11 Sunday Nov 2018
Posted in Any Way the Wind Blows, Book covers, Books, Diocese of Georgia, Episcopal, Fiction, mystery, NaNoWriMo, Uncategorized
. . . I didn’t get a real blog written this week. Between the 197th Convention of the Diocese of Georgia and NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month), I’ve been insanely busy. Next week: Elephant Seals.
Enjoying the Clergy Spouse Breakfast with Kelly Benhase and Bishop Scott Benhase.
And the novel I am working on–more than 16,000 words into my goal of 50,000 by the end of the month.
07 Sunday Oct 2018
To celebrate the recent publication of the Third Editions of out Best of the Appalachian Trail guides, the Hallowed Treasures Saga is on sale for 99¢ at the Kindle store.
The Path to Misery is the first book in the trilogy. Centuries after an apocalypse, Princess Eluned leaves her father’s kingdom in search of adventure and romance. Instead, she finds herself accumulating a band of compatriots for a divinely-led quest to reunite the Thirteen Hallowed Treasures in an effort to restore peace to the Thirteen Kingdoms. In the process, she transforms from the self-absorbed girl she had been into the strong woman she must become.
Kirkus Review called it, “A page-turning fantasy set in a richly textured world, made all the more delightful by a thoughtful yet spirited heroine and her wonderfully oddball companions.”
You can find The Path to Misery here: Amazon
In Lonely Exile is the second book in the trilogy. It weaves in more of the history of their world and the individuals on the quest as they continue the search for the Hallowed Treasures.
“A delightful reunion with old friends, sure to leave fans of strong female heroines craving the final installment,” Kirkus Review said.
You can find In Lonely Exile here: Amazon
Death’s Dark Shadows is the final book in the trilogy. The Questers must now split up to continue the search for the last few treasures. In addition, they must disguise their identities in order to travel to the far reaches of the Thirteen Kingdoms as spies are seeking them out in towns and along the roads. Even on this divinely inspired quest, Omni may not prevent some of the group from having to give their lives to restore peace to the Thirteen Kingdoms.
You can find Death’s Dark Shadows here: Amazon
30 Sunday Jul 2017
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Death’s Dark Shadows will be published soon and here’s the cover reveal for the final book in The Hallowed Treasure’s Saga:
And here are a couple more just for fun:
The 1970s cover
And a couple of fun ones from In Lonely Exile:
And my favorite:
11 Sunday Dec 2016
Posted in Albert Einstein, Anaïs Nin, Book covers, Death's Dark Shadows, Don Quixote, Dr. Suess, Edgar Allan Poe, Fantasy, Fiction, Hallowed Treasures Saga, Henry Miller, In Lonely Exile, Julian of Norwich, King Crimson, Kirkus Review, Lao Tzu, Miguel Cervantes, Nicolai Gogol, Poetry, Quotes, Songs, T.S. Eliot, The Man of LaMancha, The Path to Misery, The Raven, Thirteen Kingdoms
The Ghost of Loss by Geillis Saille
Kirkus Reviews said, “Because Eluned loves books, bookworms will be abundantly rewarded throughout the tale, with frequent references to the works of H.P. Lovecraft, T.S. Eliot, Lewis Carroll, and more. Welsh mythology heavily influences the princess’ story and world, so fans of Lloyd Alexander’s classic Chronicles of Prydain series should find much to enjoy here.”
To make the Princess Eluned’s love of literature even more real, I added some writers and poets who were contemporaneous to her time frame. I also began each book in the Hallowed Treasures Saga with a quote as well as adding quotes to the title page for each Part of the saga.
From The Path to Misery:
“And for a long time yet, led by some wondrous power, I am fated to journey hand in hand with my strange heroes and to survey the surging immensity of life, to survey it through the laughter that all can see and through the tears unseen and unknown b anyone.” ~~Nicolai Gogol, Dead Souls
PROLOGUE
The quote from the prologue is taken from a book written by one of Eluned’s favorite authors. She has re-reads this book while at King Arawn’s Castle Pwyll in Prythew, Kingdom of Annewven.
“The most difficult path to tread is the way that leads to one’s own soul.” ~~Geillis Saille, The Ghost of Loss
PART ONE
“Let us, then be up and doing,
With a heart for any fate;
Still achieving, still pursuing,
Learn to labor and to wait.”
~~Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
“Call her moonchild
Dancing in the shallow of a river
Lonely moonchild
Dreaming in the shadow of a willow.
Talking to the trees of a cobweb strange
Sleeping on the steps of a fountain
Waving silver wands to the night-birds song
Waiting for the sun on the mountain.”
~~King Crimson, Moonchild from In The Court of the Crimson King
PART TWO
“From there to here, from here to there,
Funny things are everywhere.”
~~Dr. Suess, One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish
“The rusted chains of prison moons
Are shattered by the sun.
I walk a road, horizons change
The tournament’s begun.
The purple piper plays his tune.
The choir softly sing:
Three lullabies in an ancient tongue.
For the court of the crimson king.”
~~King Crimson, The Court of the Crimson King from In the Court of the Crimson King
PART THREE
“We travel, some of us forever,
to see other states, other lives, other souls.”
~~Anaïs Nin, The Diary of Anaïs Nin, Vol. 7: 1966-1974
“Sailing on the wind
In a milk white gown
Dropping circle stones on a sundial
Playing hide and seek
With the ghosts of dawn
Waiting for a smile from a sun child.”
~~King Crimson, Moonchild from In the Court of the Crimson King
The Divine Presence by Schlomo
From In Lonely Exile:
“What we call the beginning is often the end
And to make an end is to make a beginning.
The end is where we start from.”
~~T.S. Eliot, Little Gidding
PART THREE CONTINUED
While in Prythew, in Book I, Eluned buys Yona a volume of poetry by the poet Schlomo. In Book II, Yona brings the book along with her on the Quest.
“Fire descends in the night,
Lightning and thunder quicken the darkness,
A dream takes root as I sleep.”
~~Schlomo, The Divine Presence
“This is my Quest to follow that star,
No matter how hopeless, no matter how far,
To fight for the right without question of pause,
To be willing to march into hell for a heavenly cause!”
~~Joe Darion, The Man of LaMancha
PART IV
“When life itself seems lunatic, who knows where madness lies?
Perhaps to be too practical is madness. To surrender dreams–
this may be madness. Too much sanity may be madness–and
maddest of all: to see life as it is, and not as it should be!”
~~Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra, Don Quixote
“Deep into that darkness peering,
long I stood there, wondering, fearing,
doubting, dreaming dreams no mortal
ever dared to dream before.”
~~Edgar Allan Poe, The Raven
The Gunslinger’s Troth by Delevan Aden
From Death’s Dark Shadows
“Peace cannot be kept by force; it can only be achieved by understanding.”
~~Albert Einstein
PART V
The first quote is taken from Eluned’s favorite romance novel. It is one of the books she found hidden in a secret compartment in the window seat of her tower bedroom. The books belonged to her great-grandmother, Queen Fuchsia, who abandoned her husband and child to pursue her dream of acting. The book is mentioned in both In Lonely Exile and Death’s Dark Shadows.
“Honey, you ain’t never gonna find peace in this world lookin’ down the barrel of a gun.”
~~Delevan Aden, The Gunslinger’s Troth
“If there is to be any peace it will come through being, not having.”
~~Henry Miller
PART VI
“Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished.”
~~Lao Tzu
“All shall be well, and all shall be well and all manner of thing shall be well.”
~~Julian of Norwich
Which quote is your favorite?
As I am currently finishing Death’s Dark Shadows, I don’t yet have the quotes for what will be PART VII. BUT, The Path to Misery and In Lonely Exile, can both be purchased through your local bookstore or at Amazon and Barnes & Noble, both in paperback or on Kindle or Nook.
AMAZON:
The Path to Misery: Book I in the Hallowed Treasures Saga
In Lonely Exile: Book II in the Hallowed Treasures Saga on Kindle
or in paperback here: In Lonely Exile
Barnes & Noble:
The Path to Misery: Book I in the Hallowed Treasures Saga
In Lonely Exile: Book II in the Hallowed Treasures Saga
04 Sunday Dec 2016
In Lonely Exile: Book II in The Hallowed Treasures Saga is now available at Amazon for 99¢. Click here to see the book at Amazon.
From VictoriaLogue.com:
About the Novel
A princess and her eclectic companions continue their quest to collect 13 mythical treasures in this epic-fantasy sequel.The book begins with Yona stealing the Hamper of Gwyddno Garanir as the remainder of her compatriots await her arrival in Favonia. From there, the Quest continues to the Kingdom of Dyfed as they search for Nyx, the unicorn wearing the Halter of Clydno Eiddyn. From Dyfed, they travel to the Kingdom of Naphtali where the must search the ruins of the previous capital, Kamea, for the Crock and Dish of Rhyngenydd the Cleric. As their adventures continue, they add two more companions to the Quest.
Kirkus Review said:
“the series continues to stand out for its foregrounding of friendship,
diplomacy, and exploration over gory sword fights.
A delightful reunion with old friends, sure to leave fans of strong female heroines craving the final installment.”
17 Sunday Jul 2016
The Princess Eluned, the main character in the Hallowed Treasures Saga is an avid reader as are most of the other characters. So, not only are there quotes and mentions from various books, poems and songs, but there are some books from the Thirteen Kingdoms mentioned within the trilogy.
A few of them are:
Thirteen Royal Treasures of the Thirteen Kingdoms by Pryderi Gruffyd
This is the book that catapults Eluned into her quest for the Thirteen Hallowed Treasures. Eluned found this book squeezed between an almanac and this book:
Coal: Sources, Mining and Safety by Dornick Purine
While at Castle Pwyll in Prythew, Eluned relieves her boredom by borrowing this book from King Arawn’s library. It is by her favorite author, Geillis Saille, and though she had read it before, she decides to read it again.
The Ghost of Loss by Geillis Saille
And this is the copy on the bookshelf in her bedroom at Castle Mykerinos:
The most difficult path to tread is the way that leads to one’s own soul.
~Geillis Saille in The Ghost of Loss
Eluned bought this book of poetry by the poet, Schlomo, for Yona at the market in Prythew:
The Divine Presence by Schlomo
Fire descends in the night,
Lightning and thunder quicken the darkness,
A dream takes root as I sleep.
Finally, Eluned’s favorite book, which she found secreted away with a few other romance novels that had belonged to her great grandmother, Queen Fuchsia:
Honey, you ain’t never gonna find peace in this world lookin’ down the barrel of a gun.
~ Delevan Aden in The Gunslinger’s Troth
