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

Sunday, December 31, 2023

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!

Friday, March 31, 2023

Award-winning writer Edward Willett crowdfunding fourth anthology featuring major science fiction and fantasy authors

 



Award-winning writer Edward Willett crowdfunding fourth anthology

featuring major science fiction and fantasy authors

 


Edward Willett, Saskatchewan-based award-winning author of more than sixty books of science fiction, fantasy, and non-fiction for readers of all ages, is launching a Kickstarter campaign on March 14, 2023, to fund the fourth annual anthology featuring some of the top writers of science fiction and fantasy working today, all of whom were guests on his Aurora Award-winning podcast, The Worldshapers (www.theworldshapers.com). 

Shapers of Worlds Volume IV will feature new fiction from David Boop, Michaelbrent Collings, Roy M. Griffis, Sarah A. Hoyt, Sherrilyn Kenyon, Noah Lemelson, Mark Leslie Lefebvre, Edward M. Lerner, David Liss, Gail Z. Martin, Joshua Palmatier, Richard Paolinelli, Jean-Louis Trudel, James van Pelt, Garon Whited, and Edward Willett, plus reprints by James Kennedy, R.S. Mellette, and Lavie Tidhar. Among those authors are several international bestsellers, as well as winners and nominees for every major science fiction and fantasy literary award. 

All of the authors were guests during the fourth year of The Worldshapers, where Willett interviews other science fiction and fantasy authors about their creative process. 

Backers' rewards offered by the authors include numerous e-books, signed paperback and hardcover books, Tuckerizations (a backer’s name used as a character name), commissioned artwork, one-on-one writing/publishing consultations, audiobooks, opportunities for online chats with authors, short-story critiques, and more. 

The Kickstarter campaign can be found at  kickstarter.com/projects/edwardwillett/shapers-of-worlds-volume-iv/. 

The campaign goal is $12,000 CDN. Most of those funds will go to pay the authors, with the rest going to reward fulfillment, primarily the editing, layout, and printing of the book, which will be published this fall in both ebook and trade paperback formats by Willett’s publishing company, Shadowpaw Press (www.shadowpawpress.com). This year, there’s a special stretch goal: once the campaign reaches $17,000, $5,000 over the goal, the anthology will be illustrated, with a new black-and-white drawing for each story from Calgary, Alberta artist Wendi Nordell, who has illustrated numerous books for regional publishers including Edward Willett’s science-fiction and fantasy poetry collection, I Tumble Through the Diamond Dust. 

The Worldshapers podcast continues, and assuming Shapers of Worlds Volume IV funds this year, there’ll be a campaign to fund the fifth volume in the series next year.

 

For more information:

Edward Willett

ewillett@sasktel.net

306-536-5421

www.edwardwillett.com

www.shadowpawpress.com

www.theworldshapers.com

 

Wednesday, February 22, 2023

Love’s Call, a new fantasy by the founder of Inklings Publishing, Fern Brady

 


Love’s Call 

A new direction of fantasy with the essence and hope of love by the founder of Inklings Publishing,

Fern Brady 

Released and published by Inklings Publishing

The book is available worldwide in paperback and e-format

 

 

Denipia Leron, a beautiful young painter and visionary from the country of Usmerim, has just won the coveted Innovation Awards in the Arts. During her trip to the award ceremony, she learns that President Nichamir Linput of the enemy nation of Sorusvia is a primary patron and has expressed special interest in her. Fearful of what this could mean for her burgeoning company and artistic career, she vows to be polite, but keep the would-be dictator as far from her as she can.

Nichamir is used to getting what he wants, both personally and politically. Having saved his nation from a Calvernsin invasion, he believes himself justified in how he rules Sorusvia. In spite of the propaganda against him, Nichamir works hard to bring prosperity to his people. Yet the powerful ruler finds himself unprepared for his first meeting with the strong-willed and wary Denipia.

But Nichamir is not what he seems. He is dragonborn, a secret he has carefully hidden his whole life. He knows Denipia is his fated mate from the first moment he catches her scent. For Denipia, the strength of the attraction she feels for a man she should deeply despise is disconcerting, yet undeniable. She wants Nichamir as she has never wanted any other man.

Can Denipia risk giving her heart to this powerful man? Will Nichamir be able to win her trust? Can Love’s Call help them overcome the many obstacles in their path and forge the bond they seem destined to fulfill?
 

Amazon.com: Love's Call eBook : Brady, Fern: Kindle Store

Love's Call eBook : Brady, Fern: Amazon.ca: Kindle Store

More From Fern Brady:

Shattered by her father’s decision to deny her the throne as the first female heir of Dravidia, Princess Verena makes the worst mistake of her life: She runs away. Her departure, days before her wedding to the heir of the Principality of Aulden, throws her nation into war. In a desperate bid to reverse the consequences of her choice, the princess returns to planet Jorn, anxious to prove herself worthy to rule. But it is too late. The princess finds her kingdom conquered by Prince Amiel ra Aulden. Now, Verena must earn back her birthright as well as the trust of her people.

 Amazon.com Link:   United Vidden: Brady, Fern: 9781944428372: Amazon.com: Books

Amazon.ca:  United Vidden: Brady, Fern: 9781944428372: Books - Amazon.ca

Fern Brady's United Vidden—the first book in her Thyreins’s Galactic Wall series—is a highly creative, compelling Science Fantasy / Space Opera story set in an imagined future of our universe, with a unique romance theme at its core.”_ Nathan Jones, Doctor Who Online

It is unlike anything I have read before in that genre. I believe Verena to be a very relatable character, especially because of her growth and how she soon discovers what real life is like and how she adapts to continuous changes.” _ Carolina Restrepo, Readers Favorite

About Fern:


Fern Brady is the founder and CEO of Inklings Publishing. She holds multiple Masters degrees and several certifications. She began her professional life as a foreign correspondent, and taught for 15 years in Alief ISD. She has published numerous short stories, two children's picture books, and a couple of poems. Her debut novel, United Vidden, which is book one in her Thyrein’s Galactic Wall Series, was given a glowing review by Dr. Who Online, the official site of the fandom. Also available for purchase is volume one of her graphic novel/novella hybrid project, New Beginning. She has returned to the leadership of the Houston Writers Guild, with whom she served as CEO for four years previously. She co-hosts two podcasts – Author Talk and The Hot Mess Express. Besides being Municipal Liaison for Nanowrimo Houston, she is also a member of Blood Over Texas, Romance Writers of America, and American Booksellers Association. Fern lives in Houston TX with her parents and her talkative husky, Arya. Follow Fern's writing at: www.fernbrady.com

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

We look forward to the coverage!

Friday, January 6, 2023

GHOST DREAMS, a new direction for critically acclaimed novelist, Matthew Hughes

 


GHOST DREAMS 

A new direction for critically acclaimed novelist, Matthew Hughes

 

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



Commercial burglar Stan Winkelman encounters the ghost of Jane Manchester, wrongly confined for life in a 1940s insane asylum by a powerful family. She wants to know what happened to Harmon, the baby boy that was stolen from her.

Aided by Jeannie, his ghost-obsessed autistic daughter, Stan and Jane begin a quest to find Harmon, or his descendants. But their search will run them afoul of Andrew Bigelow, reclusive heir to the fortune Jane was robbed of.

And Bigelow is in cahoots with a murderous crew who deal in guns and blood diamonds and will stop at nothing to keep their crimes hidden. 

Amazon.com: Ghost Dreams eBook : Hughes, Matthew: Kindle Store

Ghost Dreams eBook : Hughes, Matthew: Amazon.ca: Kindle Store

 

 

More from Matthew Hughes: 

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

 


Twenty years ago, five master criminals known as the Demon Princes raided Mount Pleasant to enslave thousands of inhabitants in the lawless Beyond. Now Morwen Sabine, a daughter of captives, has escaped her cruel master and returns to Mount Pleasant to recover the hidden treasure she hopes will buy her parents’ freedom.

But Mount Pleasant has changed. Morwen must cope with mystic cultists, murderous drug-smugglers, undercover “weasels” of the Interplanetary Police Coordinating Company, and the henchmen of the vicious pirate lord who owns her parents and wants Morwen returned. So he can kill her slowly…

Amazon.com:  Barbarians of the Beyond: Hughes, Matthew: 9781619474055: Amazon.com: Books

Amazon.ca:  Barbarians of the Beyond eBook : Hughes, Matthew: Amazon.ca: Kindle Store

 

“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.

His web page is at https://www.matthewhughes.org

 

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!

Sunday, November 10, 2019

Janet Walters talks about Children of Fyre and Forgotten Dreams




Welcome to featured writer, Janet Lane Walters!


Janet Lane Walters has been a published writer for 50 years. She began with short stories and as that market dried up, she turned to novels. She has lost track of how many books she has written but there are fifty plus. She has been married sixty plus years. Her husband's a retired psychiatrist who says he has no thought of curing her obsession with writing. She is also a nurse, long retired. Janet has a BA in English and a BS in Nursing. She has four children. The youngest is an adopted biracial girl. Her grandchildren number 7. Four are black and three are Chinese. She bills herself as an eclectic writer since she writes romance in contemporary, with historical notes, paranormal, and fantasy. She has also written non-fiction and worked as a ghost writer. She writes cozy mysteries and YA fantasy. She has won several awards for her writing and has also finaled in a number of contests. Most days will find her in her recliner with a pen and paper writing drafts of her story or at the computer typing them.

Tell us about your life outside of writing.
            Actually, I have a rather boring life outside of writing. I talk to my grandchildren on the phone and occasionally see the ones who live nearby. They have very busy lives. I also care for my semi-invalid husband and that takes much of my time. I read a lot and spend time with my writing friends in a very active critique group. I’ll admit I’m addicted to crime shows and watch them but I don’t hit the TV until after 8 PM. Soon I’ll be doing Christmas stockings for fourteen people. That goes on for months when I find something interesting. I’m becoming an excellent chicken taco maker. Also in a month plus I’ll be baking Christmas cookies. Occasionally I do house cleaning but that’s only when I can’t find the words to create stories.

Do you have a work in progress?
            I always have a work in progress. When I’m working on the final edits of the story I am currently working on, I’ve begun planning the next one. Right now the work in progress is Lines of Fire Challenged, the second in the series. Since it’s due by the end of the month, I’m doing the final re-write and working hard on finishing it. When that’s finished, I’ll be working on a book in the dream series – Virgo and Cancer but it’s still in the I know the hero and heroine but I have no idea about their adventure.

Was there a person who encouraged you to write?
            I’ve dabbled with writing for most of my life. My father enjoyed books and was a self-educated man. When I first published, he touted my books to everyone he knew and some he didn’t know, like the nurses at the hospital when he was ill. I was published in the seventies and during the eighties put writing aside to work as a nurse. I met Jane Toombs at a meeting and she sold my return to writing book to her editor. She and I encouraged each other over the years and I do miss her. At present I have a great critique group. We encourage each other. My publisher Jude has become a friend and she also is an encourager. There is my husband, a psychiatrist who thinks I have an obsession he doesn’t want to cure. My children are proud of me also. The girls read many of the books but not the boys.

Five years from now, where do you see yourself as a writer?
      In five years, I will be 88. I plan to still be writing and hopefully sharing stories with people. My goal is to be at my computer typing stories until the end.

What are you working on now?  
            As I said earlier, I’m working on a fantasy romance, the second in a trilogy. Lines of Fire Challenged. The culture of this land uses the duel to solve quarrels and for other purposes. The heroine, Lasara is a duelist and a member of the Defenders. The hero Jens is a Desert Rider and also a duelist. They both can read the lines of fire on people’s skin and use them when they duel. They learn about Petan, the villain, a Defender of a mysterious background. He has gathered a band of renegades. He is able to absorb power from the lines of fire of young women. He and his renegades steal girls from the farms and also the clans of the Riders. Part of the challenge is defeating him. Another part is convincing Jens a heart bond really exists.
           


Forgotten Dreams
 Chad Morgan is tired of his Hollywood life and his role as action hero Storm. He's ignoring the contracts for two more movies in the franchise. He wants to take a different direction and make a movie of his friend's book. He has bought the rights. But his agent and the studio want more Storm. His personal life is also bouncing from one woman to another. His thoughts have turned to Emma Grassi, the woman he left behind in his quest for fame. He decides to return to Fern Lake and speak to his friend and renew his friendship with Emma.
Emma is now a nurse practitioner sharing an office with her doctor friend. She has waited for Chad to return and has decided this isn't going to happen. She's decided to confront him and put an end to the dream she has remembered and he has forgotten. Life takes a twist when Chad 's auto accident on the outskirts of Fern Lake bring them together. She wants out. He wants in.



Children of Fyre
In this return to the Island of Fyre, each of the heros and heroines of the three previous books have children. Lorton is the youngest son of the Wizards of Fyre and he has bonded with the yellow dragon.
The dragon through the magic of the stones has been rejuvenated and is now green. Dragon sends Lorton to travel to where the Dragons of Fyre are raised. There he meets Arkon son of the hero and heroine of the Dragons of Fyre.
There have been four eggs laid and there must be two young men and two young women found to bond with them. On the island where the evil wizards were exiled, Cerene has grown up as little more than a slave. She can use all the fyrestones unlike her father. She learns about the kidnapping of Riara, daughter of the hero and heroine of the Temple of Fyre and vows to save her.
The four must unite with their dragons and finally destroy the evil.


My Places
https://twitter.com/JanetL717
https://www.facebook.com/janet.l.walters.3?v=wall&story_fbid=113639528680724
http://bookswelove.net/
http://wwweclecticwriter.blogspot.com
https://www.pinterest.com/shadyl717/

Where to buy Janet's books:
http://bookswelove.net/authors/walters-janet-lane-romance-fantasy-suspense-medical/


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