Of Books & Thistles

If I can beg the indulgence of the wargame blogging world for a few moments, I'm pleased to announce Olivia's Escape, the first of a series of YA novels co-authored by my Better Half and I is now available at Amazon.

Cool steampunk cover by the excellent Gwen Pfifer.

Olivia's Escape.

Seventeen-year-old Olivia Brown is abducted on her way home from a night out and wakes up to find herself imprisoned by a vampiric race in a dark city bathed in eternal night. Hernando, a handsome half-human slave, reveals what is intended for her – they want her blood for the upcoming festival. Together they escape, and find friends and allies in unexpected places.

Joining a resistance cell, they help plot a revolution and fall in love. Their group plans to take control of the Portal, a teleportation device that links Earth with the world of BloodDark. Getting into the City of Night is a challenge. A narrow window of opportunity opens - but what awaits them in the caverns located deep beneath the city?

Will Olivia and Hernando survive the battle? If she returns to Earth, will Olivia ever see him again?

* * * *

On to gaming...

Some time ago I planted thistles in our back garden. They have a triple advantage. The florets attract pollenating insects, the dried and chopped-up canes serve as refuges for useful insects to hibernate in over winter - and the teasels form the basis for N-scale trees. Good for a gamer on a budget.

I made a number of these in the past two years after harvesting the teasels, all in full summer leaf versions. Now this years' harvest is in and dried, I plan to make a new batch of trees in Autumn colours.

Dry teasels - some forty-odd, enough for a good size wood.

The seeds have to be shaken out. This can take some time as each teasel hold zillions of the buggers. Once emptied, I'll trim them down and put them on bases.

The general effect. A 10mm Parliamentarian cavalry troop shows the scale of the thing.

The photo above shows the kind of thing I'm aiming for, but picture it in the glorious colours of Fall. More photos as I make progress...