HoC 6 Cut scenes --->Spoilers

Just like a set of directors from a film, mom and I have had to slice and dice scenes from: House of Cards: Trumped, Book 6. 

These are the ones we've  promised to show you. (Please keep in mind, these aren't professionally edited and really just for entertainment purposes.)

*Sal & Zack's Wedding (Posted 10/19/2018)

*Taps' parents and sister

-Maddening Millie (pt 1 of 2) (Posted 10/12/2019)

-Miracle Millie (pt 2 of 2) (Posted 11/5/19. Working on currently)

* What happened to Merrick?

-Drat that Dragon

* The new Accountant

* Taps and Jeffrey’s family

-T. Erickson

HoC Magic

In the HoC (House of Cards) series, magic has flare! 

The illustrations below is what magic generally

looks like coming out of your hands or M.U.F. as a magick citizen (up to rank 9).

You will have the misty hue of your suit and star sparkles (to symbolize you are a magick).

If you are a Heart:

Double Heart

Heart/Diamond

Heart/Club

Heart/Spade

If you are a Diamond:

    Double Diamond

 Diamond/Heart

Diamond/Club

  Diamond/Spade

If you are a Club:

Double Club

Club/Heart

Club/Diamond

Club/Spade

If you are a Spade:

Double Spade

Spade/Heart

Spade/Diamond

Spade/Club

However, if you bump up in rank (passed a 9) sometimes your magic will gather more flare.

Realm Keepers (Rank 10)

Will have blue & purplish hue to their mist. Along with white glowing regular stars, they will have white crescent moons.

Jokers (Rank JK)

Remain the same as their peers to blend in. They are spies after all!

Wild Cards (Rank WC)

 

Can use ANY of the main suits magic! (Hence 'wild card')

Jacks & Jacquelins (Rank J)

Actually stay the same as Rank 9 and lower. Why? Protection purposes. The sun symbol won't come out until they are crowned as the reining king/queen.

Kings & Queens (Rank K & Q)

Will have their normal suit color and symbols BUT they will have stars, crescent moons, and suns to their mix of symbols. The example here is of the royal Heart magic.

If someone's magic is different than this, it could mean many things. Perhaps they studied abroad, not every country has the same type of magic. There's also the possibility someone's been cursed/hexed.

But there you have it, the American card magic for all of you who were curious.

-T. Erickson

HoC Bk3 is Out! :D

Slap Jack: House of Cards Bk 3 is finally out (digitally) and ready for purchasing!

Go here to purchase: HoC Bk3

The blurb on the back:

Sarah survived the first two weeks at the Tapestry! 

Taps adopted her and she now has siblings that were also orphans. 
She's becoming more confident using her magic. 
Ransom is in love with her - she sees it in his eyes and feels it in his heart, even if she's too young to do anything about it. 

On the flip side: 

Her bodyguard was murdered and it remains unsolved. 
Taps is not only a cursed ghost, she and Sarah's brother are infected with a werewolf virus. 
Sarah still isn't sure what Dee is, but glad she's nearly finished knitting her brain back together. 

On the bright side of things, her friends are safe! 

She thinks. 
Maybe. 
Hmm...is anyone safe in the magical world? Ever?


I know it's late for me posting this (it was released April 14th of this year), but we've been busy with Books 4 &5! Our artist is already working on book 4's cover.

Once these books are finished, (we're thinking 5 or so for this series), I'm hoping to update this blog with more pictures and info on the main cast.

So, here's hoping for many accomplishments and that our books will be widespread and known in the next year!

-T. Erickson

Taps' Mansion Garden Picture

I commissioned our cover artist (Mates Laurentiu) to work on this picture. I think he did a very good job, especially since we have 2 very different styles. But he was kind enough to work with my constant corrections and now you have a wonderful piece of art to look at.

Description:

Taps: Realm Keeper (RK), Royal bodyguard, Highest ranked Club of her time; Teresa Accolade Persimmons is one of a kind. She delights in pleasant company and beautiful gardens when she has time off. Here she can be seen speaking with General Zizzor.

(She would normally be wearing her mother's lacy gloves, but, due to my excitement, I didn't have the artist do it.)

General Zizzor (Gold and white hummingbird): Watch out for his battle prowess! 

(There's a lot more to know about this cute little fellow in the books.)

Smitten Rose (in the vase): A creation of Jeffery, Taps' butler. (See HOC Bk1 for the deeper reason)

Books: Taps is all about expanding her knowledge and deepening her understanding. *They actually are: the Holy Bible (brown), Book of Mormon (blue), Children's Song Book (small green), and the open book is...hmm...I'll have to think about that one.

Bench Decor: The moon and stars represent Taps' office. As a RK, she's one rank below royalty.

Mer-man statue: King Tempest, whom was courting Taps at one time...

(This isn't the pose his statue has in the books. But I liked what Mr. Laurentiu did, so it stayed.)

Ghosty Butterflies: There are several varieties in Taps' gardens. These blue butterflies are there to help one relax.

Roses: Taps loves roses, especially enchanted ones.

Tava Tree: This special tree is literally "out of this world" and was a gift. 

(If you've ever read my mother's COS prequels and specifically books 3-5, you should know ALL about the Tava tree.)

Garden (In general): Everything in Taps' garden does something magical, from the plants to the decor.

(Several of the BG trees should actually be fruit trees, but I didn't think about it before Mates had done a lot of work and since there were other parts of the picture that I felt more important, the correct trees weren't put on. Should've added a distraction creature too, and fairies...oh well, thoughts for next time.)

So there you have it. :) One beautiful picture and an idea about what a small part of Taps' garden looks like.

-T. Erickson