The Fronds in Tond (and other stories)

 The Author Event Network 2026 summer season is winding down. But there is still time to get signed copies of books by me and other Seattle-area authors. My own schedule is as follows (subject to change): Lake City Summerfest , August 1 st (Saturday), 10:30 AM to 9:30 PM. This is a fun family event. I've been there two years now. It was the first AEN event where someone bought my entire "Tond" Series. ...and I hope Beamae's Seafood Gumbo booth is back! I added the conlangs at the bottom; they’re Fyorian (on the left) and Emb from my “ Tond ” and “ MadStones ” books. Both spell out “Lake City Summerfest” phonetically, with customary punctuation. The Fyorian characters are: Place-name marker, L, AY vowel with accent, K, hyphen, S, short I vowel with accent, T, long E vowel, space, S, UM vowel with accent, M, R vowel, F, short E vowel, S, D (“D” after “S” becomes “T”), and “end of text” marker. The Emb characters are: L, A, vowel modifier, K, dot (space), S, shor...

 My collection of short fiction called "Fronds" contains four stories that are set in Tond, the world of my fantasy novel series. In this one, there are three men on an island. None of them is entirely a "good guy". Careful reading will reveal the reason their names may sound slightly familiar but in Fyorian guise (without "B", "P", or "X"). The Fourth Source 1 Ras-Sero repeated the words to himself again, as if they were one of the lorematers’ litanies against fear and hardship, “The quest is noble. The goal is virtuous. I set my heart upon the duty. It is of no consequence that some get hurt along the way. The quest is noble. The goal is virtuous…” The sky was gray and the air was hot and moist. Ras-Sero’s footfalls and the clack of his walking staff clattered against the gray shale shards strewn along the high path. His backpack bounced on his shoulders. On either side of him, the rocky ground sloped away, down into patchy green ...

Memories from earliest childhood (partly mine, partly fictional) continue in these fragments of Chapter Two of this experimental novel. Fear and dream-sequences shatter familiar language. Refer to the May 22nd post if you need to review what "ussers" are, though they are only mentioned briefly here in a dream. Ussers and the Echo of Nothing Chapter Two Fear Hot summer night Sleep, dream. Hat sum merknight H some some lightight sight sigh darknesses Dsoiug goians; oiub Fo gho know ahgoq ghghgh stm Darkness below, we were there, and that darkness was mushrooms and over thedge also grownd on all sidse but you can’t button mushrooms. The road continued but they’d like it. —Go! —Let’s go sea! —Mushrooms are a fun gas for the car. We drove into the rags, dirty glass, slide them, or to see where it seemflowers, sunflowers, sunglowers, and rootsed to mind backled there. You can’t cook a peel into a loop-way round. —Certain species. —That’s a new word, said Dad...