C. Rae D'Arc's Blog

A large part of the plot of my “Dreaming Beauty” plays on the fact that Sleeping Beauty was asleep for a very long time and the “good fairy gave her most agreeable dreams,” making me wonder, “What did she dream about?”

This could have been answered in countless different ways, but I chose to play with the idea of her dreaming about modern England. Why?
Because it’s where my heart is.

I grew up with stories about my mom living in England for 18 months and always dreamed of going there myself. There came a point during my university years where I realized, if I wanted to visit England so badly, I needed to make it happen.

So, I signed up for a Study Abroad during the Summer of 2012 (totally oblivious to the Summer Olympics and Queen Elizabeth II’s Jubilee year).

I found that writing in a journal once a week wasn’t enough to express everything during that short summer, but I kept record of my adventures through my pictures. I took an average of 100 pictures per day. Here are some of the places that inspired Emer’s journey in “Dreaming Beauty.”

Boscastle and Tintagel

We hiked along the coast between Boscastle and Tintagel, and I found the views absolutely stunning. Considering that Emer had never seen the ocean before, I thought it was the perfect place to welcome her to England.

St. Michael’s Mount

Visiting St. Michael’s Mount felt like visiting a fairytale. With markers for The Giant’s Heart and The Giant’s Well, turrets and gardens that seemed out of this world, I knew I needed to include it in a fairytale retelling.

Notice the Dr. Suess-ish looking plant? That’s the one I used for Emer’s experiment to grow to the sky.

Stonehenge

I’ve actually been to Stonehenge twice as I went there in 2012 then again with my husband in 2017. I love the mysteries about the iconic monument and thought they’d be the perfect setting for Emer to try her magic.

The Seaver’s Townhouse

Based on the London Center where I lived with 40 other students for 6 weeks.
In an effort to convince a bunch of university students to respect the place, one of our professors said, “The fireplace is worth more than my house.”
My bed was on the 5th floor (top) with a window exit to the roof, where I felt like Peter Pan had already whisked me away to this magical place. That’s where I based Caden’s nursery.

Kew Gardens

I returned to Kew Gardens in 2017 to share the beauties with my husband. With Emer’s love and magical powers with plants, I knew she needed to visit this reservation of plants.

London

Oh, London. I didn’t leave my heart there. It’s always been there, and I just visit it when I get the chance. I knew Emer needed to visit the city and explore its mashup of cultures.

There are many more places in the British Ilses where I wish Emer could have visited (such as Oxford, Cambridge, Land’s End, Bath, Stourhead Gardens, The Eden Project, Dover, and Edinburgh to name a few…).

For “Fairest and the Frog,” I knew that I needed to explore more of England by showing off Warwick Castle and the beautiful Lake District (I could die happily there).

One of the other places I visited twice included Hanover Court (home of the Tudors) as my main influence and inspiration for Ruezdad Castle (from “Don’t Marry the Cursed: Haunted Romance #2”).

[Please insert here a scream of EVERY emotion!]

I don’t know if I can wait another 2+ years for the next books because [*gaaagh!*] I called it, but not in the way I wanted!

Okay, first of all, this is BOOK FIVE of Brandon Sanderson’s Stormlight Archive. If you haven’t read the first four, you will be thoroughly confused. Even if you have read the first four books but you haven’t read Mistborn, Elantris, and Warbreaker, you still might be a little confused.
However, I suggest reading The Sunlit Man after Winds and Truth because minor spoilers occur.

Supposing you’ve read the first 4 Stormlight Archive books and other Cosmere best-sellers…

We start off with TEN DAYS.
Ten days to claim what lands they can and end the war with Odium. It becomes a mad scramble to keep and regain kingdoms as boundaries will become official with the treaty. Adolin goes to help Azir, Jasnah goes to Thaylen City for support, and Szeth and Kaladin need to reclaim the honorblades and Shinovar. Meanwhile, Dalinar and Navani have decided to use their bondsmith powers to explore his visions and the past, unwittingly pulling in other main characters and villains.

The book has ten parts. One for every day. So, there’s a LOT happening in a lot of places with a lot of characters. Hello, Epic Fantasy.

Minor Spoilers and Trigger Warnings

Despite their treaty deadline, there’s still a war going on for ten more days, and they make the most of it. There are a few main character deaths and brutal (but not gory) fights.

While this book includes a LOT of therapy (even meta-therapy), it also includes a couple of sensitive topics.

There is an on-page same-sex kiss with a few sections leading up to their romance.
There are also a few chapters from “god’s” perspective if that makes you uncomfortable.

Final Rating…

I enjoyed the book overall, but for reasons explained in my spoilers section below… I’m a little annoyed. Still, intriguing, enlightening, and leaving me glad there will be five more of these books, I give Wind and Truth ****4.5 stars.****

About the Ending…Spoilers Ahead!

Alright, I did not want this to be a spoiler, but I CALLED IT! Kind of.

Please refer to my predictions section in my review for Rhythm of War. I hadn’t changed it since reading Wind and Truth.
I predicted the last book would have the acronym of KoW…which it would have with “Knights of Wind and Truth” (the title of the book this one is based on), but whatever. Mess up the perfect palindrome.
I also predicted either Dalinar winning in the end for a happily ever after
OR
Odium would win and everyone would scramble to make it right, probably by involving shards from other planets.

But the problem is, I predicted that mess to happen at the end of Part 1! Not the end of the book!

With the expectation of this book rounding off the “first set of five,” I’d expected a more solid conclusion. I’d expected a large time and technology jump before Stormlight #6, that Wind and Truth was meant to conclude the first arc of the Stormlight Archive…
However, the ending of Wind and Truth doesn’t feel like a conclusion for me. It feels like the ending of The Way of Kings as some big things are concluded, but there are also several “Oh no, now what?” problems left open.

Because–what the heck, they find Odium’s well, but they’re not trying to destroy it? And the Stormfather’s been replaced by Syl and Kaladin’s basically a demi-god? Oh, not to mention whatever Shallan might be because she’s the daughter of a demi-god–I HAVE SO MANY QUESTIONS!
It almost felt like a series finale where writers frequently mess up their main characters’ lives to the point that we almost don’t care to know about their “happily ever afters,” but then we have so many problems hanging out in the open!

I’m fine. Everything’s fine. Don’t mind me. I’m just suffering from story trauma. Welcome to the Stormlight Archive.

This urban fantasy explores a fun variety of mythical creatures from around the world. We follow Rebecca, a mythical working for the Department of Extraordinary Emigration and Delivery (AKA: DEED). As the cover reveals, she’s a centaur with the ability to contain her hind legs to appear as human. This was a fun and fresh perspective for me as I don’t know many books with a centaur main character.

Set in our diverse modern world with a land of hiding mythical creatures, Rebecca’s a field agent, whose job is to make sure mythicals remain secret and safe from ignorant and/or abusive humans. To do this, she’s trained in multiple forms of combat and weaponry to safely secure and transport her clients to safety. To the great pleasure of any thriller reader, this book explores the various ways that can be applied and go wrong.

The reader gets to chase the thrills on high suspension between car chases and the gathering of team members for a covert rescue mission. Mr. Doran also explores the tension of her daily job life as we never know what to expect with each of Rebecca’s visits to clients.

Many of Mr. Doran’s books include romance (and as a hopeless romantic, I’m constantly looking for characters to ship), but DEED’s relationships are less about romance and more about family.

Cleanliness

Despite the high tension and multiple Covert Ops fight scenes, there’s very little blood. There are no sexual references and no vulgar language. I’d say ages 10+ as it would probably make a fun but intense PG movie.

Final Thoughts

Even though the main character is a little older (30s?), she has a motherly nature as she interacts with younger characters to make this book feel appropriate and relatable for younger readers. I think this could be a fun book for a mom and tween/teen daughter to read together.

Heart-warming and thrilling to the end, I couldn’t wait for the next page in this whimsical thriller.

Rating: 5 out of 5.

In the end, I give it ****4.5 Stars****.

This is a stand-alone, but I hope there are sequels, because these characters are too intriguing, and there’s SO much I want to explore in this version of our world.

Visionary Investigations Agency has a small but mighty team with a variety of…odd strengths.

Meet Truth Locke

Based on one of my oldest characters, Truth was inspired by a family I created with The Sims 1 (particularly using Unleashed and Makin’ Magic expansions, which dates her back to at least 2003).

If you don’t care for the full insane story, skip the next block.

I made Sahuie Gauzier by literally button mashing for her name because (before Makin’ Magic was available) I wanted to create a crazy Professor Trelawny-like character who would match my crazy completionist desires (I like to do ALL the things). So, when Sahuie got a dog named Shasta from Unleashed, I trained it in every way to win all the awards.

Then, Makin’ Magic was released to satisfy my love for the arcane. I had Sahuie learn every spell, make every potion, grow every crystal, and she climbed that beanstalk for the “credits” of the never-ending game.
Naturally, I also tested the spell to turn a pet into a human. Shasta became human and my new favorite character to do ALL the things.

Except, Makin’ Magic was the final expansion released with The Sims 1, meaning the only thing left for me to do with Shasta…was create stories with her. Using the photo tool, I turned her “scrapbook” into a storybook.
For some reason, that meant making her fall in love with a vampire.

Why a vampire? The Sims 1 didn’t have vampires. However, Makin’ Magic (2003) had a spell, “Beauty or Beast,” that could temporarily make a Sim look like a vampire. Also, The Sims 2: Nightlife was released in 2005, and that may have influenced my brain (despite never owning it).
Twilight was also published in 2005, but I didn’t really know about or read the series until Eclipse was released (2007).

All I know for sure is that I created a new character, Ricky Van Pier (I thought I was so clever), specifically to look like a rich vampire and to fall in love with Shasta. In her storybook, I gave him more depth and a full conflict of interest as he didn’t start as a vampire, but was turned into one, then he turned Shasta into one, then together (with Sahuie’s help), they found a cure.

I began writing “Shasta’s Story” in a Word doc around 2008, then wrote my Creative Writing: Short Stories Final paper with an herbalist named Truth in 2011.

During Covid, I played D&D with some friends and created Verida (“veritas” = “truth” in Latin). We played an over-powered game with feats, and she became my favorite D&D character.

Please note her PASSIVE senses… Thankfully, the DM also enjoyed her, and based an NPC off of her in another campaign.

As an inside joke with myself, I included Truth Locke like a cameo in Don’t Date the Haunted (published in 2020). But when it came to exploring the State of Mystery, I knew I needed to include her and finally explore her story.

Now, that’s a LOT for a backstory of any character. Sometimes, as writers, we need to simplify our characters because “they have too much going on.” So, instead of basing Truth directly off of Sahuie or Shasta, I made Truth the adopted third generation of those crazy women.

Again, for fun cameo, readers get a glimpse of Shasta and Ricky in Visionary Investigations.

Meet Aeron Spade

Speaking of characters with too much going on, the next member of the Visionary Investigations Agency is Aeron Spade.
Okay, if you really want to meet Aeron Spade, read his book, Specter Inspector: Dead and Back Again #1.

But if you really want to meet Earl Aeron Spade/Aeron Fromm, The Haunted, of Margen, then read his official introduction in Don’t Dance with Death: Haunted Romance #3.

Inspiration for his character came with exploring the idea of “What kind of kid would Pansy and Theo have?” Also, “The Sixth Sense” turns a scared little boy into a little boy who can solve murders and give justice to the dead. I wanted to see more of that.

Again, Aeron has a much deeper backstory. I originally wrote Specter Inspector as a direct follow up to Don’t Dance with Death, expecting the reader to already know about Aeron Fromm’s childhood abduction and royal inheritance. However, I ran into the same problem of too much going on. To simplify it for new readers, I decided to give him an alias as Aeron Spade–a young man just trying to serve justice to the dead who haunt him every night in his sleep.

Meet Nita Incog

Nita Incog is the team specialist on weapons and combat forms. Need to pick a lock? Need to get in and get out without being noticed? Need to incapacitate a threat? Nita’s the one for the job.

Inspiration for her character came from watching the Bourne movies and Agents of Shield TV series. I’d explain specifics, but… spoilers.

PS. I flipping love this picture of Aeron and Nita (even if it was AI generated).

What do you think of that cover? Do you like it? Does it not scream Christmas contemporary romantic comedy?
I hope so. That was my goal in making it.

Introduction

At six feet tall, Abby Knotts is used to comments about her height and questions about her athletics, but her love has always been the piano. With her new teaching job at The Piano Co, she eagerly takes on students—including a handsome adult student: a tech CEO named Thomas.

Thomas Johnston is in love with Juliet, his long-time college crush (and current marketing director), but can’t seem to catch her return interest. After learning about her fondness for musicians, he decides to learn the piano to perform at the work Christmas party. With Abby as his teacher, however, he quickly realizes another area where she could teach him: the art of flirting. Abby agrees to teach him how to flirt, and Thomas finds he’s a quick learner…as long as he can remember that Juliet’s the reason he’s learning piano and flirting, not Abby.

Real Life Inspiration

Since I personally know the author, I can verify that the author is writing what she knows with Yes, I’m Tall. Mrs. Aimee also six feet tall. And a piano teacher. And a natural flirt. And she decorated for Christmas in October.
She also based other main characters on real-life people (Thomas is based on her husband, and Abby’s friends are based on Mrs. Aimee’s university roommates).
Even though her other two published books are “romantasies,” contemporary romance is her favorite genre to read, so this book is (again) writing what she knows.

Cleanliness

As a Christmas romance, you can bet there’s a non-denominational reference to the birth of Jesus Christ, but the story’s more about the music and festivities than religion. (Like a classic Hallmark film.)

Along those lines, there’s no foul language, no sexual content, and no violence. The most “sexual” comment is Thomas noticing sexy heels and a co-worker remarking how they’d have “tall babies.” (Again, like a classic Hallmark film.)

Disclaimers…

To whom it may concern: Yes, I’m Tall is written in present tense like this blog post and many other slice-of-life romances. Present tense can be tricky, but Mrs. Aimee does it well.

Disclaimer #1: I had a large influence in the making of this book. I was an alpha reader, the formatter, and the cover artist. That said, I wouldn’t accept those positions (or to claim my part) for a trash book.

Disclaimer #2: this author is one of my best friends. In fact, this author and I are such good friends, that Yes, I’m Tall includes a character (Rose) based on me. As such, I’ll admit this is one of my most biased reviews.

Even still, I try my best to look with an outsider’s perspective, and to someone who loves contemporary non-denominational Christian romantic comedies, I think they’ll be more than pleased with Yes, I’m Tall.
****4.4 Stars****

Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

This is book one is a series of stand-alone novels.

After the satisfying ending of Kel Kade’s King’s Dark Tidings: Dragons and Demons (#5), I had my predictions, but was very curious where this next book would take us.

For an introduction, here’s a quick synopsis of my thoughts on the previous books in Kel Kade’s King’s Dark Tidings series:

Book (Amazon Link)

My Review (Post Link)

My Rating

1) Free the Darkness

Good Tidings of Darkness

Rating: 5 out of 5.

2) Reign of Madness

in comments of #1

Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

3) Legends of Ahn

in comments of #1

Rating: 3 out of 5.

4) Kingdoms and Chaos

For the Love

Rating: 4 out of 5.

4.5/0) Mage of No Renown

If Only They Knew

Rating: 4 out of 5.

5) Dragons and Demons

All the Feels

Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

Considering that, just because I love the first book doesn’t mean this book gets an automatic 5 stars. So, let’s break it down.

This review is SPOILER FREE, but…

This is an ongoing series, and I highly suggest you read the previous books before jumping into Knight of Shadows, because a LOT has happened up to this point. So, I’ll keep this post spoiler free to Knight of Shadows (#6), but the previous books are free game here.

Supposing you’ve read the previous books…

For a refresher, Dragons and Demons (#5) ended with only a couple of problems, but they were kind of major:

Emperor Rezkin is declared dead (I warned you–spoilers of previous books)Frisha’s locked up and replaced with a golem spy

As I expected, this story begins 6 months after the ending of book 5 as Rezkin’s empire scrambles to stay strong without him. Tieran refuses to take his place as Rezkin’s heir because doing so would admit his death. Rumors of him being alive are all that’s keeping assassins from killing the Queen of Lon Leresh (because they don’t want Rezkin to become king), and Cael’s treaties through Rezkin are all that’s keeping other kingdoms from warring with each other.

With all this on the line and the rumors of his survival causing doubts, Battle Mage Wesson, Eihelvanan Azeria, and a few others visit the tomb only to find a raven carving in the empty grave.

The party is split again as Wesson goes to Ashai, seeking mages who haven’t sworn allegiance to King Caydean, and Azeria follows the rumors to seek the infamous Raven.

Don’t worry, that’s all within the first five chapters. I’m keeping this spoiler free.

Other focuses of the story make the book feel like two parts as the first half deals with Frisha’s predicament, then the second half deals with Yserria in Lon Leresh as King Caydean comes to know of her soul stone and wants to replicate it to make slaves for his demon army.

As days (sometimes weeks) pass with a single sentence, the timeline was a little tricky to follow, and I found myself bookmarking the maps for quick reference as the characters travelled.

One reason I loved the earlier books in this series was because of Rezkin’s humorous misunderstanding of social norms and behaviors. After spending enough time with his friends and learning to accept emotions from book 5, that form of comedy has pretty much disappeared. Unlike other books in this series, Knight of Shadows didn’t make me laugh out loud. In fact, my most comical moment was one I concocted in my head as I imagined Rezkin struggling like a normal person to catch his unruly pet.

“Is that a dragon!?” …
Rezkin reached for Seena, but she scurried away from his grasping hands. “Yes,” he said, “this is Seena. She is my companion.” He reached for her again and just missed catching her. “She is usually better behaved, but she has been cooped up in the satchel for too long.”

– King’s Dark Tidings: Knight of Shadows, by Kel Kade

Cleanliness vs. Vulgarity

Knight of Shadows continues the series content of violence with a dash of gore. We get a fight scene in every chapter, including many covert assassinations, street fights, and debates with death on the line. Continuing on the theme from the previous book, Rezkin battles against several demons with the amateur aid of his toddler dragon (which is equally cute and fearsome).

As with book 4, it seems that simply being in the kingdom ruled by women means there’s an uptick in the romance. Similar to the river scene in book 1, there’s a nude scene of “rescue during a bath” with some ogling.
There are no sex scenes, but Rezkin and Azeria continue to share sensual dreams (one involving nudity, but no descriptions of body parts).
There is one brief same-sex kiss as Rezkin is disguised as a woman and struggles not to knife the man.

Concerning crude language, I only spotted two instances of swears (bl**dy h*lls, and h*ll), both spoken by Malcius.

Final Score

Knight of Shadows introduces and nicely resolves some new plots, and I enjoyed the growth of some characters and the long-term plot.
However, I missed the humor of culture shocks and predicted the surprise twist about a certain character (revealed in the final chapter).
****4.2 stars****

Rating: 4 out of 5.To Be Continued…

This book is a strong build up toward an intense battle yet to come. I really hope Mr. Kade finishes the King Caydean arc with the next book.

I’ve known Kay Ross for a decent time, but I was brutally honest with her the first time I read Whisper–back in its early draft stage. Basically, it needed an editor (like all books do). To my great pleasure, she found not only an editor, but a whole publisher who picked up her story, then reached out to me again to ask for a review after its publication.

So, here I go again, being completely honest.

Characters

The protagonist and narrator of this story is probably the most unique part that catches my attention; Whisper is a sentient curse.
You read that right. The story begins as the spell gains its sentience, feeling fear then pain as one of its hosts is killed. This quickly leads it to establish a rule: don’t die.

Unfortunately, this is set in a world where curses are created by mixing magics, and they’re not simple little hexes to put moles on faces. No, crossing magics creates inky monsters that inhabit people, can transfer by a mere touch, and violently kill their hosts when extracted. In this world, anyone who has been touched by a curse is killed (either by the curse itself or the sorcerers with the power to eradicate them).
With this in mind, Whisper establishes another rule: don’t let others die.

One of the first people Whisper inhabits is a young woman named Ethene (nicknamed E). As a servant to the queen, she manages to connect Whisper to Ront, the queen’s adopted son and bodyguard. With a goal to stop death, Whisper seeks out its creator, Zota, a low sorcerer.

I’m trying to keep this spoiler free, but all this takes more than the first few chapters. This is mostly because there’s a lot of exposition. That happens in a fantasy set in a kingdom that’s a blend between five other kingdoms with five separate magics. I wouldn’t call Whisper a “high” fantasy simply because there are only humans (and a sentient curse), but there’s a high learning curve for this story (not just in the beginning). Depending on how much you enjoy discussions of world building and flashbacks, some may call the story slow (though the whole story takes place in a single day).

Themes

With Whisper’s goal about stopping death, there’s a heavy theme on reasons why someone might end a life (their own or someone else’s). It pairs with a repeated question: do you risk one life to save the many?
There’s also a reoccurring idea of fear and how individuals react to it (fight it, use it, or run from it).

Unlike most books I typically read and review, Whisper has NO romance. There’s plenty of love, compassion, and willing-to-die-for-you sentiments, but it’s all familial. There’s a flashback that touches on the queen’s first love, an arrangement for a marriage in the future, then a joking hint of a possible romance in the next book (which I’d personally love to explore), but that’s the extent of any references to romance.

Cleanliness

I was actually a little conflicted about how “clean” to call this story.
There are maybe two instances of biblical swearing (d*mn*d and h*ll), but all other vulgar language is represented through fictional replacement words. Infrequently, at that. It’s actually a bit comical as non-magic people swear by shouting ineffective spells.
Since there’s no romance, there’s no worry about sexual content. To my gratitude, there are also no innuendos or harassment (save for one moment in the beginning when Ethene doesn’t like a guard touching her).

However, I wouldn’t freely give this to an 8-year-old because there’s a lot of violence. Despite Whisper’s main goals not to die and to end death, there’s a lot of it. There are also a few suicide attempts as Whisper’s hosts initially prefer to kill themselves quickly rather than spread the curse or be killed violently by the curse.
So, if book violence triggers you, you’ve been warned.

Final Thoughts

Though the plot and setting are fully-fleshed elements, Whisper felt more like a character story as we literally got into their heads. I enjoyed Whisper’s child-like innocence, Ethene’s thoughtfulness toward others, and Roth’s loyalty (not just to duty, but to those he deems family). There are a few other fun characters I’d mention in a spoiler review. Even though this story’s not my usual (I prefer some elements of romance), I enjoyed the story and characters enough to want book 2. Yes, this is the beginning of an on-going series, but this first book nicely resolves itself. I’m curious to see more of the world and what the characters do next.

****4.5 Stars***** for being cute, thought-provoking, and surprising.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

This isn’t my first contemporary middle reader book to read by Wendy S. Swore, but this is my first to review.
While I liked A Monster like Me, it felt predictable and almost annoying when the main character judged another character with a similar problem. (3.5 stars)
I rather preferred Strong Like the Sea which includes interesting Hawaii culture and fun clues throughout the story. Despite its clever writing, it didn’t give me enough to consider for a full book review. (4.1 stars)

On the other hand, Sleeping Spells & Dragon Scales gives me a lot to say.

Quick Introduction

Meet Alaina, a pixie-haired daughter of a modern blacksmith who loves books, believes in magic, and deals with Type1 Diabetes. She used to be best friends with Liam, a realist soccer champion of their 6th grade class.
They’ve been assigned as partners for a project to write their own fairytales and “find magic in their everyday lives.” Alaina takes on another project to help Liam cure the curse of his sudden and frustrating naps and strange muscle locking.

Personally, I really related to these characters. (Not only because they’re set in Camas, Washington – which banks the Columbia River like my own home.) As a fan of soccer and one who studies fairytales, I loved the exploration of common and lesser-known stories (including Rip Van Winkle, Tolkien’s essay, Kate Crackernuts, and others).

I was especially grateful that Alaina’s character was given friends. So many times in stories, we get that booklover/ D&D player/ oddball cast as a loner, but that’s not realistic. Especially these days with social media and Nerd = Interested in Stuff, there’s a group for anyone, and we deserve like-minded friends.

Main Themes

Sleeping Spells & Dragon Scales is perfectly written for middle readers who often stop believing in magic, as the characters look for magic in the mundane and write their own fairytales. The turning of real modern-day problems into fairytales shows how fairytales are actually retellings of real life.

My favorite parts of this story are its themes and messages.
Not only did I enjoy the power given to fairytales and friendship, but I really appreciated the all-too-real struggle with Type1 Diabetes and an unknown illness, the frustration of negative tests that claim, “you’re fine,” the grief that comes from a chronic diagnosis, then the process of moving forward to continue living life despite it all.

Cleanliness

Sleeping Spells and Dragon Scales is a middle-reader, meaning there’s a small picture every few chapters, then the main characters are 11-12 years old and on the brink of discovering romance. With a male and female protagonist regularly hanging out, there’s teasing about boyfriends/ girlfriends and “true love’s kiss,” but the one-second moment of lip locking isn’t about romance.
There’s no swearing or violence, but there’s some in-person and cyber bullying regarding their health issues. That’s sadly normal (and relatable) for middle-reader books these days.

More dramatic, there are a few life-and-death moments for the main characters between Alaina’s Type1 diabetes and Liam’s muscle-locking problem.

Overall

As an advocate for fairytales and raising awareness of seen and unseen health problems, I’ll happily recommend this one to anyone who wants to see a little more magic in their lives. Sleeping Spells & Dragon Scales is great for middle-readers, English teachers, parents, and fairytale lovers. Out of all of Wendy Swore’s books, this one easily my favorite. *****Solid 5 Stars*****

Rating: 5 out of 5.

Not too long ago, I went to book club where I had the following summary of a conversation with a fellow author:

“I’m going to Anacortes, Washington, for a writer’s retreat. Do you want to come with me?”
“I love that area! When is it?”
“Next week.”
. . . “I just got back from a week in Utah for FanX, then had another conference last weekend, so…let me ask my husband and see if I can get work off.”

Guys, my loving husband said, “Alright,” and I managed to get work off. It was so spontaneous and fun! I’d happily go again. It was a little stressful leading up to leaving since I volunteered last minute to present at the retreat, and I left the day of hitting “Publish” for Little Red and the Lumpy Bed: Dreaming Princesses #3. However, publication days are hard for me, and I needed the time away from my computer and the stats.

The reason I’m sharing all this is because they hosted a writing contest during the retreat. The rules were simple:

Write a flash-fiction story no longer than 300 words.It must include the words:CartFrozenWeighScanStore.

My initial thought was to take the first chapter of Alerton (my unpublished post-apocalyptic YA that’s set in a grocery store). However, after cutting that 3,000 word chapter down to 700 words, I lost interest in the story and decided to start over, instead taking inspiration from my steampunk work-in-progress.

I won third place for the following story . . .

Crank it Up

The back-alley arena was crowded with more tattoos than people wearing sideways or backwards bowler caps with political symbols.
Host pushed into the center with the first two fighters, and immediately the crowd widened around them. Like the world’s simplest chorister, Host bounced his hands up for everyone to cheer. Using a cone to amplify his voice, he bellowed over the shouts,
 
“Everybody, let’s make a rattle!
We’re about to start a rap battle!
Roar some more for a better encore,
‘Cause a war’s in store that we can’t ignore!”

The eager audience shouted as he punched the sky.
“Our first contestants are the Instra-Mentalist and Hecca Wright!”

A gangly factory worker and a rough young woman stepped into position, taking aim with their stares.
The crowd weighed their bets and muttered their expectations until Host lowered his arms for silence. The nearby mechanical parts factory groaned with metal gears as a distant steam pipe whistled.

With the flip of a copper penny, Hecca Wright was given the first attack.

“Yeah, you heard right, I’m Hecca Wright!” she shouted to the crowd, then turned to her opponent.

“You stand there all cold, as if you’re the chosen,
But you’re not cold enough, ’cause I’ll leave you frozen
Like a fish, all dead-eyed and stacked on the cart,
With my other opponents who weren’t all that smart.
Take a look, scan the crowd, and read the room.
You’ll see this battle will seal your doom.
You think that girls can’t stand the rap circle?
But–oh! What’s this? I just rhymed with purple!”

The audience erupted into hoots and hollers. Host smirked, wondering how the reactions might have differed if any else recognized Hecca Wright as the wife of the factory manager, the always prim and proper Lady Rebecca White.

Crank it Up © 2024 by C. Rae D’Arc is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 

I had a lot of fun reading that out loud to a bunch of women (mostly clean romance authors) who had no idea what was coming.

When the 2nd place winner got up to read her story, she said, “I think I just got upstaged.”
Apparently, my performance was impressive enough that the keynote speaker asked if I narrate audiobooks. Hah! No.

I wrote this to submit to an anthology, but (lucky for you) it only passed two rounds of eliminations. Since it’s only a semi-finalist, that means I get to share it with you on my website!

Dragon Slaying for Dummies

Something shiny in the sand caught my attention, and—being a descendant of dragons—I was naturally drawn to it. The shiny something stuck out between a rock and a shell, half buried in the sandy bottom of my lagoon home near Port Fairy, Australia. Fluttering my wings as fast as possible, I swam to it at a whopping 450 feet per hour.

Hey, not all dragons were fast. Not all dragons were gigantic monsters either. Some of us were mistakenly called seahorses.

Psh, as if I had four legs with hooves and a hairy tail to swat the flies that constantly buzzed around me. Gross.

I didn’t even look like the typical seahorse that floated upright with a curled tail.

No, I was a seadragon! (Incorrectly prefixed with “common.”) I floated like sky dragons with my belly down, face forward, and decorative flower petals—I mean, horns!—down my back and tail. I didn’t breathe fire, but I could breathe underwater! I was also a good foot and a half in length. I wasn’t a beast of burden to carry anyone on my back. No, I was a majestic creature, collecting beautiful treasures. I had stripes and spots to blend into my surroundings, and a long nose to reach for that oddly translucent and shiny—

A wave washed over me. Not like an ocean wave on the surface or a current change, but a wave of magic. It was a call to adventure from an adventurer.

A voice in my head told me to “Come.” I obeyed like I was born for this moment, swimming to the surface and edge of the lagoon.

My mum said that her great-grandad was once called by an adventurer. They never saw him again, leaving me curious about his adventures. What greatness could possibly keep him away from our beautiful lagoon and pleasant life? Every day was already an adventure as strange new pieces of human life washed into our lagoon. Even if I wasn’t curious, the voice that beckoned me was strong and irresistible.

As I abandoned the shiny what’s-it, I passed my second-most annoying cousin, Nerid. I almost didn’t notice his camouflaged body until he shifted away from the green seaweed.

“What’s your hurry?” he jeered. “Ooh! Something shiny! I bet it’ll look great in my hoard! Everything looks better in my hoard, unlike your hoard that’s full of trash.”

I ignored him and continued upward. Usually, Nerid’s words hurt and left me hiding in the seaweed for hours, but today, I was on a mission. I alone was affected by the summons. That made me extra special!

“Crikey, where is it?” a deep voice boomed from above the surface. “I summoned a water-breathing familiar, and nothing’s here.”

“Try it again,” a second booming voice said with a higher pitch.

The wave of magic crashed over me again. I fluttered faster. Almost there!

“I don’t see anything.”

I’m here! I mentally shouted. Stop trying to summon me, I’m coming as fast as I can!

“Crikey!” the summoner shouted. “I heard it. It’s on its way, but what’s taking it so long?”

I’m…almost…there! With my last word, I popped above the surface. G’day!

Two humans stood at the edge of the lagoon. They were almost as big as dolphins, but much less beautiful. Their faces were squished and round, and they wore funny fabrics over their unshiny skin. My summoner made a funny sound as he sucked liquid from a cup into his mouth. His companion had features that defined her as a female, I think.

The summoner’s eyes found me, and he cursed. “A seahorse? Crikey, I wanted a familiar that could breathe underwater, but—a seahorse? What good is this thing gonna do? I need something to help me slay a dragon, not a leaf!”

His companion smirked. “It’s fitting. That’s what you get for being a level-one adventurer trying to check off level-ten adventures.”

I am a dragon, I said proudly. Don’t you see the resemblance with my long snout, tail, and scales?

The summoner gaped at me while his companion burst into laughter.

“Looky there! It’s a level-one dragon for a level-one adventurer! Hah! Do you think you can slay it, oh mighty warrior? Careful, it might flop on you!”

“Ugh, this is useless. I quit.”

Releasing me from his magic summons, he threw his cup into the water. It splashed over me and sank from its heavy contents.

Freed from the spell, I watched as the cup bounced off the reef and landed with a ploof of sand not far from Nerid.

My annoying cousin dropped his shiny wrapper to inspect the adventurer item. It was larger than we were, though had a similar long nose sticking from one end.

The sweet-smelling contents were blocked from spilling free, but leaked lightly from the tip of the nose.

I struggled to swim for it, but, of course, Nerid reached it before I was even half way.

“Hmm, what’s that smell?” he taunted. “You want to know how it tastes? Well, too bad, because I’m here first, so it’s mine!”

I fluttered faster. First, he took my shiny thing. Then that summoner rudely rejected me. Now, Nerid would take this curiosity from me too?

Anger filled me as my cousin slid his gluttonous mouth into the long nose of the cup. The nose was translucent enough to let me see my cousin’s face as he wiggled farther, taunting me, reaching for more of the cup’s juices.

I finally arrived as he slurped up the last that he could reach and tried to pull back. He couldn’t. He fluttered harder, but remained inside.

“I think I’m stuck,” Nerid said.

Uh oh. My anger was squished by the heavy weight of dread.

His fins became frantic as he tried to swim backwards, harder and faster.

“I’m stuck! I can’t get out! Will I suffocate in here? How will I eat? I’ll starve if I can’t get out!”

We shared worried glances without an answer. The wasteful adventurer had slain a dragon after all.

Dragon Slaying for Dummies © 2024 by C. Rae D’Arc is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 

Behind the Scenes

The anthology, “Feisty Felines and their Familiars,” had a theme for familiars. It didn’t need to be cats, but they wanted the story to revolve around the magic of animals.

In my research on familiars, I was fascinated by the Dungeons and Dragons option to have a seahorse familiar. This particularly entertained me because of their real-life speed (<0.1 m/h) and general harmlessness in juxtaposition to a cultural concept that they are descendants of dragons. This led me to base this short story from the perspective of a common seadragon, a type of seahorse that inhabits the southern coasts of Australia.

Reflecting on the waste and pollution of our oceans and sea life, “Dragon Slaying for Dummies” has a theme against littering that adds a cautionary punch to this otherwise cute tale.