HAND OF ATUA excerpt for release week

My husband started reading my book on Sunday. He doesn't really like to read so I'm glad he's giving it a try. It makes for nail-biting anxiety though. He's asking tons of really good questions that I'm refusing to answer because it will be a good opportunity to see if they're answered in the actual story. *fingers crossed*

One of the questions he asked is about Atua and the whole talking to him thread that runs through the book. He wondered if this is science fiction or religious. Well, it's kind of both. It can be both. Right? I didn't plan it that way, but well, it sort of turned out that way in the end.

It all started in chapter two when Am puts Eleena on an escape shuttle with her Uncle. She's going because Am promised to help her father travel to the other side of the planet to retrieve her mother and then somehow get them to where Eleena is going. Eventually. Things don't go as planned.

Here's the excerpt.

"No problem. Be safe." Am shrugged and turned to me. "Eleena, don't worry about anything. Evander will let me know where to bring your parents so you can be together."

The other man, Evander, stepped forward. "Am, we've intercepted communications from Rawiri. Your father sent an envoy ahead to collect you before the fleet arrives. It could be here any moment. You need to leave now."

"I'm not leaving Talrano." Am shook his head. "We'll take my ship to get his wife. We can do it by the end of the day, tomorrow at the latest."

"Am, don't be stupid. Your father wants you back. If you don't leave he’ll get what he wants. Send someone else for Talrano." Evander stood his ground.

Uncle pointed at the people surrounding us. "They know who your father is, and it won't take long for them to turn on you. If you go back, you won't make it off the planet. "

Am turned away. I waited and silently prayed he wouldn't break his word. He said he'd get my parents.

"What about Eleena? I promised her." Am's voice cracked. He coughed and stepped farther away from us.

"Eleena," Beck looked me in the eye. "One day this man will save planets from Hatana Anaru's wrath, but if he tries to reach your parents he will die here. Who will save those other people if that happens?"

A tear slid down Uncle's cheek. He knew Mima and Popi would be left behind. I looked at Am. Who was he that he could do this? I'd always looked at him as just another one of Popi's students, but the others acted like he was something more.

Now, his eyes pleaded with me as if everything were up to me. My parents or so many others? Who were they and how would he save them? I didn't know. I only cared about my family.

Atua, what do I do? I want him to get my parents, not save strangers. My eyes scanned the crowds of people. They were scared but grew angrier with each moment. They pushed closer and the soldiers now fought back. I didn't like them, not any of them. 

A voice, softer than a whisper, touched my heart. But I love them. Let me save as many as I can. I will need him to do that. 

The voice filled my entire body with warmth. With Atua's love for me. For my parents. For Am and everyone on Manawa. It was so full, I thought it might be for everyone in the universe.

Tears flowed down my cheeks, an extension of what filled me so completely. I wanted my parents, but I didn't want Am to die.

Atua, keep my parents safe. I silently pled.

The reply was immediate. They are in my hands.

"It's okay." I launched myself at Am, hugging him tightly. "Peace on your path, Am, and may Atua be with you."

"Eleena?" He squeezed back, and when he spoke his voice sounded rough, like it struggled to pass his lips. "Atua willing, one day we'll find the light leading all of us home." 

The sadness didn't go away, and the voice didn't speak again, but I felt peace. Mima would be proud of me for listening to Atua. 

I let Am go. His eyes looked sad, and I wanted to tell him Atua would protect my parents, but my voice had frozen in my chest. Instead, I waved as Uncle Beck led me up the ramp into the ship.

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Is Today Wednesday? And an Excerpt of FIM

What happened? I just realized it was Wednesday and I didn't post anything. So sorry!

This morning I slept in and then lazed around. I call it the  "I just finished a book slump". It takes me a while to shift gears and get into a different story. Talia's waiting patiently but I'd rather she knocked me up the side of my head. :)

Fade Into Me has gone through 4 or 5 revisions over the last three weeks. I don't know if I've ever worked so hard and fast on something. It was a wonderful feeling, but now I'm drained. In a good way though. But I'm scared of letting too many days go by before getting back to work on something.

Maybe tomorrow.

Today I want to share with you Ryanne's first scene. This is chapter two and I don't really like the first sentence. Suggestions?

Excerpt

My insides twisted tighter than the strands of my auburn hair my sister braided. "Tomorrow is going to be horrible. Not only is she stealing my best friend, but she has to steal high school graduation too. This is a new low, even for Jessie."

My sister forced a laugh. "In a year or two it won't even matter. You don’t have to go if you don’t want too."

"Yes I do. He’s depending on me."

Heather harrumphed. "Stop making such a big deal over Kevin."

She wrapped the ponytail holder around the end of the braid, pulling a little harder than she needed to.

"I know you don’t trust him anymore, but he’s still my best friend."

"You can do better, and this is the perfect time to let him walk out of your life for good." Her fingers traced a line of scar tissue through my shirt.

You know what they say about looks that kill. Luckily, Heather had built up a tolerance to my poisonous glares. I took the brush from her and set it on the dresser at Prince Charming's feet. I no longer believed in what the faded plush doll represented, but I couldn't throw him away.

“He didn’t do it.”

I hated the way it hurt her. The never knowing for sure, but I’d never admit that Kevin knew more about my scars than she did. My silence protected him, because even though it wasn’t his fault, he would be dragged into it. I couldn’t let one drunken mistake ruin his football career.

"Whatever, Ry.” Heather turned her back to me. “Will you be on the bus?"

"No, I close tonight, so I’ll catch the ten-thirty."

Heather paused in the door. "I got a letter from Dad. No money this month. Think you could pick up an extra shift or two?"

I pinned my name tag on my shirt and gritted my teeth. "Sure. What are we going to do this fall?"

"We'll figure it out. Any news on those scholarships?"

"Nope."

"It'll be fine. We've managed the last three years on our own. We can get through a few more." She waited but I didn’t ask. I had promised myself I never would. “Ry? He’s in Alaska.”

“Guess he couldn’t get much further away without leaving the country.” The words slipped out in spite of my gritted teeth, but Heather had already disappeared down the hall.

A Rose By Any Other Name? Character Stubborness

I woke up dreaming about Fade Into Me this morning. That's how deeply I've pushed myself into Ryanne's world for these revisions. Things are going really well too. .

There is one little problem though. My male MC is being so very peculiar about his name. He's been through several different ones over the last year, most of them in the last two months. It's been: Carter, Caedmon, Kieran, Devin, Zander and now I'm trying on Alec.

What is your name!!!???

Never has a character given me so many problems over a name. And names are so important! They really do affect how the characters feel in my head. *sigh* The good news is that the last name change happened during a read aloud at writer's group last night. Alec survived that.

It's sad too though because I liked Zander until he said, "I'm Zander."

I paused after reading it and the group members said all at once, "No."

Kind of cool, kind of freaky, and definitely frustrating. My group is awesome though so we stopped the reading and picked out a new name. I also made my daughter laugh last night. Did I finally write something humorous that someone else caught? Granted she then told me the thing that made her laugh made her think of a similar line in Supernatural and then something in The Walking Dead. *head shake* I love my geeky children. :)

Has a character ever given you this much trouble? What did you do to get him back in line?

Want a sneak peak at this draft?

Between the headache and my finicky stomach, I turned in the opposite direction from the hotel. I knew there were apartment complexes farther along this street. That meant bus stops.

My body ached and trembled like I had the flu, slowing my pace. With each step away from the garden it took more effort to lift my feet than moments before. Every blink flashed images of dark hair, a strong jaw line and shoulders draped with an expensive tuxedo.

Why can’t I get him out of my mind?

The breeze picked up sending shivers along my exposed arms and legs. The clouds had rolled in and everything took on that creepy pre-storm yellow-green glow. It faded quickly, and I was left in a premature twilight.

Thunder ripped the sky open. The first drops fell lazily. Big fat raindrops that normally would have made me giddy with joy. But not when walking down the side of the road in my most expensive dress. The lazy drops were followed by the shower. It only took three seconds for me to be soaked.

My hair dripped down my back and face. I pushed it out of the way and bent down to remove my shoes. It was time to run for it, but my blisters couldn't take the rubbing. The rain filled my mind and ears and I didn't hear the motorcycle until it was barreling down on me.

I jumped out of the way as the bike flew past me, and tumbled into the ditch on the side of the road. Gravel and brush dug into my skin as I rolled down into a growing puddle of water. Somewhere tires screeched and the motorcycle clattered to the ground. The driver ran down the embankment. His body blocked some of the rain from my face as he leaned over me and removed his helmet.

"Mo Run?" (NOTE: He explains how to pronounce this the first time they meet and he says it. It's mo rune)

"You?" I struggled to sit up and once more his strong grip steadied me. Strange thoughts flickered through my mind. Visions of me and him living happily ever after. I must have hit my head in the fall.

"Are you okay?" He pulled me to my feet.

“I’ve lost a shoe.” The one I’d been holding before leaping into the ditch was nowhere to be seen. The weeds didn’t look like they’d give it up anytime soon.

Flirty Arguments and Physical Training

Think you can handle some more rough draft? I'm trying not to pay too close attention to these as I post them, but...It seems my characters can't stay mad at each other. They just fall into natural joking and teasing. I'll have to work on that because I know arguments don't pass this easily in my house. Granted I'm not a newlywed anymore either.

The only other thing you need to know is that space travel taught Talia and Landry something about their magic early on. Turns out magic is tied to the suns, not necessarily their planet, and when they left their solar system the magic disappeared.

Excerpt

“Talia?” Landry stood in the doorway to their room where she had been hiding for the last hour.

“Are we finally going to talk this out?” She patted the bed beside her.

“We probably should.” Landry stepped in and the door slid closed behind him, “You’re getting paler and thinner every day.”

“What?” Her eyes widened.

“Your health is deteriorating fast. We need to do something about it.”

Talia slid her legs out from under the sheet and to the floor. They were skinnier than ever before, her knees like swollen knot holes on saplings. She shook her head and walked to the food replicator they had installed in their room. As she ordered a protein drink she sent a thought wave in her husband’s direction. That’s not what I thought we were going to discuss.

When he didn’t answer she turned back to him. “That’s not what I wanted to talk about.”

Landry sighed, “I know, but let’s tackle one thing at a time. Your health is the most important right now.”

“Okay then, what do you propose we do?”

“We start training your body the old fashioned way.”

“What do you mean?”

“Think about it. The loss of magic hasn’t affected me physically in the same way it did you.”

“It's just more noticeable in me because I siphoned energy constantly. I'm not even sure if I did it consciously most of the time.”

“Exactly. I trained my body to work without the aid of magical energy flowing through me. That’s what we need to do for you.” He reached for her hand. "All you need is to challenge yourself physically. Lucky for you, troop training is one of my many talents."

“Let’s get started then. I’m tired of feeling so drained.” Talia squeezed his hand for a moment and then took her agonizingly slow steps to the door.

Gibbs nodded at them from a weight machine in the fitness room. He stood on a metal plate, knees slightly bent and arms raised above his head. His palms rested lightly on another plate.

“I’ve got another set and I’ll be out of your way.” He took a deep breath and then pushed through his legs and arms. The plates reacted to his strength and pushed back with matching force, providing a balanced isometric exercise for his upper and lower body.

Talia watched for a moment and dreaded whatever Landry had planned for her. "This is going to fix me?"

"I'll whip you into shape before we reach Orek."

"I thought you liked my shape." She whispered in his direction.

Landry chuckled but didn't answer.

Gibbs relaxed, grabbed his towel and headed for the door. “Don’t be too hard on her, Sutton.”

Landry waited for the door to slide closed before stepping closer to Talia, "Seduction attempts will only earn you an extra mile, Mrs. Sutton. At least until seventeen hundred hours. After that, it'll get you anything you want."

"Yes Sir, Colonel, Sir." She spit out in perfect private speak.

“I’ve missed this you know.”

“Getting to torture trainees?” Talia followed him to a terrain simulator.

“No, joking with you. Feeling relaxed around you.”

Talia reached up and touched his face. “Me too. Do you think it’s just because we don’t know how to talk to each other without telepathy?”

“Maybe. Let’s promise to try and talk about things.”

“That I can do. Why don’t we start now?” Talia smiled up at him.

“Oh no you don’t. You’re not getting off that easy.” He turned and started the machine.

A smooth surface appeared beneath Talia’s feet. The simulation was a city street, and Landry set a slow speed for her. She smirked when her body settled into the easy rhythm.

"Is this all you've got Colonel, because I can think of a more strenuous work out."

Landry punched in a new sequence and the ground changed to a sandy beach. Talia reached out to grip the safety bar as her gait altered to accommodate the new situation. Her legs flexed with each push against the surface and sweat broke out on her forehead.

"Not till you've finished today's training session." Landry leaned against the bulkhead and settled in to enjoy the view.

Stefan and Landry Say Goodbye

As promised, here is a first draft excerpt from Search for Knowledge. The concept for this novel is centered around Talia and Landry leaving Sendek to visit Jaron's home world of Orek. And yes, their names are similar for a reason. Anyway, this quest to gather information on magic, technology and most importantly--how Jaron's world managed to combine a scientific world with a magical one so successfully, has consequences.

Einstein's theory of Special Relativity

Space and time are interwoven into a single continuum known as space-time. Events that occur at the same time for one observer could occur at different times for another. What does that mean? Lots of things, but the part I'm using for SFK deals with the fact that time passes slower the faster one goes. So our heroes are going away in a speeding spaceship to some distant planet and then comes back (in book 3), they will be younger than everyone who stayed on Sendek.

Yeah, this is cool stuff that I'll dedicate an entire science post too sometime in the future, but if you want a great site that explains it in simple terms, look HERE.

Excerpt

Stefan stared at the ground as they walked out into the sunslight. "I still think this is a huge risk. How can you be sure you'll get there and back safely?"

"Jaron's ship is fully equipped with everything we need, and with Gibbs and Cooley all our bases are covered. We’ll be fine." Landry left the real issue unsaid.

"Can't you learn what you need from Jaron's records?"

"We’ve been searching them for two months. His computer doesn't have the historical records we would like, and we need records that will help us train the mage."

Stefan paced along the edge of a low stone wall. "What am I supposed to do with these mages while you're gone?"

Landry nodded to the hanger. "They’ll follow her. Even if she's not here. For a while, anyway. Right now they have something to look forward to and they’ll follow our journey and wait for news of our return."

"That won't keep them under control for long." Stefan shook his head. "And there's the general population to watch as well."

"Use the Mage Council. They can enforce the guidelines within the mage group. You just have to keep the Council on your side."

Stefan harrumphed, but turned to Landry. "I can see many benefits from both the technological and the magical side of this journey, but I feel like everything is happening too fast. You’re the only family I have left, you know."

"Stefan, you're going to be fine. The people are going to follow you as well as they did your father. Maybe it's time you started looking for a queen?" Landry teased.

"You always said you would be the last one to tie yourself down to a woman. Now that you've slipped up, you want to tie me down too?” Stefan smiled and Landry knew he was working his way to goodbye. “Just wish you had picked a woman that didn’t want to take you halfway across the universe.”

“I know. If we’re lucky—” Landry looked over the mountain views, anywhere but at his cousin.

“I’ll still be alive when you return.”

“Yeah.”

“I’ll just be old as dirt and you’ll only be a year or two older. Doesn’t seem fair somehow.”

“Look at the bright side. You’ll have kids and grandkids and a full life of memories to brag about.”

“Ha! And you’ll just have a new world to talk about.”

“But you’ll still be a part of this one.”