Pick a Book Day
Click on the link and read about our books
Thank you for your support!
Tuesday, September 12, 2017
Monday, September 11, 2017
World Building and Astronomy#OurAuthorGang
By Rich Feitelberg
What is the spectral class of the star the world orbits?
How far from this star is the world? This is another way of asking how many days are there in a year?
And while we are on the subject:
How long is a day? How are months determined? Typically it is based on the phases of the moon. If the world has no moons, you'll need another method to figure that out. You'll also need to think about what, if anything, affects the tides on the world (assuming there are oceans to influence).
What does the night sky look like? What are the constellations? How do they fit in the mythologies of the world? What are the signs of the zodiac?
How many planets are there in the star system your world belongs to? What are these planets like and how far away are they? Are any visible in the night sky from the world?
Some or all of these questions may be irrelevant for your world. Oz, Alice in Wonderland, and Middle Earth do not bother us with these details. And they rarely come into play in my fantasy novels. But they have and it is better to have answers at your fingertips than have to stop and fumble for answers.
Notice all of these questions place the world in a star system. You can design the planets that orbits that star and decide on the number of moons for your world. This can be fun and may even teach you a few things about our own planet.
For my world, I decided early that the sun, Arien, was like our sun, Sol, a yellow G3 star. And that my world was about the same distance from it as Earth is from our sun. The only change I made was I shortened the year by five days so the calendar math came out even. That meant my world was a little closer to Arien but not much. That would affect the seasons and temperatures a little but not by much.
Then I decided on two moons, Ibilik and Ezer. One of the moons affects the planet's tides and the other is too far away to do much of anything. The moons are always fifteen days out of sync with each other and the time it takes for each moon to cycle through its phases is exactly 30 days. That gives me 12 months of 30 days each.
To keep things simple, I kept seven days to a week because I found most people had a hard time if I changed the calendar too much. (My original plans were a 10-day week; the only problem with that no one could remember whether Cooksday was before or after Highday. So I abandoned it that part)
Then I designed the night sky for the northern and southern hemispheres. This ended up being important because my characters stargaze and my bard needs to know what the constellations are called and what stories there are around each. I went this far because the Greeks named most of our constellations and their mythology still surrounds them, if you care to learn about it.
So you can see that these details relate back to important aspects of the world as a whole. You may choose to ignore them, but if you don't you can add real flavor to your world.
Next time another deep dive.
The Arien Star System
Sunday, September 10, 2017
The Soul of California - Cooking for the Holidays
Ruth de Jauregui
The melting pot of California influenced my cooking style, combining West Coast, Mexican, Asian and Southern Soul into a unique combination of holiday recipes. Mix and match melt-in-your-mouth ribs, macaroni and cheese, greens with bacon and more to create your own holiday cuisine!
From Amazon: "excellent, very good description of the book. good facts and tips. I am sure your family loved to eat at your house. fast delivery"
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Soul-California-Cooking-Holidays-Cookbooks-ebook/dp/B00AY1JGXM/
Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/272176
#TheSoulOfCalifornia-cookbook
Thursday, September 7, 2017
Cover Reveal ~ The Du Lac Princess #Arthurian #Histfic #ourAuthorGang
It is with the greatest of pleasure that I can finally reveal the cover of The Du Lac Princess (Book 3 of The Du Lac Chronicles). The Du Lac Princess has been an absolute joy to write, and I can not wait to share the next instalment to my award winning series, The Du Lac Chronicles, with you!
Briton 500 AD
The ink has dried on Amandine’s death warrant.
Her crime? She is a du Lac.
All that stands in the way of a grisly death on a pyre is the King of Brittany. However, King Philippe is a fickle friend, and if her death is profitable to him, then she has no doubt that he would light the pyre himself.
Alan, the only man Amandine trusts, has a secret and must make an impossible choice, which could have far-reaching consequences — not only for Amandine, but for the whole of Briton.
Book Extract:
“Soon
I will be entertaining some very important guests. I am celebrating my victory
over Budic and his broth—”
“I
need to know this because…?” Amandine queried, interrupting him. “Do you expect
me to take part in the celebrations? Do you want me to dance on Merton’s grave?
Will that satisfy the masses?”
“Oh,
for goodness’ sake,” Philippe scoffed. “You are not invited. It is your skill I
desire. You were married to Garren. You know how such celebrations are
organised.”
“You
want me to plan it? Go to Hell.”
“I
saved your life,” Philippe reminded her again.
“No
you didn’t,” Amandine disagreed. “Don’t you understand? I died the same day he
did.”
“I
know that you are an exceptional seamstress, and you can make even the mundane
look beautiful,” he continued as if he had not heard her.
“You
are out of your depth, aren’t you?” Amandine realised, and a smile pulled at
her lips. “You don’t know how to be a king, do you? You don’t know how to act,
or how to entertain such influential people. You have no idea about the proper
etiquette.”
Philippe
raised his head and looked calmly into her face. “If you don’t help me then I
am sure the Church would love to take you back under their wing,” he
threatened.
But
the threat did nothing to dampen Amandine’s amusement. “There are others you
should ask. I am not the only one who knows how such things are organised and
besides, no one would listen to me. You forget…I am damned,” she continued to
giggle at the irony.
“I
wasn’t expecting you to leave this room.”
“I
see,” Amandine scoffed.
Philippe
surprised her by kneeling down on the floor in front of her. Everyone knew that
Philippe had a thing about cleanliness. He was obsessed with it. Kneeling on
the floor was surely a no no, up
there with petting the castle’s dogs. He must be truly desperate, Amandine
thought but did not say.
Philippe’s
hand reached for hers and then he paused, thought better of it, and his hand
dropped away. “I know you don’t want to hear this, but Merton was a cruel, evil
man and with time, you will come to see that. I saved you from him. I saved you
from the consequences of loving him. I need your help. I have invited many
dignitaries. I have to impress. Please, show me how and I swear,” he placed his
hand on his chest, where his heart rested, “I will protect you forever.”
“Protect
me?” Amandine laughed, although there was little humour in it. She watched as
Philippe rose back to his feet. “I am a du Lac. You and I, we will always be
enemies.”
Copyright
© 2017 Mary Anne Yarde
Coming soon to an Amazon Store near you…
Catch up with the Award Winning series for Free with Kindle Unlimited Subscription.
Born in Bath, England, Mary Anne Yarde grew up in the southwest of England, surrounded and influenced by centuries of history and mythology. Glastonbury — the fabled Isle of Avalon — was a mere fifteen-minute drive from her home, and tales of King Arthur and his knights were part of her childhood.
Wednesday, September 6, 2017
Happy Birthday To Me! #OurAuthorGang
It's My Birthday
I'm not a fan of huge birthday parties and getting presents make me kind of uncomfortable.
When my friends ask me what I would like for my birthday, holidays, or other occasions, I tell them to buy one of my books for themselves, or if they read my books already, for their friends and family members.
Having my books read and enjoyed by children and adults is the best present for me.
I'm not too lucky with birthday cakes.
My 6th birthday was memorable. Mom baked a beautiful cake and dad carried it to the table. Well, he tried... The fancy paper under the cake slipped on the tray and the cake flew across the room as he scrambled to catch it. Mom saved some of the cake but I never got to blow out the candles because there was a very icy atmosphere in the house for days.
One year when my coworkers surprised me with a cake but put a candle on it that shoots out flame and sparkles. I lost an eyebrow, lashes, and half my bangs because I didn't know I wasn't supposed to blow it out.
Another time I did CPR on a patient with chocolate icing on my face and scrubs because an overzealous coworker pushed my face into the cake. Of course, the code was called 2 seconds later and I had no time to clean up.
I just hope this year I'm not getting a cake from these guys LOL
Oh, yes, this post is going to be a shameless promo as it's expected from a writer. It's my Birthday after all, so I'm allowed to brag a little about my books. Right?
Let me brag about a few of my books that I'm very proud of:
The Ancestors' Secrets Series: romantic fantasy, magical realism, historical fiction
Amazon eBook:
Amazon print:
B&N:
Universal link:
Amazon eBook:
Amazon print:
B&N:
Universal link:
Romance novella
Amazon:
B&N:
Universal link:
Bilingual children's book for ages 4-12
Amazon print:
Universal link:
Children's book for ages 4-12
Amazon eBook:
Amazon print:
B&N:
Universal link:
Children's book for ages 4-12
Amazon eBook:
Amazon print:
B&N:
Universal link:
If you'd like to see all my published books, click on this link:
Thank you for your interest and support!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Featured Post
-
London Bridge Is Falling Down — The story behind the Nursery Rhyme By Mary Anne Yarde We all know the children's nur... -
The Author Gang is saying goodbye to this blog It has been a long run with many authors participating in the blog with 792 interesting blog... -
Part one - The Power of Words Nicola McDonagh Image from Pinterest Ever since mankind created language, words have been used to manipul...