Cover Reveal: Right, Wrong, and Amazing

Right, Wrong, and Amazing released on May 7, 2022!

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

On August 7, Right, Wrong, and Amazing 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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Newly Released: Read-Only Ash

Before I started writing regularly every week, I’d envisioned myself creating fantasy and science fiction. But when I actually sat down at my keyboard three mornings a week (and then five days a week), the stories all seemed to be fantasy.

I was surprised, but okay with it. As long as I was telling stories, I was happy.

Then, 7 years into my writing journey, a science fiction tale collared my muse, and I wrote what would eventually become “Read-Only Ash.” As of this week, “Read-Only Ash” is available for your reading pleasure in both ebook and paperback editions. 😀

Check it out!

When utter defeat confounds you, where might victory hide?

Uzuri, a new-minted astronomer on her first posting, can’t wait to observe the stars from deep space. But when she awakens unable to form or hold new memories, probing the mysteries of the universe must surrender to unravelling the mystery of her own loss.

She finds the space station entirely deserted and all its floors coated by a black, gritty ash. Alone and without recourse, Uzuri hunts answers.

When she learns the truth of what happened, she must abandon the comforting path of retreat to face disaster, no matter the agony, or suffer her soul’s death.

“Read-Only Ash” is a science fiction tale of valor in extremity. If you enjoy heroic last stands, grab-by-the-throat intensity, and ultimate peril, you’ll love this ringing-the-changes-on-catastrophe story.

Peruse “Read-Only Ash” to wring hope from despair today!

“Read-Only Ash” on Amazon

 

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Cover Reveal: Read-Only Ash

Read-Only Ash will release on April 7, 2022!

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

On July 7, Read-Only Ash 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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Newly Released: Titan Invictus

What if you fail to wake from dream’s beguiling beauty?

Exhausted but fulfilled by the labor of primordial creation, a god of the ancient world lies sleeping.

When the legions of an aggressive empire march to conquer his river valley, burning villages and salting fields, the river people beg their god to awaken and lend them his strength.

But slumber’s thrall holds him fast. Unless the dreaming titan wins free to take up his daylight calling, his people will perish before the invaders’ swords.

Titan Invictus is a legend of the ancient mythos. If you long for lyrical prose, vivid imagery, and primal archetypes brought to life, you’ll love this tale of a sleeping colossus.

Read Titan Invictus to conquer the waking world today!

Amazon ebook
Amazon paperback

 

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Cover Reveal: Titan Invictus

Titan Invictus will release on March 7, 2022!

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

On June 7, Titan Invictus 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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Newly Released: Daring Place

I loved writing this story! I hope you love reading it! 😀

Half the key to his escape beckons from cold solitude, the other half from hottest battle…

Coehlin, a merchant-mage and sometime scholar, pursues the ordinary goal of recovering his fortune after the wars—with snatches of arcane reading on the side.

All that changes when he follows his curiosity to a haunted circle of ground. Wielding philosophy and magic where he shouldn’t, Coehlin metamorphoses into a monster trapped in a cursed maze.

As he labors to walk on a pair of bull’s legs and see through bull’s eyes, the maze lures others into its deepening evil. Coehlin must not only devise his own escape, but fight to protect these innocent wayfarers from death.

And when the troll-watch musters to slay the monster in the maze, Coehlin must reach beyond his daily survival. Unless he learns to embrace the serenity hidden beneath his frantic striving and restless scholarship, he and his newest charge will perish in the coming assault.

“To Haunt the Daring Place” is a story of my troll-infested North-lands. If you enjoy engaging characters, inventive plots, and intricate world-building, then you’ll love this twist on a classic myth.

Read “To Haunt the Daring Place” to win living freedom from dead knowledge today!

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The ebook edition of “To Haunt the Daring Place” is available on Amazon for purchase.

It is also enrolled in the Kindle Unlimited subscription service until May 7.
If you are a KU member, you can download the book for free.

The ebook will go live on Kobo, Apple, Barnes & Noble, and other e-tailers on May 8.

The paperback edition is available now on Amazon.

 

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Cover Reveal: Daring Place

“To Haunt the Daring Place” will release in just a few weeks!

I love the cover! It was done by a new designer I discovered six months ago. Doesn’t he do divine work? James at GoOnWrite.com. You’ll be seeing more covers from him going forward, I promise.

Half the key to his escape beckons from cold solitude, the other half from hottest battle…

Coehlin, a merchant-mage and sometime scholar, pursues the ordinary goal of recovering his fortune after the wars—with snatches of arcane reading on the side.

All that changes when he follows his curiosity to a haunted circle of ground. Wielding philosophy and magic where he shouldn’t, Coehlin metamorphoses into a monster trapped in a cursed maze.

For a fun peek behind the curtain of how I came to write “To Haunt the Daring Place,” see:
Rebirth of Four Fairy Tales
Am I Daring?

 

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New Stories en Route

I have a bunch of new titles releasing this year, and I’m excited about it.

Three of them come from the batch of short stories I’ve written during the pandemic. Another three were originally published in the collection Tales of Old Giralliya. But while some readers prefer to obtain their short stories in bundles, others decidedly do not: they want them one by one, à la carte. I want to to make both sorts happy, so this trio will now appear as three singles.

Yet another three stories appeared on my blog many years ago and are now buried where no one can find them. I never did get them released as ebooks and paperbacks. That will happen this year. Since I wrote them so long ago, I’ll give each a thorough revision. I want them the best they can be.

All together, that’s nine stories! Here’s what’s in store, month by month:

February “To Haunt the Daring Place”

March “Titan Invictus”

April “Read-Only Ash”

May “Right, Wrong, and Amazing”

June “Eurydice Otherwise”

July “Blood Falchion”

August “The Kite Climber”

September “Faerie Tithe”

October “The Smith and the Hermit”

I’ll be posting here and sending an email to my newsletter subscribers to announce each release! 😀

 

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New Bundle! A Trove of Tomes

A new curator has appeared on BundleRabbit—Christopher Schmitz—and he invited me to contribute The Tally Master to his new bundle of epic fantasy.

So I did!

I’m excited about it, because this bundle includes books by a whole new set of authors, writers I’ve never encountered before. Maybe I’ll discover a new favorite. (Maybe you will, too!)

I’m also excited because Christopher is doing a bunch of effective marketing for this bundle. In just a week, it’s already sold 173 copies! I hope some more readers will discover my work and find it to their taste.

So, what about A Trove of Tomes?

That’s the title of the bundle, and it’s comprised of 10 novels plus one novella, the collection forming a mix of epic fantasy and sword & sorcery.

For all of December, it’s on sale for a discount price—$1.99.

The price will go back up to list—$7.99—in January. Now’s the time to get it, if you’re interested. At the very least, you’ll acquire my Tally Master for $1.99 instead of $4.99. And you might discover something(s) you like from one of the other nine authors.

Three of the other novels especially caught my attention—they’re the ones I’ll try reading first. Let me tell you a bit about them.

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The Dragon Princess by Paris Hansch

The dragon princess is missing.

War is imminent.

And someone pulls the strings behind the scenes…

Can a fractured family of angry brothers and sisters pull together to awaken their forgotten spirit arts and defeat “The Mistress”?
 
 

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Grinden Proselyte by Christopher D. Schmitz

They took everything from him.

They branded his hands and killed the girl he loves.

Revenge is all Rashnir has left…

But when revenge suddenly looms imminent, the former ranger wonders…what comes after?
 
 

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The Dragonslayer’s Sword by Resa Nelson

Astrid has a dark secret. A dragon once chewed her up and spat her out.

She hides the old scars covering her body through shapeshifting.

But the time for hiding is over…
 
 

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And here’s a little about my own contribution to the bundle.

The Tally Master by J.M. Ney-Grimm

Managing supplies for a warlord’s arsenal, an accursed mage purposefully ignores 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.
 
 

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Dragons. Elves. Curses. Blood pacts and orcs. . . and a few Chosen Ones.
Unlock portals to adventure for less than a dollar a book!

Rise & Fall of the Obsidian Grotto
    by Christopher D. Schmitz
The Tally Master
    by J.M. Ney-Grimm
A Veil for the Vanguard
    by Danny F. Santos
Kakos Realm: Grinden Proselyte
    by Christopher D. Schmitz
The Dragonslayer’s Sword
    by Resa Nelson
Apprentice Storm Mage
    by Douglas Van Dyke, Jr
The Avant Champion: Rising
    by C.B. Samet
The Chronicles of Agartha:
    The Green Boy
    by Sherif Guirguis & Isaac Michaan
Severance Lost by J. Lloren Quill
Prelude to Insurrection by JC Kang
The Dragon Princess by Paris Hansch

The A Trove of Tomes bundle is available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, iTunes, or direct from the BundleRabbit site.

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For more bundles with my stories in them, see:
Here Be Trolls
Here Be Elves
Here Be Magic
Eclectica
Here Be Unicorns
Here Be Merfolk
Here Be Fairies
Here Be Dragons
Immortals

 

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New Bundle! Here Be Trolls

When I think of all the trolls who walk the pages of my stories—as villains, as victims, or as heroes—I can only say…where has this bundle been? It’s about time!

I have enough books featuring trolls to make a bundle from them without any additional authors contributing!

However, the two chosen by the curator for Here Be Trolls are A Knot of Trolls and The Tally Master. So if you’ve been thinking about giving either of these a read, this is the bundle for you. Not only will you get my two, you’ll get 8 more besides. And some of those look particularly appealing.

The Changeling Troll by Leah Cutter (a novel) had me reading all the way to the end of the Look Inside on Amazon. I was tempted to click the buy button, instead of waiting for the bundle to release!

I always enjoy Kristine Kathryn Rusch’s short stories, so I’m eager to read her “Renn and the Little Men.” And “The Great Orc Cook-Off” by Stefon Mears looks like pure fun.

I could go on, but I’ll cut to the chase instead. Check out the blurbs below for the titles that especially caught my interest.

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Christine seeks solace in books. But after she loses a bet with her brother, she forces herself to leave the sanctuary of her fictional worlds for the real one.

She hates the bar scene—the noise, the music, the people. Until the impossible happens. Christine meets her identical twin. A twin she never knew about. A meeting that will make her question all she ever knew about herself and her family, as well as what it means to be human.

The first book in a new-adult, urban fantasy trilogy, The Changeling Troll puts a delightful new twist on the ugly duckling story.

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In the Wild West, gunslingers populate the legend of many a dime novel.

Renn knows her way around a gun—and a book—better than most of them, including her famous brother, who can credit his skills to Renn.

So, when the strange little men show up looking to hire her missing-in-action brother, Renn takes the job.

She soon realizes she’ll need every bit of her gun skills and book learning to finish it.
 
 

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What can you do when a fairy tale nightmare comes true?

Annie knows the troll is coming back for her and her sisters—and their children. But when she tries to convince her sisters that the danger they faced as children is on the hunt again, they can’t—or won’t—believe her.

She’s on her own.
 
 
 

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OLD MAGICK. NEW WORLD.

In 2017, little remains of magick save scattered, beleaguered pockets of magickal community and scholarship—and a vast, but rapidly decaying, heritage. How can any of it survive the pace of modern life?

As an agent of the Society for Magickal Heritage, Cordelia “Ves” Vesper has an important job: to track down and rescue endangered magickal creatures, artifacts, books and spells wherever they are to be found. It’s a duty that takes her the length and breadth of Britain, and frequently gets her into trouble. But somebody’s got to keep magick alive in the modern world, and Ves is determined to do whatever it takes.

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Orc clans rule the grasslands.

The Broken Tooth Clan stands mighty enough to make even the cursed elves hide in their Wailing Forest, but are they so stalwart as to triumph over the new threat rising beyond the woodlands?

Gorek, a fierce warrior of the Broken Tooth clan, has bested every enemy with the guts to face him in battle. But he’s an even better cook.

That’s fortunate, because the future of the Broken Tooth rests on Gorek’s cooking. First, he must gather the savoriest—and most dangerous—of ingredients.

“The Great Orc Cook-Off” is a rollicking fantasy adventure, set in a rich world you won’t want to leave. Fans of World of Warcraft and The Forgotten Realms, don’t miss this one!

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And here’s a bit about my own The Tally Master and A Knot of Trolls.

Only in exile can a fallen mage escape death. Where does he go when exile proves just as deadly?

Seven years ago, reeling from a curse in the wake of battle, Gael sought sanctuary and found it in a most perilous place. But the citadel of a troll warlord—haunt of the desperate and violent—proves a harsh refuge for a civilized mage.

The Tally Master is the gripping first book in the Gael & Keir series of fantasy mystery novels. If you like characters who seem to step right off the page, twisty plots, and vividly immersive worlds, then you’ll love this suspenseful tale of secrets, betrayal, and transcendence.

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A medieval lady stands in an ancient stone hallNorth-lands spellcasters who reach too boldly for power transform into trolls—grotesque villains wielding a potent magic and destined for madness.

A Knot of Trolls features seven of these evildoers, each pursuing a unique design for troubling their neighbors. Across the ages of the world, ordinary youths must rise to the challenges laid down by trolls. Destiny and hope lie in the balance.

Seven tales of magic and troll-mages.
 
 

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A reclusive young woman ventures out of her library to meet her identical twin, a twin she never knew about. How many more secrets lie in her past?

A fallen mage believes he’s reached sanctuary. But when three ingots vanish from the vault he protects for a troll warlord, his search for the thief once again thrusts him in harm’s way.

A troll shaman calls from her deathbed, sending her heiress on a quest to return their people’s magical gemstone to its place of origin. If she succeeds, she becomes the leader of her tribe. If she fails, there will be no tribe to lead.

A wise old auntie and her kin must defend their remote homestead against a marauding troll of old, a fearsome beast bearing great fangs and claws—and gripped by a hunger for human flesh.

An agent of the Society for Magickal Heritage must find the source of an occult disease decimating Britain’s troll enclaves—and fix it. Simple in theory, tricky in practice, for the only place that might hold the information she needs is the ancient and inconveniently lost enclave of Farringale…

A princess faces war on two fronts: demons outside in the forest and hidden enemies in the caves of home. If she loses either battle, everything is lost, even though she’s a badass warrior troll.

From nightmare monsters who enjoy dining on children to spiritual mystics in tune with the natural world, from gritty champions to peculiar cooks, from shy hermits to paladin mages—greenskins, trolls, and orcs feature as heroes or as villains in these 10 tales of magic, myth, and mayhem.

The Changeling Troll by Leah Cutter
“Renn and the Little Men” by Kristine Kathryn Rusch
The Tally Master by J.M. Ney-Grimm
The Stolen Tower by A. L. Butcher
“Troll Country” by Marcelle Dubé
The Road to Farringale by Charlotte E. English
“The Meat Shield” by Blaze Ward
“The Great Orc Cook-Off” by Stefon Mears
A Knot of Trolls by J.M. Ney-Grimm
The Troll-Troll War by Leah Cutter

The Here Be Trolls bundle is available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, iTunes, or direct from the BundleRabbit site.

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For more bundles with my stories in them, see:
Here Be Elves
Here Be Magic
Eclectica
Here Be Unicorns
Here Be Merfolk
Here Be Fairies
Here Be Dragons
Immortals

 

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