Fantasy Showcase: Roc Isle: Tempest by Alex James

Roc Isle: Tempest is a heroic fantasy novel based on an epic sword-and-sorcery battle of good versus evil.

The End of Roc Isle was a false prophecy. Or was it?

Lord Azure commands the Northern Army in a war against the Trade Lords, who are a class of conspirators. He fights to defeat evil. However, his leadership is failing because of his son’s insolence and personal ambition. He relies on Ankah, a battle strategist and master swordsman, to prevail. But will Ankah be enough when they encounter the monolithic horned beasts known as Dregs? A Tempest of battle is about to sweep across the land, and even the strong won’t survive!

About Alex James

Alex James is a science-fiction and fantasy author who grew up in Leeds, the United Kingdom, and whose stories are inspired by Asperger Syndrome, a form of autism. He believes Asperger Syndrome is a difference, not a disorder; and hopes his writing can lead to understanding about the condition.

The science-fiction and fantasy he writes is strongly influenced by the themes of alienation and empowerment, which give unique qualities to many of his characters. These qualities have been the author’s experience of Asperger Syndrome.

Roc Isle: Tempest Extract

Exhausted, but still fuelled with a fury Lord Ream could not have conceived, his followers continued in his wake, brandishing the rusty weapons or short-swords of their enemies; and the old spears.

They passed the end of the large street and found themselves in a huge plaza past the fortified towers, where over a thousand infantrymen stood in a circle, dumbstruck at the large company of Red-Capes before them. Lord Ream ran, courage coursing through his veins. And they followed, to likely death. The black-armoured infantrymen stood with helmets on and were brandishing very long spears, wearing navy blue capes of their own, as well as shoulder plates and melted black-stone cuirasses.

In the shadowy night Lord Ream screamed war cries and hacked down the first of the infantrymen guarding the circumference of the Amphitheatre. His company followed suit. The infantrymen were too stunned to move much and fought back futilely. Lord Ream entered the narrow vaulted Amphitheatre entrance with hundreds of men and women behind him, and came out of it into an abandoned arena. He raced up the flights of steps and saw officials handling papers and running amok. He hacked at the first of them, blood spilling everywhere on the marble floor. He continued to slice and slay organs out of bodies as he made his way forward down the beige stone limits of the arena. He passed small alcoves and offices, stabbing as he went. Screams and frantic escapes confused things. The only way to keep things simple was to kill, and remember that these bastards killed his grandparents twenty-seven years ago.

Blood covered every stone and marble surface; even tables did not escape the slaughter. Bloodied corpses littered the upper reaches of the arena’s side hall everywhere, where the top officials resided. Outside there was tumult, but it was far away, where the fires were.

They had done a lot of running today. Lord Ream thought he saw the figure of a man walk past the lighted curtained opening in the stone-fortified tower he had passed on his way. He rallied a few of the nearby Red-Capes and left the dead arena to find new prey.

Purchase + Smashwords coupon: YK89F for 20% off

Smashwords
Amazon UK
Amazon US

Connect with Alex James

http://www.alexjamesnovels.com
http://www.blog.alexjamesnovels.com
http://www.facebook.com/alexjamesauthor
http://www.twitter.com/alexjamesnovels
http://www.goodreads.com/alexjames

Interview with Vanessa Finaughty, author of the sci-fi fantasy series, Legends of Origin

Today I’m pleased to bring you an interview with Vanessa Finaughty, author of the sci-fi fantasy series, Legends of Origin. Thank you for taking the time to talk to us today, Vanessa.

1. What or who inspired you to write?

The books I read as a young child, Enid Blyton, CS Lewis and Willard Price, to name a few – I was able to literally lose myself in them to the point where you could stand next to me and say my name, and I wouldn’t hear you. I wanted to offer people the same type of escape from reality that I found so enjoyable.

2. Do you draw any of your characters’ traits from friends or family?

Not on purpose, though sometimes someone will say or do something that inspires me to create a character quirk in one of my characters. I have, however, created characters based on some random person I met, and who struck me as interesting, weird, creepy or annoying in some way.

3. Do you prefer to work in complete silence or do you find that music helps to inspire you while you write?

I prefer complete silence, but our neighbourhood often subjects me to annoying noises, such as constantly yapping dogs, during which times I block the noise pollution by putting on some music that fits the mood of whatever I’m writing.

4. Which writing achievement are you most proud of and why?

Four of my short stories that appear in my anthologies, Sorcery & Subterfuge and Futurescape – Prince of Runeguard, The Enemy Crown, Ryokin Master and The Sentients. These were commissioned by Oxford University Press South Africa, and are being used in learner anthologies for private school students, which is a great honour.

5. What is your biggest writing disappointment?

That I’m unable to write full time, as sales aren’t yet high enough to pay all the bills.

6. How long does it generally take for you to finish writing a book?

It depends on the book and how much time I can spend writing. Some of my books took less than a month to write, while others have taken over six months or more. That’s excluding editing time – self-editing often takes at least a month or longer. My last book, Legends of Origin, Book 3: Creator Species, took me two and a half months to write.

7. Tell us a little about the Legends of Origin series.

It’s a sci-fi fantasy series in which the protagonist, Liam MacAskill, searches for meaning in life. He teams up with Arthean, a monk from another planet, and the two make a surprisingly good team. There’s plenty of action and adventure, of course, and death-breathing dragons and ryokin – sentient sabre-toothed winged cats.

8. What’s your favourite line from Book 1, Sanctuary for the Devil?

It was cold and insidious and made Arthean itch from the inside out.

9. What does the ‘it’ refer to?

A shadow creature that was conjured to kill Arthean.

10. When will Book 3, Creator Species, be published?

This week, on Friday 13 – my lucky day.

11. Which is your favourite book so far in the Legends of Origin series?

Book 4, Beyond Orion – I find that whatever I’m writing at the moment is my favourite.

12. Do you reward yourself after completing a book and how?

Not specifically – finishing a book is a reward in itself.

13. Have you ever considered collaborating with another writer?  If so, who and why?

Yes. My first collaboration was a nightmare, to put it mildly, with me seeming to do all the hard work, my co-writer working very slowly and plenty of interference from one of my co-author’s friends. That working relationship didn’t last very long. I’m planning another collaboration in the future with another author, but I’m keeping those details a secret for now – I will, however, say that readers can expect something I think is quite original and entertaining.

14. If you had a super power, what would it be and why?

The ability to create cash in my hand? To be more realistic – the ability to stop time. That way, I can publish a book a week.

15. Do you find it easy to name your characters?

My characters’ names usually just pop into my head and, even if I don’t like the name, nothing else feels right for that character. Every now and then, I have to sit and think about it, but that’s mostly with short stories rather than novel characters.

16. Ever had a stalker?

I’m not sure if this counts, but I used to receive heavy breathing calls from someone. That is, until I answered the phone one day and, instead of saying ‘hello’, just breathed heavily. Whoever it was never called again. If you can’t beat them, join them.

17. As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?

First, a paramedic, until I realised that blood makes me queasy and I’m more likely to puke over a victim than be capable of helping. Most of my childhood, though, I wanted to be a writer.

18. What’s your favourite food?

Spaghetti bolognaise and roast potatoes (preferably not together).

19. Is there a message or a lesson that you’d like to convey to your readers?

Each of my books conveys a different message in the finer details, but most try to show that it’s always best to be honest and ethical, and to have compassion for others.

20. Please share your purchase links with us.

Smashwords
Barnes & Noble
Apple iTunes
Sony

Connect with Vanessa Finaughty online:

Blog

Twitter

Goodreads

The History of Assassins

Although the ‘art’ of assassination only got its name in the Middle Ages, assassinations have been performed from the beginning of recorded history. Even the Christian Bible’s Old Testament speaks of assassinations, in the story of Judith, who freed the Israelites by assassinating the Assyrian warlord, Holofernes. Assyria’s King Sennacherib’s sons assassinated him, King David’s son was assassinated by Joab, and there’s also the biblical story of Judah’s King Joash, who was supposedly assassinated by his servants.

Politics isn’t always the reason for assassinations, but it had always been one of the main reasons. Some famous ancient assassination victims include Julius Caesar (44 BC) and Phillip II of Macedon, Alexander the Great’s father (336 BC). Historical kings assassinated include the Netherlands’ King William the Silent (1584), France’s King Henry III (1589) and King Henry IV (1610), and Poland’s King Przemysł II (1296).

In Western Europe in the Middle Ages, the assassination of a ruler was rare, but it happened frequently in parts of the Roman Empire. During the Renaissance, political assassinations in Western Europe became more common, however.

As already mentioned, the name ‘assassin’ was coined in the Middle Ages, based on a rumour started by Marco Polo two centuries after the Order of Assassins was founded in 1090 by Ismaili Hassan-i-Sabah. (You can read about the Order of Assassins in more detail here.) According to Marco Polo, the Order of Assassins’ leaders ensured their assassins’ loyalty by drugging them, then taking them to a garden in which they were given all sorts of pleasures – the same pleasures that supposedly waited for them in the afterlife if they died in battle. The drug used was called hashish, and ‘hashishin’ meant ‘user of hashish’ in Arabic. Thus came about the name ‘assassin’, according to many. However, modern Islamic sources make no mention of this garden. In all probability, the word’s true origins had something to do with it being used as an insult to the Nizari Ismailis when they separated from the Mustali Ismailis.

In modern history, the assassination of VIPs became more than just a power struggle between rulers, and began to be used to make political statements. Many US Presidents have been assassinated, and there have been at least 20 known attempts on US Presidents’ lives.

It seems assassination as a tool has been around for as long as humans have, and it’s doubtful the ‘art’ will die any time soon.

Order of Assassins

In my fantasy series, The Queen’s Blade, the assassin Blade is a member of an assassins’ guild. It’s the stuff of fiction, right? Wrong.

Between 1090 and 1273, the Order of Assassins was a very real entity in the Middle East. The order’s few members were Shiite Muslims who were considered heretics by not only the Sunni Muslims, but also other Shiites. Due to the efforts of the leader, Hasan-i Sabbah, by the end of the 11^th century the order had become one of the deadliest terrorist groups in today’s recorded history.

The Order of Assassins’ members often spent months or years following or infiltrating the targets, who they considered political or religious enemies. The killings were up close and personal, mostly in public places such as mosques. One ‘infiltrated’ assassination was that of Conrad of Montferrat, who was to be the Kingdom of Acre’s next ruler. In 1192, two assassins who were posing as Christian Arab monks killed him.

The assassins never killed innocents like today’s terrorists, only targeting prominent figures. They never tried to flee the scene either, apparently not fearing death.

By the middle of the 12^th century, Sunni leaders left the Order of Assassins alone, realising it wasn’t good for their longevity.

Ultimately, the invading Mongols, under the rule of Genghis Khan, destroyed the Order of Assassins to guarantee their own safety after hearing of the order’s reputation.

The above illustration depicts an Order of Assassins member (left) stabbing Nizam al-Mulk, a Seljuk vizier. (Source: wikimedia.org; originally from a 14^th century manuscript)

Defining Assassins

Since we’ll be discussing assassins and The Queen’s Blade, I thought it fitting to talk about what an assassin is, exactly. Let’s first take a look at the dictionary definitions:

Oxford Dictionaries: “A person who murders an important person for political or religious reasons.”

Merriam-Webster: “A person who commits murder; especially:  one who murders a politically important person either for hire or from fanatical motives.”

As far as I’m concerned, the word ‘assassin’ refers to anyone who is paid to kill another person. However, most of history’s famous assassins were not, in fact, paid to kill, but committed murder for personal reasons, be they political or otherwise. This confuses me – surely if you are not paid to kill, you are nothing but a common murderer? Yet these people go down in history, romanticised as assassins. For example, why is JW Booth an assassin just because he killed a president rather than Joe Soap on the street? It makes no sense to me.

In my opinion, someone who is paid to kill someone else is an assassin. If you are not paid to kill, you’re a murderer. Real assassins don’t have a personal agenda or anything to gain from the kill either, other than the payment. Blade, the master assassin in my fantasy series, The Queen’s Blade, would certainly agree with my definition. In fact, assassins in the series undergo intensive training and have strict rules to adhere to.

What do you think the dictionary and accepted definition of an assassin should be?

Amazon.com – My Overview

Disclaimer: I have researched this topic to ensure all my information is correct. However, in this ever-changing industry, it’s possible that some of my facts may be outdated. If you spot anything that is, please let me know so I can correct this post.

I mentioned in a previous post that Amazon is one of the distributors with which I publish. However, this does not mean that I’m particularly fond of the company. To me, it seems very much as if Amazon deliberately sabotages many of its authors.

Why would I publish with a company I don’t like all that much? To put it simply, I was forced to publish at Amazon or have my books pirated there. People were pirating my free books – selling the complete books (with my author name still on them) on Amazon – and the company refused to remove those books when requested to do so. Amazon wanted me to prove that I’m the author, but how to do that? I didn’t exactly record myself writing, and having published the work elsewhere didn’t seem to mean much to the company. I also couldn’t publish those five free books at Amazon because they had already been published there! I mentioned this problem to some fans, who kicked up such a stink Amazon was forced to remove the pirated books. Then I published all my books at Amazon to avoid them being pirated there again.

One of the things that irk me the most about Amazon is the high royalty fee the company takes – a whopping 70% of your royalties! Basically, they take almost as much as places like Smashwords give authors. For example, if I sell a book for $4, I see less than $1 profit for that book. What’s next? Asking for our rights, too?

Amazon also puts its own prices on your books quite often. If you object to your books being sold at a higher price than they are elsewhere, the only thing you can do about it is go onto your book page on Amazon and click ‘report lower price’. The price is then lowered – but only for a time. You have to do this continuously. Just imagine: you’re a reader and purchase a book on Amazon, only to discover afterwards that it’s half the price (or free) somewhere else. That would seriously pee me off! Yet authors have little or no control over this.

For authors who opt in for Amazon’s KDP Select programme, Amazon offers a host of perks. This means that you have to release your books exclusively on Amazon for the first 90 days, at least. For me, this would be publishing suicide, because I make more money with other distributors. Other authors, however, swear that this pushed up their sales quite drastically.

Authors who have permanently free books (or free for a limited time) on offer lose out with Amazon, because the company tries to discourage free books, going as far as to penalise affiliate websites if they send too much traffic to free books on Amazon. Most authors know that making your books free (whether permanently or for a limited time) can increase sales quite drastically. If a reader enjoys the free Book 1 in a series, for example, he or she is likely to purchase the rest of the series, but may not have read the first book if it hadn’t been free.

The way I see it, Amazon is shooting itself in the foot by not wanting to promote free books, because Amazon, too, would make money (more than me, in fact) from increased sales of my other books. I suspect that Amazon works this way because too many traditional publishers are complaining about the competition they’re now faced with in this age of digital publishing, where anyone can publish and sell a book.

Another thing Amazon does that ‘sabotages’ authors is that it no longer allows authors to post reviews on other authors’ books. To me, this is incredibly unfair. Authors are readers too, and, if I read a book and want to post a review, I am just as entitled to do so as the next reader (but not according to Amazon). In fact, peer reviews often mean more to sales than normal reader reviews. I can understand if an author posts a flame review, but if it’s a positive review, what’s the harm? Readers are not idiots and they will notice if your author friends are posting rave reviews on rubbish books, so those reviews will not do the author in question any favours.

The problem isn’t just with peer reviews either. One author last year had a 5-star review on one of his books removed by Amazon, for no apparent reason. The review had been up for weeks and contained nothing that could be seen as offensive. When the author asked Amazon for an explanation, the company flatly refused to give one. What’s scary for authors is that this isn’t the only author to experience this. It could happen to you, ‘just because’.

However, authors are not the only ones losing out. Readers, too, are experiencing problems downloading and reading books bought on Amazon. One reader purchased a book from Amazon, but was unable to open the book to read it. After trying various ways to read the ebook, the reader contacted Amazon. As with many large corporations, the helpdesk reply was useless, filled with generic information that had nothing to do with his problem.

The reader in question says that Amazon’s DRM (Digital Rights Management) app is to blame for the fact that he purchased a book he cannot read on his tablet. DRM refers to technology used to control the use of digital devices and content after purchase.

Some people and companies insist that this app is vital to prevent digital copyright infringements, but others say there is no evidence of this. What there is evidence of, however, is that DRM protection is often a huge inconvenience to legitimate purchasers, and, some say, puts smaller businesses at a disadvantage.

Most importantly, if the DRM service is discontinued or the scheme changed, ebooks and other digital content could become permanently unavailable to those who purchased them. The choice of whether or not to use it is mine, but I do choose to use the added DRM protection, since pirating is so rife these days.

I’d love to hear your opinions on anything Amazon-related, even if they differ to mine.

Union of Renegades Book Blast

Indie Fantasy for People Who Don’t Do What They’re Told

Union of Renegades: The Rys Chronicles Book I is a free fantasy ebook worldwide. This week fantasy fans can sign up to receive a coupon to get The Goddess Queen: The Rys Chronicles Book II ebook for free. See details below.

About Union of Renegades: The Rys Chronicles Book I

The epic begins as Dreibrand Veta and the conquering Horde of the Atrophane Empire reach a mythic Wilderness that beckons with a magical call to glory. But Onja, Queen of the rys, a race far more powerful than the greatest human state, guards this land. She has the power to imprison souls and her genocidal rage is legendary. Everything is at risk for her desperate enemies, the union of renegades.

Meet the Players – Insights into the Main Characters in Union of Renegades by Tracy Falbe

Dreibrand Veta is in his early 20s when the saga begins. He’s been fighting with the conquering horde of the Atrophane Empire for two years. He is a character born of my disgust with following rules and not getting what you want. He’s an ambitious person but he’s done some things he’s not proud of. When he finds out he’s not going to earn what he expects for his efforts, he makes a decision that will change his life and ultimately influence the history of his world.

Miranda represents a woman at the bottom deciding she’s not going to take it anymore. When I developed the heroine for Union of Renegades I very much did not want her to be an innocent young female. She came from the place inside me that weeps for the suffering and oppression faced by so many women in the world. When the story opens she is kept as a slave by an abusive master. She’s also the mother of two young children. Although she is a compassionate person there is an edge inside her sharpened by hard use.

Shan is a rys with immense magical powers. All rys possess magic but the elite among them are capable of battle magic, mind reading, healing, and even enslaving the souls of the dying. Shan is a young rys who wants to overthrow Onja who rules their race and the humans of the western tribal kingdoms. He abhors her wicked tyranny but to challenge her he must use his magic to kill, something his good heart has never allowed him to do before.

Onja is the Queen of the rys and the Goddess of the people. She has ruled for over two thousand years. Her character represents the status quo, the all-powerful always-been. She believes she has the right to rule because she made the world as it is. During her long reign she closed off her realm from the east with a haunted wilderness, but when a curious whim prompts her to let people through everything will change.

You can download this novel and enter the world of The Rys Chronicles for free.

Brave Luck Books http://www.falbepublishing.com/braveluck/Union_of_Renegades.html

Smashwords http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/939

Kindle US http://www.amazon.com/dp/B003UES7U8

Kindle UK http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B003UES7U8

Kindle Canada http://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B003UES7U8

Kindle Australia https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B003UES7U8

Kindle France http://www.amazon.fr/gp/product/B003UES7U8

Nook United States http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/union-of-renegades-tracy-falbe/1102264133?ean=2940000720509

Nook United Kingdom http://www.nook.com/gb/ebooks/union-of-renegades-the-rys-chronicles-book-i-by-tracy-falbe/2940000720509

iBooks https://itunes.apple.com/en/book/union-renegades-the-rys-chronicles/id365801314?mt=11

Kobo http://store.kobobooks.com/en-US/ebook/union-of-renegades-the-rys-chronicles-book-i

How to get The Goddess Queen: The Rys Chronicles Book II for free ($4.99 value)

It’s easy. Join my email list and I’ll email you a Smashwords coupon to get The Goddess Queen in your choice of ebook format. Smashwords serves readers worldwide. Fill out the form at this link http://eepurl.com/Tb_9P and I’ll email everyone the coupon code on May 10th. (Form link will expire on May 10th.)

Read 3 Chapters Right Now

Fantasy Book Union of Renegades 3-Chapter Preview from Tracy Falbe