by Martha Carr
Several students laughed, and a few eager students, including Mary, scribbled a few more notes.
“The other thing to keep in mind is that although Atlantis is one of the more impressive lost continents, it’s likely not the only land mass lost either to time or magical manipulation. We’re just now beginning to understand how much of even our geological history has been misrepresented either because of misunderstandings or magical manipulation.
“So, I’ll stress what I’ve stressed before. Continue to question and continue to push for the truth. Don’t assume that what I’ve told you in these lectures is the truth, so much as the best I can offer given what we now know.” Shay smiled. “Any questions?”
Mary’s hand shot up.
Still not sure if I find her annoying or refreshing, but at least she never asks dumb questions.
“Yes, Mary?”
“You mentioned how they discussed a metal called orichalcum in the legends, and that there’s still debate about whether it was platinum or some other alloy, maybe even magical. Have any of the ancient metals been established to have been real?”
Shay chuckled and couldn’t resist drawing from her other life. “Adamantine, long thought fictional, is a real if very, very rare metal, but as to whether orichalcum is real, I don’t honestly know. Historians and archaeologists are still heavily debating that.” She clicked the presentation slides back to a picture of some coins. “Some of the traits associated with the metal suggest something magical in nature, and we might interpret ancient authors’ reports of it being mined out as a reflection of a lack of access to sources on Oriceran or some sort of Atlantean metallurgy magic that modified existing ores.” She sighed. “Right now, the problem is that we still have a lot of gaps in this history, but academics continue to reach out to Oriceran scholars in an attempt to learn more about the fine details of the Atlantean culture from a day-to-day perspective.”
Another student raised his hand.
“Yes?”
When the student asked if Poseidon had been real and an Atlantean, Shay couldn’t help but smile. They might be naïve kids who didn’t know about the darkness in the world, but perhaps they were better for it. They might be able to see truths that her blood-shrouded eyes would never spot.
Shay almost wanted to laugh. Over ten years as a killer, and she’d never thought she’d find something that gave her the same satisfaction.
I don’t know who the fuck I am anymore, and for once that doesn’t scare me.
Later that day, Shay loomed over Peyton’s shoulder in the office.
“Okay, you’ve had time to think about it, and time to set things up,” Shay commented. “We have both confirmed Randy is still looking for you. Even if he’s trying to be more subtle, he’s still there. It’s time for this scorpion to ask you a very simple question: Should I give in to my nature? The offer is still on the table.”
Peyton slowly shook his head. “It’s like I told you before… I just can’t bring myself to let that happen, even with everything he’s done.”
Shay nodded. “That means the only thing left is to divest him of his fortune. Even if he goes begging to your other relatives, he’ll be in a bad position.”
Peyton scrubbed a hand over his face. “Which means he’ll hunt twice as hard.”
“Randy’s not a hacker. All he can do is hire them, and without a lot of money, he won’t be able to.” Shay shrugged. “And I’m hoping he’ll finally take the fucking hint and give up.”
“And if he doesn’t?”
Shay’s expression darkened. “Then he’ll meet me again, long before he finds you, and the only ghost will be him a few seconds later.”
Peyton gave a grim nod and turned back to his keyboard. “Sorry, Randy. I really didn’t want it to go down this way.” He hit Enter and activated the script. “You tried to kill me, brother, so I’m doing the next best thing to you.”
FINIS
Justice Served Cold
Did you know that Martha and Michael have another Oriceran series? Check out Justice Served Cold - Book One in the Rewriting Justice series.
Order Now at Amazon
Author Notes - Martha Carr
Written August 7, 2018
The countdown begins till the move into the new house! Appraisal next week and an actual closing date, at last…
Plans are already afoot for big gatherings like a weekly Sunday dinner. When I lived in Chicago in a tiny apartment my kitchen was always full of people. If someone wanted something out of the stove, everyone on that side had to get up first. For the first time in my life, I will have an actual dining room. Okay, empty at first but not for long.
A fellow author already lives in my new subdivision and has the lowdown on gatherings. A friend emailed me with info about nearby yoga classes that are donation-based, and another group has started monthly dinners at different restaurants near my new home.
That’s what happens when we get bold enough to step out and make a change when things are okay but could be better. Doors fly open.
I like bold moves. I like writing my female lead characters as bold women who you would want as a friend and you know if there was trouble, they’d be running ahead of you to check it out. Bold moves take an internal operating system that doesn’t ask, what can I lose, but instead is forever curious about what could be gained.
A system that operates off trust that in the end things work out.
That’s how Michael Anderle and I work together, mixed with some swearing and a very healthy sense of humor. The swearing is just for fun too and I’d like to say it’s Anderle but if you’ve read The Leira Chronicles you know that would make me a fucking liar.
Things don’t go the way we want to all the time – covers are late, or a blurb needs to be rewritten or the wrong book is sent out. But, we look at what we can do to fix things, come up with solutions that put our readers first, ask for help from the right sources… and keep moving.
Doesn’t slow us down from looking for the next bold move and seeing how we can reach out to fans more, write more good books and just keep going. Even when we spend money on things that don’t pay off, we sort through it, take away some lessons, adjust, shake it off and see how we can optimize what we did do.
The results speak for themselves. We have some of the BEST FANS out there and the ranks are growing and we’re having a blast in the Facebook Fan Groups sharing our lives and giving away prizes and answering goofy polls, plus chatting about all those books.
Back to the topic of the new house. By hanging out with Anderle for the past couple of years, I’ve gotten even bolder. You can’t stay on the Anderle rocket ship if you aren’t prepared to just buckle up and go! When this house showed up on my radar, even though I gulped at its size, I went for it.
But that’s not the top of the mountain for me. I have no idea what that will be until the day I take my last breath. My goal is to spend the rest of my days building my tribe, reaching more fans with more good books, enjoying the hell out of that house, and having a lot of fun. I suppose an ever-expanding amount of that will be my mountain top. More adventures to follow.
Author Notes - Michael Anderle
Written August 7, 2018
First, THANK YOU so much for reading our book, and our Author Notes!
Three years ago, my wife was working and getting ready to go to ESCRS (a European Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgeons), which happens in the beginning of September every year. During those (about) ten days, I would pull out of the digital drawer a story I had started one year before and finish it.
That book would be published on November 2, 2015 as Death Becomes Her. Less than three years later, the series and the company that book helped usher in would affect thousands of people and thousands of authors because of the opportunities it would herald in the Indie Publishing community.
One of those opportunities became a relationship (for me) with Martha Carr.
I met her in Austin, TX after an event
where I spoke in front of about eighty people. Many of them were already authors and many were writers. Few of them (I think) believed they could take what I said and implement the changes in their publishing career.
Except Martha.
If there was ONE person who had the justification for telling me to go screw myself, that I didn’t know anything, it was Martha.
She had already been published by Traditional Publishers (the big companies) and had a column that was sent to hundreds of newspapers across the nation over a career spanning thirty years.
I was just an author that was selling some fiction for the last nine months.
For some reason, she believed I wasn’t bullshitting anyone, and chose to come up and speak with me afterward. That conversation began a professional (snort) relationship where one year and one month after our first book came out, she steps into her new home, which was made possible by her efforts with LMBPN.
And believing that crazy author Michael Anderle.
I’ve had a blast working in Oriceran with Martha Carr. We have laughed together, (practically) cried at times, and cursed together and at each other, but one thing Martha has NEVER done is lose faith in me.
For that, I will forever be grateful.
I don’t have a problem believing that I am a professional author. What I lack is belief that I’m anyone special who helps others’ dreams come true.
Martha is slowly helping me understand that I am.
So, thank you, Martha. I appreciate the many times you say “thank you” and “you ass” (often in the same sentence, but I digress.) You have supported our efforts with an upbeat attitude when shit was hitting the fan so many times. And you are still here, and we are still making fans happy.
May your book Peabrain reach #1 in the Store, and I have to say “you beat me, you ass” one time in our careers ;-)
(But, you know, only once. My fragile male ego might implode if I have to do it over and over and over…. Yeah, I see you cackling with glee as your eyes light up thinking about it!)
Thank you, fans, for allowing Martha and me the chance to work on stories together and deliver them to you.
Ad Aeternitatem,
Michael Anderle
Other Revelation of Oriceran Universe Books
The Unbelievable Mr. Brownstone
* Michael Anderle *
Feared by Hell (1) - Rejected by Heaven (2) - Eye For An Eye (3) - Bring the Pain (4) - She is the Widow Maker (5) - When Angels Cry (6) - Fire with Fire (7) - Hail To The King (08)
I Fear No Evil
* Martha Carr and Michael Anderle *
Kill the Willing (1) - Bury the Past, But Shoot it First (2) - Reload Faster (3) - Dead In Plain sight (4) - Tomb Raiding PHD (5)
School of Necessary Magic
* Judith Berens *
Dark Is Her Nature (1) - Bright Is Her Sight (2) - Wary Is Her Love (3) - Strong Is Her Hope (4)
Rewriting Justice
* Martha Carr and Michael Anderle *
Justice Served Cold (1) - Vengeance Served Hot (2) - Bounty Hunter Inc (03)
The Leira Chronicles
* Martha Carr and Michael Anderle *
Waking Magic (1) - Release of Magic (2) - Protection of Magic (3) - Rule of Magic (4) - Dealing in Magic (5) - Theft of Magic (6) - Enemies of Magic (7) - Guardians of Magic (8)
The Soul Stone Mage Series
* Sarah Noffke and Martha Carr *
House of Enchanted (1) - The Dark Forest (2) - Mountain of Truth (3) - Land of Terran (4) - New Egypt (5) - Lancothy (6) - Virgo (7)
The Kacy Chronicles
* A.L. Knorr and Martha Carr *
Descendant (1) - Ascendant (2) - Combatant (3) - Transcendent (4)
The Midwest Magic Chronicles
* Flint Maxwell and Martha Carr*
The Midwest Witch (1) - The Midwest Wanderer (2) - The Midwest Whisperer (3) - The Midwest War (4)
The Fairhaven Chronicles
* with S.M. Boyce *
Glow (1) - Shimmer (2) - Ember (3) - Nightfall (4)
Books by Michael Anderle
For a complete list of books by Michael Anderle, please visit
www.lmbpn.com/ma-books/
All LMBPN Audiobooks are Available at Audible.com and iTunes
CLICK HERE TO SEE ALL LMBPN BOOKS ON AUDIBLE
Connect with The Authors
Martha Carr Social
Website: http://www.marthacarr.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/MarthaCarrFans/
Michael Anderle Social
Website: http://kurtherianbooks.com/
Email List: http://kurtherianbooks.com/email-list/
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