Genres: Children's/YA Fantasy
Blurb:
"The Kalarthri" will take you into a world where Action, Adventure and Friendship will meet you head on and take you for a wild ride to save something most precious- the life of a friend.
Kalena awakes one morning to find her world changed forever....
The Imperium Provosts of the Great Suene Empire have come to take Kalena away from her family and friends.
All because she is Second Born.
The Second Born Rule declares that all second born children above the age of five become indentured to the Empire for a period of thirty years to serve wherever the Empire sees fit. After the thirty-year period, the Kalarthri (as the indentured are called), are then pensioned into retirement by the Empire.
Kalena is different in that she has a special gift that is much sort out by the Imperium Provosts. Her mind has the ability to accept the special 'living' crystal that is implanted into her head to enable her to partner a Hatar'le'margarten (Hatar) in the Military Flight Corps. Kalarthri who are in the Flight Corps are indentured for life.
Taken to Darkon, Kalena is paired with one of the giant, feathered Hatar'le'margarten. But when Kalena accidentally injures one of her Wingmates, there is a race against time to find the one man who can help them.
And Kalena and her New Hatar Partner, Adhamh, are determined that they will be the ones to find him.
Excerpt:
“Wing Lieutenant. Where do you think you are going with that girl?” the Captain’s voice was hard and emotionless and Kalena moved closer to Gwidion. She did not like this man.
Gwidion snapped his feet together and made the Captain a small bow. “We are heading for the Mess Hall Sir.”The Captain stared at them a long moment.“Has she been tested yet?” he suddenly asked.“No Sir. Not properly.”“Do you think it wise to let her near other Hatar Kalar until you are sure she cannot hear them?”Kalena felt the hand on her shoulder stiffen. She clung tighter to the Wing Lieutenant.“Test her for me now Kalar.”“What? She has only just undergone the Krytal.”“Talk to your beast now and let us see if she can hear you!” The Captain said leaving no room for argument.Gwidion opened his mouth to say more but thought better of it.“Very well.”He looked down at Kalena and she could not help but smile up at him.“Kalena, I’m about to talk in mind voice. If you can hear me can you repeat it for the Captain.”Kalena nodded as Adhamh’s voice flooded through her head.‘Remember. Pretend you do not hear them.’‘I remember Adhamh.’Gwidion eyes remained on her but they suddenly unfocused and Kalena heard the familiar whisperings in her mind.‘Kalena, if you can hear this tell the Captain that he is a fart faced maggot off of a horses rear that needs-‘‘Gwidion! Be respectful.’ A female voice said sternly.‘Sorry Jolar but he is.’Kalena tried not to show any reaction on her face. If she had said what Gwidion had said her father would have washed her mouth out with lye soap.“Well?”The Captain’s voice cut through Gwidion’s mental chatter. Kalena shrank back behind Gwidion.“Kalena, did you hear anything? I did not hear you repeat my words.”Suddenly she felt her arm gripped by fingers of iron and yanked forward and Kalena found herself face to face with the Captain. His thoughts were jumbled and confused but full of anger and fear. Kalena immediately blocked them from her mind.“Answer the lieutenant Kalar.”Tears started to trickle down her cheeks and Kalena tried to stop herself from blubbering. Dimly a roar was heard from outside and she heard Gwidion talking urgently with the Captain.“-you are upsetting her and her new Hatar partner. He feels her fear through the link.’The Captain seemed not to hear the Lieutenant’s words.“Did you hear him?”Kalena shook her head; her voice did not want to work.Suddenly the Captain backhanded her across the face. She would have collapsed if not for the Captain’s iron grip on her arm. Her face stung like fire and she felt Gwidion shift behind her.“Answer me in an appropriate manner, Kalar”“Damaging State property is not setting a good example to the men Captain Jerant.”The Captain released his grip and spun around in surprise. The two infantrymen immediately turned and smartly saluted. Kalena jumped back to Gwidion’s side and she felt him place a protective hand on her shoulder as he guided her back behind him.“Provost Marshall Brock,” the Captain stammered.The Provost Marshall’s eyes flicked across everyone present in the hallway, lingering longest on the red mark that now rose across Kalena’s face.“I think you need to come to my office and explain your actions to me Captain. You know there is a ban on children undergoing the Krytal.”
The Provost Marshall then swept past them and continued along the corridor without waiting to see if his request would be followed. Captain Jerant stood a moment glaring hard at both Kalena and Gwidion before turning swiftly to follow the Provost Marshall.
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About the Author:
In a former life, H M Clarke has been a Console Operator, Public Servant, Paper Shuffler and an Accountant (the last being the most exciting.)
She also has a degree in how to blow things up and then write about why it blew up. In her spare time, she likes to lay on the couch and watch TV, read and tell ALL her family what wonderful human beings they are.
She keeps threatening to go out and get a real job (Chocolate Test Taster sounds good) and intends to retire somewhere warm and dry – like the middle of the Simpson Desert. For the time being however, she is an Aussie in Ohio and dreams about being warm…
Resisting the Enemy – Why Chocolate is Good for You.
No really, chocolate is good for you. Dark chocolate can even help you lose weight.
But as with all good things, for the above to be true chocolate should be eaten in small quantities. That means those small quantities had better be good.
The same can be said about writing.
A lot of excess words can help bulk out word count and make you feel good about your work. But it can also make your manuscript overweight, unwieldy and a hard slog for readers get through.
Scenes, paragraphs, and sentences should be pared down and always be working to move the story forward in a logical manner. A good way for testing this with a piece of writing is to read it aloud. If it flows well while speaking it, then it should flow well while reading it.
I’m not going to say that I am the perfect writer that does everything correctly, and never use too many words to get my point across. If fact I am the opposite (as can be seen from this post). I love words and like to use as many of them as possible. But as with eating too much chocolate, I know that in the long run too many words will be a bad thing for the story.
Now, I’m not going to tell you how to write like this, just as I’m not going to tell you what chocolate to eat. That is up to each individual to decide. Everyone has their particular brand of chocolate, and everyone has their own writing style.
Ultimately it is up to you to decide what stays, what goes, and what chocolate to eat.
Happy chocolate munching-H. M. Clarke
Connect with the Author:Giveaway:Win one of four signed print copies of The Kalarthri. Giveaway dates: Jan 02 – Mar 06, 2014
The giveaway is restricted to the US, UK, Canada and Australia.
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