Jennifer M. Zeiger's Blog, page 17

Jockey Trouble – Jump on the Train

Hello Amazing Readers!

It’s time for part two of the Jockey Trouble Adventure story. If you missed part one, you can read it here or here’s a quick recap:

You and your metal horse, Coaster, were on the train heading to a race you’re sure to win, but when you reached your destination and started unloading Coaster, a mouse spooked him and he knocked you out of the car. Then, while you were retrieving an item from beneath the platform, the train started moving again with your horse still on it. You’ve decided to jump onto the moving train so as not to lose your horse.

Jockey Trouble – Jump on the Train

Your heart thuds as you race beside the train and latch onto the ladder running down one of the cars. As you haul yourself off the ground, you hear the heavy pounding of Coaster’s hooves hitting the sides of his car five spots ahead and wonder if the metal horse is going to derail the train. He’s heavy enough, if he throws his whole body into it, to rock the car.

It’s this thought that galvanizes you over the top of the train cars with the wind shoving against your body, until you can climb down between Coaster’s and the car behind. In the sudden quiet from the wind, there’s a new noise.

“Bloody stubborn horse!” yells a man’s voice. “I’ll slice you up for scrap metal you don’t calm down.”

A rail hand? You didn’t see anyone enter the car but there was a brief moment when you were retrieving the glow stone that you didn’t have eyes on Coaster either.

There’s the distinct sound of an electric whip snapping against metal and Coaster screams. “You’ll earn me too much money to come in damaged, but I can shut you down.” The whip snaps again.

Fury flushes hotly through you. That’s no rail hand.

The thudding from inside ceases and you chance climbing softly onto the roof and into the wind again to peek into the car. The man with Coaster’s one of those men who looks like he does logging for a living. The muscles in his shoulders bulge so much it appears he has no neck. And there’s that whip hanging from his right hand while he faces Coaster where he’s backed into the far corner.

What to do?

If you attack the man now, at least it’s just the two of you…but you’re small in size like any jockey. You could wait for the next stop and the authorities, but the man might not be working alone and then you’ll have more people to deal with.

Do you…

Fight the man?

Or

Wait for the next stop?

Thanks for stopping by this week! Leave your vote in the comments below and we’ll continue this adventure next Thursday.

Blessings,

Jennifer

(If you enjoy these adventures, check out my newest adventure book, Discarded Dragons, that published this week!)

Tomorrow’s the Day!

There comes a time when an artist has to call her work finished and let it go. Let it into the world for others to see. It’s exhilarating and terrifying all at the same time but if you don’t let the work go, you’ll forever be editing and the art will never reach a point where it’s complete.

Okay, enough philosophizing! If you’ve been by my blog over the last couple months, you know my newest multi-ending adventure book, Discarded Dragons, publishes tomorrow! The production of this particular piece of art is finished and  it’s time to share it with the world =) EEEK!

Help me share it with the world, cause we could all use some lighthearted fun now and then and this book’s just plain fun =)

Blessings,

Jennifer

P.S. There’s one more day to pre-order if you’re interested in a signed copy And if you’ve already ordered, a huge thank you!

Jockey Trouble

Hello amazing readers.

This month I started writing the rough draft to Hidden Mythics II, the Quaking Soul sequel. Usually I don’t try to blog while writing something big, but I recently watched a lecture by Mary Robinette Kowel about writing short fiction and really like her way of writing flash fiction. It clicked for me. So I’m going to try using that style for the adventures while I’m working on HM II. You might notice the posts are shorter, but hopefully the adventures will be just as fun. Feel free to join in!

Today we start a brand new adventure that has a slight steampunk feel to it in honor of Discarded Dragons publishing next week. Let’s jump in =)

Jockey Trouble

You sneeze as dust in the train car wafts through the air, stirred up by the stamp of Coaster’s metal hoof. The horse might be all metal, jewel, and grit, but he hates train rides.

“Hold it together,” you admonish the beast while staring into his ruby eyes. “Next stop’s ours at the Madon Open Race. All we got to do is get off without damaging anything and the race money’ll be as good as ours.”

In response, Coaster huffs and kicks the wall, denting it slightly in the oval shape of his steel hoof.

“We can’t pay for damages, you ornery chunk o’ metal.” You grab his bridle and breathe a sigh as you feel the brakes of the train engage through vibration in the floor.

“Almost there,” you say as you pull a warm glow gem from your pocket. As a metal-bodied horse, Coaster loves anything that warms his ever-chilled steel. His red eyes fixate on your palm just as the railcar door slides open.

“Less than five to unload,” says a burly rail worker before moving away.

“Easy does it.” You hold the glow gem up and pull gently on Coaster’s reins. He takes a couple steps just as a mouse skitters past his hooves and off the train.

Coaster snorts and bucks, pulling the reins clean out of your hands as he rears back and then bumping into your when he lands.

You stumble backwards and feel the edge of the car against your instep, but you’ve too much momentum to stop yourself and land on your backside outside the railcar. Your glow gem sails out of your hand and thuds against the platform before rolling beneath it.

Coaster’s still bucking inside and you can hear his hooves hitting walls.

“Calm your metal hide,” you shout, turning away to retrieve your glow gem.

You’re head and shoulders under the train platform when you hear the whistle.

“It’s not been five!” Scampering backwards, your shirt catches on a nail. With a couple extra tugs, a clear ripping sound, and a sharp prick against your back, you crawl free only to see Coaster’s car—door still open—five cars ahead already. Racing for it, you wonder if you can jump onto the train as it gains speed. It’s that or whistle for Coaster and hope he jumps. Sometimes he listens, sometimes not.

Do you…

Jump on the Train?

Or

Whistle for Coaster?

Thanks for stopping by! Leave your vote in the comments below and we’ll see how this adventure continues next Thursday.

Blessings,

Jennifer

(If you enjoy these adventures, my newest adventure book publishes next week and you can get a signed copy right now by pre-ordering here on the website. =)

 

Blain – Discarded Dragons Excerpt

I had a difficult time choosing this excerpt! Because this is an adventure book, you actually get to meet Blain a couple different ways depending on which path you take through the book and all of the ways you encounter Blain are fun, but here’s one of the encounters. Hope you enjoy =)

Publication Date: September 1, 2021

Genre: Fantasy Adventure (Multi-ending)

Lead In: You’re a steampunk dragon but you were thrown away in the Maker’s shop for various defects. At night, you’ve been sneaking out to find parts and you’ve finally found the perfect wings.

Blain – Discarded Dragons Excerpt

You spread your glorious wings and, for the first time in your life, take a running leap and fly. Your wings catch the air in an exhilarating flash of smooth movement and wind.

The Siren whoops softly and shares a grin with you but her expression falls when you pass the bench and wing for the gray dawn light showing through the skylight above.

A thrill fills your chest. You’re airborne! The gentle swish of dusty air moving past you feels like a caress, welcoming you to the sky.

There’s a rattling, clanking thud from below and a cry of indignation from the slender Siren. You hear the beat of much bigger wings and look down in alarm.

But instead of a Perfect dropping off a shelf to attack, there’s a large gray beast emerging from the discard heap. He bears a dent down his left side and gaps between his claws. But his wings, which are made from solid pieces of metal instead of folding plates, eat up the distance between you.

The Siren throws a cracked gem at the beast. It pings off his side but doesn’t seem to register on the excited grin on his face. He swoops past you, stalls purposefully just below the skylight, and then spins into a dive that gusts air against your wings with his passing.

You ride the gust, using it to reach higher, and peak in flight just like he did, staring at the fire of dawn through the skylight for the brief moment you stall just before diving.

He chuckles as you soar past the bench together and land near the discard heap.

“I a’ Blain,” the other Discard introduces himself, distorting “am” slightly due to the dent in the left side of his face. “That was the best night ever! Can we do it again?”

***

That’s it for today. Publication is almost here and you’ll get to explore all of Discarded Dragons soon! If you’d like a signed copy of Discarded Dragons, hope over to the pre-order page and get a copy before September 1st =)

Blessings,

Jennifer

Library Mice – Grab the Book before the Hydra

Welcome back for the last post in the Library Mice adventure!

If you missed part one or two or three, you can read them by clicking the links, or here’s a quick recap:

You’re a mouse who maintains the Master’s library. He’s sent a man to you who’s researching large snakes but in five days, you haven’t found a book containing the snake he’s searching for. You get the feeling the man’s situation is rather dire. So, you and your companions, Vincent and Amalia, decided to search the Library’s monster room to see if there are any books about monster snakes.

You didn’t make it very far into the monster room, however, before a hydra book grabbed Amalia and offered to help you search if you will bring it books on rodents.

You and Vincent agreed and brought a stack of rodent books only to have the hydra eat them. While you’re arguing with it, you noticed a book on snakes in a pile to the side. The hydra saw your focus and darted for the book, probably to eat it. Readers voted to snatch the book before the hydra does.

Now to see if you’re faster than the hydra!

Library Mice – Grab the Book before the Hydra

Your legs are moving before you think about the danger. Dust puffs into the air as you barrel into the stack of books and grasp the snake cover in your paws.

A hydra head catches your tail, pulling you off the stack, but you grip the book tight and take it with you, hearing it hiss at the sudden movement.

As you fall, you catch a glimpse of Vincent and Amalia charging the hydra’s back with raised swords.

“Amalia!” you call and, as soon as you hit the floor, you shove the snake book her way.

She pivots mid-stride to catch it. A forked book-mark tongue hisses from the spine but Amalia stabs it and it recedes back into the book.

The hydra changes course. It lets go of your tail just as Vincent drives his sword into the thick cover of its body.

It jerks violently and all three heads dart for him but you grab one of the heads in a paw and pull.

“RUN!” you shout.

They do, Vincent helping Amalia with the snake book while you haul on the hydra head to keep it occupied.

As soon as you see they’re out the door, you bolt for it.

The hydra expects you to rush through and so heads for the opening. You feint like you’re escaping and at the last second, turn to shove the door closed, directly on one of the hydra’s heads.

The room descends into darkness and all you hear is the raged whimpering of the hydra.

You know it’ll be coming after you soon, so you retreat to a stack of books in the dark to make your stand.

***

Amalia sits on the desk the next morning when Mr. Mason arrives. He frowns at seeing an unfamiliar mouse but reaches for the book she presents. Before he can pick it up, however, she grasps the forked book mark and pulls. The book hisses, and then goes still.

“Ah,” Mr. Mason says. “Warning taken.”

Amalia nods and scampers off the desk to join Vincent.

“Time to go looking?” Vincent asks her.

“We look until we know one way or the other,” she agrees, and they turn toward the monster room, armed with their swords and a couple candles. When the door creaks open, the library’s light spills into the monster room, touching dusty books and the torn remains of a thick tome about hydras.

“That’s promising,” Amalia whispers. A moment later, they see a small paw waving at them from behind a tumbled over stack of books.

The End

Yay, you survived! That was a close one. Thanks for joining the Library Mice adventure. We’ll return next week to start a whole new story =)

Blessings,

Jennifer

(Pre-orders opened this week for my newest adventure book, Discarded Dragons! If you enjoy multi-ending adventure stories, check it out =)

It’s That Time!!

I like to dream. But I’m somewhat terrible at planning the steps between dreaming and making something a reality. Knowing this, my husband and I regularly sit down together and he helps me plan out each writing year.

When we started this year, I’d never gone to a convention before. I’d also never taken an adventure book from its origins on the blog and published it in 8-9 months. But at this year’s planning session, I realized the largest convention I was planning to attend – XCON in Myrtle Beach – was happening in September, and it’d be the perfect time to launch the adventure I wanted to publish, Discarded Dragons. (The convention has now been moved to May 2022, but that’s beside the point.)

So we wrote out all the things that needed to happen – the writing, the editing, the beta editing, the professional editing, the design work, the illustrations, the formatting, the…gasp, you get the idea – and planned out a tentative schedule. It terrified me. The schedule was ambitious and I didn’t want to publish a substandard book because I was rushing. So my husband suggested I aim for the ambitious schedule and worst case, we’d fail to meet the deadline and we’d publish by Christmas instead. I love how his brain works.

Anyway, if you’ve been following these posts, you know the ambitious schedule became a reality. I’ve never had a book come together so smoothly! (A huge thank you to everyone who helped!)

So, as it’s August and Discarded Dragons publishes September 1st, it’s time for pre-orders! Unlike with Quaking Soul, pre-orders will only be available here on my website. However, if you do pre-order, you get a signed copy of the book =)

Hop over to the product page and check it out. And, if you know anyone who would like being a dragon for a while, please share the page.

Blessings,

Jennifer

 

Library Mice – Make the Deal

Welcome back for the third installment of the Library Mice adventure!

If you missed part one or two, you can read it by clicking the links, or here’s a quick recap:

You’re a mouse who maintains the Master’s library. He’s sent a man to you who’s researching large snakes but in five days, you haven’t found a book containing the snake he’s searching for. You get the feeling the man’s situation is rather dire. So, you and your companions, Vincent and Amalia, decided to search the Library’s monster room to see if there are any books about monster snakes.

You didn’t make it very far into the monster room, however, before a hydra book grabbed Amalia and offered to help you search if you will bring it books on rodents. Readers voted to make the deal.

Let’s see if the hydra book holds up its end. =)

Library Mice – Make the Deal

Vincent huffs under his end of the stack of books you’re carrying from the main library back to the monster room. All of them deal with rodents – mice, rats, squirrels, gophers, hamsters – you grabbed anything you could find for the hydra book, hoping to satisfy whatever its truly wants. The search took you so long that it’s almost morning and instead of candlelight – all the tapers have now burned out – you’re seeing by the dull gray light of morning that shows through the windows.

“That thing better let Amalia go!” Vincent grunts, shifting his hold on the books. This makes your end wobble and you stumble trying to keep the stack together. “Oops,” Vincent says, “sorry.”

“S’okay,” you say. “Almost there.”

You shuffle your way into the monster room to find the three will-o-the-wisp books still floating around and casting odd shadows over the books and walls. Sitting on one large stack is the hydra with a book-mark head wrapped firmly around Amalia’s small frame. The other two heads immediately fixate on you when you enter.

You and Vincent set the rodent books down to one side and back away.

“Now let her go,” you say.

The hydra slides free of its perch, and Amalia squeaks as it takes her with it. “Rodents?” the hydra asks, it two free heads wavering in the air like it can scent what kind of books you brought.

“Of course,” you say.

It ambles closer.

“Hey now—” you start but it’s too late.

The hydra heads flash forward, each grabbing a rodent book. At the same time, the book itself slaps against the floor spine first and opens wide. Each head drops their rodent book into the open hydra and it snaps closed.

Then, before you or Vincent can react to this startling turn of events, the heads flash out again, grab the rest of the stack, and drop them into the hydra’s waiting maw. It snaps closed again, flaps a couple times, and the rodent books are gone.

“Release Amalia!” you shout, pulling your sword.

The hydra burps. “Haha! More books! So hungry. Bring me more books!”

“NO!” Vincent darts forward but has to dart sideways when the hydra spits a chunk of hardback spine at him. As it turns to follow Vincent, a will-o-the-wisp floats past the stack of books the hydra was originally sitting on.

The picture of a long scaly body on the cover of one catches your eye.

“Snakes,” you whisper, realizing the hydra was sitting on one of the very books you want for Mr. Mason.

The hydra’s heads pivot, “hearing” your word. It tracks the direction of your attention and darts for it, letting Amalia go in its haste to steal – and probably eat – the book you want.

Do you…

Grab the Book before the Hydra?

Or

Stab the Hydra Head reaching for the Book?

Thanks for stopping by this week. Leave your vote in the comments below and we’ll return next week to see how this adventure ends!

Until then, blessings,

Jennifer

(For more of my stories, check out either my multi-ending Adventure book, The Adventure, or my Urban Fantasy novel, Quaking Soul, here on my Website or on Amazon.)

Attack – Discarded Dragons Excerpt

It’s difficult to pick excerpts when the book isn’t linear! Discarded Dragons has 12 different endings, so no matter what excerpt I pick, it won’t totally give you a glimpse into the whole book. Oh well, I tried to pick a fun peek =) Hope you enjoy.

Publication Date: September 1, 2021

Genre: Fantasy Adventure (Multi-ending)

Lead In: You and your friend, Blain, are steampunk dragons who have been thrown away by your Maker for some reason or another. Most of the time, you hide in the giant discard heap that sits on the workshop floor, but you’ve recently started to sneak out to find parts to fill in the ones you’re missing. Not everyone is happy about this and so the Perfect dragons in the shop are making your life difficult – but they may not be the only danger you need to worry about.

Attack – Discarded Dragons Excerpt

“No, ’Arcus!”

You look back at Blain’s distorted shout in time to see a Perfect amber dragon swoop toward you. He snatches you out of the air with his long claws.

Those claws circle around your neck and he roars in triumph. He climbs, each powerful flap of his magnificent amber wings pulling at your neck and carrying you past dozens of airborne dragons.

Below, you hear a ruckus and figure Blain’s trying to reach you, but there’s no way he’ll get through so many.

You’re near the ceiling when a different noise, a sharp splintering of wood, makes the amber male, Marcus, pause in flight. You both look up.

The skylight—glass, frame, and hinges—is gone, torn away in a single piece. In its place glow the deep orange eyes of an automaton wolf whose shoulders barely fit through the narrow window frame. Black teeth glisten when the wolf grins down at the dragons in the shop.

“I’ll enjoy a feast tonight,” he growls and leaps for the closest dragons—Marcus and you.

***

That’s it for today. Pre-orders for Discarded Dragons will start here on my website August 15th =) Thanks for stopping by!

Blessings,

Jennifer

Library Mice – Search the Monster Room

Welcome back for the second installment of the Library Mice adventure!

If you missed part one, you can read it by clicking the link, or here’s a quick recap:

You’re a mouse who maintains the Master’s library. He’s sent a man to you who’s researching large snakes but in five days, you haven’t found a book containing the snake he’s searching for. You get the feeling the man’s situation is rather dire. So, you and your companions, Vincent and Amalia, have decided to search the Library’s monster room to see if there are any books about monster snakes.

Let’s see what happens!

Library Mice – Search the Monster Room

You clutch a one inch sword in your paw as you push open the monster room door and peek inside. The study’s candles flicker, streaming a trail of light through the open door and casting your shadow long into the dark. Your eyes make out nothing beyond it although you know there are piles and piles of books scattered about the floor.

Vincent’s bigger shadow creeps forward to join yours as he whispers, “See anything?”

“No,” you answer, “leave the door open so we have some light. Amalia, stay here and keep the books inside.”

And with that, you and Vincent step into the Monster room.

Something flickers and a moment later three books begin to glow with an eerie blue light.

“Will-o-the-Wisps,” Amalia whispers from the doorway as the tiny books float into the air and hover around your head. “Just don’t look at them.”

“Easier said than done,” Vincent grumbles.

You’ve only taken another step when Amalia lets out a startled cry.

You spin to find her in the clutches of a tall, thin tome. Two long bookmarks stream from the top of the book, wrapping themselves around Amalia’s small frame.

“What’s got her?” Vincent squeaks.

Amalia makes an awkward stab at the tome and you rush forward to help. A book mark lashes out and with a quick swipe, you slice through it. The tome tumbles backward with a high pitched shriek. It doesn’t release Amalia, however, and its remaining book mark squeezes tighter, making her squeak in protest.

You and Vincent pause, not wanting Amalia to get hurt even more. As you watch, two new book marks grow from the severed one.

“A hydra book,” you realize aloud.

“You’re visiting us,” the book says.

Vincent squeaks and Amalia’s eyes go wide. You’ve never had a book speak to you before.

“You must be searching for something. I can help. I know all the monster books,” the hydra goes on, “but first, bring me a couple books on rodents.”

Beside you, Vincent shudders, his black fur twitching. He’ll follow your lead but you’re unsure about trusting the hydra. The only other option you see is simply attacking it. Perhaps it you can pin it to the door with a sword, but you’d have to catch it perfectly so as not to hit Amalia.

Do you…

Make the Deal?

Or

Attack the Book?

Thank you for joining in this weeks adventure! Leave a comment below with how you’d like to proceed and we’ll return next Thursday for part three in this adventure.

Until then, blessings,

Jennifer

(For more of my stories, check out either my multi-ending Adventure book, The Adventure, or my Urban Fantasy novel, Quaking Soul, here on my Website or on Amazon.)

Waiting – Discarded Dragons Excerpt

As we lead up to publication and pre-orders for Discarded Dragons, I figured an excerpt from the book might be fun.

Publication Date: September 1, 2021

Genre: Fantasy Adventure (Multi-ending)

Lead In: You and your friend, Blain, are steampunk dragons who have been thrown away by your Maker for some reason or another. Most of the time, you hide in the giant discard heap that sits on the workshop floor, but you’ve recently started sneaking out to find new parts. Not everyone is happy about this.

Waiting – Discarded Dragon’s Excerpt

Blain fidgets while he watches the Maker and waits for evening to arrive. His heavy, gray tail shoves a piece of copper down the discard heap, where it thuds against the bent pieces of a folding wing.

He cringes and shoots you an apologetic glance.

You told him your next goal is to find him new claws and, since then, his ability to contain his excitement has been strained to the max. Like a child on his birthday, he’d be jumping up and down if such an action wouldn’t draw the attention of the Maker.

As it is, the old man pauses and glances at the pile with a frown. Finally, when nothing seems amiss, he returns his attention to the female’s tail, pitching a broken bolt over his shoulder and into the heap as he does.

Although the Maker didn’t pinpoint Blain’s movement, the female did. After her shriek the night before, you’ve started thinking of her as the Siren. Her ruby eyes glow, fixated on you and your new friend even as the Maker adds pieces to her design.

Above her, Marcus also watches, curled up on his shelf. There’s a faint scratch in his side where the shelf dented him and his claw keeps straying toward the spot like it haunts him. Judging from the narrow gleam in his jasper eyes, he blames you.

The Maker fits the last piece into the female’s tail and dabs in a little glue to help hold it in place. Lifting her into the air, he grunts with satisfaction. He lays her back onto the scarred workbench and clamps the appendage in place to dry for the night before he sets about picking up.

He tosses the extra bits of metal into the discard heap and meticulously places his tools in their homes like soldiers in a line. Done with the tools, he pushes in a few drawers and folds his leather scraps into a neat pile before dusting bits of gem into their box. All the while the Maker hums.

The sound of his voice echoes faintly in the room while he finishes his cleanup and locks the door behind him. After the melody of his hum, the shop feels cold, almost hostile, as silence seethes into the wooden walls. The glitter of eyes does not fade along with the hum. With trepidation, you watch shelves upon shelves of perfect dragons.

“Now?” Blain whispers against your ear. You twitch, surprised by his voice vibrating in the metal of your face.

“No,” you respond.

He almost whines but then settles back beside you to wait.

The Siren’s ruby eyes wink and she huffs in exasperation. Then, slowly, those gems dim until you can hear the soft sigh of her breath in sleep.

Marcus’ deep jasper eyes, however, continue to glitter with light from the skylight. He stretches in a feline fashion and yawns but still those glowing orbs remain fixed on you.

Blain trembles with excitement but he continues to wait for your cue.

Usually, lying in the discard heap is easy business but you too tremble with anxiety and anticipation. Your legs begin to ache as hours pass and those jasper eyes never waver.

The giant globe of the moon passes over the skylight and you’re just about to give up for the night when Marcus lets out an eye-watering yawn that would have rusted his amber face if he had any tears to shed. He grumbles and slowly his eyes dim to dull, green orbs.

You wait awhile longer but his sides continue to rise and fall in steady rhythm.

“Now,” you whisper to Blain.

***

That’s it for the day! Discarded Dragons will be open for pre-orders here on my website August 15th and will publish September 1st. Thanks for being part of this journey =)

Blessings,

Jennifer