My Book Is LIVE! | And Story of the Axe

It’s here, it’s here, it’s HEEEEEEEERE!!!!!! *confetti shower*

Okay, usually I try to behave with decorum, especially on the blog, but today is not the time for it.

The Crown and the Axe is live! And I just realized I’ve never shared the blurb with you here, so….

A careless mistake. A tale from the past. A journey he’ll never forget.

Seventeen-year-old Dierk Lichtensitz, Crown Prince of Sunland, excels in both his physical and educational training. Not that his father is impressed, but Dierk quit trying to please him years ago.

King Phillip Lichtensitz holds high standards for his children—with good reason. So when selfish neglect on Dierk’s part leaves another squire injured, Phillip delivers strict punishment. Dierk must travel the country as a woodcutter’s son.

Resentful of his father’s decision, Dierk resolves to endure his punishment unmoved—until the tales of a long-dead witch’s power force him to reckon with himself and his God.

As the journey leads him into more danger than his father could have ever foreseen, how much will Dierk have to surrender to become the man he needs—and desperately wants—to be?

For Kindle and paperback, hop over to Amazon. For other eBook retailers, try this Universal Book Link. 🙂

Do you mind if I gush about the cover a little more? See, as soon as I started seriously considering doing my own photoshoot, I knew I’d need an ax for a prop. The ax is such a big part of the story, plus it’s part of the title, but clearly it couldn’t be some fiberglass-handled deal that’s common these days.

I did look at the hardware store to see what modern wooden-handled axes looked like, and the blades are rather pretty, but the handles have brand names and fancy grips etched into them. I tried Craigslist and eBay for older ones, but no luck.

So I prayed. I asked the Lord to provide a suitable ax if He willed me to stage my own cover shoot.

And He provided. See, I had volunteered to help at an Outdoor Symposium, a community event designed to help people reconnect with the outdoors. My sisters and I were supposed to lead nature walks for children. There were lots of cool exhibits: the Boy Scouts brought tents, an expert demonstrated firebuilding, a young man showed how to tie different knots, one lady displayed the ten items you need for survival if a hike turns into an emergency. All super-cool.

But the exhibit that attracted my history-loving heart was a table showing vintage camping. The kind of recreational camping popular with Theodore Roosevelt and others. Mark Lewis, of Mark and Debbie Lewis Historical Music, had a wealth of information about camping and surviving in the woods. I could listen to him talk all day. He had old-fashioned gear, an old rifle, and, among other things… an ax. A small one, but a beauty.

So I plucked up my courage and mentioned I was looking for a vintage ax to use in a cover photo for my book. And he offered to let me use his. Said he even had a bigger one at home that he’d be happy to lend me when the time came.

The bigger one was perfect. A lovely old Collins with a label on one side of the handle, so we photographed the other side. 🙂

God is so wonderful, y’all.

And to further demonstrate that, my friend Greg the Hiking Guy (who organized the Outdoor Symposium and is a wealth of knowledge on outdoor survival) had a beautiful piece of property which he let me use for the setting of my photoshoot.

I’m so thankful for people who let God use them to bless others! I could never have published this book without the help of so many friends.

-Miss Darcy

A Tale of Two Fish

I got my first pet fish a little over a year ago–a gorgeous blue half-moon betta with metallic aqua on his tail. I named him Caspian, after Prince Caspian from Narnia. Cass for short, or for people who couldn’t pronounce Caspian.

I had him almost eleven months before he died. (Amazing how attached you can get to a leetle fish.) I didn’t want that tank to sit empty, so I scrubbed it clean and went to the pet story that very day and bought another betta. I almost bought a red one, but apparently I can’t resist the blue ones. I came home with a dark blue veil-tail, which I named Rilian (after Prince Caspian’s son).

I guess I expected them to be almost identical. A betta fish is a betta fish, right?

But these two fish weren’t the same. They had different personalities.

Yeah, I see you rolling your eyes, but most people acknowledge that dogs have their own personalities, so hang with me a little longer.

Caspian was an arrogant little thing. Loved nothing better than to admire his reflection. If I traced my finger along the outside of his tank, he ignored it. Flared his gills most ostentatiously. And he hated it when I cleaned his tank. I had to chase him round and round the tank before I could scoop him out into the holding cup. (I always figured he’d work himself into a heart attack, but he never did.) He’d just sit and sulk until I put him back in his freshly cleaned tank.

He had the funniest way of turning his nose up at you. He wasn’t the sort of pet I baby-talked.

Rilian is very personable. When someone puts their face up to the tank, he swims over to say hi. He wiggles and flares his gills gently and follows your finger along the tank. He’s better at aiming for his food than Caspian was. And he doesn’t mind it when I scoop him out of his tank for cleaning.

Altogether, he’s more approachable. I can call him Rilly sometimes without his being insulted. 😉

So perhaps their “personalities” have to do with the way I interpret their behavior. But the fact is these two fish behave differently.

God cares about His creation so much that He bothered to give two little betta fish different “personalities,” so to speak. Two betta fish that might have died in the hatchery or at the pet store, and absolutely no one would have cared beyond the fact they’d lost a very small amount of cash.

The God who made the stars also cares about little fish no longer than my finger.

He makes them beautiful, and He makes them unique.

“Are not five sparrows sold for two copper coins? And not one of them is forgotten before God.

“But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Do not fear therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows.

-Luke 12:6-7 NKJV (emphasis mine)

-Miss Darcy