by Martha Carr
“Get out of my sight.”
“Although neither of us is subject to your commands, Ba’rael, we will happily take our leave. Enjoy your last two weeks of semi-power.” L’zar flashed her another grin, then gestured for Cheyenne to join him.
Ember fell in beside Cheyenne as they passed the altar and the last Nimlothar tree, which was still faintly pulsing.
L’zar leaned toward his daughter and muttered, “That was a valiant attempt but quite unnecessary.”
“To keep them safe? Why was that unnecessary?”
“When you returned your marandúr, all of Ambar’ogúl felt it. Wait ‘til we walk through the streets after this. Hangivol is going to be a very different place.”
“Better or worse?”
“That depends. For us? I’d say things have vastly improved. Well done.”
Behind them, the Crown growled and raised her hands, mumbling a spell.
“Ignore her. Keep walking.”
“How much magic does she have left?”
L’zar tilted his head from side to side with a noncommittal hum. “Enough to poke around with a sharp stick. Not much more than that, though.”
A green light flashed behind them, filling the courtyard. “L’zar Verdys, Cu’ón of Hangivol, Dark Grinning Weaver and O’gúl Blood Thief, I hereby banish you from the soil of Ambar’ogúl. May you never set foot in the heart again. May the deathflame consume your flesh and your memory if you dare press against the threads I now weave around the traitor!”
The green light flashed again and grew behind them. L’zar didn’t bother to turn around when the Crown’s spell hit his back, sending green lines of magic crackling across his flesh. He paused, shuddered, and chuckled softly. “Huh. Tickles.”
“What just happened?”
“Keep walking.”
“L’zar.”
He nodded slowly and pointed at the archway ahead of them. “Pretty much exactly what it sounded like, Cheyenne. Once I leave Ambar’ogúl, if I try to come back, I’m a dead drow.”
“She can’t do that.” Cheyenne started to turn around, but he grabbed her arm and squeezed with just enough pressure to get her attention.
His golden eyes flicked toward her, and he leaned closer. “Come on, Cheyenne. No skin off my back. I wasn’t planning on staying long anyway. This world isn’t big enough for her and me to inhabit at the same time, and I never liked my bitch of a sister anyway.”
“Your what?” Cheyenne jerked her arm out of his grip, and he ushered her through the archway with a chuckle.
Ember stared at them both as she floated along with them.
“Oh, yeah. You’re the rightful heir to the O’gúl Crown, Cheyenne, not just by challenge but by blood. Drow royalty and everything.”
“No.”
“Yes.” They moved down the corridor, which was lit by loose magical flames hovering against the walls. “It can’t be that hard to believe. Honestly, what we need is strong leadership on Earth, too. That’ll be part of your decision anyway when you make it. There’s time.”
“And what kind of screwed-up decision is that?”
He clasped his hands behind his back and took a deep breath as he led his halfling daughter and her fae Nós Aní through the halls of the Crown’s Heart. “Whether you’d like to take the throne in Ambar’ogúl or maintain drow royalty on Earth. Knowing you, I’d say you’re capable of both, but there might be some blowback.”
Cheyenne stared blankly at the stone floor in front of them. What the hell am I gonna do on a throne? “You can’t be serious.”
“I’m as serious as I’ll ever be, Cheyenne. You’re my daughter.” L’zar glanced at her with the only smile she’d seen him give that didn’t make him look insane. “You’re the bridge between two worlds.”
Overthrowing the O’gúl Crown is just the beginning. What happens next is a whole different game. Join Cheyenne as her adventures continue in The Drow Grew Stronger.
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Dark Is Her Nature
For Hire: Teachers for special school in Virginia countryside.
Must be able to handle teenagers with special abilities.
Cannot be afraid to discipline werewolves, wizards, elves and other assorted hormonal teens.
Apply at the School of Necessary Magic.
AVAILABLE ON AMAZON RETAILERS AND IN KINDLE UNLIMITED!
The Magic Compass
If smart phones and GPS rule the world - why am I hunting a magic compass to save the planet?
Austin Detective Maggie Parker has seen some weird things in her day, but finding a surly gnome rooting through her garage beats all.
Her world is about to be turned upside down in a frantic search for 4 Elementals.
Each one has an artifact that can keep the Earth humming along, but they need her to unite them first.
Unless the forces against her get there first.
AVAILABLE ON AMAZON AND IN KINDLE UNLIMITED!
Author Notes - Martha Carr
May 8, 2020
When it comes to trends, I tend to be very middle America. It will never matter whether I have a lot of money or none at all. What I like to wear, do, eat – the whole shebang – will never be the outer edge of what’s to come, but instead a reliable barometer of what the masses of middle class are loving now.
That’s how I know that my closet, which is three levels of sizes, is probably pretty typical. There was that short period around 2010 when it was all one size and a size I liked. Man, those were the days. I’d pass plate glass windows and sneak a peek just to see if maybe I was wrong and suddenly, I was not the size I always wanted to be. Nirvana. True to my middle class soul, it wasn’t a tiny size, it was just perfect for me.
Just before quarantine I was on a tear, baking up a storm. I guess I actually was a little early on one trend. All the sampling of what I made lead to a lot of extra pounds and having to get out the largest set of clothes. When sheltering at home began, I kind of snapped awake to what I had been doing. And I wanted something good to come out of the weeks, maybe months of this life changing event. That and I read obesity could make surviving the virus a little more difficult. There was so much I could do nothing about, but here was at least one thing I could change - should change – and maybe get back to that one wardrobe again.
So far I’m down eight pounds, hard won and it feels good. I’m taking long walks the equivalent of a 5k, 3.1 miles, which gets me outside, helps clear my head and works toward that goal. I’m not into level number two yet but it’s getting close and maybe by the time the world has righted itself again, I’ll even be in level one. I can’t wait to go shopping in my closet. The goal won’t light the world on fire and in the scheme of things won’t even change my life all that much. But still, worth doing and will make things easier just enough. I’ll take it. More adventures to follow.
Author Notes - Michael Anderle
June 14, 2020
Going shopping in my closet.
Ok, now THAT is an interesting statement and not something I can do, or do well. A couple of years ago (more like four), I went through a phase where I would wear the same type of clothes every day.
I took the idea (modified for myself) from Steve Jobs, who was known for his black turtleneck, blue jeans, and New Balance shoes. In fact, many successful people wear the same clothes.
Why is that? The consensus is decision fatigue. If you get up at the same time, eat the same food, and wear the same clothes (you just buy many of the same products), then each day, you don’t start off with decision fatigue.
For me, I didn’t give two cents to what I looked like every day, so, I chose a black t-shirt (reduced the author-belly look), jeans, and whatever shoes I wanted for my normal outfi
t.
Then, I got “bigger,” and the t-shirts got a little worn out. I went looking for larger black t-shirts and bought them in packs until I found out that wasn’t a good thing. They were cheap and often got holes after a couple of washings.
Now my black t-shirt drawer was full of different styles of black t-shirts. Shit! I couldn’t even get “wear the same clothes each day” to work for me.
Don’t even ask me about jeans. When you do the math, my black t-shirt, jeans, and a pair of sneakers became something like one of seventy-two different decisions (six brands of t-shirts, four types of blue jeans, and three sneakers.)
Then, LMBPN went and purchased some collared Under Armour shirts, and I fell in LOVE with them. Not only did they hide the author-belly problem, they were a great fabric, had our brand, and were easy to choose.
Until my wife got tired of me wearing them all of the time.
It seems that my spouse might have wanted to see a husband with a bit of fashion sense (I have very little) and didn’t approve of years of black, blue, and sneakers.
She found out I liked old-school metal and rock band t-shirts and bought me something like five one time. I knew right then that if she was willing to give me old-looking rock t-shirts, I needed to clean up my only black motif.
So I did.
I’m now wearing a white Under Armour LMBPN Publishing collared shirt.
Baby steps people, baby steps.
Diary June 14 – 20, 2020
So, Las Vegas is a little weird right now. You have pockets of people who are very Covid-19-aware around the valley area, and then you have the casinos. Some of the casinos are very Covid aware and more stringent, and others aren’t.
No casino (that I’ve been to) mandates wearing a mask.
The Station Casinos shoot that temperature gauge at you when you enter their establishment but are pretty open after that.
Caesar’s Hotel and Casino (for this latest weekend) was packed with people, and they try to encourage social distancing, but occasionally people get a little close together—and by occasionally, I mean all of Friday night.
I can’t speak to Saturday or Saturday night since I didn’t get to continue playing. My budget was used up, so I worked and slept most of Saturday, catching up from some mixed up sleep during the week.
I’m at the Green Valley Hotel and Casino. Sitting in the food court, I can see at least twelve people playing on the casino floor. The mask to no-mask ratio seems to be about even, except for the person who has a mask, but is smoking, so the mask is pulled down.
I’m going to count that as a no-mask.
Here in the food court, the mask ratio is about one person with a mask to twenty without one.
We are fifteen feet from the slot machines.
I get why those of us in the food court have no masks (and there is no difference when I go to regular restaurants. Once a person sits down at a table, the masks come off almost immediately.)
I think I will be about done with these updates starting next week. Enough of my diary entries have dealt with Covid-19 and Las Vegas, it’s time to just…talk about other stuff.
Like books, maybe?
Sometimes, it’s hard to remember what readers want to hear about in our (author and publisher) lives. I eat, sleep, and breathe publishing and stories at this point in my career, and what’s normal to me (and seems like would be boring to you) is probably not.
As always, THANK YOU for reading our stories. We would not be able to create the wonderful stories without readers like you supporting us!
Ad Aeternitatem,
Michael Anderle
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Other Books By Martha Carr
Series in the Oriceran Universe:
THE LEIRA CHRONICLES
I FEAR NO EVIL
REWRITING JUSTICE
SCHOOL OF NECESSARY MAGIC
SCHOOL OF NECESSARY MAGIC: RAINE CAMPBELL
ALISON BROWNSTONE
THE DANIEL CODEX SERIES
FEDERAL AGENTS OF MAGIC
SCIONS OF MAGIC
THE UNBELIEVABLE MR. BROWNSTONE
THE KACY CHRONICLES
MIDWEST MAGIC CHRONICLES
SOUL STONE MAGE
THE FAIRHAVEN CHRONICLES
The Terranavis Universe
THE WITCHES OF PRESSLER STREET
THE ADVENTURES OF FINNEGAN DRAGONBENDER
THE ADVENTURES OF MAGGIE PARKER
THE LONE VALKYRIE
Other series:
THE LAST VAMPIRE
THE WITCH NEXT DOOR
OTHER BOOKS BY JUDITH BERENS
OTHER BOOKS BY MARTHA CARR
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Books By Michael Anderle
For a complete list of books by Michael Anderle, please visit:
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