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E.P. Clark's Blog, page 5
December 7, 2019
Get "The City of Shadows" Free Today!
Wow! Is it that time already? It is! The launch day for The City of Shadows, book #3 in the Giaco & Luca series, is here! Here's the universal Amazon link: http://mybook.to/CityofShadows
It's been quite a long road to this point. I wrote the original version of The Shadowy Man, the first book in the series, back in 2007. The basic premise and the opening scene came to me in a particularly vivid dream that caused me to leap out of bed and scribble some cryptic note about "King's 50" on the notepad I kept by the side of my bed.
Fast-forward three more years, and I wrote book 2, Half a Dream, in a whirl of inspiration that I had been waiting for three years to strike again. I knew at the time that I wanted to make it a trilogy, but it wasn't until this spring, 2019, that I finally managed to write The City of Shadows.
Why did it take so long? I can't really say, other than that I had to be in the right frame of mine to write them. All of them had very specific and vivid moments of inspiration, mostly connected to particularly vivid fear-states. All of them are explorations of fear, done in a dark fantasy setting with--and here's the twist--a male lead character.
I also feel a strong connection to the characters, and I had to wait for the moment to be right to do them justice. And they're short, and writing short is actually more difficult, at least for me, than writing long. Creating a rich world and an exciting mystery or quest in that compressed format can be a challenge, and I wanted to get it right.
So will I continue with the series? I haven't decided yet. I've fulfilled my original vision and written a trilogy. But now I'm contemplating writing another trilogy, this time about one of the younger characters who appears (spoiler alert!) towards the end of the The City of Shadows. Will I dawdle, George RR Martin-style, over it for another nine years? I guess time will tell.
Those links again:
The Shadowy Man (99c, or free on KU): http://mybook.to/shadowyman
Half a Dream ($1.99, or free on KU): http://mybook.to/halfadream
The City of Shadows (currently free on Kindle, and always free on KU): http://mybook.to/CityofShadows
And if that's not enough, here's an extra-big selection of giveaways for this week!
Let's start with something close to my heart--the Deep Ecology/Eco Lit giveaway on Bookfunnel: https://books.bookfunnel.com/deep-eco...
Winter of the Gods and Other Stories is one of the books featured in the select collection that makes up the Non-Romantic Heroic and Epic Fantasy giveaway: https://books.bookfunnel.com/heroicfa...
The end of the year is a great time to start something new! Check out theSci-Fi & Fantasy First in Series giveaway: https://books.bookfunnel.com/scififan...
Looking for an escape? Come take a look at the Enchanted Worlds giveaway on StoryOrigin:
https://storyoriginapp.com/to/S0nDykp
It's gift-giving time! Including new books for yourself :) Come visit the Give the Gift of Epic Fantasy giveaway, for high and epic fantasy: https://books.bookfunnel.com/fantasyf...
It's been quite a long road to this point. I wrote the original version of The Shadowy Man, the first book in the series, back in 2007. The basic premise and the opening scene came to me in a particularly vivid dream that caused me to leap out of bed and scribble some cryptic note about "King's 50" on the notepad I kept by the side of my bed.
Fast-forward three more years, and I wrote book 2, Half a Dream, in a whirl of inspiration that I had been waiting for three years to strike again. I knew at the time that I wanted to make it a trilogy, but it wasn't until this spring, 2019, that I finally managed to write The City of Shadows.
Why did it take so long? I can't really say, other than that I had to be in the right frame of mine to write them. All of them had very specific and vivid moments of inspiration, mostly connected to particularly vivid fear-states. All of them are explorations of fear, done in a dark fantasy setting with--and here's the twist--a male lead character.
I also feel a strong connection to the characters, and I had to wait for the moment to be right to do them justice. And they're short, and writing short is actually more difficult, at least for me, than writing long. Creating a rich world and an exciting mystery or quest in that compressed format can be a challenge, and I wanted to get it right.
So will I continue with the series? I haven't decided yet. I've fulfilled my original vision and written a trilogy. But now I'm contemplating writing another trilogy, this time about one of the younger characters who appears (spoiler alert!) towards the end of the The City of Shadows. Will I dawdle, George RR Martin-style, over it for another nine years? I guess time will tell.
Those links again:
The Shadowy Man (99c, or free on KU): http://mybook.to/shadowyman
Half a Dream ($1.99, or free on KU): http://mybook.to/halfadream
The City of Shadows (currently free on Kindle, and always free on KU): http://mybook.to/CityofShadows
And if that's not enough, here's an extra-big selection of giveaways for this week!
Let's start with something close to my heart--the Deep Ecology/Eco Lit giveaway on Bookfunnel: https://books.bookfunnel.com/deep-eco...
Winter of the Gods and Other Stories is one of the books featured in the select collection that makes up the Non-Romantic Heroic and Epic Fantasy giveaway: https://books.bookfunnel.com/heroicfa...
The end of the year is a great time to start something new! Check out theSci-Fi & Fantasy First in Series giveaway: https://books.bookfunnel.com/scififan...
Looking for an escape? Come take a look at the Enchanted Worlds giveaway on StoryOrigin:
https://storyoriginapp.com/to/S0nDykp
It's gift-giving time! Including new books for yourself :) Come visit the Give the Gift of Epic Fantasy giveaway, for high and epic fantasy: https://books.bookfunnel.com/fantasyf...
November 23, 2019
Not-So-Small-Gods: Getting Ready for the Launch of "The City of Shadows"
Happy early Thanksgiving! I hope that this final pre-holiday weekend isn't too crazy for everyone. I know some people can get very overwhelmed this time of year. So let's all make a pact to try and sit back and relax at least a little between now and January 2nd, shall we? Of course, for those of us in the education business, the first week after the holidays can be pretty crazy too. So let's make a pact to not let *anything* get too overwhelming.
Speaking of being busy over the holidays, I'm planning to hold the official launch of The City of Shadows, the third and currently final (although that could change!) book in the Giaco & Luca series, during the first week of December. The book is already live on Amazon, though, so if you got an ARC and feel moved to leave a review, that would as always be much appreciated! The universal link is here: http://mybook.to/CityofShadows
Writing The City of Shadows was a lot of fun, even if I was also feeling really awful during the process. I worked a lot of the awfulness into the text (now doesn't that sound enticing!), which was cathartic, or something. I also worked in a lot of cultural references, which is a little hobby of mine.
In my last post I wrote about how I reinterpreted card games such as Tarot and sette e mezzo in the Giaco & Luca series. This time I thought I'd give a brief background on some of the deities and other bits of Classical and Renaissance culture that appear in The City of Shadows.
(By the way, bonus points if you saw the title to this post and instantly thought of Terry Pratchett's Small Gods).
The most obvious deity who appears in The City of Shadows is Pan, the Greek god of fertility and fear. The refrain that repeats throughout the story, "there is a reason why Panic is named after a god," is based on the actual etymology of the word "panic," a state of sudden terror that was believed to be triggered by Pan. However, I moved the setting from the bucolic countryside, where Pan was said to reside, to a large city. Pan, however, can go anywhere, and the city provides no safety from him.
Pan also has the distinction of being the only member of the Greek pantheon who dies, as witnessed by the famous phrase "The Great God Pan is dead." I also work that into the story--although (spoiler alert!) I cast doubt on his actual death. I freely admit that I was influenced by the excellent Crossroads series by Nick O'Donohoe, which also features a Pan-character, about whom the same phrase is used. Sadly, the series appears to be out of print, but you can still get used copies.
While Pan is the main deity who appears in The City of Shadows, I also threw in a couple of female deities as a counterbalance. Most importantly, Proserpina (Persephone) is mentioned at the beginning and end of the story, as a deity who descends into the underworld and then comes back out, just as the main characters do in the story. I also include a couple of references to Cytherea (Aphrodite), the goddess of love and beauty.
And then there are a couple of fun theatrical things. During the state dinner before the main action, excerpts from what is meant to be the play Lysistrata are performed. There is also a giant tableau, something that was in fact popular in the Florentine Renaissance court. The discussion of the movement of pigeons on the market square, which in my story I make a form of fortune telling, was inspired by the development of ballet: one of the Renaissance-era choreographers who created an early form of ballet would take inspiration for his dancers by the movements of pigeons in the market.
All in all, I had great fun coming up with Classical and Renaissance allusions I could fit into the story, and I hope you have fun reading them too! Again, if you haven't gotten a copy of it yet, it is out on Amazon now and free on KU, and will also be free for everyone during its official launch period in December. If you have already gotten an ARC and feel like leaving a review (once again, something that is always highly appreciated!), the universal link is here: http://mybook.to/CityofShadows
And now for this week's selection of giveaways!
Want to start something new? Check out the Fantasy & Paranormal Series Starter giveaway for dozens of free first-in-series stories: https://books.bookfunnel.com/fantasyf...
For more fantasy, head over to the November Fantasy Book Giveaway! https://books.bookfunnel.com/november...
Want to feel close to nature? Check out the Deep Ecology/Eco-Lit Book Giveaway! https://books.bookfunnel.com/deep-eco...
Speaking of being busy over the holidays, I'm planning to hold the official launch of The City of Shadows, the third and currently final (although that could change!) book in the Giaco & Luca series, during the first week of December. The book is already live on Amazon, though, so if you got an ARC and feel moved to leave a review, that would as always be much appreciated! The universal link is here: http://mybook.to/CityofShadows
Writing The City of Shadows was a lot of fun, even if I was also feeling really awful during the process. I worked a lot of the awfulness into the text (now doesn't that sound enticing!), which was cathartic, or something. I also worked in a lot of cultural references, which is a little hobby of mine.
In my last post I wrote about how I reinterpreted card games such as Tarot and sette e mezzo in the Giaco & Luca series. This time I thought I'd give a brief background on some of the deities and other bits of Classical and Renaissance culture that appear in The City of Shadows.
(By the way, bonus points if you saw the title to this post and instantly thought of Terry Pratchett's Small Gods).
The most obvious deity who appears in The City of Shadows is Pan, the Greek god of fertility and fear. The refrain that repeats throughout the story, "there is a reason why Panic is named after a god," is based on the actual etymology of the word "panic," a state of sudden terror that was believed to be triggered by Pan. However, I moved the setting from the bucolic countryside, where Pan was said to reside, to a large city. Pan, however, can go anywhere, and the city provides no safety from him.
Pan also has the distinction of being the only member of the Greek pantheon who dies, as witnessed by the famous phrase "The Great God Pan is dead." I also work that into the story--although (spoiler alert!) I cast doubt on his actual death. I freely admit that I was influenced by the excellent Crossroads series by Nick O'Donohoe, which also features a Pan-character, about whom the same phrase is used. Sadly, the series appears to be out of print, but you can still get used copies.
While Pan is the main deity who appears in The City of Shadows, I also threw in a couple of female deities as a counterbalance. Most importantly, Proserpina (Persephone) is mentioned at the beginning and end of the story, as a deity who descends into the underworld and then comes back out, just as the main characters do in the story. I also include a couple of references to Cytherea (Aphrodite), the goddess of love and beauty.
And then there are a couple of fun theatrical things. During the state dinner before the main action, excerpts from what is meant to be the play Lysistrata are performed. There is also a giant tableau, something that was in fact popular in the Florentine Renaissance court. The discussion of the movement of pigeons on the market square, which in my story I make a form of fortune telling, was inspired by the development of ballet: one of the Renaissance-era choreographers who created an early form of ballet would take inspiration for his dancers by the movements of pigeons in the market.
All in all, I had great fun coming up with Classical and Renaissance allusions I could fit into the story, and I hope you have fun reading them too! Again, if you haven't gotten a copy of it yet, it is out on Amazon now and free on KU, and will also be free for everyone during its official launch period in December. If you have already gotten an ARC and feel like leaving a review (once again, something that is always highly appreciated!), the universal link is here: http://mybook.to/CityofShadows
And now for this week's selection of giveaways!
Want to start something new? Check out the Fantasy & Paranormal Series Starter giveaway for dozens of free first-in-series stories: https://books.bookfunnel.com/fantasyf...
For more fantasy, head over to the November Fantasy Book Giveaway! https://books.bookfunnel.com/november...
Want to feel close to nature? Check out the Deep Ecology/Eco-Lit Book Giveaway! https://books.bookfunnel.com/deep-eco...
November 9, 2019
Play Your Cards Right: Tarot and "Sette e Mezzo" in the Giaco & Luca Series
Hi All!
Well, it got below freezing last night here, suggesting that winter is finally on its way. The leaves are even starting to change a little, although they still look more like early October than November.
All this fall weather and changing of the seasons makes it seem like a great time to talk a bit more about The City of Shadows, book 3 in the Giaco & Luca series.
You can get a free Advance Review Copy of The City of Shadows, plus many more free fantasy mysteries, in the There's Magic Afoot Fantasy/Mystery book giveaway: https://books.bookfunnel.com/magic-af...
The City of Shadows is set in late fall, following a seasonal progression from The Shadowy Man (probably early summer; I didn't define it when I wrote it) and Half a Dream (high summer). The seasonal progression mirrors the progression of the characters and their journey into shadow: the further we go into the year, the deeper the characters go into shadow.
Making that seasonal movement intentional was fun, but perhaps the thing I had the most fun with in writing the series was coming up with the fortunetelling and card reading used in it.
I was surprised to find it so engrossing, since I'm not that into fortunetelling. Okay, so I might check my horoscope religiously, but I don't actually believe in it. Maybe that's why the fortunetelling has been so fun to write.
I started off with bone-casting and water-scrying in The Shadowy Man. In Half a Dream I introduced the character of Amanda l'Interpretrice, who quickly turned into one of my favorites.
Amanda is the best card reader in Prado, Giaco's hometown. In Half a Dream she uses a kind of Tarot deck that is loosely based on the real Tarot deck, but that largely the fruit of my imagination. There are no numbers and no suites of swords, pentacles, cups, or wands. Instead, the deck consists solely of cards similar to the Major Arcana in a regular Tarot deck, but with different suites, such as soldiers, women, and magic-workers, and different figures, such as the Violet Maiden (who represents Amanda), the Bride, and the Mother. The only card it shares with the regular Tarot deck is Death, which shows up during a particularly exciting reading.
In The City of Shadows, I decided to move away from the Fiori version of Tarot and bring in another Italian card game instead. After a little research, I settled on Sette e mezzo, or "seven and a half," a game similar to blackjack. This time, I stuck as close as I could to the "real" rules as I understood them, but worked the symbolic meanings of the cards into the action. So The City of Shadows takes place seven years after Half a Dream, and sevens keep coming up in the narrative, as do halves. The characters spend less time reading cards than in Half a Dream, but minor characters are frequently playing Sette e mezzo in the background--and at one crucial moment, they draw a couple of key wild cards.
Have any of you ever played Sette e mezzo? After doing all this research and writing about it, I confess I half want to try it out myself!
Are you feeling lucky? Why not check out this week's selection of book giveaways!
There's just one more week in the Start a Complete Series book sales event! https://books.bookfunnel.com/paranorm...
And there are even more series starters on offer in the Fantasy & Paranormal Series Starters book giveaway! https://books.bookfunnel.com/fantasyf...
And the November Fantasy book giveaway has just started! https://books.bookfunnel.com/november...
Well, it got below freezing last night here, suggesting that winter is finally on its way. The leaves are even starting to change a little, although they still look more like early October than November.
All this fall weather and changing of the seasons makes it seem like a great time to talk a bit more about The City of Shadows, book 3 in the Giaco & Luca series.
You can get a free Advance Review Copy of The City of Shadows, plus many more free fantasy mysteries, in the There's Magic Afoot Fantasy/Mystery book giveaway: https://books.bookfunnel.com/magic-af...
The City of Shadows is set in late fall, following a seasonal progression from The Shadowy Man (probably early summer; I didn't define it when I wrote it) and Half a Dream (high summer). The seasonal progression mirrors the progression of the characters and their journey into shadow: the further we go into the year, the deeper the characters go into shadow.
Making that seasonal movement intentional was fun, but perhaps the thing I had the most fun with in writing the series was coming up with the fortunetelling and card reading used in it.
I was surprised to find it so engrossing, since I'm not that into fortunetelling. Okay, so I might check my horoscope religiously, but I don't actually believe in it. Maybe that's why the fortunetelling has been so fun to write.
I started off with bone-casting and water-scrying in The Shadowy Man. In Half a Dream I introduced the character of Amanda l'Interpretrice, who quickly turned into one of my favorites.
Amanda is the best card reader in Prado, Giaco's hometown. In Half a Dream she uses a kind of Tarot deck that is loosely based on the real Tarot deck, but that largely the fruit of my imagination. There are no numbers and no suites of swords, pentacles, cups, or wands. Instead, the deck consists solely of cards similar to the Major Arcana in a regular Tarot deck, but with different suites, such as soldiers, women, and magic-workers, and different figures, such as the Violet Maiden (who represents Amanda), the Bride, and the Mother. The only card it shares with the regular Tarot deck is Death, which shows up during a particularly exciting reading.
In The City of Shadows, I decided to move away from the Fiori version of Tarot and bring in another Italian card game instead. After a little research, I settled on Sette e mezzo, or "seven and a half," a game similar to blackjack. This time, I stuck as close as I could to the "real" rules as I understood them, but worked the symbolic meanings of the cards into the action. So The City of Shadows takes place seven years after Half a Dream, and sevens keep coming up in the narrative, as do halves. The characters spend less time reading cards than in Half a Dream, but minor characters are frequently playing Sette e mezzo in the background--and at one crucial moment, they draw a couple of key wild cards.
Have any of you ever played Sette e mezzo? After doing all this research and writing about it, I confess I half want to try it out myself!
Are you feeling lucky? Why not check out this week's selection of book giveaways!
There's just one more week in the Start a Complete Series book sales event! https://books.bookfunnel.com/paranorm...
And there are even more series starters on offer in the Fantasy & Paranormal Series Starters book giveaway! https://books.bookfunnel.com/fantasyf...
And the November Fantasy book giveaway has just started! https://books.bookfunnel.com/november...
October 26, 2019
Happy Halloween! Spooky Reads Coming Your Way
Hi All!
Yes indeed, Halloween is just around the corner. It *almost* got cold last week, but now it's warm again--for now. The incipient cold is turning into a bit of a problem, because at the moment I don't have a good source of heat for my house.
I mean, I *have* heat. Multiple sources, in fact, But all of them spewed horrible toxins throughout the house when I turned them on. I had my furnace cleaned and run while I was out of the house, and it seems a bit better now. I also have a new wood stove and a new space heater, but they are still in the process of being outgassed and made tolerable. Hopefully one of these weeks I'll be able to turn on *some* source of heat without immediately feeling like I'm going to pass out and/or throw up. Not only am I wildly sensitive to mold toxins at the moment, I'm wildly sensitive to lots of other kinds of toxins too, it turns out.
Just to show how much life likes to imitate art, I can't help but be reminded of the scene in The Midnight Land I when some of the characters spend the night in a tent heated with a stove that makes them "fume-struck," causing them to do crazy things. I've always been afraid of being "fume-struck," and here I am...
Speaking of The Midnight Land, it's featured along with lots of other first-books-in-series in the Start a Complete Series Sales Event! All the books are the first in complete series, and most of them are discounted and/or available on KU. Link here: https://books.bookfunnel.com/paranorm...
You can also go straight to The Midnight Land here: http://mybook.to/tmli
But that's just a side note. What I really wanted to say is a HUGE thank you to everyone who participated in the launch for Half a Dream, which far exceeded my expectations! It even hit #1 in its category on the Amazon.com free store. Especial thanks to all of those who left reviews. If you picked up either The Shadowy Man, book 1 in the series, or Half a Dream, book 2 in the series, during the promo event, and feel moved to leave a review, it would be much appreciated! The universal Amazon link for The Shadowy Man is here: http://mybook.to/shadowyman and the universal Amazon link for Half a Dream is here: http://mybook.to/halfadream
And book 3 in the Giaco & Luca series, The City of Shadows, is already available as an ARC. I wanted to put it out into the world in the fall because not only is it set in autumn, but it's also a scary, spooky read. Well, all the books in the series are, but The City of Shadows is especially scary (I think). I knew going into it that I wanted something to do with shadows (obviously). As I was writing it, I was dealing with some particularly unwelcome side effects of my attempts to treat Lyme disease and mold toxicity, including nasty anxiety and panic attacks. So I worked that into the story. On the surface, it's not autobiographical at all, which I think allowed me to explore feeling-states with particular depth. And also have a good time looking up classical mythology and reworking it for my own purposes, not to mention Italian card games.
You can get a free ARC of The City of Shadows, plus many more spooky reads, in the Uncanny Kingdom Halloween Book Giveaway: https://books.bookfunnel.com/uncannyk...
So there you have it! I hope you have a delightful Halloween, and get loads of Trick-or-Treaters, or, conversely, avoid getting any Trick-or-Treaters if that's what you prefer. Either way, I hope there will be candy involved.
This Week's Selection of Giveaways:
Want some more Halloween-themed reading? Check out the Spooky Reads Giveaway: https://storyoriginapp.com/to/vIpCOSZ
And the Supernatural October Fantasy Books Bundle is still going strong! https://storyoriginapp.com/to/A2rfT1p
Yes indeed, Halloween is just around the corner. It *almost* got cold last week, but now it's warm again--for now. The incipient cold is turning into a bit of a problem, because at the moment I don't have a good source of heat for my house.
I mean, I *have* heat. Multiple sources, in fact, But all of them spewed horrible toxins throughout the house when I turned them on. I had my furnace cleaned and run while I was out of the house, and it seems a bit better now. I also have a new wood stove and a new space heater, but they are still in the process of being outgassed and made tolerable. Hopefully one of these weeks I'll be able to turn on *some* source of heat without immediately feeling like I'm going to pass out and/or throw up. Not only am I wildly sensitive to mold toxins at the moment, I'm wildly sensitive to lots of other kinds of toxins too, it turns out.
Just to show how much life likes to imitate art, I can't help but be reminded of the scene in The Midnight Land I when some of the characters spend the night in a tent heated with a stove that makes them "fume-struck," causing them to do crazy things. I've always been afraid of being "fume-struck," and here I am...
Speaking of The Midnight Land, it's featured along with lots of other first-books-in-series in the Start a Complete Series Sales Event! All the books are the first in complete series, and most of them are discounted and/or available on KU. Link here: https://books.bookfunnel.com/paranorm...
You can also go straight to The Midnight Land here: http://mybook.to/tmli
But that's just a side note. What I really wanted to say is a HUGE thank you to everyone who participated in the launch for Half a Dream, which far exceeded my expectations! It even hit #1 in its category on the Amazon.com free store. Especial thanks to all of those who left reviews. If you picked up either The Shadowy Man, book 1 in the series, or Half a Dream, book 2 in the series, during the promo event, and feel moved to leave a review, it would be much appreciated! The universal Amazon link for The Shadowy Man is here: http://mybook.to/shadowyman and the universal Amazon link for Half a Dream is here: http://mybook.to/halfadream
And book 3 in the Giaco & Luca series, The City of Shadows, is already available as an ARC. I wanted to put it out into the world in the fall because not only is it set in autumn, but it's also a scary, spooky read. Well, all the books in the series are, but The City of Shadows is especially scary (I think). I knew going into it that I wanted something to do with shadows (obviously). As I was writing it, I was dealing with some particularly unwelcome side effects of my attempts to treat Lyme disease and mold toxicity, including nasty anxiety and panic attacks. So I worked that into the story. On the surface, it's not autobiographical at all, which I think allowed me to explore feeling-states with particular depth. And also have a good time looking up classical mythology and reworking it for my own purposes, not to mention Italian card games.
You can get a free ARC of The City of Shadows, plus many more spooky reads, in the Uncanny Kingdom Halloween Book Giveaway: https://books.bookfunnel.com/uncannyk...
So there you have it! I hope you have a delightful Halloween, and get loads of Trick-or-Treaters, or, conversely, avoid getting any Trick-or-Treaters if that's what you prefer. Either way, I hope there will be candy involved.
This Week's Selection of Giveaways:
Want some more Halloween-themed reading? Check out the Spooky Reads Giveaway: https://storyoriginapp.com/to/vIpCOSZ
And the Supernatural October Fantasy Books Bundle is still going strong! https://storyoriginapp.com/to/A2rfT1p
October 12, 2019
Get "Half a Dream" Free Today!
Hi All!
It's here! Sunny days and cool nights, the leaves starting to turn orange, the scent of pumpkin spice wafting through the air...
Oh, and Half a Dream, the second book in the Giacio & Luca series, is now officially launched and is free on Kindle this week only! You can get it here: http://mybook.to/halfadream
A HUGE thanks to everyone who's already left a review, and of course more reviews are always enormously appreciated :). Once again, the link for getting a free copy and/or leaving a review is here: http://mybook.to/halfadream
And while I'm thinking about it, I'll point out that The Shadowy Man, book 1 in the series, is only 99c or free on KU. The universal link is here: http://mybook.to/shadowyman
Half a Dream is a summer story, but book 3 in the series, The City of Shadows, is set in autumn. Appropriately--I can't always get it together enough to manage this, but this time around I'm trying--I've got free ARCs of it in some Halloween-themed dark fantasy book giveaways. Fair warning: The City of Shadows is, in my humble opinion, pretty scary. There's not a lot of graphic gore, but I wrote it while experiencing some pretty unpleasant anxiety and panic attacks from my mold/Lyme/whatever health problems, so it's all about that, among other things. I'm sure I'll write more about that in detail soon, but in the meantime, a heads-up that it's got a bit of spine-chilling pre-Halloween scariness--at least I hope so.
And check out this week's selection of giveaways!
Grab a free ARC of The City of Shadows, as well as many other fantasy books, in the AGP Octoberfest Giveaway: https://books.bookfunnel.com/agpoctob...
Want more fantastical thrills and chills? Check out the Supernatural October Fantasy Books Bundle: https://storyoriginapp.com/to/A2rfT1p
And the Fall High Fantasy Reads Giveaway is still going strong! https://storyoriginapp.com/to/Vf4OAIU
It's here! Sunny days and cool nights, the leaves starting to turn orange, the scent of pumpkin spice wafting through the air...
Oh, and Half a Dream, the second book in the Giacio & Luca series, is now officially launched and is free on Kindle this week only! You can get it here: http://mybook.to/halfadream
A HUGE thanks to everyone who's already left a review, and of course more reviews are always enormously appreciated :). Once again, the link for getting a free copy and/or leaving a review is here: http://mybook.to/halfadream
And while I'm thinking about it, I'll point out that The Shadowy Man, book 1 in the series, is only 99c or free on KU. The universal link is here: http://mybook.to/shadowyman
Half a Dream is a summer story, but book 3 in the series, The City of Shadows, is set in autumn. Appropriately--I can't always get it together enough to manage this, but this time around I'm trying--I've got free ARCs of it in some Halloween-themed dark fantasy book giveaways. Fair warning: The City of Shadows is, in my humble opinion, pretty scary. There's not a lot of graphic gore, but I wrote it while experiencing some pretty unpleasant anxiety and panic attacks from my mold/Lyme/whatever health problems, so it's all about that, among other things. I'm sure I'll write more about that in detail soon, but in the meantime, a heads-up that it's got a bit of spine-chilling pre-Halloween scariness--at least I hope so.
And check out this week's selection of giveaways!
Grab a free ARC of The City of Shadows, as well as many other fantasy books, in the AGP Octoberfest Giveaway: https://books.bookfunnel.com/agpoctob...
Want more fantastical thrills and chills? Check out the Supernatural October Fantasy Books Bundle: https://storyoriginapp.com/to/A2rfT1p
And the Fall High Fantasy Reads Giveaway is still going strong! https://storyoriginapp.com/to/Vf4OAIU
October 5, 2019
Get a Free ARC of "The City of Shadows"!
Hi All!
Yes, it's finally here! Free e-ARCs are available of The City of Shadows, the third (and currently final) installment in the Giaco & Luca series.
But first, a humble request for a favor. I am currently getting ready for the official launch of Half a Dream, the second book in the series. So it's "secretly" already live on Amazon, even though the big free giveaway for it won't happen until next week. But in the meantime, if you feel moved to leave a review for it on Amazon, that would be much appreciated! The universal link is here: http://mybook.to/halfadream
If you've already left a review on Goodreads (for which HUGE thanks!), you can just copy and paste it. Reviews don't have to be long at all: a couple of sentences saying what you think is all it takes to make an author's day :).
And now, without further ado, here's the link to get your free Advance Review Copy of The City of Shadows: https://dl.bookfunnel.com/rq0w047fsr
And here's this week's selection of promos and giveaways!
There's one more week left of the Mythic Stories Freebie Fair! https://books.bookfunnel.com/mythicfr...
Ready to get into some fall reading? Check out the Fall High Fantasy Reads Giveaway! https://storyoriginapp.com/to/Vf4OAIU
More fall reading! Get ready for Halloween with this collection of fantasy, horror, and paranormal romance, all free! https://books.bookfunnel.com/agpoctob...
Yes, it's finally here! Free e-ARCs are available of The City of Shadows, the third (and currently final) installment in the Giaco & Luca series.
But first, a humble request for a favor. I am currently getting ready for the official launch of Half a Dream, the second book in the series. So it's "secretly" already live on Amazon, even though the big free giveaway for it won't happen until next week. But in the meantime, if you feel moved to leave a review for it on Amazon, that would be much appreciated! The universal link is here: http://mybook.to/halfadream
If you've already left a review on Goodreads (for which HUGE thanks!), you can just copy and paste it. Reviews don't have to be long at all: a couple of sentences saying what you think is all it takes to make an author's day :).
And now, without further ado, here's the link to get your free Advance Review Copy of The City of Shadows: https://dl.bookfunnel.com/rq0w047fsr
And here's this week's selection of promos and giveaways!
There's one more week left of the Mythic Stories Freebie Fair! https://books.bookfunnel.com/mythicfr...
Ready to get into some fall reading? Check out the Fall High Fantasy Reads Giveaway! https://storyoriginapp.com/to/Vf4OAIU
More fall reading! Get ready for Halloween with this collection of fantasy, horror, and paranormal romance, all free! https://books.bookfunnel.com/agpoctob...
September 21, 2019
Get a Sneak Peek of "The City of Shadows"! Plus this week's selection of giveaways
Happy Solstice, everyone!
In celebration of this most balanced and auspicious day, I thought I'd share a sneak peek of "The City of Shadows," book 3 in the Giaco & Luca series. Between returning to teaching after my medical leave, and working on stuff related to my other pen name, I've been much slower than I originally forecast in releasing publishing Giaco & Luca's stories, but I'll get to it, I swear I will. Book 1, "The Shadowy Man," is currently available on Amazon for 99c (or free on KU), and Book 2, "Half a Dream," will be released soon, I promise. Keep reading for a chapter from Book 3, currently titled "The City of Shadows." Like the other novellas in the series, it's a kind of dark fantasy mystery, perfect to get you in the Halloween mood!
10
“Sauro!” Luca’s joy at his appearance was unfeigned. Suddenly he was the sweet-tempered boy of Giaco’s memories, not the sullen, self-centered young man he had become.
Sauro stood there in silence until the servants had all left. “You took your time getting here, Luca,” he said once they were alone.
“I’m sorry, Sauro.” Why couldn’t Luca ever be this apologetic towards Giaco? Why was it always Sauro he wanted to impress? “Delays on the road.”
“Caused by you?”
“No.”
Sauro looked to Giaco for confirmation. “Only partly,” Giaco told him. He half-wanted to deny any wrongdoing on Luca’s part to Sauro, just to make it clear that he was on Luca’s side. But lying didn’t seem like the right thing to do either. Maybe Sauro could get Luca to straighten out, when no one else could.
“Let me guess,” Sauro said. “Out debauching again? Head too sore to get up the next morning?”
Luca’s shamefaced silence was confirmation enough.
“You’ve been set on this path of frivolity for months now, Luca. At first I brushed it off as the exuberance of youth. Every young man deserves to have a little fun, sow his wild oats. But it’s been getting all out of bounds. You missed our last two training sessions, and how many training sessions have you missed with Giacomo?”
“Giacomo has been off duty for almost a month,” Luca said, by way of self-defense.
“And you missed the previous two weeks’ of training with him before that,” Sauro pressed on. “First you hurt your leg, then you had a sore head—and how did you injure yourself? Why was your head sore? Because you’d been out reveling with these young men you falsely think are your friends, that’s why. You’ve neglected your training in magic, you’ve neglected your training in sword work, and you almost neglected to come to your own sister’s wedding. Tell me, Luca: is this how a prince behaves?”
“I’m not a child!” cried Luca. “I’m a prince! You should treat me with respect!”
“Then earn it, my Prince. And you can start by treating your teachers with respect. Now, get undressed. You too, Giacomo. We’re going to take a bath. And I’m going to tell you about something that I think will be of interest to both of you. More than interest.”
Sauro began to undress without even bothering to turn his back on Giaco and Luca. Giaco followed suit more reluctantly. Being naked in front of Sauro felt deeply wrong. And what would he do about his sword? He eventually settled on bringing his boot knife in with him, carried in his hand. He expected Sauro to mock him, but he had no intention of going anywhere unarmed.
“You are wise to carry that, Giacomo,” Sauro told him, when he caught sight of the knife. “Not that I expect attack in the bathhouse—that is why I chose it. Did you know that the Royal bathhouse is the most warded part of both the Castello Maggiore and the Castello degli Eredi? Built by orders of Prince Felix, the founder of Fiori, or so they say, and under his express direction. The wards here are of such complexity that even I cannot decipher half of them. The rumor is that Fortunata the Witch-Princess added a layer on top of Prince Felix’s original spells. She was said to be an adept at creating wards of fear whose skills have never been seen before or since. Although that did not save her any more than her name did when they came to burn her at the stake. Some might find that an ill omen. But we can rest assured that no assassins will sneak up on us here.”
“A servant might,” Giaco said. “And servants make the best assassins.”
“Prince Felix thought of that eventuality, no doubt. But you are wise to think of it too. Sometimes a little cold iron is better than all the wards in the world. Come. Let us take the steam.”
Sauro led them into the steam room, which was so filled with clouds of vapor that Giaco could barely make out the reliefs carved into the marble walls. All of them had the flat, oddly proportioned features that meant they had been done before the Rebirth. Giaco’s father would have disowned any apprentice of his who had done such clumsy works—and probably his own sons as well. Giaco wondered which of the carvings, all of which depicted the world as people thought it was, not as it really was, were the wards Sauro had spoken of. He would still rather trust in true steel. He set his dagger beside him, and hoped he wouldn’t have to use it. Already the metal was growing uncomfortably warm, and his fingers and the hilt were slick with steam and sweat.
“So what is this thing you wanted to tell us?” Luca had taken up an entire bench without offering it to either Giaco or Sauro, and was now lying full-length on his back on it. Through the steam Giaco could barely make out his bored look, aimed at the ceiling rather than at them.
“Do you remember how I told you that I hoped to speak with the Hellene augur the wedding party was to bring with them?”
Luca nodded without bothering to reply out loud.
“Well, I have.”
Sauro paused. He waited until Luca finally turned in his direction and demanded, “Well? What did he say?” before continuing.
“She, my prince, she. The remarkable Zoe, blind in one eye but gifted with a sight that sees through the veil that separates past and future, flesh and spirit, flame and shadow.”
“Don’t let Adi hear you talk that way,” Luca warned him.
“The Princess Adorata has nothing to fear from me, and no cause to reproach me,” Sauro said. Giaco couldn’t tell whether he meant it as a declaration of fidelity, or a declaration that there was nothing between them. No doubt he had meant it to be ambiguous. Everyone had been wanting to know the exact nature of the relationship between Adorata and Sauro these ten years or more, and no one had ever had their curiosity satisfied.
“If you say so,” said Luca. “So. Zoe. Blind in one eye? She sounds like an ugly old crone.”
“Ugly old crones often have the most wisdom, my Prince. But in this case, no, she is not an old crone. She is young, barely more than your age. But she has been gifted with the kind of talent that only comes along once a generation, if that, and, even better, she has not squandered it with idle foolishness and debauchery.”
Even through the steam Giaco could see the face Luca made at the reprimand. Giaco wanted to make the same face. Did Sauro mean to say that Luca also had the kind of talent that only comes along once in a generation? Giaco was surprised to discover he didn’t like that thought one bit. If magic and shadow-walking were something that Luca was merely dabbling in before he settled down to his real purpose in life, that was one thing. But if he was the most gifted shadow-walker of his generation, then that was something else. If Luca had been gifted in anything else, Giaco would have taken pride in his ability. But why did it have to be this?
“So.” Luca folded his arms. “What has this ugly young crone seen that is so important?”
“She took me out yesterday to watch the movement of the pigeons on the Piazza del Mercato,” Sauro began.
Luca snorted. Giaco was tempted to join him. What could pigeons tell of the future?
“You may be asking yourself what pigeons can tell of the future,” said Sauro. “No, I didn’t read your minds. That is merely what I myself thought. But you could say the same of cards, or crystals, or anything else seers use to scry. After all, you fear the readings of the cards that you have done of late, do you not? Even though to others’ eyes they say nothing special. Even Amanda sees nothing especially portentous in them. But you say they say that Fate is waiting for you. And you may be right. The magic is not in the thing, but in the seer’s mind. In Zoe’s case, the movement of pigeons brings forth what her mind already knows, or so I surmise. So we went to the Piazza del Mercato to watch the pigeons.”
“So what did the pigeons tell her?” Luca’s face had not lost any of its skepticism.
“When we walked up to them, they all scattered in fear. I had seen it many times before, of course, but this time I was aware like no other of their movements, each pigeon separate and yet part of the flock, and their unwillingness to be near me. They were guided by an intelligence that was within them and yet greater than them. Like a worker of magic.”
“We’re not like pigeons!” Luca protested.
“No? Zoe showed me differently. Through her eyes, both the seeing and the unseeing one, I saw how the pigeons were remarkably like us. But that is not the true vision, the one I wanted to share with you. That came later. One pigeon became trapped in a corner between us and a market stall with a low roof. It turned this way and that in a frantic search for a way out, but there was no clear space for it to fly free. I could see, and feel, its fear. And so could Zoe, for she turned to me and said, ‘There is a reason why Panic is named after a god.’”
Luca frowned.
“The Hellene god Pan,” Sauro explained.
“Yes,” said Luca doubtfully. “The one with goat legs, isn’t he?”
“That one, yes. The one whose voice sends its listeners mad with terror.”
Luca snorted again. “A Reborn man has no need of such superstitions. Does he, Giaco?”
“Perhaps not, my Prince. Although this Reborn man has learned not to underestimate the power of fear.”
“Indeed,” said Sauro. “And you, my Prince, are not a Reborn man.”
Luca pursed his lips in a pout. “I can be both. Giaco’s taught me all the arts of the Rebirth, haven’t you, Giaco?”
“I have tried, my Prince.”
“Giacomo has done his best, but still, my Prince, you are not a Reborn man,” said Sauro. “And neither, fully, is he. Not after all these years with you and me. Be that as it may, that is not what matters here. Although I believe Zoe was trying to say something of import when she said that phrase. Anyway. We stepped aside and let the pigeon escape. And then Zoe asked if I thought that pigeon spoke of Lucrezia’s future. Would she, Zoe asked, be as desperate to escape as that pigeon?”
“Probably,” said Luca.
“I said I doubted it. And I do. Lucrezia is going into this of her own free will, with her eyes as open as they can be in an arranged marriage to a stranger. And so then Zoe said it must mean someone else, someone close to Lucrezia.”
“And so?” Luca looked no less skeptical.
“And so we walked back into the center of the piazza, the pigeons flocking around us and flying away, until they were all frightened off by a hawk circling high above. And Zoe said that we, too, had a hawk circling above us, although we did not know it yet. Something, she said, is coming for us, just as that hawk came for the pigeons, and we would do well to watch out for it.”
“That’s not very clear,” said Luca.
“No. The first glimpse of the future rarely is. But I know this, my Prince. Danger is coming your way.”
***
And now for this week's selection of giveaways!
You can get a free copy of "Half a Dream," plus many more free fantasy books, in the Warlock's Treasure Chest Giveaway! https://books.bookfunnel.com/treasure...
Love myths and legends? Then check out the Mythic Stories Freebie Fair! https://books.bookfunnel.com/mythicfr...
It's the last week for the LGBT Romance Event! All books, including my own The Dreaming Land, are free to read on Kindle Unlimited: https://books.bookfunnel.com/kindle-u...
In celebration of this most balanced and auspicious day, I thought I'd share a sneak peek of "The City of Shadows," book 3 in the Giaco & Luca series. Between returning to teaching after my medical leave, and working on stuff related to my other pen name, I've been much slower than I originally forecast in releasing publishing Giaco & Luca's stories, but I'll get to it, I swear I will. Book 1, "The Shadowy Man," is currently available on Amazon for 99c (or free on KU), and Book 2, "Half a Dream," will be released soon, I promise. Keep reading for a chapter from Book 3, currently titled "The City of Shadows." Like the other novellas in the series, it's a kind of dark fantasy mystery, perfect to get you in the Halloween mood!
10
“Sauro!” Luca’s joy at his appearance was unfeigned. Suddenly he was the sweet-tempered boy of Giaco’s memories, not the sullen, self-centered young man he had become.
Sauro stood there in silence until the servants had all left. “You took your time getting here, Luca,” he said once they were alone.
“I’m sorry, Sauro.” Why couldn’t Luca ever be this apologetic towards Giaco? Why was it always Sauro he wanted to impress? “Delays on the road.”
“Caused by you?”
“No.”
Sauro looked to Giaco for confirmation. “Only partly,” Giaco told him. He half-wanted to deny any wrongdoing on Luca’s part to Sauro, just to make it clear that he was on Luca’s side. But lying didn’t seem like the right thing to do either. Maybe Sauro could get Luca to straighten out, when no one else could.
“Let me guess,” Sauro said. “Out debauching again? Head too sore to get up the next morning?”
Luca’s shamefaced silence was confirmation enough.
“You’ve been set on this path of frivolity for months now, Luca. At first I brushed it off as the exuberance of youth. Every young man deserves to have a little fun, sow his wild oats. But it’s been getting all out of bounds. You missed our last two training sessions, and how many training sessions have you missed with Giacomo?”
“Giacomo has been off duty for almost a month,” Luca said, by way of self-defense.
“And you missed the previous two weeks’ of training with him before that,” Sauro pressed on. “First you hurt your leg, then you had a sore head—and how did you injure yourself? Why was your head sore? Because you’d been out reveling with these young men you falsely think are your friends, that’s why. You’ve neglected your training in magic, you’ve neglected your training in sword work, and you almost neglected to come to your own sister’s wedding. Tell me, Luca: is this how a prince behaves?”
“I’m not a child!” cried Luca. “I’m a prince! You should treat me with respect!”
“Then earn it, my Prince. And you can start by treating your teachers with respect. Now, get undressed. You too, Giacomo. We’re going to take a bath. And I’m going to tell you about something that I think will be of interest to both of you. More than interest.”
Sauro began to undress without even bothering to turn his back on Giaco and Luca. Giaco followed suit more reluctantly. Being naked in front of Sauro felt deeply wrong. And what would he do about his sword? He eventually settled on bringing his boot knife in with him, carried in his hand. He expected Sauro to mock him, but he had no intention of going anywhere unarmed.
“You are wise to carry that, Giacomo,” Sauro told him, when he caught sight of the knife. “Not that I expect attack in the bathhouse—that is why I chose it. Did you know that the Royal bathhouse is the most warded part of both the Castello Maggiore and the Castello degli Eredi? Built by orders of Prince Felix, the founder of Fiori, or so they say, and under his express direction. The wards here are of such complexity that even I cannot decipher half of them. The rumor is that Fortunata the Witch-Princess added a layer on top of Prince Felix’s original spells. She was said to be an adept at creating wards of fear whose skills have never been seen before or since. Although that did not save her any more than her name did when they came to burn her at the stake. Some might find that an ill omen. But we can rest assured that no assassins will sneak up on us here.”
“A servant might,” Giaco said. “And servants make the best assassins.”
“Prince Felix thought of that eventuality, no doubt. But you are wise to think of it too. Sometimes a little cold iron is better than all the wards in the world. Come. Let us take the steam.”
Sauro led them into the steam room, which was so filled with clouds of vapor that Giaco could barely make out the reliefs carved into the marble walls. All of them had the flat, oddly proportioned features that meant they had been done before the Rebirth. Giaco’s father would have disowned any apprentice of his who had done such clumsy works—and probably his own sons as well. Giaco wondered which of the carvings, all of which depicted the world as people thought it was, not as it really was, were the wards Sauro had spoken of. He would still rather trust in true steel. He set his dagger beside him, and hoped he wouldn’t have to use it. Already the metal was growing uncomfortably warm, and his fingers and the hilt were slick with steam and sweat.
“So what is this thing you wanted to tell us?” Luca had taken up an entire bench without offering it to either Giaco or Sauro, and was now lying full-length on his back on it. Through the steam Giaco could barely make out his bored look, aimed at the ceiling rather than at them.
“Do you remember how I told you that I hoped to speak with the Hellene augur the wedding party was to bring with them?”
Luca nodded without bothering to reply out loud.
“Well, I have.”
Sauro paused. He waited until Luca finally turned in his direction and demanded, “Well? What did he say?” before continuing.
“She, my prince, she. The remarkable Zoe, blind in one eye but gifted with a sight that sees through the veil that separates past and future, flesh and spirit, flame and shadow.”
“Don’t let Adi hear you talk that way,” Luca warned him.
“The Princess Adorata has nothing to fear from me, and no cause to reproach me,” Sauro said. Giaco couldn’t tell whether he meant it as a declaration of fidelity, or a declaration that there was nothing between them. No doubt he had meant it to be ambiguous. Everyone had been wanting to know the exact nature of the relationship between Adorata and Sauro these ten years or more, and no one had ever had their curiosity satisfied.
“If you say so,” said Luca. “So. Zoe. Blind in one eye? She sounds like an ugly old crone.”
“Ugly old crones often have the most wisdom, my Prince. But in this case, no, she is not an old crone. She is young, barely more than your age. But she has been gifted with the kind of talent that only comes along once a generation, if that, and, even better, she has not squandered it with idle foolishness and debauchery.”
Even through the steam Giaco could see the face Luca made at the reprimand. Giaco wanted to make the same face. Did Sauro mean to say that Luca also had the kind of talent that only comes along once in a generation? Giaco was surprised to discover he didn’t like that thought one bit. If magic and shadow-walking were something that Luca was merely dabbling in before he settled down to his real purpose in life, that was one thing. But if he was the most gifted shadow-walker of his generation, then that was something else. If Luca had been gifted in anything else, Giaco would have taken pride in his ability. But why did it have to be this?
“So.” Luca folded his arms. “What has this ugly young crone seen that is so important?”
“She took me out yesterday to watch the movement of the pigeons on the Piazza del Mercato,” Sauro began.
Luca snorted. Giaco was tempted to join him. What could pigeons tell of the future?
“You may be asking yourself what pigeons can tell of the future,” said Sauro. “No, I didn’t read your minds. That is merely what I myself thought. But you could say the same of cards, or crystals, or anything else seers use to scry. After all, you fear the readings of the cards that you have done of late, do you not? Even though to others’ eyes they say nothing special. Even Amanda sees nothing especially portentous in them. But you say they say that Fate is waiting for you. And you may be right. The magic is not in the thing, but in the seer’s mind. In Zoe’s case, the movement of pigeons brings forth what her mind already knows, or so I surmise. So we went to the Piazza del Mercato to watch the pigeons.”
“So what did the pigeons tell her?” Luca’s face had not lost any of its skepticism.
“When we walked up to them, they all scattered in fear. I had seen it many times before, of course, but this time I was aware like no other of their movements, each pigeon separate and yet part of the flock, and their unwillingness to be near me. They were guided by an intelligence that was within them and yet greater than them. Like a worker of magic.”
“We’re not like pigeons!” Luca protested.
“No? Zoe showed me differently. Through her eyes, both the seeing and the unseeing one, I saw how the pigeons were remarkably like us. But that is not the true vision, the one I wanted to share with you. That came later. One pigeon became trapped in a corner between us and a market stall with a low roof. It turned this way and that in a frantic search for a way out, but there was no clear space for it to fly free. I could see, and feel, its fear. And so could Zoe, for she turned to me and said, ‘There is a reason why Panic is named after a god.’”
Luca frowned.
“The Hellene god Pan,” Sauro explained.
“Yes,” said Luca doubtfully. “The one with goat legs, isn’t he?”
“That one, yes. The one whose voice sends its listeners mad with terror.”
Luca snorted again. “A Reborn man has no need of such superstitions. Does he, Giaco?”
“Perhaps not, my Prince. Although this Reborn man has learned not to underestimate the power of fear.”
“Indeed,” said Sauro. “And you, my Prince, are not a Reborn man.”
Luca pursed his lips in a pout. “I can be both. Giaco’s taught me all the arts of the Rebirth, haven’t you, Giaco?”
“I have tried, my Prince.”
“Giacomo has done his best, but still, my Prince, you are not a Reborn man,” said Sauro. “And neither, fully, is he. Not after all these years with you and me. Be that as it may, that is not what matters here. Although I believe Zoe was trying to say something of import when she said that phrase. Anyway. We stepped aside and let the pigeon escape. And then Zoe asked if I thought that pigeon spoke of Lucrezia’s future. Would she, Zoe asked, be as desperate to escape as that pigeon?”
“Probably,” said Luca.
“I said I doubted it. And I do. Lucrezia is going into this of her own free will, with her eyes as open as they can be in an arranged marriage to a stranger. And so then Zoe said it must mean someone else, someone close to Lucrezia.”
“And so?” Luca looked no less skeptical.
“And so we walked back into the center of the piazza, the pigeons flocking around us and flying away, until they were all frightened off by a hawk circling high above. And Zoe said that we, too, had a hawk circling above us, although we did not know it yet. Something, she said, is coming for us, just as that hawk came for the pigeons, and we would do well to watch out for it.”
“That’s not very clear,” said Luca.
“No. The first glimpse of the future rarely is. But I know this, my Prince. Danger is coming your way.”
***
And now for this week's selection of giveaways!
You can get a free copy of "Half a Dream," plus many more free fantasy books, in the Warlock's Treasure Chest Giveaway! https://books.bookfunnel.com/treasure...
Love myths and legends? Then check out the Mythic Stories Freebie Fair! https://books.bookfunnel.com/mythicfr...
It's the last week for the LGBT Romance Event! All books, including my own The Dreaming Land, are free to read on Kindle Unlimited: https://books.bookfunnel.com/kindle-u...
September 7, 2019
What Are We All Reading?
Hi Everyone! I've been busy--and exhausted and sore--from the beginning of the semester and returning to teaching, so I don't have a lot of news to share right now. So I thought I'd do another reading roundup. A number of you wrote back to me the last time I asked for reading recommendations, and now my Kindle is bulging with TBR books! However, my thirst for books to try seems to be unquenchable, so I thought I'd share what I'm reading, and ask for more suggestions from you.
I've just acquired a couple of new releases that I'm very much looking forward to reading. Since I haven't read these specific works yet, I can't give an opinion on them, but I've enjoyed previous works in these series, so I'm pretty confident that I'm going to enjoy the latest installments too.
The Necromancer's Bride is the latest in Kat Ross's Gaslamp Gothic series. I've read books 1 & 3 in the series (yes, out of order, which I don't recommend but it's what I did) and loved them both, so I have high hopes for book 4. The previous books combined late-Victorian culture with delightfully creepy Gothic atmosphere and a twisty mystery. Link here: https://www.amazon.com/Necromancers-B...
Gay Elfrotica author C.B. Archer has just released Nuttin' But Trouble, from his College of United Monsters series. I won't lie: this series won't be everyone's cup of tea, and the Annals of Gentalia series won't be either. They both are very, very naughty LGBTQ erotica. They're also warmhearted, wildly imaginative, and laugh-out-loud funny. Link here: https://www.amazon.com/Nuttin-Trouble...
I've also recently read and reviewed some pretty awesome new releases that aren't fantasy, but might appeal to fantasy readers anyway.
A Parliament of Crows is a Southern Gothic historical novel based on a real-life case of what may have been a trio of female serial killers. We see their career of murder from their perspective, and can't help but sympathize with their will to survive, even as it leads them down a darker and darker path. Highly recommended for all fans of the Gothic. Link here: https://www.amazon.com/Parliament-Cro...
The release of Vasily Grossman's Stalingrad has been the Russian translation event of the year. Link here: https://www.amazon.com/Stalingrad-Vas...
So what about you? What have you been reading?
And here are this week's selection of giveaways!
Don't let the name fool you! The August High Fantasy Giveaway still has a week to go. Check it out while you still can! https://storyoriginapp.com/to/4Szb9pm
Looking for something to warm you up now that the days are growing cooler? Check out the LGBT Romance & Erotica Book Event! All books are free to read on Kindle Unlimited. https://books.bookfunnel.com/kindle-u...
I've just acquired a couple of new releases that I'm very much looking forward to reading. Since I haven't read these specific works yet, I can't give an opinion on them, but I've enjoyed previous works in these series, so I'm pretty confident that I'm going to enjoy the latest installments too.
The Necromancer's Bride is the latest in Kat Ross's Gaslamp Gothic series. I've read books 1 & 3 in the series (yes, out of order, which I don't recommend but it's what I did) and loved them both, so I have high hopes for book 4. The previous books combined late-Victorian culture with delightfully creepy Gothic atmosphere and a twisty mystery. Link here: https://www.amazon.com/Necromancers-B...
Gay Elfrotica author C.B. Archer has just released Nuttin' But Trouble, from his College of United Monsters series. I won't lie: this series won't be everyone's cup of tea, and the Annals of Gentalia series won't be either. They both are very, very naughty LGBTQ erotica. They're also warmhearted, wildly imaginative, and laugh-out-loud funny. Link here: https://www.amazon.com/Nuttin-Trouble...
I've also recently read and reviewed some pretty awesome new releases that aren't fantasy, but might appeal to fantasy readers anyway.
A Parliament of Crows is a Southern Gothic historical novel based on a real-life case of what may have been a trio of female serial killers. We see their career of murder from their perspective, and can't help but sympathize with their will to survive, even as it leads them down a darker and darker path. Highly recommended for all fans of the Gothic. Link here: https://www.amazon.com/Parliament-Cro...
The release of Vasily Grossman's Stalingrad has been the Russian translation event of the year. Link here: https://www.amazon.com/Stalingrad-Vas...
So what about you? What have you been reading?
And here are this week's selection of giveaways!
Don't let the name fool you! The August High Fantasy Giveaway still has a week to go. Check it out while you still can! https://storyoriginapp.com/to/4Szb9pm
Looking for something to warm you up now that the days are growing cooler? Check out the LGBT Romance & Erotica Book Event! All books are free to read on Kindle Unlimited. https://books.bookfunnel.com/kindle-u...
August 24, 2019
Turning Dreams into Reality (Or at Least Books)
Greetings from the swamp! Or at least that's what it's felt like this past week. It's been in the 90s with massive thunderstorms every day this week until today. Now a cool, fall-like rain is coming down. Neither state has been doing much for my health. The damp has been turning everything into even more of a giant mold factory than it usually is, and low air pressure bothers me a lot now. I used to roll my eyes when my Russian friends would talk about davleniye ("pressure") in earnest tones. Now I'm one of those people who talks about davleniye all the time! Talk about irony. Sometimes life and karma are funny like that.
Anyway, I've been sitting and staring blankly at the computer for the past half hour, trying to summon up something to write about from out of the enveloping brain fog. I wanted to write something about how the themes of climate change and environmental degradation appear in The Dreaming Land, my trilogy mini-series about a warrior princess who becomes a healer. Then I wanted to write about trying to write about a bisexual character in a way that seemed normal and natural for epic fantasy and not just a blatant imposition of modern, "real-world" concepts onto an imaginary medieval world. Then I spent a while scrolling through my manuscripts and looking for interesting quotes. Then, just when I was about to give up and go lie down or something, inspiration struck, and I decided to write about the difficulties of translating a dream into a book.
Dreams and visions are often fruitful sources of inspiration for authors. Examples from the fantasy world include Twilight, which came to Stephenie Meyer in a dream; Kushiel's Dart, the genesis of which likewise appeared to Jacqueline Carey in a dream; A Game of Thrones, the first chapter of which came to George R.R. Martin in a dream; and Harry Potter, who appeared to J.K. Rowling as an intense vision while she was riding the train.
The problem, at least for me, is turning dreams into something that makes sense on the page. The essence of dreams is often difficult to capture, even for the dreamer, and has an intensely personal nature that may not be immediately apparent. Transcribing a dream--if you can remember it--verbatim so often seems to turn into "And then I was running, and there were wolves, only they weren't wolves, they were people, and one of them gave me a funny look, and then I was driving down the main street of the town I lived in ten years ago, only it didn't look like that street, except in its general shape, but it was, even though it was lined with Tuscan villas that were also African mud huts, and then I saw a funny-shaped leaf, and a voice said, 'It's ten thirty-seven,' and I jerked awake in a cold sweat."
Clearly not very usable in its original form!
Since I dream a lot--maybe because of all the weird neurological problems I've developed over the years--I've worked over the years on figuring out how to turn fragmented dreamscapes into at least semi-coherent stories. The two things I've learned in these experiments is 1) focus on the key image or emotion behind the dream, and 2) once you start writing it down, you have to let the story develop itself, instead of forcing it back into the tracks of what you remember of your rapidly-fading dream.
So how is this relevant to The Dreaming Land (besides the obvious connection to the title)?
Well, because along with containing lots of dreams in it, of various sorts, parts of the story were also inspired by dreams. In particular, the character Tanya, who appears briefly in memories in The Dreaming Land I, and then comes riding in on her big horse in The Dreaming Land II. This is similar to how she appeared to me in a dream, larger than life, with blonde hair flying all around. So I incorporated that into her first appearance in the text:
"I was suddenly hit with a burst of memories of riding double with someone else…blonde hair flying all around us…best not to think of it...I needed to stop thinking about those memories right now, or my heart would break for certain."
(I left out the more exciting sexy bits in that quote, FYI).
The more I wrote about Tanya, the more she morphed from how she had appeared to me in a dream, to her "real" self, the character that she needed to be in the book. At this point I don't even remember her dream-self that clearly anymore. But that's okay. The dream-Tanya was just a seed from which the real Tanya could grow.
If you want to see how I envision Tanya looking, check out this video of the singer Pelageya performing the song "Horse." If you turn on the subtitles in English you can get all the lyrics too! It's fittingly about riding a horse across the steppe.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=prlRD...
So what about you? Do you get a lot of inspiration from dreams? Seems like some people do and some people get it more from random encounters in the waking world. Both can be fruitful.
And here's this week's selection of book deals and giveaways:
The Sexy Beasts and Warrior Women Book Fair is still going strong! All the books for sale feature sexy beasts, warrior women, or both! https://books.bookfunnel.com/sexy-bea...
In keeping with this week's discussion of Tanya (hint hint), I'm participating in the LGBT Romance Fiction book event. All the books in the event are available on Kindle Unlimited! https://books.bookfunnel.com/kindle-u...
Over on StoryOrigin, the August High Fantasy Giveaway has just started!
https://storyoriginapp.com/to/4Szb9pm
There's still a week left in the Summer Thrills & Chills Giveaway at Book Cave! https://mybookcave.com/g/d42429ed/
Anyway, I've been sitting and staring blankly at the computer for the past half hour, trying to summon up something to write about from out of the enveloping brain fog. I wanted to write something about how the themes of climate change and environmental degradation appear in The Dreaming Land, my trilogy mini-series about a warrior princess who becomes a healer. Then I wanted to write about trying to write about a bisexual character in a way that seemed normal and natural for epic fantasy and not just a blatant imposition of modern, "real-world" concepts onto an imaginary medieval world. Then I spent a while scrolling through my manuscripts and looking for interesting quotes. Then, just when I was about to give up and go lie down or something, inspiration struck, and I decided to write about the difficulties of translating a dream into a book.
Dreams and visions are often fruitful sources of inspiration for authors. Examples from the fantasy world include Twilight, which came to Stephenie Meyer in a dream; Kushiel's Dart, the genesis of which likewise appeared to Jacqueline Carey in a dream; A Game of Thrones, the first chapter of which came to George R.R. Martin in a dream; and Harry Potter, who appeared to J.K. Rowling as an intense vision while she was riding the train.
The problem, at least for me, is turning dreams into something that makes sense on the page. The essence of dreams is often difficult to capture, even for the dreamer, and has an intensely personal nature that may not be immediately apparent. Transcribing a dream--if you can remember it--verbatim so often seems to turn into "And then I was running, and there were wolves, only they weren't wolves, they were people, and one of them gave me a funny look, and then I was driving down the main street of the town I lived in ten years ago, only it didn't look like that street, except in its general shape, but it was, even though it was lined with Tuscan villas that were also African mud huts, and then I saw a funny-shaped leaf, and a voice said, 'It's ten thirty-seven,' and I jerked awake in a cold sweat."
Clearly not very usable in its original form!
Since I dream a lot--maybe because of all the weird neurological problems I've developed over the years--I've worked over the years on figuring out how to turn fragmented dreamscapes into at least semi-coherent stories. The two things I've learned in these experiments is 1) focus on the key image or emotion behind the dream, and 2) once you start writing it down, you have to let the story develop itself, instead of forcing it back into the tracks of what you remember of your rapidly-fading dream.
So how is this relevant to The Dreaming Land (besides the obvious connection to the title)?
Well, because along with containing lots of dreams in it, of various sorts, parts of the story were also inspired by dreams. In particular, the character Tanya, who appears briefly in memories in The Dreaming Land I, and then comes riding in on her big horse in The Dreaming Land II. This is similar to how she appeared to me in a dream, larger than life, with blonde hair flying all around. So I incorporated that into her first appearance in the text:
"I was suddenly hit with a burst of memories of riding double with someone else…blonde hair flying all around us…best not to think of it...I needed to stop thinking about those memories right now, or my heart would break for certain."
(I left out the more exciting sexy bits in that quote, FYI).
The more I wrote about Tanya, the more she morphed from how she had appeared to me in a dream, to her "real" self, the character that she needed to be in the book. At this point I don't even remember her dream-self that clearly anymore. But that's okay. The dream-Tanya was just a seed from which the real Tanya could grow.
If you want to see how I envision Tanya looking, check out this video of the singer Pelageya performing the song "Horse." If you turn on the subtitles in English you can get all the lyrics too! It's fittingly about riding a horse across the steppe.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=prlRD...
So what about you? Do you get a lot of inspiration from dreams? Seems like some people do and some people get it more from random encounters in the waking world. Both can be fruitful.
And here's this week's selection of book deals and giveaways:
The Sexy Beasts and Warrior Women Book Fair is still going strong! All the books for sale feature sexy beasts, warrior women, or both! https://books.bookfunnel.com/sexy-bea...
In keeping with this week's discussion of Tanya (hint hint), I'm participating in the LGBT Romance Fiction book event. All the books in the event are available on Kindle Unlimited! https://books.bookfunnel.com/kindle-u...
Over on StoryOrigin, the August High Fantasy Giveaway has just started!
https://storyoriginapp.com/to/4Szb9pm
There's still a week left in the Summer Thrills & Chills Giveaway at Book Cave! https://mybookcave.com/g/d42429ed/
August 10, 2019
Sultry Stories for Late Summer
It's August, so the cicadas are whirring up a racket outside my windows. Days are hot, but the mornings are already getting a bit of that pre-autumn chill to them. And--are you ready for this--yesterday I walked ALL THE WAY AROUND THE BLOCK!!!!!!! Considering that last fall I was having to hold onto the wall to drag myself a few feet across a room, this is HUGE progress. Whether or not it will continue, especially now that the semester is about to start in a couple of weeks and I'll be going back to teaching, is an open question, but it's still very encouraging.
(For those of you just joining us, I ended up seriously ill and significantly crippled from a combination of late-stage Lyme disease and toxic mold exposure, plus other problems. Not recommended as a good time).
All this makes it seem like a perfect time to talk a little about The Dreaming Land (universal link here: http://mybook.to/TDLI), the final mini-series in the overall Zemnian Series (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07...).
The Dreaming Land trilogy starts just before Midsummer, and ends as autumn is coming on. In keeping with its sultry setting, it's by far the raciest of my works, especially Part II: The Journey and Part III: The Sacrifice. To be honest, I kept asking myself "Am I really doing this?" as I was writing those scenes. But my heroine Valya can be very insistent when she wants her way, and who was I to argue with her? And then when the character Tanya, who came to me in a vivid dream that had me questioning all kinds of things about myself, appeared, I was helpless to resist.
But The Dreaming Land isn't *just* about sex. It's in part a rewriting of the story of Eowyn. I was always bothered by the story of Eowyn, because Eowyn, unlike the (male) hobbits, is punished and shamed for stepping outside of her socially appointed role, and has responsibility forced upon her instead of being allowed to shoulder it voluntarily. Her transformation from warrior to healer *should* be a beautiful story of moral growth and courage, but she is explicitly compared to a selfish, naughty child for rebelling against social strictures and wanting the same glory and honor that are her brother's by birthright.
Valya, on the other hand, is a warrior princess by birthright. She is also the second-most-powerful woman in a society where rule by women is the expected norm. Valya is a physically imposing woman who "fights like a man," but in her society, that's not entirely a positive: Zemnian women, including Valya, are rightly concerned by the tendency towards violence for the sheer joy of violence exhibited by so many men. Over the course of the trilogy, Valya has to learn to embrace her feminine side, but for her and her society, that means gaining, rather than losing, power and prestige.
The Dreaming Land is a summer story and a story of healing. Paradoxically, I started it in Midwinter, the same winter I was starting my descent into serious illness. The call to write it was so strong that I wrote the first five chapters on my iPad while my computer was being resuscitated from its near-death encounter with Mac's operating system updates.
I finished it in late summer a year and a half later, after a summer of canceling plans and spending hours every day in bed, wondering if I was going to have the strength to sit upright and the mental alertness to type. Its ultimately hopeful trajectory was in direct contrast to my own life path at the time. I'd like to think that it foreshadowed a more hopeful turn in my life later (like now, for example, fingers crossed and knock on wood), but that's not something anyone can know for certain. What I can say is that in Valya, I tried to create the hero I wanted to be.
And now for this week's selection of deals and giveaways!
The Dreaming Land is available for free on Kindle Unlimited, along with lots of other spicy KU/discounted books featuring warrior women, in the Sexy Beasts & Warrior Women Book Fair: https://books.bookfunnel.com/sexy-bea...
The Summer Thrills & Chills Giveaway has a wide selection of mystery, thriller, fantasy, and horror books to give away--plus the chance to win a $25 gift certificate to the online book purveyor of your choice! https://mybookcave.com/g/d42429ed/
Looking for more heroics? Then check out the Heroes & Heroines Giveaway! https://books.bookfunnel.com/heroes_h...
(For those of you just joining us, I ended up seriously ill and significantly crippled from a combination of late-stage Lyme disease and toxic mold exposure, plus other problems. Not recommended as a good time).
All this makes it seem like a perfect time to talk a little about The Dreaming Land (universal link here: http://mybook.to/TDLI), the final mini-series in the overall Zemnian Series (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07...).
The Dreaming Land trilogy starts just before Midsummer, and ends as autumn is coming on. In keeping with its sultry setting, it's by far the raciest of my works, especially Part II: The Journey and Part III: The Sacrifice. To be honest, I kept asking myself "Am I really doing this?" as I was writing those scenes. But my heroine Valya can be very insistent when she wants her way, and who was I to argue with her? And then when the character Tanya, who came to me in a vivid dream that had me questioning all kinds of things about myself, appeared, I was helpless to resist.
But The Dreaming Land isn't *just* about sex. It's in part a rewriting of the story of Eowyn. I was always bothered by the story of Eowyn, because Eowyn, unlike the (male) hobbits, is punished and shamed for stepping outside of her socially appointed role, and has responsibility forced upon her instead of being allowed to shoulder it voluntarily. Her transformation from warrior to healer *should* be a beautiful story of moral growth and courage, but she is explicitly compared to a selfish, naughty child for rebelling against social strictures and wanting the same glory and honor that are her brother's by birthright.
Valya, on the other hand, is a warrior princess by birthright. She is also the second-most-powerful woman in a society where rule by women is the expected norm. Valya is a physically imposing woman who "fights like a man," but in her society, that's not entirely a positive: Zemnian women, including Valya, are rightly concerned by the tendency towards violence for the sheer joy of violence exhibited by so many men. Over the course of the trilogy, Valya has to learn to embrace her feminine side, but for her and her society, that means gaining, rather than losing, power and prestige.
The Dreaming Land is a summer story and a story of healing. Paradoxically, I started it in Midwinter, the same winter I was starting my descent into serious illness. The call to write it was so strong that I wrote the first five chapters on my iPad while my computer was being resuscitated from its near-death encounter with Mac's operating system updates.
I finished it in late summer a year and a half later, after a summer of canceling plans and spending hours every day in bed, wondering if I was going to have the strength to sit upright and the mental alertness to type. Its ultimately hopeful trajectory was in direct contrast to my own life path at the time. I'd like to think that it foreshadowed a more hopeful turn in my life later (like now, for example, fingers crossed and knock on wood), but that's not something anyone can know for certain. What I can say is that in Valya, I tried to create the hero I wanted to be.
And now for this week's selection of deals and giveaways!
The Dreaming Land is available for free on Kindle Unlimited, along with lots of other spicy KU/discounted books featuring warrior women, in the Sexy Beasts & Warrior Women Book Fair: https://books.bookfunnel.com/sexy-bea...
The Summer Thrills & Chills Giveaway has a wide selection of mystery, thriller, fantasy, and horror books to give away--plus the chance to win a $25 gift certificate to the online book purveyor of your choice! https://mybookcave.com/g/d42429ed/
Looking for more heroics? Then check out the Heroes & Heroines Giveaway! https://books.bookfunnel.com/heroes_h...
