Hello, dear reader. It’s been a while. It’s 18 January 2019. I think last we spoke was July 2018…Okay. So, I’ve been AWOL for half a year.

2018 was hard for me. I started a new job. My best friend passed away. We suffered a car accident (The truck was totaled, but no one was hurt. The financial loss was devastating). My sister moved in. My books have new covers. I came off my meds…and I’m pregnant! Year-Ago-Me  would not recognize me today. Have I written anything? Well…I sat down to write the third book of The Seidr Cycle and I ran into a problem…More like, Bergen reeked havoc again.

Apparently, I need to write his stories first if Winter and Ash is to make sense. So…I started brainstorming Bergen: Bane.

I haven’t written free form. Not in a long time. My hands have been mute. I put my pen down last year and haven’t touched it since. In October, the muse began poking at me again. But to write narrative like this…in article form. I feel the neurons waking up and their stretching. I forgot to live for me. Just me. And I think I finally learned how to do that this last year. I said no to a lot. Told several people to just back off. Put my foot down and said, “I’m not gonna take it anymore!” And haven’t. I lost some friends along the way…and I feel better for it.

So.

Hello, dear friend. I think today I will talk about…Bergen!

I have the world’s best job. I work at least 20 hours a week, but can work up to 40 if I want. It’s optional. The best part is all I have to do is sit at a desk and type. I move data from point A to point B and, because it’s all generic mindless crap, I can do whatever I want at work…within the realm of headphones. I started off just listening to music. Ten hours of music every day, all day…life was epic.

Then, I saw someone with an audio book at their desk. I died and fell over, ran to audible.com and launched their app.

Ten months later…I have listened to all of the Outlander books (twice), all of Karen Marie Moning…twice…and next week I begin Tolkien! I. CAN’T. WAIT! Now…while listening to story mode, my mind tends to wander and brain storm. It’s only then that my muse begins picking at my brain and suddenly I’m brainstorming for my Bergen series. Writing since Broken (2015) has been hard. While I did write and release Zombies From Space…and Vampires, it hasn’t been smooth writing. Personally, I blame the anti-depressants I was on. Was. Yes. A month after coming off the meds, my muse just woke up and got to work despite being assured meds no longer affect the mood. Maybe it’s psychosomatic. Anyway…

Enter Bergen.

Basically, the story explains how and why Bergen is a Bard. If you don’t know who Bergen is…you can meet my pompous, over-bearing Viking Nord Lord here.

I play D&D every Wednesday night. When people hear “bard” they think of a lute playing little gnome. Historically, I’ve learned that bards were so much more than that. In fact, they were more like the Queen of Years from Doctor Who. A bard was a person charged with all the history, oral and written, of all time. In real life, they weren’t entertainers. They were scribes, scholars, and secret keepers. Some suspect they were Druids. In The Seidr Cycle they are more than that…and Bergen happens to be one.

I started this article with  intent to share and now that I’m here, I think I’ll just write the book’s blurb.

 

When Bergen finds himself imprisoned by the Fae Goddess, Fand, he befriends a dying bard who entrusts Bergen with information on the long lost Bardic Key that will unlock the most powerful of secrets.

At first glance, Ciardha is everything one expects from ordinary. But when the pompous over-bearing Viking Elf prince Bergen falls battered, beaten, and dying in her back yard, Ciardha jumps at his invitation to accompany him on his quest.

Desperate to secure the Bardic Key, the race between Fae goddess and Viking Prince has begun, and Ciardha does all she can to keep up with Bergen and survive.