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Guest Post: Jenna Elizabeth Johnson’s The Reasons for Writing Ehriad

I’m excited to host another author in the Faery Realms bundle, Jenna Elizabeth Johnson. These are her reasons for writing Ehriad, her short story which you can download in the bundle.

EHRIAD

A Single Thread of Magic

Cade MacRoich is Ehríad, a faelah bounty hunter. When he is compelled to deal with a collection of particularly nasty monsters in the mortal world, he stumbles upon a stream of Faelorehn magic that leads him to something astonishing.

The Morrigan’s Game

The children of the Weald are protected by the forest’s ancient magic, but when the Morrigan’s faelah manage to break through that barrier, Cade’s sister calls upon him for help.

Broken Geis

Cade has tried in vain to forget about the alluring Meghan Elam. Unfortunately, the Morrigan’s interest in the young Faelorehn girl puts her in danger and makes Cade realize he is willing to risk everything to keep her safe.

Why did I choose to write a short story (which is truthfully a collection of three very short stories) that had already been covered in Faelorehn?  Well, I have three good reasons for doing so:

1. Faelorehn is told strictly from Meghan’s point of view, so my readers never get a good sense of what is going on in Cade’s mind, and let’s face it, he is rather intriguing.  I wrote Ehriad, in part, to delve into the mind of our Faelorehn hero.  At the start of the series, the only image we get of Cade is through Meghan’s eyes, and she’s a bit star-struck by the whole concept of Cade and what he has to tell her about her heritage.  There are so many unanswered questions and a whole lot of reluctance to trust Cade, so I felt, to be fair to him, I should tell at least part of his story.  Therefore, I picked three scenes from Faelorehn (well, technically one scene takes place primarily in the Otherworld) to help alleviate some of that mystery and to let (if not Meghan) the reader know that although Cade is aloof at times, he is so much more than a pretty face delivering shocking news.

2. The second reason I went about writing Ehriad was because I wanted to give a more richly detailed, in-depth view of the world I had created for Faelorehn.  In the first novel of the Otherworld Series, Meghan only barely enters the Otherworld, so the reader doesn’t get a good sense of what it’s all about.  Instead, they must rely on what Cade tells her (or, in most cases, neglects to tell her), and what she must find out on her own through research and unfortunate encounters with faelah.  With Ehriad, and especially with the story The Morrigan’s Game, the reader is transported to the Otherworld with Cade.  I also include Enorah, Cade’s sister, as one of the main participants in a quest to destroy some of the Morrigan’s monsters.  Enorah and Cade have a very close relationship and that doesn’t really get touched upon until Dolmarehn.  Both Enorah and Cade have suffered similar pasts and they bond over their mutual love for one another and the sacrifices they are willing to make for each other.  I don’t go into depth with this past in Ehriad, but I wanted to set the stage for future Otherworld books.

3. Lastly, a large part of my motive for writing Ehriad was for my readers.  Yes.  I wrote Ehriad, in part, for my readers.  Like many authors, I do look at reviews and feedback for my books.  One common complaint about Faelorehn was that there wasn’t enough about Cade, and I couldn’t agree more.  However, it wasn’t in my power to elaborate since Meghan is the one doing all the thinking and talking in the first book.  Therefore, I set about picking out scenes I thought my readers might enjoy seeing through Cade’s eyes.  After publishing Ehriad, I decided to go ahead and do the same for Dolmarehn.  In this case, I actually posted the question to my readers: What scenes from Dolmarehn would you like to hear from Cade’s perspective?  I had some great feedback and got to work on Ghalien.  In the end, Ghalien became a short novel with only two of the scenes my readers recommended.  I’m hoping, one day, to get to the others and then to scenes from Luathara as well.

Sometime in the future, I hope to write more from Cade’s perspective (dare I say a novel, or two, or three . . . ?).  With so many characters running around in my head, trying desperately to get my attention, it can sometimes be difficult to decide where to start.  Luckily, I have my Muse to help me get things in order.  Yes, the Otherworld and its many characters have definitely gotten under my skin and I can’t see myself shaking them any time soon.  So to answer the question I’ve been asked many a time over: Yes, the trilogy may be complete, but I am by no means finished with the Otherworld.

Download Faery Realms from Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Kobo, Smashwords, Google Play and iTunes.

Find more from Jenna on her website, Twitter and Facebook.

Shadow Blues by Tricia Zoeller

Today I’m excited to share an excerpt from Shadow Blues, the first novelette in The Darkling Chronicles from Tricia Zoeller.

At the age of four, Patrick Benjamin Solomon becomes Anka Rehmling’s human charge. By eight, he can SEE her. At thirteen, he breaks her heart, and by eighteen, she finds herself fighting for his life.

As a darkling shadowcaster, Anka casts shadows in the human world, harnessing some of the earth’s UV light to bring back to Montenai—a world full of darklings, nymphs, satyrs, phantoms, and dragon lords. Her job is crucial to preserving the vitality and balance in her town of Shadowland. However, Anka has trouble following the strict rules set by the Shadowland Council, a ruling body comprised of three dragon lords.

The lords’ decree states all shadowcasters will abide by the rules or face the penalty of harsh punishment, banishment, or death. Torn between her world and his, Anka must choose to defy the Council or turn her back on love.

Download Shadow Blues on Amazon.

Excerpt

Nana stopped the cart by the side of the Wishing Tree. A nonshadowcaster stood as a door attendant in front of the double doors. He wore a uniform of dark pants, boots, and a red jacket with the dragon lords’ symbol on the pocket.

The same symbol hung above the two doors. The gold shield showed a dragon looking down at his shadow. Pops said it reminded us that we were a team, dragon lords and shadowcasters. We’d been a team for a hundred years.

The attendant opened the doors to the Wishing Tree, and Bianca gasped as a black cloud of bats launched into the air from the upper branches, making a chorus of chirpy squeaks. She leaned against the darkling, as if she wanted him to save her. He held Bianca’s shoulder to steady her.

His face changed then. “This one is strong.”

Nana nodded to him before shooing us through the doorway.

Bianca slipped her sweaty hand into mine and squeezed. Nana walked behind us, a hand at each of our backs.

My shoes pinched my toes. A smell I remembered from when I was four hit me suddenly. The dragon lords smelled like…cedar, pine, cinnamon, burnt apple cider, and smoke.

It was hard to see, at first. Fancy lights hung on the walls, but still it was so much darker than the bright, sunny day outside.

We heard deep voices coming closer. Then eyes glowed in the air, gold, blue, and green from the dark tunnel below. Nana clutched the back of our dresses. I didn’t dare tell her she’d pinched some of my skin.

Lord Akton appeared before us. “I told you. Not in the Rotunda. We’ll talk to them in the Council Room.”

Bianca and I stood with our heads tilted back and our mouths wide open. I felt like screaming.

“Coooool,” Bianca said. Then, “Yipe.” I was pretty sure Nana had pinched her.

One golden eye stared at us. Where there should have been another eye, Lord Akton instead had several wrinkled lines through darkling skin mixed with red scales.

My heart beat so fast, I thought I might just die.

“Hello, Rehmlings. Thank you for bringing them here, Violet.”

“Of course, Lord Akton.”

Inside the Council Room, they told us to sit at a large marble table. I remembered tracing the squiggles in the marble of the Rotunda floor when I was four. Now, I did not want to touch the marble. I wanted to disappear from the room, play invisible girl.

Nana sat next to the youngest dragon lord across from Bianca and me. We faced the doorway where Lord Akton stood on one side and Leasith on the other. Were they guarding the door?

Bianca kept staring at the red-scaled lord across the room. Nana kept whispering for her to stop. I couldn’t take my eyes off Lord Bulosk. His blue scales were the prettiest color I’d ever seen. I’d never seen that kind of blue in my life.

“Hello, little shadowcasters. I’m Bulosk. I’ll be your tour guide for today.”

Bianca giggled. Nana hushed her.

“What? He’s funny,” Bianca said.

Lord Akton growled. It vibrated my chair and tickled my whole body. Lord Bulosk rolled his green eyes up into his head, like, “don’t mind my grumpy brother.”

My breathing got faster, and, suddenly, I hiccupped loudly. Nana’s lips mashed together, and she gave me her mean look.

“Sorry,” I whispered.

The Lord opened a leather case and pulled out some paper. He set a piece in front of Nana, Bianca, and me. “You are all aware of shadowcaster rules. I’m placing them in front of you in a contractual form. This is standard procedure when a human discovers you as an Imaginary Friend. Please review.”

I followed along as he read aloud. I understood most of the words:

By Decree of the Shadowland Council: Lords Akton, Leasith, & Bulosk

Each shadowcaster under the dominion of the Council will abide by the following rules as they pertain to the human world or face the penalty of harsh punishment, banishment, or death.

Shadowcasting Rules

1. Always cast true to form.

2. Never talk to the human.

3. Never give the human your name.

4. Never touch the human other than to use him/her as a portal.

Exceptions and Addendums as it pertains to Imaginary Friendships

1. If a human child shall see you as an imaginary friend, you may play with him/her, but never converse. Please do not encourage the child. Touching is allowed as it pertains to playing games, but keep affection to a minimum.

2. Imaginary friendship shall be terminated by the age of thirteen. This is the maximum age and is extended as a courtesy to shadowcasters who may have charges who have special needs or are terminally ill. There are no exceptions to this age limit.

When he finished, he tapped a claw on the paper. He hadn’t had a claw out before. “Now, we just need your blood bond there on the “X” then my handsome brother will give you a short history lesson and you can be on your way.”

I watched Nana’s mouth fall into a frown, and her eyebrows drew together. She pushed back from the table and turned on the biggest lord. “Standard procedure, you say? I’ve never heard of this.”

Lord Akton left the wall. “I assure you, it is required of certain shadowcasters, if they’ve broken rules.”

“She is just a baby.”

“Well, if you don’t have them sign the decree, we can think of other ways for them to make amends for little Anka’s mistakes.”

Nana gasped. “Don’t work your hocus-pocus on me.” She spun around and sat back down at the table. She sat with her body so rigid, I thought she’d get a spasm. Her blond hair flowed in the air a bit. It only did that when she was angry.

“It will be okay.” Lord Bulosk smiled at Nana then us. He stood up and went to Bianca’s side. Suddenly, I saw a flash of all the claws on his right hand.

I screamed.

To read the rest of Shadow Blues, download it on Amazon.

Find more from Tricia on her blog, Twitter and Facebook.

A Measure of Rice

Rice in North Korea was distributed by the government. Despite the official Communist ideology of “equality,” everything, even the daily ration of rice, was regulated by a strict caste system.

During the 1990s, rampant corruption and government mismanagement of the country’s resources resulted in a terrible famine. Rice rations were cut across the nation, but especially for the less “desirable” castes.

Would you like to read this and other stories on your Kindle?