That time when you become aware that your dear husband has been poking a European enormous hornet and he doesn’t have a clue what he is irritating, despite having a very bad reaction to the stings of this species. The moment when you inform him of just what he is messing with and see him disappearing in a cloud of dust on the horizon. Priceless.
The new neighbors are old. Oh yeah. Bliss. No wild parties, or teenage kids; just them. Perfect.
No, I am not anti kids, or parties. I just don’t appreciate being kept awake by skinny dipping in a hot tub at 3.00 am as was the want of our back end neighbors, now departed. Yep, there was a reason why I planted all those trees along my fence line way back when. Not a prude, but there are some things a person doesn’t want to know about their neighbors.
On the writing front, my head is boiling with unwelcome ideas for new books. I have to finish what I have what I have started before I can move on. Ok I have jotted you down, nice new shiny ideas, now go away and leave me alone. I am busy and I will get to you when I have time.
On the cat front, the dh has discovered cat hairs in his brand new earphones. The only possible reason for this is the VBC managed to sleep on them. The dh is not impressed by this.
We have a spare bedroom not in use and it happens to house an upholstered stool. The cat logic is flawless. We have an upholstered bed that is very comfortable and elevated off the ground. We have our own room. This stool is upholstered, very comfortable and elevated in its own room. It is cat-sized. This is obviously intended for a cat of importance to occupy as his couch. No contest. LOL.
Beyond the mists of time, a dying warrior binds his soul to his sword with an oath to protect his people. His shade rides with the Wild Hunt while he waits for the call of greatest need, but when it comes, he doesn’t know it is a lie.
In the undersea city of Avalon, Arthur nears the end of his acolyte training. But he doesn’t want to spend his life serving the Archive, he wants to fight side by side with the air-breathing people to defeat the predators who are determined to ensure their own survival no matter the cost.
Ashira, War Maid princess of the surface-world, is ready to sacrifice her life to defend her kin, but when she is betrayed she must choose whether to die with honor or become one of the creatures her kinsmen fear and loathe.
Fortune twists in the strongest hands. This is no repeat; this is what happens next.
Following two threads of time, CN Lesley’s fresh take on the Arthurian tales of old delivers the perfect blend of science fiction and fantasy.
Fields of green and gold stretching endlessly in the haze of an endless summer. Walking dogs off the beaten tracks for miles in carefree bliss. Building forts out of ferns and small boats out of reeds to bob along a sparkling brook. Even way back then a serpent had slithered into paradise.
My eight year old friend and I had our freedom curtailed with the first of a series of child murders. Before the advent of DNA testing, the culprit was known, but charges could not be proven. The children that we were could not understand why our world had shrunk to sidewalks and playgrounds with lots of other people around. We thought we were untouchable, but at the same time, this was the start of innocence lost as it was explained to us in careful terms that a bad man was murdering children.
That was the year my best friend moved away and I joined in with other kids working on the crop gathering for farmers. Loads of moms were with us, also working, so the ‘eyes’ were always there. We were paid exactly the same as adults and scored some wicked money. Child labor? Who was going to get up at 4 am to stop us? Now we could buy records and go to watch the movies at the local cinema. We could have many trips to the swimming pool and a bag of potato chips on the way home, always hanging out in a large group and never straying, or we wouldn’t be allowed out again.
The golden days of innocence were gone for ever, to be replaced by something very different, but good in its own way. There was a very special feeling about getting paid for honest labor. The dew on the pea fields in the pre-dawn glistened on the leaves. There was a sort of hush before the birds started up that was magical. We had a break about nine am for a snack and the women would all fuss around us, making sure we all had food and drink, and then we would work on till midday, when it got too hot and the wagons would come to take us home, tired but richer than the dreams of Crosius to our child minds. It filled the void of that which was now gone forever, those golden fields of freedom.
Watering my containers this afternoon with the VBC, out on his harness when he decides to do a massive dump in my flowerbed. I will swear he was grinning when down came a bird to perch on a feeder about two feet above his head. This was an acquirable flying munchable. It was in range, but he hadn’t finished. The grin melted into a lemon look in a matter of seconds. No act of badness ever goes unrewarded. The bird went unmolested.
I think it must have been a leap of faith as there was no backups way back when.
There was that time when we had a car that wouldn’t go up a hill. The solution? Sans phone? I got out and pushed. Yes, it was successful.
There was also that memorable moment when the gear selector fell out of the engine. This was miles from civilization. We were on our own. I walked back five hundred yards and found the wretched thing. The dh then reinstalled it. We were good to go and did so.
Because there was no backup, we did the best we could to get with the program. Looking back, this is scary. It is also how it was.
Not that I have seen any of these in the current submissions thus far, but please refrain from using names starting with Z, X or certain K names. It is not necessary to use a weird name to establish a scenario of a fantasy or science fiction book. All it effectively does is establish the author as a rank amateur.
The use of setting is best employed for this purpose. Also language and strategies for the characters to interact. Think carefully about these. A setting is not merely cardboard props for the establishment of a world. It has to live and breath. Language does not have to be dialect, but it does need to differentiate the races with word choices. Strategies must encompass out of the norm experiences for the characters.
I am not saying I have got it all right. I am saying you can.
cnlesley 