Character image by John Taylor.

Looking for an escape from holiday pressures, or need a solid gift idea for someone who loves fantasy adventure?

Here’s an easy — and super affordable —  way to ease into a new realm… In the Zealynd realm of Delfaeurune, music joins with Earth energy to conjure balance among all creatures, “extinct” and mythical creatures talk and live peacefully, and the Dark Fae pattern themselves after burned-out human rock stars.

I’m offering my newly published Song of the Ocarina (ebook version) for a special Kindle Countdown price of $2.99 for three days only: F., Dec. 12–Sun., Dec. 14. Here’s a link describing how to give a Kindle ebook as a gift, just in case you don’t know how. (I didn’t.)

Wondering what the book’s all about? Here’s an excerpt:

Lark’s heart beat quickly. The room tugged at her. Not just because of its rich natural garden tones, but something undefined, too. A tear escaped and trickled down her cheek.

Noel stepped toward her. “Are you alright, Alouette?”

Without thinking, Lark threw her arms around him. He hesitated at first, obviously surprised, but quickly responded by pulling her in close. The calming rhythm of his quickly beating heart helped her regain her composure, and she drew back to arm’s length.

He wiped tears from her cheeks as she looked up into his handsome face. “I… I’m sorry, Noel. I’m not sure what it is.” She glanced around. “This is my old room, right?”

He simply smiled, placed his hat on the table, and began humming a slow haunting melody. He held out his hands to her, and she took them, not sure what to expect. Hands joined, he moved their arms gracefully back and forth, all the time focusing intently on her eyes. She sensed powerful restraint behind their brilliant blue, but no matter what they hid from her, she never wanted to stop gazing into their depths.

As he sang, a soft thrumming emanated from the foliage in the room. The combined musical hum crescendoed, and the vine bed curtains and bright floral swags above the windows started to sway in time with his movements. Strands of light drew her gaze as they streamed out of the living greens and into Noel, their luminescence joining his energy field. She could see it flowing through him, brightening and widening his aura. As he continued his song, the light raced down along his arms and around Lark’s hands. When it hit, a gentle buzz reverberated through her body with a tingle. A cloud of human memories and anxiety washed out of her mind with a splash of clarity.

Lark became aware of herself as the oldest Fae daughter of Delfaerune Magisters Knyt Tūrehu and Fern Tūrehu. She knew she had grown up here in this beautiful Division home with her younger sister B’rook.

She had trained since age four to learn the secrets of the Fae world’s three most sacred instruments. The Kura Ocarina, a hand flute capable of carrying messages through foliage to affect physical changes in living beings. The Sacred Pākiri, a drum designed to control the emotional state of Fae. And, the Aroha Autangi, a zither with the power to control elements and spark spiritual healing.

All of Delfaerune knew her as the next Maestra… the one fae, Dark or Noble, with a matchless connection to Mother Earth, and an undeniable musical prowess. She would be chosen as her generation’s virtuoso and musical leader, in the footsteps of her father, once she came of age.

She had turned seventeen while in the human realm, so her testing would come soon.

With this realization, Lark pulled away from Noel, breaking the spell’s thrumming. She covered her mouth with her hand, and scanned her bedroom.

P.S.  Song of the Ocarina earned a Top Five Finish in the April 2014 Realizing The Dream Contest, by editors and agents attending the RWA Desert Dreams Writer’s Conference.