Helen B. Henderson's Blog, page 12

Greetings from worlds of Imagination

 

Thank you for visiting my blog this past year.
I hope you enjoyed my posts and will return in the next!
From the world of Windmaster,
the high mountain hold of Cloud Eyrie, and the rest of the worlds of imagination
have a very Merry Christmas,
(or whatever holiday you celebrate this time of year)
and wishing you a happy turn's end,
and all the best in the New Year!

Out and About at BWL, Holidays Past and Present

 

Over on the BooksWeLove Blog, I'm sharing some thoughts and pictures of holidays past and present.

~till next time, Helen

Out and About at BWL, Holidays in A Fantasy World

 

 

Over on the BooksWeLove Blog, I'm sharing some thoughts on holidays in a fantasy world.

~till next time, Helen

Over on the BooksWeLove Blog, I'm sharing some thought...

 

 

Over on the BooksWeLove Blog, I'm sharing some thoughts on holidays in a fantasy world.

~till next time, Helen

Tuesday's Title, The Healer by Sevannah Storm

A traumatized human doctor falls for an alpha shifter who only likes her for the blood flowing in her veins. But to the shifter, she's far more than a substitute. She's his mate.

Title: The Healer (Blood of Legends Series)

Author: Sevannah Storm

Date of Release: November 17, 2022
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Heat Level: Steamy/Open door

Buy Links:   Books2Read  / Amazon /

Blurb:

Does he love her or the blood of legends in her veins?

Becoming a doctor is all Ilona ever dreamed of, especially with her parents being the best in their medical fields until a car accident forces her to re-evaluate her choices. Scarred and alone, she finds herself in a small town buried in snow, but worse, she’s forced to use her medical skills to heal shifters.
One shifter has her knees trembling, but when she discovers he likes her because she looks like the woman he’s crushing on, Ilona flees, unwilling to risk her fragile heart.

Rhys pines for a woman he can never have, believing he lost his mate to a vampire. But on a visit with his brother, when he discovers a doctor with the same last name as his crush, he prays her blood will trigger the mating urge and free him from unrequited love.

The problem is, Ilona’s blood does summon his primal urges, but she won’t believe his interest is sincere. Now he needs to find her and prove he loves her, and only her.

Behind the Scene: I've always had a soft spot for Rhys.

Author Bio:

Sevannah's a romantic at heart. Across science fiction, fantasy, paranormal, and contemporary genres, you will discover new worlds and lovable characters she's created. Her books are action-packed love stories of alpha men meeting stubborn women and finding happily ever after.

Married to a hippo-whisperer and the force-is-with-him, she, a live-long-and-prosper, manages to navigate her world with humor and passion. With two full-grown children, a labrador, a pug, and a kitten named Peanut, her life is filled with chaos and merriment in the center of South Africa. And yes, the weather is sunny and hot.

For more on Sevannah and her works, find her on the web at: https://sevannahstorm.com, and subscribe to her twice-monthly newsletter with freebies, launches, etc.

Or her other online hangouts.

Facebook | Goodreads | Amazon | Linktr.ee | Twitter | Instagram | Bookbub |

Hooked on Windmaster Legend, #bookqw Race, #mfrwhooks

 

A forbidden love. An impossible quest. The accusation of witchcraft. Can love survive?

For the next few weeks, posts showcasing snippits from Windmaster Legend. This week's uses the bookqw "RACE."

To set the stage, Pelra and Connal are heading to their next assignment, spending the winter at a remote mountain complex. 

The gelding whinnied and snatched at his bit. The actions pulled Pelra’s attention not to the trail ahead, but to black clouds at the other end of the valley.

“It will be a race to see which arrives first,” Eirik called over his shoulder. “Us at the village or the winter storm.” His voice reflected a calmness Pelra didn’t feel. “The storm is moving fast—and now so do we. Drop the reins and wrap your arms around the horse’s neck. The horses are sure-footed, they’ll get us off the mountain.”

His gaze raked her and he gave a nod. “Everyone’s ready, so let’s go!”

A curtain of wind-driven ice rolled towards them. 

~ * ~
Purchase Windmaster Legend at Amazon or these sellers. And don't miss the rest of the Windmaster Novels. Find more on the entire series from the pull-down menu above.

Tuesday's Title, The Huntress by Sevannah Storm

Add her sass, her uber instincts, a dying sister, a sensual ancient vampire, and a cabal of politicians out to kill all multi-species; what do you have? Love at first bite? Hell no, she’s not that kind of woman.

Title: The Huntress (The Blood of Legends Series)

Author: Sevannah Storm

Date of Release: August 17, 2020
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Heat Level: Steamy/Open door

Buy Links:   Books2Read  / Amazon /

Blurb:

Callie is a sassy detective, known for her attitude and her ability to endanger her partners. While investigating a senator, she stumbles upon suck-bloods (her word) and a canister, embroiling herself in a diabolical plot older than her grandfather. Trying to stop her dying sister from an unlikely conversion, she falls for an ancient suck-blood and discovers that she’s more than human.

Gabriel is centuries old but has withdrawn from society, preferring to spend his years avoiding vamp politics and reading ancient Greek texts. Asked to rescue Callie as a favor, he doesn’t expect her to tempt him with her scent, her delicious blood and her honor. When another vampire abducts her, Gabe must use his allies and their skills to find her before she suffers through a conversion dooming her to an eternity of enslavement.

The passion between them is potent, their love empowering as Callie learns that controlling everything won’t bring her happiness. Gabe discovers that to truly live he must lose his heart. What follows is the merging of vampire and human, of lust and love, of honor and forgiveness whilst preventing the suck-bloods and beasts from fighting a war they didn’t start.


Behind the Scene: I wrote this book with a ton of sass and adverbs and had to edit the adverbs out.

Author Bio:

Sevannah's a romantic at heart. Across science fiction, fantasy, paranormal, and contemporary genres, you will discover new worlds and lovable characters she's created. Her books are action-packed love stories of alpha men meeting stubborn women and finding happily ever after.

Married to a hippo-whisperer and the force-is-with-him, she, a live-long-and-prosper, manages to navigate her world with humor and passion. With two full-grown children, a labrador, a pug, and a kitten named Peanut, her life is filled with chaos and merriment in the center of South Africa. And yes, the weather is sunny and hot.

For more on Sevannah and her works, find her on the web at: https://sevannahstorm.com, and subscribe to her twice-monthly newsletter with freebies, launches, etc.

Or her other online hangouts. She is always delighted to chat with her readers.

Facebook | Goodreads | Amazon | Linktr.ee | Twitter | Instagram | Bookbub |

Thirteen Visits, Real, Virtual, and to Worlds of Imagination

 

 This Thursday Thirteen features places I have been to or lived at. Some are places that I want to visit, but to date have only been there in the virtual world. To start off the list are places in the worlds of imagination featured in my novels.
TAREKUS (pronounced tar e koos - tops the list of places I want to visit. In one way I have. I journeyed to the ancestral land of her kin with my namesake Eilidh and also virtually roamed the land. In the center of the hinterland, running north-south, is a wide swath of veldt and at its heart a great, raised plateau of red rock. Tarekus is home to many strange animals including a small bear that only eats the leaves of one tree and long-necked animals called by tree-trimmers that eat the tender leaves off the top of trees. (Windmaster Legacy)

 
Image courtesy of Pixabay
Field of Boulders - an expanse of reddish yellow boulders provided hope as a respite from the heat. The clumps of squat trees that marked an ancient path offered no shade. The gritty, yellow powder blowing across the desert burned the eyes and throat and left behind a metallic taste. (Fire and Amulet)

Site was inspired by Hickory Run State Park. Boulder Field has been here, mostly unchanged, for over 20,000 years.The rocky landscape of Boulder Field is a National Natural Landmark and state park natural area. The site appears striking not just because of its flatness and the absence of vegetation, some of the boulders are 26 feet long.

Glaswellt – a river hamlet periodically terrorized by water lizards who come upriver. (Imprisoned in Stone)


Bleve Aibheis – it would be a beautiful place to visit if it hadn't been taken over by the Brethren. Besides being protected by a dome of magic the largest building is the Brethren's Hall. Those daring to brace the heart home of the Brethren enter from a walled courtyard at the foot of the cliff. The arms that seem to reach out of the rock are the private quarters of those who would control all magic. (Imprisoned in Stone)

The great courtyard where
pilgrims and students are welcomed.
Courtesy of Pixabay.
Temple of Givneh - besides the great courtyard where the faithful gather before entering, the library of ancient knowledge would be a favorite haunt of mine. Especially once I mastered the spells to light the wickless lanterns so I can explore the endless halls.  (Windmaster, Windmaster Golem)


Dragon Temple, southern continent - Inspiration for the mating site was Machu Picchu.It was easy to envision the dragon queen on the top level with the potentialsuitors flying up to her and dropping a fish at her feet. Another aspect of thesite came from the ancient Inca lands. The hieroglyphs on the stellae, acollection of large stone panels at he foot of the temple, record the historyof the true dragons. The glyphs show dragon mating flights, however they alsocome with a warning of the deaths of suitors. (Hatchlings Curse)

Eruichin - One ofthe fun things about writing the Dragshi Chronicles was the variety of landswhich ranged from the Scottish highlands, to tropical islands, to the orientalculture of the land ruled by Empress Mirabeesh. Beyond the virtual visits, timespent in person in Tachikawa, Japan, helped to create the history and culture. (First Change, Hatchlings Curse)

Mount Fuji, Japan
Courtesy of PixabayMount Tagachim - There were two sides to the volcano. A narrow trail leads up one side to a thick ice field. The other branch of the trail winds through a forest of stunted trees to end at a rocky ledge overlooking a volcano's lava pool.  You can see the inspiration. Although I made a visit to Japan, I didn't do the pilgrimage. (First Change, Hatchlings Curse)

The home of the mountain god, Tagachim, has two inspirations. The first is Mount Fuji. Mount Pinatubo on the Philippine island of Luzon where I spent time as a child helped visualize the site.


A note: My time on Luzon was before the 1991 eruption of Mount Pinatubo, which according to the U.S. Geological Service was the second largest volcanic eruption of the 20th century, which was a good thing because it impacted the area near where I lived.


ReAnimation Cabin - While the mountain retreat written about as the site of the match between a living human and a recov is fictional, there is a real cabin in the woods with fireplace, porch overlooking the lake, and both a rocking chair and swing to help wash away the stresses of today. Click on the FREE READS button in the sidebar to download the short story, Recov.

Beyond the Stars - A journey to the stars requires decisions:  destination and more importantly, transport. Millennium Falcon, Enterprise C, or the Firefly class vessel, Serenity.  Or maybe I'll journey with First Officer Wes Roberts on the space liner Halcyon.  But there be pirates wanting to hijack the Halcyon. (Hearth and Sand)

Beyond  the Horizon - travel on a wind-powered ship. It is not the destination, but the journey that is important. To be honest, I don't like the deep blue. But several of my characters do. Before they were even a twinkle of imagination, I took a sail off the coast of New England. There was a magic in the snapping of the ropes an the slap of the waves against the hull.


Hearthome - A dream would be to spend time exploring the land of my ancestors,  Scotland, with side trips to Ireland and Wales.
Photo by Emily Roesly at Morguefile.com
Isle of Mages - there are two ways onto the isle. By land, those who are invited by the archmage or his lady cross a shimmering bridge which is made visible by magic. The other way is more treacherous. The waters around the isle are guarded by denizens of the deep. Other than the sheltered dock, the ocean side has wind-swept cliffs and rocky shoals. (The Windmaster Novels)
I hope you enjoyed this Thursday Thirteen. I hope you will come back again. If any of my published titles intrigue you, click on the cover in the banner or for the series, the pull-down menu for blurbs, excerpts, a free read of the first chapter, and of course, buy links.

~till next time, Helen


http://newthursday13.blogspot.com/

Out and About at Bwl

 

 

Over on the BooksWeLove Blog, I'm sharing some thoughts on reaching the 70,000 word mark in Fire and Redemption, the sequel to Fire and Amulet and considerations for the cover design.

~till next time, Helen

Hooked on Windmaster Legend, #bookqw Pirates, #mfrwhooks

A forbidden love. An impossible quest. The accusation of witchcraft.
Can love survive?

A snippit from Windmaster Legend using the bookqw "Pirates."

To set the stage, Iol is out on the lake and awakes from an unusual sensation.
 

The ship shifted as if a wave rocked her. But the water was calm. Any movement came from another source. A shadow crossed the open hatch. The intruder hesitated a heartbeat, then glided forward a step… then another. Still Iol waited. The clouds that had been hiding the moon shifted. He suppressed the urge to curse. Although minimal, the light would reveal his position. He tightened his hold on the knife. A moonbeam showed a dark blob against the lighter doorway.

Iol leaped. A flick of his wrist whipped the wooden belaying pin out. The soft sigh as wood connected with bone and the thud of a body hitting the deck proclaimed the accuracy of his blow.

One down. Creaks overhead announced the danger was not over. Worry clenched at Iol’s heart. At least, two more trespassers remained. And they headed towards the bow where Bolte slept. Two splashes in quick succession provided no clue as to whether his apprentice or intruders had gone overboard.

Despite the shortness of his training, Bolte has become quite an experienced swimmer, pride whispered. He could tread water until the pirates were dealt with.A muffled curse from the stern followed by a hissed “stupid” provided the clues to place the remaining invaders. Two quick steps took Iol out of the hatch. Keeping the cabin between himself and the stern, he climbed atop the low roof.

The clouds shifted. The increased light revealed two shapes that didn’t belong.

~ * ~

Purchase Windmaster Legend at Amazon or these sellers. And don't miss the rest of the Windmaster Novels. Find more on the entire series from the pull-down menu above.





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