Showing posts with label dark fantasy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label dark fantasy. Show all posts

Friday, December 15, 2023

End of the Year Sale: "A Nocturne In Red"

Hey, hey!

The Smashwords End of the Year Sale begins today and runs through January 1. 

Now is your best chance to snatch up my novella, "A Nocturne In Red" for 75% off! That means this quick read (normally priced at $4.99) is now only $1.24 for the next two weeks. Find the download button at this link:  https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/1480370  

Is this novella for you? Grab it and give it a go.

Blurb:

Sanjen Laurelius, a lute-wielding bard, is a rising star.

He's also wanted by the emperor.

When he calls upon his special brand of song-magic to fight off a rampaging harpy, he finds himself the object of unwanted attention: a powerful officer in the emperor's service hires Sanjen to find the cure for a curse that has transformed a favored concubine into a bloodthirsty monster. But Sanjen's past is catching up with him. Can he find a way to save the victim of the curse before his employer discovers his true identity—and returns him to the emperor in chains?




Thursday, November 16, 2023

Sanjen Performs Everywhere

It's time to move on from Kindle exclusivity. I weighed republishing my stuff through IngramSpark or Draft2Digital, and decided to go with D2D. At least, with my darling guinea pig novella, "A Nocturne In Red." (The process was so simple that I'll likely do the same with all the others a little at a time.)

As of this week, Sanjen's first adventure is available, not just at Amazon, but everywhere D2D distributes books. I cannot express how excited I was to be able to download my book from Apple Books. Yes, I was my own first sale there. 😋

So now my beloved messed-up bard is "booked" at Apple, Kobo, and Scribd, and will soon perform at Barnes & Noble and all other venues too. If you want to follow his rising career and fall under the spell of his magical music, this is the link to all his current bookings:  https://books2read.com/u/3y6r0V

Crossing fingers that greater exposure widens his success with fans.

Here's the cover to look for:


Blurb:

Sanjen Laurelius, a lute-wielding bard, is a rising star.

He's also wanted by the emperor.

When he calls upon his special brand of song-magic to fight off a rampaging harpy, he finds himself the object of unwanted attention: a powerful officer in the emperor's service hires Sanjen to find the cure for a curse that has transformed a favored concubine into a bloodthirsty monster. But Sanjen's past is catching up with him. Can he find a way to save the victim of the curse before his employer discovers his true identity—and returns him to the emperor in chains?

Genre: somewhere between dark and epic fantasy

Length: novella (a quick weekend read)

Content warnings: drug use, gore, language, allusions to sexual content



Wednesday, October 23, 2013

Review: The Perfect Player by Devon Winterson

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Blurb:

"A forbidden tryst exposes a threat and sets a secret plan in motion, and twenty-year-old Marisa of Mynae discovers her life is all a lie. But even as a cryptic journal reveals her true purpose and a trail of hoofprints leads her to a demon renegade, Marisa balks at fate’s course until evil devours her people and imperils her father’s life. Only then does she learn what it takes to play – and win – a deadly game of predator versus prey." 

Review:

I had the privilege of reading a pre-release copy of Devon Winterson’s debut novel, The Perfect Player, which is due out on November 11, 2013—or, as I’m sure Devon would say, “On the eleventh day of the eleventh month at the eleventh hour.” Devon is a moderator at Writer’s Beat, an online community for writers, and her often hilarious and witty anecdotes and gracious interviews of indie authors can be found at her blog, The Ether of My Imagination.

As with all indie books I read, I started The Perfect Player as a skeptic, but soon became a believer. Granted, the hook in this dark fantasy comes a bit late. I didn’t feel fully engaged in the story until Marisa’s “crazy” mother makes an appearance toward the end of Chapter 2. After that point, there were times when the story was so intense that I could not put my Kindle down. While I read, I’m sure my eyes were bulging out.  

What I loved most about The Perfect Player were the layers of history and backstory woven into the plot. I kept saying to myself, “Wow, this is really complex.” The life Marisa thinks she is being prepared for is only a façade masking what really happened in the lives of her parents, and even events as far back as the creation of the world. These secret events provide a delectable puzzle to be worked out, both by the reader and Marisa herself.

Now, I did find some of my pet peeves in the writing style, and on occasion, the villains and the heroine speak lines that are just short of original in flavor. But most of the time, Devon’s writing is poetic, powerful, and rife with treats to the senses. She has painted a vivid world in which Marisa walks through lavender grasses with bare feet and drinks scented, opalescent elixir instead of water. Her characters soon spring off the page, full of flaws, complexity, hidden motives, and deep unfulfilled desires.

One of the most rewarding elements is that none of these characters are safe, not even the heroes we come to love. Unexpected twists and sudden loss make The Perfect Player a page-turner. Who will survive until The End? You’ll want to add this debut novel to your to-read list and find out on the eleventh day of the eleventh month at the eleventh hour.

I give The Perfect Player 4 out of 5 magic wands:


Purchasing information: The Perfect Player will be available on Amazon, in print and for the Kindle, on November 11, 2013.
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