Helen B. Henderson's Blog, page 30

Fall into Autumn

I'm posting today on the BWL Authors Blog. Normally at this time of year, posts tend to reflect the holidays. However, I already revealed my holiday traditions in other posts. And it is too early to do a year in review.  A line in last month's post inspired this one. There I mentioned that sometimes an author sets a story in a land where they want to go. So this time, I'm writing about places I actually have been. Hope you'll stop by and Fall Into Autumn.

SPECIAL NEWS - Book We Love Publishing has a holiday sale on. All their books, including the Windmaster Novels, are 50% off at Smashwords. A book under the tree is a great gift.  

~till next time, Helen 

 

Meet Captain Ellspeth #mfrwhooks

To start off the new series of posts introducing some of my favorite people (or people I love to hate) from the sword and sorcery romantic fantasy, Windmaster, you are invited to meet Lady Ellspeth. 

Physical Description

Normally I would either give a character's age. Or for some, beg off with the excuse that, "A lady never reveals her age." However n the case of Captain Ellspeth, while she is definitely a lady, tbere is another reason to keep the number of seasons she has seen a secret. Ellspeth appears in three of the four volumes in the Windmaster Novels. It would be too confusing to tell her age in each.

Ellspeth has long straight hair; bleached silver by sun from hours standing watch on ship’s deck. She usually wears it in a braid halfway down her back. When working, a pair of wooden sticks holds the braid in a curl at the nape of her neck. Silver hair is unusual for someone her age. Most people have either blond or brown hair, except the inhabitants of the southern sea where their tresses are midnight black. You have to read Windmaster to see one of the reasons for the silver.

Her eyes are green or gray that can turn steel gray when expressing strong emotion such as anger, frustration. When expressing gentler emotions, her eye color ranges from willow green to pure silver. Ellspeth has a slender frame. She is strong and has the family trait of being tall. Not only is she taller than most women, she stands half a head taller than many men.

As far as dress, when onboard ship or around town you can find her in breeches and linen shirt, sometimes supplemented by a leather dublet. That said, she has been known to dress up. An excerpt from Windmaster on the night of a party in the king's garden.

Ellspeth’s pale green gown swirled around her ankles. With each spin, she checked to make sure the hem fell back into place. Satisfied the dress would stand up to an evening of dancing, she did one final check in the looking glass. The gold captain’s bracelets on her wrists glittered in complement to the deep tan of her skin. A single strand of willow green pearls from the Aberden Sea circled her neck. She had woven a second, longer strand into her silver curls. Gone was the last vestige of frivolity she had allowed herself within the privacy of her room. A dignified representative befitting the House of Cszabo descended the stairs with pride.

More About Her (Secrets or Public)

Ellspeth's favorite food are the crustaceans found in the colorful coral rocks in the southern sea. A special treat, they are spiced with mirdar root and served with sweet honey bread.

Her favorite relaxing pastime is composing music on her wooden recorder or silver flute. She is talented enough to be a professional performer. However, she had to choose between the family trade of the sea and music. While she is not a member of the Bard Guild and perform professionally, courtesy of a friend who is a bard, some of Elle’s songs are known throughout the four kingdoms.

I hope you enjoyed this introduction to Captain Ellspeth. Find excerpts by clicking on the cover in the banner. For more of Windmaster and the rest of the Windmaster Novels, find the information below.

Buy Links: One click to ebook sellers
Paperback at Amazon / Barnes&Noble

SPECIAL NEWS - Book We Love Publishing has a holiday sale on. All their books, including the Windmaster Novels, are 50% off at Smashwords. A book under the tree is a great gift.

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Holiday Sale

All BWL Publishing books, including the Windmaster Novels, are 50% off at  Smashwords.

A book under the tree is a great gift.

Sale Ends December 26th

Scared? Escape Needed #MFRWauthor

 

Welcome to the monthly topic of the MFRW challenge. The topic is "Share A Scary Story You've Experienced, Read, Or Seen."

Horror is not my preferred genre. So that leaves out the "read" option.

As far as revealing a personal experience? Not isn't my thing either. While I may give a hint of insight here and there, the rule is to keep my private and professional life separate. There have been times when fear tried to rule my life. Caring for a family member in the midst of a massive stroke (not once, but twice) meets the definition of scary. So does sitting alone in the dark waiting to hear from someone who has not checked in and has been missing for hours. The ultimate is dealing with a stalker. When the phone rings or there is a knock on the door, fear collides with panic to literally stop your heart.

Which leaves "seen." There are a few horror and psychological suspense movies which I've seen over the years that qualify as scary. Some were mandatory watching as part of a school class, others were accidental. In no order of preference:

Night of the Living Dead
Alien
The Ring
Jaws
Fall of the House of Usher

Then there are the episodes of the Outer Limits and the Twilight Zone that can be considered scary. As a reader, one particular episode came to mind -- "Time Enough At Last."

~till next time, Helen

Be sure to see how the other authors answered the question. https://mfrw52week.blogspot.com/

Setting as Character

Over on the BooksWeLove Blog, I'm chatting about setting as a character in my fantasy romance novels set in the world of Windmaster. Hope you'll stop by to see some of the inspirations for the journey in the dunes of Montrat, the scrub of Tarekus, and from mountain heights to cavern depths.

~till next time, Helen

Smoke and Flames #mfrwauthor

Welcome to the monthly topic from the MFRW challenge. The topic is "Name the ways an important dinner has failed."

This was the easiest post for the challenge. If you've followed my blog for a while you'll know that I am not a gourmet cook and that I've reacheed the age where you no longer have to host all the family dinners. And more importantly, that I don't like to talk about myself. So here goes.

Image by Alexander Antropov from Pixabay

The topic brought back the memory of a Thanksgiving dinner many years ago. I was the host and cook for the turkey. Hours of planning, preparation, and cooking went into insuring things would go well. That doesn't include the days of cleaning and straightening up so that the house would be acceptable for the in-laws. Then came Thanksgiving Day. At this point I don't remember exactly what dish caused the problem, but just as my mother-in-law walked through the kitchen door, a pot on the stove caught fire. Yes, actual flames, although they were still fairly low. A pan lid handled the one issue. As to the other? My MIL didn't say a word, just kept on walking through the kitchen, placed the dish she brought on the dining room sideboard, and took off her coat.

Other ways dinners can fail are: (Note - these are not necessarily known from experience.

Turkey overcooked to the point of leather. Dropping the wedding cake (or having someone run their finger through the icing) Weather and sickness can impact dinners and are totally out of our control. Blizzards and ice storms are especially destructive to plans. Of course, don't forget hurricanes too.

Since this year is almost over, I'll share another oops, one that doesn't necessarily deal with a dinner, but seemed appropriate in this time of reflection.

When my husband was going into the military, some of his friends decided to have a surprise farewell party for him. My job was to keep him out of the way for an hour. Well that night included two additional ways that dinners can fail. Dropping a dish onto the floor, cracking it and spilling food everywhere and having people show up late. 

Now to the failure. The future husband was obstructive and everything I tried to keep him away from the party failed and he was walking back long before the hour specified. The person arranging the part was running late and as we turned the corner of the building he saw us, tripped, and dropped one of the party supplies onto the ground. 

That's as much as I'm going to say.

May all your dinners be perfect and never fail.

~till next time, Helen

Be sure to see how the other authors answered the question. https://mfrw52week.blogspot.com/

Remembering, On the BWL Authors Blog

Remembering. On the BWL Authors blog. https://bwlauthors.blogspot.com/2021/09/where-were-you-when-by-helen-henderson.html  Hope you'll stop by to see one author's tale.

Time To Live #MFRWAuthor

Welcome to the monthly topic from the 2021 MFRW challenge. The topic is "If You Could Go Back in Time For Only One Day, When and Where Would You Go?"

When I was thinking of what to write for this post, I reviewed the time travel books on my to-be-read shelf as well as any television series or movies that tickled the memory. Depending on the plot, time travel stories have been classified as science fiction, historical fiction, fantasy, or romances. The Terminator is different than Back to the Future, and then there is Groundhog Day. And before them there was the classic 1960 movie version of H. G. Wells Time Machine.

Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay
Although not all were critically acclaimed, television time travel favorites were Quantum Leap, Seven Days, and Irwin Allen's Time Tunnel (yes, I am dating myself as I remember watching the original series.)

Image by Foundry Co from Pixabay
Tear-worthy romance movies that struck a chord are Somewhere in Time and The Two Worlds of Jennie Logan. (I included The Two Worlds of Jennie Logan as a movie as it wasn't a television series, but a made for television movie.

Although in my younger days, I would have welcomed the chance to time travel, now I'm too old with way too may responsibilities. I never developed the skills needed to save the world so that reason to travel is out.

And as far as going back in time to save a lover? With a 50th anniversary approaching in a few years, that wouldn't be necessary unless my other half suddenly developed the talent to backstep.

More and more often the urge to escape my life rears its head, however, I guess I'll have to stay here. MFeel free to leave a comment as to your favorite time travel book, movie, or program, or to answer the prompt.

~till next time, Helen

Hooked on Windmaster, A Parting, #MFRWHooks

From the sword and sorcery fantasy, Windmaster, an excerpt of a parting as Ellspeth comes to an insight. This scene preceds "Destiny Awaits."


Excerpt:

Dal was not running away from her. In battle he could not afford the luxury of emotions. He was walling himself off in preparation for the fight to come. She remembered the way he looked at her at the well when they made their last preparations to leave. First he pulled something from his personal pack. She couldn’t see what he held except for a flash of brown, maybe wood. An expression of regret flickered across his face. His face reddened when he lightly kissed the item and slipped it over his head to hang beneath his armor. Must be a personal talisman of some kind she decided. The wink he tossed to her matched the smile he flashed in her direction. They both disappeared as he put on his armor.

An impersonal cold emanated from the wizard, a demeanor that increased with each weapon he removed from his pack and strapped to its place. By the time he draped the carry strap of his great sword’s scabbard over his shoulder, no remnant remained of the lover...only the soldier–mercenary.

Beneath Ellspeth, Kaleigh’s sure-footed gait acquired an unfamiliar ragged footing. “It’s not far now, girl,” Ellspeth encouraged. “I hope,” she muttered to herself. Suddenly the gathering of magic swirled around her as the air fluoresced with crimson sparks. The dancing motes grew brighter until, in a final blinding flare they eclipsed the silvery predawn light. When her vision returned, the spire that had been hours away now towered above her head. “Magic can move people?” 

 “No,” Dal said at her ear. “I just dispelled the illusion created as part of the circlet’s protection. Dismount. We’re here.” 

The buff-colored grass seemed unusually thick and pulled at her boots. When Ellspeth stepped down she had to fight the urge to leap into the saddle. 

“Ignore, it,” Dal ordered. His stern voice cut through her increasing anxiety. “When I leave, don’t stand in one place too long or the tendrils will wrap around your feet. Once you are trapped, the vines will pull you down and eventually smother you. However, as long as I’m here the grass isn’t dangerous... Elle, I...” 

An edge in his voice drew her attention. 

His brown eyes glowed with an inner fire, a passion at odds with his controlled expression. “I know the plan called for me to follow you into the spire after you released the wall that keeps out mages. But Bashim’s people are too close.” 

The cold steel of the dagger he placed in her hand distracted her from the emotion she saw in his eyes.

~ ~ ~
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And be sure to check out the rest of the Windmaster Novels by clicking on the top menu item.

Links to the rest of the hop follows.

Hooked on Windmaster, Destiny Awaits, #MFRWHooks

From the sword and sorcery fantasy, Windmaster, an excerpt continuing Dal and Ellspeth's parting on the eve of battle. The scene picks up where "A Parting" left off.

 

Apologies, due to a blip in scheduling, Destiny Awaits posted this week. A Parting Will Be Next Week.

Excerpt:

The cold steel of the dagger he placed in her hand distracted her from the emotion she saw in his eyes. “Tairneach and the colts will go with me to lead off Ruaridh and his men. We’ll buy you as much time as we can. You memorized the book of clues. You have your flute.” He draped the loops of a soft velvet bag over her neck. The amber jewel within pulsed with hidden energy, a power Ellspeth could feel, despite the cloth and protective wards placed around the jewel.

“I think my dagger will provide the magic direction you need deeper into the cave. Don’t release the protective spells when you get inside. Keep going. Please, Ellspeth, promise me.”

Shaken by the intensity of his request, Ellspeth nodded. 

Dal’s grasp on her shoulders generated a heat out of proportion to the lightness of his touch. “I just saw Bashim in my crystal. I’m sorry, Elle, but he breached the defensive wards of the Isle. I had enough time to send a warning to Sea Falcon. It set sail for Montrat moments ago. They’ll stop there for a day at the Cszabo compound, then head on to Stratven. 

“If I... I mean...” 

In front of her, the glow faded from his eyes and a shadow passed over his face. His hands fell to his side. A cold determination replaced the inner sparkle of amusement she had come to know. “I gave you the master spells. When the time is right, you will remember them. As Archmage I charge you to use them and the power wisely. Kaleigh will take you and the circlet safely to the Falcon.” 

Before Ellspeth could move, Dal leaped into the saddle. She swore she saw a message pass between Tairneach and the wizard. Then the stallion spun on his haunches. One long leap later the faint smell of dust was all that was left of Taer’s, and the wizard’s, presence. The urge to jump onto Kaleigh’s back and race after them almost overwhelmed her.

~ ~ ~

 

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

And be sure to check out the rest of the Windmaster Novels by clicking on the top menu item.