Wednesday 3 April 2013

Carol is bonding... Meet Carol Bond

Hi all...


My name is Carol Bond, but I write under the pen name of Ellen Mae Franklin and on the 25th of March my book  - THE UNSEEN PROMISE was released for sale. It is the first book from the Tarkeenia Sagas.




I am Australian and reside in Adelaide, where I was born, sharing my life with my family and friends. It was never my intention to become a writer, although my intense love of books began in the moment of being able to read. But, with enormous pleasure, I have written off and on these past 10 years.

I am pleased to offer you, the reader, an excerpt from my fantasy book for your literary enjoyment.

This passage is from Chapter 43
I was told once that the best form of attack is defense – baloney

Kitty licked her lips. Her tongue slid out into the night air for the hundredth time, this waiting was unbearable, and her hunger it hurt so. If she didn’t feed soon, her belly would distend and the pain, dear Lord, the pain would cripple her. They would find her then, of this, she was certain, it was this fear that spurred her on.
She had developed a fondness for human flesh, the sour rusting taste of hot blood made her mouth water. Voices drifted through the walls of the stables, the straw jabbed her, the smell of dung made her nauseous and she was, oh, so hungry now.
‘Where are you?’ she growled. Roedanth had been gone too long. What the hell, she was hungry.
From shadow to shadow, under the watchful eye of the Pata Batu, in the blue and rose hues of the evening light, Kitty made her way towards the voices.
They grew louder and to her ears, younger. The room bathing in yellow light was filled with children. Fledglings soft of meat and clean; very clean blood. She couldn’t help herself, Kitty raised her eyes over the window ledge and saw, with eyes wide a mouth-watering buffet.
Twelve boys and girls talked and laughed, some stretched out on their cots wriggling their toes, while others swapped stories in a gale of theatre play. All were oblivious to the danger as Kitty watched on.
Through the window and over to a tall nightstand, it was the perfect cover. Down went a fair-haired girl, she couldn’t have been more than eight years old, it was a clean kill and her whispering moan went unnoticed. Using a little of the girl’s sticky blood, the Speck slithered on her belly to the next cot. This time, a boy drew his last breath on a name, he cried ‘Mother.’ Kitty laughed at that, flecks of blood sprayed onto the bed sheets, she didn’t know her mother, so what did she care?
A child noticed a spreading pool of blood; it floated on the floor, creeping towards the feet of the youngest, Bella Hiela. She, of course, screamed and then screamed some more, a small hand found her mouth and stuffing it full of fingers she began to cry. The noise, awful in its entirety rose in pitch over a squabbling pair of older boys.
“Cut your screaming Bella! How can we hear ourselves yell with all that cat-calling?” One of the youngsters shot off a ‘boo-hoo’ and stopped short when he saw the blood. “What’s that? What in the hell is that?” His voice shook with panic.
“Barney, you sound like a girl…” but his friend’s laughter drained away as he was pulled off the cot, he disappeared under the bed.
Kitty’s head poked out from where the boy had just been, she grinned, her razor teeth stained red and her pink chin hair dripped blood, drip, drip onto the floor. The remaining children, all white faced with pants probably full of shit, opened their mouths in wide O’s and sounds, a terrible chorus of distress and fear began to sing, even Kitty had the grace to look shocked as she took up the charge. Out whipped her hand; strong fingers grabbed the closest child, poor Bella Hiela, her throat ripped away wasn’t screaming anymore.
She made short work of the rest. In the room, littered with mangled flesh and blood soaked sheets, Kitty felt full. She was happy. This time when she licked her lips it was to clean them of blood.

*****


The Unseen Promise is a fantasy novel that takes place on a world called Tarkeenia. It boasts an array of colourful characters, some are good, while others are pitiless evil, and then we have those that are indifferent.

Master Sniff’s Ferret Men are the latter, totally indifferent to everything, unless of course, it crosses that invisible line they stand on. It is these Murrdocks that I wish to speak of.

Master Sniff’s Cherry Fellows as I like to dub them, are at times, also referred to as the Cheery Chaps or Merry Fellows. In this story, a group of four marches with pride and weapons under the orders of the Rat Man. As to be expected they are half human and half ferret. They are a blending of each, with characteristics of both.

Thieves and long time smugglers, these Ferret Men revel in the employment of Master Sniff and his lucrative business dealings. Of course, they’re guilded like all good thieves, answering to the summons of the Silent Man when they are called upon and giving him a fistful of gold as a token of that call. You see, it is a way of keeping a member loyal, at least that’s what the Silent Man says.

Everything about these Murrdocks could be called sharp: it’s a useful word when one is describing them. Narrow faces with narrow jaws, narrow noses that stick out sharply on their long faces. Yes, everything was thin and sharp. A Ferret Man’s head is cropped with short, fine hair that extends down his long narrow neck to erupt in plentitude over the rest of his body. Hard eyes, sharp teeth and long thin fingers which itch in happiness whenever they’re asked to fight, how they love a good scrum.

Take Ferret Man One for example, and yes they answer to their given number for it was their mam who had called them as such. It has never occurred to them to change it, there were sillier names out there anyhow – Fluff, Poppet or one of many other stupid labels, indicating what you could be called.  So, for them it was Ferret Man One, Two, Three and Four: a name or a number, it didn’t matter, you see for not one of them liked upsetting their mam. She had a heavy hand when she thought they were getting out of line, so these skinny creatures stuck with the numbers and got on with it.

There are a couple of very important facts that must be touched on when speaking about a Ferret Man. Loyalty for one and of course, the mention that they don’t come cheap. You can’t buy off a Ferret Man, his loyalty is to his guild and the contract, and Master Sniff’s pockets ran very deep.

Skilled in weaponry, whether it be sword, knives or a bow, a Ferret Man is worth his weight in gold. Master Sniff knows this for a fact, so he looks after his Merry Fellows and they in turn look after him. It’s a happy partnership in all and at the end, no matter what the story, the plan is to finish up as rich as they can be.






1 comment:

  1. Following Carole around a little (sorry, I can't every day, but then that would probably make you nervous!) Good luck!! Raven, thanks for giving her a place to crash for the night!

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