Showing posts with label Australian Author Rosalie Skinner. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Australian Author Rosalie Skinner. Show all posts

Thursday, January 30, 2014

FIVE STAR REVIEW for INVADED: The Darkest Day

Invaded: The Darkest Day-Book Five (The Chronicles of Caleath) (Kindle Edition)
This is a fast paced novel trapping the reader in a full-on experience of the power and intensity that dark magic has, especially on the immortal Caleath as he battles with forces of evil.

In his mission to rescue the Kentorian princess, Corrine, and to save the planet Allorn from invaders, Caleath is thrust back into the deadly game. Caleath becomes`Tag' in order to hide his identity. When exposed, he suffers great physical pain from his enemies, but his impossible struggle to contain the vengeful warrior, Wrath, within himself, ignites a bloodlust he abhors and threatens to destroy his last feeble grip on innocence and compassion.

Ms Skinner's beautiful writing and vivid imagination delivers an amazing other world filled with such memorable characters as Merkatt, the dragon Queen; Tallowbrand, the ghost archmarge; and the dreaded dark lord, Cassius, who wears a cloak that absorbs light and power. We also welcome back Caleath's loyal friends, among them Penwryt the wizard; Gwilt; Raul; Etham; Jenna, the young witch bethrothed to Spider with the mismatched eyes; and Joel a young wizard. Ms Skinner skilfully uses violent Nature as the atmospheric backdrop to the violence in this story, so that Nature is almost a character in itself.

Strap yourself in for another exhilarating, fabulous adventure in a fantasy world like no other, teeming with vibrant life. You'll keep coming back for more of this series The Chronicles of Caleath.

Monday, April 9, 2012

MORE AT STAKE THAN EVER...

5.0 out of 5 stars 
By EDITH PARZEFALL

"In the Battle for Enderseer Hold, Rosalie Skinner sure raises the stakes for her protagonists and antagonists. 

A chilling and riveting read from start to finish. Dramatic decisions affecting everyone he cares about lie ahead for our experienced player of virtual games. 

Caleath's journey never gets boring. Each book introduces intriguing new elements as the world of his exile enlarges."

Wednesday, March 14, 2012

Proudly Paranormal Blog hop Introduces TALLOWBRAND...



 Welcome to 
'The Chronicles of Caleath'
 and 
Lady Rosalie's paranormal post.








Rosalie is celebrating the release of Book Four in the Chronicles of Caleath! Friday MARCH 16th  2012... 
COME ON AND JOIN THE BOOK LAUNCH PARTY AT WENDY LAHARNAR'S BLOG... These parties are famous... don't miss out on finding out why! Bring your cyber spirit and sense of adventure. Meet other Muse authors and celebrate their book releases!
*** For a Limited Time Only Buy Book Four... get BOOK ONE 
EXILED: Autumn's Peril as a BONUS!!! FREE OFFER!!!***



 My name is Tallowbrand. Many years ago, too many for mortals to count, I inspired dread with my wizardly powers.



These were curtailed by one of my acolytes, Azriel. The she devil tricked me.

Now I am trapped within Dragonslair Island, waiting for the Deathbringer to free me.

Being trapped for a millenia gives me time to chat. So, settle back, what can I tell you about?


Ahh, the Chronicles of Caleath... A mix of science fiction and fantasy, dragons, shapechangers, magic,  swords, tallships, starships, and swashbuckling adventure.

I beg your pardon... you would like to meet a few of the characters?

Very well.. don't say I didn't warn you.

You have already met Caleath, surely. He's on the covers of the books. Don't get me started. He already has enough of a fan club.

Where's mine? I could tell you more interesting tales... I have been around far longer and through darker times... Let me tell you about the time I...

What? Merkaat, greatest of all dragons, what are you implying? Tsk tsk... of course these good people want to hear about my life. Why wouldn't they?

You? What are you suggesting? 
Since you are able to make my life most unpleasant, I will aquiese to your suggestion.

Merkaat, now the magificent creature you see depicted in these feeble sketches, once faced my nemesis Azriel too. The dragon, then only a hatchling, was cruelly blinded by the witch. 



Azriel's lust for power drove her to  betray her mentor.  Me.
Frustrated by my refusal to succumb to her beauty, passion, and talent, when she realised her magic could not  entrap me she turned to a more potent source.

 While humans and mages expended all their energies battling dragons,  the devious sorceress searched for a means to trap me. She discovered a means to use the curse of dragon's blood. Should an unsuspecting human have the vile stuff come into contact with their flesh, the victim is consumed by a lethal lust for dragon's gold. Unless protected by Lathraine's Pledge of course. Sadly the ring wasn't in my posession.

Azriel used the blood shed when Merkaat lost her eyes for the dastardly purpose of ruining me. After battling and defeating the dragon lord Sharyac in those dragon wars, I succumbed to her evil scheme.

 Hence I became the long term resident of Dragonlair Island. I have lived in more comfortable places. Let me assure you. Still...as spectral locations go...it could be worse.


Hmm. No.. I can feel my tongue turning black. I yearn for my freedom.

Even the shades of deceased dread lords have pride. 
Being cooped up here among the brimestone, gold and dragon sorcery is torture. 
After a thousand wretched years I made a  plea to the local diety, the One. I swore to serve the Deathbringer, if one would come and free me from this accursed prison.

Too often heroes arrive, only to fall prey to the dragon lord's warped magic, their accursed gold or their displays of power. I cannot give up hope. One day he will arrive and I will enjoy a new lease on freedom.



The Deathbringer can't get here soon enough for me.


 If you share Tallowbrand's impatience, don't despair. You can find out how he fares in the Chronicles of Caleath. 
Book Four is available on March 16th from Museitup Publishing. If you haven't yet enjoyed the previous books, visit Rosalieskinner.com

 Now... did you visit Jan Fischer Wade's Blog...   Tues March 13th

Don't forget to follow up with Sky Purington Writes Thurs March 15th

Thanks for dropping in.  
  Leave a comment to discover the magic of dragons' gold... no, I mean to go into the draw for a copy of 
Book One in the Chronicles of Caleath...

Several excerpts are available following this blog. Please feel free to browse.

 OR 
if you have already read  
Exiled: Autumn's Peril Book One
your choice of the released ebooks in the Chronicles of Caleath.  


Look for Books Five through to Eight.. the new adventures...coming very soon From Museitup Publishing...  
 Here is an unedited extract from Book Eight, ADRIFT: The Fragile Sun...where Caleath faces a few paranormal entities hungry for his blood. Enjoy...

Around him, the cavern pulsed with a steady heartbeat. Ground tremors shook the floor and settled the balance of gold displaced by his footsteps. Caleath rose into a crouch, holding the dark blade before him. Eyes adjusted to fading light but couldn’t focus on the weapon in his hands. He didn’t have time to think about the anomaly. 

From every handbreadth of wall, roof, and floor strange creatures emerged. Caleath lifted the sword as he spun to watch the fiends’ arrival. The light vanished. Only senses tweaked by Lathraine’s Pledge showed his attackers. Fangs dripped with saliva. Claws clattered on stone while collective breathing, yammering, and yowling froze the marrow in his bones.

He stepped to one side. The tapering pillars, he now recognized as the ribs of a giant dragon. The sword he removed would have pierced the creature’s heart, had there been one. Now the ribs formed a cage around him and he needed room to move.

The return of mage power gave him hope. Stepping clear of the ribcage he kept his back to a pillar as the first scurrying daemons attacked.

“Tallowbrand! Merkaat, Dashveer!” His voice echoed in the cavern. For less than a heartbeat, the horde hesitated, before they charged with renewed vigor. Caleath’s blade swung, the dark steel pulsed with life as he severed limbs and battered the smaller creatures. “Tallowbrand!” 

A collection of kobolds, harpies, ogres, and trolls closed in on him. More dead than alive, as individuals they weren’t hard to dispatch, but in the numbers they commanded Caleath failed to swing his blade fast enough to prevent their teeth and claws raking flesh.

“Merkaat, Tallowbrand, anyone…I could do with some help here!”
Before he finished speaking, Caleath regretted his plea. An answer rose from within him.



SEE YOU AT WENDY'S LAUNCH PARTY
You could get to meet Nic Brown author of A Grave St Patrick's Day (Horror Fantasy) and perhaps Peter Gigilo, author of Balance (Horror)... Also on the guest list are Kim Baccellia,   YA adventure with 'Earrings of Ixtumea'
and Cheryl B. Dale with the romance suspense "The Man in the Boat". If you dare mingle with zombies, mysterious strangers, ancient cultures, sorcerers and dragons...

 


Thanks for joining us today.
Drop in to the Museitup Blog on the 27th March for more information regarding The Battle of Enderseer Hold's paranormal entities.



PHOTOS Courtesy of FOTOLIA.COM and all photos from the EXILED photoshoot are copyright to RACHEL LEWIS PHOTOGRAPHY. Thanks to Matt Bryant for becoming Caleath. :)

Monday, March 12, 2012

EXILED: THE LEGACY OF LATHRAINE'S PLEDGE Extracts...



BOOK THREE
The price of surviving the dragon’s lair is responsibility as Caleath faces the impossible task of annihilating the Tarack. 
BLURB
The threat facing the Southern Regions of Allorn spreads north as warm weather awakens the Tarack. An alliance of Vergöttern and human forces now face overwhelming odds as they battle to keep the rich grain belts free from the giant ants. Without Caleath, hope of keeping the Tarack confined fades.

On Dragonslair Island, Caleath’s return heralds a new threat. Releasing the dead Archimage Tallowbrand and surviving as the Deathbringer brings the sorceress Azriel’s plans closer to fruition.

To save Nasith he must face the Tarack queen and her horde. Each survived challenge only brings him closer to confronting the ever powerful Azriel.


********************
EXCERPT ONE

No longer a prisoner of the dragon’s lair, he shivered, measuring pain against the euphoria of limited freedom. His body ached in every fiber, familiar yet oddly foreign pain pulsed beneath burned and blistered skin.

Free from contact with the dragon lords, he reeled with information the dragon Merkaat shared during his incarceration. The weight of the gold band seared into the blistered flesh of his index finger. 

The dragon lords insisted he keep the gold ring. It was more than a souvenir of the draconian sorcery he had survived.


He rested weary bones against the cool support of cave walls, and placed both arms across his knees. 

Given time, nanobots should heal his wounds. 
A single point of warm aureate light bounced above his head. The scents of wood smoke and pine forest wafted past jagged senses. He recognized the familiar touch of gravity and the telltale essence of humanity.
“Orwin Tallowbrand?” an enquiring call echoed off the cavern walls to Caleath’s right. Echoes shattered deep silence.
The unfamiliar human voice jolted Caleath’s memory. He returned to the moment he left the cavern, trusting the directions of a dead dread lord.
“Orwin Tallowbrand, Dragon’s bane?” he lifted his voice in reply. “Show yourself! I have returned.”
*****************************
EXCERPT TWO

“Braidon and Tallowbrand have asked you to help them destroy the witch and you’ve refused.” Spider’s raw grief fuelled his accusation. Caleath dropped his arm from the boy’s shoulder and tore his eyes away from Gwilt’s suggestion. 


He needed to face Spider’s condemnation before he worried about anything else. 

Before he could speak, Gwilt exploded.

“Tallowbrand?” Gwilt caught the name and spat it as if the word itself were poison. 

Caleath switched his attention back to Gwilt, confounded by the conversation that seemed to be aimed at him but didn’t seem to include him.

“You don’t know what they ask.” Caleath tried to ease Spider’s anger before he faced Gwilt’s outburst. “Understand, Spider, there are things in life we cannot change. Flea is dead. I am sorry but there is nothing we can do to avenge his murder at this time.”

“Can’t or won’t?” Spider demanded. “Are you afraid of this witch?”

Caleath took a deep breath. Ignoring Gwilt’s piercing gaze, he decided Spider needed consoling in his grief. He took the boy’s shoulders in his hands and turned to face him. 

“If I give you my word, to see your brother avenged, will you…”

“No!” Gwilt stepped between them and knocked Caleath’s arms from the boy’s shoulders. “Don’t even think that. Don’t say another word! By the Blade, you are playing right into her hands. She reads you like an open book! No wonder she is confident of success.”

“What are you doing, Gwilt?” Caleath turned his head to discover Paskin at his shoulder glaring at the newcomer with unspoken threat. “It’s all right, Paskin. Relax.”

“Whatever you do, you must not play into her hands, Caleath. She is waiting for you to release the Archimage Tallowbrand.” Gwilt’s dread announcement sent ice through Caleath’s veins. “Once she heard you had been given the title Deathbringer…”

“Tallowbrand?” Caleath groaned. “I don’t think I want to hear anymore.” Sudden exhaustion leached the last reserves of his energy. He forced knees of warm wax to hold him upright. “Sweet mercy, I could do nothing else.”

Gwilt’s expression of horror shocked Caleath. Gwilt traveled with Penwryt without qualm. Why should he fear a dead dread lord?

Meanwhile, Spider recoiled and fell silent. The specter in question manifested his form in the darkness within Gwilt’s sight.

“Paskin, take care of Spider,” Caleath pleaded when the boy retreated with dark glances into the gloom. “Do not leave him alone.”

“As you wish. He’s a tough young rascal, Caleath, he will be all right.”

Caleath nodded without taking his eyes from Gwilt while the archimage cast a mocking bow toward the youth from Allorn.
“Meet Orwin Tallowbrand, Gwilt.” Caleath’s words tasted bitter. “As you can see he is already free.”

Gwilt stood irresolute. His eyes widened and his whole body trembled. He took a deep breath and turned to face Caleath. “You don’t know what you have done this time, Caleath.”

“This young man has paranoia running through his veins, Deathbringer. Azriel has taken all courage from his backbone. Do not let his ranting cause you concern.” 
Tallowbrand’s transparent grin did not appease Caleath’s anxiety or exhaustion. “Dragon’s breath, smell his fear. You do not need his support. Braidon made an error of judgment. Send him on his way.”

Caleath’s inherent distrust of sorcerers cramped the muscles in his throat. He lowered his shoulders and stretched the kinks out of his neck. At least he understood the archimage. He could do without his interference.

“Be gone!” He found the immediate disappearance of the apparition as unsettling as his mordant comments. He turned to face Gwilt’s doubts and accusations with patience.

“Now tell me what you think I have done.”

*********
 EXILED: The Legacy of Lathraine's Pledge ebook buy link.









PHOTOS Courtesy of FOTOLIA.COM and All photos of EXILED are copyright to RACHEL LEWIS PHOTOGRAPHY. Thanks to Matt Bryant for becoming Caleath. :)

Sunday, March 11, 2012

EXILED: WINTER'S CURSE EXTRACTS...

BOOK TWO
Hampered by bandits; burdened with the title of Deathbringer; and rumors of dragons all drive Caleath further from his goals and closer to his destiny.
BLURB
Alone, Caleath rides south to kill the Tarack queen in her dormant colony, and thus, ensure the safety of the people. His ‘kill or be killed’ mission is not altruistic. Although he justifies his motive, saving the people, gaining his own freedom and acceptance, deep within his soul he battles a yearning for Tarack stim crystal. However, a small child's plea for help dissolves Caleath's simple plan.

His new quest takes him on a desperate path traversed by bandits, dragons, bloody battles, danger, and death. No longer is Caleath alone.
 
Meanwhile Nasith travels south with Lachlan, Gwilt, and a band of soldiers prepared for the battle with the Tarack. As they travel, Gwilt voices his concern about the malevolence surrounding a newcomer to the group. Convinced his doubts have fallen on deaf ears, he remains alert and wary. His attitude leads to a confrontation from which neither he nor Nasith emerge unscathed.

Winter allows the people of Allorn time to prepare, while other nefarious schemes rise to destroy them.





EXCERPT ONE:
He withdrew his sword to counter-thrust past a badly executed onslaught. Relentless, desperate attacks, driven by anger and fear, caused lethal misjudgment. 


Another antagonist fell before Caleath’s tireless blade. When the sword snagged under the dying man’s weight Caleath feinted. He snatched the wrist of an unguarded arm flailing toward him.



With a wicked twist, he snapped the arm back. The sound of fracturing bone echoed with the scream while Caleath hefted free his sword and silenced the bandit’s agony.

Two brigands maintained their assault. Caleath caught a fleeting image of a third, somehow lost from sight. His adversaries worked as a team, moving with experience and care to engage him.

From nowhere a silent missile struck Caleath, missing his temple by a hair’s breadth. He tried to turn but black pain exploded in his skull. The young survivor from the village, safely out of reach of Caleath’s sword, smiled and lowered a slingshot.
Caleath staggered against the bole of the fig. Fighting to stay conscious, he watched two brigands step forward to finish the fight.

Unable to raise his sword, Caleath closed his eyes and waited for death. He heard the unforgettable whistle of arrows. He didn’t feel the quarrels strike. Darkness caressed him. The abyss offered sweet oblivion and he sank onto his haunches.  

********************************
 EXCERPT TWO

Caleath curled one gloved hand around the hilt of the Karadorian sword. His finger traced the outline of two missing jewels, used to purchase a pack horse and supplies before leaving Sheldarc. Cold leached through the fabric of the spare blanket draped around his shoulders as he tried to encourage sleep. Deep within the sheltered cowl of his hood, his eyes closed.

Caleath cocked his head to listen. Well beyond the horses resting with their tails to the wind, he heard a wolf’s howl disturb the quiet of the night. The baying stirred a well of loneliness. Gwilt and Nasith traveled elsewhere. They probably spent the cold, dismal night indoors, sleeping on warm beds with full bellies. 

Thoughts of Nasith warmed Caleath’s blood, but he quelled them before they ruined his hope for sleep. He cherished the memory of moments spent in her company. They had been desperate moments. Survival dominated his thoughts then, preventing him from savoring her presence. Now assassins no longer hunted him, nor did ghosts haunt his nights. Nor did Nasith ride with him. He rode alone, south toward the growing threat, in a desperate quest to prove his worth to the old mage Penwryt. 

With his chance of returning home destroyed, Caleath fought the despair of homesickness. Cold made his inner arm scar tissue ache. Anger warmed him, banishing thoughts of Nasith. 

Instead, rage focused on Ephraim, the man who manipulated Caleath’s exile. Although Ephraim managed to delay Caleath’s plans for revenge, they fermented even now. Left without galactic citizenship, or a means to get off the planet, Caleath cursed his enemy with every breath. 

Outrageous plans and fading memories blurred as slumber edged past dreams of vengeance. Drifting into an uneasy sleep, Caleath’s guard lowered.

A taint of corruption carried on the cold night air. 

Adrenaline pumped, boosting barriers within his mind. Caleath flinched. Sleep dulled the alarm, but instinct reacted to the touch of sorcery. Dragged from a dreamlike state, Caleath braced, rousing to repel the probing of another mind against the defenses inside his head. 

His fingers clasped the Karadorian blade, already drawn beneath Caleath’s heavy cloak. Caution saw the sword bared against the threat of ice forming in the sheath and preventing the weapon’s release. Despite his precautions, the sword could not protect him from magic. The effort needed to prevent the persistent intrusion caused his heart to pound and his head to ache. 

The barriers in his mind loomed as intangible walls, protecting the detritus of dark magic left by dire conjurations. The threat of incursion into the morass of unfathomed magic terrified Caleath. He recognized his feeble efforts, compared to the power ranged against him. 

A trickle of dampness spreading along his spine became a river of cold sweat. Fully awake, Caleath trembled as he fought a silent battle against an invasive and invisible foe.

 The horses shuffled, as if they too sensed the desperate conflict. Caleath didn’t open his eyes, his focus turned inward. Neither cold, nor the scent of corruption, nor the sudden quiet in the forest seemed important as he fought to keep his mind free from manipulation. He called upon all the ways and means of constructing and maintaining barriers, learnt during three years as the source for Karadorian dread lords.  

Even so, his efforts seemed futile. Nothing he offered prevented the aggressive sorcery from broaching his wards. 

He dragged cold air into his lungs, clamped his jaws shut, and clenched white-knuckled fists around the hilt of the sword. His sense of futility spread, though he refused to capitulate. He tasted blood, smelt bitter corruption and heard Death’s dark humor in the cascade of a nearby creek. 

Between one heartbeat and the next, an explosion of burning flame rampaged behind Caleath’s eyelids. He gasped, opening his eyes when the image of a dragon rampart burned into his vision. He sensed a presence; human, insubstantial, but carrying dread potential. Before he could react to the awe-inspiring presence of the dragon, all three apparent threats; dragon, human, and the touch of sorcery dispersed. No longer under attack, Caleath shuddered. 

Both horses snorted, shying as Caleath staggered to his feet. Blinded by the sudden light, it took another heartbeat before vision adjusted to the darkness before dawn. Caleath stumbled against Enigma’s flank, his sword flailing toward two unseen foes. 

The forest remained quiet. A white owl winged silently into the gloom. No dragon or sorcerer disturbed the peaceful tableau. 

“Balls of a hairy goat.” Caleath rammed the sword into its scabbard and tried to shake off the feeling of impending doom. He took time to settle his racing heart, fill his lungs with sweet air and relish his continued freedom. 

In the distance the wolf yowled as the morning light crept across the forest floor. Shrugging off the cloak, Caleath adjusted his shirt where damp fabric chilled warm flesh.  The cheerful chatter of crickets, birds greeting the dawn, and the innocent babbling brook mocked Caleath’s rank fear. Again thoughts of Gwilt and his wolf rose to provoke his loneliness. Cursing his penchant to dwell on their plight, Caleath savored a moment wondering how Nasith greeted the dawn.

***********
 
EXILED: WINTER'S CURSE buy link













PHOTOS Courtesy of FOTOLIA.COM and All photos of EXILED are copyright to RACHEL LEWIS PHOTOGRAPHY. Thanks to Matt Bryant for becoming Caleath. :)

EXILED: AUTUMN'S PERIL EXTRACTS...



BOOK ONE
Hunted by off world assassins, haunted by ghosts, homesick for a planet light-years away, Caleath’s quest is to survive and escape.

 Blurb:
Exiled and driven by guilt and vengeance, Caleath, adept in virtual reality games, finds himself on a stranded on a strange world. Assassins hunt him, ghosts haunt his nights, a sorcerer covets his knowledge and a beautiful hostage complicates his escape. 

Washed ashore from the wreck of the Albatross, tortured in mind and body, Caleath  uses his dreaded nanobots in order to survive and  reluctantly befriends the young Gwilt  Their search for the survey satellite, which could lead Caleath home, unveils  the terrifying world of 'a dark soul, black magic and a bloody sword'. 

  On this perilous journey, an assassin destroys Caleath's healing nanobots, and exiles from his home planet follow his every move. He takes the beautiful Nasith, of the Ferran clan, hostage to keep the assassins at bay, but her presence endangers him more. A sorcerer forces Caleath to aid the Council of Mages when he discovers Caleath carries vital  knowledge that could save the Sharyac people from the invading Tarack, a species of giant ants. 
 ******************** 
EXCERPT ONE:
 Despite his determination, sleep overwhelmed him but offered no peace of mind. Scrutinized by the sightless eyes of drowned men, panic plagued his dreams.
Hungry for vengeance and corrupted by the stench of watery decay, their angry spirits sought to destroy his sanity.

In his vision, strands of hair washed like seaweed across the disintegrating flesh of dead sailors. Tides of marine scavengers reduced humanity to bare bone and memory. Ghostly accusations spread on the current to drown him in guilt.
 Lifeless skulls and partially devoured corpses of the recently drowned whispered curses.
They laid the blame for their demise on his shoulders. Fleshless fingers reached through the depths to draw him into Death’s grasp while parasitic wraiths gnawed at his soul and his lungs filled with the fetor of a carnivore’s breath.

Caleath woke from the nightmare. Daylight drove barbs into his eyes, forcing him to blink before he could focus on the muzzle of a salivating wolf.

Fangs gleamed inches from his face and amber eyes regarded him without blinking.

Hunger, thirst, and the will to survive overcame any fear a wolf might evoke. Terror dissolved before a snarl. 
Caleath lifted an arm to fend off the creature’s curious approach.
                                                                     **********
EXCERPT TWO:

“Well three horses come this way. I can hold the assassin but the rest is up to you.”
“Adder’s spit, wizard! How long have you known?” Caleath spun as the first rider reached the edge of the clearing and threw himself off his horse. 

The assassin took six strides across the clearing. He unsheathed a sword as he approached.
Caleath’s breath caught in his throat. The wizard raised his staff and the ranger froze mid step.
“Go!” Penwryt shouted when Caleath hesitated.

A strange miasma of white magic circled around the stationary ranger but whipped away from contact with Caleath when he sprinted toward the buckskin. Already a second ranger crossed to join his partner. His voice reached Caleath as he ran for the trees.

“What sorcery is this, Penwryt?” the ranger cried while he lifted his loaded crossbow and tracked Caleath’s movement with his aim. Caleath heard the wizard’s warning but when he turned to give heed, the crossbow bolt flew straight and true.

“No!” Penwryt bellowed. 

The quarrel struck Caleath’s arm with enough force to knock him off his feet. White pain blinded him for a split second. When he recovered his balance, Caleath saw another ranger supported by a slight companion standing between him and the buckskin. The ranger, whom he recognized as Lachlan, looked unwell. His companion helped him stand.

Behind him, Caleath heard the second ranger reload the crossbow. He cursed and grabbed Lachlan’s companion with his good arm. Needing a shield, Caleath slung Lachlan’s friend between himself and the bowman. When Lachlan started forward, Caleath struck the ranger in the chest. His boot heel knocked the ranger’s chest and disabled his attempt at heroism.

“Stay down,” Caleath warned while he dragged the ranger’s struggling companion to where Enigma waited. Hampered by an arm pulsing with fire and aware he remained a target, Caleath lifted the uncooperative hostage across his good shoulder. 

Using the cloak and body of the hostage as a shield, Caleath hauled himself and his struggling burden onto the unsettled buckskin. Raw pain exploded through his body when he hit the saddle. The horse sprang forward. Heavy hooves churned damp earth and Enigma thundered into the forest.

As soon as the horse hit full gallop, Caleath gained his balance and swung his human shield around to balance face down across the stallion’s shoulders. 

When the kicking and screaming paused for a second, Caleath identified the pitch and ferocity of his captive’s efforts. In a heartbeat, he knew the awful truth. He held a female hostage.

“Adder’s spit!” His heart skipped a beat. He’d taken aboard more trouble than he needed.

*************************************













PHOTOS Courtesy of FOTOLIA.COM and All photos of EXILED are copyright to RACHEL LEWIS PHOTOGRAPHY. Thanks to Matt Bryant for becoming Caleath. :)

Tuesday, March 6, 2012

Today I am at TEEN WORD FACTORY.. discussing...

What is in a Fantasy Name..



Drop by if you have any ideas on how to create great Fantasy names... What do you feel is important in creating a name?
Does it need to be easy to spell, pronounce, must it have a meaning?
Share your ideas...

Friday, October 14, 2011

First Review for Exiled: Winter's Curse from Edith Parzefall

Check out Edith's blog here..   Edith Parzefall

Review: Rosalie Skinner – Exiled: Winter’s Curse

The second book in Caleath’s Chronicles is out now. I devoured it in no time. The story continues where Autumn’s Peril left off. Rosalie Skinner skillfully weaves in back story to fill in new readers and remind ‘old’ ones of what happened before while the new adventure unfolds–without a moment of boredom.

Her witty sense of irony brightens the dark cold atmosphere of this wintery challenge. While Caleath gets side-tracked and burdened with followers who depend on him, the danger of giant ants destroying the world he’s been stranded in keeps growing. New characters add conflict, tension, humor and charm. I’m still fascinated with the combination of of science fiction and an archaic world of mages, dragons, and semi-divine Vergöttern.

Find out more about Caleath’s Cronicles at Rosalie Skinner’s website or Wendy Laharnar’s Blog. She once again hosted the release party.


Thank you Edith!!!

Monday, September 19, 2011

Balls of a Hairy Goat...The Competition is on again for OCT...


PRIZE LIST.... 

We are celebrating the release in October of  Exiled: Winter's Curse
Enter the competition to win. Last month every entrant won a prize...so don't miss out!
$5, $10 and $15 PayPal vouchers

This month we have T shirt, cap, tote bags, notebooks, signed series of cover postcard sets, cover posters A4 laminated, magnets sets and more prizes still being added.
The choice of Ebook prizes is amazing.. Thanks to the Museitup Family of authors for donating their wonderul stories... Titles include:     
Scroll down to read BLURBS for EBOOK PRIZES...
Exiled: Autumn's Peril, Book one in
                                the Chronicles of Caleath - Rosalie
                                Skinner








Murder is a Family Business







Mouse
                              Pad
Tote Bag
TOTE bag

T shirt,  (Men's Size XL) Mousepad  
BLURBS
In the 1820s a convicted man is not considered a suitable husband for the daughter of a wealthy property owner.
REMY
A convicted man is not considered suitable husband material for the daughter of a wealthy property owner, even in the prospering colony of New South Wales in the early nineteenth century where class and caste mingle. Remy meets and falls in love with Sara, but their love is threatened even before it’s had time to flourish. Sara’s father considers convicts the scum of the earth, regardless of their crime.
After an unfortunate episode, Remy must flee from all he cherishes and Sara is forced into a loveless marriage by her hateful father. She despairs of ever seeing her love again, while Remy faces overwhelming odds and an ordeal that threatens to strip him of everything; his pride, his strength, his health—even his life. Remy is flogged and suffers sickness, injury and humiliation when he is sent north to Moreton Bay, a penal settlement where pain and suffering are everyday occurrences.
Will the lovers ever find the happiness they crave?

 
Just because a man cheats on his wife and makes Danny DeVito look tall, dark and handsome, is that any reason to kill him? The reluctant and quirky PI, Lee Alvarez doesn't think so. But the 34-year old ½ Latina, ½ WASP and 100% detective has her work cut out for her when the man is murdered on her watch. Of all the nerve. Set in the present, Murder is a Family Business is the first in a series of humorous mysteries revolving around Lee Alvarez, a combination of Sue Grafton’s Kinsey Millhone and Janet Evanovitch’ Stephanie Plum, and rest of the Alvarez Family, detectives all. Seemingly light and frothy on the surface, the novel nevertheless explores familial love, the good, the bad and the annoying. Completing the family is Lee’s Never-Had-A-Bad-Hair-Day aristocratic mother, Lila; computer genius brother, Richard; beloved uncle “Tio;” and her energetic orange and white cat, Tugger. When this group is not solving murders, they run Discretionary Inquiries, a successful Silicon Valley agency that normally deals with the theft of computer software. The love, humor and camaraderie shared within this family are what set this series apart from others.

Mistress Sarah was once a woman of promise, until a greedy relative left her to fend for herself on the cold, hard streets of London.  Now, she does the only thing she can to survive and care for those she has sworn to protect. Lord Byron Cobbett has given up on life after the death of his beloved fiancĂ©e.  On a trip to London to clear his family’s name he is involved in a carriage accident. Sarah gets more than she bargains for when she unwittingly rescues Byron.  She must find a way to convince him to keep her secret.  Can she allow herself to love him and still keep her promise?  Will Byron stand and deliver his heart to the auburn-haired bandit and risk his own freedom? 








 
Magic lives in the Americas, too… Land of the Midnight Sun. The Aurora Borealis. Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes.  Dog sleds. Mount Denali. 60 degrees below zero. Moose. Grizzly bears. Salmon. Gold nuggets. Blueberries. Bunny boots and duct tape. To most people, the word “Alaska” evokes visions of a wild, mysterious land, but for Fallon O’Reilly, it means home. Growing up in a village hidden deep in the wilderness, she eagerly anticipates her first sojourn at the Borealis Academy of Magical Arts. Nothing dampens her enthusiasm; not the creepy bookseller, her sisters’ nagging or the world’s nastiest classmate. However, when village inhabitants disappear, someone murders a student’s pet and she suffers a near-fatal attack by a horrible, hairy creature, Fallon’s curiosity draws her into a dark mystery. Can a twelve-year-old witch, together with her wheelchair-bound cousin and new found friend from Wyoming, uncover the identity of the evil behind the chilling events? From the wind-swept tundra to the frozen peaks of Mount Denali, Fallon’s struggle to protect the school and her fellow students encompasses a journey of far more breadth than she expected.


 
Jay Farrell, a crippled priest, has begun housing homeless boys in his rectory. Once a street kid himself, he was riding the rocket-train to a lifetime in prison until the day he drove over a land mine in Iraq. Today he works at an inner-city parish, running a soup kitchen and struggling to manage an impoverished church. With temperatures below zero and falling a few nights before Christmas, Jay's estranged brother Kevin dumps three more children on his front porch. Kevin, a cop who can't believe in God after all the evil he's seen, hasn't spoken to Jay in years, but he knows Jay will at least give the kids a place to stay. It isn't over yet, though. As they work together to meet the children's needs, they must confront the long-buried emotions that have divided them so long. The Boys Upstairs examines the real gift of the holiday season and how hope can transform the ones society condemns as not worth saving.



 
“What’s one more little white lie?” There's only one thing that pretty, popular TV reporter Nadia Velasquez is missing: her memory from before the explosion that killed everyone else in the room, including the President of Nigeria. But from the moment she meets FBI agent Jon Daniels, all hell breaks loose. Friends turn into deadly enemies overnight, and no one can be truly trusted. When Jon and Nadia investigate further, they discover the living terror that is the truth behind Nadia's existence, a truth that could mean the death of millions.
In the second installment of The NADIA Project, the potential stakes are raised even higher. The lab where Nadia was built is no more. But when The Pinnacle strikes back at the government agencies trying to crack its secrets, a horrible truth emerges: The evil cabal of kingmakers is still building living weapons of mass destruction somewhere on the globe. Jon Daniels and Nadia Velasquez must find the lab and stop it before a new wave of terror erupts across the world. In order to succeed, though, they must get through The Pinnacle's most deadly weapon: Jenna Paine. All who stand between evil and the innocent are two ancient warriors, a misfit genius, a rogue FBI agent, and a living antimatter bomb named NADIA.






 
Cats and a villainous ex-wife?  What more could the delivery man bring to the new love in his life? Ann works as a waitress in a donut shop.  She’s happy with her single life and her cat, Mittens, but she finds herself interested in Tom, the handsome delivery man.  Tom is also attracted to Ann, but unfortunately, Tom comes with some baggage including five cats, Maria, his vicious ex-wife, and Maria’s adorable daughter he calls Kitten. When Maria, a newly hired waitress in the donut shop, learns Ann and Tom are beginning a relationship, she does everything she can to tear them apart.  Ann starts to have doubts about her budding romance, but Tom is determined to make it work, despite Maria’s interference.  Will Ann and Tom’s love prevail, or will the evil ex-wife win in the end?  Love Delivery delivers a sweet romance which will bring tears to your eyes but a smile to your lips.


 
Left at the alter, Tina decides to take her Vegas honeymoon.  Her orderly life plans of marriage, motherhood, and togetherness in shambles, she throws caution to the wind and checks out the dating service, Distinguished Dates. A midnight dinner with a bald, red-bearded, cartoon dog-sneakered stranger brings more than her dreams alive.
Jillian is planning her first big Halloween party and hopes the weather holds out Well, the weather does...but after Jillian, in her witch's outfit playfully chants the following from a prop witch's spell book: “Changes are due… Not many but a few To meet your history And see it’s not misery Ghosts will abound Trekking all around For you will now travel In a land full of marvel” everyone is in for the surprise of their life. Her backyard is gone. In its place greenery filled with tall trees, a variety of bushes, and...DINOSAURS?
 Someone had tainted the sugar at the newly opened CafĂ© CaffĂ© coffeehouse in the village of Eastport. A dozen locals got seriously ill and one died. Nora Huggins- mother, wife, mystery buff and want-to-be sleuth-couldn’t help but to get involved. Her delving into the crime led her to believe that it had been a nasty youthful prank. Two of the village’s old spinster sisters, Winnie and Ginnie Miller, were among those who fell victim to the tainted sugar. However, when Winnie suddenly died, surviving Ginnie chose not to hold the coffeehouse responsible.  Because of the Miller sister’s reputation for being uncharitable, Nora became suspicious and probed deeper into their affairs ultimately discovering that Winnie may have in fact been murdered.  Proving it became a delicate matter for Nora and the local police chief.




 
Kate Wesley left Twinsburg, Ohio five years ago after her fiancĂ© jilted her. Now she’s back, happy and content with her single life. She doesn’t need men to fulfill her dreams, she has her florist shop. At least she didn’t until Mark Westfield showed up looking for his sister. Kate didn’t much care for the attraction she felt toward him. To make matters worse, her ex showed up, now one of Twinsburg’s finest and her heart about dropped to her feet. What was wrong with her all of a sudden attracted to two men? Widower, Mark Westfield wasn’t interested in women. He had twin five year olds to raise and they took all his time and energy. But Kate sparked something in him he hadn’t expected to feel again. Adam Shaffer left Kate two days before the wedding. Left a note and took off to LasVegas. Biggest mistake of his life. But now they were both back and he aimed to get Kate back. They’d both been too young before, too immature. At least he had been. Kate always had her head on straight. But he had a dream, and he needed to see it through before he settled down. Now part of that dream came true, if he could just make Kate see he had changed.

 
The chill of ivory. The cold beat of light. Aaron Carlson delivers the rare, the impossible, to the highest bidder. This promise is challenged, however, when he is asked to find a legend; an artefact that even time wants to forget. For the right price, he agrees to assist the sultry Miss Worthing in her quest for eternity’s gift. He will deliver where those before him have failed. The heart is what she craves. The ivory legend from 18th Century France; now no more than a cold whisper. Aaron follows the trail of Trenton, his predecessor, and the heart’s latest victim. A man left empty, broken, by the heart’s perennial chill. Aaron’s journey takes him through light, darkness and fire, opening old wounds and exposing him to new ones. And all the while the heart watches. All the while the heart awaits.




 
 Robyn can’t help but notice the handsome new guy at her school. She ignores, however, the arrival of another being at Brookfield Central High School—a demon assigned to destroy her… Robyn loves her friends, enjoys her youth group, and looks forward to meeting cute Caleb Montague. But when a caustic news reporter challenges her school’s prayer team, Robyn must choose: defend their right to meet on campus and pray for whomever they wish or back down at the principal’s request. Now she must learn what God wants her to do. And she had better learn fast, because there’s a supernatural enemy in town whose sole mission is to stop her—no matter the cost.
Ten-year old Andy Thompson disobeys his mother and sneaks into the basement of an old abandoned house that’s due for demolition. He stumbles upon a mysterious box under an old cabinet. And his troubles begin when he looks inside. The Crew brothers, twelve-year old Jason, and ten-year old Danny, also find their way to the basement. New to town, Jason has established himself as the school bully. A struggle ensues between Andy and Jason and the bully ends up as a toad. Somehow, the boys must reverse the magical spell. And that means hiking up the dread mountain: fast pace, fast action and just a few scares and surprises on the way! The lives of all three boys seem destined to change forever, if they survive…
Imagine the worst possible time, the interregnum while rebelling magic forces slowly kill the reigning Drogar. Prince Egon has to take up the succession as the new sorcerer-king of Rast, and admit the deadly magic into himself in a manner he can control. Yet Offrangs arrive on the coast, imperialists whose power comes from steam and iron, and who disbelieve in magic. Commander Antar seeks to conquer Rast. Egon has no time for caution, he must act at once. He also has to help Jady, Guardian of the Silent Forest, escape from the evil Deepning Pools whose resurgence she has thwarted. Even more troubling, he must send his sweetheart away, for she is not from the magic lineage who can bear him an heir. She goes to meet the Princess destined to supplant her, with anger in her heart. The oracle given by the Pythian, living beneath the Palace of Rast, predicts the crisis can only be resolved by everyone’s efforts – even the actions of enemies – until the Prince is established securely and able to turn the magic’s fury upon itself. Conflict between materialists and a magic based society; between love and ambition; between magic forces residing within the world itself and the one man destined to control them. Rast leads fantasy into new dimensions.


 
Ally is a photographer and good at her job. She is in Paris when she hears that her sister has had an accident, and when she returns home Ally goes to her sister’s apartment. She mourns her death, but gradually she begins to realize that the car accident might not have been just an accident but something far more sinister. How long before she begins to understand that the beautiful Egyptian necklace sent to her sister may be the key to a larger mystery, and why does she feel as if her mind is being taken over by a dark ancient queen? Is what she is feeling for Jack Brendan, the new man in her life, real--or merely fantasy?
18-year-old Myrna is drawn into the middle of an epic battle between Seraphym and Demons. An average High School student from Florida, struggling with inner demons resulting from a rape two years earlier, she wakes one morning on the Steampunk planet of Dracwald, home of the demon-dragons responsible for her brother’s recent murder as well as many other atrocities in the news. She meets Michael, who becomes her guide and explains that according to prophecy, Myrna must gather the remaining six Vigorios (teen warriors with special talents) then train with the Majikals on an enchanted island. Reluctantly, and knowing it is her only way to get back home, she agrees to lead, battling dragons and monsters while crossing swamps and mountains, forests and seas. She wrangles with the old inner demons when three very different men join her quest—a seasoned demon/dragon-slayer who irritates but beguiles her, a tender and sweet mentor in whom she trusts completely and a roguishly handsome Scientist who sets her senses aflame. How is she expected to lead the others and keep everyone safe with so much inner turmoil? Will love and lust, jealousy, greed, deceit and distrust break the delicate tie that binds these teen warriors called The Vigorios? Can a troupe of teens help the Seraphym finally defeat the massive empire of evil dominated for eons by the demon-dragons of Dracwald?

 
Rescued from the streets of Seattle by her adoptive mother, a witch and a seer, Dana Pierce learned early on about her talent as a witch. Now a successful news columnist, she not only embraces her craft, but has spent the last five years of her life in search of a man she believes she’s destined to help, a man cursed to immortality by an unfortunate ancestor. Calen Meer has carved out a quiet life in the port town of Astoria, Oregon, and though immortality has made him a wealthy man, he lives simply, running a charter fishing business, where only a very few know he is a werewolf. That is until the infinitely curious, albeit irresistible, Dana Pierce enters his life. As Ms. Pierce blithely goes about unearthing a past best left forgotten, Calen is torn between his anger at her intrusion into his life and the profound effect she has on him. But when several women are found brutally murdered, Calen must face the fact that a creature, not unlike himself, is not only escalating in its rabid need, but Dana may be his next victim.  As their volatile attraction to each other heats up, a devastating secret from the past threatens to destroy them both unless Calen can set his prejudices aside, and let Dana offer the help she’s been born for.


Have you ever wondered how you would handle it if your mom was terminally ill?  What if you were sent to stay with people you didn't even know in another country because your father was at the hospital all day and night?
Laurel is faced with both of these realities, what she really wants is a miracle.  She wants her mom to be cured of cancer.
Join Laurel as she searches for her miracle amidst the magic of the Cornish countryside.  She is aided by her new friends Coll, Gort, and Aisling and helped along in her quest by the creatures of legend and myth.  Vear Du, the Selkie, Gwin Scawen, the Cornish Piskie, Belerion the fire salamander, Morgawr the flying sea serpent who does Vear Du a favour, and Cormoran, the last giant of Cornwall.  They must battle the odds in the form of bullies and confusing clues. Will they emerge victorious?  Will Laurel have the courage to solve the riddle and make her miracle a reality?
Find the answers in the pages of Laurel's Miracle.

Nancy Bell is using LAUREL'S MIRACLE to create awareness of a wonderful charity to help homeless horses. Even if you don't win this book, take a moment to visit http://www.karencote.tv/writers-pen-for-charity-lounge and make a comment. Every comment earns a dollar toward the charity. THANKS.



When teenager, Stefan Gessler, answers the call to restore his family's honour, he discovers it takes more than superior education and pride to equip him for life in the Middle Ages. His dangerous adventures threaten his courage and challenge his beliefs.
Immersed in the turbulent events of the Wilhelm Tell legend, Stefan pretends to be a wizard when an avaricious sibyl mistakes him for an alchemist. The shape-shifting sibyl and an evil knight have diabolical reasons to want the wizard dead.
Faced with his own demons and those of medieval Switzerland, how will Stefan complete his mission and escape the fourteenth century...alive?
Life in the Middle Ages is a dangerous game, even for Üserwäälti, the Chosen One.

Exiled and driven by guilt and vengeance, Caleath, adept in virtual reality games, finds himself on a world where magic rules. Assassins hunt him, ghosts haunt his nights, a sorcerer covets his knowledge and a beautiful hostage complicates his escape. Washed ashore from the wreck of the Albatross, tortured in mind and body, Caleath  uses his dreaded nanobots in order to survive and  reluctantly befriends the young Gwilt  Their search for the survey satellite, which could lead Caleath home, unveils  the terrifying world of 'a dark soul, black magic and a bloody sword'. On this perilous journey, an assassin destroys Caleath's healing nanobots, and exiles from his home planet follow his every move. He takes the beautiful Nasith, of the Ferran clan, hostage to keep the assassins at bay, but her presence endangers him more. A sorcerer forces Caleath to aid the Council of Mages when he discovers Caleath carries vital  knowledge that could save the Sharyac people from the invading Tarack, a species of giant ants.
 
Hampered by bandits; burdened with the title of Deathbringer; and rumors of dragons all drive Caleath further from his goals and closer to his destiny.                                                                           *******                                                        
Alone, Caleath rides south to kill the Tarack queen in her dormant colony, and thus, ensure the safety of the people. His ‘kill or be killed’ mission is not altruistic. Although he justifies his motive, saving the people, gaining his own freedom and acceptance, deep within his soul he battles a yearning for Tarack stim crystal. However, a small child's plea for help dissolves Caleath's simple plan.
His new quest takes him on a desperate path traversed by bandits, dragons, bloody battles, danger, and death. No longer is Caleath alone.
Meanwhile Nasith travels south with Lachlan, Gwilt, and a band of soldiers prepared for the battle with the Tarack. As they travel, Gwilt voices his concern about the malevolence surrounding a newcomer to the group. Convinced his doubts have fallen on deaf ears, he remains alert and wary. His attitude leads to a confrontation from which neither he nor Nasith emerge unscathed.
Winter allows the people of Allorn time to prepare, while other nefarious schemes rise to destroy them.