Goodreads Book Giveaway
Kingdom of Arnhem Book Two
by Nicole Zoltack
Giveaway ends June 30, 2013.
See the giveaway details at Goodreads.
See the giveaway details at Goodreads.
Showing posts with label Knight of Glory. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Knight of Glory. Show all posts
Saturday, June 29, 2013
Wednesday, October 24, 2012
Spooktacular G*veaway Hop - Woman of Honor, Knight of Glory, Champion of Valor
Welcome to Spooktacular Giveaway Hop! This hop is organized by The Diary of a Bookworm and by I Am A Reader, Not A Writer. There are more than 270 blogs participating, and it runs from 6 - 12 April!
I'm giving away winner's choice of an ebook in any format from my Kingdom of Arnhem trilogy! To enter, just fill out the Rafflecopter form below.
Despite the mockery of the other pages, and the disdain of Prince Caelan who also trains to be a knight, Aislinn commits herself to her dreams and embarks on a journey of self-discovery and bravery. Through the years, Aislinn and Caelan grow from sparring classmates to good friends. They both know that someday Caelan will marry for the sake of the kingdom, but even that cannot keep them from falling in love.
The threat of war with the Speicans is a constant threat, and one that grows more frightening as she and Caelan train toward their eventual knighthood. Aislinn has committed herself to serving Arnhem, and has promised herself as King's Champion when Caelan claims the throne. She is willing to give up everything... her childhood, her life, even her heart for Arnhem. No matter the pain it brings.
Sir Geoffrey, along with some companions, has been sent away from Arnhem, entrusted by Queen Aislinn for a special mission, and has to leave behind the mysterious lady Celestia. On his journey, he uncovers seeds of a sinister plot, learns a horrible secret, and makes a new friend in exile Jenanna.
Their mission completed, Geoffrey and his companions rush to two different kingdoms to ask for aid. Danger and betrayal lurks around every corner, and even allies have secrets that could prove deadly. Geoffrey's feelings for Celestia grow and wane. After learning some of Celestia's secrets, he begins to have second thoughts about his love for her and is even drawn to Jenanna.
Rumors abound that the Speicans have enlisted a mage of their own, to work unspeakable, forbidden magic. The war between Speica and Arnhem has just begun. Will Geoffrey survive the battle to live another day and discover which woman he truly loves?
The final war between Speica and Arnhem is threatening the entire world. Lucifer has aligned himself with Speica and wants nothing less than to bring about the Apocalypse before its time. In the last battle, cowardice is revealed, promises are broken, and many people die. Trolls fight icthyocentaurs, dwarves armed up against the Drow, angels against demons. Only one kingdom will prevail; that is, if the world doesn't end.
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Monday, January 23, 2012
Creature of the Week - Troll
Last week's creature was the Ogre and Johanna Garth asked how Ogres were different from Trolls so I decided to highlight trolls this week.
Ogres and trolls are rather similar except for two things - one, where their mythology originated (Ogres from France and England and Trolls from Norse mythology and Scandinavian folklore) and two, there seems to be more variations to the different kinds of trolls versus ogres.
Trolls appearance vary greatly in various stories. Some stories say that trolls are old, incredibly strong, slow, and dimwitted, although this is only the case with the males as the females trolls may be quite cunning. Another difference between male and female - males are ugly with big noses, long arms and lots of hair, while females are beautiful. Sometimes the only way to distinguish a female troll from a human women is by their dress - a female troll will be too elegantly dressed for walking in a forest.
Some trolls are man-eaters. Some are said to turn to stone when the sun touches them. Some are fiendish giants. Most are ugly, may have tusks or only one eye. However, some stories say that trolls look like humans, not hideous at all, but they live far away from humans in hills, caves, or mounds.The wind-troll Ysätters-Kajsa could dance on the wind or fly. I combine mound trolls or haugtrold with the ability to dance on the wind when I created my race of trolls in my Kingdom of Arnhem trilogy. They first make their appearance in the middle book, Knight of Glory.
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Friday, April 29, 2011
Desert Breeze Publishing Birthday Bash
Welcome to the Desert Breeze Publishing Birthday Bash Tour. Tomorrow the tour ends at the Desert Breeze blog. On May 1st, Stephanie Burkhart will pick the lucky winner of a GC from Amazon.
My giveaway as a part of the tour is a copy of one of my books from the Kingdom of Arnhem series - Woman of Honor, Knight of Glory, or Champion of Valor. All you need to do to win is to make a comment on the blog today. I’ll pick a winner tomorrow.
Why I Love Desert Breeze Publishing
I first learned about Desert Breeze through a publisher chat on a yahoo group. As the chat was winding down, Gail Delaney (the EIC) mentioned that she loved series, especially for fantasy and a few other genres. I mentioned to her that I had an unfinished manuscript that would be part of a series and briefly described it to her. She said to send it to her when it was finished.
The story I had mentioned was a Nano story (National Novel Writing Month when authors around the world try to write a 50K in November). I abanonded all other side projects and focused on the novel until I completed it. After finishing it, I submitted to Gail and waited. Shortly thereafter, she emailed me an acceptance for Woman of Honor.Desert Breeze is a non-erotic romance publisher, which is perfect for me. My novels tend to have crossover appeal. Woman of Honor is a coming-of-age fantasy romance, so it's definitely for YA and adults.
Anyhow, I had mentioned to Gail about the series during the yahoo chat, and we worked together to figure out the direction that the series could take so that the entire series was fantasy romance, each book centering on a different couple.
Woman of Honor is the tale of young Aislinn, a girl who wants to become a knight and finds love along the way.
Knight of Glory is about Geoffrey as he travels across the continent to find allies for Arnhem, while he tries to decide between two very different, mysterious ladies.Champion of Valor focuses on Selliki the selkie and Gabrael the mage amidst the finals battles between Arnhem and Speica.
I am so happy to be with Desert Breeze the past two years. My covers are gorgeous - Jenifer Ranieri is masterful. My favorite cover of the three is Champion of Valor. The contrast of the dark clouds with the glimmer of light - and the awesome castle - pure genius.
I already mentioned Champion of Valor. It releases May 1st, and I'm so excited for its release! I'm organizing a huge blog tour for it, and I hope you join me. At the end of the tour, I'm going to give away a copy of the entire series to one lucky winner, as well as small prizes at each stop. I'll post more about the blog tour tomorrow.
Champion of Valor blurb:The Mystical Conch Shell of the Sea has been stolen, and it's up to Selliki, the selkie, to get it back. Selliki sets across the continent of Alethereia to find Arnhem, and Gabrael, the mage she loves. Selliki knows that no union between a selkie and a human have ever had a happy ending, but neither can ignore their feelings. Each night, they experience terrible, real dreams that show how doomed their love is.
The final war between Speica and Arnhem is threatening the entire world. Lucifer has aligned himself with Speica and wants nothing less than to bring about the Apocalypse before its time. In the last battle, cowardice is revealed, promises are broken, and many people die. Trolls fight icthyocentaurs, dwarves armed up against the Drow, angels against demons. Only one kingdom will prevail; that is, if the world doesn't end.
Thursday, December 2, 2010
Nano Wrap Up and December Goals
I was originally going to update you all on my Nano story yesterday, considering it was December 1st, but Talli overtook the blog world in a huge way, and my blog was part of the splash.
But today is all me again.
I wrote just over 50k of Champion of Valor in November, making me a winner! Although I still have a lot of words to add - roughly 40-50k - before the story is completely finished. Then it'll need to be edited and sent to beta readers and edited again. I already wrote the ending but I'm sure some of the details will need to be adjusted/fixed. A lot of scenes were glossed over *insert battle between X and Y* *insert battle between Z and A* lol This book is full of action scenes, which is to be expected, after all, it's about a war.
I really like how CoV is shaping up. I don't want to go into too many details but here's the basic gist:
The final war between Speica and Arnhem draws to an end as allies are gained, lines are crossed, people die, and a mage and selkie struggle to make their love work as Lucifer attempts to bring about the Apocalypse before its time.
I've mentioned this before but book I in the series, Woman of Honor has a mostly historical feel to it, with some fantasy thrown in. Knight of Glory focuses more on the fantasy. Champion of Valor has both fantasy and religious undertones. High fantasy - meaning a medieval type world. In the Middle Ages, religion was a huge part of their everyday lives so I had to include religion.
I've created a lot of problems and dilemmas for my characters. It'll be interesting to see how they fix everything and restore order, and who's let standing to see things through til the very end.
Hubby was a big help, watching the boys in order to let me get some writing in when our sons refused to nap at the same time. Wouldn't have won without him!
I also was a PiBoIdMo winner. I came up with 32 ideas for picture books. Some are better than others but it was a lot of fun to sit and think up picture book ideas. Can't wait until I have some free time that I can devote to picture books.
I guest blogged at Loraine's about previous Nano experiences. Feel free to check it out and leave a comment!
So for the rest of December, I'm going to finish Champion of Valor. If I have time there are a couple of short stories I would like to write. Prime books is publishing an anthology of urban fantasy werewolf stories. Pill Hill Press has a romantic suspense anthology. And Fangtales, the next in the Tales anthologies from Wyvern Publications, scary YA stories about vampires. So December is going to be busy, busy, busy. If I don't get to the short stories, I don't get to them, but I'm going to try. Might as well set the bar high and strive to do all I can.
How productive was your November? Did you do Nano? What was your story about? Did you win? Have you read any good books lately? What are your reading/writing goals for December?
But today is all me again.
I wrote just over 50k of Champion of Valor in November, making me a winner! Although I still have a lot of words to add - roughly 40-50k - before the story is completely finished. Then it'll need to be edited and sent to beta readers and edited again. I already wrote the ending but I'm sure some of the details will need to be adjusted/fixed. A lot of scenes were glossed over *insert battle between X and Y* *insert battle between Z and A* lol This book is full of action scenes, which is to be expected, after all, it's about a war.
I really like how CoV is shaping up. I don't want to go into too many details but here's the basic gist:
The final war between Speica and Arnhem draws to an end as allies are gained, lines are crossed, people die, and a mage and selkie struggle to make their love work as Lucifer attempts to bring about the Apocalypse before its time.
I've mentioned this before but book I in the series, Woman of Honor has a mostly historical feel to it, with some fantasy thrown in. Knight of Glory focuses more on the fantasy. Champion of Valor has both fantasy and religious undertones. High fantasy - meaning a medieval type world. In the Middle Ages, religion was a huge part of their everyday lives so I had to include religion.
I've created a lot of problems and dilemmas for my characters. It'll be interesting to see how they fix everything and restore order, and who's let standing to see things through til the very end.
Hubby was a big help, watching the boys in order to let me get some writing in when our sons refused to nap at the same time. Wouldn't have won without him!
I also was a PiBoIdMo winner. I came up with 32 ideas for picture books. Some are better than others but it was a lot of fun to sit and think up picture book ideas. Can't wait until I have some free time that I can devote to picture books.
I guest blogged at Loraine's about previous Nano experiences. Feel free to check it out and leave a comment!
So for the rest of December, I'm going to finish Champion of Valor. If I have time there are a couple of short stories I would like to write. Prime books is publishing an anthology of urban fantasy werewolf stories. Pill Hill Press has a romantic suspense anthology. And Fangtales, the next in the Tales anthologies from Wyvern Publications, scary YA stories about vampires. So December is going to be busy, busy, busy. If I don't get to the short stories, I don't get to them, but I'm going to try. Might as well set the bar high and strive to do all I can.
How productive was your November? Did you do Nano? What was your story about? Did you win? Have you read any good books lately? What are your reading/writing goals for December?
Monday, November 22, 2010
Inspiring Mondays
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| Credit for picture |
Today's picture is a Kelpie. If you've read Knight of Glory, you already know all about this mysterious creature but if you haven't - the Kelpie is a water demon horse. It commonly looks like a lost pony and its mane is constantly dripping. To touch it could mean death, the horse is that cold. And if you should climb onto its back, it will race to the nearest body of water and drown you. Not the nicest of creatures, huh?
Extra little tidbit - the Kelpie will make a return appearance in Champion of Valor. But sh, I didn't tell you that! :)
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
I'm a guest blogger and "Dear Lucky Agent" Contest Details
Head on over to Dawn's blog to read an excerpt from Book II in my Kingdom of Arnhem series, Knight of Glory.
HOW TO SUBMIT
E-mail entries to sixthagentcontest@gmail.com. Please paste everything. No attachments.
WHAT TO SUBMIT
The first 150-200 words of your unpublished, book-length work of urban fantasy or paranormal (adult fiction and/or YA fiction are both accepted; no "high fantasy" with dragons, elves or other planets please). You must include a contact e-mail address with your entry and use your real name. Also, submit the title of the work and a logline (one-sentence description of the work) with your entry.
Please note: To be eligible to submit, I ask that you do one of two things: 1) Mention and link to this contest twice through your social media—blogs, Twitter, Facebook; or 2) just mention this contest once and also add Guide to Literary Agents Blog (www.guidetoliteraryagents.com/blog) to your blogroll. Please provide link(s) so the judge and I can verify eligibility. Some previous entrants could not be considered because they skipped this step!
CONTEST DETAILS
1. This contest will be live for approximately fourteen days—from Sept. 22 through the end of Wednesday, Oct. 6, 2010, EST. Winners notified by e-mail within three weeks of end of contest. Winners announced on the blog thereafter.
2. To enter, submit the first 150-200 words of your book. Shorter or longer entries will not be considered. Keep it within word count range please.
3. This contest is solely for completed book-length works of urban fantasy and paranormal romance (both YA and adult novels are accepted).
4. You can submit as many times as you wish. You can submit even if you submitted to other contests in the past, but please note that past winners cannot win again.
5. The contest is open to everyone of all ages, save those employees, officers and directors of GLA's publisher, F+W Media.
6. By e-mailing your entry, you are submitting an entry for consideration in this contest and thereby agreeing to the terms written here as well as any terms possibly added by me in the "Comments" section of this blog post. (If you have questions or concerns, write me personally at literaryagent@fwmedia.com. The Gmail account above is for submissions, not questions.)
PRIZES!!!
Top 3 winners all get: 1) A critique of the first 10 pages of your work, by your agent judge. 2) A free one-year subscription to WritersMarket.com.
MEET YOUR (AWESOME) JUDGE!
Marisa A. Corvisiero is a literary agent
at the L. Perkins Agency in NYC.
HOW TO SUBMIT
E-mail entries to sixthagentcontest@gmail.com. Please paste everything. No attachments.
WHAT TO SUBMIT
The first 150-200 words of your unpublished, book-length work of urban fantasy or paranormal (adult fiction and/or YA fiction are both accepted; no "high fantasy" with dragons, elves or other planets please). You must include a contact e-mail address with your entry and use your real name. Also, submit the title of the work and a logline (one-sentence description of the work) with your entry.
Please note: To be eligible to submit, I ask that you do one of two things: 1) Mention and link to this contest twice through your social media—blogs, Twitter, Facebook; or 2) just mention this contest once and also add Guide to Literary Agents Blog (www.guidetoliteraryagents.com/blog) to your blogroll. Please provide link(s) so the judge and I can verify eligibility. Some previous entrants could not be considered because they skipped this step!
CONTEST DETAILS
1. This contest will be live for approximately fourteen days—from Sept. 22 through the end of Wednesday, Oct. 6, 2010, EST. Winners notified by e-mail within three weeks of end of contest. Winners announced on the blog thereafter.
2. To enter, submit the first 150-200 words of your book. Shorter or longer entries will not be considered. Keep it within word count range please.
3. This contest is solely for completed book-length works of urban fantasy and paranormal romance (both YA and adult novels are accepted).
4. You can submit as many times as you wish. You can submit even if you submitted to other contests in the past, but please note that past winners cannot win again.
5. The contest is open to everyone of all ages, save those employees, officers and directors of GLA's publisher, F+W Media.
6. By e-mailing your entry, you are submitting an entry for consideration in this contest and thereby agreeing to the terms written here as well as any terms possibly added by me in the "Comments" section of this blog post. (If you have questions or concerns, write me personally at literaryagent@fwmedia.com. The Gmail account above is for submissions, not questions.)
PRIZES!!!
Top 3 winners all get: 1) A critique of the first 10 pages of your work, by your agent judge. 2) A free one-year subscription to WritersMarket.com.
MEET YOUR (AWESOME) JUDGE!
at the L. Perkins Agency in NYC.
Monday, August 2, 2010
Cherie Interviews Me
Cherie Reich, a very talented author whose flash fiction pieces are wonderful, has interviewed me here. I would love it if you hop on over and leave me a comment! Also, she reviewed both of the Kingdom of Arnhem books here.
Woman of Honor review:
Review: Nicole Zoltack's Woman of Honor weaves the tale of the first lady knight of Arnhem. Sprinkled with historical facts, bullies, and a good dose of love and honor, Woman of Honor is a coming of age novel set in the fantastical medieval world of Arnhem Kingdom. Aislinn is brave and truly grows to be a woman of honor. The characters are likeable and realistic. We feel Aislinn's pains while she tries to prove herself. She overcomes tradition and the growing threat of Speica. This novel has history, knights, and mythological creatures and is filled with intrigue, mystery, horror, and, most important of all, love. In this first book of the Kingdom of Arnhem series, I feel like we touch upon their lives and a conflict looming in their future. By the end, I craved more from this fantastical world, and I'm glad Ms. Zoltack supplied it in her next book.
Knight of Glory review:
Woman of Honor review:
Review: Nicole Zoltack's Woman of Honor weaves the tale of the first lady knight of Arnhem. Sprinkled with historical facts, bullies, and a good dose of love and honor, Woman of Honor is a coming of age novel set in the fantastical medieval world of Arnhem Kingdom. Aislinn is brave and truly grows to be a woman of honor. The characters are likeable and realistic. We feel Aislinn's pains while she tries to prove herself. She overcomes tradition and the growing threat of Speica. This novel has history, knights, and mythological creatures and is filled with intrigue, mystery, horror, and, most important of all, love. In this first book of the Kingdom of Arnhem series, I feel like we touch upon their lives and a conflict looming in their future. By the end, I craved more from this fantastical world, and I'm glad Ms. Zoltack supplied it in her next book.
Knight of Glory review:
Review: Nicole Zoltack's Knight of Glory follows Sir Geoffrey's quest for love and honor. With the growing threat of Speica and a dangerous Villaimage, the Kingdom of Arnhem may have met its match. Whereas in Woman of Honor, we see the historical aspects of knighthood, in Knight of Glory, Ms. Zoltack builds upon her fantastical world. We learn of new kingdoms, including the dwarven kingdom in the south and the troll kingdom in the north. New mythological creatures come into play, and we get our first real doses of magic. Despite battle brewing, love conquers all bounds. Filled with bitter foes, magical displays, a quest for true love in many cases, and a dash of enigma, Knight of Glory is a true delight. By the end, we understand that a brewing war of good and evil is afoot, but unfortunately, we must wait until May 2011 for the third book of the Kingdom of Arnhem series, Champion of Valor. I look forward to this third book and more from Ms. Zoltack.
Wednesday, June 9, 2010
Cool Tool, Another Interview, and Title Problems
I discovered this awesome writing tool that you should all check out. It's called The Wasteline Test and checks a sample of your writing (up to 1,200 words) for be-verbs, abstract nouns, prepositions, adjectives and adverbs, it this that and there. It'll then give each of the four categories a rating: lean, fat and trim, needs toning, flabby, or heart attack. It's only a guide but I think it's a pretty handy tool that I'm going to start using and thought you all might want to learn about it too.
Author Katie Hines interview me here. The questions were really fun to answer this time around and I go into a fair amount of detail about Knight of Glory that you all will hopefully enjoy! :)
I posted on facebook about my titles problem with Torn Between Murder and Love. So many wonderful choices to pick from! I've narrowed the choices down to three:
Assassination of Love
Hidden in Shadows
Lorna's Deadly Choices
Which do you like best?
Author Katie Hines interview me here. The questions were really fun to answer this time around and I go into a fair amount of detail about Knight of Glory that you all will hopefully enjoy! :)
I posted on facebook about my titles problem with Torn Between Murder and Love. So many wonderful choices to pick from! I've narrowed the choices down to three:
Assassination of Love
Hidden in Shadows
Lorna's Deadly Choices
Which do you like best?
Monday, June 7, 2010
Winner and Lori Foster Get Together
First things first, the winner of an ecopy of Knight of Glory is.... Janice! Congrats, Janice, I'll email you.
To refresh your memory here is my list:
1. I've never broken a bone. TRUE
2. I married the only man I've ever kissed. TRUE
3. Wintertime is my least favorite time of the year. TRUE
4. At one time, I wanted to be an actress. TRUE
5. I love to fly. FALSE
6. I planned my wedding. TRUE
7. I sometimes think I was born in the wrong century. TRUE (You get a virtual cookie if you know which century I think I should have been a part of!)
It's not that I hate flying, it's more that flying scares me. Hubby always says you're more likely to get in a car crash than a plane crash to which I reply, you're more likely to survive a car crash than a plane crash.
Now about the Get Together:
I got in Friday afternoon, took a shuttle to the hotel, checked-in and met my roommate, Michelle Levigne. Registered (the bags were awesome, full of goodies) and proudly wore my heart bead author necklace.
If I give you a detailed account of everything, it'll just bore you so I'll just move on to the highlights. I didn't go to any of the workshops as they were going on while other things were too so it just didn't work out. I had signed up for an editor appointment and was able to stand by and get in with an agent as well.
The editor, Margo from HQN, was such a great person, easy to talk to. I didn't feel intimidated at all and she set me at ease. I pitched her Torn Between Murder and Love. She asked for the 1st 3 chapters and the synopsis. Yay! She also did mention that I should probably change my title, that the cover art department had been asking for titles shorter than 5 words. She also said she could see that (torn between murder and love) on the back of the book.
The agent, Laura Bradford, had already rejected my fantasy YA so I pitched her my assassin story as well. And she asked for the 1st 50 pages. So two appointments, two partial requests! I was extremely happy about that.
I met a bunch of wonderful people at the conference: besides Michelle, there was Diane Craver (the three of us were the representatives of Desert Breeze), DeNita Tuttle, Jennifer Allison, Sara Reyes, among others. I also briefly met Faith Bicknell-Brown and Trinity Blacio from a bunch of the yahoo groups that I belong to.
Faith's Avoid Writers Hell yahoo group (AWH) contributed two huge baskets and a small trunk. There were about 150 raffle baskets, some with huge prizes including a Nook, a Kobo, an iPad, and DBP authors pitched in to get a Jet ereader. I bought a lot of raffle tickets and dumped most into the Nook basket but won zero baskets. Several people won multiple baskets, and I was so envious. The proceeds went to One Way Farm, for abused kids. We ended up raising over 5,500 for the charity.
I also want to mention the fun and games at the pirate party courtesy of DeNita Tuttle and Author Island. It was a lot of fun and some of the people went all out with their costumes, it was crazy!
Hubby and I are going to take our boy to the park now so I better wrap this up. Any one have any ideas for a new title for my assassin story? I would appreciate any input!
To refresh your memory here is my list:
1. I've never broken a bone. TRUE
2. I married the only man I've ever kissed. TRUE
3. Wintertime is my least favorite time of the year. TRUE
4. At one time, I wanted to be an actress. TRUE
5. I love to fly. FALSE
6. I planned my wedding. TRUE
7. I sometimes think I was born in the wrong century. TRUE (You get a virtual cookie if you know which century I think I should have been a part of!)
It's not that I hate flying, it's more that flying scares me. Hubby always says you're more likely to get in a car crash than a plane crash to which I reply, you're more likely to survive a car crash than a plane crash.
Now about the Get Together:
I got in Friday afternoon, took a shuttle to the hotel, checked-in and met my roommate, Michelle Levigne. Registered (the bags were awesome, full of goodies) and proudly wore my heart bead author necklace.
If I give you a detailed account of everything, it'll just bore you so I'll just move on to the highlights. I didn't go to any of the workshops as they were going on while other things were too so it just didn't work out. I had signed up for an editor appointment and was able to stand by and get in with an agent as well.
The editor, Margo from HQN, was such a great person, easy to talk to. I didn't feel intimidated at all and she set me at ease. I pitched her Torn Between Murder and Love. She asked for the 1st 3 chapters and the synopsis. Yay! She also did mention that I should probably change my title, that the cover art department had been asking for titles shorter than 5 words. She also said she could see that (torn between murder and love) on the back of the book.
The agent, Laura Bradford, had already rejected my fantasy YA so I pitched her my assassin story as well. And she asked for the 1st 50 pages. So two appointments, two partial requests! I was extremely happy about that.
I met a bunch of wonderful people at the conference: besides Michelle, there was Diane Craver (the three of us were the representatives of Desert Breeze), DeNita Tuttle, Jennifer Allison, Sara Reyes, among others. I also briefly met Faith Bicknell-Brown and Trinity Blacio from a bunch of the yahoo groups that I belong to.
Faith's Avoid Writers Hell yahoo group (AWH) contributed two huge baskets and a small trunk. There were about 150 raffle baskets, some with huge prizes including a Nook, a Kobo, an iPad, and DBP authors pitched in to get a Jet ereader. I bought a lot of raffle tickets and dumped most into the Nook basket but won zero baskets. Several people won multiple baskets, and I was so envious. The proceeds went to One Way Farm, for abused kids. We ended up raising over 5,500 for the charity.
I also want to mention the fun and games at the pirate party courtesy of DeNita Tuttle and Author Island. It was a lot of fun and some of the people went all out with their costumes, it was crazy!
Hubby and I are going to take our boy to the park now so I better wrap this up. Any one have any ideas for a new title for my assassin story? I would appreciate any input!
Saturday, March 13, 2010
First Reviews in for Knight of Glory
First, Knight of Glory received 4 Cups from Coffee Time Romance:
I enjoyed the book and am looking forward to seeing how the next phase of the war goes. From dwarves to kings to mages, this book has almost every fantasy character available. Betrayers, liars, and spies round out the list of characters. The battles are interesting and the search for power is fascinating. The dialogue is good, and the lead up to the next book in the series is well done.
Plus Shawna Williams left me a review on Amazon:
I loved this book! It's very Lord of the Rings'ish' without being copycat, AT ALL. Nicole took great care to create characters, plot and settings that are as unique as they are captivating. Sir Geoffry is the noble night with a vulnerable heart. Jenanna is tough, yet feminine; independent, but lonely. And Celestia turned out to be a complete surprise as to what I had expected. Nope, I'm not gonna give anything more away on that.
My absolute favorite thing about this series is that I'm able to share it with my kids and my niece, who is a medieval nut (and I mean that in a good way, Lauren). I love that this series is not only entertaining, but memory making as well.
Thanks Nicole! Can't wait for the next.
I enjoyed the book and am looking forward to seeing how the next phase of the war goes. From dwarves to kings to mages, this book has almost every fantasy character available. Betrayers, liars, and spies round out the list of characters. The battles are interesting and the search for power is fascinating. The dialogue is good, and the lead up to the next book in the series is well done.
Plus Shawna Williams left me a review on Amazon:
I loved this book! It's very Lord of the Rings'ish' without being copycat, AT ALL. Nicole took great care to create characters, plot and settings that are as unique as they are captivating. Sir Geoffry is the noble night with a vulnerable heart. Jenanna is tough, yet feminine; independent, but lonely. And Celestia turned out to be a complete surprise as to what I had expected. Nope, I'm not gonna give anything more away on that.
My absolute favorite thing about this series is that I'm able to share it with my kids and my niece, who is a medieval nut (and I mean that in a good way, Lauren). I love that this series is not only entertaining, but memory making as well.
Thanks Nicole! Can't wait for the next.
Monday, March 1, 2010
Courtly Love Winner and Knight of Glory
Drumroll please.....
The winner of the ARC of Knight of Glory.....
From all the great commenters (and comments) was....
Lexie!
I really hope you enjoy my book. If you want, send me an email with what you thought of it after you read it.
Other news:
Knight of Glory was released today! I am very excited about this release. I think it's my best novel to date (which I hope I always say about each new release, I want to always grow and be a better writer).
The blurb:
Sir Geoffrey, along with some companions, has been sent away from Arnhem, entrusted by Queen Aislinn for a special mission, and has to leave behind the mysterious lady Celestia. On his journey, he uncovers seeds of a sinister plot, learns a horrible secret, and makes a new friend in exile Jenanna.
Their mission completed, Geoffrey and his companions rush to two different kingdoms to ask for aid. Danger and betrayal lurks around every corner, and even allies have secrets that could prove deadly. Geoffrey's feelings for Celestia grow and wane. After learning some of Celestia's secrets, he begins to have second thoughts about his love for her and is even drawn to Jenanna
Rumors abound that the Speicans have enlisted a mage of their own, to work unspeakable, forbidden magic. The war between Speica and Arnhem has just begun. Will Geoffrey survive the battle to live another day and discover which woman he truly loves?
And a short excerpt:
One lady stood by herself in the middle of the ballroom. The dancers paraded around her, ignoring her, and she appeared to be in her own world. Geoffrey's feet guided him to her even before he thought about it. "Hello," he said, bowing lowly. He accepted her outstretched hand and brushed his lips against it. A complete gentleman, he released it as soon as his lips touched. To hold her hand any longer, especially without knowing her name, would disgrace her reputation. "My name is Geoffrey of Siva."
"Hello, Geoffrey," the vision of loveliness said. "It is a pleasure to meet you."
"The pleasure is all mine." Geoffrey took half a step back and drank in her beauty. Her complexion was unlike any that he had ever seen before, a pale faint blush color.
A single strand of long wavy hair tumbled from her elegant hairdo, and she twirled it around her finger. "I am known as Celestia," she said, her voice light and feathery.
"Well, Celestia, would you care for a dance?" Geoffrey's heart thundered. Is this the first stirrings of love? He found himself drawn to her, unable to tear his gaze away. Reaching out with his hand to hold her, he was shocked when she stepped backward.
"I would rather not."
"Oh." Geoffrey fought back a wave of disappointment and struggled to keep his face from showing his frustration and regret.
The corners of her ruby lips twitched, and she let loose a soft chuckle. "I have never made it a practice of mine to dance with strange men."
"But I'm not a strange man," Geoffrey rushed to protest.
"Ah, but I do not know you, do I? Let us talk awhile." She gestured to some chairs.
They walked over, pausing to allow the dancers room to twirl and glide, and sat down next to each other. "What kingdom are you from?" Geoffrey asked. He placed his hands in his lap, for lack of a better place to put them and suppressed the urge to crack his knuckles. He always cracked his knuckles whenever he felt unsure of himself. Once Brother Amicus had yelled at him for the distracting noise when it had broken the silence of the classroom after the monk had asked Geoffrey a question that he didn't know the answer to.
Celestia stared at him, her eyes pale, barely showing a hint of color. Green? Or blue? Geoffrey couldn't decide which, but he didn't minding gazing into her eyes, trying to decipher their color.
"I'd much rather talk about you. Tell me some of your daring adventures. You have had daring adventures?" She raised an arched eyebrow, and her lips curved into a teasing smile.
Also, in mid-February, the Classic Romance Revival put together a wonderful anthology called The Cupid Diaries: Moments in Time. My short story, A Squire's Love, is included in this wonderful tome! This story centers on the squire Leo, a character that is briefly mentioned in Knight of Glory. It's a cute, heart-warming story in which Leo faces family difficulty put still has time to save a damsel in distress.
I submitted a short story to Pill Hill Press for their Atlantis anthology but was rejected. (Boo hiss) I'm going to try to work on it a little before sending it out.
So what's next? Well, I have a short story in another anthology to be released next month, in Desert Breeze Publishing's Be Mused Anthology. But as for writing, I think I am going to focus on completely redoing the beginning to The Land of Imagining. Work on Alexia's character, add more action to the beginning. The middle and end are done, it's just the opening that is giving me grief. Then I'll send it to a friend's teenage daughter so I can finally have a younger perspective on it.
To check out where I've been lately, read the latest issue of the Avoid Writer's Hell magazine. Toward the back of the issue, Shiela interviewed me.
So that's what's new with me. What's new with all of you? What are you working on?
The winner of the ARC of Knight of Glory.....
From all the great commenters (and comments) was....
Lexie!
I really hope you enjoy my book. If you want, send me an email with what you thought of it after you read it.
Other news:
Knight of Glory was released today! I am very excited about this release. I think it's my best novel to date (which I hope I always say about each new release, I want to always grow and be a better writer).
The blurb:
Sir Geoffrey, along with some companions, has been sent away from Arnhem, entrusted by Queen Aislinn for a special mission, and has to leave behind the mysterious lady Celestia. On his journey, he uncovers seeds of a sinister plot, learns a horrible secret, and makes a new friend in exile Jenanna.
Their mission completed, Geoffrey and his companions rush to two different kingdoms to ask for aid. Danger and betrayal lurks around every corner, and even allies have secrets that could prove deadly. Geoffrey's feelings for Celestia grow and wane. After learning some of Celestia's secrets, he begins to have second thoughts about his love for her and is even drawn to Jenanna
Rumors abound that the Speicans have enlisted a mage of their own, to work unspeakable, forbidden magic. The war between Speica and Arnhem has just begun. Will Geoffrey survive the battle to live another day and discover which woman he truly loves?
And a short excerpt:
One lady stood by herself in the middle of the ballroom. The dancers paraded around her, ignoring her, and she appeared to be in her own world. Geoffrey's feet guided him to her even before he thought about it. "Hello," he said, bowing lowly. He accepted her outstretched hand and brushed his lips against it. A complete gentleman, he released it as soon as his lips touched. To hold her hand any longer, especially without knowing her name, would disgrace her reputation. "My name is Geoffrey of Siva."
"Hello, Geoffrey," the vision of loveliness said. "It is a pleasure to meet you."
"The pleasure is all mine." Geoffrey took half a step back and drank in her beauty. Her complexion was unlike any that he had ever seen before, a pale faint blush color.
A single strand of long wavy hair tumbled from her elegant hairdo, and she twirled it around her finger. "I am known as Celestia," she said, her voice light and feathery.
"Well, Celestia, would you care for a dance?" Geoffrey's heart thundered. Is this the first stirrings of love? He found himself drawn to her, unable to tear his gaze away. Reaching out with his hand to hold her, he was shocked when she stepped backward.
"I would rather not."
"Oh." Geoffrey fought back a wave of disappointment and struggled to keep his face from showing his frustration and regret.
The corners of her ruby lips twitched, and she let loose a soft chuckle. "I have never made it a practice of mine to dance with strange men."
"But I'm not a strange man," Geoffrey rushed to protest.
"Ah, but I do not know you, do I? Let us talk awhile." She gestured to some chairs.
They walked over, pausing to allow the dancers room to twirl and glide, and sat down next to each other. "What kingdom are you from?" Geoffrey asked. He placed his hands in his lap, for lack of a better place to put them and suppressed the urge to crack his knuckles. He always cracked his knuckles whenever he felt unsure of himself. Once Brother Amicus had yelled at him for the distracting noise when it had broken the silence of the classroom after the monk had asked Geoffrey a question that he didn't know the answer to.
Celestia stared at him, her eyes pale, barely showing a hint of color. Green? Or blue? Geoffrey couldn't decide which, but he didn't minding gazing into her eyes, trying to decipher their color.
"I'd much rather talk about you. Tell me some of your daring adventures. You have had daring adventures?" She raised an arched eyebrow, and her lips curved into a teasing smile.
Also, in mid-February, the Classic Romance Revival put together a wonderful anthology called The Cupid Diaries: Moments in Time. My short story, A Squire's Love, is included in this wonderful tome! This story centers on the squire Leo, a character that is briefly mentioned in Knight of Glory. It's a cute, heart-warming story in which Leo faces family difficulty put still has time to save a damsel in distress.
I submitted a short story to Pill Hill Press for their Atlantis anthology but was rejected. (Boo hiss) I'm going to try to work on it a little before sending it out.
So what's next? Well, I have a short story in another anthology to be released next month, in Desert Breeze Publishing's Be Mused Anthology. But as for writing, I think I am going to focus on completely redoing the beginning to The Land of Imagining. Work on Alexia's character, add more action to the beginning. The middle and end are done, it's just the opening that is giving me grief. Then I'll send it to a friend's teenage daughter so I can finally have a younger perspective on it.
To check out where I've been lately, read the latest issue of the Avoid Writer's Hell magazine. Toward the back of the issue, Shiela interviewed me.
So that's what's new with me. What's new with all of you? What are you working on?
Sunday, February 14, 2010
Courtly Love – Love in the Middle Ages
When we think of marriage, we first think of love. Two sides of the same coin.
But this was not the same way of thinking back in the Middle Ages.
Women had no choice in who they married. Oftentimes, they married a total stranger, a man they had never met before they walked down the aisle.
The idea of arranged marriages is foreign to some of us today, even though it is still common practice in some parts of the world today.
I already mentioned that women had no choice; however (typical male-dominated society), there were some cases in which the man could decide his bride.
Sometimes, love found the couple after they were married as backward as that sounds to us. Many times, even if they did not grow to love each other, lasting friendships bloomed.
Marriage was done at a young age – the girls as young as 12, the boys 17 – and for financial, practical, or dynastic reasons.
The feudal relationship between a knight and his liege lord was the model for courtly love as well as the code of chivalry. The knight swears the same obedience and loyalty to his courtly lady that he would his liege lord. This ideal is taken from bards’ songs and hardly ever practiced. After all, most knights would not be submissive to their lady! However, his love for her was a source for inspiration, for courage, and power, to do great deeds, in order to win her favor, to be good enough for her.
Oftentimes, the knight fell in love with a married lady. Remember, most marriages were not born out of love. Courtly love was a means for the knights to show their affection despite the marital state of the lady. The most famous instance of this occurrence is Sir Lancelot and Queen Guinevere.
Now for some of the more defined rules of courtly love.
The Twelve Chief Rules in Love
From The Art of Courtly Love by Andreas Capellanus, a 12th century Frenchman
1. Thou shalt avoid avarice like the deadly pestilence and shalt embrace its opposite.
2. Thou shalt keep thyself chaste for the sake of her whom thou lovest.
3. Thou shalt not knowingly strive to break up a correct love affair that someone else is engaged in.
4. Thou shalt not chose for thy love anyone whom a natural sense of shame forbids thee to marry.
5. Be mindful completely to avoid falsehood.
6. Thou shalt not have many who know of thy love affair.
7. Being obedient in all things to the commands of ladies, thou shalt ever strive to ally thyself to the service of Love.
8. In giving and receiving love's solaces let modesty be ever present.
9. Thou shalt speak no evil.
10. Thou shalt not be a revealer of love affairs.
11. Thou shalt be in all things polite and courteous.
12. In practising the solaces of love thou shalt not exceed the desires of thy lover.
The Art of Courtly Love
Also from The Art of Courtly Love by Andreas Capellanus
1. Marriage is no real excuse for not loving.
2. He who is not jealous cannot love.
3. No one can be bound by a double love.
4. It is well known that love is always increasing or decreasing.
5. That which a lover takes against the will of his beloved has no relish.
6. Boys do not love until they reach the age of maturity.
7. When one lover dies, a widowhood of two years is required of the survivor.
8. No one should be deprived of love without the very best of reasons.
9. No one can love unless he is propelled by the persuasion of love.
10. Love is always a stranger in the home of avarice.
11. It is not proper to love any woman whom one would be ashamed to seek to marry.
12. A true lover does not desire to embrace in love anyone except his beloved.
13. When made public love rarely endures.
14. The easy attainment of love makes it of little value: difficulty of attainment makes it prized.
15. Every lover regularly turns pale in the presence of his beloved.
16. When a lover suddenly catches sight of his beloved his heart palpitates.
17. A new love puts an old one to flight.
18. Good character alone makes any man worthy of love.
19. If love diminishes, it quickly fails and rarely revives.
20. A man in love is always apprehensive.
21. Real jealousy always increases the feeling of love.
22. Jealousy increases when one suspects his beloved.
23. He whom the thought of love vexes eats and sleeps very little.
24. Every act of a lover ends in the thought of his beloved.
25. A true lover considers nothing good except what he thinks will please his beloved.
26. Love can deny nothing to love.
27. A lover can never have enough of the solaces of his beloved.
28. A slight presumption causes a lover to suspect his beloved.
29. A man who is vexed by too much passion usually does not love.
30. A true lover is constantly and without intermission possessed by the thought of his beloved.
31. Nothing forbids one woman being loved by two men or one man by two women.
Now for some prizes. First, my individual prize: an ARC of Knight of Glory. All you have to do is comment here on this blog. For an extra entry, hop on over to my website, http://www.NicoleZoltack.com and sign up for the newsletter.
Because this blog post is in conjunction with Classic Romance Revival blog carnival, there is a grand prize - a 5-ARC package from Classic Romance Revival authors – which will be drawn from visitors commenting on the most blogs. To qualify for the grand prize, you need to register for the contest. Please visit the Classic Romance Revival blog to find details of all the blogs and to register:
http://www.classicromancerevival.com/blog/?p=1671
Good luck!
But this was not the same way of thinking back in the Middle Ages.
Women had no choice in who they married. Oftentimes, they married a total stranger, a man they had never met before they walked down the aisle.
The idea of arranged marriages is foreign to some of us today, even though it is still common practice in some parts of the world today.
I already mentioned that women had no choice; however (typical male-dominated society), there were some cases in which the man could decide his bride.
Sometimes, love found the couple after they were married as backward as that sounds to us. Many times, even if they did not grow to love each other, lasting friendships bloomed.
Marriage was done at a young age – the girls as young as 12, the boys 17 – and for financial, practical, or dynastic reasons.
The feudal relationship between a knight and his liege lord was the model for courtly love as well as the code of chivalry. The knight swears the same obedience and loyalty to his courtly lady that he would his liege lord. This ideal is taken from bards’ songs and hardly ever practiced. After all, most knights would not be submissive to their lady! However, his love for her was a source for inspiration, for courage, and power, to do great deeds, in order to win her favor, to be good enough for her.
Oftentimes, the knight fell in love with a married lady. Remember, most marriages were not born out of love. Courtly love was a means for the knights to show their affection despite the marital state of the lady. The most famous instance of this occurrence is Sir Lancelot and Queen Guinevere.
Now for some of the more defined rules of courtly love.
The Twelve Chief Rules in Love
From The Art of Courtly Love by Andreas Capellanus, a 12th century Frenchman
1. Thou shalt avoid avarice like the deadly pestilence and shalt embrace its opposite.
2. Thou shalt keep thyself chaste for the sake of her whom thou lovest.
3. Thou shalt not knowingly strive to break up a correct love affair that someone else is engaged in.
4. Thou shalt not chose for thy love anyone whom a natural sense of shame forbids thee to marry.
5. Be mindful completely to avoid falsehood.
6. Thou shalt not have many who know of thy love affair.
7. Being obedient in all things to the commands of ladies, thou shalt ever strive to ally thyself to the service of Love.
8. In giving and receiving love's solaces let modesty be ever present.
9. Thou shalt speak no evil.
10. Thou shalt not be a revealer of love affairs.
11. Thou shalt be in all things polite and courteous.
12. In practising the solaces of love thou shalt not exceed the desires of thy lover.
The Art of Courtly Love
Also from The Art of Courtly Love by Andreas Capellanus
1. Marriage is no real excuse for not loving.
2. He who is not jealous cannot love.
3. No one can be bound by a double love.
4. It is well known that love is always increasing or decreasing.
5. That which a lover takes against the will of his beloved has no relish.
6. Boys do not love until they reach the age of maturity.
7. When one lover dies, a widowhood of two years is required of the survivor.
8. No one should be deprived of love without the very best of reasons.
9. No one can love unless he is propelled by the persuasion of love.
10. Love is always a stranger in the home of avarice.
11. It is not proper to love any woman whom one would be ashamed to seek to marry.
12. A true lover does not desire to embrace in love anyone except his beloved.
13. When made public love rarely endures.
14. The easy attainment of love makes it of little value: difficulty of attainment makes it prized.
15. Every lover regularly turns pale in the presence of his beloved.
16. When a lover suddenly catches sight of his beloved his heart palpitates.
17. A new love puts an old one to flight.
18. Good character alone makes any man worthy of love.
19. If love diminishes, it quickly fails and rarely revives.
20. A man in love is always apprehensive.
21. Real jealousy always increases the feeling of love.
22. Jealousy increases when one suspects his beloved.
23. He whom the thought of love vexes eats and sleeps very little.
24. Every act of a lover ends in the thought of his beloved.
25. A true lover considers nothing good except what he thinks will please his beloved.
26. Love can deny nothing to love.
27. A lover can never have enough of the solaces of his beloved.
28. A slight presumption causes a lover to suspect his beloved.
29. A man who is vexed by too much passion usually does not love.
30. A true lover is constantly and without intermission possessed by the thought of his beloved.
31. Nothing forbids one woman being loved by two men or one man by two women.
Now for some prizes. First, my individual prize: an ARC of Knight of Glory. All you have to do is comment here on this blog. For an extra entry, hop on over to my website, http://www.NicoleZoltack.com and sign up for the newsletter.
Because this blog post is in conjunction with Classic Romance Revival blog carnival, there is a grand prize - a 5-ARC package from Classic Romance Revival authors – which will be drawn from visitors commenting on the most blogs. To qualify for the grand prize, you need to register for the contest. Please visit the Classic Romance Revival blog to find details of all the blogs and to register:
http://www.classicromancerevival.com/blog/?p=1671
Good luck!
Saturday, January 30, 2010
Sale at ARe!
ARe is teaming up with the Smart B*tches Trashy Books blog to give readers 50% off their purchase this weekend. To read the entire post, visit here. The code is SBTBARe1
The discount will only appear once the code is entered in the shopping cart and the “Calculate Discount” button is selected. This offer expires at midnight 31 January 2010, 11:59 PM Mountain Standard Time.
This is the perfect opportunity for you to purchase Woman of Honor before Knight of Glory is released in March.
Go shop, my friends!
The discount will only appear once the code is entered in the shopping cart and the “Calculate Discount” button is selected. This offer expires at midnight 31 January 2010, 11:59 PM Mountain Standard Time.
This is the perfect opportunity for you to purchase Woman of Honor before Knight of Glory is released in March.
Go shop, my friends!
Saturday, November 28, 2009
Update: Nano, Knight of Glory, Bonus Excerpt, and Dreams
November is always a crazy month for me because of Nano so I'm sorry that I haven't been posting much lately.
I changed my mind about Nano. Instead of doing two stories, I rewrote my fantasy YA novel. It had been roughly 69K, now it's just over 80K and (hopefully) ready for an agent's desk. In addition to that story, I wrote another combined 19K from other stories so I almost wrote 100K anyhow. A wild success if you ask me!
Now I've been doing my final revisions of Knight of Glory before I send it off to my Beta Reader. I hope to send it sometime next week. I'm really excited for some feedback on it.
And a bonus for you all, I decided to post another excerpt from Woman of Honor for you to enjoy:
This day, the last class was riding. After setting the saddle on Dream Rider’s back and tightening the girth to keep it in place, Aislinn adjusted the stirrup length and set her foot in the stirrup, swinging onto Dream Rider’s back. Again, the horse refused to cooperate. “Come on, go straight,” Aislinn muttered, trying to spurn the horse onward with a touch of her heels to his side. Dream Rider turned right. Aislinn pulled up on the reins, trying to get the horse to halt but the horse continued to go right and made circle after circle until Aislinn wondered why he didn’t stumble from dizziness.
“What is going on here?” Baron Benedict came over, riding his own steed, Moonshine.
“I’m sorry, Lord Benedict. The horse won’t stop spinning.”
“I thought you told me you knew how to ride a horse?”
“I did, my lord. And I do.”
“Evidently not.” The baron wrinkled his crooked nose in disgust. “But since you think you know how to handle a horse, then, by all means, go ahead. You don’t need my help then.”
Aislinn watched the Baron’s backside as he rode up to another page. The dark baron was a formidable instructor and his contempt wounded her more than she liked to admit. Refusing to let him see how much his lack of faith hurt her, Aislinn kicked her heels hard into Dream Rider’s formidable sides. But no matter how hard she dug in her heels or tried to coax the horse to the right or left, the horse refused to listen and did the opposite.
Finally, class finished. Aislinn swung herself free of the saddle to walk the horse back to his stall. “You listen well enough when I guide you and walk beside you, why can’t you listen when I use a rein?” she grumbled.
“I told you ‘fore, that horse don’t listen well,” Tomas said, limping over to her.
“What happened to your leg?”
“A knight brought me a wild horse the other day. I was tryin’ to break it in but it’s got a vicious mean streak and it kicked me. I’ll be fine.” He brushed her concern away with a wave of his hand. “The better question is what are you goin’ to be doin’ with that yon horse?”
“I don’t know.” Aislinn sighed. “The baron was not pleased with me.”
“Well, can’t say that I blame ‘im. There aren’t any more horses to offer either, not that the horses can be reassigned anyways. But, as if said ‘fore, I’ll help in any way that I can. I just don’t know how.” He grinned broadly at her and Aislinn wondered if the few missing teeth was from a well aimed kick by a horse.
“If I come back tonight, after I finish my work, will you still be around?”
“Not tonight, lass. But you can come ‘ron if you be wantin’. I don’t mind.”
“Thank you, Tomas, I might do that.” Aislinn untacked the horse and brushed the dirt and dust from him. If only she could figure out how to force the horse to listen!
Aislinn faces many difficulties on her journey to fulfilling her dreams. What are your dreams? What obstacles are you facing or might you face? Me? I would love to be a best selling author. But I'm also a mom and that comes first. What about you?
I changed my mind about Nano. Instead of doing two stories, I rewrote my fantasy YA novel. It had been roughly 69K, now it's just over 80K and (hopefully) ready for an agent's desk. In addition to that story, I wrote another combined 19K from other stories so I almost wrote 100K anyhow. A wild success if you ask me!
Now I've been doing my final revisions of Knight of Glory before I send it off to my Beta Reader. I hope to send it sometime next week. I'm really excited for some feedback on it.
And a bonus for you all, I decided to post another excerpt from Woman of Honor for you to enjoy:
This day, the last class was riding. After setting the saddle on Dream Rider’s back and tightening the girth to keep it in place, Aislinn adjusted the stirrup length and set her foot in the stirrup, swinging onto Dream Rider’s back. Again, the horse refused to cooperate. “Come on, go straight,” Aislinn muttered, trying to spurn the horse onward with a touch of her heels to his side. Dream Rider turned right. Aislinn pulled up on the reins, trying to get the horse to halt but the horse continued to go right and made circle after circle until Aislinn wondered why he didn’t stumble from dizziness.
“What is going on here?” Baron Benedict came over, riding his own steed, Moonshine.
“I’m sorry, Lord Benedict. The horse won’t stop spinning.”
“I thought you told me you knew how to ride a horse?”
“I did, my lord. And I do.”
“Evidently not.” The baron wrinkled his crooked nose in disgust. “But since you think you know how to handle a horse, then, by all means, go ahead. You don’t need my help then.”
Aislinn watched the Baron’s backside as he rode up to another page. The dark baron was a formidable instructor and his contempt wounded her more than she liked to admit. Refusing to let him see how much his lack of faith hurt her, Aislinn kicked her heels hard into Dream Rider’s formidable sides. But no matter how hard she dug in her heels or tried to coax the horse to the right or left, the horse refused to listen and did the opposite.
Finally, class finished. Aislinn swung herself free of the saddle to walk the horse back to his stall. “You listen well enough when I guide you and walk beside you, why can’t you listen when I use a rein?” she grumbled.
“I told you ‘fore, that horse don’t listen well,” Tomas said, limping over to her.
“What happened to your leg?”
“A knight brought me a wild horse the other day. I was tryin’ to break it in but it’s got a vicious mean streak and it kicked me. I’ll be fine.” He brushed her concern away with a wave of his hand. “The better question is what are you goin’ to be doin’ with that yon horse?”
“I don’t know.” Aislinn sighed. “The baron was not pleased with me.”
“Well, can’t say that I blame ‘im. There aren’t any more horses to offer either, not that the horses can be reassigned anyways. But, as if said ‘fore, I’ll help in any way that I can. I just don’t know how.” He grinned broadly at her and Aislinn wondered if the few missing teeth was from a well aimed kick by a horse.
“If I come back tonight, after I finish my work, will you still be around?”
“Not tonight, lass. But you can come ‘ron if you be wantin’. I don’t mind.”
“Thank you, Tomas, I might do that.” Aislinn untacked the horse and brushed the dirt and dust from him. If only she could figure out how to force the horse to listen!
Aislinn faces many difficulties on her journey to fulfilling her dreams. What are your dreams? What obstacles are you facing or might you face? Me? I would love to be a best selling author. But I'm also a mom and that comes first. What about you?
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
All About Eve Anthology
Yesterday was the deadline for WolfSinger Publications' All About Eve Anthology. They wanted a story about the first female, whether you wrote about Eve or Pandora.
I wrote a short story about Pandora and her box in two days, just under 5k. It was really fun to write. I've always been interested in mythology. I choose to use the Roman gods instead of their Greek counterparts and how to do search and replace because I kept typing Zeus instead of Jupiter! So I submitted Breaking Hope and hopefully I'll hear back soon.
Tomorrow's my birthday and since I love Italian cuisine, we're going to Bravo, an Italian restaurant. I'll be turning 25, a quarter of a century. Wow, does time fly. After my birthday celebration, I'll resume working on Knight of Glory, Book 2 in the Kingdom of Arnhem series.
Speaking of my fantasy romance series, you can now purchase Woman of Honor at another location: Books on Board. I'm very excited about this!
I wrote a short story about Pandora and her box in two days, just under 5k. It was really fun to write. I've always been interested in mythology. I choose to use the Roman gods instead of their Greek counterparts and how to do search and replace because I kept typing Zeus instead of Jupiter! So I submitted Breaking Hope and hopefully I'll hear back soon.
Tomorrow's my birthday and since I love Italian cuisine, we're going to Bravo, an Italian restaurant. I'll be turning 25, a quarter of a century. Wow, does time fly. After my birthday celebration, I'll resume working on Knight of Glory, Book 2 in the Kingdom of Arnhem series.
Speaking of my fantasy romance series, you can now purchase Woman of Honor at another location: Books on Board. I'm very excited about this!
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