Helen B. Henderson's Blog, page 19

Out and About With Ellen Mint

Visited with the romance author Ellen Mint where I talked about Hatchling's Mate. https://ellenmint.blog/2023/03/29/hatchlings-mate-by-helen-henderson//  #fantasy #magic #excerpt

 

Out and About with Madison Michael

Visited with the romance author Madison Michael. Stop by to read the excerpt from Fire and Amulet and to see the inspiration behind the tale. https://www.madisonmichael.net/windmaster-golem-a-fantasy-romance-from-helen-b-henderson/  #fantasy #magic #excerpt

 

Hooked on FIre and Amulet, Ahead #mfrwhooks

In celebration of its book birthday, the next few weeks will feature a few lines from Fire and Amulet. First up, an excerpt using the BQW word "Ahead."

To set the stage, Trelleir leaves his home ahead of the anticipated attack by the Head Slayer and the conscripted men of Darceth. He doesn't leave by the front door, but after sealing his home against intruders, takes Deneas on a hidden escape route through an underground labrynth.

No sense of day or night existed in the darkness of the tunnels. Deneas lost sense of time. Ahead of her, Trelleir walked in silence with only the soft scuff of leather on stone or the drip of water to break the deathly quiet. Her entire being submerged into nothing but the bright spot that was Trelleir’s torch. When they emerged from one tunnel to cross a valley to a hole in another mountain, the same blackness, both of the soul and the moonless sky weighed down their steps.

Whether the tons of stone above them magnified Trelleir’s thoughts, or the darkness that surrounded them sharpened her focus, Deneas swore she heard the unspoken maelstrom of his mind. She knew when he stepped around a rock that would trip the unwary or across a rivulet that would send a person sliding into a bottomless pit.

~ * ~

Having a slayer as a friend is dangerous when you’re a dragon.

Available in Ebook or Paperback at Amazon
Additional sites at Books2Read

 

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Burial at Sea, Windmaster #SnippetSunday, #WeWriWa #8Sunday

Welcome to Weekend Writing Warriors, the weekly hop for everyone who loves to write ... and read!

​Today's excerpt is from Windmaster, the first book of the fantasy, romance series, the Windmaster Novels. 

To set the scene, Sea Falcon was attacked by a pirate ship. Thanks to the skill of the crew and the archmage's magic, the ship won the conflict. But it came with a price. And now the SundaySnippet.

* * * *

Excerpt

Dal stood silent while Ellspeth considered the offer. At her nod, they joined the crew gathered around the sail-wrapped body. Deep breaths, Ellspeth told herself. The crew must not see your pain. Jon honored his house... and you.

Dal’s somber rendition of the words of final journey seemed far away. She hardly noticed when four crewmen took the wizard’s place at the opening in the rail. Her fingers moved of their own volition to send the flute’s haunting refrain over the water. On the dirge’s final note, the crew tilted the board. A solitary ripple marred the surface of the lake when the body dropped into its dark depths.

End of Excerpt
 

* * * *
 

Windmaster  - Available at these online bookstores

 
​I hope you like the snippet I shared for Dal and Ellspeth this week. Be sure to read the other Weekend Writing Warriors blogs and the #SnippetSunday authors for more great reads.

 ~till next time, Helen

ThursdayThirteen - Why I Love Dragons

This Thursday Thirteen are a few thoughts on flying, and why I love to fly with and write about dragons.
I come from an aviation family. My father trained as an airplane mechanic, then became a flight engineer.

 I always wanted to fly.  My farm had a back 40 acres planned for a landing / takeoff strip. When in school my after-school activities included private pilots training.

Despite the legacy of the Women Airforce Service Pilots who served as ferry pilots in World war II and the trailblazers of the  Ninety-Nines Organization, which included Amelia Earhart as one of their founders, at the time of my search for the sky, the main path to a uniform and wings for a woman was as a stewardess. Let's just say I was strongly encouraged not to become what several family friends (all flight crew members or stewardesses themselves) called a glorified waitress. Good thing I listened. You can only dump hot coffee on someone so many  times before you get fired. (just kidding.)

I was fortunate that I have lived where airplanes were a common sight. My childhood farm was in the traffic pattern for Newark Airport. On clear days the planes flew low enough you could tell their airline by the tail insignia and colors. There were two small airports within a few miles.

Later, my home was not only across the water from the Twin Towers, but beneath the flight pattern for LaGuardia Airport. More than stars twinkled at night. When walking the boardwalk you could track the ribbon of light formed by the stream of planes heading towards the airport.

A tale written by the young me was put to paper while watching fighter planes land at Clark Air Force Base in the Phillipines. Of course that was before the area was buried with volcanic ash by Mount Pinatubo, shaken by earthquakes, and battered by sheets of rain from Typhoon Yunya. Decades later that youthful effort was unearthed from the bowels of a drawer, reworked and expanded to become FIRST MISSION, FINAL DAY in the anthology, Hearth and Sand: Stories from the Front Lines and the Homefront.

LIVE OR SURRENDER TO TECHNOLOGY, a story based in the near future, honored my father with the tale of a man's final flight. Passengers on tomorrow's trans-continental orbiter discover what can happen when humans abdicate control. When the artificial intelligence pilot changes the flight schedule, one passenger, a holdover from an earlier time in aviation, shows the resilience of human spirit as he overcomes the errant technology to save the doomed flight.

While on my childhood farm, I would watch hawks gracefully soaring above the fields on the thermals.
  Image by kamyk293 from PixabayFlight slipped into my tales in another way besides dragons. Fire and Amulet featured a mythical bird called a helwr. The large black birds with lethal curved talons were inspired by eagles and hawks. Helwr's large orange eyes seem to blaze with energy. The birds also have a sense of loyalty and duty. When Tywyll's mistress was kidnapped, the bird marked her captor with a talon across the cheek. Then it searched for years to find his mistress. More on Tywyll can be found at the post H is for Helwr.



And then there are the dragons. In the Dragshi Chronicles, for special humans, the path to dragon wings came from being born with a twinned dragon soul. Once the dragon awakened, the human and dragon share a single form in time and space. The humans gain long life spans and the freedom of the skies. The dragons get a friend to translate the world of humans.

If you are small enough and have a dragshi friend (or been in service to the dragshi) they may make a cage of their talons so you can fly with them.


Another way to achieve the freedom of flight is to have a true dragon willing to put a nugget of his magic into a tearstone. Those possessing the jewel and the appropriate knowledge can take on dragon form. For more, read Fire and Amulet.

I did draw a line about one thing pertaining to flight. I prefer to watch a hot air balloon floating across the hillside rather than going up in one to be subservient to the winds. A standing joke in my family dealt with parachuting  and was the comment, "Why jump out of a perfectly good airplane." To a man, they would prefer to land the plane.
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.

And of course, be sure to visit the other thirteens.

~till next time, you're invited to hang out with mages and fly with dragons. Helen

Out and About at Archaeolibrarian

Today, Glynn, bodyguard to the dragon lord Lady Lexii Belynea, is out and about visiting at Archaeolibrarian. Her interview is revealing and she shares an excerpt from the #fantasy #romance, Hatchling's Mate, of one of her favorites stories.  "Love and desire, honor and duty clash in this action-filled novel in the world of the dragshi."

Marching Into Spring at the BWL Blog

  

Over on the BooksWeLove Blog, I'm sharing some thoughts on March. Not only events celebrated in the month, but the action as in to move along steadily usually with a rhythmic stride and in step with others. Hope you'll stop by.

~till next time, Helen

National Hug Your Dog Day, 3/10/23

Tighe Cat Demands Respect
Respect Your Cat Day 3/28/23

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hooked on Windmaster, Break #mfrwhooks

 

From the sword and sorcery fantasy, Windmaster, an excerpt using the BookQW word "Break." Following the post RAIN, this excerpt shows the cost of magic.

Excerpt:

Ellspeth felt the sudden departure of Dal’s magic just before he collapsed to the hard wooden planks, his sword thudding alongside of him. Her fingers pressed against his neck in search of a pulse. There was none. Tears burned her eyes. Then she felt a faint beat...and another. An involuntary exclamation of relief escaped her lips, “Dal!”

The moans of wounded men pulled her attention from the wizard. Her crew needed her. “No...no...no,” she whispered. Men held arms broken into unnatural angles. Two sails hung in shreds from the beams. Three safety lines disappeared over the rails, taut with the weight of sailors. Live or dead, she didn’t know. The sight galvanized her into action.

“All hands to damage control. Secure the safety lines. I want those sailors aboard...now! Jon, get Cookie topside to help splint these broken limbs. Take Lord Dal below to his quarters. After Lord Voan and Lady Jesmen have attended him, please ask their help with the Falcon’s wounded.”

After three days, Ellspeth could no longer stay away from the wizard. She descended into the belly of her ship and entered the cabin where he lay. Despite the bright light streaming in through the windows, the room felt dark and cold. Voan and Jesmen were already crowded into the small space. “How is he?” Ellspeth asked.

“Our herb magic has kept him alive, mistress. But we cannot break the spell that controls him. It is too strong.”

~ ~ ~

For the next chapter and to see Dal's fate, find Windmaster at these Book Sellers

And be sure to check out the rest of the Windmaster Novels.

The rest of the hop follows. Hope you'll check them out.

Thursday Thirteen - The Dark Side

 

This Thursday Thirteen covers a few of insights into the dark side. First to clarify, there are two dark sides.

The first dark side is non-fiction. Namely the articles I've written on the topics of American and military history, antiques and collectibles. The reason for the name is that (a) at the time journalists were looked down upon, (b) history was considered hidden in the fog of the past, and (c) writers of non-fiction were told they couldn't write fiction, and vice versa.

When I started writing, my published non-fiction paid more than fiction.

Using archaeological techniques
to discover history
Researching a history book is fun. The pictures are interesting as are the materials uncovered. A problem with researching non-fiction (and could also be a problem for fiction) is falling into a time sink and getting lost in the past.

Researching and writing non-fiction gives me an excuse to dress-up at military re-enactments. In civilian period clothes
I could get close to the front
lines to take pictures.

The most unusual greeting my press pass generated.  At an air show in Reading, Pennsylvania, I was met at the entrance gate by a uniformed soldier riding a vintage motorcycle who was there to "present my orders."

Coming from an aviation background, getting paid to attend air shows and watch talented pilots put their craft, both big and small, through their paces was a bonus.

Although some members of the press laid on
the grass verge alongside the runway for the best shots,
I drew the line at being on the pilots side of the fence.

Did you know when a B-17 fires its engines, they give off a deafening roar and black smoke? Even the engines in smaller aircraft can cause a scene. At one event the pilot fired up the engine of his T-6 Texan Trainer in preparation of taking to the sky. The backlash started blowing the smaller planes of an acrobatic team out of line. The pilots scrambled to prevent their craft from crashing into each other or blowing onto the tarmac.

You are liable to get weird looks when you're riding in the back of a jeep while dressed in a vintage olive drab uniform. Especially when the jeep is part of a convoy of antique and vintage military vehicles.

What was probably my most unusual non-fiction moment was learning that a crowd of thousands of people can be silenced. What did it? A broadcast over the airfield's public address system of the original announcement of the December 7th, 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor. Even after the attendees realized it was a moment from the past, if you looked around at the audience rather than the PA speakers, you would see the majority of people rubbing their arms to remove the goosebumps. It should be noted that this event took place before 9-11-2001.


My mother-in-law sold my local histories with a very subtle technique. When walking around town she carried whatever of my books was the most recent release in her purse with the cover showing. No pushiness, just a quiet approach, but it was very effective. We used the same approach during the Memorial Day Parade. Dressed in colonial-era garb, we walked on opposite sides of the street carrying wicker baskets with the local history. More than a few were sold that day also.

The best signings were at the town street fair. Not only could you get cotton candy or some other snack of your choice, there was a built-in lure. When people walked over to the table to ask about the artifacts that were on display, it provided the perfect opening to talk about the books.

For many years I carried a favorite cartoon to every history book signing. In the first frame, the writer is interviewing the town old-timers. To a man they all said, "nothing happened around here." Then in the final frame when the book was published, these same gray-beards were bracing the writer asking why this or that event wasn't included.

I had called non-fiction the dark side, but there is another, specifically the dark fantasy, Imprisoned in Stone. Excerpts, blurbs and a free read of the first chapter can be found by clicking on the book's cover in the banner.
I hope you enjoyed this Thursday Thirteen and that you will come back again. If  intrigued, use the "Non-Fiction / Dark Side" pull-down menu for more information on the published histories, and of course, buy links.

~till next time, Helen



http://newthursday13.blogspot.com/

Hooked on Windmaster, Rain #MFRWHooks

In anticipation of the weather coming this week, from the sword and sorcery fantasy, Windmaster, an excerpt using the BookQW word "Rain." Captain Ellspeth learns that one of the wizards on her ship is more than he seems.

Excerpt:

Heavy sheets of rain obscured the horizon. Crashing waves broke on the Falcon’s bow and flowed over the deck. Ellspeth’s summons brought the three passengers to the wheel. “This isn’t normal weather for the Aberden Sea,” Ellspeth shouted. Her voice barely rose above the roaring water. “The wind is chasing around in circles, widdershins. It’s not natural.”

“No, it’s magic,” Dal shouted back. “Voan and Jesmen are healers. Their powers can’t help.”

“Then, m’lord, m’lady, thank you for your attendance. Your quarters will be the safest place for you right now.” Ellspeth’s eyebrow arched in question as Dal made no attempt to leave.

“With your permission, Captain, I’d like to stay. I promise to keep out of the crew’s way. Unlike the others, I’m used to fighting.”

Too focused on saving her ship to wonder at the relief she felt at the wizard’s offer, Ellspeth merely nodded approval. She moved aside to make room for him at the rail, their shoulders almost touching.

A long silence started to grow. Wind-driven rain grabbed at their clothes and plastered wet hair to their heads.

~ ~ ~
Buy Links: Ebook Sellers
Paperback at Amazon / Barnes&Noble

And be sure to check out the rest of the Windmaster Novels .

The rest of the hop follows. Hope you'll check them out.