Tag Archives: epic fantasy

Dreadful Poetry Book Launch Party Ends

Thank you for stopping by, Gentle Reader, and joining us aboard Wizard Kadmeion’s airship here at the zeppelin yards near Lita’s castle in the northern realms.

Previously:

Fresh-Baked this Morning by Wizard Kadmeion

We had so much fun today during the Dreadful Poetry book launch party, hobnobbing with the wizards and talking with the naughty woodland fairies that made us blush. Bright’s cake that he made from magical powders was tasty, and the champagne tickled our noses.

Kadmeion’s Auntie Em has summoned her pumpkin coach. See it waiting for her over there, by the forest’s edge?

Here are some cookies to take with you, Gentle Reader, fresh-baked just this morning by Wizard Kadmeion. Not to worry, he went out early and bought some proper flour. He put a gentle spell on their box that will keep them warm all the way home. Tuck your hands around the box, and the spell will keep your fingers warm, too.

Marty has your cloak right here. Bundle up. The snow is falling again outside.

Don’t forget your Dreadful Poetry book. Curl up tonight in front of your fireplace, and join the boys on their adventures at the university. We told Auntie Em that you would read about her part in the story. And be sure to think of Bright the next time you see a butterfly.

To all, Lita wishes you a magical goodnight.

The Dreadful Poetry Cake

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During the Dreadful Poetry book launch party, Sir Bright asks us to join him and view the buffet table. He prepared a special cake for the occasion. We admire the confection, and chat a bit with him.

Previously:

Bright Made the Cake

Brighton M’Choakenchilde is the seventh son of a seventh son elf prince. He came into his magical ability after meeting Wizardling Kadmeion in Dreadful Poetry.

In addition to being Kadmeion’s assistant, Bright is their airship mechanic. He has his father’s handsome elf features. Bright’s magic is scented with sweet pine, and the gentle aroma of violets.

Lita: The cake for the Dreadful Poetry book release party is lovely. It looks just like the book cover. Did you start with a cake and make it look like a book, or did you do it the other way around?

Bright: I started with a cake. Sort of.

Bright Used Magical Powder Instead of Flour

Lita: Explain?

Bright: We were all out of flour, and Kadmeion told me last night that the party was today. I improvised by using some of our magical powder stock instead of flour. I found it difficult to change the bright colors into a presentable cake, but I tasted the batter before baking. It came out fine.

Lita: What magical flavor is the cake?

Bright: Chocolate.

Lita: Will eating the cake turn your guests into something, um, unnatural?

Bright: It will make everyone unnaturally happy to read a story about our college days.

Bright’s First Spell Was a Butterfly

Lita: We each will have a piece of cake please, and some of the champagne. While you’re serving, tell us about the significance of the butterflies on the book cover.

Bright: [The elf-kind serves us chocolate cake, and glasses of chilled champagne.] My first high magic enchantment was to create a butterfly. I could not have done it without Kadmeion. He took on my case when no other wizard or sorceress would work with me.

Lita: Will you show us the spell?

Sir Bright cups his hands, and sings a short wizardry spell. A dot of his magic glows like a candle’s flame within the shelter of his palms, then morphs into a blue-and-green butterfly. The magical creature flutters about, and perches on Gentle Reader’s champagne glass. The butterfly is lovely, and the cake is delicious. We thank Bright for his Glamour-filled elf-kind magic.

Next time: Dreadful Poetry Book Launch Party Ends

Searching for Auntie Em in Dreadful Poetry

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Wizard Kadmeion has just brought his Auntie Em over to say hello to us at the Dreadful Poetry book release party.

Previously: Welcome to the Dreadful Poetry Book Release Party

Auntie Em Wears Fine Fescue Today

Wizard Kadmeion’s aunt, Sorceress Emily (“Em”), is a renowned magical horticulture practitioner. Her specialty is growing root vegetables into human shapes. Magicians seek out her wares so they can animate the tubers with minor demons. These flora homunculi are popular as garden workers.

Lita: Em, we are so pleased you could join us today at Kadmeion’s affair.

Auntie Em: I wouldn’t miss it for the world. Who is this lovely person you’re with, Lita?

Lita: This is Gentle Reader.

Auntie Em: Enchanted to meet you. Did you two hear that Kadmeion searched for me during much of his Dreadful Poetry story? I was quite the star, and I wasn’t even there.

Lita: I know all about it, Em. Remember that I am Kadmeion’s scribe, and he natters at me using mind voice. The wizard and I have coffee together in the early morning, and I transcribe what he says while we chat. Gentle Reader will learn about your part in the story the normal way by reading the book.

As Daft as Sitting on Stilts While Knitting

Gentle Reader: [Methinks Auntie Em is as daft as sitting on stilts while doing some knitting. Ask her why she has grass for hair.]

Lita: Love your new hair style, darling. Usually, you wear mushrooms and leaves on your head. Is that Kentucky Bluegrass you have on today?

Auntie Em: This is Fine Fescue. [Auntie Em pats her head with a manicured hand. The elegant long fingernails are painted pine-tree green.] I don’t need as much water now when I shampoo, because the grass is drought resistant.

Kadmeion and his Auntie Em excuse themselves. They step away to talk with the other guests. Sir Bright comes over, and invites us to join him. We follow him across the room to the buffet table. Hungry? Time to eat something.

Next time: The Dreadful Poetry Cake

Welcome to the Dreadful Poetry Book Release Party

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Watch your step on the gangplank as you come aboard Wizard Kadmeion’s airship.

Disregard the Somewhat Frightful Face

Glad You Came

Love your beautiful hair and outfit, my dear. Is that big purple and white flower on your dress enchanted? Oh, it giggles, and smells like good luck. Yes then, it’s the perfect thing to wear today to the wizard’s affair.

See that homunculus with the three legs standing just inside the door? That is one of Sir Bright’s clockworks creations. Disregard Marty’s somewhat frightful face that looks like a metal triangle. Hand your cloak to him. Marty will remove the snow with a brush made of dragon eyelashes, and hold your garment in the atrium until it is time to go.

The rest of the guests are gathering in the forward lounge. Kadmeion, his elf assistant Bright, and the wizard’s cynanthrope familiar Furgo are here. The woodland fairies flit about, are always ready to perch on your hand, and talk about their naughty ways. Wizard Morton from the university arrived earlier, along with a few Magic Guild cronies.

Before you go inside, take a moment please, and step to the display table over here. This will take only a moment.

Spells Transport Your Copy to You

Get your very own copy of our wizard’s latest story, Dreadful Poetry. Today is release day!

Dreadful Poetry tells about the wee bit of trouble the boys had while at the university. Bright was not always a mage, and Kadmeion had quite the time of it with his field study. For a while, it seemed that both of them would land in magician’s prison.

Thank you for the small amount it takes for the wizards at Amazon to fuel the transport spells that whisk an eBook immediately to you. Their clever enchantments will deliver your book to these magical locations around the world: US, UK, CA, AU, and IN.

Look Who Just Arrived

Kadmeion’s Auntie Em just stepped in. Let’s give her a few minutes to greet her favorite nephew. Oh, look. The wizard is bringing her over to say hello to us.

Next post: Searching for Auntie Em in Dreadful Poetry

You Are Invited to the Dreadful Poetry Book Release Party

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Burr. Come in out of the snow. Drop by Lita’s castle here in the northern realms and hobnob with wizards, the son of an elf prince, and a sorceress who grows daisies on her hat.

The affair will be this Saturday, the 17th of December, starting at sunrise, here on Lita’s blog.

Wands, broomsticks, and pointy hats are not required. Refreshments will be served. A splendid time is guaranteed for all.

Don’t miss out on the clockpunk fun. Pre-order Dreadful Poetry now.

30,000 Curious Came to See the Show

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What a mad, grand day for Lita Burke’s blog. 30,000 views. Smiles from Lita for all of you lovely and curious Gentle Readers who visited.

Suppose there is a most interesting street where the houses look like books. Inside these houses are places where fey-folk fairies play, wizards sing their magic, and Enchanters give kisses. Anyone can walk down this street, and glimpse at these fantasy worlds through the windows. Lita’s blog is that street. 30,000 Gentle Readers have already walked its twisty cobblestone ways. Here are a few of the wonders in the windows.

Ride on a Wizard’s Airship

Ride on a Wizard’s Airship

All aboard now for a trip to a plate-shaped ocean world, where islands float far above the sea. Dragons fly the sky, and clockworks creations inhabited by minor demons join human and elf-kind magicians in absurd adventures.

A proper wizard uses an airship to visit these floating lands. Others of more modest means use Ornithopters designed by Leonardo’s Airborne Contraptions.

Join in the sometime fun, sometimes scary, but always delightful adventures of Wizard Kadmeion, his half-elf assistant Sir Bright, and their friends in the fantasy world of Clockpunk Wizard. Get your first ride on Kadmeion’s airship, and meet a special dog that digs deadly mandrake roots in Forever Boy.

Unicorn Herd

Unicorn Island

There is a floating island in the royal elf-kind archipelago that has a herd of unicorns. They run in the steppe lands, and gather in the border forests.

The unicorns shed the husks of their alicorns, and the elf-kind collect these precious magical artifacts. An illness has stricken the herd. Lady Luck’s young daughter, with her favorite wizard in tow, visits the unicorns. She learns how to talk to the birds to get to the bottom of the unicorn illness in Glitter Ponies.

Enchanters’ Luscious Magic

Fire and a Hidden Spell Book

Lanith, a magical curios merchant, loses her shop and home to a mysterious fire. Her magician husband Tredan has gone missing.

The morally strict Church magicians, and the Enchanters with their luscious magic that they distribute with kisses, are in constant battle to do whatever is necessary to gain the upper hand in their world of Sye. She learns that her husband wrote a powerful spell book that will subjugate the Enchanters’ magic. His book sits in the middle of the decades-old conflict between the Church and the Enchanters.

With only her dragonette and the clothes on her back, she enlists the help of the Enchanters, and unravels her husband’s life-long secrets. His kidnapping tale starts in Wrath, and Lanith’s story continues in Tredan’s Bane.

Also see:

Glitter Ponies Giveaway on Goodreads

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Lita is offering free rides on the wizard’s airship to the land of Clockpunk Wizard.

For all Gentle Readers who are on Goodreads, enter now for your chance to win a FREE autographed paperback copy of Glitter Ponies. The Goodreads Giveaway for Glitter Ponies runs March 1st to 12th, so don’t miss your chance to visit with Wizard Kadmeion, his assistant Sir Bright, and Lady Luck’s young daughter, Miss Probability.

Glitter Ponies by Lita Burke

In Glitter Ponies, a recent college graduate wizard teams up with Lady Luck’s young daughter to discover the cause of a mysterious unicorn illness.

Enter Giveaway

5 Most Popular Pictures in 2015 – Part II

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This is the second of two blog posts that look back at the five most popular pictures on Lita’s blog in 2015. Here are the fourth through first place winners.

Previously: 5 Most Popular Pictures in 2015 – Part I

A Resident of the Floating Lands

Fourth Place: Floating Lands Video

It’s time to roll out another of Lita’s fantasy worlds–Floating Lands. This month is a look at lighter-than-air islands, levitating people, and soaring cows. Check out Lita’s just-released Floating Lands video.

We have all visited floating lands–do you dream you can fly? When asleep, we soar like a lark or hover like hummingbirds.

Sometimes when your legs feel so heavy during your morning run, or you’re at a standstill in commuter traffic, do you look to the sky and marvel at a bird’s effortless glide on the wind? If you parachute, then you have felt the breathless sensation of floating. Ditto if you’ve flown in a zero-G airplane or hovered in the blast of a wind tunnel.

Fantasy fiction is airborne. The King of Eagles plucks the imprisoned wizard from atop his enemy’s tower. Sparkly faced vampires leap the distance of soccer fields from balconies to treetops. Any sorceress worth her pointy hat can levitate a feather or a boulder. More…

Unicorn with an Elf Magician

Third Place: Concerning Unicorns in the Clockpunk Wizard World

Time to set the facts straight about this four-legged sentient creature with a long spiral horn on its forehead.

If Gentle Reader were to cast a searching spell about unicorns in our fantasy world called internet, the spell would say that unicorns are made-up bits of fantasy fluff. Lita says horse feathers (with apologies to Pegasus) about that parcel of nonsense.

The upcoming story Glitter Ponies tells about Lady Luck’s daughter helping Wizard Kadmeion discover the cause of a mysterious unicorn illness. It will be a while until Kadmeion’s airship travels to floating Wuddlekins Island to visit the unicorn herd, so here are some facts from the wizard’s Bestiarum Vocabulum.

Unicorns are the size of ponies with red, black, or white coats. They share the physical features of horses and goats: they have manes, long flowing tails, cloven hooves, and many have a goat-like beard. More…

Home of a Woodland Fairy

Second Place: Care of a Fey-Folk Fairy (Part 1)

Meet Tinker Bell’s naughtier cousins—the fairies flitting about in the woodlands near Lita’s castle.

Today, Lita talks about the worldly fairies that go with Kadmeion on his wizard-for-hire adventures. Fairies take their coloring from where they live. There are four types of fey-folk:

Highland fairies have wings the color of sunshine, and sound like the whisper of shushing snow during flight.
When water fey-folk flutter their turquoise wings, they sound like murmuring rills.
Woodland fairies gather in emerald or jade fairy clans, and their nighttime play is often mistaken for fireflies.
Fire fairies love volcanos, have flame-colored wings, and leap about as if they were sizzling lava sparks.

The tiny fairy magicians build their communal homes from materials rich in latent magic. Predators that hunger for an easy magical snack are a constant danger to fairies. To protect themselves, fey-folk often befriend elf mages and live in their sheltered gardens. More…

An “Ornithopter” personal flying machine by Da Vinci

First Place: How the Airship Works

Welcome to the topside Map Room in Wizard Kadmeion’s airship. It adjoins the Pilot House.

The magical world of Clockpunk Wizard in Forever Boy is a spinning plate with a large mountainous land mass at the spindle called the South Pole. The rest of the platter is a vast ocean dotted with small sandy cays.

The strong magical field at the South Pole causes a certain volcanic rock to float. These rocks break away from the primary landmass and drift toward the Rim. These hundreds of floating islands are the habitable archipelago for the magicians and other inhabitants of the Clockpunk Wizard world.

The weather is calm near the South Pole. Storms are common toward the outer edge of the plate. At the Rim boundary, violent winds destroy everything. All the floating islands eventually drift to the Rim and disappear. Smaller islands move more quickly to their death. The largest floating islands can last for a century or longer. Magical creatures flourish on the floating islands. Many island residents have need of a wizard’s skilled services. This is the basis of Kadmeion and Bright’s roving magician-for-hire business. More…

5 Most Popular Classic Posts in 2015

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Lita is so delighted when Gentle Readers drop by her blog posts from earlier years. Here are the top five most visited classic posts in 2015.

A beautiful harpy in the Clockpunk Wizard world

FIFTH PLACE: Harpies Are Misunderstood

Madam Harpy, our Winged Sister of the Sky. Who did a disservice to this magical creature, turning her from a beautiful woman with feathery wings, into a fearsome hag?

Hesiod, a Greek oral poet from the same time period as Homer, described harpies as women with fetching hair. Pottery showed them as lovely damsels with wings. Just what Lita was looking for, pretty bird gals having chronic Good Hair Days. More…

Shy Jack Frost, Winter’s Fantasy Boy

FOURTH PLACE: Fantasy Boy of Winter: Jack Frost

Burr, it’s wintertime outside of Lita’s castle here in the northern realms. Someone painted icy filigree on the windows. Let’s bundle up, go outside, and meet the artist.

Say hello to handsome Jack Frost, winter’s fantasy boy. This magician embodies lacy window paintings, trees draped with sparkling snow, and crystalline sculptures made of ice. He tosses about sheets of sleet as if they were billowing linens on a clothesline. More…

The Length of the Wand Matters Not

THIRD PLACE: 6 Critical Elements for Fantasy World Building (Part 3)

This is the third of a 3-part blog post about building rich fantasy worlds to immerse your readers. In part 1 we looked at two “big picture” elements: maps and politics. Part 2 was a “medium” view about wimpy food and eavesdropping.

This time we’ll talk about a couple of “detail” topics: the decorative apostrophe, and why it’s no fun for wizards to just wave their wands and rule the world. More…

Readers Love to Eavesdrop

SECOND PLACE: 6 Critical Elements for Fantasy World Building (Part 2)

This is the second of a 3-part blog post about building rich fantasy worlds to immerse your readers. In part 1 we looked at two “big picture” elements in building a fantasy world: maps and politics.

Today we will take a “medium-sized” view and see why meat and grog are wimpy. We’ll also learn how to speak in tongues. More…

There is Always Someone Opposing Your Fantasy People

FIRST PLACE: 6 Critical Elements for Fantasy World Building (Part 1)

World-building techniques have always fascinated me. High Fantasy and Epic Fantasy books were my delight as a young reader. I poured over the maps on the book’s end papers, studied every entry in the glossary in the back, even marveled over the lengthy character name lists in the front.

When it comes to creating fantasy worlds for my own fiction, I’m a writer who knows the details of the characters’ environment. I must have their vitae close at hand so I know them well enough to write about their struggles. It also doesn’t hurt to speak their language and follow the latest fads for their clothing styles. More…

Here are more for the curious minded:

RJL Evans Highlights Lita Burke’s Forever Boy

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Lita takes Gentle Reader out on the web today to see what R.J.L. Evans, the author of ‘Mr Pimplesnack and the Flying Moon Bus’ has to say about Forever Boy.

Forever Boy by Lita Burke

“Life is dirty, difficult, and all too short for the dogs digging up the deadly mandrake roots that wizards animate with minor demons. A pup named Go Fer has an odd magical talent. He does not die from the fatal screams of newly unearthed mandrakes. Go Fer’s master, a prideful minor magician, sees Go Fer’s talent as a fluke saving him the cost of replacing dogs killed by the mandrakes’ cries.

“Check out this wonderful title by Lita Burke…”

One morning, a young Wizard Kadmeion and his half-elf assistant Bright watch Go Fer at work. This mandrake extraction goes horribly wrong, and Go Fer runs away during the hubbub. After seeking out the wizard, the dog’s life is not the same. In fact, Kadmeion discovers Go Fer is not a dog after all. More…“

Read more about Lita’s Clockpunk Wizard world: