A man without a past.

A woman without a future.
A world destroyed by monsters.
All that’s left is hope.

In Rain Mauri’s post-apocalyptic world there are no shades of gray when it comes to survival. Until she meets a Dragon Warrior and discovers nothing is as simple as it seems.

Together, Rain and the Dragon Warrior must uncover the truth behind the nightmare their world has become. Their quest will put them in the crosshairs of a ruthless enemy, but with her determination and his skill, they might just save their race from destruction. If they can save each other first.

On sale Friday, May 3, 2013  for just 99 cents! Only available on Amazon.

Just a quick note before I dive back into my current project. I will be attending a couple of fantastic conventions this year for the first time EVER! I’m really excited.

I’ve created a new tab for APPEARANCES up at the top of the page. This way you can check out the conventions and hopefully stop by and say “hey.”

New cover! Artwork by http://maiarcita.deviantart.com/ and photography by http://charligal.deviantart.com/ .

DOWNLOAD WITCH FLAME FOR FREE ON AMAZON, BARNES AND NOBLE AND ITUNES!

Witch Flame (A Keepers of the Stones Novelette) by Tara West

From the bestselling author of the paranormal Whispers series, comes a new fantasy saga…

Feira, a fledgling witch just discovering her own powers, must battle warriors and monsters before she and her true love can find a safe haven away from the vengeful eye of a jealous goddess.

Bonus origin myth included: The Beginning of Time

This short story is a prelude to Curse of the Ice Dragon, Keepers of the Stones, Book One.

Excerpt from Witch Flame:

Chapter Two

Feira was just sixteen summers when a booming knock shook the door of her foster mother’s small hut. She knew it wasn’t her foster mother, as Akahi had left just moments ago to pick berries and would not be back until evening. Feira quickly dropped the wooden spoon into the cauldron of Akahi’s special healing brew and rushed to the door.

What she saw before her nearly made her knees buckle—her beloved Tumì, draped over his brother’s shoulder, with a cracked and bloodied skull.

Tumì’s mother, Katriana stood beside her sons. She looked at Feira with keen eyes and a twisted scowl. “He calls your name, but says nothing else,” she said in a voice that was surprisingly devoid of emotion.

“Bring him inside,” Feira beckoned. “What has happened?”

“He was struck by a palma. Foolish boy,” Katriana growled as she followed them inside. She looked around the modest room with derision in her cold eyes before plopping down on a nearby stool and helping herself to a cup of Akahi’s wine. “I told him to be careful around those heavy fruits. Now who will take care of me if he is dead?”

Feira pulled back the furs of her own small cot. “Lie him down here,” Fiera said to Tumì’s brother, while trying her best to stifle her rage at Tumì’s heartless mother.

Tumì’s beefy brother, Nuk, who had been born a mute, answered with a grunt. He dropped Tumì onto the cot without care and stepped back, a vacant expression in his hooded gaze.

Feira often marveled at the differences between Tumì and his family. His mother and brother had rich, golden skin and flowing chestnut hair like many inhabitants of the nearby seaside village of Aloa-Shay. Tumì’s skin was dark, and his hair an unruly mess of black straw that he had to weave in a tight braid, else it would spring wildly from his head.

Feira leaned over Tumì and brushed her hand across his brow. His eyelids fluttered open, but his pupils had receded somewhere in the back of his skull. Sticky blood clung to his matted hair and skin. One corner of his temple had been crushed. Feira shook her head as silent tears cascaded down her face. Most likely, he’d been trying to chop down a palma pod so that he could add more coin to his greedy mother’s purse. The large palma pods that hung from tall trees could yield hundreds of small, sweet fruits. But the pods were heavy, and falling palmas had killed more than one hapless villager. Feira wondered how Tumì had managed to speak her name, or anything at all with such an injury.

She bit her bottom lip while stifling a sob. Tumì would die without her care, but if Feira healed him, she knew she would be marked as a witch. No mere doctoring could bring someone back from the brink of death.

Her gaze shot to Tumì’s mother, who was looking at her expectantly with that serpent cold gleam in her eyes. More than once, Katriana had accused Feira of bewitching her son. Now the cold bitch would have proof that Feira was a witch, for Feira knew she could not take another breath if her true love was gone from this world.

Feira was only glad her foster mother wasn’t here to see what she was about to do. The Elements save she and her mother, once Katriana knew the full extent of Feira’s powers.

DOWNLOAD WITCH FLAME FOR FREE ON AMAZON, BARNES AND NOBLE AND ITUNES!

DOWNLOAD CURSE OF THE ICE DRAGON ON AMAZON, BARNES AND NOBLE

AND ITUNES!

Sorry, but I couldn’t resist! Absolutely one of my songs from the 80s. Love, love, love!

And now, for news!

DRAGON GODDESS IS LIVE ON AMAZON!

(Click the image to go directly to the Amazon page.)

And for all you Amazon Prime members, you can borrow it FREE. Woot!

Dragon Goddess (Dragon Wars – Book 3)

The last thing Audrey Harrison remembers is dying.

Killed by a dragon in the last days of the Dragon Wars, Audrey shouldn’t remember anything at all. But she has been reborn as something far different from the woman she used to be. Now she can hear the thoughts of the dragons, feel their emotions, and maybe even control them. But first, she has to escape from the very people who made her this way.

Rain Mauri is intent on one thing: Saving the man she loves. She’ll do just about anything to rescue Micah Caine from the clutches of the paramilitary organization exploiting the survivors of the Dragon Wars, and the cruel scientist who leads them. But Rain’s focus on Micah may bring others she cares about to harm.

As both women struggle for survival in the wasteland the world has become, they may find that their goals are not so different.

Happy Tuesday, peeps!

FINALLY! The third Dragon Wars book, Dragon Goddess, is completed and off to the formatter.

I don’t have an exact date of release, but it should (fingers crossed) be done by the end of the month. I will certainly keep you posted. In the meantime, I’m focusing on the first draft of Kissed by Moonlight. No rest for the wicked.

In other news, I am DYING to see this movie:

Uh, maybe “dying” isn’t the best choice of words.

How about you? Is this something you want to see? Or would you rather pass? Which movies are you most looking forward to seeing in 2013?

Note to self: start clipping coupons for Bounty, STAT!

I really don’t understand why Doomsday Preppers doesn’t have more of a focus on paper products. This is important, people!

Recently I saw this posted on Facebook:

I had NO idea they were making another Die Hard movie. Does the world really need another Die Hard movie? Hells, yes! I’m also INSANELY excited about the new Riddick movie and THOR!!!!

Thor – nerdreactor.com

(Prepare for gratuitous “hot guy” pics.)

I mean, hello, hot blond guy with super powers and a big…hammer. What’s not to like? And then there’s my thing for Vikings… But, uh, we won’t go there. But believe me when I say it’s top on my list.

And if that weren’t enough to get me all excited, I have two words: Star Trek.

Oh, YEAH!

Because I have two more words for you:

BENEDICT CUMBERBATCH!!!

I love, love, LOVE Sherlock and I can’t wait to see this brilliant (and not so bad looking) actor sink his chops into one of my all-time favorite movie franchises.

Rumor has it he’s playing Khan (LOVE!). Not sure if that’s true, but whatever villain he ends up taking on I bet he’s going to kill it! YESSSSS!!! Can’t wait.

What movies are you looking forward to in 2013?

Clearly, it didn’t happen. Why? Because I am in the midst of writing the next Sunwalker Saga book. It’s moving along. Slowly, but it’s moving. Then these guys showed up at my door:

You think I’m gonna say “no” to that?

Happy Monday, everyone!

Grab a cuppa Joe, take a seat, and let’s talk history, mystery, and mayhem!

Last Friday I mentioned my new addiction: America Unearthed. Maybe you’ve seen it? Or maybe you’re wondering what the heck I slipped into my coffee this morning.

Basically this show is in the vein of Ancient Aliens and similar H2 shows which postulate different ways of thinking from the “mainstream.” In the case of America Unearthed, it’s pulling away from mainstream archaeology as host and forensic geologist Scott Wolter presents archaeological evidence found across America in a new light.

Scott Wolter – America Unearthed (History.com)

For instance, in the first episode, Wolter uncovers clues that point to the ancient Mayan people having settled in what is now rural Georgia in the USA when conventional wisdom states that they never made it past Mexico. In episode two, he uncovers what may be a grave in Arizona. The grave of an Englishman who died there in medieval times. And in episode three, he uncovers clues that point toward the harvest of copper ore in the Great Lakes region 5000 years ago. But not by the locals. By the civilization known as the Minoans.

Of course, this is all greatly contested by mainstream historians and archaeologists. Minoans harvest copper in the Americas to fuel the Bronze Age? Preposterous. Medieval Englishmen seeking their fortune in the New World centuries before Columbus? Insane. Mayans in North America? Crazy talk.

But here’s the thing: everyone thought the Hittites were something the writers of the Christian Bible made up since no other historical document mentioned them. And then, BAM! In the second half of the 19th century they finally uncovered evidence that the Hittites not only existed, but were once a powerful nation. Ditto the city of Troy which mainstream historians thought was a fairy tale until some enterprising archaeologist went and dug it up.

Hittite sanctuary at Hattusa, Turkey – photo by Klaus-Peter Simon

Yeah, I know. Very rude.

So, my thought is this: we don’t really know what happened in the past. We can only interpret what we see to the best of our ability and maybe, just maybe, we’ve interpreted wrong.

The episode that particularly caught my attention was the one on the Minoans. Why? Because some historians believe that the ancient Minoan culture (founded on the Greek isle of Crete) might have been the basis for the legend of Atlantis.

Akrotiri Minoan Town

You can learn more about that theory here on the PBS site. I found it fascinating.

But back to America Unearthed. According to Scott Wolter, the Minoans came to America for copper to fuel the bronze age. The evidence, such as it was, was extremely interesting and thought provoking. There certainly is an awful lot of copper missing from the Great Lakes area and there isn’t enough evidence of it being used in North America to explain that missing amount away. There are carvings on rocks in the area of what appear to be Minoan ships. And there are tablets carved with the Minoan language found years before archaeologist discovered the civilization.

Five thousand years ago did Minoans really hop in their boats and travel thousands of miles over open waters to dig up copper in America in order to fuel the Bronze Age? It’s possible, but I will leave that to you to decide for yourself. Instead, let’s take an adventure of the imagination…

Let’s imagine for a moment that, yes, the Minoans did travel to this continent. And imagine that the Minoan civilization and the Lost City of Atlantis really are one and the same. Then that means that there was once an Atlantean colony right here in North America.

Now that, my friends, is something to ponder. Really fires up the old imagination, doesn’t it?

Could it be that some of them survived the volcano that destroyed their city and returned to Europe with tales of adventure that? That from all this the myth of Atlantis was born?

What do you think?

Athanasius Kircher’s Map of Atlantis (c.1669). Note that north is at bottom.

It just doesn’t get any more awesome than that.

Or does it?

This week I’m reading the HILARIOUS new book from N.L. Wilson (the writing team of Norah Wilson and Heather Doherty), Death by Cuddle Club. This is the third book in the Dix Dodd series and frankly, it’s the best so far. Unfortunately, it’s keeping me up nights. Can’t stop reading! lol

And yep, that’s my quote on the cover. It really is an awesome book.  If you love mysteries with a quirky sense of humor, this one’s for you.

In other news, while Dragon Goddess is with the beta readers prior to a final edit, I’m working on Morgan Bailey’s next adventure: Book 4 of the Sunwalker Saga, Kissed by Moonlight. I do not have a release date for it yet, but I’m hoping by this summer so keep your fingers crossed!

Have any of you seen this new show on H2 (same channel as Ancient Aliens) called America Unearthed? What do you think of it?

Scott Wolter – America Unearthed (History.com)

For those of you who have no idea what I’m talking about, America Unearthed follows forensic geologist Scott Wolter as he travels across America (and the rest of the world) exploring ancient artifacts that supposedly reveal an American history that goes far beyond what we’re taught in school. From the website: “America Unearthed proves there is a lot we don’t know about our past, and that people have gone to great lengths to cover up these mysteries.”

You guys know I love this stuff: ancient history, unexplained mysteries. So, I’m going to start up Mythos Monday again so we can chat about the “discoveries” made on the show each week. And, of course, we’ll be talking Ancient Aliens, mythological creatures, and even random recipe experiments (hey, I like food).

2013 is going to be an amazing year! I can feel it in my bones.

Wishing you a truly FANTASTICAL FRIDAY!