Mireille Chester's Blog, page 33

The Tlarrisons

Hi there! 

I've been getting asked if I was going to put up an exerp from Tyler's story (title unknown) which is part of the YA novels I am setting in Quelondain.  Here's a bit of a teaser for all of you.  :)  Hope you enjoy!

            They walked in silence back toward the campsite.  Tyler put an arm out and stopped John in his tracks.

            "Get down!"  He crouched low and pulled the older man down to make sure no one saw them.

            "What are you going to do?"  John's whisper was high pitched and Tyler cringed, hoping the sound hadn't carried to two tlarrisons ransacking the campsite.  The slimy long haired animals glanced up before resuming their consumption of the meat that hung over the fire.  Tyler tried to think back to the picture his Aunt Hayden had drawn for him after her first sighting of a tlarrison.  What had she called the beast it reminded her of?  He glanced back to the six foot tall, four legged creatures.  They were covered in long dark brown hair which was always thick with an awful smelling goop, their pointy ears perked toward their meal which they were picking off of the stand with their trunks.  Mammoths!  That was what she'd called them, though she'd been sure that her mammoths had been herbivores and much bigger.  Tlarrisons definitely were not plant eaters and weren't scared to take down live prey should it present itself to them.  He glanced at John just as one of them tried to spear the other with its tusks.

            "What do you mean?  I'm not going to do anything.  I'm going to wait until they're done and hope they decide to leave once they are."

            "You took down the buck."

            Tyler frowned but didn't take his eyes off of the beasts.  "Bucks don't try to eat you."  His head snapped to the right as a happy laugh made its way to his ears.

            "No, really, Maddy, you need to learn to relax a bit more."  Mirah stepped into the camp and stopped short.  The tlarrisons looked toward the intrusion.

            "Mirah, run!"  Tyler sprinted towards the closest tlarrison as it started to lope in her direction.  He jumped forward and shifted in midair, throwing his shoulder and all of his weight into the beast's side.  He had a quick thought that the goo was going to take ages to clean off before he found himself rolling on the ground, the tlarrison rolling along beside him.  He chanced a glance in the women's direction and saw the two in their lioness forms, both keeping just out of reach of the long powerful trunk.  He shifted back and pushed up from the ground.

            He hissed in pain as his right palm ended up in the embers of the fire.  The tlarrison's trunk slammed into him as he reached for his dagger.  The knife flew out of his grip with the impact and he swore under his breath.  He landed on his back near part of the drying stand that had been broken and scattered by the beasts.

            His breath left his body in a rush and he gasped, trying to suck in some much needed air.

            "Tyler!  It's coming back!"

            He looked up in time to see John throw his dagger at the tlarrison.  The blade stuck itself in the mounds of slimy hair but didn't seem to faze the animal.  John shifted and sprinted away from the irritated beast.

            Tyler scrambled backwards frantically, trying to see his dagger in the tall grass.  There was a grunt of pain from one of the women.  His burnt hand fell on a piece of the stand and the pain shot up his arm. The animal stomped in his direction, its dark, beady eyes focused on the small form trying to get away from it.  A lioness roared.

            Tyler resisted the impulse to let go of the stick as his hand screamed in pain and brought it up just as the beast fell upon him.  It bellowed and collapsed on top of him.  He felt the air rush out of his lungs once again.  He pushed and squirmed, trying to get out from under the slimy mess that pinned him to the ground.  The smell of rotten meat or eggs filled his nostrils and he gagged, his efforts to get to his feet reenergized by the need to get away from the disgusting smell and feel of the tlarrison.

            With a final grunt, he pushed himself to his feet, grabbing another of the sticks as he ran toward the women and the other beast.

            Mirah shifted into her human form, her blond hair flailing wildly as she turned and headed for the tree her sister was in the process of climbing.

            Tyler screamed, trying to get the tlarrison's attention.  When it became obvious he wasn't having the desired effect, he dropped the stick and shifted into his wolf in an attempt to reach it before it caught up to Mirah.  He'd almost gotten to it when it turned suddenly in his direction.  It charged, its tusks aimed at him.  He skidded to a stop and shifted back so he could jump backwards and away from the angry beast.

            In the back of his mind, he could hear his father and uncle yelling instructions at him and Trent during sparring lessons.  "Shift!  Jump Back!  Shift!  Duck and dodge!"  He did just that and managed to scramble away just as the tusks speared the air where he'd just been.

            "Tyler!  Dagger!"

            Mirah's shout was punctuated by the sound of her dagger implanting itself into the dirt not too far from where he was now standing.  His chest heaved with the effort to breathe from the exertion.  He ran his arm across his face to wipe the sweat out of his eyes.

            The tlarrison turned and faced him.  Tyler bent slowly, pulling the dagger out of the ground.  The forest was quiet as the two of them stared at each other.  The moment dragged on and Tyler was starting to think he was going to have to make the first move when the slimy creature snorted and trotted off in the direction of the Wedelven Woods.

            He fell to his knees before sitting down, his knees up, his head on them, Mirah's dagger still in his hand.  He heard the women climb down the tree and John jog in his direction.  He raised his head to look at the three of them and grimaced as the goo on his face pulled with the effort to stay attached to his knee.  He ran a hand through his hair and smirked as he got the same result.

            "Tyler!  Are you alright?"  Mirah knelt in front of him and reached for his hand.  He pulled away quickly and smiled to wipe away the hurt look in her eyes.

            "You don't want to touch me right now.  I feel like I'm covered in raw eggs and I smell like they'd been left to rot before I was doused in them."

            The corners of her mouth twitched.  "I don't care."  She took his hand in hers to help him stand then dropped it when she noticed the blood rush out of his face.  "You're hurt!"

            "I fell into the fire when I tackled the first one."  He looked at his palm and cringed at the blisters that were appearing.  "I'd better get this cleaned up and bandaged."  He stood slowly, testing all of his limbs to make sure everything was working properly before walking to his pack.  He wiped his good hand on his pants, smirked, and went through the motion again on a patch of grass.

            "Where are you going?"  John's eyes were grey saucers in his head.

            Tyler smiled.  "To the lake.  I'll be back."  He picked up his pack, careful not to get any goo on it, and walked away.

When being a writer meant exactly that...

There are some days when I sit at the computer after the kids go to school and I wish that I could travel back in time about a year and a half.  My routine then (if I didn't have a dog to groom) was get the boys on the bus, put Dora on TV for my girl and turn on the laptop.  I then would get straight to writing, getting lost in Quelondain and my characters.  That was it.  That's when I was naive enough to think that being a writer meant that you only had to write.

Boy, was I in for a shock.  Everything changed the day I got the phone call from Ray at Baico Publishing.  He loved "Crossover" and wanted to go with it.  Awesome!

"Now," he told me, "what you need to do is get your book out there."

"Pardon?"  I'm a very shy person and the thought of having to do any kind of advertising made me feel like throwing up.

"Well, you know… talk to newspapers, do some book readings, that type of thing…"

"Pardon?"

So I took a few weeks to think about it.  Did I want to do this?  Did I think I could handle being a writer if being an author meant I had to do more than just write stories…

I guess you all know the answer to that. :D

With book two out and book three due to launch on December 1st of this year, I've gone full steam ahead with this author business.  I've got paperbacks, ebooks, and blogs on the go.  I'm talking to reporters and doing readings and signings. 

AND I'M LOVING IT! 

Yep.  I love the networking and meeting other writers and people in the writing and publishing industries. 

Of course, this means I've had to spend exponential amounts of time advertising and the such to try and make my books known.  Are they known yet? I'm not sure… but I'll let you know in a few months. I'd like to think they're getting out there… otherwise, why am I spending all this time blogging and tweeting when I could just be writing?

So… remember when being a writer meant you got to sit at the computer and write?  :)  I do.  I won't lie, sometimes I miss it, but I will say that I'm glad it isn't just that that makes me a writer… otherwise I would never have met some of the great people I've had the pleasure to meet in my endevours to become a known author.

To all of you who have helped or followed me along my journey, thank you.  You're the ones who have make it all worthwhile.

*hugs* and stay safe

:)  Mireille

Ebooks and Wrecked Books...

So, if you've been keeping up with my posts on twitter or facebook, or following my blog, you'll know that I've been trying to find a way to self publish my books as ebooks. 

I took this challenge head on yesterday after lunch.  Kyle was home and I was waiting for a load of laundry to be done, so I sat at the computer and started surfing the web for ebook formatters.  That's when I stumbled upon the Kindle site.  I knew you could self publish through them, but I had never been able to find the page that told you how (you'll kindly remember my computer illiteracy).  Yesterday was my day.  It seemed simple enough.  Download the mobipocket creator, use it to reformat your manuscript, view it with the kindle previewer, and set up your account with kindle to sell the books.  Like I said, it seemed simple.

One of the options was to reformat your pdf file.  I thought perfect!  I had the pdf files that were used in the printed forms of the books, that would be perfect, right?  Wrong.  It turns out that pdfs are the harders of the hard to reformat.  Fine, I'll just resave the pdf as a text document.  That should work, right?  Wrong.   My friend mobi didn't like that either.  Well, last option, which was probably the one I should have gone with first, was to use my original doc file from microsoft office.  I download the file… and let out a stream of swears.  Son of a…  It won't even read this one.

I decided it was time to get off the computer so I wouldn't smash it to bits, because I knew I'd regret that move later on.  But, I mean, really?  What the hell!  I didn't understand what I was doing wrong!  (I honestly felt like crying).  I decided that the best thing to do was go to my parents' (we were going there for supper) and have a beer with my dad and my sisters.  A few minutes away might clear things up, right?  I told them what I'd been trying to do and as I talked, it started to make sense (Or so I thought.)  I asked my sister about it (Next to  my brother who is a computer genius, she is the next best at this stuff in the family) and she confirmed what I thought.  I use Microsoft Office 2010 which saves my files in .docx.  My friend Mobi wanted my file in .doc.   Grrrr.  Thankfully, I know how to push 'save as' and pick a different format. :)

So this morning, I got up, went to my computer and did just that.  It downloaded like a charm, reformatted like it was supposed to, and just like that, I was reading 'Crossover' as an ebook on my kindle previewer.  The only issue I have is that the pictures of the covers I have are too small and Kindle won't accept them… but I'm trying to come up with a solution.  I'd hate to have different covers for the printed books and the ebooks.  It was so easy that I repeated the process with 'Journey'.  It takes about twenty four hours for everything to get finalized through Kindle, so as of wednesday sometime, my babies will be available as ebooks on amazon. :)

Yay!

Now, you can imagine I was flying high as I pushed the reformat and save button on the 'Journey' file.  I had been feeling great for about an hour when I got a text from a friend of mine.  It said, 'I got my copy of Journey but the printing is messed up'.

AAAnnnndddd all of the air rushed out of my bubble.  What?  She sent me a pic to show me what she was talking about and sure enough, some of the pages are f'ed.  It looks like the pages were folded somehow while prining then straightened when they were bound, which caused there to be lines with no print running from the top to the bottom of the page.  Now, there I was, going through the box of books I had open here and I found three more.  The next step was to email everyone who had gotten a copy already and to see if they had the same problem.  Bah.  And tomorrow, my day will be fun filled with the chore of going through the sixty other books I have in my closet to make sure they're fine.  I've sent an email to Ray to let him know what is going on and hopefully we can get things sorted out. 

Thankfully, I still have lots of books with perfect printing and will still be mailing them out this week to the people who have sent me their orders.  Had all of the books been duds, I'd be much more panicked and probably been crying, but since there doesn't seem to be that many, I just keep thinking….

My babies are ebooks!  :D

To all of you out there, stay safe!

:)  Mireille

The Jitters Begin...

Hello everyone! 

I was just looking at my calendar, plotting down all of the Lacrosse games and practices I need to remember and my eyes were drawn to a square with bright red writing on it.  The date, May 31st.  Oh, crap!  That's three weeks away!

For those of you who don't know, this is the day of my launch party for 'Journey' at the McNally Robinson in Saskatoon.  That means I'll get to stand in front of people, read a bit from the book, and then answer questions if there are any.  Ugh, my stomach just dropped.  Excuse me while I go throw up.

Now, some of you are laughing at me because you remember a comment I'd made in a previous post stating that I couldn't wait to do the readings for 'Journey'; that I was actually excited for them.  Well, I'm still excited, but definitely getting more nervous as the dates draw nearer.

I think I've managed to pick out the part I'm going to read, so that's done.  Those of you who already have your copy, if you get done before the reading, let me know your favorite parts.  I have a hair appointment booked with my sister and I think I know what I'm going to be wearing (if it were up to me, I'd be in my jeans and baseball hat, but for as unfashionable as I am, I do realize a bit of professionalism goes a long way).

So, if you're in Saskatoon on May 31st at 7:30, come join me at McNally Robinson.  If you're in Prince Albert June 6th at 7:00, make your way to the John M Cuelenaere Library.  And my most exciting and nerve racking moment, if you're in Winnipeg July 23rd at 2:00, head over to the McNally Robinson there. 

Hahaha, man, I am excited, jitters and all!

Stay safe!

:)  Mireille

'Crossover', the romance novel? You be the judge!

Alright, readers….

I must admit I have never thought of my trilogy as a romance series… I mean really, I'm pretty sure if I'd sent it in to harlequin, they would have rejected it on the account of the sex being too graffic… lol

That's why, when a few people told me they'd never read a fantasy novel but had loved this one because they'd been so enthralled by the relationship between Jasper and Hayden, it occured to me that maybe, just maybe, my books could also fall under the romance label… lol

So, Tanya, since you said I should write a romance novel next, here's an exerpt from 'Crossover'… who knows, maybe you or someone you know would like to read it. :)

Enjoy and stay safe!

:)  Mireille

            The first snow fall came during the night.

            I woke up to find I was alone in bed.  I stretched, put my clothes and boots on.  I found Jasper outside, staring across the clearing.  I quickly bent down and gathered snow into a ball, then threw it at him.  It connected with his shoulder.  He spun around and saw me trying to get another snowball made before he could react. 

            A playful growl escaped his throat.  I screamed and ran.  He laughed as he easily caught up to me and I spun around, throwing my snowball in his direction.  It missed horribly.  I squealed again as he tackled me and fell on top of me in the snow.

            Jasper looked down at me, laughing, his cheeks red.  His blue eyes were bright against the light grey clouds behind him.

            "Thought you would have the upper hand, did you?"  He reached out on either side of me as far as he could and grinned.

            "You wouldn't dare!"  I tried to wiggle out from under him.

            "All is fair in war, my love."  He swooped his arms in and buried me.

            I managed to push him off and stood up laughing, shaking out my tunic to get the snow out of it.

            He sat in the snow, watching me dance around, still laughing.

             I walked up to him and held out my hand.  "Peace?"

            He chuckled as he took it.  "For now."

            I pulled him up.  "Let's go inside.  I'm freezing!"

            Once inside, Jasper put a few more logs on the fire to warm up the house.  We stripped out of our wet clothes and sat in front of the fire place wrapped in a blanket.

            I leaned back against him, enjoying his warmth on my bare skin.

            "Do you miss being on the Queen's guard?" I asked.

            "No," he answered.  "Not at all, actually."

            I looked back at him to make sure he wasn't lying.

            He continued to explain.  "The feeling I have now when I wake up in the morning is a bit like relief.  Knowing that I don't have to kill anyone.  That I don't have to fight Luke and Mel, or that I won't ever have to come face to face with Tyler or Trent and have to hurt them."  He wrapped his arms around me a little tighter.

            "And then there's the fact that I wake up beside you every morning.  Knowing that if I walk out the door you don't have to worry whether or not I'll be coming home that night."

            I shuddered at the thought.

            "Are you still cold?"

            "No.  It was just the thought of not having you."

            He moved the hair away from my neck and kissed me lightly.

            "What were you thinking about so hard before I hit you with the snowball?

            He shifted his body so that I was cradled in his arm and he could look at me.

            "I was thinking how beautiful it looked with the fresh snow.  About how perfect this clearing is for our cabin."  He traced my lips with his fingers, moving them along my jaw and down my neck.  I shivered a completely different kind of shiver.

            His voice was husky as he continued.  "I was thinking about our little house.  How you were inside and that you are mine.  I don't think I will ever get used to the fact that I have to remember to breath when you look in my eyes.  Or how I have to fight the urge to tear your clothes off every time you touch me, no matter how innocently."

            His fingers moved to my collar bone then down my side, to my hip, and back up again.

"I was thinking about how I adore our life together."

            He shifted again so that he could lay me down.  His voice was just a whisper as his lips traced the same path his fingers had.  "I was thinking I wouldn't trade my life for anything."

            I shivered again, a moan escaping my lips.  I ran my fingers through his hair.

            He pulled himself up onto his elbows so he could look into my eyes without crushing me with his weight.

            "I was thinking about how I much I love you.  And about how I plan on spending every day reminding you of that fact."

            My whole body was burning, his fingers and lips sending shocks along my skin.

            He repositioned himself again.  He took his time, leaving not one inch of my body untouched, unkissed.

            I gasped for breath when he finally took me, his heat stretching me, filling me.

            Jasper gazed down at me, his eyes on fire with the feelings he had just explained.

            I pulled him down to me, my lips screaming for his.

            He groaned.  "God, Hayden, I love you."

            I moaned as he settled himself deeper in me.  My body arched itself against his, wanting more.

            He had one hand over my shoulder bearing most of his weight, the other down on my hip so I couldn't move.  He moved slowly, making my body ache for him.  I thought I would explode.  The burning got hotter and hotter.  Just when I thought I could take no more, he stopped.

            My body rebelled and tried to move, to make him move again.  I felt him smile against my neck.  His lips moved down to my collar bone, his lips and tongue moving just as slowly as the rest of him.  He traced a line between my breasts and kissed under each one tenderly. 

            His face stopped on my chest as his hips started their sweet torture anew. The heat started to build up again, feeling ten times hotter than before.  Just when I thought I was going to get some release, Jasper stopped again.  His breathing was heavy, and though we were barely moving, both of us were covered in sweat.

            "Jasper," I gasped.  "Please!"

            His tongue played with the contour of my breast and moved up to find my nipple.  He sucked on it gently.  He moved on to the other one, taking his time.

            He kissed his way back up to my lips and gently parted them with his tongue.

            My fingers laced themselves in his hair.  My tongue found his and the kiss became harder, hungrier.

            He started to move again, never taking his hand off of my hip.  I tried uselessly to move, to take in more of him.

            His rhythm started to speed up, the fires in me raging.  I was sure the pressure was going to kill me.  He caught his breath and let go of my hip.  My body bucked under him and I wrapped my legs around his waist.  The explosion came and raked through my whole body and I bit his shoulder trying to maintain some sort of self control.

            He grunted as he got his release.  I brought my lips back to his and kissed him tenderly. 

            My body gave one last convulsion as he got off of me.  He lay beside me and pulled me to him, his arms wrapped around me, the blanket around us once again.

            I yawned and he laughed.

            "By the way," I said as I started to fall asleep. I rolled over so I could bury my face in his chest.  "I still love you more."

Three Weeks to 'Journey'!

Hi there!

I was looking at my calendar this morning and realized, wow!  Journey's release date is less than three weeks away!  Thanks to everyone who entered to win a free copy.  As soon as I get my copies here, I'll  be sure to sign and send those away to the winners.

Time flies when you're having fun and I know it won't be long before December 1st is here and 'Destiny' is being read by all of Hayden and Jasper's fans.  It's crazy!

As for 'The Witteck Chronicles', the first book in that series, 'The Calling', is close to done and will be getting shipped to Baico in a few months.  'Tyler's Story', the first book in the 'Children of Quelondain' series is well on its way and I can't wait for my nieces to read it.  I've had a few requests for exerpts from both of them, but because they are based after 'The Chosen One Trilogy', I'm having issues finding parts that don't give away important information as to what happens in Hayden's story.

So! Three weeks until 'Journey' is ready to be read by all of you! That means three weeks to preorder it and get it at the special preorder price.  

Have a great day and stay safe!

:)  Mireille

My first personal/professional dilema...

Aaaahhhh!

Yep, that's how I felt when I got an email from my boys' lacrosse coach.  'Dear parents… blah, blah, blah….blah, blah, blah, blah…(not that this email bored me.  You just don't need all the details) there will be two tournaments this year… May 27-29… June 17-19…'   Wait.  What?  My heart jumps in throat and I feel like bashing my head against a wall.  Really?  I mean, really?  Of all the weekends in June, that's the one that got picked?  A few choice words made their way out of my mouth and Emery looked at me.

"What's wrong, mommy?"

"Nothing, baby.  Mommy just has to figure out how I'm going to be Saskatoon to watch you play lacrosse and in Winnipeg to sign books at the same time."

He smiles.  "Ok."  And off he goes to play, leaving me alone to figure out a solution.

A few more choice words and a couple of deep breaths later, I realize that really, there is no dilema.  My family has always come first and this will never change, so off to the computer I go to email John from McNally Winnipeg to tell him I need to rebook the date of the signing.  This may seem unprofessional to some, but here's something you need to know about me…

To become a successful author is my dream.  My kids, my husband, my family, is the thing I love most.  So even though Kyle could have taken the boys to the tournament and I could have gone to Winnipeg, I refuse to miss out on my kids' lives to go sign some books.  The reason I'm a stay at home mom is so I can be with my kids.

So… the weekend of June 18th, I'll be watching my boys play lacrosse.  As for the signing in Winnipeg, well, when I know when that's going to be, I'll be sure to let you know.

Until then, stay safe.

:)  Mireille