with John W. Howell
Charles Yallowitz of Legends of Windemere Fame picked me to play the Three Days, Three Quotes Challenge. I want to thank him for thinking of me.
Rules:
–Post one quote a day for three days (from others or your own).
–Nominate three other bloggers to participate per post.
Thank the blogger
Today is one of those, “Where were you when?” days. September 11th for all those born after 2001 is a day that may or may not have some significance. For the rest of us who were alive and old enough to understand, today marks an anniversary of an unprovoked attack on our and the world citizens. The images of that day are clear to me, and my wish is never to witness a similar day again. I still feel for the families of those taken and know the day will be most difficult for them. My JohnKu today is a tribute to all who remember and were touched by Nine-One-One.
Nine-One-One By John W. Howell © 2015
Peaceful September,
Perfect Robin’s egg blue sky . . .
Taken by death wings.
Charles Yallowitz of Legends of Windemere Fame picked me to play the Three Days, Three Quotes Challenge. I want to thank him for thinking of me.
Rules:
–Post one quote a day for three days (from others or your own).
–Nominate three other bloggers to participate per post.
Thank the blogger
Since some of you participated in the selection of the cover for His Revenge by voting for your favorite, I owe you an answer as to which of the covers I selected. I want to thank each of you for participating. The cover chosen did get the highest rating of the three covers. It also captures a moment in the book where the antagonist attempts to get to John Cannon through someone who is close to John.
Here is the cover.
The revised Blurb.
America loves John Cannon, its newest hero, and the President wants to present him with a medal. While in Washington for the award ceremony, John unwillingly becomes an accomplice in a terrorist plan to disrupt the US economy. There is no way out as John either becomes a traitor to America or causes thousands of innocent people to die if he refuses.
I’m working on formatting now so the launch should be in six weeks or so.
It is Wednesday Storytime again. Last week, we were introduced to two new characters Alexis and Ben. We learned they are college kids and friends with a sexual past on hold. Alexis mentions some complexity that has forced sex into the background. We left them as they agreed to meet at Alexis’ house to study and watch a movie. Ben is just getting there now. Let’s join them.
“Hi, how are you doing?”
“Ya mean since sixty minutes ago?”
“Um, that did sound a little dumb right?”
“Not dumb Ben just automatic. You know how I hate rhetorical questions.”
“I know Alexis. I know. You gonna invite me in?”
“Come in. Did you get the chips and soda?”
“Sure did. Got some dip as well.”
“You da man Ben. Dip is the short way to my heart.”
“Who wants heart?”
“What?”
“Nothing. Just a snide comment.”
“You better get off that physical stuff, or you’ll study alone.”
“Yeah okay. Man, you are like a grumpasaurus.”
“And you are like a rutasaurus.”
“Truce.”
“Truce. Grumpasaurus was pretty good. Put that stuff on the counter.”
“Rutasaurus was pretty good too. You want a soda? I didn’t get root beer. Got a lot of flack at the store over root beer.”
“I’m not surprised. Let’s order a pizza. I’ll have a soda with it. After I order, we need to get to work.”
“Good. What work we gonna do?”
“Whatya mean. What work?”
“School work or the other?”
“We need to get the other squared away. So how about we spend tonight on it and then tomorrow on school.”
“I brought the blueprints.”
“Great let me order and then let’s see ’em.”
“I’ll unroll them on the table.”
“You okay with white sauce and veggie.”
“Yeah good. Hmm, this building has a lot of floors.”
“Okay, I ordered. The guy said thirty minutes. What are you saying about the floors?”
“I didn’t think the building had so many floors.”
“What does that mean?”
“When this sucker blows there is going to be a huge brick pile.”
“Fully destroyed though right?”
“You better believe it, Alexis. Fully.”
When the mischievous and random Goddess of Chaos gets angry, all of Windemere becomes her plaything.
It all starts with a collection of toys that have taken the populace by storm. People of all races flood the marketplaces to gather figurines of the champions whose adventures are starting to spread across the land. Stemming from the flying city of Nevra Coil, these toys bring with them a terrible curse: Fame. Every town becomes a mob of fans that hound their new idols and the delay is bringing the world closer to the hands of Baron Kernaghan. Perhaps worst of all, the creator of these toys forgot to include a certain exiled deity who is now out to earn herself a figurine.
Who would have thought a bunch of toys could cause so much trouble and lead to the breaking of a champion’s confidence?
Welcome to Nevra Coil Excerpt
A screeching alarm goes off inside the vessel, signaling for everyone to pay attention to the pilot. Jo flicks a few switches above her head, amplifying her voice so everyone can clearly hear her. “We’re coming to Nevra Coil. Get ready for docking at Inspiration Tower instead of one of the Ring Houses. If you want to see the city then come to the front, but you better not complain while I’m giving the tour. I’ll be going too fast to repeat myself. We’re starting with the bottom, so don’t be scared. There hasn’t been a crash in a month. Two months since a fatality.”
The champions gather around Jo’s chair and watch as the clouds part to reveal the underside of the flying city. The steel gray earth has several narrow tubes of yellow crystal spread along its gleaming surface, the enchanted objects creating a spiral that leads to a red, metal rod. An occasional spark falls from the central pole and dissipates into the clouds, giving the illusion of lightning. Jo has the vessel steadily rise to give everyone a clear view and she taps her ear to silently get her passengers to listen. Beneath the sounds of the ship’s rotors, the champions hear a dull hum whenever they pass close to a crystal. Those with keen eyes can see a sapphire orb that flickers like a flame inside the yellow tube’s core, but the strange object is definitely solid like a rock.
“The flight crystals are designed to push off and ride the waves of the ocean. The outer tube is the reflector and the ice gem is the controller,” Jo explains as they flip around the far side of Nevra Coil. She scowls at the whimpering gypsy and begrudgingly slows the vessel down. “The central rod is what keeps us in a small area as we spin like a very slow top. Without that, we’d be floating all over Windemere’s oceans. You’ll feel the rotation at first, but the awkwardness will pass within a few hours. Before you ask, the system does nothing to the ocean below. We keep ourselves at a great height to prevent that and we turn off the crystals if we have to drop. That’s only in case of severe damage, so they would probably be malfunctioning in such an event anyway. Our backup system is a small army of pedaling stone golems that we activate in the core of Nevra Coil. Let’s get to the real event. Hey! Watch where you’re going, you son of an oil slick!”
The vessel swerves out of the way of a small, windowless craft that is powered by a pedaling gnome. Once their heads stop spinning, the champions get their first look at the city of Nevra Coil. Glistening towers are everywhere with a vast collection of flying devices and beasts moving among them. Several structures are missing pieces, revealing metal beams and hardworking gnomes who are trying to finish the construction. The city is a beautiful creation of metal, stone, and glass with nothing on the earthy ground besides several colonies of orange slimes. The burbling creatures feast on the garbage that falls out of hatches, which are built into the lower floors of every tower. Compared to the enormous buildings, Jo’s vessel feels like a rowboat as it weaves among the chaos. Several times they come close to hitting another ship, their skilled pilot meeting each encounter with a slew of insults and curses. They hover when a claxon goes off and the circular tower ahead opens one of its floors to reveal another ring-shaped ship.
“This is where we would normally dock, but you’re wanted on the one-hundred and eighty-sixth and a half floor of Inspiration Tower,” Jo says while waving to the other ship. She waits for them to leave before rising to the higher sky lanes where there is more space. “If you look to the right, you’ll see the Lizard. It’s used by those of us who don’t have a flying device due to no interest, accidents, revoked license, or whatever else can go wrong. I’ll swing by to give you a better look, but don’t stare directly into the golem’s eye. You never know if it’s going to be friendly or . . . churlish.”
Dipping toward a metallic rail, the ship comes alongside a green-scaled reptile with seats grown into its wide back. A throbbing bubble covers the sitting area, the oily membrane protecting riders from the elements until the transport comes to a stop. Gnomes are comfortably sitting in the chairs, most of them reading notes or sleeping. The creature’s tail is merged with the track to prevent it from falling off while it pulls itself along using powerful front legs. A driver on its head opens a hatch in the top of its long nose to drop in a shovelful of screeching beetles. The Lizard slows down while everyone hears the insects getting crunched in the construct’s mouth. When the strange transport hisses at the ship, Jo pulls away and heads for where a trio of metallic birds are sitting on a windowless tower.
About the Author:Charles Yallowitz was born and raised on Long Island, NY, but he has spent most of his life wandering his own imagination in a blissful haze. Occasionally, he would return from this world for the necessities such as food, showers, and Saturday morning cartoons. One day he returned from his imagination and decided he would share his stories with the world. After his wife decided that she was tired of hearing the same stories repeatedly, she convinced him that it would make more sense to follow his dream of being a fantasy author. So, locked within the house under orders to shut up and get to work, Charles brings you Legends of Windemere. He looks forward to sharing all of his stories with you, and his wife is happy he finally has someone else to play with.
As you may know, I have become enamored by the talent of Keith Channing. He has a weekly prompt named Kreative Kue, which runs on Mondays. Here are the instructions from Keith for the prompt. “Using this photo as inspiration, write a short story, flash fiction, scene, poem; anything, really; and either put it (or a link to it) in a comment or email it to me at keithkreates@channing.fr before 6pm on Sunday (if you aren’t sure what the time is where I live, this link will tell you). If you post it on your blog or site, a link to this page would be appreciated.”
His advice. “Go on. You know you want to. Let your creativity and imagination soar. I shall display the entries, with links to your blog or website, next Monday.” Here is the photo.
The Line by John W. Howell © 2015
“Wow, I don’t believe I actually won something.”
“Well you did, and it looks nice on you.”
“I thought this was going to be your usual church service.”
“Well, it didn’t turn out that way.”
“You know usual like the old stuff kneel, pray, ask forgiveness, get communion, be forgiven, give thanks.”
“I know right. There you were with your hands ready to receive the host and plop the priest drops a hat on your head.”
“Yeah, then he says something about go forth and sin no more.”
“What was the last thing he said?”
“Ping someone else.”
“Ping? That’s what it says on your hat.”
“It does? I’ve been afraid to look. What does ping someone else mean?”
“The guy behind you has a polo pony on his.”
“I heard the priest say ‘ride someone else.”‘
“Oh, you did not. You’re just saying that.”
“What about the rest? No hats.”
“There is one, but that’s it.”
“So what does it mean?”
“You are special?”
“Yeah right.”
“Okay. You got a free hat.”
“I wonder if anyone else wore this one before.”
“Ew. Take it off.”
”
In honor of Labor Day and since I’m currently out-of-town I’ve decided to boil the top ten list down t the most important items. Let’s all remember those who make our lives easier and more pleasant. The remembrance includes we authors.
Top Ten Things Not to do on Labor Day
10 through 1
On Labor Day have fun but do not drink and drive. If you do, at best you are a fool. At worst, you could hurt or kill an innocent person not to mention your guilty self.
Happy Labor Day all.
I have to confess that I’m out-of-town, and this photo was taken Friday morning instead of the regular Saturday morning.
The beach is unusually quiet for a holiday weekend. The lack of people, cars, tents, and mayhem is mostly because most parents cannot get to the beach before the kids are out of school. I expect a change later. Hopefully, I will be back in time to get a photo of what the scene looks like which I will publish next week. Have a great Labor day.
Last week’s photo.
A good time to grab a deal. I’ve read all three and they are terrific.
Cover Art by Jason Pedersen
3D Conversion by Bestt_graphics
*This Book Bundle contains the first 3 volumes of the LEGENDS OF WINDEMERE fantasy series.*
Every hero must take that first courageous step into adventure. For Luke Callindor, it’s more of a blind stumble. From battling a demonic assassin to facing the family he left behind, this warrior’s adventuring career has been one awkward mistake after another. Most days the only things that keep him alive, yet never unharmed, are his trusted friends and his reckless courage. How long can his luck hold out before the gods of Windemere decide to cut his legend short?
That’s right. Guess who just released a book bundle that includes the following:
If you wanted to get into LEGENDS OF WINDEMERE, but feel like…
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