My Entry For Darci's Comp.

Darci is celebrating 100 followers on her Blog and so is holding a flash fic comp! So, here's my entry.

My feet were numb. My whole body had lost all sensation in the cold. My mind was off, no longer registering anything after walking for what felt like a hundred miles. How long had it been really? I had no idea. I'd started around 10pm and now through the mist the sun was rising. But the days didn't last long in these northern regions, whereas the nights lasted for what felt like an eternity.
What was that smell? I lifted my eyes and glanced around. My mind turned back on as I took in the twisted trees with their branches woven together overhead to form an archway. Where was I anyway?
I pinpointed the smell - manure. Cow most likely, but overpowered by the scent of moisture on the earth.
The whir of an engine approached from behind. I dashed behind a tree and ducked down. I needed to find new clothes and wash up. I needed to make myself unrecognizable. My absence wouldn't go unnoticed for long.
I glanced around through the mist. If there were cows, there should be a farm or a barn or something nearby. But, the mist was too heavy, so I continued down the road.
Within an hour the sun was as high as it would reach in the sky and the mist was thinning. Lights appeared up ahead and I sped up. They were houses, a township. I paused by a fence and glanced around before leaping over. The house was dark, abandoned.
I picked the lock and hurried into the bathroom. I scrubbed every inch of me and searched the wardrobes for clothes. I pulled out some dark jeans and a heavy black coat which I flicked up around my ears before pulling on a beanie. I traded my worn out shoes for a pair of black work boots. They would protect me against the cold as I traveled. I checked myself in the mirror, and satisfied I was nearly unrecognizable, I tore up my clothes and hid them in a shed in the backyard.
Sirens wailed. I ducked, glancing up at the sky. It would be dark again soon. I needed to leave the town and disappear again. Voices rang out in the street. They were searching for me. I scurried over to the fence and climbed over. I needed to run as far as I could. I needed to be forgotten. I wasn't going back to that hell. I refused to return to jail.

World Building Blog Hop - Holidays, Culture, Food & Drink

 Welcome again to the Blog Hop!

Holidays usually revolved around the gods. With only the Aten, most of these were done away with during Akhenaten's reign.

But the Hebrews had plenty of rituals and holidays, although, none are touched on until book 2. They did things in seven periods - the 7th days was the sabbath, the 7th year was a time where slaves were freed, etc. They also had festivals for harvests, and much later, (post Kiya) the passover was introduced.

During the reign of Akhenaten, the art grew more realistic and stylized rather than the traditional rigid, angular forms. Akhenaten was often portrayed kissing his family and in other informal scenes previously shunned by royals as they were perceived as showing weakness.

Food. Meat wise, the Egyptians ate food like pork, lamb, mutton, duck, eggs, beef, veal and fish. I wasn't able to find if they ate chickens or not, it's likely though since they definitely had eggs, but those could have been duck or other fowl eggs, maybe even crocodile!

Here are some basic fruit, veg and grains they ate. Naomi mentions most of these foods at some point throughout the books.

So I don't know exactly what type of apple they ate, but apples were definitely a popular fruit.

 Chickpeas was probably used in a similar way to rice or potatoes today, as a filler and a side.

Dates

 Lettuce

Pomegranate. This is Naomi's favorite fruit. 

Figs

The Egyptians brewed beer. Above is a sculpture of some brewers. They used barley which is on the right.









So there you have it. Egyptian food. Naomi didn't eat things such as pork and beer because she was Hebrew but she would have eaten everything else.

Heather Raglin Quartetti's Entry for Darci's Flash Fic! :-D

Darci Cole is having a terrific giveaway at her BLOG because she reached 100 GFC followers. Woohoo! In order to enter you need to write a 300-500 word short story based on the prompt. The number 100 must be included. Here’s my entry:

I hadn’t gotten up so early in days. One hundred days to be exact. But when Papa left he was very specific.

“Go to the forest, Tally. One hundred days from today. Wait at the clearing by our tree.” Then he got on the plane.

I don’t know why he couldn’t just say November 13.

But maybe I do.

The road was deserted. Hardly anyone used it even in the middle of the day… certainly not at sunrise. Mom wouldn’t even be up before I returned.

The air clung to my skin like dew. Nearby a flock of birds took flight. I held my breath, then exhaled, a white cloud in front of my face.

When I arrived at the gnarled tree that looked like an old woman scrunching up her face I left the road and entered the meadow. Our tree was just ahead. It rose out of the thick fog like it had no trunk, just a scramble of limbs.

“He said you would come.” Someone stepped out from behind the tree.

My breath caught. I knew that voice, but it couldn’t be. “Cassius?”

I was just a few feet from him. I reached out and touched his arm. “You’re real. How did Papa know? Where have you been?” I wanted to punch his arm, pound his chest. “How are you here?”

Cassius placed his hands on my shoulders. “We had to make them think I was dead so they’d leave me alone.” His hands caressed my face. “So I could be with you.”

I fell to my knees and squeezed my eyes shut. When I opened them he was still there. “Papa knew.”

Cassius nodded. “He’s always known the secrets of the council. They banned him from meetings, but that doesn’t mean he won’t find out what he wants to know.”

Of course. Everyone loves Papa. Except the council.

I shook my head. “Why are you back?”

“Because now they want you. I learned their secrets…at least some of them. Each year on November 13 they take one girl. The one with the strongest will.” He stopped, giving me a chance to break down because last year was the year they took Jovie. My cousin. My best friend. “But you’re not going back home.”

Cassius stood and reached his hand out to me. If I took it, I’d leave home forever. There would be no coming back. If I went home I could see my mother, but if Cassius was right it would be the last time. I’d only get to tell her good-bye before they took me.

I pictured Papa in his fisherman’s hat, standing with his bag on the runway. He’d said he would stop the old traditions. That he was going somewhere to start new ones.

I looked back toward the road, now fully lit by the morning sun. I reached out and put my hand in Cassius’. And we walked away from the road together.

World Building Blog Hop - Religion & Culture

Here we are at the next part of the blog hop. So let's jump straight into it! I feel like a history teacher to be honest, as I drag you back through the ages to Ancient Egypt.

Ptah

The Egyptian lifestyle revolved around their religious customs and beliefs. But here's the thing: Unlike the Greeks and Romans - who at this point in time weren't even a glimmer in someone's eye - they had several supreme gods who, depending on where you came from was the creator or "king" of the gods. Amun-Ra, a shapeless, bodiless being was the god of Thebes and the Upper Egyptian royal line, while travel northward and Ptah becomes the dominant god. To be completely honest it's very complex and hard to get your head around. So for the sake of the Kiya series I only focused on a few.

At the very beginning Naomi, the MC, enters the Temple of Bast, the fertility goddess represented by a cat. I chose this particular goddess because it's symbolic of the journey Naomi is about to be forced to take. Her entering the temple, although she is Hebrew, is almost like she's receiving the blessing to be fertile from Bast when she sees and comprehends the rituals etc on the walls.

Akhenaten

But, getting to the most important religious aspects of the time! So, Akhenaten decided to do away with the old religion and established the monotheistic religion of Aten. This was a dramatic and earth moving event for the Egyptians. Thebes (Luxor) was the city of Amun, and Akhenaten's family were the bloodline of Amun, his ancestors, all the Pharaohs before him were believed to be the children of Amun-Ra sent to earth to lead and guide his people. The problem was, the priests of Amun-Ra were growing very powerful. They were trumping decisions made by the Pharaoh, undermining his power and doing their own thing in the name of their god.

No one really knows what Akhenaten's exact motives were when he denounced Amun, but the power of the priests may have had a great deal of influence on his decision. The problem was, by pronouncing a monotheistic state, hundreds of other deities beloved by the people became outlawed. So, they had to hide their idols and religious materials away and pretend to follow the Aten as commanded, and soon, they had to uproot themselves and move to the newly established city of Akhetaten (Tel-El Amarna).

Now Naomi is a Hebrew, which means her religion was that of Elohim and Yahweh (Jehovah). She was raised to believe in virtuous living, integrity, and that the Egyptian religion was a serious sin to follow. So when she is taken into this monotheistic society established by Akhenaten, she is face with a moral dilemma. You can read the book to find out more!

Egyptians had a very strong belief in the afterlife. Even in their new religion, they still practiced the same death rituals. Mummification was essential to preserve the body so the spirit could return to it. To behead or have a body devoured by beast condemned a soul to wander the afterlife lost and lamenting. Thus, executions with beheading/throwing to beasts was the worst thing imaginable to Egyptians.

The royalty were buried with all their possessions so in the next life they wouldn't do without. Often, deceased children and family members were moved into king's tombs to be with them. Tombs were laid out like houses, with sitting areas and the rooms for the sarcophagus like bedrooms.

The Hebrews also believed in the afterlife. The bodies were prepared and buried, so they would be ready for the day of resurrection.

Well, that's it for today :-) drop by again tomorrow.

Aussie Owned Blog Post

Head on over to Aussie Owned and Read and see my introduction to the group. Also, click follow on the blog and find us on twitter (@aussieownedread) and facebook. Thank you!

World Building Blog Hop - History & Government

Thanks again to Sharon Bayliss for running this, anddon't forget to check out her book!

So, Kiya, Egypt. Let's go!

The world which it is set is real, being historical so I had to learn about the world before I could build it into my story. I read journals, university and museum websites, tonnes of non-fiction books and so forth.

Kiya is set during the late 18th Dynasty. What does that mean? Well, the 18th and 19th Dynasties were the largest and most famous in Egyptian history. The 19th was the Seti's and Rameses', but the 18th was the Amenhotep's, Thutmose's, and the most significant characters were Hatsheput the woman pharaoh, Amenhotep the heretic and Tutankhamen the boy. When Kiya begins it is more than halfway through Akhenaten's reign. So I think we need to back track further.

By the 18th Dynasty Egypt is a super power. Think of today's world with dominant countries such as the US and UK being more like the Persians compared to Egypt - advanced, but no where near their standard. It had ideas which the western world didn't pick up again until the 1700, 1800, even the 1900's! Medicine was well in advance, they understood honey's medicinal value, how to fight malaria, hygienic human waste disposal, and how to preserve the human body through mumification.

By the 18th Dynasty the pyramids had been built for hundreds of years and they'd turned instead to tombs to prevent grave robbing, and the bodies of the royals filled the Valley of the Kings. Egypt was no longer ruled by two sovereigns - one for Upper and one for Lower Egypt - and the long slim strip of fertile land along the Nile was coveted by warring neighbors such as the Hittites and Nubians. The Egyptians were cunning warriors as a result, they were also industrious and inventive to optimize their resources.

Moving into the 18th Dynasty, Akhenaten was born Amenhotep IV, son of Amenhotep III, the pharaoh who preceded him. He wasn't the next in line, he had an older brother Thutmose who was supposed to inherit, but he somehow died. During Amenhotep III's reign, the priests of Amun-Ra were growing in power and threatening the Pharaoh's authority as the living Amun on earth. (I'll go into more detail on this later this week during religion) the young Akhenaten would have seen this, and could possibly have been one of the reasons why he moved to monotheism with the Aten.

It wasn't an immediate shift in religion once he became pharaoh. He did pronounce the Aten as his god, but it took a few years for him to promote Aten to the royal god and change his name to reflect his devotion. Soon after that while he was traveling the Nile, he proclaimed he'd seen a vision for a new city and Akhetaten (Tel-El Amarna) was to be built northward of Thebes (Luxor) All were expected to abandon Thebes and the traditional gods and take up the new religion in Akhetaten.

So... I hope that's enough. I hope it covers the history and Government sufficiently, because it crosses over into religion which I'll go into greater depth as I said later this week. Be back tomorrow for more good times!

Call Out...

This is just a quick post for any followers who might be interested in hosting me when my book is released in April for a blog tour. Leave a comment below with your blog address if you are interested. Thanks for all the support guys!

World Building Blog Hop - Geography & Climate

Welcome to Day 1 of the World Building Blog Hop! Hosted by Sharon Bayliss to celebrate the release of her new novel The Charge.

So to start. My focus will be on my own soon to be released novel - Kiya: Hope of the Pharaoh. So let's get rolling!

Geography - The Egyptian Empire was built around the Nile. At the time of the 18th Dynasty it stretched from Abu Simbel (Which was constantly disputed with the Nubians) up to the Delta and into parts of the Saudi Arabian peninsula.
In general, the area is arid, but along the Nile, it is extremely fertile. The silt which flooded the plains annually comes from the White Nile which starts at the Great Lakes region of central Africa (Rwanda) and also the Blue Nile which begins at Lake Tana in Ethiopia. They meet in Sudan and form the Nile. Most of the fertile soil which is flushed through is brought up from the the Blue Nile.
If you look at the map to the right, you will see the major cities of Ancient Egypt. Note the location of Thebes in the south (Upper Egypt) and Memphis in the north (Lower Egypt). You will then notice Akhetaten's (Tel El Amarna, which is where Kiya is set) location approx. halfway between. It is not known whether this was deliberate on Akhenaten's account, but it's definitely an interesting theory that he chose the halfway point between the two royal capitals deliberately. It could also have been because the land had not been dedicated to any other god up until then. The legend is that while he was traveling along the Nile, he awoke and saw the sun rising over the cliffs and claimed to have a vision from Aten, telling him it was the place he needed to build his city. Whatever his intentions were, the Egyptian populous moved into the city on his orders.
The Climate - hot, as it's the desert. The area's Kiya is focused in it's very hot and dry during the day and rarely rains, and cools down during the night. Winter is very mild, but the nights can get close to freezing.

Plants are basically reeds and other grasses along the Nile banks, some palms, then desert, desert and more desert!

Being in northern Africa, the animals in the area include lions and crocodiles, both of which are mentioned in the book, along with water fowl, cats dogs, jackals and anything else you can see on traditional Egyptian art.

So, come back tomorrow for some more fun-filled world building!

Aussie Owned and Read has been launched!

Today is the day! In celebration of Australia Day, the group blog with eight Aussie writers talking about YA/NA fiction with an Aussie perspective has been launched! We will be holding comps, polls, giving reviews on Aussie titles, and so so so much more! Learn about how Aussies see the literary world at Aussie Owned and Read!

Some Good Luck

This week I have received 7, yes SEVEN, books in the mail. Seriously, I think rafflecopter had a thing for my name just recently. Plus I won 4 e-books as well as the 4 I've had sitting waiting to read for a while. I have a tonne of reading ahead of me. So, I think I'll start doing some reviews soon. I've finished going through my critiques for all three Kiya books, and am working through Athenian Rain as we speak. Plus, I have Deceptive Cadence which I'm going to start querying soon. So that's it on the writing front, and reading here soon! Wish me luck!

Falling 4 Fiction Critique

Falling For Fiction has my latest MS query letter up for critique! Head over to check it out and leave your opinion. falling4fiction

The Typelings Competition

So because I think I'm pretty funny I entered the Typelings AZ contest, even though I'm a Typeling lol! Okay so yes, I did it to show some love since it had been open all week and no one had sent anything in yet but still... don't worry we got plenty of last minute entries! To see the results click here. My choice will be going up soon.

So my entry, just to show off, is below! Enjoy.

Horses clopped along the street behind me, but their sound didn’t register. A blue door, that’s all the message said with a map circling this corner of the city. Glancing over my shoulder, I wondered if someone was watching me. It felt like someone was watching me. I shuddered.
All I could smell was horse manure. Typical really, most of the city smelt like that. But in this corner, it seemed especially pungent. Why was I even there? I had no idea who left me the message or why. But something about it niggled at the recesses of my mind. I had to come.
I stepped toward the door and brushed my fingers over the wood. It felt normal, nothing extraordinary.  I rested my hand on the doorknob. Should I knock first? I pulled my hand back and tapped.
The door clicked open a crack. I pushed it all the way and saw a long corridor curving off to the right. It was silent inside. A chill ran down my spine, but yet, the urge to enter was all consuming, so despite reason I stepped in.
The door shut, making me jump, but I needed to know what was at the end of the corridor. I walked steadily down. As I came around the bend, I was met with a blue door, identical to the one I’d left behind. I paused for only a moment, before I rushed over and threw it open.
I was met with a gust of ocean breeze, the sound of waves crashing, and a sunny, abandoned beach. I stepped down onto the soft white sand in awe. Ahead of me stood a man with rich ebony skin dressed in a white cotton shirt and pants. My legs took charge, making me walk straight to him.
I stepped up beside him. “What is this place?”
“It is a place of juncture.” He met my eye, and spoke with a deep voice. “You have many gifts and talents, all of which you are not using in your current state. So you have several choices.”
He gestured northward. “If you travel for a day you will come across a castle with a King who seeks good people to help lead his war torn kingdom back to greatness.” He motioned to the south. “A day’s journey will take you to a port where you can purchase a boat and travel the known world trading, fighting pirates and freeing slaves.” He turned westward. “And out there is a town, cut off from its capital by bandits and cruel men using it to supply their tyranny, and so in desperate need of a hero.”
He motioned to the door in the middle of the sand. “Or you can go back.”
I glanced north, west, south and finally at the door. I took a deep breath and made the only choice that mattered in defining my destiny. I turned my back on the door.

Six Sentence Sunday 1/13

Today I'm posting six from Branded. The MC, Ali, is being tortured by the General in an attempt to break her spirit. She has collapsed on the group after being electrocuted with several other prisoners, but still refuses to give in.

He kicked me in the side and hissed, “Your defiance is getting tiresome.”

“I will never give in to you,” I answered weakly.

He reached down and grabbed me by the hair, but as he did, one of the men lunged forward and caught his arm. He pulled the General to the ground and he and the other man started to beat him. “We won’t let you touch her!” one bellowed. “She’s the hope for our people!”

Query Critique

Sharon Bayliss had critiqued a query for me! Check out Deceptive Cadence here

Flashback Blog Hop

So I'm joining in with the Flashback Blog Hop! Find it Here.

Before I starting taking my writing seriously, I had this blog so a few of my friends in Australia could read my stories. They'd read the ones I wrote growing up, and requested to see them again, so I typed them out and stuck them on here. Below in an introduction I wrote for one of these stories explaining the background and such for it.

Jan 25th 2012

For anyone who knows me you will know that I was a foreign exchange student after I graduated high school. It is convenient that the Australian and US school years don't line up as Aus runs from Feb-Dec and the US Aug-May. This makes it easy for this story to line itself up. This story is about a girl from Australia who is an exchange student in the US. I began writing it as an 11th grader as I sat and dreamed of jetting off and experiencing a new and exciting life, but soon gave up on it when I really was an exchange student and it never got finished.
Meanwhile, while I was on exchange the concept of Penny came into my mind. A part autobiographical, part fictional character who could express some of the trials I had gone through growing up while also living a fictional existence. So I changed the original character of this story to Penny. It suddenly gave it more depth and integrity and the story found new life. All the other characters around her suddenly seemed more real and alive, and new scenes and ideas seemed to be jumping into my mind.
So, although this story has some real life elements drawing from my experiences, most is fictional, using purely the feelings I had and the all character's new found lives which drew from people's experiences around me that I needed to put down on paper. As a result this story is very raw and honest and some people may see themselves or something they experienced, or they know I did or have happen to me in a slightly more extreme but still realistic manner within the story.
I hope I can express this story as it is intended and you can feel the feelings and life lessons I learned through these fictional characters.
This story is dedicated to the real people of which it is based, PHS class of '04 and SHS class of '05 and is for all the 1986ers out there. Also it's for my sister, may she learn from my mistakes and never have to deal with them herself, and always make the best choices because she deserves it.

New Years Blog Hop Winner

The winner of the Blog hop is Mimi Smith! Thank you to everyone who participated and all my new followers!

Six Sentence Sunday 1/6/13

As the first Sunday of the new year, I have a lot to be excited about because... this is the year my debut novel is released! If you haven't been following my progress, Kiya: Hope of the Pharaoh, book 1 of the Kiya trilogy, will be coming out in April.
So here is a sneak peek, an excerpt from Chapter 3 while she talks to the Pharaoh, her new husband.

I remembered Horemheb’s words to me – Make him love you, make him hold you in his highest regard – and I decided I would begin right then. “I was hoping for me you might make an exception. I am well educated after all, and can help you with many of your tasks. As your wife I would be a loyal and honest assistant.”

He stared at me, confused for a few moments, before a small smile crept across his face. “Horemheb has trained you well..."

Cover Reveal - The Charge by Sharon Bayliss

One of my fellow CQ-ians, Sharon Bayliss, has given me the opportunity to be one of the people to be part of her cover reveal for her novel The Charge. So with no further ado, here it is -

What is The Charge about?

It's the story of an alternate world where the Republic of Texas never joined the Union and instead became a monarchy where the royal family have superhuman powers.


What if Texas never joined the United States, and instead became it's own nation? In The Charge that's exactly what happened. In the 1830s, the Republic of Texas was taken over by a dictator with superhuman powers who named himself the first King of Texas. Eighty years later, the Texas Empire has fallen into ruin, but the story of the Texas royal dynasty is far from over. College freshman Warren King wants nothing more than to enjoy a beer by the pool on his summer break...but that's not what fate has in store for him. When Texas soldiers kidnap his little brother, he embarks into a still-wild West to save him. While fumbling through a search attempt in the lawless Texas Empire, he makes a discovery that changes his life forever. He and his brother are estranged members of the Texas royal family and the King wants them both dead. Now Warren must save his brother and choose whether or not to be King, follow a King, or die before he can retire his fake ID.


Why is this cover a good visual aid for the novel?

This is an image of a "Blue Storm", supersized supernatural storms that plague the Empire of Texas. Here is the excerpt the cover is based on:

A thunderstorm brewed on the horizon . . . not a normal thunderstorm. The clouds towering above the Earth were a deep black, pulsing with lighting flashes that looked almost blue. Warren's heart skipped a beat as he saw a dark-haired man appear at the top of the stairwell outside the room. But it was just Jack. He opened the door, letting in mosquitoes and the earthy smell of the impending storm, and handed them greasy looking brown bags.

Lena pulled back the foil and sniffed.

"Just eat it," Jack said before she could comment.

"What's the deal with those clouds?" Warren asked Jack.

"Thunderstorm," Jack said simply.

Jack moved next to Warren and peered out at the storm like he was looking at a complex mathematical equation. He opened the window. The air that blew in had already grown colder. Jack put his hand out the window and waved it around like he was searching for a lost object in water.

"Does it feel different to you?" Jack asked Warren.

Warren nodded. Jack looked back at the sky and looked . . . scared. It made Warren even more freaked out than he already was. Jack didn't seem to ever have any emotions about anything, so if he was worried about this, it was something to be worried about.

"Dear god," Jack said. "That son of a bitch did it."

"Who did what?" Warren asked.

"Never you mind," Jack said.

"I think I can feel it, too," Lena said. "The wind feels prickly. Is that normal?”

Jack continued to stare at the storm. "Severe weather is more common in Texas because of the Blue Energy in the air impacting the climate," Jack said. "But that is not normal."

The more Warren looked at the storm, the more terrified he felt. He couldn't say why, but this one evoked a feeling in him that would have fit more with seeing black smoke towering over his home or a mushroom cloud. It was a sign of something bad. The core of the storm was so dark it could have been a hole in the sky where he could see deep space peeking through. The edges were bluish purple, like a bruise. The lighting was hitting the ground now and it definitely was . . . blue. It didn't hit in single strikes, but spanned large portions of countryside in a web of spindly fingers.

"When I was a kid, I remember my mom telling me that the Wildes created the storms," Lena said. "I always pictured a guy in a cloud shooting lighting out of his hands, like Zeus."

"Yeah, well, you were a kid," Jack said. "I think that a lot of Americans still think that."


About The Charge -

The Charge was a quarterfinalist for the 2012 Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award and won a Publisher's Weekly review: "A solid cast of well-developed characters, including a “super-tall” royal Texan family, stars in this thrill ride of a novel teetering between sci-fi adventure and alternate historical epic...Easily shifting between characters’ perspectives, and relentless in its action, well-placed humor, and suspense, this manuscript is a delight." The Charge will be available in digital and print formats from Curiosity Quills Press on Texas Independence Day, 3/2/13. Go to www.facebook.com/thechargebook for updates. HTML for sign up form:

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