Deby Fredericks's Blog, page 4

Woman at Work, July 2025

What’s Happening? It’s the Smashwords summer/winter sale! All my e-books are 25% off during the month of July. If you were thinking about a summer read, this is your golden opportunity.

What I’m Working On. The Warlock’s Army is my summer writing project. I’m heading into Chapter 3 with a group of magical kids starting to realize all the things they haven’t been told.

What’s Next? In addition to writing, I have some garden projects begging for my attention. We’ll see which of them I get to before August.

Where I’ll be. Worldcon is in Seattle, a day’s drive from me. I plan to be there! Sadly, I was not chosen to speak on any panels, but you know me. I might just be enough of a rebel to throw a pop-up reading.

Fun and Games. I’m enjoying Animal Crossing and the classic rpg, Oblivion. Also doing jigsaw puzzles when my controller hand starts to feel a bit stiff. My current read is Recollections of My Non-Existence by Rebecca Solnit.

And now to the garden — away!

Have you read one of my books? Then it would be great for you to leave a review! Meanwhile, if you’d like to learn more about me and my work, check out my website, Bluesky, Facebook or Pinterest.

Grand Finale (Queen Titania’s Court)

As the brilliant moon sets on a magical evening, Queen Titania eases back in her ornate throne. Minor gods and magical girls, students and princes, queens and diplomats — all have gathered to her side. She is weary, but in the best way.

The throng diminishes as her guests make their way toward the waiting portals. Titania descends, moving among the sprites and servants who made the evening possible. She greets them all, the musicians and dancers, chefs and kitchen witches, decorating divas and expert seamstresses who swooped in to repair a split seam or lost button.

This gathering of the many has sown seeds for the future. Whether brief friendships or lasting alliances, it is these seeds will bear glorious fruit in due time. How better can an ageless fairy queen expend her influence than in service to peace among the realms?

Sincere Thanks

This is where I thank all of you who took part in Queen Titania’s Court. Whether you bravely offered your work to be seen and admired, or simply commented on what was posted, it is you who make my June book event possible. I hope it’s been worth while. Perhaps you encountered new authors, or sold a few books. Perhaps you just enjoyed the fantastic array of books and stories. I hope you’ll share these posts with fellow fantasy readers, so Queen Titania’s light will shine ever brighter.

And I hope to see you all in 2026.

Have you read one of my books? Then it would be great for you to leave a review! Meanwhile, if you’d like to learn more about me and my work, check out my website, Bluesky, Facebook or Pinterest.

Acorn Canyon (Queen Titania’s Court)

Cleodora and Tef visit today, from Lucy D. Ford’s YA fantasy duology, Cleodora. Book 1, Acorn Canyon, is the series starter.

“Tef, are these all nature spirits? There are so many of them!”

A young girl in green robes stood poised on the threshold of a fantastic ballroom. Sparkling music teased the ear, and a dazzling array of food and drink tempted her.

“No, these are not my kind.” Beside her, a six-legged bobcat twitched its two tails restlessly. It shook its green mane and focused its third eye on the scene below.

All manner of creatures mingled in the grand ballroom. Some stood up like humans, but they had beast heads. Others were tiny and winged, flitting through the air like fireflies. Magic flowed through the scene, dazzling the spirit.

“But the spirits have led us here,” Cleodora murmured. “Let’s go see what they want.”

Character Questions

Would you rather be lost in a deep dark forest or becalmed in a ship far from shore? Wherever I go, there are nature spirits, so I wouldn’t be truly alone in either situation. Since I grew up in a forested area, perhaps I’d choose the ship. I would learn about new spirits that way.

What is your religion, and are you devout or more casual? I am a guardian of Acorn Canyon Shrine, where water flows from the spirit realm into the mortal world. It is a serious responsibility, and I follow all the ceremonies the nature spirits have taught us. I’m also training myself as a majia and hunter, because the spirits have told me there’s a big job I have to do.

Author Questions

Is there something that helps you get in the mood for writing? I’m very schedule oriented. I try to write at the same time every day. Just knowing that it will soon be time to write usually gets my brain going.

Would you rather get a bad review or have your best editor retire? Not exactly retirement, but I already experienced having a publisher ghost me. It took a couple of years to develop new working relationships. On the other hand, getting a bad review would mean at least someone read my story!

Cleodora, Book 1: Acorn Canyon

People say the shrine is cursed. But to Cleodora, it’s just home.

Ten-year-old Cleodora grew up in Acorn Canyon, where her mother is guardian of a shrine to the nature spirits. Spiteful rumors have isolated them from the rest of Tenebira.

Then a stranger arrives. Navaire is a member of the Majian Guild. He’s on an urgent mission — to learn why the nature spirits have made it stop raining. But a corrupted spirit is chasing him.

Instead of fighting, Cleodora saves it. Now her life will never be the same!

Get it from Books2Read!

Photo courtesy of Fall Folk FestDeby Fredericks

Lucy D. Ford has been a writer all her life, but thought of it as just a fun hobby until the late Nineties. Since then she has published children’s poetry and short stories in Boys’ Life, Ladybug Magazine, and others. In the past, she served as Regional Advisor for the Inland Northwest Region of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators, International (SCBWI).

Writing as Deby Fredericks, she has published twenty novels and anthologies for adult fantasy markets. Fredericks has been involved with several Inland Northwest SF conventions.

Learn more from her web site, www.debyfredericks.com

Have you read one of my books? Then it would be great for you to leave a review! Meanwhile, if you’d like to learn more about me and my work, check out my website, Bluesky, Facebook or Pinterest.

Orange Sun, Grey Sky (Queen Titania’s Court)

Today’s arrival is Ostra Kesspar, a student from Gepra. She appears in Alden Loveshade’s short story, “Orange Sun, Grey Sky.” It’s included in the Exchange Students anthology, edited by Sheila Hartney.

Ostra Kesspar felt nervous. Going from home in Gepra to be an exchange student at the faraway University of Vonyai was so strange. Everyone at the university was the same race (shades of grey), and everyone there was genderless. Ostra had brown skin, and was the campus’s only female. And having to decide to join one of the university’s two main social divisions, yellow eyes or indigo eyes, when her eyes were actually brown?

But Queen Titania’s Court wasn’t genderless or it wouldn’t have a Queen. And from glancing around, it looked like people weren’t divided by the color of their eyes. So Ostra thought to emself–no, here, she could be herself–being a brown eyed girl shouldn’t be a problem.

Character Questions

What is your religion, and are you devout or more casual? Your Majesty, I know my wearing a robe on the Vonyai beach made me look like a medical patient or a devout religious figure. But honestly, I had planned to wear a two-piece swimsuit. But with me being the only female on the beach, I would completely stand out. So that’s why my new friend Fyrnux suggested I wear a robe.

Have you ever kissed the wrong person? Please, Your Majesty, you must know the answer to that or you wouldn’t have asked. We both agreed to do it. E wanted to know what a dating kiss was like, so I showed em. I definitely wasn’t trying to block anybody’s breathing passage! Why is it wrong for people to do something with each other that doesn’t hurt anybody?

Author Questions

Chosen Ones, yes or no? As a reader, listener, or viewer, I have no problem with stories with a Chosen One. Except when I saw The Matrix. My problem was, I had an idea for a story that was quite similar to the film. But as the movie came out before I wrote my story….

As an author, I typically don’t use the Chosen Ones trope. While there are certainly exceptions, many of my stories feature realistic people. I like to create the characters, put them in a situation, then record what they say and do. I feel like my characters are creating their own story.

What are you working on now? What’s coming next? My GURPS Hot Spots: Victorian London is currently in the revision stage. Frankly, I thought I knew a whole lot about Queen Victoria’s London until I started working on the supplement. The era ended up being even more fascinating than I thought.

I’m also working on the alternate Earth novel The United States of Hamerico. The United States there is in many ways like our modern day. But the technology is somewhat different, and the 13 states are divided and guarded by border walls. It asks several questions people are asking in our world. Those include: “Why is something legal in a community five minutes walk away but a felony here?” “Can people escape ludicrous laws against love?”

Exchange Students

Study abroad! See new places! Meet new people! In our exchange student program, you can literally study anywhere or anywhen you can imagine. We’ll send you to new planets. We’ll send you to new dimensions and realms of existence. We’ll send you through time itself!

Purchase directly from the Hadrosaur Publications.

Alden Loveshade

Alden Loveshade is the author of “Orange Sun, Grey Sky,” in the anthology Exchange Students, edited by Sheila Hartney.

Alden has worked as a journalist, columnist, reviewer, script writer, and educator. Studying ethnic and women’s studies and tutoring students from different parts of the world inspires much of es work. (Alden likes using “e,” “es,” “em,” and “emself.”) Alden can be found at alden.loveshade.org.

Have you read one of my books? Then it would be great for you to leave a review! Meanwhile, if you’d like to learn more about me and my work, check out my website, Bluesky, Facebook or Pinterest.

A Spoonful of Magic (Queen Titania’s Court)

A humble kitchen witch named Daphne has come to the ball from Irene Radford’s contemporary romantasy, A Spoonful of Magic.

Fruitlessly I swiped at the flour staining my black sequined floor length sheath. I’d donned it for this formal occasion. It was the only “dressy” outfit I owned and I certainly didn’t have time to shop. I didn’t really have time to be here either. But G, my ex, said this was the last step before being accepted into the International Guild of Master Magicians and Wizards. I had to set an example for our three adolescents whose magical talents had bloomed overnight and together they wielded enough power to rival their father.

He was both a Master Magician and a Wizard and the Sheriff of the whole Guild. To him, an audience with the Queen of the Faeries was just part of the job.

I’m merely a kitchen witch of no consequence. But he insisted that even a late blooming kitchen witch deserved recognition by the Guild. Of course I was nervous, and when I’m nervous I bake. My family and my coffee shop/bakery now had enough bread and cupcakes and croissants to last them a whole week.

I’d never get the dress cleaned, or my hair tidied into a French twist on my own. So I stepped into the massive chamber carved into the WildWood and gasped at the splendor of fresh green and sunlight.

Character Questions

Is there someone you would die for? My kids, any or all three of them My ex-husband, not so much.

Would you rather be lost in the words or stranded at sea far from shore? In the woods for sure. I can find my way out of the woods alive and mostly intact. At sea I’m shark bait and a lousy swimmer. I’d starve to death before anyone know I’m missing, except my kids. They’d know I’m in trouble and try to send help, but who listens to young teens anymore?

Author Questions

What inspires you to create your work? Life. Every tree, flower, blade of grass, or person walking down the street has a story to tell, a burden to overcome, or just an interesting anecdote. When they are ready to talk to me, I can’t help but listen and record it for the ages.

Would you rather get a bad review or have your best editor retire? I’ve had both and the bad review is much easier to put behind you and move forward. Losing an editor is as bad as losing the sight in one eye. Especially when you’ve been working together for 25 years. I no longer have the editor’s insight, support, and backing before the “Sales Committee.” Now I’m on my own and can only hope that all the wonderful things I learned at the hands of one of the best editors in New York have stuck with me and I can write better with each book.

A Spoonful of Magic

Daphne “Daffy” Rose Wallace Deschants has an ideal suburban life—three wonderful and talented children; a coffee shop and bakery, owned and run with her best friend; a nearly perfect husband, Gabriel, or “G” to his friends and family. Life could hardly be better.

But G’s perfection hides dangerous secrets. When Daffy uncovers evidence of his infidelity, her perfect life seems to be in ruins. On their wedding anniversary, Daffy prepares to confront him, only to be stopped in her tracks when he foils a mugging attempt using wizard-level magic. 

Suddenly, Daphne is part of a world she never imagined–where her husband is not a traveling troubleshooter for a software company, but the sheriff of the International Guild of Wizards, and her brilliant children are also budding magicians. Even she herself is not just a great baker and barista—she’s actually a kitchen witch. And her discovery of her powers is only just beginnning. 

But in the midst of her chaotic new life, another problem is brewing. G’s ex-wife, a dangerous witch, has escaped from her magical prison. Revenge-bent and blind, she needs the eyes of her son to restore her sight—the son Daffy has raised as her own since he was a year old. Now Daphne must find a way to harness her new powers and protect her family—or risk losing everything she holds dear.

A Spoonful of Magic was originally released in 2017 by DAW Books. It’s set to re-release in July of 2025. Pre-order from Amazon, Book View Cafe, or Books2Read.

Irene Radford

Irene Radford is a founding member of Book View Café. You can find many of her books, both reprints and original titles, at the café, including her earliest books being released throughout the nest few years.

She has been writing stories ever since she figured out what a pencil was for. Editing, as Phyllis Irene Radford, grew out of her love of the craft of writing. History has been a part of her life from earliest childhood and led to her BA from Lewis and Clark College.

Her recent release of The Barefoot Sheriff has launched her stories into the realm of Weird West. Mostly she writes fantasy and historical fantasy including the best-selling Dragon Nimbus series and the masterwork Merlin’s Descendants series. Look for her writing new historical fantasy tales as Rachel Atwood, a different take on the Robin Hood mythology in Walk the Wild with Me, from DAW/Astra Books and the sequel Outcasts of the Wildwood. In other lifetimes she writes urban fantasy as P.R. Frost or Phyllis Ames, and space opera as C.F. Bentley. Lately she ventured into Steampunk as Julia Verne St. John.

If you wish information on the latest releases from Ms. Radford, under any of her pen names, you can check her author page, on Book View Café or follow her on Facebook as Phyllis Irene Radford.

Have you read one of my books? Then it would be great for you to leave a review! Meanwhile, if you’d like to learn more about me and my work, check out my website, Bluesky, Facebook or Pinterest.

Chosen of the Spears (Queen Titania’s Court)

Venycia has come to the ball, from Sanan Kolva’s fantasy novel, Shrouded Sky. It’s the first in her series, Chosen of the Spears.

A large black bear, her face marked with white patterns that curled like runic letters, approached the court, unchallenged by those who recognized her as something of the fey. Her form shifted as she walked, transforming from bear into an elven woman with long black hair that was streaked with white at the crown. She bowed deeply to Queen Titania. “Your Majesty, I am Venycia, Guardian of Equinox, daughter of the god Ahebban, Watcher on the Walls, and I come to your court bearings greetings from Equinox, Spear of the Stars, and from those who guard and protect the Spear. Thank you for your generous invitation.”

Character Questions

Would you rather be lost in a deep dark forest or becalmed in a ship far from shore? The forest, absolutely. My mother was an elf, and when I was growing up, she made sure I experienced many aspects of the natural world. We were far from the coast, though, so I’ve virtually no experience with the sea. Also, if I were lost in a forest, I would request aid from Cantorelle, the god of roads. Even an animal trail is a road for those who use it. On the sea, though… I don’t know if there’s anything that can be called a road there.

Do you trust your country’s leaders? I am a Guardian of the Shrine of Equinox. While not a country, we are a community, and ultimately, Equinox is our leader. Equinox is one of the two Spears of the Stars, incredibly powerful, sentient magical artifacts. And on the whole, yes, I trust Equinox. However, the Spear can also be impatient, bored, or otherwise afflicted by emotions like any sentient being, and I’m not afraid to call Equinox out on rash or stupid behavior.

Author Questions

What inspires you to create your work? What doesn’t? I once wrote a sci-fi story inspired by a Youtube video of a seal slapping a kayaker with an octopus. But as far as what inspires me to write my particular books, one of my driving factors is that I want to write the sorts of books I want to read, and that helps me keep momentum — I’m telling the story because -I- want to see where we’re going and how we get there.

Should stories always have a moral? I don’t think so. Certainly, stories can have morals, and maybe as the author, you might recognize at the end that yes, there’s a moral within this story, but I think it’s putting too much weight on the act of creating this thing to say it SHOULD have a moral. Sometimes, a story is entertainment. What story do you want to tell?

Shrouded Sky

Monsters stalk the paths and clouds hide the sky every night. Now Lyan, astrologer of Heartshrine Village, must leave his familiar forest and home to seek an ancient, powerful weapon: Equinox, Spear of the Stars.

In the right hands, Equinox and its brother Solstice are powerful weapons against the forces of the Mad God, Murdo. In the wrong hands, they could free Murdo from centuries of imprisonment and release him upon the world once more.

Lyan must solve an ancient riddle and find the hidden Shrine of Equinox to protect the Spear from the Mad God with help from the traditional enemies of his people. A cunning monster stalks them, and assassins lurk in shadows. As Murdo’s forces draw close and suspicion festers within their group, Lyan and his companions must forge an uneasy truce and rely on each other.

And even if they find Equinox, someone must conquer its trials to claim it, or they may never leave.

Get it from Amazon.

Sanan Kolva

Sanan Kolva is a technical editor by day, and writer of epic and steampunk fantasy the rest of the time. She is the author of The Chosen of the Spears series, The Silverline Chronicles, and the post-apocalyptic fantasy Ghost and Guardian. Her short fiction appears in a number of anthologies. When not writing, she enjoys leatherworking, battling the forces of evil in various video games, and appeasing her feline overlords.

Sanan can be found at her website and on Facebook.

Have you read one of my books? Then it would be great for you to leave a review! Meanwhile, if you’d like to learn more about me and my work, check out my website, Bluesky, Facebook or Pinterest.

David and the Midnight Unicorn (Queen Titania’s Court)

A crowuzzle, Queen Morwenna, visits from Janyce Brawn’s juvenile fantasy, David and the Midnight Unicorn. It’s the third in her series, The Teleporting Topsider.

The crowuzzle, Queen Morwenna, sweeps her long black gown to the side with one hand, tosses her hair with the other then flies into the ballroom. Her keen eyes take in the view.

Queen Titania waves her over. “Where is your sister, I assumed she would be coming too?”

Morwenna frowns, shaking her head. “No. The Skirlmunk attacked last night. Demelza is indisposed at the moment. I am thrilled to be here though. Possibly you can help me figure out what to do about this creature, and the latest visitors to the Wuzzle Swamp.”

“Tell me more,” Queen Titania leans close to the crowuzzle queen.

Character Questions

What is your secret fear? Queen Morwenna’s secret fear is that her sister, Queen Demelza’ s, bitterness and grudges will destroy their kingdom along with the human, David, and the human/midnight unicorn, Marty — unless the mysterious Skirlmunk does it first.

Do you trust the rulers of your land? Queen Morwenna trusts herself as one of the two crowuzzle Queens to lead her fellow mountain dwellers to live peacefully – if everything doesn’t explode first.

Author Questions

What is your best tip for new writers? My best tip for new writers is to put something on paper because you can’t fix a blank page. Just sit down and let it flow.

What are you working on now? My latest work in progress, Andi and the Amulets of Whiz, is another middle grade fantasy with a timid, female main character, Andi, who accidentally falls through a portal, gains magical abilities from the mysterious Amulet of Conviction and lands in the country of Whiz. On this world, wizards, bird-people, giant hares and regular people struggle to stop a scheming King and wizard from taking over the kingdom. Andi must overcome her shyness, stand up for herself and her new friends and use her burgeoning magical abilities to stop the evildoers before the wizards will come to her aid so she can go home.

David and the Midnight Unicorn

Twelve-year-old David Gonzales takes another trip to the lands below the drains in order to rescue his best friend Marty and their teacher. After a failed science experiment turns Marty into a unicorn and their teacher into a crowuzzle, both are forced through a painting portal that leads to the magical lands.

Using his old teleporting hat, David goes down the bathtub drain. Instead of landing in Drainovia, rusty pipes send him to the Wuzzle Swamp. Lost and in need of help, David only has three days to find his friends, get them changed back into humans, and return home. If he fails, they could be stuck forever in the Below Lands.

Full series available at https://www.janycebrawn.com/

Janyce Brawn

Janyce Brawn is a retired K-12 English as a Second Language and Spanish teacher who also has a degree in Art. She uses her art training to illustrate magazines and books. With a vivid imagination, Janyce has been writing and drawing since she was a little girl working on handwritten stories and crayoned pictures for books with her twin sister. Married to her husband for many amazing years, she has three grown sons, a daughter-in-law, and one granddaughter. Janyce has used her son’s exploits for inspiration in her writing and art projects over the years. Her Boston Terrier is always curious about what she’s doing at her desk and sticks her short nose into everything, thinking she is helping create characters and scenes. When Janyce isn’t writing or drawing, she likes to read, go boating on the nearby lake, or visit with family and friends. Publications include children’s picture books and juvenile fantasy.

See her full catalog at https://www.janycebrawn.com/

Have you read one of my books? Then it would be great for you to leave a review! Meanwhile, if you’d like to learn more about me and my work, check out my website, Bluesky, Facebook or Pinterest.

The Elf Child (Queen Titania’s Court)

Today we greet Veraena, a dark elf mage. She’s visiting from The Elf Child, second in the Clan Elves of the Bitterroot series by Lyndi Alexander.

Dark mage Veraena slips into the room on the heels of the previous guest, almost as if she’s hoping to be unseen. Dressed in dark green leather that fits her gentle curves perfectly, the tall brunette surveys the room, using her instincts to select the four or five guests who clearly wield power.

I don’t know that I will need to curry allies, but I might. I can’t afford to waste any chance to help Bartolomey regain control of the clan. Taking a deep breath, she puts on a seductive smile and begins to make the rounds of her chosen targets.

Character Questions

What is your secret fear? It’s only secret in that I would never admit it out loud. Too proud. I have always been afraid of being abandoned—and of course, that is exactly what my mate Daven Talvi did. I was left on my own with an infant he didn’t even know I carried. I’ve waited many years to take my revenge. I won’t be left behind again.

Is there someone or something you would die for? Die for? Not exactly. But I vow that if I am not going to succeed in helping the dark mages win back the elf clan, that I will take down Daven Talvi even if it costs my own life. After leaving me on my own, he deserves to die.

Author Questions

Do you have an agent and how did you meet them? I felt I was really lucky in the early 2000s when I found an agent who lived 30 miles from me, in Erie, PA. Got her out of the back of Writer’s Market. I had a handful of novel manuscripts and she circulated them for a monthly fee, selling nothing. (I know, I was still a noob in the publishing game.) Finally, I sent her my divorce recovery book manuscript. She said there was no way she could send it out, that it would never sell. The next year I sold it for a $2000 advance, and she died. I guess I won.

What are you working on now? What’s coming next? I have a second book in the Sixshooter series coming in late summer 2025, and I’m halfway through a collection of short stories with the Bitterroot elf characters—Max, Lane and Daven have all visited Queen Titania’s court in years past.

The Elf Child

The moment elf warrior Astan Hawk agrees to protect the young elf queen trouble dogs his heels. Jelani’s human upbringing clashes with clan tradition, spurring dangerous intrigues within the Circle of Elders. Soon even the motives of his father Daven come into question. With nowhere else to turn, Astan asks Jelani’s human friends for help. Hiding in shadows, an outcast elf plots revenge by seeking the help of powerful elf mages who live deep within the forest. Can Astan fulfill his promise to keep both Jelani and his child safe when the whole world seems to have turned against them?

Get it from your favorite bookseller: Paperback at Amazon • Paperback at Barnes & Noble • Hardback at Barnes & Noble • eBook at Amazon Kindle • eBook at Apple Books • eBook at Barnes & Noble • eBook at Kobo • eBook at Smashwords • Audiobook at Apple Books

Lyndi Alexander

Lyndi Alexander always dreamed of faraway worlds and interesting alien contacts. She lives as a post-modern hippie in Asheville, North Carolina, a single mother of her last child of seven, a daughter on the autism spectrum, finding that every day feels a lot like first contact with a new species.

Keep up with Lyndi: Website and Blog, Facebook, Goodreads, Amazon author page, Bookbub, Smashwords, or Instagram.

Have you read one of my books? Then it would be great for you to leave a review! Meanwhile, if you’d like to learn more about me and my work, check out my website, Bluesky, Facebook or Pinterest.

Walking on Sunshine (Queen Titania’s Court)

The character is Veek, one of the heroes of Walking on Sunshine, by Jennifer Stevenson. It’s the fourth in her comedic fantasy romance series, Slacker Demons. This is a two-couple, two-biracial-couples romance.

Character Questions

What is your secret fear? Is there something or someone you would die for? My name is Clarence Gide Sans-Souci de Turbin, Vicomte Montmorency. My secret fear is that I will not die. I am 98 years old, I just buried my best friend and companion of 80 years, and I still look and feel twenty-odd. Le bon Dieu knows my friend put me in life-or-death situations many times, and every time, I achieved our rescue. But he aged and I did not. And here I am, alone. So perhaps if I found someone I could trust not to die, I would not fear being alone, either. I need perhaps instead a reason to live.

Author Questions

What inspires you to create your work? I get inspired by nutty high-concept comedy movies. And novels. And memes. And songs. And tee-shirts. Example: I adore Judd Apatow’s goofy comedies. I had been watching the extras on my DVD for Knocked Up wherein the guys who live in that suburban man-lair are clowning around in their filthy swimming pool, and the words “slacker demons” popped into my head. A whole series exploded in my head in technicolor: bunch of hot, scruffy-looking guys living together in a man-lair, retired gods and accidental immortals now working as incubi for Hell, chasing women, good at the girl part but they’re all this close to getting fired because they suck at the paperwork. I had a ball writing them. You can read them in any order.

What’s your best tip for new writers? Write a lot, write what you want to write, and write every book all the way to the end. You learn more from finishing a novel that you learn from quitting halfway. Every novel you finish – even first draft – is ten times better than the last one. So write, write more, and finish what you start. By the time you have written six or eight novels, you’ll know what you’re doing, and, like a novice horse rider, you will stop worrying about falling off the horse and start taking those jumps with confidence.

Walking on Sunshine

A rock starlet whose biological clock is ticking… An ancient demon under orders to make a goddess out of the starlet… A Parisian heiress with a stalker obsession for the starlet-goddess… And a son of vodou whose life tangles with theirs, as time runs out for him to claim his rightful title…

Four lovers. Ancient power. Modern passion. Is love enough to save their sanity from immortality?

Get it from all major booksellers, including Book View Cafe and Books2Read.

Jennifer Stevenson

Jennifer Stevenson finds new uses for old sex demons. Check out her five comedy series: Hinky Chicago, Slacker Demons, Coed Demon Sluts, Liars in Love, and Backstage Boys. Her first novel, Trash Sex Magic, was shortlisted for the Locus award for new fantasy fiction and longlisted for the Nebula Award two years in a row. Check out her manifesto at John Scalzi’s The Big Idea. She lives in the Chicago area with her stagehand husband and two bossy kittens. For more Jennifernalia, find her at her website, her blogs at Book View Café, or even better, sign up for her newsletter for early wake-up calls for books, cool extras, free stuff, deleted scenes, kitten pictures, and the occasional opossum video.

Have you read one of my books? Then it would be great for you to leave a review! Meanwhile, if you’d like to learn more about me and my work, check out my website, Bluesky, Facebook or Pinterest.

Rhymer: Hel (Queen Titania’s Court)

Thomas Lindsay Rimor de Ercildoune (aka “Thomas the Rhymer”) arrives from Gregory Frost’s historical fantasy series, Rhymer.

Thomas enters the ball through a passage in a strange woods called Þagalwood that divides our world from Yvagddu, the world of the elves. It’s a place he spends a good deal of time in. Thomas is therefore surprised when he discovers there’s a world of the fae with its own queen, Titania, when he’s been battling the court of NIcnevin, the queen of the Yvag.

Character Questions

Is there someone you would die for?  There was–his wife–but that was 3 centuries ago and his discovery that he’s sempiternal has upended that, as his wife lived and died a “normal” life while he was transformed by the Yvag, an alien race we think of as elves. Now, he’s not so sure, though it may prove to be Syndony, whom he’s just met in this book.

Do you trust your country’s leaders? No. As Thomas has lived so long, he’s learned that the advisors to his kings and queens are often Yvag impersonating humans; cardinals and bishops in particular are easy marks for the Yvag. Religion is thus unreliable at best, for the religious figures are often unlikely to be human.

Author Questions

Is there something that helps you get in the mood for writing? Sometimes it’s music, and sometimes exercise or meditation. Mostly, though, it’s what I call the “zero draft,” which in my case is me with a fountain pen just writing into the idea I have, allowing myself to write utter garbage,  or to try to write the first sentence as many times as it takes to find what I want. It’s chaos, but for me it opens the door to creativity

What’s your best tip for new writers? Don’t assume that your first draft of a novel  should or has to look anything like the “finished” novels you read. I’ve taught writing at Clarion and in MFA programs, and I try to disabuse new writers of this idea. Even when we read and analyze a finished, published story, we are looking at the culmination of all the choices the writer made as she wrote and revised. We’ve no idea how crappy the first draft was (and odds are, it was pretty crappy).

Rhymer: Hel

Thomas the Rhymer, immortal, shape-changing foe of the diabolical Elf Queen and her merciless Yvag knights, continues his one-man war into the reign of England’s “Faerie Queen”—Elizabeth I. When he learns of an assassination plot against Elizabeth, the Rhymer intervenes, only to find himself the object of the special attention of the Queen’s spymaster, Francis Walsingham.

Walsingham blackmails the Rhymer into joining his intelligence network. Allied with Walsingham’s minions and a mysterious shape-changing stage actress, Thomas finds he must deal with Mary, Queen of Scots, scheming Jesuits, and Italian bankers as well as further Yvag attempts against Elizabeth. He moves in the circles of William Shakespeare, John Dee, Giordano Bruno, and Christopher Marlowe, desperately defeating one conspiracy after another in defense of the throne, leading him to an inevitable final confrontation with the Elf Queen, in which to survive he must destroy the source of her power . . . and to do that, he must enter the mouth of Hel itself.

After all the sacrifice, will the Rhymer find peace? And, perhaps, even love?

Get it at your favorite book seller or directly from the publisher.

Gregory Frost

GREGORY FROST writes across the spectrum of fantasy, horror, and SF. In May the final volume of his RHYMER trilogy, published by Baen Books, debuted. The first, Rhymer, is set in 12th century Scotland, introducing Thomas the Rhymer, a figure out of Scots balladry. The second, Rhymer: Hoode, takes place a century later. Of it, author Rick Wilber says, “Intricately plotted and peopled with fantastic characters… Frost’s Rhymer: Hoode occupies a fresh space in the legend of Robin Hood of Sherwood Forest. Very highly recommended.” Commenting on the third book, Rhymer: Hel, author Jonathan Maberry sums it all up: “This is the best fantasy series currently running!”

His historical horror novel set in the 1841 White House, The Secret House, is scheduled for a June release from JournalStone. Frost’s previous fantasy novel, Shadowbridge, was an ALA Best Fantasy Novel pick.

His short fiction collection Beyond Here Be Monsters from Fairwood Press came out in October. Earlier works are available in ebook format from Book View Café online. Frost has been a finalist for Best Novel or Short Story for the World Fantasy, Bram Stoker, Nebula, Hugo, James Tiptree, International Horror Guild and Theodore Sturgeon Awards; he won an Asimov Readers Award in 2015 for a collaborative story with Michael Swanwick. He taught Fiction Writing at Swarthmore College for 18 years.

Follow him online via his website, https://www.gregoryfrost.com/, Bluesky (@GregFrost.bsky.social) or Facebook (gregory.frost1).

Have you read one of my books? Then it would be great for you to leave a review! Meanwhile, if you’d like to learn more about me and my work, check out my website, Bluesky, Facebook or Pinterest.