Initiate by Tara Maya

Initiate is free everywhere except on Barnes and Noble (where it’s $0.99). You can download a free .epub version via Smashwords.

The Unfinished Song (Book 1): Initiate by Tara Maya

DEADLY INITIATION

A DETERMINED GIRL...

Dindi can't do anything right, maybe because she spends more time dancing with pixies than doing her chores. Her clan hopes to marry her off and settle her down, but she dreams of becoming a Tavaedi, one of the powerful warrior-dancers whose secret magics are revealed only to those who pass a mysterious Test during the Initiation ceremony. The problem? No-one in Dindi's clan has ever passed the Test. Her grandmother died trying. But Dindi has a plan.

AN EXILED WARRIOR...

Kavio is the most powerful warrior-dancer in Faearth, but when he is exiled from the tribehold for a crime he didn't commit, he decides to shed his old life. If roving cannibals and hexers don't kill him first, this is his chance to escape the shadow of his father's wars and his mother's curse. But when he rescues a young Initiate girl, he finds himself drawn into as deadly a plot as any he left behind. He must decide whether to walk away or fight for her... assuming she would even accept the help of an exile.

EXCERPT

Blue-skinned rusalki grappled Dindi under the churning surface of the river. She could feel their claws dig into her arms. Their riverweed-like hair entangled her legs when she tried to kick back to the surface. She only managed to gulp a few breaths of air before they pulled her under again.

She hadn't appreciated how fast and deep the river was. On her second gasp for air, she saw that the current was already dragging her out of sight of the screaming girls on the bank. A whirlpool of froth and fae roiled between two large rocks in the middle of the river. The rusalka and her sisters tugged Dindi toward it. Other water fae joined the rusalki. Long snouted pookas, turtle-like kappas and hairy-armed gwyllions all swam around her, leading her to the whirlpool, where even more fae swirled in the whitewater.

"Join our circle, Dindi!" the fae voices gurgled under the water. "Dance with us forever!"

"No!" She kicked and swam and stole another gasp for air before they snagged her again.

There were so many of them now, all pulling her down, all singing to the tune of the rushing river. She tried to shout, "Dispel!" but swallowed water instead. Her head hit a rock, disorienting her. She sank, this time sure she wouldn't be coming up again.

"Dispel!" It was a man's voice.

Strong arms encircled her and lifted her until her arms and head broke the surface. Her rescuer swam with her toward the shore. He overpowered the current, he shrugged aside the hands of the water faeries stroking his hair and arms. When he reached the shallows, he scooped Dindi into his arms and carried her the rest of the way to the grassy bank. He set her down gently.

She coughed out some water while he supported her back.

"Better?" he asked.

She nodded. He was young--only a few years older than she. The aura of confidence and competence he radiated made him seem older. Without knowing quite why, she was certain he was a Tavaedi.

"Good." He had a gorgeous smile. A wisp of his dark bangs dangled over one eye. He brushed his dripping hair back over his head.

Dindi's hand touched skin--he was not wearing any shirt. Both of them were sopping wet. On him, that meant trickles of water coursed over a bedrock of muscle. As for her, the thin white wrap clung transparently to her body like a wet leaf. She blushed.

"It might have been easier to swim if you had let go of that," he teased. He touched her hand, which was closed around something. "What were you holding onto so tightly that it mattered more than drowning?"

LINKS

Tara’s blog
Tara’s Twitter
Amazon
Barnes and Noble
Kobo
iTunes
Smashwords

Just Released - The Shadow Gypsy

Sequel to The Shadow Ryana Now Published!

The Shadow Sister Ryana, the very Shadow of Death, is marrying her beloved and joining his gypsy clan. War took her innocence, and now she's determined to rebuild her life. But religious cults are springing up, and the gypsies come under attack. Ryana's best friend in the Sisters, Jelena, has fled to join one of the cults, and the senior Sister asks Ryana to find out why.

Too late, Ryana discovers their enemies have a sweet and seductive weapon, one that has turned Jelena into her enemy. Ryana is betrayed, kidnapped and her will stolen. She must regain it if she is to defend her clan and the Shadow Sisters. If she fails, it means the end of both her families--her new gypsy clan and the Sisters she swore to defend.

Now on Amazon

Only $3.99 for Kindle

Price Reduced on The Shadow Ryana

99 Cents

Three Days Only

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And watch for The Shadow Gypsy coming June 23!

Guest Post: Genre Phobia by Pavarti K. Tyler

I only recently found out that I was a fantasy author.  I know, it sounds ridiculous.  Especially since Two Moons of Sera Vol One was released in November of 2011.  But see, I was in a kind of denial.  My own prejudices shone through and clouded my ability to see that I was in fact the very subject of my own discrimination.

As a science fiction buff, I’ve always kind of looked down on fantasy.  You know, with elves and fairies and knights you can play fast and loose with the rules of logic.  This flies in the face of everything science fiction stands for!

I remember the days of sitting in the lunch room cafeteria with my nerdly friends.  Come wore gauntlets even to school, most were excitedly discussing the next RPG game they would be meeting up for and far too many owned their own capes.  I loved them all, but silently I scoffed.  I would go to the games and listen, but rarely play, mostly there to smoke cigarettes and make out with my fella.

A life time of snobbery later, I find that I have no flame to light my righteous way as I stand in the wind.  I have written a fantasy novel.  I tried to convince myself it was more romance than fantasy (it’s not), then I tried to say it was kind of sci-fi (it’s not), or maybe sort of dystopian (it’s not).  Two Moons of Sera is solidly fantasy and now that I’ve accepted that I have found a whole new world has opened up to me.

The rules of logic I had clung to as dogma for so long have fallen away and now I am free to dream without limits.  I have opened my mind to books and plot lines I’d never considered before.  I even recently read a book about Faeries and loved it.  Before, I would have rolled my eyes at the spelling, but now, I’m free to just enjoy it (Check out The Betweenby LJ Cohen for a great read).

Now I proudly announce that Two Moons of Sera is a Fantasy first, a Romance second.  It’s a book that has inspired the crashing of my pre-conceived notions and allowed me a kind of freedom to explore the possibilities of my imagination in ways never before possible.

About the author: Pavarti K Tyler is an artist, wife, mother and number cruncher. She graduated Smith College in 1999 with a degree in Theatre. After graduation, she moved to New York, where she worked as a Dramaturge, Assistant Director and Production Manager on productions both on and off Broadway.

Later, Pavarti went to work in the finance industry several international law firms. She now operates her own accounting firm in the Washington DC area, where she lives with her husband, two daughters and two terrible dogs. When not preparing taxes, she is busy working as the Director of Marketing at Novel Publicity or penning her next novel.

Her current project, Two Moons of Sera, is being published in serial format.  Volumes 1-3 are available now on Amazon.com.  Volume 4 is expected out before the end of 2012.

This blog post is  part of a blog tour put together by Orangeberry Book Tours. 

99 Cent Fantasy

This weekend only my highly-rated fantasy novel Blood Duty is reduced from its regular price of $3.99 to only 99 Cents.

UPDATE: This promotion went so well, I have decided to leave Blood Duty priced at 99 Cents for the time being.

Blood Duty now has 9 Amazon reviews and a 4.8 Star Amazon rating.

A recent Amazon reviewer said: "I almost bypassed because it was marked as a 'fantasy romance' and many I've tried were too heavy on the romance, too light on the fantasy and storyline. I'm delighted to say I would have missed a very entertaining book if I had not tried it. Very little 'romance' but rather a solid, established relationship between two admirable main characters. Solid fantasy of the swords and sorcery variety with well developed characters and an interesting twist on 'this is how we defeat the bad guys and win the war'."

Coming Soon: Summer Solstice Free Fantasy!

A large number of authors with a variety of types of fantasy stories will be taking part!

Here is a list of what you can expect to find free:

Tristan J. Tarwater - Little Girl Lost
J.R. Tomlin - Talon of the Unnamed Goddess
John Blackport - Balislanka
C.S. Hand - Splatterism: The Tragic Recollections of A Minotaur Assailant
Curtis Hox
Daniel R. Marvello - Vaetra Unveiled (The Vaetra Chronicles)
Scott Marlowe - The Hall of the Wood
Valerie Gillen - A little Magic
Dave King - Betrovia
Greg Benage - A Circle of Iron
Christiana Miller - Somebody Tell Aunt Tillie She's Dead , A Tale of 3 Witches
Jason Letts - Powerless: The Synthesis
Ruth Nestvold - Yseult: A Tale of Love in the Age of King Arthur, Shadow of Stone, Dragon Time and Other Stories, Never Ever After: Three Short Stories.
Brendan Carroll - The Red Cross of Gold:. Books I & II (Assassin Chronicles)
Aithne Jarretta - Claire: the Lost Fae
T.J. Lantz - Gnit-Wit Gnipper and the Perilous Plague
Elizabeth Baxter - Circle Spinner and Other Tales
Danielle Kazemi - The Phoenix Token
Barbra Annino - Gnome Wars (Wee Adventures of the Fae Realm)

19 Authors, 23 Books!

June 20 and 21

Don't miss it!

Interview with Fantasy Author C. R. Daems

I want to welcome my dear friend and occasional co-author, Clem (C. R.) Daems to my blog to talk a bit about writing fantasy and science fiction. Clem, when did you start writing? What did you first write?
Unlike most of the writers interviewed, I had no interest in writing a novel or even a short story until after I retired—at the age of seventy. I woke up one morning with what I thought an intriguing concept—an intelligent parasite attached to a human's neurological system. Analogous to having two heads controlling one body, with the parasite having ultimate control. I thought it would make a good story, because of the partnership that develops between the young girl and the parasite, which I called the Riss. Over the next several months, I not only wrote a 90,000-word novel but a sequel of equal length. Unfortunately, I wasn't ready for prime time. My first attempt was poorly written and never saw the light of day. Happily, five years later, the sequel The Riss Gamble has been published thanks to Jeanne Tomlin, who taught me the craft of writing.

Tell us about the fantasy and science fiction world(s) you make up.

I begin each novel with an imaginary historical background that forms the backdrop upon which the subsequent story is built. The actual story usually occurs years afterward. The Riss Gamble is a good example. It starts fifty years into the future using my original background—a race of intelligent parasites, who use a Gorilla-like creature as hosts. The original story began when a human shots a Riss-host and the Riss, in an attempt to save its life, transfers into a young girl. The story is her journey with her secret Riss companion. In The Riss Gamble the secret of the Riss parasite comes to light and the government decides to try an experiment using volunteers, promising them a college education and commissioning as an officer in the Navy. The story is her journey as a Riss-human, fighting raiders and people willing to discredit and even kill to get rid of her and the program
.
What are they like?

My worlds tend to be human-like and, therefore, vary more by time then type of fantasy. And my imaginary background determines the time, depending on whether the story feels like it belongs in the "past" (kings, nobles, and peasants), "present" (cities, governments, and technology of today), or the "future" (space travel). The original Riss story could have been set in any of those time frames, but the Riss seemed to be made for the far-flung future where strange worlds and aliens exist—one could assume. Therefore, The Riss Gamble is set in a star system with a space-travelling navy and many inhabited worlds.

How do you work out a magic system for your world? Do you prefer a lot of magic? Light magic? And why?

I tend to prefer light and limited magic. If a person has a magical talent, it would have limits in both power and ability. For example, a person maybe able to tell truth from lie, but not whether a person was lying—only whether he or she believed it to be true. A Fire Wizard may be able to create a fire ring to protect him and able to throw fireballs, but he would have to drop the fire ring to throw the ball and could only throw it effectively a limited distance. And a magical ability is usually limited to one per person. So, although the magic can be powerful and difficult to overcome, it has limits and weaknesses that can be exploited. The Riss Gamble, by the way, has no magic—except for spaceships that fly faster than the speed of light.

What is the hardest thing about making up a fictional world? Why?

For me the fictional world follows from my imaginary historical background, because it determines the existing conditions and the time frame. After that, I lose control—believe it or not—and I become a reader of the story. Yes, reader. I have no outline or preconceived notion of what will or should happen. The protagonist discovers the world, magic, and people as she or he journeys through life. So in a sense, the fictional worlds I write about just happen, which eliminates all the headaches, writer's block, and messy details of making up a fictional world. It may sound strange, but it works for me!

Tell us about your most recent main character. Would we want to share a meal with them? Why?

Many meals. Nadya is an interesting young woman who loves taking things apart to determine how they work, is not out to proved anything to anyone, and wishes to be judged on performance. Definitely someone who believes actions speak louder than words. She has a satisfying job but even as a young girl, dreams of seeing new worlds and meeting aliens. A compulsion so overpowering, she's willing to participate in an experimental project to host an intelligent parasite for the opportunity to fulfill those dreams. But the program requires her to be tattooed for identification, which marks her as an alien and subjects her to a variety of reactions from those she meets and interfaces with: fear of being infected, disgust that she allowed a parasite to infect her, and a hatred of anything alien. Nadya finds her parasite has an outrageous sense of humor, which helps her survive the almost daily harrassment. And the Riss's ability to control her neurological system, helps Nayda survive the multiple attempts on her life.

What about the villain of your most recent novel. How did you make them up? Would we be scared to meet them in a dark alley?

Again, villains happen as Nadya journeys through her life. She finds many antagonists: crew who hate her for being alien, those who feel she is an abomination, those who want her and the program terminated, and the raiders who come to consider her a dybbuk—demon—the cause of their bad luck and want her assassinated.
What is your next project?

My next novel has just been published, The Kazak Guardians, an Urban Fantasy. The imaginary background is that a group of men from Kazakhstan began a small bodyguard firm in Chicago during the roaring 20s when Prohibition existed and crime flurished. Their reputation grew over time, and they became the agency of choice for the rich and famous. But as demand for their services grew, they had trouble hiring people who met their high standards, so they started a school which eliminated all but the best. During the sixties, a powerful, unidentified group took control of the firm, and they became dedicated to guarding persons whose death would be detrimental to the interests of the United States. The heroine, runs away from the latest foster homes, looking for a new life. Through a friend she finds out about a unique school that trains elite bodyguards to defend America's VIPs against thugs, extremists, and profession Assassins with super abilities: Ghosts who can make themselves almost invisible, Illusionists, who can look like anyone, Liars who can tell lies everyone believes, and others. The story is about her life as a Kazak Guardian. Even I was shocked by the events of her journey.

You will find Clem's novels such as The Kazak Guardians and The Riss Gamble as well as novels he and I co-authored such as Talon of the Unnamed Goddess and Blood Duty on Amazon and other online retailers.

Interview with Fantasy Author A. S. Warwick

I would like to share an interview with fantasy author A. S. Warwick, author of the novels Tears of the Mountain and Winter Wolves.

A. S., would you tell use when did you start writing? What did you first write?

I have been writing for as long as I can remember, and probably earlier.  The first story I can remember writing was when I was 5, about a trip to visit Never Never Land.  It was during High School that I really became serious about writing, though the less said about those early, clichéd attempts the better.

Tell us about the fantasy world(s) you make up. What are they like?

I have come up with many fantasy worlds over the years, though one in particular has been the main focus.  The origins of it began over twenty years ago.  It has morphed and changed a lot since then to an almost unrecognisable state from the original.  It did start out as fairly generic fantasy, with elves and dwarves and what-not, but at some stage I decided I wanted to do something different, and they were among the first to go.  Sharael is a world that is largely deserts in the interior, with civilisation existing along the fertile margins besides the seas and oceans.  It is also a low magic world mostly of humans.  One of the major differences is that it is a more technologically advanced world than most fantasy, having reached the age of gunpowder and big ships - the Napoleonic War era of technology.  As something of a history nerd, one thing that does bother me about a lot of fantasy is the technological stasis that it seems to exist in, with nothing changing over hundreds or thousands of years.  That is part of the reason I have written short fiction across the length of Sharael's history, from the stone age and bronze age all the way to the gunpowder age.

How do you work out a magic system for your world? Do you prefer a lot of magic? Light magic? And why?

My preference is for low magic settings - if magic is too powerful then it can quickly take over and remove all challenge.  Meet an obstacle?  Wave your hand and it is overcome.  That said I wanted magic to still be flavourful and have a meaningful role in the world.  With those guidelines in place, I did a lot of brainstorming over a number of iterations until I settled onto the current one, a system of magic that is fundamental to the nature of the world.  From there, knowing what it was capable of - mostly things like healing, control of animals and influencing emotions and perceptions - I tried to work out how it would affect the world, notably in matters such as wars.  Then there is the other type of magic, rare and unusable by humans...

What is the hardest thing about making up a fantasy world? Why?

For me it is avoiding all the clichéd elements of fantasy - grumpy, Scottish speaking dwarves, pointy-eared elves, big bad evil sorcerers, farm-boy heroes fulfilling prophecies - without making it seem like I am avoiding them and also replacing it with something that is not only unique but also enjoyable by the reader.  Fantasy is only limited by our imaginations.

Tell us about your most recent main character. Would we want to share a meal with them? Why?

The one who stole the limelight initially (though who is going into the background for a bit) would be Professor Halir Ashford, and would be fun to share a meal with.  A former Hussar turned explorer, adventurer, historian and professor, he would never be short of unusual and exciting tales to recount of things he has seen or heard.  The problem would be to stop him when he gets started.

What about the villain of your most recent novel. How did you make them up? Would we be scared to meet them in a dark alley?

I try to avoid villains who are evil for the sake of being evil.  While the main characters run into opposition, those people have their own motivations that they believe are right.  In the most recent novel, Winter Wolves, the main characters are opposed to a man, Inkhumetekh, who went through a crisis of faith during a disastrous battle, further compounded by being on the side slowly loosing a war.  He simply seeks a means to reverse that, and the main characters are out to stop him.  As to meeting him in a dark alley, well, he is utterly driven, so if you got in his way you may have a problem.

What is your next project?

I've actually, like normal, got a number of projects in the air.  The first, set in Sharael, is a collection of short stories and novellas, each stand alone stories but go to tell an overall story of the progress of a war.  The second is a sword & sorcery collection of short fiction, the second such collection.  And once they are done it is time to delve into a large list of ideas and stories I've got floating around but haven't had the time to get to yet.

You can find A. S. Warwick's Tears of the Mountain and Winter Wolves on Amazon and Smashwords. Please check them out.

Tax Day Free Fantasy!

Tax Day is painful for most of us, but we have something to take you away from it all: from a variety of authors twelve fantasies are free today on Amazon. Pick one or two or all of them and relax into a fantasy world!

For your reading pleasure:

J. R. Tomlin and C. R. Daems: Blood Duty

Brendan Carroll: The Red Cross of Gold I

MeiLin Miranda: Lovers and Beloveds

Kate Danley: Maggie for Hire

Dave King: Betrovia

Edward W. Robinson: The White Tree

Cate Dean: Last Chance Jack

Colin Taber: Fall of Ossard

Christopher Bunn: Ice and Fire

Matthew Musser: Jadeflies

 Just out from Tristan J. Tarwater: Little Girl Lost

E. Stoops: Corner of a Round Planet





So please download, sit back, relax, and ENJOY!

J. R. Tomlin

Interview with Fantasy Author Brendan Carroll

Today I'm pleased to have an interview with Brendan Carroll whose novel The Red Cross of Gold is part of the "Tax Day Free Fantasy" promotion on April 17!  Welcome, Brendan.

When did you start writing? What did you first write?

It seemes I have been writing forever, but I probably took up writing in the sixth grade when I was around eleven or twelve.  My friends and I thought it would be a goodidea to have a class newspaper, so we wrote up articles for a ‘newspaper’, printed them out in tiny letters and then cut them out with scissors.  We pasted them on another piece of paper as akind of messy jigsaw.  Of course, we didn’t get far because we had no way of printing more than the original copy, so we just passed it around.  I rememberit was a lot of work putting it together, but I did learn how to print very small, which helped me when I got into high school.  I made the best cheat sheets money could buy.  This sort of enterprise brought in a little spending money and by the time I printed out the sheets for my‘customers’, I never had to cheat on a single test.  In fact, I made very high scores.  Kids! What will they do next?

Aside from my foray into petty crime, I wrote my first novel whenI was about 32 years old and laid up from work with a medical condition. Iwrote a fan fiction Sci-Fi novel based on the original Star Trek television series.  It was really very good (or soI’m told) at the time and for a first effort, but of course, the market for Star Trek novels was closed to outsiders. I had no idea how the publishing industry worked back then or else I may never have put pen to paper again. Fortunately, ignorance is truly bliss and I kept writing in spite of the almost zero probability of ever being published.  I am also told that this is the mark of a true writer.  One who cannot help but write.

Tell us about the fantasy world(s) youmake up. What are they like?

I have made up a few fantasy worlds in mynovels over the years.  It is easier to borrow from mythology, I believe than try to make up an entire world with new names for old ideas, places and characters. If I want to write about dragons, for example, there are plenty of historical references to dragons and what they might look like or how they might behave.  I don’t really have to make up a new world for dragons when the world we live in is already a fantastical place full of marvels and miracles. So I tend to call an oak an oak and a faery a faery.  No need to put the reader through a lot of trouble trying to learn impossible to pronounce names for ‘common’fictions.  I do like using names that mean something to the reader without the reader having to add new words to his/hervocabulary.  Most of the proper names formy characters (both human and otherwise) are taken from history, mythology,astrology and actual reference books about the meanings and origins of names
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As for my fantasy worlds, I use theunderworld from faery lore and expand upon known or accepted ideas with my ownversions as seen from my own perspective. I think a lot of people can relate to the underworld as a dark andforeboding place, but in my estimation, that would be the Abyss, or Hell, orHades, depending on your personal bent. The underworld I write about is equivalent to what the Pagans might call‘Summerland’ or the realm of the Fae. The alchemists might call it the Ether.

How do you work out a magic system foryour world? Do you prefer a lot of magic? Light magic? And why?

In the early books of the Assassin Chronicles series, I use a lot of imagery and description of Pagancircle-working.  Simple magick using crystals, candles, swords and stones. That sort of thing.  I also use the Solomonic Magick found in theKeys of Solomon, hence Solomon’s Wisdom. King Solomon apparently knew a great deal of magick.  Hey, it’s in the Bible… or used to be.  I also use stuff from the Necronomicon of HP Lovecraft fame and Eastern Magick, Djinnis, Genies (whatever you want to callthem).  Most of the main characters workwith either simple Pagan rituals or Angelic Magick.  Sometimes I change it up a bit so thatreaders don’t actual get themselves into trouble using magickal incantationswithout the proper training.  I don’tconsider myself a magickal expert, but tis better to err on the side of caution I always say.

I try to keep the magick believable, if you can believe that, pardon any puns intended or unintended. I like to think that my readers might actually raise an eyebrow and maybe look in the closet o runder the bed from time to time.  I like to make people think or question what they believe or see or hear.

What is the hardest thing about making up a fantasy world? Why?

I have never found anything hard aboutmaking up fantasies because it is much harder to stick to the facts and figuresof the mainstream realm of thought as to what is normal and what is not, what is real and what is unreal.  Who can saythat my fantasy is not the Real World and everything else is simply imaginationor fiction?  This question has been askedby much greater minds than mine.

Tell us about your most recent maincharacter. Would we want to share a meal with them? Why?

Oh, yes, my most recent main character outside of Mark Ramsay, the Right Honorable Chevalier du Morte of the Assassin Chronicles, is a sort of partnership of characters in the form of Clint Evansand Marshall Dillon.  The former is based on a friend of mine from my former occupation and the latter is a fictional fellow, loosely based on a close personal friend. Clint is a semi-successful writer who is just trying to live a simple,but comfortable life in a small town. Marshall Dillon (named after his father’s favorite TV personality) is a misplaced Lakota-Sioux, and friend of Clint Evans, who happens to be the local constable.  They are both rather colorful characters with good senses of humor and personable constitutions.  I think anyone might enjoy sharing a meal with either or both of them.

What about the villain of your most recent novel. How didyou make them up? Would we be scared to meet them in a dark alley?

In the same novel (The Hounds of Oblivion), the villain or villains are inhuman and inhumane for the most part.  You would definitely not want to meet up withone of them anywhere, dark or light.  AsI said before, I didn’t really simply make them up from scratch, but ratherborrowed them from mythology.  Of course,I had to make up their personalities and their purpose and their methods.  The book is actually leaning more towardhorror than fiction, so I had to think of some horrible things for them todo.  In order to do that, I drew on booksI’ve read, movies I’ve seen and my own vivid imagination.

What is your next project?

My next projects or my current works in progress are thesecond book in the Apprentice Diaries:.Le Nome de Plume and the 26thbook in the Assassin Chronicles series called All That is Fallen.

Thanks, Brendan!

Brendan Carroll's The Hounds of Oblivion, The Red Cross of Gold I and The Knights of Christ are available on Amazon and also on Smashwords.

Be sure and watch for The Red Cross of Gold I and a dozen other great fantasy freebies on April 17 in the coming Tax Day Free Fantasy!

Tax Day Free Fantasies!

Coming on April 17th

FREE FANTASIES

On Amazon

In time to cure your tax day blues!

13 fantasies free to take you away from it all.

From these authors:

MeiLin Miranda

Kate Danley

Edward W. Robertson

Brendan Carroll

Tristan J. Tarwater

Dave King

Matthew Musser

Kate Dean

Colin Taber

S. M. Reine

Christopher Bunn

E. Stoops

J. R. Tomlin

Watch for it!

Interview with Fantasy Author H. Jonas Rhynedahl

I'd like to welcome H. Jonas Rhynedahl, author of the excellent The Key to Magic series. Jonas, thanks for answering some questions about your novels and your writing.

First, when did you start writing? What did you first write?

Like many I suppose, I started writing fiction when I was young. I'd been reading F&SF -- Edgar Rice Burroughs, Andre (Alice Mary) Norton, Heinlein, Laumer -- since I was about seven years old (back then, I had to get one of my older brothers to snag books from the grown-up section, since helpful librarian ladies tended to want to steer me towards the juvenile section). I caught the writing bug at twelve, learned to type on an old Underwood, and started banging out unfinished novels and short stories. I've always written only F&SF and my first finished novel was Orphan, the first in my epic fantasy series, The Key to Magic.

I would consider ERB and Alice Mary Norton to be the greatest influence on my conception of fantasy, and I would consider their prose and stories as the epitome of "traditional fantasy."

Tell us about the fantasy world(s) you make up. What are they like?

Though I do not shun either of the two, I don't really strive for the bizarre or unusual in my fantasy settings, finding little worth in simply being different for the sake of being different  My fantasy worlds are often comfortably familiar, but not (hopefully!) too recognizable. I've studied and read a lot of history over the years and tend to rat hole some of the more off kilter facts and situations. These make excellent seeds for the creation of a world.

I like adventure when I read fantasy and attempt to inject as much of it as possible in my own writing.

The world of The Key to Magic is a combination of several historical eras with the addition of some literary and anthropological details.

The world of my humorous fantasy, Potatoes, Come Forth! (which may one day have a sequel) is a bit less traditional, with a system of magic existing in a world with steam power, firearms, and embodied natural forces.

How do you work out a magic system for your world? Do you prefer a lot of magic? Light magic? And why?

I believe a robust system of magic ("A sufficiently advanced system of magic is indistinguishable from science.") is the fundamental ingredient of any traditional fantasy universe, Tolkien-esque or otherwise, I usually spend a lot of time sorting out how magic works in my world and make copious notes in an attempt to remain consistent.

I like magic that has rules, limitations, and drawbacks, but I also expect my magic wielders to do fantastic and wonderful things. A hero or heroine must, after all, save the world, or, at least, his or her small part of it.

What is the hardest thing about making up a fantasy world? Why?

For me, creating a cohesive back story. I find that I have to know -- even if the specific facts never make it onto the page -- why things are the way they are and how they came to be. If I write something like, "The great fortress before Korae's horde had never before fallen in war, but he knew that it would today,"  I have to create the three hundred years of history that detail those previous failed sieges and some of the characters involved.

For The Key to Magic, I have forty pages of abbreviated historical and geographical notes and a growing timeline.

Tell us about your most recent main character. Would we want to share a meal with them? Why?

Mar, the main male character of TKtM, is altruistic, heroic, and determined.  He is also customarily disagreeable, frequently anti-social, and relationship impaired. He started out as your basic good guy and while I have been tempted to skew his personality with the insertion of tragic events, I think that would be simply disingenuous.   Mar isn't perfect, but he is a hero.

What about the villain of your most recent novel. How did you make them up? Would we be scared to meet them in a dark alley?

One luxury of epic fantasy is the freedom to have a plethora of bad guys.  In TKtM, there are a number of competing villains and I kill them off as the situation permits.  Most of my villains are adaptations or amalgams of historical figures.  Very few purely fictional antagonists can match the unmitigated evil of real people.

I think it unlikely that you would meet one of my villains in a dark alley.  They tend not to operate solo and it would be more usual to encounter them as they burned your village and slaughtered the people as they came out.

What is your next project?

I am currently working on the next novel in the TKtM series, Emperor, with  two SF novels, Tunnels and Time Traveler's Currency Exchange and Pawn, simmering.  I have a wisp of an idea for a humorous novel based in a fantasy world that I created in my short story "Virtue", but it hasn't reached the planning stage yet.

My books are available at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and the iBookstore.

Jonas, thank you so much and best of luck with your novels.

Interview with Fantasy Author J. Dean

I'd like to welcome author J. Dean, author of The Summoning of Clade Josso, to the blog. First, would you tell us when you started writing? What did you first write?

Fifth grade.  The movie RED DAWN had come out, and one of my friends had written what was essentially a two page "clone" story that took place in our school.  I read it and decided then and there that I wanted to do the same thing, so I too wrote a clone story (Yeah... not much in the imagination department yet).  From there, it stuck with me, even after my friends fell away from it.  I couldn't keep from writing; far too fun.  It still is.

Tell us about the fantasy world(s) you make up. What are they like?

Imagine if you will seven different universes, each universe containing a world in which exists a different race of beings.  Now, imagine each of these worlds having a gateway that leads to a "para-world,"  a sort of "world between the universes" that acts as an in-between place, like a hallway connecting different rooms.  This para-world (called the Meridian) is not a round world.  It is a flat plane of existence, filled with diverse climates and terrains, and at its center lies an entrance into yet another place called the Vein.  At one point beings could come and go as they pleased through these gateways, crossing from one world to another via the Meridian, living in an existence that could rightly be called paradise.

But something terrible happened.  A war between two factions, the Sect of the Awakened and the Heretics (or the Blindmen), caused the slaughter of many beings, and sealed off the Meridian, severing connections between the Seven Worlds.  As a result, a terrible evil has spread across the Meridian and seeped into each of the different universes, tainting and corrupting the Seven Races.  The Meridian itself was changed.  Once a harbor of prosperity and commerce, it transformed into a harsh, deadly environment, filled with deadly creatures and empty ruins that once represented great civilizations.  And until what is written in the scrolls comes to pass--that one being from each of the Seven Worlds enters the Meridian and comes to the Vein in order to awake The All, Balys-Crahly--The Meridian and its adjoining worlds will remain in this darkness.

How do you work out a magic system for your world? Do you prefer a lot of magic? Light magic? And why?

I actually don't prefer it.  The "magic"--and I wouldn't even really call it magic--has limits on it, in part because it's more or less manipulation by things (maybe beings?) we don't see, rather than being a broad, available "force" like the Force in Star Wars, used by wielders as they please.  It would be more accurate to call it "power" which has an external conscious source, but the power has parameters on it, rules that the "users" cannot violate.   That being said, there is an incorporation of technology into the stories as well.

I have a couple of reasons for taking a more unorthodox view of magic and power in my stories.  For starters, I didn't want to be a Tolkien/R.A. Salvatore clone.  The world of hobbits, elves, orcs, wizards, and the like has been done to death, and with this series I wanted completely orginal characters, creatures, monsters, places, etc.  Part of that originality came in the form of deciding whether or not to use magic, and instead of rehashing it or doing away with it, I altered it.  Some of it I have to keep tight-lipped on, because then it would involve telling you TOO much about the plot, and that means I'd have to tie you up and lock you in the broom closet.  And we don't want to do that :D.  But I prefer to call it "power" rather than "magic," because there is a subtle difference.

What is the hardest thing about making up a fantasy world? Why?

For me the hardest thing was doing something original.  Like I said earlier, the Tolkien path of fantasy has already been trodden by so many authors and epics, and as much as I admire J.R.R. Tolkien, I didn't want to do that.  It's easy to do what's already been done; the real challenge is to come up with something different, and that's what the Vein epic is all about.  It's an original story, with original characters, in an original setting, with original dangers and wonders.  Doing that requires real thought and development, simply because you're scrapping established templates and making up your own.  It's a challenge, but in the end it's also rewarding to see people read what's been written and say "Wow! That's really different!" instead of  "Oh, nice story."

Tell us about your most recent main character. Would we want to share a meal with them? Why?

Probably not.  The first two characters in the first two novels (Clade Josso and Old Velt) were quite pleasant fellows, very kind, noble, and brave.  But Kran, well... he's a different story.  You see, not all of the characters coming into the Meridian are doing so with noble intentions, and Kran is here for himself, nobody else.  The Sect members accompanying him are tolerating him because he's important to the fulfillment of the prophecy in the scrolls, but Kran has no qualms about taking the blaster grafted into his arm and killing somebody who rubs him the wrong way.  That being said, he's cooperating with the Sect members while taking his trek to the Vein, but only because it's to his benefit.  He is haughty, selfish, looks down on any other being-and he is sure to let them know it without apology.

What about the villain of your most recent novel. How did you make them up? Would we be scared to meet them in a dark alley?

Oh I think so.  There are a few creatures that would more than qualify as monsters in the Vein, but I'm most proud of the Cloud Specter.  A massive giant that lurks in a rolling black thunderhead, it lowers itself in an inverse position from the cloud (so that, from our perspective on the ground, the Specter is upside down, with its feet in the cloud and its head just above us).  It's huge, a behemoth taller than the tallest skyscraper, and it loves to kill anything on the ground with one swipe of its hand--which it can do without any problems.

What is your next project?

Aside from continuing to work on the Vein series (and the third book should be done by summer, God willing!), I'm putting together a short story collection of mostly horror entitled Alternate Endings, featuring highlights from previously released work and also including some new stories I've written, two of which are probably novella length.  I hope to have that one ready for summer as well.  After all, what's a little summer reading without sending the occasional chill up the spine, right?

Thanks for dropping by to answer my questions.

Readers can buy The Summoning of Clade Josso on Amazon, Barnes & Noble or Smashwords.

Blood Duty Reduced to 99 Cents for One Week Only

For one week, Sunday, Feb. 19 through Saturday Feb. 26 I have reduced Blood Duty from it's regular price of $2.99 to only 99 Cents.

It has some good reviews--4.8 star average. I hope you'll check out the reviews and the sample. It might just be the read you're looking for.

Tamra Dervon, Captain of the Guard of Wayfare Keep, thinks her biggest problem is her love affair with Jessup. The scout is holding things back from her, and she doesn't know what. But when a seemingly unbeatable army of demons invades, Tamra's personal problems look very small. Tamra and Jessup find themselves leading a last-ditch defense. Their army is defeated. Jessup disappears in the retreat, and her duty calls for a desperate self-sacrifice. Alone, she must face the demon horde.

Available for 99 Cents on Amazon US and Amazon UK this week only.

Thanks!

And back to our regularly scheduled author interviews tomorrow.

Interview with Epic Fantasy Author Sara Jo Easton

I'd like to welcome Sara Jo Easton. Sara, would you tell us when you started writing? What did you first write?

I started writing at a young age; my mother has "books" I made up when I was five. I first got serious about writing in the fifth grade, when I had a very helpful and encouraging teacher. I've been working on my writing ever since.

My first novel involved an orphan bobcat and a pack of wolves fighting evil humans. I had fun writing it, but looking back I've gotten more joy out of laughing at my middle school antics. I'm rather glad that Kindle publishing wasn't easy when I thought that particular story was good.

Tell us about the fantasy world(s) you make up. What are they like?

The Sandleyr is a world in which humans are slaves to a race of dragon-like creatures called the Onizards. Ideally, the Sandleyr is ruled by four empaths called the Children of Light, but when the last Child of Light died, no one inherited her powers. Instead of an empath who has a strong incentive to keep his or her people happy,  the Onizards of the Day Kingdom have the Fire Queen, whose idea of fun is setting humans on fire.

The human Jena was just trying to stay out of trouble when she was brought to see Onizard eggs hatching. A freak accident left her as the only one who could save a drowning hatchling. Now that her mind is telepathically Bonded to the mind of that hatchling, she has to fake her own death to avoid the Fire Queen's wrath. There's also the awkward expectation that she'll be the one to free her race.

How do you work out a magic system for your world? Do you prefer a lot of magic? Light magic? And why?

The Onizards have plenty of magic in their world, but the magic has limits. The Fire Queen can breathe fire, but she can't do so as often as she'd like. The Children of Earth are probably the most powerful Onizards, as they can heal wounds, but Children of Earth can tire themselves out or even over heal.

I like having a lot of magic in a story, but having that magic limited to make it more special. Magic that comes too easily ceases to have the wonder that makes it magic. 

What is the hardest thing about making up a fantasy world? Why?

The hardest thing to do when making up a fantasy world is to tone down the information in your head when it's time to write the story. You may know everything there is to know about your fantasy culture, but if it isn't related to the story it isn't worth adding.

Tell us about your most recent main character. Would we want to share a meal with them? Why?

I don't think sharing a meal with Jena is a good idea unless she's the one issuing the invitation. Wherever Jena goes, a loyal group of Onizards follows. They would eat everything in your house and still be starving.

What about the villain of your most recent novel. How did you make them up? Would we be scared to meet them in a dark alley?

The Fire Queen popped into my head when someone stole my writing and threatened to set it all on fire. The idea of someone who would callously burn something knowing what it meant to another thoroughly frightened me.

I don't think the Fire Queen would fit in a dark alley, but if she was stuck there she'd already be angry. I would be terrified to meet the Fire Queen when she was angry, as  she'd waste no time in killing me.


What is your next project?

"The Speed of Wind", the next Onizard novel, comes out in March, so I'm busy editing and formatting it. After that, I'll be working on another Onizard story for an August/September release.

The Zarder is available on Amazon. I hope you'll check it out.

Interview with Fantasy Author Ruth Nestvold

I'd like to welcome fantasy author Ruth Nestwolf, author of the novel Yseult: A Tale of Love in the Age of King Arthur.

Ruth, when did you start writing? What did you first write?

Sometime in grade school. The first thing I wrote were animal stories, what I liked to read at the time. I started my first historical novel (set in ancient Crete) in seventh grade. In high school, I actually sent a couple of stories out to short story markets. But then rationality took over, and instead of writing I studied literature, had a couple of kids, got a Ph.D., taught at the university for a while. Much of that time I was writing on the side, but it wasn't until after I attended the Clarion West Writing Workshop that I began writing regularly and actually started to have any success. 

Tell us about the fantasy world(s) you make up. What are they like?

I write a lot of different things spanning the genres of fantasy and science fiction, but my novels are mostly in the genre of historical fantasy. They tend to be set in a recognizable historical period, but with distinct magical elements added. Take Yseult, for example -- admittedly the only one I've published until now. *g* It's a retelling of the famous love story of Tristan and Isolde, set in fifth century Ireland and Britain, and the overarching plot revolves around the battles of King Arthur against the Saxons and other enemies of Britain. I did a lot or research, and I think it has a very historic feel to it -- but at the same time, a number of the protagonists are wielders of magic. I like fantasy worlds that have a gritty, realistic feel to them but are still recognizably different, and so those are the kinds of worlds I try to create. 

How do you work out a magic system for your world? Do you prefer a lot of magic? Light magic? And why?

For Yseult, I started with the pseudo-historical setting I was using and tried to figure out what kind of magic would fit into that world. Looking at Druid magic and Irish myth and superstition, I based my magic on various ideas of "second sight" but made it much more powerful. I don't like magic that can solve all problems, though, so the magical powers in Yseult are limited to seeing into the future and the minds of others, sending thoughts and dreams to another person over a long distance, and manipulating people's perceptions (the power of knowing, the power of calling, and the power of changing). It's important to me to have very distinct limits to the magic in my world; it keeps things from being too easy for my protagonists. When magic is too strong in fantasy or its price isn't high enough, problems can be solved much too easily and tension disappears. 

What is the hardest thing about making up a fantasy world?

Getting the rules right and making the world consistent. 

Tell us about your most recent main character. Would we want to share a meal with them? Why?

I'm trying to figure out who my most recent main character is. *g* At any given time, I have multiple projects in various stages of completion. Right now I'm editing a follow-up novel to Yseult, Shadow of Stone, but in order to concentrate on that, I shoved another novel to the back burner. I also recently completed a steampunk short story set in my own backyard, the Daimler-Motorenwerke in Stuttgart-Bad Cannstatt in the 19th century. 
But when it comes right down to it, the protagonists in all those fictions are difficult and pleasant in their own ways. Whether you would want to share a meal with them would largely have to do with whether you shared their quirks and obsessions. 

What about the villain of your most recent novel. How did you make them up? Would we be scared to meet them in a dark alley?

My villains tend to be people who function quite well in their society, so they probably would not be particularly fearsome in a dark alley -- unless you knew them well already and knew what they were capable of. The main antagonist in Yseult is an ambitious king whose sense of morality mostly revolves around his own advantage and getting back at those who have gotten in the way of what he wanted. In the follow-up novel, Shadow of Stone, the antagonist is a kind of "poor relation" who resents how badly life has treated him and is determined to turn things around so that he can achieve the status he thinks he deserves. What both of them have in common is a talent for manipulation and an inability to empathize with the problems of others. Their fixation on themselves borders on the psychopathic, but at the same time, they are completely normal members of society. 
I guess I make up the kinds of villains I do because I believe evil tends to stem from selfishness and lack of empathy. It might not look evil on the surface, but someone who is concerned with his or her own advantage above all others, given enough resentment and/or opportunity, is quite capable of committing atrocious acts in the name of what they think is justice. Several books I've read on criminal psychology have been very helpful in creating my antagonists. 

What is your next project?

The present work in progress, Fragments of Legend, is something new for me, since it jumps between different levels in time and reality. In the modern level of the story, an American book conservator in Germany discovers evidence in the backing of an old herbal that could mean that the most famous epic of medieval German literature, the Nibelungenlied, had been written by a woman. The story of her attempts to uncover the truth in the fragments she found unfolds parallel to the medieval narrative of the woman brave enough to defy convention and write her own version of the Nibelung legend, as well as the half-mythic, half-historical tale of Brynhilda, Sigfrid and the downfall of the Germanic tribe of the Nibelungs. 


Ruth Nestvold's fantasy novel Yseult: A Tale of Love in the Age of King Arthur is available on Amazon for only $4.95. You can also find her Dragon Time and Other Stories and Looking Through Lace on Amazon.