I was looking at the History Channel web site to review the date March 29. 
The most significant event was the United States pulling the last of their
combat troops out of Vietnam.  On the birthday front, former president John
Tyler was born.  (It is sad that I never knew he was a president. I guess
that’s what happens when you grow up in Canada.)  Supermodel Elle
Macpherson was also born on that day.  There is one man who towers above
all the others who was brought into the world on that day.  That man is my
father.  I have been blessed to have positive traits from both my parents
but it is from my father I inherited my ability and love of writing.  He
was a technical writer for a good part of his career and then a magazine
editor.  My mother explained it best when she said, “Scientists have a
message they want to get out so your father goes and talks to them.  He
understands what they are saying and writes it in a form that most people can
understand.”  I have to say, one of the magazines he edited and wrote for
was Atomic Energy of Canada.  I read his articles and still had no clue
what he was talking about.  As a boy I remember wanting to watch a comedy
show like MASH or Happy Days at night but my father was engrossed in something
on PBS.  So I would go up to my parent’s bedroom and watch on their
television while lying on the bed.  During commercial breaks I would look
at the wall in front of me and it was completely filled with awards for his
writing and editing.  There were so many awards that some were simply
sitting on the floor.  I was always dumbfounded by the sheer volume of
accolades.  Not only is my father a great writer but he was recognized as
such in his field.  That is a difficult goal to attain.  When I first
told him I wanted to be a writer I was young and he told me to make sure I had
another career to support myself with while I wrote.  It sounded harsh but
was true.  As I have recounted in the past, when I wrote my first chapter
of “Quest for the Red Sapphire” at 13 I proudly displayed it to my father. 
He crumpled it up and deposited it on the ground while stating it was
inferior.  I’m not going to lie, that hurt.  It wasn’t like today
where every child on my son’s soccer team received a trophy whether your team
won or lost.  Dad would not let age be an excuse for subpar work.  I
could not see it then, but he was inspiring me to be a better writer.  I
studied hard and worked at my craft for years.  When the book was finally
published my father told me it was well written and he was proud of me.  I
had waited most of my life to hear those words.  When they came I knew they
were sincere.  He is not a man to give false praise.  In middle school
we each had to write a paper about who we would like to grow up to be.  I
said I wanted to be my father.  Though I draw a pale comparison to him, I
still wish I was more like him.  For the time being, I will be happy being
myself and having him still in my life. 

Now that we have talked about Rander Greenlith it is time to talk about his
fraternal twin brother, Bander Greenlith.  The two young elves could not be
more different.  While Rander is scheming and devious, Bander is simple and
easily manipulated.  Rander is small and frail.  Bander is one of the
largest elves and possesses relatively great strength.  Rander always
thinks of himself first while Bander cares about other people.  He is
loyal, trustworthy and thinks in only the most basic terms.  While Rander
covets money and power, Bander wants nothing more than good food and plenty of
it.  When Bander is first introduced he is completely under his brother’s
control.  For their entire lives, Bander has been the muscle backing up his
brother’s threats and actions.  The result is he hates Linvin at
first.  His only reason for this disposition, however, is because Rander
instructed him for as long as he can remember that he loathes Linvin.  Some
may mistake Bander for a person who lacks intelligence.  That is far from
the truth.  Bander has a brain.  He just seldom uses it for anything
complex because he has no interest in such endeavors.  His thoughts are
plain and uncomplicated.  He works as a lumberjack and asks for nothing
special in life.  In a way, he is probably the happiest person in the book
for that reason.  Bander is told to go on the quest by his brother and
happily obliges.  Deep down, though, he knows Linvin and Anvar need his
help.  As the story progresses no character grows as much as Bander. 
The more he is exposed to his cousin and uncle, the more he thinks for
himself.  Though he learns to be an ample warrior, he shows that he is
caring and likable.  More and more his new found independent thinking
conflicts with Rander’s plans.  Friction takes place with both his brother
and Linvin.  Bander becomes confused and struggles to decide which side to
take in arguments.  He has to use his intellect at last and he is not used
to doing so.  One of the best parts of having Bander in the story is his
comic relief.  He has no use for deep conversations and often adds levity
to tense situations.  If you were looking for a good-natured person to sit
down for a meal and a drink with, Bander would be your man.  Though
intricate thoughts are a stretch for him, the world would be a much happier
place if there were more people like Bander in it.

In “Quest for the Red Sapphire” Linvin Grithinshield and his uncle Anvar
Greenlith realize their chances of success on their quest will be better if
there are more people in their party.  Unfortunately some very underhanded
things have transpired and finding people they can trust is proving
difficult.  As a last resort they turn to Linvin’s quarrelsome elf cousins,
Rander and Bander Greenlith.  Today we will focus on Rander.  Out of
the two fraternal twin brothers he does most of the thinking and talking. 
Being slight in size even for an elf he has sharpened his wits to take advantage
of situations that come along.  Rander likes to manipulate people and in
doing so get what he wants.  His webs of deceit are spun mostly around his
mother, Caritha Greenlith and his brother Bander.  Both of them take his
word at face value when it is rarely worthy.  Rander abhors work and will
do almost anything to get out of doing it.  Most tasks are somehow shuffled
over to Bander’s plate.  Though Rander is a master of twisting words, he
does so only to his own benefit.  Anyone else who gains from his intrigues
is purely coincidental.   Rander has many things he despises.  As
a proud elf he hates all other races especially the dominant race, Humans. 
Growing up in poverty he also resents affluent people.  He never believes
they deserve their wealth as he vaguely hides his jealousy.  That brings up
the subject of Linvin.  Rander absolutely loathes him for all these
reasons.  Linvin is big and strong where Rander is neither.  He is
also rich and has no worries about money.  Rander cannot say that about his
life.  Linvin is half human and his elf mother is viewed by the Greenlith
family as a traitor for marrying a human.  On top of all that, Linvin is
triumphant at whatever he has tried where Rander has yet to taste success. 
When that is all added up it makes for a spiteful, resentful and uncompromising
individual who hates Linvin above all others.  As youths, Rander convinced
his brother to help him fight Linvin when the families were brought
together.  It bred a similar feeling of hatred from Linvin toward the
twins.  Linvin could not understand why they were so vicious to him but he
was leery of trusting them; especially Rander.  The young elf only agrees
to go on the quest when Linvin offers a big payday upon their return. 
Greed is a trait Rander has in great supply.  Nothing so far makes Rander
sound like the kind of person you want watching your back and for the most part
it is true.  Nevertheless, Rander will undergo changes on their trek. 
They do not happen right away but the person first introduced in the book is
vastly different from the one at the end.

Anvar Greenlith is a complex character.  He’s Linvin’s uncle, his mother
Jelena’s brother and his father Dirk’s best friend.  Anvar was actually
friends with Dirk before he met Jelena.  Anvar and Dirk used to carouse the
local drinking establishments in Fraylic in their youth.  After Anvar
introduced Dirk to Jelena, the two fell in love and were wed in spite of fierce
Greenlith family resistance.  They had only one child; Linvin.  Anvar
was a good friend and confidant of Linvin’s throughout his life.  As a
result, Linvin was the only one of Anvar’s nephews who had the privilege of
calling him solely by his first name.  Anvar visited Linvin on occasion in
Valia and was the only person other than Jelena in on Dirk’s plans for Linvin
and the Red Sapphire.  When Dirk disappeared, Anvar kept an especially
close eye on his sister who was unconcerned about her own safety.  He
disagreed with bringing Linvin home as he felt it might force the hand of
someone after the staff and key she hid.  Anvar was right to be worried as
she was poisoned.  It fell to him to deliver the bad news to Linvin along
with the staff and key.  Then he had to convince Linvin to go on the quest
or else find himself dead like his parents.  Anvar has the benefit of
knowing every detail of the story from the beginning.  In order to keep his
nephews in the fold he chooses the time and place to divulge the
information.  Anvar can talk without end and still have secrets he
keeps.  Nothing is shared until it is necessary.  He is cunning and
manipulative in a good way to get the party to do what is necessary.  Anvar
is hard on the twins as they continue to question Linvin’s leadership and cause
problems.  He is, however, especially hard on Linvin.  His closest
remaining friend and pupil has enormous ability and potential.  In order to
reach that potential Anvar must be overly critical of Linvin so he will stop
acting rashly and think before he puts a plan into motion.  Whenever Linvin
makes the slightest mistake, Anvar is there to criticize his choices.  He
hates to be so hard on Linvin but his eldest nephew needs the tough love. 
Linvin has been able to ignore his shortcomings for so long that he does not see
them.  Only harsh critiques of his plans will enable Linvin to grow into
the man he needs to become.  Anvar is also an Orange Magician.  It is
the second most powerful level of magic and has been hidden from the family for
his entire life.  Magicians are often viewed as freaks by society and he
had enough trouble as an elf blending into a human world.  His powers will
prove to be of great benefit in the party’s travels.

Linvin is the protagonist of “Quest for the Red Sapphire” and its main
character.  At the age of 12 he was sent away by his parents from the
Kingdom of Sartan to the Kingdom of Valia in order to be trained by the Master
of Warfare, Sedemihcra.  All Linvin was told was that he needed to be
trained to do something of great importance and his father would send for him
when the time was right.  Linvin ended up spending more than half his life
in Valia.   After coming of age, Sedemihcra thought he would benefit
from the practical experience of joining the army.  He moved up the ranks
at an unprecedented rate and eventually found himself as Commander of all Valian
Forces.  The story begins with Linvin leading his small army in a last
bloody victory over the Marsh Goblins to Valia’s south.  Linvin is proud
and a great warrior but feels ashamed at what he has become.  Then a letter
arrives saying his father is missing and he must come home to run the lucrative
family trading empire.  Linvin resigns his commission and heads for
Sartan.  His mother wants him to settle into an aristocratic life of peace
but Linvin has other ideas.  After setting the company right, he moves to
the town of Missandor, away from the family mansion and sets up his own home in
a tree there.  Soon his Uncle Anvar arrives at his door with news that his
mother has been killed by poison and that the killers are probably on their way
to visit him next.  It is explained that Linvin was meant to be the next
master of the Red Sapphire.  It is a gem of legend that gives its master
power unrivaled by any other mortal.  Linvin must flee for his life and
find the gem before the assassins catch him or find the gem,
themselves.   As a character, Linvin has many strengths.  I
wanted him to be someone who could stand up against difficult odds and still
have a chance to come out as the winner.  There were just too many
protagonists out there in books who were weak and frail.  They always need
to be saved.  I wanted Linvin to have all the boxes checked off for a
hero.  He even has a fatal flaw.  He is headstrong and sometimes acts
without thinking matters through.  If he stops and plans he almost always
wins.  When he rushes in he usually has an error in judgment and gets
himself and those around him into trouble.  I laughed because one reviewer
of “Quest for the Red Sapphire” said that Linvin was too perfect and they
actually found themselves rooting against him.  The whole point of Linvin
is that he is supposed to be a great man and prove it in order to be worthy of
the Red Sapphire.  He is not perfect by any means.  Linvin is simply
meant to be that one person who you can save the day.

Responses to my cover reveal have been very positive.  It excites me and
spurs me to finish my edits.  Editing is so much different from
writing.  When you are writing you are wild and free to do whatever you
want with all care is thrown to the wind.  Writing is a huge rush of
creative energy and one of the greatest joys I know.  In a sense it is like
owning a Ferrari.  When you are out driving it (Which I have never actually
done) you feel alive and exhilarated.  The problem I have always been told
with cars like that, however, is that they tend to spend a lot of time in the
shop.  The more you drive your Ferrari, the more work needs to be done to
keep it going.  Editing is a lot like having the car in the shop. 
It’s not fun.  It’s work.  You must go over every word you have
written and have it write.  This is your last chance to make any
corrections before your fans see and judge your work.  It is no time for
having fun.  I say again, it is not time for fun.  Nevertheless, every
time I get into the edits for “Sapphire Crucible” I find myself caught up in the
story and forgetting myself.  Then I have to go back and reread the section
from an editor’s perspective.  That is the reason the edits have taken so
long.  I expect to have them finished this week.  After that it will
be a short step to the publishing of the book.  I can’t wait.  When
you’re working on that Ferrari in the shop, all you can think about is taking it
out on the open road again.  I just have some adjustments to make to have
this baby purring like a kitten.  If you want to be up to speed when
“Sapphire Crucible” comes out you need to read “Quest for the Red
Sapphire.”  It’s a great novel in itself and sets up the racetrack for the
sequel.  I hope you all come along for the ride!

It’s officially spring.  So how did we celebrate that in Nebraska? 
With blistering winds and cold temperatures.  It always amazes me that
people see the date on the calendar for the start of spring and just expect it
to be sunny skies and instant warmth.  To those of you in warm climates
this probably doesn’t apply.  In the slightly colder places, however, the
weather man makes a big deal all week long about the first day of spring. 
Then it rolls around and nothing has changed.  It’s almost like holidays or
special occasions.  My birthday comes every year and I feel about the same
as the day before.  New Year’s comes every year and after the ball drops in
Times Square I just sort of say “OK, that was great,” and go to bed.  The
first day of summer, fall and winter come and there is no dramatic shift in the
weather or anything else in the world.  I really don’t see the
significance.  Do you get a day off from work?  Usually not. 
Does the environment make a rapid change?  Almost never.  Why is there
such a fascination?  There are just all of these events on the calendar
which serve no real purpose except for keeping track of time.  Yesterday it
was 60 degrees here and tonight it will be in the teens.  A date on the
calendar circled has nothing to do with any of that.  Then there are the
holidays that just make no sense to me.  St. Patrick’s Day is the biggest
bar day of the year.  People take it off from work (and the day after) so
they can go drink as much as they can and find their way home without being
arrested.  Never having spoken with St Patrick I can’t tell you for sure
what he would say but I can’t believe this would be the way he wanted his
holiday spent.  Then there’s Sweetest Day.  It is Hallmark’s copy of
Valentine’s Day.  Anyone dating or married over two years has pretty much
abandoned this one.  As for Valentine’s Day itself, forget about going to a
nice restaurant.  You’ll either not get seated or have terrible
service.  Flowers and candy jump up in price.  Yet, if you don’t
observe it and play the game you end up as the bad guy.  There’s not much
good fighting that battle.  All these dates have been commercialized for
profit.  I mean seriously, why do we even celebrate Columbus Day? 
There are sales in the stores and banks close.  But Columbus didn’t prove
the world was round.  He didn’t find a passage to the Far East.  He
didn’t even discover the Americas.  The Vikings alone had him beaten by
several hundred years.  Yet every year stores have their big Columbus Day
Sales.  It’s all about money and keeping track of time.  When was the
last time the groundhog was right on February 2nd?

My good friend Jessica Walsh kindly gave me a Character Interview slot today on
her blog “Musings”  The main character of “Quest for the Red Sapphire”,
Linvin Grithinshield, is interviewed.  Jessica is a class act and did a
wonderful job.  I thank her for all help.  Check out the interview
here:  http://snowtigra.blogspot.com/2014/03/character-days-linvin-grithinshield.html

My wonderful publisher has a pretty cool contest going on right now.  Check
it out here and win some free stuff!  http://store.solsticepublishing.com/contests/

I am in the middle of edits for “Sapphire Crucible”. 
Before starting on them I was reminded of something Frank Sinatra once
said.  The essence of the statement
was that it was difficult to go out night after night and sing the same songs
with the same enthusiasm as he first had in singing them. 
The bulk of this book has been done for over 25 years with many revisions
along the way.  Naturally I
expected in editing that it would be laborious and painstaking. 
It turns out that I could not have been more wrong. 
I have spent the vast majority of my time over the last year promoting
“Quest for the Red Sapphire”.  As
great a book as it is, I find myself wanting to spend more time on the
3rd book in the series. (I will withhold the name so as not to give
anything away.)  It was a new and
exciting project even though the story has been done in my head for
decades. Now it has come time for
the edits and I found myself dreading the dissection of my work. To my surprise,
most of the major changes have been worked through between my editor and
me.  As a result, reading the story
is like finding an old friend again and catching up on the past. 
There were parts and subtle nuances I had forgotten over the many
years. Though I have a great deal
still to read, I find it new and exciting to read the story. “Sapphire Crucible”
is probably my favorite in the series of books I have planned. 
There is mystery, intrigue, romance and more action than you would think
could go into a book.  I actually
had to pull myself away from editing to write this blog. 
It all serves to remind me how lucky I am that I am able to write.  The entire process is a joy for
me.  First I come up with the
story, lay it all out in order and then write it. 
Afterward I reread it and fix any glaring errors. 
Then I send it to my publisher and it is assigned to an editor.  The unseen holes are fixed and then I
get to read it once more before sharing it with the world. 
I love storytelling and writing for me is exactly that. 
Others can paint or draw or sing or play an instrument. 
I have been blessed to be able to write.  Many people can write. 
I am one of the lucky few who actually get to do it. 
For me there is nothing more fulfilling. With that in mind, I will happily return
to my editing.  Make sure you are
brushed up on “Quest for the Red Sapphire”.  “Sapphire Crucible” is going to blow
your mind!