Guy Donovan: The Forgotten Princess of Mona

Eleven-year-old Cerys is no normal little girl. The orphaned daughter of a fifth century Welsh king and queen, her only friends in the island kingdom of Môna are her old Pictish caregiver and a young chambermaid. The new queen wants nothing to do with her– instead doting on her own son, who will one day rule Môna in place of Cerys. The people of Môna, royal and commoner alike, barely remember she even exists.

It’s hard being a young princess without a kingdom or even a mother and a father. It’s even harder for Cerys because in addition to her other troubles, she was born mentally impaired. She lives her life in a perpetual fog of loss and regret, wishing more than anything to be like everyone else…to be normal.

Then Cerys meets a new friend, one whose thoughts are as clear to her as speech, and she finds her own previously muddled thoughts growing clearer. It seems like a miracle to Cerys and the small circle of people who care for her. Now that her thoughts are clearer though, she knows she can’t ever tell anyone how she came by her incredible cure. In fact, she knows that if anyone found out her friend’s identity, it would surely lead to death for both of them. Like Cerys, her new friend is different from everyone else in the world.

About the author:

In the 1990’s and 2000’s, Guy Donovan worked in both television and feature films as an animator and storyboard artist/designer for Marvel Films, Hanna-Barbera, Sony Pictures, DreamWorks SKG, and Warner Bros Feature Animation, among others. Now he works at a government job in North Dakota in return for a steady paycheck and job security, allowing him to continue his wasteful habits of eating and providing for my wife and daughter.

Creatively starved by his job, Guy turned to writing at the advice of his wife, a fellow Hollywood expatriate who writes both screenplays and novels. That led to his current obsession with 5^th century Wales, which is the setting of his “Dragon’s Treasure Series.” The first three novels, “The Forgotten Princess of Môna,” “A Cold, White Home,” and “Songs of Autumn” are currently available as eBooks for the Kindle. The final installment, “Memories so Distant and Brief,” will follow in winter of 2018.

John Brage: The Protocols of Uma

The Umae teeter on the brink of extinction. Their blood rivals, the Hek, have mysteriously made huge leaps forward in technology and are now poised to exterminate them. Their godlike protectors, the Journeyers, have not been heard from for centuries. Just as their society is poised to collapse, the Journeycraft Starshine returns to them from deep space. Prohibited from using advanced technology by an ancient set of laws known as The Protocols, the Starshine’s terminally ill Command Agent must lead a ragtag group of exiles on an overwater quest to investigate a clue to the Umaes’ ultimate salvation. But the Hek stalk them at every turn, and a would be dictator plots his own ascension to power.

Can the Journeyers restore the faith the Umae once had in them? Can the key to the Umaes’ survival be found in time? And what is the Starshine’s Command Agent willing to sacrifice in order to have the only thing he ever truly wanted?

John Brage is a lawyer, reader, explorer and student of just about everything. Born and raised in Northwest Missouri, he practices law by day and by night chases his kids around with his wife and tries to find time to write. He is an avid fan of the Kansas City Chiefs, the St. Louis Cardinals, and the Missouri Tigers. In his limited spare time he runs, works out and reads. Check out his other works on Facebook.

Ann H. Janzer: The Writer’s Process

For The Writer’s Process:

Want to be a better writer? Perfect your writing process. Process is a vital, under-appreciated writing skill.

The Writer’s Process combines proven practices of successful authors with cognitive science research about how our minds work.

It covers:

How to invite creativity and flow into the writing process
Why separating writing into different steps makes you more productive
How to overcome writer’s block, negative feedback, and distraction
How to make time for writing in a busy, interrupt-driven life

Anne Janzer is an author and writer who has worked with more than one hundred technology companies. She is author of the books The Writer’s Process, The Workplace Writer’s Process, and Subscription Marketing.

She enjoys working with writers to improve their processes and share their thoughts and ideas with the world.