A God in Hiding, an Epic New Fantasy by Matthew Hughes

 

A God In Hiding 

 A new epic fantasy by critically acclaimed novelist, Matthew Hughes 

The book is now available in e-format in North America

In a far-future world of wizards and walled cities, Lieve Reder has risen from being a small chandler’s daughter to become the captain of a riverboat owned by House Bernaglio in the oligarch-run city of Exley. She has ambitions to rise higher and when her employer, the widow Philaria Bernaglio, asks her to travel to the remote desert town of Ur Nazim to retrieve a mysterious item her dead husband, Nulf Bernaglio ordered, she signs on to the quest. 

Accompanied by Dai, an artificial human created by one of the mad thaumaturges of Olliphract to be part of the wizards’ deadly war games, she sets out on the perilous journey. But the object she is sent to collect turns out to be one of the abandoned, semi-sentient tools the demiurge used to create the cosmos in which she lives. It’s the kind of entity that can become a god. And other forces seek to possess it for their own purposes.

One challenge leads to another, leading Reder to embark on an even more dangerous quest, to the far northern rim of the world where she must awaken a powerful godlet that just wants to be left to dream in peace.

Along the way, she must contend with the assassins’ guild, secret agents of the Duke of Vanderoy, corruptible officials, a pair of quarreling, elderly wizard brothers, an ensorcelled flying reptile, ogres, cannibal weremen, and a surprise visitor who has the power to upend all of Phenomenality.

Through it all, Reder keeps her eyes on the prize: to move up in the world and make her own destiny. 

Amazon.com: A God in Hiding eBook : Hughes, Matthew: Kindle Store

A God in Hiding eBook : Hughes, Matthew: Amazon.ca: Kindle Store

 

Praise for Matthew Hughes: 

“I really enjoyed Barbarians of the Beyond. Matthew Hughes does Jack Vance better than anyone except Jack himself.”  — George R. R. Martin 

“Lock the door, turn off the phone, get into a comfy chair, and deep-dive into a marvelous continuation of Jack Vance's Demon Princes series. Matthew Hughes is a treasure and Barbarians of the Beyond is a terrific adventure.”  — David Gerrold

“Matthew Hughes follows nimbly in Jack Vance's footprints, then breaks some fresh trail. First-class space opera.”— Robert J. Sawyer, Hugo Award-winning author of Hominids

“Engaging and enchanting…a fine companion adventure to Jack Vance’s The Demon Princes series, told with Matthew Hughes’s excellent sense of charm, ethical complexity and exotic worldbuilding. Let’s hope this is just the beginning!” — Kurt Busiek

“Barbarians of the Beyond is just plain old-fashioned space opera fun with a relatable heroine who is sometimes fallible, rather than some Shaolin Temple kung fu megamaster. I enjoyed it a lot.”
— Glen Cook

“…a tale that captures that special ‘golden age’ feel in which mankind has travelled far into the stars yet still behaves as though it’s the Wild West.” — David White, RNR Magazine

 

About Matthew:

Matthew Hughes is a Canadian author of science fiction and fantasy.

His speculative fiction novels are: Fools Errant, Fool Me Twice, Black Brillion, Majestrum, The Commons, The Spiral Labyrinth, Template, Hespira, The Other, The Damned Busters, Costume Not Included, Hell to Pay, Song of the Serpent and Wolverine: Lifeblood (both as Hugh Matthews), A Wizard’s Henchman, A God in Chains, Baldemar, and Passengers & Perils. 

His magnum opus is What the Wind Brings, a historical novel with magical realism elements.  It was the first Canadian work to win the international Endeavour Award.  He waited more than forty years to write the novel, and spent a year composing several drafts, made possible by a $25,000 grant from the Canada Council for the Arts.

His major influence as a writer of speculative fiction is the Grandmaster Jack Vance.  Booklist has called Hughes Vance’s “heir apparent.”

In 2021, Vance’s estate (Spatterlight Press), published Hughes’s Barbarians of the Beyond, an authorized companion novel to Vance’s iconic revenge series, The Demon Princes.  The book prompted George R.R. Martin to say, “Hughes does Jack Vance better than anyone except Jack himself.”

His short fiction has appeared in Asimov’s, Fantasy & Science Fiction, Lightspeed, Pulp Literature, Postscripts, Storyteller, Interzone, Amazing, Unfit, and several anthologies edited by Gardner Dozois and George R.R. Martin, including the bestseller, Rogues.   

His works have been short-listed for the Aurora, Locus, Nebula, Philip K Dick, A.E. Van Vogt, Neffy, Alberta Book Publishing, and Endeavour Awards. 

In 2020, he was inducted into the Canadian Science Fiction and Fantasy Association’s Hall of Fame.

Before turning to writing fiction, he spent three decades as the top-ranked speechwriter in British Columbia, writing for leaders of all three provincial political parties and CEOs of the province’s largest corporations.

Since 2007, he has traveled the world as a housesitter, living in twelve countries.

More information about him can be found at:  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matt_Hughes_(writer) 

To request additional review copies or an interview with Matthew Hughes, please contact Mickey Mikkelson at Creative Edge Publicity: mickey.creativeedge@gmail.com / 403.464.6925.    We look forward to the coverage!

Eternity's Edge, a Christian saga by Zachary Hagen

 

ETERNITY’S EDGE

Book 4 of the Eternal Chronicles Series 

The journey continues that takes you to the very edge of the world in this Christian saga by critically acclaimed author,

 Zachary Hagen  

 

Civil war is the beginning of the end, but who will survive?

 After Taking over the leadership of the Refuge, Elior and His friends have a time of peace, but when Taariq makes good on his promise to marry Viola and make her his empress, no one could withhold the wrath of the people when they rebel against djinn rule.

The Refuge must become a beacon of light in a world darkened by rebellion, but when a self-proclaimed “Holy Army” rises up, will Elior and his friends be able to keep that light shining bright? Will Aelon’s call prove too much to handle? Will the past keep them from moving forward?

Eternity’s Edge is the penultimate book in the Eternal Chronicles series. Its pages will take you on an epic journey to the absolute Edge of the world where the end of this spellbinding tale will begin. 

Eternity's Edge (Eternal Chronicles Book 4) - Kindle edition by Hagen, Zachary. Children Kindle eBooks @ Amazon.com. 

Eternity's Edge (Eternal Chronicles Book 4) eBook : Hagen, Zachary: Amazon.ca: Kindle Store

More in The Series:

 

 

 

“Zachary Hagen's Eternity's Well (Eternal Chronicles Book 1) is a bold and delightful opening into a fantasy series that is worth following” _ The Serial Reader 

“The apparent audience is the teen and YA group, though the ideas supported by this novel should appeal to a wider group. Zachary Hagen is establishing a solid seat in the fantasy genre” _ Grady Harp, Top 100 Amazon Reviewer. 

About Zachary: 

Zachary Hagen is a Christian fantasy author and editor. He lives with his wife, Claudia, and their dog, Flynn. When he isn't busy writing his next book or working with an editing client, you can often find him walking around his neighborhood or hiking.

From a young age he was enthralled with the world of story. From the stories his parents read to him from his blue bedtime story books (if you know, you know) to the first two series that he read, The Chronicles of Narnia and A Series of Unfortunate Events, Zachary's tastes continued to develop throughout his years of reading.

The influences for his first series, The Eternal Chronicles, include Christopher Paolini, J. R. R. Tolkien, C. S. Lewis, and others. 

More information can be found about him at:  Zachary Hagen Writes 

To request additional review copies or an interview with Zachary Hagen, please contact Mickey Mikkelson at Creative Edge Publicity: mickey.creativeedge@gmail.com | 403.464.6925.   

We look forward to the coverage!

From Sebastien de Castell comes Crucible of Chaos, a novel of The Court of Shadows

 

From Sebastien de Castell, the author of the internationally acclaimed Greatcoats and Spellslinger series

CRUCIBLE OF CHAOS:
A NOVEL OF THE COURT OF SHADOWS

 

A mortally wounded magistrate faces his deadliest trial inside an ancient abbey where the monks are going mad and the gods themselves may be to blame! 

Estevar Borros, one of the legendary sword-fighting magistrates know as the Greatcoats and the king’s personal investigator of the supernatural, is no stranger to tales of ghosts and demons.  When the fractious monks of the abbey rumored to be the birthplace of the gods begin warring over claims of a new pantheon arising, the frantic abbot summons him to settle the dispute. 

But Estevar has his own problems: a near-fatal sword wound from his last judicial duel, a sworn knight who claims he has proof the monks are consorting with demons, a diabolical inquisitor with no love for the Greatcoats, and a mysterious young woman claiming to be Estevar’s ally but who may well be his deadliest enemy. 

Armed only with his famed investigative talents, his faltering skill with a blade and Imperious, his ornery mule, Estevar must root out the source of the madness lurking inside the once-sacred walls of Isola Sombra before its chaos spreads to the country he’s sworn to protect.

Investigate alongside Estevar and the most heroic mule ever to appear in print in this thrilling swashbuckling fantasy mystery by Sebastien De Castell, author of the internationally acclaimed Greatcoats and Spellslinger series! 

Amazon.com: Crucible of Chaos: Court of Shadows, Book 0.5 (Audible Audio Edition): Sebastien de Castell, Joe Jameson, Jo Fletcher Books: Audible Books & Originals 

 Crucible of Chaos : de Castell, Sebastien: Amazon.ca: Books

More From Sebastien de Castell: 

                         

Praise For Sebastien: 

“The Three Musketeers meets Joe Abercrombie via Mark Lawrence: 'Guaranteed to increase household swashbuckling by 100%,”' says Library Journal 

“Like the tremendous Spellslinger and Greatcoats series', THE MALEVOLENT SEVEN is another example of the brilliant and vivid world-building that Sebastien de Castell uniquely delivers through his incredibly original characters and their riveting adventures.—– Chad Stahelski, director of John Wick

“Malevolent Seven is a masterful blend of Sebastien de Castell’s unique brand of wry humour, elegant prose, and wonderfully imaginative worldbuilding. I devoured this book and loved every page”.—Nicholas Eames, bestselling author of Kings of the Wyld

“With a contemporary style, relentless pace, and a unique and exciting magic system, the Malevolent Seven is an action-packed adventure that not only questions the true nature of heroes but the very meaning of good and evil”.—Michael J. Sullivan, bestselling author of The Ryria Revelations

“Doesn't so much break the fourth wall as shatter it completely - A brutal and hilarious romp of rotters that would make Deadpool proud.”—Peter Mclean, author of Priest of Bones

“Vigorous and action-packed . . . There is no way you can read this book without a grin on your face.”—– James Lovegrove, The Financial Times

About Sebastien:

Sebastien de Castell had just finished a degree in Archaeology when he started work on his first dig. Four hours later he realized how much he actually hated archaeology and left to pursue a very focused career as a musician, ombudsman, interaction designer, fight choreographer, teacher, project manager, actor, and product strategist.

His only defence against the charge of unbridled dilettantism is that he genuinely likes doing these  things and that, in one way or another, each of these fields plays a role in his writing. He sternly resists the accusation of being a Renaissance Man in the hopes that more people will label him that way.

Sebastien's acclaimed swashbuckling fantasy series, The Greatcoats. was shortlisted for both the 2014 Goodreads Choice Award for Best Fantasy. the Gemmell Morningstar Award for Best Debut, the Prix Imaginales for Best Foreign Work, and the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer. His YA fantasy series, Spellslinger, was nominated for the Carnegie Medal and is published in more than a dozen languages.

Sebastien lives in Vancouver, Canada with his lovely wife and two belligerent cats. You can reach him at www.decastell.com

Sebastien is available for interviews, media appearances, speaking engagements, and/or book review requests - please contact mickey.creativeedge@gmail.com by email or by phone at 403.464.6925

We look forward to the coverage!

Critically acclaimed Author Scott Overton Draws a Picture of a Troubling Future in Indigent Earth

 

Critically acclaimed Author Draws a Picture of a Troubling Future 

Will the rich and powerful abandon the Earth? 

Sudbury author Scott Overton has conjured up a compelling adventure story that explores today’s social divides taken to the extreme. 

The inequality between Earth’s rich and poor has grown even larger since the Covid-19 pandemic. Studies proclaim that the world’s eight richest men own as much wealth as the poorest half of the Earth’s population, and the planet’s two thousand billionaires account for more than 60% of the world’s total wealth. Where will it end? 

Along with that, we’ve all witnessed 2023 as a year of disastrous heat waves, droughts, wildfires, and devastating floods. Climate change is here with a vengeance. What if it’s too late to turn things around?

 

In Overton’s new science fiction novel Indigent Earth, the wealthy “one-percenters” have abandoned our ravaged planet 500 years earlier to go live in space colonies, leaving the survivors on Earth to live in stagnating communities known as Allocations. Now the colonists plan to come back. Earthman Killian Morningcloud dreams of the colonists’ return, hoping to become one of them. Colonist aristocrat and celebrity Natira Celestia is eager to visit Earth and meet the “noble savages” she’s sure must live there. Killian and Natira’s calamitous meeting will shatter their dreams and hurl them into a struggle for survival as they pursue the darkest secrets of the rich and powerful. 

“It’s an entertaining and gripping adventure story,” says Overton, “but with strong themes of colonialism, and economic inequality. The truth is, being on the wrong side of the ‘privilege gap’ could happen to any of us in the years to come.” 

Are things really so bad that those with the means might actually abandon the Earth? Overton points out that we’ve been polluting our home planet for most of human history, but especially in the past century, when we’ve devastated plant and animal species, acidified vast oceans, and turned the very climate against us. 

“I don’t want to believe there’s no hope of fixing these problems,” Overton insists. “But too many of the world’s most powerful people are still blocking the changes needed because their personal fortunes are threatened. And since billionaires are now dominating space industries, I don’t think my fictional scenario is implausible.” 

Still, he stresses that Indigent Earth is an adventure, not a lecture. “Killian and Natira are about as different as two people can be—both strong-willed with deep convictions, yet forced to work together. So, it was fun to write such a charged relationship.” 

A well-known radio morning host for more than 25 years in Sudbury, Overton has built a second career as an author. His radio-themed debut novel Dead Air was shortlisted for a Northern Lit Award in 2012, and his science fiction/thriller novels The Primus Labyrinth, Naïda, and The Dispossession of Dylan Knox have been well-received too, with readers most often comparing them to the work of Michael Crichton. The writer considered the ‘dean of Canadian science fiction’, Robert J. Sawyer, said of Overton’s thriller Augment Nation: “Scott Overton is a terrific writer and his vision of tomorrow is both realistic and frightening. Read this book!” 

Indigent Earth and all of Overton’s books are also available online in eBook and print (find them at your favorite outlet using these universal book links: https://books2read.com/IndigentEarth or https://books2read.com/ScottOverton ). If they aren’t in stock at your favorite local store, they can be ordered. Or ask for them at your local library. 

MORE INFORMATION  

www.scottoverton.ca

Facebook              https://www.facebook.com/ScottOverton.author  
Twitter                 @SFtruenorth
Goodreads            www.goodreads.com/ScottOverton 

To request additional review copies or an interview with Scott Overton, please contact Mickey Mikkelson at Creative Edge Publicity: mickey.creativeedge@gmail.com / 403.464.6925.  

We look forward to the coverage!

A Merry Drama Llama Christmas Featuring Dash Allman and Gumdrop

 

Dashiell Allman—Dash for short—is back! If you didn’t meet her this summer in On Beach Time, Dash loves long walks on the beach, Jimmy Buffet music, and a good mystery, which is why she became a Private Investigator and lives in a cottage on the beach. 

So far Dash has appeared in three short stories in Aconite Cafe Anthologies:
    On Beach Time, in A Beach of a Crime
    Son of a Witch, in A Witch of a Scandal

In Visions of Gumdrop, a story in A Prob-llama of a Holiday, a run in with a llama on the beach leaves Dash shaken and draws her into a whole new mystery! When a goat goes missing from a petting zoo at the Christmas Market and other items are stolen, she begins to dig into the crime – Gumdrop, the drama llama as a sidekick. As soon as Dash can figure out how to get Gumdrop to stop spitting at her and fainting!

Visions of Gumdrop

By Diane Bator

 Jimmy Buffett had just started crooning about Christmas in Hawaii when I got a text urging me to “Stay indoors until further notice. Escaped animal on the loose.”

My stomach lurched and I shot a quick reply to the sender, my on-again off-again boyfriend, Rob Gwynn who was a local police officer. “What kind of animal?”

I didn’t wait for a reply. It was the last Saturday morning before Christmas and the local market would be in full swing in fifteen minutes. No way was I missing it. I had shopping to do. Besides, no one would be dumb enough to transport a dangerous creature this close to a populated beach, would they?

I opened my front door anyway. After looking both ways for large, furry beasts and witches on rollerblades, then stepped into the sunshine and locked the front door of my beach cottage-slash-office. Ever since I was a kid, I’ve been a curious cat, which made me an ideal detective. Not the best one money could buy, but definitely in the top one hundred on the coast.

Definitely, the only one with the oddball name of Dash.

The joke in my family was that my mom fell in love with Dashiell Hammett at first sight, which made child hood rough for the little girl she named Dashiell Allman. Not funny. Although, the nickname Dash did make me feel faster when I ran. People tended to call me out of curiosity since my name made me sound like a strong, male detective.

Once they met me in person — a short, blonde, beach bum usually sporting a cast of some sort — some ran. Most laughed. A few took pity on me.

Crossing the beach, I aimed for the wet sand where the waves could caress my toes on my way to Ricardo’s food truck. I woke up craving a Breakfast Dog. My growling stomach finally got the best of me as I’d finished the paperwork from my last case. Visions of cheese, a hot dog, a hashbrown, tomato, bacon, and a fried egg, over easy had danced through my head for the past hour.

The air was a bit cooler than earlier in December. A reminder that I still needed to pick up gifts for my two favorite police officers.

Rob Gwynn, aka Officer Athletic and my current boyfriend, was big into action movies, working out, and muscle cars. I still wasn’t sure what to get him.

Alex Carson, his partner and the man I’d called Officer Pasty for years, was easier. He was a foodie who loved to cook. A couple of weeks ago, I’d discovered a great booth at the market that sold homemade spices and rubs. I’d finally decided which ones to get him and planned to hit the market. Right after breakfast.

Something wet brushed against the back of my right shoulder. I brushed it off like a bug. Then it tapped me again.

“Very funny, Rob,” I said as I stopped to turn around. “What the…?”

My jaw dropped and my eyes grew wide as I came face to face with an elongated nose attached to a furry creature that looked like a cross between a horse and a tall sheep.

Its nostrils flared before phlegm hit me square in the chest. Then it yelled “Mwah!” and collapsed into the sand.

“What the flying fig just happened?” I took a couple steps back.

“What did you do to it?” a familiar voice asked.

On cue, Rob and Alex loped across the beach, more concerned about the creature than the fact I’d been accosted.

I held up my hands in protest. “Nothing. It just fell over. I don’t even know what it is.”

“It’s a llama, Dash,” Alex told me with a chuckle. “Didn’t you learn anything in school?”

Scowling at the two-hundred and fifty pound officer, I shook my head. “I’ve seen pictures of them, but I’ve never looked one in the nostrils before. What’s it doing on the beach?”

Rob looped a rope around its neck, flinching when the llama rolled away from him to sit in the sand. “It’s part of the petting zoo at the market today. While the farmer was unloading the animals, this little guy escaped.”

“Little? That thing’s a full head taller than you and smells like a barnyard.”

He grinned, petting the creature like an overgrown dog. “Aww, did the grumpy detective scare you, Gumdrop?”

“Ha. The grumpy detective nearly peed her pants.” I took one last look at the llama. If I were a social media-type person, I would’ve taken pictures. No one in my family would believe I came face to face with a llama, let alone one that fainted on the spot.

For everyone else who knew me, it wouldn’t be much of a surprise.

As Gumdrop rose to her cloven feet, I backed away. “Seems like you two have this well in hand. I’m going for breakfast.”

“Let me guess,” Rob said. “A breakfast dog?”

“You got it.”

Alex groaned. “Oh, Dash, those things are heart attacks on a bun. You need to stay away from them.”

“Maybe, but they’re tasty.” Turning away, I continued up the beach only to hear a commotion behind me. I refused to help. They were on their own with the stinky, shaggy beast.

“Look out, Dash!” Alex shouted.

I spun around in the sand only to end up nose to nose with Gumdrop once more. It spit at me again. The llama had good aim. Loogie number two landed right beside the first one.

“Seriously?” I yelled.

Gumdrop dropped to the sand.

I pointed to the drama llama. “That’s exactly what happened the first time.”

Before Rob could take hold of the rope dangling from the creature’s neck, a group of men strode toward us. Two more police officers. A man in an elf costume. A thin guy wearing jeans, a red nose, and a plaid shirt. A large Santa whose padding had shifted to the right of his belly. Bringing up the rear was a man in denim overalls and a torn t-shirt, likely the farmer.

“Oh goodie. Backup. Have fun. I’m outta here.” I announced as the llama sat up and spit at me again.

Shaking my head, I aimed for Ricardo’s food truck near the pier. Drama llamas were not my thing. With no clients on my schedule, I looked forward to a much needed day off.

Like what you read? Buy your copy of A Prob-llama of a Holiday and laugh all the way through the book!

https://www.amazon.ca/Prob-Llama-Holiday-Mystery-Tribe-Anthology-ebook/dp/B0CNM4FKWJ/

https://www.amazon.com/Prob-Llama-Holiday-Mystery-Tribe-Anthology-ebook/dp/B0CNM4FKWJ/

Shirley deKelver Launches Survival: Climate of Fire, Book 1

 

Welcome to fellow BWL author, Shirley Bigelow DeKelver! 

SHIRLEY BIGELOW DEKELVER

shirleydekelver@gmail.com

sdekelver@telus.net 

I was born in Calgary, Alberta, raised as an “army brat”, and lived in Germany, and in many of the Canadian Provinces. From an early age, I would tell stories to my sisters and my brother, and when I didn’t have my nose in a book, I would be drawing and painting. It wasn’t until later in life I discovered I had a passion for photography as well.

I married my high school sweetheart, Don, and we have two wonderful children, Angela, and Gregory. Our family has expanded to four grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren. I worked as a paralegal and corporate administrator in Calgary law firms for over 40 years. My choice of career was never boring as I found it challenging and rewarding.

In 2004 I received by correspondence a diploma for Writing for Children and Teenagers from the Institute of Children’s Literature, and in 2006, I received a second diploma Writing Children’s Books: The Craft and the Market. In 2007 Don and I retired and moved to the Interior of British Columbia. We live in our “cabin in the woods”, located at White Lake, in the Columbia-Shuswap, with a panoramic view of the lake, mountains, forested hills and valleys.

PUBLICATIONS:

BWL PUBLISHING INC. Publisher of my trilogy, Climate of Fire, Book One – Survival (released November 2023), Book Two – Treachery, and Book Three – The New World.

SOLSTICE PUBLISHING INC. Publisher of The Trouble with Mandy, Lilacs & Bifocals (five-star review from my editor), and Child of the Ancients.

VOICES FROM THE VALLEYS (51 contributors), short non-fiction story, Nature’s Precious Gift, Anthology compiled and edited by Jodie Rennie, Author, and Editor, with all benefits being donated to Doctors without Borders- Canada.

ASKEW’S FOODS’ WORD ON THE LAKE 2014 WRITING CONTEST - second place winner-young adult fiction, Ziggy’s Revenge.

SHUSWAP WRITERS’ GROUP KALEIDOSCOPE V ANTHOLOGY – three short stories, One of a Kind, Abigail, Grey Mist Manor and a poem, Wilderness Path.

AFFILIATIONS:

INSTITUTE OF CHILDREN’S LITERATURE, Connecticut, USA 

SHUSWAP ASSOCIATION OF WRITERS -Secretary for Board of Directors, Member of the Planning and Selection Committees for the three-day WORD ON THE LAKE WRITERS’ FESTIVAL, and coordinator and emcee for CAFÉ LIT COFFEE HOUSE, which launches the festival. 

THE FEDERATION OF BC WRITERS. 

SHUSWAP WRITERS GROUP, Past Member, and president 

WRITERS’ UNION OF CANADA 

WRITERS NOOK (Past Member-closed due to Pandemic) 

GRACESPRINGS COLLECTIVE – creates publishing opportunities for its members and shares their work with the public in joint reading and events.

 

 WEBSITE AND OTHER LINKS TO SOCIAL MEDIA: 

WEBSITE: www.shirleydekelver.com

                        OTHER LINKS TO SOCIAL MEDIA:

 https://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Shirley-Bigelow-DeKelver/277792382290133

 https://twitter.com/ShirleyDeKelver

 https://www.linkedin.com/in/shirley-bigelow-dekelver-3a534450/

 https://www.instagram.com/dekelver_shirley/

 

What genre do you write? 

Young Adult, Coming of Age, and Speculative Dystopian Fiction. My first novel THE TROUBLE WITH MANDY, was an adventure, nature story for middle aged readers; my second novel LILAC & BIFOCALS (five star review from my editor) was an historical time travel for young adults; my third novel CHILD OF THE ANCIENTS, a high fantasy for young adults, and my fourth novel, CHILD OF THE ANCIENTS – BOOK ONE – SURVIVAL, the first book in a trilogy, is Speculative Dystopian Fiction/Science Fiction.  

Do your reading choices reflect your writing choices?

No, I read all genres, fiction, non-fiction, mystery, romance, fantasy, historical, drama, and more.  

Which type of characters are your favourite to write?

I took a four-year correspondence writing course from the Institute of Children’s Literature and have never regretted it. Writing for young adults requires a great deal of discipline, copious amounts of research (which I genuinely enjoy), and identifying with your subjects, all I feel contribute to my writing skills. I generally create strong-willed female protagonists, facing personal and emotional struggles, danger, and heartbreak, and eventually finding harmony and contentment.

Do pictures, real life or plain imagination create the characters you want readers to love? 

Generally, my characters are developed from my imagination, although, at times, I have simulated their actions and personalities from real life.

Do your characters come before or after your plot?

Before I start writing my book, I prepare in-depth synopsizes of both my characters and my story plot which I tend to follow closely. Believable characters are a must. 

How do you choose a villain and how do you make them human?

Because of the genres I write, my villains often face internal upheaval, deep resentment, and at times animosity.  Generally, they learn a life-saving lesson, and are forgiven for their vulnerabilities. However, CHILD OF THE ANCIENTS, had an evil warlord, and a sorceress, half Ancient/half Elf, who confronted each other and fought to the death.  

 

         

                       

       SURVIVAL

The year is 2045, global warming escalates, and wildfires are rampant. Vancouver has been devastated by an earthquake and tsunami. Those who have survived have moved north or taken up residence at Little Mountain, the highest point in the city. Food and water are scarce, there are more violent storms and rising temperatures. The ashfall from the volcanoes increases daily, making it difficult to breathe.

Four young adults, Taylor West, Carlie Fleming, Mai-Li Wong, and Willie Arbuckle, and three children, twin brothers Rusty and Eddie Coleman, and Debbie, who has Downs Syndrome, have gravitated together, forming a motley crew of survivors, living in constant fear of the violent gangs.

Making a life-saving decision, they decide to walk to the Interior, hoping to find a better life. Inexperienced, they face unknown obstacles, daily hardships, and hunger. Traveling across the devastated Wastelands is fraught with danger with unexpected complications making the journey more treacherous than they ever imagined. Reaching a sanctuary and indeed their very survival hangs in the balance. Relationships are tested time and again. What will remain strong and what will shatter?

Buy link for Kindle and e-book: HTTPS://WWW.AMAZON.CA/SURVIVAL-SHIRLEY-BIGELOW-EKELVER/DP/B0CJ45J868 OR personalized paperback from author at shirleydekelver@gmail.com or sdekelver@telus.net.