The story of Jerro that we reference in our books is an actual book that I (B.) wrote before we even started writing Elvensty. It was to be the first of a series written for a junior high audience. Though we never released it, the story helped flesh out the concepts that eventually became backstory of The Swordflower Saga. In Elvensty, Palo gives an abbreviated…
On Spreadsheets and Calculators
One of our main writing tools is spreadsheets. This is M.’s specialty, and he may go a bit overboard in the use of them. We have our Master Calendar Spreadsheet along with book specific sub-calendars. We have a spreadsheet of the temperatures for the Crossing and the Hiding and how they would affect the planet’s climate. We have a spreadsheet for the characters split into…
Be Still My Soul
We were snowed in on a Sunday afternoon, so we decided to put together a video for one of the songs from Auxland. This song was played on a flute by Palo in the story, and we wrote new “translated” lyrics based on the hymn “Be Still My Soul”. This is one of our favorite hymns, and we really like how the lyrics turned out,…
True Companion
This song was written many years ago when M. was having a pity party (not unlike the one Aya had in Auxland!). He was the worship leader for the college group and had scheduled a practice only to have no one show up. So he did what anyone might of have done and skipped the main church service. As he was struggling through the…
The Uniqueness of Similarities
As an author, one of the most difficult things is writing believable characters. Every person has oddities and unique foibles that make up who they are and yet there are enough similarities to have them begin blending together. For example, one of the popular personality tests places everyone into 16 little boxes which gives indication that each personality type is the same. The idea of…
Aventye
When B. first envisioned the world of our books, it had a dual star system. This begged the question: what kind of impact would such a solar system have on its inhabitants? In two star systems, the suns typically orbit around each other, so they would likely mark their calendar by the orientation of their two stars. As each sun passed in front of the…
Auxland has been released into the Wylds!
Auxland is now live on Amazon and available for Kindle, Kindle Unlimited, and Paperback. We currently working with Amazon to get the versions linked on their site, but for now, here are the links for the two versions. Kindle Paperback
Auxland Available for Pre-Ordering!
Auxland, book 2 of the Swordflower Saga is available for pre-order on Amazon (kindle only). Unfortunately, Amazon does not allow pre-order for paperbacks, but one will be available on the release date, December 1st!
The Goodness of God
Today I (B.) was reading in the Psalms and came across a verse that leaped off the page. “Announce every day how He delivers!” ~ Psalm 96:2b. This both convicted me and made my heart rejoice. The last few weeks have been hard with hospital visits, hacking attempts, allergic reactions, and the weight of responsibility when one’s spouse is ill. And yet God has delivered…
Writing Together
One of the first questions we are asked when we say that we write together as a couple is “How do you do it?” The simple answer is: together! Here is a picture of our computer setup (complete with our feline critic). My wife and I (M.) sit in our own chairs, and usually, I have the keyboard (what can I say? I have control…