While going through her parents’ belongings, and, while cleaning out the attic, Tora comes across a letter her father left her; a letter with a secret that turns her world upside down.
A Magical gem
A dangerous quest and a race against time ups the ante.
A threatening darkness pulls at Tora’s very existence.
Will Kyle be the protector he claims to be? After all, he has his own secrets.
I’ve introduced this gentleman once before, but it bears repeating. Pictured below is my new co-author, K. McMahill. You may have viewed a couple of his writings on this blog over the last two days. Welcome Mr. McMahill. We are very happy and excited to have you here.
by K. McMahill
Here as I sit at the table and see the stares, I already know who is calling me out, not being a road dog, but i know how to be a man.
Life’s a gamble, not to get lost in the cards or the games.
When was the last time you smelled a rose,
when was that last time you smelt that sweet smell of morning dew or grass after a rain? What would you do if there was one more day, like a last sunset on the winter fire, wishing I had one more day?
Being a thousand miles from nowhere
not knowing where I’ll be tomorrow,
waking up to bruises on my memory. Blood stains all around, the smell of iron and sulfur surrounding me a thousand miles from nowhere…
not knowing who I’ll be.
I try not to call out in the night to the dream that calls my name a thousand miles away. Burning of the bodies is the same every time, burying the pain in the old cold heart, while being a thousand miles away. Wishing and hoping for it to rain like hell, dreaming of a bad day of fishing, wishing I had one more day. Sometimes I sleep, sometimes I weep not knowing why, like I’m dead…but…alive trying to ride but end up falling…
The whiskey can’t bring me back, and I can’t drink it away. I pricked my thumb on the rose I was smelling to see if I still bleed…a thousand miles from nowhere.
Think of your main character as you would a lump of clay. At first that’s all they are, someone ready for molding and maneuvering into whoever you want them to be. People are complex, so there is much information that goes into creating them. First think of the different types of qualities, traits, and information needed for a character’s creation. Then break that information down into categorical blocks. Then fill in each block with the type of information assigned to it. Please see the example below.
The flat landscape lay empty. My night vision goggles guided me through the black of night while I ran for my life. The only sound penetrating the silence was my own puffs of breath. My lungs burned with the inhalation of air and adrenaline combination. The fleeting flash of a shadow slid by in my periphery on the right then another on the left.
I stopped and swept the terrain in front of me then to the rear, but there was no movement. Then I cocked my head and crinkled my brows when the ground in front of me moved. I was standing still, so this shouldn’t have happened. It led down now into a dark abyss. I couldn’t see into the depths below, even with my night vision goggles donned. I turned around, facing behind me again, ran two steps, and skidded to a sliding skid then tumbled down a steep slope. Not thinking to check the rest of the ground me, I assumed the rest was flat. Now, I fell on my butt, skidding downward. I pushed backwards with my hands and feet, but all that did was delay the inevitable. I rolled onto my stomach, scrambling upward. In that moment four dark figures with spikes protruding from the circumference of their heads stood at the mouth of the hole.
Anger heated my insides, and I jammed my fist into the dirt. The result drove it in six inches, so I used the indentation as a hand-hold, stopping my fall. I repeated same action with my left boot. Now, as I stood, pasting myself to the side of the slope, I gazed up again at the rim of the hole. But the four dark figures were gone.
A light high in the sky moved toward me, gaining in strength. I tore off my night vision goggles and continued staring at it. Its source came into view. It was a bright, glowing orb. It stopped above the hole, sunk lower in the sky as though staring at me, then it lifted back into the atmosphere, and shot away.
The ground beneath me lifted, becoming flat once more. The quiet air around me was deafening. I sat up, donned the night vision goggles again, and swiveled my head in all directions but saw no one. I tore off the goggles and stood, breathing hard and heart pounding. Then a pinch in my left side snapped my hand up, covering where I felt it. I leaned to the left, staggered a couple steps, and slumped to my knees. Something slick and sticky oozed. Dizziness played with my vision. I peered down, and a dark liquid covered my hand. Something hard slammed into my back. I hit the ground face down. Then someone struck the side of my head and darkness took over.
To be continued
Along the garden path stands a trellis of red roses,
sweetest candied scents waft with buoyant wings,
senses swell,
memories dwell,
but future delight proposes.
WRITE TIME AND AGAIN 