Finished... Well, almost.

Six years. Apparently, that is the time it takes for a person such as myself to finish a book. It started with a little idiom: curiosity killed the cat. What if the cat were a mortal sixteen year old girl, Katrina, who got mixed up with the wrong crowd of vampires and was turned into one? From that idea, Katrina transformed into a vampire hunter with a rocky past and Lady Eleanor was born.


I know what your thinking. What makes this story so much different from the thousands of female prophecy stories. I most definitely did not rip off Buffy! The difference is the vampire involvement and the mythology behind it all.

Ahhh, did the mythology pique your interest? We do live in a literary period developed by Stan Lee. Here is the disclaimer on the mythology. It does not open with a glimpse of Odin or Thor, but the mythology is there. There are subtle references and underlying hints throughout though it builds throughout the next two books in the Lost and Found Series. I have spend many of the last six years studying the Poetic Edda. I have read the Prose Edda and the Saga of the Volsungs multiple times. I have downloaded different translations and even worked to translate a few lines myself. All of this in an effort to stay as true to the original meanings as possible with the help of Maria Kvilhaug, better known as The Lady of the Labrynth. No where in my story lines will you find Freya refereed to as the goddess of love because that is a modern notion!

As my curiosity about the mythology grew, so did my hunt for true historical events and people to take on the major roles of the upcoming wars. You will find that Felipe Castillo came from a true battle on the Iberian Penninsula. Francesca is the fictional daughter of a true king. John Cole Knight of Agincourt truly existed as well. And Joseph's wife- Well, you'll have to read to find out!


The battle scenes. I will admit, they are my weakness. The action and the bloodlust dances around in my brain. When it comes time to pull those scenes from my head and draw them in yours, it all runs flat. There is no glory or gore for that matter. I rewrote the ending of Taken a dozen times at least! I resorted to googling the best battle scenes in literature and was surprised by the results. In the end, I just read a lot of George RR Martin's battle scenes and drew diagrams and made charts. Honestly, I resorted to methods I would have used while working on my English degree. The end result was well worth the trouble! Enough to get the point across yet not enough to turn readers away!

Updated ebook versions have been synced to Amazon, Smashwords and Barnes and Noble. A permafree version is available through MineEye as well. I encourage anyone who has downloaded a copy from Amazon over the last five years to stop into MineEye for the new edition as Amazon will not allow you to repurchase. For that, I am truly sorry and I am working on a way around the system!

If you are interested in a physical copy, I am still working on that. Once the proof arrives and is approved, it will be available through CreateSpace or Amazon. I will also order and offer signed copies for $20, though they will be minimal.

Happy Reading!!! I am off to work on the sequel. Hopefully, it's not six years in the making!

I'm a horrible blogger; I am aware of that. My blog does not fit the two main requirements for hosting a successful blog.

1. Posts are sporadic. A post here and there. Maybe five a week. Maybe one in six months. The excitement is in the surprise!
2. Posts are beyond random. My blog is like a box of chocolates. You never know what your ganna get!

Now, I'm sure if I dug deep down I could find some Gilmore Girl reference here. Don't tempt me. Instead, I went with a Supernatural gif of Dean, as Jared Padalecki will always be known to me.

Today, in an effort to follow some sort of writing/promotion theme, I'm going to tell you a little story. Ready? Here we go.

Once upon a time, there was this mom. Now, she wasn't just the every day run of the mill mom. She overflowed with quirkiness into every aspect of her very full life. This mom - we'll call her Tammy for the sake of this story - also had a vivid imagination. Tammy didn't see a run down gas station. She saw a man flicking a cigarette into an abandoned building and it exploding in a ball of flames. A kid walking to the bus stop was never just a kid. He became the next big hero in a world ridden with villains. She could spin a story from anything and often did.

One day, Tammy was sitting in a Women's Lit/Gender Studies class. While she should have been listening to some boring lecture about Emily Dickinson, her muse whispered in her ear. "Have you considered exactly how curiosity killed the cat?"

I'm sorry,reader. Did you have a question?

No, this is not my story. This is Tammy's story. Any similarities to real people or events are merely coincidental. May I continue?

Thank you.

So, Tammy started thinking about that cat. Being engrossed in both the vampire trope and Harry Potter, she wondered, What if, Draco Malfoy were a vampire and Katrina was just an innocent girl. From there, spun the most ridiculous story of a teenage girl being abducted in a library and waking up a vampire.


I've read it. It was ridiculous. Full of silly puns and idioms out the wazoo. Maybe one day I will dig it up. Or ask Tammy to do so, that is.

Seriously, another question? What is it?

Have you read Taken? That's ridiculous. The Draco I fashioned is in no way related to Tammy's ridiculous character. My Draco is a sexy 6'2" African American man who protects people. He would never, and I mean never, consider abducting a teenage girl for shits and giggles! That's preposterous!

I need a moment. You've gotten me all worked up. Watch this video while I calm down.



I feel better. Shall I continue?

Wonderful.

Tammy didn't stop there. She wrote many stories over the next few months. Many of which were so awful they came to nothing.

I know, I know. You are wondering what the point of this awful story could possibly be and if I am ever going to get to it. Well, here it is.

I took something away from Tammy's courage and eagerness. I decided it was time to funnel my quirks into something written and thus I began blogging. It is my hope that you will become so enamored with my random and often sarcastic wit that you will keep coming back for more ridiculousness.

 

I feel that this post has come to an abrupt end, but seeing as how you have just taken up close to 45 minutes of my precious and rare writing time, I feel I must go. If you have any questions about Tammy, Draco or my anything else minutely referenced today, feel free to comment below. I will be sure to get back to you.

If you've read Taken, you most likely threw the book at the wall when you finished. Or, you flipped through the few blank pages in the back searching for more. Or, as many did, sent me messages with horrible names in them. Don't worry, I hold no grudges.

Yes, it's a cliff hanger. And yes, I did it on purpose. I know how frustrating it is now, but just think how much better the reveal will be when L&F2 finally surfaces. Don't fret. It's a work in progress. It took me four years to write Taken. We are turning the corner into year two for it's sequel. Give it a few more... 

That's not the point here. I wanted to show you what I made today. It's not words on a page, though it will help me further understand this world I've created and bring you more words on a page. Maybe it will even help me to write those words faster? (did you see me shrug? I shrugged.)

Drum roll please... What you already scrolled down and looked! Cheater!

Please don't be too upset at the quality here. I took the picture with my iPad. Plus it's quantity, not quality. Oh nevermind.

 So, this is Jarth. I had a big long explanation as to where the name Jarth came from but I will be concise. The Norse word for earth, ground or soil is jǫrð. I've seen it transferred to Latin letters as both jar and jord. In the end, I mashed all my findings together and named it Jarth. In Torian, that means earthen house. There we have the name for the Cole Legacy home.

I am well aware of how badly you want to know where it's located, who lives in it, why it's there, how old it is. I get that so... I guess I will get to putting words on my page.

Don't forget to enter your shelfie for a signed copy of Taken. Enter Here!


*Torian- the official language of Tori!