Scales and Stingers

Welcome to Jinaari Althir, from Scales and Stingers: Heroes of Avoch, Book One, a low fantasy by K. M. Warfield.

Jinaari kept his hands folded in front of him, ignoring the urge to adjust the collar of the formal uniform he wore. He’d been able to avoid official duties for years now. Maybe winning the title of Lord Defender of Avoch was a mistake, he thought. He pushed the idea aside. First and foremost, he was one of Garret’s Paladins. Crown Prince of Avoch, and all that went with it, meant nothing to him. When his God told him to enter the contest, he didn’t question it. Ever since he first entered the chapterhouse as an initiate, he knew he would obey all of Garret’s Laws. The man at the door nodded once, and Jinaari did the same. Like it or not, it was time to be a diplomat. If Avoch went to war, Queen Titania would be a useful ally.

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Character Questions

Are you a leader or a follower? I’m a leader. But I’d rather lead my friends, or my brother Paladins, over ruling all of Avoch.

What is your greatest fear? Having one of my chosen family perish when I could’ve prevented it.

Author Questions

What was the inspiration for your series? A 3+ year long D&D campaign. The story’s different, and set in my own world, but I immortalized 7 of the characters from the game in the series.

Who do you want to read your stories? Gamers, or anyone who understands what it’s like to have friends who accept you for you. The friends that are family.

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Scales and Stingers

Thia Bransdottir is shunned for being half Fallen, a race feared by many. She tries to disguise her lineage, but her lilac eyes make it impossible. When her Father is killed, she is taken to the cloister to be a servant of her faith. Jinaari Althir is sworn to protect Thia from the disgraced half of her heritage. Under his holy vows, he must keep others from killing her for their prejudice and using her for her power. He must succeed, there is no room for failure. Trust for someone like Thia is difficult. Jinaari may say he is there to protect her, but can he truly do his best when he knows she is of the Fallen? Will Thia stay safe in order to fulfill her purpose or is she fated to die for her origins?

Get it here!

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K. M. Warfield

Born in the late 1960’s, K. M. has lived most of her life in the Pacific NW. While she’s always been creative, she didn’t turn towards writing until 2008. Writing under the name of KateMarie Collins, she released several titles. In 2019, the decision was made to forge a new path with her books. The Heroes of Avoch series, along with a new pen name, are the end result.

When she’s not writing, she loves playing Dungeons & Dragons with friends, watching movies, and cuddling up with her cat. K. M. resides with her family in what she likes to refer to as “Seattle Suburbia”.

You can find K. M. at her website or CounterSocial, Facebook and Twitter.

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Have you read one of my books? Then it would be great for you to leave a review! Meanwhile, if you’d like to learn more about me and my work, check out my website, Facebook, Instagram and/or CounterSocial.

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Queen Titania’s Court, 2023

The dawn air was soft with mist as you ventured into the swamp. You had to hurry — the herbs you meant to gather would be spoiled within the hour. Silently the reeds parted. Out slid an enormous snail with a fantastic leather saddle perched atop the dome of its shell. A little goblin in smart livery tugged on the reins and tipped his hat to you.

Tall oak trees shaded your path that sunny day. You caught a flash of something white, and heard a piercing cry. Moments later, an elegant bird with trailing plumes drifted down to you. It angled its head and extended a pearly wing for you to climb aboard.

The sea at dusk was turbulent, hardly settled from the storm that had passed earlier. Yet as you hiked along the shore, there somehow was a boat. A little coracle bobbed and danced as if the water was perfectly calm. A single oar poked out, just waiting for you to take hold.

You were walking alone late at night, fearing no one, for nothing in your city is more deadly than you. A self-driving car glided to the curb just ahead of you. With a sprightly chirp-chirp, it popped its door open and idled invitingly.

By land, by sea or by sky, you have come on this mystical night. All people and beasts who know the power of magic are summoned and made welcome. The Midsummer Night Ball is now under way. Welcome to Queen Titania’s Court!

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Order of Appearances

6/4, K. M. Warfield, “Scales and Stingers”

6/7, David Lee Summers, “A Cast of Crows”

6/10, Sanan Kolva, “Ghost and Guardian”

6/14, Sheryl Hayes, “Chaos Unleashed”

6/17, J. C. Simonds, “The Midsummer Wife”

6/21, Janna Ruth, “Ghosts of the Catacombs”

6/24, Joyce Reynolds-Ward, “Becoming Solo”

6/28, Lyndi Alexander, “The Elf Child”

7/1, Fredericks, “Masters of Air & Fire”

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Have you read one of my books? Then it would be great for you to leave a review! Meanwhile, if you’d like to learn more about me and my work, check out my website, Facebook, Instagram and/or CounterSocial.

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Deathbed Reading?

I’ve recently learned that my 93-year-old aunt’s health is failing. She is in hospice care, unable to swallow, and that means it’s a matter of time until her body uses up its reserves and she leaves us. That’s hard to face, and I know my own 93-year-old father may be in the same boat all too soon.

My cousin is sitting with her much of the time and reading to her. She said she’s reading Minstrels of Skaythe to her. They just finished The Tower in the Mist. My cousin loved it. I feel conflicted.

Did I think of my book as deathbed reading? Not so much. Yet, if it gives my cousin pleasure, how can I be sad? I can’t be with them from 1000+ miles, but I guess at least my words can offer some presence.

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Have you read one of my books? Then it would be great for you to leave a review! Meanwhile, if you’d like to learn more about me and my work, check out my website, Facebook, Instagram and/or CounterSocial.

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Wyrmflight, a Hoard of Dragon Lore

How’s about a little mid-month marketing! This time I’m featuring my blog collection, Wyrmflight: A Hoard of Dragon Lore, self-published in 2018. Some of you may have been around long enough to remember when I started this blog, back in the tail end of 2012. For the first 6 or 7 years, it was totally focused on dragons. After 2018, I needed a fresh direction, but I still had researched enough fascinating dragon lore to put together this collection.

Just like one of my novels, it’s packed with great stories, amazing characters, battles, drama, laughter, and many, many dragons. Unless you’ve been following me the entire time since 2012, I know you’ll find something new and surprising.

The book is available in all e-book formats for $4.99 and trade paperback for $17.99 U. S. dollars. Please check out the book’s hub on Books2Read, where you can purchase from your favorite e-bookstore. That is, any except Amazon, which wants to be special and have its own book hub.

Now, my one request. Reviews are more precious than any dragon’s gold. If you buy the book and like it, please do leave a review. And tell all your friends!

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Have you read one of my books? Then it would be great for you to leave a review! Meanwhile, if you’d like to learn more about me and my work, check out my website, Facebook, Instagram and/or CounterSocial.

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No Thank You, Evil

The mandatory state testing has everyone’s schedules mixed up at my school. One of the ways I’m trying to balance that is by starting some of my reading/writing groups on a role-playing game. These are 4th and 5th graders, so I’ve chosen a very basic one. It’s called No Thank You, Evil.

I think most everyone knows that the premise of a role-playing game is to make up a character and have adventures in the world of the game. Because this is at school, I’m modifying the game in some ways. I’m de-emphasizing battles and looting of treasure. Instead, they’ll be in social situations where they have to work as a team. These are special ed students, so they’ll be solving puzzles and the like, which coincidentally will have to do with their learning goals.

We’ve barely gotten started, but they seem to be enjoying the change of pace. It should be a fun way to wind down the school year.

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Have you read one of my books? Then it would be great for you to leave a review! Meanwhile, if you’d like to learn more about me and my work, check out my website, Facebook, Instagram and/or CounterSocial.

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Why Do They, Part 3

There’s a book I’m reading where the author is kind of spoiling it for me. (No names, this isn’t about blaming and shaming.) They keep putting in lines like, “If only I had listened, how many people wouldn’t have died?” And I mean, a similar line to this three times in one chapter. The main character is saying it about their own military plans.

As an author, I’m not sure why you would do this. I think they’re trying to be foreboding and create tension around the outcome. For me, this spoils the tension instead. It’s telling us the plan will not go well, even before the character begins. It’s also a first-person narrator, so that character is clearly going to survive whatever happens. I don’t need to worry about them, and I should.

As a reader, I prefer being allowed to wonder. I mean, this character is a rash young man who’s wildly over-promising. You don’t need to tell me the plan will be a disaster. (And if the plan is not a disaster, then I will feel lied to.)

Anyway, as a writer with decades of experience, I would just urge my fellow writers not to do this. There is great power in letting the reader build anticipation for themselves.

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Speaking of fellow writers — as a WEA/SEA member, I stand in solidarity with the WGA. Stay strong, union brothers and sisters!

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Have you read one of my books? Then it would be great for you to leave a review! Meanwhile, if you’d like to learn more about me and my work, check out my website, Facebook, Instagram and/or CounterSocial.

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Woman At Work, May/2023

What’s Happening? It’s hard to believe, but we can see the end of the school year from here. It’s only 6 weeks in my district. That makes me a little frantic to help my kids learn just a bit more. Only problem is, we’re about to do the high-stakes testing that will take up four of those weeks. This is making the kids frantic, as their familiar schedules are switched around. We’re all just frantic, some days.

What I’m Working On. Queen Titania’s Court is only a month away, too. I’m gathering the contributions from all the authors, and also putting my parts together. I’m going with Orlik, one of the wyrmlings from Masters of Air & Fire. It should be fun to revisit his character.

What’s Next? There’s no word on reprints of The Seven Exalted Orders, so I’ve been putting together covers for Minstrels of Skaythe, Volume 2. This will collect the fourth and fifth Minstrels of Skaythe novellas. I’m not sold on that title, and may try to come up with something more intriguing.

Fun and Games. I’m mostly playing Skyrim these days. The 10t Anniversary edition added a lot of fun new content, and I’m enjoying it. Unfortunately, the new game I was trying keeps crashing. I enjoyed what I could play of it, and check back every once in a while to see if they’ve patched any of the bugs.

See you in the comments!

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Have you read one of my books? Then it would be great for you to leave a review! Meanwhile, if you’d like to learn more about me and my work, check out my website, Facebook, Instagram and/or CounterSocial.

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Character Balance

This is something that comes up in role playing sometimes. You’re working with a group, but one or two players seem to consistently out-power the rest of the players. That’s been happening in my group recently, but gaming isn’t what I’m here to talk about. This is my writing blog, after all.

Gaming has taught me a lot about writing, though. When you write about a group of characters, it’s important to keep a balance between them. Each character has to bring a skill set that enhances the group. And each of them needs to have equal time on the page. Not only the whole group progresses through the plot, but the individuals need to grow also. It can be hard as the group becomes bigger.

Doing this was easier in my individual Minstrels of Skaythe novellas, but it became harder with The Tale of the Drakanox. I had between four and eight characters in each novella. That added up to something like 25 named characters in Drakanox. It was hard making sure each one had time on the page.

What can I say? I did it to myself by writing the series that way. In the end, I expect it’ll be worth it.

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Have you read one of my books? Then it would be great for you to leave a review! Meanwhile, if you’d like to learn more about me and my work, check out my website, Facebook, Instagram and/or CounterSocial.

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The Gellboar

Yes, it’s time for some mid-month marketing! The Gellboar is a stand-alone dark fantasy novelette. It’s set in a world where mages caused a traumatic dimensional battle in the recent past. As a result, men are not allowed to do magic. Not everyone is willing to live with that, and some of my characters take extreme risks to reach their dreams.

Interestingly, this is a story that began as a dream. “I,” in the dream, was a man cross-dressing. Not in drag, per se, but really trying to pass as female in his professional life. “I” was teamed up with a woman who dressed as a man. We were protecting a child from a strange monster.

It’s hard to remember much else of the dream, with so many years gone by. However, in any story process there are adjustments. Especially so when beginning with a dream, which very much follows its own logic. I decided that the Gellboar, my antagonist, was an alien refugee from that other dimension. And, just as Dan was male passing as female, I decided the Gellboar should be a female passing as male. Or as much as an alien might approximate, anyhow.

This is probably one of the oddest things I’ve ever written. It’s interesting, though, how drag performance and cross-dressing are so much in the news recently. This is as good a time as any to shine a light on my dark fantasy, The Gellboar.

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The Holy Mothers have decreed that only women can be trusted with the awesome powers of sorcery. But Dan can no more live without magic than he could go without breathing. Disguised as a woman, he struggles to provide for his sickly daughter through illicit magic. But his life of lies has drawn a darker eye than that of the Holy Mothers…

Buy it now on Amazon or Books2Read.

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Have you read one of my books? Then it would be great for you to leave a review! Meanwhile, if you’d like to learn more about me and my work, check out my website, Facebook, Instagram and/or CounterSocial.

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What Next?

The website hosting has been worked out. All in all, it was pretty easy. With that handled and the second draft revisions for The Tale of the Drakanox being complete, I have time on my hands. What should I work on next?

Queen Titania’s Court is coming up and I still need more authors to participate. If you know any fantasy writers, I hope you’ll suggest it to them.

The re-release of The Seven Exalted Orders is pending, but I don’t have a firm date for that. I had planned for that to be my own feature in Queen Titania’s Court, but I may need a backup. There’s Masters of Air & Fire, which I recently re-issued. Some of you probably recall that this blog used to be completely focused on dragons. Having my character be a dragon would be very on-brand.

I could also bear down on a paperback omnibus of the fourth and fifth Minstrels of Skaythe novellas. Summer book releases are dicey, but it would allow me to then bring out The Tale of the Drakanox in November. There’s something to be said for releasing books in quick succession, especially where it completes a series.

This is where I open the floor for suggestions. Would it be better to publish The Tale of the Drakanox first, and the omnibus later? Should I publish one this May or June and one in November, or one in November and one in May of 2024? I’m interested in your ideas!

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Have you read one of my books? Then it would be great for you to leave a review! Meanwhile, if you’d like to learn more about me and my work, check out my website, Facebook, Instagram and/or CounterSocial.

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