Follow the adventures of Gaspar, a freelance thief who stubbornly refuses to swear fealty to the Thieves' Guild. Finding himself entangled in a series of mishaps and misfortunes mostly of his own making, and facing looming retribution from every quarter, he finally departs his native city.>Aided by Hubris, a seller of spells who similarly declines to pay his dues to Wizards' Hall, and Marna, a feisty thiefess with a quick tongue and a quicker temper, Gaspar hopes to lie low for a while, but events continue to go awry,leading from one catastrophe to the next in quick succession. Brigands, sells-swords, goblin warlords, scheming mages and even a tricksy wight all seem to have it in for him as he travels across the world of Lindor,blundering from one calamity to the next, and yet somehow always surviving to tell the tale. Told with humour, this is an exciting romp based in a fantasy world where anything can, and usually does, happen!
Author Bio
The back story to 'Gaspar The Thief' may be a little different to many other current e-book releases in that it was actually written in the 1980s, when I was in my twenties. I had previously succeeded in having a few short stories published in arts magazines in the mid to late 1970s, a couple of them commercially. Thereafter, I wrote two full-length novels, Gaspar The Thief being the second one, but never did anything with them, and did not make even one submission to a publisher. Looking back now, I think there were two reasons for this. Firstly, I got married, had three children, and was very busy as a young court lawyer building a career. Secondly, and this was perhaps the main obstacle, I think I was too much of a perfectionist, and was never content that either novel was finished satisfactorily. This all changed when my wife bought me a Kindle recently, and I realised that this offered a new opportunity to share what I had written. Fortunately I had taken steps over the years to preserve the original word-processed files. However, these had been created on an old Amstrad green-screen 8256 (does anyone else remember these?). I had at one point had the files transferred to floppy disks, which had been very difficult, but at least they were now held on floppy disks. I still had to buy an external floppy drive to access these, of course, but I was much relieved to discover that they were still intact. That's when I sat down to read what I had written almost thirty years ago. This meant that I was able to read 'Gaspar The Thief' almost totally afresh. I had actually forgotten large parts of it. And that's when I discovered that it was much better than I had thought when I wrote it. I am still a perfectionist, but I was very pleasantly surprised by the standard of writing. Moreover, I did not think it had dated at all. Nevertheless, I still revised it twice from beginning to end and re-wrote a few parts before publication. Another aspect that some may find interesting is that it was not influenced at all by Sir Terry Prachett's Discworld novels, as I only started to read his books much later, in the 1990s, long after my book was finished. The greatest influence in my writing was probably Fritz Leiber's Fafhrd and The Gray ouser stories. Finally, here's a little personal background. I was born and brought up in Dundee, Scotland, but have lived in North East Fife, near St Andrews, for nearly 30 years now. I am married with three children, all of whom have now left home. I was a lawyer for 20 years, but for the last 12 years have owned and run a web design agency in the UK. My interests are Rotary, reading, gardening, music and travel.
Pedro L. Alvarez
Dragon Fire
At nineteen, Delcan wants nothing more than to break the
bonds of what the world expects of him; winning the tournament at the
Flarian Festival and earning a place as a squire is the only way he
knows how. When he discovers his own father's secret past and his role
in the kingdom's history, Delcan's life as a squire suddenly becomes
complicated; when he falls in love with the princess, Aria, it turns
deadly.
Dragon Fire is the story of a
farmer's son and a princess who dreamed of becoming a knight. It is a
coming-of-age tale set in a world where the young have no hope and the
old no longer believe in magic. With compelling characters and vivid
language, it is an action-packed story of romance, hope, sacrifice, and
the most unlikely of heroes.
Author Bio
Pedro L. Alvarez was born in Cuba and immigrated with his parents to the United States at the age of 8. He grew up in West New York, NJ and has been writing short stories since the age of 14.
Pedro has a degree in English and in Journalism from Rutgers University and works for a large transportation and logistics company. He lives in New Jersey with his wife and two children.
Dragon Fire is his first novel.
- Dragon Fire Can also be found at the following retailers:
- Kobo
Don't forget to follow Pedro On twitter @DragonFireNovel
Elizabeth Fairlight
The Little Book Of Bitchy Thoughts
The Little Book of Bitchy of Thoughts is medicine for the Modern Age,
straight from the cauldron of Elizabeth Fairlight. The author serves
up a stinging philtre of pithy observations, acrid humor, and even the
occasional honest aphorism.
Quotes from the book:
If your child says, “Hey, lady,” to get the attention of a salesclerk, you're lower-class. If your child says, “Excuse me, Ma'am,” then you're middle-class, or higher. This is an infallible indicator.
'Washington, D.C. is the third-world capital of a first-world country.'
'Opera is only vaudeville with attitude.'
'I'm always amazed by admonitions to love thy neighbor. Once God wises up to the fact that not everything on this Earth is worth loving, he would become a smarter God. It would be better to say, 'love thy neighbor, if thy neighbor is worthy of it.
Author Bio
Elizabeth Fairlight has not worked on a fishing trawler, as a
bullfighter, or shot big game. She cannot net a purse, play the
spinet, or paint flowers on china, though she has one very remarkable
drawing-room talent, namely, keeping an open ear for the unwary
pourer-outer.
Reviews
A review from LL Book Reviewer Shannon Yarbrough:
Anyone who has enjoyed the wit and sarcasm of such greats as Oscar
Wilde or Groucho Marx will definitely enjoy Elizabeth Fairlight's The
Little Book of Bitchy Thoughts. It takes a certain intellect and, of
course, a smart sense of humor to be able to read it and appreciate it
the way it was intended.
There are numerous quotes divided by such subjects as youth, class,
fools, adulthood, marriage, children, lawyers, arguing, the arts,
places, makeup, science, sports, drugs, and age. Enough to keep your
toasts at parties witty or your email signatures baffling.
Rather than being rude and untactful, almost all of the quotes make
you stop and really think about it, long enough to want to reread it a
few times or even commit it to memory.
My favorite is a longer quote about writing: Writers who do what
they're expected to do-namely get their MFA, then stay in the
university system to teach and produce literary fiction-will always
write timidly. If you're a writer, supporting yourself with odd jobs
is better for you, but not just because you acquire more interesting
source material. It's important because what it indicates about your
personality. Independent writers live and write with greater courage,
and they create greater works of art because of that courage.
Only available on Kindle at the time of this review, Fairlight's
Bitchy Thoughts is worthy of a look if you need some laughs or even
some enlightenment.
