Monthly Archives: September 2012
Working through the hard times…Elves and SFFS for 9-22
In The Elf Child, several of the characters struggle to overcome very real personal crises. Jelani and Astan find themselves pregnant without the intention to be so, and find that the Circle has conspired against them. Grigor struggles to survive as an outcast from the clan. Lane and Crispy…well, they just have issues.
But the character who has the longest journey is Daven Talvi. He’s totally lost his direction and must start again:
Jelani and Astan had asked him to put a protective spell on the door, something to keep others out, but he’d refused. The Circle worried that Jelani would use the spell to keep them from the elf child. Instead, his omission had enabled the evil ones to gain access and take the cuddly infant that was dear to them all.
I failed you, Jelani. I failed you.
He’d lost so many who were close to him in his service to the elf clan, friends, family, even Astan’s mother, Veraena. Each loss carved a small chink in his courage and determination to persevere for the greater good, and the chinks added up. Knowing at last that this tragedy could be laid square at his door broke Daven’s strong heart.
“Lady of the Forest, show me the way,” he said, taking the small bag of runes from his pocket. “I need your guidance.”
The Blurb:
The moment Astan Hawk accepts his clan’s challenge to protect the young Elf Queen Jelani, trouble dogs his heels. Jelani’s human upbringing clashes with clan tradition and spurs dangerous intrigues within the Circle of Elders. Seeking revenge against Jelani for the loss of his mentor Bartolomey, outcast Grigor Biren finds powerful elf mages deep within the forest and sets out to prove himself worthy to learn their secrets. When Astan finds that his father Daven supports the agenda of the Circle, he has no choice but to turn to Jelani’s human friends for help. Paranoid Crispy, empathetic Iris, and computer whiz Lane complicate Jelani’s unexpected pregnancy and the young queen’s attempts to rule her people. After the child is born, everything that could go wrong does. Can Astan carry through on his promise to keep Jelani safe when the whole world seems to have turned against them?
Read a excerpt here! http://www.dragonflypubs.com/excerpts/elfchild.html
Here’s a review:
“The Elf Child, second in the Clan Elves of the Bitterroot Series, can be read as a stand-alone, but is probably a richer reading experience if read in sequence. Lyndi Alexander has created a very interesting story that occupies a rather unique niche in the fantasy genre; not exactly urban fantasy, but with hints of same. I like her main characters, but like the secondary ones even more. Former wards of the state Lane and Crispy are unique and extremely likable. The overall story, which could have gotten sloppy at a couple of points, avoids falling into traditional pitfalls and instead, flows along, smoothly at times and with an urgency at others which grabs the reader and pulls him/her along in a page-turning frenzy as her well-crafted world grows real enough to create a nice movie in one’s mind. I am certainly looking forward to the third installment in the series and plan to go back and read the first one so I can have a complete understanding of what happened to set up this book. The Elf Child is highly recommended for fantasy readers who like a contemporary setting and plenty of action.” ~ reviewed by John R. Clark (public librarian) for TCM Reviews. | http://www.tcm-ca.com/?p=9007 |
Find out more here: http://clanelvesofthebitterroot.com/the-elf-child
Find more great science fiction and fantasy snippets at Science Fiction Fantasy Saturday’s main page. I love this group of authors–what great imaginations!
A warm welcome to Hydra author Melissa Goodman!
As part of the ongoing Hydra Blog hop this week, I have Missy Goodman here for a visit. Melissa Goodman was born and raised in Louisville, Kentucky. She’s a diehard member of the University of Kentucky’s Big Blue Nation and a lover of all things Nascar, reality television and fairytale endings. She can be contacted at MelissaGoodmanWriter@ gmail.com.
Her new book is called It’s Your Love, and if the cover is any indication, it ties a whole lot of Melissa’s interests all together in a nice package.
Here’s her excerpt:
“It’s about time,” said Kade. He was leaning with his back against the wall. He had not bothered to glance her way. He came across as if it was completely natural for him to be standing there.
“What are you doing?” She looked over her should just to be sure that God wasn’t playing a cruel joke and the blond was behind her.
“I’m an ass,” he said as if it was the only explanation needed.
So she agreed with him, “And?”
Kade stood up straight. With his hang dog expression Allie fought the urge to forgive him on the spot.
“I’m sorry.”
“I didn’t mean to pry. I’m sorry.”
“I live a very public life. There are some things I just like to keep private.”
“You don’t have to explain,” she said, “I understand.”
He held out his hand and gave her a wink. “So what now? Do we start over?”
His hand was Kade himself. Warm, strong with the right mixture of soft and rough. Touching him felt right. It felt like nothing could go wrong as long as she was in his embrace. It felt as if Allie had come home. If he didn’t feel the same, God help her.
Kade let out a breath that he wasn’t aware of holding when she took his hand. When Allie left the table he had considered what she said. He had even gone as far as to start his way over to the blond. About ten feet away he changed directions. He never walked away from a sure thing. He especially didn’t leave a woman he knew was willing for one that had just dumped him. Waiting outside the ladies’ room was agonizing. Kade had done his best to look like he was doing anything other than waiting for a woman. When the blond and her friends passed by trying to catch his eye Kade knew that he had dodged a bullet.
Then Allie appeared and Kade knew. It amazed him how wrong people were. He didn’t hear bells and whistles, what he heard was a soft voice that called to his soul. A missing piece he hadn’t been aware was missing until she placed her hand in his.
Sounds like a great read, Missy! Best wishes and thanks for visiting!
Lyndi
Buy links:
Welcome Hydra author Dianne Gardner!

Synopsis
The first book of a trilogy, Deception Peak is a young adult adventure fantasy about a teenager, Ian Wilson, who follows his father through a portal that magically appears on their computer screen. They travel into a deceptively beautiful Realm, where horses run free, the wind sings prophetic melodies, and their computer avatars come to life. But when the two are separated, Ian is abducted by a tribe of dragon worshipers and is forced to find his courage. As he struggles for his freedom and embarks on a perilous search to find his father, Ian meets the true peacekeepers of the Realm. It's then that he learns there is a greater purpose for being there.
Link to the Deception Peak book trailer: http://youtu.be/7nhN62CmJsI
Excerpt:
They came to a bend lined with thick brush that rose over their heads. The passage led them through giant firs into a part of the forest wild with sword ferns and fallen trees. The rapping of a woodpecker hollowing a rotten trunk echoed through the thicket. The whisper of wind brushed the tree limbs high above his head, causing dots of sunlight to dance on the forest floor. Ian was awed by the forest’s beauty, yet he was terrified by what might await them at the next crook in the trail.
SFFS for September 8– how do you get to be a super-elf?
Today’s entry at Science Fiction Fantasy Saturday hearkens back to the most recent book in the Clan Elves of the Bitterroot series, THE ELF MAGE. Elf Vez and his mother have been reunited after a long separation, and he hopes to learn magic and win power from her. But first he must come to understand the power structure of the clan–and he knows that most of what he’s heard so far has been lies:
Vez had been taught mages had greater power than any individual elf of the clan, but they were not taught by the Circle, those old dried up witches who believed they controlled their little elven world. They controlled nothing. This, his mother Veraena had told him, saying that several powerful mages existed in and about the mountains, elves who had evolved past ordinary magic and elven skills, and they were the reason the elves still lived.
“Long ago, Vez, very special nians and neris studied the traditions of the clan, and learned the deepest secrets the Lady of the Forest had to share.” In the reflected firelight, her face lit with excitement as she shared the tales. “When they’d learned all the Elders could teach them, they went to the earth itself, which taught new lessons. Clearing the mind, clearing the heart, becoming one with the essence of natural things opened the door for them, the santwarja.”
“A true door, Mother, a gateway to a higher existence?” Vez remembered his heart racing with elation. What marvelous creatures these Intalus must be, how powerful, how able to help others, to improve the status of all elves.
Of course, with great power comes great responsibility–or so they say. And power can be used for good or for evil. Which might Vez choose, if he has the opportunity to study this great magic? Find out in THE ELF MAGE.
Find out more about THE ELF MAGE at the Clan Elves tab above, or at http://clanelvesofthebitterroot.com –buy links at Dragonfly Publishing, Inc.
Find more great science fiction and fantasy snippets at Science Fiction Fantasy Saturday’s main page–enough to keep you inside from the rain all morning!