2025 Q : Query

     

 In the challenge, Q is for Query. For this post a few thoughts from writing life experience

I started sending out queries in my teen years. Following the advice of the time I tried to sell short stories to science fiction magazines.at the time there was ho internet, no e-zines, only print. The letters that came back contained neat little phrases such as." sorry, not quite what we are looking for." then there was one that said they didn't like the ending. No tomato surprises allowed. The not-so-funny joke at each mail delivery (this was before the days of automated email rejections) was that enough "Thank you for your submission, but it is not for us at this time. Good luck with your writing career" letters came to paper the bathroom.

Eventually, there were non-fiction articles accepted, short stories in published. First one, then two, then and an even dozen.

Now a few notes about my latest works the Tear Stone Collectors.

When a dragon cries, their tears fall as precious jewels. Each tear stone is imbued with the magic of its creator. And for special humans, the jewels can enhance the person's natural powers or even provide the ability to take on dragon form.

Fire and Amulet 

Dragons and humans don’t always coexist in a peaceful harmony. Trelleir’s family was murdered by slayers. Alone since he cracked his shell, he longs for companionship. Even if it is only that of a human female. However, she is a slayer. Sworn to kill all dragons, including him.

Fire and Redemption 

Three men and a dragon desire the same woman. The men want her for who she is, her beauty, or love. The dragon just wants her. To have them future she desires, Brial must survive the fever, raiders, and most of all, Medraut’s dragon ability to control minds. 

~till next time, Helen 

 

Buy the Tear Stone Collectors at Amazon and These Sites

If you're following other blogs in the challenge, here's the master list of the other participants.

 

2025 M : Matawan

   

In the challenge "M" is for Matawan, a town in Monmouth County, New Jersey. In disclosure, I lived in the town for a few years before I moved to the neighboring Borough of Keyport. The railroad divides the two towns so I literally moved to the other side of the track.

Although I was not born in Matawan, my in-laws were residents of the town for three generations. Volunteering at the local historical society started as an aid to my husband who was an officer at the time. Acting as his clerical help led to more projects and positions excluding president of the Matawan Historical Society and director of the Burrowes Mansion Museum.

Burrowes Mansion Museum
Main Street, Matawan Nj

The local work expanded from the revolutionary war-era history house museum to historic battlefields, journalism, multiple documentaries, and of course, the history books.

Instead of excerpts I thought I would share a few lines about the Matawan histories.

Around Matawan and Aberdeen

Contains over 180 historic photographs, many rare and previously unpublished. The images are used to illustrate the changes of Matawan and Aberdeen, New Jersey, from a colonial settlement to a 1920s resort, and as an industrial area to the suburban bedroom community of today.

Matawan and Aberdeen: Of Town and Field

Work covers the history of the Monmouth County, New Jersey towns of Matawan Borough and Aberdeen Township from pre-history times and the first settlers through to the new millennium. The book concludes with how the residents pulled together after their losses of 9-11-2001. 160 pages 100 photos 

From the Back Street to Main Street… And Beyond

The history chronicles the Society of Methodists of Middletown Point from its early beginnings with circuit rider preachers to the current congregation of the 21^st century as the Matawan United Methodist Church in Aberdeen.

Parade float

~till next time, Helen 

 

  

Buy the non-fiction works as noted:

Around Matawan and Aberdeen at Amazon / Barnes&Noble

Matawan and Aberdeen: Of Town and Field at Amazon and Barnes&Noble

From the Back Street to Main Street ... And Beyond at Amazon

If you're following other blogs in the challenge, here's the master list of the other participants.

2025 L : Libraries

   

Next in the challenge is "L" for libraries. Before I wrote my first short story or novel, I was a voracious reader. My favorite place was the source of my reading material... the library. So I have taken a little side diversion from the theme of my books to reveal something about me.

My first recollections of a library was the small, one room in a historic building in town. Its use was supplanted when I obtained a membership card to the county library. Although it was larger and in a slightly newer building, the memory is of a dark, cramped space. That same county library became a modern structure with a packing lot, children's and meeting rooms, and computers. The wall of used books was always browsed before checking out my quota of books. Over the years I went through Leslie Charteris, Ian Fleming, Louis L'Amour, and almost science fiction and fantasy series on the shelves from Isaac Asimov to Anne McCaffrey to E. E. Doc Smith. I later returned to the same building as a published author and ran a meet the author workshop for other authors. However, the most fun was going to the annual book sale. The event filled an entire National Guard armory with books, books, and more books.

Reading and speaking at libraries has not been my only involvement with libraries. I worked in my high school library during my free study periods. Creating a schoolteacher resource library and modernizing the library & archives for a local history museum were other library-related activities.

The old public libary, Matawan NJ

Frenchtown Public Library, Frenchtown NJ

 

Hunterdon County Library
my safe haven for many years

Perhaps my best memory of a library as a published author is seeing my books in the local library. I hope you enjoyed the post. ~till next time, Helen

As a change of pace, I am highlighting the books that took me into libraries around New Jersey.

  

Buy the non-fiction works as noted:

Around Matawan and Aberdeen at Amazon / Barnes&Noble

Matawan and Aberdeen: Of Town and Field at Amazon and Barnes&Noble

From the Back Street to Main Street ... And Beyond at Amazon

If you're following other blogs in the challenge, here's the master list of the other participants.

 

2025 E : Event in St. Louis

   

Next in the challenge is E for events. In this case, I am referring to Books by the Arch, a reader event being held October 11, 2025 at the Drury Plaza Hotel, St. Louis, Missouri.

If you are in the area, I hope you will stop by. The authors would love to meet you. And if you would like to pre-order a book, either mine or another authors, their forms can be found here as the authors add their forms. So be sure to check back.

I hope you will check out my books. Reviews, excepts, buy links and a free read of first chapters can be found in the pull-down menus at the top of the page.

 ~till next time, Helen 

If you're following other blogs in the challenge, here's the master list of the other participants.

Follow me on Facebook, BlueSky, and Twitter for event news and activities.

 

2025 AtoZ Theme

    

This post is supposed to set the theme for the April AtoZ challenge. Doing a post a day is difficult even when you have nothing else going on. Health issues can make focusing impossible, steals the energy to write, and chases the muse away. However, I'm going to give 2025 a shot. Additional impacts this year are a work in progress, learning to use a new tablet as my old labtop dies, and making the swag and all the details for a major reader / signing event. Hint: I am an attending author at Books By The Arch in St. Louis, Missouri.

The posts for the 2025 Challenge will showcase the characters and worlds of the Windmaster Novels, Dragshi Chronicles, the Tearstone Collectors. A few thoughts on my non-fiction history books and personal insights might also sneak in.

A note on my approach. Since I did the AtoZ in April Challenges from 2019 through 2022, and in 2024, I didn't want to duplicate the earlier years' posts.

Here is the master list of the themes joining me in singing the alphabet song. 

~till next time, I'm off to start singing the alphabet song. Hope you'll join me April 1st for "Archaeology." Helen

Hints of the Future, Imprisoned in Stone #mfrwhooks

Writers are often asked what they were thinking off when a scene written. To tell a secret, sometimes we don't know. When the Year's End dance of Imprisoned in Stone was being written, the muse and the characters controlled the pen.  I was totally surprised when the sprites appeared and danced with Rascal and Kai, magical equines called the seisag.

Winged flecks of gold appeared, first one then another, until a dazzling curtain of light soared over the meadow. “The sprites,” Tralin whispered. “It has been many years since they appeared.”

The thunder of hooves shattered the silence of the meadow. In a flash of white, Rascal galloped out into the center of the sprites. Kai moved like a dark shadow at the stallion’s side. Instead of a solid glowing sphere, the sprites broke apart into four balls that each mirrored the full moon. Clusters of the golden creatures settled on Rascal and Kai, limning them with a ghostly radiance. The remainder formed ethereal versions of the horse and seisag. Real and sprite-created horses cavorted around the meadow to an ancient tune that floated through the night.

However, that is not the end of the confession. The other day I was scanning the story, looking for posts to include in the MFRWAuthor Book Hooks.  Whether it was the passage of years since the book's release or viewing it with a different eye, but I uncovered a foreshadowing I had been unaware of when writing the book.

Neither man, seisag, or horse moved until a solitary moonbeam penetrated the darkness to pin Tralin in a pool of white.

Now that I've revealed a spoiler as to Tralin's fate, I hope you're intrigued enough to check out Imprisoned in Stone. Available at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Kobo and elsewhere. Excerpts, a free read of the first chapter, and buy links available here.

~till next time, Helen

ThursdayThirteen - Why I Love Dragons

This Thursday Thirteen are a few thoughts on flying, and why I love to fly with and write about dragons.

1. 
   I come from an aviation family. My father trained as an airplane mechanic, then became a flight engineer.
   
   
2.  I always wanted to fly.  My farm had a back 40 acres planned for a landing / takeoff strip. When in school my after-school activities included private pilots training.
   
   
3. Despite the legacy of the Women Airforce Service Pilots who served as ferry pilots in World war II and the trailblazers of the  Ninety-Nines Organization, which included Amelia Earhart as one of their founders, at the time of my search for the sky, the main path to a uniform and wings for a woman was as a stewardess. Let's just say I was strongly encouraged not to become what several family friends (all flight crew members or stewardesses themselves) called a glorified waitress. Good thing I listened. You can only dump hot coffee on someone so many  times before you get fired. (just kidding.)
   
   
4. I was fortunate that I have lived where airplanes were a common sight. My childhood farm was in the traffic pattern for Newark Airport. On clear days the planes flew low enough you could tell their airline by the tail insignia and colors. There were two small airports within a few miles.
   
   
5. Later, my home was not only across the water from the Twin Towers, but beneath the flight pattern for LaGuardia Airport. More than stars twinkled at night. When walking the boardwalk you could track the ribbon of light formed by the stream of planes heading towards the airport.
   
   
6. A tale written by the young me was put to paper while watching fighter planes land at Clark Air Force Base in the Phillipines. Of course that was before the area was buried with volcanic ash by Mount Pinatubo, shaken by earthquakes, and battered by sheets of rain from Typhoon Yunya. Decades later that youthful effort was unearthed from the bowels of a drawer, reworked and expanded to become FIRST MISSION, FINAL DAY in the anthology, Hearth and Sand: Stories from the Front Lines and the Homefront.
   
   
7. LIVE OR SURRENDER TO TECHNOLOGY, a story based in the near future, honored my father with the tale of a man's final flight. Passengers on tomorrow's trans-continental orbiter discover what can happen when humans abdicate control. When the artificial intelligence pilot changes the flight schedule, one passenger, a holdover from an earlier time in aviation, shows the resilience of human spirit as he overcomes the errant technology to save the doomed flight.
   
   
8. While on my childhood farm, I would watch hawks gracefully soaring above the fields on the thermals.
    

9. 

   Image by kamyk293 from Pixabay

   Flight slipped into my tales in another way besides dragons. Fire and Amulet featured a mythical bird called a helwr. The large black birds with lethal curved talons were inspired by eagles and hawks. Helwr's large orange eyes seem to blaze with energy. The birds also have a sense of loyalty and duty. When Tywyll's mistress was kidnapped, the bird marked her captor with a talon across the cheek. Then it searched for years to find his mistress. More on Tywyll can be found at the post H is for Helwr.
   
   
   
   
   
   
10. 
    And then there are the dragons. In the Dragshi Chronicles, for special humans, the path to dragon wings came from being born with a twinned dragon soul. Once the dragon awakened, the human and dragon share a single form in time and space. The humans gain long life spans and the freedom of the skies. The dragons get a friend to translate the world of humans.
    
    
11. If you are small enough and have a dragshi friend (or been in service to the dragshi) they may make a cage of their talons so you can fly with them.
    
    
    
    
    
12. Another way to achieve the freedom of flight is to have a true dragon willing to put a nugget of his magic into a tearstone. Those possessing the jewel and the appropriate knowledge can take on dragon form. For more, read Fire and Amulet.
    
    
13. I did draw a line about one thing pertaining to flight. I prefer to watch a hot air balloon floating across the hillside rather than going up in one to be subservient to the winds. A standing joke in my family dealt with parachuting  and was the comment, "Why jump out of a perfectly good airplane." To a man, they would prefer to land the plane.
    

I hope you enjoyed this Thursday Thirteen. I hope 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 hang out with mages and fly with dragons. Helen