Helen B. Henderson's Blog, page 8

Out and About, VIsiting J. Q. Rose

 

It is always fun when a project involves similarities. Had a fun interview sharing a heritage recipe with J. Q. Rose  as part of the Recipes 'n Reads series on the Focused on Story Blog. Hope you'll stop by for a modernized version of my grandmother's lokse. ~till next time, Helen

 

PS - She also has a new book that is the perfect Mother's Day gift.

 

Mom’s Memories and Reflections on Motherhood: A Guided Journal is adorned with bright yellow sunflowers and created with pages to chronicle mom's unique journey, capturing the laughter, tears, and growth that define motherhood. Each page is thoughtfully designed with prompts that inspire reflection on daily joys and challenges, accompanied by insightful quotations that resonate within a mother's heart. Use the journal pages to sketch scenes, pets, or persons who are important in your life, scribble notes and memories you want to be reminded to write, ask questions, recall snippets of conversations, and reflect on new understandings revealed during the writing. Whether it's a personal purchase or a heartfelt gift for mom on any occasion, this journal promises to be a timeless heirloom, safeguarding memories and reflections for generations to cherish.

Click here to order in time for Mother's Day gift giving.   

2024 N : Needlethorn

 

In fantasy, common things from our world may need an alternative. This was evident in Fire and Redemption. Herb poultices and potions are not always sufficient and a more modern method of getting the medicine into the patient was needed. Glass has not been a large part of the world, so I discarded the use of glass needles. Instead I chose to create a more natural tool and needlethorn was envisioned.

Karst shifted within the narrow tunnel formed by the thorn-covered bushes. Muscles, cramped from crawling since dawn on hands and knees through the dense underbrush, burned with each movement. A swipe with the back of his hand, removed the sweat running down his face. Despite the early hour, the cool morning air had not yet reached into the depth of the thicket. The canopy of entwined branches protected the dark yellow shoots underneath and trapped the heat.

The tight confines made it harder to gather the needlethorn, but the new growth was what he needed. Only the thin, tapered leaves still untouched by the sun were suitable to get the fever cure under the victim’s skin.

Careful sweeps with a branch cleared most of the debris away from the area in front of him, but some of the pointed spikes remained stuck in the damp dirt. Collecting the thorns required such a delicate touch that gloves were useless. Even the thick leather mitts used when working around hot metal offered little protection against the carpet of sharp rocks, thorn-studded twigs, and razor-edged leaves from previous seasons’ deadfalls.

Since the use of plant needles was not a customary treatment, the women of Clan Vreis had to pick the memories of the gray-haired oldsters on how to prepare the medical tool. Inexperience and more than a few conflicting ideas caused several of the early batches to be unsuitable. Not enough heat and they bent when attempted to be used. Over-boiled thorns were too brittle and broke rather than piercing the skin. Which meant more ripped flesh to remove the fragments.

Whether needlethorn or a glass needle is better? I will tell you after the next injection I get.

~till next time, Helen

 

Fire and Redemption Available At These Sites (If you favorite site isn't listed, check back. More are being added.)

 

 

 

If you're following other blogs in the challenge, here's the master list of the other participants.


 

2024 M : Medraut

 

I decided to combine two hops, a series of posts introducing some of my favorite people (or people I love to hate) and the A-Z in April Challenge, into a single post. From the sword and sorcery romantic fantasy, Fire and redemption, you are invited to meet Medraut.

Physical Description

As a man, his features and size are unprepossessing. The reader is introduced to his human form after he is injured attempting to outrun a storm. Our first impression of him as a man is when Brial checks him out in preparation to putting him into her wagon. Her main concern at the time is not exacerbating any injuries, and getting the path clear for her kin's approaching clan wagons.

However, it is the dragon form that inspires terror into people. His scales shimmer from a deep blue to a vibrant green. His size when he towers over you is frightening. Even worse are his eyes. The black eyes have red irises that appear to have flames in them. While in human form, Medraut can allow a hint of his true self to appear. Or, they can pull you in making you a slave to his will.

Background 

Medraut was driven from the island home of his kind by the ruling council. In his mind they were jealous of him. Afraid he would take over leadership of all dragons they banished him. He cursed his size, angry that his wingspread was too small for him to carry off a full-grown woman. In his mind, he felt one of the reasons for their treatment of him was jealousy. And that the other dragons were so afraid he would oust them, take over the leadership of all dragons, they banished me him.

He thought that if he had been allowed to stay on the dragon isle, he would have gotten what he needed to grow to the size of the black dragons that were the largest of his kind. The fact that he coloring was green and he was the size of the others of his coloring was irrelevant.

More About Him (Secrets or Public)

Medraut dreaded the long dark months of winter when travel was impossible and had to spend them trapped behind stone walls. Gale force winds prevented escape by wing. Snow clogged the mountain passes, and roof-high drifts blocked travel in human form by foot or horseback. That was if he found a horse that would not panic and run-off at the first sense of his true self. 

He had another problem with having to stay in a given place. The hamlet These past two cycles of the moon were the worst. The women in the remote hamlet where he spent the last cold season were homely, and not willing to share their favors

I hope you enjoyed this introduction to Medraut.

~till next time, Helen

 

Fire and Redemption Available At These Sites (If you favorite site isn't listed, check back. More are being added.)

 

If you're following other blogs in the challenge, here's the master list of the other participants


 

2024 L : Lair

 

There are different aspects to a lair, depending on the source you use. One defines  a lair as "a place where a wild animal, especially a fierce or dangerous one, lives." One example of lair is the volcano home of the Goddess

It also fits the abandoned cave complex of Trelleir's birth and the one discovered behind a waterfall. Another focuses on the use of the site as a resting place.  

But, my favorite definition is "a secluded or hidden place, especially a secret retreat; a hideout or hideaway." To me that perfectly describes Trelleir's cave home where he lived during his time among humans. To them he was a nobody, a hermit scholar who lived a short distance outside the village's protective wall. But his home held information collected from his numerous travels around the world. It also had a secret which he revealed to Deneas when she stopped by to say farewell on the eve of her quest.

A strike of a flintstone against the cave wall sent a spark into the torch which flared into a smokeless fire. Lighting a second torch, Trelleir handed it to Deneas and gestured her to a spot against the wall.

Slow steps took himr around the room, gathering a rock here, an iron rod there. Determined motions removed a row of books to reveal a hole in the wall the shape of the rod. Inserting the rod into the opening, he gave the key a sharp turn. The scraping of stone on stone sounded into the silence as a thick slab of gray rock slid into place to cover the entrance. By torchlight, he dropped shaped stones into the newly revealed depressions near the door. Repeating the actions sealed the chamber full of books behind another wall of rock.

The rod back in hand, he placed it into a hole at the back of the cave. Standing there, he bowed his head in silence. A sharp twist and a stone panel slid aside, revealing a tunnel leading deeper into the mountain. Without a word, he picked up his backpack and a second bag of additional torches. His nod sent Deneas into the tunnel.

He sensed her waiting … and watching. And that she not only felt the pain of leaving her home, but also for causing him to lose his. Trelleir wove his fingers into the ritual gesture of leave-taking Eneae had taught him. One last look at the only real home he had ever known, and he followed Deneas into the tunnel. The door slid closed behind him, plunging the area into a stygian darkness.

You have to read Fire and Amulet to see where the tunnel led. A hint? I love waterfalls.

~till next time, Helen

 

Buy the Tear Stone Collectors at Amazon and elsewhere.

Fire and Amulet - Paperback and Ebook 

Fire and Redemption Available At These Sites (If you favorite site isn't listed, check back. More are being added.)

 

If you're following other blogs in the challenge, here's the master list of the other participants.


 

2024 K : Kill or Be Killed

"K" is a difficult letter. Almost as much of a pain as "X." I admit that I usually don't enjoy killing characters. They have become too personal to me. However, that doesn't mean that the bad guys don't try. Or that the hero or heroine can't get emotionally invested in the fight. Or in other terms, instead of being killed, the characters take advantage of the fight to "school" their opponents.

From Fire and Redemption, an attempt to lure Karst into a duel, a conflict intended to result in his "accidental" death. Neither guy nor his master, Medraut, knew the training a dragon slayer underwent, nor the strength of the bonds of friendship.

Unlike her opponent’s draw of his blade, the zing of Deneas’ sword leaving its sheath rang out with a single peal. Flicks of her wrist moved the weapon through a series of double loops. The last rays of the setting sun sparked off the blade as she lifted it in salute. “Shall we begin?” she said softly.

Metal clanged on metal. The sound of fast and intense blows and equally violent counters echoed across the grass. Deneas blunted Gault’s attack and stepped back. Sweat streamed down the teamster’s face and chest, yet only light moisture dampened Deneas’ skin. As Gault shook his head to clear the liquid running into his eyes, Deneas waited for him to resume the fight. 

On the next round, his thrusts slowed and reflected the clumsiness of exhaustion. Like a barn cat toying with its prey, Deneas lured the clansman back and forth across the space between the picket line and Nightbolt. Where her opponent’s moves were meant to cut and maim, Deneas used only the flat side of her blade to get her point across. With each stinging blow, the night grew quieter until the only sounds were Gault’s labored breathing and harsh grunts when Deneas’ sword connected in a “lesson.” 

“Will you yield?” Deneas asked with a light tone. “And apologize to my friends?”

“No.” Gault forced the word out between clenched teeth. His sword waved in yet another attack.

Deneas’ weapon responded. The edge caught the man’s blade and rolled around it in a disarming move. The horses on the picket line shifted out of the way as the weapon flew into the grass.

A shove returned her sword into its scabbard. Although she knew the fight had not ended, Deneas turned her back on the unarmed man. Sometimes baiting can work both ways, she thought. The widening of Brial’s eyes heralded the ambush.

Deneas spun to face the enraged Gault who, arms outstretched, ran across the trampled grass. Deneas ducked beneath the swing. The hilt of her sword connected with her opponent’s chin with a solid thunk. Before Gault could hit the ground, she threw a second blow into his middle. His breath whooshed out in a single croak and he collapsed to the ground.

~till next time, Helen

 

 

Fire and Redemption Available At These Sites (If you favorite site isn't listed, check back. More are being added.)

 

 

 

If you're following other blogs in the challenge, here's the master list of the other participants.


 

2024 J : Journalling in Redemption

 

Although journal has been used for the letter "J" in other A to Z Challenge posts, this one pertains to the gift of a journal. From Fire and Redemption, a gift of heritage. More on what that heritage is was already hinted at in Ancestry.

Brial sat and watched as the other woman pulled a leather-wrapped package from her bag.

“I didn’t know why I packed this,” the healer said. “I just had the overwhelming need to bring it.” A smile broadened her face. “Now I know why I had the feeling. My old teacher was whispering in my ear.” The smile vanished and she held out the package. “I believe she wanted you to have this in case the ancestors decide we will not have some time together.”

No sooner had the package touched her fingers than a shock ran up Brial’s arm. “This is magic.”

“Open it, Brial,” Betrys encouraged.

With trembling fingers, Brial gently untied the string binding the leather and unfolded the protective sheath. Inside lay a bound book. Ancient pages filled with a neat, tight script told of someone’s loving care. But not all of it, she realized. The paper in the front half of the book was new ... and blank. Without saying a word, she asked for an explanation.

The healer remained silent until Brial wanted to scream, “Tell me.”

The second excerpt tells more of the story behind her gift.

The book was the diary of the woman who taught Betrys, and the woman before her in what Betrys described as a long line of healers. Each bequeathed the book of their knowledge, research, and healing secrets to the next in line.

“But,” Betrys had explained, “old Iseldir had no kin. No one to give the book to, so she gave it to me to pass on to someone I felt could use it.” And when Brial had tried to give it back the other woman added, “I inherited my mother’s book, and when it is time, I will pass it along to Leri. So you see I don’t need this one.”

I hope you enjoyed learning more about the journal that would become Brial's special gift. The 2020 and 2021 posts gave insight into how I as a writer use a journal. The 2022 post related to the journal kept by the dragon slayer, Deneas.

~till next time, Helen

 

 

Fire and Redemption Available At These Sites (If you favorite site isn't listed, check back. More are being added.)

 

 

 

If you're following other blogs in the challenge, here's the master list of the other participants


 

2024 I : Introduction #mfrwhooks

 

As the scribe for mages and dragons, introduction usually involves the readers first meeting of a given character. There is also the balancing act to make sure that the reader knows enough about a character from a previous volume to make sense in the current story. However, for the A to Z in April challenge, a different introduction was chosen, one that is actually titled, THE INTRODUCTION.

In the short story, a young girl learns about her heritage. Those telling the story are her grandmother and a statue in a secluded grove.

THE INTRODUCTION is a story of duty, connecting the past to the present, and most importantly, to family. Inspiration for this story came from a statue in a small town’s memorial park. Although originally dedicated to those who served in World War I, plaques were added in later years to honor the fallen of World War II and Vietnam.The work was originally published as a poem in a magazine for collectors of military memorability and the author chose to retain the work’s original byline which credited her ancestress when it was transformed into a short story in Hearth and Sand.

~till next time, Helen

Hearth and Sand: Stories from the Front Lines and the Homefront  Buy Links:   One Click Link to major book sellers.

 

 

 

If you're following other blogs in the challenge, here's the master list of the other participants

Since it's Wednesday, this post is doing double duty. The rest of the Book Hooks hop is at http://mfrwbookhooks.blogspot.com

 

2024 H : Healing by Dragon

 

If you have followed my blog for any length of time, you will know I love to fly with dragons. Besides the dragon-twin souls of the Dragshi, there are true dragons in that world as well as in the world of the Tear Stone Collectors. Most of the posts in this challenge relate to the world of the Tear Stone  Collectors and I will continue that theme. An excerpt from Fire and Redemption of a healing by dragon fire. 

To set the stage, fever has ravaged the caravan. The healer Betty's is afraid her earth magic won't be enough to stop the epidemic and Trelleir agrees to help. The traders build a two-room structure to serve as a treatment area. With Trelleir hidden behind a curtain, the healing begins.

To picture him in his dragon form, Trelleir is captured on the cover of Fire and Amulet. 

An author's note: The excerpt is slightly revised to hide a secret revealed at the end of Fire and Amulet so as not to spoil it for those who have not read the book.

Swirls of smoke obscured the outer room. Laid out on the floor were five still forms. Gray hair stringy with sweat covered two of the faces. The remaining shapes were smaller. Two were children, and the third was a youth showing the first signs of manhood. All those to be healed had damp cloths on their foreheads. That not only helped with the fever but covered their eyes.

Trelleir stepped up to the curtain. Deneas realized that in dragon form he didn’t have to enter the other room. By stretching his neck, he would be close enough for his healing fire to reach the sick. And reduce the risk of exposing his secret.

The blue flame Trelleir played over the still bodies reminded her of why he had taken on dragon form.

And as seen from the outside.

Smoke wafted from the vents above his head, reflecting the blue glow from within the healing place...

Heartbeats later the ebb and flow of the lightning stopped. Quiet followed to be interrupted by a thud and the sound of the lock bar being moved.Trelleir opened the door. “Come in.”

Feldt’s longer stride had him over the threshold with Karst close behind. The pale-faced healer sat on the floor with her back against the wall. Deneas knelt beside Betrys, checking her pulse.

~till next time, Helen

 

Buy the Tear Stone Collectors at Amazon and elsewhere.

Fire and Amulet - Paperback and Ebook 

Fire and Redemption Available At These Sites (If you favorite site isn't listed, check back. More are being added.)

 

If you're following other blogs in the challenge, here's the master list of the other participants.


 

2024 G: Ghost

"G" was supposed to be for "Ghost. The Cambridge English Dictionary defines as ghost as "the spirit of a dead person." In Fire and Redemption, apparitions invaded Deneas' dreams and appeared within the flames of her campfires. A previous A-Z Challenge post also pertained to an apparition that came to Deneas, but that one was recorded in Fire and Amulet.

In her dream, the fingers of fire flowing down the mountainside merged into a circle. A column of mist rose and solidified. The specter of a woman dressed in a white robe of the Goddess appeared in the heart of the pyre. But the woman in the fire could not be the Goddess of legend. Could it be her mother who intruded upon her dreams?

A lace cowl covered the specter’s head, disguising her features. Sparks flickered in the intricate design, bringing it to life. Within the veil, Deneas saw the image of a woman bending over to kiss a sleeping child. Deneas raised her hand to her cheek as she felt the ethereal caress. The specter was her mother, Adais. The vision was real. She had to believe her eyes. Now the question became, why did her mother appear?

The teardrop in the necklace Trelleir had given her mother warmed against Deneas’ skin bringing with it a summons to wake. Deneas grabbed for the scabbard lying beside her and cast out her senses into the darkness beyond the wagons. The last time her mother appeared in a vision was to save me from the claws of a deadly mountain cat. However, no predator, no danger, triggered an alert and she released her breath.

The apparition held up a hand and the flames died down until they only lapped around her ankles. Her gesture commanded Deneas to pay attention. A diaphanous thread leaped from the woman’s finger to encompass Deneas in its glow. A flick and the ribbon spiraled skyward taking all the anger and sadness that had filled Deneas’ dreams with it.Before Deneas’ could assimilate the shock, an eerily familiar voice came into her mind. “Grieve no more for me. My death will be avenged.” Satisfaction radiated from the specter. “Trelleir has been released from his vow not to avenge my death.”

~till next time, Helen

Buy the Tear Stone Collectors at Amazon and elsewhere.

Fire and Amulet - Paperback and Ebook 

Fire and Redemption Available At These Sites (If you favorite site isn't listed, check back. More are being added.)

  If you're following other blogs in the challenge, here's the master list of the other participants.


 

Obedience Will Be Enforced, Imprisoned in Stone #WeWriWa

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

Today's excerpt is from the dark fantasy Imprisoned in Stone. To set, the scene. Cuhlrich, the head of the Brethren has decreed a successor will be created. What Colwynn and the woman chosen for him want is irrelevant. Love is not required. If seduction fails, magic will enforce obedience.  Now the Sunday Snippet.
 

* * * *

​Excerpt

With two fingers Aine pulled a wild rose from the circlet of blooms in her hair. She held the flower to her lips and blew, wafting the delicate scent to Colwynn. A shock ran up his back. Icy cords of a spell wrapped around his heart. Between one beat and the next, the vice of the geas tightened. He grabbed for a lifeline—the ring his mother had worn most of her life. Light flashed from the garnet stone on his finger. 

* * * *



Buy Links: 1-Click to all Ebook Sites Or if you prefer paperback: Amazon .
​I hope you like the snippet I shared from Imprisoned in Stone. Be sure to read the other Weekend Writing Warriors blogs and the #SnippetSunday authors for more great reads. 

~till next time, Helen