Tuesday, January 21, 2014

I hope you will bear with me on this personal post today. I just want to wish a Happy Birthday to my younger sister and post a memoriam to my older sister who passed away one year ago today. I miss you Thresa.





THRESA SUE PALMER Oct. 17, 1970 - Jan. 21, 2013 In loving memory of our beloved Thresa; 

Daughter, Sister, Wife, Mother, Grandmother 

One year has passed since that sad day God called you home - it was His will; You will live always in our hearts until that sweet day when we are together again. Loved and Missed by your Family 



"I am the good Shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me; My sheep hear my voice and they follow me; I give them eternal life and they shall never perish." John 10

Thursday, January 16, 2014

So I've been meaning to put a post up all week just so it can be known that I am, in fact, still alive. I finished my final, final revision of The Ruling of Valedrun and it's off being proofread. It's been an exhausting few weeks of constant revising. Mix that in with a new workout routine at the gym and hubby gone with the Army for a few weeks and now I'm a zombie.

I decided since it's my birthday today I'd make one of my favorite dishes for dinner. Penne alla Vodka. Of course I was out of Vodka, so I ran to the nearest ABC to get some. They carded me, which was pleasant, but apparently everyone who's carded me in the past year plus has failed to notice my drivers license expired in 2012! How have I missed that? Yikes! So a quick visit to Michigan Secretary of State website and I'm a legal driver once again.

Nothing much else new and exciting to report so I'm going to enjoy a celebratory glass of Witches Brew and share a fun little list my sister shared with me titled 44 Things every short girl can relate to. Being under 5 foot I can say I've experienced pretty much everything on that list except for #44.

Thursday, January 9, 2014

Being asked to guest judge the #5minute fiction contest has to have been the funnest thing I've participated online with so far. The contestants were all very talented and I'm so impressed with their ability to come up with compelling stories in such a small amount of time. Each story deserved to win on individual merits but alas only one could take home the prize. Congratulations to Gemma Brocato on this week's win! And thank-you to everyone who participated, I thoroughly enjoyed myself.

Read the winning entry here. And check out the others as well, they were all good.

Tuesday, January 7, 2014

Monday, January 6, 2014

Tomorrow I have the honor of choosing my five favorite submissions for a flash fiction contest. The blog owner is writer Wendy Strain. She'll post a prompt tomorrow evening at 7:30 pm. CST and the contestants will have five minutes to write their story in the comments section. Once the top five are selected the audience votes for a winner. The winner gets a free copy of Monsoon Reign. I can't wait to have a chance to read all the submissions but I have a feeling picking my favorites will be difficult based on the ones I've read from prior contests.

If you'd like to try it out she does this weekly. Here's the link and I'll update a reminder tomorrow on the blog when the contest goes live.

Wednesday, January 1, 2014

Belated Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! I took a break from writing for a few days to spend time with the family but couldn't help starting up again a couple of days ago. I started off the New Year printing off my first draft of The Ruling of Valedrun. It's ready for reading and I'm sending them out. If anyone still wanted the opportunity to beta read it let me know ASAP. I'd like to get all input in within a couple weeks before I send it off for proofreading (Sue I'll get to you with a date as soon as possible) :)

Here's a little teaser:

“Alright,” she said slowly and placed her hands on the table before her. “Let’s set that aside for a minute. Who are you? What role do you play in this twisted little tale you’re telling me?”
“I’m a loyal knight of Valedrun. Sworn to defend and serve the Royal family until I breathe my last breath. I brought you to this world and made sure you were safe over the years.”
“Then why did you leave me in that house with those people? If they aren’t really my family and you knew they treated me so bad why didn’t you rescue me?” She felt a sudden simultaneous sorrow and anger. All those years her mother, no her false mother, had been correct. She felt sad for the woman who’d pined for her real daughter and angry that she’d been left in that situation.
“I admit it wasn’t ideal but by the time I realized the situation it was too late. You were already enmeshed with the family and you weren’t in any danger.”
“Not physical.” The waitress reappeared with their food but she continued anyway. “But emotionally it was toxic. You should have done something.”
Wolf waited for the waitress to leave before responding. “I did, Princess. I numbed those bad feelings for you. I helped you not to mind that you didn’t fit in with the family.”
 “Stop calling me Princess!” Several patrons lifted their gazes toward them and she realized she had shouted at him. 
“I’m sorry, your majesty.” There was no hint of teasing in his tone merely a respectful acquiescence proper for a noble knight.
“No, not that either. Call me Johanna. That is my name isn’t it?
“That is the one thing you have in common with your long deceased counterpart. It would’ve been too confusing for you to change your name. You were already two years old when I brought you here. I was lucky enough to find a family that happened to lose a daughter the same age and with the same name. I used a simple glam to make you appear to look like her. Then you were brought to them, a replacement they were meant to believe was really her. For some reason it worked for everyone except the mother.” 
“Why?”
He shrugged. “I don’t know why she saw through it. Perhaps her deep love for her true daughter prevented the glam from working on her.”
“No, I mean why was I brought here? Away from my birth parents?”
“The kingdom was under siege and you were in grave danger. Joachim, the General of the Royal Army turned against the throne leading a rebellion against your parents. He swore to kill the entire royal family. Your parents loved you enough to send you away to safety. They had me hide you and refused to allow me to tell them where. I’m one of two to know the location of the hidden Princess. Not long afterward Joachim conquered the land and executed your parents.”
She quit picking at her sandwich and pushed it away in disgust. The sordid tale he told took away any small appetite she may have had to begin with. “Then why are you here, Wolf? Why bother my quiet, happy little life?”
“Are you happy?” He tilted his head and leveled his gaze at her.
Tears pricked at her eyes but she refused to answer his question. “Why are you here, Wolf?”
“The other person who knew your whereabouts revealed your location to the rebels while under torture. They’ve infiltrated this world and are actively seeking you out.”
“Another knight like you?”
“No, he was the caretaker of the gallery of the gods. Sadly he succumbed to his injuries and is with us no more. Now what’s important is the danger you are facing.”
“Why do they bother looking for me? It’s not like I plan to take the throne back.” Did she actually just speak about this as if it was a fact and not this man’s sick fantasy?
“Your people need you. They lament the demise of their King and Queen and wish to see you ascend to your rightful place. Whether or not this is something you desire your very existence is a threat to Joachim. He will not feel at ease until the threat is extinguished.”
“So you’re telling me I’ve got a bunch of otherworld assassins after me?”
“I’m here to protect you. Even if you don’t wish to return to your royal responsibilities I will give my life for you.”
“Great.” She rolled her eyes. “Do you realize how crazy this all sounds? If it wasn’t for the fact that you haven’t aged and you can travel at impossible speeds I’d say you belong in one of those hospitals my mother frequented.”
“I do age.” He sighed. “I know it’s hard to take all this in but it’s true. The world we come from has a different time stream than this place. In our world it’s only been four years since you left. Three years since your parents lost their lives. I was twenty and one years old when I brought you here, so with the time differences I guess we’re the same age now.”
“So… you’re two decades older than me but we’re the same age?” She rubbed her forehead and tried to wrap her mind around what he told her.
“Believe it or not, Princess.” He smiled sadly. “Some things are weird to me as well. That is one of those things I find hard to swallow. I left you as a darling little girl and in just a few years you’re an attractive woman.”