampires, so getting struck by their spells is seen as worse than even a high level lightning bolt. Unclear the power of a caster that hurts the body, the holy magic of a priest or paladin tears at the spirit. This makes it more difficult to regenerate the damage without a lot of fresh blood. That’s only with the basic spells. Duragians have designed hundreds of special spells to handle vampires that range from sun-infused blood that will hurt from the inside to an iron maiden of light. Some temples even require that their trainees design a new spell for vampire eradication.
For vampires, the favored tactic to surviving holy warriors is to avoid them, especially the paladins. If you have to fight then do it with the intent to create a chance to escape unless you’re strong enough to win. Older vampires with more control of their powers will be the ones to fight, but even they are leery about messing the priests and paladins. All these enemies need is one opening to deliver a powerful spell and that’s if they’re alone. When in a group of adventurers or fellow holy warriors, the danger is multiplied tenfold. The vampire would have to get through everyone else to reach the priest before any spells are cast and that’s if they even know the person is there. The only advantage that vampires have here is that they are about to catch the scent of a priest or paladin. They won’t know the specific god association, but they’ll know there is danger.
A big question here is if this remains true for Dawn Fangs. They are alive now, which means they shouldn’t have the same weakness as undead. Well, this is a yes and no situation. Their immunity to sunlight gives them a big resistance of Duragian spells, but they can still be hurt by holy magic that isn’t sun-related. Some Dawn Fangs will have the power to stand against their power, but it won’t be a common ability. That doesn’t mean spells to take them down won’t be created at some point either. One thing that will stay true is that healing magic will hurt vampires of all types. Since this type of magic focuses on repairing damage and removing curses, it would identifier the infection as something that needs to be destroyed. This damage won’t be anything like the holy attack spells, but it will be a more dependable method of pain that priests can unleash.
I will say that there are some priests who don’t hunt vampires. They’re more interested in other things and believe everything has a place in natural. On the other hand, all paladins are out to destroy anything they perceive as evil. That’s pretty much a requirement for the job, which is why Clyde will always have his hands full with them.
Posted in War of Nytefall
Tagged danger, Dawn Fangs, Durag, enemies, fantasy, holy magic, priests, sword & sorcery, vampires, War of Nytefall, Windemere
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A friendlier way of outlining
This post was a special request, and I’m happy to explain my process. I’m going to ask you pantsers to read it too. I may not change your mind, but you might glean a tip or two anyway. Today, we’re going to talk about outlining, but we’re going to do it my way.
Remember the old scientific outline we learned in junior high? It’s basically worthless here, so don’t panic. We aren’t doing anything like that today.
I like to follow a three act structure, but there are other methods you can adapt. The biggest change is to start storyboarding. No more Roman numerals, indents, and lower case progression.
I’m going to place the image here, then we’re going to talk about it.
I use a virtual cork board called Pinnic. I used to use Corkulous Pro, but it doesn’t seem to be around any longer. They tell me one…
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Check This Out: The Book Passage Children’s Writer’s Conference
I don’t think I have ever talked about conferences for writers on the blog, let alone had someone on who coordinates one. But with me on the blog is the fabulous Pamela Livingston, who roomed with me during grad school. She’s here to talk about the Book Passage Children’s Writer’s Conference in Corte Madera, California.
El Space: Four quick facts about yourself?
Pamela: 1. I was the Macy’s Easter Bunny.
2. I am the proud owner of both a VCFA MFA in Writing for Children & Young Adults degree plus a Picture Book Certificate which I may have illustrated before finally finding space on a wall.
3. My newest aka is “Mama Goose” of Goosebottom Books since purchasing this award-winning publishing house from its founder, Shirin Bridges.
4. I’ve been a circus star stage mom.
El Space: Tell us about Book Passage. What is it? What is your…
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Sally’s Cafe and Bookstore – Author Update – Christy Birmingham, Annika Perry and Jacquie Biggar
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Another HodgePodge of Stuff
So, I’m still trying to figure out my week, but the above kind of describes how I’m feeling right now. The weekend may have given me a little taste of the summer, which might end with me in a padded room. If not that then living in the sewers talking to rats who are really mice, but don’t have the heart to correct me. Here’s a few things I’m trying to get my head around.
Good-bye Training Wheels
We’re trying to teach my son how to ride his bike. At least, we took the one day that was warm to start things up and now it’s chilly again. Either way, things didn’t work out too well because he’s having trouble wrapping his head around balancing. Once he leans to one side, he’s down and he’s angry that I’m not doing most of the work. Doesn’t help that he has two adults either yelling orders at him or arguing. Too many cooks in the kitchen here and that probably made a bigger mess. One strategy that a neighbor suggested was duct taping a broom (I used a hockey stick) to the back of the bike. This means I can help my son without killing my back. It’d help if he didn’t abandon bike at the first sign of trouble. On the plus side, he’s mastered the dismount to the point where I feel comfortable if he ever has to jump off a moving bullet train.
Open Thursdays
In two weeks, I’ll be on my last character biography for War of Nytefall. This means I have nothing for Thursdays. I was considering opening it up to other authors who want to promote their books or finding another character-based thing to do. Interactive interviews never work and the Questions 3 thing lost its luster, so I’m guessing this will have to be something that’s more controlled. Way back, I tried to simply leave the day open for reblogs, but found that this killed my blog traffic in terms of comments. Not that I have much these days, but I’d like to do an ongoing that’s entertaining and gives people insight into my stories. This is probably going to be the big head scratcher.
Where Can I Find Anime?
I’m not talking online, but I tried Best Buy recently. Looked like nobody restocked the shelves and it was mostly DBZ and copies of Final Fantasy: Spirits Within that I’m sure are older than the store itself. I’m enjoying what I find on Netflix and Amazon Prime, but the pickings are fairly slim from what I can tell. Getting only one season of something kind of sucks too.
Should One Edit Before Beta Readers Return?
This one is a tough question. I don’t use beta readers a lot, but there is one person that helps me out with a read through to let me know if the story works. That way, my first editing run is a bit more focused. I’ve hit a point where I’m waiting for that info and found that they’ve been too busy to get very far. Now, they’re moving along more out of annoyance that I dared to ask about it. Anyway, I’m trying to figure out if I should start editing before they’re done. I can take this week to do more work on the Sin story, but I don’t want to lose more than that. Diving into the next first draft writing would be a problem too because then I’d finish dangerously close to the summer release date, which means I only get to do one editing run. Tough call.
That’s pretty much the life fires I’m trying to put out. Posting this is supposed to clear my head, so we’ll see what happens. All I did was stress myself out. Not a successful mission, I guess.
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Sally’s Cafe and Bookstore – New book on the Shelves – War of Nytefall: Loyalty by Charles E. Yallowitz
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If You’re Reading This, I’m at a Bookstore
Seriously, I’m probably already at Barnes & Noble with my birthday money. All I really wanted was a paperback copy of ‘Ready Player One’ since I loved the movie. I highly recommend people see it, especially if they were growing up in the 1980’s and still have some nostalgia for the time. I mean, the big race had the Delorean from ‘Back to the Future’, the Akira motorcycle, Stephen King’s Christine, A-Team Van, Bigfoot the Monster Truck, and I’m sure I missed others. Aside from that, it was just a really good story that I thought had more heart than everything else coming out these days. There’s a part near the very end that actually hit home because I think a lot of people who grew up loving video games and not being very social can relate. Actually teared up a bit there. I have to buy this movie when it comes out because I need to watch several times to catch the other hidden characters and items. That was the big birthday present, which I’m glad I went through with because I was getting rather melancholy leading up to it.
For anyone who remembers, I published War of Nytefall: Loyalty last weekend and then settled in for some low key activities. I did a bunch of promos when they came up, but I think I’m starting at the beginning again. Praying that this isn’t another ‘Bedlam’ thing where people seem more excited to talk about it than buy. I can’t figure out how some authors get so many reviews out of the gate unless it’s all free copies, which I thought Amazon cracked down on. Honestly, I’ve been so exhausted that I could barely think about such things. I’ve checked numbers when I could, but I’m falling into a mindset that I simply want to write and do my best. People have put too much pressure on me over the years to make a fortune, get a contract, or research the numbers that I feel like I’ve lost my author center. That would be joyfully writing and sharing it with people, which is the most important part for me.
As far as accomplishments, I don’t know what to say. My birthday was Monday, so I rested and did more promo stuff before taking my son to martial arts. Then it was a few drinks with my friend and this led to conversations about the future. Tuesday was a big parent/teacher conference, which was interesting. Errands after that ended up sucking up the last of my day, but I finished the promos I had. Wednesday is when I finally got to settle back and relax. Working on one of the Sin stories and put on an anime called ‘GetBackers’, which is entertaining. I’m starting to realize how much I’ve worn myself down too. I had 9 characters to design and it took me all week to do that, but now I’m up to locations and the 4 Acts. There was a lot of food shopping too because I kept finding that we were missing things. That was my week in a nutshell.
Next week is going to be a little stranger. I don’t have any appointments, but I don’t know if I should dive into War of Nytefall: Temptation (Volume 3). It’s too early to edit War of Nytefall: Lost (Volume 2) and my alpha reader is still working through Quest of the Broken-Hearted. Feels weird editing something that is being read at this time. I have Derailing Bedlam that I can look over even though it’s not going to be published until next year. That’s only if I can keep this going and not succumb to the army of people demanding I stop. Yeah, we’re back in ‘I think you have played around as an author long enough’ territory. Anyway, another option is to finish working on the Sin story outline since the notes I have are terrible. It could take a whole week to piece it all together and it means I won’t leave it unfinished.
As far as my plan to finish all of the 2018 release first drafts before summer, I only have one book to go. I can probably take all of April to edit books and I’ll still have the time to write the other book. It would only put the Dawn Addison finale at risk, but I can still work on that during the summer at night. Honestly, that story is still kind of shaky, but it’s a blog only for October, which means I can be experimental. If I do get that done then I can use the summer to start writing the next Ichabod Brooks collection for next summer and do an edit on War of Nytefall: Lost. Guess it’s nice to be ahead.
So, I don’t know if I can do a goal list this week since I have no idea what I’m doing. Maybe I’ll just list options:
- Finish Sin story (Walker of the Blood Groove) outline.
- Edit War of Nytefall: Lost
- Edit Quest of the Broken-Hearted
- Finish watching GetBackers
- Go over outline for War of Nytefall: Temptation
- Get some extra sleep
Posted in Goal Posts
Tagged birthday, life, outlining, rest, War of Nytefall, Windemere, writing
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The Festival and other Stories
We return to a culinary theme with this picture that our artist painted of Blinia Crole. The picture is from Blinia’s own collection and is displayed with grateful thanks to her. Andeal chose to paint her seated in her old home working as she always had.
Chicken Legs
Blinia drifted into being a cook, but was handicapped by lack of capital. Her family home was in the more run-down part of Ropewalk. Some would even write it off as being part of the Warrens. So to have anything to cook she was reduced to purchasing worn out domestic fowl sold for a pittance for their feathers. She would pluck the fowl, sort the feathers, wash them, dry them and then sell them on to those who would use them to stuff pillows with.
With regard to cooking the fowl she was lucky that her mother had taught her well. Once…
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