The Gemstone Chronicles

When you think of Augusta, GA, what comes to mind? Many people will answer The Masters, that wonderful golf tournament that marks the first major championship each year. Is there a more beautiful place for golf?

Others might think of the Savannah River Site (SRS), where tritium and plutonium-239 were produced for use in nuclear weapons. The lovely and adorable Lana and I traveled through the SRS on our way to Beaufort, SC a few years ago, and it was a bit surreal. You can’t stop your car when traveling the road (except in one little town that was abandoned as part of the SRS construction), and there are security cameras everywhere. Like I said, surreal!

What do I think these days when I hear Augusta? Certainly, I think about The Masters (and I keep hoping to win tickets in the lottery each year), and, being a former nuclear trained electronics technician, SRS is fascinating, but I also think about the Augusta Literary Festival (ALF)! Yes, I’ll be an author participant on March 7, 2015. I can’t wait!

Augusta Literary Festival:

Now for a little about the Augusta Literary Festival (ALF). The 2015 Festival is the 4th edition and continues to grow each year. This year, there will be more than 30 authors in attendance, including cookbook author and television host Nathalie Dupree! Lana can’t wait to see Nathalie’s presentation! There will be writing workshops, panel discussions (I’m on one of those), and book signings with the attending authors.

The Augusta Literary Festival awards the Yerby Award each year, too. The Yerby Award, named for Frank Yerby is open to all participating authors. Frank Yerby graduated from Augusta’s Paine College and was the first African-American author to become a millionaire from his writing. I’ll enter a book from The Gemstone Chronicles!

Mark your calendars well in advance and join me and the other authors on March 7 for a great time! Be sure to visit the Authors Page to find out who is coming and plan your day and what authors to visit!  I hope of a lot of you will stop by and say hi! I look forward to meeting each of you!

Who is your favorite author at the Augusta Literary Festival? Are you planning on attending? Leave me a comment and let me know!

Connect with me:

Find me on Twitter, Facebook, and Goodreads and let’s connect. I enjoy meeting new friends!

Adamantine is an indestructible mythical metal. In The Gemstone Chronicles, the Elven Sword and the armor that Maggie discovers were both crafted from adamantine. But, what exactly is adamantine and where did the legendary metal originate? Read on and discover what I found out!

What is adamantine?

First, the word adamantine, according to Dictionary.com, means unyielding, firm, or too hard to cut, break, or pierce. The word is from the Greek root word adamas, which means, perhaps, unconquerable or invincible. Fitting that the metal, then, would become synonymous with indestructible!

Surprisingly, I found adamantine (or adamant) mentioned in many different literary works. Our friends over at Wikipedia gave us a number of examples. Here are a few of my favorites:

In the epic Medieval poem The Faerie Queene, Sir Artegal’s sword is adamantine.

In J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of The Rings, Nenya, one of the Three Rings of Power is described as a Ring Of Adamant. There are other mentions throughout the books!

In Greek mythology, Perseus uses an adamantine sword to decapitate Medusa.

John Milton’s Paradise Lost mentions the metal numerous times. The first reference is where Satan is hurled into “bottomless perdition, there to dwell in adamantine chains and penal fire” (lines 47-48).

Adamantine in The Gemstone Chronicles:

I could go on and on, but I think you get the drift. Adamantine, in the context I use it in my books, is a metal that creates indestructible weapons and armor. The Elven Sword, for instance, takes the power from its four gemstones and channels that power to The Diamond . In conjunction with the Elven Bow and its four gemstones, the power maintains the barrier between Celahir and the human world and the balance between good and evil. Maggie uses the armor made from the metal, forged by Valandil Lissesul, to fight the cockatrice. And Aidan finds a use for the Elven Sword, though I won’t tell you what it is! For that, you have to read Book Four: The Ruby!!

Adamantine, real or imagined is still a fascinating metal. Imbued with inherent magical powers, indestructible, and suitable for the weapons of the gods, I think it’s a great addition to The Gemstone Chronicles!!

If you’re a fantasy writer, what kind of awesome weapons do your characters wield? If you’re a reader, what do you think of the weapons in The Gemstone Chronicles? Leave me a comment and let me know!

Connect with me:

Find me on social media and let’s connect. I’m on Twitter, Facebook, and Goodreads. Please feel free to reach out and say hello! I enjoy meeting new friends! We can discuss books, reviews, indestructible swords or just about anything else.

Pinball Wizard!

My readers know that Beebop is the grandfather of Aidan and Maggie in the Adult fantasy adventure series The Gemstone Chronicles. We find out that Beebop has a lot of really cool toys in the books. His favorite is his 1973 red Corvette convertible (called the mid-life crisis by his lovely and adorable wife Nana), jet skis, a ski boat, four-wheelers, and a utility vehicle to ride the 50 acres of his north Georgia mountain home. Inside his home, Beebop has his man cave complete with more toys! Here is his favorite indoor toy: a Bally Pinball Wizard pinball machine!

My misspent youth!

In The Gemstone Chronicles books, I wanted Beebop to have hobbies and toys, so I used a little bit of my own experiences to provide them. Back in the day, in the little south Georgia town where I grew up, we used to go to a local skating rink and play this machine all night! Games only cost a quarter. My buddies and I got good enough that we could play the entire night on a dollar. In fact, we would tire of playing and give away free games. We’d drop a few coins in the jukebox (no iTunes or Pandora in those days), listen to Sweet’s Fox on the Run, David Bowie’s Fame, or KC and The Sunshine Band’s Get Down Tonight (yep, it was the Disco Era), and start playing! In a way, we were pinball wizards, too!

Good times, they were! It seemed fitting that Beebop would remember those days and include a reminder of the halcyon days of youth! Plus, he could pass along some of his memories to his grandchildren Aidan and Maggie.

I hope that this little trip into the past will jog your own memories and the good times you had just being a teenager! Were you a Pinball Wizard? I would love to hear some of your stories, so leave me a comment and let me know!

Connect with me:

Let’s connect on social media and swap stories! I’m on Twitter, Facebook, and Goodreads. Find me and start a conversation. I look forward to hearing from you!

I’m very happy to say that The Gemstone Chronicles Book Four: The Ruby has been published!! The series is now complete!! Below is the cover!

Book Four: The Ruby follows the adventures of Aidan, Maggie, Nana, and Beebop as they return to Celahir on the backs of the Arien- huge falcon-like birds that have roused to the defense of the magical world as the Drow march to the Spider Queen’s drumbeat. Bent on dominion over Celahir, the Spider Queen finally makes her move to crush the Light Elves and become Queen of the Elves!

Against that backdrop, Maggie is held captive by Enelya and Elerosse – the Dark Elves that imprisoned Findecano in the fairy cross. To save her, Aidan, Nana, Beebop, and Siobhan (the red-haired girl who Aidan has a serious crush on) have to battle the cherufe lava monster and recover the last of the gemstones stolen from the Elven Bow. And that is just the beginning of their adventures!

* * *

The series ends:

I can’t believe the series is ending, though. It has taken almost three years to write the books and get to this point. I have met so many wonderful authors, readers, and bloggers during the journey, and each has helped me in their own way. From encouraging words, reviews, tweets, posts, and helpful hints, those people mean more to me than I can express.

I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the real Aidan and Maggie, who were the inspiration to write the stories. I owe so much to the lovely and adorable Lana (Nana) who urged me to take a chance on self-publishing the books for others to read. Mere words don’t suffice, but thank you from the bottom of my heart! I love you!

Of course, wrapping up the series means that I have to find something new to write about. I have a number of ideas simmering in my head, so I will just have to start writing and see which one bubbles to the top. Until then, enjoy reading all of The Gemstone Chronicles. Find the links for Books 1-3 below!!!

The Carnelian

The Amethyst

The Emerald

Dahlonega Literary Festival!

Dahlonega Literary Festival – Gold Mine of Books & Authors!

When most people think or hear about Dahlonega, Georgia, the first thing that comes to mind is the Dahlonega Gold Rush. And why not, with all of the gold that came out of the hills in the area! Gold mining, on a much smaller scale still persists to this day. I even do a little prospecting myself!

The Dahlonega Mint was commissioned in 1835 to mint gold coins from the gold found in the Dahlonega area and, perhaps, some of the California gold. According to the New Georgia Encyclopedia, during its history, the Dahlonega Mint coined over $6 million.

Today, though, I want to discuss another type of treasure found in Dahlonega. The Dahlonega Literary Festival is a gold mine of authors and their books. Set in the beautiful North Georgia Mountains, it’s an amazing event!

Come celebrate the 10th anniversary edition of the festival on March 8-9, 2014 at the Community House and St. Luke’s. There will be panel discussions, presentations, and book signings!

The very cool thing for me is that I have the honor of participating in the Festival as a Regional Author! I get to join in the fun, interact with festival goers, and meet the other authors. As a reader, the idea of meeting writers is exciting to me! As a writer, the opportunity to meet and greet readers is simply awesome!!

Connect with the Dahlonega Literary Festival:

Follow this link for more information about this year’s Dahlonega Literary Festival!

Visit the links below to find out about the authors, their books, and pictures and bios.

Authors:

Regional Authors:

Connect with the festival on Facebook:

If you are going to be in the Dahlonega area on March 8-9, 2014, make plans to stop by the Dahlonega Literary Festival. Discover books and authors in the North Georgia Mountains!

Connect with me:

Find me on social media and let’s connect. I’m on Twitter, Facebook, and Goodreads. Say hi and start a conversation! Let’s discuss books, reviews, and just about anything else! I love to meet new friends.

Have you read The Gemstone Chronicles? Since you’re already here, if you’ve read one (or more) please consider leaving a review! I love to know what my readers think! It helps me become a better writer, too!

In keeping with the theme of unusual monsters for The Gemstone Chronicles young adult and middle grades fantasy adventure series, the mythical creature of Book Four: The Ruby is the cherufe lava monster! Fearsome looking beast, I think! Overall, I think it is my favorite of the gemstone guardians!

The Cherufe:

According to Wikipedia, the cherufe lava monster is a creature from the legends of the Mapuche people of Chile. The cherufe is an evil humanoid creature made of rock and magma, though it is often depicted as a snake. It likes humans – especially virginal sacrifices – as a delicacy and is rumored to eat the body, then toss the head out of the volcano as a fireball.

The cherufe lava monster lives in the molten lava deep in the bowels of volcanoes. In The Ruby, the cherufe is the guardian of the last of the stolen gemstones from the Elven Bow. Read The Ruby to see if the beast can be defeated!

Interestingly, the creature may actually be based on a real creature that could exist in the extreme temperatures found in volcanoes. Since animals thrive near hydrothermal vents deep in the ocean, who knows? While such a creature has never been found and the chances of it living are remote, it is not impossible!

The monsters:

There you have all four monsters from The Gemstone Chronicles! The kelpie, a giant, the cockatrice, and finally, the cherufe lava monster. Of all of them, which one is your favorite – or least favorite? Leave me a comment and let me know!! And, if you are intrigued by any of the monsters, check out the books at the following links.

Links:

Smashwords:

Amazon:

Facebook:

Connect with me:

Find me on Twitter, Facebook, or Goodreads and let’s connect and talk mythical monsters!!