This week on Excerpt Thursday we're welcoming author Wendy Laharnar, who is celebrating the release of her debut title, The Unhewn Stone, set in medieval Switzerland. Join us Sunday when Wendy will be here to talk about the novel, answer questions and give away a copy. Here's the blurb:
Life
in the Middle Ages is a dangerous game, even for Üserwäälti, the Chosen One.
When modern day Swiss teen, Stefan Gessler, answers the call to restore
his family's honour, he discovers it takes more than superior education and
pride to equip him for life in the Middle Ages. His dangerous adventures test
his courage and challenge his beliefs.
Immersed in the turbulent events of the Wilhelm Tell legend, Stefan
pretends to be a wizard when an avaricious sibyl
mistakes him for an alchemist. The shape-shifting sibyl and an evil
knight have diabolical reasons to want the wizard dead. So, faced
with his own demons and those of medieval Switzerland, how will Stefan
complete his mission and escape the fourteenth century...alive?
**An Excerpt from The Unhewn Stone**
**An Excerpt from The Unhewn Stone**
Bürglen,
Central Switzerland
December,
Present day
….
Ääni’s
cerulean eyes locked onto Stefan’s and glistened with the moistness of age. His
lips tightened in a wry smile. He didn’t speak, but Stefan heard his voice, ‘Be
careful what you wish for. You might get it.’
“Ääni,
you read my mind. Hey,” Stefan said lightly, “maybe, one minute you’ll see me,”
he snapped his fingers, “the next I’ll be gone.”
“Will
you take poor old Spindel with you?” Ääni asked. He rose and patted the Saint
Bernard.
“You
know I call him Spitz, and no, I don’t think he wants to leave here.” A twinge
of guilt niggled at Stefan. He’d disregarded Spitz in future plans. He finished
the beer and placed the bottle next to the other empties on the desk.
“Ääni,
your beard needs a trim.”
‘Tut,
tut.” The old man swept his arm in a flourish across Stefan’s desk. “Lahabiel,
Lahabiel,” he whispered. The
empty beer bottles changed into stacks of coins.
Stefan
held one of the coins to the light. “Das
isch en Schwindel. Why don’t you work your magic on my
face and leg?” He threw the fake coin to his grandfather, but it dropped on the
floor, rolled under the bed and disturbed the small hamster in the pile of
dirty clothes. He dived for the animal.
With
another sweep of his hand, Ääni changed the coins back into bottles. “Ah, Spindel,
Schwindel,
only you can fix that.” He moved to the back of the room where shelves bowed
under the weight of old science books and magazines.
“I
see you kept my books.” He leafed through a magazine. “Do you trust me?”
“What
a question? Of course I trust you.” Stefan caught the hamster and locked it in
its cage, just in case. Once, Ääni had changed it into a double-headed snake
that flicked its tongues at Stefan. It took the old man two days to change it
back.
On
the far wall, where the ceiling sagged least, Ääni opened the wardrobe door.
“Remove this floor board for me, bitte?”
Stefan
knelt on the shabby rose patterned rug, turned back the embroidered sleeve of
his festive costume, and leaned into the wardrobe. He found the small knothole
at the end of the middle board, slipped his finger in, and lifted out the
panel.
“I
discovered your secret panel years ago,” he said smugly. “See, I found your
magic cards and knotted string, a few silk scarves and…” Stefan tugged at a
bunch of magician’s flowers clamped between Spitz’s teeth. “Bad dog. Drop it!”
“Now
open the real secret panel.” Ääni sounded equally self-satisfied.
“But—”
“You
should feel a knob. It’s a slide lever, quite small. Drag it hard to the left.”
With
a frown, because he’d examined this recess many times over the years, Stefan
ran his fingers under the ledge and against the back wall. His hand brushed a lump
of rough wood full of splinters. Nothing else resembled a lever. He closed his
hand over it and pulled sideways. A panel in the back wall of the closet fell
forward. It exposed a storage area two hands deep. Inside, a square tin box,
its side the length of a man’s forearm, rested on its edge.
Ääni
chuckled. “Things aren’t always what they seem. You looked no further when you
found the first secret panel. It pays to look beyond
the finish line.”
“Good
one, Ääni,” Stefan called over his shoulder. “What’s in it?” As he reached for
the box, the air in the secret panel crackled with tiny blue sparks. An
invisible force drew his arms forward and clamped his hands around the cold
tin. He lifted the box and held the treasure close to his chest. A pleasant sensation
fizzed through his arms. Reluctantly, he passed the box to Ääni.
On
its rough cut lid, two S’s intertwined on a rod, like snakes hissing at each
other. A single red stone in the eye of one snake flashed in the light. Stefan
tried to lift the lid, but Ääni stopped him with pressure on his hand and
placed the box on the bed.
“You’ll
need more than brute strength to get it off. I could give you a magic
incantation, but why use magic if a physical means is at hand? Use this.”
From
his trouser pocket, he withdrew a short screwdriver and prised the lid on
either side to loosen it.
Stefan
bent over the box. A musty odour rose on the air. “It’s a book. Magic tricks?”
“No.
Lift it out.” Ääni’s grin reminded Stefan of the jester above the bed.
Stefan
carried the book to his desk. The potent energy in his arms progressed to his
neck and tingled down his spine. He swept the Tarot cards aside to make space
in front of the computer. Lamplight spilled a yellow glow across the stained
cover to reveal the same graceful S pattern cut deep into the leather. He liked
the old smell and brought his face closer. He gasped at the title.
Opus
Magnum
by
Stefan
Gessler
“That’s
my name!”
“Yes,
and you share his birthday, December 23rd, the day known as the Secret of the Unhewn
Stone.
Wendy's e-book, The Unhewn Stone, is available from the MuseItUp
Bookstore, Amazon
Kindle, Barnes
& Noble Nook Book and Smashwords
Her blog is Wendy L .
