Added the prologue (revised version) of A Call to Arms by Laststarlite

April 12th, 2003

The Bard Challenge #8 is winding down...deadline for entries in the Academy/BardCon Combo Challenge is midnight tonight.

If you have a premise and are still writing...and need just a little more time...please drop me an email and tell me. I might be able to cut you a LITTLE slack. Maybe. Steph is already gonna kill me...so why not give her another valid reason. <.bg.>

If you asked for a premise and have since decided that you didn't want to write a submission or that RL has intruded, please drop me an email and tell me. So Steph and I stop looking for it. We have a lot of premises out there.

Contest entries go to academy_contest@yahoogroups.com
All other emails to PHIL728@aol.com Remember the deadline is MIDNIGHT.

An announcement from Julie Dragon:

Added part 20 and part 21 of Time's Fell Hand by LJ Maas

April 11th, 2003

The Academy yahoo mail was down from mid-afternoon Wednesday until Friday morning. If you sent in a submission during this time, please re-send it.

Participants of the Bardcon/Academy Challenge, don't forget the deadline is tomorrow at midnight!

Trouble! by StaceyX [alt/finished]
Xena and Gabrielle and a PWP.....

Added part 8 of Learning to Trust by Jules Matthews

Added part 4 of Blindsided by Colleen

April 10th, 2003

Welcome to the Academy - Sarah!

Untouchable [über/general/finished]
This is the story of Nyx, a girl who, at a very young age, finds herself alone and fending for herself in a hostile environment where not only the people, but the planet seem to be fighting against her.
Can a lifetime of prejudice and hatred ever lead to trust? Billie becomes the one person that Nyx opens her mind to, as they build a relationship in the midst of a hostile alien invasion that threatens to end the world once and for all. Will Nyx ever find the stability and solitude she longs for as she becomes caught up in a battle to save the very people who tried to destroy her? Will Billie ever understand why Nyx is only fighting to save herself?
Environmentally, socially and economically, the earth is crumbling, in the final stages of dying. With the remaining inhabitants either immoral elitists or subhuman foragers, is there any hope of survival? Escape? Redemption? The story follows Nyx's journey of self discovery, as she struggles to uncover the secrets of her past and learn the reasons behind her world's destruction.

Added part 6 of Pathfinder by Windstar and sparky

Added part 13 of Murder Has Two Faces by Tonya S. Coley

REMINDER:
The deadline for the current Academy/BardCon Combo Challenge is approaching. You have until midnight Saturday, April 12th to turn in your entry. All the info about the challenge, including the Roools™ page is here: Academy/BardCon Combo Challenge #8
We have some very cool prize packages up for both categories. The list of prizes on the web page does not begin to cover what's in the prize packets..we have added some things since it went up. I think all the winners will be very pleasantly surprised. Entries must be in by midnight April 12th...send them here:
academy_contest@yahoogroups.com
GOOD LUCK EVERYONE
OZ
www.academyofbards.com
www.bardcon.com

April 9th, 2003

Added chapter 11 of Hidden Desires by Vertigo 

Chapter 4 of the Round Robin story for the Orlando BardCon is up:
http://www.bardcon.com/roundrobin.htm

Added part 6 of Homestretch by GirlBard 

Added part 5 of At Last by GirlBard 

Added part 3 of Lady J's Spring Break 

New Ebooks
The Greatest Gift ­ Carrie Carr
Something to be Thankful For ­ Carrie Carr
A Royal Proposal ­ Carole Giorgio
Life¹s Little Edge ­ Roselle Graskey
A New Day - Phalkon

April 8th, 2003

An announcement from Mullaney aka Phair
In a shameless act of self promotion, I'm forwarding the following announcement.
The Aethereal Sea by Marguerite Mullaney is available for pre order at Barnes and Noble
If you go to Barnes and Noble online and type in my book title, The Aethereal Sea, or author name, Marguerite Mullaney, my book should pop up. 

Eve-R-Clear by Chelle [classic/finished/alt]
"This is my best guess as to how Eve learned of the death of her mother, Xena, the Warrior Princess. It's a musical, set in Indus. As you can imagine, it's a happy tale with some internal dialog." 

Added part 5 (conclusion) of Life's Little Edge by Roselle Graskey

April 7th, 2003

Added part 4 of Tag Team by Shirley Roberts

April 6th, 2003

Incommunicado by J. P.  Mercer and Nancy M. Hill [original/alt/unfinished]
Incommunicado is an intriguing story of lies, deceit, and death that spans from the U.S/Mexico border and the panoramic beauty of the unforgiving Sonoran Desert to the contrasting magnificence along California's coastline and the Santa Barbara wine country.
The story revolves around two strong, independent women, one a lawyer who was born to rule the prestigious Cipriano Vineyards, the other a forensic pathologist who has made her work her life. Both live in emotional isolation, emotionally scarred, afraid to live, afraid to trust, to love. Until they encounter each other against the backdrop of murder. Will their walls begin to crumble? Will they survive the menace of unscrupulous Mexican coyotes and drug traffickers, and family betrayal? Or will love elude them, silenced and lost amid the expectations of life? 

Reposted -

Something to be Thankful For by Carrie Carr [original/finished/alt]
Randi Meyers returns to her hometown to attend the funeral of an uncle she barely knew. During the graveside services, she's beseeched by a young boy to follow him into the woods to help his injured sister. After coming upon the unconscious woman, Randi realizes that the boy has disappeared. She brings the woman to the hospital and finds out that the woman's name is Kay, and that her brother Jared was killed five years earlier by a drunk driver. Kay has a broken ankle, but is otherwise fine.
Although the two women quickly become friends, circumstances and job loyalties force them apart, sending Randi back to her home in Ft. Worth, while Kay starts a new job to support herself. Will the two ever get together? Sequel to In the Blink of an Eye, originally done for the Academy of Bards Halloween Special 2001

The Greatest Gift by Carrie Carr [original/finished/alt]
Finally happily together, Kay and Randi have started their new lives. But will outer forces pull them apart, or bring them closer? Is love the Greatest Gift, or the biggest heartache? Sequel to Something to be Thankful For 

New eBooks
Echos of a Lost Soul — Silence
Elemental — jtd
This is a First Time Story — Temora
Everlasting Love — Erin Jennifer
Making Up — Jaden
Eternal Night — Red Raven
Love Amazon Style — Anais & Idryth
A Long One — Ardently
My Dearest Friend — Barderella
Gabrielle's Destiny — Candideyes
Little Echoes — Carole Eriksson
My Cup of Tea — dikern
Motherhood Revisited Again — Lena
Man Who Killed Xena — Richard Frankie
Missing You — StaceyX
Midnight Musings — The Norm
Miss Amphipolis - Xenalicious

April 5th, 2003

Review

New Review from Judith's Just Like Buttah reviews-

Chance Encounter by littlespit http://www.academyofbards.org//fanfic/l/littlespit_chanceencounter.html
Gillian a successful writer and Jacqueline a restaurateur have a, yes you guessed it, Chance Encounter of the best kind:} 
littlespit writes the budding romance in a way that is Absolutely charming! 
In a world that has lost the art of courtship and tends to lean towards vulgar and coarse, this tale is Thoroughly romantic. Genteel, if you will. Deliciously mushy. But not without a bit of heat. I found littlespit's style to be Very readable. You might call this an old-fashioned romance. That is something we need to see more of in this reader's opinion. 
Will they make it last? 
Will the fates conspire to keep them apart? 
Is this friendship too good to be true? 
Will something drastic come between them:} 
I am not telling, that is for you to read and discover. 
I will say... 
I loved all the long, wet, intimate kisses. 
An exceptional late night phone call<g> 
For this reader's sensibilities there was just enough sexual content to titillate but not overwhelm with too much information. 
Just a very nice read. 
Please don't forget to write the bard and let them know you liked it, and thank them for sharing.

Announcement

Hi Y'all...
Just a reminder that the 
BardCon/Academy Combo Challenge #8 "Whole Lotto Stories" deadline is approaching. The final deadline is Midnight April 12th in whatever time zone Steph wishes to invoke, since she and the munchkins handle the coding. <.g.>

The interest in this challenge has been phenomenal...and it is my only hope, that everyone who got a premise does not wait until 5 minutes to the deadline to turn the stories in...
Please, PLEASE, PUL-EEZE don't wait until the last minute. The life you save will be mine. :o)

If anyone who has not signed up for a premise, but still wants to give it a last minute shot...email me (with your pick of a number between 1-101) and I'll be happy to send you one.  Deadline is still the same, however.

The top two winners in each category will be receiving some really cool prize packages.  Matter-of-fact, I'm still adding stuff to them.  Some of the items in each prize packet will be merchandise from the Academy Marketplace.

All the details, prize lists and roools are available here: 
Challenge #8

Good Luck Everyone....can't wait to see the stories.

OZ
Royal Academy of Bards--http://www.academyofbards.org
50 days to Orlando BardCon---http://www.bardcon.com

Update

Updated Eileen Marks' Ultimate Über List

April 4th, 2003

Added part 4 of Colliding Edges by J. W. Heart

New eBooks
All or Nothing — Leslaureate
Beaver Hunt — LZClotho
The Beginning of Forever — Nanaabelle
Angel in my Eyes — Paully Adams
Angry Man — Rab Donald
Destiny Conquered — Linda Crist
A Valiant Life - D

eBooks Fixed
Warrior, Witch, and Nightmare — Verrath

April 3rd, 2003

Announcement

Chapter 2 of the Round Robin story for the Orlando BardCon is up:
http://www.bardcon.com/roundrobin.htm

Stories

As some of you guys figured out, our little April Fool's trick was to put up (after promoting it a bit on various lists) A Valiant Kiss by D which was about a 6 word story, although a very good one <g>. If you clicked on The End? you would have gone to the actual new Valiant Story which is A Valiant Life.

A Valiant Life by D
What the bard wrote:
They are on their honeymoon. If you need more summary, you don't need to be reading this story. <g>
What the OZ enhanced:
In this sequel, Randi and Gwen are on their honeymoon. Their looooonng-awaited honeymoon. If you need more info, you kinky critter, read the story. <g>

eBooks

New
P.S. Send Help  Zoe C.

Fixed
One God of War — Elad Avron

April 2nd, 2003

Announcement

- from Lori Strobel
Not too long ago I saw a post on one of the lists that someone was trying to sell a few of their used books so the idea of a Book Exchange was born.
I have set up a very simple site with a classified ad system so that individuals can sell and trade their unwanted books for free. If the interest is high enough I will set up a better classified ad system that is hosted directly on the site.
http://www.thebookexchange.org/ 

Stories

Added part 9 and part 10 of Jenna Dixon's The Reason

Added part 8 of Denic's Something I Said

eBooks

eBooks Removed at Author's Request
The Blaze — Ardently
The Inferno — Ardently

New eBooks
I Drove All Night — KarthosXG
The Sad One — Verrath
Chance Encounter — Littlespit
My Guardian, My Friend — DS Bauden
Spells Really Do Come True — Di Kern
Trouble with Ancients — Cephalgia
Young and Innocent — Deb Barry
Wide Awake — Kim Pritekel
More Unlimited Sexual Favors — Cephalgia & MJ
Spark of Hope — Patsbard
Solstice to Forget — Panda 

April 1st, 2003

A Valiant Kiss by D
This is the latest offering in the Valiant "Alphabet" Series following the wonderful A Valiant Interlude. It's no secret that this writer is a favorite of many; I defy anyone to say that this particular piece is less than spectacular. WOW! Classic opening and it keeps you on the edge of your seat right through the fairytale ending. The piece is short, but believe me, this storyteller makes every word count. 

My Guardian, My Friend by D.S. Bauden
Every good butch needs a story written about them and everyone needs a protector at least once in their lives.  This is the first of a possible series.