Elysian Chronicles Fun Facts: How I Accidentally Gave Away the Identity of a Major Book 3 Villain

Posted on July 31, 2014 by M. B. Weston

It was an accident. I really didn’t mean to do it. You can blame it on me trying to put realistic details into my scenes. You can blame it on me trying to make sure readers can go back to Out of the Shadows after they read Book III and see all the little clues I sprinkled throughout the novel. Basically you can blame it on me.

Here’s what happened: In my short story, “The White Rider”, which was just published in an urban fantasy anthology called Realms of Imagination by Dark Oak Press, I give enough clues away regarding the identity of the main human villain in The Elysian Chronicles: Book 3.

It’s not like I can take the words back so I figured I would show a bit of what I did. To prevent a total spoiler, here are two excerpts in Realms of Imagination where I give the clues away:

Mr. Olcott placed his hand on a in the far corner of the room. “The secrets you see behind this threshold must not be spoken of, Mr. O’Reilly.” He pulled the bookcase and it opened like a door. A musty, damp smell filled the air. Mr. Olcott pointed above the door frame at a strange mark carved into the wood. I stepped closer to look at it. It was a symbol depicting a flame inside an upside-down triangle surrounded by a circle.

“The symbol of the Brethren,” said Mr. Olcott. “When you see this, you know you have a friend close by.”

I also mention the symbol at the end of the story:

My hands shook as I stroked the old tomcat. The memory of that night still pained me. The white rider told me more, but I won’t repeat it here. I buried his words inside my heart for the time I know I will need them the most. Two hooded figures walked past the alley. I gave the tomcat a final scratch under his chin and followed the men at a distance. They knocked on the door of an old building and entered. Few people would ever notice the small, obscure marking of a circle and a triangle surrounding a flame etched on the top of that door.

I mention this same symbol in Out of the Shadows. If you can find the description, you will find the villain, and you will realize that Book 3 is going in a direction you never expected….

Be sure to click here for more Elysian Chronicles Fun Facts!

Do you have M. B. Weston’s Elysian Chronicles on your Kindle yet? Get them now for only $2.99–less than the cost of a Starbucks Latte! (Click here for A Prophecy Forgotten on Kindle and Out of the Shadows on Kindle.)

Join in the discussion at M. B. Weston’s Treetop Inn group on Facebook!

Fantasy, steampunk, and paranormal novelist M. B. Weston is the author of The Elysian Chronicles, a fantasy series about guardian angel warfare and treason. Weston is also the hose of The Final Cut In Movies radio show that airs on TMV Cafe Monday nights at 8:00 EST. For more information on M. B. Weston, visit www.mbweston.com. To receive notification of M. B. Weston’s book releases click here to subscribe to Dark Oak Press & Media’s e-newsletter.

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Tonight’s Final Cut in Movies Radio Show: Hercules!

Posted on July 28, 2014 by M. B. Weston

Join me tonight at 8:00 EST for tonight’s Final Cut in Movies Radio Show. We’ll be discussing the movie, Hercules, staring Dwayne Johnson, John Hurt, Ian McShane, and directed by Brett Ratner.

Listen Live at 8:00pm EST at TMVcafe.com!

Fantasy, steampunk, and paranormal novelist M. B. Weston is the author of The Elysian Chronicles, a fantasy series about guardian angel warfare and treason. Weston is also the hose of The Final Cut In Movies radio show that airs on TMV Cafe Monday nights at 8:00 EST. For more information on M. B. Weston, visit www.mbweston.com. To receive notification of M. B. Weston’s book releases click here to subscribe to Dark Oak Press & Media’s e-newsletter.

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Writing: Using Sensory Details to Enhance or Alter the Mood of a Scene

Posted on July 21, 2014 by M. B. Weston

As part of my writing process, I mentally enter each scene and imagine how my characters are experiencing it through each of their five senses (sight, smell, sound, taste, and touch). I then weave the description into the prose (without overdoing it–hopefully). I firmly believe this helps the reader feel like he or she is part of the story. I also think it make the story feel complete and less hollow.

Today, I rediscovered something: Adding sensory details can also enhance or even alter the mood of a scene. Instead of describing how that works, I figured I would post examples of today’s work. (Bear in mind that this is only the unfinished 2nd draft.)

In this scene (which takes place in a paranormal thriller I’m finishing), the main character is about to sleep alone in her house for the first time since someone broke in.

*****

Before:

Later that evening, Abby crawled into bed, leaving the light in her bedside table on. For what felt like hours, she stared at the ceiling, listening for any sound that might indicate someone was in the house. The last time she looked at her clock, it said 2:38.

After:

Abby glanced out the bathroom window. The sky had turned a muted shade of reddish-orange. She finished cleaning the bathroom mirror and headed into the kitchen to make some chamomile tea. She sat at her dining room table, sipping tea and watching the sky turn from orange to indigo. The chirping crickets that once filled her with joy now made her dread sleeping alone. Finally, she finished her tea and crawled into bed, leaving on her bedside table light. For what felt like hours, she stared at the ceiling, jumping with each creak and rattled pipe she once passed off as old-house noises. She decided to focus on break-in sounds rather than a groaning old cottage. She listened for cracked windows, opened doors, and turning doorknobs. The last time she looked at her clock before she fell asleep, it said 2:38.

*****

I might eliminate a few of these details, but it 1) gives me words to play with, 2) enhances the creepy mood of the scene, and 3) gives the reader a better grasp of what Abby is feeling, which is necessary for the next two chapters.

You might also want to check out these two past posts on sensory details and descriptive techniques:

Do you have M. B. Weston’s Elysian Chronicles on your Kindle yet? Get them now for only $2.99–less than the cost of a Starbucks Latte! (Click here for A Prophecy Forgotten on Kindle and Out of the Shadows on Kindle.)

Fantasy, steampunk, and paranormal novelist M. B. Weston is the author of The Elysian Chronicles, a fantasy series about guardian angel warfare and treason. Weston is also the hose of The Final Cut In Movies radio show that airs on TMV Cafe Monday nights at 8:00 EST. For more information on M. B. Weston, visit www.mbweston.com. To receive notification of M. B. Weston’s book releases click here to subscribe to Dark Oak Press & Media’s e-newsletter.

Click here for a full listing of M. B. Weston’s published books, and be sure to check out her ever-growing list of published short stories here.

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Sneak Peek: My Paranormal Thriller (Work in Progress) (07/18/14)

Posted on July 18, 2014 by M. B. Weston

Last night was the first time I effectively freaked myself out while working on my upcoming paranormal thriller novel. Here’s a bit of why… (Also note: I try to post bits and pieces of what I’m working on in my facebook page as well as the M. B. Weston’s Treetop Inn Group, so please feel free to follow and join.)

Please note: this has not yet been edited, and it probably contains a few mistakes and style flaws.

*****

Abby ran grabbed her purse, ran out the door, and hopped in her car. She buckled her seat belt and turned the key in the ignition.

The car wouldn’t start.

“No, no, no, no, no!” Abby banged her hand on the dashboard. She could not afford to be late for work again.

The wind picked up and swirled around the house and her car. A chill traveled down Abby’s neck, over her shoulders and across her arms. She heard something else—something that sounded like wind but wasn’t wind.

Breath.

Breath that was not her own.

Breath directly behind her.

Abby’s glanced at the rear-view mirror without moving her head. She could barely make out the dark silhouette of someone sitting in the backseat of her car.

Abby started to tremble. She wouldn’t have time to unbuckle her seat belt and get out of the car before he attacked, and her phone was trapped beneath all the items in her purse.

The wind increased speed, churning up leaves and debris around her vehicle. The branches in the tree overhead began to creak. One of its branches broke off and fell, scraping the left side of the car.

Hot breath hit the back of her neck. Through the howl of the wind, Abby heard a low, loud, unearthly voice that sounded almost like a growl.

“You belong to me.”

With that, the wind stopped. Leaves and branches fell on top of Abby’s car and over the lawn. Abby glanced at the rear-view mirror. The backseat was clear.

She leaned against the steering wheel gasping for air. What had just happened—especially with the wind? And how could her imagination have conjured up something like that?

Abby pulled herself together, put her key in the ignition, and turned it. The car started, and she heaved a sigh. She turned around to take one last look at the backseat to make sure she was safe.

Her veins filled with ice.

Written in the condensation of her rear window were the words, Your day of reckoning will come. They were written from inside the car.

*****

In actuality, that isn’t the part that freaked me out. It happened when she drove out of the driveway and saw him standing on her lawn…

Do you have M. B. Weston’s Elysian Chronicles on your Kindle yet? Get them now for only $2.99–less than the cost of a Starbucks Latte! (Click here for A Prophecy Forgotten on Kindle and Out of the Shadows on Kindle.)

Fantasy, steampunk, and paranormal novelist M. B. Weston is the author of The Elysian Chronicles, a fantasy series about guardian angel warfare and treason. Weston is also the hose of The Final Cut In Movies radio show that airs on TMV Cafe Monday nights at 8:00 EST. For more information on M. B. Weston, visit www.mbweston.com. To receive notification of M. B. Weston’s book releases click here to subscribe to Dark Oak Press & Media’s e-newsletter.

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Elysian Chronicles Fun Facts: The Story Behind Sarkon the Dragon

Posted on July 15, 2014 by M. B. Weston

In Out of the Shadows, readers begin to discover a bit of the dragon culture in Heaven’s Realm. Rhys, the king of the dragons, should be the most familiar. However, one Baethir dragon named Sarkon makes a few appearances.

The door lifted up, and the wind gusted around the opening. Inside, Davian saw a great room. Round pillars reached from the floor to the ceiling. Three wooden chandeliers that held almost three hundred glow torches each hung on the ceiling, casting green light across the room. Scores of dragons crawled in the stone hallways, up the pillars, and around the ceiling. The sounds of their claws echoed through the tower’s halls.

“I wasn’t expecting it to be this big,” said Marcus.

“Neither was I,” said Davian.

“The hallways are over thirty feet wide,” said Rhys. “I think Ezzer built this place intending we dragons visit—before we turned neutral.”

Davian and the rest of his soldiers flew inside. He expected the temperature to drop the way it did when he entered a cave, but instead it felt warm. He looked around and saw fires crackling in the great hall’s ten main fireplaces. Even some of the pillars doubled as fireplaces and chimneys. He turned to Rhys. “Did you light these for us?”

“For us. It gets cold up here, even for dragons.”

A roar thundered through the tower, and the floor shook. A pale-grey Baethir dragon barreled toward them. His head reared back, ready to spew fire.

Kinole hopped in front of the soldiers and spread his wings to shield them. Rhys growled and sprung. He knocked the other dragon to the floor. A stream of flames, meant for Davian and his soldiers, shot from the Baethir’s mouth and reached the ceiling. The two beasts wrestled and clawed each other, growling in their own language. Rhys pinned the dragon to the ground and hissed. He climbed off and rejoined Davian and his soldiers.

“I apologize,” he said. “Sarkon is in charge of defending the tower, and we forgot to warn him about your arrival.”

Tyce and Theo caught their breath. “Can you tell him to make sure he warns the others?” said Tyce.

“Your nephew talks too much,” Davian muttered to Marcus. He forced a smile at Rhys and Sarkon. “Quite all right. I’m glad to have such a courageous Baethir keeping watch.”

Sarkon barely acknowledged Davian’s compliment. “The birdmen banished us from Earth,” he said to Rhys. “Why are you allowing them here?”

Rhys roared.

Davian and his soldiers covered their ears for a full minute until Rhys finished.

Sarkon bowed to Rhys. “As you wish, your majesty.” He turned and slinked down the hall.

While Sarkon’s role in Out of the Shadows is small, he has a huge role in Book III. I don’t want to give any spoilers, but I don’t see anything wrong with giving clues. Here are two things that influenced my creation of Sarkon:

I needed tension between the dragons. First, I needed realism. All groups are composed of individuals. Individuals don’t always agree. Sarkon and Rhys not seeing eye to eye makes the dragon culture seem more real. Second, tension between Rhys and Sarkon makes for a more exiting, page-turning story. Third… Well, that’s a spoiler. But think about how boring Book 3 would without a bit of dragon-breathed napalm on each side of the battle…

I created Sarkon based on the tale behind the red dragon on the Welsh flag. Here is the summary: a red and white dragon were fighting underground, and the red dragon finally defeated the white dragon. Merlin used that as a prophecy that the Britons would eventually dominate the Saxons. (See here for more detail.) I realized that Rhys was rust colored, which was a version of red. So I made Sarkon a grey color with the intent of bringing up in Book 3 that both dragons were descended from the original dragons who fought.

I realize neither of those give much detail, but I wanted to put the ideas out there without spoiling Book 3.

Be sure to click here for more Elysian Chronicles Fun Facts!

Do you have M. B. Weston’s Elysian Chronicles on your Kindle yet? Get them now for only $2.99–less than the cost of a Starbucks Latte! (Click here for A Prophecy Forgotten on Kindle and Out of the Shadows on Kindle.)

Join in the discussion at M. B. Weston’s Treetop Inn group on Facebook!

Fantasy, steampunk, and paranormal novelist M. B. Weston is the author of The Elysian Chronicles, a fantasy series about guardian angel warfare and treason. Weston is also the hose of The Final Cut In Movies radio show that airs on TMV Cafe Monday nights at 8:00 EST. For more information on M. B. Weston, visit www.mbweston.com. To receive notification of M. B. Weston’s book releases click here to subscribe to Dark Oak Press & Media’s e-newsletter.

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Tonight’s Final Cut in Movies Radio Show: Dawn of the Planet of the Apes!

Posted on July 14, 2014 by M. B. Weston

Join me tonight at 8:00 EST for tonight’s Final Cut in Movies Radio Show. I’m bringing in horror expert and film maker Robert Alvarez, and we’ll be discussing the movie, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, staring Gary Oldman, Keri Russell, Andy Serkis, and Jason Clarke, and directed by Matt Reeves.

Listen Live at 8:00pm EST at TMVcafe.com!

Be sure to join in the discussion afterward at M. B. Weston’s Treetop Inn group on Facebook!

Fantasy, steampunk, and paranormal novelist M. B. Weston is the author of The Elysian Chronicles, a fantasy series about guardian angel warfare and treason. Weston is also the hose of The Final Cut In Movies radio show that airs on TMV Cafe Monday nights at 8:00 EST. For more information on M. B. Weston, visit www.mbweston.com. To receive notification of M. B. Weston’s book releases click here to subscribe to Dark Oak Press & Media’s e-newsletter.

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M. B. Weston Confirmed as CyphaCon’s Author Guest of Honor–April 17th-19th, 215

Posted on July 11, 2014 by M. B. Weston

I’ve officially been confirmed as the Author Guest of Honor at CyphaCon  (@CyphaCon on Twitter) in  Lake Charles, Louisiana from April 17th to 19th, 2015. I am incredibly honored to have been asked, and I can’t wait for next April. Once I get my schedule, I will post it so stay tuned!

Please click here for my “Speaking and Signing Events” page for a list of scheduled signings and conventions I will be attending

Fantasy, steampunk, and paranormal novelist M. B. Weston is the author of The Elysian Chronicles, a fantasy series about guardian angel warfare and treason. Weston is also the hose of The Final Cut In Movies radio show that airs on TMV Cafe Monday nights at 8:00 EST. For more information on M. B. Weston, visit www.mbweston.com. To receive notification of M. B. Weston’s book releases click here to subscribe to Dark Oak Press & Media’s e-newsletter.

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Fun Facts: How Jim Henson’s Dark Crystal Influenced The Elysian Chronicles

Posted on July 10, 2014 by M. B. Weston

Believe it or not, Jim Henson’s movie, The Dark Crystal, had a bit of influence on both A Prophecy Forgotten and Out of the Shadows, particularly when I developed the Dungeon of Enbed.

If you’ve read the books, you know that the biggest danger of being a prisoner in the Dungeon of Enbed is the possibility of turning vacuous. In A Prophecy Forgotten, I hint at what goes on there:

Davian watched the mornachts dragging twenty gnomes dressed in sky blue and gray chained together in a line. The gnomes trudged along with dazed eyes and bleeding backs. One fell to the ground. The mornacht nearest him sent a whip into his back, picked him up, and forced him to continue…. A Morvenian commander shouted something to one of the guards. The guard nodded. Davian heard a loud clang and a metallic creak. Then to his surprise, the side of the mountain opened to reveal a hidden fortress.

The gnomes immediately shook off their exhaustion and began to fight. They pushed and shoved and wriggled in a desperate attempt at freedom. Some even tried to kill themselves with whatever sharp objects they found. For better or worse Davian did not know, but the Morvenian guards kept most of them alive and dragged them into the mountain, right before the mountain slammed shut, leaving Davian and his unit alone with the original two guards.

Davian wondered what the gnomes knew about the goings on inside the mountain, which also made him wonder about the thousands of cherubian soldiers Elysia had never found after battle. The thought that the mornachts might have taken them to this dungeon made his stomach churn.
–A Prophecy Forgotten – Chapter 12: The Dungeon  of Enbed

In Out of the Shadows, I had to figure out what went on inside the walls knowing I would be putting Davian there. I figured that the mind would probably just “check out” after prolonged torture and work and lack of sunlight. I’m sure that Pavlov’s experiments (they weren’t all about bells and food) filtered into it. In my mind, I saw the prisoners as having lost all their personalities from the unspeakable horrors they would have endured both day and night. –kind of like zombies except not dead. I called it “turning vacuous” and made the process irreversible. Davian begins to succumb to it in Out of the Shadows:

A row of gnomes filed past. Not one trembled at the sound of the whip. Not one cowered when a mornacht struck him. Not one turned when another fell to the ground in exhaustion. They were vacuous: soulless walking bodies devoid of personality and will, a condition Davian knew was incurable. When he first entered Enbed, he watched the vacuous prisoners in horror. Now he gazed upon them with envy. None of them felt the whip’s sting. None of them endured the mine’s toil. Davian felt his mind begging to block out the stimuli…. Davian felt something hit his forehead. He looked down to see a piece of sulfur that had fallen in front of him. I can’t feel anymore.

“No!” Davian cried out, hoping the words might stimulate his senses. His yell sounded faint and far away. He stood up. I won’t let them win.… He stared at [a] gnome, who seemed to be shouting, but Davian heard only a muffled sound. He fell to the ground, groped for his shovel, and grasped its neck, intending to ram the spade into his throat.

I will not become like them.
–Out of the Shadows – Chapter 5: Flickering Candles

podlingMemories of the The Dark Crystal in my early childhood helped me develop my own  concept of turning “vacuous.”. For me, the scariest part of that movie occurred when the Skeksis drained the essence from the podlings so they could drink it and ward off old age. The podlings who had been drained walked around as slaves with no real will of their own. The eyes of the drained podlings were especially frightening. Those were the subconscious images I saw in my head when I wrote my vacuous scenes.

Be sure to click here for more Elysian Chronicles Fun Facts!

Do you have M. B. Weston’s Elysian Chronicles on your Kindle yet? Get them now for only $2.99–less than the cost of a Starbucks Latte! (Click here for A Prophecy Forgotten on Kindle and Out of the Shadows on Kindle.)

Join in the discussion at M. B. Weston’s Treetop Inn group on Facebook!

Fantasy, steampunk, and paranormal novelist M. B. Weston is the author of The Elysian Chronicles, a fantasy series about guardian angel warfare and treason. Weston is also the hose of The Final Cut In Movies radio show that airs on TMV Cafe Monday nights at 8:00 EST. For more information on M. B. Weston, visit www.mbweston.com. To receive notification of M. B. Weston’s book releases click here to subscribe to Dark Oak Press & Media’s e-newsletter.

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Realms of Imagination is Now Available in Hardcover and Trade Paperback!

Posted on July 9, 2014 by M. B. Weston

Realms of Imagination - LGI’m excited to announce that Realms of Imagination urban fantasy anthology edited by Kimberly Richardson and published by Dark Oak Press and Media is finally available in hardcover and trade paperback! This anthology contains one of my stories, “The White Rider,” that takes place in The Elysian Chronicles universe between Out of the Shadows and Book III.

I’ve hinted that this story foreshadows a couple plot twists that will occur in Book III, but I never actually explained what it’s about. So here is a little bit of a description. 🙂

Meet Peter O’Reilly: a narcissist intent on climbing the corporate ladder. He keeps his life well under control, starting with his OCD morning routine:

I showered and shaved by 6:15. I added some gel to my dark-brown hair and ran a brush through it. I put on a pair of grey dress pants and a starched, white shirt. (The starch helped stiffen the shirt, camouflaging my slender frame.) I searched through my tie collection. I had an important meeting this morning, and I wanted to convey power. I chose a red one. I added gold cuff links, a present to myself for graduating from Princeton University, as a final touch. I believed in dressing for the position you wanted, and I was sure the President of the United States wore cuff links. …

Peter has his own moral code:

“Preparedness is a virtue,” [I said]. I had no use for patience.

One thing is for sure, Peter doesn’t need any help from others. He’s going to succeed on his own:

Angel statues in general annoyed me. I felt as though they were watching me no matter where I stood. Others might find that comforting, but not me. I hated it when people searched for help from some outside, spiritual source instead of solving their own problems. Live for yourself was my motto. Take control of your own life and quit waiting on some power to help you out.

All that changes Peter gets inducted into a secret society of powerful, wealthy individuals. He thinks it’s his ticket to success. In actuality, the society is a front for evil he never believed was possible. Now Peter must choose between good and evil, and he comes to the realization that he can’t get out alive without help.

Click here to reach Dark Oak’s Realms of Imagination page, which has links to all major booksellers near the bottom left hand corner.

Also, if you’ve read A Prophecy Forgotten, but haven’t read Out of the Shadows, be sure to get your copy now since Out of the Shadows takes place just a few years before “The White Rider.” Click for:

Be sure to join in the discussion at M. B. Weston’s Treetop Inn group on Facebook!

Fantasy, steampunk, and paranormal novelist M. B. Weston is the author of The Elysian Chronicles, a fantasy series about guardian angel warfare and treason. Weston is also the hose of The Final Cut In Movies radio show that airs on TMV Cafe Monday nights at 8:00 EST. For more information on M. B. Weston, visit www.mbweston.com. To receive notification of M. B. Weston’s book releases click here to subscribe to Dark Oak Press & Media’s e-newsletter.

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Elysian Chronicles Fun Facts: Dragon Clans – The Tatsu

Posted on July 8, 2014 by M. B. Weston

As stated in an earlier post about dragons, I realized that I needed to divide the dragons into races (or clans) when I was writing Out of the Shadows. Today’s post will focus on the Tatsu dragons, and I will focus on the Tatsu in a later posts. (Click the links for the post on my other two dragon races: the Imperial dragons and the Baethir.)

Since two of my dragon races were already based on European dragons, I wanted to include a dragon race that resembled the dragons in Asian myths and legends as well. I discovered that Japanese dragons, called Tatsu, had unique and interesting personalities. I started brainstorming a bit and taking notes about this third race of dragons.

“Tatsu” (needs root)

  • Smallest
  • Only three claws
  • More snake-like with thick, equal length legs
  • Moves like snake. Even in air.
  • Troublesome, mischievous, yet winning personalities
  • Quick litter suckers, so they look like they disappear
  • Long, floppy ears
  • Floppy folds of skin on back and tail. These raise and become hard when it becomes angry
  • Folds of skin under chins, resembling a beard
  • Flat snout, (like a shi-tsu) raised nostrils
  • 12-15% of total dragon pop
  • Kinole is one of these.
  • Brighter colors
  • Fire streams, slightly thinner than lung, and not as far reaching. Quickness makes it okay. The streams are hotter than any other dragons. Incineratingly hot with blue flame. (This is the dragon the gnomes used to make the [***spoiler protection***].)

A few things about my notes:

  • The “needs a root” was a note to myself to not call them Tatsu, but the name stuck. Sometimes it’s just impossible to come up with a new name after something sticks. That’s designate yet-to-be-named characters with a letter and a number. That way I don’t have a name that sticks.
  • I can’t remember exactly what I read, but some varieties of Asian dragons disappear. I decided that I would make my Tatsu dragons move so quickly they looked like they were disappearing.
  • Because they were so small, I wanted to give them the hottest fire as an equalizer.

Here are a couple excerpts from Out of the Shadows about Kinole, the only Tatsu in the story.

One [dragon], thinner and more serpent-like, wound back and forth beneath the red dragon’s legs. It stood only eight feet tall on all fours. Its snout was flatter than those of the rest, and its long, pointy ears stood straight up. Its teal scales reflected both purple and green with each movement. Its tail swished back and forth as it watched Davian’s every move.
—Out of the Shadows – Chapter 32: Weapons, Swords & Daggers

Gabriella woke up with a cough that sent pain around her chest, especially the left side. She remembered little since Cassadern had brought her to Davian, save a few visions of waking up in the middle of the night and seeing the seraph’s blurry outline or that of a unicorn in the moonlight. She opened her eyes, realizing she lay on a bed in a stone room. Sun poured in through the windows to the right. Behind her, a fire burned and popped, and a warm breeze blew through the room every now and then. She turned her head and saw the source. A teal dragon was lying on the floor with his head resting on her bed, staring at her with half-open eyes. Warm air enveloped her each time he exhaled.

Gabriella screamed and flung herself off the bed, yelping when her hip hit the floor. She pushed herself back to the wall with her legs, looking for something to use as a weapon if the dragon tried to attack her.

The dragon’s ears stood straight. Ridges formed on his back. He jumped in the air and hit his head on the ceiling. He backed up, shaking his head, smoke pouring out of his nostrils. Gabriella ran for the door, but stopped. The dragon had somehow dashed across the room and pushed his backside against the door in less than a second.
–Out of the Shadows – Chapter 33: Rest for the Weary

Be sure to click here for more Elysian Chronicles Fun Facts!

Join in the discussion at M. B. Weston’s Treetop Inn group on Facebook!

Fantasy, steampunk, and paranormal novelist M. B. Weston is the author of The Elysian Chronicles, a fantasy series about guardian angel warfare and treason. Weston is also the hose of The Final Cut In Movies radio show that airs on TMV Cafe Monday nights at 8:00 EST. For more information on M. B. Weston, visit www.mbweston.com. To receive notification of M. B. Weston’s book releases click here to subscribe to Dark Oak Press & Media’s e-newsletter.

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