The Bird (Toraun Part3)

The shriek of the bird sounded like a freight train as the bird screeched toward the old…hmmm ….young… no that’s not right either.

Oh forget it here’s the info dump just so we don’t need to worry any longer about how to describe the old/young man. Wait that’s it! No info dump here.

The shriek of the bird sounded like a freight train as the bird screeched toward the old/young man. The old/young man dove for cover behind what appeared to be an innocent shrub, however he soon realized that it wasn’t that innocent at all. The needles jabbed deep into his precious, young skin and within nanoseconds tiny spots of red appeared all over his body. He squirmed and squealed, which of course only caused more injury to his already hurt pride and of course to his skin. It reminded him of his much older hands and the pain he felt when the rain came. After what seemed like an eternity he finally cleared himself from the bush only to hear the terrible shriek of the bird once again. The young/old (see how I switched it just so there’s no show of favoritism) man scanned the horizon for cover.

Toraun received its name from the first people who had settled the planet. They had come from a similar planet named Torown, but had disagreed with the name and had decided to settle their own planet so that they could call their planet the correct way of the true God, Toraun. However, to their utter astonishment they realized after arriving on the planet, and using up their only means of space travel to form their new city, that Toraun, that is the God Toraun, quite enjoyed the planet Torown, so he never followed after them. The naming ceremony, regrettably occurred before anyone took the time to realize this and so the new inhabitants of the planet Toraun were stuck on a planet named after a God that didn’t reside there. This of course didn’t deter another God from taking up stakes on the planet, and no he did not prescribe to the name of Toraun, but of Toranis. So once again the inhabitants of Toraun resided on a planet whose name did not match that of the God that presided over it. This of course disappointed the Toraunians, but they made the best of it and started to build yet another space ship.

Anyway, as the old/young man scanned the horizon for a place to hide from the shrieking bird, his breath caught in his throat. Giant trees speckled the landscape along with large shrubs. He scowled at the shrubs surrounding the trees. A giant mountain loomed off to the west where the sun had just begun its long descent behind it.  The top of the mountain sparkled as the rays of the sun reflected off its snowcapped peaks. A river gently made its way down the side of the mountain to a valley far below to end in a sparkling blue lake surrounded by green (not shrubs just in case that’s where your mind was heading) grass. The grass waved gently from the slight breeze that blew across the meadow to end with a whisper as it hit the base of the mountain.

The shriek came again, ripping the young/old man from his reverie. He dove behind a boulder and the bird swooped past. He pulled from his waist pack (no not a fanny pack, that’s so 80’s) a small gun and aimed for the bird. His breath caught again. How could he destroy such a lovely bird? It swooped around as it shrieked once again. Oh yeah that’s how. He aimed the gun level with the bird and squeezed the tiny trigger. A bright beam of yellow crackled toward the multicolored bird. Its flight forever ended in an instant as the beam struck. The bird fell and the old/young man stood triumphantly, with a broad smile across his face, not realizing that Toranis had sanctified the bird.

Hands (Toraun Part2)

His hands were the things that always shocked him the most. Before the change or transportation, the old man really didn't know which, his hands looked gnarled and broken. They barely responded to him when he told them to bend and move. The pain, whenever it rained, felt like tiny needles that pricked deep through his skin and found the ends of his nerves. The needles seemed to know just how to press the utmost amount of pain and anguish that kept him from his sleep at night. The wrinkled skin stretched like bubble gum only to return to its rightful place several minutes later.

Now, he smiled as he admired the young hands, the hands felt like he had the control to either hold the hand of an infant to the ability to crush a man’s fist. The skin no longer had the age spots, but looked like the color of molasses. The skin felt flexible and when he bent his fingers it just moved with them, like it should. He grinned like a young school boy getting his very first kiss as he watched his hands bend and flex effortlessly.

The screech that echoed through the trees, pierced the old, or I mean young…well…

This brings up an interesting point that I think needs a little explaining. The old man or young man…. Wait a second this is getting difficult to explain so let’s just assume that the old man before the light never really understood whether he went back in age after the flash or if he just possessed someone else’s body in another time and place. He always felt a sort of out of body experience after the flash, but he really couldn’t tell if that happened due to the extreme change in age or if it occurred because he truly did enter the body of another person. Anyway back to the screech…

Toraun

Lightning flashed, followed almost immediately by a loud clap of thunder. "Only a few more minutes before the rain starts," the old man muttered under his breath. He scratched his head as he looked behind him. "I need to do something about a seat." He said as a thin smile played on his face. The sight of the burning stool appeared in his mind. That had been a good day. He had purchased the stool when he first started the business, thinking that it would be the perfect stool, he had soon realized that it wasn't. But, never really having the time nor the money to get a new one, he kept it until last night. He regretted that he had to stand on the hard cement floor, but at least now he had a reason to look for a new one.

Lightning flashed again followed by another boom that rocked the small house. He looked at the roof of the old house and mumbled a curse. The rain always brought cursing from the old man. The thatched roof had more holes than roof, not really, this is just how it felt when the floor was covered with pots, pans and bowls to catch the water. He mumbled a few more profanities before he walked to the cupboard and pulled out the pans and bowls that would save the floor from the flood. The pitter patter sounds of rain started and quickened the old man's steps. Within a few minutes he finished the chore of protecting the floor. He looked at the worn floor and wondered why he even bothered.

He opened the old computer and caressed the keys lovingly. The computer had been given to him by his mother on his thirty-fifth birthday. He pressed the power button and it started whirring as it slowly booted up. He knew that the computer needed many parts replaced but after his mother's death he couldn't bear to let it go. The cursor blinked in the username field and he quickly typed in 'Dragonrider'. He pressed the tab key and the cursor jumped to the password field. He paused and thought of days of yesterday. The days that he traveled throughout the universe in search of the perfect adventure. With a sigh he typed in '@dv3ntur3j0urn@l' and pressed the enter key. The computer whirred and the screen flashed from white to blue. Several icons appeared on the screen but only one concerned him today. He touched the screen on the icon of a journal, and a holographic picture of the universe appeared in front of him. He zoomed in with his fore finger and thumb until the picture zoomed into a group of planets surrounding a bright yellow star. Several of the planets were outlined in red, a couple of yellow and a single green one. He pressed on the green planet. Toraun appeared in bold letters under the planet followed by a brief description. "I'm really getting much too old to be doing this." He pressed the initiate button and closed his eyes. His stomach churned, he felt blood rush to his head and then nothing. He opened his eyes and ran his hand though his long brown hair. He smiled and said, "At least it has its perks."

The Stool

The old man shifted uneasily on the old, wood stool. The stool had served him well, that is, as well as it could, considering it was old and hard. The man appreciated the support it had given him over the years, but today he yearned for a much softer stool. One made of the fine black forest wood that his friend had recently purchased. His friend's stool had a soft cloth top, stuffed with cotton, to add comfort. It's elegantly carved legs swooped to the floor providing the most excellent stability that one could expect from a stool. The old man rubbed his behind and bemoaned his fate at having to sit on such a hard stool.

At length he stood and tried to continue his work while standing. Shortly, this too made the old man uncomfortable and he teetered from one foot to the other. Oh, how he wished that he had a nice gel mat like his friend had. He had stood on it once. Of course he didn't give his friend the satisfaction of seeing him stand on it nor the broad smile that crossed the old man's face. No he didn't dare let his friend see the joy he had for the fine things that his friend had.

Not able to stoop any longer he sat once again on his stool only to stand quickly once again and kick the stool away from him. The stool clattered across the floor and ended its unfortunate journey in a heap next to the fireplace. The old man cursed the heavens for his fate as he crossed the room to the stool. He stared down at it as he once again bemoaned his fate and his life. He kicked out at the stool. Crack. The leg broke. He kicked again. Crack. Crack. Crack. All four legs broken he swiftly threw them into the fire and watched the blaze with a grin. "Now," he said as he rubbed his hands together, "You are worth something."

The fire howled as the old man watched the stool burn into the night. When it finally died down, he returned to his desk and angrily stood, wishing he had his friend's mat.

Order of The Rose: Black Petal Contest!!!

Order of The Rose: Black Petal Contest!!!

In honor of the recent release of the sequel to Order of The Rose: Forsaken Petal I’m having a contest to help promote Order of The Rose: Black Petal. I look forward to all of your support and feedback on both of the books. Also, I look forward to starting book 3, Order of the Rose: White Petal! I plan on starting it within the week after a few housekeeping jobs that need to be completed.

How long does the contest last for?

The contest starts today and will end on July 14, 2014 at 10:00 Mountain time.

So what’s up for grabs!!

I decided I would increase the incentive depending on the response that I get from the contest so here is how it works:

The prize will start off with a $25 gift card to Amazon.com. For every 50 responders to the contest the prize will go up by $25 to a maximum prize of $100. So if I get 50 participants to the contest the reward will be $50 gift card to Amazon.com. If there are over 150 participants the prize will be a $100 gift card to Amazon.com. So when getting your entries it will be a good idea to promote the contest as well!!

How to get entries into the contest:

There are several ways to get entries and you can earn as many as you like from the entries.

Share a link about either Order of The Rose books on Facebook, Twitter, Google or any other social media platform will earn you 1 entry per location per day.

Example of a share:

Check out this totally awesome amazing Young Adult fantasy series called Order of The Rose. You can see reviews and purchase on Amazon.com by clicking here for book one, Forsaken Petal, or here for book two, Black Petal. Also check out the Contest here to have a chance to win up to $100 Amazon gift card.

The links are embedded making it easier to share J

So if I shared this on Google, twitter, and Facebook for every day of the contest I would have 21 entries. 3 social platforms shared over the 7 days of the contest = 21.

Write a Review for either Order of The Rose: Forsaken Petal or Black Petal will earn you 10 entries for either book on Amazon.com. Follow this link for Forsaken Petal review and this link for Black Petal review.

So you can get a total of 20 entries for completing this portion.

An exception to this would be those who have already done a review. Those who have already written a review will get 5 bonus entries for your review for getting it done early and to show my appreciation for your review!! You still need to give me a heads up that you’ve already written a review though.

Sign up on my email list to here when the next book is released by clicking here will earn you 5 entries. I will only use your email to send you book releases and nothing else.

So a person has a chance of getting a total of 46 entries into the contest and remember the more participants, the more money the gift card will be, so share the contest out as well!!

In order to get the entries YOU NEED TO POST LINKS OF WHAT YOU’VE DONE IN THE COMMENT SECTION BELOW.

Order of The Rose: Forsaken Petal Contest!!

Who wants to win an autographed paperback copy of my two books, Order of The Rose: Forsaken Petal and How To Diagnose Your Character?

A drawing will be held two weeks from today and 2 lucky winners will be the recipients of both copies.

Here's how you get an entry into the drawing (by completing each task and notifying me you will get one entry):

1. Tweet about Order of The Rose: Forsaken Petal (please include a link to Amazon).

2. Blog about Order of The Rose: Forsaken Petal (I'm more than willing to be hosted as well for either book).

3. Share Order of The Rose: Forsaken Petal on Facebook.

4. Share Order of The Rose: Forsaken Petal on Google+

5. Purchase the electronic version of Either copy.

For each day that you do this you will gain one entry.

So if you were to tweet about it every day for the next two weeks you would earn 14 entries.

Please share the contest with others.

Thanks so much for your continued support Order of The Rose: Forsaken Petal has been sitting at the 12,000 - 20,000 rank on Amazon for too long. I know with your help we can get it moved up closer to the number one spot!!

Okay so I have been gone for awhile but I have some very exciting news....Drum Role please.....

In a world where only women have been able to wield magic for centuries Tom Alerio, a young boy, soon realizes that his unique ability of wielding magic will change his life forever. Tom’s mother is forced to send him away in order to protect him from the sisterhood she belongs to. The sisterhood fear magic returning to the hands of men and seek out and kill any that do.

However, Tom learns that magic must be shared by men and women alike and in order to do this he must restore The Order of The Rose, an ancient order that controlled magic before it became corrupted. If he is unable to do this the new technologies and opposing forces will rip the world apart destroying all he has come to love and care for.

I have just published my book Order of The Rose: Forsaken Petal on Amazon you can check it out here and be the first to review it http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00I6MZ216

Check out the amazing cover completed by Ria @ Orangejar.com