Category Archives: Sye

Visit the fantasy worlds of Lita Burke

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

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 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

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:

Enchanters of Sye Rune School

He Bewitched It with Look Away

Lanith and Nyle Went to Rune School to Learn About Tredan's Days as an Enchanter

Lanith and Nyle Went to Rune School to Learn About Tredan’s Days as an Enchanter

Lita takes Gentle Reader to the Enchanters of Sye world today, with an excerpt from her story, Tredan’s Bane.

Magical charms vendor Lanith, and Enchanter Nyle, have joined forces to search for Lanith’s missing husband Tredan. The two sleuths journeyed to the Rune School, and are now examining the various materials that Tredan left behind from his days as an Enchanter.

They discover that Tredan suffered from a long-term compulsion spell cast by the Enchanters’ adversaries, the Church Magicians. He left behind a charm that the Enchanter Grandmasters have safeguarded until now. Because the charm will harm any Enchanter that touches it, Lanith will check it while Nyle stands a safe distance away.

Nyle produced the case containing the tool set he had used earlier. He handed her a pair of magnifying spectacles. She removed the silk ties from the charm bundle, unfolded the sumptuous black velvet cloth, and spread it on the table. Tredan had created this charm under the pressure of a Church spell. He knew its magic was forbidden by the Enchanters. It must have been a horrible contradiction for him. Her heart was breaking.

Nyle Handed Lanith a Pair of Magnifying Spectacles

Nyle Handed Lanith a Pair of Magnifying Spectacles

A glance confirmed it was Tredan’s artistry. Lanith selected a tool. She slipped on the spectacles and adjusted the magnification. Lanith paused.

“Nyle?”

“Yes, Lanith?”

“Does the exposed charm affect you?”

“No effect.”

“Then it will stay dormant until fed essence. It’s one of Tredan’s standard designs. I don’t want to wake the interior spells. Instead, I’ll draw out the charm’s remaining essence. It’ll tell me plenty.”

She’d have this chance to taste his Enchanter essence after all. Lanith touched the charm with a tool, cleared her mind, and took the dot of her husband’s Enchanter magic from the charm.

Lanith Took the Magic from the Charm

Lanith Took the Magic from the Charm

Oh, Tredan.

What are these nasty spells doing inside of your lovely charm?

Lanith removed the tool, tucked it away, and set aside the spectacles. She clasped her shaking hands on the tabletop. Her tears came as a silent and anguish-filled trickle. Nyle put his hand on Lanith’s shoulder, leaned down, and pressed his cheek against hers. His sweet Enchanter essence warmed her skin. It soothed her heartache.

“What did you find?” Nyle asked.

“Tredan’s charm kills an Enchanter. It senses the closest Uslar Ring, extracts the Enchanter’s spirit, and captures the ghost.”

“Not even Sciomancers hold unwilling ghosts.”

“There’s more. Once a ghost is inside, this charm will animate the Enchanter’s body and allow the charm’s holder to control it. The holder can then command the Enchanter’s magic.”

Animating a Dead Enchanter

Animating a Dead Enchanter

“That’s terrible,” Nyle said.

“I knew nothing about Tredan’s proclivity with this ugly magic. Murder? Animating a dead Enchanter? I should have felt it with my magical empathy.”

“His Divine’s spell was thorough. It was impossible for you to have known.”

“This charm denigrates Tredan’s magic career,” Lanith said. “My heart doesn’t believe it. But the evidence is here.”

“The bad news is he’s written more spells after this one. Have you seen him with a journal?”

“Never.”

“Then he bewitched it with Look Away.”

(Tredan’s Bane excerpt Copyright 2012 by Lita Burke. All rights reserved.)

Read more in Chapter 1

View the book trailer on YouTube

Tredan’s Bane on Amazon US

Tredan’s Bane on Amazon UK

Tredan’s Bane on Smashwords, Kobo and Goodreads

Tredan's Dreadful Past Caught Up With Him

Stop Your Blather

Lita takes Gentle Reader to the Enchanters of Sye world today, with an excerpt from her award-winning short story, Wrath, Prequel to Tredan’s Bane.

It Had a Heavy Golden Chain. And Potent Spells.

It Had a Heavy Golden Chain. And Potent Spells.

Retired Enchanter Tredan is alone in his magical curio shop, unpacking a box of charms.

A routine shipment holds an unpleasant surprise–a rival magician called a Church Enforcer has planted a charm inside the box that captures its recipient within a powerful enthrallment.

Tredan poses as a harmless secular magician now, and thought he was far removed from the Enchanter versus Church politics. But he has a shameful secret. This Enforcer knows about Tredan’s spell book, and the day of reckoning has arrived for the retired Enchanter. The Enforcer talks to Tredan through this Compulsion Charm.

Tredan forced his fingers open and stared at the Compulsion Charm. Unlike the other cheap charms in the box, this one had intricate scrollwork etched into a sparkling outer casing. It had a heavy golden chain. And potent spells.

He Kept His Hideous Journal Safe All These Years

He Kept His Hideous Journal Safe All These Years

Come to me. Bring the journal.

He had been cautious and kept his hideous journal safe all these years. How could he have been so susceptible? He was now caught and could not escape. Tredan bowed his head. His world went dark. For a time, all else went away except his despair. If the Enforcer came now, Tredan would surrender and be done with his furtive struggle.

Time passed. His black stupor lifted. Tredan raised his head.

“I will not hand over the journal. My bane.”

You will, Tredan.

“My marriage would be a sham if I gave up the journal now. I would not have Lanith think I used her to hide my secret.”

Tredan's Marriage to Lanith Would Be a Sham If He Gave Up the Journal Now

Tredan’s Marriage to Lanith Would Be a Sham If He Gave Up the Journal Now

You failed long ago when you accepted His Divine’s magic.

“He tricked me.”

Enchanters were gullible then. That’s why you fell.

“The Enchanters trusted the Church then. There’s a difference.” Tredan took a deep breath. “His Divine’s magic forced me to write the journal. I accept what’s happened.”

You’re resigned. Good.

“I’ve hidden it well.”

I’ll find the journal despite your stubbornness.

Tredan dropped the Compulsion Charm into his pocket. “Stop your blather, Church filth. I have matters to attend to.”

(Wrath, Prequel to Tredan’s Bane excerpt Copyright 2011 by Lita Burke. All rights reserved.)

Read more in Chapter 1

Wrath on Amazon US

Wrath on Amazon UK

Wrath on Smashwords

Wrath on Barnes & Noble

Wrath on Kobo

Wonderful Wizards of Words

Hobnobbing With the Wonderful Wizards of Words

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.

RF Miami 2014. Lita, Lorrie, Jalpa.

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.

Wrath, Prequel to Tredan’s Bane is a Readers’ Favorite Honorable Mention Award Winner in Fiction-Short Story (2014).

A Magical Curio Shop

News Release: Wrath Takes Honorable Mention

More chit-chat around the web about Lita’s goings-on.

In Wrath, Learn the Surprising Cause of the Fire That Steals Everything From Tredan and Lanith

In Wrath, Learn the Surprising Cause of the Fire That Steals Everything From Tredan and Lanith

Check out Wrath, Prequel to Tredan’s Bane by Lita Burke Takes Honorable Mention in the 2014 Readers’ Favorite International Book Award Contest at 1888 Press Release. Here is what they had to say:

“In a world packed with irresistible magic, regrettable choices, and an unconquerable foe, Wrath draws you into what one reviewer describes as one of the finest magical combat scenes he has read in some forty years of reading fantasy.”

Author Lita Burke announced today that her fantasy tale, Wrath, Prequel to Tredan’s Bane, was awarded Honorable Mention in the Fiction-Short Story category of the 2014 Readers’ Favorite International Book Award Contest. The Wrath e-book is now available for free on Amazon, Smashwords, and Barnes & Noble.

Wrath is a fantasy short story about retired Enchanter Tredan’s desperate fight…more at 1888 Press Release…

See Wrath as the 2014 Honorable Mention winner at Readers’ Favorite.

Read about Lita’s other News Releases.

Get the Wrath e-book FREE now for Kindle, iPad/iPhone, or Nook.

Read the 1888 Press Release.

Alice Invites Lita to a Mad Tea Party

“Wrath” Takes Honorable Mention in Readers’ Favorite Contest

Lita is delighted to tell Gentle Reader that the 2014 Readers’ Favorite International Book Award Contest named Wrath, Prequel to Tredan’s Bane as the Honorable Mention Winner in its Fiction-Short Story category.

Wrath, Prequel to Tredan's Bane - Honorable Mention Winner in the 2014 Readers' Favorite International Book Award Contest

Wrath, Prequel to Tredan’s Bane – Honorable Mention Winner in the 2014 Readers’ Favorite International Book Award Contest

Readers’ Favorite gives readers a resource for quality book reviews. Their annual book award contest offers authors the opportunity to gain recognition and exposure of their books.

This year, Readers’ Favorite honored one of Lita’s Enchanters of Sye stories. They named Wrath, Prequel to Tredan’s Bane as an Honorable Mention Winner in their annual book awards contest. Here is their 5 star review of Wrath.

Lita rushed over to Alice’s place to tell her good friend the news. “I am so discombobulated,” Lita said. “I forgot my handkerchief. I feel like a hobbit setting out on a grand adventure!”

As Usual, the Cake Made the Girls Grow

As Usual, the Cake Made the Girls Grow

Alice insisted they celebrate with a mad tea party. As usual, the cake made the girls grow, bump their heads on the ceiling, and giggle.

The tea from the bottle labeled “Drink Me” shrunk them to the size of dormouse. Then  they played the game of I Spy Things That Start with the Letter M until it was time for Lita to go home.

Readers’ Favorite reviewers have said kind things before about Lita’s stories. One reviewer described Wrath as “Lita Burke brings a magical world to life with a deft and economic use of words and imagery that is really quite remarkable.” Another reviewer gushed this about Tredan’s Bane: “The story is very intriguing and, at the same time, exciting.”

The award-winning Wrath, Prequel to Tredan’s Bane is now FREE on Amazon US, Smashwords, and Barnes & Noble. Don’t wait—indulge yourself now with some tea, cake, and Wrath.

Wrath on Amazon US

Wrath on Amazon UK

Wrath on Smashwords

Wrath on Barnes & Noble

Wrath on Goodreads

Wrath on LitaBurke.com

Read more about Wrath in “Finalist in 2014 Readers’ Favorite Contest.” Don’t stop after reading Wrath. Continue your visit in Lita’s Enchanters of Sye fantasy world. Find out more about Tredan’s Bane, read the back cover blurb, revel in Chapter 1, watch the book trailer, and then have Tredan’s Bane join Wrath on your Kindle, Nook, or iPad/iPhone.

Celebrating Magic

Finalist in 2014 Readers’ Favorite Contest

Wrath, Prequel to Tredan's Bane - Finalist in the 2014 Readers' Favorite Int'l Book Award Contest

Wrath, Prequel to Tredan’s Bane – Finalist in the 2014 Readers’ Favorite Int’l Book Award Contest

Lita is pleased to tell Gentle Reader that the 2014 Readers’ Favorite International Book Award Contest named Wrath, Prequel to Tredan’s Bane as a finalist in its Fiction-Short Story category.

The good folks at Readers’  Favorite give readers and authors a resource for free quality book reviews. Their annual book award contest offers authors the opportunity to get more recognition and exposure of their books. This year, they honored one of Lita’s Enchanters of Sye stories and named Wrath as a finalist in their book awards contest.

How Curious! Lita's Story is a Contest Finalist.

How Curious! Lita’s Story is a Contest Finalist.

“Curiouser and curiouser!” cried Lita Burke (she was so much discombobulated, that for the moment she quite forgot how to speak good English). “Now my darling story is singing like the largest nest of starlings that ever was!”

Readers’ Favorite reviewers have said kind things before about Lita’s stories. One reviewer called WrathA beautifully crafted and exciting magical fantasy.” Another reviewer gushed this about Tredan’s Bane:[Lita Burke] has woven a story of adventure, magic, romance, passion, intrigue, suspense, murder, and religion with expertise.”

Lita Must Tell Alice this Very Curious News

Lita Must Tell Alice this Very Curious News

Readers’ Favorite will announce the 2014 contest winners on September 1st.

Lita will let you know if there is more to come about her darling Wrath and the lovely fuss about the book awards. She positively must run now and tell her gal-pal Alice this very curious news.

Get an Enchanter's Kiss Before You Go

Get a Goodbye Kiss

Gentle Reader journeys to the Enchanters of Sye world today. And the best part? Get an Enchanter’s goodbye kiss before you return home–if you dare to lose yourself in delicious enchantment.

An Enchanter's First Kiss Creates the Sweetest Enthrallment

An Enchanter’s First Kiss Creates the Sweetest Enthrallment

Sye’s Enchanters lavish affection on those who adore magical submersion. A single Enchanter’s kiss can create a delighted magical confidant–if the receiver doesn’t lose control and attack the Enchanter.

Beware. Pure magical essence from the source can drive a magic-starved recipient mad. Ah, the sweet risk of enthrallment.

Lita hears that Enchanter kisses taste like cinnamon and chocolate with a hint of peppery spice. The bold Gentle Reader can get a first Enchanter’s essence kiss here, and savor details about Sye’s magical essence.

What of taking a second kiss? That repeat binds the affectionate Enchanter to you. This tie is the Enchanters’ curse that makes these lovely magicians so generous with essence kisses.

Sharing magical essence is a pleasurable burden, but the Enchanters’ wanton affections enrage the Church magicians. If Gentle Reader wishes to become an Enchanter’s Essence Partner, pucker up here.

Stories from the Enchanters of Sye fantasy world:

The Fantasy World of Sye Came to Lita in Dreams

Dreams are Mystical Worlds

The Enchanters of Sye, like fantasy worlds will do, came to Lita in dreams. Follow Lita, Gentle Reader, and see how Sye began. 

Sye's Magic Awoke in Lita's Dreams--The Five Magic Schools, Tredan's Dangerous Journal, and Lovely Enchanter Kisses

Sye’s Magic Awoke in Lita’s Dreams–The Five Magic Schools, Tredan’s Dangerous Journal, and Lovely Enchanter Kisses

In dreams, we fly and have absurd conversations with acquaintances long gone. Dreams free us from our mundane bodies and we can do the impossible.

Dreams might be the results of the brain’s housekeeping chores. Perhaps they are true mystical places where we make nightly sojourns and return in the morning. Sye is a demanding dream baby. It requires frequent visits to its distant shores. Then in the early morning, Lita sits at her writing-table while the dreams still sparkle and tells Gentle Reader about Sye’s Enchanter kisses, Church Enforcers, and a dangerous spell book.

Dream some more…

Stories from the Enchanters of Sye fantasy world:

Time is a Magical Thread in Tales

Through the Eyes of Spell Casters

A Story's Time Floats Gentle Reader Away

A Story’s Time Floats Gentle Reader Away

Lita talks about time today, by way of the Enchanters of Sye world.

Sye is a diverse and multi-faceted magical world. It entwines storylines about magicians, Enchanters, and Magic Guild workers. The reader plunges into a deep magical well and loses track of time. What of time flow in a story? How should an author keep pesky story events from gamboling all over the place? Help is here. It’s time to talk about…time.

Time is a Magical Thread Inside a Tale

Time is a Magical Thread Inside a Tale

Time is full of enchantment. Consider it the hidden magical thread inside the story. Lita shares tips on how to capture its sensuous flow.

Come close. Learn how the clock conquerors, why a minute burns, and how a story’s time (and delicious story time) can float Gentle Reader away.

Take some time to peek at Sye’s magic…

Stories from the Enchanters of Sye fantasy world: