Five things I miss about Havendale

Hi all. It’s me, David from IN THE SHADOW OF THE DRAGON KING. Charlotte and I took the day off yesterday. Things got kind of bad, and we had to run, but we’re safe for now (thank you, oh scribbler of our tale).

I have no idea what to talk about except what’s on my mind and right now, that would be my home, Havendale.

I miss my home so much. I remember when I read Lord of the Rings how I used to wish I could go on grand Hobbit adventures. I used to think that would be so cool, but now that I’m on one, all I can think about is going back to my shire. My little hole in the forest of Tennessee. You know what I miss the most?

Sleep. I miss being able to sleep all night and not have to worry about whether a dragon is going to eat me or if a sorcerer is going to kill me.

I miss showers, baths, bodies of water that I can bathe in. We’re always on the go and running and hiding. Deodorant and toothpaste are non-existent here, and the soap will burn a hole in your skin. And it’s not just me that stinks. When we’re in the wild like we are most of the time, Charlotte, Trog, me … God, we smell like wet dogs wrapped in sweaty gym socks. And razors? Ha! It’s a good thing the hair on my face grows relatively slow, but I am growing a bit of a beard, which I hate. I’m sixteen. That’s just not right. And Charlotte? Let’s not go there with what the lack of a razor can do to a girl my age. It’s not pretty.

I miss real food, like peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, orange juice, chocolate chip ice cream. Coffee. Oh my God, how I miss my coffee. Trog says it sounds like something one might find in The Spice Isles. I don’t even have a clue where that is. Too far from Fallhollow, that’s for sure.

I miss my house. I live in this old 1800 civil war antebellum home with the big columns you see in old movies, except I don’t live on a plantation. The rooms are huge, but they’re not stuffy like you’d think they’d be. They’re really kind of modern. My favorite room in the house is the library. Two stories of nothing but books and artifacts. I could spend hours in that room and never get tired of it.

Last, I miss my car. You remember Eleanor from Gone in 60 Seconds? Yeah, well that’s mine, except in black and man, does she purr. She’s a ’67 Shelby GT 500. It’s got a 428 under the hood, and can go 0 – to 100 in 13 seconds. That baby is fast (not like I’ve ever taken it 100 mph, just saying). The car used to belong to my dad. Now it’s mine, and she’s in mint condition. I don’t know how she’s stayed that way for so long, but I’m not going to complain. I think when I get home, I’ll take her for a spin, let her know I haven’t forgotten her … that is if I can find what Lily did with her.

Now that I’ve told you what I miss about my home, what do you miss about your home when you go away for a while?

Epic fantasy music that inspires writing

Today, I’m working on the second book in my Chronicles of Fallhollow series. So much is happening so fast, my fingers can’t type fast enough to keep up with my brain and the scenarios it’s spitting out. I normally don’t write with any music, but I found two awesome videos on YouTube that are keeping up with my lightning-fast muse. I might reach my 10,000 words after all.

L, M, N…I’m so far behind

Ok, so I get sicker than a dog, traveled to NC and back, went to work and kind of forgot about posting all my A-Z goodies. Soooo…..I’m lumping them all into one post. I promise, I’ll make it short and sweet.

As they relate to my novel, The Eye of Kedge:

L ~ Mr. Earl Loudermilk

An older man and former history teacher at Havendale High School. An avid collector of medieval weapons, old books, and historical memorabilia. He is David Heiland’s next door neighbor, mentor and friend, that is until he turns wackadoodle. The reason for his odd transformation is dangerously absurd.

M ~ Mangus Grythorn

A handsome and lethal man. Part mage, part human, he is Supreme Master Jared’s closest ally, collaborator, and serves as General of the Felindil Legion Command. Standing 6’4″, Mangus speaks seven languages, has a twisted sense of humor and a kind heart…when he’s not trying to rip out the heart of his enemy. Inspiration for this character can be found here.

N ~ Northern Forest

The realm of Fallhollow is bordered to the north by the Northern Forest and to the South by the Southern Forest. Seyekrad, one of two protectorates of the realm, lives in the Northern Forest. The second protectorate, Slavandria, resides in Chalisdawn, in the the Southern Forest. The Northern Forest is also home to the Sankara Mountains and Berg Castle. Here, you will also find the Elastine Forest, an unusual, magical prison, and haven to shy and timid dryads.

K – Kedge

Hello peeps of the world! Welcome to day 11 of the A-Z challenge. Today’s letter is “K”, which in my world stands for Kedge, as in “The Eye of…”

What is Kedge? It was once a central meeting place of the mages buried deep in the Sankara Mountains. It served as their secret headquarters during the great Dragon War. Fingers of tunnels spanned from the base, serving as safe passages to all of Fallhollow. The eye of kedge is a magical stone that energizes the crystals that hide the tunnels from creatures of black magic. It went missing at the end of the great war. With the possibility of war looming over Fallhollow once more, it is important to find the Eye of Kedge. The mages are gathering. Time is running out.

What does the eye of kedge look like? Click here to see my inspiration.

F – Fallhollow

Hi all, welcome to the A-Z challenge. I thought I had this little ditty planned to go live yesterday, but when I checked my blog this morning, it was still sitting in time out in my ‘edit’ box. It’s all good, though. This way I can post and do my Sunday Snippet Blog hop all at one time!

The A-Z challenge letter for yesterday was the letter “F”. Since I’m focusing on my novel, The Eye of Kedge, let’s take a little trip to the magical and dangerous world of Fallhollow. I think I’ll let Sir Trogsdill Domnall tell you about it. (BTW, this scene is currently in edit mode. Feedback and comments would be very helpful).

Trog leaned against a tree and peeled the skin from an apple. “Einar seized the kingdom and made Berg Castle his lair. That’s when he started growing his army of shadowmorths.”

“Why didn’t the mages do something to stop him?” David asked, popping a handful of berries in his mouth.

“They tried, but everything they did failed. Jared got involved and sent his daughters and an apprentice magician by the name of Seyekrad to Fallhollow. Together, they confined the beast below Lake Sturtle.”

David sputtered his food.

“That’s stupid.” Charlotte tossed David the boda bag. “Why not just kill him?”

“His scales ward off white magic.” Trog cut a slice of apple and ate it. “All they could do was imprison him.”

Charlotte stood and tacked up her hair. “Well, they didn’t do a great job did they.”

“How long ago did all this happen?” David asked, his brain trying to envision a dragon beneath Lake Sturtle.

“Oh, about a hundred years ago, give or take a few years.” Trog wiped the blade and sheathed it. “Of course Einar, being the self-centered miscreant he is, decided to go after Hirth, but he was beaten by a fifteen-year old lad and an arrow tipped in heem.”

“Heem?” Charlotte threw her satchel over her shoulder.

“The saliva from an estreal, a rare bird found in the jungles of the floating isles of Ansilar. Dragon hunters use it to kill their prey. Sadly, it didn’t kill the beast but it did incapacitate him, until about eighteen years ago.”

“I take it he attacked Hirth again?” David said.

“Tried,” Trog said. He pulled on his boots and gathered his bag. “This time the mages were able to spin a powerful sleeping spell around him, which held until two days ago.”

David’s stomach fell into a hollow emptiness under the weight of Trog’s words. He knew all too well what happened two days ago. Now if he could only figure out how to fix it. Thing was, he didn’t have a clue.

***

Don’t forget to hop around to the other bloggers who are participating in the A-Z challenge. You can find the list here.

It’s an “A-Z challenge” and “If you could” Friday! Whoo Hoo! (jennykellerford.wordpress.com)
A for Amethyst Dragon (jennykellerford.wordpress.com)
F is for Fandarr the Enchanter (valleyoftheoldones.blogspot.com)

It’s an “A-Z challenge” and “If you could” Friday! Whoo Hoo!

Hey everyone! I was going to forego “If you could” Friday because I’m doing the A-Z challenge, but I thought about it and said, why not to both, so here goes:

If you could /date/marry/have an affair with your favorite fictional character, who would it be and why?

Now on to day 5 of the A-Z challenge. Today we bring you the letter E. As in keeping with my theme, I bring to you Eric, another protag from my novel, The Eye of Kedge. Eric, take it away.

As squire to Sir Trogsdill Domnall, Eric makes it his personal mission to find and offer his services to a mysterious paladin summoned by the mages to protect the realm of Fallhollow. Fearless in his pursuit, he defies danger in his search for this magical being. What he finds is nothing like what he imagined, but that’s okay. Even head-strong, fearless squires have to make unlikely alliances to find what they want, even if it’s hidden in plain sight.

Excerpt:

Eric nodded and shuffled his feet under the weight of Trog’s stare. He waited for Sestian and Farnsworth to get far enough away before lifting his head and meeting Trog’s gaze. The knight raised a brow.

“Are you going to tell me where you really were, or are you going to hold to your story that you were listening to a lecture that ended this time yesterday?”

“Which one will get me in the least amount of trouble?”

Trog placed his hand on Eric’s back and edged him down the stone steps to the lower courtyard. “The truth, Eric. Always the truth.”

“What if I promised not to tell?”

“Secrets are grave burdens to bear.”

“I can’t betray his confidence, Sir. I promised.”

Trog nodded. “Then you’ll sleep in the stables tonight as punishment.”

“But, how is that fair?”

“You know the rules as my squire and you still choose to withhold the truth. Therefore, you shall be punished accordingly.”

“But the rules of knighthood require I not reveal confidences or secrets under any circumstance to anyone at anytime, even under pain of death.”

“Nice try, lad, but that rule only applies if you’re a knight and have been captured. Last time I looked, neither of those apply to you.” Trog placed a heavy hand on Eric’s shoulder. “I’m going to give you one more chance. What will it be?”

Eric clenched and unclenched his fists at his sides. “With all due respect, Sir, I cannot and will not betray my friend.”

Trog removed his hand. “Then you have made your choice and will suffer the consequences of it. Now go on and get busy with your chores. I want each of those blades in your hand sharpened and polished by morning—”

“But, Sir—”

“And for protesting when you should not, you will also sharpen and polish Sir Farnsworth’s blades. I’ll see to it they are dropped off this evening.” Eric opened his mouth to speak, but changed his mind at Trog’s lifted brow. “Would you like me to add Sir Gowran’s and Sir Crohn’s weapons to your load?”

Eric bit his lip, his guilt boiling below the surface. “No, Sir.”

“Very well. Bring the blades to the farrier’s stall in the morning around eight. It will be a dual-fold meeting as you can visit your father at the same time.”

Trog paused for a moment, his expression thoughtful, then turned and strolled across the courtyard. The beast of a man hoisted a young page from a game of marbles and lectured him on the pitfalls of wasting time. Eric snorted at the boy’s bewildered expression and the speed at which he ran once set down upon his feet. Been there, boy. He cursed beneath his breath. What am I talking about? I’m seventeen and I’m still at his mercy.

****

For a glimpse into my vision of Eric, click the guy below:

Six Sentence Sunday

As usual, I always forget to sign up for Six Sentence Sunday. I’m going to have to put a note on my pc to remind me.

Anyway, the following are from my second novel in the Chronicles of Fallhollow series. Yes, I have a title, and no, I’m not sharing it right now. 🙂

A little background…David and Charlotte have left the medieval-esque realm of Fallhollow and have returned to Havendale, Tennessee with their squire friend, Eric. Until now, Eric never knew other worlds existed, much less the objects within them. I hope you enjoy.

“You cannot expect me to get into that-that—”