Michelle L. Levigne's Blog, page 37

Ye Olde Dragon's Library: Episode 05

 In Episode 5, Ash prepares to head out on her quest. She is stunned to be given all sorts of little gifts from quite a few of the servants in the castle. Even people she thought didn't like her.

She also receives a good deal of advice, and grows curious when a good portion deals with the enchanted forest and the enchanted castle. Boiled down to the basics, the advice is always: Run away. The problem however is that she doesn't know which castle and forest everyone is referring to, because with all the reading she has done, she knows there are quite a few enchanted castles and enchanted forests throughout the world. When she can finally ask for specifics, she learns a great deal.

Now that you've had a chance to listen to the episode ... what do you think of that advice, and that information? What do you think Ash should do? Everything within her power to avoid the enchanted castle? Or should she look for it?

What are her chances of getting out of Castle Fairhold before Lathia's nasty servants catch up with her, and probably force her to travel with Lathia and do all the work on the quest?

Another question: Interested in obtaining the final version of this adventure in print or ebook or audiobook? There will be changes along the way, thanks to your input, either questions or suggestions, and remember, any suggestions you make that I use will get you a mention in the acknowledgements at the front of the book. You can get the finished book ahead of everyone else, at a discount, if you join my Patreon group -- and get even more inside information along the way, along with exclusives when they're created, like new short stories, maps, maybe character sketches, maybe access to a hardback version. It all depends as we go along ...

Look for Ye Olde Dragon's Library on Patreon, or follow this link: patreon.com/user?u=26078473

THANKS FOR STOPPING BY -- And remember to come back next week for episode 6!

Upcoming release sample: DANCING ON MY GRAVE

 “Uh, looks like he has a date.”

“Yeah, with a really strong dose of –“ He let out a disgusted groan, but when he turned his wheelchair to look up at her, his expression was entirely mischievous. “Really, really strong mental drugs, y’know?”

“You’re such a mean little boy.”

“Yeah. And proud of it.” Rufus let out a sigh and bent forward, giving a hard push with his arms, and slalomed his way through the incoming afternoon traffic to get to the bookstore side of the coffee shop.

Eden gnawed on his comments and what she had seen as she retrieved a mocha whip and headed back up to the office. Something just struck her as wrong, but she couldn’t put her finger on it. Other than Conrad not contacting her when he got back into town. Not a word on the problems he and his brother had been dealing with. She was still facing roadblocks in obtaining the basic information on Conrad’s adoption. His adopted parents had hesitated for only a day before signing release forms to make their side of the adoption accessible and open to investigation. Someone on the other side was keeping the door locked. What had Conrad’s birth parents needed to hide? She wondered if Conrad’s brother knew that he had asked for the investigation, and if he did, his feelings on the matter. Was he insulted, thinking his story wasn’t believed?

She got to work on several requests for her assistance and waited for Conrad to make contact.

Off the Bookshelf: LETTERS FROM FATHER CHRISTMAS, by J.R.R. Tolkein

 

For more than 20 years, J.R.R. Tolkein wrote and illustrated letters for his children, sent from Father Christmas. 

This is another side of the creator of Middle Earth, the whimsical side, telling stories about the antics of mischievous polar bears and gnomes and evil goblins trying to take over the North Pole, and disasters interfering with the delivery of Christmas presents.

This is a glimpse into the lives of the Tolkein family as the children grow up and no longer write letters to Father Christmas. As WWII interferes with obtaining supplies to make presents, and then difficulties finding the children to deliver those presents. There were several moments that threatened tears, seeing the changes, as one by one the children's names vanished from the greeting at the beginning of the letter.

What fun, having a father like Tolkein, who drew fun pictures to illustrate the adventures and disasters, and make up an "Arktic" alphabet for the North Polar Bear to write in, and then a goblin alphabet, and the Polar Bear mis-spelling words, and writing interjections in Father Christmas's letters, sometimes disputing what he said, and other times criticizing the poems he wrote. The labor of love that went into these letters is inspiring.

Reading this book and enjoying the illustrations should become a regular family holiday tradition.

Upcoming release sample: DANCING ON MY GRAVE

Saturday, June 18

 

“Now I’ve seen it all.” Rufus stopped short after making a right turn from the elevator and stared at the front of the coffee shop.

Eden nearly ran into him, coming out of the elevator behind him. She stepped up, resting one hand on the back of his wheelchair, and turned to look at what had him slowly shaking his head.

Conrad was walking out of the shop with that too-skinny Simone Radcliffe hanging on his arm like she needed him to keep her upright. That dopey grin he wore did not belong on his face. Especially focused on Simone. Eden shook her head, flashing back to what Sarah Fontaine had said a few weeks ago about Conrad waiting for Becca Sheridan to return from her short-term missionary trip.

“I didn’t know he was back in town,” she said, as the two walked out the front door and seemed to vanish for a few seconds, into the brilliant early afternoon sunlight.

“Neither did I,” Rufus murmured. “He didn’t get back to me, when I told him I finally got things cleared up with the office system. But if he figured he’d talk to me … why didn’t he come on up?”

 

Ye Olde Dragon's Library: EPISODE 04

 

Episode 04: Ash's meeting with Granny Phlox and Hazel ends too soon when Lord Winston accuses her of fleeing "justice." She hurries back to the castle. The two girls stand before Justiciar Camwell and learn the terms of their quest, which include being bound to spirit rings, to watch their progress.

Question for listeners:

Now that you've met Leena and Lathia, the sisters, would you like to see some extra material featuring them? Maybe some short stories about their adventures before and after they appear in Liars' Quest?

You'll hear updates on Lathia's activities in the quest, thanks to magical communication between the spirit rings, but would you like to see what happens to her, instead of just the condensed version that the ring shares with Ash? aka: the juicy details.

Would you like to see Leena in training among the maiden warriors? Maybe have her and her fighting band encounter Ash several years in the future? Maybe have Ash and Leena's fighting band go on a mission for the king?

CAST YOUR VOTE! Here in the blog comments, let me know. Give me some ideas for adventures -- if I use them, your name goes in the acknowledgments page in the published book. And if you're a member of the Patreon group, you'll get those short stories for FREE before they're released for sale in ebook .... 

Here are your links to either listen to the podcast on the Ye Olde Dragons website, or join the Patreon group.

Thanks for checking in!

Upcoming release sample: DANCING ON MY GRAVE

 

“You sure?”

“The way I see it, this can only do me good. Get out of town, away from the whole political machine before Prince Roger can drag me in.”

“Does that mean you’re planning on running for trustee?” Eden perked up. “Finally?”

“I’m considering it. The best way to keep my nose clean is make it hard for him to set me up for some public humiliation, like he used to do when we were kids.” Conrad shrugged. “Then there’s the whole mess with Becca.”

“What’s wrong with her?”

“Total silence. I’m hoping it’s just Internet stupidity, emails getting lost in the ether, and Simone isn’t up to the mental games she was playing in middle school before she went mental. She’s gotten hacked at me for no reason, just out of the blue confronts me and yells at me for not calling or stopping by when I said I would. I never said I would. Ever. I avoid her.”

“Yeah, that’s a good reason to get out of town,” she murmured.

“And Rufus doesn’t need me breathing down his neck while he’s trying to figure out what’s wrong with the company computers, and on which end.”

“He’s the best.”

“You ought to know, you trained him.”

“I can’t take all the credit.” Eden shook her head. “The guy’s a genius, he just needs a few road signs. Sometimes you have to whack him over the head with the road signs, because like a lot of geniuses, he can be oblivious when it comes to common sense, but … yeah, he’s got a great future ahead of him. Just as long as the CIA doesn’t drag him away into some clandestine operation.”

“Yeah, he’s a good kid. Glad he’s family. He and Devona are good for Grandma. I’m glad their mom came into her life when she did, needing a family. They sure needed her, when my long-lost uncles cut them off.”

Off the Bookshelf: THE ROWAN, by Anne McCaffrey

 

Audiobook

It's been years since I read this book by the Lady of Pern (if you don't know what Pern is, shame on you -- go look it up and read as many of the books as you can. You've led a deprived life!), so when I had a chance to get the audiobook version, I snatched it. Yeah, it's been so long I forgot a lot of details, so in some ways it was like reading a new book.

Always a delightful experience with an admired author.

The Rowan is one of several books that started as short stories and then McCaffrey expanded into full-length books -- and then a series of books. This particular "universe" deals with Talented folk and their various adventures exploring their powers and finding acceptance in a world that at first doesn't trust those with unusual gifts. And sometimes tries to confine them and commandeer their abilities.

We first meet the Rowan as a child orphaned in a horrific accident that wiped out the mining town on her colony world. She reveals her high-level telepathic power when, frightened, hungry, and cold, she sends a telepathic call for help. For days. Healing from that trauma, and other traumas and mistaken beliefs inflicted on her, takes her into her adult life. Rowan is a T-1, one of only a handful of the most powerful telepaths, entrusted with moving people and communicating across solar systems as Earth spreads out across the galaxy. But all that power doesn't guarantee happiness, until she meets a mind of equal strength and talent ... yeah, there's a little bit of a love story woven in here, but most of it is the tale of healing and growth, and being in the right place at the right time to essentially save the human race.

I think I'm going to have to put aside some time to go back and read all the stories in this series. It's been too long since I visited.

Upcoming release sample: DANCING ON MY GRAVE

 “I didn’t say that.” Eden offered him a smile. The business smile, as Kai called it. Cool and calm and confident, that could slide over into threatening at a moment’s notice, and freeze demanding creepazoids in an instant, if necessary.

“You don’t have to. Sometimes those business smarts Grandpa trained into me come in handy, figuring out people and situations in other areas. You’ve gotta be good at reading people when you work real estate. All the horror stories you hear about the renters-from-hell, you don’t want that happening to you, so you learn to sniff out the delinquents and troublemakers and vandals before you sign the lease.” He leaned back in his chair, and raked his fingers through his fine, pale curls. “And figure out how to say no to the really big troublemakers without giving them an opening to sue you for prejudice or something else.”

“I have a few remote connections to people with access to higher security clearance,” Eden began. 

“No, it’s okay. I’ve got a few ideas I need to follow up on first. Steve mentioned something … still need to figure out if it’ll help with my other problems, or just make them worse. The only way I can do that is to meet him face-to-face.”

Ye Olde Dragon's Library: Episode 03

 

Each week, you'll hear the adventures of Ash, an orphan servant girl with a missing past, and hints of magical potential. When she is accused of a crime, both she and her accuser are revealed as liars. They end up on a quest with a list of deeds to accomplish, to prove who is telling the truth and who is the liar.

 

Episode 03: Ash and Lathia face Justiciar Camwell, where both are condemned as liars. As they wait to learn the requirements of the quest they must go on, Ash is sent to visit Granny Phlox, who raised her, for advice and warnings.

 

Listeners: 

What do you think the conditions of the quest will be? 

What sort of advice do you think Ash will receive from Granny Phlox? Will it do any good?

What do you think Ash's stars mean?

What danger do you think she is in, after hearing what Lord Winston did to his wife and daughters?

Should Ash run away and join the warrior maidens?

What do you think will happen next?

 

Want to support the podcast?

Find us on Patreon: Ye Olde Dragon's Library

patreon.com/user?u=26078473

Upcoming release sample: DANCING ON MY GRAVE

 Monday, June 6

 

“All the indications are that there’s something federal involved in the mix,” Eden said. She kept her head bowed over the far-too-thin stack of printouts from all the research she’d been doing for Conrad and studied him from under her eyebrows.

She needn’t have bothered being so discrete. Conrad didn’t see her. He frowned, new furrows in his forehead and around his mouth, staring at a spot a few inches off the surface of the conference table between them. They were alone in the office upstairs from Book & Mug for the moment. Troy was due back in another half hour from a trip to Michigan. Eden looked forward to hearing if he had learned anything new from a tenuous lead about their hidden backgrounds.

“Most of what I’ve been learning has been the shadows cast by the information I can’t get at. Kind of like deciding the shape of something from the hole it left when it passed through other things. I thought at first the difficulty came from the adoption records being sealed. Now …” She slid the bankers clip back onto her copy of the reports and sat back in her chair. “Either your brother is involved in something dangerous, and he’s being protected --” 

“Or he’s dangerous in and of himself, and the further I have you dig, the more danger you could be bringing on yourself.” He nodded and only flicked his gaze up to meet hers for a moment.