The Gemstone Chronicles

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays from The Gemstone Chronicles! It’s the most wonderful time of the year and I have so much to be thankful for!

I wanted to take this opportunity to say thanks to everyone for the comments, helpful advice, and for reading and reviewing The Gemstone Chronicles in 2013! The final book of the series, The Ruby, will be released in early 2014. Please take time to thank those who have blessed your life! Enjoy your family and reflect on what the holiday season means to you. As for me, I will be spending time with my beautiful and amazing wife Lana, my awesome grandchildren Aidan and Maggie, my wonderful daughter Laura and son-in-law Mike, and my extended family. Have a Merry Christmas and a wonderful and prosperous New Year!!

If you received a Kindle (or iPad or Nook) as a gift during this season of giving, why not fill it up with The Gemstone Chronicles? The books are available in mobi and epub formats for your ereader and make great gifts! Like the feel of holding a book? They are in paperback, too, so there’s something for everyone!

Connect with me:

I’ll be on social media over the holidays (though intermittently). If you use Twitter, Facebook, or Goodreads, look me up and say hi! It’s always a pleasure to meet new friends!

Happy Holidays!!!

Cockatrice!

In The Gemstone Chronicles Book Three: The Emerald, our heroes, Maggie and Aidan have to strike out on their own to free their parents, grandparents, and elf friends from the clutches of the witch Maeva. Once they complete that onerous task, they all have to journey to fight a cockatrice to recover the Emerald for the Elven Bow. Facing this monster is a momentous task!

What is a cockatrice?

What exactly is a cockatrice? According to Wikipedia, a cockatrice is a mythical beast that is born from a chicken egg incubated by a toad. Often confused and somewhat synonymous with the basilisk, the difference is that the basilisk has no wings.

Among the mythical powers associated with the cockatrice is the ability to scorch the very earth with its breath. In The Emerald, the cockatrice blasts the area around the second tower with its horrid breath and leaves the area devoid of vegetation. A second power is the ability to turn any creature into stone simply by looking into its eyes. While this may be a takeoff on the Medusa myth, it serves its purpose in well in the book. The beast protects the Emerald given to it by Naesse.

The picture above depicts the seal of the City of Zwolle from 1295 and it shows Saint Michael battling a cockatrice. Note the weasel in the bottom corner of the picture. Weasels (and their cousins the ferrets), have the ability to withstand the beast’s gaze – something that plays a very important role in the book!

The monsters:

I tried to create a unique monster to guard each of the stolen gemstones. I think the cockatrice fits that bill quite nicely.

For my final monster, I have a very unusual creature that will be the subject of the last post in this series. Without knowing what that monster is, which of the first three is your favorite? Leave me a comment and let me know!

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Find me on social media and let’s connect! I’m on Twitter, Facebook, and Goodreads, so stop by and say hi!

Giants!

Giants! What does the word conjure up for you? Is it the giant from Jack and the Beanstalk? Or perhaps the Cyclops from Greek mythology? David and Goliath? There are many others that could qualify, but, as I mentioned in a previous post about kelpies, I wanted the monsters of The Gemstone Chronicles series to be unique. This caused a lot of headaches and research before I settled on the right giant for Book Two: The Amethyst.

History:

Before I go deeper into that, though, I want to talk more about giants in general. Giants have been part of human history forever, it seems. Just Google the term and you get over 87 million hits. Granted, some of those are for sports teams, but still. So, where do giants exist in mythology and legend? Most people are familiar, as I mentioned above, with David and Goliath. But, Goliath isn’t the only giant mentioned in the Bible. The Nephilim were on the Earth before and after the Flood.

Other civilizations have giants, too. According to Wikipedia, the giants of Hinduism are called Daityas and they fought against the gods. In Native American lore, the Si-Te-Cah were a race of red-haired cannibalistic giants. Other cultures that feature giants are the Greeks, Romans, Norse (and who doesn’t like the idea of frost giants, fire giants, and mountain giants), Baltic, and many others.

Irish mythology:

This research lead me to a great tale from Northern Ireland. According to Irish legends (listed in Wikipedia), the giant Fionn mac Cumhaill (Finn McCool in English) tore some of the land from the ground and threw it at a rival. Finn missed, and the chunk of land became the Island of Man. I used that legend as the basis of the Island of Man in the book.

Another cool story is the that of the Giant’s Causeway. I used that tale, too, as it involves our giant from the Island of Man legend. In this story, Finn McCool built the causeway so that he and another giant Benandonner could meet and fight. Finn wins in one version of the story. In another version, Finn sees that Benandonner is much larger than he is, so Finn’s wife disguises him as a baby. Benandonner, seeing how large Finn is, believes that Finn’s father must be truly huge and he flees to Scotland, tearing up the causeway behind him. Here is a picture of the Giant’s Causeway!

I morphed the tales into the story of Brendan, the giant who controls the Island of Man in The Amethyst. I loved the way the story turned out, but you won’t get any spoilers from me. You just have read it to find out!

To be sure, giants aren’t always malevolent. For instance, the giant in Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels is a friendly giant. In the US, we have the Jolly Green Giant advertising vegetables. Paul Bunyan and his Blue Ox Babe are seen in various towns in North America. This tempers the image of Cyclops, Frankenstein’s monster, or any of the other more unpleasant giants.

Which of the giants are your favorites? Scary, man-eating monsters, or gentle, helpful creatures of immense stature? Whichever you prefer, giants are awesome!!!

Kelpies!!

I often get asked by readers of The Gemstone Chronicles series how I decided on the monsters that guard the stolen gemstones. Did I make them up or are they based actual creatures (or at least mythical creatures)? The truth is that I did a lot of research before settling on my monsters. I didn’t want to have zombies, vampires – sparkly or otherwise – or werewolves or any of the other currently popular monsters. No, I wanted something different, something outside the norm. What did I settle on? Kelpies!

The beasts:

So, exactly what are kelpies? Accounts vary as to the origin, but according to Wikipedia the kelpie is a supernatural water horse from Celtic folklore. Similar creatures exist in many other cultures. In The Gemstone Chronicles Book One: The Carnelian, I used the Scottish version of the beast, called each uisge (pronounced as best I can tell ek-wizz-key). Below is an image of the beast in its true form.

Kind of creepy, huh? But, the kelpies don’t always look likes this. The monster often appears as a white horse grazing peacefully near running water. When a rider mounts the horse, an adhesive traps the rider to the horse’s back and the horse leaps into the water, drowning the rider. Beebop and Maggie experience the kelpie but, no spoilers from me on what happened!

One of the more unpleasant aspects to the kelpies is that the creatures will eat the victim, except for the heart or liver, which is allowed to drift to the surface for people to find. Sounds like a perfect thing to guard the Carnelian!

You can see kelpies are unusual monsters and a great fit for The Gemstone Chronicles! Stay tuned, I will be talking about the other creatures in upcoming posts.

What are your favorite monsters? Are they current, well-known creatures or are they more old school? Leave me a comment and let me know!!

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The North Georgia Mountains have been a wonderful find for me. I grew up in New Mexico and Colorado where we were near mountains and spent some time in them while I was young, but I never really gained an appreciation for them. When we moved to North Georgia, I had the opportunity to explore the mountains and find lots of inspiration. As most of you know, I have become an avid gem hunter and gold prospector. It was during one of those trips that I found the house that would become the model for Nana and Beebop’s mountain home in my fantasy adventure series The Gemstone Chronicles!

The Home:

What an amazing place this looked to be! I’m not sure how much land belongs to this place or if there are any old mine shafts on the property, but it easy to imagine there would be. And what about elves, magic, and missing gemstones? They could all be a part of this gorgeous scene! And it was the model for Nana and Beebop’s home!

Running near the property is a gold-bearing creek. How do I know it is gold-bearing? Well, that same creek runs through our favorite gem hunting spot where people have found gold! It just adds to the mystery and possibilities of the mountains.

The River:

Now, in the books, there is a river running through Beebop’s property. Right down the road from the house pictured above, is the Chestatee River (also know to have gold in it). In fact, the Chestatee River runs through one of the gold prospecting properties I visit on occasion! Here is the river that inspired the one running through Beebop’s land.

I had always heard that the mountains could be such a wonderful place to visit and live near. Having spent much of my life in deep South Georgia where it is about as flat as it can be, discovering the wonders of the North Georgia Mountains has been a blessing.  They certainly provided me the inspirations for many of settings for my books!

Do you have a favorite spot in the mountains? Do you visit them for scenery or recreation (or both)? Leave me a comment and let me know!!

Book One: The Carnelian – One Year Later!

The Gemstone Chronicles Book One: The Carnelian – One Year Later!!

It seems like yesterday when I embarked on my self-publishing journey with the release of The Gemstone Chronicles Book One: The Carnelian, but it has been one whole year! That’s right, August 12, 2012 The Carnelian went live! I didn’t know what to think or how it would be received, but, with the encouragement of Lana, I put the book out there for public consumption. What a pleasant trip it has been. I have received 11 reviews on Amazon (six 5 Star, four 4 Star, and one 3 Star), and 13 reviews on Goodreads!

Here are some of the comments from Amazon:

This is a great book that can be enjoyed by children and adults of all ages.  – Amazon Reviewer

Thank you for sharing your imagination with us!  – Amazon Reviewer

I can tell you that I will definitely be reading the rest of the series.  

– Amazon Reviewer

Join me in celebrating the first anniversary of The Gemstone Chronicles Book One: The Carnelian! As a way of thanking everyone who has been or will be a part of this wonderful experience, I am offering The Carnelian ebook for $0.99 from August 12 – August 31!! The book is available at the following retailers:

Amazon.com: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B008WV90JQ

Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/214281
 

Join me as we follow the adventures of Aidan, Maggie, Nana, Beebop, and their elven friends as they travel to the magical world of Celahir and try to restore the balance between good and evil!!

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