by Martha Carr
Leira walked into the guest house and shut the door quietly behind her, standing in the room with the old couch that would still be here if she needed it. The red velvet chair was safely tucked in the U-Haul and was going with them.
“Thank you for being here for me. Thank you for all the memories you gave me.” She walked to the window and looked out the blinds at the regulars lined up at the bar. They had all already said their goodbyes at a dinner last night. Leira had Estelle’s brisket one last time and had listened as first Michael and then Paul, and Cassidy and Mitzi each made long toasts.
Leira had gotten up and raised her glass to them all. “Thank you for being my family when I didn’t think I had one at all. I love each and every one of you and will take that love with me.”
Leira turned around and walked through each room, saying goodbye as she walked out the door, leaving it ajar.
“Leira!” A cheer went up from the regulars as Estelle shrugged and let them do it, one last time. She poured a draft and set it down in front of Craig, waving to Leira as she left by the side gate, shutting it behind her.
Leira settled down in the front seat as the troll was busy pulling open the bag of Doritos. “You know the rules,” said Leira. “Not till we’re past the city limits. We have hours of driving ahead of us before we stop for the night.”
Yumfuck looked up and smiled at Leira as he ran a sharp claw down the side, opening a slit in the bag, carefully reaching in and pulling out a chip, sliding it into his open mouth.
“Fuck it, you’re right. New rules apply. We set our own course now.” Leira started the car and pulled out into traffic. “No more trying to do what everyone else thinks is right.”
“We’ll figure it out as we go.” Correk cracked the window and sat back. “I told Turner I was setting out on my own as the Fixer.”
Leira looked over at Correk. “How’d he take that?”
“He said it was time. Every Fixer makes their own break and eventually has to find their own way.”
“Louie is already in Georgetown, setting up the command center. He said the equipment was cutting edge. I made him swear he wouldn’t sell off parts of it.”
“I have to help Perrom.”
“I know and we will, together. We got someone out of the world in between before. We’ll find a way to do it again.”
“The dark families are not going to give up, either, especially since their project turned on them. And Lucius is still out there.”
“Correk, there’s time. We’ll face all of it and figure out the rules as we go.”
“Rewriting justice… that’s what you called it.”
“Till we get it right.” Leira drove past the sign, marking the border of Travis County and blew the horn, opening her window and yelling as loud as she could. “Aloha motherfuckers, it’s been real!” She put her arm out the window, making the UT sign for hook ‘em horns as Yumfuck pulled open the Twizzlers, biting off the end. “Yum… fuck…”
“Road trip!” Correk let out a loud whoop and settled back for the long ride, wondering just what awaited them. The world has changed. I hope we’re ready for it.
FINIS
Author Notes - Martha Carr
Written April 10, 2018
Okay, where to begin. I’m right in the middle of selling a house and buying/building a house. It’s going better than can be expected and I hope to never do it again. A scootch stressful. The new house is bigger, beautiful and has a really amazing office and is close to downtown Austin. In other words, my own little slice of heaven. That’s what happens when good starts rolling your way. Things change… for the better. Still feels like a roller coaster but I’m smart enough to not do it alone. Best part has been taking the ride (the books, the house…) with all of you celebrating right along with me!
And things are going to keep right on changing, including for Leira and company. If you’ve gotten this far, you know now that she’s FINALLY hooked up with Correk, broken away from working for anyone and has said goodbye to her old life. Ready for the new one. And Leira is doing it the way she does everything else – with open arms on her own terms and believing the solution is out there somewhere and she’s going to find it.
Weird how my life is synced up with Leira’s except for the fireballs and portals stuff.
So, what comes next… We’re starting a new series with a new name - Rewriting Justice (Leira 2.0) set in Georgetown, in the nation’s capital and Book 1 - Justice Is Served, will be out in May.
It’s one year later… Leira is done making nice with everyone else’s rules and covering up inconvenient truths. She’s going to take her newfound powers and put them to use… with her own damn rules. The shifters (think werewolves) are coming out of the shadows and they have a big bad alpha, Lucius at the front of the pack. Can Leira get them to play nice or is that just one more group she will have to fight? She’ll have to find them first.
The dark Wizarding families have put a target on her back and it can be hard to tell who’s the good guys and who’s out for blood. The government still thinks they should control the shots but Leira can see the old rules just aren’t going to cut it anymore. And then there’s Correk… he’s moved in with Leira and things are sha-bow-wow hot with a strong female Elf taking on the world with a good male Elf who’s got her back. And he’s the new Fixer who’s got his own ideas about how that’s going to work now too.
But wait! There’s more… (Spent a lot of my childhood watching late night TV… long story)
I’m also starting two more series with Magic Mike this year – the first one is with Shay, a spinoff from his new series, The Unbelievable Mr. Brownstone. If you’ve read his first book, Feared by Hell, (and you should – a fast, fun ride) you know Shay is a hot, kickass tomb raider who’s been known to solve her problems with a gun. The new series is called I Fear No Evil and Book One – Kill the Willing, will be out May 6th. And then… JUST ONE MORE! The School of Necessary Magic, which brings together Mara Berens and Allison from ‘Brownstone’ will start soon after that… Whew! The Oriceran Universe comes together – 20 years after Leira.
So, if you’re keeping track. It’s one dream house in a dream location, and 24 new books with my fave collaborator who helped change my life just because I was the one who stuck around – yeah, that guy… Michael Anderle. I’m telling you, it’s been one helluva ride with more adventures to follow. Now if I can find my own Correk… Hell, every other dream has come true.
Still planning to hit the road some time this summer after I’ve moved, and visit fans across the country, as well as throwing a few more open houses for our Veterans and Fans. And hang out with the good dog, Lois Lane and the Offspring and the wonderful Katie. It’s a great life and a lot of it is because all of you. Thank you Forever! Buckle Up People!
Martha
Author Notes - Michael Anderle
April 11, 2018
This is my salutation and appreciation for not only reading through our story, but reading through our author notes as well!
Martha has provided some info about what is happening next, so I will give you a little background on how the future stories came about for Leira.
One year ago, I wanted to start a separate series called The Unbelievable Mr. Brownstone. I called Martha, she heard I wanted to start a universe, and Oriceran was born.
Our first Leira book came out on July 31, 2017 exactly one (1) year after she came to a meeting in Austin where I was speaking. Many collaborations and authors later a whole universe has been built, and provides stories about different aspects of Oriceran, Earth, and our joint history.
However, there haven’t been any other stories besides Martha’s that focus on Earth, the place I wanted to visit.
My original very short scene (seen in the beginning of the book, Feared by Hell, The Unbelievable Mr. Brownstone) was waiting for me to get back to it. However, I needed to finish my Paranormal Space Opera The Kurtherian Gambit, and so it took until April 6, 2018 for me to
finally release my first Oriceran book.
For the last couple of months I’ve been prepping Brownstone, and Martha and I have been talking about what’s next for Leira and company. We kept chatting, and we thought of every option for the series including:
Stop Leira’s stories.
Continue Leira in the same set of stories (our original arc), even though we knew more now and the character was obviously changing.
Change the arcs for Leira and head in a new direction.
Compounding our hesitance to continue Leira as she stood was that she was changing. The Leira we envisioned in the beginning wasn’t the Leira we were telling about in book 07.
When we added in all our collaborations with our other Oriceran authors (including Abby-Lynn Knorr, SM Boyce, Sarah Noffke, and Flint Maxwell) to the canon, the story had changed.
It was at this time that Feared by Hell (Brownstone) was ready to share with Martha.
It was my turn to put into the Oriceran Universe the grit I enjoy in the urban fantasy stories I like to read. I had no idea if the story would resonate or fall flat on its face.
I needed the world to be different than the existing timeline stories. We didn’t talk about bounty hunters like the one in my story, so I had to jump some time. Martha and I elected to go forward twenty years.
I like my characters to have each other’s backs, but there is a lot of room to see why there could be some friction between them.
Enter Shay... A woman with a past she doesn’t want to divulge working with a man who upsets her world view, making her think twice about herself. She goes so far as to convince herself that Brownstone has a certain sexual preference so that her world view is safe.
Regardless of what Brownstone feels about her beliefs.
It ended up be a great ass-kicking series that will make you smile and at times cry, “Oh, Shay, NO!” (Or perhaps, “Oh, Brownstone, NO!”)
That takes us back to Leira.
As Martha and I discussed Leira’s future, we realized our character had had enough. That the people in charge of laws and rules bent justice in a way Leira couldn’t accept any longer. When we came to that conclusion, her path forward became the basis for how the Bounty System Brownstone is part of was created.
It seems so obvious to me in hindsight.
Martha and I have now laid out the arc for the four books in Leira’s story where she tears down walls, rewriting what the word “justice” means in her life and forever changing Earth and Oriceran moving forward in the future.
I hope you join us for Leira 2.0 – when Justice is a dish best served hot.
I HAVE TO TOUCH THE UPGRADES
Martha sent me a picture of her house that was still under construction last week. Along with that, she tells me every few days, “You are going to have to touch every upgrade when you come visit the first time.”
I am a little creeped out.
I mean, every upgrade? I’d understand if she told me she wanted to show me every upgrade, because that makes sense. I’d want to be the proud papa of a new home and show my parents or friends everything we did with the house.
But touch it?
I think Martha is fucking with me, but I can’t be sure. She is crafty; that “Aw shucks” exterior hides a devious mind. Yeah, that must be it. She is fucking with me…
Isn’t she?
DAMMIT, CARR!
Ad Aeternitatem,
Michael Anderle
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Enjoy the new adventure!
Martha Carr and Michael Anderle 2018
Martha Carr Social
Website: http://www.marthacarr.com
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Michael Anderle Social
Website: http://kurtherianbooks.com/
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Books by Martha Carr
The Revelations of Oriceran
The Leira Chronicles
* with 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 Kacy Chronicles
* with A.L. Knorr *
Descendant (1) - Ascendant (2) - Combatant (3) - Transcendent (4)
The Soul Stone Mage Series
* with Sarah Noffke *
House of Enchanted (1) - The Dark Forest (2) - Mountain of Truth (3) - Land of Terran (4) - New Egypt (5) - Lancothy (6)
The Midwest Magic Chronicles
* with Flint Maxwell *
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 Michael’s Kurtherian Gambit Universe books please click this link.
Kurtherian Gambit Series Titles Include:
FIRST ARC
Death Becomes Her (01) - Queen Bitch (02) - Love Lost (03) - Bite This (04) - Never Forsaken (05) - Under My Heel (06) - Kneel Or Die (07)
SECOND ARC
We Will Build (08) - It’s Hell To Choose (09) - Release The Dogs of War (10) - Sued For Peace (11) - We Have Contact (12) - My Ride is a Bitch (13) - Don’t Cross This Line (14)
THIRD ARC
Never Submit (15) - Never Surrender (16) - Forever Defend (17) - Might Makes Right (18) - Ahead Full (19) - Capture Death (20) - Life Goes On (21)
THE SECOND DARK AGES
*with Ell Leigh Clarke*
The Dark Messiah (01) - The Darkest Night (02) - Darkest Before The Dawn (03) - Dawn Arrives (04)
THE BORIS CHRONICLES
*with Paul C. Middleton*
Evacuation (01) - Retaliation (02) - Revelations (03) - Redemption (04)
RECLAIMING HONOR
*with Justin Sloan*
Justice Is Calling (01) - Claimed By Honor (02) - Judgement Has Fallen (03) - Angel of Reckoning (04) - Born Into Flames (05) - Defending The Lost (06) - Saved By Valor (07) - Return of Victory (08)
THE ETHERIC ACADEMY
*with TS Paul*
ALPHA CLASS (01) - ALPHA CLASS: Engineering (02)
*with N.D. Roberts*
Discovery (03)
TERRY HENRY “TH” WALTON CHRONICLES
*with Craig Martelle*
Nomad Found (01) - Nomad Redeemed (02) - Nomad Unleashed (03) - Nomad Supreme (04) - Nomad’s Fury (05) - Nomad’s Justice (06) - Nomad Avenged (07) - Nomad Mortis (08) - Nomad’s Force (09) - Nomad’s Galaxy (10)
TRIALS AND TRIBULATIONS
*with Natalie Grey*
Risk Be Damned (01) - Damned to Hell (02)
~THE AGE OF MAGIC~
THE RISE OF MAGIC
*with CM Raymond and LE Barbant*
Restriction (01) - Reawakening (02) - Rebellion (03) - Revolution (04) - Unlawful Passage (05) - Darkness Rises (06) - The Gods Beneath (07) - Reborn (08)
THE HIDDEN MAGIC CHRONICLES
; *with Justin Sloan*
Shades of Light (01) - Shades of Dark (02) - Shades of Glory (03) - Shades of Justice (04)
STORMS OF MAGIC
*with PT Hylton*
Storm Raiders (01) - Storm Callers (02) - Storm Breakers (03) - Storm Warrior (04)
TALES OF THE FEISTY DRUID
*with Candy Crum*
The Arcadian Druid (01) - The Undying Illusionist (02) - The Frozen Wasteland (03) - The Deceiver (04) - The Lost (05) - The Damned (06) - Into the Maelstrom (07)
PATH OF HEROES
*with Brandon Barr*
Rogue Mage (01)
A NEW DAWN
*with Amy Hopkins*
Dawn of Destiny (01) - Dawn of Darkness (02) - Dawn of Deliverance (03) - Dawn of Days (04) - Broken Skies (05)
TALES OF THE WELLSPRING KNIGHT
*with P.J. Cherubino*
Knight’s Creed (01) - Knight’s Struggle (02)
