Dreamhearth
Page 30
While I’ll spare you the poor attempt at the comic version, I did find some sketches of the Tam-illee and Eldritch who inspired HEALED BY HER IMMORTAL HEART, drawn by Teen Me. I hope you’ll enjoy this evidence of their long lineage. I know Teen Me would be tickled to have any part of what she’s done show up in a Real Book at last. I intend it as an homage, and with utmost affection, and I know she knows it.
Here’s to our earliest attempts at Story. Even before we have the tools, we know the way. To all the Rexinas of the world: rock on.
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 Dreamhearth, 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. The Tree: Jahir and Vasiht'h in winter, on the couch. This piece actually goes with a later case study, which readers who continue onto Book 4 will find in the back of the book.
3. Sehvi: A quick, toony sketch of Vasiht'h's favorite sister.
4. The Veta Apartment: Here's a floor plan of the Healer's Knot after the two have converted it to their living space. This apartment remains their home for almost a decade.
5. Dreamhearth Teaser: Finally, in case you missed the teaser graphic for the book, here's the pair in the commons again, this time in color!
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: Maigen, Cap, Bertha, Therapist Jenn, Kythryne, and Artist Jen. Special thanks to Therapist Jenn who helped me correlate all the research I did on therapy with actual experience. All the hearts.
My Pelted Kickstarter backers, particularly those who bought cameos in this book. I hope you all enjoyed seeing your Pelted alter-egos as much as I did writing them!
My friends in the Furry Writers' Guild, who let me hang out with them even though I write about space elves, aliens, and humans along with my furries. Y'all are the most fun.
Writerfriend L.Rowyn for listening to me whinge through every. Single. Manuscript I write. The patience of saints, you all. (Also, read her books. They are awesome.) And writerfriend Ursula Vernon, for not being sure why she likes Vasiht'h and Jahir so much, but recommending them to people ceaselessly with adorable expressions of puzzlement. Her books are also awesome, so you should read them too.
My Patreon chat subscribers, who listened to me agonize over the recipe and peered at my lumpy scone photos and reassured me that it wasn't all in vain.
And all my readers, who keep my family fed and kept asking me for more Dreamhealers. I listen! Honest! One more after this!
Return to the Alliance
Dear Readers,
There are several series and interlocking storylines set in the universe of the Pelted. Most of these involve the long lead-up to the conflict with the Chatcaava, barely mentioned in the Dreamhealer's Saga, and by their nature are less pastoral than the story of how Jahir and Vasiht'h met. Of the various offerings, Earthrise, Book 1 of the Her Instruments trilogy, is a more traditional space operatic adventure with a strong romance subplot, and involves the irascible human captain of the perpetually underfunded merchant Vessel, the TMS Earthrise, and what happens to her when she ends up rescuing an Eldritch prince. I highly recommend moving on to this series next, if you haven't read it yet! Or take a side-tour and pick up my collection of Pelted short fiction, Claws and Starships.
For those of you who want darker fare, Even the Wingless goes straight into the Chatcaavan Empire itself to show us the iniquity that the Alliance will be facing, and pits an Eldritch ambassador against an entire court of torturers and sociopaths. It is a tense, bloody, and violent book, and sets up the events that will affect the course of intergalactic history. It is, however, full of triggers, and while Jahir and Vasiht'h show up later in Book 2 of Lisinthir's series, it remains a difficult set of books. Readers, beware! Even our gentle healers are subject to their own internal pressures and problems. They survive and come out stronger in the end, but some of you may want to skip the journey. If you would prefer not to engage with more difficult work, or prefer to go into it prepared by spoilers, a Reader's Guide is available via Patreon, the author's mailing list, or if you ask!
Our intrepid mindhealers will return again in one more more Dreamhealers story (Dreamstorm), in addition to "Family" which is already available. I also hope to write the story of other Eldritch immigrants like Sediryl. Those will be coming soon! Or if you'd like to detour somewhere more gentle, I recommend trying my romance novel, Thief of Songs, or visiting Kherishdar with The Aphorisms of Kherishdar.
Stay tuned! Or if you prefer, sign up for my newsletter to be alerted when new books arrive!
-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 quarterly newsletter to be notified of new releases.
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