Hooked on Windmaster, Stars

The holiday decorations are down, skies are cloudy and foreboding, the post holiday blues have set in. Then the email came. What better way to psych yourself up for new book, than a five-star review of another.

Whoo hoo for Windmaster. There is a lot in the review and I need to read it again to get it all. There are words like "exciting," "edge of your seat," and "I can’t think of one thing I didn’t enjoy about Windmaster." And perhaps the best line, " I would highly recommend to readers who enjoy adventures by land and sea, swashbuckling quests, and magic."

Hope you'll check out the rest of Big Al's Books and Pals review.

In celebration of the review and stars, from Windmaster, dinner under the stars. It is also where the story of Windmaster Legend is first told.

Excerpt:
 

Each evening of the voyage, Dal and Ellspeth shared wine beneath the setting sun. One such night, two bright lights sparkling near the horizon caught Dal’s attention. “The stars are different down here than in the north.”

“You haven’t been to the Southern Sea before?”

“No,” he answered after a moment’s pause. “Most of my travels were throughout the Four Kingdoms. And we didn’t often have a chance to just sit and stare at the stars. Even when on night guard duty, you dared not focus on one point too long.”

Sensing his hesitance to talk about his background, Ellspeth quickly changed the subject. “The stars are named Iol and Pelra. Did you ever hear their legend?” When he shook his head, she started the ancient tale. Her low voice barely carried above the sound of water beneath the hull. “Rima, my grandmother, told me this on my first sea voyage. Iol and Pelra were captains; both had won their gold bracelets. Their rank was suitable, but his mother had rejected her father’s courtship, so a joining between Iol and Pelra was not allowed. Since no one had ever sailed the southern island route in less than four sevenday, the two families proposed a wager. If Iol and Pelra made the trip in less than two sevenday, the families would allow the marriage. The pair set off in their respective ships with all masts carrying as much canvas as the rigging could handle.

“Iol and Pelra prayed, and in recognition of their devotion the water god favored them with fair skies. Brisk winds pushed them faster than any vessel had ever sailed before. The ships returned in the final hour allowed by the bet. Despite their return within the allotted time, the parents reneged and declared Iol and Pelra had lost the bet and refused to allow the marriage. The ruling council of Iol’s house ordered him to a remote inland lake to captain an old scupper. Pelra was confined to her family complex. Unable to return to their ships and the sea, the pair sneaked to the twin rocks that guarded the harbor entrance. When the families sent soldiers to enforce their orders, the water god brought up a storm to protect the lovers. Then he transformed Iol and Pelra into shipfish. Legend has it they swam together to the end of the world. One powerful leap carried them into the night sky.”

I haven’t thought of that story for years, Ellspeth mused. Why should it come to mind now? As if in answer, her eyes were drawn to Dal whose gaze had fixed on the two stars.

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