Hello Dear Reader,

A warm and fuzzy welcome from the last few days of love month! This month has been crazy — thank God it’s a short one or I never would have been able to have survived it. Between the Valentine’s Day celebrations, work life, life milestone celebrations, and a whole bunch of miscellaneous stuff that I can’t even get in to now, I’m glad to finally catch my breath. After this weekend, that is.

Usually around this time I get a little sappy and, in my feels, thus resulting in a sneak peek into something I’ve been working on. As I mentioned, the completed manuscript of the sequel to “The Abditory” (title yet to be revealed) is off to the publishers (eekkkk!). Now out of my hands, there’s nothing we can do but wait until the long process of publishing is completed. 

For the ones who have been here from the beginning, you are now getting an inside look of how the process went the first time around. The wait didn’t seem that long because you only saw the reveal, not the behind-the-scenes things that went into it. Now it’s your lucky day and get to see just how long the process is *cue party confetti*. 

And in case, through all that explanation I wasn’t clear, it takes a very. long. time…But I’m not a heartless monster — thus, I gift you a little excerpt from the book! YAY!

Also, if you want to see day to day content about the books, follow my @theholyrelics page on Instagram! There’s a whole bunch of fun stuff there and where exciting news will be announced first!

KNEE SLAPPER THURSDAY 

VERSE OF THE MONTH

“He leads the humble in what is right, and teaches the humble his way.”

Psalm 25:9 ESV

SERVINA

While there’s no picture just yet of our activities, Servina and I have been getting reeeaallll busy in the kitchen! We’ve got a whole bunch of stuff cookin’ up for ya (pun intended) so follow along @servinabook on Instagram to be the first to see!

We’ve also been doing some other type of exploring hehehe.

Now, without further ado…

“THE ABDITORY” SEQUEL PREVIEW

My words were cut short with the sound of an ominous cheer coming from the water. Both Evander and I turned to look and see where it was coming from, but were knocked from our feet as something hit the boat broadside. Lifting ourselves up with our forearms, Evander’s eyes widened.  

“Pirates!” Evander shouted, giving me a quick look before turning to his crew. “To arms! To arms!”  

We were still a few days sail from the most likely place of attack that we had configured. This was close to the port. They dared to attack this close?

The few soldiers we had on board grabbed their weapons, throwing extras to the crew of the ship. I hadn’t felt comfortable having so few skilled fighting men on this ship, but Evander was right. If the pirates had even a hint that we were filled with soldiers they wouldn’t attack and then our plan would be for naught. I just prayed that the battleships that were supposed to be trailing us would come help before there was too much damage, or worse. Better yet, that our secret weapon would work.  

Looking to the back of the ship, I locked eyes with him — the ace up our sleeve. Marcus was an archer who had been under Evander’s command while in Germania. He was gravely injured while in active duty, losing one of his legs, and was sent back to his family in Rome. But that injury didn’t make him lose his skills, he was still one of the best archers Evander said that he had ever known. That and he was fitted with a wooden leg. Once our men spilled some oil onto the pirates ship, Marcus would shoot a fiery arrow into it, bringing it up in flames.  

I pulled myself up, eyes locked on the incoming pirates that were beginning to board our ship.

“Rivka, get behind me and go below deck, now!” Evander commanded, gripping his sword in one hand and knife in the other.  

Knowing that it would just waste time to explain, my eyes scanned the deck, making sure everyone was in position.  

“Now!” he yelled again, giving me a firm shove towards the direction of the stairs. I gave him a quick look and began making my way there. Proceeding down the steps, I checked behind to see if my stash was still there. I had left a sword and knife tucked away in case the need should arise. Well, arise it did and my weapons thankfully were. The leather wrapped handles felt good in my hands, giving me a decent grip. Lastly, I flipped the hem of my tunic into my belt, ensuring that it was secured nice and tight.  

Not wasting a second, I ran back up the stairs to join Evander and his comrades. The pirates had already boarded the ship, the hand to hand combat spreading amongst the men like a disease. Some more of the pirates were still swinging in on the right of the ship. Flipping my knife in my hand, I threw it, landing square in the chest of a boarding pirate. Grunting, he fell off his rope and into the sea.  

I ran into the fray, iron smacking against iron as the fighting commenced. Between blows, I could see that Evander wasn’t far from me. He was battling against what seemed to be the largest pirate on deck, each giving hard blows to the other, but Evander held his ground.  

A sword came swinging, which I barely dodged. The man kept swinging at me, forcing me back as the sword was just inches from me. Just managing, I brought my sword up to block his swing, leaving him open. Snatching the opportunity, I jammed my elbow into his face, sending him down as he held his bloodied nose. Spitting to the side, I turned to find my next opponent, adrenaline rushing through my body.  

I didn’t get two feet away when a veiny arm slipped its way around my neck, putting me in a headlock, while the other hand pressed against my head holding it secure. His arm pushed against my vocal chords, making it impossible for my lungs to receive air. Forcefully, I raised my own arm and dug my elbow hard into his stomach, earning some release to the pressure around my neck. Using the momentum, I locked my fingers behind his sweaty neck, gripping his hair, and hurled him over my shoulder, his back making a loud “thud” as it hit the ground. He lay unconscious or dead.  

Picking up my sword from the ground, I looked to see if Marcus had set fire to the ship, only to see it still intact. My eyes scanned for him on the upper deck, finding a harrowing image.  

Two pirates were attacking him, cornering him against the railing. He was already at a disadvantage, but having two men to fight instead of one made the odds of his survival even slimmer. One of the pirate brutes landed another blow to Marcus, knocking him on his back. Marcus managed to swing his good leg behind the pirate, bringing him down, but the advantage was just for a moment. Within seconds, the pirate got on his knees and tried to bring his knife down on Marcus. Marcus resisted for a little, but pushing up was more difficult than the force going down and within seconds the pirate’s blade landed in his heart.  

Everyone else occupied in their own fight, I seemed to be the only one who saw, meaning it was my job to take his place. Killing the pirate in front of me, I tried to run to that side of the ship. A pirate came from my right, trying to land his sword on my side, but I rolled out of the way, sliding my sword against his claves. He screamed in pain as he fell to the floor.

Getting up, I continued through the chaos, trying my best to take out any pirates I could on the way.  

In the meantime, one of the sailors seemed to have taken notice that Marcus was dead and grabbed the bow and arrow, trying to find the flint and iron pyrites to light the tip to send it over to our enemy’s ship. But speed was not on his side as I saw the disaster unfold. The pirate that had killed Marcus appeared behind him, sliced the back of his legs, sending him on his back as the bow went flying through the air next to the ship’s steering. The arrow went in the other direction, landing near the mast. I didn’t wait to see the raider land his final move.  

I was halfway across the ship along the side, just parallel to the arrow. The only thing in my way was a dozen men fighting. I didn’t even have a second to think of the best way to get over to the mast when another pirate thought he’d try his luck with me. Giving a forceful grunt, I used all my might and pushed my opponent back, flipping his sword through his hand and just barely managing to knock him over the side and into the waves below. The taste of sweat found its way onto my lips, salty and warm. Wiping my mouth, I turned around.

“Rivka!” I heard my name called through the commotion. I squinted as I tried to find the source.  

“Rivka!”

BOOK REVIEW

“BOUNDRY OF BLOOD”

This month’s book is “Boundry of Blood” by Cliff Graham. **Our first book for the 2025 Challenge, EEEKKK!**

My Overall Opinion:

Over the past couple of years, Graham has easily jumped up to my favorite authors category. While I haven’t read all of his books, there hasn’t been one yet to disappoint me. “Boundry of Blood” is no exception. While the book itself is on the leaner side, the story is rich in detail and imagination. The book is biblical fiction, as Graham notes in his foreword, his take on Shamgar’s story is really interesting. Shamgar is only mentioned in two verses in the Bible, but Graham harnesses it in a way to call up the men of God, however unlikely they may be. While Graham’s focus is primarily men, women can take note of both his and his wife’s example. 

My Favorite Character:

As the protagonist, Shamgar does take the lead as my favorite. His character arch and growth were something that balanced both his humanity as well as his faith. Without giving too much of a spoiler, I like that he doubts, I like that he fails, and I like the constant pointing out of his shortcomings. We can all relate to Shamgar in one way or another.

Things I Didn’t Like / Would Change:

This isn’t something that I didn’t like and would change, as it was imperative for the story, but one of the characters weak manhood just irked me.  Again, this NEEDS to be in the story, but it just highlighted the fact of people going back on their word or not being strong as God calls them to be — rather hiding in fear, while still maintaining a position of authority. It was an emphasis of weak leadership and just exactly all that entails, even if you think you are living the good life. In the end, you reap what you sow. 

Ranking:

4.9/5 — I loved that it was a light read but wasn’t dry on detail or plot. 

Other Comments:

As mentioned before, I highly recommend Graham’s other works, specifically his series on David’s Mighty Men. He currently has two of five books published, and the others in progress. He recently moved to a new publishing non-profit, Kavod Family Ministries, and the entire series should be out in the next couple of years. 

COMING NEXT MONTH

In the words of “Seven Brides for Seven Brothers…”

Spring, Spring, SPRING!

See You Next Month!