Lauraliee Elizabeth Vicomptessa Lumijer

Born: October 3rd, 5982 A
Height: 5’ 9” (175 cm)
Weight: 68 kg (150 lb)
Eyes: grey, can look blue, green-blue, or violet depending on light and emotion
Hair: chestnut, curly (big curls not small), thick
Age (in 5999A): 16 going on 17
Other distinguishing physical features: long nose, “chipmunkish” teeth, long legs
Parents: Queen Dragana and King Mihajlo of Ardan
Crush: Gerrard DeVent
Sexual Orientation: Heterosexual
Companion: Emerald, a Unihorse
Favourite Treat: Chocolate covered roasted hazelnuts… Actually anything with dark chocolate.
Occupation: Queen-In-Training
Secret Occupation: Nenya, the Water Warrior
Unusual talent: Fencing. She is a Sword Master, undefeated since she was fourteen.
Hobbies: Reading, drawing and painting, exploring with her cousin and sister.
Dominant Element: Humans tend to be balanced and thus have no magic. However, Lauraliee has a bit more Water than any other element in her, which allows her to bond with Nenya, the Water Spirit.
Weaknesses: Second-guesses herself. Lacks confidence. Perfectionism. A know-it-all. Terrified of being in the spotlight. People-pleaser.
Fun Fact: Lauraliee is based on Mili Fay. Her character was changed over time to suit the story, but she still retains some of Mili's characteristics, looks, and colouring.

Lauraliee wants to lead an ordinary life, so of course she was born a princess, and not just any princess, but next in line for the throne of Ardan. If she had her way she would spend her life painting, travelling, and studying. Instead she has to constantly fight her fear of being in the spotlight and rule the Land of Ardan as The Queen the moment her mother decides to retire.

Lauraliee would gladly abdicate in the favour of her sister, but she does not want to disappoint her parents and other adults in her life. If she could find the courage to disappoint them, a regretful part of her believes that Nikolina (or her cousin Vladimir) are not quite up to the job. She also feels guilty for wishing to pass on the crown since Fates decreed she is to be Queen, and thus the crown is her responsibility.

Lauraliee spends her life wishing for personal freedom, but takes on more and more responsibilities as they are shoved at her. When she gets an unpleasant task she will privately rage about it, but then would take a deep breath and do what needs to be done. Though she is a dreamer, she is also very organised and practical.

Lauraliee feels things deeply. She thrives on praise, and is diminished by criticism. She knows she is far from perfect, but at all times she tries to be perfect and do what is expected of her. She always feels as if she cares about the people in her life more than they care about her. She is not sure if she has real friends, or if her friends are with her because some day she will be The Queen.

She exercises her frustrations through fencing, and by flying with Emerald.

Lauraliee loves her family dearly. She would sacrifice herself for her family and the good of Ardan without a second thought.

“It is not as if I want to be a princess. Since I was four years old I've spent every birthday, shooting star, wishbone, and lost eyelash wishing I did not have to be a princess!” ~ Lauraliee Lumijer

Mili Fay: On Editing Warriors of Virtue

If you are curious as to what I'm doing all month between publishing the episodes, I'm about to reveal my process.

I have already written and polished the first 9 episodes of the series (getting sick at the end of last year, I hope I'll find the time to write Episode 10 soon).

Those 9 episodes are with my editor. He is very busy, but thus far he did manage to get each episode done by the 15th of the month. I need at least 15 days to get the book up and running on Amazon.

The first thing I do is read through my editor's edits and make changes to the text. Sometimes the edits are few, sometimes not. I had to rewrite large chunks of Chapter 12 in Episode 4. One of the things my editor pointed out is that I need more description in certain areas to bring the scenes to life. As an author, I know what's happening inside my head, and though I try to give my readers enough description to bring the picture to life, sometimes I miss my mark. I was flabbergasted at his comment, because my past reviewers suggested I should write shorter descriptions; however, when my editor pointed out the passages, I realized he was completely right.

The above is why it is so important to find a good editor, not just someone to polish your grammar, but someone who can point out other issues — such as the flow of the story, unvarying sentence structure, too much or not enough scene setting, wrong word choices...

After making changes to my text, I use the Text to Speech feature in MS Word to have the computer read the text back to me. This helps me notice most typos, and the general flow of the story. I may go through this process a few times, until I pass through the text without making any changes.

Only then do I markup my text, make an ePub file for eReaders, adjust the ePub for Kindle, and crate a Mobi file.

I read through the Mobi file to make sure there are no errors.

Then, I give the file to my sister to read. Every single time I hope she'll return my iPad with “Wonderful! Nothing to change.” in the comments. No such luck. She usually finds a bunch of things that she thinks could sound better. We usually argue about the use of commas. Also, my sister is a doctor who writes medical research papers, so sometimes we argue over style — I do not want my book to read like a medical journal, and occasionally the rules of grammar need to be broken to bring forth the feel of the story. For example, if a character speaks without pauses (nervous, frightened, or chattering), I as a fiction author may wish to write a run-on sentence, or a sentence with no punctuation.

Regardless, her edits make my story sound better, too. After incorporating my sister's changes, I give a little prayer that there are no more errors and publish the text on KDP.

This is why I need those 15 days. The remaining time in the month, I spend working on other projects. In the coming month, I hope one of these will be writing Episode 10.

Warrior of Virtue Epic YA Fantasy Series Episode 4 is not the only book I'm releasing this month. I'm going to release my first ever sketchbook, The Phantom of the Opera Inktober 2016 Sketchbook. I'm nervous and excited, but mostly I'm wondering how I'll ever be able to get everything done. Regardless, you are all invited to attend my upcoming book launch on February 4th, 2017.

You can read more about the sketchbook project here. Otherwise, I hope to see you on February 4, 2017. Trust me if you are a Phantom or Mili Fay Art fan, it is an even you do not wish to miss.

Until next time...

Cheers!

Mili

© 2014 CDC Photography

Mili Fay, an award winning artist, trained as a classical animator at Sheridan College, but when computer animation took over the field, she decided that she loved drawing more than animating. In November of 2011 she created Mili Fay Art determined to support the world one artwork at a time. Today, she passionately creates imaginative artwork and stories, always graced with a humorous modern twist.

Currently, Mili is working on an epic YA fantasy series, Warriors of Virtue, about a reluctant princess, Lauraliee Lumijer, who grows into a queen as she defends Ardan from dragon people (people that change into dragons) and a hermit dragon prince, Diamond Pendragon, who is forced to rejoin Ardanian society and reevaluate his convictions.

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Artemis the Wise Owl

Species: Athene Noctua Sapiens 

Height: 20 cm (7.87")

Wing-length: 25 cm (9.84")

Tail: 5.5 cm (2.17")

Colour: Brown, white, beige

Eyes: yellow with a moss green circle around the pupil

Origin: Goddess Athena's Little Owl, Sophie, ate a moonbeam and gave birth to a tinny spotted egg.

Favourite Beverage: tea

Weakness: tea

Hobbies: reading, pampering himself

Best friend: Cornelian

Occupation: Cornelian's assistant

Sexual Orientation: Unknown (maybe asexual)

Dominant Elements: Air and Earth

Flaws: selfish, temperamental, arrogant

Artemis, an immortal wise owl, was named after his godmother, the goddess Artemis. He was the favourite of the Greek Gods, praised for his wisdom and ingenuity, until his arrogance led him to do something horrible. (We do not know what--maybe he's responsible for the sinking of Atlantis? It has to be something truly horrific.) As punishment, he was expelled from Mount Olympus and given to Cornelian as a slave. Cornelian was instructed to teach Artemis to behave himself.

After a rocky start, the two became best friends. Cornelian has power over Artemis, but he does not believe in slavery, so Artemis became his assistant and companion instead.

Artemis can be a diva. He loves to be pampered, is nocturnal, and has a mild obsession with tea.

He is also the logo for Mili Fay Art.

"I am not a common pigeon!" ~ Artemis

The following are more cartoony versions of Artemis representing the Mili Fay Art brand.

Cornelian the Great

Height: 6' 6" (198 cm)

Build: skin and bones

Weight: indeterminate — wizards can change their weight and size at will

Eyes: pale, blue-grey, dotted with unusually small black pupils

Hair: silver-white cut to mid tight, long beard and mustache

Age: In 5999A Ardanian's believe him to be at least 200 years old. This author can tell you, he is much older.

Other distinguishing features: Elven ears; long, colour-changing nails; aquiline nose

Parents: Classified

Lovers: Classified

Sexual Orientation: Bisexual — all wizards are.

Companion: Wise Owl, Artemis

Staff: Silver, topped with a phoenix spreading his wings and a blue stone.

Favourite Pastry: Cinnamon Rolls

Occupation: 5999A - tutor hired by the Royal Family of Ardan

Hobbies: Reading, flying, and experimenting.
Dominant Elements: Water and Air.
Weakness: Overthinks things, then when something happens he acts impulsively. Tends to believe he knows best all the time. Pride. He cannot see the faults of people once he loves and trusts them. Incapable of letting things go. Lauraliee Lumijer (she is the daughter he never had).

Cornelian grew up in an Overworldlian orphanage. He was found wrapped in a scarf stitched with his name to identify him. He became Cornelian the Great when he stole Dragon Lord Malachite's Blood Ruby with a simple switching spell, rendering him powerless long enough for Warriors of Virtue to defeat him in The Great Battle.

When he was seven years old he was training with a group of wizards. He was able to perform the Curio Spell on his first try.

His past is classified. To be revealed throughout the series.

He is wise, kind, neat, and fastidious. He has a great sense of humor. He is also not afraid to get his hands dirty and is a capable warrior. 

"Failure is naught but Success waiting to happen." ~ Cornelian the Great