Another teaser for Shadowlith: Book One of the Umbral Blade

So I hate reading poorly written fight scenes in fantasy books. Whenever my characters fight, I try to make it as realistic as possible. Here's how you write a concussion:

 

Holt caught a glimpse of a flanged mace heading right for the side of head, breaking his momentary confusion and forcing him to fall to the ground to avoid being killed in a single blow. The edge of the mace caught his helmet with a loud crash, instantly disorienting him and replacing all the sounds of battle with a harsh, screeching ring in his ears.

Luckily, his attacker overbalanced in the assault, and Holt wasn’t simply obliterated by a second blow from the fearsome weapon. Clutching his stolen axe like a cane, Holt pulled himself to his feet and tried to steady the spinning world. He felt drunk, overwhelmingly drunk, and a wave of nausea crept into the back of his throat as he failed to get his bearings perfectly straight.

The mace-wielder turned back, a wide grin splayed across his unarmored face. He slapped the head of his weapon in his open palm, and Holt saw a few streaks of blood rub off on the man’s skin.

The captain tore his helm from his head and tossed it aside. The fresh air seemed to calm his roiling stomach, but only by a fraction. When he looked ahead, he could barely focus. Everything was blurry around the edges. The man came forward again, swinging his heavy mace from left to right. Holt raised his axe to block, and the mace head shattered his weapon’s shaft into a hundred splinters.

“Now you die!” the attacker bellowed. The man’s teeth were yellow and jagged, and his breath smelled like vomit.

Holt stifled a chuckle when he realized it was his breath that carried the pungent stench of stomach acid, not his attacker’s. Still spinning helplessly in his own mind, he tumbled back to the ground unarmed, heaving the contents of his gut across the stones at his feet.

The captain fell onto his side with a sullen whimper, waiting for the killing blow to quickly bring an end to his scrambled senses. After a few seconds, he realized it likely wasn’t going to happen.

He wanted to open his eyes, to see what fate had befallen his attacker, but he knew it would be useless. Even with his eyes shut, all he saw was a shifting field of slowly spinning color blotches that made him scream in agony. The screaming brought on another round of painful vomiting, and then everything finally, mercifully, went black.

A trip to Iron Wind Metals!

I had a pretty cool experience today. The tabletop miniatures game I write for invited me up to their factory to sign some rulebooks being mailed out this week which feature stories I've written to help develop the lore of their world. (For more, check out this blog post or you can head over to the short stories tab to read the lore). 

Thankfully, the great guys at Iron Wind Metals were kind enough to give me a tour of the place and let me take some cool, behind-the-scenes pictures. Here it is!

Getting all the figures together for a shipment this week. Most of the figures on the table here are bee cavalry (yes, cavalry riders on bees!), treants, a winged beast, and some armored bears. They look awesome.

Getting all the figures together for a shipment this week. Most of the figures on the table here are bee cavalry (yes, cavalry riders on bees!), treants, a winged beast, and some armored bears. They look awesome.

A big bin of hero figures. The orange disc are silicon molds used to make those figures, and the brown boxes to the side are older figures which have since been discontinued. Above the box, you can see some of the design concepts on a clipboard.

A big bin of hero figures. The orange disc are silicon molds used to make those figures, and the brown boxes to the side are older figures which have since been discontinued. Above the box, you can see some of the design concepts on a clipboard.

Some resin molds used for casting figures.

Some resin molds used for casting figures.

Shelf after shelf of finished miniatures waiting to be shipped. Thousands of different models, hundreds of each.

Shelf after shelf of finished miniatures waiting to be shipped. Thousands of different models, hundreds of each.

These discs are silicon molds used to make the pewter figures. Iron Wind Metals has been around since the 70s, so they have a ridiculous amount of these molds.

These discs are silicon molds used to make the pewter figures. Iron Wind Metals has been around since the 70s, so they have a ridiculous amount of these molds.

These shelves are full of 'master molds' which are like the blueprints for making miniatures. A lot of them are used to the make the miniatures used in Chaos Wars!

These shelves are full of 'master molds' which are like the blueprints for making miniatures. A lot of them are used to the make the miniatures used in Chaos Wars!

The inside of a silicon mold. So much detail! These things are really cool.

The inside of a silicon mold. So much detail! These things are really cool.

This mold makes wings for dragons. It was at the active pouring station where I got to see some weapons poured into molds and made before my very eyes. It was awesome!

This mold makes wings for dragons. It was at the active pouring station where I got to see some weapons poured into molds and made before my very eyes. It was awesome!

Stacks of pewter ingots waiting to become fantasy miniatures. Each one weighs about 15 pounds and can craft about 100 individual figures.

Stacks of pewter ingots waiting to become fantasy miniatures. Each one weighs about 15 pounds and can craft about 100 individual figures.

Some finished miniatures, expertly painted and on display.

Some finished miniatures, expertly painted and on display.

The T-Rex is my favorite.

The T-Rex is my favorite.

Goblins!

Goblins!

These dragon riders are really cool.

These dragon riders are really cool.

That thing is sick!

That thing is sick!

A limited edition dragon.

A limited edition dragon.

More cool dragons.

More cool dragons.

And the best part of the whole trip, getting a chance to see my story in the rulebook before it ships!

Lina Arias is something of the champion of this edition of Chaos Wars. The daughter of Estria's king, she threw away her birthright in order to make a name for herself - as a vampire, a summoner, and a necromancer. 

Lina Arias is something of the champion of this edition of Chaos Wars. The daughter of Estria's king, she threw away her birthright in order to make a name for herself - as a vampire, a summoner, and a necromancer. 

I hope you enjoyed the Iron Wind Metals factory tour! It was a pretty cool experience I'll always remember. 

Getting paid in interesting ways!

When you don't get paid in cash...

So a while back I began writing short stories for Ral Partha's Chaos Wars miniatures game. You can check them out here. When I started writing the series of background stories (which has been a ton of fun), I agreed to do it for free. I would get some free publicity, and the minis game would get some cool lore to spice up their world. In my mind, that's a pretty fine deal.

But then I got a package in the mail yesterday.

The fine folks at Iron Wind Metals, the company who makes the Chaos Wars game, sent me an entire army of goblins (always my favorite!) and a couple special edition figures to go with them! That's awesome!

The full contents of the package.

The full contents of the package.

This figure, the Vampire Queen, is an awesome one I had the honor of writing. She's a badass.

This figure, the Vampire Queen, is an awesome one I had the honor of writing. She's a badass.

Back in the day, I used to play a decent amount of Warhammer 40,000. I also played a few other miniatures games, so I know how to paint models. I'm not incredibly good at it by any means, but I'm going to paint a couple of these guys and see what happens. 

In the meantime, I plan on writing another short story for Ral Partha which uses the awesome spider figure they sent me. Look for that story to go up in a week or so!

Shadowlith Update - Progress!

So if you read my last blog entry, you know I'm pretty excited about the new magic system I conjured up in the car one day. Well, here's the update:

Shadowlith (still a working title) has officially become my next expected full length release. I'm currently about 30% through writing the novel and I (realistically) hope to finish the first draft by the end of January, 2017. So, to give everyone a little taste, here is an unedited excerpt:




*****

Alster nearly fell to the ground. The shade from the archive, or whatever it truly was, stood in the doorway to the record room, a towering black menace of twisting shadows.

A host of incomprehensible screams poured from Elsey’s mouth as she tried to scramble away. Her feet tangled as she jumped, and she hit the ground hard, but the lantern did not go out. The closest horse kicked at its stall door, rousing some of the other creatures from their sleep.

The shade moved directly over Elsey, filling up almost every inch of the darkness between the lantern’s partial light.

Suddenly exploding in a flurry of action, Alster did the only thing he could think to do. He ripped Alistair’s dagger from his belt and lunged, losing his balance completely. In the small hallway of the stable, his accuracy with the blade was irrelevant. As he fell, Alster gripped the dagger as tightly as he could and simply held it above his head, letting his momentum do the work for him.

Alster didn’t fully understand what he heard when he crashed into the ground. The shade yelled, the voice a mix of shock and pain, and then evaporated, leaving behind a cool mist like a cloud of fog.

As quickly as it had begun, the stable was once again calm, though the horse behind Alster seemed intent on breaking its stall to escape.

When Alster pushed himself up to his knees, he felt something tingle inside his stolen gauntlets. It felt warm and comforting, whatever the sensation was, and Alster found himself grinning from ear to ear. With one hand against the doorframe for balance, Alster stood up fully and brushed the dirt from his clothes.

Mixed with the flickering lantern light, a soft reg glow emanated from the filigree on Alster’s gauntlets. He turned his hands over in wonder, half of his mind expecting some dazzling display of magic and the other half not believing his own eyes.

“Did you see that?” Alster whispered.

Elsey collected herself and righted the lantern, though her body shook with fear.

“I think I killed the shade,” Alster said, never taking his eyes from the gauntlets. After a few more seconds, the red light faded and the gauntlets returned to their mundane state.

Deep in Alster’s chest, he felt something begin to stir. He felt stronger. He felt more alive than he ever had before. His grip on the dagger tightened, and he thought he felt the newfound energy pulse within his very bones.

“I,” Alster began, but he didn’t know how to describe what took place within his ribcage. “I think… I consumed the shade,” he said after a moment.

“What?”


“I think I drank it,” Alster said. “You know the feeling when it is cold so you drink something warm and the heat spreads from your chest through your whole body?”

Elsey nodded, her eyes wide with some emotion Alster could not pinpoint.

“The dagger killed the shade,” Alster continued. He slide the weapon back into his belt and unclenched his hand, relaxing the muscles of his arm. “When the shade was dead, I drank it,” he concluded.

“On purpose?”

 

A new fantasy series!

A new fantasy series?

Maybe... Maybe...

So I had an idea while driving from Tennessee back to Kentucky this Labor Day. I've been thinking of ways to incorporate new and exciting magic systems into my fantasy writing and well, I might have it figured out. 

Here's the pitch: this new fantasy series will surround characters who are 'Shadowliths' - gifted with the ability from birth (or perhaps learned as well) to consciously take the form of their shadow and go about doing things. Fantasy things. I like this magic system for a few reasons. Firstly, it makes an interesting circumstance arise: the caster can only control his / her shadow during the daylight. The night does not provide enough light to make substantial shadows after all. Putting such an ominous feeling magic system into a new fantasy setting where they only have power in the day seems oddly refreshing to me. I'd expect a shadow-based fantasy magic to be more powerful at night, not less.

Secondly, I like the idea of the shadowlith going into a stupor while controlling the shadow. A lot of fantasy worlds (DnD, WoW, etc.) feature absurdly powerful wizards casting spells until they run out of strength, energy, favor, mana, etc. Until their spell power is fully drained, they are basically immortal. I'd love to see casters made incredibly vulnerable by their art. That could be a great twist on a fantasy staple which I have personally never read before.

So did I try it yet? Of course! I've officially begun work on a side-project fantasy book (or maybe novella, who knows?) which I tentatively call: "The Shadowlith" - cheesy title but I'll probably change it. 

Maybe I'll have something ready for the publisher in the next 6 months, but it isn't likely. I'd bet this idea won't be fully fleshed out until the fall / winter of 2017.

New fantasy short stories for Ral Partha's Chaos Wars!

Through a great stroke of luck, I managed to score the booth next to the fine folks from Iron Wind Metals at CincyCon this year. They make all sorts of cool miniatures games and their flagship line, Chaos Wars, is an awesome fantasy setting complete with goblins, centaurs, undead, wizards, dwarves, orcs, lizardmen, and pretty much everything else you could imagine. After a few hours, I knew I had to make a few stories for them. Every great miniatures game has a rule book full of flavor and backstories for your favorite characters - commonly called 'fluff' - and I am now that writer for Ral Partha's Chaos Wars. 

Check out the first two installments of the Chaos Wars "Chronicles of Estria" series:

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