Image by Dot Myl – Google Plus
Hello dear friends and imaginative travelers!
We regret to have left you at the Tree alone for such an extended period of time. We thought of you often, and despite our best efforts to return, the Door to the Tree eluded us, busy as we were fighting monsters in our path.
But if you’re here, if you’re listening… we’re knocking.
We’re writing.
Where will 2018 lead us?
Come along. Let’s find out.
Welcome back to Hollow Tree, dwellers! As many of you likely know, the second book to my Guardian Circle Series, The Guardian’s Choice, has released! For those who have read the series thus far, you know that I’ve been telling a small bit of the untold, behind the scenes story right here on Tales From the Hollow Tree, involving two of the lesser known characters.
The Earth and Air Guardians first met in Dream Walker and now we get another piece of the puzzle with Forged Through Fire. Enjoy! 🙂
by hworks at stock.xchng
She watched him work from the shadows, hidden within her Element, exploring him as she could not in flesh. Her stomach fluttered, a cluster of butterflies eager to break free from their cage. He pounded at the red-hot metal of a steel blade with a large mallet, his naked back and shoulders slick with sweat. She traced the ancient script of his Mark with her eyes, from his neck down the length of his spine, stark black against the warm caramel of his flushed, sun-kissed skin.
His muscles tightened with each mallet swing. The four walls of the tiny, sweltering workshop quivered, ready to buckle, to bow to his power. Continue reading
The window ledge is small, far smaller than I remember. Maybe it always was. Maybe I’m the one that’s grown.
So much looks different now. The fields are green and lush as always, but the cityscape on the horizon is new. A sign of time passing. Of moments left behind.
I shift my weight, adjusting my feet, clutching the frame in a white-knuckled grip. The distance between my feet and the ground grows into a dizzying tunnel vision. I shut my eyes tight and breathe. One misstep would send me plummeting five stories down. Continue reading
The tales that say he was a man turned beast are wrong.
There were never any claws or fangs. He’d never howled into the night or wrought fear upon men through feral yellow eyes.
His true nature was much more difficult to discern beneath layers of expensive, well-fitted clothing and years of practiced charm. One could easily fall victim to the seductive grin and fine cheek bones. His milky skin, smooth and velvety soft.
He never wore gloves. When he danced, the young women swooned. It was the thrill of feeling the heat of his hands upon their waists. The small, addictive taste of the forbidden. Continue reading
I was never as naive as I appeared. The big, bright eyes and crimson lips were a facade, a masterpiece painted on an unfortunate and ordinary canvas – a charm. She’d known that well, once upon a time. That my nuances and faults were as real as the powder-white fairness of my skin. And unlike the rest, whose vision of me was crafted of pure fantasy, she’d loved me regardless.
So it’s important that you know: when she offered me the apple, I took it willingly. Continue reading
To celebrate the release of the first book of my YA fantasy series, The Guardian’s Mark, I’ve decided to offer an exclusive excerpt as today’s freebie! 🙂
Though the book doesn’t officially release until April 17th (tax day!), early copies are available in print! For those looking to download onto their Nook and Kindle, keep your eyes open for the link which I’ll be sure to post as soon as its live. 😉
Either way, Happy Friday, folks!
IT WAS WRONG to stare. She knew that. She just couldn’t help herself. Some irrational part of her thought if she looked hard enough she’d see something new.
She was wrong. Everything about Kieran remained exactly the same, as closely guarded as the very first day he arrived.
She thought she’d gotten through to him out in the courtyard a few weeks back. She’d felt the little crack, caught the smile he’d tried so hard to suppress. But just as quickly, he’d built his walls back up. Now, it was nearly impossible to get through the thick emotional armor he hid behind.
Kieran shifted uncomfortably. Amaya looked away. He must have felt her prying eyes.
She turned the page of the book in front of her. The words looked foreign. She had no idea what she was reading.
Taking a chance, she peered at him from over the cover. He hadn’t moved. He still sat all alone, his eyes focused on something outside the library window. The longing etched on his face was almost too painful to bear. Amaya bit her lip, anxious to think of something to say.
He sighed. She didn’t have to open her empathic connection to know just how unhappy he was. She could hear it. Her stomach clenched. She hated how helpless she felt. Wasn’t there anything she could do or say to make him feel at home? Or at the very least, to put a more permanent smile on his face?
“Are you done examining me?”
Amaya’s eyes widened. “What?”
“You’re staring at me.” Continue reading
Okay, things have gotten a little hectic here with Isabelle back at her day job and me getting ready for a big move, and we’re a couple of days late, but anyhow, it’s here!
You can now buy your very own digital edition of Tales From the Hollow Tree, Volume One: Stories of Enchantment and Desolation, a collection of ten Hollow Tree Tales. Eight have been previously published on this blog, and two are brand new and exclusive to this collection, beautifully formatted just for you, and a steal at only 99¢!
There are THREE WAYS for you to purchase this collection:
1) For your Kindle from Amazon.
2) For your Nook from Barnes & Noble.
3) Here as a PDF from (or in our sidebar).
The last is my personal recommendation, just because the .pdf version is just so beautiful. If you’re a fan of the extra touches available on a .pdf, ours certainly won’t disappoint you. Then again, I guess you could buy all three… I certainly wouldn’t mind! 😉
And now for what you’re really interested in. To celebrate our release, we’re going to have a week long blog hop giving away our ebook, and there may be some other prizes available here and there, too!
FIRSTLY – we’ll be giving out one copy of the .pdf version of Volume One. Leave a comment on this post and tell us which Hollow Tree Tale you’ve enjoyed the most so far. OR, if you’re new to the Hollow Tree, tell us the name of your favorite short story. Don’t forget to leave your email or a way to contact you, also!
SECONDLY – There will be a GRAND PRIZE (which is going to be a secret, but it will involve Hollow Tree Swag!) here on this blog next Friday, but we’re going to put you to work a little bit. In order to win the Grand Prize, you’ll have to collect a keyword from each of the blogs participating in the Blog Hop. If you collect all SEVEN keywords, then you’ll be entered to win the Grand Prize. The keywords will also be clues as to which stories are in the collection.
Sounds fun, huh? We’ll start you off easy, though, and give you the very first keyword here:
COYOTE
Check back here tomorrow to see where to go to find another chance at winning a .pdf, and for your second keyword for the Grand Prize! In the meanwhile, add Tales From the Hollow Tree to your Goodreads list!
It happened the night the sky split.
It was all over the news. The Milky Way would be extra-visible due to atmospheric somethingorother. The scientist were explaining it left and right. The pictures, they said, would be breathtaking. And they were.
But no one saw what I saw.
I was out at the lake with my family that weekend. We were all staying out to watch the sky darken, to watch the stream of light that seemed to tear the sky in two. I’d seen the Milky Way before, but only as a dim trail across the sky. Not this vibrant, violent thing.
I felt like I’d been in that taxi forever. We’d driven far outside Birmingham, into open countryside. Now we were pulled up next to a small wooden sign that said Serendipity School of Practical Magic and Mysticism.
I didn’t know what to expect. A castle, maybe. No, that’s ridiculous. This is real life, not Harry Potter.
Still, I didn’t expect this. This old house, all gables and bare-branch trees and curtained windows. This place screamed witch. And that’s not… really what I am. Is it?
I didn’t want to be a witch. Witches were old and warty and apparently meltable by water. I was sixteen, Homecoming Queen, and very fond of baths.
I didn’t see it happen the first time. We had just moved here, and I’d gotten the flu, possibly from spending every day after school exploring the woods behind our house, no matter what my mother told me. It’d been a damp year, but I’d only lived in the city before this. Everything else seemed new.
I don’t usually get sick, but it hit me particularly hard that year. I’ve never felt so deathly ill and weak in my entire life. I could hardly move without wanting to throw up, but then, I could hardly move anyhow.
I didn’t see it that year, but I sure heard it. The most haunting, glorious music I’d ever heard. It was high and clear and beautiful. I wasn’t sure if it was a voice or some sort of instrument—all I knew was that I wanted it. The music seemed to crawl inside me and attach to the innermost parts of me. Despite my weakness, everything inside of me wanted to find the source of that music and bury myself inside it. Instead, all I managed to do was fall out of bed.
Isabelle
thephoneix
Lisa Asanuma
Tales From The Hollow Tree 