Thursday Thirteen - Lines from the Dragshi Chronicles

 

This Thursday Thirteen are teaser lines from the Dragshi Chronicles. More than just a man or woman, the dragshi are humans with a twinned dragon soul, able to change forms with each other at will. 

 

1. Legend said that if you think of a man or wish for love beneath a solstice moon, your desire will be granted and you will meet your mate within a season. (Dragon Destiny)
   
   
2. The chill stare Eirwen turned on him felt like being peeled to the core. (Dragon Destiny)
   
   
3. His connection to Anastasia exploded into a mist of shimmering motes. (Dragon Destiny)
   
   
4. In the short time it had taken to administer aid, a dozen men armed with pikes neared her small sanctuary.(Dragon Destiny)
   
   
5. Thick silence changed the shadowed woods into a sepulcher. (Hatchlings Curse)
   
   
6. An evil chortle floated over a figure chained on the wet sand below the high tide line. (Hatchlings Curse)
   
   
7. Feather-light touches teased his senses pulling him deeper into maelstrom. (Hatchlings Curse)
   
   
8. The berserker rage of his ancestors washed over Branin and he leaped from the saddle. (Hatchlings Curse)
   
   Eirwen’s stare raked Branin to the core. The sensation passed leaving Branin wondering what the lady ruler found.(Hatching's Mate)
   
   
9. Weaving against the effect of the drugs, she kept her blade lifted. (Hatchling's Mate)
   
   
10. The twang of their arrows release was lost in the sounds of wounded animals, but the scream of the man who windmilled in the air proved the accuracy of the strikes. (Hatchling's Mate)
    
    
11. From the darkness just beyond the entrance, a single torch flickered into being, then another and another until a solid line of light streamed across the opening. (Hatchling's Mate)
    
    
12. Neither the food nor the notebook awaiting the latest tale requested by the ceoltiers worked to overcome the tension in the room—and her body. (Hatchling's Mate)

I hope you enjoyed this Thursday Thirteen and that you will come back again. If any of my published titles intrigue you, click on the cover in the banner or for the series, the pull-down menu for blurbs, excerpts, a free read of the first chapter, and of course, buy links.

And of course, be sure to visit the other thirteens.

~till next time, you're invited to fly with dragons. Helen

Hooked on Imprisoned in Stone, Revenge Approaches #mfrwauthor #mfrwhooks

 
A teaser of magic of a darker kind from Imprisoned in Stone. For the crime of healing without payment, the Brethren imprisoned Dylan’s soul in stone. Every full moon, they awakened him and renewed the bonds. When the blood dried on the stone, his awareness faded, but during those few brief moments, he had one thought--revenge. 

For this weeks teaser, the start of Dylan's revenge. But the question arises. At what cost will it be achieved?

Excerpt:

Whether the heat came from his lifeforce or magic, the stone beneath Gareth's hand warmed. The pain vanished, replaced by exultation. 

Thoughts in two voices rang in his head. One was his own. The other held anger nurtured by ages of imprisonment. “I am free,” Dylan yelled. “Revenge will be mine!”

Strength from an unknown source surged through Gareth’s body. He rolled to his knees, fumbled at his boot and withdrew a dagger. Fighting back a groan, he reached out with a blood-stained hand and pulled himself upright. He pushed off the rock and stood, his weapons at the ready. He wavered.

“Help me, Dylan,” Gareth begged.

“What I have is yours,” Dylan answered.

Power, even greater than what Gareth imagined possible, filled his frame. The encroaching darkness withdrew. Now steady on his feet, he assumed a defensive stance. “Colwynn, take care of Maerva. Don’t worry about me.” A weapon in each hand, he tested their weight. “I can pull my own freight.”

“So you think,” Nemor snarled. 

Gareth judged the two monks in front of him and the one menacing Maerva. Hard eyes and the way they held steady a pair of short swords indicated none of the three were strangers to weapons or fighting. In flashing images he reviewed Maerva’s skill with the blade. She had learned a lot during their lessons and sparring sessions. Still the reality was inescapable. She was no match for the man she faced.

“Then,” Dylan ordered, “we take them all.” His thought came so clear into Gareth’s mind it seemed it was his own. No one will harm Maerva.

Gareth felt the other’s bloodlust. Nemor will die.

Energy which could only have come from the imprisoned mage flooded Gareth. Muscles exhausted from hard riding now felt fully rested. Although he knew he would pay later, he accepted the gift. His determination to save Maerva matched Dylan’s.

Unsure how long their blended strength would last, Gareth knew he could not afford to wait. He charged the taller of the monks.
 

*** End of Excerpt ***

Buy Links: One click to ebook sellers
Paperback at Amazon / Barnes&Noble

Hooked on Hatchling's Mate, Challenge Answered, #MFRWhooks

 

Summer a time of fun and gatherings. Since the season is winding down, a snippit from Hatchling's Mate of what one of the characters considers fun-standing up to a bully. To fully understand the scene, first a spoiler. Glyn is actually a female, but is disguised as a male because of her role as  bodyguard. Neither Talann nor Kynan know Glyn's true gender at this point in the story. Last week a bully issued a challenge. As a result of popular demand, here's the reaction. Or should I say, takedown.

Excerpt:

Standing, Glyn raked the bully from head to foot. Her lips twitched in a grin. “Since you don’t appreciate fine horseflesh, what do you ride? A dog?”

Tension deepened in the inn and all conversation dropped to a low hum. Their attention focused on the slender Glyn and the bully that towered over the table. The larger man reached down, picked up Kynan’s mug and drained it in a single swig. Slamming the mug back on the table, the bully straightened to his full height.

Glyn held her breath against the rancid odor coming off the man. His attitude proclaimed his intention to fight. With a sigh Glyn shifted into battle stance. She didn’t need to look to know that even though they remained seated, Talann and Kynan were ready to join the fray.

“Only a girl rides a mare,” the bully goaded. “You never answered me. Do you like boys?”

Every eye turned on Glyn to see the response. No man with any honor would stand for such an insult. She shook her head at the inevitable confrontation. She could not answer truthfully and maintain the disguise of her true identity. Option after option was considered, until one approach stood above the others. “And you good sire,” she said with a half bow to hide the sparkle in her eyes, “never answered mine. Do you ride a dog?”

A low growl preceded the bully’s roundhouse swing.

Instincts trained by the best weaponsmasters the Ceoltier Guild could provide, instincts honed with hours of practice against Kynan and Talann, pulled Glyn into a low crouch. She exploded upward, sinking her doubled fists into her attacker’s stomach. With a loud whoosh of air, the large man bent over. Glyn added to the momentum, forcing his head into the table. A grunt and what had been a threat now slid in a boneless lump to the floor.

“Thank you and your friends for not breaking up my place,” the innkeep said. “I was coming to help, but three steps and it was over. Obviously the help wasn’t needed.” He nodded at Glyn. “As nice a dispatch as I’ve seen in many a day.” His wave brought over two men who grabbed the bully’s arms and dragged the unconscious man towards the door. “I’ve been waiting for that one to start trouble for the past sevenday. He always scared everyone enough they didn’t challenge him.” Taking fresh mugs of ale from the pale-faced server, the innkeep set them down on the table. “On the house, enjoy.” His glare rounded the room and moments later, the buzz of conversation resumed.

Glyn watched the door swing shut behind the bully.

~  ~ ~

Hatchling's Mate - From their birth it was expected that Talann’s and Lexii’s destiny would be entwined. However fate had other intentions. Lexii and Talann could not stand to be together.

Click here for another excerpt and a free read of the first chapter.

Ebook Available at:   Amazon   Kobo 
One click to more ebook stores

Paperback:  Amazon   Barnes&Noble 

Hooked on Hatchling's Mate, A Bully and Fun? #MFRWhooks

Summer a time of fun and gatherings. Since the season is winding down, a snippit from Hatchling's Mate of what one of the characters considers fun-standing up to a bully. To fully understand the scene, first a spoiler. Glyn is actually a female, but is disguised as a male because of her role as  bodyguard. Neither Talann nor Kynan know Glyn's true gender at this point in the story.

Excerpt:

Light conversation alternated with scans of the room. Glyn tracked the serving girl’s progress across the room.

“Sorry for the delay,” the girl said, arriving at the table. “I think all of Selbair is here tonight.” With a quick curtsey that sent an errant curl into her face, she set the tray on the table.

Glyn handed two copper coins. “One for the ales, the other for you.”

Dimples showed in the young girls cheeks. “Thank you, kind sir. If you need anything, just whistle.” Winking, she turned to answer another customer’s call.

Kynan elbowed Glyn and pointed toward the swinging backside of the departing server. “She looks like she would warm a man’s bed at night.” Taking Glyn’s lack of response as hesitation, Kynan added. “She’s interested.”

<Doesn’t Glyn like girls?>

Shock rocked Glyn. While Talann’s thoughts always came in clear when he sent them, the question was obviously not intended to be heard. Surprise added thickness to her tone. “If you like her so much, Kynan, why don’t you bed her?” Glyn said in a low growl.

“Because the wench didn’t wink at me,” Kynan laughed. “But we are not here for trouble, but to toast a friend.” Smiling, he raised his mug and clinked it against Talann’s.

“That woman is mine,” a deep voice said from behind Kynan’s shoulder.

Glyn looked up into the angry visage of the man she had marked earlier as a bully. “By law and custom, a woman is free to make her own choice.” Although she knew it would start a fight, she could not resist adding, “Though why one would choose you eludes me?”

Redness colored the skin beneath the man’s beard. “You must like boys. After all you ride a mare. No self-respecting man would ride a woman’s horse.”

The reality of the Buar’s heritage broadened Glyn’s smile. Despite her gender, the mare’s fine lines and implied strength brought out a primitive reaction in most men. Most could not resist stroking the soft neck, even if they didn’t know Buar was a seidheirn.

“A good horse is a good horse, no matter whether mare or stallion,” Glyn said. A shrug and she added, “I’ll stand Buar against a stallion who’s muscled, but has no brain.”

“Mares, like girls, are good for one thing,” the bully said. His grin left little to the imagination nor did his hand gesture implying the act of a stallion mounting a mare.

Across the table, Kynan dropped a hand to the dagger in his boot. Talann gathered his feet beneath him. <This could be fun.>

~  ~ ~

Hatchling's Mate - From their birth it was expected that Talann’s and Lexii’s destiny would be entwined. However fate had other intentions. Lexii and Talann could not stand to be together.

Click here for another excerpt and a free read of the first chapter.

Ebook Available at:   Amazon   Kobo 
One click to more ebook stores

BIG NEWS: Order Paperback Now. In a few weeks they will be gone. When they will be winging back no one knows at this time. Available at:  Amazon  Barnes&Noble  IndieBound

Ancestry Inspires #mfrwauthor

It's Week 44. Where has the year gone? Surprisingly, I made it this far. This week's topic in the challenge required a lot of thought. It was officially "A Person who Inspires Me." Did I want to go personal or professional? To expound on a religious figure or an author whose books I love? (However books and their creators was already covered in some form or other in weeks 20, 25, and 39.)

A blend of personal and professional might be an author who acted as a mentor in my younger days. Or a young author who through receiving the mentoring gave me much more back.

I could focus on learning responsibility, honor, and duty from my kin. I am the grand-daughter, daughter, niece, wife, sister-in-law, and aunt of those who served their country in uniform during times of war, whether declared or otherwise. They are acknowledged in my upcoming release Hearth and Sand --  Tales From the Front Lines And The Homefront.

The topic said "A Person." So that restricts it down even further. So, I'm taking the easy way out and writing about two women who inspired me--my mother and my grandmother. Both instilled in me an independence that was ahead of its time. A love of reading helped me to become a correspondent, a writer, and an author. My grandmother was a talented seamstress and craftsperson. One ability skipped a couple of generations (don't ask me to sew on a button), but I do love crafts.

My mother and grandmother also inspired in how they lived, through hard times and loss, peace and war, their own sickness and that of others. Today I honor the one by using her name as my penname for my historical westerns, and the other as the basis for a character. I hope when the time comes to measure my life that it is written I lived it as well as they did with dignity, love, and kindness.

On some of the topics in the challenge, the poster took odds as to how many others would give a specific answer. Stop by the rest of the blog to see how many picked a parent or ancestor as the "Person Who Inspired."

~till next time, Helen

PS - you'll notice there are no pictures of the ladies. One is passed and the other didn't want her picture taken. And since my mother works out with a personal trainer every week, she's stronger than I am so I obeyed her wish.



The gremlins ate spaces or dots in the following posts, so follow these links if you get a 404 (aka not found).

Valerie Ullmer/

Reading...read...read again #MFRWauthor

This weeks challenge topic is a tricky question--your favorite books.

I want to answer with the title of one of my books--or all of them. But that would be tacky. I could say the Chronicles of Storn by the wandering sailor or the romantic suspenses of Carol McPhee, but then a certain company might pull my reviews.




I've always been a voracious reader. Thank goodness we had a county library. Even if their stacks were supplemented by lots of auction box lots. I went through my mother's Cherry Ames series, then the young adult books of the time such as Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys. I devoured the science fiction of E. E. Doc Smith, Isaac Asimov, and many more. The Executioner adventure series by Don Pendleton and its spinoff, Able Team, filled a different interest before I worked my way through my father's boxes of western books.

Those trends have stayed with me. A short list of my favorite books follows, but I won't reveal how many times each has been read.

5) The Virginian, Owen Wister
4) Chronicles of the Lensemen, E. E. Doc Smith
3) The Shadow Riders, Lois L'Amour
2) The Adept, Kathryn Kurtz
1) Pegasus in Space, Tower and Hive series, Anne McCaffrey

~till next time, Helen

And be sure to visit the other posts in the challenge to see what books other authors claim as their favorites.



And here's a couple of corrections where the gremlins ate the links.

The link to Valerie's post is
http://www.valerieullmer.com/2017/06/my-favorite-books-to-read-mfrwauthor/

The link to Sherry Lewis is
https://coaldancer.wordpress.com/2017/06/23/a-favorite-book-is-like-an-old-friend-mfrwauthor/

The link to Mary J. McCoy-Dressel's is
https://maryjdresselbooks.com/2017/06/23/mfrwauthor-a-reading-writer-week-25-blog-challenge-amwriting/

On the Couch

I had an interesting session on the couch. Stop by and see what secrets were revealed and a snippit from the upcoming release, First Change.

The interview is at:  abbieroads.com/2017/05/author-couch-helen-henderson/ #amreadingfantasy #romance #giveaway



Hope you'll stop by. Leave a comment and be entered into giveaway of Windmaster Legacy.

~till next time, Helen

Windmaster Legacy - Casting Off Into Adventure and Love

Chose between magic, survival, or the life of a loved one.

Windmaster Legacy is a romance-filled, action-packed fantasy described by readers as a fascinating story that will keep you up all night turning the pages. 


Buy Links:  Amazon  

With her newfound magic, a ship to sail the far seas, and the dark-haired mage Lord Dal standing at her side Ellspeth thought her future secure. However, danger looms on the horizon and threatens not only her happiness, but the future of magic itself.

Dal's mother is fatally wounded in a mercenary attack during which Ellspeth is captured. Betrayed by a kinsman, she is imprisoned, her magic bound and preparations underway to enslave her mind, her sole hope for escape is Nobyn, an untrained wizard going through the throes of awakening magic. However, Nobyn is Bashim's apprentice and under the mage's total control.

Dal must make an impossible decision whether to rescue Ellspeth, save his mother, or thwart Bashim's plans. As archmage, Dal might be able to survive killing the future of magic, but as a man could he live with the knowledge he caused the death of a loved one.

Click here for an excerpt.

Windmaster - An autumn selection

The heat of summer is gone. Autumn teases us with cool temperatures. Time to cuddle up on the porch swing with a good book. How about the book reviewers said will keep you up all night turning the pages - Windmaster. 

Find Windmaster at:

Amazon.com - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01IU973HA

Amazon UK https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01IU973HA

Not decided?  

Click here for an excerpt.

I'm off to rock and read. 
Helen 

Windmaster - cast off and fill the sails for love and adventure

Chose between magic, survival, or love.

Windmaster

Genre: Historical fantasy, Romantic fantasy, sword & sorcery
Publisher: Books We Love
Buy Links:  One click list of ebook sellers    
Paperback at Amazon

Blurb: 

Windmaster is a romance-filled, action-packed fantasy described by readers as a fascinating story that will keep you up all night turning the pages. Revenge set Ellspeth, captain of Sea Falcon, on the path to her destiny, but prophecy controlled the journey. Despite his insolent attitude, she is attracted to the dark-haired dockworker she hires to help unload the vessel's cargo. When the supposed dockhand reveals he is Lord Dal, the last member of the Council of Wizards, and her passenger, Ellspeth breaks a cardinal rule--fraternizing with the paying customers. Bringing him back from near-death releases Ellspeth's latent powers and threatens her captaincy. For to have magic she must give up the sea.

Dal has his own reasons for Ellspeth to embrace her powers. In accordance with an ancient prophecy, Dal allows Ellspeth to be handfasted to him without her knowledge or consent. However, the prophecy doesn't state whether she will return his love. A likelihood threatened as the deception is unveiled and Dal is captured and stripped of his powers by fanatical clerics bent on ridding the world of magic and those who wield it.

Trapped within the Oracle's Temple and marked for sacrifice, Ellspeth must choose between her own survival, saving the future of magic... or love.

Click here for an excerpt.