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An oldie but goodie.
Thanks to Bluebird for this recipe.
1. Put the butter and sugar in a large bowl.
2. Check the whiskey to make sure that it is of the highest quality. Pour 1 level cup and drink. Repeat.
Of course, if you would like an authentic fruit cake recipe,, you can always check out Viv’s Family Recipes. There’s a good one from my Mum.
Or if you have a family member or friend who likes to cook, this little book would make a good Christmas present. Click on the cover in the sidebar to go to Amazon where you are.
As his dream of peace becomes a reality, Clyde faces his darkest challenge.
With the Dawn Fangs’ existence exposed, the time for negotiations has begun. Mortal rulers and the council of Nytefall gather to discuss terms, but chaos is already stirring. It does not take long for Clyde’s dream to become a nightmare as villages are slaughtered by a Dawn Fang who is rumored to be the newly crowned Vampire King. Bodies of friends and enemies pile up as this mysterious imposter reveals why mortals should fear Clyde. Will Clyde’s final adventure see his dream of peace fail before it is realized?
*****
The Truth?
Coming to the windmill, Magrus coats his body in a protective shell and carefully climbs to the top of the broken structure. Slowly turning in a circle, he scans the area to get a full sense of the remaining magic. He ignores the auras of the guards, who are sifting through the wreckage to find more bodies. Those who have been located have already been moved to the outskirts where they are being prepared for transport. Peering down the narrow road, he can see an oxen-driven cart is getting closer and sighs at how it will not be enough to collect all of the dead. Magrus considers warning the lieutenant, but he fears it will lead to a long conversation and waste more of his precious time. He turns to where the man is helping to prop up a wall, which has crushed a family of four. Shaking his head, the Zarian climbs down from his perch and uses his staff to help him navigate his way out of town. Nothing catches his interest, but he stops momentarily to send a few more lost souls to the afterlife.
“Let us see what really happened,” Magrus whispers as he reaches the woods.
Turning back to the village, the man plunges his staff into the earth and grips it tightly to prevent himself from falling over. His eyes develop a rainbow shimmer over the gold as he wavers on his feet. Fighting through the looming fatigue, the priest lets his magical vision change from what is in front of him to revealing phantoms of the past. Transparent buildings rise back into place and ghostly figures go about their lives even though he can still sense a little of what is truly there. Magrus scowls at the sight of a black-haired figure landing a few feet away, the puff of dirt revealing an illusion covering the small crater. Within seconds of appearing, the man rushes at the town and begins destroying everything in sight. Using only his fists and feet, he breaks houses and shatters people. The attacker’s speed is almost too much for the Zarian to follow, so he focuses on examining the phantasmal carnage for clues. He spots bite marks on several necks and sees the chickens were devoured in the blink of an eye. Torches and candles are knocked over to start the fires, which explode into an inferno connected to the illusionary plume of smoke. Magrus is not sure what caused the sudden blast since the attacker had been tearing the local blacksmith in half at the time. Deciding he has seen enough, the man freezes the vision before falling to his knees from the exertion. He is able to hold the image for another second before it disappears, but it still gives him a clear view of the rampaging figure.
“This cannot be shared,” Magrus says as he takes out a piece of paper. He mutters a spell to transfer the image of a black-haired man with a corn-shaped necklace from his brain to the parchment. “It would appear that Clyde of Nytefall is not as big a fan of peace as one would believe. Yet, I still see mysteries here. The fires grew without his influence and I see no reason why he would want this place discovered. I have many questions, Lady Zaria, so I cannot purify the Vampire King until I have answers. There has never been a man or monster who has escaped my thorough investigations. This one will be no different. I swear on my goddess’s crimson hair that Clyde and the Dawn Fangs will be judged. Then, if necessary, they will be punished.”
*****
Cover Art by Jason Pedersen
Charles Yallowitz was born and raised on Long Island, NY, but he has spent most of his life wandering his own imagination in a blissful haze. Occasionally, he would return from this world for the necessities such as food, showers, and Saturday morning cartoons. One day he returned from his imagination and decided he would share his stories with the world. After spending many years fiddling with his thoughts and notebooks, he decided that it was time to follow his dream of being a fantasy author. So, locked within the house with only pizza and seltzer to sustain him, Charles brings you tales from the world of Windemere. He looks forward to sharing all of his stories with you and drawing you into a world of magic.
Blog: www.legendsofwindemere.com
Twitter: @cyallowitz
Facebook: Charles Yallowitz
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cyallowitz/
This is a hilarious video. thanks to Sally Cronin.
Just follow the link to listen.
This post from Nicholas Rossis discusses why adverbs are supposedly bad.
My personal bugbear is not adverbs, though, but prepositions. I think they are overused more than are adverbs.
(To read my post about them, click HERE.)
We all know how adverbs are supposedly an author’s archnemesis. They are to be avoided like, well, passive voice. We’re to go through our manuscripts, find each and every one of them, and kill them while crying out, “die, rebel scum!”
Hemingway has a lot to do with this, but so does Stephen King, with his famous quote: “I believe the road to hell is paved with adverbs.”
There’s only one problem with all this: readers don’t seem to mind adverbs at all. While we’re busy laughing at any author still using adverbs, enjoying the welcome feeling of smug superiority, readers are busy buying their books. Don’t believe me? Derek Haines shared his surprising findings on Just Publishing Advice. He took the time to check out the bestselling titles on Amazon and had a quick preview read of some of the top 100 books.
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This is an amazing offer for a fantastic series. I would recommend you get it while it’s free!
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I am excited to announce that The Never-Dying Man has now been released as an audio book. This means that both Book 1 of The Wolves of Vimar (The Wolf Pack) and Book 2, (The Never-Dying Man) are both available as audio books.
Book 3 (Wolf Moon) is not yet scheduled for release as an audio book, but I hope it won’t be too long.
I am currently doing NaNoWriMo and working on Book 4, Immortal’s Death. I hope to have it ready for the publisher by the beginning of 2022.
For those of you who are not writers, NaNoWriMo stands for National Novel Writing Month. It was begun by a couple of writers in the US who challenged each other to write a novel (50,000 words) during the 30 days of November.
The idea took off, and now it is an international event, with many authors trying beat this challenge.
Currently I am well behind where I should be. Things keep cropping up and derailing me. I doubt if I’ll finish the 50,000 words. (This is the lowest number of words deemed to make a novel.)
With regard to the audio book, I have some codes for free copies. If you would like one. PM me: vivienne.sang@gmail.com telling me if you are in the US or the UK as the codes are different.
The Wolves of Vimar books are available as ebooks, but also in a variety of other formats, including paperback, hardback and large print.
If you wish to buy, you can click on the book cover in the sidebar or the titles in this post, to take you to Amazon where you are, and then pick the format you wish.
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I’m a bit late posting this, I know, but Halloween hasn’t gone yet. In fact it’s tonight the ‘ghoulies and ghosties and long legged beasties’ (to quote Robbie Burns) are active.
I thought I’d post one of my Halloween poems, so here it is.
Don’t go near the graveyard, darling.
Samhain is tonight.
Don’t go near the graveyard, darling.
The dead will walk this night.
Keep your candle burning, darling.
Keep it glowing bright.
Keep your candle burning darling.
Be sure it gives you light.
The bonfires have been lit, darling.
To fill the dark with light.
The bonfires have been lit, darling.
Their flames reach such a height.
Put your home fire out, darling.
Be sure to do it right.
Put your home fire out, darling.
From bonfires we’ll re-light.
Put food by the door, darling.
Leave it in plain sight.
Put food by the door, darling,
For our dead to have a bite.
Do not be afraid, darling.
They see that we’re alright.
Do not be afraid, darling.
No harm from them tonight.
But evil spirits come, darling.
We must put them to flight.
But evil spirits come, darling.
Them we must try to fight.
Go and watch the bonfires, darling.
Stand in their bright light.
Go and watch the bonfires, darling
To keep us safe this night.
I wrote this after doing research for Vengeance of a Slave. The Celtic people believed the veil between the worlds of the living and the dead were thin on this particular night, and the dead, and other spirits could pass through.
Many of these spirits were friendly: our loved ones, gone before. The people set a place at the table for their dead relatives.
But the thin veil also allowed evil spirits to pass, and they needed to be guarded against. They shunned the light, and so that is why the people built bonfires. There may have been sacrifices at this time, to appease the gods, too.
People put out their fires and took a brand from the bonfire to re-light them for a prosperous year.
This has passed from then to today. We, in Britain, have bonfires on November 5th (which may have been the actual date of Samhain. It is thought it was celebrated midway between the autumn equinox and the winter solstice.)
Our modern use of lit pumpkins comes from the candles people put in their windows to frighten away the evil spirits, who hated the light.
I hope you enjoyed my poem. Please leave a comment in the box.
I am doing Nanowrimo this year. I didn’t do it last year, but thought I’d have another go this time.
For those of you who aren’t writers, Nanowrimo (National Novel Writing Month), is held every November. It is now an international thing, and many writers take part from all over the world. The challenge is to write 50,000 words in the 30 days of November. (50,000 words is the lowest number of words for a novel.)
As a result of my entry, I will be taking a break from my weekly blog in order to attempt to meet the challenge. This doesn’t mean there won’t be any posts. I might well reblog someone else’s, and also I’ll probably pop in to give you a breakdown of my progress–or lack of it!
If you would like to join my quarterly newsletter, and get an exclusive free story by me, click the button below.
This is a story of a mysterious haunting, but it doesn’t appear to be by a ghost.
Geoff has excelled himself this time with a topical tale. (Or is it topical, being so far in the past.)
‘Where’s dad?’
‘Watching the clouds.’
‘It’s verging on paranoia, you know.’
‘I know that but try telling him. The Big Guy says this, the Big Guy says that. You know what he’s like when he’s had one of those apocalyptical tablets. Sits by the letter box waiting for the post to update him.’
‘Has he said what the Big Guy was danging on about this time?’
‘Nope, only it’s about the weather and we’ll need a bigger boat. Oh and Ham’s been sent to talk to the chap who runs the circus to see if he can source two lions, two tigers and a couple of mandolins.’
Dragons Rule OK. V.M.Sang (author) 