Being an Author

 

Image stolen from Facebook 

This meme is too true to be completely funny, especially since I’m working on another fantasy. It takes time to figure out and describe food, animals, countryside, towns, villages, and characters. Never mind the plot.

It reminds me of creation. God called forth an entire universe and our amazing world. Some of which we have yet to discover. The vastness and uniqueness boggles the mind, along with the complexity we struggle to unravel. How small my little fantasy world is in comparison!

Then, He created us.

In His image.

We are far more complex than we can comprehend, both mind and body.

God went even further, becoming a man. Like us. Another truth that defies our understanding.

This, of course, is where faith comes in. There are so many questions so complex our minds cannot absorb them, and we simply have to trust.

Simply trust.

Not so simple, is it? We flounder. We question. We wrestle.

How much easier life would be if we didn’t struggle so much. As Jesus said, we must become like children. Trusting. Living in the moment. Not worrying about the past or the future.

It’s hard.

God, being the Author of our stories, knows how it will end — in Paradise with Him — as long as we believe.

It’s all the stuff in between that causes all the angst. He throws challenges at us to test our faith (for our benefit). He already knows our hearts, but we don’t until we’re tried in difficulties. He also wisely uses the difficult circumstances to prove our dependency on Him and His faithfulness to His promises.

As I’ve aged, I’ve gotten better at trusting. How could I not after so many life experiences, blessings, and miracles?

However, I look back and wish I’d had more faith at times. How much easier life would have been. But I can’t go back and change it, so I need to focus on today and leave both the past and the future in God’s hands.

I’m sure I’ll be repeating that mantra until I draw my last breath.

Dear Lord, keep me close to you. Don’t let me wander down any path where You do not lead. Amen.

 

It's Done! Finally

 

Finally! It's done and live on Amazon. 

Evie Walsh is a Gifted, a mythical race thought to be extinct after the Great Purge eradicated most of her kind. But the Gifted are very much alive and are working in secret, using their supernatural abilities to protect the innocent.

 Each time Evie uses her gifts, she risks exposure, putting herself and all Gifted in danger. Even so, she won’t stop. Not if she can save one more life. 

Her friend and mentor thinks he has a solution. But can she trust it with her life? 

Besides the risks of another genocide, a Dark Gifted sees her as a threat to his criminal empire. He’ll use any means available to him to destroy her — even drawing on forbidden dark powers. Will Evie’s unique abilities be enough to stop him?

 

This one was a struggle. Bless my critique partners and editor for their patience. I knew the first version wasn't one of my better stories and when they got done with their red pens, I almost gave up on the book. They encouraged me not to toss it aside. The story had good bones. It just needed to be fleshed out more. 

Back to the computer, I spent hours more bringing the story and characters to their full potential. I believe I added between 10,000 and 15,000 words to the original manuscript. But it was worth the effort. 

The cover was fun to create, using new tools in updated software. 

So, now that this child is out in the world, what's next? 

Why another fantasy! This one will be a high fantasy like Plighted. 

Since you're here, you get a sneak preview of the cover and the working blurb. 

As a Trackling, Aislene can follow any trail. It doesn’t matter if her quarry crosses creeks, swims rivers, or climbs trees or rocks. Her magic illuminates any essence left behind.

As her quarry leads her and her entourage of enforcers deeper into Gescildan territory, she advises Nyyx, the lead enforcer, they should turn back and leave the criminal to his fate. Few who venture into the fierce warriors’ territory return, but it might already be too late. Someone or something is following them…

Of course, this may change as the story unfolds. :) 

Anyway, had to share the good news! 

 

Finally!

It's done! Woo-hoo! 

Life threw several bends and bumps last year, which took priority over other things, like writing, and I missed my usual publication date. It took me a year and a half to finish the last book in my Lions and Lambs series. 

It is a bitter-sweet moment, time to say goodbye to characters I have spent years telling their stories. But to go on would mean repetition. 

Lions, Devils, and Lambs

They’re back.  The cult and their demon god. The sociopathic hit man. 

The criminally insane uncle. 

In this fifth and final installment of the Lion and Lamb series, bizarre phenomena and horrific crimes draw eighteen-year-old Rachael Daniels into another battle between good and evil. This time it’s even harder to determine who she can trust.

Who are the mysterious Watchers? Are they protectors or part of the cult?

The new youth pastor, Gabriel Guerrero, and his mysterious associate, Michael Blair, are hiding something.

Hundreds of lives depend on Rachael uncovering the truth and stopping the cult’s attacks. Will God step in with another miracle, or is this the one occasion evil will appear to win?

 Now also available: 

So what's next? A new genre, one I'm excited about, and not too far a stretch from my series. I've already fallen in love with these new characters and I'm having fun telling their adventures. This is a lighter venue, a pleasant change from the dark themes of the series. 

Plighted

Plighted: to solemnly pledge one’s faith or loyalty; an unfortunate, difficult, or precarious situation.

For Ilona, a Numen trothed to Elgar, one of Immara’s elite guardsmen, it means all the above.

Upon their Assembly sanctioned union, she and Elgar are sent away from her beloved Immara, land of light, in search of Lirium, the utopia of peace and healing promised to all retiring Garridin. 

Beset with challenges, misfortunes, and dangers in every land they enter, Ilona wonders if this perfect land exists outside of Immara — or if it resides only in the broken and scarred soul of the man, she’s vowed to love. 

However, an overheard conversation indicates the high commander of the Garridin’s troth to a Numen as young as Ilona, and their immediate departure from Immara, might be for other reasons.

What fate are they running from — or toward? 

To an author, writing is the same as breathing. We can't stop doing either. 

As Maya Angelou said so eloquently, "There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you."

Fantasy vs Reality

Photo by Johannes Pleino from Pixabay

I finished reading a well written, intriguing fantasy novel. The premise held my interest and kept me turning pages, but one thing bothered me.

Demons and evil wizards took the souls of the men and women they killed, condemning them to an eternity in hell. No one had the power to save them. Imagine a world where there isn’t any hope of salvation — ever.  


Do I want the author to change her story? No. Not to please me or anyone else. She wrote the novel as she saw it, but I am thankful I live in a different reality. I have a Savior who died in my place, saving me from eternal damnation.  As long as I cling to Him, my faith, no demon, nor the fires of hell, can touch me.

I am thankful I read the book. Stories are a powerful way of expressing ideas, illustrating comparisons, and teaching life lessons. This one will haunt me for a long time. May I never forget the message of how blessed I am to be living in this broken, but beautiful world.