Friday, April 26, 2024
W is for Westerleigh
Thursday, April 25, 2024
V is for Varwyth
Wednesday, April 24, 2024
U is Undine
Tuesday, April 23, 2024
T is for Troile
Troy isn’t without allies among the gods. I’m not without allies. If only Ganymede’s voice carried as much weight as Hera, but he’s decided to champion me by sending to the side of an Achaen whom might also be an ally.
Achille delights in battle. He might well delight in Troy’s destruction along with my own. His friends and loved ones are our enemies.
Everyone and everything dear to me is in danger from him. As Troile and Achille, we’re fated to fight each other.
As Aissa and Polyxena, can we challenge that fate? I pray we can, but how can we succeed in skirts when our swords are destined to clash?
The gods only know how we’ll free ourselves from the tangle of tragedy the Fates have waiting for us.
Monday, April 22, 2024
S is for Shelley
Saturday, April 20, 2024
R is for Rhodry
The scribbler must have loved Rhodry Mavelyne as much as I loved being Rhodry Mavelyne. Why else would she use the name rhodrymavelyne for her identity on Twitter, Archive of Our Own, Wordpress, NaNoWriMo, her Facebook Author Page, and one of her livejournals?
Rhodry Mavelyne had deep ties of blood and love to other characters belonging to other authors. When I was him, I was truly entrenched in The Keep.
As Rhodry Nevalyn, I’m descended from a dangerous evil called the Serpent. Nevalyn was the other name She used. Daeric is proud of the name, yet fears to use it. Daeric came with me from The Keep along the gargoyles Imp and Smirk. They guard the top of Daeric’s tower now. Daeric himself has a touch of the sinister which my father/uncle in the original campaign possessed. I don’t think he plans on sacrificing me, but if I’m the key to the Vampire Corwyth or worse Nevalyn herself returning to the World of Ouroborous, I fear he would.
Look at what he did to Kyra Nevalyn, whom was also his kin. She was a tiny dragon imprisoned in a box in his study for at least a hundred years. Kyra assures me her own actions had as much to with this as anything. I thought she was the hero who stopped the Serpent from returning to the world a hundred years ago. She seems to think she’s responsible for the fall of an empire and the rise of vampires.
Vampires are returning to the world. They’re causing Trouble at Caerac Keep, according to Faith, a Unicorn acolyte fate has been rude enough to link my destiny to. She’s not happy about it either. She blames me for everything since I’m Serpent-Born. To make matters worse, I’ve started to get visions of her hate, her fear.
I know vampires aren’t behind the disappearances, nor the strange sickness striking down many people of Caerac Keep, including Faith’s own sister. A vampire has been visiting me nightly, feeding upon me.
Daeric knew nothing of this. He would definitely disapprove. He already disapproves of my visits to the Tipsy Hedgehog, to hear the owner’s stories of being an adventurer, and to see Kevin, who works at the bar. The strange visions I get of an Aethyrian sorceress in peril, the strange song I hear of someone crying for help have him ready to lock me up in his tower.
Only Daeric isn’t going to be locking anyone up. He’s disappeared, along with one of Faith’s sister clerics.
Lord William of Caerac Keep has ordered Faith and myself to help the lost sorceress’s sister find our missing people, to solve the mystery of Caerac Keep. As if working with Faith and a stranger wasn’t hard enough, a seductively sinister sorcerer has decided to join us in our quest.
We had enough Trouble at Caerac Keep. Now it’s going to get worse.
Friday, April 19, 2024
Q is for Quartz
Nine Star Press: https://ninestarpress.com/product/fairest/
Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/fairest-ks-trenten/1123806892?ean=2940179155874
Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/fairest-19
Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/1483368
Apple Book: https://books.apple.com/us/book/fairest/id6472735190
Thursday, April 18, 2024
P is for Phaedra
Nine Star Press: https://ninestarpress.com/product/a-symposium-in-space/
Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/books/1130883509?ean=2940161507872
Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/a-symposium-in-space
Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/928136
Apple: https://books.apple.com/us/book/a-symposium-in-space/id1455892042
Wednesday, April 17, 2024
O is for Opal
Right. Aye, I did the same. I opened the door to that witch Oriana, because I pitied the princess with her. I got to be careful about that. I know nothing Of Cuckoo Clocks and Crystal Coffins, save the cuckoo clock is always watching and I’ve got a brother in a crystal coffin where a human maiden slept off a cursed sleep.
You want to know all about that? This is all I’ll tell you, for now…
Nine Star Press: https://ninestarpress.com/product/fairest/
Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/fairest-ks-trenten/1123806892?ean=2940179155874
Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/fairest-19
Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/1483368
Apple Book: https://books.apple.com/us/book/fairest/id6472735190
Tuesday, April 16, 2024
N is for Nathalie
Mischief Corner Books/Shenanigans Press: https://www.mischiefcornerbooks.com/store/p161/Wind_Me_Up%2C_One_More_Time.html#/
Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/wind-me-up-one-more-time
Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/wind-me-up-one-more-time-ks-trenten/1134959345
Monday, April 15, 2024
M is for Map
Saturday, April 13, 2024
L is for Leiwell
Friday, April 12, 2024
K is for Kyra
Thursday, April 11, 2024
J is for Juno
Wednesday, April 10, 2024
I is for Iama
Take care, Maia. You could become more like me, if you don’t hold onto what’s truly precious.
Whatever do I mean? Follow the buy links. See if they’ll take you to Wind Me Up, One More Time; our story…
Mischief Corner Books/Shenanigans Press: https://www.mischiefcornerbooks.com/store/p161/Wind_Me_Up%2C_One_More_Time.html#/
Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/wind-me-up-one-more-time
Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/wind-me-up-one-more-time-ks-trenten/1134959345
Tuesday, April 9, 2024
H is for Harold
Nine Star Press: https://ninestarpress.com/product/fairest/
Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/fairest-ks-trenten/1123806892?ean=2940179155874
Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/fairest-19
Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/1483368
Apple Book: https://books.apple.com/us/book/fairest/id6472735190
Monday, April 8, 2024
G is for Grace
Look at Maia. She used to joke about being Iama the Terrible, the evil enchantress whose touch turned everyone to gold in Magic and Mishaps. It was a joke. She wasn’t really terrible. Not until she got too serious about making money, so serious she no longer had time for anyone.
Growing up and away means you disappear. Maia disappeared as much as Nathalie did, leaving me alone.
No. I still have Theodora Bear, Heidi, and Heather. I miss Nathalie and Maia, miss them so much it hurts. I miss them so much, I feel alone, even though I’m not. Maia and Nathalie used to be so much fun. I didn’t really miss my moms, not with them around.
In a way, Maia did become Iama the Terrible, living in her factory tower as Iama did in her palace of gold. She didn’t lure Princess Nathalie into her tower, to keep her company. She lost the princess as much as I do.
In Mischief and Magic, Princess Grace found the enchantress’s heart with Theodora Bear’s help. Wind Me Up, One More Time, Theodora, the way I wind you up so you can growl. I need to growl.
You know what the worst thing is about growing up and away? I no longer believe stories can come true, no matter how much I want them to. This is why I need you to Wind Me Up, One More Time, Theodora. We need to find enough storytelling magic for all of us. Maybe you’ll find it, too, if you go to…
Mischief Corner Books/Shenanigans Press: https://www.mischiefcornerbooks.com/store/p161/Wind_Me_Up%2C_One_More_Time.html#/
Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/wind-me-up-one-more-time
Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/wind-me-up-one-more-time-ks-trenten/1134959345
Saturday, April 6, 2024
F is for Fidessa
No one understands the poetic justice of this, the perfection. Not even my beloved beauty, my Amberwyne. The one I’d hoped would understand, that I could share my secrets with. She betrayed me, left me for a muscle-bound sculptor. Now she wanders about, trying to undo my curses.
I can only hope one day she’ll understand, the way she’s come to understand the truth of our world.
Not that I expect our creators to understand the truth. Idle wenches, playing with our world and life as if they were toys, making a game out of it. The tart whom created me dismisses me as a mere villain in that game, a non-player character to oppose Amberwyne and the others.
Beatrix thinks she can control me with a roll of the dice, that The Players Are the Thing. If that’s what she believes, so be it. Her dice are an instrument of fate. She’s a fool if she thinks she’s immune to them.
This Game Master and her so-called players are going to discover just how cruel the dice can be. We’ll see who ends up controlling who.
Friday, April 5, 2024
E is for Emma
Thursday, April 4, 2024
D is for Duessa
I became Arachne’s, so her Gardens might grow, wrapping their thorns around the Tower, piercing its crown. I became the Garden’s Guardian, so women might be strong enough to be magnificent monsters, capable of stopping the Tower’s lord, saving our blossoms from its shadow. Tainted blooms may yet poison the flowers, allowing the Tower to trap them.
My own efforts are so unappreciated, even by the very arachnocrats who reap the fruit of our Gardens. Why do they plot against me? Why do the fairest flowers have so little enthusiasm for their destiny? Why do I myself have so many questions and so little faith?
I fear the answers. I truly do.
Wednesday, April 3, 2024
C is for Christopher
Sometimes I still feel like a shadow. It seems like I’m always Stealing Myself From Shadows. I’m unsure how many of my memories, passions, or feelings are truly mine. Which ones are sensations left behind from other people’s dreams, carelessly dropped by those who forgot their value? I try to remind others of that value. I manifest most weeks at the Cauldron of Eternal Inspiration at inspirationcauldron.wordpress.com to talk to various charactes belonging the same scribbler, characters in need of conversation. This is what Conversations with Christopher is all about; giving other characters with a need to speak a chance to. Perhaps I’m also acting as Happily Ever After, bringing other characters happiness, or getting them to appreciate their happiness. I created and breathed life into The Hand and the Eye of the Tower, even though I remember only the Gardens which overwhelmed the Tower. Fragments of myself become tokens of desire, offered with the question: A Godling for Your Thoughts? I once again find My Tool, My Treasure, or does that treasure find me? It feels like we’re always losing each other. As always, My Cusps Overfloweth with color and memory, too much to bear at times.
Does any of this make sense to you? It often perplexes me. Perhaps I will understand more as my scribbler writes more. Perhaps I won’t.
Tuesday, April 2, 2024
B is for Briar
Skin white as snow cursed with the name of Blanche, a gift from a mother I lost too early to death to remember.
Years later, I received a real curse from a woman I loved, a woman who abandoned me for power, a throne, and my father. She reduced me to rags, driving me away from her.
I tried to create a life away with seven dwarfs, not as a princess, but a person. My treacherous love hunted me down once, revealing the sour jealousy in the hard little green apple of her heart. She tricked me into taking a bite of it, making me believe she’d forgiven me.
No amount of remorse could remove the enchantment upon me. It was one of the dwarfs, a better father to me than my own who released me, only to fall at my feet, dead, at seeing what he’d released.
More ghost or vampire than witch, I haunted my former home, stalking the innocence blooming within it, ready to pluck her when she ripened.
What a surprise, to transform into a Briar after being Blanche for far too long, the Fairest of Them All. It’s quite a tale, brought about by the very flower I intended to pluck.
What tale is this I tease you with? See if you can follow the links back to my story…
Nine Star Press: https://ninestarpress.com/product/fairest/
Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/fairest-ks-trenten/1123806892?ean=2940179155874
Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/fairest-19
Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/1483368
Apple Book: https://books.apple.com/us/book/fairest/id6472735190
Monday, April 1, 2024
A is for Amberwyne
Most characters are imaginary. I’m an imaginary character’s character.
Here I am, trying to undo the curses my former mentor and lover Fidessa cast upon various people in the land. I’m about to save Isolde from her own angry work of art when I start getting visions of this circle of women, rolling dice.
Were they witches? No, they were gamers, playing a roleplaying game. I caught a glimpse of reality, their reality. Isolde and I, our entire world was imaginary, made up for their fun. The Players Are the Thing.
Needless to say, Fidessa was not amused when she found out. She put a curse upon their Game Master, Beatrix’s dice.
Beatrix is the lover of my player, Rhane. Their relationship is growing worse because of the curse.
To make things even more complicated, I think I’m falling a bit for my player. I know she’s more than a little in love with me.
I can’t let Fidessa’s curse ruin Rhane’s life. I have to help her, but how can an imaginary character help her player?
If Fidessa can curse their Game Master; Isolde, Rhiannon, and I should be able to save our players, even if we don’t know how.
We’ve got quite a task ahead, figuring that out.
Friday, March 1, 2024
Coming in April: Character Complaints
I haven’t forgotten this Cauldron. I return to it every April for Blogging From AZ April Project.
This year, it’s going to just this Cauldron since my other Cauldron is otherwise engaged. The subject is Character Complaints. Some of the characters will be the same. Others will be different. All of them will voice their grievances, irritations, problems, etc in the story they’re part of.
I’m giving my characters a chance to vent, along with me a chance to reacquaint myself with their grievances. They get to scold me along with anyone else they’re annoyed with.
Complaints lead to conflict and fuel for the plots. They may even give me ideas as we go along.
Enjoy the April rants of these fictional folk. They often shout these complaints inside my head, kicking at my imagination. :) They all want a little more story time.
Time to blog, blog, bloggy blog about them, giving them a little attention.