Moxie's Problem by Hank Quense

Title: Moxie’s Problem (Book #1)

Author: Hank Quense

Pages: 294

Genre: Fantasy

Do you enjoy untypical coming-of-age stories? Well you find one more untypical that Moxie’s Problem. Moxie is an obnoxious, teen-age princess who has never been outside her father’s castle. Until now. The real world is quite different and she struggles to come to grips with reality. The story takes place against a backdrop of Camelot. But it isn’t the Camelot of legends. It’s Camelot in a parallel universe. So, all bets are off!
Amazon.

Princess Moxie paced her room like a wild animal in a cage. She had been kidnapped six months ago and still she languished in Count Cenwig's castle because King Smedley, her cursed father, had ignored all ransom demands until winter closed the roads. Now the roads were open again and Smedley had ignored another demand for payment.
She wore a ragged kirtle that had once been blue, but washing had faded the color until it was almost white.
Moxie hadn't been this bored since she left the rock and oak siege of the island. Cenwig's castle had no books or scrolls to read. Cenwig was the only noble-born creature in the castle; everyone else was base-born and mostly uneducated. No one knew how to play draughts or chess. Within a week of her kidnapping, she had refused to dine any more in the great hall with Cenwig and his men. Everyone's manners were disgusting, as was the conversation. Moxie preferred to eat her meals in her room. The two women who saw to her needs and brought her food never opened their mouths in Moxie's presence, even to answer questions.
One of the women knocked on the door, entered, placed a bowl of food on the table and fled. Moxie looked at the bowl's contents and made a face. She tasted a spoonful and made another face. She picked up the bowl and marched down to the great hall where Cenwig could always be found.
She charged up to the table where Cenwig and the two guard captains sat drinking ale.
"What is this?" Moxie held out the bowl. "It tastes like burnt cereal?"
"That's what it is." Cenwig rearranged his legs so Moxie couldn't kick his shins.
"What happened to the chef? Is he sick?"
"I had to let him go," Cenwig replied. "Along with a squad of swordsmen, another squad of archers and ten servants. It's your father's fault, I'm afraid."
Moxie blinked in confusion. "Why is it my father's fault?"
"Because of your father's unreasonable position, I'm on the verge of bankruptcy. I needed your ransom money to cover my expenses. I don't know what I'll do if Smedley doesn't stop ignoring my ransom demands. Really, he is most unprofessional about this affair."
"You could let me go." Moxie saw a hint of freedom.
"Can't be done, you see." Cenwig shook his head. "I'd get drummed out of the Kidnappers Guild. Never be able to show my face again. No, I'm afraid you're here until someone pays your ransom. If your father won't, I'll have to look elsewhere."
Moxie threw the bowl at Cenwig's head, missed and stomped out of the hall.
Back in her room, she pondered Cenwig's threat to get someone else to pay the ransom. That would amount to selling her into slavery. She could even be sold to someone who was base-born. That was not to be endured. She would have to escape. It was her only hope now that the winter was over. That meant traveling through the forest on her own. To survive, she needed weapons. She also had to learn how to use whatever weapons she acquired.
After a few minutes of deep thought, she smiled; she had a plan. Now, she could keep herself busy preparing for her escape.
~~~
Moxie walked along a castle corridor near her room. Further on, a swordsman flirted with a young, pretty kitchen maid. The soldier glanced at Moxie and went back to trying to feel up the woman.
Moxie looked at the sword the man wore on his left hip and an idea sprang into her mind.
Moxie strolled past the pair. As she did so, she reached back and grasped the hilt of the sword. With a quick move, she yanked it out of the scabbard and fled toward her room. The soldier swore, pushed the maid away and chased after Moxie. She reached her room, barged through the door, slammed it shut and threw the bolts to lock it.
She leaned her back against the door, breathing deeply and grinning. The soldier banged on the door and Moxie could feel the blows reverberate on her back. She giggled. Finally, the soldier stopped cursing at her and left.
Moxie wiggled the sword around a bit. It was heavier than she had expected. Nevertheless, she had taken the first step in her escape plan; she had a weapon.
~~~
Moxie opened the door and peeked out of her room. It was dark with the only light a feeble one coming from a torch at a distant staircase. She padded down the corridor to the steps and leaned over listening intently. She heard nothing. All the soldiers must be sleeping.
Moxie went down the stone steps, placing each foot carefully to make sure she didn't step on a loose stone. If she slipped and made a noise, it could ruin her plan. She paused outside the doors to the great hall and pushed one open slowly. Inside, two candles burned and they were near their nubs. The only sounds came from the snoring and farting of the soldiers who slept in the hall after drinking a gallon or two of ale.
Moxie walked past three slumbering soldiers lying on the floor. She glanced around looking for loose weapons, but didn't see any. In the middle of the hall, a soldier sat on a bench, his head cradled in his arms while he snored away. Underneath the bench she could make out a crossbow and a quiver of bolts. Moxie couldn't believe her luck and she almost gasped aloud at the prize. She bent over and carefully picked up the crossbow, hoping it wasn't loaded and ready to fire. It wasn't. She almost dropped it because of the weight. She next picked up the quiver and silently made her way back to her room.
In the morning, Cenwig would be furious with her. He had already threatened to add the cost of the stolen weapons to her ransom demands.
~~~
Moxie spent a week building her stamina by running up flights of stairs and along corridors. Whenever she left the room, she instructed her maids to stay inside to guard her weapons and supplies. The two women locked the door and wouldn't open it for anyone except herself.
Moxie's plan to escape from Cenwig and survive in the forest had moved closer to reality and she felt excited at the prospect of the adventure. Besides weapons, she had accumulated food supplies and had a rough idea of the terrain around the castle. Now she had to gain some expertise in using the weapons.
Moxie thought of herself as a young wolf soon to leave the pack and venture out on her own to start a new pack with herself as the leader.
After drawing a target circle on the door with charcoal, Moxie picked up a crossbow and walked to the other end of the room, thirty feet away. She thought back to seeing her father's soldiers load a crossbow. Moxie took an iron bolt and placed in it the groove of the weapon then turned the crank to cock it. Or, tried to turn the crank. It didn't budge no matter how hard she tried. Moxie sat down on her bed, secured a death grip on the weapon with one hand and tried again. The crank turned, slowly. Moxie couldn't believe the tension in the bowstring and how hard it was to move it. Finally, the bowstring stretched all the way and the weapon was loaded. Moxie gingerly placed it on the bed and wiped her sweaty hands and brow. She paced the room a few times to get her labored breathing back to normal.
Moxie picked up the crossbow and stood facing the circle on the door. She placed the weapon by her shoulder and sighted on the target. Taking a deep breath, Moxie pulled the trigger and screamed at the reaction of the weapon which almost jumped out of her hands and knocked her on her backside. Moxie climbed to her feet and looked at the door, but didn't see the bolt. Puzzled, she searched the floor and walls. Moxie finally found it embedded in a ceiling beam.
She pulled a face and stamped a foot. Obviously, she needed more practice — a lot more practice — before her escape plan could be implemented.
Undeterred, Moxie picked up a sword. She wished it wasn't so heavy. She took a stance like the soldiers did on the practice field. She waved the sword point in a move approximately like the one her father's soldiers used. Despite her best effort, the point always drooped towards the floor. After a few minutes of working with the sword, Moxie was drenched in sweat. Pain rippled through her hand, wrist, arm and shoulder.
She threw the sword to the floor. Using a large sword was too difficult. What she needed was a large knife or dagger. Something pointy that she could use to defend herself.
She balled up her fist, winced at the pain and swore nothing would her deter her from escaping. To accomplish that she needed a replacement for the sword. Another snatch-and-run raid would fix that problem.

Hank Quense writes humorous and satiric scifi and fantasy stories. He also writes about fiction writing and self-publishing. He has published 14 books and 50 short stories along with a few dozen articles. He often lectures on fiction writing and publishing and has a series of guides covering the basics on each subject. He is currently working on a series of two humorous novels that take place in the Camelot era.
He and his wife, Pat, usually vacation in another galaxy or parallel universe. They also time travel occasionally when Hank is searching for new story ideas.
Visit Hank's websites: Website and Strange Worlds Online

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Doc's Codicil by Gary F. Jones

When Wisconsin veterinarian Doc dies, his family learns that to inherit his fortune, they must decipher the cryptic codicil he added to his will—“Take Doofus squirrel-fishing”—and they can only do that by talking to Doc’s friends, reading the memoir Doc wrote of a Christmas season decades earlier, searching through Doc’s correspondence, and discovering clues around them. Humor abounds as this mismatched lot tries to find time in their hectic lives to work together to solve the puzzle. In the end, will they
realize that fortune comes in many guises?
Doc’s Codicil is a mystery told with gentle humor. It tells the story of a veterinarian who teaches his heirs a lesson from the grave.
Amazon. 

It seems my life has been a testament to questionable decisions and lost opportunities. However, my wife of 39 years says she knows of nothing in the record to justify such unfettered optimism.

I am a member of the last generation of rural veterinarians who remember working with cows that had names and personalities and dairymen who worked in the barn with their families. I’m also part of the first wave of the Baby Boomers, crusty codgers who are writing their wills and grousing about kids who don’t pay attention to what old men say, and can even be damned condescending at times.
I was raised on a dairy farm in West-central Wisconsin and exhibited Holstein cattle and Clydesdale horses from the time I was ten-years-old until I graduated from the College of Veterinary Medicine at Michigan State in 1969. I practiced veterinary medicine on Wisconsin dairy farms until 1988, when my wife and I packed up our four children and I entered graduate school at the University of Minnesota in St. Paul.
I developed the first ante-mortem diagnostic test for proliferative enteritis, a diarrheal disease of swine caused by Lawsonia intracellularis. The test is now the standard diagnostic test for the disease. With adoption of the test, it was also found that L. intracellularis is the most common cause of post-weaning diarrhea in horses.
After 19 years of work on the research and development of bovine and swine vaccines, I am retired. I’m using the scraps of what I can remember to spin stories of a family and veterinary practice, stories that could almost be true. Some of the true stories that didn’t make it into my books can be found on this website.
My first novel, Doc’s Codicil, will be published in October 2015. I have two published short stories: Valentine, published in Straightjacket, the 2012 spring issue, and The Attempted Armed Deposit, in the 2009 California Writers Club Chap Book. Website

Thirteen by Shannon Peel

An action packed blockbuster. Red Dawn meets 1984. The perfect book for kids 10-14, even those who don't like to read.
Jack wants to hang out with his friends but his mom's rules keep him grounded until they wake up to machine gun fire and everything has changed. Foreign soldiers have invaded his hometown cutting off power, shutting down communications, and restricting travel. To make matters worse, he doesn't know if his dad is alive, wounded, captured, or dead. He wants to find him, however, his mother doesn't care, the soldiers are in his way, and the cop who busted him is no help at all.
Feedback from a 92 year old great grandmother: My comment on it, is that Shannon did a wonderful job of writing Thirteen. It was well written, and the description of events was well thought out. It was exciting, scary at times, and sad as well. It's a book worth reading. -- OK so it was my 92 year old grandmother...Amazon.

Can you tell us a little about your latest book?
THIRTEEN is a mother / son story and their power struggle as he grows up. It's a coming of age story during a time in every boys life where he is no longer a boy and not yet a man. Thirteen is a tough age, lots of instant freedoms and desires to find oneself. It is also a geo political story about an invasion of Canada's Westcoast by a foreign power. Jack and his mom are caught in the global politics of an international struggle for power.

What inspired you to write it?
When my son was 8 years old I met a lost boy of South Sudan when I was emceeing a charity event and he was the speaker. His story about being an 8 year old boy walking across Sudan with a group of boys on their own to find safety in Ethiopia was heart wrenching. Starving, no water, bombs dropping, and wild animals attacking in the night. At 8 years old this boy was one of the oldest responsible for caring for younger boys, finding food, water, carrying for them when they were sick and burying them when they died.
This chance meeting inspired me to write a story about children in war so others would understand their plight, however, this man's story was not mine to write and every time I tried to write about a war in Africa it jumped the reader out of the empathy I hoped to inspire. It became other - their problem, oh yeah well that's Africa, it's sad but has little to do with me.
One day when my son was 13 the idea to bring the war to Canada came to me. As I was also battling a war with this thing that looked and sounded like my son but did not behave like him I brought this struggle into the story as well. I searched out mother / son stories and didn't find any.

How did you come up with the idea for the cover?
There is a lot symbolism in fire. It destroys, cleanses, and keeps you warm. The story itself has fire in it and I wanted something that portrayed something dark, dangerous, and anarchy. So I Googled photos of riots. I found this photo on istock and purchased it, ran it through a couple digital photo filters and had the image.
I had a couple of other cover ideas as well and put them all on my Facebook page to get some feedback. This one was hands down the favourite for inspiring interest in the story.

If it was made into a movie, who would you like to play the main characters?
Interesting question, especially since I have a screenwriter begging to convert it into a movie.
Jack - This one is hard, cause I don't really know. Teen actors grow so fast and change so much. Every time I think of Jack I think of my son.
Sydney the mom - Lauren Graham, Ashley Judd, Colbie Smuthers,
Nick the cop - Gerard Butler, Channing Tatum, Chris O'Donnel

Is it part of a series or is it a stand-alone novel?
It's the first of a series. I've already started Book 2 and it's going to be a bit James Bond, a bit prison break, with a huge surprise secret reveal.

Where is the novel set and why did you choose to set it there?
It is set in Canada's WestCoast city of South Surrey / White Rock and Vancouver area. I set it there because I wanted to bring the war to Canada, I live in the area, and for the geopolitical plot that will develop over time it works. I am a proud Canadian and Vancouver is the most filmed city depicting other places in TV and film. You'd be surprised how many of your favourite shows and movies were shot here. It's never Vancouver and I think a good action story can be set in Vancouver, BC Canada and still appeal to a global audience

What is it about this genre that appeals to you so much?
I like Upper Middle Grade action / adventure because you can explore different relationships, not just romantic ones. Kids in this age group aren't ready for relationships yet but they want to read the YA novels because they are more challenging than the usual upper middle grade stuff. I wanted to write something for boys that would grab their attention and imaginations quickly. Something fast paced with little descriptive narrative to keep the interest of those boys who find reading challenging. I don't believe kids in this age group need to be talked down to as much as they are in books. They are intelligent young people who can have interesting conversations with adults.

What made you want to become an author?
I love stories. I always wanted to write. I was jealous of authors and wanted to be one, however I never had the confidence. Support from family is important when you are thinking about a career in the arts and I didn't have that. My parents wanted me to have a real job and writing wasn't a real job. I went on a ride along with a journalist and since I didn't ask a lot of questions he said I wouldn't make it as a journalist and I believed him. I didn't realize that I ask questions in my own way, I'm more observant than inquisitive, still I have a burning need to understand the why and how.
I never believed I could be a writer. I envied writers and wanted to be one, just didn't believe I had the talent, until one day I decided to try. I look back at articles I wrote for local newsletters, blog entries, and even research papers and wonder how I thought I wasn't good enough.

How do you come up with character names?
I always loved the names Jack and Sydney. They were both on the lists for my kids but weren't chosen in the end. Nick is my best friend's name. She has been my biggest cheerleader and support throughout the process.

Do you struggle to come up with book titles? Do they come before, during or after you've written your book?
Yes I'm not very good at naming anything. I still want a better name for the series than THIRTEEN and I have no idea what Book 2 is going to be called, besides Book 2.

Name one of your all-time favourite books?
Jane Eyre. I love her independence and men like Rothschild.

Who, or what, inspires you?
My children.

Where is your favourite place to write?
I am a single full time mother and I have a full time paying gig. I write in coffee shops, on my couch, wherever I can. If I could chose to take some time just to write I'd go to my family cabin and write there over looking the lake in the spring or fall when no one was around and the wifi was shut off.

What is your favourite movie that was based on a book?
Inkheart. I know the franchise didn't go anywhere but I thought it was true to the story and well done. My children and I shared the book and the movie, it was our favourite.

Name two of your favourite authors.
That's hard. I don't really have 2 favourites. There are books that I love but I never read anything else by the author. There are series that I get right into and then get board of when the formula remains the same and the stories become predictable. Some character's I fall in love with, while others I admire or loath. No two authors have consistently wowed me with everything they've written.

Tell us a random fact about yourself.
I am one quarter Romanian and 3/4 the British Isles. All my grandparents were born in Canada and 1/2 my great grandparents as well, so I don't have any ties to culture beyond Canada.

Who would play you in the movie about your life?
Lauren Graham - I am definitely a Gilmore Type mom.

Tell us an interesting fact about where you live.
I live on Canada's Westcoast near the US / Canada border. It doesn't snow very often here, our winters are rainy more than snowy. I prefer snow and miss Albertan weathers of -40 with sunny skies.

What are your (writing) plans for the future?
To continue with Jack's story until it's done. Then I have another book on the back burner, a bit more autobiographical in nature about finding oneself after divorce, learning how to date in the 21st Century after 20 years of marriage, and figuring out who she is beyond mother and wife.

Tell us one thing that's on your bucket list.
The main thing on my bucket list is to move to Paris France for 6 months and write in small cafes and integrate into the culture. This is a lifelong dream and one I hope to do one day after the kids are grown and gone.

Favourite myth / fairytale?
None. Myths and fairytales have their place in the world of story telling but they are fantasy with no basis in reality. They have been told over and over in so many different ways that they've lost their surprise, their uniqueness, their power.

Who/What did you want to be when you were a kid?
I wanted to be a single career woman... I didn't do that. I was a career woman for awhile, but then I made other decisions and ended up with two amazing children I changed my life for. I would not change it. I do wonder what would have happened if I'd stayed in the financial world and worked my way up a corporate ladder. I like to think I would have been lonely. I would have been a very different person.

Shannon Peel grew up in Enderby, BC where her family's root run deep. Growing up where television was either non existent or very limited she relied on books & imagination to escape into the world beyond.
She went to UBC to study and earn a general studies BA with a concentration in Political Science and Economics. Macro analysis of world events, social justice and human motivations became a passion of hers. This passion is a driving force in all her stories, which have political, economic, and social justice undercurrents.
After a career in the financial field she decided to stay home and raise her two children until school age. In 2007 she return to the workforce as a sales / marketing / advertising professional. She currently resides in BC's Lower Mainland with her two teenage children.
THIRTEEN is her debut full size paperback novel. She also is the author of an adult fantasy series, JOURNIES IN ELADONIA, consisting of ebook novellas. Website