Fantasy Takes The Stage With This Weeks Featured Authors

                                          

                                                                Victoria A Jeffery

                                                    The Winter Wolves (Secret Doorway Tale)

 

 

 

Description:

Winter has come early, an unusually fierce winter that has nearly paralyzed the city, courtesy of the Winter Fairy Queen. Her reach has had consequences far and wide, especially in Other Land where winter's rage has been the cruelest.

Anne goes back to Other Land armed with armor made by the gnomes, her hammer and ring and a new weapon against the Queen, but will it work? The dreaded unlocked doorway appears right in her own bedroom and trouble immediately finds her when she embarks on her latest mission! The Queen soon sends word to capture Anne and bring her to the castle on the Ice Sea, where the Summer Queen is being held captive. Constant skirmishes and battles assault and weaken the free folk, making way for Queen Faye's great army from the north to strike the final blow on all those who oppose her rule. Anne and her friends must battle winter fairies and trolls and make their way to the safety of the Whitestone Lodge where Great Grandfather Whitestone, the other gnome Grandfathers and an army of gnome family clans have gathered. The gnome Grandfathers have a plan to defeat the Winter Queen, which involves placing Anne right into her clutches!

Will Anne's new weapon and the Grandfathers' plan work? Can they stop Queen Faye before she destroys Queen Titian and births her unending winter?

Bio Provided by the author.

Victoria A. Jeffrey grew up in Portland, Oregon, attended Portland Community College and studied graphic design. She is an author and an avid reader of science fiction, fantasy. She also enjoys reading historical fiction and non-fiction. She has written three collections of poetry and some short stories. She is currently working on the Secret Doorway Tales middle grade fantasy series and will begin working on an adult oriented science fantasy trilogy this summer. 

                                                             Gwen Perkins

                                                           The Universal Mirror

Description:

"Not blood nor bone shall magic touch."

On the island of Cercia, God is dead, killed by his followers and replaced with the study of magic. But the people are suspicious of magicians, believing them the cause of ill fortune. If the magicians aren't kept in check, they might wrestle God from his grave and take the universe for their own keeping. So the universities train magicians in the use of magic, as well as in the restrictions — or Heresies — that bind it. Magicians must not leave their homeland; they must not cast spells on the living—whether to harm or to heal.

Quentin, a young nobleman, and his friend Asahel are both magicians. But they come from very different backgrounds. Quentin belongs to an old bloodline, though his grandfather has whittled away the last of his family's fortune. Asahel, on the other hand, always smells of the sea, his face smudged with dirt. He was decidedly out-of-place at the universities that trained magicians, since most of them came from the upper classes. Everyone but Quentin had tormented Asahel; their curiosity was what bound them together. They both longed to explore magic, rather than cage it.

Now, Quentin longs to heal the woman that he loves, Catharine. Catharine was pitted and scarred from the Plagues which came to Cercia just before she reached womanhood. She wants no part of Quentin because of her self-hatred, disliking it if he so much as looks at her. The husband and wife rarely talk, and what little time they spend together is fraught with tension. But Quentin adores Catharine. If he is to save her from herself, he must be able to use his magic to heal.

Learning to heal will take an act of desperation, an unthinkable rebellion — practicing on the bodies of the dead. It is madness — but Quentin convinces Asahel to go along with his plan. Under cover of darkness, they dig up a grave to work a magic that affects life itself. Afterward, Quentin feels a terrible guilt for involving Asahel, who had defied authority by his friend's side. Both of them are unaware that the search for this lost magic will bring them both to the edge of reason, threatening their very souls. How far are they willing to go for the sake of knowledge? What will they destroy to obtain it?

Bio Provided by the author.

Surrounded by tree and mist, Gwen Perkins has always regarded the deep rainforest of the Olympic Peninsula the one place that she feels most at home. Gwen grew up in small towns across the Pacific Northwest, going to slug races and strawberry festivals when she wasn't scribbling on any scrap of paper she could come by. She boasts the dubious distinction of going to a public school with only eight students, learning Irish sea chanteys from a man who sang with the Clancy Brothers, and catching tadpoles during classes.

Her adult life is generally just about as much fun.

She lives in the City of Destiny (better known as Tacoma, Washington) with her partner, Laura, and their three children, Amaranth, Nynaeve, and Oisin. When she's not writing, she spends her days combing archives and chasing children…all in the name of history! Her hobbies include baking pies (sometimes referred to as others as attempted arson) and lampworking, or creating glass beads. These two things are not related. In between all of this, Gwen has written two novels in the Artifacts of Empire series: The Universal Mirror and The Jealousy Glass. The latter will be released in November 2012.

                                                                    Rachel Hunter

                                                          A Llathalan Annal: Empyreal Fate

 

 

Description: 

Filled to the brim with forbidden love, an ancient evil, and a nation in disrepair, Empyreal Fate is a tale of riveting bravery and mortal corruption.

The land of Llathala lingers on the brink of war between men and elves, a dark history surrounding each race. Stirred by tensions of the land, a shadow of the past reemerges, taking precedence in reality and consuming the very soul of mans’ mortal weakness. Darrion, the son of a poor laborer, is ensnared in a hostile world, forced to choose between loyalty to his king or the counsel of the elves. Yet Fate has other plans in store, tying his course to Amarya, an elven royalblood of mysterious quality and unsurpassable beauty. But this forbidden connection incites betrayal from members of their own kin, marking them as traitors to the crown. In a land torn asunder, only Fate’s decree can allow such love to coexist with an ancient enmity.

Behold: A Llathalan Annal: Empyreal Fate – Part One.

Bio Provided by the author.

Rachel Hunter has always been fascinated with words and the intricate way in which they combine. Since a child, she has been an avid writer, winding vibrant tales and elaborate stanzas on folded bits of paper.

As the years passed, her love of words never died; her adoration for reading fared no equal. Always with her nose in a book, Rachel took fondly to works spanning all genres. Yet it was the compelling grasp of fantasy and science fiction that wrenched her fascination above all.

In March of 2012, Rachel published her first short story with Trestle Press, titled, "Perfect Nothing", which recounted her harrowing relationship with an eating disorder and was also fueled by her passion for psychology. But her writing does not end there. While currently pursuing a degree in psychology and in the medical field at the University of Oklahoma, she aspires also to illuminate the creative spark of eager readers. In her desire to incite intrigue, she is simultaneously exploring new worlds and creating vast empires of her own. "Empyreal Fate" is only the first in her Llathalan Annal series. Indeed, it is only the beginning.

Like Rachel on Facebook:  http://www.facebook.com/pages/Rachel-Hunter/170131499766376

Follow Her On Twitter:  http://www.twitter.com/young_author

                                                                             Peter Giglio

                                                                                           Anon

Description:

Rory Ellison, victim of his own misdeeds, wallows in misery. Then a door opens. Now he's got a new job, a dream assignment to rewrite the darkest mistake of his past, and a strange new companion in his head. Wielding powers beyond his comprehension and control, Rory returns to …

… Faith. She possesses the perfect husband, kids, and home. But when Rory falls back into her world, old wounds open wide, shattering her ideal life.

At the center of the mayhem stands Anon, a seemingly benevolent organization with a sinister past of its own. "Helping you realize your dreams sooner," the company promises. But what do they stand to gain? How far will they go to get what they want? And if they make dreams a reality, what about nightmares?

Only Michelle, a young girl with a strange gift, can defeat the evil threatening her family. But she must face fear, work with the ghosts of her enemy's past, navigate a maze of terror, and make the tough choice to grow up too soon in a world filled with evil and indifference.

Hold on tight! Anon—a tale of corporate and familial terror—is unlike anything you've ever read. 

Reviews:

All I can say is "Thank you!" Once I started, it really hurt to stop reading, for any reason. If you like gripping, non-stop GO in your reading material, then Anon is the book for you.
With twists of the paranormal, supernatural, religion, and a new breed of corporate corruption: Anon delivers much more than most. This is not a book that will be archived on my Kindle, Anon has a permanent place on my digital bookshelves.
I'm afraid if I started in on everything I loved about this book, that I would give too much away. I want to know what Faith and Michelle do next! And will we, the hanging readers with baited breath, ever get to know?
If there was a 6 star rating, I would definitely give it for Anon.
~Jessica A. Weiss, fiction author and owner of Wicked East Press

I found this novel to be an engaging read, heartbreaking at times, and filled with emotion and suspense. It is a captivating read and original, and I look forward to future works which build upon these characters' lives. I have read Peter's short stories before and always wanted "more." My wish has been fulfilled in "Anon."  -- Eric Guignard

Bio Provided by the author.

Peter Giglio lives in Lincoln, Nebraska, where he spends all of his time writing and editing. His novels include Anon, The Dark (with Scott Bradley), and Beyond Anon, the forthcoming sequel to Anon. His short fiction can be found in various professional publications, and he is the author of two acclaimed novels, Balance and A Spark in the Darkness. Also a screenwriter, Peter and longtime friend Scott Bradley have successfully adapted, under option, Joe R. Lansdale's "The Night They Missed the Horror Show." They are currently looking for a production deal for the work, endorsed and praised by Mr. Lansdale. 

Don't forget to like Peter on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/#!/petegiglio

And follow Him on Twitter:  @PeterGiglio1

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