Today is Day 4 of the giveaway accompanying the release of my pair of short stories, Spinnings: Brief Fantasies in Prose and Verse. See pre-publication reviews here. To accompany this release, I’m giving away the first book in the Empire’s Legacy series: Empire’s Daughter, free from Amazon.
Links for both books are below. Please consider leaving a review on Amazon or Goodreads if you download either book! Thanks.
Spinnings
Amazon.com Amazon.ca Amazon.co.uk
Empire’s Daughter
Yesterday you heard from my sister Pyxel, claiming to have helped our human write her books. I’m Pye, and I have more right to say that than she does. First off, I’m older, and I’ve lived here longer. Secondly, you can see in the photo how much I love books. Thirdly, I’m named for Pyewacket, who appears in both the film Bell Book and Candle and the children’s book Pyewacket by Rosemary Weir. She can’t claim two sources.
Anyhow, whatever my upstart (adopted) sister says, I had a lot more to do with Empire’s Daughter than she did, so I should be the one telling you you can download it for free until March 29th from Amazon. My human is making it available to celebrate the publication of her new pair of short stories, Spinnings: Brief Fantasies in Prose and Verse. That’s not free, but it’s pretty inexpensive. And there’s a cat in one of them, modelled on me, of course.
Here are the links to the books. My human likes to see what people write on Amazon and Goodreads about her books, too, and then she rubs my ears more when that happens. I like that. You could make that happen, and I would purr loudly enough for you to hear me. The upstart never purrs….
Spinnings
Amazon.com Amazon.ca Amazon.co.uk
Empire’s Daughter
Amazon.com Amazon.ca Amazon.co.uk
Hello, I’m Pyxel, named for the cat in The Cat Who Walks Through Walls by Robert Heinlein. So I have a good literary pedigree to help write books. I helped my human write both Empire’s Daughter and her latest short story volume, Spinnings: Brief Fantasies in Prose and Verse. It’s just been published, and my human and I are giving away Empire’s Daughter for a few days in its honour. Spinnings is really inexpensive, so I’d appreciate it if you’d buy it along with the free book, because I really like the treats I get every evening, but I’m told they cost money, whatever that means. Oh, and my human said something about leaving reviews on Amazon or Goodreads? I think I’ll go jump on my sister now, just to bug her. Here are the links to both books:
Spinnings
Amazon.com Amazon.ca Amazon.co.uk
Empire’s Daughter
Amazon.com Amazon.ca Amazon.co.uk
As you can see, Empire’s Daughter is proving very popular among readers right now! Don’t miss out – download for free until March 29th at the following links:
Amazon.com Amazon.ca Amazon.co.uk
And while you’re at it, check out my newest book here:
Spinnings: Brief Fantasies in Prose and Verse
Amazon.com Amazon.ca Amazon.co.uk
and don’t forget to leave a review at Amazon or Goodreads!
A link to a timely article for all writers from the Guardian. I admit to ‘alright’ being one of my pet peeves, but I’ve bowed to common usage in my reviewing and stopped commenting on it. I still wouldn’t write it, though….
With all pre-publication reviews on Goodreads rating Spinnings: Brief Fantasies in Prose and Verse at 5 stars, don’t miss its publication date offer: buy it for the lowest price Amazon lets me offer (other than free) and download Book 1 of the Empire’s Legacy series, Empire’s Daughter, for free between March 25th and March 30th!
Links are here:
Spinnings
Amazon.com Amazon.ca Amazon.co.uk
Empire’s Daughter
Amazon.com Amazon.ca Amazon.co.uk
The War of the First Day, by Thomas Fleet, is a rollicking, fast-paced adult fantasy novel. Witch-aspirant Lilta kidnaps the Taxian royal heir on the instructions of her mistress, but rapidly discovers she is caught up in a complex web of betrayal within her own kind. In attempting to both survive and negotiate the civil war that erupts in the Witchlands, Lilta must embrace her own magical powers and make decisions to act independently, risking not only her own life but potentially much, much more. As the magical Day of All Centuries approaches, Lilta must decide to act before the traitors of the Witchlands use the power of the day for their own purposes.
I really enjoyed this book. It’s not easily classified: it certainly isn’t classic (or stereotypical) high fantasy: magic is at the heart of the story, but guards who shout “Shit, a witch!” and witches who refer to another witch as “You traitorous little bitch,” are not voicing the usual expressions to be found in high fantasy. But while the characters use language and expressions that sound like fairly typical 21st Century North American speech, it is not out of place in the complex world Fleet has imagined. This is a world of political rivalries, where characters jostle for power and will go to any length to obtain it: it just happens to be one where magic is the chief weapon in use.
There are a lot of twists and turns in this story, and I don’t want to spoil it for readers. At its heart I read it as a coming of age story, where the protagonist Lilta must learn for herself the extent and limitations of her magic and the price for using it. There are aspects of traditional concepts of women’s power, especially that of the tripartite goddess figure, woven into the story, as well as links between magic and mathematics which are familiar from a number of sources. Fleet interweaves these influences and concepts with skill, building a believable world both in terms of the magic and the politics.
The ending of the story, without giving it away, was conceptually reminiscent of the endings of stories by some of the science-fiction classics from Asimov, Clarke or LeGuin: a surprise, and one that leaves the reader thinking.
The writing is highly competent, active narration occasionally interspersed with descriptions of precise beauty: “Far above, a line of birds flew, their beating wings flashing in the sun’s rays. The pulse of brightness played up and down their line like the sun on water, a glittering, fluid flow of light.” The pacing is solid, Lilta’s internal dialogues and realizations occurring naturally within the flow of action. I found no production errors in the e-pub version I read.
Overall, while this will not be a story to everyone’s taste – in part because it isn’t easily classified into a genre – I’m giving it five stars. Please note this caveat: this is, due to sexuality and language, a book for adult readers, not a young-adult fantasy.
The author provided me with a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.
“‘Of That Day and Hour’; a page-turning psychological thriller. 
Jefferson Davies is a lecturer at Harvard University. His life takes on an unexpected, dark and chilling twist after receiving a phone call from an ex-student and lover.
Eve works as a psychiatrist at a maximum security prison. Her patient is Casey Lee Jones. A convicted killer. His defense for the murder of two police officers is his ‘knowing’: his precognition. He knows the future, moments, hours, days, weeks or years before it happens. It was kill or be killed. He will only cooperate if Jeff’s involved, yet the men have never met.
Jeff flies out to Colorado, convinced he’s dealing with a psychopath. Scientifically he dismisses the phenomenon of precognition. Through a series of mysterious incidents, he begins to have serious doubts, even questioning his own sanity. Seeking the truth opens a Pandora’s Box, and what’s been started cannot be undone.
A fast moving, chilling, psychological thriller that will keep you guessing right to the end.”
This isn’t a review: it’s a promotion for a fellow indie writer. I was the editor of this edition of the book (previously titled Bad Man & Mad Men), so I can’t ethically review it. Of That Day and Hour is available from Amazon in e-book or paperback format.
Amazon.com link
Amazon.co.uk link
On March 25th my new ‘mini-book’ Spinnings goes on sale at Amazon. F
or the first five days of its publication, you can also download my novel Empire’s Daughter from Amazon for free. This is a limited-time offer…so spread the word and take advantage!
You will have to pay for Spinnings…but it’s priced as low as Amazon will allow.
I’ll be reviewing this novel soon…it looks intriguing, weaving some of my favourite stories into a new setting!
by Danielle E. Shipley
Contemporary Fantasy / Young Adult
Novel Release Date = July 12, 2016
Goodreads Link = https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/28595730-the-ballad-of-allyn-a-dale
Author Website = http://deshipley.com/
Cover Artwork by = Lars van de Goor ( http://larsvandegoor.com/ ) and Milan van de Goor ( http://milanvandegoor.nl/ )
Novel Summary
Welcome to Avalon, a Renaissance Faire where heroes of legend never die. Where the Robin Hood walking the streets is truly the noble outlaw himself. Where the knightly and wizardly players of King Arthur’s court are in fact who they profess to be. Where the sense of enchantment in the air is not mere feeling, but the Fey magic of a paradise hidden in plain sight.
Enter Allyn-a-Dale. The grief of his father’s death still fresh and the doom of his own world looming, swirling realities leave the young minstrel marooned in an immortal Sherwood Forest, where he is recruited as a member of Robin Hood’s infamous outlaw band. But Allyn’s new life may reach its end before it’s scarcely begun. Their existence under threat, the Merry Men are called upon to embark on a journey to the dangerous world Outside – ours – on a quest which must be achieved without delay, or eternity in Avalon will not amount to very long at all.
About the Author 
Danielle E. Shipley is the author of the Wilderhark Tales novellas, the novel Inspired, and several other expressions of wishful thinking. She has spent most of her life in the Chicago area and increasing amounts of time in Germany. She hopes to ultimately retire to a private immortal forest. But first, there are stories to make.
The Author’s Thoughts on the Cover
The Outlaws of Avalon trilogy is my baby, so I knew its faces had to blow me away. For Book One’s cover, there were a couple elements I for sure wanted to highlight: 1, the forest (because SHERWOOD), and 2, the lute (because Allyn-a-Dale). The rest, I mostly left up to my designers – photographer Lars van de Goor, and his son Miles.
A couple drafts later, this was the gorgeous result. The elegant swirls! The delightful rosette on the spine! Of all the darling touches – a ROBIN perched over “Ballad”s second A! And, of course, the must-have lute sitting sedately amongst the trees.
The minstrel blue, the greenwood green, the magical splash of sunlight… This cover doesn’t just say “The Ballad of Allyn-a-Dale”: It sings it.
Excerpt
Allyn would have known Will Scarlet for a relation of Robin Hood’s even had he not been introduced as his cousin. Though clean-shaven, younger, and framed by thick locks of gold tinged with the color of his name, Will’s face was patently similar to Robin’s, with the same blue eyes that sparkled cheerily at Allyn when the two were presented to each other.
“And where’d you pick this fellow up, then, Robin?” he asked blithely.
“In my tent,” replied Robin, “with Marion.”
Will’s brows leapt toward his crimson cap’s pointed brim. “Wish I were Allyn!”
“Will…”
“Joking, joking,” Will waved aside Marion’s halfhearted rebuke. He coughed. “…Mostly. So, Allyn-a-Dale — looking to join the Merry Men, are you?”
“I don’t really know,” Allyn said doubtfully. “What are the Merry Men?”
To Allyn’s heart-thudding dismay, Will answered, “We’re an infamous band of outlaws.”
“Not really,” Marion hastened to jump in.
“Not anymore,” Little John amended.
“It’s complicated,” said Robin. “But we’re really not at liberty to tell you much more about it until we’ve spoken to Merlin.”
“That would be King Arthur’s chief counselor and illustrious wizard,” Will said in answer to Allyn’s questioning expression. “He literally runs the show around here, so—”
“No,” said Little John, his gaze a grim weight on Will Scarlet.
“Oh, would you chillax, you pedant?” Will huffed, facial muscles ticking with minor irritation. “I know you think the Outsiders have been using the word with nary a care to its meaning, of late, but I know what ‘literally’ means, and in this case, I literally meant ‘literally’!”
The marginal lowering of Little John’s brow silently warned what he would literally do to Will if he said that word but once more.
“And they’re off,” said Robin, shaking his head. “Don’t worry, Allyn, they only bicker like this when they’re both breathing.”
Allyn’s lips twitched toward the beginnings of a smile, but froze halfway, his mind only just now becoming fully conscious of what he’d heard. “Robin,” he said, fighting a sudden swell of anxiety. “Did Will just say we’re off to see a wizard?”
marianlthorpe.com 
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