Daily Archives: June 1, 2022

#KidWriter Blondie Returns with Chapter 3 of The Elementals! #DragonStories #ProudMom

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Welcome back, my fellow creatives! I’ve been pleasantly surprised by my daughter Blondie’s announcement that she’s continued her story. Well, we can’t put off sharing that, can we? 🙂

Forward: Deepest apologies for taking so long!! Procrastination is an ugly thing, folks. Here are my other chapters in case you forgot them.

Click here for Chapter 1.

Click here for Chapter 2.

But enough talk.

Without further ado, here’s Chapter 3 of The Elementals!

–Blondie the Dragon Master

“The Forest Shard?” Comettail gasped. “Yes.” Raven said ominously, “I have been looking for the Forest Temple for weeks now.”

She stood tall and spread her silver wings, looking proud with herself. “I found it, but if it wasn’t for these vines I would have had it already!” Raven glared at the ashes. “Can you lead us to it so we can fulfill the prophecy?” Rainbow pleaded hopefully. Inferno scowled at her. “Ah, so you’re the new Elementals!” Raven beamed, “All the more helpful!” Boulder stared, suspicious.

“How do the Forest Dragons LIVE in this stuff?!” Inferno said, pushing away yet ANOTHER annoying branch. “That ‘stuff’ is called TREES.” Rainbow huffed. “You could just burn all the branches off. Then it wouldn’t be SO ANNOYING.” Comettail looked at Inferno, horrified. “You can’t do THAT.” he shuddered. “Why not?” Inferno asked, pushing through more underbrush. “That’s how the CURSED FOREST FORMED.” Comettail whispered.

“That’s just old Dragonlore, Comettail. None of it is true.” Boulder stated, trotting behind them. “The Elementals were Dragonlore too, Boulder,” Comettail said, serious, “There’s some truth in every legend.”

“At last!” Raven exclaimed, pushing through a bush after several hours of trekking. “Wow.” Hurricane breathed. There, in a clearing, stood a large, stone, moss-covered temple, embedded deep inside the biggest tree any of them had ever seen. Rainbow gasped as the sun hit her vibrant scales. “It’s beautiful!” she squealed. Raven grinned, Pitch cawing beside her. “Let’s find out what’s inside, eh?” Raven smiled. “Yes yes YES!!” Rainbow shouted enthusiastically. “No, Rainbow!” Comettail argued, “Not yet! We have to properly-” “Here we gooooooo!” Raven yelled as she sped into the huge structure. “Wait for meeeee!!” Rainbow yelped as she ran in after her. “RAINBOW! WAIT!” Hurricane yelled after them. But they were long gone.

“C’mon, guys. Let’s make sure those two don’t kill themselves.” Hurricane sighed as she turned toward the others. But only Comettail stood there, wide eyed and shivering. “Comettail, WHERE ARE THE OTHERS?!” she panicked, whirling around. Comettail only stared at her. “Gone,” He whimpered. “Where, Comettail? WHERE?!?!” Hurricane said, frantically shaking him as if the answers would come flying out. “Taken by Shadows.” He whispered. He staggered out of Hurricane’s grip and fainted dead away.

TO BE CONTINUED………….

Make sure to stay tuned for Chapter 4 later in summer! I promise not to wait as long as I did. Stay awesome everybody!!!

-Blondie the Dragon Rider, Tamer, Trainer, ETC……

Many thanks, my lovely girl! Yes, please stay tuned. We’ve some fiction to critique, some authors to meet, and some flowers to pluck.

Read on, share on, and write on, my friends!

You’ve Got Five Pages, #TheCartographers by Peng Shepherd, To Tell Me You’re Good.

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Hello, amazing fellow creatives! Here’s to more fun perusing the library’s new releases to see what strikes our fancy. As I mentioned in an earlier post, I’ve retitled Story Cuppings to better fit the premise of the podcast.

As writers, we hear all the time that we’ve got to hook readers in just the first few pages or else. We’ve got to hook agents in the first few pages or else.

Whether you’re looking to get published or just hoping to hook your reader, first impressions are vital. Compelling opening scenes are the key to catching an agent or editor’s attention, and are crucial for keeping your reader engaged.

JEFF GERKE, THE FIRST 50 PAGES

Well then, let’s study those first few pages in other people’s stories, shall we?

Today I snagged from the New Release shelf:

The Cartographers by Peng Shepherd

What will you, fellow creative, learn in the first five pages? Let’s find out!

If you do not see the audio player above, you can access the podcast here.

I wasn’t expecting yet another story’s opener to be a boss and disgruntled protagonist, but here we are. The first chapter of The Cartographers  by Peng Shepherd is a slow burn, one that uses a lot of exposition to establish the protagonist’s knowledge of maps. The opening lines about a famous, ancient map are indeed informative, if nothing else than to prepare us for THE map (as noted on the dust jacket) that sets the story in motion later on. While the interaction between boss and protagonist Nell feels a little cliche’, it does allow Nell to think on what “disgraced” her from her more prestigious job, and that intrigue hooks us as readers to desire more about this curious cartographer and whether or not she will ever return to a place of honor in her family or profession.

As always, I love hearing what’s on the shelves of your own libraries. Libraries Rock!

Read on, share on, and write on, my friends!