Aquatics: One Pelted race was engineered for aquatic environments: the Naysha, who look like mermaids would if mermaids had sleek, hairless, slightly rodent-like faces and the lower bodies of dolphins.
Other Species
Humanoids: Humanity fills this niche, along with their estranged cousins, the esper-race Eldritch.
True Aliens: Of the true aliens, six are known: the shapeshifting Chatcaava, whose natural form is draconic (though they are mammals); the gentle heavyworlder Faulfenza, who are furred and generally regarded to be attractive; the Akubi, large dinosaur-like fliers with three sexes; the aquatic Platies, who look like colorful flatworms and can communicate reliably only with the Naysha, and the enigmatic Flitzbe, who are quasi-vegetative and resemble softly furred volleyballs that change color depending on their mood. New to the Alliance (and not pictured in the line-up) is the last race, the "Octopi" of Either Side of the Strand.
For a more detailed look into the species of the Alliance, a Peltedverse Guidebook is available through me; you can get it by signing up for my mailing list (from my website), by jumping on my Patreon, or by emailing me directly (haikujaguar at gmail).
Author Sketches
It's typical for me to do sketches while writing, a sort of mental doodling as I work out events and character arcs. These sketches are not intended to be the final word on what the characters look like! In fact, I usually have trouble pinning down people's looks. I just keep at it anyway.
Jahir and Vasiht'h are among some of my oldest characters in this setting. My original drawings of them... I think they date back to the early '90s! Needless to say there's a lot of bad art of them, by my standards, because there's a lot of art of them in general. Here are some of my favorites that pertain to Dreamstorm, or Jahir and Vasiht'h's years on Veta.
1. Vasiht'h on Starbase Veta: One of my favorite sketches of Vasiht'h, trotting past a bakery on the commons. I am amused that I took the trouble to tuck a doll into the arms of the sketchy child in the very back.
2. Vasiht'h Baking!: I couldn't not eventually do a picture of Vasiht'h in the kitchen of their apartment on Veta, making cookies. (Right? Right!)
3. The Girls: My first take on what all the kids look like in varying stages of adolescence. Top row, left to right: Kayla and Amaranth (before she trimmed her hair in this novel); then a much older Persy and Kuriel; and finally Meekie at the bottom (with a ghostly take at Nieve on the left there).
4. Kristyl and Gladdie: One of my favorite parts of writing pastoral novels is how vivid the supporting cast becomes. I loved writing Kristyl and Gladdie, so of course I had to draw them!
5. Reunited: How old was my knowledge of the events of this story? Apparently old enough for me to have drawn this reunion picture in 2002... (the publication date on the first edition of the novel is 2018, just for context...)
6. Vasiht'h with Scarf: I couldn't not include this holiday picture, or...
7. The Tree: ...this one, again, because this novel finally includes the case study it was drawn for, "The Christmas Tree."
8. The Veta Apartment Floorplan: Repeated in this book for people who want to refer to it!
9. Rexina Regina: And finally, because she's mentioned several times in this novel... here in all its eye-punching glory is Rexina Regina's author portrait. *beams*
Acknowledgments
As usual, books don't happen without a great deal of help. Here are my thank-yous this time around:
My copy-editors/first reader team: Phil, Brooke, lunarennui, Lee, Ruth, Maigen, May, and Kelsey. You all are awesome. Many typos and adverbs were slain through your efforts, and many potential misunderstandings clarified. *bows*
Writerfriend L.Rowyn. Who still listens to me whinge through every single manuscript I write. And who also checks my math. Particularly in regards to me finally quitting my day hobby. (Look, I listened!) (Also, read her books. They are awesome. I really, really love The Sun Etherium, but you can start with any of them and be happy. But if you like these books, you will love Sun Etherium particularly.)
Writerfriend Ursula Vernon, with whom I can whinge about the painful realities of life as a full-time freelancer. Many sangrias have been drunk while we shake our heads sadly. (Look her up as author T. Kingfisher! I liked Clockwork Boys, start there!)
My Patreon subscribers, particularly the ones who unlocked the Discord server chat and spend the day hanging out with me while I work. You're an amazing community. All the hearts.
And all my readers, who keep my family fed and kept asking me for more Dreamhealers. This book concludes the five-book arc of their early life... I hope it brings you joy!
Return to the Alliance
Dear Readers,
By now you've seen this section at least three other times, if you came into this series through the front door... and I hope you did, because by Book 4, you really need to know what happened in Books 1-3! And I also hope you're on your way to the final installment in the series, the novella Family, if you haven't already read it. Family is a "many years later" segment, and introduces characters and situations that are further developed in other series in the Peltedverse.
So let's shake this section up a little... with bullets! Here are your next stops, if you haven't already taken them:
The Her Instruments Series: A four-book space opera adventure that starts with Earthrise. An irascible human merchant captain! A rescued Eldritch prince who turns out to be more things than he says he is! (You're so surprised!) Their furry crew, space pirates, slavers, and hijinks! We even get to see the Eldritch homeworld!
The Princes' Game Series: A six-book series about the Chatcaavan war, pitting an Eldritch ambassador against a court of draconic shapeshifters who are also torturers and sociopaths, and bringing in an enormous cast of Pelted and Eldritch characters... including some you already know, like Jahir and Vasiht'h. Note: many triggers! If you prefer not to engage with more difficult work, or like to go into it prepared by spoilers, a Reader's Guide is available via Patreon, the author's mailing list, or if you ask! Begins with novel Even the Wingless.
The Stardancer Series: All done with Eldritch? You may want to move on to the Stardancer series, involving Alysha Forrest, captain of one of the Alliance's battlecruisers. Book 1, Alysha's Fall, is a dark prequel; you can check my website for keywords and warnings. But Book 2, Second, is more in keeping with the tone of the remainder of the series, which is sort of... original Star Trek meets furries in space.
Claws and Starships: This is a standalone collection of shorts set in the Peltedverse, and contains one of my favorite novellas, A Distant Sun (sometimes titled Broken Chains), about a Pelted history teacher and the high schoolers he's educating about their origins.
If you have eaten the Peltedverse whole (so much chewing!), you might detour somewhere else in my backlist. I recommend trying my romance novels, which start with Thief of Songs, or visiting my aliens: the trigendered Jokka, with The Worth of a Shell, or the Ai-Naidar with The Aphorisms of Kherishdar, where conlangers will delight.
New books in the Peltedverse are coming! Patreon patrons get sneak peeks and frequent updates on those works-in-progress, or you can sign up for my newsletter to be alerted when new books are done and ready for purchase!
-M
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Daughter of two Cuban political exiles, M.C.A. Hogarth was born a foreigner in the American melting pot and has had a fascination for the gaps in cultures and the bridges that span them ever since. She has been many things—web database architect, product manager, technical writer and massage therapist—but is currently a full-time parent, artist, writer and anthropologist to aliens, both human and otherwise. She is the author of over 50 titles in the genres of science fiction, fantasy, humor and romance.
The Dreamhealers series is only one of the many stories set in the Pelted universe; more information is available on the author’s website. You can also sign up for the author’s monthly newsletter to be notified of new releases.
mcahogarth.org
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Also by M.C.A. Hogarth
Alysha Forrest
Who Is Willing
Either Side of the Strand
Blood Ladders
An Heir to Thorns and Steel
By Vow and Royal Bloodshed
On Wings of Bone and Glass
Her Instruments
Earthrise
Rose Point (Her Instruments Book 2)
Laisrathera (Her Instruments 3)
A Rose Point Holiday
Princes' Game
Even the Wingless
Some Things Transcend
Amulet Rampant
Only the Open
In Extremis
From Ruins
Spots the Space Marine
Spots the Space Marine: Defense of the Fiddler
Spots the Space Marine: Letters
The Books of Kherishdar
The Aphorisms of Kherishdar
The Admonishments of Kherishdar
Black Blossom
The Dreamhealers Duology
Mindtouch (The Dreamhealers 1)
Mindline (The Dreamhealers 2)
Dreamhearth
Dreamstorm
The Godkindred Saga
Flight of the Godkin Griffin
The Godson's Triumph
The Stone Moon Trilogy
The Worth of a Shell
Pearl in the Void
A Bloom in the North
Twin Kingdoms Romances
Thief of Songs
Cantor for Pearls
Standalone
Alysha's Fall
Anadi Dolls
A Trifold Spiral Knot
Dark Lighthouse
Fire in the Void
Freedom, Spiced and Drunk
His Neuter Face
In the Line of Duty
Money for Sorrow, Made Joy
New Stories
Season's Meaning
Second
Stone Moon, Silk Scarves
Stormfront
Unspeakable
A Rosary of Stones and Thorns
Claws and Starships
Family
From Spark to Finish: Running Your Kickstarter Campaign
The Smell of Intelligence
Unknowable
Clays Beneath the Skies
Her Instruments Box Set, Books 1-4: Earthrise, Rose Point, Laisrathera, and A Rose Point Holiday
Business for the Right-Brained: A Guide for Artists, Writers, Musicians, Dancers, Crafters, and All the Other Dreamers
The Blood Ladders Box Set, Books 1-3: An Heir to Thorns and Steel, By Vow and Royal Bloodshed, and On Wings of Bone and Glass
Dreamstorm Page 28