What Did He See? Weekend Writing Warriors

Warriors logo revisedHere’s the link to the Weekend Writing Warriors central page, so you can visit all the participants sharing excerpts today…a fun way to sample new books and find new authors! (Also welcome to the Sunday Snippet visitors!)

Today I’ve gone back to Healer of the Nile for one last excerpt since it’s now available in he HERE BE MAGIC box set.

Tadenhut, elder son of a noble house and heir to the Hunting Cat estate, has been gravely injured in a battle against Pharaoh’s enemies and brought home to die. Mehyta, a woman from the estate’s village who has skills as a healer, has been ordered to assist the physicians in his care.

Having used her magic to assess his injuries, she finds herself dreaming of Tadenhut, who remains in a coma in the real world. Her dream and their conversation takes place on a battlefield, after the combat has ended. I’ve skipped a bit of dialog that comes after last week’s excerpt, but now he’s asked Mehyta to cast the omens for him.

Omen stones fell like a glittering rain, bouncing and rolling where the magic shoved them, and as the last pebble settled into place, she realized the pattern matched the one she’d thrown in the garden exactly. The odds against repeating a complex pattern, barring magic, were astronomical.

Tadenhut joined her, standing shoulder to shoulder, as if going into battle. What did he see, what was he thinking? The pattern told her many things, but he didn’t have the gift of interpreting omens. Glancing at his face, she reconsidered. Maybe in this place, he did have a touch of the power?

“Do it, change the medicines, bring me back, in whatever state my body now lies. I’ve chosen.” Tadenhut walked away from her, heading for his customary spot on the chariot next to Pharaoh’s standard without even an over the shoulder glance for her.

Healer of the Nile is included in the best selling HERE BE MAGIC box set with seven novellas from other authors, only $.99!

AMAZON | BARNES & NOBLE | KOBO | ALL ROMANCE EBOOKS  iBOOKS 

FINAL3D_COVER_HBM_BoxedSet

What Will He Choose? Weekend Writing Warriors

Warriors logo revisedHere’s the link to the Weekend Writing Warriors central page, so you can visit all the participants sharing excerpts today…a fun way to sample new books and find new authors! (Also welcome to the Sunday Snippet visitors!)

Today I’ve gone back to Healer of the Nile,  because it has now been released! (More details and the buy links after the excerpt so I don’t break the rules here).

Tadenhut, elder son of a noble house and heir to the Hunting Cat estate, has been gravely injured in a battle against Pharaoh’s enemies and brought home to die. Mehyta, a woman from the estate’s village who has skills as a healer, has been ordered to assist the physicians in his care.

Having used her magic to assess his injuries, she finds herself dreaming of Tadenhut, who remains in a coma in the real world. Her dream and their conversation takes place on a battlefield, after the combat has ended.

Watching him, Mehyta repressed a sigh. Only in his own mind could Tadenhut still move so freely, with such purpose and energy. In the Afterlife, he’d be fully restored to perfection of mind and body, of course, if he chose to pursue death. She shifted on the rock, seeking a more comfortable perch. “The estate needs you, my lord,” she said, attempting to reopen the discussion.

            “My father lives, you say?”

            “Yes, praise the gods, but he won’t live forever, and your brother—”

            Grimacing, Tadenhut raised one hand. “No need to tell me about my half-brother. Spoiled by his mother, nursed on her poison, raised to believe everything I possess or will inherit should be his.”

Healer of the Nile is included in the just-released, best selling HERE BE MAGIC box set with seven novellas from other authors, only $.99!

AMAZON | BARNES & NOBLE | KOBO | ALL ROMANCE EBOOKS  iBOOKS 

FINAL3D_COVER_HBM_BoxedSet

 

 

 

We’ll Not Escape Weekend Writing Warriors

Warriors logo revisedHere’s the link to the Weekend Writing Warriors central page, so you can visit all the participants sharing excerpts today…a fun way to sample new books and find new authors! (Also welcome to the Sunday Snippet visitors!)

I’ve switched to an excerpt from a brand new novella set in my version of ancient Egypt, working title Healer of the Nile, which is for a boxed set later this year.

Tadenhut, elder son of a noble house and heir to the Hunting Cat estate, has been gravely injured in a battle against Pharaoh’s enemies and brought home to die. Mehyta, a woman from the estate’s village who has skills as a healer, has been ordered to assist the physicians in his care.

Having used her healer’s magic to assess his injuries, she finds herself dreaming of Tadenhut, who remains in a coma in the real world. Her dream takes place on a battlefield, after the combat has ended and we’re going on with the next sentences in the scene we were on last week. “Was I injured?” wasTadenhut’s last line last week:

His voice carried nothing but mild interest, although Mehyta detected a tremor in his fingers.

            She swallowed hard, reluctant to deliver the news. “Severely, my lord, but you saved Pharaoh’s life and Egypt prevailed over the enemy to claim victory.” It couldn’t be good for him to remain in this awful, deserted battlefield. “Can we perhaps find a better spot to talk?”

            “You didn’t tell me your name,” he said, rising and shoving the knife into his belt, setting the half-formed cat on the chariot.

            “Mehyta.” She was curious whether the information would evoke any reaction from him but he merely nodded.

            “Lovely,” He reached out and took her hand, “We’ll stroll, since you wish it, but I warn you, we’ll not escape this field of death.”

            His fingers closed warmly over hers and she couldn’t help but think of how he lay motionless in the bed.

I don’t have a cover or a blurb for this one yet. but there will be copious quantities of magic and a bit of romance, of course. Locked in his coma, Tadenhut isn’t as ready to give up his hold on life as everyone assumes, especially after this meeting in the dreamspace. The novella took on a sort of Cinderella-by-the-Nile air in some ways as I wrote it…I’ll  share enough excerpts to finish this scene, probably a few more weeks.

MagicOfTheNile_600x900Exciting News – I was notified that Magic of the Nile just won the Hearts Through History Romancing the Novel contest in its category! I used to excerpt that story here. on WeWriWa..

After a childhood spent scorned and ignored by her family because of her crippled foot, Tyema was magically healed then installed as the High Priestess of his temple by Sobek the Crocodile God. But Tyema is still haunted by her memories, scarred by the abuse she endured. Despite Sobek’s protection, as an adult she’s become a near recluse inside the temple grounds…

 Until Captain Sahure arrives in her remote town, sent from Thebes on an urgent mission for Pharaoh, requiring High Priestess Tyema’s help. From that moment on, her quiet, safe life is upended in ways she never could have expected.

 But after a whirlwind romance with Sahure, the two part as Pharaoh orders him to undertake another assignment on Egypt’s dangerous frontier, far from Tyema’s remote town.

 Heart-broken, Tyema is ready to return to her life of loneliness, official duties and, now, regret. But the Crocodile God has other plans for his priestess: she must uncover the sorcerer who threatens Pharaoh’s life with black magic. Soon enough, Tyema finds herself thrown into the chaos of Pharoah’s court, neck deep in intrigue and danger. Just when she thinks she can’t take the pressures of a very public court life and her secret investigation for the Crocodile God any longer, Sahure re-enters the scene.

 But is her former love there to help or to hinder? Can they resolve their differences and work together to find the dark sorcerer who threatens Pharaoh and Egypt? 

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Was I Injured? Weekend Writing Warriors

Warriors logo revisedHere’s the link to the Weekend Writing Warriors central page, so you can visit all the participants sharing excerpts today…a fun way to sample new books and find new authors! (Also welcome to the Sunday Snippet visitors!)

I’ve switched to an excerpt from a brand new novella set in my version of ancient Egypt, working title Healer of the Nile, which is for a boxed set later this year.

Tadenhut, elder son of a noble house and heir to the Hunting Cat estate, has been gravely injured in a battle against Pharaoh’s enemies and brought home to die. Mehyta, a woman from the estate’s village who has skills as a healer, has been ordered to assist the physicians in his care.

Having used her healer’s magic to assess his injuries, she finds herself dreaming of Tadenhut, who remains in a coma in the real world. Her dream takes place on a battlefield, after the combat has ended and we’re going on with the next sentences in the scene we were on last week. Mehyta is still speaking.

            “Why do you linger here in this awful place, when all others are dead?”

            “I can’t leave –  I’ve tried but when I get to the edge of the battlefield, something stops me and I find myself right back here. All my original fallen comrades in this place have moved on, out of my sight, leaving me with the rotting bones of my cursed enemies and the horses.” He gave her a crooked grin and sat on the broken chariot once more, retrieving the knife and the carving. “So I sit and whittle, and wait. Perhaps I’ve been waiting for you?”

            “You remember your injury?”

            He didn’t glance at her but for a moment his hands were stilled.  A muscle twitched in his jaw. Then he scraped the knife along the piece of wood and shavings fell, “Was I injured?”

I don’t have a cover or a blurb for this one yet. but there will be copious quantities of magic and a bit of romance, of course. Locked in his coma, Tadenhut isn’t as ready to give up his hold on life as everyone assumes, especially after this meeting in the dreamspace. The novella took on a sort of Cinderella-by-the-Nile air in some ways as I wrote it…I’ll  share one or two more excerpts from this and then move back to science fiction romance.

GhostOfTheNile_1600x2400If you want more ancient Egypt and can’t wait for this novella, my most recent release in the connected series was Ghost of the Nile….each book is a standalone story.

The story for Ghost of the Nile:

Betrayed, murdered, and buried without proper ceremony, Egyptian warrior Periseneb is doomed to roam the gray deserts of the dead as a ghost for all eternity.

But then the goddess of truth offers him a bargain: return to the world of the living as her champion for 30 days. If he completes his mission, he’ll be guaranteed entry into Paradise. Periseneb agrees to the bargain but, when he returns to the living world, two hundred years have passed and nothing is quite as he expected.

Neithamun is a woman fighting to hang onto her family’s estate against an unscrupulous nobleman who desires the land as well as the lady. All seems lost until a mysterious yet appealing ex-soldier, Periseneb, appears out of nowhere to help her fight off the noble’s repeated attacks.

Meanwhile, Periseneb’s thirty days are rushing by, and he’s powerless against the growing attraction between himself and Neithamun. But their love can never be. For his Fate is to return to the Afterlife, and Death cannot wed with Life…

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There Was No Hope Weekend Writing Warriors

Warriors logo revisedHere’s the link to the Weekend Writing Warriors central page, so you can visit all the participants sharing excerpts today…a fun way to sample new books and find new authors! (Also welcome to the Sunday Snippet visitors!)

I’ve switched to an excerpt from a brand new novella set in my version of ancient Egypt, working title Healer of the Nile, which is for a boxed set later this year.

Tadenhut, elder son of a noble house, has been gravely injured in a battle against Pharaoh’s enemies and brought home to die. Mehyta, a woman from the estate’s village who has skills as a healer, has been ordered to assist the physicians in his care. Lady Nebetta is the stepmother. Simut is the local doctor. We’re in Mehyta’s POV.

 She stared at Tadenhut, gaunt, pale, lying on the bed equally oblivious to his father’s grief and the learned doctors’ chat. Lady Nebetta lowered her head, dabbing at her face carefully, so as to not mar the kohl and malachite perfectly outlining her large brown eyes. No actual tears fell – her son was next in line to inherit the estate when the current heir died.

            Too bad there was no hope for Tadenhut. Now home, if he was aware of his surroundings at all, he’d probably release his grip on life and let his ka move on to the judging and the afterlife he deserved. Mehyta’d seen many a patient cling to life past all understanding, until some milestone had been passed, or some loved one arrived to say farewell.

           A snapping of fingers under her nose made her startle. From Simut’s expression, frowning at her, she gathered he’d been trying to get her attention for several moments.

            “I’m sorry, sir, I felt called to utter prayers for the ka.” She stretched the truth judiciously to blunt his annoyance.

I don’t have a cover or a blurb for this one yet. but there will be copious quantities of magic and a bit of romance, of course. Locked in his coma, Tadenhut isn’t as ready to give up his hold on life as everyone assumes, especially after meeting his  lovely healer in the dreamspace. The novella took on a sort of Cinderella-by-the-Nile air in some ways as I wrote it…I’ll probably share a couple of excerpts from this and then move back to science fiction romance.

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