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Dad always said …

13 Jun

The House in the Old Wood coverDid your dad have favorite sayings? Things you heard all the time?

Or were there things that he may have said only once, that you really remembered because they were so pithy, or meant so much to you?

Karia – whose story is told in the series, The Day Magic Died – seems to remember one sentence that her dad said more than any other. It’s because she needs to keep reminding herself of it.

You see, Visili is a deceiver. He’s not just a liar. He’s a conniver. A self-serving illusionist and manipulator. And he’s really good at it. So that’s why she keeps reminding herself of the words of her dad:

“This kind always lies.”

It’s not the most profound thing Reva ever said to her. That distinction probably goes to his response when she declared that it wasn’t right that she had to work in the mud while the boys got to go to town:

“Right and wrong have nothing to do with what you want or what you feel, Tsil.”

Sometimes dads say things that remind of what we should have done, like when Karia remembers her dad saying,

“You and me, Karia, we do things the right way.”

And at other times, dads say things that make us stop and think. That’s what happened when Reva said,

“Karia, I figure if other people can forgive all the mistakes I’ve made, I can forgive one or two by them.”

These are the things that guide Karia as she takes on a huge challenge. I hope you’ll come along with us and enjoy the journey.

The House in the Old Wood is available in paperback and for Kindle from Amazon.

Your dad is not stupid

11 Jun
My mom and dad

My mom and dad in New York in 1946, after their return from India

I seriously doubt that your dad is or was stupid. My dad sure wasn’t. And three out of my four children don’t think I’m stupid. (Now they’re all thinking, “Which one of us thinks he’s stupid?” What fun!)

So with Father’s Day approaching, that got me wondering: Why are insipid, or absent, or malevolent dads a staple of young adult literature?

Look, I’m not claiming to be a perfect dad. My dad wasn’t perfect either. But stupid? No. Not clueless, either. Or missing. And certainly not evil. (Unless you consider it evil to make your kids wonder which of them thinks you’re stupid.)

I’d say the same thing about most of the dads I know.

So instead of embracing the cliché – instead of taking the easy way out – I tried to write a story in which the main character’s dad is more true-to-life. I wanted to model a healthy relationship as I wrote about Karia and her dad, Reva, in The House in the Old Wood. And I think I did it without coming across as preachy or moralizing.

This Father’s Day, if you’re looking for a book that has a little respect for dads, please take a look at The House in the Old Wood. I thank you, and I think your dad will thank you too.

The House in the Old Wood, the first of five books that tell the story of The Day Magic Died, is available from Amazon.

Books now available locally

19 May
Bookmark It sponsored the book fair I was at Sunday, and now carries my books.

Bookmark It sponsored the book fair I was at Sunday, and now carries my books.

You can now purchase my books in Orlando at Bookmark It in the East End Market.

That’s all four books that have been released in the series, The Day Magic Died:

  • The House in the Old Wood
  • Karia’s Path
  • The Hall of the Prophetess
  • The Dwarf’s Legacy

As well as the first Nascent Payne mystery, The sort-of Murder of Fiona Galloway.

They are, of course, also available on Amazon. And that’s the only place to get the Kindle version. But if you want a paperback and you live in the Orlando area, you now have an option besides buying directly from me.

I encourage you to visit Bookmark It; it’s a great locally oriented shop, where you can find books from a number of Orlando-area authors.

Looking forward …

14 May

TWSH-coverI am back from my time in the woods and on vacation, and made great progress on Book 5, The White-Silver House.

I’ve mentioned before that I drafted all five books in the series The Day Magic Died before I released the first one, The House in the Old Wood. (Actually, I drafted six books. But the fifth book seemed to wander around and make no progress, so I cut out the last 80 chapters and merged Books 5 and 6.)

All of the drafts needed a lot of work before they were ready to publish, and Book 4, The Dwarf’s Legacy, required an extensive rewrite. Book 5, I thought, was very close.

I was correct, but …

The draft of Book 5 opened well after the events of Book 4. It seemed, as I read it, to leave too many questions unanswered. Then the setting for the first part of the book didn’t seem to work very well. So I have begun revising the book so it begins almost immediately at the ending of Book 4, and moves to a different setting … one that involves The Black. (No more about that yet … you’ll have to wait until the book comes out to find out more.)

And in addition to the cover posted above, I’ve also updated my description of the book on my Books page:

Reaching the halfway point in her quest is not exactly satisfying to Karia. It’s not simply a matter of convincing the rest of the First Ones to go along with her plan – as if any part of that is going to be simple. It’s also a question of how final the ending is for Karia personally. Must she die? Is there any other way to remove magic from the world? Or perhaps to remove its malignancy?

Perhaps the answer lies in the strange properties of white silver.

I’m still working toward releasing the fifth and final book this summer.

Book 4 NOT coming May 12 …

2 May

Wow. I am so sorry to have to tell you this. But here it is:

Book 4, The Dwarf’s Legacy, will not be coming out May 12.

That’s because it’s out … NOW!  It’s available for Kindle, and in paperback.

So get your copy, tell your friends, cajole your family, and buy a copy for your enemies because there are few things worse than having just the fourth book in a series!

Get The Dwarf’s Legacy (The Day Magic Died, Book 4)