Michelle L. Levigne's Blog, page 122

Book of the Week, ISTORICA, Wildvine Book 2

Wildvine Series
Book 2
Fantasy

From Writers Exchange

“They’re kinda stupid, aren’t they?” Bree whispered when they reached the top of the stairs.
Twist-feather hit the door with her elongated tail so it banged shut without Khyber having to reach back and close it.
“They’re just jealous of us,” Khyber answered after a moment of thought. She shared a grin with Bree, then choked a moment later when the little girl reached up and twined her warm little fingers through hers.
There, very clear, like a zap of lightning from her toes to the ends of her hair, yet cool and refreshing -- that was the sealing of their filar bond.
Now Khyber believed.
She slid her books into the crook of her other arm and turned her hand to grip Bree’s little hand. They started down the hallway to the living room where the Council waited.
Can you hear me?
Bree’s wide-eyed delight brought a bubble of laughter into Khyber’s throat.
Filar, remember? She tipped her head back, gesturing with her chin toward the door of the living room. “We’ve got some work to do. Let’s get it done so we can get away from everybody and figure things out.”
“Like what?” Bree reached up her free hand, offering to take some of Khyber’s books.
“Well … do you like the top bunk or the bottom? You’re probably staying with us, and I have bunk beds.”
“We’re sisters now, aren’t we?”
“Better than sisters,” Khyber said, two steps away from the living room door.
They paused in the doorway and the pleased smile and nod from her grandmother and from Kirstan made her feel several feet taller.

Book of the Week, ISTORICA, Wildvine Book 2

Wildvine Series
Book 2
Fantasy

From Writers Exchange

“Maybe you have another gift awakening,” Jayra said.
“Huh?” Khyber turned so fast on one heel, she nearly knocked herself off both feet as she stared at her mother. Where had those words come from? If Jayra was had tapped the parent-child bond, Khyber should have felt it.
The kl’resti, Twist-Feather, chuckled and spun like a corkscrew through the air above the picnic grounds in the Logon town park. She shifted through the rainbow three times before coming to rest on the teen girl’s right shoulder. Her butterfly wings folded into her back and she took on the feathery cat features that seemed to be her favorite shape.
“You’ve been restless since we got to the park,” her mother said.
“Don’t frighten her,” her father, Kyle said, coming up to the picnic table with an armload of blankets to put on the ground.
“What’s to be frightened of?” Khyber grinned, immediately relaxing, and shrugged to launch Twist-Feather back into the air. “Being an Istorica is boring.”
“It’s a headache,” he corrected with a grin for his wife. He shuddered in exaggeration and turned to head back to their truck.
“Make up your mind,” Jayra said, sticking her tongue out at him, earning a chuckle from their daughter. “It can’t be boring and frightening.”

Book of the Week, ISTORICA, Wildvine Book 2

Wildvine Series
Book 2
Fantasy

From Writers Exchange

Khyber was Istorica for the exiles--the one entrusted with remembering all their history, everything they learned. Despite the support of Grandmother, Dayree, she felt she had let down her family by not being able to step between worlds and take the exiles home.

She had many gifts, but it was her talent for telling stories that offered the exiles a chance to reach out and find others with Talents, lost on Earth. However, enemies had followed the exiles to Earth, and the only way to protect her family, her village, was to live separated from them, under a false name. 

For the sake of the exiles, Khyber would do whatever it took...and in the process found her way home.

Off the Bookshelf: 13 TREASURES, Michelle Harrison

Tanya can see faeries. She has the second sight. She doesn't know why or how.

Problem: the fairies are doggone mean. They cause problems, they do things to her she has to lie about to cover up, because no one else can see the faeries, no one believes in faeries. She's turning into a problem child.

When Tanya's mother can't take it anymore, she ships the problem child off to the country, to the family estate. Florence, Tanya's grandmother, doesn't want her there.

Finding out why Florence doesn't want Tanya around takes until the end of the book. The proud old woman has some pretty awful, painful secrets and fears. Meanwhile, odd things are happening. Fabian, the boy who lives in the house, seems to be both nemesis and ally. Then there's the odd old woman, Mad Morag, who some people say is a witch. And the catacombs where people have gone missing,disappearing altogether. And the mystery of a 14-year-old girl who disappeared 50 years before, who is tangled up in the lives of everyone in the house. Because she's still 14.

There is magic and curses, broken promises and and liars and schemers. When Tanya sets out to help someone who is unfairly accused of a horrible crime, she steps into a trap that has been waiting to close on her since the day she was born. Will she escape? Will she survive?

Do I have to say it? Read the book! It's one of those quiet books that get you tangled and drawn in before you know it. Read it in big chunks. Reading just a chapter at a time won't do.

TURNABOUT: Phoenix Fan Fiction

Bennu looked up at the cloudy sky, shivering in anticipation of the cold downpour due any minute. Just ahead was a payphone, luckily. The booth would serve two purposes now. He trotted the last few feet and stepped inside it, closing the door against the chill wind.
For the last week, thoughts of Joanna Wolf had been haunting him. He knew, on instinct and experience, she was deeply in trouble. It had something to do with her fall, the concussion, and her new telekinetic powers. Knowing what would be done to him if he allowed himself to be caught, Bennu had a good idea of Joanna's probable dilemma.
He picked up the phone, put money in the slot, and dialed. Bennu would do now what he thought he would never do. When the call was taken by an answering service, he asked for Preminger. A long wait, then a new number was given to him -- Carridan hospital. He called, asked for Preminger, and was put on hold.
"Yes?" Preminger asked after a long while. Even on the phone, Bennu could feel how tired and tense the agent was.
"How is Joanna after her fall?" he asked quietly, not daring to say his name in case the phone was bugged. He hoped Preminger would know who he was without saying.
"Uh, fine, fine. I should be able to get back to work in three or four days." Preminger knew. "Come see her. She'd love to see you. I'll meet you out front tomorrow about ten or so. How's that?"

"Fine. Tomorrow then." Bennu hung up slowly, his mind racing over the problem. Preminger wanted him to come and still needed his help, that was clear. Things were not fine with Joanna. He could guess easily that the growing pressure on her brain had not been relieved yet. And when Preminger said ten, he didn't mean during the day.

Book of the Week, JA'HANNA, Wildvine Book 1

Wildvine Series Book 1
Fantasy

From Writers Exchange

"Ha!" Neelian shrieked, as she popped out of thin air onto the gravel of the trail. She lunged, off balance and disoriented for a precious two seconds.
Dayree spun sharply left, when common sense said to turn right and leap onto the trail.
Neelian fell to her knees on the place where Dayree should have been. Her triumphant cry turned to a yelp of pain.
Dayree's skin tingled on her left arm. She turned, sensing power at work like when her father created an illusion solid enough to hold in her hands. Neelian appeared only three steps away. Dayree twisted back toward the trail, putting all her strength into her legs. Neelian let out a shriek, echoed by her brother and cousin as they stumbled onto the gravel path and lunged at Dayree.
She leaped out of their way and threw herself straight at Neelian.
Dayree wished she could Skip, just once. Anywhere away from here. To her parents' suite. To the Council's chamber, to prove to them she did have Talent. To the forest gate. Even twenty steps away, to startle her enemies and give her time to flee.
Neelian yelped and her arms automatically closed around Dayree as their chests collided.
The world went blank for a heartbeat, then reappeared, with the sunlight at a different angle and brighter. The smells were no longer of green, moldering forest life but flowers and stone baking in the hot afternoon sunlight.
Neelian collapsed to the grass, retching, shaking, her wheat-toned skin like alabaster. Dayree staggered backwards a few steps, straining to find Noris and Miklan before they attacked.
Her hand touched iron bars. She turned, stumbling, and stared at the forest gate.
Ten steps into the outer gardens, Dayree could think clearly enough to wonder howthat had happened. The forest gate was nearly ten minutes' walk from the spot on the trail where the three had ambushed her. Neelian had only enough strength and control to Skip from one floor to the next in the Clan House, and that effort left her breathless and dizzy for a good ten-count. How had they Skipped so far?

Book of the Week, JA'HANNA, Wildvine Book 1

Wildvine Series
Book 1
Fantasy

From Writers Exchange

Another stick snapped. Leaves rustled. Her hunter was clumsy. Her cousin, Kedrin, said the overconfidence of one's opponents was often the best weapon to turn against them.
Branches rustled, off to her left. Between her and the trail. She paused and pretended to examine a skinny, prickly little plant with one long stem, one blossom and only four leaves.
In that pause, only six or seven seconds at the most, she heard more movement. Branches rustling, the scratching sound of thorns on cloth, twigs snapping underfoot. When the faint, almost non-existent breeze died for a few seconds, she even heard breathing.
More than one person followed her, making clumsy attempts at stealth. They were all together in one place. No one had thought to separate to surround her.
She was too far from the gates to call for help. Dayree whispered a prayer to D'hune and straightened from her pretend examination of the plant. She stretched her arms to the sky and forced a yawn. Let them think she was tired and not paying attention.

Too bad the stealth games her cousins taught her had to be used against her own clan, rather than the Tobrizz or other enemies.

The War Room

Want a chance to get a FREE book?

Go to Goodreads and enter the drawing to win a free print copy of STARBLUE, the sequel to my SF romance novel, BLUE FIRE, from Desert Breeze Publishing.

The giveaway runs until September 11. Plenty of time to enter.

In fact, go to Goodreads and check out ALL their giveaways. You could enter a drawing every day of the week -- every day of the month. Not saying you'd win every single time, but your chances go up if you keep entering. Just imagine all the books you could win and read.

So what's STARBLUE about?

Starblue Ash swore never to do two things: join the Rovers and leave Mallachrom. Commander Day of the Rover Corps didn't care -- she was the last of their family and her heritage was the Rovers. When Rover Pilot Neona Creed needed rescuing from creatures that mimicked the Shadows of Mallachrom, Blue's psionic bond with Neona and her twin brother, Keegan, was their best chance of breaking her free. Blue teamed with Keegan and a ship full of Rovers to chase the kidnappers across the galaxy. The long journey deepened their bonds and changed their friendship to love. If they survived this crisis, they might change the universe.

Book of the Week: JA'HANNA, Wildvine Book 1

Wildvine Series
Fantasy

From Writers Exchange

In multiple worlds, universes and dimensions of reality, there are tales of Hub Worlds, where many different realms can meet and intersect. Some travel between worlds through the power of the mind and Talents born into the blood, while others are chosen through vision and prophecy and step between worlds with the power of talismans. None can go to the others' worlds, except when they meet in a Hub World.

Wildvine County, somewhere in the United States, is that pivotal point where the travelers from
multiple worlds and universes meet.


Dayree was born to a powerful family in the Taksearhe Clan. She was expected to have strong Talents, yet her gifts never emerged. Mocked by some, ignored by others, she took the opportunities offered to her and explored other gifts, becoming a craftsman and then a teacher. In the process, she found her soulmate, Jayx.


Years later, when their village was threatened by rebels who wanted to control their world, Dayree's gift awakened, enabling her talented cousin to evacuate the entire village to safety--stepping through the vortex between worlds, to a planet called Earth.

TURNABOUT: Phoenix Fan Fiction

Footsteps. They ducked into an open doorway, and Bennu leaned out in the cover of the shadows far enough to see a man come out of a room, locking the door behind himself. Another walked out of the room opposite, and they talked in normal voices. No fear here. The first reported to the second that "the kid" was still asleep. Preminger's hand tightened on Bennu's shoulder, and he smiled. He had always known Preminger had some soft, sentimental spots, well-hidden. A little half-Indian girl named Joanna Wolf claimed one of those spots.
When the two guards were gone, they went straight to the locked door. Bennu grasped the handle, pressing himself against the doorframe to muffle the thrumming as energy poured from his hand, breaking the lock. He touched Preminger's shoulder as the other faced away to guard them from discovery, and pushed the door carefully open. Sliding through like ghosts, they closed the door behind them. Preminger turned on his flashlight.
The room was dingy, the windows covered with blankets, a few crates scattered around to make tables and bookshelves. Their target was curled up on a cot, fully clothed. The sweep of the flashlight over the girl woke her and she flinched and opened her eyes. Preminger dashed towards her to keep the girl from crying out, but she just sat up and looked at them. No fear, just curiosity and acceptance. And old beyond her years.
"Joanna." Preminger knelt in front of her, staring into her wide, dark eyes. "Do you remember me? It's Uncle Jay," he whispered.
The veil of age dropped from her face and Joanna nodded delightedly. She pointed to the door, her questions very clear on her face. Preminger nodded, and her smile grew wider as she hugged him briefly. Then she slipped off the cot and began pulling on a ratty pair of tennis shoes.
"How is it?" Preminger whispered, going to stand with Bennu at the door. "We still have time. When do the others attack?"
"In about --" he checked his watch "-- five minutes. It'll be close." He took hold of Joanna's hand as she came up behind them. He took the lead and Bennu guarded the rear as they backtracked to the stairs and up to the roof. This time they stayed together, going down one fire escape. Joanna didn't make a sound, even when she slipped and smashed her ribs against the iron ladder. Preminger refused to wonder what her captors had done over the years to keep the girl so quiet.