The Guild of the Cowry Catchers, Book 1: Embers, Deluxe Illustrated Edition (25 page)

If you are enjoying
Cowry Catchers
, check
out Abbie’s other projects.
The Prophet of
Panamindorah
is another series set
in
the Cowry Catcher’s
universe. Search for it in your eBookstore or find the free
audio in iTunes.

About the Author

Abigail Hilton is a nurse anesthetist who
lives in Florida with three cats and a variety of carnivorous
plants. She has spent time in veterinary school and done graduate
work in literature. She currently keeps people alive and
comfortable during vivisection (AKA surgery). Really, it doesn’t
get more magical than that. You can find her short fiction in
GUD
,
The
Drabblecast
,
The Dunesteef
, and other venues
both audio and text. You can connect with Abbie personally on
Facebook
or
Twitter
.

Artists

 Sarah (Rah) Cloutier
is a graduate student at the Pacific Northwest College of Art. She
has been working on illustrations for Cowry Catchers since 2007.
Her illustrations in this book are:
Not as
beautiful as you
,
Sing to
me
,
Are you threatening me?
(which is also the cover),
Do you want an
apology?
,
Almost rid of
me
,
Shocking and
offensive
,
Carry
you
. You can view more of her amazing
work on her
Deviant Art
page
.

GreenSprite is a Romanian
artist and student who has been creating illustrations for Cowry
Catchers since mid-2009. Her illustrations in this book are:
All the
character portraits
,
Pretty
things
,
Maps and an
island
,
Picnic
,
Slap
. Her beautiful work can also be found on
Deviant
Art
.

The
maps
and cover design were created by Jeff McDowall, a graphic
artist living in Orlando, Florida. Jeff has been beta reading for
Abbie’s books since they were both teenagers. You can find more
about him and his work on
his
website
.

Kirgetova Tatiana is a
Russian artist and she created this image specifically for this
eBook. Her illustration in this book is:
Real
conversation
. Her luminous work can
also be found on
Deviant Art
.

Jason Kivela is a graphic
artist and book designer living in Madison, Wisconsin. He helped
with the layout for this book. Without Jason, Cowry Catchers
wouldn’t look so pretty. Find out more about him and his work
at
his website
.

Glossary

blue month:
one cycle of blue moon,
usually 30 to 90 days.

canid:
any creature in the canine
family, either two-legged or four-legged, including canine-type
shelts, such as foxlings.

cowry catchers:
manatee shelts.

fauns:
shelts with hooves.

felid:
any creature in the cat family,
either two-legged or four-legged, including cat-type shelts, such
as grishnards.

nauns:
shelts with neither hooves nor
paws, e.g. manatee shelts and seal shelts.

panauns
: shelts with paws.

red month:
one cycle of red moon,
about 60 days.

shelt:
a two-legged creature having a
humanoid body from the waist up and resembling some kind of animal
from the waist down. Shelts have pointed, tufted ears.

watch:
a period of time approximately
four hours long. Shelts count four watches for the day and two
watches for the night.

yellow month:
one cycle of yellow
moon, about 15 days.

Shelt species of Wefrivain

Panauns

grishnards – griffin shelts

ocelons – ocelot shelts

leopons – leopard shelts

leons – lion shelts

foxlings – fox shelts

hunti – hyena shelts

Fauns

shavier – pegasus shelts

zeds – zebra shelts

gazumelle – gazelle shelts

Nauns

cowry catchers – manatee shelts

selkies – seal shelts