Blue Musings vol. 4, no. 6:  August 25, 2014  
dragonflies

Blue Musings

from LJCohen & Once in a Blue Muse

Writing News

 

At long last, I have finished drafting the sequel to THE BETWEEN, my debut fantasy novel. TIME AND TITHE continues Lydia's adventures as a reluctant changeling in Oberon and Titania's Faerie, but with an added complication: Thanks to the way time moves differently between Faerie and the mortal world, Lydia's baby sister, Taylor, is now grown up. And it looks like the world of the Fae wants both Hawthorne girls. 

The manuscript now enters the revision/editing phase. Look for publication news in late fall or early winter.

At the end of this newsletter, is a scene from TIME AND TITHE, through Taylor's viewpoint.  I hope you enjoy this sneak peek of the story.

 

Derelict News/Reviews/Sale

Derelict Cover

DERELICT continues to sell steadily and garner wonderful reviews. In a recent review by Publishers Weekly, they said, "Cohen has real talent with character development & interaction." I was extremely pleased by their thoughtful and balanced review and you can read it here in its entirety: http://publishersweekly.com/978-0-9847870-8-1

The eBook of DERELICT is currently on sale through tomorrow (Tues, 8/25) evening for $2.49, 50% off the list price. Links to all sales venues can be found here. http://www.ljcohen.net/derelict.html

I've been receiving emails from fans asking if there will be further adventures for Ro and her accidental crew. The answer is yes. I am currently outlining the next book in the DERELICT universe and will be posting news and snippets of story in progress on my blog.
 

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A brief scene from TIME AND TITHE


Even after a hot shower and a change of clothes, Taylor still shivered. The sudden downpour dropped the temperature by a good twenty degrees, but that couldn't explain the chill that lodged in her heart. She turned a full circle, examining the contents of her childhood room, unchanged in the year since Lydia and her husband, Greg moved into their parents' house after her folks had retired. Nothing changed and everything had.

Books and stuffed animals tucked away on sturdy shelves her father had built suddenly looked unfamiliar. She tugged the comforter from her bed and wrapped it around her shoulders.

"Tails?"

Her sister's voice, calling out her old nickname sent a tremor down her spine. An image of Lydia, silent and withdrawn, brought back memories of when she'd gotten sick her senior year in high school. She couldn't reconcile the Lydia who used to tell her stories and bake cookies with her with the sister who spent weeks mute, her eyes blank and afraid, before she returned from wherever her mind had gotten snarled.

But there was another Lydia she remembered from her childhood - one who never changed or aged as she did, who sometimes met her in the playground woods where she played make-believe with her friend Aeon between rare visits from her magical sister. She pressed the heels of her hands to her eyes. Aeon. How could she have forgotten?

A knock on the door startled her. Lydia stuck her head inside the room. "Tails? Will you keep an eye on the baby? Nick has a swimming lesson."

She studied her sister's face as if she were a stranger.

"You okay?" Lydia walked in, frowning. "You look like you've seen a ghost."

Not a ghost exactly, but an image of her nephew limned with sunlight in the middle of a rainstorm was close enough. "Lydia?"

"Hmm?" She glanced down at her cell phone. "Nicky, time to go!" she called.

Faint lines radiated out from Lydia's brown eyes and the skin beneath them was pouched and darkened, courtesy of a new baby and lots of sleepless night. Her sister's wavy brown hair gleamed with a few strands of silver. When had she turned into their mother? "Do you remember when we used to bake cookies?"

Lydia looked up and laughed. "Of course I do. Do you remember how much of a mess you always made?"

Taylor shrugged, struggling to sort out memories from imagination. "Do you ever think about when you got sick?"

"That was a long time ago, Taylor. I'm surprised you even remember. You were right around Nicky's age." She tucked a strand of hair back behind her ears. "Speaking of Nicky . . . We're going to be late if we don't leave now. Ana's in her bassinet. I just nursed her, so she should stay asleep until I get back. Okay?"

"I'm good."

As Lydia left, Taylor wondered why the teenaged image of her sister felt so much more real to her than this exhausted mother of two. The house was utterly silent. The rain had stopped its incessant rattle on the roof tiles. She turned a full circle in her room, blinking at the pale lavender walls and green trim, seeing flickers of light and shadow out of the corner of her eye. They vanished as she tried to focus on them.

Memory roared through her like a hurricane and she collapsed to her knees, her chest heaving. Her life fractured into two jagged segments: before she'd walked out of the world to a place where magic breathed and after. She was drowning in confusion, lungs burning for air as images of an impossible wood where two enormous trees radiating their impotent fury filled her vision. There was Lydia - her Lydia - slipping a pendant over her head before pushing her away.

A familiar warmth spread out across her chest, easing the terrible pressure. She reached her hand up and palmed the small, oval shape that hung in the space above her collarbone.

It hadn't been there before.

It had always been there.

Her sister's voice echoed in the back of her mind. “It’s magic. If you hold it and whisper my name, I’ll hear you.”

"Lydia," she said, softly, picturing a younger, anguished version of her sister.

Taylor's fingers traced the grooved surface of the gilded peach pit. If she looked down at it, the pendant would glow with the warmth of a languid summer day.

How could she have forgotten?
 
 
As ever. I appreciate your encouragement and support. I believe a work of creativity is not finished until it's been experienced. That is true for music, art, perfomance, and writing. Thank you very much for completing the circle.
 
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