Fiction and Poetry
A Lingering Passion
Drama magnate Stan Richards seeks to uncover his family's tragic secret. But his explorations into a generations-old scandal reawaken both love and vengeance from beyond the grave, as a modern-day troupe of actors finds itself pitted against the ghostly presences that linger in a haunted Victorian theater. Can the leading lady save her leading man, the love of her life, from the death that waits in the wings? Or will the call from beyond the grave prove too strong -- for all of them?
Some Cost a Passing Bell
In the fictional Ozark counties of Blackburn and Fulbright, odd things happen constantly, the supernatural an everyday companion. Now, however, something is terribly wrong: the locals believe an ancient evil has awakened with the arrival of a young widow at a haunted farm outside town. Camilla Carthan is actually fleeing a ghost –her husband Tim, murdered by his mistress – when she buys the old homestead built by Jeffrey Adams nearly two hundred years ago. Jeffrey died there and has lingered ever since, feared by locals and strangers alike.
To Camilla, he’s her guardian angel, driving off the terrible nightmares she’s suffered every night since her husband’s death. The aura of protection she feels at the house encourages her to forget the past and move on.
But she reckons without Tim’s vengeful spirit. Enraged at his own death and at what he sees as his widow’s desertion, he’s determined to reclaim her – and the psychic powers he’s always been able to use. And no one, dead or alive, is going to stand in his way.
Klassic Koalas: A Coloring Book of more than 80 Koalas and Uniquely Australian Creatures
Klassic Koalas:
A Coloring Book of more than 80 Koalas and Uniquely Australian Creatures
edited by Joanne Ehrich and Lee Barwood
Softbound; 86 pages, 8.5' x 8.5'; (21.5cm x 21.5cm) October 1, 2009; Juvenile/Activity Books; FREE: Full-color example pages
$14.99
Koala and nature lovers of all ages will enjoy this visual celebration of Australia's magnificent wildlife, with detailed such as the kookaburra, platypus, kangaroo, Tasmanian devil, Tasmanian tiger, cassowary, emu, ostrich, wombat, sugar glider, brushtail possum, desert mouse, dingo, goanna, and frilled lizard—as well as the lesser-known bilby, tamenoir, bandicoot, numbat, betong, quoll, phalanger, and bandy bandy snake.
Attractive illustrations, several of which were also featured in the book , were designed with any skill level and age in mind. Finished landscapes may serve as an inspiration to unleash the artist within. Line art can be completed with colored pencils, felt-tip markers, oil pastels, crayons, or acrylic and watercolor paint. Skilled illustrators are invited to make practical use by scanning in illustrations for existing projects, collage work, stained glass designs, knitting, quilt and appliqué patterns, woodworking, or framed wall art.
A glossary in the back contains fact-filled descriptions of the animals featured in the book, as well as general, uniquely Australian terms.
Klassic Koalas: A Summer Party in Koalaland
Klassic Koalas: Ancient Aboriginal Tales in New Retellings
The ancient wisdom of native Australians offers explanations for all the natural phenomena they lived with before the coming of the British to the continent, and these glimpses into eight of these tales display an understanding of the natural world that is lacking in today’s hectic pace. Most of the stories focus on the koala, probably Australia’s most famous marsupial and the embodiment of gentle good nature. The koala, though, occupies a powerful place in Australian Aboriginal lore that most readers will find surprising, given its gentle and tranquil nature.
In these retellings of eight stories, Lee Barwood has invoked the magic of the koala to introduce modern readers young and old to the Time of Dreaming.
In this time, with Australia and its creatures under threat from habitat destruction, global warming, and the incursions of non-native predators, this book has a two-fold purpose. The first is to offer readers of all ages a glimpse into a time that, according to legend, was the most powerful of times. The second is to help to preserve the unique creatures of Australia. Each copy of this book contributes to the Australian Wildlife Hospital, a major project of Wildlife Warriors International; Lee has donated all her royalties from the project to help koalas.
The accompanying illustrations are by Joanne Ehrich and artists of the Central Ohio Art Academy, directed by Donna Boiman.
Animals and their welfare play a large role in Lee's fiction. Whether it's in Liavek, city of magic, or the fictional Blackburn County, where odd things happen all the time, or even in the Land Down Under, where the Dreamtime never really ends, animals are as important to the stories as people, and sometimes they are the story.
Koalas and other unique Australian animals and birds are under threat from wildfires, severe drought, habitat destruction, non-native predators, and other hazards. Lee writes about these issues as well, believing that a world without the incredible diversity already vanishing before our eyes is infinitely the poorer for the loss.
NOVELS
A Dream of Drowned Hollow
What happens when the true cost of a developer's desperation to bring jobs to his home state is the destruction of the land and the waters?
April Rue Stoner has a gift: she can see into the past and the future, and she can photograph what she sees so that others can see it, too.
Learning to live with a talent like that can be terrifying. Learning to use it to protect her friends and the countryside she loves can be even more terrifying, as she comes up against a ruthless, powerful man who wants to turn her part of the Ozarks into his own private dream of success.
Can she trust Owen Ferris, who works for her foe, to help her? Once he realizes what Trevor Dalton intends, and indeed has already done, Ferris is only too eager to help the Ozarks girl with the strange and frightening gift. But will she have him as an ally -- or, perhaps, even more?
Like the cover art? Click here to buy it -- on a mug, T-shirt, or whatever you decide on!
The Siege for Westmarch
As first one and then the other is swept up into the horrors of war, the only thing that keeps them going is the memory of the love they shared. Magic and power work for good and for evil as the two try desperately to save their homelands and their people from ruthless tyrants.
This novel won Honor Book Award in Andre Norton's Gryphon Award competition.
The Rise of Champions
Rija, now the queen of her homeland Carolija and fighting desperately to prevent its destruction by sorcery, must also fight to save Ranulf's kingdom if they are not all to perish at the hands of her enemy.
And Tegan, Ranulf's young queen, forgotten by her husband in the wake of his injury, battles desperately to keep Ranulf's brother Ulric from seizing the throne -- and then losing it to an enemy she only knows in nightmares: Rija's foe, the sorcerer Vjestac.
Short Stories
Lila Rowe knows that she has to find a way to escape her abusive husband. But there's a complication: If she can't find a way out in time, a herd of rescued horses will die too.
Misled by his heart and a false friend, Hugh has been waiting eight hundred years to find true love. Can his harp music cast its own enchantment and lead a modern young woman to break the witch's spell at last?
Grow Old Along With Me
Check out Catfantastic V, edited by Martin Greenberg and Andre Norton, for the short story "Grow Old Along With Me."
A Woman of Her Word
The Catfantastic III anthology, edited by Andre Norton and Martin H. Greenberg, contains not only "A Woman of Her Word" but also a stellar collection of cat tales for the lover of fantasy and felinity.
Pyre
Included in this excellent anthology edited by Susan Schwartz and Martin A. Greenberg is the story of a woman and child who prove that love can burn brighter than fire.
There's magic in the old fountain sculpture. The statue, memorial to a horse who gave his life to save his mistress, comes to life once more when another young girl needs his help. Is her love enough to keep him a living, breathing horse?
Long-out-of-print tale "The Skin and Knife Game," a collaboration between Lee Barwood and Charles de Lint, appears in the new Subterranean Press anthology A Handful of Coppers. To order, click here.
Liavek: Spells of Binding, the fourth Liavek anthology edited by Will Shetterly and Emma Bull, contains "The Skin and Knife Game," a collaborative tale set in the city of magic from Lee Barwood and Charles de Lint.
By the Book
Copyright 2007 Lee Barwood. All rights reserved.