“I—” he started, then slammed his jaw shut. If he argued too much, she might not finish the tale with him. “All right, Gran-mama. I will see you soon.”
“Good night, love,” she whispered as she kissed him gently on the cheek and rose to her feet. She took the tome in her hands and made her way to the door, turning to watch him as she did every night of her visits. He was pensive this time, and she hoped that he was taking her advice. She knew he needed to keep an open mind and heart. If he shut down too early in the face of pain, then he would be no different than any of the heartless kings who had ruled the lands of Hathreneir and Kallisor.
“No,” she muttered to herself. “He will understand one day. He must.”
Acknowledgements
The journey of Dariak and the others is only one part of the whole adventure. Putting these stories together is a delight for me and I am honored by all of you who have picked up the book and joined the story. Thank you, my readers, for your time, your comments, and your reviews. Without you bringing the characters to life in your mind’s eye, they’re left simply waiting on the page.
I would like to thank Kevin for all his love and support as I bring these stories to the world. You’ve encouraged me every step of the way, helping me to keep my own journey moving forward.
To my editor, Rochelle Deans, I am simply just going to quickly take this moment to offer some rather very great praise. (I couldn’t resist!) Thank you for helping me to identify areas for improvement and for suggesting a change that led to a massive overhaul, which improved the flow of the story.
To Jared Reed, who worked with me during the writing of the novel and for crafting such beautiful music, thank you for each track you shared with me. Every note inspired me ever onward.
To Eric, thank you for all the writing support and advice. You have helped to keep me grounded and focused on all the behind-the-scenes work that goes into releasing a book. I am grateful for our letters and I hope one day to meet up with you in Gythe as you finish your own novels.
To my cover artist, Fyodor Ananiev, you’ve truly helped to bring my world and characters to life. Yours is a unique talent and I am grateful that we have been such a great team.
To my beta readers, Jared, Joseph, and Jenny, your input has helped me to ensure the story flows and is entertaining. Every piece of advice has been wonderful and I’m so thankful to have you.
To my students, thank you for filling every day with excitement and for keeping me on my toes. You’ll never fully realize how you keep my heart young and happy, and my mind fresh and creative.
To my friends, thanks for always inspiring me, for the belly-laughs over games, for the delicious nights out, and for sharing your lives with me.
To my family, I thank you for all the laughter and memories through the years, for always supporting me, and for reminding me that life is full of such wonder.
Websites of Note
Stephen J. Wolf (author)
Red Jade Book Series: tinyurl.com/redjadeseries
Book 1: Journeys in Kallisor: tinyurl.com/kallisor
Book 2: The Shattered Shards: tinyurl.com/shatteredshards
Book 3: The Assembly: tinyurl.com/rjassembly
Book 4: The Forgotten Tribe: tinyurl.com/forgottentribe
Book 5: Delminor’s Trials [forthcoming]
Red Jade site: Red-Jade.com
A Shocking Journey: tinyurl.com/shockingjourney
Blog: StephenJWolf.com
Facebook.com/StephenJWolfAuthor
Kevin Johnson (iOS apps)
Developer Site: HuntingtonPhoenix.com
New Color app: https://appsto.re/us/D7OtS.i
Kono Strategy Game: https://appsto.re/us/ElZR8.i
Rochelle Deans (editor) www.RochelleDeans.com
Jared Reed (musician)
www.musicianspage.com/musicians/jaredreed
soundcloud.com/tetrasound/sets/red-jade
Fyodor Ananiev (cover artist) http://ted-mx.deviantart.com/
Eric Padilla (author, as P. E. Padilla) http://www.pepadilla.com
Leanne Gelish (photographer, author) www.veritymoments.com
About the Author
Stephen J. Wolf is a middle school science teacher with a PhD in science education and a penchant for fantasy books, movies, and video games. Growing up, he loved learning how things worked. When he saw Mr. Wizard's World for the first time, he knew then that science was his place to be. From learning about how fireworks light up with different colors to understanding the mechanics of an acid-base reaction, chemistry and physics became his passion.
Stephen started writing in eighth grade when his English teacher challenged the class to craft three different scenes. One scene focused on a person, a second highlighted a location, and the third detailed an object. In the moment of the quick-fire writing prompts, Stephen linked all three tasks together and created his first short story. The following year he crafted his first novella, then expanded it to a trilogy, growing as a writer along the way.
With some short stories used in his classes, Wolf communicates a love of reading to his students through creative connections between science and magic. His short story, A Shocking Journey, teaches the fundamentals of electricity and magnetism, as experienced by a middle school class, through a series of “magical” experiences that allow the students to visualize the concepts. In time, Wolf hopes to develop a series of such stories for teachers to use.
Stephen lives in New York with his husband, Kevin, and their cats, Merlin, Monty, and Shadow.
You can visit him at StephenJWolf.com and explore the world of Red Jade at Red-Jade.com.
Works by Stephen J. Wolf
Red Jade Series
tinyurl.com/redjadeseriesRed-Jade.com
Book 1: Journeys in Kallisor
Book 2: The Shattered Shards
Book 3: The Assembly
Book 4: The Forgotten Tribe
Book 5: Delminor’s Trials
A Shocking Journey
tinyurl.com/shockingjourney
Learn the fundamentals of electricity and magnetism using analogies in this short story.
Coding for Kids:
Learn JavaScript:
Build the
Room Adventure Game
tinyurl.com/roomadventure
Learn JavaScript while creating an adaptable text adventure game that challenges the player to locate items in a house and to escape by finding pieces of a passcode.
The Shattered Shards Page 47