A Little Bit of Magic

What feels like a long, long time ago, I wrote two little stories called "Lastborn" and "Facsimile". They were released on May 31, 2018 within the sci-fi anthologies Holding On By Our Fingertips and Infinite Dysmorphia by Kristell Ink/Grimbold Books. I won't give any specifics on the plots of the stories here since I don't want to be a spoiler, but I will say I'm proud of them and I hope you enjoy reading them.

Photograph by Aline de Nadai on Unsplash

I finally finished a project I began three years ago, and I'm in the last couple steps before publishing it. Rain Falls on Malora is a collection of eighteen short stories set within the world of The Malora Octet. Each story is told by a minor, non-narrator, or entirely new character from the series who hasn't been able to share their own version of events until now. The stories begin with the reveal of what happened to a certain missing character in Mayfly Requiem, cover the Echoes of Oblivion years and their aftermath, introduce you to a couple of Bethel's children who lived between the trilogies, and close with a narration by Sora Thula sixty years after Arrow of Entropy. I'm also including some original character illustrations, maps, family trees (this got way more complicated to draw out than I expected. Thanks, Bethel), a Volle-Common translation dictionary, and some recipes and poetry I created while working on the series.

I'm waiting on my print proof copy now so I can do final edits and fix any formatting errors. Hopefully I won't have too much trouble converting this file to an ebook. I'm excited to give this little treat to my long-time readers, some of whom inspired specific stories within this book. So, here's to the characters who finally get to tell the world their own versions of the truth: Mirren, Delora, Ariana, Summer, Sharo, Rastaban, Mirazen, Rain, Aurelien, Solace, Maple, Zoli, Ulali, Laira, Terali, Eliani, and Sora.

I hope to release Rain Falls on Malora in July. I'm in the process of moving to a different state, so between that and the setback I had with my repaired ulnar nerve earlier this year, I'm a little behind where I wanted to be. I had an ulnar nerve transposition in my right arm in September and I have some permanent damage from the hourglass constriction that lead to it, so I've had to modify how I type, hold a pen, cook, etc. It has been a long and painful process, but I'm getting there.

Photographs via Unsplash: Nathan Dumlao, Christian Holzinger, Christopher Campbell, Steve Halama,
Tess Nebula, Jing Ang, Ricardo Gomez Angel, Nate Reyfield, Aline de Nadai 

Oh, look at that! The weird things I do when on migraine meds... I wanted to make the chronological order of The Malora Octet a little more obvious and tie the entire series to Rain Falls on Malora visually, so I redid all of the ebook covers. I love seeing them all together. I've left the paperback covers alone since it takes more time to change them than I have right now. You can still find all eight books on Amazon.

Last, but very much not least...

I finished Faelost!

I'm also awaiting the arrival of the Faelost print proof. I like to use a print copy to do my final edits, and this one will take a little while. Why? It's long, 145,000 words, so it's by far my biggest book (Mayfly Requiem was *only* 130k). And, I have no idea what to write for the blurb without spoiling something major that happens just a few short chapters in. I'll have to think on that.

Faelost is the sequel to Cavelost, and it continues immediately where Cavelost left off, but it should work as a stand-alone story. It's told by Rin's second son, Tessen, who finds himself on an unwanted adventure following the hatching of his brother Shan's two stolen dragon eggs.

Oh wait, there's just a little bit more. I'm working on The Bacra Chronicles Book 3 now, Spellkeeper. I'm way into it and hoping I can keep up my momentum on it over the summer. Spellkeeper is the first time in over ten years that I've written a novel in third person (the last being the Echoes of Oblivion trilogy). There are four point-of-view characters for this book -- two from the previous books and two who are new. I'm not sure yet how many books The Bacra Chronicles will end up being, but as of now I know where books 4 and 5 need to go.

Wordless Wednesday: Wildfire

Sketching the Imaginary Friends, part 2

I've been having too much fun with this sketching project even though some of my pictures end up a little heartbreaking if you have read the books they came from. I'm not sure what I'll do with these yet other than find the proper cable so I can hook up my scanner and make digital copies of them. That will also give clearer and more colorful images than the camera on my phone can offer.

Ariana Achara and Rastaban Eryaucra (before The Abyssal Night)

Thora and Solace Achara (Shards of Chaos)

River and Onyx (Shards of Chaos/Echoes of Oblivion trilogy)

Saruza Starsinger (Echoes of Oblivion trilogy)

Arden Masiona and Aerlya Metavanya (Sand into Glass)

Lirit Narsimor (Shards of Chaos/Echoes of Oblivion trilogy)

Ember and Moth (The Abyssal Night/Echoes of Oblivion trilogy)

Zella Thula and Rassa Buananor (Arrow of Entropy). This
is based on a specific scene a couple chapters into the book.
Hands still vex me, but I think I'm improving at drawing them.

I've been photographing my line drawings before I color them in and occasionally I like those better than the final versions. Here are some of them.

I started with Rassa, then added Zella behind him.

Arden and Rassa ended up looking similar, which was intentional since they're related.

Lirit started out wearing pants but my 3 year old insisted she needed a skirt.

The Achara twins were adorable and I was hesitant to color them.

Whose Story is This, Anyway?

My Maloran imaginary friends are still bouncing around my mind, especially when I sleep. My narrators aren't typically my favorite characters in the books, but they certainly are the loudest. Four of the books are told in first person, one is mixed first and third because Isen is relating Bethel's side of the story in addition to her own, and the six perspectives in the Echoes of Oblivion trilogy are third person.

Mayfly Requiem 

Lani - Mayfly is Lani's journal, a confession of over 2,500 years of his history. He is a fallen Aulor, a biologically immortal Time Child who both observed and participated in the rises and falls of the continent of Malora over his lifetime. He is the twin brother of the Aulor Dia and the son of Aucra and Eryagloris, Time and Stars. Lani is a romantic poet at heart and his narrative style reflects that.

Echoes of Oblivion trilogy

The Abyssal Night, Shards of Chaos, The Shattered Veil

Sevilen Achara - Sevilen is the younger brother of Rastaban Eryaucra, the tyrannical King of Ganebra. He begins the trilogy as a bookish eighteen year old and soon finds himself in a position of apparent power he can't escape from. He is gifted in both linguistics and swordsmanship, is fiercely protective of the people he loves, and is still trying to figure out how to deal with his narcolepsy.

Rhodren Briarwind - Rhodren is also eighteen at the beginning of the trilogy. He grew up in the green city of Heren, Maritor, and is the only child of a baker named Sharo Briarwind. He is finicky and often self-centered, but he occasionally also manages to be charismatic and compassionate. He has auditory-tactile synesthesia, a sensory quirk that is strange to everyone else even though it is his normal.

Ember - Ember is a Geophorian fire priest from the temple city of Reedwater, Anor. She begins the trilogy at age twenty-three. Like most fire priests, she is impulsive and destructive, but her inferno soul is cooled and balanced by her wind priest husband, Moth. She was found abandoned in the swamp as a newborn so has no knowledge of her parentage.

Lirit Narsimor - Lirit is the ten year old daughter of Lucienus Narsimor, a member of the King's Council. Her family belongs to Ganebra's privileged ruling class. She is an aspiring stage actress who, like all members of her social class, was taught to blindly revere and obey the King.

Tikaari Starsinger - Tikaari is a Tenjeri, the race of fox-like people who mostly live in the northern regions of the world. She is the mate of Seya and the mother of Miya, Theta, and Saruza. The Tenjeri were inspired by the Japanese kitsune.

Aridani Eryaucra - I won't give much away about Aridani since his perspective doesn't begin until Shards of Chaos. He's a scatterbrained dreamer with an interesting magical ability, and his point of view offers a new perspective on Rastaban.

Shadows of Absolution

Isen Layel - Isen is a ranger of the Baku, a post-cataclysmic community of mountain dwellers founded by the earth priests Thora Achara and Onyx. She is the daughter of ranger Lusa Layel and earthworker Zoli Achara. At the onset of her story, Isen is drowning in a fathomless ocean of depression after losing the man she loved. She is a strong, intelligent young woman whose talent for wilderness survival piques the interest of the Aulor, Bethel.

Bethel Masiona - As far as Aulors go, Bethel is a young one, just over 100 years old. He survived the cataclysm sixty years prior and is now watching his children and his friends grow old and die while he remains physically around thirty. He has spent the years since the fall on a quest to find any remaining Tenjeri survivors and is now collecting a small group of people to take across the ocean and into the wilderness of a new continent in pursuit of the legendary Tenjeri city of Trieskel. Bethel's lingering regrets are busy trying to drag his sanity into the Abyss.

Sand into Glass

Arden Masiona - We meet Arden about 7,800 years after the Fall of Ganebra, when the humans of Malora (now called Melor) have split into multiple races due to Aulor/Elemental interference and isolation. The youngest child of the Aulor Bethel Masiona is a gifted materials scientist with an explosive rage that has now landed him in a Drey prison awaiting trial for a murder he isn't certain he committed. Arden's mother is an Efi, a member of the race of long-lived forest guardians who live mostly in the western wilderness of the continent, and Arden's Aulor blood gives him additional longevity, so he is 407 years old when his story begins.

The Crystal Lattice 

Tesji Brier (Thula) - Tesji is a young half-Efi elementalist mage who was raised by his eccentric, reclusive grandfather Janakei Brier in the Efilon Wilderness village of Tiponia. He is both charismatic and socially awkward, a combination that renders him an outcast as a child and eventually leads to a career as a bard as he travels across Melor in pursuit of the locations that haunt his dreams and nightmares. Tesji is the eldest of my novel-dwelling imaginary friends since I wrote his story first, so he's quite special to me despite his excessive alliteration and tendency to exaggerate.

Arrow of Entropy

Zella Thula - Shy, serious, analytical light mage Zella is a contrast to her often-flamboyant father, Tesji, and her outgoing siblings, Sora and Ellis. After Bethel refuses to take her on as an Emergent student, she ends up under the guidance of Rassa, an Aulor whose ancient curse was broken forty-two years earlier. Zella loves physics, reading, and music, and she's much stronger than she believes she is.

My short story narrators can be found here.

...and, now here's a little teaser narrator from what will be my next book, which is set in Northeastern Michigan in the late 1990s. I don't have a title for this book yet, but it will come to me eventually. I'll let this narrator do their own introduction.

Casey Tallis - "I'm not one of the cool kids. I'm not a goth or a jock or one of the pretty ones. I'll never be popular. I'm the dork who plays trombone in the marching band and is two years ahead of everyone else in math. I have Science Olympiad medals on my bedroom wall, hanging off a hook I made in the blacksmithing shop at a Renaissance Festival. I watch The X-Files and Star Trek: Voyager instead of Friends and I still miss SeaQuest. I don't like pop music and I spend my weekends either reading or playing Dungeons & Dragons with the other dorks. I once fell out of a pine tree and sprained my ankle while pretending to be a halfling rogue. I don't want to be one of the cool kids. I want to be me. I won't apologize for being me."

Moth's Story

I've added Moth's short story to the page tabs, or you can read it here. He was fifteen years old at the time of this story, so it takes place about a decade before his introduction in The Abyssal Night. If you haven't read the Echoes of Oblivion trilogy and aren't into spoilers, I recommend not reading it yet, since it details a familial relationship between two characters that comes as a revelation in Shards of Chaos.

In the meantime, I'm not editing or writing a whole lot right now because I'm on painkillers and waiting for kidney stone surgery, which should happen on Monday. I did write a couple journal entries by a character who was addled on painkillers when he wrote them and I'm working on a short about Exi's emergence, since she was dealing with a lot of pain when she went through it. No editing on Arrow of Entropy for now, though. Not a good idea to do final edits when I'm medicated, even though my brain wants me to.

Short Stories from Malora

Arrow of Entropy is in the hands of beta readers, so I'm waiting for them to dissect and shred my weird little upside down story. (Update: I published this baby in August, 2015.) I guess my brain isn't ready to completely move on yet. I'm backtracking because I have all these little characters and bits of history that didn't make it into my books because there wasn't an appropriate place for them. They are now becoming short stories, which I will eventually amass into a collection titled Rain Falls on Malora. I have some concrete ideas for these stories, and I expect others to pop out of nowhere and demand to be written, like the one I wrote about Aunfrey.

I'd love to hear reader ideas. Who or what would you like to read more about? I'll list what I already have completed, conceptualized, and requested below, broken down by era (though some of them are between books instead of during). I'll edit the list as I think of or write more.

List updated 9/3/17

Mayfly Reqiuem
Nova - reader suggestion
Mirren Kelta - early High Commander of the Ganebran Army immediately following the Mage Wars.  (story completed)
Delora Faradel Narsimor - Lucienus's mother, just before they met Lani. (story completed)
Ariana Achara - this little vignette is directed toward three-year-old Rassa. (story completed)

The Abyssal Night
Aunfrey Tasarian Aloret - Sevilen's wet nurse and primary caregiver during his first couple years of life. (story completed)
Summer Aulani -Tempo's wife in Cascades. She never made a physical appearance in the books but she was mentioned in Shadows of Absolution (story completed and yikes, this one is devastating)
Rain - The Geophorian weather priest meets with Dawn in a Ganebran border city. (story completed)
Sharo Briarwind - Sharo and young Rhodren are visited by two other members of the Briarwind family (story completed)
Rastaban Eryaucra - three journal entries from when he was 17-19, attempts at getting his thoughts out of his head so he could dispose of them. (story completed)
Mirazen Keltau - Moth was 15 when his father came to see him in Reedwater, Anor. (story completed)

Shards of Chaos
Aurelien Dirus - age 14, hiding from Geophorian hunters in Rimara. (story complete)

The Shattered Veil
Solace Achara - about a year after The Shattered Veil. (story completed)

pre-Shadows of Absolution
Maple Briarwind - Rabbit's wife, one of the founders of Efilon (in progress)
Holly Thula - reader suggestion
Zoli Achara - Zoli and his mother, Thora, search for hope in a wasteland. (Story Completed)

Interlude
Ulali Masiona - halfway between Shadows of Absolution and Sand into Glass, Ulali travels into the wastelands, to Corvus Rift far beyond the northern peaks of Gainai, in search of her father, Bethel. (story completed)
Laira Masiona - Bethel's half-Toli daughter ends up in places she didn't expect while learning to control her magical ability (story completed)

Sand into Glass
Sonara Masiona - this one was a reader request. Out of Arden's three half-Mero siblings, Sonara is the one I revealed the least about even though she ended up having a vital role in his story.
Azfadel Thula - I'm thinking either around the time when he leaves Tiponia to go to Vanora or his early friendship with Arden.

The Crystal Lattice
Bralt Achay
Lorena & Valosa Masiona - Theron's wife and youngest daughter
Exi Achay's emergence - Exi has a connection to Bralt and Terali, but I'll let you guys learn about it in Arrow. Her emergence would have taken place during the Lattice era, so that's why I stuck it here instead of under Arrow. (story completed)

Arrow of Entropy
I won't detail these since not many people have read Arrow yet...
Senna and Varadi
Eliani Gira  -  Vutan's exile from Stixa (story completed)
The Liefen coup
Saskia and Cantha - this one would be post-series and would go into Inga culture in a little more detail.

Feel free to leave a comment if you have any ideas for me.

I also recently wrote a totally-unrelated short story that I submitted for consideration in a Halloween anthology. My beta readers loved it so if it doesn't get picked, I'll post it here on my blog. (Update: "They" was chosen for the anthology, Trick or Treat: A Collection of Spooky Stories, which can be found on Amazon in both e-book and paperback editions)

The Blue Rose

Faraban carefully unwrapped the silk to expose a vibrant blue rose nestled within the folds. He held it up and twirled the thornless stem. “An impossible flower for an impossible beauty. The blue rose, a symbol of my house since ancient times."

- from Mayfly Requiem by Courtney M. Privett

The blue rose does not occur in nature. White roses can be dyed blue and a blue color can be obtained through genetic modification, but there are no natural blue roses. Still, there is cultural significance associated with this impossible flower. Some cultures utilize the blue rose as a symbol for royalty, or for fantasy and impossibility. It signifies unattainable love in Chinese folklore.

In the Malora Octet, the blue rose is part of the heraldry of the corrupt Eryaucra dynasty. The flower was selectively bred over centuries and was only grown in the gardens of the Lunamar palace. In Mayfly Requiem, Faraban uses an Eryaucra Blue to propose to his intended bride. The symbol is seen on both his clothing and his banners. It is not as prominent in the Echoes of Oblivion trilogy because Faraban's son, Rastaban, is not fond of tradition and chooses to disregard many of the old symbols. The rose is still present in the kingdom of Ganebra, but it no longer has the significance it did to Faraban.

The blue rose has decided to make a reappearance in Arrow of Entropy, which is why I'm revisiting it now. The metalsmith Catta Metavanya forges a suit of armor for the narrator, Zella Thula. The armor is decorated with scrollwork and blue roses. This causes some distress to the book's deuteragonist, who is quite familiar with the ancient symbolism even though it has been long-forgotten by everyone else. Zella later comes into possession of a blue rose necklace, the design of which was inspired by her armor.

Below is Zella's necklace, which I made this afternoon. Each component of it ends up being significant to her story -- the blue rose, the pair of bees, and the eight larger beads that separate the smaller ones. I'm 20,000 words into writing this book now, so you'll have to wait a little longer to find out just how the blue rose and this necklace play into her life.

Visual reference I made for Zella Thula's necklace (Arrow of Entropy).

Order and Chaos

I am often asked the intended reading order for my series. Some people choose to read Mayfly Requiem first, but frankly, it can be a little difficult if they haven't read the trilogy first. Lani is a narrator with a lot on his mind and a sometimes-archaic vocabulary. When you've read the trilogy first, it is easier to see how the history and characters fit together in the overall scope of the world. The series is still enjoyable when read out of order (except the trilogy, which wouldn't make sense out of order), but your perception of them may be altered.

None of my books fit neatly into the epic fantasy genre. There are no dragons, vampires, elves, or werewolves, no absolute good or evil. I merge elements of philosophy, dystopia, and superhero fantasy with memoirs, adventures, and hostile takeovers by ambitious leaders. I create my own creatures such as the winged scavenger rychan, the forest guardian ketrow, the jungle-dwelling aerfen, and the civilized and fox-like Tenjeri.

The recommended order of reading is as follows:

1. The Abyssal Night (Echoes of Oblivion #1)

2. Shards of Chaos (Echoes of Oblivion #2)

3. The Shattered Veil (Echoes of Oblivion #3)

4. Mayfly Requiem

5. Shadows of Absolution

The Echoes of Oblivion trilogy is the story of two brothers, one whose ambition may destroy the world and the other who has always been caught in a shadow but still searches for a light. Meanwhile, the Geophorians, a culture of priests with superhero-like powers, is being systematically exterminated because of a culture of fear created by the older brother and his ancestors.

Mayfly Requiem is the prequel to the trilogy and reveals several intersecting characters and historical events (the creation of Ganebra, the Mage Wars, and meetings with younger versions of Lucienus, Tordian, and Faraban). It is the confession of a fallen immortal named Lani, a Time Child sent to Malora along with his twin to act as a sentinel for the Elements. Since this book covers 2,500 years of Lani's history, it can be a bit unwieldy, but it is much more manageable when viewed as a series of short stories, each depicting a different era in Lani's life.

Shadows of Absolution takes place about sixty years after The Shattered Veil. It is the story of a young woman who thinks she has nothing left to live for and how the Time Child Bethel helps her find a purpose. I describe it as a post-apocalyptic epic fantasy adventure and occasional coming-of-age love story. The love story aspect is quite unconventional, but I'll let you discover why on your own.

I have three more books in various stages of writing and planning to follow the first five. They make up a loose trilogy spanning 4,500-5,100 years after the original five books and the first should be out in 2013. Each book is told by a different character in three consecutive generations of post-human Malora, now called Melor. The first is told by the glassmaker Arden, the troubled youngest son of Bethel. The second is told by Tesji, an awkward elemental mage on an adventure while his dreams call for destruction. The third is told by the reclusive light mage Zella as Oblivion begins to wake.

The work-in-progress Emergence trilogy is:

1. Sand into Glass

2. The Crystal Lattice

3. Arrow of Entropy

I'll leave you with that for now. My laptop is in need of repair for a loose power jack so I'm about to be briefly sidelined again.

The Web

The Web is the deity hierarchy of the Malora universe. There are fourteen primary Elements and many minor ones. Humans cannot see or interact with most of the Elements, but Tenjeri and some members of the Aulor-descended races can.

A note on Elemental merging: It would seem the Elements are inbred, and in a way, they are. This is often found in world mythology. 

“The Elements of the Web are not people, Velocity,” Verity explained. “They are Elements and merging for them is like creating new colors by blending paints and pigments. Inquisitive child, there is nothing sinister about that when it pertains to the immortal Elements." - from Mayfly Requiem

The Web

Eryagloris (Stars) - One of the center points of the Web, Eryagloris is thought of by Lani as more paternal and caring than the other Elements, possibly because he spends more time watching humans than the others. He manifests as a pale man with indigo hair and eyes. Temple city is Starfall.

Aucra (Time) - Eryagloris' mate is constant and unforgiving. She holds grudges for eternity and occasionally plays games involving mortals. She manifests as a young woman with red hair and gold-flecked blue eyes. Like Lani, her voice is rhythmic and verging on monotonous. She is often seen not as Eryagloris' equal, but above him and at the very center of the Web. Temple city is Meridian.

Omalara (Ocean) - Daughter of Aucra and Eryagloris. She is as turbulent and changing as her element, and can slip from kindly to raging in response to a touch of wind or cloud that is not to her liking. She often chooses to manifest as a water-toned Watersinger. Patron Element of the Mero and all mariners. Temple city is Wavecrest.

Aumua (Desert) - Son of Aucra and Eryagloris. Arden Masiona describes him as "Aumua crept into my mind like lingering sand after a swim in the ocean." Aumua brings a cloud of sand with him wherever he ventures and can transcend space in a similar manner to the Aulor Bethel. He is the patron of glassmakers, and has taken several mortals on as his apprentices. He is the creator of Dunewind and the Vin people, is the co-creator of the Thulan, and has a tenuous alliance with the Marglor (sand spirits). He manifests as a sandy-haired, tan-eyed man who cannot escape his cloud of dust and sand. Temple city is Dunewind.

Rima (Sky) - The androgynous child of Aucra and Eryagloris can become male, female, or anywhere in between depending on mood. Rima manifests as a slight person with long blonde hair and blue eyes. Rima's Kiedran equivalent is Palas. Temple city is Skyspire.

Affaji (Tundra) - Son of Aumua and Omalara. Affaji generally dislikes humans and holds a great hatred for Rassa, but he greatly respects Bethel. He created the Tenjeri and is able to interact with them, and later with the Masai. He employs winged wolves (Grikashk). He manifests as a tall Tenjeri with white hair and silver eyes, and the sound of bells follows him. Temple cities are Northwinds on Malora and Trieskel on Rikulon.

Velatari (Rain) - The son of Rima and Omalara is universally described as "boring" by anyone he has come into contact with. However, he is the focus of the epic poem Sing to Samiaya, the most acclaimed piece of Tenjeri literature in the world. He has been referred to many times in the Malora Series, but has yet to make a physical appearance. Temple city is Palmshore in the southern rainforests of Kira.

Maldalo (Plains) - Also known as "The Lifegiver", Maldalo is the daughter of Aumua and Rima. She is the bringer of the harvest and the patron Element of the nation of Maritor. She manifests as a human woman with golden hair, rich brown skin, and blue eyes, hearkening to the wheat, the soil, and the sky. She often walks the fields of Maritor, unseen by humans. Temple city is Fruithill.

Samiaya (Aurora) - Daughter of Rima and Eryagloris. Samiaya is beautiful, but elusive and inaccessible to many who prefer a warmer climate. She manifests as a teenager with bright, color-shifting hair. Temple city is Icelight.

Aksuvian (Mountains) - Son of Rima and Maldalo. Aksuvian is gruff in manner, but generally harmless unless you venture too close. He manifests as a middle-aged gentleman with gray hair and eyes. Patron Element of the Baku and the Drey. Temple city is Nighthollow.

Faloway (Forest) - Daughter of Maldalo and Velatari, twin to Sepitira. Faloway walks the forest much like Maldalo wanders the plains. She is jealous and unforgiving of those who maim her trees. She harbors a long-standing feud with Affaji. She has not yet made a physical appearance in the Malora Series. She is the patron Element of the Efi. Temple city is Moonhaven.

Sepitira (Wetlands) - Daughter of Maldalo and Velatara, twin to Faloway. Patron Element of the delta country of Anor. She has not appeared in the Malora series. Temple city is Reedwater.

Metalis (Rivers) - Daughter of Aksuvian and Maldalo. Metalis deeply loathes Bethel and advocates his death. She has not yet made a physical appearance in the Malora Series. Temple city is Riverbottom.

Uadiamore (Sound) - Son of Velatari and Samiaya. Uadiamore manifests as a chestnut-haired, dark-eyed young man (not the silver-complected infant depicted in Sing to Samiaya). Like Affaji, the sound of bells follows him. Temple city is Cascades.

Outliers

Paradox - No one is sure where Paradox came from. He is a mate of Rima and has been imprisoned by Aucra for many eons.

Kairen (Metamorphosis) - The androgynous trickster child of Rima and Paradox. Kairen usually manifests as a color-shifting creature vaguely reminiscent of an owl, but has been known to take human form to procreate with humans. Kairen makes a game of influencing people and even Aulors to do things they normally wouldn't. He is often imprisoned by Aucra, but just as often escapes or survives his own execution.

Taiga (Boreal Forest) - Son of Faloway and Affaji. Patron Element of the Masai following his release from Aucra's Elemental prison. Affaji claimed there are over thirty Elements on the Web, but little has been revealed of the outliers beyond the core fourteen.

Sebelra (Oblivion) - The sleeping abyss is the counterpart of Eryagloris and Aucra, the void between the stars. He sleeps on unaware of his own existence while the universe grows and shifts around him. Sebelra is the only thing Aucra truly fears, especially now that he is on the edge of waking from his calm dream world. Bethel long-believed that Oblivion's soul lived in Rassa, but Affaji confirmed Bethel's assumption as an error, so the abyss still sleeps for now. When Oblivion wakes, the universe will know.

Laatulya (Redemption) - this fallen Aulor is the guardian of the Evergreen Abyss, the underworld that receives the souls of the damned upon their deaths. Laatulya appears as a heavily scarred young man in a ragged robe. His physical condition depends on how recently Aucra has repaired him. He is frequently abused by Aucra to the point where many of his senses are stripped away, but his mind is still mostly intact. He is tasked to relive the crimes of the damned along with them, but he has never been very good at his job.

Aspects

Aulors - Time Children, the human-like offspring of Aucra and Eryagloris. They are the sentinels of the Web, sent to the world in human form to watch and interpret between cyclic cataclysms. As of the beginning of Arrow of Entropy, six Aulors have been named. They exist only in pairs, and are biologically immortal, locked in time as young adults.

Morazend - Wind spirits, volatile and vicious. "The Morazend are infinite in number, the zephyrs on the wind. They are the ones who howl through the trees and against the windows during storms. We shall not invoke them either, for they are volatile and wrathful." - from Mayfly Requiem. There is one example in the series of a Morazend soul in human form.

Thulan - The Phoenix is believed to be the offspring of Eryagloris and Aumua. Only one exists at a time and the Thulan can be born into any sentient race. Examples have existed all across history and have been included as characters or referenced in every book of the Malora Series. Upon a great upheaval, altruistic action, or turning of events, the Thulan becomes self-aware and transcends into an elemental form. The Thulan dies in this form and is born again in a new body. The Thulan's primary responsibility is to illuminate the world, either through destruction or through bringing light, depending on what is needed.

Velador - "The Velador are the children of water, a trio of many-fanged creatures concocted by Omalara, Velatari, and Metalis to avenge any who might unjustly fall dead into the waters of the world." - from Mayfly Requiem

Giveaway Party!

Me in New Orleans, July 2011

In July, I gave away three paperback copies of Mayfly Requiem, and in August I gave away two copies of Shadows of Absolution. To finish up three months of Goodreads giveaways, I am going for the big one for September.

I am giving away one complete set of the Echoes of Oblivion trilogy (The Abyssal Night, Shards of Chaos, The Shattered Veil). The contest starts tonight at midnight (September 5) and ends on September 30. These are the books that kicked off my entire series, and I don't plan on doing any more giveaways until the Emergence trilogy is released, so don't miss out on your chance to win!

 
 

    Goodreads Book Giveaway
 

   

       
   

   

     

          The Abyssal Night
     
     

          by Courtney M. Privett
     

     

         
            Giveaway ends September 30, 2012.
         
         
            See the giveaway details
            at Goodreads.
         
     
   
   

      Enter to win

Paperbacks Available

All four books are now available in paperback! The trilogy is currently live on Createspace and should be live on Amazon in the next day or so. Mayfly Requiem is also available in paperback on Amazon and Createspace and as an e-book on Amazon. I'm not sure why the thumbnails are so fuzzy.
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Shadows of a Teaser

I was playing around with the camera while my kids napped this afternoon and came up with this little teaser. If I decide to use this one, it will change slightly as the spine is added in the center, but it continues the picture. I hunted around for a while to find objects significant to the book.  Bethel's charavens (couldn't find any metal feathers and was too impatient to make them up as they should look), symbols of time, Dacibrega's runestones, Redemption's lantern, a metal fox, seashells (for the location of the second act), and a calla lily (this one is a teaser for the final chapter). I was thinking of going dark for the background, but it doesn't fit this book.  Wrinkled fabric suited it better, like canvas sails on the Chulanlir. I haven't started editing the draft yet because I was gone all weekend and I've been working on copy-edits for the print editions of the trilogy. Mayfly Requiem should be available in print shortly. I ordered what should be the final proof on Friday and it will be for sale as soon as it arrives and I check it over. I really ought to get on my butt and finish those, but the kids only give me a little time each day to work and June is crazy for me this year. My goal is to have Shadows of Absolution out by the end of the year, so I need to stop procrastinating and start editing.

Paper!

These lovelies arrived at my doorstep yesterday.  I need to do another set of proofs after I hunt for typos because I don't like the paragraph style on these, but I'm really happy with them otherwise.  I have a mere two chapters left on SoA, then I can take a break before editing and work on these pretty babies.  It is so amazing to have them in front of me.  They finally feel real, something I never felt looking at the e-books.

W is for Welcome

Welcome to Evergreen and Indigo!  Thank you for joining me.  I'm almost at the end of the alphabet, so I'll be going back to normal posts soon.  

If you are an indie author, I want to hear from you.  I'd love to interview you and feature you on this blog.  Go here and send me an email.  Help me promote you!

I've also interviewed a couple of my own characters just for fun.  I may add more in the future.  Check them out here. 

I am in the last sequence of The Crystal Lattice, but it will be a while before it is released.  I need to publish in chronological order instead of the order I originally wrote the books.  Once I finish the last twenty pages of rewrites, I'm going to put it away for a little while so I can finish Absolution.  I've always alternated books like this so I can look at the final edits with fresh eyes and make sure overlapping characters sync up before I send them to my proofreader.

The original written order was:  The Crystal Lattice, Echoes of Oblivion trilogy, Absolution, Mayfly Requiem.  Chronological order is:

1. Mayfly Requiem
2. The Abyssal Night
3. Shards of Chaos
4. The Shattered Veil
5. Absolution
6. The Crystal Lattice

So, while you are waiting for me to finish the last two books in the sequence for you, I'd be extremely grateful if you'd do something for me.  Please like and tag my books on Amazon, 'like' my Facebook page, follow me on Twitter, and leave me reviews on Amazon and Goodreads.  Leave me comments on my blog posts and tell me which characters are your favorites so I can feature them here.

Thank you for wandering through Malora with me.  I appreciate your companionship on this strange journey.

R is for Rastaban

Asphodelus albus, a flower associated with the dead and the underworld, and the inspiration for the name Azfadel in The Crystal Lattice.  Source http://www.biolib.de/

Names influence perceptions of characters. If the name isn't just right, the author may have trouble connecting with the character. I ran into this problem with The Crystal Lattice. I picked a name that never felt right. Nine years after my original draft, I finally changed it and instantly became more comfortable. My narrator's given name is Tesji, which didn't change in the rewrites. However, his chosen name is now Ravaki (Ravi). It finally feels more natural, not to mention easier to pronounce.

A protagonist with a soft-sounding name is immediately perceived differently than one with a harsh-sounding name. An abrupt or masculine name invokes barbarians, warriors, and traditional heroes while a softer name brings to mind bookish introverts and brooding antiheroes. Tesji is intentionally difficult to pronounce (Tays-gee) because of the Mero phonetics. It is one more thing that makes him stand out from his peers, whose names are based on Japanese and Spanish phonetics. Partway through the book, Tesji undergoes an emergence, where he communes with the elements and discovers how to use his talents. This emergence results in a physical transformation in addition to a mental one. Tesji renames himself Ravaki, and society's perception of him drastically changes. He becomes stronger, more confident, and less of a target for bullies.

But, enough about protagonists. I am more interested in antagonists. I perceive antagonists with a hard sounding name as being physically stronger and more directly villainous, while a villain with a softer name is plotting, sneaky, or ambiguous. The name can influence the back story and motivations. Maybe that villain was bullied as a child because of his name and is still bitter about it as an adult.  He proudly wields the name as a war cry of, "You bullied me. Now I will bully you."

This brings me to Rastaban, an ambiguous antagonist with a massive amount of back story, which I am still exploring in Absolution. When I first formulated Echoes of Oblivion, I had a difficult time coming up with the perfect names for the Achara brothers. My other characters were easier. The Geophorians all had names specific to their talents. Lirit was a chirping bird, and to keep an "L" theme in her family, her father became the very proper Lucienus. Rhodren probably has the best story -- the Greek letter "rho" plus a backwards "nerd". Hey, I'm an engineer... I can find inspiration in odd places!

Sevilen's name went through several revisions, all starting with the letter "S" before I settled on a Turkish name meaning "loved". The name immediately clicked, and I chased it with the rhythmic Achara, which I hoisted from the charaven device in my already-completed first draft of The Crystal Lattice.

So, now that I had Sevilen, I needed his counterpart. His name needed to suit a villain who was not quite what he seemed. The character was both ruthless and sympathetic, paternal, agoraphobic, charismatic, and casually homicidal. He was the confident leader of an empire, but panicked if he had to set foot off the grounds of his home. His motives were unknown even to the person closest to him. His name not only described a person, but an entire empire and an ancient dynasty. I spent about a week trying to figure out who he was, and then, while looking at an astronomy book, something clicked.

Rastaban: Beta Draconis, the head of the serpent. Third brightest star in the constellation Draco. Everything about it was perfect, including the alternative name of the star, Alwaid, which either means "who is to be destroyed" or "lute player" (Rastaban is also a gifted musician, though he rarely plays in front of anyone except Aridani). Rastaban Achara Eryaucra, king of Ganebra.

Once Rastaban was named, his lore fell into place. Every king in the Eryaucra line now carried the -ban suffix, which I translated as "sun". The convention began two thousand years before The Abyssal Night, when Valariban Eryaucra ascended. I continued looking through the astronomy book, and Achernar and Mirfak became foreign monarchs.

Then, Aridani Eryaucra came along. I wanted to keep the cosmic theme, so I named him after the constellation Eridanus, the river. He was a bit of flowing freshwater in tortuous Ganebra. His nickname, Ari, has many meanings in many languages. Fearless (Armenian), eagle (German, Old Norse), lion (Hebrew and others), 'one who shows the right path' (Hindi), clear (Maori).  I'll let you find out for yourself what his name truly means within the context of Malora.

M is for Malora

A sketch of the Malora continent.  The scale is highly inaccurate.

Malora is the world inside my head and the setting of my six books (Absolution is only partially set in Malora).  By the era of The Crystal Lattice, the name has morphed into Melor, but significant change is to be expected after 4,803 years.  I did not include a map in my books because I lost it.  It will likely appear in second editions later on.  The map of Melor is significantly different, as the earth priests had a bit of fun with the landscape in the fifty years between The Shattered Veil and Absolution.  Nalune is gone, the Liban Hills are now a labyrinth mountain range claimed by the Baku, and the Marsora Range has shifted eastward beyond the ruins of Lunamar.

The continent of Malora consists of seven countries, as of the beginning of The Abyssal Night.

Ganebra - capital, Lunamar.  Landlocked country in central Malora.  Ruled by King Rastaban, the latest monarch of the 2000 year old Eryaucra dynasty.  The landscape is primarily plains, with Lake Nalune at the center and the Marsora range to the west.  Former temple city is Meridian, but Geophorians were banned from the country after Valariban Eryaucra's ascension.

Maritor - capital Heren.  Southwest Malora.  Ruled by King Achernar until Rastaban negotiated him into a lordship.  Varied landscape, including tropical forests in the south, the Amari Desert in the central region, and plains along the coast.  Geophorian temple cities are Fruithill and Dunewind.

Rashomanon - capital Cascades.  Central-west Malora. The hidden temple city of Cascades is the only settlement of significant population in this treacherous mountain region.  Ganebra considers Rashomanon too dangerous a landscape to bother with.  Temple city is Cascades.

Rimara - capital Narsalon.  Northwest Malora.  Tundral plains and evergreen forests.  The volcanic island Arka is off the west coast.  Temple cities are Nighthollow and Skyspire.


Lusifal - capital Lusarna.  Northeast Malora.  Forests and plains to the south, hills and highlands in the center, redwood forests and tundra in the north.  The Harkanaya archipelago lies off the northeast coast.  Temple cities are Icelight, Northwinds, and Moonhaven.

Anor - capital Loya.  Central-east Malora.  Delta swamps and forests. The mountainous island of Liefan is considered part of Anor.  Temple cities are Riverbottom, Reedwater, and Starfall.

Kira - capital Tiva.  Southeast Malora, including the island Kiribar.  Tropical climate, wetland delta in the northeast.  Temple cities are Palmshore and Wavecrest.

Addendum:  Thanks to Kevin Rau for interviewing me today for his website.  My interview can be found here.

Sing for Inspiration

I was four years old when I first sat at a piano intending to learn how to play.  Almost twenty-six years later, I still play.  I've had to modify which instruments I play due to my movement disorder.  When I lost most of my finger dexterity, I traded piano for percussion.  I currently play with the local civic band and orchestra, specializing in mallet percussion.  I also play clarinet and toured Europe playing bass clarinet with a youth symphony, but like the piano, my skills now suffer due to the myoclonus.  The list of other instruments I have played competently is fairly extensive: trombone (my primary instrument in high school), tuba, baritone, trumpet, oboe, saxophone, tin whistle.  I've dabbled with bass guitar, ukulele, and mandolin, but my tiny hands are clumsy on strings.  I was also a deejay at a free-format radio station for five years in college, so I was exposed to a huge variety of music.

Where does this lead me?  Music is the soul of my writing and my life.  I abhor silence, but true silence is rare.  My synesthesia makes listening to music a full-body experience.  The music of nature is not only satisfying but inspiring.  Like Rhodren, I find waterfalls painful but percussive sounds make for a wonderful massage.  And violins always make me itchy.  More on effects of specific instruments can be found on this old post and perhaps this one as well.  I am inspired not only by individual sounds, but by lyrics and feelings within the music.

The Crystal Lattice was resurrected from a half-completed draft by the Muse song "Take a Bow".  I was listening to my MP3 player at work and had an epiphany.  I grabbed a notebook and began to scrawl notes for the rest of the book.  I had no concrete idea of where the book was going when I originally started it in college, but by the end of that song, I knew exactly what I had to write.  Some specific scenes were inspired by Led Zeppelin songs, but the overall book was prompted by Black Holes and Revelations.

Muse has been one of my chronic inspirations.  Mayfly Requiem was inspired by the song "Sing for Absolution".  I was drinking orange juice and coconut rum one night and that song popped onto my playlist.  I put it on a loop and wrote the first three chapters in one night.  Ironically, I had to put away my work in progress, Absolution, to write Mayfly Requiem.  The inspiration was so powerful and overwhelming that I couldn't ignore it.

Echoes of Oblivion has a massive soundtrack.  Individual characters have their own songs, as do pairs and groups of characters.  Here is a partial list:

Tikaari - Norwegian Wood (Beatles),
Aridani - Serenity (Godsmack), I Dare You to Move (Switchfoot)
Moth - Butterflies and Hurricanes (Muse)
Rhodren - Zephyr Song (RHCP), On Mercury (RHCP)
Rastaban - Megalomania (Muse), Roulette (System of a Down)
The Geophorians - Inner Universe (Yoko Kanno)
Ember - Burn it Down (Alter Bridge)
Lirit - Unintended (Muse)
Sevilen - Panic Prone (Chevelle), Anywhere (Evanescence)
Chaos - Where is Everybody (Nine Inch Nails)
Tempo - Vicarious (Tool)

I my full soundtrack is about nine hours long and has everything from Rachmaninoff to Johnny Cash.  I always had to listen to "Inner Universe" to focus myself first before working on Echoes of Oblivion.  Mayfly Requiem didn't really need a trigger, but I usually used "Sing for Absolution".  As for The Crystal Lattice... Led Zeppelin's "Fool in the Rain" is good to get me started.  I'd better get on that now.