Nadia Sylvan: The Lady of Nyte

Posted on March 1, 2018 by Charles Yallowitz

Drusilla from Buffy

Figure I should do to this character since I already did Xavier Tempest.  What’s the connection?  At least in the books, they’re husband and wife.  Nadia was a little mystery to me, which allowed me to have some fun.  All I knew was that she was elegant, noble, and respected.  Honestly, I’m not even sure what her original hair color was.  This did allow me to make her one of the few pre-existing characters that went from human to another vampirized species.

I made her a female orc, which I’m sure will throw off a few people that haven’t read Windemere books.  In this world, female orcs are tall and beautiful while retaining the strength of their more bestial male counterparts.  The gods made the orcs as a beauty and beast species where they don’t care about appearances.  Females were also made this way because the early elves tried to sabotage their resurrection (the species had been wiped out) and make the female orcs hideous to the males.  The curse was stopped and the punishment was that the female orcs were made to be more beautiful than the female elves.  The best comparison to them would be the Amazons, but that’s stretching it and going off topic.  We’re here to talk about Nadia and where she came from.  Might be difficult since I didn’t really interact with her much until she was handed to me for the books.

Back in college, a big LARP (Live Action Role-Playing) game had started up and I was kind of late to the party.  My wife had joined rather quickly with another version of Mab, who brought my first character in.  Something happened and Mab ended up having to leave the area a few sessions later, so she brought in Nadia Sylvan.  A Russian noblewoman who . . . looked pretty and hung out with the other rulers of the area?  This is where things get a little weird here.  My character ended up with the outcasts within his first session because my timing sucked that badly.  So, my wife and I never got to interact when we were these characters.  We’d see each other and maybe say hello, but that was it.  Due to the nature of the game, we couldn’t really talk about what our characters were doing afterwards because we weren’t allowed to know.  Eventually, I got offed and came back as a new one who then left because things went south in one session.  Nadia stuck around longer than all 3 of my characters and she ended up leaving soon after my third got dusted.  Neither of us went back, but we still didn’t really talk about what happened.  Because of all this, Nadia remained a mystery and I was given another blank slate.

My decision to pair her off with Xavier was because they were the two nobles in my cast of characters.  This helped evolve her alongside him since both were starting from fresh.  It became similar to the Clyde and Mab relationships in that they complimented each other in terms of temperament and powers.  Nadia is definitely the more physically powerful even though she isn’t a fighter.  Like her husband, she’s more comfortable using magic than brute force.  Yet, she is a little faster to throw a punch.  There are times she also comes off as the smarter of the two since she hangs back and listens more often than Xavier.  Honestly, she’s still growing and might become the character that surprises me the most like Kira did in Legends of Windemere.  This also means there really isn’t much else I can say about her.

I don’t even have a funny story for her because I didn’t know her in the games.  All I have is something that popped out of nowhere when writing the book.  Nadia Sylvan and Clyde were made by the same vampire.  This kind of makes them siblings even though they’re so different.  Not that either of them really act this way, but it may color their future interactions a bit more.  Who’s their maker?  That would be Gregorio Roman who considers Nadia his favorite daughter and Clyde his favorite son.  Although, there is no indication that any of his other ‘children’ have survived, so they might have the titles by default.

Posted in Character Origins, War of Nytefall | Tagged , , , , , , | 18 Comments

The Mushroom Mart: No Pigs Allowed

Posted on February 28, 2018 by Charles Yallowitz

Fantasia Mushrooms

Welcome to the Mushroom Mart . . . Okay, so it’s more of a forest, but Fungus Forest was already taken by a podiatrist down the road.  We are very serious about the pigs though because they can ruin our entire crop.  If you try to sneak one on then we’ll have to confiscate it and all you get is invited to a totally unrelated bacon breakfast the following weekend.  Now, what are you looking for?

Sadly, we don’t have any magical mushrooms of either variety.  At best, we have created unique species with various tastes and textures.  Some of them are toxic, which is why we give you this list and a stern lecture on not eating anything you pick.  We do this because we don’t trust our customers to get things right and avoid the dangerous ones.  To be clear, those are still for sale because there are ways to prepare them and remove the toxins.  It’s something we do for free of any of those species gets your attention.  Be rather mean to sell you one and charge extra to make sure you don’t die of it.  There will be people out there to help if you get lost or have any questions.  Please take one of those partitioned baskets and I’ll help you plan your route.  Don’t mix your mushrooms because each species has a different price by the pound.

Now, you want the smallest mushrooms, which would be our Flea Knee Fungi.  These are found in the western region on rocks that are slightly damp on one side and covered in dry moss on the other.  Each mushroom is the size of a flea, but they gather in thick patches that resemble lichen.  You can identify them by their sweet smell and trust me when I tell you that they pack a powerful taste.  Some people say it’s similar to cinnamon, but I think it’s closer to paprika.  You also want one of our largest mushrooms and those are found on the underside of the northern cliffs.  We call them Bat Truffles and they can grow to the size of a watermelon.  Anything larger than that tends to fall and explodes on impact to send spores.  There is a limit of one per customer because of the size and it takes a year for them to grow to maturity.

Medicinal mushrooms aren’t really one of our specialties because you have to get a lot of licenses for those.  All we can afford at this time are two types.  The Air Stalk is found around our ponds and are long-stemmed with an upside-down cap.  You can tell them apart from similar mushrooms by the scales on the stalk.  Boil that in seltzer and drink it whole to handle spastic colon episodes.  The only side-effect is a little seepage from the bellybutton, but that goes away after a good night’s sleep.  Our other medicine is the Stomper, which is a flat mushroom that is mostly found in the east.  It’s difficult to get out of the ground because it’s almost like something stomped it into place.  This one isn’t for eating, but you can turn it into a powder that cures psoriasis.  Put a little on a Q-tip and it can help with impacted earwax too, but you need to put hydrogen peroxide in within fifteen minutes.  Otherwise, you can get a mini-Stomper stuck on your eardrum and that’s a painful removal surgery.

Everything else on your list is pretty standard.  Rum Creminis are on the pine tree roots and you’ll find Broth Morels along the fences.  Salad types are scattered about, but I highly recommend the Lettuce Caps for a good base.  Kids do love the Sweet Shiitakes that are in the open plains. There’s a color and taste guide posted there since we have to check every few days to make sure they haven’t switched.  Seems every crop is different, which is why we harvest those and put them in those bushels.  Guess that’s it since you have your map and basket . . . Did you hear something snort?  Damn it, I thought I heard a pig.  You go on and I’ll see you when you come out.  Yeah, I know the thing is the size of a Buick.  That just means I’ll need to whack it with a bigger shovel.  Hey, Marlene!  Get me the Paul Bunyan from the shed!  Happy hunting, mister.

Posted in Olde Shoppe Stories | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 31 Comments

INTERVIEW WITH ROBERT BROCKWAY

Posted on February 28, 2018 by Charles Yallowitz

Bookwraiths's avatar

authorspotlight

I’m so very honored to welcome Robert Brockway back to Bookwraiths today.  (You can read his first interview here!)  As frequent visitors already know, I’ve been enjoying reading the author’s punk rock fantasy series, Vicious Circuit, as can be seen by my reviews of The Unnoticeables, The Empty Ones, and Kill All Angels.  Naturally, I’d encourage everyone to go find these books and give them a try for yourself, because I think you will enjoy them as much as I did.  But enough from me.  Let’s hear all about it from the author himself!

borderThanks for agreeing to return to Bookwraiths.  You are now in a small minority of authors who have felt comfortable doing so.  

You’re very comfortable. Thanks for having me.

KILL ALL ANGELSThe concluding volume of the Vicious Circuit series was released back in December, 2017: how would you introduce the series to a new…

View original post 784 more words

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Another Taste of the War of Nytefall: Loyalty Cover

Posted on February 27, 2018 by Charles Yallowitz

I was going to do an excerpt, but got this over the weekend.  Thought it best to share.  Enjoy:

Title Card by Alison Hunt

Looking forward to the next taste.

Posted in War of Nytefall | Tagged , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Bloggers Needed | Release w/Review Option | May 16th | #PNR

Posted on February 27, 2018 by Charles Yallowitz
Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Galdo’s Gift: A Groundbreaking Children’s Storybook

Posted on February 27, 2018 by Charles Yallowitz

Very interesting project.

Nicholas C. Rossis's avatarNicholas C. Rossis

The Book Machine recently featured a post by Ken Jones, explaining his inspired use of e-book technology to create an animated, interactive children’s storybook. Ken, who’s also running the Understanding eBooks event in London on April 25, worked with UK design and animation studio Tapocketa to develop their magnificent hand-crafted eBook, Galdo’s Gift.

An eBook, Not An App

Galdo's Gift | From the blog of Nicholas C. Rossis, author of science fiction, the Pearseus epic fantasy series and children's book Image: Tapocketa

What’s unusual about Galdo’s Gift is that it’s NOT an app, even though it is available on Apple Store. This is because of their belief that an app would entail higher production costs, while books as apps really need to be offered for free to succeed–and even then are lost in a world of games.

Instead, they used the fixed-layout EPUB3 standard, which builds on the modern open standards of the web (HTML5, CSS3 and JS). The word ebook conjures up a dated image of a gray page full of…

View original post 364 more words

Posted in Uncategorized | 3 Comments

A Useful Tool for Monster Creation: Nature Videos

Posted on February 26, 2018 by Charles Yallowitz

David Attenborough and a Bear

Being a fantasy author, one of the cornerstones of my world building is the unique fauna that I put within Windemere.  Not only the dragons and griffins that have been in the genre for years, but creatures that I’ve made on my own.  This isn’t easy to do since so much has come before me.  Many times, I find it simpler to go through mythology for creatures or nothing more than inspiration.  Yet, there is another tool that I highly recommend to authors who are looking to create monsters from the ether:

NATURE VIDEOS

  1. The most obvious help is in giving you physical attributes that can be added to your homemade monster.  Not only how they look, but how they’re used by the original animal.  For example, simply putting crab claws on the body of a gibbon can be really cool in a visual sense.  Yet, they won’t be able to swing because of how the claws are supposed to work.  Another thing to consider is that some crabs have a big claw and a little claw.  Watching a video on these animals can help an author understand the positive and negative changes.
  2. You can learn about the food chains and environments of our world.  Take this information to design your own habitats with the new animals taking on the roles of real life counterparts.  Some authors gloss over this, but I believe that you need to design real ecosystems for your creatures.  This gives them another dimension instead of being threats to the heroes.  Consider that they are as natural to your world as bears and squirrels are to our world.  That means they need a role in the habitat.
  3. Going a little back to #1, there are more ‘pieces’ you can take from animals besides their physical forms.  Many creatures have special abilities like venom, immunity to some natural toxins, regeneration, etc.  By learning about these and how they function in the real world, you can add them to your monsters.  They won’t seem out of place this way because you know more of the details.  For example, you can learn about different types of venom before choosing the kind.  Spider, scorpion, and snake don’t always do the same thing.
  4. Behavior is another subject that these videos can teach you about, especially if you have a knowledgeable narrator.  Personally, I’ve used this to understand the different types of animal groups.  Lion prides operate one way while wolf packs are another.  Herds of herbivores end up being something else entirely.  Prey tends to be more alert and can be scared away easier than predators.  Some videos will show you what certain types of animals will do in the face of disasters like floods and fires.  This can be used when a big event is about to happen in your story.  Retreating wildlife is always a big sign that trouble is coming.
  5. One interesting part of some videos is when they go into the interactions between humans and animals.  It’s a little tougher with monsters since they tend to have less fear towards us than mundane beasts.  We write them as inherently aggressive and destructive to the point where they don’t even feel like part of the ecosystem.  It can come off as them being unnatural, which can harm the world building unless you explain where they came from.  Aside from monsters, you can learn about the history of taming animals and design new livestock.  Considering these animals are int he story because they’re going to interact with the characters, it doesn’t hurt to learn about how such interactions work in the real world.

There’s always more depending on what you’re going for.  The list can include breeding, eating habits, migration, hibernation, and whatever else you might need.  A key point is to treat your monsters like they are part of the environment.  Give them reasons to exist beyond threatening adventurers and getting killed.  Books are different than video games here where random encounters don’t really do much for either party.  Besides, it’s a lot of fun to learn about animals and use that knowledge for fiction.

Posted in Thoughts | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 28 Comments

How Many Accounts is Too Many? #SocialMedia #MondayBlogs

Posted on February 26, 2018 by Charles Yallowitz

Great post on social media for authors. What’s your opinion?

Mae Clair's avatarStory Empire

Happy Monday, SEers!  It’s a new week and a new subject. Lately, friends, family, and I have been discussing social media. Even co-workers. I’ve come to realize many people have a love/hate relationship with social media, or at least some of the platforms, and the bulk of activity that takes place there.

I’m not here to debate the merits of social media, rather to offer some suggestions on how to best use it as an author. As writers, we need to have a social media presence. The world exists online, therefore it’s a necessity we’re there too. Obviously, there are tons of social media outlets available, but when does your message become diluted?

Eggs with funny faces in an open egg carton on wood floor

In the world of advertising—regardless the nature of your product or service—the goal is to achieve Top of Mind Awareness. TOMA is the golden standard everyone hopes to attain.

If I say “dandruff shampoo” you’ll probably think…

View original post 577 more words

Posted in Uncategorized | 9 Comments

Music Videos Brought to You By the Munchkin

Posted on February 25, 2018 by Charles Yallowitz

My son wanted to do a blog post, so I gave him Sunday.  He’s been listening to a lot of music on the radio, so he wanted to share his favorite songs.  I’d let him type, but he’s already come very close to various deletion and log out buttons.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | 13 Comments

A Week of Re . . . Ha! Not With the Kid Around

Posted on February 24, 2018 by Charles Yallowitz

Gandalf

I write this the night before while I listen to my wife realizing that I wasn’t lying about the munchkin being hyped up all day.  That’s been the theme of the week.  If he wasn’t playing with Legos throughout the living room then he was playing the Lego Batman game.  If he wasn’t doing those then he was asking me about songs on the radio, trying to type on my blog, pouncing, or finally succumbing to his cold for a few minutes.  Seriously, he would rush himself around until he was wheezing and then be off again once he could breathe.  I got him to lie down twice on Tuesday and that was it.

As far as activities go, it was fun and fairly simple.  We saw ‘Peter Rabbit’ on Sunday and then made a Lego set with Lex Luthor, Firestorm, Cheetah, Batman, and Wonder Woman.  Monday was a full day at the zoo.  Tuesday he went with my parents to a stage showing of ‘The Lion King’ for kids.  Wednesday was relaxing with game and toys.  Thursday was martial arts camp.  Friday was relaxing with game and toys again.  All of this made me realize that there really isn’t much to do on the February break when the weather is messy and the kid gets a cold.  Best to stay warm and regain energy for what ends up being a busy 5 weeks before the Spring Break.

Speaking of that next break, the space gives me just enough time to write the first draft for War of Nytefall: Lost.  People might be wondering why I’m diving into the next book before the first one is published.  All I can do with War of Nytefall: Loyalty is wait for a final editing run by the wife.  Instead of twiddling my thumbs, I’ll dive into the next one.  This is good for me because I won’t be getting much done over the summer beyond editing and maybe the Dawn Addison finale.  The reason is because my son won’t be in school like previous years, so July and August will see him home.  He might be in camp for a bit, but that can’t be depended on.  Judging from this break, I need to get myself ahead in my projects.  This is where my years of outlining and planning really save my kiester.  As far as War of Nytefall: Lost goes, I should be able to write it in 4 weeks and I’ve been studying my outline.  More so than any other time because this is going to be a really wild ride.

Thankfully, I was able to get some work done this week.  When my son played with his Legos, I set myself up in the dining room to schedule blog posts for April and May.  This will cover the promos and hype for War of Nytefall: Loyalty.  Means I have very little idea what I’m going to do in June, especially since I’m hoping to release Quest of the Broken-Hearted in July after the 4th.  That one still needs editing, beta reading, and cover art.  It was tough one to write because it was very action-based due to the story, so I won’t hand it off until I edit it in April.  That’s going make things pretty tight as far as beta reading though.  Another challenge for 2018.  This is what life may end up being with the kid not have summer school.

In other news, I will be having the house to myself for a few days coming later in the week.  At least during the day, which will be both good and bad.  I can work anywhere in the house without interruption, but I have to do all the cooking and errands.  Since my wife and I will be able to use the Internet-capable TV, we’ll be watching some things at night, so that will cut into the writing time.  Think we have Castlevania, live action Full Metal Alchemist, and a few other things saved on Netflix.  There’s one anime called Gurren Laggen that I want to check out, but we might not have time since it’s only going to be for a few days.  Not to mention, all of our other shows come back and it’s a mighty weight that you don’t want to fall behind on.

I realized something with Facebook recently.  I happened to be on my mom’s account and didn’t realize it until I saw my last post turn up at the top of her news feed.  It was there and then it disappeared before I could click on it.  This made me wonder if people are seeing me at all.  A lot of pages that I follow do this on my feed like The Daily Show and Humans of New York.  I have to go directly to their page to see anything, but they do work on my phone.  Is this what Facebook considers an improvement?  I’m having a lot of trouble rationalizing staying on there since it feels like only 4-5 people ever see what I’m doing.

So, what are the goals of the week?

  1. Start writing War of Nytefall: Lost.
  2. Cook Penn with Vodka Sauce on Friday.  This is always fun.
  3. Get back into biking.
  4. Drive kid to school.
  5. Do a few May blog posts if unable to write books.
  6. Watch some Netflix if possible.
  7. Mourn another long delay of pizza reward since I refuse to do it during a project.
Posted in Goal Posts | Tagged , , , , , , | 34 Comments