Greetings Bards! Quick Update!

I wasn’t sure if I had shared this with my readers on Inkshares yet. I had previously shared this on the Facebook Page for the Lore of the Aos Sí series. It is a cross section of the species, creatures, style, and culture of the inhabitants of Tír na nÓg. I do hope you enjoy!The Top Row features the Tuatha Dé - Fairy Culture :
From Left to Right you see the Tuatha Dé High Born (Gentleman and Lady),  the OakWatch Elite Guard, and the Low Born. 

The Second Row features the Dweörg - Dwarven Culture :
From Left to Right you see the Dweörgen High Born (Lady Fegna Baermond), the Low Born ( Steam Train Conductor and a deep cavern crawler ), a StoneSkein enchanted warrior, and one of the Sunskein farmers of Zaragzar.

The Third Row features the Aélfar, Kentaros, and Jotun :
From Left to Right you see the Aélfaren High Born  (Lantir Ereastar )and Moon Priestess, the Aélfaren Mistwalkers (Erialda Nohari), a Kentaros Horse Lord (Chiron), and a Jotun Blood Blathed (Anbar the Grim).

The Fourth Row features the Merfolk, Seraephym, and Faunus :
From Left to Right you see the Merfolk in humanoid form, their corresponding beast form, a Seraephym (Samsara), and the city Faun (Jemresh).

The Fifth Row features the Empyrean Culture :
From Left to Right you see an Empyrean Overlord, Elite Burugaz Shadow Warrior, Standard Infantry, Slave Scribe, halfbreed Aélfman (Phaero), and the Ensí Ubara Tutu. 

The Last Row features the BanalFolk (Human Culture) : 
From Left to Right you see a Sirothell Slum Lord, Gypsy, Air Captain, Noble Lord of House Sirothell, Yaegar of the Ironwood, and Renwick Waveborne of Waver’s Harbor in the Western Reaches. 

This is but a small cross section of the breadth of this world. I hope you enjoy!

Cheers!

Hello Ghosts and Guardians!

Pre-orders have slowed down in the past few weeks. So have my updates. Correlation? Causation? I’ll make you a deal. I will post more updates, add some fun, and you can keep commenting and spreading the word about A Tale of Ghosts and Guardians. 

Halloween is coming and that will be the perfect time to attract readers to ghosts, mummies, witches, werewolves, zombies, vampires, and Frankenstein monsters.

Every Monday for the next six weeks I will post a spotlight from my monster files, which explains how each type of monster lives and behaves in the world of A Tale of Ghosts and Guardians.

This week’s spotlight is on the titular GHOSTS

Spooooky!

When the living spend an extraordinary amount of time with an object, location, or another living being, they form a connection that is hard to sever, even when they are gone. Ghosts are the dead come back for a life cut short; for a chance not taken; for a love not requited. They thrive on regret. Not all ghosts can be seen. Not all ghosts can be heard. All ghosts can affect the world of the living, despite not being able to touch it. Ghosts are not beholden to the rules of the physical world. They can float through any material, move objects as large as a person, and possess human bodies to do their bidding. Because of this, ghosts are difficult to defeat, but they are always vulnerable to a powerful witch.

Don’t forget to check out the excerpt from Afterimage, a Monique chapter, posted on my front page. This is an exchange between Monique the vampire and Kara the ghost, which highlights how each woman perceives the world and how being monsters affects them.

And look for the Living Dead spotlight next Monday!

Monday Lore Update - Mother’s Grace Continued :

Character Profile - Yaegar The Knight Defender

Good morning readers!! 

It is Monday, time for the usual Monday Update. However, today is a special Monday because it is officially my birthday! I’m excited to have made it another year.

Nothing as far as numbers has changed from last weeks update. We are still #5 in the Geek & Sundry Contest. We are still 72 pre-orders from making Quil. So, since it is my birthday.... If you feel like making a girl super happy on her birthday, why not pre-order the book (or a second copy)?

So, the characters that I’m going to highlight going forward appear somewhere around chapter 10 or so. I suppose some of their bios might be a bit spoilery? However, I feel that, since you’re investing in helping me crowdfund this book, spoilers are a little treat that you deserve. So, I give you....

Xalen Okara

Xalen Okara was a Droven Masodite, an elite general for the country of Droves just south of Mavahan. He was gravely wounded and taken prisoner by the Mavahan army in one of the bloodiest battles the people of the First head ever seen. It is said to have permanently stained the sand of the desert red. Droves was conquered by Mavahan and its people enslaved. Xalen became a prized slave to the Mavahan royal family and earned Honor, as much as allowed to a slave, by competing in their gladiatorial games as a Champion. Xalen was later given a female Champion as a wife, as the royal family of Mavahan hoped to breed future Champions for their sport, treating the proud Droven Masodite like cattle. Xalen and his wife Aleira attempted to escape captivity in the hopes of finding a better future for their unborn child, but they were ultimately captured. Aleira lost the baby. When the time comes to seek freedom with the help of Keleir Ahriman, both Xalen and Aleira will risk everything to see Mavahan burn. 

Ladies and gentlemen, allow me to present the ground floor plan for the Veterans’ Club.

Not shown: fireplaces. Yes, there are multiple fireplaces, because this place was built in a time before proper central heating. Possibly it has been renovated since, but there are still fireplaces. And if you’re wondering why a gentlemen’s club has what is clearly a ladies’ restroom: the gentlemen members do bring ladies in to dine from time to time, and may God have mercy on their souls if a lady has no place to powder her nose.

(I do invite comments and criticism on this plan. I confess that I have not actually made an in-depth study of the club building layouts around St James Place.)

Meanwhile! How are we doing? The third Peterkin Investigates game is still in production. I hope to have it out before Friday ... some of you may be aware that IFcomp 2016 begins on 01 October, and everyone who plays these things will be playing and judging the competition games. So I’d like to get my game out before that flood begins. I may have to make a rare mid-week update just to announce the game.

Watch this space, folks!

Chapter Thirteen of BLACKSTONE is now live.  This covers pages 148-156.

In which Bruce and Byron play peek-a-boo with a ghost.

Chapter 14 drops on Monday, BTW.

-j.s.

Hello everyone!

We’re locked and loaded at #1.

Short update for this week. Things have been crazy with Weaponized. The positive reaction you’ve all shared with me has been overwhelming. It’s been truly gratifying.

This week, we had the book appear on Bloody-Disgusting. I’ve also been streaming with my brother on Twitch to gather orders. Should be streaming again tomorrow, you can find us here. I’m sure we’ll be playing retro games. 

In the meantime, I have a few more offers for press for Weaponized. I write for The Huffington Post during the weekdays (find my stuff here). I only mention it because next week I’ll be writing about Banned Books Week. The freedom to read is incredibly important so if y’all have a banned book you love don’t hesitate to reach out, I’d be happy to write about it.

Finally, I still need everyone’s help in spreading the good word of Weaponized. If any of you have a friend who’d be interested in the book, please refer them to this page. We’re a month and a week away from the end of the CryptTV contest and I’ll need all the support I can muster to stay in the top 3. Also, we’re 87 orders away from Quill!! So let’s push for that!

-Zac

“That which is imagined can never be lost.”  - Clive Barker

70 preorders!

Wouldn’t it be amazing if we could have 80 by the end of this coming week?

After the excitement of last weekend’s Gollancz Festival, there’s another fantasy lit convention happening in the UK this weekend: Fantasy Con By The Sea. Witherfist is one of the books featured in the event programme booklet, so I’m hoping that we’ll see some #fcon2016 attendees joining the Witherfist reader count.   

It’s still a while before October’s syndicate picks are made, but Witherfist has already gotten nominations in the Break the Bechdel syndicate and the Rite of Passage syndicate. Amazing!

Thanks for your continued support. If you like to read more of my thoughts on writing Witherfist, you can check out the second part of my interview with blogger and author Natacha Guyot and my chat with Jim Vines, on his blog Jim Vines Presents.  

 ~ Jenny

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