Jay B. R. Wokky Ch. 23.2 — Life with a Dragon

23.2 -- Fritter soon discovered that Janine was worth three times her salary. She kept the caves neat and swept up. She cooked such delicious meals that soon Fritter had to let out his belt a notch. She organized the treasury, supply room, and the blacksmith shop. The books were all dusted and shelved in…

Jay B. R. Wokky Ch. 23.1 — Jay Interviews a New Servant

23.1 -- “Who’s this?” said Jay as Fritter and Janine brought in the evening meal on a large rolling tray. Fritter bowed low as he wrung his hands. “Sire, this is Janie, my new assistant -- trained by Col and Bee, who live down the valley in the Tulgey Woods.” Jay studied her with a…

Truth

Last night at Greek class, our teacher was taking words apart and explaining their origins and meanings. I always find this fascinating. Language is a fluid, growing thing. A word is not just a word. With twenty-six letters in the English language and millions of combinations of said letters, we form countless words and ideas…

The Christmas Pony

Book Review:  The Christmas Pony – Kristen D. Randle Xan (Alexandra) lives on a rescue horse farm, where horses and children get second chances. She has a warm, loving family, but she is restless and unhappy, yearning for something bigger in her life than unrequited love and dealing with her family and incompetent ranch hands.…

Stories from a Father

When my sister and I moved to our new foster home, we had no idea how much our lives would change. We came with a lot of problems that stemmed from the destructive home life we had survived. Now we were finally in a stable environment with a family that loved each other and extended…

The Playground

As a child, one of my favorite places to play was at the playground at the end of my street, not far from my house. It was a corner lot with a merry-go-round, a swing set, a curving slide, a sandbox, and a large grassy area. The merry-go-round was divided into triangular sections with a…

Rose Daughter

Last night I finished rereading Rose Daughter by Robin McKinley, which is a gorgeous retelling of Beauty and the Beast.  Actually, this is Robin’s second version of Beauty and the Beast.  I read the first one, Beauty, when it was first published in 1978, and I absolutely loved it.  I’ve reread it so many times…

The Magic of Christmas

Recently, someone asked, ‘What do Santa and reindeer have to do with the birth of Christ?”  Well, maybe on the surface, not much.  But let me explain.  The whole Santa thing may be just a game we play with our children, but it’s a fun game, and what it represents is related very strongly to…

I Did It!

I did it!  I finished my novel!  City of the Giants stands at 80,014 words and 309 pages.  Yippee!  Wow, what a month it's been.  I've had a wonderful time creating this story.  Now comes the hard part of rewriting and editing.  But first I've got to get Christmas taken care of.  A little more…

The End is Near

National Novel Writing Month is almost over, and I am on the home stretch of the first draft of my book, City of the Giants.  It’s been a crazy, wonderful, amazing month of writing.  I love the creative flow that happens when I can just write.  So far, I’ve got 68,594 words (266 pages) which…