by Martha Carr
“I’m terrified, but if I don’t do this and he hurts more people… I can’t live with that. There has to be magicals in this world who are willing to do the right thing, even when the odds aren’t very good.”
“Before you go back, we’re going to teach you a few things and we’re going to set up a way for you to contact me,” said Correk. “I can hear you, your magic, without you doing very much at all. I’ll know if you need me almost instantaneously.”
“We will do our best to keep you safe.”
“Will you tell my Aunt Lois for me? I can’t bear the look she’ll give me, and she’ll just try and stop me.”
Leira glanced at Correk but nodded. “Sure, we can do that for you. I want you to know you can change your mind at any time. No one will think less of you and we’ll find another way to get him. This is not all on you.”
“Why don’t you think about it overnight? You can take our guest room. It’s not renovated yet, but the bed is new,” said Correk, smiling, trying to put her at ease.
“I’m not going to change my mind.”
“Okay, but in the morning tell us again what you decide, and we’ll support you,” said Leira, getting up to hug her. “All the way.”
Lily sat on the shuttle heading up the curving driveway of Fleeker Corporation, winding past the manicured flowers. Her hands were resting on her purse, her fingers gripping the handles to hide her nerves. I can do this. I know I can do this.
Her phone buzzed and she pulled it out, looking down at the text from her Aunt Lois. What are you doing? Come home.
Lily cleared the screen and locked it, sliding it back in her purse. “I will find the truth,” she whispered, leaning over to look out the window up at the top floor. “And then I will tell everyone.”
The story is far from over. Leira’s adventure continues in RISE OF MAGIC.
Get sneak peeks, exclusive giveaways, behind the scenes content, and more. PLUS you'll be notified of special one day only fan pricing on new releases.
Sign up today to get free stories.
Visit: https://marthacarr.com/read-free-stories/
Author Notes - Martha Carr
Update: July 9, 2020
If you’re reading this you know this is an entirely new book. That’ll be true of all four of these. They are a continuation of the new stories in books one through eight and it’s not one year later – it’s just a few weeks. Everything is coming together in these four books in more exciting adventures and a few more laughs. Plus a few favorites popped up that weren’t there before.
These books are set in my old hometown of Washington, DC. It’s where I grew up a million years ago. (So long ago there was no subway and no beltway yet. Washington was still more of a sleepy town.) I was raised in Alexandria on the grounds of the Virginia Seminary. My late father was a minister in charge of fundraising and the magazine.
I had the run of a large, green space in the middle of a city and a lot of students who didn’t mind picking up a softball game at a moment’s notice. That’s why the Seminary pops up in book eight as a refuge. I think the Dean would have loved to have known he’s magical.
Or that bar down by the water in Old Town that served beer in an enormous glass. It usually was warm before I could get to the bottom. I’ll probably put that bar in there somewhere. I’ll check and see if it’s still open first. The neighborhood has changed a lot.
There will be more places I remember stuffed into these new editions (anyone remember the Exorcist stairs in Georgetown? We used to run up and down them late at night), and lots more plot twists so keep reading. Plenty more adventures to follow.
Then: May 27, 2018: Here we are the dawn of a new age for Leira and Correk and Yumfuck… Whew! It’s one year later and the world has already changed. Magic is on the table and things are a little rough. No worries – our team is up to it. Michael and I are working on four series together – Rewriting Justice (Leira 2.0), I Fear No Evil (Shay), The Incredible Mr. Brownstone (Brownstone), The School of Necessary Magic (Alison) and there will be fun and exciting crossovers in all four series. If you’ve read this far you’ve already seen some of it. There’s more planned!
Also cool because I’m at the beginning of a new adventure. Moving into Austin with a new home being built and selling the first home I ever bought. It’s an ongoing opportunity to let go, be grateful, move on, repeat. Two more months, though and the next phase begins. Probably less magic than Leira but also less drama – hopefully a new tribe of regulars…
About the new house… just to keep Anderle honest… (read the next author notes – you’ll see) this is my dream house with some pretty sweet upgrades and yes… yes, I do want him to experience the upgrades and in particular touch the master bathroom tile floor. It has texture. I’ve had bathrooms with texture before, but it was from the missing tiles. This is going to be an entirely different experience. Who wouldn’t want their fave collaborator to get the chance to enjoy the fabulousness too? I’m generous like that.
As for the future, we’ll keep the stories coming – I’ll do my thing and bring the magic, bring the thriller and Michael will bring the sci fi and the adventure and we’ll come up with more fun. Maybe even a little local chaos… (cackle). And I’ll be settling into the new house, getting to know the local music scene better, and creating that tribe. Looking forward to that next chapter… Bring it on!
Author Notes - Michael Anderle
August 4, 2020
Ok, for the record, I have NEVER run up and down stairs that were in a famous horror movie. Honestly, I’m scratching my head because I think, “Who would want to do something like that? What compels a person…” Oh, beer.
Welcome to the new. Martha has put all sorts of intriguing plots and twists in the original eight books for the Leira Chronicles, and now you get to read them and let them all play out. If you are new to this story, then no big deal.
If you are reading book nine without reading books one through eight. I hope you take the time to catch up. Lots of shenanigans (I love that word) have happened you might want to catch up on.
I was talking to Martha last week about a potential upgrade to the new house (which really was new in the old author notes) having to do with her backyard.
Now, I can understand enjoying the updates and upgrades to a backyard, still having problems with the touching of flooring tile – just being honest here. I think Martha and I might be having communication cognitive dissonance over this particular concept.
But, she and I can’t have one conversation without “Gotta go” and then five minutes later “No really, this time I gotta go” and finally “Ok, one last item and I have to split.”
So, no big surprise, here we are a couple of years later, and we haven’t finished this discussion.
In closing I’ll mention this little scene in my head:
Girl: “I’m almost there,” she eyes the bottom. “One more sip, and then what do you want to do?”
Girl2: “We could walk home, try not to be too tipsy.”
Girl1: “Sounds boring.”
Girl2: “Or we could run up and down the horror ghost-ridden stairs while singing the theme song to The Exorcist…”
Girl1: “Right, let’s do that.” <
Original: May 24, 2018
First, THANK YOU for not only reading Leira’s story, but reading through these author notes, as well!
This book is the first in the second series for our heroine, Leira. While I don’t want to go too much into the first series (The Leira Chronicles), suffice it to say that her life drastically changes from the opening pages of Waking Magic where she is running down a perp in Austin, Tx. (oblivious about magic) to where she is now.
With a light elf and a troll.
Unfortunately, our world has turned rougher since then and in response, Leira is reacting to all of the challenges that she and her f
riends have been through.
Including her relationship with the government itself.
The challenge (at least from the government’s side) is that Leira isn’t someone they can just boss around anymore but they need her too much to ignore her. On Leira’s side, she has decided she will help, but it won’t be free anymore and constrained by rules for politic’s sake.
She won’t allow others to mistreat her by abusing her natural desire to help.
It’s a new world and somehow, she has been placed in a pivotal role which helps change the future.
MARTHA CARR
So, I was on the phone this evening with Martha (I’m in Boston, she is in Georgetown near Austin, Tx) and we were talking and catching up since it had been a while. In between laughing (she has a penchant for saying ‘clearly’ which I typically find funny-as-hell) we spoke about our plans for Leira and Corrick, Yumfuck, James Brownstone, Shay and Allison and where the hell Oriceran is going.
I mean, just because we will have probably 44 total books in those four new series out by end of year, there is no reason not to think ahead, am I right?
Well, I was having a moment of concern where I was thinking. ‘Do I have any other characters in me than James Brownstone? Am I stuck because he is doing so well? Will I be able to…’
I’ve had him, Shay and Allison in my brain at some level for a year, and I shared with Martha I wasn’t sure I had another set of characters or ideas post Brownstone for Oriceran.
That’s when Martha started to scare me.
You see, she comes from Thriller-ville writing and started discussing the political machinations of the large countries and how we would have to adjust this or that, and what societies might implode and it scared the crap out of me.
(I didn’t want to write that kind of book or even talk about the beats on that stuff.)
In fact, she scared me so bad my mind was running hard to come up with ideas that I felt could work EVEN though I’ve got another 7 books to finish with Brownstone (and therefore time.)
No, in order for me to sleep easier that evening, my mind was working to provide me the barest glimmer of hope I’d come up with something.
While the fan’s might continue loving Brownstone enough to extend his series from 12 books to 20 or something, I wasn’t entrusting that would be sufficient to mitigate the risk of having to deal with Martha.
Oh no.
No, I needed to come up with ideas RIGHT THEN or risk having to work at the macro level with system governments and I didn’t like that idea at all. (I’ve already done some of that with my Kurtherian Gambit series and frankly I’m not wishing to do it again at this time.)
I came up with a few ideas. (EUREKA! – No, not really.)
However, I do feel if I need to pack the Brownstone series in at 12 books, I have the very beginning concepts which could be fun for the readers and writers to move forward.
Needless to say, I’m not so sure I’ll ever speak to Martha and make the offhand comment, “I might not have ideas for anything past
MARTHA’S HOUSE
I received word today from Martha that her present house is under contract to be sold (WOOHOO!) Which means she is about two (2) months from moving into her new house. The problem (at least for me) is the ‘touch the upgrades’.
The story…
About a month ago, Martha was enthusiastic and excited about her trip to the designers of the company which is building her home. She was sharing with me on the phone (she lives in Austin, I’m in Las Vegas) how many upgrades she had purchased and how it made her feel.
Then, the feelz.
Martha: “That’s right, I want you to come over and I’m going to make you touch all of the upgrades.”
Mike (a little scared) : “Did I understand you right? You want me to feel all of your upgrades?”
Martha: “Yup, I want you to feel all of my upgrades to the house, especially the stone.“ (in the bathroom I think she said? I forget.)
Either way, she came across so urgently in April that I’m still talking about freaking out at the End of May. It’s feeling a bit like Misery (in my mind.)
It doesn’t help my comfort level to hear her cackling about it, either.
I can’t tell if she is cackling because she finds it funny that I’m concerned, or that she really cackles with delight
And Now…
The other three series that are ‘beyond’ this Leira series are The Unbelievable Mr. Brownstone, I Fear No Evil (Shay) and School of Necessary Magic (Allison). Martha and I have worked these four series to work together, and you don’t have to finish Leira to enjoy the later books because they are set about twenty (20) years in the future. So, while there will be some cool connections, nothing that happens in this series with Leira is needed to know to enjoy the other stories.
I’d like to say ‘thank you’ one more time for enjoying our stories. We work hard to provide you fun entertainment and hope that you enjoy as many of our stories across our many LMBPN Publishing Universes. Further, if you are reading a collaboration series, I encourage you to read the personal work of our collaborators as well (you will find their other books in the back of the stories).
Enjoy your week!
Ad Aeternitatem,
Michael
Dark Is Her Nature
For Hire: Teachers for special school in Virginia countryside.
Must be able to handle teenagers with special abilities.
Cannot be afraid to discipline werewolves, wizards, elves and other assorted hormonal teens.
Apply at the School of Necessary Magic.
AVAILABLE ON AMAZON RETAILERS
The Magic Compass
If smart phones and GPS rule the world - why am I hunting a magic compass to save the planet?
Austin Detective Maggie Parker has seen some weird things in her day, but finding a surly gnome rooting through her garage beats all.
Her world is about to be turned upside down in a frantic search for 4 Elementals.
Each one has an artifact that can keep the Earth humming along, but they need her to unite them first.
Unless the forces against her get there first.
AVAILABLE ON AMAZON AND IN KINDLE UNLIMITED!
Other series in the Oriceran Universe
SOUL STONE MAGE
THE KACY CHRONICLES
MIDWEST MAGIC CHRONICLES
THE FAIRHAVEN CHRONICLES
I FEAR NO EVIL
THE DANIEL CODEX SERIES
SCHOOL OF NECESSARY MAGIC
SCHOOL OF NECESSARY MAGIC: RAINE CAMPBELL
ALISON BROWNSTONE
FEDERAL AGENTS OF MAGIC
SCIONS OF MAGIC
THE UNBELIEVABLE MR. BROWNSTONE
OTHER BOOKS BY JUDITH BERENS
OTHER BOOKS BY MARTHA CARR
JOIN THE ORICERAN UNIVERSE FAN GROUP ON FACEBOOK!
Books by Michael Anderle
For a complete list of books by Michael Anderle, please visit:
www.lmbpn.com/ma-books/
Connect with The Authors
Martha Carr Social
Website:
http://www.marthacarr.com
Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/MarthaCarrFans/
Michael Anderle Social
Website:
http://www.lmbpn.com
Email List:
http://lmbpn.com/email/
Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/LMBPNPublishing
e(100%); -moz-filter: grayscale(100%); -o-filter: grayscale(100%); -ms-filter: grayscale(100%); filter: grayscale(100%); " class="sharethis-inline-share-buttons">share
