I Love A Challenge

Happy New Year Travellers!

2013 is finally here and I am ready for it, I'm not one for making annual, sweeping resolutions because they rarely stick.  For the most part, I stay with small, daily resolutions like being more productive or dedicated to house cleaning, things I can handle easily.  HOWEVER, I am not averse to making wild predictions for the coming year, so I am stating at this time that The Last Prospector is going to be a big hit in '13.

I can see it every time I close my eyes and I want it like few other things I have wanted in my life.  That same little voice that told me Charles Howard was coming home is now telling me that this is my year, the one where a lifetime of trying finally pays off, and I am listening.

This blog is where it all starts, I'm almost certain of that, because this is my way of reaching out to the whole world and pulling them all into my world of Solstice.  Today is the kick off of the Ultimate Blog Challenge, to post every day for 31 days in an effort to gain more readers and more exposure.  From what I have read so far, it seems that some people have difficulty finding enough content for their blogs and the UBC is sending daily ideas for bloggers.

This is not much of a problem for me, I've got enough content for this blog, Spoon! and a whole other one for my musings about life that don't involve food or the book.  But there are still some good ideas from the challenge and I am using one of them today...


HELLO!  My name is Inigo Montoya, you killed my father, prepare to die!

Oh wait, that's not me, I just have a hard time following HELLO! with anything else.  I'll try again.

Hi there!

My name is Cairn Rodrigues and last year I wrote and published a book titled The Last Prospector.  It is the start of an epic fantasy series and is about a man who knows that he is the last man who will every carry the name and title of Prospector.  He has a destiny, he knows it is waiting for him but that is all he knows as he journeys inexorably towards a questionable future.

The Light Stealers Song is a blog devoted to my journey as neophyte author and publisher, to share this new world I have entered as I flounder my way through.  Here is where I can share my frustrations, vexations and excitations (thank you Brian Wilson for making up that word!) while trying to make sense of all that I'm doing.

The Last Prospector is available at Amazon.com, please check it out.

I know this is a long post and it's about to get a bit longer so I can explain about the 'stealers.  The following is an excerpt from my book, I hope you like it.

THE LIGHT STEALERS’ SONG

It has been said that the light stealers were the first creatures that ever came to be on Solstice.  But it is more truthful to say that Solstice came to be because of the light stealers.  Light stealers are misnamed, as Ylumya’s light is always given freely, but the light stealers are an impish lot and enjoy playing the rascals.  They are also extremely social creatures and can only survive in the company of their kind.  The bonds they form with one another are so strong, so tangible, that matter flowed in and around them, growing slowly until they were all connected by the ground from which Solstice sprang.

Light stealers come in an untold array of shapes and in every one of the thousands of shades in the spectrum.  Each family group has its own ‘personality’ and many are happy to share their glow with all creatures.  There are also more reclusive varieties that are very adept at hiding and are rarely seen by people.  Most light stealers continue growing until they die which can take hundreds of years and there might even still be ‘stealers alive that were here before the beginning.

In addition to glowing, the light stealers also sing although most people have trouble hearing anything other than a buzz or hum.  They sing to each other constantly; they even sing as they slumber the day away, and it is that song that binds the little particles of Solstice and holds them together.  They are the wisest of Oneno’s creations because they understand that substance is in fact not at all substantial and everything hangs on wispy threads of sheer belief.

It is ironic, because the light stealers made Solstice, that the blooded creatures which had sprung up profligately did not even know of the light stealers’ very existence for centuries.  It wasn't until the Second War of the Twins, when the girls were fighting over the torch.  That particular skirmish set the torch on its perpetual path up, down and around Solstice.  Until that time, the land had always been bathed in light and it was all the blooded creatures knew.  So when the torch started dipping that very first time over the eastern edge of the land and the sky began to darken ominously, no one knew if the light would ever come back. 

The creatures panicked as they had never been cold before, never before been blind.  But just before the torch disappeared completely, something amazing happened.  The ground all over Solstice exploded into islands of warm colorful light, throwing back the darkness and revealing the glory of the light stealers for the first time.  The first night passed with joy instead of fear, which they would never have known if they had not been thrust into the darkness.