Barbarian Bazaar: All Products Come in Bulk

Final Fantasy 9 Treno

Final Fantasy 9 Treno

So you want to be a barbarian.  Well, you have the size for it and that intimidating stare is chilling.  Still, you need the attitude and ferocity that comes with controlling a churning rage that has been kept under control for generations.  For that we’ll need a test.  I’m going to slap you around for a bit and you’re going to behave.  Don’t ask why I’m putting on metal gloves.  Barbarians don’t get worried about such things.  Here we go . . . Well, you took that like a champ.  Grab a mug and we’ll get to business.

First, you need to pick a weapon.  Most go for large things like axes, mauls, or severed branches.  There’s the crossbow option too.  Of course you can have two of those, but it’d be hard to load them.  True, that would give you two distance attacks and then you can get close.  We have some daggers, but they aren’t a popular item.  Have you seen the size of your hands?  A dagger would look ridiculous in those mitts and I’m fairly certain you’d slice the tips of your fingers off.  What do you mean that dagger?  You’re pointing at a two-handed broadsword that is typically used to kill a man and his horse in one blow.  Maybe I hit you in the head too hard.

Now we do have lesson to help with wilderness skills and sense enhancement.  Tracking and hunting are highly recommended.  Both of those classes have openings, so you don’t have to worry about space.  Bashing solid objects with your head and ignoring blizzard conditions are booked for a month.  May I recommend animal husbandry?  Nobody ever takes that one.  Well, you can pick a sense or two to get trained because those always help in the wild.  They’re all self-explanatory.  Sense of smell is a great choice and . . . sense of taste is an odd one.  I’ll have to call the teacher back from his five year vacation since it wasn’t very popular.  Mind if I ask why those too?  Not sure what coffee has to do with it, but you’re the customer.

Let’s see what we got left.  Clothing is covered in a hunting class.  We’ll move onto the scars that you want.  It isn’t like getting a tattoo since you can’t get it removed and I won’t be the one giving it to you.  We have an extensive menagerie on the premises and you pick what you want to fight.  I can call the beasts off and send in the healers once you get what you want.  Just pick what you want and I’ll get them ready.  Here’s the catalog.  The thing on the cover is only a design, so that isn’t an option.  Just flip through and make your decisions.  You’ll see we have pictures of the most common scars too.  That’s a field mouse and it’s only in there for completion.  How about you pick something dangerous and I’ll give you the mouse for free?  We don’t have one thousand field mice because that would be a health code violation.  I definitely hit you in the head too hard.

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Friday Book Round-Up Spotlights Wetwork by @CadenceDenton #free #books #IARTG

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New Book in Series – Marked by Honor – The Knights of Valor Series by Lauren Linwood

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I love my pink giraffe

Ionia Froment's avatarJ and I Publishing

Color books are a wonderful thing. Granted, in the beginning when I heard about adult color books, I really thought that was something XXX that I wanted no part of. But as the craze grew, I went from thinking that it was some porn form I should be afraid of, to thinking “Who on earth over the age of ten has time for coloring?” The answer, it turned out, was me.

It doesn’t matter how busy you are. If you can take ten minutes to drink a cup of tea or coffee or check your Facebook status, then you can take the time to color and create a meditation moment to relax yourself through coloring.

One of the beauties of colors books, is that you can have full control to make the pictures your own. Whereas we don’t have control over many other things in our life, when you pick…

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Questions 3: Running Amok

This week has been all levels of chaos.  Some things have changed that I can’t get into yet because the announcement requires more pomp.  I think.  Honestly, I’m just running around like a chicken with its head partly cut off.  Not enough to kill it, but enough to make life a rush of panic until it get to a mad scientist for help.

The original plan was to put up the blurbs for Tribe of the Snow Tiger and get feedback while I was out for the day.  Simple plan that I’ve done before.  Keeps blog traffic going and gets some work done while I’m away.  Except my dumb ass never did more than make the empty file a few months ago.  Instead, we get some half-ass questions that I hope will entertain.  With any luck, the real plan will go off Saturday or Sunday when there’s barely enough blog traffic to stomp a termite to death.

  1. Ever have a week where you swear somebody put a curse on you?
  2. What is a telltale sign that you’re reaching your stress limit?
  3. How do you pull back from the edge?
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The Power of Six, on Lisa Burton Radio

coldhandboyack's avatarEntertaining Stories


Coming at you with one point twenty-one jigawatts of power, this is Lisa Burton Radio. I’m your host, Lisa the robot girl, and today we’re having our first ever open-mike show.

I brought some old albums, like The Pretenders, and some Joan Jett if we run into a soft patch. So let’s get those phones ringing.

It looks like we have a caller already. “Hello caller, welcome to the show.”

“Show? What show?”

“This is Lisa Burton Radio. What’s your name, please?”

“I’m Mark, in Maintenance. Listen, I know this sounds crazy, but I’m trapped and need your help.”

“Shouldn’t you be calling emergency services? I’m just a radio host.”

“Don’t you think I tried that. The phones are out in the entire building. Maybe your broadcast will reach someone who can help me.”

“Where are you calling from?”

“I broke into the lab. There’s a box here, labeled Trans-Narrative…

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Queen Trinity Revisited

By Kayla Matt

By Kayla Matt

Queen Trinity of the chaos elves has been an interesting character.  She has been Nyx’s respected rival and a top agent of the Baron since Prodigy of Rainbow Tower.  There have been moments of tenderness with her people and Sari before the wily gypsy was revealed as an enemy.  She has been vicious and cold when dealing with those that have crossed her.  It’s always fun to write her because of how much she’s evolved.

In many ways, Trinity is the unfortunate shadow of Nyx.  Both of them are powerful channelers that have before trained since birth.  They each have a strong sense of loyalty to family and friends as well as pride.  The differences is in upbringing.  Trinity grew up in the shadow of the Baron and was trained for world conquest while Nyx was raised as champion.  Trinity was also trained to fight without magic, which gives her a slight advantage against Nyx in hand-to-hand.  An interesting aspect of this dynamic is that you can see how one could pull the other to their side.  Also how a simple twist of fate could have switched them.  That closeness in role has been a thorn in Trinity’s side.  For a bit, she wanted to take over Nyx’s position as a champion.

A key point of her personality is that she’ll do anything to protect her people, which makes her loyalty beyond the chaos elves a little shaky.  It also means she has a giant weak point that can be used against her.  This is where her kindness comes into play, but it pairs off with her viciousness when cornered.  Threaten her people and you better have the power to beat her.  If she catches a hint of weakness then Trinity will attack.  This has always been a fun aspect because it directs her like a weapon that can turn at a moment’s notice.  Several times, she’s gone against orders because it has suited her personal desires better than continuing.  Usually this involved Stephen, which is how she managed to avoid punishment.

So if Tribe of the Snow Tiger focuses on Timoran Wrath, what does Trinity have to do with this?  Well, this is a big event for her too.  Several changes are happening in her life and she has to make a choice.  How will this tie into Timoran’s story?  Going to have to read and find out.

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New Book Fanfare – Unhappily Ever After by Lucinda E. Clarke

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Sneak Peek: Return of Cassidy and Lloyd (First, A Treat.)

Two treats for you!  Below the cut is an unedited opening for the next ‘Bedlam’ book.  I don’t know if it will stay like this, but it was written off the cuff.  More importantly, Jon changed up the cover a bit and it’s right here.  Hoping to make the switch on Friday or over the weekend.  What do you think?

Crossing Bedlam by Jon Hunsinger

Crossing Bedlam by Jon Hunsinger

Continue reading →

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Check This Out: A Wish After Midnight and The Door at the Crossroads

L. Marie's avatarEl Space--The Blog of L. Marie

It’s always great when friends introduce you to their friends, especially if those friends are authors. Thanks to Lyn Miller-Lachmann, I learned about Zetta Elliott, an educator with a Ph.D. in American Studies from NYU, who also is a playwright. Awesome, right? And she’s written several books for children, including Bird,her award-winning picture book. Zetta is a hybrid author—one who has been traditionally published and indie published. She’s here because of her young adult time travel series, the first two of which are A Wish After Midnight and The Door at the Crossroads.

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After I chat with Zetta, I’ll fill you in on a giveaway. So for now, grab a cup of coffee or tea and hang out with us. We won’t bite. Much.

El Space: Four quick facts about yourself?
Zetta: I’m an immigrant [from Canada]. I’m a Scorpio. I’m middle-aged (43). I’m…

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