Live Your Legend

Mother Earth

dancing with veils

My sister after the Circle Dance

My faun friend's

Melissa Marr

It was a gathering of the mythical and magical to celebrate the sun, solstice and song. I introduce you to Faerieworlds.

I hit the road with my sister and nephew on an unforgettable road trip to Eugene Oregon. As we traveled mach-five down the freeway corridor we could only guess at what we were about to experience. I must tell you Faerieworlds completely exceeded our expectations, we weren't there for longer than an hour when we were already making plans for next year.

We started off the festival with a ceremonial tribute to the Fea. We listened to a chant, watched a fire and participated in a Circle Dance of celebration.

I stood hand in hand with my sister, Julie, on one side and a new acquaintance to the other. The music started, the inner circle of people, facing us, began first. They pranced round and round to the beat of the celtic music and we waiting in anticipation for our circle to begin. After a quick moment I looked to my right to see my circle start its rotation. We started with  tiny steps, mostly marching in place, as the music picked up tempo so did we. In the blink of an eye we were consumed in a whirlwind of winged creatures and dancers of young and old.  Our two circles become three or four, maybe more, as we dodged on coming faerie wings, horned creatures and hurdled tent stakes it was hard to tell. Running hand in hand, laughing and screaming with glee, I looked back to my sister to notice I was no longer holding her hand but someone else's. How'd that happen? When the song ended we jumped and cheered, I think I started hugging random strangers. 

We walked among vendor tent's, ate wonderful food, watched a play in the cool shade of the Neverworlds and had a drink on the bow of a pirate ship. But the music, oh the wonderful music called to our souls, luring us to a stage adorned with waving flags, set along a line of leafy trees.  I danced, took pictures and almost collapse from heat exhaustion, I can't wait to do it all again.

Now I save the best for last. I am a huge fan of Melissa Marr, the best selling author of the Wicked Lovely series. Knowing she was there, I kept and eye out for her throughout the day. When I was recovering from my heat exhaustion I tweeted about how I wish I could find her. A short time later I received a tweet from Melissa telling me her location. My sister  pointed out that we were at the exact location. I described Melissa to my sister and the search was on. After a few frantic minutes, I was afraid that I had missed my chance, but I did not.

 When I have met authors in the past it is usually at a signing where there is a line of people behind me waiting their turn to speak or get a book signed, but that was not the case here. Melissa was very sweet and took the time to chat with me for a minute. I could of taken my time to tell Melissa all the things I love about her novels, but in my excitement I could not even recall a single name of any of her characters.  I didn't  tell her half the things I wanted to.  As you can see from the above picture I at least had the sense to get the camera out. So if by the off chance Melissa ever reads this blog post I want to say thank you. Thank you for Aislinn & Seth, and Rebekkah & Byron and sharing their stories with all of us.  Authors are the Rock Stars of my world and your talent inspires me. 

Happy Father's Day

painting by Darrel Clark

painting by Darrel Clark

As a tribute to my dad on Father's day, I wanted to share a couple of my favorite pieces of art work he recently put to canvas.

My dad has taken up painting only a couple years ago and I am so proud of his accomplishments. He is self taught and his creativity, dedication and practice have proved themselves beyond measure. I draw inspiration from that every time I sit down to write. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do.

Thank you mom and dad for everything you do for everybody.

 Thank you for giving us a happy, functional home to grow up in. Thank you for letting us be who we wanted to be and never judging what we did, God knows the crazy ideas my sister's and I have come up with over the years. Thank you for letting us make the mistakes, for some reason all kids make, and forgiving us when we finally realized what we were doing, raising three girls could not have been easy. People like the two of you make this world a better place.

Book Review.....Illusions by Aprilyne Pike

Synopsis from Barnes & Noble

"I don't do patrols, I don't go hunting, I just stick close to you. You live your life. I'll keep you safe," Tamani said, sweeping a lock of hair from her face. "Or die trying."
Laurel hasn't seen Tamani since she begged him to let her go last year. Though her heart still aches, Laurel is confident that David was the right choice.
But just as life returns to normal, Laurel realizes that a hidden enemy lies in wait. Once again, Laurel must turn to Tamani to protect and guide her, for the danger that now threatens Avalon is one that no faerie thought would ever be possible. And for the first time, Laurel cannot be sure that her side will prevail.

As this is book three in a four part series, I recommend you read Wings and Spells as this story is not complete on its own.

Illusions takes place a year later in Laurel's life and is joined by her faerie protector, Tamani, at her high school in the human world. This creates a problem with her loving and loyal boyfriend David as Tamani interjects himself into their day to day lives. Laurel is forced to finally come to terms with her feelings towards the two of them while trying to decide if she wants to continue to college in the human world or return to the faerie realm in Avalon, her birth place.

In addition to her day to day struggles with her future, Laurel is confronted and asked for a favor by Klea. Klea was introduced in book two and we do not know if she can be trusted. Laurel is asked to keep an eye on Yuki; who Klea suspects is a dryad. Without revealing that she can sense Yuki is actually a faerie, Laurel accepts the request in efforts to find out more about this mysterious new comer.

This book was a delight to read. Tamani is a great character and we get plenty of him in this installment. The tension between him and David has risen to a new level and the romantic tension between Laurel and Tamani is escalated as well.

This tale does not come without it's down falls. Laurel was a little immature in some of her decision making and it made me feel like the author took the "easy way out" to forward the plot. The mystery surrounding the new character's was interjected well through out the whole book but left me with an unsatisfied feeling for the ending. The story continued on at an anti-climantic pace until the very end. About ten pages from the end we get the climax dropped in our laps and a cliff hanger for the next book.

The reason this upset me was because the climax and the cliff hanger are very good and I wanted it to be longer. But it comes out of no where then stops cold in its tracks.

Overall I still recommend the read but I think you should wait closer to the release of the next book.

Vampires by Tucker Johnson

Vampires

by Tucker Johnson,  12 years old

I THINK that I shall never need
A pet that's of the vampire breed.

Always wearing a big black hood,
Vampires are evil, and not good.

Using lots of Vampire might,
He goes out for a late night bite.

He flies all around in the dark,
He's a bat, not a meadowlark.

Slicking all their blonde hair back,
They don't look the part to attack.

But when they do, your in trouble
You better run on the double.

So keep running through out the night,
Until you see the morning light.

For all you children, here's the deal;
Those wretched vampires are all real.

Faerieworlds

Do you ever dream of walking among the fae? Have you ever wanted to live life among our winged & mischievous friends? Well I tell you now that you can. I embarked on a perilous journey that took me to the the four corners of the world (wide web) and I found a way to cross into a fantasy filled faerie realm.

Faerieworlds in Eugene Or. is a three day art and musical festival dedicated to the whimsical world of faerie's. Please take a moment to view the website and watch the video. If you are reading this at work, turn down the volume on your computer, otherwise enjoy the tune.

Not only will you be delighted with song and dance but check out the workshops you can attend.

FRIDAY JUNE 17TH
2:30 pm Fortune in a Cup - fortune reading
4:15 pm Dance with the Wings of the Fey
5:30 pm Meet Your Faerie Guardian

SATURDAY JUNE 18TH
12:30 pm Tarot and the Turning of the Wheel
2:00 pm Group Drumming Class
4:00 pm The Art of the Rapier Sword
5:30 pm Discover the Inner Fae -Goddess in Dance

SUNDAY JUNE 19TH
12:30 pm Special Presentation
3:00 pm Pirate and Gypsy Fusion Dance
6:15 pm Folkloric Dances - of the Near and Middle East


You can believe this or not, but the weekend adventure serves a dual purpose. I have a pivotal scene in my novel taking place at a festival that kicks the events of act three into motion. (We have a confession of love, a kiss that never should of happened, mystical music from an elven realm and a show of fire) So this is actually research. *winks eye* This will be an ideal venue to observe group dynamics at a real life event that could apply to the setting in my book.


Plus to top it all off I can totally stalk Melissa Marr.


There will be several author's and artist's attending to meet and give autographs to fans. Costume's are expected so don't be shy. My biggest problem is deciding if I want to be a good faerie or a dark faerie. Oh the decisions.