It’s amazing what AI can do. These are #AI generated models of the leonine gryphons in my upcoming medi-punk scifi Robin Hood Delunian Kingdom series. These creatures are sentient and have been so much fun to write. 📚😵💫😜 #authorlife
Destiny in the Shadow’s series Warlord: Scorpius (book 3) is with my editor and Blood War: Defiance (book 4) is 145k words strong.
Thank you all for being so patient! Helice just got back from the editor, so 2022 should be an exciting year! Thank you all for being so supportive and God bless you!
The Herald Väktare bears a new title in the apocalyptic battle of good vs. evil: Shira Hart amnesiac.
When a black magic spell strips her of her memory, powers and identity, Shira Black Hart faces the impossible question of what matters most: who you are or who you choose to be?
With secret enemies lurking in the shadows, there is no safe haven to run to. As Brin seemingly abandons her and a new forbidden attraction flares, she must decide whether to believe what her fractured mind is telling her or to follow her traitorous heart. Xydon’s son may desire to claim the Herald Väktare for himself, but evil’s secret weapon has risen from its grave. While Shira Hart must stop the consuming tide of darkness from rising, the only enemy standing in her way is the worst adversary of them all: herself.
Here’s a special sneak peek
Prologue
A furious rattling roused me from my stupor.
I blinked confusedly, trying to adjust to the blackness around me. Instead of my pillow, my head was resting on dry sands. The sun rising over the horizon told me that this definitely wasn’t my bedroom, nor was I alone in my bed.
Well, I wouldn’t say alone. The irked rattlesnake at my feet paused its rattling long enough for me to scuttle backward in alarm. It slithered off with a curse sent in my direction after I sent it a hasty apology for disturbing it. Then I was alone in the low dawn light, the dusty soil dry and sharp under my palms. I was laying completely alone in the center of a very large, open expanse of desert.
Or was I? I could hear echoes in my mind that didn’t seem to belong to me. But then they were gone. Had I imagined the whole thing? Or was I losing my mind?
How had I gotten here? I had no memory of leaving my room in my grandfather’s underground compound. Last I remembered, Brin was carrying me to bed after dozing off during a movie, pressing a kiss to my cheek. He tucked me in as I fell asleep.
As I stumbled backward, I came into a whole new kind of horror. I recognized this place. This expanse of desert was one I’d been to only once, two months before. The debris may have been gone from the landscape, but the cactuses remained singed by the fires that had burned here. I would have recognized it anywhere, my insides constricting in panic like a vice.
I was standing on the edge of the crash zone where I’d absorbed Shitheed’s life force. But it couldn’t be. He was dead. I watched him die.
Yet as the dawn spread over the morning sky, I knew without a doubt that something was still to be unearthed. The restlessness in my soul was reawakening with gusto.
It wasn’t over. Somehow I had been brought back here. The question was why and, even better, how. A thousand voices sang in my head, “It’s not over. It’s just begun…”
But what could it be? Shitheed was dead.
Or was he…
*Or, for Kindle Unlimited subscribers, they’re free with your membership. Snag the deal while it’s on before they go back to full price at $3.99 each!Get them while they’re 75% off! 
Book 3, Forgotten Hart is coming out next week February 8th, so if you haven’t started this action-packed series, you’d better start today!
Your Tuesday entertainment is here!
Join Richard H. Stephens, Fantasy Author and Christie Stratos, Psychological Suspense author, at 8 p.m. ET January 26 for a chat with me, Maggie Lynn Heron-Heidel – Author and Filmmaker, bestselling sci-fi and fantasy author and president of Whatsit Productions TV.
👉 Watch live and ask questions in the chat here: bit.ly/LFLEpi3
You can learn more about the hosts here:
Richard H. Stephens (I love his Legends of the Lurker fantasy series!): http://www.richardhstephens.com/
Christie Stratos: https://linktr.ee/christiestratos
I’m back, bitches. Put up the blaster shields because Maggie Lynn is back in power. Er, has power. You get the idea 😂 Thanks to all the out of state power crews that came to the rescue and to all the lovely indie books that kept me occupied when I wasn’t writing by candlelight.
I spent the last few days fuming. The power put me back a week on Del Muerta. I was literally one chapter away from completion of editing when – dun, dun, dun. The power went black. Still, while I was waiting, I finished the paper daft of Blood War. It worked out. A few trees down but we’re good. How are you all? Safe I hope?
Either way, I’m hoping for a good Autumn launch period this Fall. I’m thinking a release for Forgotten Hart in September, the release for Del Muerta on November first (El Dia de Los Muertos), and sometime around Christmas, both Blood War and the next (though still untitled) Wings of Caligo novel. I’m so excited for them all.
Needless to say, I’ll be taking signups ARC readers for my street team in advance since a few spots opened up, so make sure to either comment, DM or email me for the details.
It’s gonna be an exciting Fall. Stay tuned, for there will be blood… 😉
– Maggie Lynn
Just wow…
Two notes to start this review. A) If you’re offended by strong, profuse language, this is not the book for you. B) If you’re not a fan of long books (good Lord, 160,000 words and for the first installment of a series no less!), definitely not for you. But if you enjoy a great action adventure from points of view that most dragon shifter books don’t usually cover, then this is definitely up your alley.
Straight up, I wasn’t sure I was going to enjoy this novel when I started it. But by the end, I was won over. The fact that it incorporated SWAT into the main plot was an unexpected bonus, especially in Detroit. Many different points of view were explored and I truly loved that about the story. The gritty world in which it was set, while based on our own with addition of fantasy creatures, was wonderfully thought out.
All in all, I will be picking up the next book. Upon reading that the next installment is an even larger 180,000 words, my inner bookworm is quivering with wide eyes. But I think we’re up to the challenge. Here’s to hoping Steel Dragon 2 doesn’t disappoint…
Just a note to the authors Kevin McLaughlin and Michael Anderle. Just what did your editor say when you plopped a 160,000 words on their desk? If I did that with mine, I think she’d match a few more of the choicest curses Jonesy could come up with…
For those interested, here’s a bit more about the book:
“Dragons rule the world. Their claws are into every aspect of human life, from government to industry. But Kristen Hall is about to throw a wrench into all of that.
Because she’s a dragon, too. She just doesn’t know it…yet!
A dragon raised by humans, in the human world.
After graduating from the police academy, she’s dropped right into the ranks of Detroit’s elite SWAT team. A rookie, in SWAT? Unheard of. But what the dragons want, they get.
The reasons behind their machinations become clear as her dragon powers begin to surface.
Will Kristen rise to the challenges her new life delivers? What designs do the dragons have for her future? And perhaps most pressing of all — how did she come to be a dragon with human parents?”
Did you enjoy this review? Make sure to pick up your free copy of STILL DEATH before you go! Or stick around to read my serial fiction series, DEL MUERTA: SANCTUM OF HELL.
A special edition of ask the author anything with Maggie Lynn Heron-Heidel, this time centered around writer’s rituals as per asked my a reader.
Herewith goes a touchy topic. Could the makings of legends and myths be real? Some people insist vehemently and unequivocally yes. Others shake their heads and look down upon the believers. Considering no one in living memory has seen a dragon, why do the questions still persist?
Questions can always be brought to new light as history is dug up from archaeology. Even I was left questioning today as I came across an article from National Geographic. Ten new, very rare stone reliefs were dug up in Iraq depicting the Assyrian King Sargon II that date back from the eighth century BC. The last time such stone reliefs were found in their original locations was 1845. Along with their false deities, the depictions include horned lions and, hence the nature of this article, a dragon.
The interesting part is that these reliefs are by no means in a category of their own when it comes to dragons themselves. In all ancient cultures, from the Americas to Europe, to India and China, all the cultures seemed to agree that dragons existed. Even the bible refers to dragons as a symbol of Satan. Some of the earliest known evidence of the creature is the Epic of Gilgamesh, in the 18th century BC. Mentions themselves in myths can be traced back as far as 4000 BC. The ancient Greeks and Sumerians included lore of such creatures as well.
One could argue that the discovery of dinosaur bones by ancient cultures could’ve given rise to such rumors, but then why did legends abound across all borders of the globe? That being, why not make the tales of the creatures reflect them as extinct and from a past age if all that aroused the stories were the remains found?
All in all, it is worth mentioning that they could be living amongst us, hidden in the far corners of the earth. While humans have spread out, we still haven’t explored everywhere. As much as 95% of the ocean and 99% of the ocean floor haven’t been explored. That leaves approximately 65% of the earth unknown. The Loch Ness monster could theoretically have deep sea cousins that we know nothing about. The words of Leviathan from ancient Jewish texts certainly come to mind.
It is in all actuality quite possible. For example, over the last few years several species which had been assumed extinct for over a hundred years were found alive and well in various corners of the globe. That being said, new species are being discovered every day. Despite our vast knowledge and tools of documentation, we still have much to learn about our world.
Either way, it seems that the mystical creatures (evil or otherwise), are here to stay. Much like the stories of Big Foot, Moth Man, the Giant of Kandahar, Atlantis, and the discoveries of Nephilim bones, people still continue to talk about their existence. It seems into the future, the legends will continue, even if it is only from the booms of pop culture.
If you enjoyed this article, I’ll bet you’d love a free copy of my best selling prequel STILL DEATH. Click here to nab your copy before they’re gone!
Prologue – 1989
Screams of agony shattered the stillness of the night air. There was nothing I could do for the victims, as I sat on the front porch of the mansion. Nor anything I would do to block the sound out. I listened, refusing to let them suffer alone; bearing the brunt of the evil’s wrath. I would suffer with them as I suffered with so many others before, bearing witness to their destruction. While I wasn’t the reason these people were meeting their deaths, I was certainly the reason they wouldn’t live through the night.
This family didn’t deserve this any more than any of the other victims. My power could have saved them. Furthermore, I was sorely tempted to shield them from this fate. But I couldn’t. Someone had to die. Someone must distract the evil one from the three beings escaping out the back door of the mansion. No, it was far too important that the others live; that she, the herald Väktare, survive.
Then all was still.
The front door opened slowly as the other male stepped out. Hatred flared through me, but I hid it well. I would wait until the time was right for my revenge. For now I would play the loyal servant, even as I longed to rip his entrails out for all the darkness he spread across the planet.
“The girl is missing,” the figure in the doorway hissed, blood from the victims inside still dripping off of his fingers. “Her cradle was empty.”
“Oh?” I asked, feigning surprise. “The Hart child?”
“Yes, that child!” the dark figure snapped furiously. “Find her. Bring her to me!”
“Of course. Anything else I need accomplish?”
“Just get her!” he thundered, setting the mansion on fire with a spell. “The family is dealt with. The Fidem must have taken her! They have her. I know it!“
“I understand your consternation, Master, but I find it very unlikely that the Fidem would leave the family here and take the child instead. It’s highly illogical for the family to hide the child but not themselves-”
“Families are illogical. The attachment to each other impairs their judgment to the point of stupidity,” the dark figure in the cloak replied coldly. “Hence the ease of their murders! I didn’t even exert myself to drain them of their life forces! Just bring the child to-“
“You. I heard you the first time, Master,” I added hastily, rising from the stoop.
“She is mine,” the other said, eyes gleaming like the demon he was. “Her power will be mine! Do not fail this time. This is the Väktare I have waited for. Even now, she still will not escape.”
A thrill of foreboding ran through me upon hearing his glee. “What have you done?”
“She will be cursed,” he crowed over my quiet question, flames spiraling higher around him. “All of her power will bend to my will and anyone who helps her remain free shall be routed where they stand! Death and pain will follow her every step until she is mine!”
No more was said as the figure in the dark cloak vanished. The only signs that he had even been here were the bloody footprints leading back into the house. Those prints told me not to bother to check inside for survivors. The cloying feel of death was still floating around in the air.
But even with that in mind, I couldn’t help but grimly smile. This made worthwhile the sacrifice of all the countless beings before that had been murdered. The Väktare’s family would rest well in their graves if they knew how much rested on her life. As for my beloved… well, I couldn’t think about her now.
I had succeeded. The dark one failed, even with his cursing her life. The girl had survived.
Cursed Hart copyright © Maggie Lynn Heron-Heidel
Best Selling Author Maggie Lynn Heron-Heidel 