Academy of Omniosophical Arts & Sciences: Gnusletter #006 - Get ready for Adventure, warmer days, and a chance to get published!

What if you could choose a different reality?

A buried secret . A mystical portal . A world-altering decision.

During yet another move to another Marine Corps base, a browbeaten and dispirited fourteen-year-old yearns for the stability and solace of a settled and happy homelife. But when a pair of peculiar people in the new town confront him with secrets about his family’s past, his reality is threatened. To get to the truth and get back to normal, he’ll have to defy his father and enter an exotic, ancient world where the fantastical is the norm and danger is a way of life.

Marked for Adventure is the first installment in Peyton Drake’s seven-part Mind the Portal story. The 25,000-word fantasy novella prepares readers to venture from 1974 California USA to the interdimensional Academy of Omniosophical Arts & Sciences.

To find out what’s on the other side of the portal, continue with part two of the story, Destiny by Design, releasing March 21st, 2020. But be warned, once you go through, you may never want to come back.

Happy SURRENDER OF GELID day on February 1, when the goddess of cold succumbs to Ignio, the god of fire. Hereafter the days will get longer and (soon) warmer!

Ignis {fire} . Terris {earth} . Arbis {wood} . Aquis {water} . Nitris {air} . Platen {metal} . Aether {spirit}
Which is your element?

Take our ELEMENTAL INCLINATIONS quiz to find out!

See your name in print when you contribute a poem, blurb, or short story to our Portals in Prose & Verse anthology.

INGREDIENTS

1 Cup sweetened flaked coconut
1 Cup all-purpose flour
1 1⁄4 Cups confectioners' sugar
salt, pinch
6 Tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 teaspoons milk

DIRECTIONS

Grind 1/2 cup of the coconut in food processor.
Chop remaining coconut and set aside.
Add flour, 1/4 cup of the confectioners' sugar and the salt.
Pulse to blend.
Add butter and vanilla; pulse until dough comes together.
Heat oven to 350 degrees.
Roll dough into 1-inch balls.
Place dough balls 1 inch apart on an ungreased baking sheet.
Bake cookies until firm but tender, 15 minutes.
Remove to rack, let cool completely.
In small bowl, stir together remaining 1 cup confectioners' sugar and enough milk until smooth but still thick.
Dip cookies in glaze (about 1/2 t for each), letting it drip down sides.
Dip in chopped coconut and set aside for glaze to dry.