A dragon writes a cryptic message with its ember breath in the evening sky…

Lady Rhiannon watches from the turret wall with an ache in her blood. She’s the only person who can decipher the message as the sole keeper of the Dragon Tome. When an old enemy threatens the castle, her father charges his knight with escorting her to a safe haven—the same knight Rhiannon had a crush on as a girl. But she must now convince him to change his plans, for she has her own sacred charge to fulfill…

So begins a journey to hidden ruins where magic slumbers in the stones and love lies in the heart, waiting to awaken. As Rhiannon and the knight face seemingly insurmountable odds, only the dragon knows if they can fulfill their destiny…

Writing and Marketing the Shorter Forms

I love reading short stories. Perhaps because with two small kids, a household to run, and fundraising duties in my children’s school, I can never seem to finish a novel the way I used to. It drags on for weeks and I lose that exciting momentum that pulls you through a longer, complicated plot. So it seemed natural that when I began writing again, after taking a long break due to my teaching career and motherhood, I would craft in the shorter form. The Dragon’s Message is a novelette, one of three that I have planned in the Dragon Tome world.

According to The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, flash fiction is up to 1,000 words, a short story is 1,000-7,500 words, a novelette is 7,500-15,000 words, and a novella is 15,000-25,000 words.

I think writing in one of these shorter forms is perfect for the writer who is coming to the desk as a second career. After all, I can’t refuse to cook dinner because I have a writing deadline (imagine the family mutiny!), but I can outline a character sketch or even type a paragraph or two if inspiration hits while dinner is in the oven and the kids are watching their after-homework TV shows. It gives me a great sense of accomplishment that I am fulfilling my passion and enriching my mind and soul by finding the time, here and there, to write. Of course, The Dragon’s Message did take me approximately four months to finish. But it was worth it, and I’m in no rush. I’ve gotten better at finding blocks of time to write, and have two more stories finished  (and waiting patiently for their turns), and one in the works.

There is a great market for shorter literature on social media. Many people will scroll through Twitter or Facebook on their commutes, lunch breaks, or waiting for appointments. I’ve found it a blessing to schedule posts and tweets especially during these key times of the day. And many of these readers are like me, looking for a great fantasy story in their little personal spaces of the day to spark their imaginations.

An excerpt from The Dragon’s Message, a Dragon Tome Novelette

When Rhiannon was small and had just learned to read, her mother brought her into the hall one day when her father was on campaign, and led her to the large table upon which a great map of their lands lay. She instructed Rhiannon to read the words of the landmarks: castle, road, mountain, forest, village. The young girl touched words inscribed over a place where trees met craggy peaks. “What does that say, my love?” her mother prompted.

“Here be dragons,” Rhiannon answered, glancing up at her mother.

Her mother nodded, smiling. She knelt down in front of Rhiannon so they were at the same height. The lady’s hazel eyes sparkled as she whispered, “I have a secret to share. But I can only share it with a little girl with red and gold hair,” she pulled playfully on Rhiannon’s braid,” who knows how to read.” Rhiannon giggled. “Are you a little girl such as this?” Rhiannon nodded eagerly, and her mother laughed. She stood up and gestured at a tapestry on the wall. “Come, child, the dragon guards our treasure.”

Hand in hand they walked to the tapestry of the sleeping dragon. “Your great-great grandmother wove this tapestry when she was an old woman. It took her a long time to complete, with her hands gnarled so, like the twisted oak by the drawbridge.” The dragon was curled up in front of a turret, with stone dolmens in a semi-circle behind it, interspersed with trees and a mountain peak in the background and bright blue sky above. The dragon’s scales were crimson and woven through with glittering gold thread, and its curved horns and talons were gold. As they paused in front of the large tapestry, Rhiannon looked closely at the eyes of the dragon; she thought perhaps she could see a slit of gold, as if the dragon were only pretending to be asleep.

Rhiannon’s mother stood on tiptoe and moved part of the tapestry to the side, revealing a slit in the stone wall. With her free hand she reached in and drew out a large leather-bound tome. She motioned her daughter to come sit with her on one of the benches that lined the walls. “Look and listen well, my daughter,” she said, and ran her fingers along the smooth cover, “this book is our special treasure, and it contains many secrets within its pages. I am going to teach you how to read them.” She opened the book as Rhiannon snuggled closer to her, her mother’s loose red-gold hair falling over the girl’s shoulder and brushing the crinkly parchment pages of the book which she turned until she came to the picture of a girl.

“The first secret is a story…”  

Enter this Rafflecopter giveaway for a $10 dollar egift card to Amazon or B

Lori J. Fitzgerald lives in New York with her fellow English Major husband and their two little bookworms. Medieval literature is her passion, and she wishes she could spend more time traipsing around Renaissance Faires and shouting “Huzzah” at jousts. She was a middle school English teacher for many years and was best known for her dramatic readings of The Princess Bride. Lori is currently a Staff Writer for the website Once Upon A Fan, the popular fansite for ABC’s hit show Once Upon A Time. You can contact her by email at WhiteRaven829@gmail.com or on Facebook or Twitter.

Werelord Thal
A Renaissance Werewolf Tale

Thal is wanted for Devil worship and shape shifting but still boldly walks the streets of 16th century Prague. Jesuits hunt him. Mercenaries fear him. Musicians sing his praise, and women are captivated by his alpha swagger.

***

Many think that fantasy stories are all “made up.” Quite contrary to that belief, writing historical stories, as fantasies tend to be, requires a great deal of research. Tracy is here today to share a little of what she learned in researching Werelord Thal.

The Role of the Condottieri Mercenary Captains in the Renaissance

The Renaissance is known for so many lofty things like great art, rediscovery of ancient science, navigation of the oceans, and book printing.

But it was also a time of bitter religious conflicts, gunpowder weaponry, and escalating wars between rising commercial empires. Many men were needed to fight the incessant conflicts, especially since “canon fodder” was a new class of combatants. Armies are terribly expensive for kings to keep handy. So like today, rulers started “outsourcing to private contractors” to save money. Therefore a class of mercenaries became useful when one prince needed to destroy another prince.

In the late Middle Ages, mercenary captains or warlords arose in Italy because the numerous warring states of that sunny peninsula had more money than soldiers. Mercenaries from all over Europe found employ among Italian princes. Their warlord leaders were called condottieri, a word based on the Italian word for contract. They would be contracted to find their own soldiers and fight whoever they were being paid to attack.

Because the condottieri were not natives motivated by love of country, they valued profit and survival more than glory. The increasing employ of condottieri by nobles and kingdoms began to transition the nature of warfare from a so-called “noble” pursuit grounded in chivalrous sentiments to a cutthroat and sneaky one. Blasting apart walls with gunpowder was much better than valiant charges on horseback.

The profit motive of condottieri naturally made them susceptible to changing sides. The highest bidder gets the best warlord with the most soldiers. The condottieri were often quite effective at what they did and amassed fortunes and political power. Men of non-noble birth were even known to succeed in this career and become influential.

As the Renaissance progressed and nation states took shape and grew wealthier, the wars became larger. The demand for mercenary troops increased, and condottieri were crucial to waging campaigns.

In the book Furies: War in Europe, 1450 to 1700 by Lauro Martines, this era of warfare is known for the rise of the entrepreneurial warlord. They would try to keep profits high by finding the cheapest labor they could, often by abducting men or emptying jails to force men into soldiering. Nations did this as well, but often it was performed by the contractors. Cheap soldiers and effective tactics meant for fast fights and more money for the commanders.

In my newest novel Werelord Thal: A Renaissance Werewolf Tale I developed a condottiere character. (Condottiere is the singular form of condottieri.) Condottiere Valentino Sangoro of Milan is hanging about Prague in the story because so much conflict is simmering below the surface. The book is set in 1561 when the Roman Catholic Church and the Holy Roman Empire were gearing up to halt the spread of Protestantism. The character of Valentino was my vehicle for illustrating the contentious atmosphere and the dirty business of Renaissance warfare.

In this little exchange between Valentino and the hero Thal, I display the greedy faithlessness that I imagined for a typical condottiere.

Once they were alone, Thal asked, “Who are these associates Carmelita wanted me to meet?”

Valentino lifted his beer. “Her in-laws are Protestant agitators. She’s involved with a group of nobles plotting to drive out the Church,” he said and took a drink. He wiped his mustache and shook his head at their folly. But it did not matter. A lot of money was going to be on the table sooner or later, and the highest bidder would have the best cause in Valentino’s view.

***

 Interested? Here’s more:

Born of a witch and a sorcerer, he is summoned when his desperate mother casts the werewolf spell before facing torture and execution. Burdened with her magical call for vengeance Thal seeks the men that killed her. His hunt is complicated when the Magistrate’s stepdaughter Altea Kardas crosses his path. Horrified that her community is burning women to death, she can confide her doubt and fear only to Thal.

Click here for a four chapter preview of Werelord Thal.

Here’s how to get it:

Ebook Discount
$3.99 (kindle, epub, or pdf) Available worldwide from Brave Luck Books
Save 25% – enter discount code WLT25 at checkout here (expires 3/31)

Want it Paperback?
$12.99 (6×9 trade paperback 356 pages)
Save 20% – enter discount code CU9KJ3E3 at checkout here

Also available at other retailers (Coupons only work at links specified above.)
Amazon Kindle
Nook
Smashwords
iTunes
Kobo
All Romance

***

I consider writing a necessary activity that I enjoy. I have the most fun writing in the fantasy genre. I find inspiration in history and like to contemplate warfare before gunpowder and life without modern technology. Placing characters in an elder fantasy world fascinates me and allows me to explore age-old notions of bravery when combat was often done face-to-face. Magic is another story element that adds to the pleasure of writing in this genre.

Marsha A. Moore joins us today to wander around the words. Congratulations are in order. Marsha has just completed the final book, Quintessence, in a five book epic fantasy series, the Enchanted Bookstore Legend. She is back again after posting here in November of 2o12 after completing the third book in her series. And now she’s going to tell us a little about how it feels to finish a five book series. So let’s welcome Marsha by seeing what she has to say and leaving some comments.

***

Barbaric Dark Realm warfare threatens to overtake all Dragonspeir lands, including the Alliance. Lyra McCauley, the fifth Scribe of the Alliance, finds herself in a desperate competition to gather four missing keystones. Those amulets of the four natural elements guarantee victory for the side possessing them. The Dark Realm’s alchemist, Eburscon, beats her to finding the water gem, the Pearl of Pendola. Three more keystones remain: the fluorite containing earth energy, the moonstone of the sky, and the fiery, dangerous Emtori Ruby.

The powerful gems, stolen centuries ago, channel astral energies and can restore much-needed Alliance power—the last hope. The wizard, Cullen, who is Lyra’s beloved, relies on Alliance magic for his immortality and will perish if the land falls to the Dark Realm.

Lyra must use her rare magical energies of quintessence to guide her to the hidden keystones before her opponents, who plan to destroy the Alliance, or to claim the power of quintessence for themselves.

In the above description of the final Enchanted Bookstore Legend my heroine, Lyra, is desperate to master the ultimate power of quintessence. You might wonder—what is Quintessence, and how will it help Lyra?

It’s an alchemical term, referring to the fifth essence or element, ether, the constituent matter of the heavenly bodies. The other four natural elements are air, fire, earth, and water. This fifth element is superior to the others. It is the divine spark hidden in all things, the reflection of the Celestial Fire. Quintessence is formed by the perfect balance of the four natural elements. The harmony of the fifth power is an exalted state.

In the world of Dragonspeir, quintessence is the greatest power that any magical being can possess. As the fifth Scribe, Lyra is capable of earning this power. But she has had to work hard, enduring many hardships and risking her life. Over the course of a series of five books, she’s completed numerous dangerous quests. She’s also made many treasured friends along the way. On all of those adventures, I’ve enjoyed guiding her and her beloved wizard, Cullen, along with his animal assistants, Kenzo the tiger owl and Noba the pseudodragon. Those four rest very close to my heart.

I’ve invested over three years writing this epic tale. During the last year, I’d been eager to realize the culmination of the twisted, interwoven storylines. However, while writing the final book, Quintessence, when I approached the last five or six chapters, I hesitated and had to force myself to go on. That’s not my normal rhythm, usually ending a novel like it’s burning my fingers. And I well knew what the plot required. I just didn’t want to part with my characters and that incredible fantasy land.

With the series now complete, I feel proud of my work. Looking back, it seems a huge accomplishment. But it was an effort of love, without hardship, so completing the path feels like only a small milestone. What I’m more proud of are my characters—the strength, compassion, loyalty, and love they shared. I feel like a happy parent seeing children leave the nest, sad for my characters to leave my daily life, but thrilled they will now share their endearing qualities with new readers.

At times, even though I’m eager to enjoy the storyline while writing a new book, I feel lost as I awkwardly attempt to shape new characters. They seem like strangers I must work to get to know. Frustrated with the slow process, I often ache to write more about Lyra, Cullen, Kenzo, and Noba. Perceptive readers of my legends will be aware that two important child characters, one good and one evil, remain at the end of the fifth legend with futures that could be potentially significant. Some days, I love to daydream about those two children…what paths they might take in the world of Dragonspeir.

Thank you, Cynthia, for inviting me to share my experience with your readers.

***

All five volumes of the Enchanted Bookstore Legend are available on Amazon.

Check out the Tour-Wide Rafflecopter Giveaway Contest:

            1 ebook set of Enchanted Bookstore Legends, a 5-part epic fantasy romance series

            5 ebook copies of Quintessence: Enchanted Bookstore Legend Five

ends January 31, 2014

The Enchanted Bookstore Legends are Epic Fantasy Romance novels about Lyra McCauley, a woman destined to become one of five strong women in her family who possess unique magical abilities and serve as Scribes in Dragonspeir. The Scribes span a long history, dating from 1,200 to present day. Each Scribe is expected to journey through Dragonspeir, both the good and evil factions, then draft a written account. Each book contains magic with vast implications.

Lyra was first introduced to Dragonspeir as a young girl, when she met the high sorcerer, Cullen Drake, through a gift of one of those enchanted books. Using its magic, he escorted her into the parallel world of Dragonspeir. Years later, she lost that volume and forgot the world and Cullen. These legends begin where he finds her again—she is thirty-five, standing in his enchanted bookstore, and Dragonspeir needs her.

When Lyra reopens that enchanted book, she confronts a series of quests where she is expected to save the good Alliance from destruction by the evil Black Dragon. While learning about her role, Lyra and Cullen fall in love. He is 220 years old and kept alive by Dragonspeir magic. Cullen will die if Dragonspeir is taken over by the evil faction.

 Marsha A. Moore is an author of fantasy romance. Much of her life feeds the creative flow she uses to weave highly imaginative tales.

The magic of art and nature often spark life into her writing, as well as watercolor painting and drawing. After a move from Toledo to Tampa in 2008, she’s happily transformed into a Floridian, in love with the outdoors. Marsha is crazy about cycling. She lives with her husband on a large saltwater lagoon, where taking her kayak out for an hour or more is a real treat. She never has enough days spent at the beach, usually scribbling away at stories with toes wiggling in the sand. Every day at the beach is magical! She’s been a yoga enthusiast for over a decade and recently completed a year-long Kripalu-affiliated yoga teacher training program. The spiritual quest of her yoga studies helps her explore the mystical side of fantasy.

Social Media Links:

Website
Facebook
Twitter
Google +