Elijah David

This month, I spent a good portion of my writing time fixing up a short story from a few years back that involved Santa Claus (or Father Christmas) as a wandering spirit. It was inspired by a friend's defense of the Santa Claus/Father Christmas tradition, and I'm very pleased with the final version. Here's a small excerpt from the beginning of "Winter Warrior": Snow fell unseen in the moonless night air, each flake making its journey without notice or proclamation. Nick liked the snow on nights like this. It went about its business anonymously, as he did on the best of nights. Nick was neither angel nor demon, but he wasn’t, strictly speaking, human. To be human, one must possess both body and soul, and Nick was a bit short in the corporeal department. Had been for centuries now. He wasn’t the only spirit wandering the Earth, but he hadn’t met another like him in a month of Christmases. If you would like to read the rest of the story, head over to Ink &...

October is almost over, so it's time for more snippets. These come from There's No Place Like Home?  (my NaNo novel from 2015, newly finished) and from "Paper and (T)horns" (my modern Beauty and the Beast retelling). From  There's No Place Like Home?   The kalidahs who had been sent to the front gate had expected an angry mob. Not quite torches and pitchforks angry. More like billy clubs and Molotov cocktails. At the very least, they had been anticipating an unruly assortment of people led by a towering, charismatic man, perhaps wearing a mask, who would shout meaningless mantras over a megaphone. Instead, the leader appeared to be a small girl with a fire in her eyes most of the kalidahs had long since forgotten. Hope. Righteous anger. Determination. Love. While the crowd behind her—and the kalidahs in front of her—grew ever more restless as they waited for something to happen, the girl simply stared into the heart of the Westford mansion with that fiery-eyed...

Yes, I have reached the end of Albion Apparent , and it is in the hands of beta readers even now. (If you would like to be one of those beta readers, just drop your email in a comment and I'll send it to you!) Here are your final glimpses into the second book of the Albion Quartet. Tune in next month for some snippets from other things I'm working on. “What have Oberon’s hopes to do with you, grey sister?” Grandmother’s voice did not overpower Darity’s in the way a bombastic politician will drown out an opponent. Instead, it slipped around the chamber like a strand from a web, throwing out more threads of itself until the entire room was subjected to its will. “You are not his vassal, that his hopes and fears should rule your own. Nor are you his ally, except in times of war, and let us pray that war is far from us.” Darity’s hands stilled. “Do you mean that the Merlin we have foreseen will not be responsible for—” “He will be what he will be, child. Do you suppose our desti...

Where has August gone? It seems like I was just getting ready for it to begin. Ah well. This month's been a bit more productive than July. Here are some snippets for you to enjoy. I think all this time he’s harbored a certain animosity towards magic and anyone connected to our world. It’s possible he blames people like us for his wife leaving him. Or he could just be a royal jerk , she said. I chuckled despite myself. Or that. *** “Well, that was about as effective as I expected,” Stavros said. “Better than I expected.” The wooden voice had called from inside Reese’s office. I stepped past the door, which hung aslant in the frame. “Belchor?” The place was a mess. Papers and books had been torn from the shelves and Belchor groaned from its prone position in the floor. Scorch marks traced smudgy shapes across its back. “Is there someone under the bookshelf?” Samantha asked, trying to tilt Belchor upright. “Belchor is the bookshelf,” I replied, helping her l...

Another month gone already? Must be time for snippets. This time we just have Albion Apparent ; I've been trying to push through to the end of the draft so I can get it to the beta readers and while I've made some good progress this month, we're still about 5 chapters from the end. Here's to July being as productive as June, if not more so! I thought back to that class with Mr. Cornelius. Aella and Stavros had used a rhyme to delineate the differences in the four colors. “Gold seeks change,” I recited. I couldn’t remember the rest of the line. “Precisely, young Merlin. Alchemy, transformation, transmutation—that Philosopher’s Stone on your hand. All of these are gold magic. Though it can be seen as a sister color to red magic, gold is wild, free. It holds no allegiances and admits to no oaths. It is untame, if you will.” Gold sparks danced in his eyes as he spoke. The tone of his voice had changed from that of an instructor to someone speaking about an old friend. I...

Just like last month, I've got snippets from Albion Apparent  and "Paper and (T)horns". From Albion Apparent : Aaron Faust sat in his SUV outside the perimeter emergency services had erected around Buckley High School. He wasn’t the only parent who’d conducted an impromptu stakeout in the last few weeks, but he was the most persistent. The police and fire officials appointed to patrol the perimeter knew him on sight. Though they ought to have kept him under careful observation to prevent his sneaking into the cube of darkness, Aaron knew they would slip eventually. He tapped out a text message on his phone. A call would be faster—if she answered—but he couldn’t bring himself to hear her voice. Not even with Gabriel trapped behind a wall of darkness with a bunch of— *** “Are you ready?” I asked Corrine. She stared at the unbroken surface of the water. Her breaths were shallow, controlled. “What if it doesn’t work?” I shrugged. “Then at least we t...

I actually have snippets from two projects this time. First, a couple from Albion Apparent . “I wouldn’t expect an answer right away,” said Bill. I turned to see him standing at the door where he’d left me. “He tends to let us learn patience along with prayer.” Bill stepped forward into the wan light, his pulled-down hat making the covered eye seem like a deep pit. “I don’t think there’s much time for patience,” I said. “Most people don’t.” He stopped at the end of the pew where I was sitting. “It doesn’t change His timing.” *** “Who are you talking to, young Merlin?” “Nobody.” “I’ve heard that’s one of the signs of insanity,” said Robin. “Then again, it’s not nearly as fun as hallucinations, so I think it shouldn’t even count.” *** I clenched my fist, then relaxed it. I hadn’t realized mortals could read my emotions so easily. “You know I’m a Valkyrie,” I said, “and what that means.” He nodded. “Except I’m not anymore, not really.” I broke eye conta...

It's time for more snippets from Albion Apparent ! “You are not like my other children, Bryn Skuldsdóttir. You have the heart of a Midgardian, but the spirit and drive of Asgard. I would more of our people felt as you do, that Midgard is a place to know and to love, not just to act.” He pushed back my hair and smiled, an action that reached even behind the eye patch. *** Harry opened his eyes again. “Someone mention me?” “No, dude,” said Merlin. “We were talking about that kid Larry down the street.” *** “Hey, Merl,” Harry said as we came in sight. “Don’t go freeing any more dragons while I’m gone, okay?” “I think we’re fresh out of dragons,” Merlin said, his smile stronger for Harry’s good humor. *** “Do you think one day we’ll die while color coding?” asked Dénsmore. The other two stopped and stared at her for a moment, Darity’s white tresses going straighter than usual, if it was possible. “I’m just saying,” Dénsmore continued. “Of all the things to be ...

Another month has already flown by! My writing got derailed a bit in the middle of the month thanks to a nasty cold (or a mild flu, I'm not sure which), but I still made some excellent headway on Albion Apparent . Without further ado, here are this month's snippets. Darity, Dénsmore, and D’Artangan, the three eldest daughters of the Norn Skuld, walked through the autumn woods of Asgard searching for answers. Being Norns themselves, the sisters ought to have been able to merely open their Second Sight and find the solution to their problem—if the Sight itself were not their problem. *** Grandmother Spider sat by the fire in her audience chamber, bent like an old woman at work even in her twilight years. The stories said she had made the stars with a dew-soaked web and brought fire to humanity. She was also the most knowledgeable of the Aeoni on matters of the Sight. *** My deepest anxiety had been easy to pinpoint, almost too easy, in fact. I had to reap Gab...

I had several people tell me they wanted to see more snippets posts from me after my last (and only) one . This is also a good way for me to keep myself accountable in writing.* If I don't write, there are no snippets to share with you. This post will also be a foretaste for those of you who have already asked me when the sequel to Albion Academy will be released. (The answer is I don't know; I am currently writing it. Once it's written there are revisions and edits, then sending it to beta readers, then revisions and edits, then sending it to the publisher, then revisions and edits. You get the idea. The publisher would like me to have it out a year from now, and I hope to meet that goal. When I know something more definite, I will post it here, there, and everywhere.) Beware! There are SPOILERS ahead for Albion Academy ! If you have NOT read/finished the book, don't read this post yet. You have been warned. Without further ado, here are some snippets from this mo...

Several of my blogging writer friends do what they call "snippet posts" which include short excerpts from whatever they happen to be working on at the moment. In my attempt to get myself more regular in my blogging (and my writing), I decided that sharing some short snatches of Albion Academy, the first in my Albion/Merlin series, would be a good thing to try. Without further ado, here they are, divided by narrator: Mortimer, the Djinni Normally he's a bit more ... bluish. Wishes are curious things, capable of great wonder, yet so easily twisted by those who grant them. "I wish to become human," I said to the Elders, the twelve oldest Djinn who had any desire to rule and weren't in the bottle. They sat, reclined, or floated around the perimeter of the small chamber, encircling me, each close enough to touch. ***** "By the crotchety Elders," Brutus swore. Then he started laughing and I wondered if I'd made a mistake in calling out. I...