Category Archives: Journey

About the journey of becoming an Indie writer.

30,000 Curious Came to See the Show

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.

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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 Pictures in 2015 – Part I

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This is the first of two blog posts that look back at the five most popular pictures on Lita’s blog in 2015. Fifth place was a four-way tie. Here are the pictures and delicious teasers from their blog posts.

Jack Frost, Your Nipping Kisses Leave Flushed Cheeks

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.

Jack is an affectionate one. He nips noses and toes with tingling kisses, and leaves behind his enthralling magic.

Snow sports enthusiasts adore this mischievous ne’er-do-well’s wintry efforts. Mister Frost delights in all chilly artwork, whether he fills mountain valleys with champagne powder for skiers or freezes a lowland lake until it is a perfect dance floor for an ice skater’s blades.

Jack Frost on His Way to Another Window Painting

He is an artist and sculptor, too. His icy paintings on windowpanes have many admirers.

Jack also molds frigid streams into whimsy ice figurines. He does his work when your back is turned or during the long and dark winter nights.

Just don’t try stealing a kiss back from handsome Jack by putting your lips on a frozen well handle. Ouch. Lita warned you.

Hear that cad giggle at your foolishness in trying to catch him unawares? More…

See the Strands of Pixie Dust Swirl Around Her?

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. These wee magicians fly in, lavish their wizard with effervescent pixie dust, and give him spicy relationship advice. Despite the frivolity, these pretty spell casters harbor a deep magical sorrow.

This post is the first of two with tips for Gentle Reader on how to care for a fey-folk fairy. Today we focus on practical matters. Next time, we will talk about a fairy’s magical concerns.

Let’s Straighten This Out

First of all, why are they called fey-folk, instead of fay, faie, fee, or fae? The wizard’s Bestiarum Vocabulum describes fairy magic as flighty, fanciful, fragile, fantastical, fickle, and foolish. To reduce the tongue twisting, Lita calls them fey. More…

Sea Nymph and Water Birds Fairytale

3 Naughty Ladies of Fantasy Fiction

A warning today for the gentlemen. In some Fantasy Worlds, you will find lascivious females. Guard your virtue!

While Lita was researching her next book, Old Bony Blue Eyes, she found several kinds of mer females in fantasy and folklore stories. An alarming pattern emerged. The mermaid tales combined two dangerous mysteries for menfolk–women and the ocean.

Could this all be mistaken identity? Lonely sailors long at sea might mistake sightings of manatees and dugongs for our aqua princesses. Perhaps the manatee’s seductive smile is an irresistible lure, and sailors will shipwreck in their haste to meet this lovely gal.

But wait. These gentle, large water mammals look nothing like a shapely human woman. Must be water mirages. Let’s stick with fantasy artistry for our sea girls and not spoil the mood. More…

Next Time: 5 Most Popular Pictures in 2015 – Part II

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.

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:

20,000 Curious Came to See the Show

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What a mad, grand day for Lita Burke’s blog. 20,000 views. Smiles from Lita for all of you lovely and curious Gentle Readers who visited.

Lita’s Bestiarum Vocabulum

Suppose there was a mad carnival, and 20,000 souls came to see the show. Oh, so many wonders await the bold who visit here in Lita’s fantasy worlds.

Have fancy to visit the zoo? Over here is Lita’s Bestiarum Vocabulum. Inside is where the magical creatures wander about, and the people are in cages. Visit the fairies in the forest, boggarts in their boxes, and mermaids in the Seduction Pool.

Enchanters of Sye Tower

Climb the steps in the Enchanters of Sye tower. At the top are Sciomancer ghosts, affectionate dragonettes, and lovely women.

Meet a retired Enchanter who runs a well-respected magical curios shop. Perhaps you want a trinket that summons a chatty ghost. Here is another charm that bewitches the tongue, and makes you profess your undying love of donkeys.

Such fun, but we must be on our way. Don’t leave the tower without your luscious Enchanter’s essence kiss.

Islands Float Above the Ocean in the Clockpunk Wizard World

This path leads to the floating islands of the Clockpunk Wizard wing. Around the back are its aerodrome docks, where a friendly weredog waits for you on the gangplank of a wizard’s airship.

The best seats are on the forward deck. Waiting for us is a minor demon in a mechanical man body. He offers us a tray of treats. Taste as many you dare:

Meet a weredog and his deadly mandrake-digging job.
Romp on a floating island with desperate fairies, a mad dryad, and curse words that turn into bats.
Fly over the edge of a plate-shaped ocean world.

Hear a Woodland Nymph Play a Fiddle

Lita says thank you to all Gentle Readers who visited this mad and grand blog that is the gateway into her fantasy worlds.

There are many new tales are on the way for the main stage. Workers are building more sideshows, and expanding the choice in the tasty book booths.

Stop by anytime to perhaps hear a woodland nymph play a fiddle, and indulge in the fun.

Also see “10,000 Curious Came to See the Show”

Find Fantasy Here at the Bazaar

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A Dark Busker Twirls Her Skirt

Lita takes Gentle Reader to the bazaar today. Come, let us find the booths with the fantasy books.

The bazaar is a mysterious place, stuffed with wonders for the senses. Over there, a dark busker twirls her skirt until it turns into black butterflies that smell like sage. Listen to the muddled music. Some songs are lilting whistles, and they flit about like wrens. Other earthy tunes thrum with drums–feel them throb in your gut? Food vendors perfume the air with aromas of cinnamon bread, creamy vanilla candies, and grilled meat spiced with peppers. Let us sample some of the rich fare.

Authors’ Cave Favorite Fantasy Books

Hear the bazaar’s vendors call to us using sing-song voices? Book fanciers say that the magical tomes are in the back, over there. Shall we step into this shaded booth? Mind the low awning. Here, Lita will hold it aside while you duck your head and go in. Look. Fantasy books–Lita’s favorite–are stacked everywhere. The Authors’ Cave proprietor says:

“Just finished the latest book from your favorite author? We know how it feels! We’re readers, too! And the sad part is, it might be a year, or even two, before the next release…you wander aimlessly, trying to figure out what to read next.”

Authors’ Cave shares some fantastic books that have become all-time favorites to its members. Read more from Authors’ Cave…

It won’t hurt a thing to take a peek. Lift the covers of these enchanting fantasy books at the Authors’ Cave booth, breathe deep their magical glue-and-paper aroma, and glimpse the wonders inside:

Division of the Marked by March McCarron
At Amazon US/UK and on Goodreads

The Forest Bull by Terry Maggert
At Amazon US/UK and on Goodreads

Hero for Hire by C. B. Pratt
At Amazon US/UK and on Goodreads

Forever Boy by Lita Burke
At Amazon US/UK and on Goodreads

Scepter by Scott Collins
At Amazon US/UK and on Goodreads

A Demon’s Quest by Charles Carfagno Jr.
At Amazon US/UK and on Goodreads

Children of Fire by Mary Fonvielle
At Amazon US/UK and on Goodreads

Trials of Hallion, Two of Swords by Maria Greene
At Amazon US/UK and on Goodreads

Souls of the Never by Colin Rutherford
At Amazon US/UK and on Goodreads

Magic in Threes: Most Viewed Blog Pictures in 2014

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Where did Gentle Reader find the enchantments in Lita Burke’s fantasy worlds during 2014? Three is a magical number. Let’s take a look at the three most popular blog pictures for this year.

Previously:

A Female Enchanter

The first of the three most popular pictures with the Gentle Readers is a female enchanter from the Enchanters of Sye world of Wrath and Tredan’s Bane.

She holds a charm in her hand, and it glows with an Enchanter’s magical essence.

An “Ornithopter” Personal Flying Machine by Da Vinci

The second of the most popular Lita Burke blog pictures is an Ornithopter flying machine from the world of Clockpunk Wizard.

Wizard Kadmeion and his assistant Sir Bright use these Leonardo Da Vinci style flying machines in Old Bony Blue Eyes.

A Harpy in Ephraim’s Curious Device

The third of the three most popular pictures with the Gentle Readers of Lita’s blog is one of the lovely harpies from Ephraim’s Curious Device in the Clockpunk Wizard world.

This favorite harpy picture shows light ghostly wings, a curvy figure in fetching hot weather flying clothes, and a beautiful face.

Magic in Threes: Most Visited New Blog Posts in 2014

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Where did Gentle Reader find the enchantments in Lita Burke’s fantasy worlds during 2014? Three is a magical number. Let’s take a look at the three most popular blog posts with new content that came out in 2014.

Last Time: Most Visited Classic Blog Posts in 2014

Shy Jack Frost, Winter’s Fantasy Boy

The most visited post released in 2014 is about one of the characters in Lita’s upcoming story, Glitter Ponies.

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. Read more in “Fantasy Boy of Winter: Jack Frost”

Tongue-In-Cheek Wedding at the End of the World

The second most visited post released in 2014 is one of Lita’s book reviews.

The Dark Days: End of the World – Episode 1 by Ginger Gelsheimer and Taylor Anderson is a YA thriller about teen Claudia Sheeplord and the end of the world via asteroid. Claudia has been skeptical about the blather over the past month about the killer asteroid that will slam into the Earth and raise the tides ten feet higher. Or two miles higher. Whatever. Read more in “Review: The Dark Days”

Forest Fairies

The third most visited post released in 2014 goes back to the Clockpunk Wizard world and talks about its most delightful denizens, the fey-folk fairies.

Meet Tinker Bell’s naughtier cousins—the fairies flitting about in the woodlands near Lita’s castle. These worldly fairies go with Kadmeion on his wizard-for-hire adventures. These wee magicians fly in, lavish their wizard with effervescent pixie dust, and give him spicy relationship advice. Read more in “Care of a Fey-Folk Fairy (Part 1)”

Next Time: Most Viewed Blog Pictures in 2014

Magic in Threes: Most Visited Classic Blog Posts in 2014

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Where did Gentle Reader find the enchantments in Lita Burke’s fantasy worlds during 2014? Three is a magical number. Let’s take a look at the three most popular blog posts that came out before 2014.

There is Always Someone Opposing Your Fantasy People

The most visited classic blog post in 2014 talked about the magic behind the curtain in Lita’s worlds.

World-building techniques have always fascinated Lita. High Fantasy and Epic Fantasy books were her delight as a young reader. She 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. Read more at “6 Critical Elements for Fantasy World Building (Part 1)”

A Beautiful Harpy in the Clockpunk Wizard World

The second most visited classic blog post in 2014 was about a favorite resident of Lita’s Clockpunk Wizard world.

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? Read more at “Harpies Are Misunderstood”

Readers Love to Eavesdrop

The third most visited classic blog post in 2014 went back behind the curtain and talked about making fantasy characters real.

This post explored how to build rich fantasy worlds to immerse readers. Part 1 looked at two “big picture” elements in building a fantasy world: maps and politics. This second post took a “medium-sized” view and showed why meat and grog are wimpy.

Lita also explained in this post how to speak in tongues. Read more at “6 Critical Elements for Fantasy World Building (Part 2)”

Next Time: Most Visited New Blog Posts in 2014

Hobnobbing With the Wonderful Wizards of Words

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Lita recently left her castle in the snowy northern realms for a visit to the 2014 Readers’ Favorite International Book Award Contest ceremony in the sultry swelter of Miami, Florida.

2014 Readers’ Favorite International Book Awards Contest, Miami. Left to Right: Lita Burke, Lorrie Farrelly, Jalpa Williby.

Lita met fellow writers of many genres, exchanged spell papers (okay, business cards), and drank magical potions (cocktails).

The night air crackled with breathless talk and the lightening-strike pops of flashbulbs. Women wearing sparkling gowns made of starry fireflies floated past tuxedoed gents. The authors clutched their precious books stuffed with beguiling stories, and held them up for the obliging cameras.

RF Miami 2014. Photo courtesy of Jalpa Williby. Used with permission.

2014 Readers’ Favorite International Book Awards Contest, Miami. Left to Right: Lita Burke, Jalpa Williby, Linda Watkins. Photo courtesy of Jalpa Williby. Used with permission.

And then there was that breathless minute: walk to center stage, accept the award, and all but swoon from the applause for your story. Heavenly.

Allow Lita to introduce Gentle Reader to the books that the authors are holding in these pictures. Be sure to check out the award-winning stories that these wonderful wizards of words hobnobbed over at the 2014 Readers’ Favorite International Book Award Contest ceremony in Miami.

Terms of Surrender by Lorrie Farrelly is a historical western romance about a former captain in the confederate army, Michael Cantrell, and his search for redemption in the ranch lands of Wyoming.

Terms of Surrender is a Readers’ Favorite Bronze Medal Award Winner in Fiction-Western (2014).

Timelapse by Lorrie Farrelly is a supernatural thriller about Alex, a graduate student, who tragically loses his wife in an accident.

Alex is swept into a time warp where he battles the harsh emotional reality of an alternate universe.

Timelapse is a Readers’ Favorite Honorable Mention Award Winner in Fiction-Paranormal (2014).

Chaysing Dreams by Jalpa Williby is a young adult romance about a teenage girl named Tess and her journey to find the meaning of her disturbing dreams.

Chaysing Dreams is a Readers’ Favorite Gold Medal Award Winner in Romance-Suspense (2014).

Chaysing Memories by Jalpa Williby is a young adult romance about a now grown up Tess who has moved on with her life and joined the US Military Special Forces.

Chaysing Memories is a Readers’ Favorite Gold Medal Award Winner in Romance-Suspense (2014).

Mateguas Island: A Novel of Terror and Suspense by Linda Watkins is a supernatural thriller about a family down on their luck who inherit a magic-filled malevolent house on an island off the coast of Maine.

Mateguas Island: A Novel of Terror and Suspense is a Readers’ Favorite Gold Medal Award Winner in Fiction-Supernatural (2014).

Wrath, Prequel to Tredan’s Bane by Lita Burke is a fantasy about a retired Enchanter who battles a powerful magician to keep a dangerous spell book from falling into the wrong hands.