Tag Archives: C.N.Lesley

Win some, lose some

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I don’t think it is any big secret that I do a lot of research for my books. It happens to be necessary to me that I have a good idea of how everything fits together even if a large proportion of the material never makes it into the pages. Given that my current projects are series, then it was with delight that I found something about a particular eye color. It was called the Alexandria factor and actually seemed to corroborate everything I had come up with for a particular strain of humanity. Well, more or less, but it was close. Apparently, it all started with a burst of energy striking some ancient Egyptians. Oh boy, should I have been warned. The warning flag was raised right there and then and I blithely ignored it because, I think, this was too perfect a fit.

However, I always cross reference to get my facts right. Now everything came unglued in a spectacular fashion. The third article I opened was the confession of the person who had recently invented this Alexandria factor. It was really well done. Sigh. Fun while it lasted. Now back to work.

Wonderful New Review of Sword of Shadows!

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5.0 out of 5 stars A perfect combination of fantasy and sci-fi!, February 1, 2015
By Jennifer Loiske (Naantali, Finland) – See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)
Verified Purchase(What’s this?)
This review is from: Sword of Shadows (Kindle Edition)
I’m a huge fan of Arthurian stories, so getting this exciting sequel in my hands was like a winning a lottery. The author has unique way of mixing the old legend with something completely new, something that both the old school lovers and the new generation of Arthurian fans will enjoy. The plot has been skillfully built layer by layer so when the story goes on, it challenges the reader to go deeper, see clearer and find all the fine details placed behind the layers.

Yes, this is a book full of plots. Of course there’s the great main plot, but the author has also generously created a lot of side plots, which eventually entwines together, forming a perfect combination of fantasy and sci-fi tale. A tale with new, refreshing take on it, without losing its intriguing touch of an old magic.

The old master of fantasy should definitely watch their back. There’s a new queen in town!

Snow day May 29 2010 097

I can haz pretties!

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2015-01-30 13.49.47

Finally got my books. I have no idea what happened to the first box, sent before xmas, but these got here safe. If anyone would like to buy a signed copy off me, I have the first two books of the Shadow Series, Shadow Over Avalon and Sword of Shadows and the first book of the Wyvern series, Darkspire Reaches. I am shipping the first few off tomorrow.

If anyone would like all three books, I will include a postcard of Darkspire Reaches and Shadow Over Avalon.

Darksire Reaches, a different world.

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Jasper Vacation2011 105

Here is where I envisaged the aerie of Darkspire Reaches. Actually, this is my own photo, taken at 5 a.m in the morning in the foothills of Mount Robson when the rising sun was melting off the mist from the peaks. If the picture looks familiar, then I use it for my banner. Anyhow, a place needs to be big and majestic to house the mighty Drakkens.

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And here is the same mountain later in the morning from a slightly different angle. What a difference a few hours can make.

This is a story of self -discovery as well as survival. When a world changes and the rules alter, what must a person do to keep one step ahead? How can they spot a traitor? Who do they trust? Here is what one reader thought about the story. See below.

5.0 out of 5 stars A wonderful Fantasy Experience,
Verified Purchase(What’s this?)
This review is from: Darkspire Reaches (Kindle Edition)
Darkspire Reaches by C.N. Lesley is a mixture of fantasy, self discovery, magic, and romance. Raven is no ordinary girl, however it takes quite a few chapters until her true potential is evident and her character builds from a low serving girl and healer into a magical creature, who causes a stir on her journey through kingdoms and tribal territories.

I enjoyed this book immensely and not just because of the compelling story. Raven, Margie, Connor, Captain Merrill, and the others, owe their character’s appeal to the author, who weaved their personalities with style and wonderful visual descriptions. It does not take long to immerse oneself into the world where these characters live, fight, survive, and love. it was also very apparent to me, that this was a book of exquisite fantasy. By that I mean a book, which captured my mind, and took me to another realm of existence. This is what fantasy is supposed to do, although not all books in this genre manage that with such aplomb.

I am hoping that there is something more to come? The book and story ended yet I find myself thinking that Raven and Connor’s journey is not entirely over and that maybe, just maybe we will hear from some of the other wonderful characters again, in another story.

The writing was as smooth and as clear as glass, as was the dialogue and speech patterns of the colourful array of characters.
I take my hat off to Ms Lesley, who did not take me out of her world for one second, but kept me there from beginning to end.

http://www.amazon.com/Darkspire-Reaches-C-N-Lesley-ebook/dp/B00DJE8RP4/ref=la_B00HTV3GV8_1_1_title_1_kin?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1422363798&sr=1-1

Making a King

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Shadow Over Avalon, an epic science fantasy set in the far future, still only 99c.

So how does someone recreate an ancient king, who had no known surviving offspring? The scientist would need to reach back into the ancestry of the person to manipulate the exact genetic combination that resulted in the original person. Given the technology available to the scientist, and the ability to manipulate people, this isn’t a problem. A strand here is attached to a thread there and slowly, so slowly, the line becomes pure again. Of course, the scientist would have had to know Arthur in the first place, wouldn’t he?

SOA Postcard

This is not pie in the sky supposition, it is based on real studies as I did happen to major in Zoology and both genetics and embryology were special topics. Actually, on the subject of the latter, an early stage embryo will have gill slits in its neck. The changes are quite fascinating as the new person matures into viability. Genetics? It is possible to recreate a species, and has been done by backtracking along the ancestral D.N.A. but that is for a more modern creature. Something as ancient as a dinosaur would require some sort of blueprint and a more sophisticated technique than we have now at hand, but it could be done with fossil remains in a reasonable state, as I believe some of them have been found. The question is why would someone want to inflict such a terrible species on a human population? Easy enough to see if the intent was to keep the human population under strict control. Isolate people enough and civilization will reverse, especially if there is no means of electronic communication on one’s captives and they are expressly forbidden to use the written or drawn media for distance communication and are restricted to glyphs on message sticks. The problems arise, from the captor’s point of view, when the amphibious mutant  start sticking their oar in what should be none of their business.

How does all this come about? Read the book and find out. This is the first book of a series. The second book, Sword of Shadows, is newly released. The story continues.

Trailer

http://store.kobobooks.com/en-US/ebook/shadow-over-avalon
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/shadow-over-avalon-cn-lesley/1117299037?ean=2940045359054
http://www.amazon.com/Shadow-Over-Avalon-C-N-Lesley-ebook/dp/B00GAN6HMG/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8

Building a new character.

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Something was missing from a current work in progress. It lacked drive and angst. The solution is both simple and yet not. What I needed in there was a new character to be both a driver and a love interest gone wrong. The bad news is this effectively means I have to go through every single chapter to make sure all is in place and the continuity is not upset.  The good news is the sparkle is not there in full measure.

However, a lot of work needs to be done on the construction of the person. It isn’t so simple as just making up a name and an appearance and moving the strings and the action goes on. This character must have wants, wishes and needs. They must have a past and an intended future. I have to know everything there is to know about them in order for them to come to life and act in a way that is true to who they are. Oh yeah, I can have lots of fun with this one.

In other news I suppose I should go look for a pair of scissors presently. I need to take about two inches off my hair. Fortunately, the raggedy look is in fashion, so I won’t look silly. No, I am not going to the hairdressers. I am tired of having bad cuts and in the rare event of finding a good stylist she is gone the next time I visit. The problem here is I cannot tolerate the fumes coming off perms so will not visit a salon that does them. This means my choices are limited to Supercuts, which should be fine in theory as they are trained to do set cuts, again in theory. The problem is that because they don’t do perms they can’t give the full validation, or whatever it is, to their trainee stylist, hence a revolving door happening. So I get out the scissors and do it myself. At least I am not paying for a bad cut. LOL.Color Dragon

Magic moments.

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I suppose I am thinking of this as I have been working on a passage of magic usage today. Oh, that and working a pig into the script. Yes, a pig. I gather the Oxford University Press is banning all mention of all things porcine in case it offends anyone. The thought of Pigling Bland from the Tales of Beatrice Potter ever being on a banned list offends me greatly and inspires a sudden plethora of little piggies. But I digress.

Serious magic in a fantasy setting is not legerdemain and nor should it ever appear as such. Magic is an element and as such, must have an origin. What the origin is doesn’t really matter as long as it is well thought out and very plausible. In the case of Darkspire Reaches, which I mention as I am polishing the sequel, Serpent of the Shangrove, the magic is twofold as I have a creature of earth and water and one of fire and air. Now for the later there is incredible energy put into the making of jewel stones. What if these could be used as a source of fuel? Fire and air would be a perfect match. Water and earth are a lot easier with the raw power of nature. Consider the energy of a waterfall, or the power of a tree root splitting rock. So there it is. One answer. Now I wonder if I can justify a flying piggy? Probably not.

Small snippet from Darkspire Reaches

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I know this isn’t in the free sample offered on Amazon, so it will be something new to all who haven’t read the book.Color Dragon

Raven forced the food down and took a long drink of water. A bowl for washing rested at the foot of her pallet, and she poured the remainder of the water in that vessel. Margie might have told the villagers her scrying water came from a sacred spring, but Raven knew she got it from the stream behind their shack. The bowl wasn’t black inside, yet the dark brown wood might be dark enough for the sight to show future.

The ripples calmed. Shadows swirled in the depths. One by one, pinpricks of light winked into existence and then the pale orb of a full moon. A great beast flew across the night sky, an impossible beast with wings and four legs. Moonlight shimmered off the gleaming muscles as it climbed, higher and higher. A firedrake? It dove like an arrow to lights on the ground. Torch-lit shacks and people running hither and thither, terrified.
The size of the beast killing those terrified people stunned her. No firedrake grew to more than an arm span. The beast banked, hovering, and opened its mouth. Fire spewed forth. Streams of fire caught people, lighting them into living torches. Screams and shrieks from the dying. The bowl slipped out of her hands.

Now she knew the look of the beast from close by and was afraid—this was a wyvern, worshiped by the First Born tribes. Raven ran to the window, wrenching the beaded strings aside. Outside, embedded in the ground, sharp stakes pointed toward her. A creature who could fly might escape, not a walker of the earth. No one could climb across those stakes without getting impaled by the sharp tips.

***
For those interested, here is the trailer teaser for the next book in this series, Serpent of the Shangrove.
Trailer

http://www.amazon.com/Darkspire-Reaches-C-N-Lesley-ebook/dp/B00DJE8RP4/ref=pd_rhf_gw_p_img_1

Writing Process … Eureka moment.

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Everything can look good, flow well and be a good follow-on at face value but I knew there was something missing. I couldn’t put my finger on it and have been procrastinating, but now I know. I needed a secondary driver to ramp up the angst and the humor moments.

Now I am a happy camper. Now the storyline is in place properly and will work as I intended. Now I have to sit down and stuff in around 30k words in various places. Kicks self. I should have thought of this before. Just looking at the driver now I can see how crucial it is. Still, better now than later.

I guess I will have plenty of time to work on it today as I don’t intend to go anywhere. Someone gave me a late xmas present of a cold that I am trying to fight off. Double Grrrss.