Elaina J. Davidson's Blog, page 81

Start your Lore journey here!

 

#epic #visionary#fantasy

LORE OF ARCANA: Book I - THE INFINITY MANTLE

#scifi #darkfantasy

Infinity:mybook.to/infinitymantle

#readinglist #mustread

eBook / Paperback / Audio Book

Ha ha, mine too :)

 

Magical!

 

Dreams and Nightmares

 

ECHO: Map, update, author notes

Those of you who have read at least some of my Lore, will know I tell the story from a multiple viewpoint. The characters are in different places, sometimes different times, and to follow the unfolding saga, well, it makes sense to follow them wherever they are, and then bring it all together. Not so with ECHO: Autumn of the Dragon. For this standalone, and it is standalone, I chose to stick with Echayn Valla throughout. Why? Because this is an adventure within the larger tale and it transpires over a short period and, given he is the focus, it just felt right to follow only him. There are a few interesting side characters, though, and it is technically a sequel, this adventure coming after all that went before.

Also, and this surprised me, the pace is faster than for any of my big books. It's as if, in telling it from a single point of view, the action is accelerated. As a writer, I'm intrigued as to how you the reader will regard this, and hope you will tell me one way or another.

Here's the latest update: Edits are complete, images have been removed, other than the map, and I'm about to start the publishing process. Just a final check …

… okay, talking map. I'm in two minds. I have included an AI generated one, but is it good enough to pass the publishing checks? Is it good enough for you to read it online? If it fails those checks, I will remove it, but here it is, in the event you want to pop by later to have a look:

All you need is a book

 

Ariel's Christmas

 

"... I criedtwice and it's less than a half an hour read …" (Review on twitter)

A gentle tale aboutloss … and a cat.

This is Ariel’sfirst Christmas alone and she wants nothing to do with festivities. Her bestfriend extracts a promise from her to put up a tree, though, an old woman givesher advice, and on the way home she buys a few Christmas treats and, onimpulse, cat food for the strays around her building.

These factors endup changing Ariel’s life.

🐈🎄

(KU)https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BNJFQDRM

Book of Being so far

 Hoping to publish quite a few of the missing short stories in 2024 :)

When winter catches you - Orphan Excerpt

Chapter 11

Lost in the woods is found amid trees.

 

 

ADIN

 

ADIN WALKED INTO winter.

At the home, when winter came,the boys were soon ill. No one supplied them with extra blankets or warm coats,never mind heating in their rooms. In his long years there, seven boys died oflung diseases, and he also shuddered through the unbearable cold, coughing andsniffling.

Now he was prepared.

Iris showed him how to use herbank card and therefore he knew what to do to have cash in hand, but a childdrawing a large sum alone would appear suspicious … or be an easy target. Hemight technically be a teenager, but he was small for his age, and did not havethe strength to fight off bullies and thieves.

Choosing ATMs inside shoppingmalls worked well. Not only was he amid many and less likely to suffer abeating, but he was able to pretend he was drawing money for his mother. Thatwas his story, if asked, but only once did an older woman enquire if he neededhelp, standing behind him with her own card ready. He smiled at her and toldher his mother had shown him what to do.

He drew the maximum daily allowanceeach time, and then made the cash stretch. Less of a trail, not that anyone hadcause to be looking for him.

He headed north, and as theweather worsened, he bought proper gear, a little here, a little there, neverspending too much in one place. Each time he entered a store, it was with hisneeds in mind, and he’d head directly to what it was he sought, select theitem, pay and leave. No window shopping. No indecision. Once a young girl atthe till asked him where his parents were, him shopping for himself, and hesaid his father sent him to pay while he went into the store next door.

Every move he made ensured he wasforgotten the moment he walked away.

He walked for the most part,tramping the minor roads. Sometimes he got a lift, usually from women whostopped and asked why he was alone out there. The story that worked best was anargument with friends while on an outing, and he left the fight, choosing towalk rather than wait for his lift. Generally, those rides took him into thenext town or occasionally a bus station.

A few times he caught a bus, but foundthat worked best on weekends. On school days the old folks were too nosy. Hetook the train, too, but after a conductor said to stay put, he’d contact thecops to help him with adult supervision, he stayed away from trains.

Mostly, it was safer to walk.

He avoided cities at all costs.

Too young to secure accommodationin motels or hotels, he opted for the outdoors. One of the first items hebought, after sturdy hiking boots and thick socks, was a tent and then asleeping bag, one with a built-in pillow. More and more the outdoors felt liketrue home. He could not understand why folk chose to live in cities. Swiftly hehad camping in remote areas down to expert level. He was a survivor, after all.

Prepared as he believed himselfto be, winter caught him off guard.

 

 

ADIN UNZIPPED THEtent flap, shivering. Whiteness greeted him. The snowfalls he’d heard talk ofin the nearby town had arrived.

Two days back he overheard aconversation about frequent blizzards in the region, and how snow piled manyfeet thick. Staring out over a landscape featureless, where yesterday had beentrails and boulders, he understood he was in trouble. Not in this particularmoment, no – he’d simply pack up and tramp back to town before conditionsworsened – but long term. If this forerunner stymied him, shuddered him head totoe with the onset of what had to be minor cold, he could only imagine what ablizzard would do.

Time then to make new plans, thekind to see him through winter without calling attention to himself. Not oncedid he consider turning around and heading south in search of milder weather. Somethingsummoned him north, and he chose to follow that inner directive. Or someone.

Sunflower summoned him.

She was in his dreams everynight, her amber eyes pleading with him to watch over her. He would do morethan watch over her in dreams; he would find her in real life.

Sunflower was somewhere in thenorth.

Therefore, Adin would bearwinter, survive it, and continue his search with spring.

   THE ORPHAN

How fragile humans are