Leonard D. Hilley II's Blog
October 17, 2025
Audio Books (Limited Time) for $0.99
Amazon has currently discounted some of my audio books at $0.99 for a limited time. Since I didn’t set these discounts, I have no idea how long they’ll be available, but based on the normal prices for the audio versions, it’s a great deal if you enjoy audio books.
To get these deals, you need to subscribe to Audible Premium Plus for three months at $0.99/month. After three months, the subscription is $14.95/month, and you can cancel at anytime online. If you’re a Prime member, you can listen to the books with your Prime membership without having an Audible subscription.
FORREST WOLLINSKY: VAMPIRE HUNTER (THE BEGINNING)
“Killing Vampires Since 1888.”
I was born in Bucharest in 1880, in the heart of the vampire population. At eight years old, I was considered a freak of nature, since I was already the size of an adult male. Other children my age, and some of my teachers, shunned me.
Being rejected by one’s peers cuts deeply. Then I met my first werewolf and discovered a master vampire was plotting to kill me because of what I am. From that moment, my destiny stole my future aspirations all men desire. This is how my destiny begins.
SHAWNDIREA (BOOK ONE OF THE AETHEAON CHRONICLES)
Often the smallest unexpected surprises garner the most demanding dilemmas, which proves to be the ordeal that entomologist Ben Whytten faces. While netting butterflies to add to his vast collection, he mistakenly sweeps what he thinks is the most spectacular butterfly he has ever seen into his net. Upon examining his catch, Ben is horrified to discover he has captured a faery and shredded her delicate wings into useless ribbons.
Devastated, Ben vows to take Shawndirea back to her realm, Aetheaon; but he discovers that doing so places their lives into immediate danger. To get to Aetheaon, they must pass through a portal rift deep inside the haunted cavern, Devils Den.
Once they cross the rift, Ben enters a world where mysteries, magic, betrayal, and power struggles await. He must adapt quickly or die because Aetheaon is filled with enchanted creatures and numerous races where chaos often dominates order. And since Shawndirea’s destined for the throne of Elvendale, opposing dark forces plot to prevent her from ever reaching her kingdom again. The faery’s magic isn’t enough to fully protect them, so he must trust other adventurers to aid them during their journey.
LADY SQUIRE (BOOK TWO OF THE AETHEAON CHRONICLES)
To what end would a princess go to regain her rightful throne?
After Lord Waxxon’s coup kills Hoffnung’s beloved half-elf queen, Lady Dawn—the rightful heir—disguises herself as a lowly squire. One of Hoffnung’s Dragon Skull Knights, Sir Caen, chooses her as his new squire, not knowing her true identity. They search Aetheaon to gather forces to end Waxxon’s hostile takeover. She must keep her identity secret, even to the knight she serves.
FROSTHAMMER: THE DWARVES OF NAGDOR (BOOK THREE OF AETHEAON CHRONICLES)
FROM TREASURE HUNTER TO KING
During the Battle of Hoffnung, Boldair discovers his father’s secret betrayal and is declared Nagdor’s new king by the Northern Dwarven Alliance. Boldair and three of his fellow Dwarves begin their journey to Nagdor for his coronation.
Due to possible threats on his life in opposition to his taking the throne, he decides to take a longer route home by detouring through the autonomous, majestic city lost to legend and hidden deep beneath the Frosted Peaks.
The city is Frosthammer, which is occupied by an unusual Dwarven race that are untrusting to visitors, even new kings. The journey becomes fraught with more dangers than Boldair ever expected or imagined.
SHADOWFAE (BOOK FOUR OF THE AETHEAON CHRONICLES)
ALLEGIANCE COMES WITH A PRICE
The darker unmapped regions of Woodnog Swamps are shrouded by the dangerous and often magical mysteries of the Shadowfae. These swamps are where foolish travelers venture, never to be seen again.
Roble’s quest requires that he journey deep into the Woodnog Swamps to confront the god Lez’minx. Through trickery and temptation, Roble accepted Lez’minx’s gift of two magical rings, and soon learns of the deceitful enchantment, but not until after he finds the rings permanently attached to his fingers. Roble plans to meet the god and demand the spell binding him to Lez’minx be broken forever. But no one should ever order a god to do anything. Since such a confrontation would put Roble’s life at risk, Shawndirea and Lehrling insist on traveling with him. The dangers are too great for a human from the Overlands to undertake alone.
But the faery Shawndirea has secrets she’s not yet revealed to her human husband, Roble. Her secrets might cost her own life. After renouncing her right to the throne of Elvendale in the Seelie Court, the Unseelie Court has not extended a welcome to her into the Courts of Chaos. Shawndirea finds herself an outcast and possibly viewed as a potential enemy to both courts. Traveling deeper into the swamps means she’ll cross into Unseelie territory, and without a proper invite, she risks everything to help protect the man she loves.
The post Audio Books (Limited Time) for $0.99 first appeared on Leonard D Hilley II.
October 15, 2025
$0.99 Digital Books Deals
For a limited time, three of my novels (digital format) are available for $0.99.
“Killing Vampires Since 1888.”
Born in Bucharest in 1880, during the rise of the vampire population, I was considered a freak of nature at the age of eight because I was the size of an adult male. Children my age and my teachers shunned me. Being an outcast, rejected by my peers, cut me deeply. Then I met my first werewolf and discovered a master vampire was plotting to kill me because I was born a vampire hunter. From that moment, my destiny stole my future aspirations all men grow up wanting. This is how my destiny begins. https://a.co/d/aB3FTDO
AETHEAON CHRONICLES: BOXED SET (1744 PAGES)
SHAWNDIREA
What would you do if you were captured, injured, and near death in another realm?
How would you get home?
Such is the dilemma for the faery Shawndirea. After she crosses a magical rift into a human realm, she’s swept into an entomologist’s butterfly net by mistake. Severely damaging her wings, Ben Whytten vows to take her home without realizing the dark dangers they must endure to survive. Ben enters a magical world where mysteries, betrayal, and power struggles await. He must adapt or die because Aetheaon is filled with enchanted creatures and numerous races where chaos often dominates order. With Shawndirea destined for Elvendale’s throne, opposing dark forces plot to prevent her from ever reaching her kingdom again. Her magic’s not enough to fully protect them, so he must trust others to aid them during their journey.
LADY SQUIRE
To what end would a princess go to regain her rightful throne?
After Lord Waxxon’s coup kills the beloved half-elf queen of Hoffnung, the Queen’s daughter, Lady Dawn—the rightful heir—is forced to disguise as a lowly squire. Chosen by Caen—a faithful Hoffnung Dragon Skull Knight—they search Aetheaon to gather forces to end Waxxon’s hostile takeover. Her identity must remain secret, even to the knight she serves. Lord Waxxon has set a lucrative bounty for her head. His ruthless henchmen, thieves, and bounty hunters scour Aetheaon to find her. But Lady Dawn’s not without hope. Warriors, a wizard, and rulers from several races and kingdoms seek to find her before Waxxon’s bounty can be collected. And find her, they must, if ever she can rightfully reclaim Hoffnung’s throne.
FROM TREASURE HUNTER TO KING
During the Battle of Hoffnung, Boldair discovers his father’s secret betrayal and is declared Nagdor’s new king by the Northern Dwarven Alliance. Boldair and three of his fellow Dwarves begin their journey to Nagdor for his coronation. Due to possible threats on his life in opposition to his taking the throne, he decides to take a longer route home by detouring through the autonomous, majestic city lost to legend and hidden deep beneath the Frosted Peaks. The city is Frosthammer, which is occupied by an unusual Dwarven race that are untrusting to visitors, even new kings. The journey becomes fraught with more dangers than Boldair ever expected or imagined.
DEE’S MYSTERY SOLVERS: THE PIE-RATS OF THE CARIBBEAN (BOOK FOUR)
After entering the strange rainbow-swirled portal that opened near Papaw’s farm, the four Mystery Solvers are surprised to arrive in the Caribbean, which is a mystery in itself. Hoping to take a quick visit, buy a few souvenirs, and spend some time on the beach before returning home, a pie shop owner shares her ordeal. Each night, after she closes shop, someone’s stealing her pies without being seen. Due to the constant loss of money she’d earn from selling pies, she fears she’ll have to close her shop permanently, unless the mystery can be solved and the culprit is caught.
For Dee, the leader of the Mystery Solvers, just the word ‘mystery’ is all she needs to offer the help of her club investigators. So the Mystery Solvers get to work on finding clues. Clues they hope will reveal the thief. But what they discover is far more shocking than she or the shop owner ever expected.
The post $0.99 Digital Books Deals first appeared on Leonard D Hilley II.
September 29, 2025
Author Interview with M.T. Ceres (Epic Fantasy)
I would like to welcome to M.T. Ceres, the author and creator of the Gaiadon Universe. Thank you for taking the time for an author interview and welcome to my blog.
Hi M.T.,
What authors influenced you the most early in life?
Very early influences would have been European folktales by The Brothers Grim, Hans Christian Anderson. I recall reading stories like Sleeping Beauty and Cinderella and being really annoyed at how the women could only become ‘something’ if a prince kissed them. I tend to invert that relationship dynamic in my writing especially in Sacral Shore, where the Witch Queen Pai, uses sexual energy as part of her magical rites.
Favorite authors?
Robin Hobb for the scale of her worlds, character arcs, but especially her imaginative and descriptive style of writing.
Ursula K Le Guin, for the exploration of human rights in her work.
As a college English professor, I often tell my students that anyone can choose to be a writer, but usually, (at least in my experience), it’s the other way around. An author, a creator of worlds and characters, is often tapped for the profession by her/his muse(s). It’s a driven need to write and get the words on the page. If we don’t write, we’re miserable. When did you know you wanted to be a writer?
It seems like always, but first and foremost, I always knew I wanted to tell stories, and that is primarily what I do. I tell stories that explore concepts. Gaiadon Lore is an exploration of the Laws and Lore, including cosmology, that enables a planet and its people to exist in a higher dimension.
Regardless of how folks say, “You can’t judge a book by its cover,” book covers are the readers’ first impression when they seek to discover new authors, and in a way, the initial handshake before gaining more insight about the adventure inside the book. Your intriguing covers definitely demand a closer look to your worlds and the adventures inside. Do you design your covers?
I do design my own covers. Initially the first components are hand drawn, digitally painted, photographed, and collaged. I really enjoy the artistic side of cover design. I don’t use AI or cover creator programs.
The whole idea around my writer’s journey is that I wanted to embrace and explore the experience of an indie author and creative fully. Therefore, I do everything myself.
What book are you currently reading?
I’m reading Robin Hobb, Realm of the Elderlings (again!). A dissertation on Veganism and the Killjoy in 1960’s French Film, a book on Witchcraft, another on Sacred Sites as well as Breverton’s Nautical Curiosities.
What inspired The Gaiadon Universe?
The Gaiadon Universe is a response to personal life events and their impacts as well as larger concepts and themes I wanted to explore. Shadow on The Other Shore began as a response to my late father’s battle with dementia. Dagger Path is a response to ideological extremism and what the price for that is. Black Void is an exploration of the field of manifestation and the concept of Time as an organic structure. Sacral Shore is about life-death-life. However, my novels are written following Genre styles, but they are personal spaces where I went to process inner turmoil through the act of writing.
Your descriptions for the scenes in your books are effectively visual. Please tell us about how you create such vividness?
When I am creating a scene in the book, the vividness is driven by an almost artistic portrayal of the scene, it’s like painting a picture with words, but I do understand that highly descriptive fantasy isn’t everyone’s cup of tea.
However, while the reading experience can be passive and I hope enjoyable, as an author, I am consciously describing, presenting, and layering signs, symbols, and archetypes within the scene. Fantasy readers, either consciously or unconsciously understand this language. Therefore, I align the signs, symbols and archetypes with relative colours, character mood or traits, even weather, and environment. For example, the descriptors for the (archetypal) Witch Queens are very much aligned with the chakra’s that inspired them. While I have not explicitly made the chakra correlation in Gaiadon Lore, the mountain Silver Tower (Hiriwa Pourewa), is representative of the third eye chakra so, the language I use to describe Silver Tower is a cipher for the third eye.
What time of the day is the best time for you to write? Do you have a set schedule?
I don’t have a set schedule. I imagine that my muse is flighty, and tardy, and visits only when they are passing. I know they are about when I start dreaming of Gaiadon.
How long does it typically take for you to write the first rough draft in the Gaiadon Universe Series?
It depends but usually the whole process takes a minimum of two years as I am not writing/creating in the same sense as other indie writers. I am writing for myself, experience, and the exploration of concepts and themes that mean a lot to me through the medium of fantasy literature. This means that my output is not the same as is generally expected from the indie author market.
Great writing comes from rewriting and editing. The editing process can be tedious at times. How many times do you revise a novel after you’ve finished writing it?
I generally go through 3 stages of editing, loosely, developmental, structure, and line. I can honestly say it takes however many iterations it takes. However, because Gaiadon Lore is about an evolving artistic exploration of concepts and theme, it has never been about product, the consumer market, and meeting the requirements of that space which are a construct of patriarchal systems. In fact, my writing and especially Gaiadon Lore is the opposite of that, in so much as it is intuitive, non-formulaic, fluid and therefore a conscious attempt at a more feminine approach to writing and creating.
Do you hire an editor or use beta readers and proofreaders?
I don’t and that is because the exploration of writing and creating is about a personal journey of self-discovery and the processing of events through the medium of fantasy literature.
Drink of choice while writing? (Coffee, tea, or other?)
I LOVE TEA
What do you love the most about writing?
The moment when you have completely engaged with the muse, you are in the world you have created, and the flow of creativity is a tangible thing. It is only after hours have passed that you know you have been somewhere else.
What do you dislike the most about writing?
External pressure to write, edit, produce, and format as well as publish in a certain way.
I have a wicked muse. Often, a phrase or a simple bit of conversation comes to me without warning, and after writing it down, a novel emerges. Do your ideas come to you in this fashion or differently?
Yes. Definitely. The intermittent downloads that become increasingly persistent. It can drive you quite mad. I have a lot of notebooks, everywhere. (Me, too!)
Do you listen to music to set the mood while writing? If so, what music do you prefer?
I don’t. I write in silence; it’s like a meditation of sorts.
What environment allows you to write more productively? (home, office, coffee shop, outdoors, etc.)
Home, and the comforts of hot tea.
Outline or no outline while writing a novel?
A loose outline, and the bare minimum of plot points otherwise I would veer into formulaic writing, and I am trying to avoid that medium of self-expression.
Have you ever had a character do something you didn’t expect her/him to do?
Yes, at the end of Black Void, Cassandra Novantae does something extraordinary, so much so that I couldn’t believe that I would then have to write around that. It was obvious in Dagger Path and Black Void that she was committed to the Light Flame, but I didn’t know how far she would take her extremism, and indeed how she had been lured into that state of being, nor what the price of her extremism cost her in the end. However, because of her action, a huge piece of the puzzle in the war between the Lords of the Light, and Dark Flames, falls into place. The cosmological war between the Light and the Dark is about extremes, the main concept in Dagger Path is about consciously taking the middle-way (the Dagger Path which is the way of the self-seeking warrior) and honoring your own sovereignty. Cassandra really made me work hard on plot and cosmology after the thing she did, which I can’t go into here as it’s a massive spoiler!
For the reading audience, could you please give us a brief overview of the Gaiadon Universe?
There are 5 books in the Universe, book trailers, and art.
The Bloods Bane series is two books set in the North of the planet.
In the Hall of Records, is a novella which introduces us to demon evolution in an off-world setting. I had a lot of fun writing this novella as I got to play with inner demonic voice.
Shadow on the Other Shore is the main story that is set in the North of Gaiadon. It is about a group of humans that have been kidnapped, from Earth, by the demon king and brought to the Gaiadon universe; in doing so, the demon has inadvertently activated a strand of DNA that gives the humans potential to access galactic power. To thwart and drain the power from the humans, the demons implant them with a nano device. The writing is in Russian style, so the themes are political corruption, social instability, the search for meaning, and the portrayal of complex, alienated characters with dark magic and rebellion aplenty. It was my first attempt at Dystopian/Gaslamp/Alchemical Fantasy, but it isn’t the entry point story to the Universe.
Gaiadon Lore is a 3-book series, Dagger Path is the entry point story, followed by Black Void, and Sacral Shore. The novels are more traditional, descriptive, high or epic fantasy, set on a world in another dimension with its own cosmology, history, geography, and distinct rules of physics and magic. It has a much more epic scope, with more focus on the war between good and evil, with questions around extremism, self-sovereignty, what makes something good or evil; Dagger Path does begin with a classic hero’s quest which I then go on to subvert when I put the characters through events that ensure that they are willing to walk the Dagger Path and therefore the path of the self-seeking warrior – they aren’t with catastrophic results in the battle between the Light and the Dark. There are different and extensive magic systems, fantastical creatures, elaborate worldbuilding and each book has a word count appropriate to the genre.
What is your favorite scene in Dagger Path, the first in your Gaiadon Universe Series?
Silas Al Seamist loses his berserker energy just when he needs it as he is fighting a dark-magicked creature called a Dread Entity, and the events that happen immediately afterwards. I wanted to create insurmountable odds, and the scene of a butcher’s yard as a backdrop to the battle between the three companions and the demons who attack them on the physical Dagger Path. This scene also illustrates that the Witch Queen, Marama Rawa, has demons on her isle, but she has done nothing to eradicate them which raises questions about her own allegiances and political maneuvering.
Please give us the rundown of the main character(s) for Dagger Path:
Isknot – the witch queen Mordeana Never Dead’s grandson and apprentice. He leaves the Gold Tower (Koura Pourewa) to find her after she has been taken by demons. However, by leaving the Gold Tower Isknot sets in motion the events that lead to the Eve of Destruction (a battle between the Light and the Dark).
Silas Al Seamist – the Captain of the Realta Sair, he is manipulated by the Witch Queen’s but has determined to free himself from their machinations when he captures a mythical creature that can bestow the gift of prescience, the Eternity Eel. However, he fails to follow the magical rite of eating the eel heart and in doing so he brings the price to be paid down on all who know him.
Cassandra Novantae – a fae seer of remarkable power, she is also the Eye of Hiriwa Pourewa, her favourite saying is, ‘I have seen it; therefore, it is already so.’ She has a tempestuous relationship with almost everyone, but especially Silas.
Have you ever had a secondary character try to steal the show in one of your novels?
I have a lot of characters in my work, but I always give Atarangi Hiriwa (a Moema warrior) voice, and Pouri Kanohi (a Prince who left the royal court to take his assassins vows). I also bridged Black Void and Sacral Shore with a secondary character, who accompanies Isknot, called Semi Sekura. I told her story because her species, magic, and culture were such interesting concepts to explore, her death was harrowing but explained more about the nature of magic on Gaiadon.
Are your books in Audio or in any other languages?
They aren’t.
What genre do you prefer to write in?
Epic Fantasy.
Do you have several works in progress or stick to writing one book at a time?
I have three WIPs now but tend to treat them singly.
If you had to sell your story based on one scene of dialogue, which scene would that be? (Entice us!)
This is from Sacral Shore. Chapter 4, Inola and Peggy, Parley. The scene is an exploration of oral traditions of sharing information particularly around the campfire. The Romarii care nothing for material gain but rely on ‘stories’ to aid them in their fight against the shadow. The telling of a decent tale as well as the content of the intel is equally valued.
Inola sat before her on a stumpy log he had rolled there to use as a seat. Between them a circle of stones held a small charcoal fire, it burned low, a sullen sort of red like gobbets of blood. It threw out a thin halo of warmth that was at once sucked into the vacuum of freezing air around them. An iron tripod held a kettle, and although it almost rested in the heart of the fire it would never fully boil, thin steam drifted from its spout like disintegrating, weak hope, then fell curling down its sides, exhausted. There would be no vaporous elevation where steam turned to cloud and was free to be on its way, only the heavy cloak of the night, and the word spoken softly, but true, within it.
It was several horas before dawn, she had drifted off at some point during the night, only coming awake when they took Silas to parley. Inola had cut her binds and told her he would let her escape if she so wished it. He would even give her a head start but then he would hunt and kill her like an animal. To clarify what he meant he told her he would be the ravenous wolf, and she would be the trembling rabbit who could not run but could only shit pellets of fear in the face of its own death.
The Hunger Moon had almost spun a full arc across the tapestry of the night but when she looked eastwards the sky was no lighter, even though she could smell the dawn approaching.
Inola took the kettle and poured warm water into a metal bowl, then he took a spoon and stirred the brew. ‘Ground barley and oatmeal mash,’ he said when he caught her look hungrily at it. He spooned some into his mouth and chewed slowly while he waited.
‘I don’t have anything to trade,’ she snapped.
He raised both his eyebrows, quizzically, before he tilted his head to one side while he continued to study her. She shuffled uncomfortably but did not drop her gaze from his, she was a Tree-wish, she did not owe the Romarii anything. Then, Inola, pulled a leather purse, the size of a large fist from behind his back and dropped it to his left. It clinked dully against the hard ground, heavy, and swollen with gold, full to the brim of guilt. He spooned some more food into his mouth and smacked his lips together while his amber-eyed gaze continued to pierce her like two crackling forks of lightning.
Peggy shifted her gaze towards the purse and feigned disinterest. It had been hers; she had given it to Brachtily Silver so the Colenoi could put all her gold in it. It should have been in Drydanward Forest, not here.
Inola continued to study her, a patient kind of waiting, a predator stalking, not prey of blood and bone, but sustenance non-the-less. Truth. She felt her resolve and her shoulders droop together. ‘Food first,’ Peggy said and was glad when the ranger nodded his ascent.
Inola busied himself making her a bowl of mash while he said in a voice hushed with caution, ‘When the parley is finished you must watch the rise for smuggler Seamist.’ He tilted his head to a mound of earth to his left. ‘If he crests it, then get ready to leave. If it is Rovander, then you must make your peace for he has failed and is already dead. Anyone else, and he has traded successfully for your life, and you are free to depart.’ He put a wooden spoon in the bowl then passed her it around the fire. He took his own bowl in one hand. ‘To successful trades.’ He raised his bowl.
‘Do you like stories?’ he asked.
She nodded while she stuffed the mash into her mouth.
Inola ran his spoon around his bowl, lifting it to his mouth he took the final mouthful, then put his bowl to one side, placing it carefully next to the purse of gold. The fire, weak as it was, still set his eyes aglow, and she fancied that this was what sharing a fire with a sleek black fox would be like. He cleared his throat and cast his glance towards the rise, then, satisfied they would not be disturbed he began.
‘Once, a Romarii sat where you sit now, silent like the night and just as dark, he saw a movement across the clearing, and so, he held himself still. Quiet, in the same way silence breathes, he became the eyes of the night, and the forest, and the air, for these are the things the Romarii call kin. Of all of the things he expected to see, animal, bird, or man, he saw none of those but saw instead a creature that has not been seen in these forests for an Age and a half. In one hand it held a portal stone, even rarer than the Colenoi Nympt, who, in full battle-cloth dropped out of the sky, carrying a stash of gold almost as big as it was. Below the roots of yonder wish-tree, that, is where the creature hid its hoard. Then, with words full of magical intent it said, “For Raweni, should he ever need it.” Then away it went back through the hole in the sky while the Romarii watched, and waited inside the night, until eventually, the dawn came and washed the silence held within the dark away.
‘The Romarii went to the stash and retrieved the purse. He opened it, then ran the gold through his fingers as if it were his own, but the metal felt wrong, it was sticky in his hand and left a strange taste on his tongue; on it the Romarii felt a curse, and he knew the gold was not for him. Gold that had once belonged to a Colenoi and was then intended for another would only bring him ill-luck. He had been born a Romarii; what then, did he need with more of the same? So, he put the gold back. The Romarii knew that one day he would know the story, and perhaps the weight of the words shared around the fire would be worth more than the weight of the Colenoi gold.’ He held out his hand and took her bowl, then busied himself making another portion of mash.
It was how she supposed horse-meal tasted, bland and gritty, but it was filling. Peggy looked at her hands while she gathered her thoughts, there were yellow-ish patches in her flesh, and her fingers were numb. The tips of each one, all the way to the first knuckles, were bright red. She pushed aside her worry while she wondered where she should begin. Wherever it was, she realised Romarii parley was undertaken in the way of telling a story about a campfire. Words and the telling of a good tale held value. She wished Semy was with her, studious wise Semy, would have told a tale worthy of their safety long ago with stories from her studies of Gaiadon Lore. She cleared her throat while she blinked away her grief.
‘Once, there was a tree-wish, a creature not made by biological means, but a being made from a desperate wish to have a child by lovers entwined beneath sacred trees…
What are you currently working on?
Book Four of Gaiadon Lore.
What can we expect from you in the future?
Book Three of Bloods Bane
Thank you, M.T., for taking the time for this interview and giving us insight into your writing process! I wish you much success in the future!
To learn more about M.T. Ceres, her books, and social media: http://M.T. Ceres Author Page
The post Author Interview with M.T. Ceres (Epic Fantasy) first appeared on Leonard D Hilley II.My Interview with M.T. Ceres (Epic Fantasy Author)
I would like to welcome to M.T. Ceres, the author and creator of the Gaiadon Universe. Thank you for taking the time for an interview and welcome to my blog.
Hi M.T.,
What authors influenced you the most early in life?
Very early influences would have been European folktales by The Brothers Grim, Hans Christian Anderson. I recall reading stories like Sleeping Beauty and Cinderella and being really annoyed at how the women could only become ‘something’ if a prince kissed them. I tend to invert that relationship dynamic in my writing especially in Sacral Shore, where the Witch Queen Pai, uses sexual energy as part of her magical rites.
Favorite authors?
Robin Hobb for the scale of her worlds, character arcs, but especially her imaginative and descriptive style of writing.
Ursula K Le Guin, for the exploration of human rights in her work.
As a college English professor, I often tell my students that anyone can choose to be a writer, but usually, (at least in my experience), it’s the other way around. An author, a creator of worlds and characters, is often tapped for the profession by her/his muse(s). It’s a driven need to write and get the words on the page. If we don’t write, we’re miserable. When did you know you wanted to be a writer?
It seems like always, but first and foremost, I always knew I wanted to tell stories, and that is primarily what I do. I tell stories that explore concepts. Gaiadon Lore is an exploration of the Laws and Lore, including cosmology, that enables a planet and its people to exist in a higher dimension.
Regardless of how folks say, “You can’t judge a book by its cover,” book covers are the readers’ first impression when they seek to discover new authors, and in a way, the initial handshake before gaining more insight about the adventure inside the book. Your intriguing covers definitely demand a closer look to your worlds and the adventures inside. Do you design your covers?
I do design my own covers. Initially the first components are hand drawn, digitally painted, photographed, and collaged. I really enjoy the artistic side of cover design. I don’t use AI or cover creator programs.
The whole idea around my writer’s journey is that I wanted to embrace and explore the experience of an indie author and creative fully. Therefore, I do everything myself.
What book are you currently reading?
I’m reading Robin Hobb, Realm of the Elderlings (again!). A dissertation on Veganism and the Killjoy in 1960’s French Film, a book on Witchcraft, another on Sacred Sites as well as Breverton’s Nautical Curiosities.
What inspired The Gaiadon Universe?
The Gaiadon Universe is a response to personal life events and their impacts as well as larger concepts and themes I wanted to explore. Shadow on The Other Shore began as a response to my late father’s battle with dementia. Dagger Path is a response to ideological extremism and what the price for that is. Black Void is an exploration of the field of manifestation and the concept of Time as an organic structure. Sacral Shore is about life-death-life. However, my novels are written following Genre styles, but they are personal spaces where I went to process inner turmoil through the act of writing.
Your descriptions for the scenes in your books are effectively visual. Please tell us about how you create such vividness?
When I am creating a scene in the book, the vividness is driven by an almost artistic portrayal of the scene, it’s like painting a picture with words, but I do understand that highly descriptive fantasy isn’t everyone’s cup of tea.
However, while the reading experience can be passive and I hope enjoyable, as an author, I am consciously describing, presenting, and layering signs, symbols, and archetypes within the scene. Fantasy readers, either consciously or unconsciously understand this language. Therefore, I align the signs, symbols and archetypes with relative colours, character mood or traits, even weather, and environment. For example, the descriptors for the (archetypal) Witch Queens are very much aligned with the chakra’s that inspired them. While I have not explicitly made the chakra correlation in Gaiadon Lore, the mountain Silver Tower (Hiriwa Pourewa), is representative of the third eye chakra so, the language I use to describe Silver Tower is a cipher for the third eye.
What time of the day is the best time for you to write? Do you have a set schedule?
I don’t have a set schedule. I imagine that my muse is flighty, and tardy, and visits only when they are passing. I know they are about when I start dreaming of Gaiadon.
How long does it typically take for you to write the first rough draft in the Gaiadon Universe Series?
It depends but usually the whole process takes a minimum of two years as I am not writing/creating in the same sense as other indie writers. I am writing for myself, experience, and the exploration of concepts and themes that mean a lot to me through the medium of fantasy literature. This means that my output is not the same as is generally expected from the indie author market.
Great writing comes from rewriting and editing. The editing process can be tedious at times. How many times do you revise a novel after you’ve finished writing it?
I generally go through 3 stages of editing, loosely, developmental, structure, and line. I can honestly say it takes however many iterations it takes. However, because Gaiadon Lore is about an evolving artistic exploration of concepts and theme, it has never been about product, the consumer market, and meeting the requirements of that space which are a construct of patriarchal systems. In fact, my writing and especially Gaiadon Lore is the opposite of that, in so much as it is intuitive, non-formulaic, fluid and therefore a conscious attempt at a more feminine approach to writing and creating.
Do you hire an editor or use beta readers and proofreaders?
I don’t and that is because the exploration of writing and creating is about a personal journey of self-discovery and the processing of events through the medium of fantasy literature.
Drink of choice while writing? (Coffee, tea, or other?)
I LOVE TEA
What do you love the most about writing?
The moment when you have completely engaged with the muse, you are in the world you have created, and the flow of creativity is a tangible thing. It is only after hours have passed that you know you have been somewhere else.
What do you dislike the most about writing?
External pressure to write, edit, produce, and format as well as publish in a certain way.
I have a wicked muse. Often, a phrase or a simple bit of conversation comes to me without warning, and after writing it down, a novel emerges. Do your ideas come to you in this fashion or differently?
Yes. Definitely. The intermittent downloads that become increasingly persistent. It can drive you quite mad. I have a lot of notebooks, everywhere. (Me, too!)
Do you listen to music to set the mood while writing? If so, what music do you prefer?
I don’t. I write in silence; it’s like a meditation of sorts.
What environment allows you to write more productively? (home, office, coffee shop, outdoors, etc.)
Home, and the comforts of hot tea.
Outline or no outline while writing a novel?
A loose outline, and the bare minimum of plot points otherwise I would veer into formulaic writing, and I am trying to avoid that medium of self-expression.
Have you ever had a character do something you didn’t expect her/him to do?
Yes, at the end of Black Void, Cassandra Novantae does something extraordinary, so much so that I couldn’t believe that I would then have to write around that. It was obvious in Dagger Path and Black Void that she was committed to the Light Flame, but I didn’t know how far she would take her extremism, and indeed how she had been lured into that state of being, nor what the price of her extremism cost her in the end. However, because of her action, a huge piece of the puzzle in the war between the Lords of the Light, and Dark Flames, falls into place. The cosmological war between the Light and the Dark is about extremes, the main concept in Dagger Path is about consciously taking the middle-way (the Dagger Path which is the way of the self-seeking warrior) and honoring your own sovereignty. Cassandra really made me work hard on plot and cosmology after the thing she did, which I can’t go into here as it’s a massive spoiler!
For the reading audience, could you please give us a brief overview of the Gaiadon Universe?
There are 5 books in the Universe, book trailers, and art.
The Bloods Bane series is two books set in the North of the planet.
In the Hall of Records, is a novella which introduces us to demon evolution in an off-world setting. I had a lot of fun writing this novella as I got to play with inner demonic voice.
Shadow on the Other Shore is the main story that is set in the North of Gaiadon. It is about a group of humans that have been kidnapped, from Earth, by the demon king and brought to the Gaiadon universe; in doing so, the demon has inadvertently activated a strand of DNA that gives the humans potential to access galactic power. To thwart and drain the power from the humans, the demons implant them with a nano device. The writing is in Russian style, so the themes are political corruption, social instability, the search for meaning, and the portrayal of complex, alienated characters with dark magic and rebellion aplenty. It was my first attempt at Dystopian/Gaslamp/Alchemical Fantasy, but it isn’t the entry point story to the Universe.
Gaiadon Lore is a 3-book series, Dagger Path is the entry point story, followed by Black Void, and Sacral Shore. The novels are more traditional, descriptive, high or epic fantasy, set on a world in another dimension with its own cosmology, history, geography, and distinct rules of physics and magic. It has a much more epic scope, with more focus on the war between good and evil, with questions around extremism, self-sovereignty, what makes something good or evil; Dagger Path does begin with a classic hero’s quest which I then go on to subvert when I put the characters through events that ensure that they are willing to walk the Dagger Path and therefore the path of the self-seeking warrior – they aren’t with catastrophic results in the battle between the Light and the Dark. There are different and extensive magic systems, fantastical creatures, elaborate worldbuilding and each book has a word count appropriate to the genre.
What is your favorite scene in Dagger Path, the first in your Gaiadon Universe Series?
Silas Al Seamist loses his berserker energy just when he needs it as he is fighting a dark-magicked creature called a Dread Entity, and the events that happen immediately afterwards. I wanted to create insurmountable odds, and the scene of a butcher’s yard as a backdrop to the battle between the three companions and the demons who attack them on the physical Dagger Path. This scene also illustrates that the Witch Queen, Marama Rawa, has demons on her isle, but she has done nothing to eradicate them which raises questions about her own allegiances and political maneuvering.
Please give us the rundown of the main character(s) for Dagger Path:
Isknot – the witch queen Mordeana Never Dead’s grandson and apprentice. He leaves the Gold Tower (Koura Pourewa) to find her after she has been taken by demons. However, by leaving the Gold Tower Isknot sets in motion the events that lead to the Eve of Destruction (a battle between the Light and the Dark).
Silas Al Seamist – the Captain of the Realta Sair, he is manipulated by the Witch Queen’s but has determined to free himself from their machinations when he captures a mythical creature that can bestow the gift of prescience, the Eternity Eel. However, he fails to follow the magical rite of eating the eel heart and in doing so he brings the price to be paid down on all who know him.
Cassandra Novantae – a fae seer of remarkable power, she is also the Eye of Hiriwa Pourewa, her favourite saying is, ‘I have seen it; therefore, it is already so.’ She has a tempestuous relationship with almost everyone, but especially Silas.
Have you ever had a secondary character try to steal the show in one of your novels?
I have a lot of characters in my work, but I always give Atarangi Hiriwa (a Moema warrior) voice, and Pouri Kanohi (a Prince who left the royal court to take his assassins vows). I also bridged Black Void and Sacral Shore with a secondary character, who accompanies Isknot, called Semi Sekura. I told her story because her species, magic, and culture were such interesting concepts to explore, her death was harrowing but explained more about the nature of magic on Gaiadon.
Are your books in Audio or in any other languages?
They aren’t.
What genre do you prefer to write in?
Epic Fantasy.
Do you have several works in progress or stick to writing one book at a time?
I have three WIPs now but tend to treat them singly.
If you had to sell your story based on one scene of dialogue, which scene would that be? (Entice us!)
This is from Sacral Shore. Chapter 4, Inola and Peggy, Parley. The scene is an exploration of oral traditions of sharing information particularly around the campfire. The Romarii care nothing for material gain but rely on ‘stories’ to aid them in their fight against the shadow. The telling of a decent tale as well as the content of the intel is equally valued.
Inola sat before her on a stumpy log he had rolled there to use as a seat. Between them a circle of stones held a small charcoal fire, it burned low, a sullen sort of red like gobbets of blood. It threw out a thin halo of warmth that was at once sucked into the vacuum of freezing air around them. An iron tripod held a kettle, and although it almost rested in the heart of the fire it would never fully boil, thin steam drifted from its spout like disintegrating, weak hope, then fell curling down its sides, exhausted. There would be no vaporous elevation where steam turned to cloud and was free to be on its way, only the heavy cloak of the night, and the word spoken softly, but true, within it.
It was several horas before dawn, she had drifted off at some point during the night, only coming awake when they took Silas to parley. Inola had cut her binds and told her he would let her escape if she so wished it. He would even give her a head start but then he would hunt and kill her like an animal. To clarify what he meant he told her he would be the ravenous wolf, and she would be the trembling rabbit who could not run but could only shit pellets of fear in the face of its own death.
The Hunger Moon had almost spun a full arc across the tapestry of the night but when she looked eastwards the sky was no lighter, even though she could smell the dawn approaching.
Inola took the kettle and poured warm water into a metal bowl, then he took a spoon and stirred the brew. ‘Ground barley and oatmeal mash,’ he said when he caught her look hungrily at it. He spooned some into his mouth and chewed slowly while he waited.
‘I don’t have anything to trade,’ she snapped.
He raised both his eyebrows, quizzically, before he tilted his head to one side while he continued to study her. She shuffled uncomfortably but did not drop her gaze from his, she was a Tree-wish, she did not owe the Romarii anything. Then, Inola, pulled a leather purse, the size of a large fist from behind his back and dropped it to his left. It clinked dully against the hard ground, heavy, and swollen with gold, full to the brim of guilt. He spooned some more food into his mouth and smacked his lips together while his amber-eyed gaze continued to pierce her like two crackling forks of lightning.
Peggy shifted her gaze towards the purse and feigned disinterest. It had been hers; she had given it to Brachtily Silver so the Colenoi could put all her gold in it. It should have been in Drydanward Forest, not here.
Inola continued to study her, a patient kind of waiting, a predator stalking, not prey of blood and bone, but sustenance non-the-less. Truth. She felt her resolve and her shoulders droop together. ‘Food first,’ Peggy said and was glad when the ranger nodded his ascent.
Inola busied himself making her a bowl of mash while he said in a voice hushed with caution, ‘When the parley is finished you must watch the rise for smuggler Seamist.’ He tilted his head to a mound of earth to his left. ‘If he crests it, then get ready to leave. If it is Rovander, then you must make your peace for he has failed and is already dead. Anyone else, and he has traded successfully for your life, and you are free to depart.’ He put a wooden spoon in the bowl then passed her it around the fire. He took his own bowl in one hand. ‘To successful trades.’ He raised his bowl.
‘Do you like stories?’ he asked.
She nodded while she stuffed the mash into her mouth.
Inola ran his spoon around his bowl, lifting it to his mouth he took the final mouthful, then put his bowl to one side, placing it carefully next to the purse of gold. The fire, weak as it was, still set his eyes aglow, and she fancied that this was what sharing a fire with a sleek black fox would be like. He cleared his throat and cast his glance towards the rise, then, satisfied they would not be disturbed he began.
‘Once, a Romarii sat where you sit now, silent like the night and just as dark, he saw a movement across the clearing, and so, he held himself still. Quiet, in the same way silence breathes, he became the eyes of the night, and the forest, and the air, for these are the things the Romarii call kin. Of all of the things he expected to see, animal, bird, or man, he saw none of those but saw instead a creature that has not been seen in these forests for an Age and a half. In one hand it held a portal stone, even rarer than the Colenoi Nympt, who, in full battle-cloth dropped out of the sky, carrying a stash of gold almost as big as it was. Below the roots of yonder wish-tree, that, is where the creature hid its hoard. Then, with words full of magical intent it said, “For Raweni, should he ever need it.” Then away it went back through the hole in the sky while the Romarii watched, and waited inside the night, until eventually, the dawn came and washed the silence held within the dark away.
‘The Romarii went to the stash and retrieved the purse. He opened it, then ran the gold through his fingers as if it were his own, but the metal felt wrong, it was sticky in his hand and left a strange taste on his tongue; on it the Romarii felt a curse, and he knew the gold was not for him. Gold that had once belonged to a Colenoi and was then intended for another would only bring him ill-luck. He had been born a Romarii; what then, did he need with more of the same? So, he put the gold back. The Romarii knew that one day he would know the story, and perhaps the weight of the words shared around the fire would be worth more than the weight of the Colenoi gold.’ He held out his hand and took her bowl, then busied himself making another portion of mash.
It was how she supposed horse-meal tasted, bland and gritty, but it was filling. Peggy looked at her hands while she gathered her thoughts, there were yellow-ish patches in her flesh, and her fingers were numb. The tips of each one, all the way to the first knuckles, were bright red. She pushed aside her worry while she wondered where she should begin. Wherever it was, she realised Romarii parley was undertaken in the way of telling a story about a campfire. Words and the telling of a good tale held value. She wished Semy was with her, studious wise Semy, would have told a tale worthy of their safety long ago with stories from her studies of Gaiadon Lore. She cleared her throat while she blinked away her grief.
‘Once, there was a tree-wish, a creature not made by biological means, but a being made from a desperate wish to have a child by lovers entwined beneath sacred trees…
What are you currently working on?
Book Four of Gaiadon Lore.
What can we expect from you in the future?
Book Three of Bloods Bane
Thank you, M.T., for taking the time for this interview and giving us insight into your writing process! I wish you much success in the future!
To learn more about M.T. Ceres, her books, and social media: http://M.T. Ceres Author Page
The post My Interview with M.T. Ceres (Epic Fantasy Author) first appeared on Leonard D Hilley II.September 1, 2025
Crukas: Thief of Shadows (Book 5 Aetheaon Chronicles) September 2nd, 2025 Release Date
The ebook for Crukas: Thief of Shadows releases tomorrow: September 2nd, 2025.
This is the fifth epic installment in the Aetheaon Chronicles. The ebook is $3.99 and is in #KindleUnlimited. The paperback will be released September 6th, 2025.
AETHEAON’S FATE LIES IN THE HANDS OF A MASTER THIEF
As the power of Aetheaon’s necromancer, Mors, who’s known as the Plague-bringer, increases, Crukas makes an incredible surprising decision that no one, including himself, ever expected. Using his master thieving skills, he sets out to steal magical relics for the purpose of defeating the Plague-bringer before Mors’ amassing undead army overtakes the kingdoms of Aetheaon. Unless Crukas succeeds, all the kingdoms fall under Mors’ control.
To make matters even more difficult, a female halfling bounty hunter (Sparrow Birme) stubbornly pursues Crukas with the hope of capturing him and collecting the vast bounty on the renowned thief’s head. But each time she’s close enough to attempt capture, Crukas eludes her and she loses his trail. Frustrated, she teams with four greedy bounty hunters who are also actively searching for the thief. One of these bounty hunters, however, would rather turn in Crukas’ corpse to claim half the reward than struggle with a live thief who might possibly escape custody.
Worse yet, Crukas and a traveling companion are cursed by an item he steals. Without a way to break the curse, Crukas continues his thieving journey in the hope of finding someone who can magically break the curse before his life ends. Should he fail in getting the items, he figures he’s lost nothing, as Aetheaon will become a land of the undead ruled by a necromancer, and Crukas would rather be dead than undead. Should he succeed, though, he could die and be known as a hero, which isn’t a title he desires.
The post Crukas: Thief of Shadows (Book 5 Aetheaon Chronicles) September 2nd, 2025 Release Date first appeared on Leonard D Hilley II.
June 18, 2025
Released Today: Aetheaon Chronicles Boxed Set (Books 1-3) Digital
The Aetheaon Chronicles Boxed Set (Digital Books 1-3) has been released! Epic Fantasy. More than 1744 pages. Estimated reading time: 36 hours. In Kindle Unlimited. Only $0.99 (for one week).
Fully revised with additional scenes. Enter the Realm of Aetheaon. https://a.co/d/6DsPkCX
SHAWNDIREA
What would you do if you were captured, injured, and near death in another realm? How would you get home? Such is the dilemma for the faery Shawndirea. After she crosses a magical rift into a human realm, she’s swept into an entomologist’s butterfly net by mistake. Severely damaging her wings, Ben Whytten vows to take her home without realizing the dark dangers they must endure to survive. Ben enters a magical world where mysteries, betrayal, and power struggles await. He must adapt or die because Aetheaon is filled with enchanted creatures and numerous races where chaos often dominates order. With Shawndirea destined for Elvendale’s throne, opposing dark forces plot to prevent her from ever reaching her kingdom again. Her magic’s not enough to fully protect them, so he must trust others to aid them during their journey.
LADY SQUIRE
To what end would a princess go to regain her rightful throne?
After Lord Waxxon’s coup kills the beloved half-elf queen of Hoffnung, the Queen’s daughter, Lady Dawn—the rightful heir—is forced to disguise as a lowly squire. Chosen by Caen—a faithful Hoffnung Dragon Skull Knight—they search Aetheaon to gather forces to end Waxxon’s hostile takeover. Her identity must remain secret, even to the knight she serves. Lord Waxxon has set a lucrative bounty for her head. His ruthless henchmen, thieves, and bounty hunters scour Aetheaon to find her. But Lady Dawn’s not without hope. Warriors, a wizard, and rulers from several races and kingdoms seek to find her before Waxxon’s bounty can be collected. And find her, they must, if ever she can rightfully reclaim Hoffnung’s throne.
FROSTHAMMER
From treasure hunter to king.
During the Battle of Hoffnung, Boldair discovers his father’s secret betrayal and is declared Nagdor’s new king by the Northern Dwarven Alliance. Boldair and three of his fellow Dwarves begin their journey to Nagdor for his coronation. Due to possible threats on his life in opposition to his taking the throne, he decides to take a longer route home by detouring through the autonomous, majestic city lost to legend and hidden deep beneath the Frosted Peaks. The city is Frosthammer, which is occupied by an unusual Dwarven race that are untrusting to visitors, even new kings. The journey becomes fraught with more dangers than Boldair ever expected or imagined.
The post Released Today: Aetheaon Chronicles Boxed Set (Books 1-3) Digital first appeared on Leonard D Hilley II.June 13, 2025
Cover Reveal For Aetheaon Chronicles Boxed Set!
This is the new boxed set cover for The Aetheaon Chronicles Series (Books 1-3). Boxed set’s launch is coming soon!
Cheers!
The post Cover Reveal For Aetheaon Chronicles Boxed Set! first appeared on Leonard D Hilley II.June 1, 2025
Driven by Faith
The first year I attended Berea College was 1985-1986. Due to internal stresses and other home issues, I didn’t return the following fall. In the summer of 1986, I bought my first car (1978 Monte Carlo) and was making payments. Since Berea College didn’t allow students to work outside Berea College’s student work program where campus jobs paid so little (~$1.20/hr.), I stayed home to work to pay for the car.
I have regrets both ways by not returning to Berea. Home life was depressing, but I horribly missed my twin sisters and little brother while I was at Berea. They were almost old enough to start elementary school. Because of our age differences (16 years between me and my youngest brother) and how often my younger sister and I watched them while our mother worked, they were like our own children, in a sense. The other regret was how badly I missed my close friends who were attending their sophomore year at Berea College. Deep down, I knew I should be there and was handicapping my future.
After getting the Monte Carlo, a buddy of mine, Mark Walls, who worked with me at Food World in Fort Payne, decided to travel with me to Berea College so I could visit my friends. At the time, I still had a driver’s permit (yes, I was LATE getting a license, but that’s a different story), so I needed someone with a license to ride with me.
When we arrived at Berea College, I found some of my friends and introduced Mark to them. We were waiting for my friend, Jame Ellis, to come to the dorm. Robert Cunningham told us he was coming, so we hid in the dorm room. On the floor was a mat with a lot of blankets. I think someone might’ve used this to sleep on. Mark lie down and flung the blanket over himself. He had long permed hair, but it was not concealed by the blanket.
I got on one bed and hid next to the large wardrobe-like closet while Robert turned off the lights. James opened the door and Robert shushed him and said, “Get inside. Shh. Quick.”
James hesitated at the door and flipped on the light. All he saw was Mark’s long hair and his mouth dropped.
“Shut the door!” Robert said. “It’s a surprise.”
Berea College was not a co-ed dorm, so James immediately thought Mark, due to his long hair, was a woman. He couldn’t hide his confusion.
James said, “What’s going on?”
“Close the door.”
That’s when I moved to where James could see me. Mark uncovered himself and sat up.
James shook his head and laughed. “For a minute there, I thought you were hiding a girl in our room.”
The next day we played some basketball and caught up. We decided to visit Mitch Tolle at his art studio close to Interstate 75. We parked in a spot beside the Convenience store. We got out and headed across the lot toward the studio when I heard a familiar voice call my name.
“Leonard!”
I turned and saw Becky, one of my dear friends. She hugged me and asked if that was my car. I nodded. She pointed at her Mustang. We asked one another how the other was doing. She said, “When you didn’t return to college, I dropped out and started working.”
I grieved. Becky and I had scheduled to take the same courses the previous fall so we could study together. I felt horrible and never realized my decision would affect others. It had and bothered me for years afterwards. We talked for several more minutes, but she had to get back to work at the Convenience store.
The next morning, Mark and I needed to return home. We both had to work the following day. I stopped and talked to another friend for about fifteen minutes. It was starting to snow, so we really couldn’t stay any longer. On the way home, the snow increased for a while. Lightning flashed in the sky while the snow fell. It was the first time I’d ever experienced that. But, as we rode, my heart grew heavier. As great as it was to see and talk to my friends, I missed them all the more. I wondered what might have been, had I not dropped out.
For several years after I dropped out of college, I remained torn. I was stuck in-between with menial jobs.
About a year later, I decided to return to Berea College in April, but I was driving an 1984 Buick Regal. On the other side of Knoxville, a driver with a Florida tag passed me and deliberately cut me off. Being a young driver, I never considered the driver was intentionally trying to cause a wreck. In hindsight, it seems most likely. I hit the brakes hard, avoided a collision, and the driver sped on. Afterwards, the brake light on my dashboard remained on. I tapped the brakes slightly, but the light never went off.
Luckily, when I got to Berea, the off ramp went uphill, and that’s when I realized my brakes were barely working at all. The steep ramp allowed me to gradually slow and stop. I didn’t know what to do. Since the dorm where I stayed at Berea College was on a hill, I parked the car in a spot that overlooked the tennis courts at the bottom of a wooded hill.
My friend, Jody Higgins, who graduated from Plainview High School with me and enrolled at Berea College the same time I did, had put brake fluid in his girlfriend’s car during our freshman year. So, I went to his room, told him what had happened, and asked if he could help. He said I needed to buy some brake fluid since the fluid might’ve leaked, but it wasn’t hard to fix.
James Ellis was with me, and we walked to a store down the street where I bought a bottle of brake fluid. We returned to the car, and I refilled the fluid. When I touched the brakes, the pedal still went to the floor. I returned to Jody’s room. He said that I needed to put the car in gear and tap the pedal several times to get the pressure back.
James and I returned to the car. The next lot over, a lot of college students were seated on their vehicles and talking. One student had a large 4 X 4 pickup truck. James got in the passenger side of the Buick. Since the car faced the steep, woody hillside, I put the car in reverse and backed away from the hill. I pressed the brake pedal and it went to the floor. I tapped it a few times, but nothing. I had the steering wheel cut at an angle and intended to put it into drive. Since the brakes failed completely, I couldn’t put the car in drive or park. Slowly the car turned and backed toward the wooded hillside.
I kept pressing the brake. Everything happened so fast. The back wheels hit the concrete stop, which didn’t slow the car at all. The tire bumped up and over.
James started praying out loud. I still remember his exact words. “Oh, God Jesus! Jesus! God help us!”
Apparently, God heard his prayers. Without explanation, the car stopped about twenty feet down the hill. How we missed the trees was due to my steering. I put the car in park and opened the door. On the right side of the car, a tree was inches away. On the left, the car was oddly suspended in a rough section with another tree a foot or more away. But nothing, absolutely NOTHING, wedged against the tires to stop the car.
James got out and kept saying, “Thank you, Jesus!”
I heartedly agreed.
Those students seated on their cars in the next parking lot gawked and gathered at the top of the hill. One student came down the hill and looked under the car. “How’d it stop?”
I shrugged.
He said, “It never touched a single tree.”
The guy who owned the large 4 X 4 told me that he could pull my car out. Five minutes later, he and everyone else were gone. I stood there embarrassed but thankful no damage was done to the car.
I didn’t know what to do or how I’d get the car out. What money I had was what little I had from cashing my paycheck before I came to Berea. Then, my former Head Resident, Edward Fitzgerald, came to me and looked at the car. He grinned and shook my hand. “I know a guy I can call. His son is a student in my dorm.” Ed explained to him I had been a student the previous year and was visiting.
Within twenty minutes, the mechanic arrived with his wrecker, hitched it to my car and pulled the car back onto the parking lot. Like James and I, he was shocked. He said, “I don’t know how it didn’t crash into those trees or end up down at the tennis courts.”
I asked what I owed him, and he shook his head. “My son goes here. What happened?”
I told him about the brake light and the car that had cut me off.
He said, “You master cylinder probably busted. I’ll call around in the morning and find you one.”
“What will that cost?”
He gave me an estimate, which I could afford, and was probably much cheaper than anyone else would’ve done. He handed me his business card. “Call me tomorrow around noon. I should have a part by then.”
Since I was on vacation, I wasn’t too pressed for time.
The following day, I called him. He had checked all the junkyards and part stores in Berea and hadn’t found a master cylinder for the Buick. He was going to check in Richmond the following day.
That evening, I went to the Convenience store and talked to Becky. I told her about the situation. The store was fairly quiet without many customers, but her coworker continued to interrupt us and picked at her. So I grabbed something to eat and drink and returned to campus. On the way back to campus, I happened to think about how to get home if the car couldn’t be repaired. The first exit going south to Fort Payne was uphill. I could drive up Sylvania Gap without needing to brake hard.
I talked to the mechanic the next morning. Still no luck.
He said, “I can’t understand why this part’s so hard to find. It’s a popular model. I’ll try Lexington and if they don’t have the part, we’ll figure out how to get you home. I’ll tow you back to Alabama if need be.”
The next morning, I awakened and told my friends goodbye. The car’s tank was nearly empty, so I stopped at the Convenience store and hoped to tell Becky goodbye, but she wasn’t at work. When I stopped at the pump, the brakes squealed loudly.
After I filled the tank and got on the Interstate, I was nervous. During this time, I had been teaching a weekly Bible class at Donnie and Penny Drain’s house. The latest topic had been on our faith. My trip home was about to be a test of my faith. I drove carefully. When I came to highly congested areas near Knoxville and Chattanooga, I stayed a safe 15-20 car lengths behind the other drivers. I watched traffic like a hawk. Thankfully, the Florida driver, who had cut me off on my way to Kentucky and caused me to brake hard enough to destroy the master cylinder, didn’t return for round two. No way I could’ve stopped for him a second time.
I made it to the first Fort Payne exit and was able to slow to a stop at the top of the ramp. I drove the Sylvania Gap and went to Cowart’s garage in Rainsville. He said it could have it fixed by the next day, so I called my mother and she came to pick me up.
The next day the car was repaired.
Looking back, I would never have attempted to make the 300 mile drive without having the brakes fixed, but then, I had little money and no one I could’ve called for help. No cellphones then, either. Still, to this day, I know my prayer and faith got me home.
Odd, these memories are bittersweet in so many ways.
Blessings to all of you!
The post Driven by Faith first appeared on Leonard D Hilley II.
May 28, 2025
Stray Cats and Thieves
StolenOn Memorial Day, while we were at home, someone stole Mustashio and her black sibling off our porch. I had just fed them about an hour earlier. Every time I mow the front lawn, I place them inside a large dog carrier, so they won’t run away. The mower terrifies them. I called them and tapped the metal cat food can. Two kittens ran to me, but Ebony (the mother) and the other two kittens were nowhere to be seen. After placing the two kittens in the carrier, I started mowing. About fifteen minutes later, Ebony returned but no kittens were with her. I figured the kittens must be somewhere nearby, but after I had finished the lawn, they still hadn’t returned.
The last time I had mowed, the carrier was inside the garage with all four kittens. Ebony looked for them and carried a stuffed mouse in her mouth while calling for them. When I was almost finished mowing, she was glaring at me, because she knew I must’ve done something with them. She’s always been a good, protective mother. And Monday, she glared at me wondering what I had done with the other two. I told her I didn’t have them. She was distraught. She searched the backyard and under the deck and returned to the garage, thinking I had put them inside. She worried, but instead of searching for them, she found a place to lie near the other two to protect them.
Mustachio with eyes barely open.I contacted both neighbors, but neither had seen them. The one got on his four-wheeler and drove around his property, looking for them. At this point, I still thought they might be lost and trying to find their way home. Now, I believe someone nabbed them off the front porch. Ebony’s still upset and the two remaining kittens aren’t as spunky as they were. They act depressed.
I have to wonder about the nerve of people. We live at the end of a dead end road, so if someone drove up in a vehicle and took them, we’d have heard the car. No vehicles had turned around. This means the person(s) came on foot, grabbed them, and left. This also means, it’s someone nearby, on our street. Thieves. I’ve heard of cat burglars, but this is too literal.
Here’s what irks me, too. On Facebook, last year, I introduced Blackie, our male black cat. He was a stray someone had dumped near the house. We took him in, and he followed me everywhere when I was outside. At the time, we also had Gray and her son, Chubs. Butterscotch had been Chubs’ father. While Chubs was a kitten, Butterscotch vanished. He was gone for three days. When he returned, he was haunted. He went into the garage and sat for a few days. He’d eat and drink, but his eyes indicated something had terrified him. He refused to leave the garage.
A couple of weeks later, he got sick. Whatever illness he got killed him quickly. He had yellow phlegm running out his nose. Even if I could get him to a vet, which they weren’t taking new animals at the time, there was nothing they could do for him. I sat on the back deck, and he greeted me with his odd meow and walked to me. He looked so bad. I took a cat brush, and he lie at my feet. I brushed out clumps of loose, winter hair, and he purred the entire time. He was so appreciative. I sat and talked with him for a long time, and his eyes showed happiness. He purred. The next morning I came out to brush him again, but he was lying under the grill. I said, “Butterscotch.” He flipped his long yellow tail in one quick stretch and died. He waited for me before he left.
Oddly, about a year or so later, the same thing happened with Chubs. He disappeared three days and returned a different cat. Illness, like his father’s, occurred, and he died, too. Early last summer, our cat, Gray, disappeared for several days, and when she returned, she experienced the same. It seems like someone was catching and poisoning them. After Gray died, only Blackie remained.
In September, Blackie disappeared. Being a tomcat, he would occasionally be gone for a couple days at a time. I’d see him down the street but he’d come home. But in late September, he didn’t return after three weeks. I feared he’d died. So, here I was without a cat at all. I grieved.
Then, one day, I was driving to the house and noticed a black cat sitting in our driveway. I immediately thought it was Blackie, but it wasn’t. This was a younger female cat, and she was thin as a rail. Practically starved. I approached her but she ran. I talked calmly to her, and she tried to hide in our flowerbed. I sat on a chair and poured some cat food on the porch. She eyed the food but remained too skeptical of me to approach. I put some distance between she and I, and she eased to the food. She was so nervous that she never took her eyes off me while she ate. We repeated this for about four days. Gradually, she’d move closer and closer to me, until she finally let me pet her. The next day, she became bolder, and before I knew it, she was following me around and demanding to be petted.
Oddly, after she’d settled in, Blackie returned and chased her off. He’d been gone for weeks and was noticeably FATTER, and wanted to enact his territorial rights. The next day he was nowhere to be seen, and I feared Ebony wouldn’t return, but she was waiting at the door. Blackie stayed gone for about two months, and the last time I saw him, he was so fat he could barely walk. His head was larger than a softball. Someone has him locked inside the house with constant food, which is cat abuse, if you ask me. No animal should be fed until it’s too fat to get around.
When Ebony gave birth to her kittens, she trusted us enough to have them in a carrier on the porch. She never tried to hide them, and she seems so proud whenever you pay the kittens attention, even before their eyes opened. Now, after a cat thief took two of them, the harmony they had is gone. The kittens are still nursing, too.
Sunday before last, my daughter took her dog out for a walk and noticed two teenagers seated IN OUR YARD, trying to coax the kittens to them. Culprits? Possibly, or they know who took them, since one is our neighbor and the kittens aren’t there. I get it. Kittens are cute, adorable, but they grow up, and guess how many strays we’ve had here because people dump them. Over a dozen. But, if you want a kitten, you should knock and politely ask. You might not get the kitten of your choice, but do what’s right. Instead, someone stole two kittens. Stealing is a crime, whether it’s a cat or any type of property. Add trespassing, too (I have signs).
So, thieves, here’s my hope for you: May you suffer guilt and shame every time you look at those kittens. You don’t deserve them.
The post Stray Cats and Thieves first appeared on Leonard D Hilley II.May 24, 2025
Revisions/Updates/Rebranding
Usually, the more one writes, the better one’s writing becomes. At least, one’s writing should improve.
In practice, if writers strive to hone and improve their vocabulary, grammar, and use of proper syntax, their prose becomes more refined. Reading books—a LOT of books—especially by great authors exposes writers to the necessary techniques to improve writing skills, too. Reading helps improve writing and broadens one’s vocabulary. One learns sentence structure, especially punctuation in dialogue. Study what you read as a writer. Take notes.
Authors develop their own sense of style over time. When I first began writing my first novel (technically my second), I read practically everything Dean R. Koontz had published at the time. I learned about pacing, suspense, and how to get readers to flip the pages. In a sense, I mimicked his style, as his books were the ones I consumed the most. Eventually, my style emerged.
I also read Writer’s Digest and The Writer magazine. I read these magazines’ back issues at the college library. Anything that would help improve my writing, I read it.
Some time back I published a blog, “Why the Rush to Publish?” Advice I’ve given for several years as an English professor is: “The best writing comes from RE-writing. Revision is KEY.” This means revising a draft one or two times isn’t publishable, unless you’re incredibly gifted. Believe me, I’ve reread and revised pages dozens of times and sometimes still find errors.
In truth, authors need editors. At the very least, they need skilled, passionate beta readers who have excellent English skills. Not your friends. Not family. Especially not your dear grandmother who dotes on you about how ‘wonderful’ your prose is. One thing I’ve learned. Family members will lie to you. They don’t want to hurt your feelings, so no matter how badly the writing is, you’re not going to get honest feedback from them. This reminds me of a woman years ago who kept telling everyone she was a ‘special’ singer and kept saying it until they asked her to sing. Oh, she was special all right, just not like she thought. Had she met Simon from American Idol, she’d have saved herself some embarrassment early on. But, you see, friends and family didn’t want to tell her the truth, so they didn’t. They lied to save themselves and her from awkward situations. Is that bad? Yes and no. No, because they wanted to spare her feelings. Yes, because they silently encouraged her to continue. But, this is a story for another day.
As an unspoken rule for myself, I reread most pages over a dozen times. Some pages as much as fifty to a hundred times. No lie. With my second novel, Beyond the Darkness, I read/revised the first chapter over a hundred times. Even after that many times, I still failed to catch a glaring error. I passed the manuscript to someone to read, and on the first page, she caught the error. Instead of ‘reclining’ chair, I wrote ‘recycling’ chair (which hopefully doesn’t exist and not sure why I wrote it this way or never caught it). I’ve no doubt I read the sentence well over 100 times. But here’s the thing. Since I had written it and knew what I’d meant, my brain autocorrected and moved past it without noticing over 100 times. This is why an author benefits from having an editor and/or a great beta reader. Extra eyes reading a manuscript are a lifesaver.
Eleven years have passed since Shawndirea (Aetheaon Chronicles: Book One) was released. To my surprise, Shawndirea placed in the TOP 100 Fantasy Bestsellers for ten weeks and peaked at #29. It sold well enough to qualify for my membership in SWFA, which was one accomplishment I hoped to achieve when I first began writing.
With Book 5 scheduled to launch this September, my PR has scheduled a Boxed Set (Aetheaon Chronicles: Books 1-3) to launch on June 18th. Because I wanted to have the best work out there, I decided last summer to revise/edit the first three books. Although the early books weren’t terrible, they definitely needed an overhaul. He suggested to have the cover typography match on the first four books so it’s more obvious this is a series, so I did that. Afterwards, I continued editing. The boxed set began with 450,450 words and ended with 417,000 words.
Twenty-six pages were cut from Shawndirea. Seventy-three pages were cut from Lady Squire, and thirty-one pages were cut from Frosthammer. These weren’t drastic cuts, but places where sentences could be rearranged or shortened to improve the prose and dialogue without losing the story. Lady Squire was also the longest book in the series and needed revised more than the other two. Although all three books had words cut, words and new scenes were also added. Added scenes came because of the fifth book and because I knew far more about its main character after writing his book than when he first appeared in earlier series books. These revisions mean the books are no longer the same as the original releases. They are better. Padding was removed.
A vast reason for the revisions was because I read these books with new eyes. Yes, my writing has improved since their publications, but the stories and characters were no longer fresh on my mind and I viewed them more objectively. I removed wordiness, which was far more than I expected, but the further into the series I read, the less errors I found.
One of the hardships of writing is being objective about one’s work. The first draft should be written from the heart. Don’t worry so much about the editing, and if you’re fortunate to hit one of those writing river flows, where the words and ideas pour out onto the pages, don’t dam the current by overly editing the work. Let the story and the characters lead the way. Then, after you’ve finished the manuscript, set it aside, for a month or more, and come back with fresh eyes. Now, you’re ready to read/revise with your brain and not the heart. Be objective. Perhaps ruthless, if necessary, and realize you’re working to make your book the best you can. What was written from the heart, while considered sacred to you, needs polished, edited, revised.
So what’s ahead? The Aetheaon Chronicles’ boxed set is scheduled for release on June 18th. Crukas (Aetheaon Chronicles: Book Five) in September. Book four in the Nocturnal Trinity Series is in November (fingers crossed), and a couple of Dee’s Mystery Solvers in December or January. Until then, many blessings to you!
NOTE: Shawndirea, Lady Squire, Frosthammer, and Shadowfae are in Kindle Unlimited. The boxed set will be released in Kindle Unlimited as well.
The post Revisions/Updates/Rebranding first appeared on Leonard D Hilley II.
