Book Reviews, Thoughts, and Random Interesting Ideas

Book Three: The Emerald!

Its official! The Gemstone Chronicles Book Three: The Emerald has been released in eBook form on Smashwords and Amazon.

The Emerald is the continuation of Aidan, Maggie, Nana, and Beebop’s adventures in the magical land of Celahir. If you have read the sneak peek, you already know a little about the book. If not, you can find the sneak peek here: https://www.williamlstuart.com/sneak-peek-the-gemstone-chronicles-book-three-the-emerald/

I also thought I would share the book blurb with you!

The Blurb:

Aidan, Maggie, Nana, Beebop, and their elven friends have recovered the first two of four gemstones stolen from the Elven Bow. With the second stone – the Amethyst – protected by the Elven Scouts Alatariel and Lotheth and on its way to Keeper for safekeeping, the rest of group heads deeper into Celahir to rescue Aidan and Maggie’s father, Mike, from the clutches of the witch, Maeva, and to recover the third gemstone – the Emerald.

After a fateful encounter at Maeva’s house, the witch turns everyone, except Aidan and Maggie, into stone statues to decorate her lawn. With the help of Dylan – a ghost boy they met in the village of Fearn – the children have to muster all of the courage and ingenuity they possess to find a way to retrieve the witch’s heart from its hiding place and trade it for their family and friend’s freedom. If they can do that, then they might be able to find the third gemstone by defeating the cockatrice…

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I hope you will enjoy The Gemstone Chronicles Book Three: The Emerald as much as you have the first two books of the series! And, don’t forget to leave a review after you have read it. I love to hear what my readers have to say!

As readers of The Gemstone Chronicles know, Nana and Beebop’s house in the books sits perched on a mountain in the north Georgia mountains. For those who don’t know, the mountains in Georgia are part of the Blue Ridge Mountains (which are part of the Appalachian Mountain chain). While not towering like the Rockies, the mountains can be very remote and extremely rugged. They are also beautiful!

Recently, Lana and I decided to visit Brasstown Bald and see what the highest spot in the state looked like. We were not disappointed!

The views were breathtaking and expansive. On a good day, you can see North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, and, of course, Georgia. Rising over 4700 feet above sea level, Brasstown Bald allows spectacular views like the ones below!

These and similar views were the inspiration for the setting of the four books of The Gemstone Chronicles. I also discovered my fascination with gemstones that are found in the hills. Findecano, one of the elves in the books, was trapped in a chiastolite fairy cross found in the mountains. Fairy crosses are often found in Fannin County, GA, which can be seen from Brasstown Bald. I have found rubies, emeralds, sapphires, garnets, aventurine, carnelian, amethysts, and different other quartz during my many rock hounding trips. I recently joined a gold prospecting group, too, and I am looking forward to finding some of the gold left in the mountains!

The region also has some fantastic homes nestled in the hills. One of those houses became the prototype for Nana and Beebop’s house. I think this one is a bit larger than their home, but what a great place to spend a day. There is even a gold-bearing creek running through the area – the basis for the river running through Beebop’s property.

The House and The River:

There you have it. The North Georgia Mountains and streams that inspired the setting for The Gemstone Chronicles. Feel free to share pictures of the mountains and streams (or whatever else) that have inspired you!!