Tag Archives: Lady Luck

Release Day for Glitter Ponies

Cover Reveal Party for Glitter Ponies: Origin of the Story

Welcome aboard the AS Patsy Nottle for the Glitter Ponies cover reveal party. Step into the forward parlor, and help yourself to the refreshments. Find a comfortable chair with a good view of the covered easel.

Previously: Cover Reveal Party for Glitter Ponies: Welcome

Buttery Mashed Potatoes Charmed to Look Like Roses

Refreshments

Kadmeion and Bright may be bachelors recently graduated from the university, but they both have a knack in the kitchen. Food created from pure magic is not especially nourishing unless it has a mundane basis. In the Clockpunk Wizard world, magicians sometimes use spells to enhance food that is wholesome, but simply made. For example, a mage might charm buttery mashed potatoes so they look like golden roses nestled in china bowls. Bright made some for today’s party. They go well with the hearty wildebeest steak strips.

Lady Luck’s young daughter Probability has joined us for today’s party. She loves to eat pretty things, so Kadmeion prepared her favorite vegetable and cheese dish. The wizard bespelled the carrots to look like flowers. He wove the cheese into a clever basket. Gentle Reader, please help yourself to their crunchy goodness.

Lady Luck’s Daughter Loves These Bespelled Vegetables

Coffee is a frequent treat for wizards and sorceresses. They prepare coffee trays using spells that keep their brews at the perfect temperature.

In Glitter Ponies, Bright mastered Kadmeion’s spell that floated a coffee service. The tray followed him here and there like a loyal puppy. If you are of a mind, enjoy a cup of the wizard’s favorite grind—drink it black, or laden your demitasse with cream and spices.

Origins of the Glitter Ponies Story

Kadmeion and Bright now set down their coffee cups, stand, and tell us the reasons for their Glitter Ponies vacation.

“We had visited Lady Luck at her home on Fluke Island,” Kadmeion says. “Our business then concerned Old Bony Blue Eyes.”

If You Are of a Mind, Join the Wizard in Coffee With Spice

Bright continues. “But matters were off kilter for Lady Luck. She expects another daughter to arrive in a few months. During the hubbub, Probability came to me, and confided that she dearly wished to see unicorns.”

“It seemed an easy request to take a charming child on a vacation to see these docile and sweet creatures,” Kadmeion said. “Or so they told us at Agatha University about the nature of unicorns.”

“The unicorns did not behave as we expected.” Bright grimaces. “And something much worse than cranky unicorns happened.”

Kadmeion nods. “Much worse. Bright’s father, the Elf Prince M’Choakenchilde, surprised us with a visit.”

“He made a demand of me that turned our wizard for hire business all discombobulated.”

The Green Silk Whispers and Floats Like a Sorceress’s Dress

Kadmeion pulls an intricate watch out of his pocket, and checks the time. “For a shame, no time to explain. Time now to show the book cover for Glitter Ponies. Will you give me a hand with this, Bright?”

The two magic men step to either side of the easel, take hold of the sumptuous green silk that hides the book cover, and turn to us. They grin.

“Here goes,” says the wizard. They tug away the silk. It whispers and floats like a sorceress’s dress in the wind.

Next: Book Cover for Glitter Ponies

Interview: Lady Luck’s Daughter Talks About Glitter Ponies

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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.

Lady Luck’s Daughter Smooths the Tails of Her New Riding Jacket

Previously:

Lady Luck’s precocious nine-year-old daughter skips in. She smooths the tails of her new riding jacket, and settles on the peach velvet settee.

Her astounding blond prettiness masks Miss Probability’s already fierce talent with numbers. The recent trip to Wuddlekins Island to see the unicorns also awakened her sorcery.

Unicorns

Lita Burke: Hail, fellow sorceress well met, Probability Lady Luck to Be.

Probability: Greetings to you, Madam Lita. Bright said you wanted to talk to me about my vacation. I visited the unicorns. What kinds do you have in your world?

Probability Visited the Unicorns on Wuddlekins Island

LB: We don’t have unicorns here.

P: You aren’t missing much. They are stuck up.

LB: Little girls usually love unicorns. Why don’t you?

P: Glitter ponies are what I thought unicorns would be. The unicorns were rude to Kadmeion because he is a wizard. And they tried to run him through with their alicorns.

LB: I could barely scribe that part of the story. I was cringing, and had my eyes closed. Good thing I don’t have to look at my fingers to type.

[Lita’s Note: Probability asks Lita to describe what “typing” is. Lita explains. We return to discussing her vacation.]

Glitter Pony vs. Unicorn

LB: My Gentle Reader friends would like to know the differences between a unicorn and a glitter pony.

Lita Could Barely Scribe That Part of the Story

P: Unicorns are, well, unicorns. They have that pointy alicorn on their foreheads. They come in black, red, or white.

LB: What is their magic?

P: They whip their heads, and the air rushes through their alicorn. It whistles, just like elf-kind magic.

LB: What about glitter ponies?

P: There are two kinds. The big kind has a unicorn and a horse for parents. The wee kind is a small animal like a bird or rat that eats a shed alicorn husk. Glitter ponies don’t have an alicorn, just a red carbuncle gem on their foreheads.

Silly Boys

LB: Tell us how your trip awakened your sorcery.

P: Mother said that since my father doesn’t live with us, I should spend time near a wizard. That way, my sorcery can sense his human magic, and wake up.

What Frogs Think

LB: Is that why she gave Kadmeion and Bright permission to take you on vacation to Wuddlekins Island?

P: Yes. And the best part was that my brother Chance and Kadmeion’s familiar, Furgo, stayed at home with mother. I was glad to be away from my brother for a while. Boys are such silly things, with their heads full of matters about what frogs think and how wonderful it would be to play stickball endlessly.

LB: Are all boys are silly?

P: Kadmeion and Bright are not silly. They are really smart, but thick sometimes because they are boys.

LB: You are well on your way to becoming a fine sorceress, with that kind of ~twisty~ thinking.

Miss Probability Will Become a Fine Sorceress With Her ~Twisty~ Thinking

P: You said that word like a sorceress, with the squiggly things on both ends.

LB: Even in my world, the magic creeps in.

[Lita’s Note: Probability asks to be excused. She has little girl matters to attend to before Kadmeion’s airship docks at Lady Luck’s home on floating Fluke Island.]

Learn more:

Interview: Wizard Kadmeion Talks About Glitter Ponies

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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.

How Magical Interviewing Works

Lita Burke: Hail, fellow wizard well met, Kadmeion sen Magica Vir.

Kadmeion: Greetings to you, Madam Lita. So good of you to honor me with what you call an interview. I’m curious to meet the Gentle Reader friends of yours. You do carry on about their charming ways. Is it true they read my stories that you scribe?

LB: Your mad wizardly yarns fascinate them.

Explaining eBooks to a 16th Century Wizard

K: Do they hear my words now in this interview, like mind voice?

LB: I hear your words with mind voice, and a magical device transcribes them onto what you would call an “everywhere parchment.” Gentle Readers use, hmm, let’s call the contraptions “magical amulets” that show them the words in the everywhere parchment. [Lita’s Note: Yes, that was a clumsy way to describe computers, the Internet, and eBooks. How else would Lita explain such things to a wizard who lives with 16th century technology?]

K: In your world, would a person be considered mad if she hears voices in her head?

LB: Not if the person is a writer of books.

A Plate-Shaped Ocean World Where the Islands Float Above the Sea

How Wizards Take Vacations

LB: Tell us about your visit to Wuddlekins Island for the Glitter Ponies story.

K: Wuddlekins Island is in the Elf-Kind Royal Archipelago, and is one of the five free-floating islands on the plate that is home to a unicorn herd. [Lita’s Note: Kadmeion lives on a plate-shaped ocean world where the islands float far above the sea.] My assistant Bright and I promised Lady Luck’s young daughter that we would take her there to visit unicorns. One of Bright’s brothers, Sir Andrus, is the magical curator for Wuddlekins.

LB: So were you working on this visit?

K: Not at the beginning. My only magical duty going in was to be Miss Probability’s guardian. I also looked forward to quiet research into the local magical flora and fauna.

LB: So wizards consider “quiet research” to be a vacation?

We Call This Ice-Skating on Our Ocean-Covered Ball of a World

K: Library work relaxes me. Because Wuddlekins was floating so high in the clouds, the weather was wintry during our stay. I got outside and did some ice gliding. [Lita’s Note: We call this ice-skating on our ocean-covered ball of a world.]

LB: Based on the story you had me scribe, your Wuddlekins visit was no vacation.

K: The Wuddlekins unicorns had a grave magical illness. I am a wizard-for-hire, and the cranky equines hired me to investigate. Then many matters took a wrong turn, and the disrupted magical threads there almost slopped the oceans off the plate’s rim.

LB: Would you tell us some of the delicious magical details?

[Lita’s Note: Izlyesende grasps Kadmeion’s ear at this point, leans in, and whispers something only the wizard can hear. The wizard nods, and gives us an apologetic smile.]

Izlyesende Whispers in Wizard Kadmeion’s Ear

K: I beg your forgiveness, but I must step out and see to something straightaway. Madam Lita, you’ve been so good with scribing my Wuddlekins vacation. Would you let your Gentle Readers know when they can read these delicious magical details in Glitter Ponies?

LB: I shall tell them when Glitter Ponies is ready. Until our next mind voice meeting, fare thee well, Sir Wizard.

Next time: Sir Bright Talks About Glitter Ponies

Other interesting places to go snooping:

Dramatis Personæ: Probability

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The Dramatis Personæ is the roster of conjurers and sentient magical creatures staying in the many rooms, grottos, and byways of Lita’s castle. Here is an entry in the guest book for the Clockpunk Wizard Wing.

Miss Probability

Probability [prä-bə-ˈbi-lə-tē] proper noun, c. 1550; ME probabilis from probare to test < L probābilitās; also Luck’s Child, Luck’s Brat (derogatory), Daughter of Fickle Numbers, Baby Needs New Shoes

Profession: Heir-apparent for the Personification Office of Lady Luck
Race: Human, female, nine-year-old child
Appearance: Blue eyes, blond hair, medium build
Full Name: Amabel Probability Juliana Luck
Formal Title: Lady Luck to Be
Honorifics: Miss Luck, Miss Probability
Education: Homeschooled
Milieu: Probability is a denizen of the Clockpunk Wizard world

Probability’s Home is a Castle in the Upper Wager Meadows of Fluke Island

Probability is the oldest child of Sorceress Lady Luck and Death’s Wizard Mephistopheles.

Her younger brother is Chance Luck, and her family awaits the arrival of a second daughter. Probability also has a grandmother, Sorceress Amabel, who was the previous Lady Luck.

Because the magic for the Death Personification Office is harmful to children, and her parents are estranged, Probability lives on floating Fluke Island with her mother and brother. Their home is a sprawling casino and castle complex in the Upper Wager Meadows. She has not met her father. Probability plans to visit him where he lives on Undying Island, beyond the rim of their plate-shaped ocean world, when she is old enough to survive the journey.

Probability is Gifted in Mathematics, Language, and the Magical Arts

Probability is a precocious child in mathematics, language, and the magical arts. Her well-to-do mother hires the best tutors for the non-magical aspects of her children’s education.

Lady Luck personally teaches Probability and her brother the magical arts. Her mother anticipates that Probability will attend the Agatha University of Magical Arts and Sciences, and become the most powerful human sorceress of her generation.

As many girls are wont to do, Probability adores unicorns and horses. Her mother maintains a horse stables, and accompanies the children on frequent equestrian outings. Because unicorns need special care, Lady Luck has not yet acquired these magical sentient equines for Fluke Island, despite her daughter’s constant requests.

Lady Luck’s Daughter is Called “Baby Needs New Shoes”

Probability is not allowed in her mother’s casino until she becomes of age. Nonetheless, the little girl has a flawless mental ability to compute odds, calculate entropy decay rates, and mathematically predict when her brother will bring up a yucky boy’s topic during dinner.

Find out more about Probability’s adventures in these Clockpunk Wizard stories:

Old Bony Blue Eyes
Glitter Ponies

Announcing the Release of Old Bony Blue Eyes

Luck is Not a Lady

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Lady Luck lives in the Upper Wager Meadows on Fluke Isle in the Clockpunk Wizard world. No wizard can resist wooing her auspicious magic.

Lady Luck, the patron magician of gamblers and jaywalkers. Fickle? Definitely. Lovely? Of course. Wizards of all ilk, beware of her ~twisty~ clockpunk magic!

Where does she live? Why, Lady Luck lives on floating Fluke Isle, about halfway between the hub and rim of the plate-shaped ocean world in Clockpunk Wizard.

Does she weave spells? Oh yes. Wizard Kadmeion needs Lady Luck’s help to win a rare magic book from Sir Death. Problem is, when it comes to women’s magic, even wizards cannot calculate the odds.

Would you like to meet her? Lita introduces Gentle Reader to Ms. Luck in the upcoming story Old Bony Blue Eyes. Old Bony release date is this coming Saturday, August 31st.

Read Chapter 1 of Old Bony Blue Eyes to see how Kadmeion and Bright’s lucky troubles begin. Along the way, they hear Lady Luck’s shocking news about a lost wager, a very long trip, and Sir Death’s weakness.

Announcing the Release of Forever Boy

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Everyone is partying at Lita’s place until our paws turn white.

It’s time to break out the silly party hats and set your dessert on fire. Clockpunk wizardry is here.

I am pleased to announce today’s release of Forever Boy. In the novelette Forever Boy, a dog flees his cruel master, befriends a wizard, and discovers his shapeshifting magic.

Forever Boy is the first story in the Clockpunk Wizard series. These stories feature Wizard Kadmeion and his clockworks assistant Sir Bright. They are magicians-for-hire in a world of airships, floating islands, and homunculi powered by minor demons.

Magic in the Clockpunk Wizard world is twisty, inverse, and just not logical. Even certain vegetables can animate and kill a man. It is a place where Da Vinci’s doodles have become science. A wizard’s curses have leather-like wings and torment the magician assistants. You will see that Luck is no lady.

But before you discover all of this, you must first meet Go Fer. He is a cynanthrope who digs for deadly mandrake roots and wants to become Kadmeion’s familiar. Tick tock. Time is running out for Go Fer. Forever Boy will explain why.

Forever Boy is an eBook, available now for downloading and immediate gratification from Amazon, Smashwords, and Barnes & Noble.