Caught in Amber: Character Interview

Posted on October 11, 2024 by J.M. Ney-Grimm

Seven years ago, the protaganist from my novel Caught in Amber was interviewed concerning her views on heroism, failure, love, and more. Her answers to the first few questions appeared on my website, while the last five appeared on A. L. Butcher’s website (the editor of the Book Bundle in which my novel was included).

Given that so much time has passed, I think it’s time to retrieve the post from the depths of my blog and share all of my protag’s words. She’s one of my favorite heroines!

What is your name?

Oh, I wish I could remember my name! I wish I could remember anything. I feel so . . . lost, knowing nothing of who I am, where I come from. Yesterday, when I was pretending to be brave, I gave myself a name. It feels right, but it might not be right. How could it, when I remember nothing? But . . . I’m Fae (she raises her chin) and I’m going to pretend to be brave again. I have to.

Which book world do you live in?

I seem to be trapped in a castle. It’s very beautiful, with marble halls and tall windows looking onto flowering summer gardens. But it’s utterly deserted; I’m all alone and locked in! None of the doors to the outside seem to even have functioning latches and hinges. And when I tried to break a window with a paperweight, it bounced off!

Tell us about yourself.

When I look in the mirror, I look human. But something tells me I might not be. Oh, I’m not anything truly strange, like the creatures in fairy tales or the monsters in myths and legends. Yesterday I thought I might be the granddaughter of a goddess, but that’s not it either. I’m trying to figure it out, because I think that if I can only remember something, that’s the key to escaping this castle and finding . . . home? Oh, I wish I could go home, wherever home is! (She raises her chin again.) But I’ll do it. I’ll figure it out. I won’t give up.

I’m an adventurer—why should I recruit you to accompany me?

Adventurers . . . (Her tone is musing.) I always thought they were ne’er-do-wells, the black sheep of their families. But sometimes they’re soldiers of fortune, aren’t they? I wonder if a soldier—a warrior—could help me? I don’t think so. This castle, this situation, is a puzzle, not a battle. And I’m going to solve it. (She sighs.) But I wish someone were here. Besides me. It’s so lonely. I miss my friends, even though I can’t remember who they are. Oh, I hate this!

Tell us about your companions? How do they see you?

I know I had friends. Maybe a band of girls my age? How old am I anyway? Maybe fourteen? Maybe sixteen? I don’t know! But it’s something like that. I think we spent a lot of time out of doors, rambling in the woods, running races, practicing archery? Someone else was the fastest in the foot races, but I was the best with bow and arrow! Oh, I miss the outdoors! I hate this castle and being pent inside from dawn to dusk!

What’s your most heroic exploit to date?

Ha! I don’t think I’ve had time to be a hero! I’m too young. But, guess what? I think I’m being a hero now. Something has happened to trap me in this place, and I don’t think I’m the only one affected, even though I’m the only one here. Somewhere that I can’t see, that I don’t even know about, there are people I love in trouble. If I can just solve this puzzle… I’ll get out and go help them! Whoever did this to me (she raises that chin again) is going to be sorry!

What’s your greatest failure?

I think I failed at something important. Something really important. I wouldn’t be here if I hadn’t. I think I betrayed… not someone else. Never someone else. But I might have betrayed myself. I might have… consented to something? To a punishment? When I should have fought it tooth and nail? Oh, I wish I could remember! This is horrid!

Where do you think you’ll be in a decade?

I’ll be out of here! I’ll escape! I’ll rescue my cousins! Oh! I remembered something! I have cousins! (She does a little dance step of jubilation.) One of them… Athena? Thea? Theophane? She was studying military history. Oh! I have an uncle! Uncle Leander was… a blacksmith? No, that’s not right. He knew smithing. And he was good at it! But he was so much more. I can’t remember. (She grits her teeth.) I can’t remember, but I am remembering! And I’m going to remember more!

Do you have a great love?

I loved someone. I know I did. Besides my friends. And my cousins. And my uncle. I almost think I loved… Was she my aunt? I saw her so clearly in my mind’s eye yesterday. She was pale and stern and garbed in a sweeping black velvet gown as she admonished me to never open that quaint pointed door in the corner while she was gone. Did I open it? Is that why I’m here? Or did I fail to open it? And is that failure why I’m here? I wonder if that door… might be somewhere in this castle? (Her eyes light.) I’m going to go look!

For more about Caught in Amber, see:
A Castle That Might be Amber
Amber’s Inspiration
Amber’s Suns

Another New Audiobook!

Posted on September 27, 2024 by J.M. Ney-Grimm

I’m surprised and excited about this.

Given that audio for The Tally Master took 3 weeks, while audio for Sovereign Night took 11 months…I didn’t know what to expect for The Hades Cycle. I just barely entered it into Apple’s program a week or two ago. And here it is! Wow!

He chose hell to preserve his brothers. Will his choice prove his destruction?

Lord Dìs hungers. After millennia expending his immense strength to sustain hell and its shades, the dark god of the dead craves light, love, and life. But this arrogant king of the underworld is stunned when the mountain nymph he steals to be his queen—a glorious creature of sun and breeze—repudiates him and threatens his throne.

Infuriated and desperate, Dìs hunts down a forest nymph to siphon the leaf-dapple and quietude from her soul and replenish his ebbing power. But one such banquet demands another, and as Dìs extinguishes spirit after spirit to feed his ravening need, he drowns beneath an inward tide of darkness, desolation, and death.

Dragging a chain of evil deeds behind him, will Dìs seek redemption? Or will he embrace perdition with the damned?

The Hades Cycle is a braided novel of mythic fantasy. Tales of lovers, friends, and enemies twine through Dìs’ saga to reveal secrets otherwise hidden. If you enjoy deep mythology brought to vivid life, heroes of passion and will, and epic sacrifice, you’ll love this gripping story of the old gods.

Listen to The Hades Cycle to redeem the accursed today!

The Hades Cycle at Apple

New Release: The Shaman’s Sacrifice

Posted on September 23, 2024 by J.M. Ney-Grimm

A wounded prisoner and grievous injustice. Can the cursed save the innocent from the fire?

Gael is faithful to his quest. Fighting the curse that threatens him and his friend Keir with insanity and death, they hunt a rare lodestone to heal their affliction. But Gael’s determination collides with his chivalry when he and Keir arrive at a village bracing to execute a young woman that Keir’s magic proves innocent. Not just innocent, but comatose, the victim of a secret magical attack.

Despite fears of retribution, Gael and Keir question the young woman’s neighbors, seeking her attacker. As they stitch together what happened, Gael suspects the truth is part of a larger, ancient pattern.

The condemned woman’s healing requires this knowledge, but time is running out. Although Gael dreads delaying the search for their own salvation, he and Keir must confront the mystery lurking in the jungle, or more than one innocent will die.

The Shaman’s Sacrifice is a page-turning standalone novella in the Gael & Keir fantasy mystery series. If you like heroic quests, afflicted paladins, and deep loyalty, you’ll love J.M. Ney-Grimm’s immersive adventure.

Read The Shaman’s Sacrifice to pursue truth today!

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Cover Reveal: The Shaman’s Sacrifice

Posted on September 15, 2024 by J.M. Ney-Grimm

A Second Audiobook!

Posted on September 9, 2024 by J.M. Ney-Grimm

Sovereign Night–the sequel to The Tally Master–is out in audio!

I actually missed the moment when it released, because I’d begun to wonder if it would appear at all. I should have known better. But let me tell you what happened.

I entered The Tally Master in Apple’s new audio program at the end of August 2023. In three weeks, it was out.

I entered Sovereign Night in the program 24 hours later. But there was no sign of it in October, November, or December of 2023. Still nothing in January, February, and March of 2024! I thought I was checking every month or so. But apparently not. Because the Sovereign audiobook appeared in July, and I had no idea.

When I finally checked again (September 2024), there it was, with a publication date of July, eleven months after submitting the book!

Despite the delay, I’m thrilled!

A dark secret lurks in a hidden labyrinth. Can a pair of renegades unearth the truth before more innocents disappear forever?

Gael, an illicit mage, hunts redemption with Keir, a healer who helps all who cross her path. Gael loves her loyalty to her calling—and to him—but knows that mere friendship must suffice.

Together, the two seek a cure for the affliction that not only erodes their bodies and minds, but keeps them apart. The magical lodestone that holds their salvation lies hidden in the Glorious Citadel where a powerful ruler dwells.

Posing as physician and physician’s aide, hired to preside over entertainments hosted by the sovereign, they find their quest for healing entangled with corrupt undercurrents spiraling among the courtiers and servitors of the palatial stronghold.

The trail of clues—a would-be assassin startled from the shadows, twin handmaidens stealing from the library by night, and heavily-armed warriors called reavers smuggling kidnapped victims into the citadel precincts after sundown—leads toward the ancient artifact they need, but also to the risk of a horrific death.

Both Gael and Keir must learn honesty about who they love, who they hate, and who merits their championship, or lose not only each other but life itself.

Sovereign Night is the suspenseful second novel in the Gael & Keir fantasy mystery series. If you like vivid characters, high-stakes mystery, and immersive world-building, then you’ll love this riveting adventure tale.

Listen to Sovereign Night to discover the real treasure at the labyrinth’s heart today!

Sovereign Night as an audio book:
Apple

Newly Released: The Hades Cycle

Posted on December 8, 2023 by J.M. Ney-Grimm

“Eurydce Otherwise” is a complete short story about a mountain nymph who clashes with the lord of the underworld. But it’s also the first chapter in the saga of Lord Dìs.

Artemis in Chase is a complete novella in which the goddess of the hunt seeks vengeance for the murder of one of her retinue. But it is also the second chapter telling of Dìs’ further fall from grace.

And so it goes for the rest of the seven-tale series.

Now all seven tales are collected in one book to form the braided novel that is the more correct term for the larger story.

He chose hell to preserve his brothers. Will his choice prove his destruction?

Dragging a chain of evil deeds behind him, will Dìs seek redemption? Or will he embrace perdition with the damned?

Read The Hades Cycle to redeem the accursed today!
Amazon I Apple I B&N I Kobo I Universal Link

My First Audiobook!

Posted on December 1, 2023 by J.M. Ney-Grimm

I’m thrilled! My novel The Tally Master is now available as an audiobook! And its sequel Sovereign Night will follow soon.

This has been a dream of mine for over 10 years. Since 2012 I’ve repeatedly looked for options to get my work into audio, and repeatedly the logistics have defeated me.

Let me tell you how the barriers came down.

Apple is pioneering the use of AI narration for its catalog of ebooks, and this August they opened up the program to indie authors like me.

I was skeptical at first. It seemed too good to be true. But when I looked into the program, it was legit. And I really liked the voice sample for the female narrator. She sounded human, and she sounded good. I entered The Tally Master as a candidate for audio, and in early September it went live!

When I listened to the first few pages, they sounded even better than I’d dreamed possible. I’m an expressive reader myself when I read aloud, but Madison the AI does a better job than I could. I’m so, so happy with the result, and I’m eager to make more of my work available through this channel.

When you must dwell in the citadel of your enemies, do you join them? Depart toward exile and death? Or raze their dark tower to the ground?

Gael tries to ignore the significance of his actions. Managing supplies for a warlord’s arsenal, the cursed mage purposefully evades the fact that he’s enabling the destruction of his former people. But when he discovers the precious metal needed to craft the weapons is being stolen from under his nose, he resolves to find the culprit at any cost.

Relentless and driven, Gael follows the trail of clues to expose not just a thief but a chain of heinous treacheries. When he unearths the roles his friends have played, he’s no longer certain whose side he should be on. Especially when his master orders him to destroy a magical artifact that could save them all.

With his protégé imprisoned and facing a death sentence, and his mentor sacrificed to the warlord’s policy, Gael must decide where to place his loyalty. Will he discern and choose what is right, or will he forfeit his last chance at redemption?

The Tally Master is the gripping first novel in the Gael & Keir fantasy mystery series. If you like characters who seem to step right off the page, twisty plots, and vivid world-building, then you’ll love this engrossing tale.

Listen to The Tally Master to choose senseless hope or sober treason today!
Apple

Newly Released: Were It Only Exile as Promised

Posted on November 24, 2023 by J.M. Ney-Grimm

In a world of silenced voices, one champion vows her sister will not go unheard.

Thania inhabits a far future in which digital goods and virtual reality substitute for physical products and experiences. Thania has always accepted the constraints of her culture, but when her beloved sister discovers real paints and canvas—banned as hazmat—Thania’s complaisance starts to crack.

After Claro publishes her subversive illegal art—putting both sisters in danger—Thania begs her to return to the safe digital work that originally brought Claro fame.

But Claro knows that sometimes the life of the spirit trumps that of the body, and Thania must learn this lesson too or risk losing her soul. Along with everything else.

Were It Only Exile as Promised is a dystopian SF story of art, algorithms, and censorship. If you’re a creative looking to lance the modern boil by plunging into its worst case, this nightmare scenario offers the terrifying catharsis you seek.

Read Were It Only Exile now to seize the comet’s tail!
Amazon I Apple I B&N I Kobo I Universal Link

Newly Released: Illumine Hades

Posted on May 7, 2023 by J.M. Ney-Grimm

Darker than dark, ruinous and ravening, the realm of Hades ravages its lord . . .

As ruler of the damned, Lord Dìs sustains the bounds of hell that prevent its shades from escaping to batten on the living. But the drain on his strength, immense as it is, requires him to steal life from the innocent. When Dìs’ wife Persephone insists he refrain from his cruel ritual theft—and he fails—she leaves him.

Alone and broken, Dìs renews his vow to fulfill his duties without the replenishment he craves. But the burdens of judging the newly dead and preserving them from extinction, all while anchoring hell itself, inexorably grind Dìs beneath a crushing weight.

Dìs must learn that merely refraining from evil redeems nothing. Unless he can restore those he destroyed, madness will claim him and the bounds of hell will implode.

Illumine Hades is the concluding tale in the exhilarating Hades Cycle. If you seek heroic sacrifice, redemptive love, and the terror of the ancient gods, you’ll love this cathartic finale in which all the series threads weave together toward glory.

Read Illumine Hades now to plumb the depths and kiss the heights!
Amazon

Cover Reveal: Illumine Hades

Posted on April 25, 2023 by J.M. Ney-Grimm

Illumine Hades will release soon!

Initially it will be available on Amazon for purchase and in Amazon’s Kindle Unlimited subscription service for free download.

Illumine Hades is the last of seven tales in The Hades Cycle.

Some months after Illumine Hades is released, all the stories in The Hades Cycle will leave the KU subscription service and be available for purchase on all major e-tailers, including Kobo, Barnes & Noble, Apple, Amazon, and more.

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