Showing posts with label Mayfly Requiem. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Mayfly Requiem. Show all posts

Monday, June 18, 2018

Rain Falls on Malora

Rain Falls on Malora is now out, in both ebook and paperback.

This short story collection spans the entirety of The Malora Octet, from Mirren Kelta's story halfway through the Mayfly Requiem timeline to Sora Thula's story sixty years after Arrow of Entropy. Rain Falls on Malora expands the narratives of established characters such as Lucienus, Solace, Rabbit, and Vutan, as well as introduces new characters, including two of Bethel's children from the millenniums between Shadows of Absolution and Sand into Glass. I don't recommend reading any stories that correspond to books you haven't read yet because there is a lot of revealing information within them, both spoilers for the books and connections or events that were always in my notes but didn't make it into the final versions of the books.

I've also included character illustrations (color in the ebook, b&w in the print), and a selection of appendices that includes a Volle-Common translation dictionary and family trees (incomplete because one particular character shows up in multiple locations and makes it difficult to draw the trees by hand).

I started working on The Malora Octet in 2003, when I had an unexpected burst of inspiration between my junior and senior years of college and wrote the first half of The Crystal Lattice. I didn't finish that first draft for several years, but when I did, I knew I had to write more. Although I don't think I'll ever truly leave the first world I created, I think I'm finally done writing in it.

Monday, August 24, 2015

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."

Friday, August 14, 2015

Sketching the Imaginary Friends


I drew and doodled all the time as a teenager and young adult, but that hobby faded away as my movement disorder developed in my early 20s. I found my old pencil set in the garage a couple days ago and that rekindled my interest. I've started sketching out some of my characters. I used to go for a more realistic look, but since my hands shake now I've decided to switch to an anime/manga style. My artwork isn't very good and I'm experimenting with style, but I still think the characters turned out adorable. Hands have always been my bane, but I'm working on that. I need to get my scanner hooked up so I can get better images of the pictures.

Who would you like to see me attempt to sketch next?

First time I've sketched people in years. Hands are daunting so I hid them.

Zella, Rassa, Mairen, Silvan (Arrow of Entropy)

Closeup of Zella and Rassa

Closeup of Mairen and Silvan

Bethel and Sora (Arrow of Entropy)
Yes, Bethel's coloring isn't his usual, but there is a good reason for that. You'll have to read it to find out why. 

I love Sora's face in this. It's amazing how personality and emotion can be shown with just a couple lines.

Safora and Terali (The Crystal Lattice)

Ellis Thula (Arrow of Entropy)
I love Ellis. His sister describes his style as "an explosion of flamboyancy" and you never quite know what is going to come out of either his mouth or his mind. My three year old is in love with this picture because of the flamingo.

Line drawing

Color added

Background added (lighting washed out my colors a little)

Lani (Mayfly Requiem and the rest of the Malora Octet)

Sunday, August 9, 2015

Snippet Sunday: Creatures

I made these two little guys last night and love how they turned out. The gourdling is probably cuter than it should be, but I still like it. The rychan is kind of nightmarish, probably more how Lani sees them than how other people see them. Rychan can be a nuisance but they're usually harmless. Gourdlings on the other hand...



Gourdlings

They wore nothing but hollowed-out gourds tied over their shoulders with bundles of spiderwebs. Tufts of woolly, green hair sprouted from random locations on their leathery brown bodies. Their eyes were the same color as their skins and had no whites, so I had difficulty determining if either of them were looking directly at me. They each grabbed one of my knees between gnarled, green-nailed hands, and then ushered me into a large burrow.
--The Crystal Lattice



Rychan

Rychan frighten me. The Web's prison was full of them, but they were not prisoners. The rychan were the guards, and every time I hear a branch scratching a window, I remember their claws scraping across the floor and clinking over the crystal gates. Such a horrible sound, unmistakable, yet everything mundane reminds me of it. Sleep in my cell was painfully quiet, but my imagination concocted waking nightmares nonetheless, and rychan were among the worst of them.

I suppose rychan were the closest thing in Malora to the mythical dragons, but they looked little like dragons and more like enormous mice with massive membraned wings and silk-furred tails. They were scavenger feeders, and their talons and sharp teeth frightened me the most. I saw the guards in shadows and darkened whispers. They brought me food and water, but I knew they would rather slash me open if I gave them an excuse. I heard the screams, saw the claws dripping with blood. I behaved. For the first time in my life, I truly and voluntarily behaved. Compliance was my only hope for clemency.
--Mayfly Requiem


Friday, June 12, 2015

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)

Sunday, April 19, 2015

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).

Tuesday, February 19, 2013

Giveaway Time!


In celebration of successfully reformatting all five of my books for wider distribution, I am giving away three paperback copies of Mayfly Requiem. The contest is open to readers in the US, Great Britain, Australia, and Canada. Click on the links below and enter to win!



 
 


    Goodreads Book Giveaway
 

   

        Mayfly Requiem by Courtney M. Privett
   

   

     


          Mayfly Requiem
     
     


          by Courtney M. Privett
     

     

         
            Giveaway ends March 13, 2013.
         
         
            See the giveaway details
            at Goodreads.
         
     
   
   


      Enter to win



Wednesday, February 13, 2013

Smashing!

It took me four days, but I finally have reformatted all five books and uploaded them onto Smashwords. I've been meaning to do this ever since my KDP Select expired, but ran into a string of illnesses and a lack of energy. The books are currently pending review for the premium catalog, so hopefully they'll pass all the formatting requirements and be available at other retailers soon. For now, you can buy the ebooks at either Amazon or Smashwords and the print copies at either Amazon or CreateSpace.


Ebooks on Amazon:
The Abyssal Night
Shards of Chaos
The Shattered Veil
Shadows of Absolution

So, what's next? Well, a couple of things. I ordered a couple paperback copies of one of the books to run another Goodreads giveaway. It starts on the 19th, so  watch out for that. I also made up some nice little business cards to hand to all the random people I speak to in random places about my books. Those should be in my hands soon. Mostly, though, I just need to get over this infernal cold so I can finish writing Sand into Glass. I hope it doesn't break my laptop again. I also have been working on my vegan cooking blog a bit.

Sunday, November 18, 2012

Snippet Sunday: Mayfly Requiem


Do you still remember that spring we found the nest of baby birds blown down by the wind? They died in our hands, naked, vulnerable, infinitely fragile. I cried for days. Such precious life, created and snuffed out in hardly an instant. When we were children, time ran by too fast, but now we are ancient and every day is a slow crawl toward an indeterminate finish line. Our neighbors, our friends, our lovers have become those baby birds. Their lives are fleeting, but that does not make them any less precious. They are meaningful and beautiful. We used to be, but now I am the living damned and you are a breathing, clouded myth. We have nearly faded from all memory, but here we are, alive and forgotten. I like it better that way. It is quiet, tranquil except for my remorse and the ticking, the constant reminder I have of my servitude. The quiescence gives us the opportunity to be... well, be a little bit human. I wouldn't exchange it for anything at all. Except, of course, the opportunity to undo my final mistake as a Time Child. What have I done? What horrors have I brought upon myself and the world? Dia, I'm just as terrified and bleak as those dying baby birds, and as fleetingly fragile.

Wednesday, October 31, 2012

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)

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.

Tuesday, October 23, 2012

Free to Good Homes

Because this too-warm autumn air is making me a little bit crazy and my readers are awesome, I've decided to run a pair of books as free promos this week. Shadows of Absolution and Mayfly Requiem will both be free to download Wednesday through Friday, October 24-26! So, download them, read them, and leave me a review on Goodreads or Amazon to let me know what you think. I've been neglecting my wordy babies in favor of a teething human baby lately so I could use a favorable kick to get me back on track.


 

Tuesday, September 11, 2012

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


Sunday, July 1, 2012

Giveaway time!

I'm back from vacation, so it's giveaway time! Enter the contest on Goodreads to win one of three paperback copies of Mayfly Requiem. It ends July 17th, so click "Enter to Win" below and enter today before you forget!






 
 


    Goodreads Book Giveaway
 



   

        Mayfly Requiem by Courtney M. Privett
   


   

     


          Mayfly Requiem
     


     


          by Courtney M. Privett
     



     

         

            Giveaway ends July 17, 2012.
         

         

            See the giveaway details
            at Goodreads.
         

     

   

   


      Enter to win


Tuesday, June 19, 2012

Giveaway!


July 1-17! I am giving away three copies of the paperback of Mayfly Requiem on Goodreads. Enter to win, and good luck.




 
 


    Goodreads Book Giveaway
 



   

        Mayfly Requiem by Courtney M. Privett
   


   

     


          Mayfly Requiem
     


     


          by Courtney M. Privett
     



     

         

            Giveaway ends July 17, 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.
zy



Wednesday, June 6, 2012

Tuesday, June 5, 2012

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.

Friday, May 25, 2012

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.

Sunday, May 6, 2012

Snippet Sunday, Mayfly Requiem



Little flame, are you still awake? I don't know anymore. I miss that the most, the simpleness of feeling your heartbeat against my soul. We had such wonder in us once, remember? It was so very long ago, before we knew what we were. Inside all of us is a light, but some beacons are darker than others, and some are so dark they never realize they are a form of light at all. Innocence has no place alongside immortality. You always knew it, but you never cared, did you? You held onto innocence anyways and made it your own. My innocence died the same day we learned what we were supposed to be. You forgave me, even for my errors that day. I don't want you to forgive me for what I did to you in the end, what I am still doing to you now. We still had our innocence in Meridian, but even Meridian is vile now. Ganebra consumed it and destroyed the birthplace of our light and wonder. The madness of Ganebra consumed our world. Memories of everything we lost consume me now.

Saturday, May 5, 2012

Free Books to a Good Home!

May 6th is my birthday, so I decided to run a book promo so I can feel better about climbing into another decade.  Mayfly Requiem will be free on May 6th and 7th and The Abyssal Night will be free on May 8th and 9th.  If you don't already have a copy, download it and tell me what you think!  You don't need a Kindle to read e-books... there are free e-reader apps for almost any device on Amazon.  Thank you for your support!
Free May 6&7

Free May 8&9