A Glimpse Into the Future

The Ten Families

The ruling class within the Eastern Empire is governed by a council comprised of members from the original Ten Families. Each family controls a specific region within the empire. The emperor can be a male member of any family, but once a ruler is cursed with no male heir, then upon his death the other Nine Families will put forth a Challenger to compete for the Throne in a contest decided upon by all parties.

At the time of the ascension of Vivienne to the title of Guardian, Adal of the Family Fisal is emperor of the East. His son is Crown Prince Zhan, a strong contender for his father’s throne. But dissension is growing among the families lead by General Yuan and his Family. A lesser House, it has been seven generations since the Family Yuan ruled the Empire and the general is anxious to change the future. But to challenge Adal is to bring the other Families into open warfare.

In a bid to force a new competition for the Empire, Yuan approves the assassination of Adal and his son Zhan. While the emperor is killed, the crown prince escapes. Mortally wounded he makes his way to the Priory of Cassandra where he meets Kai, daughter of Family Heret. Kai is the only virgin daughter in the Ten Families; her fate is to be married to the next Emperor.

 Zhan has known Kai all of his life; their fathers are best friends. For most of her twenty-four years it has been assumed Zhan would be her husband. Now with Yuan’s treachery spreading rumors of Zhan’s fratricide, only a miracle will save the young prince’s throne and love from being ripped away and given to a lesser Family. Forced to flee the empire to save his life, Zhan promises to return for Kai.

But General Yuan has an ally none of the other Families have met, a druid exiled from his place at the Druid Fortress, a man whose attempt to wrestle control of the Books of Forbidden Knowledge has already toppled one kingdom and brought unimaginable power forth in the person of the Guardian. Alastyre has survived and intends to unleash the full might of the Eastern Empire upon the other four Kingdoms.

At the time of Vivienne’s conquest of the Pinnacle Valley, the Families are firmly divided into two camps: those who support Family Yuan and those who support Family Fisal. They are as follows: For Family Yuan is: Yuan, Asan, Shaud, Landa and Bechts; For Family Fisal: Fisal, Heret, Pavan, Vasra and Tshen.

So the stage is set, for a world war encompassing the Five Kingdoms. For the Prophecy of Aedan still stands hanging over the earth, awaiting the touch of purifying fire to gift the land with the promised second rebirth. The path of destiny has been set.

Writing, Writing, Writing...

I just wanted to post an update on what's going on both in my world and Vivienne's. Since we are busy working on book three, Vivi wanted everyone to know what's coming in book two. She is so very thoughtful that way.

Book Two, "The Price for Redemption" is almost ready for submission. I was content with how things were progressing, but at Vivienne's insistence, we sent the story out to the fabulous Greta van der Rol, my editor for "Catalyst - Guardian Rising" for a sanity check. She made some excellent suggestions and so another month was spent revamping. After the final sanity read, it will be off to the publisher.

I must confess book two is my favorite of the first trilogy. First and foremost, Vivienne finds she has more power than she imagined. Alone, separated from Devon, bereft of Minnlin and his plans, she must rely on Theirran to help her reach the Valley of the Pinnacle Library. But that poses its own set of problems.

Theirran is no gentleman. A known womanizer, a warrior with the heart of a poet, he exudes sex from every pore. Never married but certainly never alone unless he wishes it, Theirran is the opposite of his loyal and loving younger brother. His actions tend to be reckless, his adventures extreme. Will long miles across the emptiness of the Central Plains guarding Devon's wife teach Theirran responsibility or will the challenge of the unobtainable woman bring out his brash and roguish side?

Vivienne is alone, still weak from pneumonia contracted during the long winter trek from the Citadel to Pitaq in the Northern Territory. Knowing only she must find the Library ahead of Sauk and Sionn, she turns to Der and the other generals of the North and West for aid in defeating their enemies. But something still isn't right; there are too many things that make no sense. Such as how Sauk always knows where to find her, if the information is secret then who is the traitor? Who has betrayed her? How deep does Sauk's treachery run?

Stay tuned for more insights into Book Two!

The First Rebellion, pt.1

For thousands of years, the Druids maintained the peace among all the Kingdoms. Most people were still struggling to build new lives on the reconstructed surface of the earth. They only brought out from the Sanctuaries the basic information needed to create gardens, build homes, and form new towns. Instructions for sanitary facilities, drainage facilities, even governmental structure were all released piece by piece by the Druids. But eventually a movement began to sweep across the lands, wondering why the keepers of the knowledge were reluctant to give the people wider access to their history.

Inside the Druid centers, the same debate was being carried out. As select students and Masters began to open more and more of the past, it became apparent some of what they were discovering was being hidden from the wider population. Soon the whispers and secrets began dividing the centers. Stealth became the order of the day. Acolytes were selected not for their talents but for their ability to ferret out information.

Soon whispers among the druids began to speak of a library, of books that contained more information than anyone could imagine. But the location was supposedly a deep secret. The druids who maintained this library were members of a closed society. Outsiders were unwelcome, no acolytes from the Five Kingdoms were admitted to their center. The more these stories were told, the more people began looking for this library.

Four thousand years past and the whispers grew stronger. Soon people began to claim this story was no myth, that they had seen the building for themselves. Soon the governments of the Kingdoms began pressing the Druids, asking and then demanding these books be released to the growing human populations. Each demand was met with the same answer. "No, we will not give potential harmful information to the land which could bring about another destruction."

Five hundred years before Vivienne's birth, during the reign of her ancestor King Padrik, an acolyte entered the Druid Fortress. Bright, ambitious, driven to learn all he could from the Druids, this young man was given special permission to study more than one talent. Obviously gifted in Mysticism, for his second talent he chose War Craft. The young man's name was Minnlin.

Given permission to enter the history section of the Druid Fortress, Minnlin used his intelligence to learn the location of the hidden Pinnacle Library. When he was certain of his information, when he had learned all he could, Minnlin started gathering other disgruntled druids to his cause. As their numbers swelled, they approached the Master Druid. Their demand was the same as before: open the library. Denied once again, the dissenters took the ultimate step.

They rebelled against the established Druid Order.

So, What About the Ghosts?

First of all, let me say I do believe in some form of life after death.  The laws of physics tell us energy cannot be created or destroyed only changed. The human brain runs with electric waves of energy. If our bodily energy cannot be destroyed, then upon death it must change. In Catalyst - Guardian Rising the dead return to visit Vivienne in spirit, using their physical forms to identify themselves to her.

Vivienne can see the death easier than others because she can see residual energy in all forms. Attunded to the vibrations of the dead, she speaks with them on a frequent basis. They have provided her with companionship and support since she was sixteen years old. For her, seeing and speaking with ghosts is normal.

Other people can see these assembled ghosts if they possess one of three abilities: 1) if they are master level druids; 2) if they are closely connected to the spirit such as family; or 3) they have the ability to accept that life can exist on more than plane of reality.

Mediums often say they are bombarded by spirits in their everyday activities, wanting them to pass along information to their loved ones. So I removed that barrier, allowing Devon and Vivienne, along with others as needed, to interact with their ghosts as though the dead were still living. They pass along the information Vivienne needs to complete her journey as Guardian.

Ghosts cannot see everything. They can only report on what they have been assigned to watch. Hana and Katarina watch over Devon and Vivienne personally. While forbidden to carry message between the two lovers at first, the women spirits keep our hero and heroine reminded they are not alone with their burdens.

Reave and Minnlin are different. Both were Master Druids, and thereby exposed to more information on the status of the other Kingdoms. Minnlin also had the advantage of being a time walker. In his extensive travels it is not unlikely to say he had run across his own legend more than once. Knowing he would die before Vivienne completed her assignment allowed for him to travel ahead of his personal timeline while still gifted with that ability.

So our ghosts are helpful but they are not infallible. As events continue to move away from expected norms, their vision may or may not be as helpful to Vivienne as in the past. But she will see them as a harbingers of bad news; this opens her eyes to the necessity of depending on the living more than the dead. much to Minnlin's consternation.

William Shakespeare often used the spirits in his works to show  a catalyst for action, an
insight into character, and augments the impact of many key scenes. I have attempted to use my ghosts in the same manner.

So, I want to write Science Fiction/Fantasy

Three years my oldest went to college. With all my 'free time', I decided to pursue a long hidden ambition - write a book. A life long fan of Science Fiction and Fantasy novels, I set out to put my dream to paper. The result is the recently published saga, CATALYST - Guardian Rising. This blog will serve two purposes. One - to provide some of the back story to the novel and Two - take everyone along on my road to and beyond publication.

CATALYST is set in a post apocalyptic Earth, five thousand years after the threat of nuclear devastation became a reality. What set this idea is motion is a fact-based venture - the Seed Bank in Norway. I began thinking, if we can keep seeds secure for a cataclysmic event, what about the rest of man's works? Could secure facilities be built to house computers, animals, humans, to survive an indefinite length of time before the surface of the planet was inhabitable again?  Of course, in my world they can and were built.

These centers were Sanctuaries, and the remnant of mankind protected themselves in these secure centers for thousands of years, slowly changing as a species just as the earth evolve into a new planet. Art, music, philosophy, mathematics, poetry - all this and more saved to assist society rebuild on the surface. Each Sanctuary was provided with their own set of information and professional base upon which to rely. Some were devoted to specific studies while others were more diverse. Inside these centers man waited while the world changed.

Now, more than five thousand years after man ruined his only home, there is another threat. Has humanity learned their lesson or will they fail the test?

I invite everyone to come and explore my vision of a future and possible path for humanity. I know thousands of people out there are writing books and my odds of being the next Stephanie Meyers are thin, but if I didn't try I would regret the lost opportunity for the rest of my life. Now I am going to throw things out into the cybervoid and see what you, the reading public, think. At times I will be writing on my journey through the frustration of being an author and a mother and several other things all at one time, but mainly I will be expanding on my world.


One favor - be gentle. As a 'newbie' to both blogging and writing, I simply ask you please not to lob all your bombs at one time, but spread them out. Hopefully I will win you over and those bombs will become roses.

NOTE: CATALYST IS NOW AVAILABLE AT:   http://www.dinkwell.com/product_info.php?cPath=21_102&products_id=57. It will be on  Amazon by the end of the week.