Halfway: Dreadful Poetry

Welcome to Lita’s castle here in the Northern Realms. Step into her magical laboratory and see what’s on the slab.

Wizardling Kadmeion at the University

Lita has reached the midpoint of the draft for her next story, Dreadful Poetry.

In this Clockpunk Wizard tale, an elf prince’s son teams up with a disgraced wizardling to clear their names with the Magic Guild.

This story is about Kadmeion and Bright in their college days, and the odd circumstances of how they met. Both are in big trouble, and as a result, Wizard Morton of the Agatha University of Magical Arts and Sciences introduces the boys. The elder wizard gives them an impossible task, with an absurd deadline, and horribly inadequate resources for the two college boys. Even worse, they face the most difficult challenge of their college days: pass a course called Dreadful Poetry, before madness and a court hearing ruin their futures.

Bright’s lifelong absent magical ability comes to him, and his lack of experience with magic craft causes a swath of destruction. His enchantments leave as quickly as they arrived, but the aftermath puts him in dire circumstances with the Magic Guild.

Wizard Butterfly

Wizard’s Madness is a sickness that all wizardlings must survive before they can graduate. Kadmeion’s case is especially bothersome. Not only does it hamper his ability to work meaningful spells, it is quite fun.

Kadmeion’s madness compels him to perfect enchantments that produce beautiful, but useless butterflies. The sickness makes the wizardling seek out the tiny magical things in the world, instead of fixing the big mess he is in.

Things get worse. Kadmeion develops a fondness for coffee, but for the wrong reasons. Above all, his bout of Wizard’s Madness sends the wizardling off at inconvenient times on misguided searches for his mysterious Auntie Em.

If successful despite these distractions, the lads regain more than their reputation. If they fail, then Kadmeion and Bright will languish the rest of their days in a magician’s prison.

Read the Dreadful Poetry back cover blurb.

2015 BookViral Book Award Recognizes Forever Boy

3 Replies

Lita is delighted to tell Gentle Reader about more goings on concerning Forever Boy.

Forever Boy — BookViral 2015 Award Shortlisted Author

BookViral has recognized Lita Burke’s Forever Boy as a 2015 BookViral Book Award Shortlisted Author.

BookViral is an online book review and promotions service that has united large groups of authors, book clubs, small publishers and individual readers located throughout the United Kingdom, the USA, and other countries around the globe. BookViral works with traditionally published and indie authors. Their mission is to discover new and talented authors, and give their work attention and awareness.

BookViral is rapidly becoming the preferred review and book promotion site for authors and readers around the world. In any given month, their Social Media presence reaches in excess of 1 million potential readers.

Forever Boy by Lita Burke

Forever Boy is the first story in Lita Burke’s Clockpunk Wizard series. These tales tell the life of Kadmeion, a young wizard recently graduated from the university. Kadmeion flies his airship between islands that float far above the sea in a plate-shaped ocean world. Sixteenth-century clockworks technology reminiscent of Leonardo da Vinci, coupled with traditional fantasy creatures, surround this magically talented young wizard.

In Forever Boy, a dog flees his cruel master, befriends a wizard, and discovers his shapeshifting magic. Find out more at the back cover blurb, or hop aboard the wizard’s airship and read Chapter 1 for free. Discover where to find your copy of the award-winning Forever Boy at the book page.

Glitter Ponies Giveaway on Goodreads

Leave a reply

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

Leave a reply

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

1 Reply

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

Leave a reply

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:

RJL Evans Highlights Lita Burke’s Forever Boy

Leave a reply

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:

Most Popular Blog Post in 2015

1 Reply

Of all the new posts on Lita’s blog last year, here was the most popular for 2015. Kadmeion talked about his vacation visiting the unicorns on Wuddlekins Island, and Lita explained the Internet and eBooks to a 16th century wizard. Here is how the wizard’s interview started…

“On Wizard Kadmeion’s airship, the forward sitting room has the best views and conversation. Lita invites Gentle Reader to join the chitchat with the characters in her upcoming story, Glitter Ponies.

Wizard Kadmeion

The twenty-something-year-old wizard takes a seat on a nearby Chesterfield, and studies us with his handsome dark brown eyes. His unstarched casual white shirt has a discreet gold-embroidered Magic Guild insignia near the left collar.

He wears a souvenir from his Glitter Ponies trip on the right side of his head. Kadmeion has braided an intricate gentleman’s hair clasp into some tendrils of his long brown hair. The wizard’s boy-fey, Izlyesende, clings to the clasp. When the fairy fans his beautiful green-mottled wings, they brush Kadmeion’s cheek. More…“

Find out more about Kadmeion’s world of Clockpunk Wizard:

Glitter Ponies: All Aboard the Airship for Chapter 1

Leave a reply

Here is a delicious fantasy tidbit to enjoy while waiting in the shopping lines.

So busy here at Lita’s castle in the Northern Realms with the hubbub of the holidays. Family, food, and fantasy worlds–nothing better.

That Fantasy Boy of Winter, Jack Frost, kisses cheeks and noses every time we go outside to play. Wizard Kadmeion hobnobs with his old school chum Jack Frost in Glitter Ponies. Curious? Never hurts to take a moment to peek at the wizardly goings-on.

Glitter Ponies by Lita Burke

Chapter One
Peach Pits, Wuddlekins Island

A flaming peach pit whistled past Wizard Kadmeion’s ear. The projectile bounced on the gangplank, rolled to his feet, and disappeared in a pop of fruit-flavored smoke. He spun toward the source. The aerodrome dock was empty.

“I see them.” Bright had paused at the top of the gangplank. His assistant’s voice was soft. “Brownies.”

Kadmeion stepped down onto the dock, and whisper-sang a vision acuity spell. The wizard squinted, and tried to get a glimpse of his attackers. Bright came down the gangplank, and stopped at Kadmeion’s right side.

“I can’t see them, Bright.”

“Then it is true.” More…

Book of the Dead: Catacombs

Leave a reply

The Book of the Dead explains the nature of Church magic in the Enchanters of Sye world.

Sciomancers Perform Ritualistic Spells to Maintain the Ghosts in the Catacombs

catacombs [kat uh kohmz] noun, c.800, ME catacomb < OE catacumbe < L catacumbās < G katakýmbās, hollow, cup; also Under Church or ghost hall.

Physical: Underground stone-lined enclosures
Magic Type: Church/Piety
Spell Group: Incorporeal Matters
Restrictions on Physical and Magical Construction: Priest only construction, Sciomancer only maintenance; all other secular, Magic Guild, and Enchanter magicians disallowed. Only Sciomancer magic may bind a ghost to the corporeal world using a relic.
Ghost Magic: Secular magicians, Magic Guild, and Enchanters may summon a catacomb ghost provided the magic does not confine the spirit.

Sciomancers Light Candles to Warm the Ghosts

Catacombs are underground hallways, alcoves, and tunnels beneath Church buildings that house receptacles for ghost relics.

To build a catacomb, three Priests combine their magical power and draw on the pooled enchantments of an above ground Church building. The town’s Priest tends the structure spells afterwards.

Sciomancers furnish the catacomb hallways and alcoves with candle niches, metal name markers, and locked drawers to hold ghost relics. They support a favorable ghost environment by tending the upkeep of the catacombs, performing ritualistic spells, and lighting candles to warm the spirits.

Visitors Leave Dishes of Magic-rippling Water For the Ghosts

Church followers visit the catacombs, leave small remembrances in the niches, and recite spells to encourage the ghosts to stay in the corporeal realm instead of journeying to the Fields of Yalu.

The gifts are usually flowers or plants, dishes of magic-rippling water, or tiny wind chimes on a stand that have a small spell to make the bells sound.

Explore Sye ghost care and meet a valued catacomb ghost in these blog posts:

Read more about ghost amulets, the Book of the Dead, and how ghosts help a magical charms maker hide a dangerous spell book in these Enchanters of Sye stories: