I do believe dragon breath is scorching my area. The heat is driving everyone inside, so time for some new reading material. Magic, dragons, prophecy, and myth drive Seline toward a destiny she never imagined.
Available in ebook at most major retailers through the following link – Https://books2read.com/u/baDgr6
On sale in paperback form exclusively through Amazon at the following link – https://www.amazon.com/Chosen-Heather-N-Russell/dp/B09BF7W792/
A ray of sunshine peeked into her nest, softened into a pink glow by the delicate petals beginning to unfurl over her head. She blinked in wonder, and yellow dust clung to the green tufts of her hair as she raised her head from her flowery pillow. Gossamer wings fluttered from her back, unexpectedly bouncing her into a curving petal.
The flower wobbled on its stem, and lavender eyes blocked the light. A giggle followed, then the bud was pulled open by two pairs of hands and a gentle breeze from a dozen sets of wings blew the pollen away. She reached up to touch them in delight, but her own wings waggled, lifting her unsteadily from her soft bed. She spun in jerky circles trying to see them move until, dizzy, she clung to the tip of the bud and panted.
One of the watching sprites flipped headlong through the air and blew a raspberry in her direction. Another zipped after him, yanking a lock of hair and folding its own arms with a frown. Kizi giggled and covered her mouth in glee at the mocker’s predicament. She narrowed her own eyes and focused on making her wings do her will. With a wobble, she rose into the ranks of the sprites, who welcomed their tiny new sister with dizzying acrobatics and a chorus of chuckles that set every bird in the grove singing.
Visit https://books2read.com/u/baDgr6 or https://www.amazon.com/Chosen-Heather-N-Russell/dp/B09BF7W792/ to see more of Kizi in _Chosen_, the first installment in the Magicborn series.
As many of you many have noticed, the blog has been a little neglected of late. Life comes in seasons, and my family has been experiencing a mildly difficult season. We needed time to work out some instabilities, and that has made writing difficult to accomplish. It also proved to be a time of refocusing and reevaluating.
My children are growing older and maturing into new interests and abilities. My oldest rapidly approaches the teen years and leaves any lingering babyhood behind. My baby at five embodies Megamind and can’t decide whether she wants to be a child or attempt world domination. More and more often our quiet time together involves the great stories of the ages rather than the delightful picture books of childhood.
Economic instability has made the need for better financial planning abundantly clear. Work that is dependent upon the good graces of employers is no longer reliable, and chronic health conditions make meeting imposed hours and standards increasingly difficult. We have begun to take steps toward owning our own businesses and becoming more economically independent.
Our church family is undergoing a period of upheaval as well as the passage of time and evolving needs change the shape of our fellowship. Adjustments are painful and time-consuming, and much more of our time is devoted to helping each other through than had been enjoyed in each other’s company for some time. This also leads to sleepless nights, hours of extra study and prayer, and an inability to schedule.
Because of all these developments and evolutions, there will be changes made here as well. You may find shorter but more frequent snippets of fiction, more spiritual/life reflections, and fewer but more mature book recommendations. Some weeks may be filled with content while others may be silent, depending on the needs of the time. Most importantly, throughout all these changes I will be here, sharing and writing and connecting to the best of my ability. And with book two of the Magicborn series in the works behind the scenes, you really don’t want to miss any updates or teasers that might come this way!
The weather is warming rapidly, flowers are blanketing the world, and (sometimes) peaceful breezes whisper through the trees. It’s the perfect time to curl up on a porch swing or in a backyard nook with a great story. That makes it a perfect time for a book sale!
Take advantage of the ebook discount on your preferred platform via the following link: Https://books2read.com/u/baDgr6
The paperback sale is exclusive to Amazon and can be found here: https://www.amazon.com/Chosen-Heather-N-Russell/dp/B09BF7W792/
“Pure of heart and human
A chosen warrior comes
The barrier shall be broken
Two worlds unite as one.”
A spider finds her perfect home in a cozy head of lettuce in a lady’s garden. The leaves collect water and tasty insects buzz and crawl within easy reach. The lettuce even provides quick shelter from larger animals who might turn the spider herself into a meal!
When the lady harvests her lettuce she doesn’t notice the little spider hiding in the leaves. The poor little spider endures quite a terrifying adventure as the lady prepares her lunch. When the lady does finally notice her plight, what will happen to the spider?
This book is a simple, precious story that will capture children’s hearts while teaching unconscious lessons about how we treat others. In this story there is no hero or villain, only two characters with vastly different perspectives. Each has a purpose, and they must learn to understand the place of each in the garden.
When Dan is woken up by a horrible racket inside his head, he decides to draw his nightmares. If he can erase the nightmares they won’t bother him anymore, but unfortunately things don’t quite work out that way. Dan is in for quite a wild night when the nightmares escape and begin drawing on their own.
This is such an adorable book! The author’s five year old son illustrated the story with true childhood imagination, making the magic pencil in the story come to life on the page. This book is a recent acquisition to our personal library, and has already become quite the favorite.
Bud and Blossom are green children and the best of friends. They live in the cool shade of Ballybogey Forest with all the Otherfolk, safe from the prying eyes of people. That is, until one day when a strange new music, the sound of bells, lures the two friends into the open road. Spotted by the scheming Squire Scrum, they soon find themselves trapped, starving, and in mortal danger.
This book is absolutely delightful, a retelling of a twelfth century legend of the creatures of the Green Isle. It is also a tale of friendship, courage, and innocence that holds appeal for all ages. Although they are Otherfolk, Bud and Blossom are typical children whose thoughtless fun leads them into trouble. Their friendship and the love of the rest of the Otherfolk hold the key to their survival.
As a bonus, if you’ve never experienced a story told by a lovable Irish grandfather, you’ll want to listen to the cd included in the back of the book. The lilt of Irish brogue accompanied by the happy skirl of flutes will bring a smile to every face and immerse readers into the world of Ballybogey as it must have been five hundred years ago.
Frog and Toad are best friends. When one gets into trouble, the other is always there to rescue him. When one has a problem, the other is always there to help him solve it. Whether planting a garden, cleaning a house, or trying not to eat all the cookies, neither does anything without the other. Everything becomes an adventure when they are together.
This book is a timeless classic portraying childhood, innocence, and friendship. My seven year old learned to read with Frog and Toad, and they are still his favorite book friends. What child hasn’t impatiently waited for seeds to grow or pretended not to be afraid of something scary? Your children will laugh, learn, and grow right along with their new amphibian friends.
The Star-Belly Sneetches hate the Plain-Belly Sneetches and enforce strict segregation. The Plain-Bellies are understandably unhappy until a stranger shows up with a very special machine and promises to fix their problem by giving them stars. Unfortunately, the real problem proves to be deeper than marks on bellies, and the stranger’s machine wreaks havoc on Sneetch society as they race each other to preserve the status quo.
This classic by Dr. Seuss is a great way to teach kids the destructive nature of hate, as well as how superficial our differences really are. In this particular volume it is accompanied by stories like “What Was I Scared Of?” and “The Zax,” highlighting the silliness of being ruled by selfishness and fear. Kids will giggle with delight at the goofy rhymes and zany characters, all the while absorbing principles that will make them compassionate, empathetic individuals.
_United_, Book 2 of Magicborn, is officially in progress. Because you are my most loyal supporters, I am giving you a rare sneak peek into the first draft of my process. Very few people get to see anything this early, partly because it is mostly bare bones of story waiting to be fleshed out and polished in later drafts, and partly because my stories tend to change as they grow and I often rewrite the early chapters completely a few times. So, enjoy the exerpt below and consider yourself privileged to see Seline as I see her at this point in her story.
— Several minutes passed and nothing happened. Finally Narrayssi trudged back over to us, her forehead wrinkled and her arms crossed over her chest. “I can feel the dragon when I reach for it but I can’t draw it out. The magic here is – different. Weaker, I suppose.”
— Dagda shifted where he leaned against an oak but said nothing. He had managed with some effort to create a small kettle for cooking what food we had scavenged over the past two days, but all efforts to shape the trees or the land into even a crude shelter had failed. As a result we had shivered an entire night away in an October rainstorm. Dagda’s blankets hadn’t done much good soaked in cold water.
— I sighed, rubbing my temples with chilly fingertips. “I guess that just leaves me.” I paced, thinking. “I still think you have the best chance of connecting with the Atlanteans. If I can change, I want you to fly with me. We can link and maybe between the two of us the magic will be strong enough.”
— When she agreed, I rubbed my arms vigorously and strode off to the center of the clearing. I stood still, my arms loose at my sides and my eyes closed. The magic was still there inside me, but using it felt like pulling my feet out of the mud on the trail in Fae. Where it had flowed through me without effort in Fae, now it settled and waited for me to draw it out. I wasn’t sure I had the strength to transform or to hold onto the great power of the dragon when I had, but I had to try.
— I reached for the part of me that had awoken in Fae. It stirred, much more slowly than before, as if a great beast disturbed in hibernation uncoiled itself with much stretching and grumbling. I closed my eyes, a wrinkle forming above my nose from my effort to concentrate solely on the dragon within. As if angered by the break in its slumber, it rushed upward, its roar blasting fire into the sky as black wings filled the clearing and scraped trees with their tips. I revelled in it, even as it drained the magic from my blood.
All of you lovely readers here have been so supportive, helping me to grow this little corner of the universe. Without you I’d still be sending my stories into empty air! In the spirit of the season of gratitude and giving, I am drastically reducing the price of _Chosen_, Book 1 of Magicborn for one day only.
As a specific thank you for all of your support, I am making a small token of my appreciation available just for my blog followers. Comment below during the month of December, tell something from the book that made you smile, frown, laugh, or cry, and include your mailing address, and I will send you a signed bookplate for the inside cover. I’m so excited to hear your reactions and talk about the story with you!
The Word Worker 
