by Martha Carr
There was a knock at her cottage door, followed by a sharp bark, Leira turned towards the door.
Mitzi, another regular, was on the patio and as usual, brought her schnauzer Lemon with her.
“One minute!” Leira called out.
She hesitated, tapped her foot, not sure what to do. “I can’t answer that. Lemon will sniff you out. What…”
She looked down in time to see the troll unfurl itself and its bright green eyes pop open.
Just like my doll, thought Leira. The troll climbed up, then leapt out of her pocket and rolled down the side of her leg, landing right next to her, just as Mitzi opened her front door.
“Wait!” yelled Leira, not sure just who or what might be in danger, and whether she was responsible for the well-being of a troll.
“Dammit,” she whispered. “I have to protect something that’s the size of a dog treat.”
Mitzi pushed the door the rest of the way open, already coming inside. Lemon stood next to her, yipping as loudly as possible, wagging her tail, ready to play.
From behind Leira's left leg, the troll let out a high-pitched jumble of sounds and shook itself all over till it practically vibrated, ballooning into a large furry animal that resembled an oversized dog, a streak of bright green hair down its back.
Leira was too shocked to do anything at first as the troll barked and growled, its ears pinned back close to its head. Leira lunged for the door, pushing Mitzi and Lemon back outside, slamming the door shut, leaving them on the other side, safe from whatever was about to happen.
She could feel her heart pounding in her chest as she turned to look at the large troll…dog?!
“No!” she said, as firmly as she could, wagging a finger at the troll.
“You got a dog!” Mitzi yelled through the door. “A very big dog! Why didn’t you tell me? Is it a rescue?” Lemon continued to bark but it was now mixed with whimpering.
“Just dog sitting for a friend!” Leira shouted back over her shoulder to the door.
“Nice green hair! Totally Austin,” Mitzi yelled through the door, Lemon’s yapping growing louder for a moment. The troll leaned against Leira, smiling up and panting.
“Good, um, dog?” Leira said quietly as she looked through the peephole. Mitzi was still there. “I can’t be totally crazy if Mitzi can see you too.”
“Yeah, yeah, dog sitting. Just staying the night,” she replied through the door, turning in time to see the troll shrinking back to his tiny body. “Oh geez,” she mumbled. “What was that? I’m in over my head and I don’t have time for this.”
The troll cackled and scaled her leg easily, holding onto her pants as it found its way back into her pocket, settling back in and shutting its eyes. A tuft of green hair poking out.
Leira looked down at her pocket and back up at her door. “Uh, sorry, Mitzi, another time.”
“No problem. Let me know if you keep him longer. Have to get you some toys.”
She waited until Lemon’s barking got far enough away before turning the lock on her door. That move would make most of the regulars suspicious if they noticed.
She looked down at the green hair. “I don’t suppose you come with an instruction manual?” She stepped over and sat on her couch. “Do you even understand what I’m saying? How do I get you to stay in one place? Bert!” she yelled. “Come back!” She immediately regretted the yelling, and cringed, waiting to see if anyone else would knock at her door… or worse, have the troll change into something else.
The troll shivered in her pocket. Leira waited a minute and blew out a breath as she cautiously settled back on her sofa, trying not to disturb the troll. She slid her hand carefully into her pocket and eased the sleeping troll out and stared at it. “I have too much to do and very little time, to let you get in the way.”
The troll let out a trill.
Leira rolled her eyes. “Well, hell.” She stood up and carried the troll in the palm of her hand, cradling its little warm body as she walked to her closet and found a shoebox, dumping out a pair of heels she’d never wear anyway. She took a washcloth from the bathroom and put it in the box, tucking the small troll in, and put the box in the center of her bed.
As quietly as she could, glancing over her shoulder, Leira unlocked the lockbox and got her gun, then grabbed her keys. She noticed the spilled beer was gone.
Score one for magical friends.
Taking one last look to make sure the troll was still sleeping she bit her bottom lip and thought about what to do next. She wanted to catch Bill Somers.
Catching people who would harm someone else was one of the reasons she got into the profession in the first place.
Asshole killers that crossed into other worlds and came back with magic to screw up her town? Yeah, she was going to find him and bring him in.
Besides, even though the queen was a real bitch so far, she could cut her some slack. Even Leira wasn’t that cut off from her feelings to know about the pain of a grieving mother.
At least, she didn’t think she was.
Leira glanced at the box on her bed and sighed. She didn’t want to know what kind of trouble ignoring a troll might unleash, so troll owner was going to have to fit into the manhunt somehow. That was going to be a new twist.
She looked down at her hand, at her mom’s ring. “The moment I get you Bill Somers, I get mom out of the psych ward, and bring her home.”
Leira almost smiled.
There were still a few hours left in the evening.
She thought about what she needed to do. I’ll start with Lavender Rock. Who knows? I might get lucky and find the beginning of a trail. I’m coming for you, Bill Somers.
She left the cottage, determined, heading toward the Mustang.
A few moments later the front door opened and she was back, muttering. “Leira, you’re a goddammed idiot,” as she walked into her bedroom and grabbed the box with the troll and the lid.
Setting the lid firmly on the box, she strode back out of the small house and closed the door behind her once again.
Leaving a troll behind to cause mischief would not be a good start to finding this killer.
FINIS
IN 72 HOURS,
LEIRA IS BACK
WHEN WE RELEASE …
Author Notes - Martha Carr
Written 07/30/17
Here we are at the first book (Book 0) in the new universe and it feels like a big deal. Hell, it is a big deal. When I was twenty-nine years old, newly divorced with a baby boy, the wickedly funny Louie, I took a sharp right in the career thing. I went from being a retail stockbroker to being a writer.
Family was not thrilled.
I no longer cared. Something inside of me had changed. If I had to struggle, so be it, but I was going to walk my own path, come what may.
Louie even came along on a lot of my first writing assignments, patiently sitting in his stroller. He was there as a five-year-old at some of my first book signings. He would look up at shoppers and say, “Are you going to buy my mom’s book?”
That all started thirty years ago.
Along the way, I’ve written for the Washington Post, spent time on US orphanages and wrote a neat little book about it, a few novels, a national column and a lot of financial struggle. Wouldn’t trade a minute of it because I chose it. Whether or not everyone agreed with it, I was on the path to the place I wanted to be.
That mattered more.
And I’ve gotten almost every piece of that dream. Traditionally published critically acclaimed fiction and non-fiction, national column, pieces in prominent publications, fans of my work.
One thing that has never quite been there, though is the financial success.
The constant refiguring to make sure the bills were paid and Louie had what he needed took its toll and there were days I had to ask myself if I could get up and do it again.
The answer was always, you’re a writer, keep going.
Then I met Michael Anderle and listened to his
story about how to write and how to market fiction. He was a revelation in so many ways. I had been waiting for someone like him. I knew it when I heard him speak and it has been confirmed the more I get to know him.
He took all of my abilities, taught me the missing pieces, cheered me on when I wondered if I could learn all of it, and shoved me out there – front and center – knowing it will all succeed. On the harder days of building this universe with him, I trusted his vision and just kept going – to this day.
Here we are.
I keep thinking about that young mother that I was who had the nerve to tell everyone, “No, I’m going to do this my way,” and how much courage that must have taken, even if I didn’t see it then. I want to go back and thank her for that one big act.
I want to tell her, it all turns out even better than okay, because you took that one giant step for us.
You believed in that dream like it was worth everything else, and as it turns out, it was. I’ve had 30 years of great friends, weird and wonderful adventures, and touched a lot of lives with the words that I’ve written.
So, if you’re reading these author notes and you’re someone who’s wondering about that dream that you have burning a hole inside of you but you wonder…?
Go for it!
Some day you will meet your own Michael Anderle (the way Michael keeps creating new things – it may even be Michael himself!) and you’ll have a GIANT ADVENTURE and all the years in between will be full of love, laughter, weirdness, friends, family, tears, struggles, triumphs and wonderful things that take your breath away. Don’t miss the ride – it is everything. Enjoy the new universe!
More adventures to follow.
Author Notes - Michael Anderle
July 30th, 2017
Exactly one year ago tomorrow (the day we release Quest for Magic) I was speaking in Austin Texas, telling a room full of writers about my rise to making a significant amount of money that month on Amazon. Something I had accomplished it in nine months.
Many were interested, but few believed.
Out of the 70-80 people in attendance, exactly three (3) came up to me afterwards to talk. Many left because the talk had lasted a long time and they needed to get home. Some had left because they were sure this Michael Anderle was full of crap.
A few WANTED Michael Anderle to be full of crap.
I didn’t hold back any punches (I don’t think – there is a video of me talking that night in Austin on YouTube – just search for me.) What I didn’t do was say it was easy, or provide a simple way to do what I had accomplished (because there isn’t one.)
But, one of those three people that evening that came up to ask me questions was Martha Carr.
I won’t go through all of the details, but Martha pushed out six books in her thriller series, some short stories and a LOT of effort that I found worthy of support in the next six months.
She didn’t ask me to join the Oriceran Universe, I asked HER if she would like to do it with me. So, before the stories get changed (hey, we are writers, it’s what we do) I want to lay that truth down in stone.
A couple of weeks ago, as we were trying to tie up the loose ends on this book, she mentioned we were coming up on our 1-year anniversary and we jointly agreed.
It would be majorly cool to kick off our Universe one year to the day of that talk.
Look out world, History is going to reveal Itself…
The Revelations are being shared…
Michael Anderle
My Facebook Announcement
Once Upon A Time…
A married father of three boys counted reading as his hobby… A LOT of reading. Like most who loved to read, he dreamed of actually putting a book out into the world one day.
But never did.
Until 2015, that is.
There are a lot of stories in the world, and well over 5,000,000 on Amazon alone. However, our intrepid author didn’t care. He wasn’t even sure anyone would read his story so he didn’t spend much on a cover, or editing… Or hell, he didn’t even spend much time re-writing over and over.
He just put pedal to the metal and wrote the hell out of three stories.
But, the stories about Bethany Anne resonated. First, a few fans took a chance on this ‘new guy’. They gave him some good reviews (while telling him to edit his stuff, better.)
And he took it to heart.
Over the next year, this little author, his series, AND his fans, became one of the most talked about groups in Indie publishing. Hell, his name is more expensive to bid on for marketing on Amazon because other authors want HIS fans to read their stuff.
Then, December of 2016 happened and the Universe blew the hell UP!
Fan’s wanted more stories, so the “Ages” were created. The Second Dark Ages (Post Apoc), The Age of Magic (Fantasy), The Age of Expansion (Sci-fi) and now the Age of Madness (Horror / Zombie)…
But there was a small problem.
The author was working to finish his own series, and yet, he wanted to play with fantasy… Not the Age of Magic fantasy…
Something Different.
Something that had been lurking in the dark recesses of his mind over the last ten years.
He wanted to tell a new story of Earth’s past, Earth’s Present… and a setup to create a new Earth’s future.
With characters that you love, and a few you love to hate.
But this time, the reason for the change isn’t an alien race out to enslave the galaxy.
No, it’s a world and something called The Great Year.
25,800 years.
It’s Magic, It’s Energy. It’s Elves and Dwarfs and something hidden for millenium.
It’s Oriceran.
Those on Oriceran have changed Earth’s past, and now those on Earth are going to change their future.
Austin Police Detective Leira Berens is not normal, but even she has no idea why. The truth has been hidden for thousands of years.
Now, an Elven Prince’s murder will change worlds and those that fight for truth will fight those who hide it.
I’m incredibly excited (and very anxious) to reveal Quest For Magic (Book 0) and Waking Magic (Book 01) Written with Co-Universe Creator Martha Carr arrives Tomorrow, and Thursday!
Can YOU handle the truth?
Want more?
Join the email list here:
http://oriceran.com/email/
Find the Oriceran Universe on Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/OriceranUniverse/
Find the Oriceran Universe on Pinterest:
https://www.pinterest.com/lmbpn/pins/
The email list will be a way to share upcoming news and let you know about giveaways and other fun stuff. The Facebook group is a way for us to connect faster – in other words, a chat, plus a way to share new spy tools, ways to keep your information safe, and other cool information and stories. Plus, from time to time We’ll share other great indie authors’ upcoming worlds of magic and adventure. Signing up for the email list is an easy way to ensure you receive all of the big news and make sure you don’t miss any major releases or updates.
Enjoy the new adventure!
Martha Carr and Michael Anderle 2017
Martha Carr Social
Website: http://oriceran.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LeiraChronicles/
Michael Anderle Social
Website: http://kurtherianbooks.com/
Email List: http://kurtherianbooks.com/email-list/
Facebook Here: https://www.facebook.com/TheKurtherianGambitBooks/
Michael Anderle
Kurtherian Gambit Series Titles Include:
First Arc
Death Becomes Her (01) - Queen Bitch (02) - Love Lost (03) - Bite This (04)
Never Forsaken (05) - Under My Heel (06) Kneel Or Die (07)
Second Arc
We Will Build (08) - It’s Hell To Choose (09) - Release The Dogs of War (10)
Sued For Peace (11) - We Have Contac
t (12) - My Ride is a Bitch (13)
Don’t Cross This Line (14)
Third Arc (Due 2017)
Never Submit (15) - Never Surrender (16) - Forever Defend (17)
Might Makes Right (18) - Ahead Full (19) - Capture Death (20)
Life Goes On (21)
**New Series**
The Second Dark Ages
The Dark Messiah (01)
The Dark Knight (02)
The Boris Chronicles
* With Paul C. Middleton *
Evacuation
Retaliation
Revelation
Restitution 2017
Reclaiming Honor
* With JUSTIN SLOAN *
Justice Is Calling (01)
Claimed By Honor (02)
Judgement Has Fallen (03)
Angel of Reckoning (04)
The Etheric Academy
* With TS PAUL *
ALPHA CLASS (01)
ALPHA CLASS (02)
ALPHA CLASS (03) Coming soon
Terry Henry “TH” Walton Chronicles
* With CRAIG MARTELLE *
Nomad Found (01)
Nomad Redeemed (02)
Nomad Unleashed (03)
Nomad Supreme (04)
Nomad’s Fury (05)
Nomad’s Justice (06)