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Don Massenzio This week, Luna St. Clair is the featured author on this week’s edition of A Perfect 10. She tells us about her inspiration and work. Please enjoy this week’s edition of A Perfect 10 If you want to … Continue reading
Cover Art by Circecorp
Enter the world of Windemere with 11 action adventure short stories featuring a man who is out to make an honest living.
Some heroes seek fame. Some seek fortune. Others simply want to save the world. Ichabod Brooks only wants to put food on the table for his family.
Known and respected as the man who can get any job done, Ichabod has seen his share of adventure. Most of which have been highly exaggerated by bards. Still, the man has his famous reputation for a reason. Whether it be climbing a temperamental mountain for eggs or escorting orphans to their new homes, Ichabod takes every job seriously and makes sure he is as prepared as he can be. Not that it helps since things always take a turn for the worse.
Excerpt: Preparing for Galaces
“Is this any way to greet an old friend?” a dwarf in dark gray chainmail asks before plugging his ears with his dark red beard. Wanting the bard to stop, the mountaineer marches over and puts a hand over the young woman’s mouth. “Are you supposed to use her as bait? I did hear there’s a hobgoblin pack that moved in a few months ago. You know how those drooling scavengers love elf flesh.”
“Sorry about that, Dex. She latched on at my last stop and I haven’t been able to shake her off,” Ichabod replies, shaking his guide’s hand. He rubs his own black and white beard at the sight of how his friend shows no sign of graying. “I have to give this one credit for tenacity, but this is where we part ways. Galaces Mountain is not a place to go unless you have experience, an excellent guide, and common sense. So far, I don’t see you having any of those things and I’m not going to babysit.”
“I must go. That’s the only way I can write about your newest adventure,” the bard insists, unwittingly proving Ichabod right. She crosses her arms and meets the icy stare of the dwarf, who she considers leaving out of her tale. “Being the first to speak of your climb will help my reputation. I promise not to cause any trouble and pull my own weight. Elves are graceful and agile, which makes us perfect companions for whatever it is you’re doing. Besides, Galaces Mountain doesn’t look like that bad a climb. The stories must be nothing more than colorful exaggerations.”
Ichabod puts on a pair of white-palmed gloves and slips a blue band on his finger, a charge going through his body to enhance his lungs. “I suddenly relate very well to this mountain. Take a look at the empty space between us and Galaces. You’ll see why this place has earned a reputation.”
The bard puts her lute over her shoulder and walks to the yellow rope, which sparks with a mild magic. At first, she is unsure of what she is supposed to pay attention to among the shrubs and fallen rocks. It takes the elf a few minutes to recognize weather worn bones sticking out from under a boulder. The limbs are splayed since the climber plummeted with the rough stone pressed against his back and the landing embedded him in the ground. Knowing what to look for, the bard realizes that there are at least ten old corpses hidden by the mountain’s litter. The bard spots the fresh body of a yellow-skinned creature sitting behind a shrub, the armored creature crumpled from landing butt first after its fall. She is about to ask a question when a small pain runs up her arm and she collapses into a magical slumber.
“Guess that’s more humane than knocking her on the head,” Dex mentions while Ichabod carries the young woman to the dwarf’s cart. He shields his eyes as he stares at the churning clouds that have been trapped around the peak. “Looks like the eagles captured a storm beneath their nest this year. Means the winds are going to be brutal and the tunnels are infested with horned spiders and revelers. Not going to be an easy trip. Sure, you don’t want someone else to take this contract?”
“I’d love to hand this off to someone else, but Chef Zyrk always insists that I take the job. I have no injuries, diseases, or family events, so I’m here,” Ichabod replies, sheathing his sleep-inducing shortsword. As an afterthought, he grabs a horse blanket and tosses it over the bard to hide her from view. “The Starwind Eagles lay eggs every ten years and now is the time to get to them. Wait any longer and the mountain will be crawling with hunters. A youngster wouldn’t know that or have you as a guide.”
The dwarf grins as he lifts the rope and gestures for his friend to lead the way. “They also don’t have your wife making deals that you can’t say no to. She mentioned that you’re getting three times the usual pay because this baby is going to be prepared for Duke Solomon’s wedding. Personally, I’m looking forward to your wife’s cooking after this. Surprised your gut isn’t huge considering that woman can make a pot roast even the gods would praise. Did you happen to bring some of her dishes for the road?”
“I can cook too, you know.”
“You can bake, Ichabod. Not the same as cooking in my book.”
“So you don’t want the cookies I brought.”
“Oatmeal and cranberry?”
“With a touch of cinnamon.”
*****
About the Author:Charles Yallowitz was born and raised on Long Island, NY, but he has spent most of his life wandering his own imagination in a blissful haze. Occasionally, he would return from this world for the necessities such as food, showers, and Saturday morning cartoons. One day he returned from his imagination and decided he would share his stories with the world. After his wife decided that she was tired of hearing the same stories repeatedly, she convinced him that it would make more sense to follow his dream of being a fantasy author. So, locked within the house under orders to shut up and get to work, Charles brings you Legends of Windemere. He looks forward to sharing all of his stories with you, and his wife is happy he finally has someone else to play with.
Blog: www.legendsofwindemere.com
Twitter: @cyallowitz
Facebook: Charles Yallowitz
Website: www.charleseyallowitz.com
This is another opportunity for me to introduce another Rave Reviews Book Club author and his book. This sounds like an interesting experience, and Fred is here to share it with us.
Background to Fred’s Diary 1981
Fred was a nickname that Robert Fear was given while at school. It became his travel name and he is still known as Fred to this day.
Fred’s Diary 1981 is the edited version of a handwritten diary that I kept during my travels in Asia between February and July 1981. I had never committed any of my previous travels to paper in the way I did for this long awaited journey into the unknown. The final collection ran to 600 pages of closely written detail.
When I landed in Hong Kong in that February I had two small carbon copy books of 100 pages each and started writing everything…
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Thank you, Chris, for allowing me to be on your blog. I’m a new author and this is all new to me. I’m not very good talking about myself but here it goes.
I started dating my husband three months after my father died. It still makes me sad that they never got to meet. I was sixteen, my dad was just forty-six. I was a junior in high school and a mutual friend decided to play match maker. Cemohn told me he wanted to go to Junior Prom with me and told him the same was true of me. Both were outright lies. Up to this point we were friends. I should have been suspicious, it wasn’t the first time she tried to set me up. We both believed her and the date was set.
One date turned into a four year relationship before we were married. After graduating…
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Eve Adams first full length Romance novel is available free on Amazon Saturday 1st July and Sunday 2nd July. This is the first book in the ‘Pine Point’ series. Also available in paperback.
Description:
“Brute,” by Eve Adams is the first steamy romance novel in the “Pine Point” series.
Welcome to Pine Point, North Carolina, where the summers aren’t the only thing that are too hot to handle.
Heathe Campbell is a sexy, hardworking mountain man. Good with his hands, bad with his manners—at least in the beginning.
Bianca Stone is a big city girl from Los Angeles, with a quick tongue and a no-nonsense attitude.
When she comes to Pine Point to help her very pregnant sister get ready for the baby’s arrival, she will get more than she bargained for. Surely this thing she has for Heathe is just a passing attraction, they’re like night and day. How…
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I should just pick topics out of a hat for this week because it was a whirlwind. Let’s do the section titles and I hope people check out each one.
Ichabod Brooks & the Broken Laptop
I’m combining these two because I want to assure everyone that The Life & Times of Icahbod Brooks will be live by Monday. For all of my volunteers, I promise to get the email out with the HTML file out by the morning. Promoting will be simple this time and I’ll be behind the 8 ball on it for the following reason:
I HAVE NO LAPTOP FOR ABOUT 2 WEEKS!!!!!
That sound issue came back with a vengeance on Wednesday. So, I online chatted with Microsoft to see if there was a software problem. They said it was hardware, so I called Dell and spent the night with them remote accessing the computer. Not hardware, but they needed me to send it in to either get fixed or be wiped clean then rebuilt. They paid for shipping though . . . FedEx Ground that takes 3-5 business days. Don’t forget that we have a holiday, so the laptop won’t arrive until Wednesday. I might get it a week later if they decide to simply wipe and rebuild instead of trying to find the problem. For some reason, people don’t try to think of any sources of the problem besides the drivers. I think another program is causing trouble.
Anyway, I’ll be using the desktop until the laptop returns. This means not much weekend work and no night work. I was going to start Quest of the Broken-Hearted on Wednesday when the kid goes back to school. My math had it at a 17 day project, but that was if I could do nights. Looking at 25 now unless I slip a few weekends in and start while somebody watches the kid. Not holding my breath. While I’m here, it looks like I’m going to be pushing myself insanely hard. Basically:
That’s being very optimistic for this year. More than likely, I won’t hit that last one until January. Thankfully, I did all of my edits on the Legends of Windemere stuff, so those only need outside editing and cover art. I’m also starting to rethink that order because Bedlam and Nyt come out before Broken-Hearted. Might want to switch Bedlam and Broken-Hearted to make sure I have enough time for all of them.
Medical Devices
Anybody remember when I did a sleep apnea home test? Well, I went to talk about the results. It’s never good when an experienced doctor talks as if you’re one of the more memorable cases. I snore 500 times an hour and shift position like I’m covered in ants. Does seem like the sleep apnea could be the root of a lot of my health problems too. I have to go back in 3-4 weeks to put up the oral appliance, which is like a retainer. This is supposed to pull my mandible forward and prevent my tongue from sliding into my throat. You see, my mouth isn’t big enough for my tongue, so it bunches up or moves to the back when I sleep with my mouth closed. On the plus side, insurance is supposed to cover the whole thing.
Summer Fun
It has been a busy week with the munchkin. Saturday was the Prospect Zoo. Sunday was the Bronx Zoo. Monday was grocery shopping and playing around the house. Tuesday was my doctor appointment, so he went to an animal rescue place with the grandparents. Wednesday was the Long Island Game Farm . . . the big story from that below. Thursday was house cleaning and he was happy to get at the places the rest of us were too big to fit into. Friday was playground, duck pond, and ice cream for lunch. We still have block parties, fireworks, and a few other things. It’s been fun though. Exhausting too. Let me get into the next one with three pics:
When a Giraffe want you to move then MOVE
For a little extra, my son got to feed carrots and lettuce to a giraffe named Clifford. He was excited, especially since he was the first one on line. Clifford was excited too, but more for the food. I was told to go into a corner to get a good video. Things went smoothly with the munchkin shouting how cool it was. Clifford moved his head toward me in search of food, but I had nothing. So, he went back to my son. Should have known that was a sign that I needed to move. When the food ran out, he swung his head over me then gently came back to shove me away. I was still looking through my phone to get the video and hadn’t realized the food ran out. So, I was tracking him and suddenly felt his hand pushing me toward the stairs. Oddly soft, but I could feel there was solid bone that would hurt if he got angry and did an actual swing. When a fully grown giraffe tries to move you with his head, don’t argue.
At least Clifford was nicer than a deer near the end. I had the cup of feed while my son would take handfuls. This deer realized that I had more food than my son, so he followed me around. Took a nip to the back, which didn’t hurt or leave a mark. It was more a ‘did I just get nipped by that deer?’ thing.
Minor Successes
This will be quick. I scheduled all of the posts for August, all of Protecting Bedlam, and even Raven’s Dream for October. So, these are off my plate while I don’t have a laptop and that makes it a little easier to deal with. With any luck, I can get back to my usual speed. I should really sit down and look at the 3 main books that I need to get ready for the first half of next year. Just to see how long it will take.
Plan for the Week?
It’s that time of year again! Smashwords are having another sale.
This year I am offering the following in the sale at 50% discount with code SSW50.
(Please note the Light Beyond the Storm, Shining Citadel and Stolen Tower are 18 rated for sexy scenes, themes and some violence).
Shattered Mirror – A Poetry Collection
Now $1.50
The Light Beyond the Storm Chronicles – Book I
Now $1.50
Now $1.75
Now $1.62
And Free!
Tales of Erana: Myths and Legends
Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past
So, we asked various characters what they thought of Bards. Let’s see what they said:
Luke Callindor– Entertaining and they seem to like me. Probably because of the last name and my adventures help them get money.
Nyx– Nice way to end a rough day, especially when you have a drink with you. Although, some can be a bit too charming.
Fizzle– Love pretty music!
Sari– Competition and fun allies. Depends on our moods.
Timoran Wrath– They are very important because they help history and knowledge survive. Every person who hears their tales can share their words and carry the information to another set of ears. That is how cultures, societies, and people survive beyond death.
Delvin Cunningham– Great sources of information when you’re on a job. They can be a little pricey at times, but it’s worth it to keep my people safe.
Dariana– I never really thought about them. Good music, but most of their stories get the facts wrong. I’m sorry. Having lived through much of what they sing about, I get hung up on the details.
Trinity– Be nice for some of my people to follow that path. For now, I’m not a fan because they always make us the villains.
Baron Kernaghan– Useful tools for spreading misinformation and learning about my enemies. Pays to have a few Bards on my side as spies.
Yola Biggs– They go great with red wine and a side salad.
Kira Grasdon– Some of the best Bards are the ones that work cheap and don’t promote themselves. I’ve found that those who specialize in elegant parties are lacking in fire and energy.
Cassidy– Don’t look at me. We have a CD player.
Lloyd Tenay– I have been told beforehand that I’m not to speak on this subject. So I will sing my *stun gun going off* The uncultured maniac I call a partner has a CD player. You never let me have any fun, kid.
Ichabod Brooks– Constant thorns in my side and pains in my butt.
Legends of Windemere 