Blog Funding, Book Promo and Vignettes by Luke, Mary Catelli and ‘Nother Mike

Posted on by Sarah A. Hoyt

Blog Funding, day 11 of 15

Yes, I really am going to combine them. You see, I just did the overdue chapters of Witch’s Daughter, and am now going to do Winter Prince.

So, first, pretty picture:

And now, due to the inordinate number of hours I expend on this blog, and the fact that the most common sentence said in exasperation by husband is “Must you do the blog right now???” I believe I should be paid.

(And I’m arranging to send out rewards for last year’s fundraiser hopefully all this week — knock on head — I think we figured out a means of doing it. Yes, I do realize they’re overdue.)

If you also believe so, you have several means of doing this:

The first option to donate is Give Send Go. They forbid the use of incentives to donors. So if you give via GSG you’re doing it for the satisfaction of helping According to Hoyt stay up and for me to be compensated for my work. Yes, that total is scary but I never intended for it to be carried by GSG alone. That’s the funding goal for all methods, for the year. A keeping-track-of goal, you might say. To donate to Give Send Go: Link Here.

’ve started a substack called Chapter House, in which I’m serializing two novels, one fantasy and one Space Opera, at two chapters a week. (The idea is for Witch’s Daughter to get two new chapters on Wednesday, and Winter Prince two on Friday. because July is h*ll this year (Fun with DOCTORS! People and cat doctors. Yeah) these might slip for the next two/three weeks. After that they won’t. Anyway, to subscribe to Chapter House, the link is: Here.

And for those of you who have Patreon and just want to donate in a system you already have, I have one of those, and I will be posting life events, and excised scenes, and art, and … well, be warned, likely cat stuff. Because I’m owned by cats. Anyway, to donate on Patreon, please: Go here.

Finally, if you must send things by snailmail, yes, we accept checks, cash, and gold bars. Just package those really well.

304 S. Jones Blvd, Suite 6771
Las Vegas, NV 89107

NOW, ON TO THE PROMO POST

Book promo

If you wish to send us books for next week’s promo, please email to bookpimping at outlook dot com. If you feel a need to re-promo the same book do so no more than once every six months (unless you’re me or my relative. Deal.) One book per author per week. Amazon links only. Oh, yeah, by clicking through and buying (anything, actually) through one of the links below, you will at no cost to you be giving a portion of your purchase to support ATH through our associates number. A COMMISSION IS EARNED FROM EACH PURCHASE.*Note that I haven’t read most of these books (my reading is eclectic and “craving led”,) and apply the usual cautions to buying. I reserve the right not to run any submission, if cover, blurb or anything else made me decide not to, at my sole discretion.– SAH

FROM ALMA T. C. BOYKIN: The Wolves and the Ice Lion.

The Vosges Mountains hold their secrets well. So do the hearts of men.

Arnauld d’Loup commands the Wolf’s Paws, a most unusual company of warriors. Comtessa Leoni d’Vosges commands magic and needs men. Powers ancient and dark move through her lands, and wise men tread warily. Especially a man who carries a curse in his blood, a curse that resonates with those powers.

When Comtessa Leoni makes a terrible choice to protect her lands, Arnauld d’Loup must make a choice of his own, one that may cost him his very soul.

FROM J. L. CURTIS: Rimworld- Diversions

Freighter captains are supposed to make the numbers, hit the routes on time, never deviate, don’t upset any passengers, and always do what the boss says.
Danny Ortega and his ship, the DSRV Ghost, fail every single one of those. No one in their right mind would hire him…
Which leaves the truly odd routes and cargos, and a rep as ‘hot shots’ that will carry special time sensitive loads anywhere, anytime.
As long as he can keep his ship, his marriage, and his crew together, Danny never worries about a fixed schedule. Pirates, plagues, enemies of his passengers trying to take them out, too little money, too much money, and getting trapped in alien mating rituals, sure, but any semblance of a schedule is merely an unanticipated cascade of opportunities.
Fortunately, his ship is full of surprises, and not all of his crew are who they appear to be…

FROM RACONTEUR PRESS, WITH STORIES BY M. C. A. HOGARTH AND CEDAR SANDERSON AND OTHERS: Space Marines 2 (Raconteur Press Anthologies Book 9

Marines. The first into battle and the fiercest warriors, either individually or as a unit. With a long tradition of fighting aboard ships and on land, their tactics might change when those ships go to space but their fortitude will not.
Join 9 authors as they imagine what Marines will look like in the future, and how they’ll take the battle to the stars.

FROM DAVID COLLINS: The Unexpected Isekaihttps://amzn.to/46Tv4be

Jake Taylor was your average broke student at the University. One day, when he had no classes, he stumbled across a booth set up for “brain scans,” Earn while you sleep. It looked like easy money, so he signed up for the full scan. It would require sleeping in a booth for two days, but he would wake up thousands of dollars richer. It should be easy money…

The next thing he knows, he is no longer human, and the new world he finds himself in is an extremely dangerous place. So dangerous that the former occupant of the body he finds himself in had just died from a venomous snakebite.

He is informed that the body he was in had been wearing a crystal resurrection necklace. He is now one of “the “resurrected.” Many of those that died while wearing the strange crystals have their bodies healed, but their memories were lost and replaced by something from the crystal. He now finds himself “Isekai’ed” (implanted into a new body) on a planet where there are no humans, in a body that looks like the former owner was a martial artist, one that used steroids and worked out… A lot of steroids!

It is a very dangerous land, but there is always work for someone who can fight and can kill monsters. Unfortunately, sometimes the real monsters are hard to tell from normal people…

This places a Hard S/F wrapper over an Isekai story with lots of humorous elements. There is fighting using medieval-level technology weapons. And some surprises later on. This has a minor harem element but contains zero explicit content.

[This was Formerly released as The Resurrection Crystal, completely updated and revised]

FROM NATHAN SHUMATE: Project Salamander

Stranded in Salt Lake City by bad weather, Attorney Owen Vail goes to sleep in the Airport Hilton.

He wakes up in a different room.

In a different city.

In a different body.

Swept up in the aftermath of a ruthless billionaire’s experiments, Owen and those like him—unwilling body-jumpers calling themselves “the dispossessed”—try to find a way back to their own lives, while also staying out of the hands of those who want to find out what makes them tick… from the inside.

BY MAX BRAND, REVIVED BY D. JASON FLEMING: The Long, Long Trail (Annotated): The classic pulp western

When outlaw Jess Dreer, on the run for avenging his father’s murder, met Mary Valentine, the town flirt of Salt Springs, it changed them both. It changed others, too, and not always for the worse.

But a change in character means nothing to a clan that’s been crossed, and even less to a sheriff who has spent years in single-minded pursuit.

Regardless of character, regardless of good deeds or noble sacrifices, bullets will fly and justice will be done at the end of the long, long trail!

  • This iktaPOP Media edition includes a new introduction giving the book genre and historical context.

BY G. J. WHYTE-MELLVILLE, REVIVED BY D. JASON FLEMING: Black But Comely: The classic victorian novel of class and race

Born to gypsies, raised by Jews, Jane Lee turns eighteen and decides to win her way into the upper classes of Victorian society. Her heritage won’t let her go, but her single-minded will and cunning are a match for any gypsy plots against her.

This iktaPOP Media edition includes a new introduction giving historical context to the novel.

NOT EXACTLY A BOOK, BUT A BUSINESS BY A FELLOW HUN: MurphicIndustries

Please consider Murphic Industries for your figurine needs!

Vignettes by Luke, Mary Catelli and ‘Nother Mike.

So what’s a vignette? You might know them as flash fiction, or even just sketches. We will provide a prompt each Sunday that you can use directly (including it in your work) or just as an inspiration. You, in turn, will write about 50 words (yes, we are going for short shorts! Not even a Drabble 100 words, just half that!). Then post it! For an additional challenge, you can aim to make it exactly 50 words, if you like.

We recommend that if you have an original vignette, you post that as a new reply. If you are commenting on someone’s vignette, then post that as a reply to the vignette. Comments — this is writing practice, so comments should be aimed at helping someone be a better writer, not at crushing them. And since these are likely to be drafts, don’t jump up and down too hard on typos and grammar.

If you have questions, feel free to ask.

Your writing prompt this week is: ROUTE

69 thoughts on “Blog Funding, Book Promo and Vignettes by Luke, Mary Catelli and ‘Nother Mike”

  1. Salo laid the map out on the ground, using several convenient rocks to weigh it down. “Our biggest problem is that we only have two real routes to go. This one,” and her finger traced what looked like a road, “will hit several Imperial checkpoints. We have road tokens, but they might also have a description of us at the posts.”

    “And the second,” Shawn asked.

    “Hard terrain, narrow passes, and it would add at least two days travel. The weather is getting warmer, so we might run into flash flooding and loose snow. Being on those paths means that if Imperial soldiers find us…we’re automatically smugglers and can be put to death instantly. But those are to our advantage-they rarely patrol this time of year and we can usually find them before they find us. “

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        1. And mechanic, and pilot, and … When things go very, very well is when I start to get very, very concerned. Either I missed something, or everything is about to go rodeo all at once.

          Liked by 1 person

          1. Minor problems? All is well with the world. Major problems? Here we go again.

            No problems? You must be lying. Either that, or Murphy is about to swap the dildo for the cattle prod, as my old boss used to say.

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      1. Dear Lady, do you realize just how large a Griffin gets?

        You’d need a very large house for a single adult Griffin and four might crowd you out of your house. :wink:

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        1. Well, you’re right, they won’t fit in my intratemporal home. But the extratemporal manor will have more than enough room in the stables, as well as various pests to keep them entertained and well fed.

          Hopefully they’ll get along at least decently with the dire wolves.

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  3. Perhaps this was the hardest part of the route. The king’s guards kept her from being bothered by people, but they attracted a crowd that no effort could keep from making the journey slower.
    And her own soldiers, she had to admit that. They stared at the men in their strange uniforms, and the woman who commanded them.
    She should have brought along traveling clothes fit for a princess. They would not look so astounded at her. Then, she had not really had any. She barely had owned enough fit for a princess for her to receive royal messengers fittingly.

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              1. Ahem. Someone needs to get the right wrappings on that reaper – make sure they’re not from the wrong rack. Cloakers are right nasty, even for that sort of rake.

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  5. Darkness spouted out like a fog. Autumn, grim-faced, had run to the figure to the left and swung her sword, drawing what had to be their blood. She, looking pale, pressed on.
    Right for you, Lucie told herself. You may need to help Autumn in the end. Ciara already attacked.

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  6. “When the left flank comes in, it should route the enemy down the valley here…”

    “Route, or rout?”

    “That depends on the left flank. If they are decimated, then the enemy will chase the survivors down the valley as they flee on the obvious escape route. If the left flank comes in like the Winged Hussars at the seige of Vienna? That will be an acceptable rout.”

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      1. Yes. Depending. I am only unintelligible when the accent is north by northwest; when the accent is southerly, you can tell my route from a rout.

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          5. Having come from there – “pier” and now how do you say the name of the town in the Black Hills where the big gold mine used to be??? Lead, South Dakota.

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        1. As in the word “unionized”. Pronunciation depends on whether one is a chemist or a tradesman.

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    1. You are too kind. The book in question is a round-robin novella, and something of an experiment (with a iron-gloved editorial effort whipping it into shape at the last moment).

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  9. Dark, moist clouds hid the sun away on Parthemu’s last day. Seven lives lay behind him, only one more promised before the final sleep.

    Parthemu was ready. His last task discharged.

    Twice before he had stared down the spirit of Death itself. Three times he’d slipped through the cracks into the netherworld and only lost himself once. Four times he had taught the young the ways of the Pact.

    But this was the first time he’d shepherded a good and true soul into the afterlife. Spirit cats lived short lives compared to others on Mundus Iraii. It was chance that led him to the home of the tall, thin human. Chance that he’d spied an open door in the rain. Chance that that human had decided, just this once, to let an unwelcome guest stay the night.

    That human was untutored in the Pact. Didn’t know the rules and obligations. Parthemu did not begrudge this. Humans were blind to the spirit world, the most of them. He did his best to teach his human.

    There were difficulties. That was to be expected, too. He bore them with patience. These “veterinarians” were often rude and definitely ignorant of the spirit world. But they meant well, the most of them. Baths were a thing unwelcome. He’d tried to explain it, but such communication was impossible. A cat must bath himself- that was the only proper way to do it.

    But the human had learned, in its own slow way. There were things to be respected by both human and cat that didn’t need to be told. Sunbeams were left unattended. Proper rest was granted.

    In return, Parthemu kept his end of the bargain. No vile temptations were allowed into his domain. Unnatural urges born of wicked winds, nightmares, fear feeders, and psychic rotworms died by the thousands trying to gain entry, all in vain.

    A spirit cat had his pride. Not even the smallest pikthu was allowed to infect his person.

    Now that person was gone. Parthemu missed them already.

    Even the troublesome manners. Even the slowness in attending to his proper diet. Even being moved when it was, by rights, time to sleep so he could perform his duties in accordance with the Pact effectively.

    Gone.

    The body had been removed hours previously. Parthemu had been there the entire time. There was no pain. No fear. His person knew it was time, as well. He’d done his duty, escorting the soul across the barrier and into the great beyond.

    Time was different there, he knew. His person would not even notice his absence in this last life to come. It would be as if Parthemu had never left.

    Nine lives were promised the spirit cats. Nine lives in exchange for honoring the Pact. One more to go.

    The bed where his person died was cold. The smell of death lingered along with the smell he’d come to know so well. The smell of the one that was his, and his alone.

    Parthemu breathed in one last time. The old house brought to him all the memories he’d built there. Twenty one cycles in all. A respectable total for a single life. He’d had lives far shorter.

    But this one was important. In this one, he’d been alone, but not. He’d had a friend. And now that friend was gone.

    With a slow sigh, Parthemu let his last breath go. One more time. Just one more life. Then he could be free to join his person on the other side for good.

    Until then, a spirit cat had obligations. The nether swallowed him up. He swam through the ether currents, a powerful presence in his own right. He saw others like him, on their way to new bodies and lives. Other creatures of the Pact, not just spirit cats joined him in the current.

    Parthemu narrowed his focus. Eight lives behind him, and all eight serving the Pact in one way or another. He’d have to make this last one count. Failure might lock him out of the great beyond for good.

    A spot of trouble, red and angry drew his attention. Dark spirits. Terrors, monsters, and nightmares were converging somewhere nearby in Mundus Iraii. Somewhere nearby was a body newly Unsouled.

    Parthemu willed himself to make a connection, and vanished from the ether. It was time to hunt.

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    2. I would absolutely read this book. This is incredible. Beautiful and heartwrenching in a quiet way, while also being amusing. (And likely hilarious for cat owners, who have more experience than I do.)

      Liked by 1 person

      1. It’s part of the Pact stories that are absolutely TBW (to be written). One of these days. Probably. Once the current mess of a story reaches satisfactory conclusion.

        Parthemu is driven to finish his last life well in accordance with the Pact. Sela wants to leave her legacy properly. Other stories are very much notional and not written down yet. But there are adventures yet to come.

        The Pact stories tread into pretty dark territory at times. Death, loss, and grief are common threads. So are insanity, dementia, and other things. The world of the Pact is rife with demons, dark spirits, and other vile things that prey upon humanity at every opportunity.

        Pact beasts are the first, and sometimes very last defense against the Cthulu-like forces that seek to enslave and torture every sentient being. Sometimes they fail- more often than any goodly soul would like. But that makes those few shining successes all the more story-worthy.

        Think of the world of the Pact as something like WH40k’s grimdark amosphere with Lovecraftian horror, supernatural UF elements… and cats, dogs, horses, and even owls as main PoV characters. It’s not always dark, but the lights that exist must always contend with a world of twisting shadows.

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  10. “Dyce, use this bit”, Michael said, holding up the cutter in question. “You can reshape the edge molding strip of this table. But you’ll have to hold it steady or the route…”

    Michael broke off suddenly with a cold prickly feeling as Elise glared at him for invading her space.

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  12. “Kenneth!” yelled Gus. “We missed you at the pub yesterday!”

    “Aw, I had some things to do after class,” answered Kenneth. He didn’t want to admit he took a different route home. It was hard to tell the difference between prudence and paranoia these days, and he didn’t trust Gus.

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  13. There were three major routes out of the valley. The oldest led to the south, folllowing the valley floor, past intermittent small lakes, towards the greater freshwater lakes in the southern lands. The second led to the west-northwest along the margin of the great valley lake. This was a land of plains , swamps, hills, and mountains that poked up out of them. Farther to the north, there was the valley of the great river that crossed the great desert of the north. Finally, there was the river that fed the great valley lake from the north. By following the river up into the highlands, one could find passes into another valley with a northward-flowing river, one that led throug other hot dry lands to the sea. There were other ways out of the valley, chiefly those involving climbing the mountains to the east and west and following minor streams, but these were the major routes.

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  14. “Well, you could go the basic AI package route,” said Nigel Slim-Howland to his client, “but that’s really only suitable for ticket sales, or similar simple tasks. For real companion-human interaction, you need the high-end package.”

    “You’re trying to upsell me,” the client said.

    “Rest assured, it’s worth every penny.”

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  15. “Well, the journey’s like this: I’ll start on a developmental team,” explained Max. “After a two or three years, some of us will be picked up by professional teams.” Max made it sound simpler than it was.

    “Like Uni, but for football,” Cari said, faking a smile she didn’t feel.

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  16. “My path’s like this,” said Cari. “Four years of study, then I have to defend a thesis to get my degree. And then maybe more school after that.”

    Max didn’t know what “defend a thesis” meant. “That’s probably tougher than football,” said Max, faking a smile he didn’t feel either.

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    1. Nicely done with characterization. My immediate instinct is to consider them as people, and analyze the relationship. (I really do appreciate the effort they’re putting into being polite/decent, but there should at least be something in common if they’re looking for a more significant interaction than met-in-passing.)

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  17. Well, there’s MacDonell of the Route. Earl of Antrim or McGiliicudy of the Reeks if you want to go to Kerry

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  18. They moved swiftly along the path, through the thick forest. Florangela had spoken of having to track down monsters. Though here, the only danger was of outright lies.
    She supposed it was possible, though the peasant had looked pale, talking of the body. And said it was a hedge wizard.

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  19. The worst thing about a difficult Friday at work is finding out it’s only Tuesday.

    And then the route of processing new server requests goes through your half-team because everyone else is either on a long-delayed vacation, medical leave, or a Bank Holiday in the country where they lived.

    The weird this is that it happened just that way last week.

    Sam decided he needed to get more coffee.

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  20. “We’ve got a router down in Dunwich Sector.” Lou Corlin delivered the report in a matter-of-fact tone. “We’re having some difficulty locating it, but we’ve narrowed it down to a few modules.”

    Steffi recognized those module numbers immediately, and had a good idea of the reason behind the outage. Maybe it was time for someone with disciplinary authority have a talk with several young men who fancied themselves clever.

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  21. Okay… It seems that George Whyte-Melville was best known as writing novels about foxhunting, a la Surtees. Apparently his nonfiction book Riding Recollections is as good as a riding manual, with lots of insight about horses.

    But he also had some serious-ish novels, and presumably Black But Comely is one of them?

    And weirdly enough, he once wrote a novel called “M. or N.”, which would seem to be the inspiration for the title of Agatha Christie’s “N. or M.?” It’s some kind of mystery story, so it’s not a coincidence. But I’ve never heard the reference made, even though it was probably obvious to the original readers of the Christie novel.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Oh, holy crud. Electric Scotland said that Whyte-Melville donated the proceeds from his books to various charities, such as providing free reading rooms and games and recreation, for grooms and stableboys. That’s nice, and also almost ridiculous.

      Electric Scotland also notes that he’s the guy who wrote the lyrics to Charles Coote’s tune, thereby creating “Wrap Me Up in My Tarpaulin Jacket”!!!!!! I AM SO FREAKING HAPPY TO FIND THAT OUT!!!!

      So the modern version is basically just making it sound more “sailor,” and adding even more standard verses of the “dying soldier/cowboy burial” type, which is kinda hilarious in itself.

      Of course, the most hilarious thing was that a hymn was written to the modern version of the tune, and that they were convinced that it was “traditional,” which it never sounded like. But now, I find out that the guy credited with that version was indeed drawing from older tradition, by stealing this song! Ha!

      https://electricscotland.com/history/men/whyte_melville.htm

      Liked by 1 person

  22. “That’s her? With the sword?”
    “Yes. What other route would they send her by?”
    Dawn looked at the river and the birches growing by it, their bark as pale as ghosts.
    “You’d think that they couldn’t study her that quickly.”
    The other knight snorted. “You’d think they’d want to study her that much? That’s the thing. Knight differs from knight in prowess. That doesn’t mean that a new sort of prowess is useful or interesting. Sometimes it’s just a pain to teach the knight to anything useful.”
    At least, thought Dawn, she could stop enchanted swords as she could fists.

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  23. “I don’t know why you’re upset. I’m merely taking current attitudes to their ultimate conclusion. People identify as another gender or as some species of animal or mystical creature, so why can’t I force everyone to accept me when I identify as Highway 44?”
    “Because then you’re just being route”.

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  24. From: AdBoss
    To: Eric
    Need a couplet promoting new rollercoaster: The Route

    From: Eric
    To: AdBoss
    How’s it pronounced?

    Scream and shout
    When you ride The Route!
    or
    Rush down the chute
    When you ride The Route!

    From: AdBoss
    To: Eric
    Uh, let me get back to you on that.

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  25. Lurie was congratulating herself on her organized errand route. Post office, department store, hit the grocery on the way back home… hopefully in time to get the laundry hung in the back yard. (She still preferred hanging laundry to dry to using the dryer when possible – “it just smells better.”) She was taking a shortcut through the lingerie department when she noticed Nancy Becker, PTA head and Lurie’s archenemy, sorting through nightgowns with a listless look on her face.

    Lurie ducked and was ready to walk away when something in the woman’s expression compelled her to stand still. Nancy looked positively miserable. Before she could move, Nancy looked up and caught her eye. “Oh… hello,” she muttered

    “Nice to see you,” Lurie responded, hoping she wouldn’t be struck by a thunderbolt for the lie. “How are you doin’? Everything okay?”

    “I just found out I’m going to have to have surgery,” Mrs. Becker blurted. Lurie realized the woman had to terrified to share such personal news.

    “Well now I am sorry to hear that. I can put the word out… I mean,” she corrected herself as Susan started to shake her head, “we can bring you dinner, help with the kids if you need it.”

    “Why would you do that?” Susan Becker was going back into head-of-the-PTA mode.

    “Did any of your committee friends offer to help you out? Where I come from, we don’t wait to be asked, we just show up. Me, June May, Faye Thomas – that’s what we were taught.” Lurie was beyond annoyed at having her offer questioned.

    “Well thank you,” Mrs. Becker replied hesitantly. “It woud be a help. If you really don’t mind.”

    “Not at all,” Lurie replied, wondering if she was telling the truth. “Call me this afternoon and I’ll talk to Faye and June.”

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  27. Late, but here goes! Now, for one more key character in this tale to make his debut…

    The route through Arev might have been scenic in one way or another but it made little difference when you were riding an armored military transport. Odrysia’s neighbor was said to have beautiful scenery and most of his countrymen agreed that they deserved a better steward than the utterly insane cadi occupying the throne. Alparslan Burakgazi was sure that His Majesty Vahit would let the Mad Empress learn a harsh lesson, yet here he was being shipped off as part of a large military expedition to help her repel the combined forces of Baldraz, Loire, and Wenlock, all with their Chosen at the lead.

    “Even at her age, the valide sultan must still be a formidable woman if His Majesty insists on helping his cousin when it is not in any of our interests to do so.” he thought with a shrug, turning his attention back to the papers in his possession.

    “You could just wait until we have actual light to read those by, Alparslan,” a deep voice intoned with a mild hint of reproach. “That lamp can only get you so far.”

    “Maybe,” the soldier replied, stopping to adjust the light on his headband. “But now would be a good time to see if the improvements I’ve made are good enough. And let me stop you before you start, Elnath. The sooner I get back to these blueprints, the sooner I can address your complaints with that cannon.”

    “Testing out the boring stuff while you work on the fun stuff?” the dark red mechanical giant remarked with a snort. “Makes sense I guess. Wake me up when we’ve got Mommy Dearest Jade, Miss Prissy Amethyst, and the Cocky Lapis Clown in our sights. Or when you actually get the boom on that cannon to work like you said it would.”

    “When has being away from battle ever kept you from keeping your own running commentary on my work, boğa?” the Chosen of the Carnelian retorted as he found the blueprint he was looking for, pulled it out of the folder, and set it on his lap desk.

    Elnath was a difficult one to please when it came to weaponry. The cannon he designed worked well in most respects and it was sufficient for conducting His Majesty’s purges of the infidels in the east. Yet they were about to face far more dangerous foes than helpless refugees and competent enough resistance fighters in castoff mechs. Vincent Austin, Baldraz’s Gunblade Emperor at the helm of Ashleshia the Jade Tempest. Carys Adair, Wenlock’s High Sorceress piloting Zornitsa the Amethyst Sage. And lastly Alphonse Fauchet, Loire’s Knight of the Shadows now commanding Sadalmelik the Lapis Maelstrom. He couldn’t take any one of those foes lightly even were he to fight alongside the Mad Empress’ Lord Protector at the helm of Alpheratz the Diamond Paladin. In this respect, he couldn’t blame Elnath for voicing his concerns over their equipment in his own way.

    Yet that wasn’t the only thing motivating him. It was the challenge of getting it just right and achieving the unthinkable in engineering. Oh, the things he could have done if he hadn’t been forced to waste his prime years as a mere foot soldier of the Empire! To be sure he was still hardly an old man but he still dreamed of what could have been. Still, he could only work with the time he had left and if he could not inspire wonder in Odrysia’s citizens then he could certainly inspire fear in their enemies. This battlefield would be his and Elnath’s finest yet and he had to make sure they were equipped accordingly.

    “They will feel the full wrath of the Carnelian Avalanche soon enough,” he muttered aloud with a malicious chuckle. “Now let’s see. Was it my choice of materials here or…?”

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