Amehana's Workdesk AKA Teresa Garcia's Workspace

 The minions have been hard at work behind the scenes to rewrite the game from the ground up. There are numerous changes more than can be listed and some stuff is probably broken or has been forgotten. If you find anything raise a help ticket by clicking "Help" in the menu, or messaging me here! Dragon fangs are on a two for one sale to celebrate the relaunch.

Mystic Tea by Rea Nolan Martin

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


I greatly enjoyed this book. To me this is a three main-pronged braided storyline. We follow a “Mother Superior” of a convent who is also the current caretaker of her mentor, the previous Mother Superior, who in turn had served directly under and was mentored by the founder of their Order. Then we also follow the growth stories of two young women who are of vastly different background being called (unknowingly by them) to fill the roles of those two women. One of these women had never before considered becoming a nun and only went to the convent because while she was in jail getting sober she received a divine angelic calling/revelation. This young woman also happened to be an unknowing seer, having chalked everything up to drug induced hallucinations her entire life. The other woman was a twin that had absorbed her sister in utero, but grew up with the spirit of her sister stuck to her. Then we come to a fourth plot, the growth of the order itself. There is also a fifth plot, the growth of the individual aged remaining handful of nuns.

As a person whose skeleton has shown evidence of having absorbed a twin, I can relate with that character, although I did not become the religious zealot of a nun she was at the point of meeting the character. I was granted a firm support network whereas she was not. I also found myself identifying with our current on-paper Mother Superior, being a biological mother and a matriarch for my tiny branch of my main family. With similar responsibilities it is an extremely easy thing to do. And yet I also found myself identifying with our untaught seer, since I also would speak to rivers, although it was more often trees where I grew up, and found myself experiencing an interest amount of luck.


I found this to be a liberating tale. I rode the highs and lows of the characters and grumbled at them when they dug their heels on things that they needed to come to grips with. I loved the amount of simple life magic, the angels being a real thing, the transcendence (literal) within the tale. I think this would actually be very deserving a tale to be taken into high school senior English classes for reading and discussion. The religious tone, despite being such an obvious part of the story, also clearly separates the religious from the spiritual… a discussion that needs to be had with young men and women at the point in time that they are figuring themselves out and getting ready to set off on their own foray into adulthood and what it means to be human.



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Princess of Ice by Nadia Scrieva

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Although I adore stories about sea creatures I was not as in the mood for a mermaid story as I originally thought I was when I picked up the book. I am glad that I stuck with it despite my quandaries about what sort of story I actually wanted to read because I found it fitting better and better. This is not your usual mermaid tale or tail. These mermaids are like you and me, they just have a second set of lungs meant for the water. There have been stories about suck folk before, able to breathe both water and air (see some of the selkie tales in folklore). Unlike most of the folklore, these seafolk are not shapeshifters.

Since they are like us, and as it is acknowledged that there is a common root in the story between the sea and land folk, they have the same sort of problems we do; abusive fathers, nation wars, espionage, people not believing the truth when they are first told the truth, and many others. You are given the sense of well-developed nations moving behind the scenes and the complex (and often unknown) interconnection of the land nations with the water nations.

I was thrilled to see such a wonderful explanation of the Bermuda, Dragon Sea, and Alaskan Triangles given. The author actually made me fist pump at such an EXCELLENT use of modern and ancient folklore. We even meet the Ningyo people, who are a favorite subject of story research of mine, with their connection to the undersea dragons. Sadly, no dragons are mentioned, but an extinct species makes a living cameo!

The characters are also well done. I could feel the layers of Trevain Murphy (I usually think of Trevain as a surname, so that got my attention) and empathized with him. In many ways, that character was far more like me than I was comfortable with. I also had not expected what his ancestry was revealed to be when first meeting him at the beginning of the book. I loved the complexity of the female lead (Aazuria) balancing secrecy, her regal role, her role as a sister, and her role as a lover. Both of these characters did a ton of growing in this first book. I also particularly loved the metaphor for life that was done with the bonsai scene. Fantastic work. I look forward to reading through the next book of the series.



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Keeper of Enchanted Rooms by Charlie N. Holmberg

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


I have been a fan of this author for a while now, stumbling on her work via other stories about magic in the world. This book, even though magic is certainly involved in the normal life of people, is in a very different sort of world. Here, the magic is slowly waning as the families possessing magic in their blood slowly wane in power over the generations. Spells for such things as travel and communication methods understandably become even more treasured.

Magic in general is highly treasured and cultivated in this world. Magic users selectively breed trying to keep magic alive.

In a world like this sometimes buildings gain magic of their own. A building can be enspelled, or it can absorb from those living within its walls. Sometimes, a house becomes possessed by the ghost of a magic user. Here is where problems enter for the group that seeks to preserve such historic buildings. Sometimes non-magical people obtain those houses and want to be rid of the magic.

Our main character inherits an enchanted, or possibly haunted, house. He is warned about it but discounts it as superstition. Merrit moves into his new property rather promptly as the apartment he was renting will not have the lease renewed. After the house decides to trap him is where he meets with Hulda, our female lead who is VERY reminiscent of Mary Poppins in the way that all good housekeepers can be. Our house, our third main character, then sets out to do what ghosts are known for… being annoying… as annoying as a boy in the tweens acting out wanting attention. Of course, just like tweens and houses, a little love and attention go a long way.

No story is complete without something for the main characters to pitch themselves against. We meet our villain fairly early on. What I like best about this villain is that the author writes him in such a way that we can understand how he became what he is, his struggles, and his desires. He is a very human character who inspires pity just as much as he inspires horror.

I wholeheartedly recommend this book. It is meaty, and yet it is also something that can be enjoyed on days when one wants a light reading fare. I look forward to picking up the other books in this series.



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The House Witch by Delemhach

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


I picked this up because I needed a light and whimsical book. I think this is perfect for those who grew up reading books by Patricia Wrede and Jessica Day George but are now old enough to crack a dirty pun without being hissed at by an adult. I think it's fine for teens, young adults, and older folk... but do be aware if you disapprove of such puns for your teen... Honestly, they hear far worse in the school yard and crack worse during sleepovers. There isn't a lot of it in here, but it's there. I cracked up at the part about waiting for the 8-year-old to "drink properly."

The main character is a male witch (THANK YOU to the author for that, from a witch) trying to find a place in the world for himself. I like him because he's within my dating range bracket (if I were on the market), he's witty, he's easily annoyed by people's nonsense, and he keeps his to a minimum... albeit a bit thick in the romance arena. The female lead has her own agenda, and at first, they do NOT hit it off, but they grow on each other while he tries to hide his true self from an entire castle. Quite the challenge for a cook.

This has themes of acceptance, love for oneself as well as others, fairness, and growing into one's inner power. I LOVE the fact he's in his 30's I'm still maturing and not quite there yet. There's plenty to enjoy for those 14ish and up. Just... watch out for that "son of a mage," which is now my new favorite curse.



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 I'd have to ask my brother for the time of the accident that we were almost part of earlier today. He is the one that called it in. Three semi trucks going down the 89 with no chains, two lost their momentum or traction, another tried to get around them and jack knifed. It all happened too fast for me to see although I remember seeing some pale green/teal. I was more occupied with "don't crash into this mess that's exploded." We then had to do traffic control on our side of the accident until CHP arrived, I remember the Super for... Caltrans I think... getting there before he managed to. It seemed like ages that we were there, my brother having to do control and relay messages, and had me tasked with holding a chosen turnaround point open for when the tow rig(s) arrived so that they could be able to back up to the stuck semis.

 I fell behind and won't have haiku lined up to auto publish, so I will have to publish in spits and spats the rest of the month. For now, catching back up here.