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William L. Stuart

author of The Gemstone Chronicles Series

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A Great Day Gem Hunting!!

January 13, 2013 by Bill Stuart Leave a Comment

As many of you know, I love to go gem hunting in the north Georgia mountains. In fact, the entire series of The Gemstones Chronicles was formulated while on a gem hunting trip to Gold ‘n Gems Grubbin’ up in Cleveland, GA.

Today, my brother John and I took advantage of the unseasonably warm temperatures and headed back up to Cleveland for a day of gem hunting. We had a great day, as the photos below will attest.

The photo below is of my entire haul for the day. Now, you have to understand, this is not sifting through a seeded bucket of dirt at the flume. Nope, at Gold ‘n Gems Grubbin’ , we dig through a pile of dirt brought up from the gold mine on the site – one 5-gallon bucket at a time. You can buy buckets, if you choose, but we would rather search the pile of dirt. It’s much more fun!

The haul!

Gem hunting total haul

The photo (please excuse the quality of the photo) shows the amethysts I found across the top nearest the ruler. Other stones include: aventurine, topaz, quartz (lemon and clear), garnet, obsidian, emeralds, sapphires, and rubies. Not bad for four hours of work.

Today’s best finds!

Dark Amethyst

This is my favorite stone of the day! I weighed this very dark purple amethyst at 83 grams (which translates to 415 carats). Given that I just released The Gemstone Chronicles Book Two: The Amethyst, it was really neat to find this stone today!!

Lemon Quartz

This is my second favorite stone of the day. I didn’t weigh this one, but it is a large piece of lemon quartz. Very clear, with few internal fractures. This might be a good candidate for having some stones cut for earrings or a bracelet.

Amethyst 2

Another very large amethyst that I found today. I didn’t weigh this one either, but you can tell by the size it is a fine specimen. It is not nearly as purple as the first stone, but still a very nice rock!

Amethyst 3

My last picture is another lighter-colored amethyst. Another very large stone, and one that I really like. I wish I could show you every one of the stones I found today, but this post would be way to long! Enjoy these few and, if you have an opportunity, go look for some of your own!! Many states have gem hunting opportunities, so take advantage of them and see what you can find!! If you do, stop by and tell me about it!

Connect with me:

Do you gem hunt? Have you read any of The Gemstone Chronicles? If so, leave me a comment and let me know. Connect with me on social media, too! I’m on Twitter, Facebook, and Goodreads, so stop by and say hi!

Filed Under: author, Book Posts, Cool Things, Gemstone Posts, North Georgia Mountains, The Gemstone Chronicles, William L Stuart Tagged With: adventure, amethyst, books, cabochons, ebook, ebooks, emerald, facets, gem mining, gems, gemstone rough, gemstones, Georgia, Gold 'n Gems Grubbin', magic, middle grade, middle grades, rock hunting, rock tumbling, The Amethyst, The Carnelian, The Gemstone Chronicles, tumbled gemstones, william stuart, young adult

New Toys!!!!!

December 30, 2012 by Bill Stuart Leave a Comment

New Toys!!

I know I have been away for a while. I have been working on the paperback version of The Gemstone Chronicles Book Two: The Amethyst, enjoying Christmas with the grands, traveling to see family in South Georgia, and just generally enjoying some time off. In light of all that, look what I got for Christmas!! Yes, I had asked for a metal detector and a two drum rock tumbler and look what showed up Christmas morning!! I can now work three steps of the tumbling process as the same time. How cool is that? And, I can also take my new metal detector with me when I rock hunt. You never know what you might find. Since I live near a lake, I can explore the shoreline and see what I can find. I am excited to get these new toys for me to play with! Here are a couple of pictures I took of the new equipment.

New Toys Garrett Metal Detector

My new Garret 150 Metal Detector!! Not the most powerful detector, but a good start to a new hobby!

New Toys Two Drum Rock Tumbler

And my new two drum rock tumbler!! I can hardly wait until the next opportunity to go rock hunting!! I can tumble six pounds of gemstones at one time in this tumbler, so it’s time to find more rocks! Now if I can just convince Lana to let me buy a Bobcat….

What did you get for Christmas? Anything fun that you can use for your hobbies? Leave me a comment and let me know!

Connect with me:

If you use Twitter, Facebook, or Goodreads, find me and let’s connect. You can tell me about your hobbies (maybe I’ll find a new one from your stories) and let me know what you think of my books and my blog!

Filed Under: Book Posts, Gemstone Posts Tagged With: adventure, Amazon, amethyst, author, bobcat, books, cabochons, ebook, ebooks, elves, emerald, fantasy, gem mining, gems, gemstone rough, gemstones, KDP, Kindle, magic, metal detector, middle grade, middle grades, rock hunting, rock tumbler, rock tumbling, tumbled gemstones, william stuart, young adult

Merry Christmas and Happy 2013!!

December 24, 2012 by Bill Stuart Leave a Comment

Happy Holidays!!

I want to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year and to say thanks for making 2012 a truly memorable year for me and The Gemstone Chronicles. I published The Gemstone Chronicles Book One: The Carnelian in August, followed by the paperback version in November. Just this past week, I published The Gemstone Chronicles Book Two: The Amethyst for Kindle, and I submitted the files to CreateSpace for the paperback. I still have to review the file before releasing the paperback of The Amethyst, but that will happen soon and it should be available by New Year’s Day!

Merry Christmas The Carnelian

Merry Christmas The Amethyst

Thank you Readers!

So, from the bottom of my heart, thank you all for taking my books into your hearts, homes, and minds. You readers make them so much more successful than I ever dreamed possible. Now, I hope you will all enjoy whatever holiday you celebrate! I wish you all the happiest and most prosperous New Year! And, if you happen to get a Kindle or other ereader, add The Gemstone Chronicles to your TBR list!! Once you finish reading one (or all of them) please consider leaving a review. I enjoy discovering what my readers think of the books!

If you want to connect with me, I can be found on Twitter, Facebook, and Goodreads. You can also drop me an email at bill@williamlstuart.com. If you don’t want to miss a post, subscribe to the blog!

Merry Christmas and Happy 2013!!

Filed Under: Book Posts, Happy New year, Merry Christmas, The Gemstone Chronicles, William L Stuart Tagged With: adventure, Amazon, amethyst, author, books, ebook, ebooks, elves, emerald, facets, fantasy, fiction, gem mining, gems, gemstone rough, gemstones, Happy 2013, Happy Holidays, Happy New Year, KDP, Kindle, magic, Merry Christmas, middle grade, middle grades, rock hunting, rock tumbling, self publishing, Smashwords, The Gemstone Chronicles, william stuart, young adult

The Gemstone Chronicles Book Two: The Amethyst is launched!!

December 21, 2012 by Bill Stuart 1 Comment

Mayan Apocalypse (or not)!

I launched the second book my my series The Gemstone Chronicles to celebrate the Mayan Apocalypse non-event! Entitled The Gemstone Chronicles Book Two: The Amethyst, the book builds on the adventure begun in The Gemstone Chronicles Book One: The Carnelian. Below is a brief description!

In Celahir, the magical land where the Light Elves and the Dark Elves live, the Dark Elves have stolen the four gemstones of the Elven Bow. Without those gemstones, the barrier between the human world and Celahir is deteriorating and threatens the balance between good and evil in both worlds.

Aidan, Maggie, Nana, and Beebop, with help from their Light Elf friends during their first trip to Celahir, recovered the Carnelian – the first of the stolen gemstones. Now, the stakes are even higher when the elves return to the human world to ask for help recovering the second gemstone, the Amethyst, and the humans discover that Mike – Aidan and Maggie’s father – has been kidnapped by the evil elf Naesse!

The humans, accompanied by Aidan and Maggie’s mother, Laura, return to Celahir to rescue Mike and recover the Amethyst. All they have to do is defeat the giant that guards the gemstone…

I launched the ebook on Kindle and Smashwords. The CreateSpace submission for the paperback should happen this weekend, so the paperback should be available in the next few days. Here is the cover:

The Gemstone Chronicles The Amethyst Cover Launched

Links:

Here is the link to the ebook on Amazon:

Since you’re headed that way, take a minute to leave a review for my books or any other books you’ve read! It helps authors to know what the readers think!

I will post the link to the paperback as soon as it is available!

And, just in case you missed it, I had my first interview as an author. Becky Day did a great interview with me. Here is the link to that post on Becky’s amazing blog!

Author Interview with William L. Stuart: Talking Elves & Magical Gemstones!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! Thanks for making 2012 such a memorable year for me and The Gemstone Chronicles!!

Have you read The Gemstone Chronicles Book One: The Carnelian? If you have, leave me a comment and tell me what you thought! Better yet, go to Amazon or Goodreads and leave a review! If you haven’t, why not take a look? You might just be amazed!!

Filed Under: author, Book Posts, The Gemstone Chronicles, William L Stuart Tagged With: adventure, Amazon, amethyst, author, books, ebook, ebooks, elves, emerald, facets, fantasy, fiction, gem mining, gems, gemstone rough, gemstones, KDP, Kindle, magic, middle grade, middle grades, rock hunting, rock tumbling, self publishing, The Amethyst. The Carnelian, The Gemstone Chronicles, tumbled gemstones, william stuart, young adult

The Gemstone Chronicles Book One: The Carnelian (now in paperback)!

November 23, 2012 by Bill Stuart 2 Comments

The Carnelian in Paperback!

As many of you know, I published (through CreateSpace) the paperback version of The Gemstone Chronicles Book One: The Carnelian yesterday! It went live on Createspace.com immediately (https://www.createspace.com/4042510). However, the site told me it would be available at Amazon.com (and other outlets) within a few days.

Paperback The Carnelian Cover

Well, imagine my surprise when I looked at Amazon a little while ago and found the paperback already available!

http://www.amazon.com/The-Gemstone-Chronicles-Book-One/dp/1480206288/ref=tmm_pap_title_0?ie=UTF8&qid=1353709478&sr=8-1

If you are buying someone a Kindle for Christmas, why not include The Gemstone Chronicles Book One: The Carnelian as part of the gift? It is available for $0.99 today and tomorrow (Nov. 23 and 24, 2012). If all goes well, you might add The Gemstone Chronicles Book Two: The Amethyst, too! Load up the new devices!

Not a ebook fan? No worries! Buy the paperback for $9.99! That’s a great price and it’s a great gift.

Either way, you get a great read for a low price!! If you are so inclined, please consider leaving a review, too! Reviews help me become a better writer and let’s me know what readers think! Thanks in advance.

Enjoy your Black Friday shopping and remember to visit your local bookstore and maybe pick up a book or six!! Don’t forget, you can order The Gemstone Chronicles Book One: The Carnelian from Barnes and Noble and from iTunes. Fill up your Nook or iPad today!

Connect with me on social media on Twitter, Facebook, and Goodreads, or just email me at bill@williamlstuart.com. And don’t miss a post! Subscribe to the blog!

Filed Under: Book Posts, Recommendations and Reviews, Self publishing, The Gemstone Chronicles, William L Stuart Tagged With: adventure, author, books, ebook, elves, fantasy, fiction, gems, Good Reads, Good Reads author, KDP, Kindle, magic, middle grade, middle grades, rock hunting, rock tumbling, self publishing, The Gemstone Chronicles, william stuart, young adult

Gold ‘n Gem Grubbin in the North Georgia Mountains!!

November 18, 2012 by Bill Stuart 5 Comments

Gold ‘n Gem Grubbin in the North Georgia Mountains! 

For any of you who have been following my posts, you know that I love to go gem hunting in the north Georgia mountains. It was during one of my trips that my grandson suggested that I write a book incorporating the “magical” properties of gemstones with a quest and some elves and The Gemstone Chronicles were born!

My favorite place to hunt gemstones is Gold ‘n Gem Grubbin in Cleveland, GA. You can visit their website at: http://www.goldngemgrubbinstore.com.

Gold n Gem Grubbin Entrance
Gold n Gem Grubbin Entrance

Here you can pan for gold, work buckets at the sluice, or dig at the creek. I prefer the creek. There is something about sitting in a chair, sifting through pans of dirt in the creek, and looking for shiny rocks that relaxes me. We were doing this when Aidan suggested the book. Below is a picture of the sluice area where you can buy buckets of rocks and sift through them to find treasures!

Gold n Gem Grubbin Sluice Area
Gold n Gem Grubbin Sluice Area

Mining at the Creek!

As I said, I prefer mining at the creek. I didn’t take any pictures of the dirt pile that I worked. Gold ‘n Gem Grubbin is part of an operating gold mine. The owners will dump loads of dirt from the gold mine next to the creek and you can fill up buckets with dirt and screen them right there in the creek and take home what you find. While you aren’t guaranteed to find anything, I have been going almost monthly for a few years now and I have never come home empty-handed. November 16 was no exception!

Gold n Gem Grubbin Haul
This is my haul from about 4 hours of work! There are various quartz, some amethysts, garnets, rubies, sapphires, aventurine, emeralds, hematite, and a few others.

Below are some closer shots of some of the stones! I apologize for the quality of the photos in advance…

Gold n Gem Grubbin Amethysts
Various amethysts that I found Nov. 16 2012. They vary in color from a light purple to a much darker purple!

Gold n' Gems Grubbin' various stones
Rubies, Sapphires, and Hematite

Gold 'n Gem Grubbin Quartz
Quartz

What will I do with my stones?

Now, I am not a skilled maker of cabochons or faceted gemstones (though I would really like to learn). I know some people who are and I may tumble some of the stones, have them made into cabs, or have them faceted. I don’t know yet, but my collection continues to grow. Assuming the weather is nice, I may be back there in December with shovel and sifting box in hand!

If you are ever in the Cleveland, GA area and need a neat activity for you to enjoy, give Gold ‘n Gem Grubbin a try!

Have you visited Gold ‘n Gem Grubbin? If so, leave me a comment and let me know how your day went. If you prefer to connect with me on social media, I can be found on Twitter, Facebook, Goodreads, or email me at bill@williamlstuart.com. You can also subscribe to the blog and never miss a post!

P.S. This is not an endorsement and I did not receive any compensation for this post. I like going up there and thought I would share!!

Filed Under: Book Posts, Cool Things, Gemstone Posts, North Georgia Mountains, The Gemstone Chronicles, William L Stuart Tagged With: books, cabochons, Cleveland GA, ebook, elves, emerald, gem mining, gems, gemstone rough, gemstones, Georgia, gold, gold panning, KDP, Kindle, magic, middle grades, peridot, rock hunting, rock tumbling, sluicing, The Gemstone Chronicles, tumbled gemstones, william stuart, young adult

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