Friday, October 30, 2020
Thursday, October 29, 2020
Friday, October 23, 2020
Thursday, October 22, 2020
Wednesday, October 21, 2020
Tuesday, October 20, 2020
The question today: WHY?
Wrote the following earlier today on Lore's dedicated blog; thought I'd share here, too :)
Tuesday. Stormy weather. Ireland will be the first country to go back into full lockdown as of midnight tomorrow. It’s a day to feel somewhat bludgeoned, I tell you. Maybe a day to get under the covers and read into sleep mode, there being little to look forward to right now. Then, while making coffee, I started thinking, and one thought led to another, until I landed up with the why bother to market my books, such a chore, one leading nowhere (yeah, a ‘down’ day because usually I don’t mind), and that led to the WHY of the Lore series. Why did I write it? Why does it remain important? Why? Just WHY.
Writing is something I’ve always done. Notes, poems, small stories as a child and teenager, children’s stories as a new mother, and then the day arrived that writing became all-consuming. I have told you how I’d sit in the classroom after a home-school session and use the quiet time to write, but what I haven’t told you is what launched the process, the light bulb moment that transformed scribbles into a first full novel.
I started reading long before I went to school and by 8 years old had convinced my dad to let me use his library cards for the adult section of the library (awesome dad said yes!). Stories have been my go-to all my life and I have this OTT imagination as a result. Imagine thus, a woman sitting at her desk with a pile of library books to one side, waiting for her, while she preps lessons for the next day. Done with that, she reaches for that pile and selects the book that is a dictionary of terms for Alchemy, and pages through it … until she comes to an obscure list that is the 14 steps to enlightenment. Her heart thuds and she shivers, for there it is, an entire story unfolding before her as she stares at that list.
Guess what? Within 5 minutes of reading that list, I had hauled pen and paper closer and started jotting notes. Withing a week notes grew into a pile of paper, the beginning of the first manuscript. This does not answer the WHY, but it does answer the ‘what is your light bulb moment?’ The ‘why’ lies in the concept ENLIGHTENMENT. There is more to my WHY than a list in a book (will tell you about that another time) and yet it served as the catalyst. The thing swirling in my spirit found the reason and the means to begin. And thus I did.
Let me tell you, this small explanation has helped to focus my attention and ease the chatterbox in my head. I may still clamber under the covers with a book, though!
Thanks for listening :)
Monday, October 19, 2020
Ilfin of Arc's audio book
Due to the pandemic, Ilfin of Arc's narration into audio was put on hold because the narrator, as with many of us, suffered personal turmoil. We thus decided to complete the project in the latter half of this year, but that did not come to pass, and that's fine; I wish him the best and hope he feels more himself soon.
With Ilfin of Arc free of contract, it went up again on ACX, and I'm pleased to announce it has now secured a narrator and has gone into production. We foresee an end-Dec/early-Jan release date. Yay! Will keep you updated :)
Sunday, October 18, 2020
Saturday, October 17, 2020
Friday, October 16, 2020
Thursday, October 15, 2020
Wednesday, October 14, 2020
Tuesday, October 13, 2020
Short read: Feast Night
Now available, a short story about a horrific Halloween:
Only $0.99
Year after year the people of Flarant lose their children to
the ghosts and ghouls on All Hallows Eve. They cannot flee. They are beyond all
hope.
And then a stranger enters the town in the days leading up
to the event. This year, there is difference in the air. This year, the
children are not alone.
Monday, October 12, 2020
Sunday, October 11, 2020
Thursday, October 8, 2020
Wednesday, October 7, 2020
Tuesday, October 6, 2020
Monday, October 5, 2020
F.U.C.K. :)
Apparently this isn't true - the word comes from 'fecund' and others - but it's worth posting for a laugh :)
Friday, October 2, 2020
What was the original name of The Infinity Mantle?
The LORE Series as you know it now begins with The Infinity Mantle, but this was not always so. Years ago, when I started writing my first novel, moving away from children’s stories and poetry (none of which will ever be published!), it began with scrap paper and pen or pencil (whatever was to hand) and there was no title. See, I was home-schooling my two younger children and had set up a dedicated classroom. Books adorned one wall, a giant blackboard another, while a window filled the third wall and the fourth sported art projects. After school hours, when I prepared lessons for the following day, there I was, in a space that was fun, all about creativity, and in my spare time I started writing. Seriously, kids stay away from a classroom when they don’t need to be there, and therefore there was this daily period of silence (lol).
Eventually that pile of paper had to be put into digital format. A task, I must tell you, that I thoroughly enjoyed, for it allowed for my first ever edit. I began then to understand the meaning of drafts. The first draft is never the one that lands up published!
Anyway, the first book was written … and it was massive. HUGE DOORSTOPPER. Given that I was learning the ropes, therefore reading everything I found on the subject of fiction writing and publishing, I understood it would never be published as it was. Today I disagree with that belief but then I thought I needed to follow the rules – 80 to 100k for a first book, and the 100 was already pushing it. Book one, then, is the first four Arcana books today, or the omnibus edition as it is now, over 500k words.
I had decided on a title. Gathering of Rain. The series starts out with a gathering of the players and my main character’s name then was Rain, thus, Gathering of Rain, and it remained the title of the first book, after I subsequently created four books from that massive volume. To this day I love the title, but input from others revealed Gathering of Rain sounded like the title for a romance novel. Nevertheless, I put it up on Smashwords and actually received great feedback. However, when I landed a three-year contract for the first four books with an indie publisher, the time had arrived to create more effective Fantasy titles.
Gathering of Rain became The Infinity Mantle and I must admit the fit is perfect. With the rights in my hands again, I self-published under the same title. The reason for choosing The Infinity Mantle is explained in INFINITY EXPLAINED. Perhaps the cover will change, but The Infinity Mantle it will remain 
(Copied from The LORE Series)
The Lore Series: Time tells the true tale
Reader and friend, I’ve been meaning to write this for a while and yet, as my family says, I’m to humble to toot my own horn and therefore I remain silent. I’m talking about a story spanning eons and realms, referring to my LORE Series, a 12-volume epic journey. It is a journey, and if you prefer to walk the path less travelled, then welcome! The time has come to summon you near, to whisper in your ear of how much you will discover. Come with me to other worlds …
On my various blogs and pages I have spoken of the characters, artefacts, and magical tools, as well as prophecies and more to intrigue you into starting this absorbing journey, but I held back on other perceptions and maybe denied you entry into places and times beyond imagination. Truth is, I have wished for and still want you to be amazed without my prompting!
Is it not true that we all open our eyes to our greater purpose at some point in our lives? This has been my purpose, to connect with the spirit within, via my LORE. I feel that I offer an awakening experience to my readers. Come with me as we travel from thrones to forest clearings. Journey through the deep places to a city of stone in a forbidden place, as well as hunt for the ultimate clock.
Stating in one sentence what the Lore Series is about, is challenging. What to highlight? Dreams? Reincarnation? Myths? Shadowy spheres of influence? Symbology? Noble purpose? I weave fact and fantasy into a gigantic tapestry, with all these facets and more threaded in, but paramount is Time. I promise that you will ask the right questions having travelled Time with me.
And then there is the Valla family. This is a generational saga and Torrullin Valla strides through all of it. He is a walker through realms forgotten, obscure, and heartbreakingly familiar. He seeks sacred space, which is about sanctuary and truth. Sacred space, time, and family, twist together until they are indivisible.
Therefore, Time tells the true tale encapsulates the whole, for this journey is a mission and will ask of you also your time as you travel through time itself. I challenge you to embark!
Come with me now; our time has come.
(Copied from The LORE Series)
