Kelley Heckart's Blog, page 52

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Published on September 29, 2014 04:00

Tabby's Nocturnal Nights: Do supernatural creatures belong in a modern setti...

Tabby's Nocturnal Nights: Do supernatural creatures belong in a modern setti...: When I think of vampires and other supernatural creatures, I picture them in time periods without electricity and other modern technology. I...

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Published on September 28, 2014 15:44

Dragonbride (The Dragon Chronicles, Book #1)

Welcome Raani York, my guest today. Her new fantasy novel is available now.
Magic-Fire-Dragons

Dragonbride
(The Dragon Chronicles, Book #1)
Shalima, “Daughter of the Light”, was born under special circumstances. She was raised by her aunts instead of her mother because she needed to be prepared to fulfill the prophecies of the Old Scriptures, which told that she was the only Magician on Earth.

Her aunts carefully prepared her for her obligations and her sacred duty. She will have to get married to the Holy Golden Dragon, the King of the Dragons, a huge Earth Dragon with magical talents. She cannot believe that she is the “Chosen One”, who has to protect the Dragon Species, all of Nature and finally the Earth. But when she turned into a teenager it seemed that the Old Scriptures were right.
Buy the Book:
on Smashwords: https://smashwords.com/books/view/479647
As an Ebook for following formats: epub, mobi, pd,f rtf, lrf ,pdb, txt, html
The Paperback version on Amazon will be released very soon! More buyer’s links will be available within the next week.

Raani York has been a high volume writer for years. She has published articles, letters, short stories, poems, continuation stories and descriptions of all kind. She also writes novels, some of which can found on her website.

Raani has been educated in Switzerland and in the U.S. She holds a Bachelor's Degree in Business Administration. She also obtained diplomas in Graphic Design, Color Studies and won a prize as a Logo Designer. She speaks four languages and several dialects.

Next to her writing and her cats, Raani likes reading, blogging, Martial Arts, skiing, horseback riding, sky diving and enjoys playing the classical piano.

Contact:
Website: http://www.raaniyork.com
Blog: http://www.raaniyork.wordpress.com
Email: raaniyorkca@aol.com
Google: https://plus.google.com/115854197563561201228/posts
FB: https://www.facebook.com/raaniyork
FB Author Page: https://www.facebook.com/DragonScriptures
Twitter: https://twitter.com/RaaniYork
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/pub/raani-york/5/922/b37
Myspace: https://myspace.com/raaniyork
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/12628426-raani-york
Microcerpt: http://microcerpt.com/raaniyork/
Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/raaniyorkca/

Teaser:
The mountains possessed a dark but seductive beauty, and they lay in wait for the ones who came through the Fire Hell. The powdered white peaks of the sparkling black mountain-world watched for them with longing.
The Diamond Mountains gave the illusion of being much closer than they really were, and many a pilgrim had been lured to his death by the promise of riches hidden on their slopes. These mountains were so named because of the rough gems strewn about the black volcanic soil. When the sun shone overhead the gems made the mountains sparkle and shimmer brightly, and at night they made the moonlit mountains glow with a soft silver light.
People, blinded by both their greed and the tantalizing glittering of the sunlit earth, imagined that there was immeasurable wealth lying there on the ground, just waiting to be picked. However, the mountains never betrayed the secrets they held. None who had ever walked those slopes could find the diamonds hidden within the black soil, for the mountains protected themselves.
Although healthy forest still grew in the foothills, the undergrowth became sparser just a few hundred feet up, and then the treeline ended. Where stunted trees would normally grow the forest just stopped, as if some unseen hand had cut it short. All that remained were dangerously sharp, dry rocks. Just below the snowline, the rocks disappeared, and the glittering black soil took their place.
Moreover, at the summit it seemed as if the Creator of All Things had dusted the peaks of the fissured mountain range with powdered sugar, for they were covered with a deceptively soft-looking, yet extremely sharp-edged eternal snow.
The mountains never betrayed their secrets...
And if a wanderer were to climb those peaks, going up to the Fire Hell and searching to quench his thirst at a splashing mountain spring, he would find no cool, refreshing water. Instead, these living mountains would seek to frighten him by shrouding the ground with a mysterious fog that made it impossible to see where he was putting his feet. Pilgrims sometimes drowned in the sulfurous pools of water hidden within the hellish rocks when the fog appeared, and if they left the main trails, they would know true fear, for they would be led down treacherous sidepaths that seemed to take them somewhere, yet actually led them nowhere but to their doom.
The mountains never betrayed their secrets...
Though many thought they would find the cool relief of the shadows by early evening, the ascent would continue for another three torturous days. During those three days, their throats would scream for water, and their eyes would tear up in the swirling sand. Blown up by the hot desert winds, the sand burned as it fell upon a traveler's face and skin. Eventually their limbs would become heavy, and they would barely be able to move; thus, the wanderers would be forced to crawl on, farther and farther, until sheer luck eventually brought them to civilization... to people.
In a canyon between two hills below the mountain range there was a village. It had no official name, but the people living there called it Alpcateçu, which meant Oasis of the Mountains. Anyone who wanted to climb the mountains had to pass through the village. A few taverns and inns surrounded the village fountain, where a market was sometimes held.
Some houses and huts had been built in the wide hills and even at the edge of the forest... and in one such place, hidden within the woods, almost four hundred feet past the deepest thicket and connected to the village only by a sidepath lay the place in which I had been born.
Raani York works and lives in Switzerland and the U.S. and travels often.

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Published on September 27, 2014 04:00

Favorite Friday

Favorite TV show—Hell on Wheels

One word to describe the AMC western Hell on Wheels is gritty. Based on the building of the railroad (right after the Civil War) across the Wild West, this western is not for the faint hearted. Someone dies on a regular basis and everyone is in need of a bath. Anson Mount who plays Cullen Bohannon, the lead character, is as bad as the real bad guys. I don’t think any character on this show is truly good, not even the female preacher. She has her own dark secret desires. If you want to watch a true-to-life western, then this is for you.

Kelley Heckart, Historical fantasy romance author

Captivating...Sensual...Otherworldly

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Kelley-Heckart/111838455604

See aileron defined for English-language learners »

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Published on September 26, 2014 04:00

Weird Word Wednesday

Aileron ai·le·ron

noun \ˈā-lə-ˌrän\

: a part of an airplane wing that can be moved up or down to cause the airplane to turn

Full Definition of AILERON

: a movable airfoil at the trailing edge of an airplane wing that is used for imparting a rolling motion especially in banking for turns — see airplane illustration

See aileron defined for kids »

Origin of AILERON

French, from diminutive of aile wing — more at aisle

First Known Use: 1909

Kelley Heckart, Historical fantasy romance author

Captivating...Sensual...Otherworldly

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Kelley-Heckart/111838455604

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Published on September 24, 2014 04:00

Monday Musings: Moon pics #3

White luminescent glow against a stygian-black sky.

Full moon peeking out from sun-painted clouds.

This angle reveals more of the different cloud layers.

The full moon looks huge hanging over this house.

I like the detail I was able to capture in this full moon.

Kelley Heckart, Historical fantasy romance author

Captivating...Sensual...Otherworldly

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Kelley-Heckart/111838455604

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Published on September 22, 2014 04:00

Favorite Friday

Favorite book: Confessions of a Pagan Nun

This is a beautifully written, stunning, heartbreaking story of a former pagan who becomes a nun in order to survive. The story takes place in Ireland around 500 AD when Ireland was on the cusp of Christianity. All alone in a hostile world, Gwynneve, a druid, has no choice but to keep her pagan beliefs to herself and become a nun where she copies the manuscripts of the church fathers and also records her own life story and the melodramatic events at the convent. This is the compelling story of a strong woman’s fight for survival and also a lesson in what happens when a new religion takes over. Highly recommended!

Kelley Heckart, Historical fantasy romance author

Captivating...Sensual...Otherworldly

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Kelley-Heckart/111838455604

See ailanthus defined for kids »

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Published on September 19, 2014 04:00

Weird Word Wednesday

Ailanthus ai·lan·thus

noun \ā-ˈlan(t)-thəs\

Definition of AILANTHUS

: any of a small Asian genus (Ailanthus of the family Simaroubaceae, the ailanthus family) of chiefly tropical trees and shrubs with bitter bark, pinnate leaves, and terminal panicles of ill-scented greenish flowers; especially : tree of heaven

Origin of AILANTHUS

New Latin, from Kamarian (Austronesian language of the Piru Bay region, Seram) ai lanito, literally, the sky tree, or from a cognate phrase in a related central Moluccan language

First Known Use: 1789

Kelley Heckart, Historical fantasy romance author

Captivating...Sensual...Otherworldly

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Kelley-Heckart/111838455604

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Published on September 17, 2014 04:00

Monday Musings: You are only as young as you feel

This month I turn 50. Yeah, I’ve been alive for 50 years. It feels much longer. I have mixed feelings about my birthday this year. Part of me is happy to have made it this far in life without too many mental or physical scars, and I’ve accomplished more than most people, but part of me is depressed that soon I will be entering the Crone phase of a woman’s life. There isn’t another phase after Crone. So, I was thinking about the positive things about turning 50.

I will become popular with AARP and will soon be receiving membership offers from them on a regular basis. I won’t have to worry about an unwanted pregnancy soon or the monthly inconvenience we females have to suffer. I have the senior discount to look forward to.

I do feel pretty good about myself these days. My health is okay, and I am able to manage my chronic medical condition. I think I may be in better shape than I was when I was much younger because I take care of myself now and don’t drink alcohol and party like I used to do. Maybe turning 50 won’t be so bad after all. I don’t focus much on my age anyway. If I don’t think about it, I won’t feel old. You are only as old as you feel and if you feel young, you are young.

Then: Me (on the right) with my best friend Julia in the ‘90s.

Now: Book signing event at Book Exchange in Lake Havasu.

Kelley Heckart, Historical fantasy romance author

Captivating...Sensual...Otherworldly

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Published on September 15, 2014 04:00

Favorite Friday

Favorite book: The Mabinogion by Evangeline Walton

This is a reinvention of the Welsh myths and not to be confused with an actual translation of the myths. What I really like about this version is Ms. Walton manages to bring the people and stories alive in a way not possible in a translation. She has turned The Mabinogion into a masterful work of fantasy fiction comparable to the Lord of the Rings trilogy. Her poetic writing style resonated with me, her descriptions of ancient settings and rites made me feel as if I stepped into the pages. Highly recommended!

Kelley Heckart, Historical fantasy romance author

Captivating...Sensual...Otherworldly

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Kelley-Heckart/111838455604