Steam Punk Author D.L Narrol

Steam Punk & Historical Author D.L. Narrol has joined the JUZDIZRTS Author Event!

Dianne Narrol was born in Toronto, Canada. She grew up relishing in adventure novels, like Clavell’s Shogun, and Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness. She always wanted to write an adventure series that would depict the fine work of a classic sci-fi like Wells or Verne, and felt compelled to set her novels in the early 1900s. Little did she know she was setting the stage for a steampunk fantasy sci-fi adventure series. Her books are weighted with interpersonal relationships and untraditional romance. Her witty writing style has been compared to Kurt Vonnegut, says some of her readers. So much humor is threaded throughout her writing, along with earth-shattering action.

In 2011 her stand-alone romantic-fantasy When Beowulf Meets Kyla was released. Written in Kyla’s point of view, where she undergoes a trial of initiation in order to prove her love for her ancient Viking warrior. In 2009 her short story Kate’s Choice was chosen as part of a compilation of stories for The Caledon Collection published by Giant Beaver Press.

She has two degrees in urban social geography – that’s where her vivid physical descriptions come alive; where she has made several journeys around the world, placing her settings and characters.

* Currently working on Arctic Quest – the fourth novel of the Prehistoric Journey series.

Age of Chivalry – The First Expeditions: Book 3

The third steam punk adventure of the Prehistoric Journey series takes the four time travelers to the unexpected once again. It’s 1910, Captain Limmerick, Dr. Dimitrikov, Rosa, and Amoli mistakably time travel to 1487 England just after The War of the Roses. The queen is enchanted with Limmerick and has him knighted, where he must undergo challenging jousting tournaments, and prove his abilities as a skilled archer. He becomes entangled with the king’s rivals and finds himself in near death situations. He uses his position, as part of the king’s court, to rescue his friends from the castle dungeon, but struggles with the crown’s idea of chivalry.

During this voyage, they discover prehistoric mammals have been misplaced from when they tried to close the passage through time in Celtic Odyssey. The four time-travelers attempt to return to 1910, but another error occurs and for the first time, they travel to their future – 1970.

Double Dragon Publishing

Webpage: www.dlnarrol.net

JUZDIZRTS @ Covernotes in Newmarket!

Saturday August 17th from 1-3pm

The Newmarket JUZDIZRTS Author Event is less than 24hrs away.  You have had an opportunity to read about each author here on the official blog website and read an excerpt of their writing.  Now is the time to show your support in person if you live locally to the event.  We can’t wait to meet each and every person who has been following our progress these last few months. 

Should you be unable to attend due to time or distance, know that we carry your dedication with us in our hearts as we make tomorrow and event to remember.

Here is the official line up for the hour of readings:

V. M. Gopaul (Thriller) – 10 min.

Adrienne Clarke (Fantasy) – 10 min.

Murielle Bollen (Travel) – 10 min.

S. D. Livingson (Children’s Mystery) – 10 min.

Isobel Warren (Historical) – 10 min.

Sue Battle (Contemporary) – 5 min.

Erika Willaert (Science Fiction) – 5 min.

Our free door-prize draw allows each attendee one free ticket with a minimal donation request of $1 for additional tickets.  The draw is sponsored by Covernotes Tea & Coffee House and The Writer’s Community of York Region along with each participating author.

Don’t forget to stay for a chance to meet and talk with the authors immediately after the readings.

See you tomorrow!

Excerpt From Isobel Warren’s Novel In Them Days

Delight in this decadent indulgence

Excerpt from Isobel Warren’s historically accurate contemporary novel In Them Days:

In his dream, Adam was four years old again. He was crying and covered in blood.

Uncle Joseph stood over him, looking annoyed. “What have ya done to yerself, laddie? Ya should know better than to climb on that wire fence?”

Adam didn’t try to answer – there would have been no point. Uncle Joe believed that children should be seen but not heard so even when he asked a question like that, he would not permit an answer.

“Get on up to the house,” he ordered. “Get yer Auntie to look after ya and clean ya up. And mind ya stay off that wire fence like I told ya time and time again.”

In his dream, Adam staggered a bit as he headed up the path to the house. Blood was pouring down his leg and into his sock and boot. When he had fallen, he had not only gashed his leg but smacked his head on the hard ground. Blood was everywhere. When he swiped at his tears, his hands came away bloodied. He was scared.

Aunt Sarah, busy with the baking, didn’t look up when he came into the kitchen. Then she heard his sobs and turned to look at him. Her floury hands flew into the air. “Heavens above, Adam, what have ya done to yourself? Come over here into the light so I can see ya. No, you’re messin’ up the floor – go back to the summer kitchen and stay quiet.”

Adam stood miserable and sobbing in the chilly summer kitchen. He was very cold and feeling dizzy. His head had begun to ache and his leg was hurting fiercely.

“What happened to ya,” Auntie demanded. “You’ve surely made a mess of yourself.”

“I climbed up the fence,” Adam sobbed. “And my coat caught on a wire and I fell.”

“How often have I told ya not to climb fences,” Auntie scolded. “You’re a very wicked boy. Now look at the mess you’ve made of your clothes and boots. And the mess on the floor and all the extra work…”

Her voice trailed off as she realized the depth of the leg injury. She spread some sugar bags on the couch and lifted him by his armpits to lie there. Then she bound up the leg wound and turned her attention to his head. His forehead was bruised but his cheek was cut and bleeding. She made a pad of cloth and ordered him to hold it firmly over the wound.

“Now stop that crying,” she snapped. “It does ya no good. Lie still so’s not to make more bleeding.”

“I want my mommy,” Adam sobbed.

Auntie’s eyes hardened and her mouth formed a straight angry line. “You’re a nasty ungrateful boy,” she flared. “Ya know very well that yer ma didn’t want ya then and doesn’t want ya now. Uncle and I took ya in and we care for ya and give ya everything you need. Instead of complaining, ya should be thankful for your blessings.”

She left him there, shivering and still bloodied, and stormed back to her baking.

His teeth chattered, from cold and fear. His head throbbed. But he lay still for a long time, cowed by Auntie’s wrath and longing for his mother. He hadn’t seen her since coming to live with Auntie and Uncle but he still remembered her plump warmth, her strong arms holding him, her hand brushing back his hair and wiping away tears.

The dream seemed to fade yet he couldn’t wake up. He struggled to find consciousness but it eluded him. The pain in his head was brutal, just like the one so many years before, the one in his dream. He felt lost and he tried to call out for help.

Immediately his mother was beside him, her cool hand on his cheek, speaking gently.

“Adam my dearest, you’re awake at last,” Julie said. “Don’t try to talk, dear, and don’t move. Just lie still if you can. I’m right here beside you.”

Adam opened his eyes. Just for an instant, he was disappointed. This was not his mother. And then he recognized Julie, her loving smile, her soft voice, her gentle touch and a wave of gratitude washed over him, so powerful that he wanted to weep.

* * *

Don’t miss hearing Isobel read at the JUzDIzRTS Author Event Saturday August 17th starting at 1pm!

JUZDIZRTS Author Event – TODAY!

Come one come all to the JUZDIZRTS Author Event in Richmond Hill @ Covernotes!

—1pm – 3pm 10268 Yonge Street

JUZDIZRTS has 7 fantastic authors tingling with anticipation ready to share excerpts from their latest books.  Be sure to stay after the showcase to meet each one in person and learn more about their writings and experiences as we draw for free prizes, drink coffee, and enjoy each others company.

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The Richmond Hill Line Up – July 27th

Thriller Author V. M. Gopaul – Tainted Justice

Travel Author Jim Scott – On Five Continents and Three Oceans

Thriller Author Lawrence Segel – Squaring the Circle

Eclectic Author Sherry Loeffler – That Dreaded ‘C’ Word

Contemporary Fiction Author Ruth E. Walker – Living Underground

Short Fiction Anthology Authors Julie Achtermeier & Blair Thackway– WORDPLAY 2013

Don’t miss this fantastic opportunity! 

Excerpt From Ruth E. Walker’s Novel Living Underground

Treat your senses with this savory starter…

EXCERPT FROM “LIVING UNDERGROUND”

—

      Many nights Sigmund fell asleep to the waxing and waning whirr of his mother’s mechanical sewing needle, and the soft thump, thump, thump of the foot treadle. Sometimes, he would wake to the same sounds in the morning.

—

      Sigmund scarcely remembered the time far from the cramped flats and the sounds of sewing machines. But he could recall a long-ago Christmas: the scent of pine and the flicker of tiny candles; the delicious odours of citrus, cinnamon and ginger. Even then, his grandfather never looked at him – always, his grandfather turning away, turning away. Strange that he could not remember his mother in that great big house with the dozens and dozens of doors, always closed. But he did remember his grandmother, his busy, flustered grandmother. She wore big wide hats with jewelled hatpins, and fur stoles and collars. He recalled how she fussed with his nurse that he would catch a cold or be overheated. Always calling on the maid to see to this or see to that – schnell!

—

      When he was barely four it all changed and they moved here. No dozens of doors. No servants. He remembered that his grandmother hated their new way of living, complained constantly about not enough to eat. He had a clear memory of her at the small table in the kitchen, her blue eyes wide and staring at her plate and the single grey potato there. She pushed the plate into the centre of the table and rose, her voice quivering and high-pitched. “I will not eat again unless there is white bread and lean, unspoiled meat. Nothing to pass my lips until then.”

—

      The influenza epidemic helped keep her oath.

* * *

Be sure to catch Ruth’s reading at the Richmond Hill JUzDIzRTS Author Event at Covernotes on Saturday July 27th!

Contemporary Fiction Author Ruth E. Walker

Contemporary/Literary Fiction author Ruth Walker has joined the JUzDIzRTS Author Event!

Ruth E. Walker’s fiction, nonfiction and poetry have won prizes and appeared in magazines and journals in Canada, the U.S. and the U.K. A senior writer for the provincial government, she is also a past president of The Writers’ Community of Durham Region; co-founded/edited/published the first literary journal in Durham Region, LICHEN Arts & Letters Preview; served as artist in residence for the Durham District School Board and in 2008, launched Writescape Writing Retreats & Workshops in partnership with writer/editor Gwynn Scheltema. Her debut novel LIVING UNDERGROUND was published in 2012 by Seraphim Editions in Woodstock and is now in its second printing.

“An astonishing book that addresses – as no other that I’ve read lately – the complexity of love and memory and desire. ” —Barbara Lambert, author of The Whirling Girl

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Sheila Martin’s dismal childhood is irrevocably transformed when Sigmund Maier, the family’s enigmatic German tenant, introduces her to opera, music and much more. When he reappears in her ordered and successful adult life, Sigmund asks for her help with an immigration issue. A novel told in two points of view, LIVING UNDERGROUND take us on a journey through childhood and generations, allowing a glimpse into the secrets and mysteries that shaped these complex and intriguing adults.

“The world of books and publishing is undergoing a dynamic change. For writers, this has meant facing the challenge of competing in a massive global marketplace. But is also an amazing opportunity to seek out innovative and new opportunities to meet readers and engage in conversations through social media, public appearances and quiet, one-on-one chats. Thanks to Melissa Moores and the JUzTDIzRTS event for creating one of those wonderful opportunities; I’m honoured to be included.”

Website: http://www.ruthewalker.ca

The Writers Union of Canada: http://www.writersunion.ca/member/ruth-walker

Writescape: http://www.writescape.ca

Twitter: @imruthwalker

Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6556341.Ruth_E_Walker

Facebook: http://facebook.com/LivingUndergroundbyRuthWalker