Smorgasbord Christmas Reading – Memories of my Childhood by Kathryn Meyer-Griffith

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Legends of Windemere: The Spirit Well LIVE on @Amazon! #fantasy #asmsg

Return to Windemere in THE SPIRIT WELL!

Cover Art by Jason Pedersen

Cover Art by Jason Pedersen

Born from the light and darkness, Dariana can no longer avoid her fate.

The final corrupted temple stands between the champions and Baron Kernaghan having their great battle. Only one problem: the Compass Key refuses to work with Dariana, who long ago wiped all memories of the Spirit Well from her mind. Now, they are forced to follow a trail of clues that Dariana’s former self left behind centuries ago. It is a path that will lead the champions into a part of their friend’s past that could tear them all apart.

Will the bonds of friendship be stronger than the call of blood?

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Excerpt: I’m Sorry . . . Again

“I’m sorry, but I told you that my powers make the Compass Key argumentative when it comes to the Spirit Well,” Dariana sheepishly explains while rubbing her clear ring. She smiles when Fizzle lands on her head, the drite’s cool tail running down her spine. “This is very scary for me. None of the champions have made it to this temple, much less the final battle with my father. It’s hard to take in after this destiny being my entire life for so long. I used to always dream of how I would handle my temple, but things are different now that it’s no longer a distant dream. What if I make a mistake and get someone killed?”

“We trust you, my friend, and know that you will not fail,” Timoran whispers as he slides the Compass Key across the table. He is confused when the relic sparks at her touch and gets pushed back into his hand. “That is fairly disheartening. If you cannot use the Compass Key then there is no way to find this Spirit Well. Perhaps it does not like your physical touch and will respond to your telepathy. I wonder why the gods would create this obstacle.”

“It’s possible that we did this,” Delvin suggests while using one of his enchanted rings to create a delicious cup of coffee. He gestures for the barbarian to throw the relic over to him, but the red-haired barbarian refuses. “You’re right, Timoran. Probably not a good idea to toss something like that around. Anyway, we had the Compass Key warded against agents of the Baron. They aren’t able to see it, which means they can’t find or use it. The decision made sense at the time, but things are different now. Maybe our spell has a small effect on Dariana. Not saying you’re working with the Baron, but there could be enough of an aural touch to cause this problem. Do you think we should cancel the spells, Nyx?”

The channeler heats up a cup of tea, which she sips at while considering the possibility of her magic being the issue. “They should stay because I don’t think they’re the problem. Dariana said this has happened before, which means the gods made a mistake. Sorry for how that came out. Gabriel, who better not get angry at this conversation, created the Compass Key first and then turned Dariana into a champion. He couldn’t fix the problem thanks to the Law of Influence, so it’s remained all this time. Though he had to have created something to help us move on.”

“Maybe we have to find Isaiah and he’ll lead the way,” Sari says from the couch. Flipping to her feet, she joins her friends and immediately takes a strawberry off Luke’s plate. “He hasn’t been much help since the first temple, so one has to wonder what his purpose is. I doubt we need his protection any more, which means he has to have another role to play. What do you think, Dari?”

The telepath rubs her temples while scanning the city for a sign of the fireskin, part of her praying he is not nearby. Dariana finds evidence that Isaiah has been spying on them until recently, but the caster is long gone. She considers tracking the faint trail and goes as far as the outer wall, which is where the psychic tracks make an odd leap into the sky. The strain of following Isaiah any further makes Dariana pull back and return to find that everyone is staring at her again. Realizing that she can no longer delay the inevitable, she gets out of her chair and kneels to her friends. Fizzle is still clinging to her head, which makes the apologetic bow both amusing and awkward.

“I know I say this a lot, but I really am sorry, my friends,” Dariana states while keeping her forehead pressed to the stone floor. She looks up at the sound of rustling feet and is surprised to see that everyone is approaching her. “Long ago, I managed to avoid being put back to sleep long enough to track down the Spirit Well. My curiosity got the best of me and I wanted to know where my path would meet its end. I was still forced to wipe my memory of the location, but I do know that I left a map behind. There are a few clues that I buried in my subconscious where even I could not dislodge them after erasing the original discovery. More may come to me as we get closer, but all I know now is that we should go to Rodillen. I was hoping the Compass Key would work and we could avoid this extra journey.”

“Like our luck would be that good,” Nyx mutters while she helps Dariana stand.

Need to catch Legends of Windemere from the beginning? Then click on the covers below!

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Cover Art by Jason Pedersen

Cover Art by Jason Pedersen

Or grab the $4.99 ‘3 in 1’ bundles!

Cover Art by Jason Pedersen 3D Conversion by Bestt_graphics

Cover Art by Jason Pedersen
3D Conversion by Bestt_graphics

Cover Art by Jason Pedersen

Cover Art by Jason Pedersen

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Also Available in Single eBooks:

Cover Art by Jason Pedersen

Cover Art by Jason Pedersen

Cover Art by Jason Pedersen

Cover Art by Jason Pedersen

Cover Art by Jason Pedersen

Cover Art by Jason Pedersen

Cover art by Jason Pedersen

Cover art by Jason Pedersen

Cover Art by Jason Pedersen

Cover Art by Jason Pedersen

Interested in a new adventure? Then grab your Kindle & dive back into the world of Windemere! Don’t forget an apple for Fizzle.

Author PhotoAbout 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

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Alternate Reality: Illusions Are Our Business

D&D Illusionist

D&D Illusionist

Welcome to our little corner of reality where all of your dreams can come true for a little bit of time.  Want to live the life of an adventurer without facing real monsters?  Just fill out this form and the open road awaits in our specially designed rooms.  They shift beneath the customer, so that they don’t hit the walls and can’t go wandering into anything dangerous.  Of course there’s always a risk, but we take every precaution necessary to make sure we have repeat customers.  What brings you to us?

Normal life illusions . . . I’d like to say that’s a rarity, but it’s more common than you may realize.  Judging by your scars and size, I’d say you’re either an adventurer or a mercenary who has seen a lot.  Probably think the world is harsh and you don’t deserve any real sense of happiness.  Well, you just described half of our clientele and we consider ourselves privileged to help you out.  This big packet is what you need because normal lives are very complicated.  House, spouse, job, and so many other things are needed to make sure you don’t rationalize your way out of it.

Farming is a fun one and covers a lot of the details, but it will cost extra.  Are you aiming to work with crops, livestock, or both?  Corn and apples are an interesting combination.  We have a sale on crops where you can pick one fruit, one vegetable, and a citrus for a quarter off the total. Doesn’t matter if they need different types of land and weather since it’s all an illusion and you wouldn’t know any better.  For livestock, we have a wide variety of animals that work well together.  Giraffes?  Not really sure what you would do with them since they aren’t used for wool, meat, or milk.  Have goats too and you can rent them out for landscaping?  You put a lot of thought into that idea, so I’m going to give you a curiosity discount on that.  It means, I really want to see what you do and I’m willing to sacrifice a bit of money to satisfy myself.

How about the spouse?  Oh, you brought us a picture, which makes things a lot easier.  I do wish you brought us a color one though.  Her hair is . . . black with white streaks.  She has a thin tail that has a kink in the middle.  What about personality?  Guess you like them feisty and . . . she’s your commanding officer in the mercenary crew.  May I point out that we do have a couples package if you ever attempt to turn your dreams into reality.  She isn’t married, is she?  No, well that’s a weight off my conscience.  Do you want her to be a trained fighter in this too?  Sure, take your time thinking about that.  Yes, we do allow for x-rated encounters in your illusions and there are spells to give you true privacy.  This does mean you will have to answer the kid section, so we know where you want those events to go.

Now, everything else in the packet are fine details that you can go over with one of our designers.  Be very specific because our people will take liberties if you give the the opportunity.  We always like to have some fun.  Oh, before you go back there, I need you to sign these forms.  Standard safety ones that say we are not responsible for any cuts, bruises, broken bones, internal bleeding, and bouts of insanity.  This final form builds on that last one a bit.  Just sign at the bottom to make sure you know the mental risk and . . . I did say there was a risk when we started.  Didn’t say we could do much about the physical one.  Do you have a preferred asylum we can call in worst case scenario?

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Sally’s Cafe and Bookstore Christmas Update – Children’s Books the perfect gift.

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Smorgasbord Christmas Party – Guest Author Linda Bethea – Fleas don’t come home for Christmas, Willie Tharpe

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Acknowledgement Page: Thanks for All the Help (Testing for Final Book)

Dariana by Jason Pedersen

Dariana by Jason Pedersen

First, there is a 98-99% chance that Legends of Windemere: The Spirit Well will be live by the end of the week.  Still time to volunteer for posting about it next week since the weekend tends to be rather slow even now.

Now, I’m doing this ‘thank you’ page and getting opinions on it.  This will go at the end of Legends of Windemere: Warlord of the Forgotten Age.  Figure I’ll write it up and test it here since I can’t touch the book.  The kid is home because it was parent/teacher conference day.  Didn’t realize this until Monday.  Anyway, here we go and remember this will be on the final book coming out NEXT DECEMBER:

From the Author

It wouldn’t be right to end this without saying thanks to the people who helped me get to this point.  I started working on Legends of Windemere in 1998 and now it’s ending just shy of two decades later.  It all began when I went to college, joined a D&D game, created a half-elven ranger named Luke Callindor, and realized this would make a fun story to share.  Wrapping my head around the fact that I won’t be waking up tomorrow with Luke and the other champions to work with.  Maybe I’ll sleep through the day and see if that helps, but I do have work to do.  Other heroes and adventures need attention that I haven’t given them in a long time.  I can only hope that I get the same amount of support for those stories as I did for Legends of Windemere.

Thank you to all of the players from the game that started it all.  You all gave me permission to use your characters and make adjustments when I realized a book can’t follow a game perfectly.  Thank you to Mike, Dave, Nate, Harold, Tracy, Sarah, Mark, Alan, Elisa, and Brynn.

Thank you to Jason Pedersen whose cover art immediately became an essential staple of the series. I wouldn’t have made it this far without him and I’m really thankful that we could work on this until the end.

Thank you to Ionia Martin for helping with editing, promoting, and advising me when I had no idea what I was doing.  I should also apologize for all the times I was stubborn and frustrating.  Thank you for never throwing me clear across a recently cleared clearing in Clearville, Pennsylvania.

Thank you to all of my characters for never giving up on me or turning on me when I made them suffer.  Some of you followed my plans while others (looking at you, Kira Grasdon) decided to change things and put me back to the drawing board.  I’m happy that each one of you has been memorable to write and taught me how to hone my skills.

Finally, a big thank you to every reader that entered Windemere.  Whether it was a single book or the whole series, I’m honored that you decided to take a chance on me.  I hope you enjoy the adventure and will return for whatever I do next.

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Dear Lisa, on #LisaBurtonRadio

coldhandboyack's avatarEntertaining Stories

This is Lisa Burton Radio, and I’m your host, Lisa the robot girl. One of the things I’ve wanted to try is sharing some of the mail we get on the air. So here we go.

I’ve gotten a lot of mail about my tattoos. The questions vary, so I’ll try to cover as much as I can and hopefully your answer is in there somewhere.

When I was first booted up, they gave me a job, planted me in a house, and abandoned me. I found myself with days off as part of my cover. Nobody was supposed to know I was a robot, so I had to live like everyone else. I spent a lot of my off-time at the open air markets and street festival. All the other girls that summer had a kind of retro-style going on, so I adapted it to fit in better. It’s…

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A Little Personal – His Revenge now $0.99 in US and UK – #RRBC

John W. Howell's avatarFiction Favorites

His revenge sale

Photo Courtesy of Gwen Plano

Yup, it is true. I’m running a sale on His Revenge. From Now until midnight Sunday, December 11th. Here are the links:

US  Amazon

UK Amazon

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7 Reasons Not to Anger an Illusion Caster

Yahoo Image Search

Yahoo Image Search

You might laugh at the gnome making funny illusions in the bar.  Right now, he’s trying to win the heart of a lovely woman.  That’s the mood you want him to stay in.  There are many reasons not to anger a master of manipulating reality.  Sure, you might be able to see through the spells, but can you do it before you’re defeated?

  1. Illusionists may affect the senses, but that can trigger other reactions.  Allergies are one option if you’re going for pranks.  Another is using illusions to physically push a target to the point of collapse.  If you can’t summon ghosts then make some of your own. A dragon might be tough, but you can always have only the head come bursting through the wall.  This is extra deadly if you have a heart condition.
  2. You will never live down the picture of you making out with that Paladin’s warhorse.  I know you thought it was a beautiful elf that was running a kissing booth.  Sadly, that was a lie and you defiled a holy animal.  On the plus side, it’s easy to outrun a man wearing a suit of platemail and swinging a sword the size of a small building.
  3. That is one gigantic army coming at you.  It’s amazing that they can even get through the forest without knocking over every tree.  Doesn’t help that somebody put a mountain behind your own army, which everyone swears wasn’t there the night before.  Probably an earth wizard had it rise because you heard the noise.  That’s all it could be, right?  Not like the mountain is fake and most of the marching army is fake with only a handful of adventurers hidden in the ranks to do the real damage.
  4. Why does everyone look like your ex-wife or ex-husband now?
  5. You’re ready for strange sights, eerie noises, foul smells, and whatever else that illusionist has in store for you.  Nothing will . . . Odd that your fresh coffee tastes like used bathwater.  That chicken tasted a little off too.  Did somebody switch your toothpaste with year old tuna fish?  You’d try to fix it with a cup of water, but it tastes like somebody dropped a dead skunk in the water supply.  Still, none of this will stop you from seeing through that illusionist’s tricks.
  6. You are locked in a state of total paranoia.  Every chair is a potential for an embarrassing fall.  Doorknobs aren’t exactly where you see them.  There’s also that one step at the top or bottom that you trip over.  Every Monday, you leave your bathroom to find that the landlord is doing an inspection and she is never happy to see you with the open robe.
  7. Nothing happens.  You continue adventuring and making a name for yourself.  Marry a beautiful spouse who is wealthy and you get to live a life of luxury.  Kids come and grow up to give you grandkids.  This is the perfect life that you always dreamed of.  Then you learn: ALL OF IT IS A LIE!  You just spent your entire existence trapped in an illusionary world where time works differently.  It’s only been a week, but you remember decades of a life that may never come to pass.  This is why you never piss off an Illusionist.  They will break you.
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Sally’s Cafe and Bookstore Christmas Update – Angie Dokos, Alyssa Drake and Nicholas C. Rossis

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