Living the Dream

Last Tuesday in July. I’m sorry to see the days go by so quickly, but it is what it is. This post will be my last one for the summer since I am taking the month of Augus off. I’ll be back in time for Labor Day. This week, the authors of Tuesday Tales are working to the word prompt TROT. I’ll admit that it wasn’t an easy word to fit into the story. I’m continuing with The Bonds of Time, my fantasy.

The sound of the door opening struck momentary terror in her heart. It was too soon for Astrid to have returned. She grinned when she recognized the one who stepped into the room. Meg had dreamed of their reunion, but their secret assignments had kept them far apart. Working undercover for the council wasn’t an easy career. She hadn’t expected to see him until the transformation.

“Gabriel, this is a surprise. How are you here?”

“Lorna sent me. She assigned another to my charge and bid me come here to help.” He smiled down at her from his six-foot frame. “There’s more to you, my sweet than there was the last time we met.”

Her mouth opened and closed like a trout out of water, while her cheeks heated.

“It’s the sweets,” she stammered aware that she didn’t resemble the angel she’d been only a quarter of a century ago. “When I can return to Sanctuary, I’ll be my old svelte self. It’s unlikely I’ll be called upon to do this work again. Now, you’ve told me how you’re here to help, but why? A assumed they would dispatch more fairies.”

He trotted over to her, as sleek and fast as ever, and took her hands.

“You’re pleasing to me in any form, Margaret, although the nickname Meg suits you.” He sobered. “Lorna and the Celestial Council are concerned about what’s happened. Garth has lost the ability to communicate with Rogan. He’s found a way to block himself from them. They don’t know where he is or who is with him, other than the sorcerer Galen, and the fact that the fairies couldn’t sense him may indicate that one of their own is now in league with him.”

She gasped. “By the Maker. I’ve never heard of a fairy turning on another. These are dark times.” She licked her lips. “How will you help me? Samantha may not know about the magic but she will notice a man living with us.”

He chuckled. “But how will she feel about a cat?”

Meg laughed. “I’m sure she’ll be thrilled.”

“Then, I shall see you shortly, until then, now you see me…” He vanished, but she could sense that he was still there. “Now, you don’t.”

The door opened once more and Astrid entered the room. She looked around.

Shaking her head, she smiled. “Clever disguise, Gabriel, but I can sense you.”

He chuckled softly. “I may be looking over your shoulder.”

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Hello! How’s summer treating you? There has been some difficult weather to deal with, that’s certain. I’m off to see the Blue Jays this week. Hope the weather is seasonal. A nice 26 05 27 C would be perfect.

This week, the authors at Tuesday Tales are writing to the word prompt SCARLET. I’m continuing with my fantasy, The Bonds of Time.

Meg pocketed the syringe the nurse had intended for Sam and would dispose of it later. Astrid had arrived in time to prevent the local doctors from carrying out their invasive tests. She’d clouded their minds enough to convince them that it was a simple case of appendectomy. After planting the suggestion that she was allowed to perform surgery in this hospital and that her own OR staff would assist her, the hospital staff rushed to secure an operating room for her. The surgery would take place in an hour. Given her attention to detail, Astrid would conjure up gauze pads drenched in scarlet blood and the remnants of a burst appendix. These would give proof to the lie while the real culprit would be removed and hidden by one of her staff until it could be explored in Sanctuary.

Sam yawned, no longer able to fight off the sleeping potion.

“I’ll just close my eyes for a minute until it’s time to go,” she slurred, and then fell into a deep slumber.

After Astrid finished, the nurses would interpret Sam’s sleep as the aftereffects of the anesthetic—not that she would administer any. It wouldn’t be necessary for cleansing Sam’s body of the toxins Galen had added to her soup. How he’d been able to get so close to them without any of the fairies sensing it was another mystery, one none of them could explain in their current state.

Thanks to Astrid’s preventative medicine, a series of vaccine against all human illnesses and antidotes to known magic toxins, Sam’s body had reacted to the poison faster than he’d expected, expelling a large portion of it quickly, and she’d been whisked out of danger before her body could succumb to the venom. With her heart still beating, Bryanna, Naomi, and Elaine, erecting a magical field around her, he’d been unable to pull her spirit from her body and deliver her to Rogan, no doubt the reason the demon-wizard had destroyed their earthly bodies the way he had. Sam would be fine, but for how long? And if Rogan was prepared to act openly like this, how long before he went after the others charged with protecting her until the transformation?

Meg paced the room. It was rare for one of her age and standing within the Council to be assigned to the field, but caring for the princess was a great honor. She yawned. She might be immortal, but in this form, she was vulnerable and without sleep…

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Sometimes when the Past is unresolved…
Danger follows.
Secrets surface.
Love becomes the only way out.

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A private investigator searches for a missing crown prince whose presumed death may be anything but simple.
A woman hiding under a new name risks her carefully built life when love, loyalty, and a rescue dog bring the past to her door.
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FBI hostage negotiator Kandice Warner is brave, tender-hearted, and tired of being underestimated. When her intimidating new boss arrives in Seattle, Kandice has no idea he is the boy from her past who never forgot her, or that danger inside the agency may soon put her directly in the line of fire.
Susanne Matthews – The Case of the Missing Prince
Crown Prince Stanislav Drulivic vanished after a deadly rockslide in Alberta, but private investigator Evie is not convinced the case ended with recovered bodies. With former Navy SEAL Al Binette watching her back, she follows a royal trail of secrets, danger, and deadly “accidents.”
Susan Jean Ricci – Canine Intervention
Casey Wagner has changed her name, her home, and her life, trusting only her rescue dog, Emma, with the truth of her loneliness. When Emma bonds with the dog belonging to Casey’s captivating new neighbor, Royce Cooper, Casey begins to hope for love, until the past she escaped starts closing in again.
Taylor Lee – No Such Thing as Mercy
At Mercy General Hospital, a suspicious transplant case leads a hard-nosed detective into a deadly conspiracy of power, profit, and silence. As patients die and records disappear, hospital power brokers move to frame the brilliant surgeon who tried to save the wrong life.
Rena Black – The Last Countess of Caerhaven
Four governesses have already fled Caerhaven Keep, but disgraced Sophie Lane has nowhere else to go. Hired to care for a grieving earl’s silent daughter, Sophie discovers that the dead countess may not be the only secret haunting the crumbling house above the Cornish sea.

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Crown Prince Stanislav Drulivic is missing. The thirty-five-year old heir to the Kingdom of Zobora, located in the Carpathian Mountains on the border of Poland and Slovakia, an area rich in mineral deposits, vanished four months ago on a hiking/mountain climbing trip to Alberta. There was a rockslide at his last known locale, and two climbers were killed while many others were injured, including four of his friends traveling with him, but no one has seen hide nor hair of the missing royal since that day.

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While this new case is filled with intrigue and contradictions, it’s a cold one that defies explanation and will take every ounce of the savvy detective’s reasoning and investigative skills to solve.

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Have a wonderful weekend.

Here we are again,still enjoying an overabundance of heat, but it’s better than snow. This week, the Tuesday Tales’ authors are writing to the prompt ANGRY. I’m continuing with The Bonds of Time, my fantasy.

“You’re right, sprite,” Meg answered, reverting to the pet name she’d given her years ago. “The Samantha Simms I know wouldn’t waste her time worrying about scars anyway.” She forced a laugh. “She would far prefer to concern herself with the mysteries of the past and the ruins of civilizations long gone.” Patting her free hand, her touch filled with pain-relieving magic, she continued. “I’ve called them, but cell service is erratic at best. I’ve left a message. At this time of day, they would be at the dig, but I’m sure they’ll call as soon as they can.”

When she’d contacted Garth at Keltoi Manor about Sam’s collapse and the subsequent accident, he’d told her about the guardian assigned to Sam’s human parents. The angel, as the humans called those of their kind, had been tortured, and his earthly body damaged beyond repair. Enoch was a good friend, and she couldn’t blame him for revealing secrets. Even an angel had his limits, and the magical torture used would’ve been excruciating. Once his spirit healed in Sanctuary, he would be given another body and a new assignment, but the torture inflicted on him would leave scars that would never disappear. As angry as she was about the attack, there was nothing she could do for her friend, and she had enough trouble of her own right now. Garth had sent one of the archangels, the fighters among her kind to watch her parents. It would take a master demon to destroy him.

She glanced at her charge, fighting the medication and trying to stay awake, and smiled.

“Now, close your eyes, sweetie, and let what the nurse has given you help you rest. You’ll need your strength before this is over.”

Samantha would be devastated when she learned that Bryanna, Naomi, and Elaine were gone. Since the princess knew nothing about the magic and mystery that surrounded her, Meg wouldn’t even be able to comfort her charge by telling her that they would return in time. The woman shrugged to ease the tight muscles in her neck and watched as the potion slowly took effect, not the drug that the nurse thought she’d given her but a remedy that would help her more than any sedative the humans had.

It had been many years since she’d used her abilities, but desperate times called for desperate actions. It had been a simple matter to use her abilities to exchange the syringe the nurse carried for one that would help. Sadly, she wasn’t one of the ophanim, the healers, like Astrid, and could only do so much.

Don’t forget to check out the other Tuesday Tales.

Well, it’s still hotter than the hobs of hell here, but it beats the miserable cold we endured last winter. Welcome to this week’s Tuesday Tales. Our writing prompt is FEATHER. I’m continuing with my Fantasy, The Bonds of Time .Enjoy.

Margaret McCoy ignored the varied sounds of the hospital around her and glared at the tape on Samantha’s arm, the one that hid the needle piercing her skin to allow the liquid running down the clear tube to feed her body. The woman who appeared to be in her mid-fifties, had black hair, streaked with silver, green eyes that usually sparkled with energy, and a peaches and cream complexion that belied her age. She was short and stout, as were most of her kind when they were forced to manifest for long periods of time, a fondness for sugar and chocolate not helping matters.

She stared down at her charge, her face almost as pale as the sheet covering her. She brushed back a lock of dark auburn hair, her touch as light as a feather and sent more healing energy into Sam’s body. How could this have happened? For twenty-four years, in the guise of an aunt, she’d watched over the changeling princess, protected her and kept her hidden in the bosom of another land’s capital, far from home and what she’d thought were the dangers. She’d lived a solitary existence away from others of her kind, with only the three young fey aware of their true purpose. With the magical world’s future at stake as well as this one, it was a heavy responsibility, but now … She was certain that she hadn’t let down her guard, and yet, Rogan, the Merciless, had found her. How had he managed to attack her as he did? But the attack had failed and in his rage, he’d gone after the other three, the fairies who’d stood beside her all these years. That they were immortal and would return after time spent in Sanctuary wasn’t the issue, it was this place and the very real danger it represented. Astrid claimed to have it all in hand, but surgery…

“Aunt Meg.” Sam’s eyes drifted open. “Don’t feel so badly; it isn’t your fault that this happened. People get sick all the time.” Even in her agony, the young changeling sought to soothe her. “It’s not like I’m dying. The doctor thinks it’s a ruptured appendix, and Doctor Astrid agrees. In a little while, they’ll open me up, take it out, and I’ll be fine. In fact, I’ll be able to go home in a couple of days. The doctor even promised that I wouldn’t have much of a scar.”

Don’t forget to check out the other Tuesday Tales.

To all of my American readers and friends, I hope you have a great weekend. Happy Fourth of July!

Good morning. Happy Canada Day to all Canadians. In my corner of the country, we are under the heat dome now, too, so it’s time to choose between a spot in the shade, lots of water to drink, and the great outdoors or to cuddle up with a good book in a cool dark room, with air conditioning, a fan, or maybe both. However you chose to spend the day, have a great one!

Well, we are officially in the second half of the year. So far this year, I have a lot for which to be grateful. My vision is great, I’m walking without assistance, and I’m working, doing something I love. Every day is an opportunity to learn something new.

July 1 question – Is there anything you’d like to see changed, added, and/or rearranged about the book publishing industry?

Honestly, I don’t know. I know that as an Indie writer, one with limited funds, I’m at the mercy of independent platforms like Draft 2 Digital and Amazon to publish my books and distribute them. I’ve tried the traditional publishers, and things weren’t any better and perhaps even a lot worse, at least not for me.

My problem isn’t necessarily with the publishing industry but with the retailing industry. I’ve tried to get my paperbacks into book stores and it’s almost impossible–the chains have so many restrictions and complicated forms to fill out. As weel, the costs of becoming a supplier as well as a seller can be crippling. But that’s my problem.

I will say that were it not for Amazon, I wouldn’t be writing now. It is my primary publishing platform. Are they perfect? No, without them, I would have nothing.

Enjoy July.

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Welcome to the last post for the month of June. This week, our authors are writing to the word prompt COMPLICATED. I’m continuing with my paranormal fantasy, The Bonds of Time.

“The Maker help us all,” breathed Lorna. “We aren’t ready! We haven’t found the consort. Alone, she won’t be strong enough to withstand your brother’s advances and trickery.” She sighed. “We expected too much of you, my love, relying on you to keep him in check while he was feeding on the evil surrounding him. You warned us not to be foolish and complacent, and yet we thought the less she knew about the path she must walk, the safer she would be. We’d expected a smooth ascension to the throne and now … Why must everything be so complicated?”

“Lorna,” Garth reached out to her and grasped one shoulder with his free hand. “We can’t give up. The Maker chose to hide the prince from us all for his own protection. When the time is right, he’ll reveal him. We can’t lose faith. Return to Sanctuary, inform the Council, while I return to Keltoi Manor, see to Lord William’s needs, and prepare him for her arrival. That sycophant Nathan Vickers, Lady Mary’s nephew, is still there. The man has a black soul. I’m convinced he’s up to something more than trying to get money out of the old man this time, maybe even fancies himself the heir although we both know that’s impossible. I’ll do my best to get rid of him before her arrival. I’ll contact you as soon as I hear from Meg and Astrid.”

He stretched and kissed her cheek. “I’ll be glad when I can shed this disguise and come home to you, my love. While it’s true that no one notices an old groom tending to the horses, this guise does have its limitations.”

“The Maker go with you, Garth. Watch your back; I don’t trust Lady Mary’s nephew. You’re right about the darkness within him. I’ll call the Council together this afternoon. We have no time to waste. Take care, husband. It’ll be good to have you with me once again.”

She looked around, and seeing no one, shimmered, and assumed the form of a sleek black cat.

Garth patted her head. “Aye, but you are lovely no matter in any form.”

He turned toward the road and walked off towards the manor house a few miles away. Once he was out of sight, the cat shimmered again and melted into the stone.

Don’t forget to check out the other Tuesday Tales.