L.J. McEachern

@ljmceachern.bsky.social

85 Followers 87 Following

Dawnward Fantasy novelist Substack writer https://ljmceachern.substack.com/

Cute and cuddly. A male and female characters in an embrace with a blue blanket.
A disembodied hand of a silly woman holding up a non-fiction book, titled Challenger: A True Story of Heroism and Disaster on the Edge of Space by Adam Higginbotham.
Sarnai’s children are murdered. Now husband is dead. And she on the run and puts her fate into her own hands. Her choice, make a deal with a being not from her world to stay out of the hands of the authorities. However, after a magical accident, she finds herself in a new realm, and in the home of the very telepathic being she sought to save her life. She’s safe. She can start a new life. She can now wield ice magic and it’s also slowing turning her into ice. So it up to her and her savior, to stop that from happening while finding love on the way.
He then focused on the trunk that stood before him. “We'll take this all one day at of time. First thing is first, we need to see how much essence you have inside of you.” He took off everything that was resting on the trunk and unlatched it. He stirred around the objects poking up. “What are you looking for?” asked Nih. “My essence-scope,” he answered and huffed. “It isn’t here.” He lifted the tray out and place it to the side. Instead of digging, he lifted his leg and stepped inside it, walking forward and getting lower and lower until his entire body vanished. I squeezed my eyes shut, thinking I wasn't seeing right. He spoke but I didn't understand. Hs voice sounded distant.
Nih was the one who I spent a lot more time with. She showed me around and explained as much as she could. Though she frequently asked her father to explain certain things better. It was a lot. Their home was so different than what I was used too. However, we started with simple things. I liked to know the plants I was around and the garden was filled with things called cactus and the grasses were miscanthus and muhly grass. She wanted to take me to the town across the desert, but we would have to take the portal to get there. I declined portal travel and Nih appeared disappointed, but she showed me how to play chest instead. She also introduced me to this thing called TV. We watched these things called game shows, sitcoms, and documentaries.
I looked down at my phone and saw the time. It was almost 6 o’clock. I loved looking down and just seeing the time. There was no need to count tiny marks. I then started looking for more stories to listen to. I glanced at Cato. He was asleep, and I became distracted by pictures of sunsets from around the realms. I didn’t realize that he woke and became engrossed with watching me. When I saw him, he wore the expression of someone who had words to say, yet the only thing that spoke were his soft honey eyes. They spoke of admiration. I swallowed and pretended I didn’t notice the way he looked at me. “Is there something you want to say?” He tugged out his card from his waistcoat pocket and held it to me. I took it and it read. I’m conflicted. (~_~;) “About,” I asked. You. Scrolled the card while Cato looked bashfully at me. Hear me out, me out, Miss Sarnai. When I get intrigued by something, I have to learn everything about it. Take it apart, put it back together, study it, touch it, read about it, smell it, and taste it. And that includes learning about intriguing people. “Okay.” You are an intriguing person. I’ve tried my best to relegate you to guest. Treat you friendly-like as you progress under my care and then release you like an injured creature back to the wild. “Okay,” I said to the card and peer up at his earnest face. It was unfair he could look like that and I dropped my gaze to the card again. But I can can’t just let you go. I want you to stay so I can learn more about you.
An image with a black background behind a phoenix feather with the title: Claws of Ice Wings of Fire on it.
Welsh Pembroke corgi being a desk corgi.
Picture of a sleeping corgi under a desk looking very adorable.
A block of text that reads: He appeared surprised at my entering. Then a smile worked up his lips and the corners of his eyes crinkled. His gaze soft. It all made him look so human. However, even from where I stood there was something off about his eyes. One could call them brown as if they were trying to convince themselves. They were too bright to be human. They looked like a jar of honey with sunlight shining through.
A stack of books from top to bottom.Yumi and the Nightmare Painter by Brandon Sanderson, Ordinary Heroes by Joseph Pfeifer, The Golem and the Jinn by Helen Wecker, Defiant by Brandon Sanderson, Bringing Columbia Home by Eileen Collins, and The Lost Metal by Brandon Sanderson