Tending the Flamella Tree

(This post is part of the A Shadow in Doubt, ten years later, read along...)

Here we are, on to Chapter 25 - Confrontation - already.... So much has happened since the last post, I don't know where to start!

Midnight Rambling: Hopping Too Far

(This post is part of The Shadow Watcher, ten years later, read along...)

I can't believe we're already at the final chapter. I'd planned a few more posts along the way, but I used the wrong hopper, and got too far ahead ... which brings me to the subject of the post!

Midnight Rambling: A Bedtime Story

(This post is part of The Shadow Watcher, ten years later, read along...)

By the fourth day Sam's head was probably spinning out of control. Wouldn't yours? To go from this feeling of being watched for so long, to meeting your Watcher, to being attacked in just over 48 hours?

Midnight Rambling: What Was She Thinking???

(This post is part of The Shadow Watcher, ten years later, read along...)

On this night, ten years ago, Sam was safely tucked away at home with Artemis for the evening, after meeting her Shadow Watcher face to face for the very first time. But, what on Earth was she thinking, stopping like that, in the first place?

Before Sam Met The Shadow Watcher....

(This post is part of The Shadow Watcher, ten years later, read along...)

Monday marks ten years since the day Sam and her Shadow Watcher first met. For those who wish to join me, I'll be re-reading chapters from The Shadow Watcher and A Shadow in Doubt on their corresponding tenth anniversaries, and posting along the way. 

To set the mood, I'm sharing the original Prologue from The Shadow Watcher, since it's since been taken out. It's some of Sam's backstory, and I wound up working most of it in to the first chapters instead. Still, it gives a hint of what her mindset was, before everything changes....   

Book Birthday: The Shadow Watcher

Today, I've been helping put the finishing touches on my son's science project, and now I'm finally taking a moment to celebrate The Shadow Watcher's second Book Birthday!

Technically, according to Amazon, I'm a day (almost two) late. I seem to remember setting the date to publish as the 7th. But, what difference does it make, really? None! All that matters is it's there.


I can't believe it's been two years! It really doesn't seem like it's been that long. Then again, in some ways it seems much longer.... It's been almost seven years now (I think?) since I wrote the scene - intended to be a short story - that started all of this. Is it just me. or does it seem like the more time passes, the more mischievous it is? 






My heartfelt thanks to you, Dear Reader, for your support along the way - whether you've been with me from the beginning of this journey, or you're new to my little world, you are appreciated! From December to February this year, The Shadow Watcher saw sixty consecutive days of (mostly) multiple Kindle downloads for the first time - and I know that didn't happen without help! So, once again, Thank You!


I look forward to sharing the next installment of Sam's story with you - the best secrets (in my humble opinion) are yet to come! But, Of Sovereigns and Shadows won't be out for about a year. (Yes there is a very, very rough, and short, draft!) Perhaps that's how we'll celebrate The Shadow Watcher's third birthday? What do you think? 

Wherever you are, I hope you're having a beautiful day, night, or sometime in the between....
Roari



The Shadow Watcher is available FREE from the following ebook retailers:
Amazon (US) Kindle edition*
Barnes&Noble.com Nook edition
iTunes iBooks edition
Kobo
Smashwords all ebook formats


* Available in all regions for just .99 cents (USD)

Character Spotlight: Tollack - The Elder

Fore Shadows: Escape 2169 was public on Writing.com first. (Most of what I write starts there.) Over the years, I've had all sorts of feedback on my writing - good, bad, soul-crushing - but, I think my favorite comment on any of my work, to date, was simply "I love Tollack!" I knew I'd accomplished my task.

See, when Sam first learns of the Society in the Shadow of Civilization in The Shadow Watcher, Tollack Pennington isn't so lovable. Having put himself in control of the world her grandfather founded, Tollack is less than thrilled to see Sam show up, because, as Samuel's heir, she could challenge his position. And she does.

What Sam doesn't know is the complex, centuries-old history between Tollack and her family. As her grandfather's best friend, Tollack was more than just one of the founding members of the Society - he was Samuel's most trusted confidant. But the Elder Sam meets is a bitter, jealous, power thirsty dictator. So, how did he go from Earth vacation fishing buddy to nemesis? Yes, it has something to do with a woman ... or two. At least, that's part of it....

An excerpt from The Shadow Watcher - Chapter 7

Curious about The Society in the Shadow of Civilization? This week I'm sharing Chapter Seven from The Shadow Watcher ... which is where he finally starts to explain himself.

Character Spotlight: Adjatay - Keeper of the Tree

(Spoilers, maybe? Be warned....)

Sam first meets Adjatay in The Shadow Watcher, and visits him again in A Shadow in Doubt. Though Adja's appearances are brief, he is a key figure as the keeper of the Flamella tree.

According to www.babynamespedia.com, the name Adjatay is of Cameroon/African origin, meaning prince". It was meant to be; in my head, Michael called him Adja, before I even started looking for names. 

Adja was taken in by the Society in the Shadow of Civilization in the mid-eighteenth century, and in recognizing the purity of his soul, he became a sort of spiritual center for Samuel, and later Sam. It takes a special kind of person to live alone in the jungle for more than a century, without going bananas.

I'd rather get some action in the first chapter...

That's not what I meant! But, now that I have your attention....

More Midnight Ramblings

It's actually almost one a.m. here in California, as I start this post, and my mind is wandering away from me again....

Fifteen years ago, somewhere around this time, I would be coming home - either from work or LOML's apartment - and sit up until four or five writing my first (as of yet unpublished) novel/series. It's technically high fantasy, I suppose, and I'm torn between the YA version it currently is, or the Adult version I envision it to be. Now, I really can't focus on much at this hour - but I'm still awake, so I'll blog.

One of my goals for 2015 is to get back to Isiterra. I shared The Tale of the Orbs here several months ago. It was written as part of the back story for what became what I call my Middle Earth. It's actually another planet, in another galaxy far, far away ... (Just kidding ... sort of.) The picture below reminds me of a bad place there....

The orbs, or moons, are the gods of this world - believed to have created life on the shell of another of their kind. No space travel involved, and the inhabitants closely resemble those of Earth, with some slight variations. The different races of "man" are Keepers (human), Siyens (have various powers) and Underdwellers (adapted to live underground but not dwarves, rarely surface, some may have powers resembling a Siyen.) Animals (or crennas) are for the most part the same, but there are some additions, such as the dreaded Kraorack. The "common tongue" spoken by all is English, but there are separate languages I've been creating along the way for each, and dialogue throughout is sprinkled with them. Several words, such as "crenna" are used even in common tongue, because that's what they're called in that world.

The characters live and breathe in my head just as they did then - maybe more so now because I know so much more about them. The map of the world is clearly drawn out in my head - but I've never been able to get it on paper. I'm out of practice with the languages, which I blame in part on the kids for looking at Mommy funny when they walk in on her speaking in Siyen or Northern Underdwellish.  But really, I have to blame Sam and The Shadow Watcher for talking in my ear. Their story didn't require my invention of religions and languages, etc., they're here on Earth.

I did start practicing some Siyen a few weeks ago;"Onae mara ceren senen" - I can save them. I haven't touched the original draft in years - I don't even know what the title is anymore. But, when I last visited it, I decided the beginning needed more character/world building chapters. (Oh, but they're fun, they involve an annual hunting competition, and the heroine nearly gets killed before the real story even begins!) I started them, but still need two more. I think my first NaNoWriMo attempt was the second book, but that is still completely unedited. (I'm actually scared to look at it.) Somewhere, there are outlines for the third and fouth books on paper, but they're in my head too. The most vivid scenes to come to me I've written and tagged for which book and where they belong. They just feel far away right now...

But, A Shadow in Doubt is first. I will have updated release information in the coming weeks. And with that, I'm going to turn in....

I hope you're having a beautiful day, or night, wherever you may be!

Until next time,
Roari

New story - sneak peek!

It's been a quiet week.  Wasn't feeling too well over the weekend, and it carried over into Wednesday.  I think I feel human again.  

I haven't been entirely unproductive, though.  No, I've been busy.  Well, my delirious little mind has been.  What has my delirious little mind been up to, you ask?  Why, of course, I'd love to share!

Obviously, I knew sending The Shadow Watcher out there all by its little lonesome wasn't going to amount to a massive flow of sales.  I knew this before I wrote it.  Not because I don't believe one day it will, it's just all by itself right now, and needs some company.  Takes me awhile to get a novel right though.  

Oh, but wait!  Remember those side notes I talked about before?  

Yes, well, here's the latest.  Or part of it, anyway.  These short stories I plan on putting out for .99¢, or some for free, to help get more content out there faster.  A Shadow in Doubt is still planned for fall, but Fore Shadowing: Shadows on the Moon will be sooner, I think.  For now, please enjoy this entirely unedited excerpt :)  

08/05/2169 - Moon Colony - Gamma Structure

Paranoia is a mild state, relative to the one in which I lived after we administered the vaccination to the colony. Nearly two weeks have passed since the U.C.E. requested a sample of the compound we used.  I couldn't seem to sleep for more than twenty minutes at a time. At two thirteen a.m., I sat up, feeling someone else was in my room, and saw the shadow pass before the clock.


My heart started pounding. My eyes adjusted to the darkness, and I saw a man, wearing what appeared to be a cloak and glasses, standing near the window to my right.


To my left, a woman whispered, "Samuel, we need to talk."


I wanted to cry out, my father might hear in his quarters next door. But not likely. 


She spoke again, "We mean you no harm, but they're coming."  This time I could see her.  She was wearing glasses too, with tinted lenses. 


I snapped on my bedside lamp. They were both strangers - I'd never seen either of them on the Moon before. I assumed the worst. "The U.C.E. sent you, didn't they."


He answered, "No. But like she said, they're coming."


"What do you want from me? Who are you?"


"The truth is often not expected." She smiled. Her eyes, still visible through the lenses she wore, were familiar to me, like I'd known them my whole life, but I couldn't place it. "We're here to help you. Telling you who we are doesn't help right now.  You'll understand, in time."


"Samuel, you have to escape now, you and anyone who helped you with the vaccine."


The story the lab gave the U.C.E. was they accidentally administered all of the vaccine, and they had not been able to replicate a new batch. Time was running out for them to send something back to the labs on Earth - probably Sky Geneva, otherwise Sky Milan - for testing. They won't replicate a new batch, because they didn't make it. My friends at the lab, Tollack, Voorhia and Marcus took a great risk in helping me distribute a juice from a fruit-bearing tree I created. They called it a vaccine, and when everyone one the moon was cured, we destroyed the rest.


I couldn't let the U.C.E. have the real thing, because then they would know about my project, my tree. We were not surprised when they designated me to the Time Travel project, as the U.C.E. considers it my sibling, my parents its parents. But my true love was bio-chemistry, and I couldn't stay away.


The quest for eternal youth from within, long linked to the fuel we put into our bodies, lead me down this path. It was an answer to a question, a problem I wanted to solve from the time I was a boy and read of quests to find the Fountain of Youth. I had no idea what I was creating, and had not thought of the implications - or possibilities - it truly meant for the future.


The UCE had, and they labeled their quest the Sovereign project. They believed if they could defy the aging process, they could rule the universe. Once they'd spread out to conquer it. Which they would do when they could live long enough to travel far enough to do it. Crazy, right? My father would say that's why he went with science, and not politics.


The man snapped me back to the present.  "Their representatives will be here in less than twenty-four hours. You have to execute your plan, and get the tree out of here now."


I was dubious. The fact that I had only just discovered the healing properties of the fruit a week before patient zero booked his flight for the Moon, and brought the Antarctic flu to our virus free colony, was only too convenient. I made my father eat it the minute he showed symptoms of the Antarctic flu, but within minutes of biting into the core, his hair thickened and darkened, and the wrinkles in his face began to smooth. I shrieked out loud, startling him because it was not a manly sound, and all I could do was point to a mirror across the room. 


The age-reversing effects of the fruit were not as apparent in a cat as they are in a human, but I realized what happened the instant it happened. My experiment was a success. I could save the colony. But I had to conceal it from the U.C.E., because otherwise they would take it from me, before I could even study it. I filled a sack with the fruit, and ran called my friend, who worked at the lab. He was sick too, but when he drank some of the juice from just the flesh of the fruit, he felt fully recovered. His fever was gone. We headed to the lab, and called two more of his associates. I couldn't enter, without record of my being there, so I stayed outside.


"I still don't know if it's a good idea." I went on the assumption they already knew my plan. 

"Going back that far, it poses too many risks."


The man handed me an envelope, "Which is why you'll need this."


"What is it?"


"Instructions."


"For?"


The woman sighed, "How to make it all work."


"From who?"


They looked at each other, moments passing that seemed like hours. Hours I apparently no longer had to waste. I could tell they were weighing the outcome of what they told me. She shook her head, he answered. "My instructions were to deliver you the coordinates you need to set the time machine for, and other notes attached. I think you'll know who they're from when you read them."


I opened the envelope, the contents of which consisted of several aged leaves of paper, scratched and scrawled upon in a hand I knew - unmistakably - was my own. 



And, the rest is coming soon to an e-reader (hopefully) in your hands!  

I hope you're having a beautiful day!
Roari