Saturday, June 27, 2015

Time Stop - Extract from Demon Lord IX: The Forgotten Lands


This extract is from Chapter Four:
Bane said, “I am on the same quest, but I cannot reveal myself. Telvaron will want to kill me.”
“Telvaron wants to kill everyone,” the greying man said. “It’s just a matter of how and when.”
“True, but he will hunt me down himself.”
“Why?”
Bane glanced around, steeling himself to take the plunge. “I am a god.”
The men roared with laughter for several minutes. Bane sipped his ambrosia and waited for the hilarity to die down. The grey-haired man wiped his eyes, chortling.
“What sort?”
“I command the darkness.”
The men fell about again, hooting, and two were so overcome they slid under the table. Other patrons drew closer to share the joke. Bane raised a hand and flicked his fingers.
“Stop.”
Everyone in the taproom froze except the five at his table, whose laughter died as they became aware of the silence. They stared about, their expressions wary or disbelieving. The grizzled man tore his eyes from the stationary scene and gaped at Bane.
“You did that? You… stopped time.”
“Yes.”
“To prove -”
“Yes.”
“So -”
“Yes.”
The man sat back. “Why do you want to free the goddess? If you’re a master of the darkness…”
“I fight for the light.” Bane flicked his fingers. “Resume.”
The hubbub recommenced, and the patrons who had taken an interest in the joke at his table returned to their previous pursuits after a few moments of eyeing the now-solemn sextet.
“Oy!” A bellow from across the room made Bane wince and close his eyes. “What the hell do you think you’re playing at, old bean?” Dramon shouted.
Bane shot him a glare. Dramon snorted and nudged his brother, and the two muttered.
“Who’s he?” the greying man asked.
“Do not worry about him. Do you want my help now?”
The man thrust out a callused hand. “I’m Jogan.”

Wednesday, June 24, 2015

Troll God - Extract from Demon Lord IX: The Forgotten Lands


This extract is from Chapter One:
Nomard stamped, sending a ripple through the quasi-rock under their feet. It shivered, and then heaved. The stench intensified to a sickening putridity, and the valley floor writhed, sent up tendrils in search of prey and turned from black to mottled grey. Several tendrils snaked up the ship’s flanks, and it rocked, and then rose. Bane jumped back onto the ramp, and Drevarin followed.
Nomard drew his sword and set off. “Tallyho!”
The troll god was over a thousand yards tall, Bane calculated. Nomard, however, grew larger with every step, and his apparel and sword grew with him. Like an earth demon, he drew matter from his surroundings, particularly under his feet, which meant he incorporated the dromon’s substance too. The semi-sentient entity groped for him with multiple tendrils, but Nomard merely added them to his flesh and ripped them free. Molten metal erupted from the ground in glowing streams and joined the medley of matter that swelled the demon god’s form. By the time he was halfway to Eord, Nomard was about five hundred yards tall.
Drevarin grunted. “Impressive.”
Nomard was roughly seven hundred yards tall when the troll god twitched, shedding dust, then raised his head and opened purple eyes. He focussed on Nomard, and his brow furrowed.
Drevarin remarked, “Troll gods spend so much time immobile that dirt accumulates and moss and plants grow in it. If they fall asleep in a sunny place, they can end up resembling troll-shaped forests. It serves as excellent camouflage, but they tend to rub off the trees when they wake up.”
Nomard was now almost as tall as the troll god, streams of dust flowing into him from all around, along with chunks of the dromon, which writhed and tried to snag his legs. The troll god bent and gripped a massive, battle-scarred hammer that was half-buried in the mountainside. He ripped it free with a gritty scrape and turned to face Nomard. The demon god hefted his sword.
“Eord, old chap, is that you?” Nomard’s deep voice echoed around the valley.

 

Thursday, June 18, 2015

Demon Lord IX: The Forgotten Lands Launch Coming Soon!


Good news! It’s almost here! Only eleven days to go before Demon Lord IX: The Forgotten Lands is released. It’s already available as a pre-order at the iBookstore, Barnes & Noble and Kobo, and will be available at Amazon on the release date: 30 June. So place your pre-order today and ensure you receive your copy right away! The book is now on the final leg of the creation process: editing and proofreading. To all of you who have been waiting almost two years for the next instalment of the Demon Lord series, deepest apologies.
My creative process was stymied by my first visit to hospital, where I underwent major surgery to cut out a five-kilogram ovarian tumour. It wasn’t just the trauma of the op or the recovery time that delayed the next book for so long; it was also the illness beforehand and the diagnosis that rendered me totally incapable of writing. That’s a lot of stress! The good news is, that’s all in the past. The tumour was mostly benign, I’m cancer-free and my channel to the fantasy worlds where my heroes and heroines live is unblocked.
The Forgotten Lands may be the penultimate book in the Demon Lord series. I can’t be sure until I write the next one, but it seems to be a distinct possibility. So for everyone who feels my series are never-ending, good news! They do eventually end. I’m hoping for a happy ending, but it’s out of my hands. I go where the story takes me, and I have no idea what will happen next. It’s as much of an adventure for me as it is for you. I’ll be publishing some extracts here on my blog over the next few days, so watch this space!