Banana nut bread survives!

New Novels in the works!

Hi. I'm back, with a massive two days worth of blogging. For those who were concerned about my remarks in yesterdays blog, the banana nut bread is deliciousness incarnate. I knew you were worried.
My wife had a recipe from a friend of hers so I tried it this time instead of my mothers and it is very good. Of course, my mom learned from her mom and so on. I'm not sure where this one originated. OK, enough about the kitchen.

I'm working on three books at this time. I mentioned that NaNoWriMo was in full swing and one is being created at a feverish pace within those hallowed . . walls? Web space?

I'm going to put an except here, after I finish babbling and possibly over the next few days I will put excerpts from the others, just because I can. All three are continuations of existing stories, book seven and eight in Tales of the Triad and book two in Kingdom of the Sky.
At this point book seven is entitled Elizabeth. Book eight is entitled Aelfgifu.
More about those in the next few weeks, as I continue to develop the characters.

KotS. Shorthand. I can not write it out every time. Well, I could, but I won't.
KotS2 is Conquest. For those who have not read the first, (Aprox. seven billion of you) Kent is a perpetual student, dragging out his trust fund to the bitter end. He is into history (shock right?) a re-enactor, has traveled to the United Kingdom for school, Japan for metal working, a dozen different survival schools and any other form of education to meet the terms of the trust fund.
He and a handful of others are violently shoved through a rift between dimensions to a world not unlike our own medieval period. There is a native population who call themselves the children, who are not happy that humans keep showing up on their world.
Kent and the others make friends and try to survive. He has a few words with the local ruler and is invited to take lands far, far, away, taking as many of the Kings less loved subjects with him.
Not sure how much more to say here without giving away the entire book. I had a few nice reviews on it and one person asked where book two was. Naturally, I started on it immediately.
OK. So I lied.I didn't start on it until NaNoWriMo because it was forming so fast in my skull that I just KNEW I could win again this year with that story.

I'm putting the excerpt next. Enjoy!

Chapter 1 – The Trees

Kent beat his horse with the flat of his blade, urging the beast to give it his all. He was aware of dozens of other riders around him doing the same thing. Mara was next to him, her horse at a full panicking gallop as she slapped her hindquarters with the shaft of an arrow.

The animals were covered in sweat and foam, their mouths flecked with blood as they pounded the earth with their hooves ever faster. Fear was their driving force, the beatings scarcely noticed.

Behind them all, rising from the shattered remains of a city was a wall of flame and heat, molten rock and rock so hot it was now an expanding cloud of incandescent gas. It was moving much faster than an horse could possibly run, gaining on them with incredible speed.

Kent looked to Mara as her horse faltered and died, throwing her to the ground. Only with great difficulty was Kent able to stop his horse long enough to leap from his back and run to Mara. The horse did not wait, continuing his mad, futile sprint, prolonging his life for a few seconds longer.

Kent embraced Mara, wanting to shelter her from this death fast approaching yet knowing it to be unavoidable. He put his body between her and the flames, waiting for the pain to begin. He heard her speak. “I love you.” The heat was upon them. Kent could feel his flesh turn to vapor, his bones a few seconds later, joining Mara's as hot gases.

The wave ground on, killing all in its path, turning everything and everyone into gas as it consumed the life on the planet. The crust cracked as the heat grew, the icy waters of the oceans pouring into the great crevasses leading to the core of the planet. The water flashed to steam on contact and the planet blew up, becoming a new asteroid belt.

The three moons, now orphans in the sky, continued around the angry sun amidst the rubble of the world they had only recently orbited.

~~~~~~~

“MARA!”

Kent jerked upright in the bed, screaming her name.

“I am here husband.”

Kent looked to the voice, expecting to see charred bone. He was surprised to see his wife looking quite well, with a worried look on her face and a damp cloth in her hand.

“I am glad you are awake. We were so worried that the fever might take you from us.”

“We are not dead?”

“No husband, we are not. Your fever is less now, a good sign. It will be gone soon.” She turned and picked up a cup from the table next to the bed. “Drink this.”

“More of Horram's nasty medicine, I suppose.”

“Drink.”

“Yes dear.”

Kent swallowed and gagged. Medicine tasted bad no matter what universe you were in. Another constant in an inconsistent world. She held the cup up to his mouth once again and he had to swallow or drown. It was not an easy choice.

“It was bad. Flame everywhere, a wall of heat so vast it covered the world and turned everything to vapor. The world cracked open and everyone died.”

“Was this a dream of your old world?” Mara asked hesitantly.

“No. It was here, on the other side of the mountains at first. Some city further north and east from Grannen.”

“The Galadorn live in that direction. They have a single large city in a burning cauldron of a valley. It is there they offer sacrifices to the demon they worship.”

“Hills all around with a river in at the north and out at the south, lots of steam and fire from vents in the ground around the place?”

“You have seen this?” Mara asked.

“In the dream.”

“We should speak with Horram. He would know if that is indeed the city of the Goddess.”