Seasons of Conflict

Finally, I've come out of my little writing cave and have emerged triumphant with a solid draft of a novel I wrote during Nanowrimo last year.

For those interested in reading it, the manuscript is available on Trigger Street and an excerpt will be available on Amazon.com beginning February 25th.

Title: Seasons of Conflict

Genre: YA Adventure/Mythology

Logline: A young Titan god struggles to keep his family together after his mother dies at the hands of mercenaries during the Tiberian conflict.

Synopsis:

For sixteen-year-old Helios who couldn’t find his own magical powers in an empty jar, his once idyllic life as the son of Titan gods vanishes on the eve of his sister’s wedding: a renegade gnome flees from his clan to warn the Titans about the disappearance of the legendary elixir of life.

One day later, the wedding day turns into a bloodbath and his mother dies at the hand of mercenaries. While his domineering father obsesses over recovering the elixir of life, Helios must choose whether to dutifully obey his father’s wishes or avenge his mother’s death.

But when the mercenaries return to abduct his twin sister Selene, he rebels against his father and joins forces with mythical creatures as he travels across the treacherous lands of ancient Macedonia to rescue her. Eventually, his increasingly erratic father discovers his disappearance and punishes Helios for his duplicity.

Days pass. Weeks pass. Months pass and Selene, abandoned by her family, harnesses all of her fury to exact revenge on her father who refused to negotiate for her safe return. But when the moment for revenge materializes, her captor steals the opportunity from her. Selene’s insatiable rage propels her to hunt down her brother instead and virtually nothing can stop her as her physical and magical powers have grown stronger.

When Helios comes close to discovering the truth about the elixir of life and who is ultimately behind its disappearance, he is forced to test his fledgling magical skills battling Selene. Although both become mortally wounded, Helios dives at the chance to save the world rather than save his own life. The primordial gods reward his selfless act of compassion by joining in to avert the destruction of the world.

Let the bidding war begin!

Punchlines

I bought one of those alarm clocks that generates sea, wind and jungle sounds. Trouble is, when the damn thing went off at 6 am yesterday, I was dreaming and...

...forgot to turn off the feature: Roaring Jungle Cat.

ABNA

At a post-New Year's dinner party, someone asked me what were my New Year's resolutions this year. I sized up her question and replied, "At this point in my life, what is there left to improve upon?" I was kidding, of course, but to be honest, I was stumped so I made one up on the spot.

Since picking up writing in full force, I have realized the value of setting goals and challenging yourself. So my next challenge will be to see something that I've written published, be it a short story in a magazine or a novel (gasp) published, marketed and distributed in bookstores.

All this is to say, I've been busy and haven't posted a blog in quite some time. Currently, I'm deep in editing mode on Seasons of Conflict, the first draft of which I had written during the Nanowrimo contest in November, 2009. Well, I'm turning that puppy into a few competitions this year, the first of which is the Amazon.com Breakthrough Novel Award. Hopefully, they won't think it's a dog.

It's good to set goals, I think, even at this stage in my life.

Punchlines

Said the little lamb to the shepherd boy, "Do you see what I see?"

The shepherd boy replied, "Of course, I can see what you see. I'm a proud Welshman after all..."