The Frewyn Herald: Home of the Haanta Series

Aiden and Adaoire are not the only two men who suffer from Balane's Curse. Anyone who dared stay up beyond the small hours with more than a few drinks to furnish them feels all the anguish that Balane's rays beating down on them must afford: T he aubade of sparrow twittering in the bare shrubs beside the road, the grouse hiding in the patches of dwizzened grass shyly ebbing out from breaks in the snow, the gulleys filled with snowbroth trickling along the cracks in the road, the skree of gulls caroming across the landscape pervaded the morning air with an uncommon melody, accompanied by the groans of fellow farmers walking with them along the way, age sitting lightly on their bent backs and broad shoulders, their heads bowed in surrender to the light, the countryside laid out before them prostrate under the grief of winter. Everyone moving toward town shuffled thither in a slow bustle, feet scuffing and steps clointering, hands clumpsed and feet heavy with the remembranc...

Damson's Distress Vol 1 is now available for pre-order at Papercranebooks.com. The publisher asked me to write a summary for the book. This is what happened: S ir Damson Aelhelm, a young lord in the royal court of Marridon, who grew up under the careful auspices of his father in Ballentyne Valley, was never very well-liked by his noble peers. He was shunned in the halls of the Academy for being a lower lord, for growing up tall and fair, and his kindly manner, innocence and handsomeness did him no service amongst those who who had only affluence to claim for their qualities. Time passed on, and Damson's father passed on likewise, leaving him the sole heir of the Aelhelm estate, and while he could have endured as a lord of moderate fortune all the rest of his days, Damson decided that he liked the idea of being a knight. He turned his attention toward the king's arena, and after triumphing over the resident knights, he became the king's ...

Balane's Curse, or a hangover, is so named for the Frewyn Goddess of the Sun, who curses those who drink too much by shining her light on them the following morning. While everyone in Frewyn, being a largely agrarian society, looks forward to a holiday, not everyone-- Aiden and Adaoire especially-- looks forward to the morning after. T he table was dressed for breakfast, their places were supplied with cups and plates and utensils, though the violent gurgurlation of their stomach recommended that there should be no time and indeed no need for utensils or napkins until their crapulence were done away and their sense set to rights. Their lips slightly parted, their minds festering in miasma of morning confusion, their brains in an impenetrable fog, their hands found their way to their cups in supplication of tea, a brew by which their condition should be cured, by hanging their heads over their cups, their chins resting in the palms of their hands supported by their elbows l...