Cute new Etsy Shop and WordPress blog!

New Etsy Shop for designed plates.

Briana (Vedsted) Atkisson's avatarWhen I Became an Author

Hi everyone! I wanted to tell you about this cute little shop I found! It is an Etsy shop, whose owner makes the most beautiful hand-decorated home decor plates. She’s a youngster, and new to the world of blogging and I’d appreciate it if you’d swing by her site and say “Hi!” If you’d like, I’m sure she’d welcome any new followers, too. 🙂 And maybe you could look into her Etsy shop ( http://www.etsy.com/shop/FallNLoveCrafts ) and take a look at all her plate designs…who knows, maybe you’ll like one enough to buy it! But either way, please welcome her with the same thoughtfulness and good graces you’ve shown me. Thank you so much! http://fallnlovecrafts.wordpress.com/

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What Do You Look for in Warriors and Casters?

One of the early challenges I had with writing fantasy is the urge to have Swiss Army knife characters.  The caster could fight without magic and the warrior would gain the ability to cast powerful magic.  I was in high school, so this might not have been as surprising as one would think.  I never wrote the story and the characters were junked, but it did teach me a lesson.  Characters need to know their role and not be everything.

This isn’t to say that casters shouldn’t fight and warriors can’t use magic.  For example, Nyx can use a crossbow with decent accuracy and she can use a mace without bashing her own head in.  Is she highly proficient?  No.  She can brawl like a streetfighter, which can come in handy if her magic is blocked, but it isn’t a clean or useful method of fighting trained warriors.

I think this question is why I’m always nervous about giving Luke any magic items or powers as the series progresses.  Yet, I noticed something when I did have a version of him that involved magic powers.  He never used them.  I could never find a way to comfortably fit what I wanted him to have into his style.  So, Luke is changed from the original evolution to suit his style.  This also told me that talented warriors should never be given full magic because you run into the issue of ‘what did they fight with?’  If you’re a master swordsman and can hurl fireballs with ease, nothing can stop you.

So, I look for balance as a character evolves.  If they gain new abilities as a series progresses then they should fit what they are and not severely alter them.  I do think this kind of evolution is necessary in certain story types.  Raising the power of villains without doing so to the heroes makes their inevitable victory rather far-fetched to me.  That goes back to the rivals post where I said that rivals should be equal and there should be a sense that either can win.

What do you look for in warriors and spellcasters or other action-type heroes?  Do you like them to have a few non-role abilities?

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An Interview with Trinity, From the Legends of Windemere

Thank you to Sarah M. Cradit for helping with the Prodigy of Rainbow Tower hype. Here’s the Trinity interview transcript.

Sarah M. Cradit's avatar...and then there was Sarah

Please join me in welcoming Nyx, Queen of the Chaos Elves in Charles Yallowitz’ upcoming novel, Prodigy of Rainbow Tower. If you are not already familiar with this awesome fantasy author’s work, make sure to visit him at The Legends of Windemere site, immediately following your enjoyment of this awesome interview.

Also, don’t forget to add Prodigy of Rainbow Tower to your Goodreads TBR list!

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Prodigy of Rainbow Tower Blurbs

A while back I posted some blurbs for my upcoming book.  These are to be used on sites that require a unique description.  I already got thumbs up on the Amazon blurb, but I want to get these a second look from people since a lot of new faces have turned up since the first time.  Here we go:

Goodkindles

This is the action-packed sequel to Legends of Windemere: Beginning of a Hero, which follows the adventures of Luke Callindor and his friends.  Unlike the previous book, Legends of Windemere: Prodigy of Rainbow Tower takes the readers through a journey into Windemere instead of the action taking place in a single location.

After surviving his first mission and a semester at Hamilton Military Academy, Luke Callindor and his friends set out to escort the Serabian heir back to the capital city of Gods’ Voice.  Begrudgingly leaving his new girlfriend behind, Luke sets out along the L’Dandrin River and prepares himself for a gauntlet of traps set by the Lich.  It’s a journey that takes him from the bustling city of Gaia to the thief-ruled city of Rodillen and straight to the peaceful walled city of Freedom.

Joining Luke is a new ally and potential friend named Nyx.  This half-elven caster is the titular prodigy of Rainbow Tower and starts off her friendship with Luke by trying to blast him with fire spells.  Hot tempered, short fused, and more stubborn than Luke, Nyx and her incredible magic prove to be a powerful ally.  She is exactly the type of ally that is needed to help combat the magic of Queen Trinity, the cunning ruler of the chaos elves, who has been sent to help the Lich.  An unbreakable friendship and a devastating rivalry bloom as Nyx steps into the world outside of Gaia for the first time in her life.

Retaining the humor and action of its predecessor, Prodigy of Rainbow Tower puts our heroes through the physical and emotional wringer.  Luke and his friends will never be the same by the end of their adventure due to a horrible betrayal.  Nyx struggles to adapt to life as an adventurer and must learn to trust her life to those that she barely understands.  It is also here that the reader starts to get hints about the grand plot of the series and what the gods have planned for the heroes.

One of the most enjoyable things to write, and hopefully read, in regards to this book is the introduction of Nyx.  She is an incredible young woman with great power, a heavy burden, and deep scars from her past.  Even with all of her power and strength, an innate fragility grew out of the character as I wrote her.  It was as if her magic had been used to cover her emotional turmoil and setting out on her first adventure was forcing her to cope with her issues at a rate faster than she can handle.  For her emotional depth and the great scenes that I get out of her, Nyx was easily the highlight for me writing this book.  So, I really do hope everyone enjoys seeing her in action.

AskDavid.com

This is the action-packed, humor-filled sequel to Legends of Windemere: Beginning of a Hero where Luke Callindor and friends are pushed to their limits.  As difficult as his first adventure was, nothing has prepared Luke for the challenges that await him outside of Hamilton Military Academy.

After graduating from Hamilton Military Academy, much to Selenia Hamilton’s delight, Luke Callindor takes on the role of bodyguard for the royal heir of Serab.  Joined by Nimby, Fritz Warrenberg, Aedyn Karwyn, and Fizzle, the young warrior is excited to return to the road.  His excitement lessens when he learns that they are going to be traveling down the L’Dandrin River toward the capital city of Gods’ Voice.  Departing from Gaia, the largest city of Ralian, our heroes must prepare for a gauntlet of traps set by the Lich and his newest ally, Queen Trinity of the chaos elves.

Thankfully, Luke has a new ally of his own in the form of Nyx, the half-elven magical prodigy from Gaia.  Blessed by the gods with incredible magic, Nyx leaves the safety of Gaia for the first time and quickly tests Luke with her volatile nature.  More inclined to cast magic and ask questions later, the small group of friends must find a way to get along with their new ally whose scars run deeper than they can imagine.

Legends of Windemere: Prodigy of Rainbow Tower takes the reader on a tour of Windemere as our heroes struggle against goblins, demons, vampires, and a betrayal from one of their own.  By the end of the adventure, Luke Callindor and his friends will never be the same.

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City Poem: Vorgabog

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Quaint and quiet
Little village on the river
More port than town
Holding supplies and product
To prepare the ships that pass
So different from the others
No danger can be found
Which makes it perfect
For those with darker hearts

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Do Characters Need Birthdays?

This is something that’s been plaguing me for a while.  Is it necessary for characters to have birthdays?  I’ve read many fantasy series where the birthdays pass without notice or aren’t mentioned at all.  Personally, I never really thought about them when I’m in the position of being a reader.

Yet, I think about it a lot when I’m writing.  Do I bother?  I only have vague ideas of most birthdays.  Nyx was born on the Day of Darkness.  Luke Callindor was born in early spring.  Sari might be a winter baby.  Beyond that, I have no idea and wonder if I should go to great lengths for this.

Maybe it’s a culture thing too.  Birthdays in our world are grand affairs for many, which strikes me as odd.  I would assume surviving another year in a world with dragons, demons, and monsters would make a birthday more precious.  So, it could be that most fantasy worlds are nonchalant about it.  I have time to figure it out since the 6th book takes place in winter and I won’t be starting it until later this year.

Do character birthdays factor into your writing?  What about when you’re reading?

Legends of Windemere: Prodigy of Rainbow Tower Coming July 31st!!!!

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The Seed – Now Available on Lulu.com!!!

Check out the debut novel of Helen Valentina titled ‘The Seed’.

Helen's avatarhelenvalentina

Adobe Photoshop PDF

 

Hi Everyone !  As promised, below you will find the  links to the paperback and ebook versions of my first novel The Seed.

Over the next couple of months it will be available also on Amazon – both paperback and eventually kindle version, Apple and Nook, in global distribution.  I’ll keep you up to date if any of these are preferred points of purchase.  🙂

In the meantime, the description of the novel is below.  It is a romance, essentially, but has a dark and ambiguous undertow, which will surprise none of you familiar with my poetry!

I hope if you choose to purchase that you enjoy the novel and I’d welcome your feedback.  🙂

Book Description

 

Sara Fraser, a solitary artist, is haunted by her dreams of a past life where she is deeply in love—a concept and experience foreign to her waking existence. Just as she is becoming…

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Now What? Also, Cake or Death?

The video has nothing to do with anything I’m about to talk about.  The video is entirely for entertainment.  The rest is business . . . I swear I said that with a straight face.

The toddler turns 4 this weekend.  Saturday is the small party and Sunday is the actual birthday.  It will be busy with only the question and poetry blogs going up because:

Legends of Windemere: Prodigy of Rainbow Tower Coming July 31st!!!!

Less than a week for my second book to debut and I’m excited.  So excited that I finished writing Legends of Windemere: The Compass Key a week early.  Well . . . that was unexpected and now I’m lost on what to do next week.  The advertising for my book isn’t going to be as psychotic as the first book.  I have all of my pieces together and can probably get all of the advertising site e-mails out within an hour or two.  After that it’s all blogging, tweeting, and whoring myself out as usual.

I can make characters for The Slumber Wars or do the 5th edit on Legends of Windemere: Family of the Tri-Rune or set up the special blurbs for Legends of Windemere: Allure of the Gypsies.  I hate writing blurbs, so having to write three is rough.  One for Amazon, one for Goodkindles, and one for AskDavid.com.  I might do that last one just to have it out of the way and get some feedback from those that read the second book.  I just need a project before I move on to do an edit of The Compass Key.

So, I have a weekend to decide on my next project . . . there is Legends of Windemere: Curse of the Dark Wind (6th book), but I should give 4 and 5 some more editing.

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Author of the Week

Check out the books by Mark Paxson. His upcoming book is called Weed Therapy.

Ionia Froment's avatarreadful things blog

This week’s author of the week is a very talented gentleman who is celebrating the release of his newest book. He is sharp as a tack, a lot of fun to talk to and runs an excellent blog you can find by going here:king midget’s ramblings

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buy Weed Therapy

buy One Night in Bridgeport

Let’s spread the word about Mark’s books! If you would be so kind to tweet, share on FB and reblog it would be much appreciated!

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Character Poem: The Hellfire Elf

HellfireFlatsDemonic assassin
Born from fear and fire
Nursed on delicious pain
Putrid magic in its veins
Hidden by armored skin
Resembling armor spiked and thick
Any form is his to take
As he stalks his prey
A juggernaut of pride and death
Few have survived their hunt
With body and mind intact

Legends of Windemere: Prodigy of Rainbow Tower Coming July 31st!!!!

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