Here there be pirates!

 I'm a bit behind on announcing this, but life sometimes gets in the way. 

On November 4th, the 8th Jezebel Johnston book, subtitled REVELATION, was released by Airship 27. Here is the press release for that. 

AIRSHIP 27 PRODUCTION

Presents

JEZEBEL JOHNSTON Vol 8 - Revelation

Airship 27 is proud to announce the release of the 8^th chapter of writer Nancy Hansen’s pirate queen saga; “Jezebel Johnston – Revelation.” In India, employed by the Maratha Warlord Shivaji, Jezebel Johnston directs the captured ship Mastiff in its battle against a superior British warship and wins the contest. To show his gratitude, Shivaji frees the mulatto pirate and her two friends, dancer Zuri and African warrior Amaka, while granting them whatever they desire. Though her companions only wish for their freedom, Jez request the ship and its captured crew.

Using her learned manipulative skills, she quickly gains the trust of the sailors representing mixed nationality and soon is sailing westward back to the Caribbean and her home in Tortuga. Little does she realize what she will find there and the challenges it pose to her new career as a Pirate Captain. Once again writer Nancy Hansen delivers a taut wonderfully realized story of high adventure with a cast of truly remarkable characters you won’t soon forget.

Award winning Airship 27 Production Art Director Rob Davis provides both the interior illustrations and the dazzling cover of Jezebel in action.

AIRSHIP 27 PRODUCTIONS – PULP FICTION FOR A NEW GENERATION!

(https://www.amazon.com/dp/1953589138/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=Jezebel+Johnston+Revelation&qid=1636029078&s=books&sr=1-1)

And take a gander at that gorgeous cover by house artist, Rob Davis. Rob also did all 9 interior illustrations in the book, and believe me, they are top-notch. 

This book has all of the action, adventure, drama, and twists that the rest of the series has, and for now it's the concluding tale of Jez's adventures in the East Indies. She has moved through the other three novels in this part of the series (DANSEUSE paperback & Kindle,  SISTERS OF VENGEANCE, and MASTIFF) from coming into the area as a spy and being abandoned ashore in India and taken prisoner as a slave, to fighting her way to freedom by agreeing to help a local Maratha warlord (Shivaji Bhonsale, a historical figure) capture a treasure barge. Again it is Jez's unique skills as a pirate and her natural charisma, as well as being young woman of color who is always up to a challenge that make her able to pull off the things she does. And she is no Mary Sue, for she often has to fumble her way through a situation, learning as she goes. She's one of the best characters I've ever written, and one that seems to resonate with a lot of people. These books are pure adventure as well, and I don't pull any punches with the gritty, gory details of the pirate life as well as the social, political, and economic backdrop. Even when you're not out on the account, life in these times can be hard and short. Yet the sea offers Jez the freedom to be whomever she wants to be, though she often gets herself into trouble and continually butts heads with convention. These books will not disappoint you if you're looking for a rollicking sea adventure with characters you will learn to admire or despise. One of the things that I have not done with the series is use the archaic Early Modern English language of the era. So you're not going to read through a ton of 'thees' and 'thous', which I would find tedious even as a reader. I do pepper in some foreign words and phrases to give the feeling of the multi-lingual melting pot these early colonial places were. But it's not overdone. Just enough for a bit of flavor.

You know after writing eight of these books, I've settled into historical fiction pretty well for someone who was at one time primarily a fantasy author. It's not that I've left the fantasy behind, I still write plenty of that. I just decided from the beginning that if I was going to write about pirates, I wanted a factual slant without all the bizarre creatures and magical happenings. I'll leave that to the Pirates of the Caribbean series, which I do enjoy watching. I also haven't included a lot of the better know pirates, because they tend to overshadow your own cast. That is why I chose the Age of Buccaneers (roughly the early-mid 1600s) rather than the more commonly known Golden Age (about 1690ish onward into the 1700s). The pirates of this earlier era were less well known but they set the stage for the more ostentatious and over-the-top tales that came later. It's sort of similar to the difference between Mountain Men and Cowboys in the old American West. Everybody knows a cowboy tale, but the mountain men remain sort of a elusive entity, mostly because of their reclusive nature. There is some crossover with the two types of western adventurers, and as I get later into this pirate series, you will see that with the pirates as well. An older and more established Jez will still be active out there as the Golden Age pirates begin to gain notoriety. Her reaction to their rather  too-obvious flamboyant lifestyles will be interesting. I don't do a lot of advance plotting, but I know where I want this series to go, and so I have some vague but pervasive ideas about scenarios for the future.

Starting right after the holidays I will be picking away at Jezebel Johnston Book #9, which will pick up where this one leaves off, back in the Caribbean. I've been ruminating on how to get Jez through the problems she faced at the end of REVELATION, and I'm pretty sure I know what I want to do. The next four books will also have a story arc of their own, it's something I've been setting up all along. I had originally promised Airship 27 head honcho Ron Fortier at least 12 books, but I think I can probably find enough incentive to do 16. That's a healthy size for a series, but Jez and her world have grown on me, and I'd like to see her through to a comfortable ending. While it was rare for pirates to live long enough to retire with the dangers of the lifestyle and the ruggedness of the times they lived in, there have been a few documented to have made it to a reasonable old age. A handful were even reported to retire. We shall see where the muse takes me on this one.

So stay tuned folks, there will be more to come where this story leaves off. I'm far from done with pirating tales. Who knows, even later on, Jez might pop up in the occasional short story. Sometimes it's hard to let go of a good character, they tend to become like family.

Writing onward,

~NANCY

Catching Up Again...

Yeah it's been a while since I've posted here. This has been a busy writing year all around for me, but the second half has been especially lively, with both writing and editing to do. So I thought I'd take some time today to get caught up with things like recent new releases and projects I can talk about.

It's certainly been a productive year, with several projects having been completed and turned in. As mentioned earlier Airship 27 now has both a full length Sinbad the Sailor novel (SINBAD AND THE MINOTAUR) that I worked off and on at over the last couple of years, and they also have the 8th Jezebel Johnston novel, subtitled REVELATION. I wouldn't expect to see those before sometime next year, and that is perfectly fine. A lot depends on artwork getting done because not only does Airship 27 give me great covers, but interior sketch art throughout the books as well. Believe me, that is well worth waiting for. I get a lot of compliments on the interiors especially, since so few books these days have that extra touch. The folks at Airship 27 do have a second Silver Pentacle book of mine somewhere in the queue as well and I've been hard at work on #3, which is close to breaking 25,000 words at this point.

 Also with Airhship 27, co-author Lee Houston Jr. and I were thrilled to turn in the novel that I've been referring to all year as 'the special project'. This is a completion of our late and sadly-missed writer pal Mark Halegua's Blue Light novel project, something Mark was working on over the last couple of years as his health was going downhill. We were fortunate enough to be such trusted friends that this novel start was shared with us, because Mark left us suddenly and with no notice. Mark had asked me first if I could help guide him along, but at the time I was working on the western novel for Wolfpack Press (Fire Of The Black Rose is my book in this novel collection) and it had a hard deadline. I knew I could not give Mark's book the attention it needed, and because it involved a pulp superhero set in the 1930s (Golden Age style for you comics fans) I thought of Lee immediately. Lee is a longtime comics fan who has made the transition in his writing to a pulp prose style, and since Mark was perfectly agreeable with that, he sent it to Lee. Good thing too, because that became the only copy of the unfinished manuscript we had! Lee and I had saved notes from online conversations with Mark, and when we finally got notice that he had passed on, we agreed that we wanted to finish it for him. Airship 27 was all for that, and so after Lee made another formatting pass and some corrections and additions, he sent it to me, and I started going over it about once a week while working on a couple other books. Once my other books got finished, I devoted most of my time to the Blue Light project. Lee and I had numerous behind-the-scenes kibitzing sessions about how to best use what was already there, how to keep Mark's voice in it, and where it had to go to create a satisfying conclusion. I'm not known for superhero fiction, but I'll try to write anything, and with Lee to advise me, we got the story concluded. In fact, I was so enthusiastic along the way, I suggested we leave some wiggle room in there for potential sequels. I think Mark would be thrilled with what happened with his unfinished story, I know Air Chief Ron Fortier was. He thanked us personally and also wrote about it on his Flight Log blog. It's all very much worth reading—partner Rob Davis' models are very cool!—but scroll down to the bottom for Ron's input on this project. The picture of a happy and smiling Mark Halegua tears me up every time I see it. Mark teased me often about my dark chocolate habit, and he kept suggesting that we had to meet somewhere, but traveling has become tough for me so we never did. We stayed in touch on Twitter for quite a few months before his untimely demise, and I still cherish those evening messages back and forth. I feel good that we were able to give him one more bit of legacy to outlive him.

As announced earlier, the 4th Companion Dragons Tales book, LAZLO AT HOME was released back in April. Two more of my books from Pro Se have been released since then. The first of them was another CDT book, the 5th one in the series, titled MYSTICAL, MAGICAL WAXY. This one, released September 1st, is a collection of three short stories featuring rainbow striped Waxy Dragon and her bumbling human sidekick Roger 'Rusty' Rustman (AKA Bubblehead). Lots of fun and puns amid adventures in this one, suitable for all ages. 

Also released on September 5th, THE KEENER EYE is a novel size collection of three short stories featuring contemporary private detective Katherine Mary 'Kate' Keener and her friends and business associates. These stories take place in a mythical town of Rockport in southern Connecticut. Two of them had appeared in various issues of Pro Se Presents Magazine but the third and last one is brand new. This is a real departure for me from my usual fantasy adventure writing, but I got teased into doing it by Pro Se head honcho Tommy Hancock, and I found I had an affinity for the genre. It may take me some time, but I'm far from done telling the stories of Kate, Gwen, Dex, and Andy. I expect to put together another one of these somewhere down the line.

I've done my share of editing this year too. That is something that I do for select friends, who can and will return the favor when I want something gone over. You need to have a special rapport with someone you trust with your brainchild, especially for any in-depth edits. What I do is a combination of line and content editing, looking for the usual errors in typos, grammar, spelling, tense, and redundancies (repetitive words/phrases) along with how the story flows, is there anything in there that loses my attention, do I feel confused, does it have a satisfactory conclusion, etc. So much stuff to wrap your brain around. You'd think I'd be better at finding those problems in my own work, but noooo... 😖 We all get tunnel vision about the words we put on a page and we don't see the problems and inconsistencies. Having a beta reader you can trust is a big help. So is belonging to a supportive author's group where stories can be read aloud and shared, with critiques that are honest and helpful rather than just scathing or a rubber stamp validation. I'm lucky, I've got the best of both worlds, and I'm grateful for those writing pals who go the extra mile on my behalf. So when I'm asked for help, I give whatever I can. I've got like 25 books in print now and at least 15 short stories, and I still don't get everything right! All part of being human, and it keeps you humble.

So what's next? Oh, all sorts of stuff! I always have several projects going. Like I mentioned above, I'm currently working on the third Silver Pentacle book. I'm not sure yet if this one will feature more than one tale like the first two, or if it will be a complete novel unto itself. It feels 'novelish' at this point. We have most of the team collected with just one member outstanding, who gets introduced in this story. It's a matter of bringing everyone together before the end and giving them something important to accomplish in order to build a sense of joint purpose. I am not someone who plots every step out, I start with raw ideas and a general direction and then take it from there. If you write long enough, you learn to trust your instincts and insight.

I also have an unfinished Vagabond Bards tale that has become longer than the small publishers usually want that I'm not sure what to do with. It's not something that can end in a cliffhanger to be continued in another book, I'd like it to stay as one story. When I get back to it, I'll finish it first and then decide what has to be done to get it published. I believe it can stand alone, I just might have to find a new market. We'll see.

Then there is the Tucker T. Bear story I started for my grandkids. That kind of got shoved to the wayside, but I want to get back to that. I need a children's book series that is adventurous but not too scary with easy words for younger readers. I Just wish I could afford an illustrator to work with!

On my 'want to write it' list is a third Chandra Smoake paranormal investigator story and another western. I've got the itch for both right now. Whether those itches get the attention they deserve depends on a lot of things. Right now we're coming up on the holiday season, and that tends to be somewhat distracting. As always, the family comes first, and there are at times things happening behind the scenes that I can't talk about.

You know, outside of my family, writing has been the best thing I've ever done with my life. It might not have been the most lucrative career for me, but it certainly has been the most satisfying work I've ever tried to get paid for. That is not to cast aspersions on my publishers, who I assure you are doing the best they can for me and other authors under the circumstances. But until you have labored for weeks or months on a story or book, honed it to what you hope is perfection, sent it off on a wing and a prayer, and then saw it appear in print—you have no clue what a wonder that is. It's a colossal ego boost to have your name on the cover of something you created by sitting down regularly to put words on a page. It never gets old for me. I love the entire process of writing, even on the most difficult days. This is something I learned from the ground up, but I've no doubt that I was born to do it. It's also something I can work at no matter what my circumstances might be. I may never become what you'd call wealthy through my writing, or lauded as any sort of celebrity, but who cares? My life is richer for having eschewed the rat race of keeping up with the latest 'must-have' and 'should-do' trends and focusing on the sort of life I want for myself. This is the career I built and am still building, one story at a time.

Writing Onward,

~NANCY

So what's going on Nancy?

Well I'm glad I asked! It's been a couple months since I posted anything here, but I have been busy throughout that time. I have been consistent in getting my writing done 4-6 days a week for 4-6 hours in the afternoon most days. Now and then I will boot something up on a day where I had other, non-writing projects going and at least get in a couple more hours. And all that pushing out work has paid off too. I have 3 novels completed this year in rough draft, and I went over a short story I wrote last year in the Chandra Smoake paranormal investigator series and was able to have that turned into to an eager publisher within a few days. Plus I wrote a healrtfelt essay about a late writer friend that is supposed to appear in a fund-raising anthology where the proceeds go to his next of kin.

I've also done some gardening; mostly potted plants that are lining the cement steps and walkway alongside the house, and covering a utility table out in the yard. Plus I try and visit with the adult sons, daughter-in-law, and grandkids at least once a week. Evenings are generally spent in front of the TV with Jeopardy and the Red Sox ballgame, or something else we all enjoy watching. I do belong to an online writer's group that meets once a week in the evening to share our latest creations as well as news, publishing hints, and what's happening in our lives. So yeah, I keep busy in these almost 'Golden Years'. (I'm 64 and proud to admit it.)

I want to focus on the novels here, because they are all longterm projects. That means they require a serious commitment over a far lengthier period of time than the occasional short story I put out. Regardless, I take any writing I do seriously. I have not had any hard deadlines on books this year, but I've been plugging away regularly and I'm farther ahead at this point than I expected to be. Three books that are finished in at least rough draft by the middle of summer is nothing to sneeze at. So let's see what we have...

First done was my latest contribution to the Airship 27 series Sinbad: The New Voyages. This one is a novel titled SINBAD AND THE MINOTAUR. Yes, it's that Minotaur, the one associated with King Minos the First, the labyrinth, and the hero Theseus. This is my third Sinbad tale for the series, the first was a short story in Volume 1, the second a novella in Volume 6. I've kind of had my own story arc going within the series, with the magical etheric devices that were developed from the formula Sinbad found in the first short story I wrote, and which got implanted in the Blue Nymph's figurehead and transported them all to an Ice Age destination in the novella. In this tale, Sinbad & Company are taken to early Minoan Crete and play a part in what happens there with the current sacrifice of innocent Athenian youths to the monster of the labyrinth. I tried very hard to work in as much historical detail of the era as I could find along with the mythology of that time, and it's a pretty interesting tale. Plus it has that bloodhthirsty Cretan mostrosity that is half bull/half man along with the bronze giant Talos, and a cameo by Poseidon, so how can you go wrong? As usual, my longtime love of the Ray Harryhausen animated movies comes through loud and clear in this one. I'm about halfway through my second and final pass, so am hoping to turn this one in soon. This was a story I started back in late 2019, and had to keep setting aside to work on other projects. Finally got it done, and frankly was surprised it turned out to be book length.

Just recently completed in rough draft as well, and also aimed at Airship 27, is the eighth Jezebel Johnston pirate novel, subtitled REVELATION. I don't want to totally spoil it, but in this one Jez finally acquires her own ship and plans on sailing away from the East Indies and back to her Caribbean homneland to continue her pirating. But things don't go quite so smoothly and she finds out that it's far harder to be the one in charge than she expected. Plus there are some surprises along the way, and I also included the exploits of the last folks she had gone a-pirating with. None of the tie-in plots are put into the books randomly or as fillers, for some of these people will cross paths with Jez again farther down the road. A select few will be allies for life. There are at least four more books in this series, and there could be more than that, depending on how well these do. I have been developing some ideas that could expand the series even further. I'll continue writing them as long as they are well received.

Also recently completed was a novel that another dear writer friend had been working on before his untimely passing, a manuscript that co-editor Lee Houston Jr. and I decided to finish for him at the request of the potential publisher. Lee and I had been asked by the original author to go over it and make suggestions, which we did, and then the individual's health began failing and we lost contact. This one was a labor of love for both of us, because as writers, we understand how tough it is to get work done when you have such extenuating circumstances as chronic health issues. I can't talk much about the actual story itself, other than to say it was written as a period piece set in the 1930s with a classic-style pulp hero who gains abilities beyond the average human being. Yet these abilities must be learned and perfected. And there are ruthless enemies of society out there who will stop at nothing to become the dominant organization of this location—with eyes on expansion over time to a far larger territory. The story was over half-finished when we got it, and Lee did a lot of editing work on it before he sent what he had to me. I started at the beginning, initially just rereading it and trying to get a feel for what the original author intended. Yes, this is a bit out of my usual writing wheelhouse, but all well-told tales have a similar working formula, it was just the specific genre that I had to bone up on. As I started to write additional material and researched topics, I found ideas coming to me frequently of how to use what was already there to move the story forward toward a conclusion. For a long time this was a one day a week project, but as I got closer to what was going to be the grand climax of the book, I set everything else aside for several days at a time to focus on it. The day I wrote THE END was an emotional one for me, because I pictured that friend smiling about having the book done at last. I need to make a second pass, and I will do that once at least Sinbad is turned in. Then Lee gets it for a going over. While this book can be a 'one and done' standalone novel, Lee and I have talked about continuing the series if the publisher likes it and thinks that would be viable. My only caveat is that our friend, the original author, gets his name on those covers too, if that is doable. It was his brainchild after all.

Every book or story we have in print is part of our legacy as writers. It is something special to be recognized for having accomplished, something we did outside of the things we must tackle in our everyday life. For me, it's a later life career that I built story by story—by myself, for myself. I might not be getting wealthy with my writing, but I have a whole bunch of stuff that I've created that will hopefully outlive me. It's fiction that entertains and at times uplifts, something I can offer to others when life gets too real. Like last year during the worst of the pandemic and the social-political upheaval. To be able to escape all that online hoopla and the ever-screaming headlines and news bulletins with a good book is a priceless thing. When I was young and times were hard, books were always my go-to antidote for bad or sorrowful days; a way to travel outside my life to places I'd never been. They still are, and I read just about every night before I sleep. How wonderful it has been to have the opportunity to create new and entertaining fiction that can actually reach an audience. That's why I work so hard at writing, I'm paying it forward for all the books I have read that got me through the tough times by giving me somewhere else to be and something else to focus on for a bit. Between those covers were people I would like to have known, places where the good guys can triumph, the bad folks get their due in the end, and the resolution makes some sense after all. My gift back to the world around me now is in those carefully chosen words I put on every page.

Writing ever onward,

~NANCY

The first Silver Pentacle book is now available!

And here it is!

Find it here!

Below is the official press release that gives you a hint of what is going on with this book.  Afterward I'll give you a bit more inside information on what this book and and the rest of the series entails.

AIRSHIP 27 PRODUCTION

Presents

THE SILVER PENTACLE

Airship 27 Production is thrilled to announce the release of writer Nancy Hansen’s newest fantasy saga.

In the far distant future the Earth has long been abandoned with the majority of mankind traveling to the stars to discover new worlds. Whereas old hatreds continue to fester among those who remain until a global nuclear war lays waste to everything. Hundreds of years later a demigod named Jordyn Orion descends on what remains to discover new human enclaves have sprung up among which are men and women possessing strange, supernatural abilities.

One of these is the young fire-starter Aleta Kalama and together they battle the Angel of Death in the ruins of a once great Metropolis. Later they join forces with a lovely Wind Shaper to take on a merciless sea pirate known as Crazy Katy.

“The old phrase about throwing everything into the mix including the kitchen sink was the reaction I had when reading this book,” reports Airship 27’s Managing Editor Ron Fortier. “Nancy Hansen is a treasure to the New Pulp community and her work is always fresh, exciting and above all else original. ‘Silver Pentacle’ is nothing like her previous works and we are very excited to be bringing it to her legions of readers.”

Master Storyteller Nancy Hansen launches her most imaginative series yet in “The Silver Pentacle.” These are fantastic tales from a time and place lost to the future.

Colorado based artist Guy Davis provides both the interior illustrations and the painted cover, while book design was handled by Art Director Rob Davis.

AIRSHIP 27 PRODUCTIONS – PULP FICTION FOR A NEW GENERATION!

Available now from Amazon in paperback and Kindle.

This book is actually the first in a series, and it's a collection of two long stories. The premise is that post-apocalyptic Earth has been nearly destroyed by a a series of cataclysmic events. Nuclear warfare over dwindling carbon fuels and the resulting environmental breakdown those battles caused has killed masses and ruined the environemnt, while ongoing mechanized warfare (read that as large, automated hostile units) as well as chemical and biological incursions are still ongoing in some areas. Billions have have suffered and died and what is left of humanity mostly exists in small and scattered mixed groups wherever life can be supported. Lingering radiation has caused both sterility and mutations that have made it hard to repopulate the planet, let alone thrive where so much of the world is a desertlike wasteland and people are relegated to subsistence living. 

Ah, but there are other less technologically-based dangers as well, so this is not simply a story of science and industry gone wrong...

Because of the often sudden and violent exodus of so many souls, the foretold Rapture has occurred, and those who were still true believers have followed their God to whatever paradise was promised. The rest of the lost souls are just sort of bobbing around the Universe as formless energy beings, and their sudden influx has caused rifts in space and time. So all sorts of beasts and beings from the past, as well as monsters and individuals of legends and myth, have begun to appear or reappear on Earth. It's not unusual to come across living examples of Earth's history such as random dinosaurs, lost Roman Legionaires, or megafuana, interspersed with things like dragons, Atlantean merfolk, demons, and cannibalistic underground dwellers. Many levels of technology now exist at once as well, so these stories have everything from advanced war mechs, bio labs, laser or plasma weapons, and thorium powered cargo ships; to ironclads, zeppelins, swords, cannons, catapults, and Tesla coils. Abandoned, bombed-out highrises in coastal regions are flooded or inhabited by predatory sentient beings, and in the war-torn areas there is great trade in scavenging anything that can be resold from ruined machines. Mankind is struggling, but still trying to hang on.

All this activity has drawn the attention of higher vibration 'ascended beings'—most of them former deities or other immortals who see the potential for growing more powerful by mining converts from the humans who are left behind. Not all of them have Earth's best interests at heart. And sent forth to clean up the mess, the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse are now appearing, for Earth is designated for total annihilation as a lost cause. This is of course something that these angels of destruction relish, for their stock and trade is that of mayhem and death. Earth is now their battlefield as well as their playground. In the meantime the other gods and goddesses have gathered to prevent that, and sides are being taken as the leaders gear up for yet another war—this time for the souls of those left behind. As always, frail humanity, already teetering on the edge of extinction, is caught in the middle. Of the ascended, nobody seems to care if the remainder of what was once Earth's most uniquely intelligent and prolific species pays the ultimate price in another senseless conflict over who gets to rule these now vacated stomping grounds of the most popular god. There is sport to be had and old scores to settle.

Yet one optimistic demigod from the ever meddling Orion clan isn't quite ready to give up on humanity. So he decides to go down and take a look around. He is greatly disturbed by not only how thoroughly the humans destroyed their once beautiful world, but also what he can already see will be happening next. In his travels across the planet he stumbles across the first elementally gifted being that has been engendered in eons. If he can find three more before it's too late, there will be four to face the Horsemen, and with his help five to stand  together and fight, each with his or her own unique ability. Only then will there be a tipping in the balance of powers to thwart the Horsemen, and enough incentive to unite the returning godlings. But it will take a lot of work to reach out, convince, and train each of these four talented individuals how best to use their special gifts for the greater good. Along the way, they must inspire the battered and weary remnants of humanity to stand up once more and fight for their world, which will bring forward other unique individuals who will join in to save Earth from becoming a dead rock in space and humanity from being completely wiped out.

Yeah, nothing simple about these books. So for now, let's just talk about the two stories in Book 1.

TO KINDLE A FIRE introduces our cosmic traveler and humanity's cheerleader, Jordyn Orion. He's currently the last of his line, and having grown bored with immortality, decides that saving Earth would be an interesting diversion. In this story Jordyn finds Aleta Kalama, a young woman who willingly sacrificed herself to a local fire demon to ensure his ongoing protection for her people. Aleta is slowly and painfully ressurected and reanimated many leagues distant, and now she has the ability to project and manipulate fire—if she can get over her terror of the burning and learn to use it. She travels with Jordyn and along the way, finds herself sorely tested in both learning to accept and use her newfound gift while dealing with the memory of her past trauma in acquiring it. But it is a skill that could turn the tide when they stumble over a rebuilt settlement with an ugly secret. On the outskirts lurks an old adversary who has raised a legion of the damned to not only take over the area they are currently residing in, but to subjugate humanity altogether into thralls that will become a source of breeding material for more monsters and sustenance to keep them all alive.

WHERE FAIR WINDS DO BLOW gets Jordyn and Aleta to the Unified Islands, what is left of the UK, for a trip across the Atlantic to North America. While waiting to board, they meet the second elemental being, the Wind Mage Zephirine Merriwether who is working her way across the ocean as the sail settler on the cargo ship they will all be traveling on. The ship's engine runs on thorium, but they use a parasail to pull it along and save fuel, and being able to read and interpret winds for the best placement makes Zephirine a highly valuable asset. She is from a bit more civilized and well-to-do family in a culture where such talents are frowned upon, so is in denial of her abilities. Along the way though she and Aleta become friends, and in the difficult and dangerous situations they find themselves in while at sea, they soon begin to work together. Zephirine is no warrior, but she has to learn to fight or she will surely die like so many others. In finding her courage to face all the death and destruction around her, she too realizes that she has more control over what she can do than she ever thought possible. And now Jordyn Orion has found two of the four elemental beings he needs, and his hope for humanity is growing.

So why the series name THE SILVER PENTACLE? Two reasons really. First of all, there will be five main characters in the series, the four elementally gifted humans, along with Jordyn Orion. They correspond to the five points of a pentacle, which is simply a crisscross star shape held within a ring. There will be a greater significance to it later, on but for now it is a symbol of hope as each point corresponds to a particular 'gift'. Jordyn as the top point and being a demigod means he represnts spirit; that which inspires and motivates us to work for the greater good. Aleta represents the element of fire, Zephirine the element of air. There will also be a water elemental (introduced in the next book, which has already been written and turned in) and an earth elemental (in the 3rd book which I have started and will go back to working on a little later this year). There will be more books in the series after these first three which introduce the team and set the scenario up, for we still have a lot of ground to cover even after all that.

Also with the pentacle idea, each of our elemental beings will have a patron god or goddess who once the skill is mastered and some commitment is made to using it for saving humanity, will offer a silver pentacle medallion that is specifically designed for the wearer. For instance Aleta's has a golden flame backdrop, Zephirine's has wings (she doesn't fly but can at times float while buoyed on a cushion of air). Jordyn's has not been revealed yet, because I don't want to tip my hand there. There's also sort of a treasure hunt ongoing throughout the books, but it's too soon to talk about anything related to that.

I've done a lot of writing over the years, much of it in the last thirty. Of all the things I've written, this series is probably my oddest and most ambitious undertaking. It's quite a mashup of genres. I sure hope you enjoy reading it even half as much as I have writing it. So exciting for me now is seeing it come to life not just in reading format, but with both a fantastic cover and equally amazing interior illustrations by the very talented Mr. Guy Davis. All told, it is a labor of love, and I'm positively thrilled to have it available to readers who want something just a little out of the norm and more than a bit edgy.

You keep reading them and I'll keep writing them,

~NANCY

New Releases & Ongoing Projects!

The past couple of weeks have been busy for me. Besides the neverending writing, of which I am working on four books at the same time, I've recently had a couple things come out in print. I'll talk about the new releases first, and then we'll get into what I'm currently working on.

On March 30th, WAR FOR MONSTER EARTH was released by Mechanoid Press. It's available in both Kindle and Paperback formats. The cover as you can see is gorgeous, that is by the uber-talented Mr. Jeff Hayes. This is the third and final book in the Monster Earth series. 

I've been fortunate to have a short story in both this one and the the very first book (MONSTER EARTH) but all three of them are well worth picking up (BETRAYAL ON MONSTER EARTH is Book 2). 

If you loved the old kaiju movies and the concept of giant critters being groomed by governments and used as weapons of mass destruction, these are books you don't want to miss. For myself I can say I enjoyed being part of this series, and the stories were awfully fun to write. Kind of sad to have it over with, but it's a great little series that you don't want to miss out on it.

Just recently released on April 5th from Pro Se Productions was the fourth book in the COMPANION DRAGONS TALES series, LAZLO AT HOME. I'll have more details on this one on CDT blog,  but this is the continuing adventures of the little blue dragon familiar Lazlo and his wordsmith witch companion Nancy Bittergreen. Now that he's settled into her magical household, Lazlo is learning all his very important responsibilities and he has to make some difficult choices and decisions. Not everything goes smoothly for the little guy, but somehow Lazlo always manages to muddle through.

The books in the CDT series are written with children in mind but also with a nod toward the adults in their lives who might wind up reading to them. In that respect they are appropriate for all ages, and can be handed around the family. We try to keep them accessible but witty, adventurous with child suitable scary sections. I had a lot of fun writing this one which is a collection of four short stories featuring Lazlo figuring out what exactly to do in each dilemma. They're not preachy with morals, but I think any kid will understand that sometimes when you get into trouble you need to stop and think how best to get out of it because some situations can be bad for more than just yourself. Sometimes the solution might require some personal sacrifice. These stories are first and foremost entertaining but also written with some heart and thoughfulness behind them.

And by the way, the first three CDT books, A FAMILIAR NAME (Kindle or Paperback), FINDING WAXY (Kindle or Paperback), & COPPER'S CHOICE are also still available. 

So those are the latest releases. There will certainly be more to come. Now on to what I have been writing lately...

First of all, I am currently writing four books at the same time. Yes, you read that correctly: 4 books. I've always multitasked when it comes to writing, but this is a new record for me. The most I've worked on before was two books and a short story at the same time. 

I've blogged about this before, but there is a reason I prefer to work this way. Over the months I tend to get more writing done with less downtime. I have the ability to kind of compartmentalize whatever I am working on so that when I approach a writing project, I'm thinking solely about what that particular book or story needs. Plus I tend to reread previously written passages, at least from the last session or two. That allows me to get back into the groove again with the tale I'm facing on any particular day. It also keeps me from getting stale on a project, which leads to that dreaded 'writer's block' you hear so much about. Of course this is not for everyone, because there is a lot of self-dicipline involved in getting back to work on something that has languished untouched for a while. Some people do better working a project from one end to the other. That's great! This is just my way of juggling multiple manuscripts.

So just exactly what am I working on? I'm glad you asked! 

First on my list this year was getting out the 8th Jezebel Johnston pirate novel, which has now been subtitled REVELATION. This one will be the end of a second quartet of books, all of which took place in or around the early East Indies trade area. No worries if you are a fan, this is NOT the end of the series, I've got more books planned. I don't want to spoil this one for readers, but I will let you know that Jez will be heading home to the Caribbean in this one, and she is somewhat better off than when she left her home waters behind. But nothing is easy in the pirating life, and sometimes you gain something important only to lose it again. Right now I am nearing the halfway point on this novel, so in spite of having 3 other books in the works, I'm getting writing done. I spend at least a couple of weekday afternoons working on this, though I have on occasion worked on it during a weekend when not much is going on at home or elsewhere. Most of these exhaustively researched historical fiction tales have taken about nine months to write, and since I only started this one back in January, that's not too shabby. As I tell people it's helpful that I love what I do and that I have no social life. 😆

Also occupying my weekdays is the Sinbad story I started back in late 2019 and have been picking away at ever since. This one turned out to be a novel, though I think I was the only one surprised that it did. That I tend to write 'big' is a well-known fact. The concept was large as well though; I'm continuing the story arc I started in the Airship 27 Sinbad adventures which allows the intrepid cast and crew of the Blue Nymph to do some time traveling. In this tale, they land in Bronze Age Crete, in the time of King Minos the 1st and his dreaded labyrinth-confined Minotaur. I worked in as much of the mythical tale as well as the archaeological backdrop as possible, and yes, bold Theseus will be making an appearance. I'm deep within the climatic battle of this one now, and so the end is in sight in more ways than one. 🙌 Some interaction with the big bronze giant guardian of Crete, a construct named Talos, also happens. So it's a real romp and I think people will enjoy seeing those days of legend and conjecture come alive along with the ongoing clandestine adventures and camaraderie amongst Sinbad and his companions. There might even be some treasure involved...

The third book is one I can only speak of in general terms. It's something Lee Houston Jr. and I have been picking away at since late winter. A dear friend and fellow writer passed away last year and left in our hands the half finished rough draft of a manuscript. We'd been asked if we'd kindly read through it and give some input, which we did. When Lee and I were approached by a potential publisher to see if the book could be finished, we gladly accepted the task. Lee went through it first, reformatting and tweaking what he could, and then he turned it over to me to see what I could do. I had previously read it to get a feeling for the flavor of the piece as well as the author voice, so I started again at the beginning and began to fill out the rough spots. It's a genre I have not worked in that often, but writing is writing, so as I went along, the story began unfolding and telling me what it needed to be. The bare bones were already there, so my job has been to paint in those incisive details that will lead to a satisfying conclusion; one that Lee and I agree it needs to have. We've been kibitzing all along on this, and so nobody is out of the loop. The book had a title, but the original author's name will now be part of it so that there is no doubt about whose idea this was. I work on this one at least one day a week, mostly on weekends. It's become my Saturday afternoon book, and I'd guess it's about 3/4 finished in a somewhat updated first draft mode.

Ah and book #4. That one is a true labor of love. I've already written here about the little teddy bear my 6 year old granddaughter gave me, and how that prompted a story idea or three. Tucker T. Bear's story is something I've not worked on as consistently as the other three, but I do get some time in when and where I can. It's mostly been Sundays after blog posts are up, but I have had at times the occasional weekday where for whatever reason I have been tied up with other things and only had a short period to write in. I'll usually turn to this little tale, because there isn't any exhaustive research involved. This is going to be a children's book about a teddy bear come to life, who goes off with the elderly grandmother he lives with and has amazing adventures. That bear began whispering his stories to me as soon as I got him home, and he hasn't stopped since. 

While some folks might find that a bit bonkers on my part, I'm a writer and we can get away with that under the hypothesis that it's part of our overactive imaginations to dream up such things.  I've learned not to ignore the prodding of potential story fodder, so I started writing things down from the beginning. I didn't get a chance to work on it last week, and today is looking iffy as well, but the tale is nearly 4300 words long and going strong. The main cast has been introduced and I know where this first story is taking place and what Tucker has to do. So there you go! What to do with it after I write it can be resolved later on. I look forward to reading it to my two younger grandkids when it's done. They are already drawing pictures of Tucker's adventures.

Right now that is about all I'm working on, but if something else comes up, I'll manage to squeeze it in. As I said, none of these have hard and fast deadlines, so I can always drop something to work on another project that does. This is the beauty of being self-employed but not dependent on it as an income. I get to write what I want, when I want to, and I can be flexible about what I work on most days. I still do get quite a bit of work done. And as I've said repeatedly, it's wonderful to be able to do what you love. I get up every day looking forward to sitting to my desk and getting down to work. Best darn job I ever had, even if it doesn't pay the bills (yet).

You all keep reading and I'll keep writing,

~NANCY