I haven’t seen this animal in Obann yet–Doedecurus, a giant South American armadillo with a tail club. But I suspect it’s only a matter of time before one or more of them turns up.
Finally! I sat outside and wrote a scene in my new book–which has only just started, and only God knows where the story’s going to take me. Indeed, after I post this, I think I’ll go back and write some more.
Hot tip heard on the radio this morning:
Want to keep your face mask/badge of submission disinfected? Nothing could be easier. Just leave it in your car (I’ve hung mine from the rearview mirror) and let the intense heat that builds up in there kill the germs. Be sure to shut your windows.
And now, back to Obann City for Lord Chutt’s treason trial.
I was sitting outside this afternoon, writing my Newswithviews column for the week–a column about my new book, His Mercy Endureth Forever, and my Bell Mountain series in general.
I was just finishing the work when I chanced to look up: and what did I see?
A beautiful, graceful, full-grown deer trotting across the yard, only 30 or 40 feet away from my chair. She vanished around the corner of the house next door, and when I walked over to see where she was headed, I saw no sign of her. I don’t know where she went.
I took it as a sign that God was nigh, and He wanted me to know that: for which I give Him thanks.
Okay, I’ve gotten my feet wet, written the opening scene for Bell Mountain No. 14. The working title is Behold!, but that could change. For the time being, I’m back in Lintum Forest with Helki the Rod, encountering a strange creature that wasn’t there before. The picture, somebody’s reconstruction of the dinosaur Ornitholestes, is a good approximation of what Helki saw.
Roald Amundsen, overeager to be the first to the South Pole (which of course he ultimately did), launched his trek some weeks too early and had to retreat back to his base, driven back by bad weather. They get a lot of that in Antarctica. I hope I haven’t repeated his mistake, embarking on a new book before I’m completely ready. But it takes time to write these, I have to work outside when I’m writing fiction, and I need to finish before the cold weather returns. Any prayers for my success will be appreciated.
What’s the secret of the Abnak girl, Qeqa, who claims to be allied with beings that only she can see? Will the new government in Obann City be able to cope with the challenges of a shaken world? Is there an evil empire in the distant west, across the sea, preparing to invade Obann?
I don’t know what it’s like where you are, but here in New Jersey, this May and last May have been unseasonably cold and rainy. My own blog archives tell me so. And so much for Global Warming.
When I wrote The Throne, I was able to start writing it in April and finish in late October. Last year, I couldn’t start The Wind from Heaven until May 24, and I finished in early November on the last day–really, the very last–I possibly could have finished, before the bad weather set in until the next spring. Although actually it’s still here.
I’ve been waiting for a sign to start writing the next book, but all I’ve got so far is an Ornitholestes sneaking around the underbrush in Lintum Forest. Is that what the Lord wants me to use as a starting-point? Can it work?
Well, I’m running short of time, so I might as well take the first step and see if it leads to a second. Say a little prayer for me.
Huzzah! (Can’t say “wahoo” twice.) I’ve just received my author’s copies of Bell Mountain No. 12, His Mercy Endureth Forever. Now I can mail Watchman and Ina their comment contest prizes.
Dig that cover by Kirk DouPonce! Is that cool, or what? That’s Ellayne being attacked by the giant Ice Age hyena–and if you want to know what happens, you’ve got to read the book. The prehistoric hyena was an awesome predator that mostly ate rhinos. The horse is Dulayl, who’s been with us since Book 1.
I haven’t yet gotten the sign to start writing Book No. 14, and meanwhile No. 13, The Wind from Heaven, has to be edited; and we have to dream up a cover for it. Busy, busy, busy! But it’s the kind of busy I like.
Soon (I hope) His Mercy will be available via amazon.com and other outlets; but for the time being, you can order it from The Chalcedon Foundation/Storehouse Books at http://www.chalcedon.edu/store/ . Support award-winning Christian fantasy! Support me. End of commercial.
And now I’ve got to go see what Joe Collidge has gotten up to.
When you’re writing a series of novels, you never know when a minor character might grow into a major one.
Lord Chutt entered my Bell Mountain series as the only member of Obann’s high council who survived the siege of the city–because he ran away before the enemy could surround it.
We next find him in the north as an independent warlord who, when he learns that the city was saved, after all, and Obann now has a king, wishes only to re-establish the old order, without a king. But Chutt’s governing passion is a sordid lust for wealth; and he sates this by taking his northern army to the Golden Pass and taking possession of the Thunder King’s gold. Suddenly he is the richest man in Obann.
By then he had become a major character. Returning to the city, he separates it from the king and, step by step, with his vast wealth as his source of strength, appoints a new ruling council, hand-picked by himself.
It might have ended there; but as Chutt becomes increasingly fascinated, and then obsessed, with the greatness of Obann’s Empire long ago, he loses control of his ambition. From this flow many untoward events. And I have to stop here for fear of spoilers. Suffice it to say his obsession degenerates into madness. It has taken eleven books to get him there.
I hope this thumbnail sketch will make you want to read these books. They’re full of characters who entered the story as walk-ons and, well… stayed. And grew.
Sort of like real people, only with more adventurous and hazardous careers.
Well, it took long enough to get printed, but it’s finally ready to go–the 12th book of my Bell Mountain series, His Mercy Endureth Forever.
It’s not on amazon or Barnes & Noble yet, but you can order it directly from the publisher at https://chalcedon.edu/store/ . I admit the paperback costs $18. But heck, how much does a movie cost, that turns out to be a real turkey? And as long as we’re all under The Great Quarantine, what better time to catch up on your reading?
Please, don’t be like the guy who said, when I told him one of my books had just been published, “So when’s it gonna be a TV movie?” Cheap, cheap, cheap! And it probably won’t ever be turned into a video game, either. Although that could be kind of cool… Certainly way cooler than a TV movie.
(Stop it, Lee! You’re starting to sound like Byron the Quokka.)
Come on, now–how many books have you seen with an Ice Age hyena on the cover, attacking a girl on horseback? Yeah, that incident is in the book–along with plenty more excitement where that came from. (Now I sound like I’m trying to sell a book.)
And if you really, really like this book… Well, there are a dozen more in the series!
G’day! Byron the Quokka here, with just 73 comments to go toward that 60,000-comment milestone–and a winner in our current comment contest.
I thought it might be nice to make a boat the prize, but Lee is still thinking in terms of an autographed copy of Bell Mountain No. 12, His Mercy Endureth Forever.
It’s taking a long time to get this book printed, I guess because everything’s been slowed down by The Great Quarantine Etc. We still owe a copy to “Watchman,” who won the last comment contest. If Mercy still hasn’t been printed by the time we reach 60,000, you can ask for an earlier book in the series. We’re out of Bell Mountain though, so don’t ask for the first book. To see them all, go to the home page and click “Books.” I don’t know how anybody can resist that giant hyena, though. We don’t have those on Rottnest Island–which is probably a good thing.
Well, one more blog post this afternoon, and then we’ll do some editing of No.13, The Wind from Heaven.
![His Mercy Endureth Forever (Bell Mountain Book 12) by [Lee Duigon]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51yAVSXjuSL.jpg)
Wahoo! Here Comes the Book
Huzzah! (Can’t say “wahoo” twice.) I’ve just received my author’s copies of Bell Mountain No. 12, His Mercy Endureth Forever. Now I can mail Watchman and Ina their comment contest prizes.
Dig that cover by Kirk DouPonce! Is that cool, or what? That’s Ellayne being attacked by the giant Ice Age hyena–and if you want to know what happens, you’ve got to read the book. The prehistoric hyena was an awesome predator that mostly ate rhinos. The horse is Dulayl, who’s been with us since Book 1.
I haven’t yet gotten the sign to start writing Book No. 14, and meanwhile No. 13, The Wind from Heaven, has to be edited; and we have to dream up a cover for it. Busy, busy, busy! But it’s the kind of busy I like.
Soon (I hope) His Mercy will be available via amazon.com and other outlets; but for the time being, you can order it from The Chalcedon Foundation/Storehouse Books at http://www.chalcedon.edu/store/ . Support award-winning Christian fantasy! Support me. End of commercial.
And now I’ve got to go see what Joe Collidge has gotten up to.
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6 Comments | tags: bell mountain series by lee duigon, christian fantasy, comment contest prizes, Ellayne, His Mercy Endureth Forever, Ice Age hyena, kirk douponce, The Wind from Heaven | posted in bell mountain series, Book Updates