Autumn in the Forest

Autumn in the Forest

Monday, September 21, 2020

"Season of Fire and Ice" Snippet

Roan barked again, spear ready as he and Splinter plunged through the snow toward the fox. The hunter pulled its head from the bakery and looked up at the pair, its mouth smacking as it ate something. Roan’s heart sank until he saw a few crumbs fall from the beast’s mouth. It was only eating Maple’s fruit ’n nut bread.

The creature plunged its head back in the snow, and Roan heard another screech.

“Maple! Throw it more bread!” he yelled, edging closer to the fox.

The beast jerked its head, then dove its face back into the bakery, snuffling. Maple must have hit it on the nose. He got a good look at the creature as he bullied forward. Its sides were sunken in behind its ribs, as though it hadn’t eaten in quite some time, and its orange fur was matted and scraggly in places, giving the beast an overall appearance of ill health.

It shivered as snowflakes drifted down around it, clinging to its back. The creature’s meager body heat had melted some of them, the water undoubtedly penetrating its fur. Roan grimaced. If it didn’t feed, it was clear this skeleton of a fox would die long before the warmth of spring melted the snow.

“You are starving,” he bellowed in his baritone voice.

All of Evershade grew instantly quiet so that only the gentle sound of falling snow could be heard. The fox looked up at him and Splinter, swallowing.

“Yes.” Its voice was female.

“We will protect ourselves.”

The fox swallowed again. “Not hunting in Evershade.”

Tuesday, September 8, 2020

Blue Jay Oddity

I just discovered that blue jays do something curious each autumn. They gather acorns and hide them away to eat throughout the winter.

Here's the odd part--their throat is flexible, which means they can stuff in up to eight acorns at a time.

In my books, blue jays are a threat to young mice and squirrels. Their ability to hoard acorns shows that they could swallow a young creature whole and hold them in their throat.

The more you know....

Friday, January 31, 2020

What's Going On?

All right, people. You know I'm not a blogger. And I'm hardly on my computer anymore, so there's that.... Anyway, here is an update.

All five Little Evershade picture books were written and completed during the Fall of 2019. I took December off from writing to work on college applications with my daughter, build my Twitter account, and make plans for the current trilogy I'm working on. Interestingly, I was at loose ends during that month, despite being busy. I really missed writing.

Since January 1st, I have written daily. I have begun the "White Warriors" trilogy, which explores how the elite Order of Rozka--the warriors who fight for Evershade--came about. The main character is an albino squirrel born into a community of gray squirrels, and he is ostracized for his color. This is becoming an interesting topic to explore.

As always, my books are available online and are now on walmart.com as well, which thrills me. Probably because I shop at our local Wal-Mart store a lot....

 
tinyurl.com/Evershade-Crows
 
tinyurl.com/Evershade-Madness
 
 

Monday, October 14, 2019

Chipmunk Quandary

 
My current challenge is to write Evershade picture books based on the characters in my novels.
 
It sounds easy enough, but there is this whole internal debate about how I go about this. Do I select a favorite scene from a novel and convert that into a story? Do I dream up moments when the characters were young and write about their adventures? Or do I simply make up something entirely new?
 
Well, maybe a little of each.
 
I would like Roan to have his own book. Though he would be appalled, I am considering crafting a story about his younger days. He's a bit grim as an adult chipmunk for a picture book audience, but maybe when he was younger he was a little more mellow....
 
Maybe....
 
 
Season of Crows:
 
 
Season of Madness:


Thursday, September 26, 2019

Autumn Arrives

As summer days begin to wind down, fall colors start to emerge. I, for one, cannot wait for the beautiful reds to show--reds as beautiful as those on the male house finch.
 
Summertime has been a struggle for me in recent years due to a thyroid condition completely out of my control. I get very little work done during the hottest parts of the year, and that includes outside work as well as writing. Rather, I enjoy the cooler, less humid months and tend to spend much more time outside when they finally arrive.
 
Lately, the mornings have been cool enough for me to sit in the back yard before the sun rises and enjoy the sounds of crickets chirping and the occasional bird singing. It does me good to be out in nature again. Truly. When I can recharge my soul in nature, I can start things anew. New writing, new projects, new goals. Autumn marks the beginning of the productive season for me.
 
So, yes, I look forward to the cold. Things get done when I am not in misery from the heat. I hope this time of year is just as good for you.

 
 
 
 
 

Season of Crows”





Season of Madness”




Wednesday, August 14, 2019

Yep, Still Not a Blogger

I am absolutely shattered, but I am attempting to get my life back on track. Suffice it to say, things will never be the same, but here is my first blog since January.

I finished writing the fifth and final book in this series, and I will be writing Evershade picture books for younger readers this fall. After that, I will begin my spin-off trilogy, tentatively called "The White Warrior Series" or something like that. It stars the white squirrels of Cedar Grove.

Thank you for your patience and support. I might try to get back to blogging a couple times a month. We'll see. For now, I'm trying to keep my head above water....


 
SEASON OF CROWS
 


 
 
 
SEASON OF MADNESS
 



Friday, January 11, 2019

Not a Blogger

It should be no surprise that I don't particularly care for blogging. My last entry was in August, and my life has crumbled apart entirely since then.

Today's post will be used to simply announce the publication of my second novel, "Season of Madness." Enjoy.