Tag: story

You Can’t Rush Art

“You Can’t Rush Art” say my illustrators while I’m waiting on cover art for two new releases!

July 24, 2018

You Can’t Rush Art

I love finishing a new book!  I actually have two (One is the pilot in a new young adult series, the other is the second in the Landmark Tribe Books) that are finished.

Now comes the part I’m always excited about… illustrations!

I never know exactly what my illustrators are going to come up with for covers.  Rebeccah is designing the one for the Landmark Tribe book because she loves drawing animals – and I love her furry squirrels!

She was discussing how to make a “quirky” Crunchie (aka teenage boy squirrel) but still keep the soft style she did with Granny Pecan for the “Busting Berry Bath” cover.  I can’t wait to see what she comes up with!

For the new series book, my illustrators get to come up with a whole theme!  With no pre-set design constraints, I’ve already seen a pastel sunset background, a sharper, darker, hard pencil background, and an oil-paint-style grid.  They haven’t decided on a “perfect” theme yet, but watching their imaginations run while they figure it out is amazing!

For now, I have to wait (trying to be patient – because “you can’t rush art!”) as they do the artistry part of my story.  Regardless of what people say, audiences DO judge a book by its cover.  This is why my illustrators make commissions off of their work!

I can’t wait to release these stories for ya’ll to enjoy!

Thanks for reading!

Type at you next time…

~Nancy Tart

 

Houdini Hot Wings

June 26, 2018

Houdini Hot Wings

“Mom, he’s out again!”

The most idiotic of all chickens is this Buff Orpington cockerel who hates the safety of his pen.   I mean, what is it with this bird?

He has food, water, playmates, and protection from things that would pick their teeth with his toenails!  Like the hawk flying overhead, licking his chops (no, hawks can’t lick their chops, but still).  Okay, so the big Plymouth Barred Rock rooster can manage – he’s five times bigger than the hawks.  But little Houdini (no, his real name is “buffalo” like the hot wings) thinks his half-a-pound scrawniness is a match for the 1-pound hawk.  He struts around the yard squawking, “I’m free, come get me!”

Seriously!

The girls race outside, skipping with glee.  They love chasing the escapee teenage chickens.  Future-hot-wings squawks in horror.  Yes, bird, you should have stayed in your protected yard with all your friends!

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“Come on, we don’t want the hawks to eat you!” Yells Jillian.

“No, you’re our dinner in a few weeks!” Kimberly reminds him.

(If this is supposed to reassure him, it’s not helping.)

Jaquline finally grabs him, “his feathers are pretty, maybe someone will buy him to raise before we eat him.”

“Why?” Kimberly asks.

“Because then we don’t have to chase him all day anymore.” Jaquline replies, dumping said bird back in the pen with the others, “if we wait for him to get fat, he will start getting on my nerves.”

10 more weeks of chasing this escapee?  I certainly hope not.  Maybe the hawk gets him tomorrow – or someone chooses him as a 4H rooster.  Whatever happens to Houdini Hot Wings, he’ll forever be a character in the Long Tail books!

Thanks for reading!

Type at you later…

~Nancy Tart

Meet Brummen

June 21, 2018

Meet Brummen

Chef Brummen of Brantley Station didn’t start life dreaming of being the head chef in a mining colony more than a mile below sea level.

He began as a simple Grenadan lad.

Brummen studied and worked hard as a child and joined the Grenadan Guards at the earliest age allowed; twelve.  Brummen steadily and slowly ascended in rank until he was twenty-eight.

One night, he and his fiancée attended a party with several other Guards.  A Guard with whom Brummen already had conflict, was thoroughly drunk and insulted his fiancée.  Brummen reacted in anger and punched him.  This strike resulted in the insulting Guard’s death.  Brummen sank into a depression which expressed itself in a growing narcissism.

Brummen was tried by court martial.  The result would have been execution except that one member, who had been mentoring Brummen and watching his career, suggested banishment instead.

A friend suggested that he apply for a position on the newly designed underwater mining colony as it would be under Guard regulation but was a Qualizidian operation.  Brummen’s fiancée spurned his invitation to join but Brummen was accepted as the head (and only) chef for Brantley Station.

Since his galley becomes the place unruly or disobedient Guards are sent, Brummen’s experience seems to prove his narcissistic view of humanity.  But when Brummen discovers a strange, oddly acting boy stealing from his galley, he finds himself drawn toward the child with feelings he had buried. Quickly, Brummen realizes Ethan is no pirate child thief, and instead of letting the world “follow its course” regarding the boy, Brummen intercedes to keep Ethan on Brantley Station.  He won’t admit it to anyone, but he even will try to claim the lonely child as his.

Learn more about Brummen and follow Ethan’s story in the Brantley Station Saga!

Thanks for reading!

Type at you later…

~Nancy Tart

Meet Kalam Tevortae

June 19, 2018

Meet Kalam Tevortae

We’re going to meet another fictional character today.  Kalam Tevortae began as a small part in the story, Web of Deception, but when my little brother became interested enough to actually listen to my odd world, Kalam took on more of my brother’s traits and filled a larger role.  (Yes, Kalam was modeled after the young warrior my little brother perceived himself to be.  Many of my brother’s character traits actually filled Kalam.  And the little friend who was my brother’s crush was added as Rosali because at six, my brother insisted, “you can’t have me in your story without my girlfriend.”) Kalam’s age changed as the story matured, but none of those who inspired characters are the same age as said character!

Kalam arrived at the Warrior-Spirit training school of Ja’hline at three.  Although starting to begin training between three and five is common in the World of Kings’ province of Swavaria, most Warrior-Spirits begin training closer to five.  Kalam keeps a secret from his friends about who his father is because he wants to stay near him and doesn’t want to break the Warrior-Spirit code.  Jordan discovers Kalam’s father shortly after Kalam arrives, but doesn’t break the secret because he respects him.  The book only gives you hints to figure it out, see if you can!

Kalam is loyal, protective, inventive, and encouraging.  He admires Jordan Binak and becomes one of his closest friends.  Kalam sees Jordan as a big brother.  Kalam learns easily and has a problem solving mind.  He leads without understanding that he is.  His example inspires many around him, including those who are elder.  Kalam wants to be a guru and teach when he graduates. Kalam, like every warrior-spirit trainee, studies various weapons and is already skilled at the short sword, bow, and dagger.  He prefers the bow, to keep his enemies at a distance.

Read “Web of Deception” to see Kalam in action!  He and his friends have a quest to complete, but can they unravel the stories to find the truth?  Enjoy!

Thanks for reading!

Type at you next time…

~Nancy Tart

Biblical Film Adaptations

June 16, 2018

Biblical Film Adaptations

In this world, the entertainment industry often gets inspiration or ideas from books to transform into movies.  Of course, as a writer, I like to point out to the girls that every movie started as the written word (aka written or typed scripts).  One of the areas we discuss a lot is the differences between book and movie.  We watch many films which are based on a Biblical story.  Many times when people discuss Biblically-inspired movies, the main question is: “Is it accurate?”  This is an important question.  I also like to discuss why it wasn’t accurate – because I have yet to watch a retold Biblical-story-based film that was 100% accurate.

Below are a few of my thoughts specifically on Bible-to-Movie productions.

By far a favorite series in our house is the “Greatest Adventure” cartoons; stories that are close to accurate but obviously not due to the addition of three non-biblical characters and humorous exploits by said characters that just aren’t accurate.  Another favorite is “The Ten Commandments” – which although it’s a classic with great acting and brilliant pageantry, it focuses the majority of time on the portions of Moses’ life that the Bible does not cover, and omits or changes portions of the wilderness journey.  Even the more Biblically accurate “Moses” and “Joseph,” both with Ben Kingsley, omit quite a bit of the story.  Then there are the cartoon features like “Prince of Egypt” and “King of Dreams” – which are more about the lead character “finding themselves” and “fulfilling their destiny” which sounds more along the line of Star Wars than the Bible and they outright change the stories; the former appears to be all about “freedom” (good, but what about learning to obey God?) and the latter has less obvious inaccuracies with the poignant story of forgiveness extremely strong.  Mel Gibson’s “Passion”, while being graphic and realistic where you feel like an intruder through time due to the archaic languages used, has several added sequences that aren’t in the Gospels along with omitting sections that are.  “The Nativity Story” expands on just a few verses to create a realistic emotional journey that focuses on what the storytellers believe Mary and Joseph were feeling and experiencing in their culture; it is close to being Biblically accurate, but much is added into the story.  “Noah” was realistic as entertainment but flawed if one tried to match it to the Bible (though this was the first of any Noah story remake I’d seen where they’d included the fact that Methuselah died the same year as the flood).  “Samson” has an over-the-top villain that makes it seem cartoonish, the story is again modified, yet the film storyline is highly believable.  Three or four Noah remakes as musical cartoon shorts exist in our collection and provide many laughs – the only accuracy in those is this single story thread;“Noah and his family and the animals were saved by God in a boat,” the rest is singing, dancing, and cartoon animal gags.

Even our family’s absolute favorite because it captures the truth of the character of Christ as the Gospels portray, “The Greatest Story Ever Told,” leaves much to be desired if it were an exact retelling of the story (the girls always laugh at the poor cowboy Centurion but love the emotions in the face of the actor playing Jesus when he says “I am the resurrection and the life”).

The question begging is this: why are these things left out?  Why are stories shortened?  Why are portions added in?  Why create inaccuracies in a Biblical story?

In any film production there is the balance between budget, story, perceived audience retention, rating, and other factors that impact how the finished product turns out.  For the sake of the story, characters are sometimes added, omitted, or changed.  Consider in “Samson” how instead of foreskins he brings clothing (that was a nice change).  Sometimes stories are changed or details omitted to keep a film under a specific rating and therefore open to a larger audience.  When we realize that any retelling of the Biblical story will fall short of being the actual Bible, we can appreciate the retold stories as just that; someone’s retold story based on a truth from the Bible.  Granted, as with any film or story, we have to use our discretion – I don’t own a copy of “Sodom and Gomorrah” with Stewart Granger because it’s inaccuracies outweigh what I would consider worth the entertainment (really, hundreds of people escape those cities to follow the great leader, Lot?)

Sometimes accuracy is lost in retelling a story for a specific reason to craft a more palatable story or to engage a specific audience.  I’ve rewritten a few Biblical stories and no, they are not 100% accurate.

  • In “Katy Bear’s Request,” my main character is a talking bear – seriously? This is a child’s book written as a fantasy.  No human was around to witness creation so I picked a bear to witness God making Eve.  Katy Bear is a cub because my story was written for a preschool audience.  Accuracy was lost for fantasy.
  • In “Story From the Inn,” the inaccuracy comes from added details. In the Bible, there is no mention of the innkeeper’s family and no mention that Joseph and Mary are unattended when Jesus is born.  From those unspecified details, I developed the innkeeper’s daughter who sits with the midwife’s daughter to attend Mary and witnesses Jesus’ birth to retell the story to her grandchildren years later.  This inaccuracy is due to added details.
  • In “The Living God,” I actually took quotes from the Bible for the characters to speak, but I added two young palace slaves to observe Daniel and who, like Darius, is convinced Daniel’s God is the Living God. Caleb and Miriam were added because I wanted someone with whom my audience could relate.  They are not mentioned in the Biblical account, so those additions make it inaccurate.

These stories were purposefully made inaccurate to be more entertaining and to engage my audience easier.

Personally, I like to use all Biblical films as catalysts to open discussion regarding this very truth – films are simply stories retold to entertain us.  We discuss the differences between the film and the true story, the supposed reasons why these differences exist, and how the differences affect the story.  Many times, we enjoy a retold story even though we understand the truth is different.  We have two favorite films that are about the life of Ruth – and the girls enjoy watching and discussing both.

Discussion regarding movie versus book is something I do with every film we’ve seen where the girls have read the book.  I do like to turn any opportunity into a teaching moment.  Sometimes the reaction is, “The movie is much better,” (i.e. “The Hunger Games”, “Bambi”, “The Little Mermaid,” “The Count of Monte Cristo”) but most often the reaction is, “I missed xyz” or “Why didn’t they have such and such character?” ending with, “I liked the book better.”

With almost all Bible story depictions on film, the consensus is the Book is much better.

Thanks for reading!

Type at you later…

~Nancy Tart

 

Meet Eric (of the Landmark Tribe)

June 11, 2018

Meet Eric

Eric is a squirrel in the Landmark Tribe.  They live deep in the Wooded Lands in some big ancient trees.

Eric is the eldest son of Mama Nut and Kahoona, the leader of the Landmark Tribe.  His grandfather is Grappy and his grandmother is Granny Pecan.  Granny Pecan makes the best hazelnut pie in all of the Wooded Lands!

Eric has a sister (called a squirreless) named Magnolia.  He and Magnolia are of courting age, but Magnolia hasn’t found her mate yet.  Eric is courting Hazel.

Eric is just old enough to consider himself out of the Crunchies (the word for “teenage squirrels”), although most of the younger Crunchies consider him the eldest of them.

He orders his thoughts carefully before speaking.  He is considerate of others and gentle to the squawlers (babies or very young squirrels).  Eric is always respectful.  He helps lead others in what is right.

Here is an excerpt from “The Busting Berry Bath,” in which Eric tries to encourage Chip, who is narrating the story:

“I was held in the spell of newness that encased the nest.  I’d never seen an egg hatch.  The mama bird showed up and settled on the nest, feeding the older baby birds and preening the hatchling.  Precious.

“You saved it,” I heard a voice as I tried to slip away.  It was Eric.  I grabbed my baskets and quickly started filling them with berries.  Eric came near me and helped.  He tossed berries into the basket without missing just like Granny with the nuts. 

I shrugged. 

“All life is worth fighting for,” Eric nodded as he gently placed the last berry to crown one basketload.  “Even if it’s just a bird.”

I knew he was using Woody’s words to make a point, but I missed it. 

“Thanks for helping,” I offered.  He gave me the basket and I carried both to Granny Pecan.  The image of that tiny little bird hatching out of his shell – I didn’t even know if it was a boy baby or a girl baby – was so neat.  Maybe I did save it.  I felt blessed. And we hurried back for the best pie in the whole wide wonderful world!

So, that was the story of how I, Chip, Crunchie of the Landmark Tribe in the wooded lands, was rained on by the Busting Berry Bath while harvesting toppings for a heavenly hazelnut pie.”

Oh, oops, Chip forgot, the full story isn’t here!  You have to read Chip tell the whole story in “The Busting Berry Bath!”

Thanks for reading!

Type at you next time…

~Nancy Tart

Creating Characters: Web of Deception

February 11, 2018

Creating Characters: Web of Deception

The first of my epic fantasy novels to be published, Web of Deception, has some of my favorite characters.  It took over seven years of development and several revisions to complete this work.  I’m a bit of a perfectionist, so I never thought it was really done!

I wasn’t writing for a specific audience at first.  (Perhaps it would be more accurate to say, at the time, I was writing for myself as a young adult fiction enthusiast.)  I chose a semi-autobiographical lead.  I imagined myself as Jordan.  Since I was fourteen years old when I started, he originally started out at fourteen.  There were also about 280 pages of exploits and adventures in Ja’hline!  Later, as I became more advanced in my writing profession, I realized that none of these “school stories” did anything to help advance the actual plot; it just gave an extended view at the culture of Swavaria and the emerging character of several players.  This did solidify the characters in my imagination.  I knew them because I had been slowly forming them.  As I hit “delete” on over 280 pages of material, I chose to see it as an exercise in character development  rather than a humongous loss and waste of time.  Today, any one of my series books and most of my novels have a separate file with in-depth biographies and feature traits of each character.  (Usually, even supporting characters like Darren from Brantley Station Saga and General Wrynn from Web of Deception have pages of biographical information on them!)

The character of Kalam was one of the easiest for me; when I started reading this story aloud to my younger brother, he loved it and wanted to be in it.  This led to the creation of Kalam, a younger character included in the group.  This younger character had expounded strengths and the quiet, reserved, thoughtful nature of my brother.  It was easy to develop him.

Several other characters had “base” humans – those I pictured with modified talents or enhanced abilities to keep reminding me of the core of my character.

Jordan was what I imagined myself to be should I be in a fantasy adventure.  His character was actually drawn from attributes I admired in various historical figures and fiction characters from favorite tales.  Jordan was a hodge-podge of strengths I wanted and weaknesses I felt inside me.  The turmoil he feels throughout the book is something any adolescent would likely feel to some degree – we all feel like we are fighting a raging battle between our inner good and evil wolves, don’t we?  (Which wolf do we choose to feed?)

Chloe was my first character that had no “base” human for me to draw from.  She was developed to be the bold opposite of Jordan.  Alike in many ways, but different in certain extremes, Chloe and Jordan complemented each other and fueled a growing fissure of uncertainty throughout the journey.

Sometimes, characters build themselves because of a vacuum created in my work: Corgi was pulled back from the scrap board and I needed a character to compliment him.  To fill this gap bloomed Seva Natalia.

Overall, the characters I create appear to come alive inside my imagination, spill into my dreams, and take on their own lives as I record their adventures on paper (or screen).  Often, the same or very similar characters pop up in various works!  This is because I tend to lean toward strong, noble, intelligent characters and  love tossing in my “bit parts” guys when I can.  (You know, like Gabby Haynes popping up in hundreds of westerns always playing the same sidekick?)  My grizzled, uncouth military leader, wizened salt-and-pepper crowned mentor, sassy bossy no-filter child, and a few others pop up under a variety of names and faces to keep my readers (my girls) yipping, “Mom!  He’s from your other book too!” when they find one of these bit part characters.

Thanks for reading!

Type at you next time…

~Nancy Tart

 

Character Creation: The Funny Sisters

February 7, 2018

Creating Characters: The Funny Sisters

One thing I love about reading is meeting amazing characters!   I’ll be feeling the same betrayal and hopelessness that twists into revenge alongside David Balfour as he watches his uncle get smaller as his prison of a ship carries him into unknown waters. (Robert Louis Stevenson’s Kidnapped)  I’m puzzling out the mystery with Nancy Drew in dozens of fun chapter books – and I scream at Bess, “Don’t open that door!” but she doesn’t listen.  When the rough man beats and drags Buck into the cold shack, I’m crying and praying for his release. (Jack Loudon’s Call of the Wild) Vivid characters make a story real to me.

I’m one of those crazy readers who actually talks to her book people.  I think about them as real people even though I know they are fictional – and when I find (or raise!) another crazy reader, we can discuss these characters as if they were real people for hours!   (This makes for interesting conversation: I’ve been part of discussions about characters’ psychology and conjecture regarding how they would handle said modern situation.)

Because of my reading quirks, when I write, I want to create believable characters.  (And I’m a nut for continuity, so I was very irritated when my first publisher cut my ending ceremony and didn’t add my 13 error-correction edit!)  But that’s a story for another time.

My first step is to figure out who I’m writing for.  For example: “The Funny Sisters” Series.

The Funny Sisters Series began as a few fun stories for my daughters.  They wanted stories about sisters like them.  Each character reflects the distinctive traits of each girl at the time the series was started.

Tina is an avid reader who likes to try to lead her younger sisters.  She sometimes gets irritated, but usually laughs it off.  She ends up in all kinds of odd situations caused by her younger siblings.  Tina is bouncy, fun, and at the age where she is trying to be grown up but also loves to do goofy stuff with her sisters.

Becky, another character, doesn’t like to get up in the mornings.  She gets cold easily, laughs a lot, likes to tell jokes and make puns, loves animals, and makes up cool pretend games.  Becky gets mad at people sometimes.  She is a perfectionist and likes things to run smoothly.  Becky and Ellen have a special understanding because they are so alike.

Kim is rambunctious.  She almost never walks or seldom does anything slowly.  She runs.  She jumps.  She cartwheels.  She slides into the oven and pulls on the handle so it falls on top of her.  Kim has a boisterous personality.  Kim almost never gets mad at anyone.  Kim is friendly.  She laughs loud and lives life boldly.

Ellen’s quiet personality hides her inner dragon.  She is always thinking, always contemplating her next move, always observing everything around her.  She usually knows where everyone else is and what they are doing.   She carries a blankie. (This just had to be since Jaquline wouldn’t have the stories without her blankie-that-went-everywhere.)  Ellen is determined, thoughtful, and factual.  She says what she sees.

Jill is the baby of the family.  She’s a typical two-year-old who loves fun, dancing, running, and keeping her sisters and parents guessing as to her next demolition target.  Of course, she doesn’t mean to decimate things, she just sometimes does.  Jill would rather not wear clothes.  She loves to sing!

These characters interact together to create funny family situations.  Most are copied from real life.  (Some events in the books are exaggerated while some are toned-down!)  Once these books became a “for sale” series, each character was tweaked just a touch to make sure they could entertain various age groups.  They are made to be read-aloud like bedtime stories.  The inclusion of the spread of ages gives the Reader an ability to say, “she’s just about your age!”  The thread of clean humor is woven through to make these books fun for the Reader as well as the bedtime audience.

This is the simplest example of my character creation.  Each of my books or series has its own backstory: some were created to reach a specific audience and characters created to meet that need (Brantley Station Saga) while others were created around a character I liked (the Adventures of Long Tail) or a story I created characters around (Web of Deception).

I’ll write about the different character creation method I use at a later time!

Thanks for reading!

Type at you later…

~Nancy Tart

Meet Alena

February 5, 2018

Meet Alena Summers

Alena Summers is an adventurous animal-loving girl who lives in the village of Covenant.  Her home is the planet called Devonia, an Earth-like planet far away where her parents’ transport ship crash landed many years ago.

Alena has one brother, Michael, and two sisters, Janine and Raquelita.  Janine is just big enough to start helping and doing big-kid stuff like fishing at Ice Cube Creek.  (Fishing is one of the Devonian children’s favorite things to do!)

Alena loves babies of all kinds.  She wants to study animals like her father and doctoring like Mrs. Nala and Mrs. Emma.  She loves getting to nurse the baby Brown-Sheep if they are rejected by their ewes (mother sheep).  Sometimes Alena’s temper flares fast.  She speaks the truth without tempering it.  Her father often says she must learn to speak the truth in love instead of in anger or pride.  Alena loves her beautiful world.  She comes across many unique animals and has fun adventures with her siblings and friends.  Alena also loves stories; she thinks that Butterfly tells the best ones.

One of Alena’s favorite stories in the world is the story of how Tawny came to be a part of her family.  That story is found in the third book in The Devonians Series called, “A Foundling Furball.”  When Alena tells it later, it starts like this:

One day while fishing, Alena heard what she thought was a baby crying.  The fishermen looked for this sound.  They discovered a baby dengee (a wolf-like animal) that was badly hurt!  Alena brought this dengee pup home and her father oversees while she doctors it. (Alena’s father studies all types of animals and their family tends the village’s current herd of Brown-Sheep) Alena names this baby girl dengee, Tawny.

Come follow Alena and her friends on fun adventures in their special world of Devonia here!

Thanks for reading!

Type at you later…

~Nancy Tart

Meet Tawny

The backstory of the little dengee adopted by Alena in A Foundling Furball. Meet Tawny:

January 18, 2018

Meet Tawny

On Devonia, a world far from here, but more deserving of the name Earth’s Twin than Venus, a dengee (a strong, wolf-dog-like creature) female birthed a litter of pups.  One of those tiny, sightless, nearly deaf, fluffy balls was a tan-brown female with black rings on her tail and black markings.  Her first two days of life were normal for any dengee pup.  She shoved her way to her mother’s warm belly and warmed herself inside and out with her mother’s milk and thick soft fur.

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But then something unexpected happened.  She was too young to understand, but the lead pack male was forced out by a trio of incoming younger, stronger males.  In the dengee world, those males would then destroy all of the previous male’s young.  Although some of the mother dengees had been wounded while trying to fight them away alongside the pack male, others resigned themselves to their fate.  The new trio of males, one lead pack male and the other two his cohorts, hunted down and destroyed all the six dens with the old male’s pups.

What the pup knew was that mean teeth snapped at her and a rough angry paw tossed her out of the warm den and into the cold early morning where it was just as dark to those with open eyes as it was to her blind self.  Miraculously, the tiny female pup, now heavily injured, managed to elude her pursuer and slide into the edge of a frigid creek.  She called for her mother.  She cried will all her might.

Her new mother heard her cries.

Alena Summers, a human child fishing on the bank of the Ice Cube Creek that early afternoon, heard the pitiful calls of this lonely baby and followed the sound.  Joseph Taylor, another human child, swam into the cold water to rescue the blob of tangled fur from her prison in the bushes on the edge of the water, and there Tawny became a ward of the humans.

This little three-day-old dengee pup whose eyes had never seen her own kind was rescued from drowning by two children and warmed in her new mother’s soft apron.  Tawny’s life had already been so full of turmoil!  Even on the bank after being rescued, the other children considered tossing her back because dengees were deadly foes to the humans – attacking their livestock and more than once, even the humans themselves.  Thankfully, Alena wouldn’t have that; she took full charge of this tiny creature.

With slow, tender, loving care, Tawny’s wounds will heal.  Four days later, at only a week old, and without yet opening her tiny eyes, little Tawny will face another challenge as the council of elders on Devonia has to decide if Alena can keep this dangerous animal.  Of course, Alena and her friends will swear that this pup is nothing dangerous – but that remains to be seen.

For now, Tawny, the newest member of the Devonian settlement of Covenant, is resting with warm Brown-Sheep milk digesting in her belly laying on a soft rag-blanket-bed on straw in the Summers’ barn listening to the sounds of Alena’s pretty lullabies, Brown-Sheep ewes, and baby lambs and dreaming of new warm sun on her body and the soft, warm love of her human mother.

If you want to read about how Alena, Joseph, and their friends find and rescue Tawny, you can read A Foundling Furball!

Thanks for reading!

Type at you later…

~Nancy Tart

 

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