arhyalon

Juss: "We don't have too many toys. I can still see the floor."

Those of you who don't come by here don't know, but until recently I had a rather ratty yard. My kids like to run on the grass in the winter when it is cold and muddy…killing it. There was a huge swath of not-green across the yard.

Then, a neighbor kindly gave me a few square tiles. I bought a few more at Wal-Mart and set up a path where the muddy swath was. I thought of putting down grass, but my friend who mows my lawn suggested mulch.

Mulch is very cheap and comes in colors.

So, I now have a lovely looking yard. Black mulch along the path. Red on the area by the house that has some flowers plus around the Red maple. The yard looks snazzy.

All for about $20.00

Writer Block:

When your imaginary friends won't speak to you.

Instead of a caption picture this week, we have a really special treat!  A fifteen year old fan named April Freeman painted a picture for her brother of Mephisto Prospero's Cheer Weasel from Prospero Regained. She kindly agreed to share it with the rest of us!

Behold the Cheer Weasel!

Everyone has a magical book or two they read as a child. One of mine was Kingdom of Carbonel by Barbara Sleigh. In it, there was a magical Country of Cats that was similar to where our rooftops are, but a little bit different. The children briefly get to enter this country at one point.

It was a very magical thing.

(Carbonel and its sequel, written in England in the Fifties, included a villain occasionally referred to as You-Know-Who, a Pettigrew, and a Tonks, among other familiar things.)

But this post is not about Carbonel.

This post is about wonder and magic and entering the Country of Deer.

When I was a child, I loved animals. I wanted to work with animals. I loved all animals, but especially horses, wolves and cats, and I loved deer most of all.

My family spent a lot of time walking in the woods. We saw deer at twilight, but almost never during the day. Even when the dog came along.

So, no matter where we were, I always assumed, somehow without really thinking, that the place the deer went during the day was ‘somewhere else’. Some ‘deep place’ in the forest. Almost as if they had a wondrous Country of Deer that only opened into our world at twilight, when you would see these magical creatures poised gracefully in the fields at the edge of the forest.

It never occurred to me that these beautiful creatures could be spending their daylight hours in the very type of forest I was walking through.

Until this week.

I have picked a new path for my morning outings. And, I keep seeing deer. A young one with new antlers peering through the foliage, a doe standing on an island in the creek.

Suddenly, I realized that this was where they lived during the day. There has been so much construction here, so many forests have been defoliated, that they have nowhere else to go. There is no longer a place too far for human eyes to see for them to retreat to.

I have found the gateway to the Country of Deer.

Who knew real life had so much magic in it!

AVAILABLE FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Danielle McPhail

PO Box 493

Stratford, NJ 08084

greenfirephoenix@aol.com

DARK QUEST LIGHTS THE WAY WITH MORE GREAT FICTION

HOWELL, NJ – Dark Quest Books and award-winning author L. Jagi Lamplighter have entered into a four-book deal for a new young-adult fantasy series entitled The Unexpected Enlightenment of Rachel Griffin. Book one in the series is to release at the end of 2013. The series will serve as the flagship releases for Dark Quest’s new Young Adult Imprint, Palomino Press, to be overseen by Acquisitions Editor Christine Norris.

The series follows the misadventures of young Rachel Griffin, student at the Roanoke Academy for the Sorcerous Arts. An eidetic memory has the unexpected effect of allowing Rachel to see past enchantments sorcerers use to hide their secrets. Rachel discovers layers to reality she never before knew existed, changing her view of the world forever. These unique attributes and her own innate curiosity lead Rachel down the path of danger and adventure.

Ms. Lamplighter is the author of the acclaimed Prospero’s Daughter trilogy (Prospero Lost, Prospero in Hell, and Prospero Regained) available from TOR Books (www.tor.com), as well as co-editor of the award-winning Bad-Ass Faeries anthologies, available from Mundania Press (www.mundania.com).

While the caption about John in the morning did amuse me, the absolute top was one left on Google+

Today, the Cherubim turns 13.  God bless.

Also, after getting an F first quarter in Geometry, a D second quarter, a C third quarter and a B (so far) forth quarter…the Princess passed her SOL in Geometry!

All hail the Princess! All hail Uncle Bill–her math tutor.