A.L. Butcher's Blog, page 139
January 20, 2017
Bored of politics? Listen to some fantasy
Bored of politics? Listen to some fantasy fun #Kitchenimps #audio http://ow.ly/G7ef308cGL7
The Kitchen Imps and Other Dark Tales – six short tales of mayhem and mischief.
Naughty imps, missing socks, cunning thieves and baffled gods feature in this collection of short fantasy fiction.
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January 18, 2017
Get some sensual #fantasy in #audio this
Get some sensual #fantasy in #audio this winter, and warm yourself with #Lightbeyondthestorm http://ow.ly/qMAL307zN2H
January 17, 2017
New Features! New Interviews! New Friends
Over the coming weeks, I will be changing and expanding the interview and promotional opportunities available here. There will still be great features and some of them will be available at no charge but for the enhanced/expanded features then there may be a small charge. Of course, for that, you get more. More tweets, more choice of features, promoted on my new author interviews promotion page. Of course, if you simply wish to participate in one of the free features – that’s great as well.
There will be a range of the following:
Swift Six – short author or character questions
Book spotlights
Dirty Dozen – author or character interviews
Reader interviews
Editor, cover artist or narrator interviews
Top Tens
Guest posts
‘Weeks With’ a particular author
Days in the life of characters or authors
Zweihanders – double interviews with character lovers or siblings
Good cop/bad cop – heroes and villains going head to head.
Here’s the new Facebook Page https://www.facebook.com/Erana-Interv...
And there will soon be ‘Friends of Erana’ page listing useful services, contacts and allies of The Library of Erana.
If you’re a blogger and willing to co-host, feature or help or your an author, cover designer, audio book narrator, or of course a reader then do get in touch.
You can either use the ‘contact us’ link in the page menus or drop me an email at libraryoferana@gmail.com
Book Spotlight/Release Blitz – Love Through a Lens – Lucy Felthouse #Audio
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Love Through a Lens by Lucy Felthouse Now Available in Audiobook Format! #audiobook #romance #erotica #maytodecember
May to December contemporary romance novella, Love Through a Lens by Lucy Felthouse, is now available in audiobook format. Narrated by voice artist Xanthia Bloom, you can now listen to this fun romance tale on the go!
Blurb:
Celine Patterson is a recent graduate eager to begin her career as a camerawoman—with the fashion world and all its glitz and glamour calling to her. Things aren’t that simple, however, and she’s forced to take a job making a documentary in the Peak District countryside with a mid-list British actor.
In spite of her initial disappointment—not only is the job not what she wanted, the pay is appalling, too—Celine warms to the project. The actor she’s working with, Edward Robson, is kind, considerate, funny and a consummate professional. She realizes she can learn a great deal from him, and resolves to do so.
As the days of the shoot pass by, Celine grows increasingly fond of Edward, and that fondness quickly goes beyond the platonic. Convinced her crush is completely one-sided—he’s over three decades her senior, for starters—she tries hard to ignore it, hoping the feelings will go away.
But then something happens to change Celine’s opinion, and flip her world upside-down. How will she react? And can she emerge from this project with both her career and her heart intact?
Audio links:
Amazon UK: http://amzn.to/2h0RInY
Amazon US: http://amzn.to/2hGGyZH
Audible UK: http://adbl.co/2ioQSFw
Audible US: http://adbl.co/2ikFVBJ
iTunes UK: http://apple.co/2ioSOy5
iTunes US: http://apple.co/2jIQ2Fo
eBook available here: http://lucyfelthouse.co.uk/published-works/love-through-a-lens/
*****
Review:
“What a lovely small package this novella was. Small but good and fulfilling… it is wrapped up with a bow… I liked the writing style and would read more from this author.” 4 out of 5, Jo&Isalovebooks
*****
Author Bio:
Lucy Felthouse is the award-winning author of erotic romance novels Stately Pleasures (named in the top 5 of Cliterati.co.uk’s 100 Modern Erotic Classics That You’ve Never Heard Of, and an Amazon bestseller), Eyes Wide Open (winner of the Love Romances Café’s Best Ménage Book 2015 award, and an Amazon bestseller) and The Persecution of the Wolves. Including novels, short stories and novellas, she has over 150 publications to her name. She owns Erotica For All, and is one eighth of The Brit Babes. Find out more about her writing at http://lucyfelthouse.co.uk, or on Twitter or Facebook. Sign up for automatic updates on Amazon or BookBub. You can also subscribe to her monthly newsletter at: http://eepurl.com/gMQb9
Release blitz hosted by Writer Marketing Services.
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January 15, 2017
Fantasy and Sci-Fi in our Society Guest Post – Thomas Barczak
I haven’t run one of these for a while so I’m delighted to post this so early in the year. Tom Barczak writes some great fantasy, and he knows what’s what in the realms of imagination, magic and monsters. So welcome to the first guest post of 2017.
Welcome Thomas Barczak – Author of “Mouth of the Dragon – Prophecy of the Evarun” by Perseid Press.
Writing from my desk in Norman, Oklahoma
It has been argued fantasy is full of ‘tropes’ – what are your views on this? I would agree. But I think some of that is unavoidable. Much of science fiction includes space travel, or at least reference to it. Fantasy has dwarves and elves. Where a fantasy author can get into trouble, is when they don’t try to expand the definition of it. Tolkien broke great ground with his work. It’s so easy to limit one-self to what he did. The publishing industry, even Amazon, has categories that, I think, it’s too easy not to stray away from.
With “Mouth of the Dragon” and “Prophecy of the Evarun” as a whole, I didn’t want to do that. I have always tried to listen to the story, and let it tell me its own legends and its own myth. There are no dwarves. There are no elves. There are dragons and wizards, but again, they are something entirely unto themselves and unique to this mythology. Smaug has no place in it. Nor does Dumbeldore.
So then the question becomes, how do you create the mystery without those elements we depend on so much? Like I said, it’s easy to be lazy. It’s not hard to convey mystery walking into an elvish kingdom. It’s a lot harder without them.
With “Mouth of the Dragon”, I depend on language and culture to show mystery. Go to another country where you don’t speak the language. It will be an adventure. No elves required.
So I guess the question for the author should be, “What does fantasy mean to me?” For me it has always been the story, the hero’s journey. A good story doesn’t need anything else. Even Tolkien, if you took away the fantastic, the hero’s journey would still be there. Where fantasy gets a bad rap is when authors depend on the fantastic instead of the story.
How important are ‘facts’ in fantasy/science fiction – does something need to be plausible to be believable? Great question. Yes. Yes. Yes. And, no.
There is a great fantasy book by a wonderful author, set in a medieval fantasy world. In it, the young hero goes into his room and gets a pair of socks out of his dresser drawer. The author wrote what he knew and he killed it for me. In the real world, peasants didn’t have dresser drawers or probably even socks. Leggings in a wooden box would have been more accurate. Now maybe in this world they do, but that then becomes the responsibility of the author to say that to me. But he didn’t and it pulled me right out of the story.
Another thing that kills me is how everyone has 20/20 vision without any vision correction. Me, I wear glasses. I’d be eaten by a bear in a week. Then again, maybe that’s why there are only people with 20/20 left. I actually addressed that in a short story about a young, almost blind, girl, called “Forged”. The story is in a book called Heroika: Dragon Eaters, published by Perseid Press. The story challenged my writing, having to explain how she saw the world through a veil, and one that was completely normal one to her.
Fantasy and science fiction used to be seen as very male-oriented, do you think this is still the case. Do you have any experience of this? I’m glad to see it changing. I have several strong female characters leads in “Mouth of the Dragon”. The story required them. So I guess I hope that that’s be ok. It certainly is with me. The challenge as a writer, of course, is that it challenges just about every stereotype that you could possibly have. Makes me a better writer, and I daresay, I think it makes me a better man.
What are some myths in YOUR society/cultural identity, how are they perceived and why are they important? Why have they endured? Well, it seems that much of what I write is about death and rebirth. I don’t know how much culture I have. I’m ½ Polish, ¼ English and ¼ Irish. I grew up in Oklahoma. I’m Catholic, which probably carries more weight than any of that. But probably my two greatest influences have been my own bottom and subsequent recovery, and the death of my daughter. I believe these two things have probably shaped who I am, and what I write, more than anything else. Double negative warning, but it can’t not affect what I write, and how I see what I write.
Death and rebirth. You can’t have one without the other. I can’t. It’s part of who I am.
“Mouth of the Dragon” is a dark, epic, and redemptive fantasy. It’s probably the darkest piece I’ve ever written, but the whole crux of the story depends on this one thing called hope, and faith, and trust. I really believe you have to have the redemptive part. You have to have the shadow too, but without the light. I mean really, what’s the point?
The whole point of fantasy, I believe, is, and has always been, to give us a vision beyond our circumstances.
Alex, thank you so much for having me on your blog.
Tom Barczak Author Page for Veil of the Dragon
January 13, 2017
Book Spotlight – Mad Shadows II – Joe Bonadonna
Mad Shadows II: Dorgo the Dowser and The Order of the Serpent
Dorgo the Dowser lives in a world where life is cheap and souls are always up for sale. Armed with a unique dowsing rod that can detect the residue of any supernatural presence or demonic entity, he can sense the vestiges of vile sorcery used in the commission of crimes. His adventures pit him against inter-dimensional creatures, friendly ghouls, raging cyclopes, psychopathic satyrs, and monstrous insects . . . not to forget a criminal underworld of duplicitous women and dangerous men. This time around, Dorgo falls in love with a witch known as the Girl Who Loves Ghouls, battles creatures from another dimension, and meets one very special werecat named Crystal. It’s also the first time he hears about an ancient death cult known as the Order of the Serpent. Then, after a young woman is murdered and a deadly, dangerous book of arcane lore is stolen from her, Dorgo comes closer to learning more about this secret Order. But first he must battle both humans and demons in order to find and destroy “The Book of Echoes.” Finally, Dorgo squares off against a horde of fiends born of dark sorcery when he tries to help a young girl who became trapped inside a powerful spell while attempting to destroy someone calling himself Ophidious Garloo. Racing against time, Dorgo the Dowser uses every trick he knows to uncover the secret identity and learn the True Name of Ophidious Garloo — the Undying Warlock who may very well be the leader of the Order of the Serpent.
More magic, murder, mystery and mayhem in this sequel to Mad Shadows: The Weird Tales of Dorgo the Dowser. MAD SHADOWS II — DORGO THE DOWSER AND THE ORDER OF THE SERPENT. . . Heroic Fantasy with a film noir edge. Available in paperback and Kindle editions from Amazon, Smashwords, CreateSpace, and other online booksellers.
USA: www.amazon.com/Mad-Shadows-II/dp/1542380499
United Kingdom: www.amazon.co.uk/Mad-Shadows-II/dp/1542380499
Smashwords: www.smashwords.com/books/view/694448
CreateSpace: www.createspace.com/6840746
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January 11, 2017
Book Spotlight – Mouth of the Dragon – Thomas Barczak #Fantasy #Prerelease
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Mouth of the Dragon, Prophecy of the Evarun, is a novel by Thomas Barczak, published by Perseid Press, February 10th, 2017.
This dark, epic, and redemptive fantasy challenges everything a hero’s journey can be.
Chaelus, once Roan lord of the House of Malius, now vessel of the Giver reborn, has defeated the Dragon of legend. Now he must rescue his brother and his kingdom, both beyond the Dragon’s Veil.
When the legendary dragon resurges among drums of war, it threatens Chaelus, the human vessel of prophecy who once defeated it, and those loyalists the man holds dear.
Now Chaelus must confront the Dragon a second time, as prophecy has foretold.
With his remaining followers he pursues the Dragon. When he finds it, he finds that the blood of his past has returned to reclaim him.
And even with the power of prophecy at his summons he cannot defend against it.
Tempted to save all he’s lost, abandoned by the prophecy he’s vowed to serve, he falls under the spell of the Dragon, and learns that the dragon you hunt is the dragon within you.
Chaelus must defeat the dragon for all time, but finds he cannot, until he first surrenders himself.
***
Available as an Amazon pre-order on Kindle and shipping February 10. 2017. Subsequent releases will include trade paper and Nook.
Thomas Barczak is an artist, architect, and a writer whose stories tell the tales he’s always dreamed about.
His work also the illustrated epic fantasy novel, Veil of the Dragon, and the Kindle serial, Awakening Evarun (Parts I-VI), both set in the Evarun universe. He’s also written a comic fantasy serial for Kindle called Wolfbane (Parts 1-2 of 3). His short fiction includes contributions to Heroika 1 – Dragon Eaters, Nine Heroes, Terror by Gaslight, and What Scares the Boogeyman, as well as stories for two volumes Janet Morris’ award winning Heroes in Hell series, Dreamers in Hell, and Poets in Hell.
Tom writes because he must. He writes because he needs to tell others the stories he has held so long inside, stories that inspire his paintings and his poetry — stories that have always been with him, even years ago when he’d sit at a table with friends, slaying dragons.
January 10, 2017
Get some sensual #fantasy in #audio this
Get some sensual #fantasy in #audio this winter, and warm yourself with #Lightbeyondthestorm http://ow.ly/qMAL307zN2H
Meet Talfor and Discover Why We Think He’s Fascinating @libraryoferana #books #audio
A great interview with Talfor Var, the troll.
POTL: All Things Books, Reading and Publishing
We’re so excited because Talfor from The Shining Citadel – The Light Beyond the Storm – Book II by A. L. Butcher is here. He’s the main character in A. L. Butcher’s The Light Beyond the Storm Chronicles fantasy series and one of our favourites. It took some convincing to make the journey but he relented. Please welcome him to the POTL blog. Introduce yourself, Talfor:
I am Talfor Var, Hirik Lord of troll tribe of Var. Varris is my home, in what the humans call the Jagged Peak mountains, the Helmerri plateau. I am son of Shaman Kherak Var, and brother of Shamania Mirandra. I am Captain of the Hirik and thus, to your way of thinking third only to Shaman and Shamania. I can never rule – as that is woman’s role – but I can advise, I can fight, I can lead.
I am taller than human…
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