As you might have inferred by how regularly I’ve featured #HistRom novelists and their stories on Jorie Loves A Story – this is a niche of Historical Romance I personally LOVE to read and discovering new voices of the craft is a wicked sweet delight of joy for me as a reader. Whilst I also like to feature these authors through my monthly (semi-weekly) chat @SatBookChat!
I have spent hours of wicked sweet readerly joy tucked inside Regencies over the years whilst Historical Romances are now at a record equal bit of consumption for me as a reader as Contemporary Romances! The latter was a harder sell to find the writers who are penning the stories I want to be reading in those realms of enquiry whereas with #HistRom – if I tuck into the Regency, Victorian or Edwardian eras of British LIt I am nearly going to have a #mustread on my hands! I simply love those eras of interest – love the instincts the writers have to tell those stories and I get lost inside the propriety of how society directed social interests & the art of courtship. There were a lot of hidden rules to courting and a lot of it weighed against your station in life as well.
Aside from my passion for Historical Romances – I heartily love interviewing authors as it gives me a chance to get to know their writerly style, peer into their process as fellow writers and give my readers & the visitors of my blog a front row seat into finding out if the story I’m highlighting is one which might be a wicked good fit in their own readerly lives. I love bringing readers and authors together – to help others find stories which will be wicked good #nextreads for them and to champion the joy of being a book blogger who loves chatting about the stories popping up on her bookish radar!
I am a champion of Self-Published & Indie Publishers/Press novelists – I’ve maintained this for the last seven years I’ve been blogging and am thankful I can continue to seek out and showcase the authors who might not get as much attention as others who are with Major Trade publishers. A lot of my favourite reads over the years have been from this group of authors – they take risks and they are writing stories I am wicked thrilled about having in my hands. Remember to give them a chance at giving you an unputdownable read as much as they have continued to give me every year.
And, now I hope you’ll enjoy the light-hearted conversation about The Bachelor series and an inside look into “The Bachelor Duke” as Ms Rene and I discuss the story, her characters and her love of #amwriting Historical Romances. Be sure to brew yourself a cuppa and tuck into this conversation!
The Bachelor Duke Subtitle: The Bachelor series by Cecilia Rene
The Bachelor Duke meets a beautiful, curvaceous lady.
Remington Warren, The Duke of Karrington, lives his life by the name society has thrust upon him. Having witnessed cruelty against the fairer sex with his own eyes, he vows never to marry to prevent himself from becoming like the monster who raised him. After ten years of being The Bachelor Duke, his life is irrevocably changed when he sees Lady Olivia St. John across the ballroom floor.
Having lived a sheltered, pampered life, surrounded by her loving family, Lady Olivia St. John longs to know passion and love. She is beautiful, bold, and has a rather large dowry. According to society, she would be a diamond in the first water of this season if it wasn’t for her one flaw.
Will she find all she longs for and more in the arms of The Bachelor Duke, or will heartbreak be her demise?
Earlier this August, I featured the Cover Reveal and book trailer (which spoke to the origins of the world’s mythology) whilst I was eagerly awaiting the blog tour which would celebrate the novel’s release. However, somewhere between my initial curiosities about Under the Lesser Moon and the blog tour, I have come to uncover some of the content and aspects of how the story is told (both contextually and visually) are now a step removed from what I can personally handle as a reader – as you will find disclosed through this Q&A there are certain content and trigger warnings which I simply do not desire to read about in the stories I am choosing to read. One of the hardest of all the ones listed for me is abuse – for both children and animals. It is a deal-breaker for me for any story I am considering to read because I simply cannot handle those kinds of stories – they are above and beyond the kind of content I want to be reading myself. In fact, I pulled out of a blog tour this year which dealt with explicit child abuse and on/off scene visuals of it because it was not the story I was pitched as a book blogger and I feel a bit the same in regards to Under the Lesser Moon.
Mostly as I was under the impression this was a slow-building dragon fiction series – wherein, the dragons would be more central to the story and to the context of the series rather than what is being disclosed today through the conversation I had with the author. In some respects, I think this is outside my own purview of what I would like to see in dragon fiction as this is too hinged to the origins of what first inspired the mythological past of the world Campbell has built. I had no idea her inspiration marker was the Aztecs as I studied the histories and cultures of the Aztecs, the Mayans and the Incas in school. I had a very strong passion for Archaeology and Anthropology and nearly entered those fields – however, of the three societies I studied, the one I felt the most akin to wanting to know more about were the Mayans. I found them quite interesting and by sixteen I was walking through the ruins of their cities in Central Mexico and in the Yucatan peninsula.
Likewise, the one series I never felt motivated to read despite it being touted as a series I ought to read by my teachers was Clan of the Cave Bear as to me, it was too brutal of a world and the darker elements of what was written into the novel for me were just not my cuppa of tea. I barely made it through the opening bridge of the first novel if I finished it at all before I put it down and returnt it to my teacher. I’ve kept away from stories and series which parallel thematically from that series and/or stories which are rooted in similar epochs of History as they do not seem to be a good fit for me as a reader.
And, in regards to the Horror disclosures of Under the Lesser Moon, I was quite disappointed as despite the fact I read ‘Cosy Horror’ – for me the most spookied part of this subniche of the genre is the fact like in a Hitchcock film, most of the suspenseful thrills are off camera and off-scene; these are stories which thread through a psychological suspense lens rather than a visually graphic one depicting the truer elements of what Horror is known for as a genre. Thereby, I do not read traditional Horror and was quite burnt a few times on stories which I felt were Cosier than they became as I read them.
As the conversation progressed however I appreciated the candor of the author’s responses as much as I appreciated how she gave us such a firm impression of her world-building and the character sketches she reveals about her mythological origins and of the lead character himself. To me, this conversation is pivotal towards understanding the main components of the series this novel begins and of better knowing if the content of the story (and of the succession of installments) is a good fit for us as readers. This is one reason I enjoy interviewing authors and/or conversing with them on Twitter. It is hard to gather an opinion about a story in Speculative Fiction from the outside without asking key questions which root out the specific areas we might be concerned about as readers. Thus, I am fully appreciative whenever an author answers my questions candidly and with such wonderful insight as Ms Campbell has herself today.
I hope you will find this conversation I had with the author, Ms Campbell will help you decide if this Dark Fantasy novel and series is right up your street or if it is a bit too dark for you as I have felt it is for me through the conversation we shared.
Acquired Book By: I started hosting with Prism Book Tours at the end of [2017], having noticed the badge on Tressa’s blog (Wishful Endings) whilst I was visiting as we would partake in the same blog tours and/or book blogosphere memes. I had to put the memes on hold for several months (until I started to resume them (with Top Ten Tuesday) in January 2018). When I enquiried about hosting for Prism, I found I liked the niche of authors and stories they were featuring regularly. This is how I came to love discovering the Harlequin Heartwarming authors & series as much as it has been an honour to regularly request INSPY stories and authors. Whenever I host for Prism, I know I am in for an uplifting read and a journey into the stories which give me a lot of joy to find in my readerly queue of #nextreads. It is an honour to be a part of their team of book bloggers.
I received a complimentary copy of “The Cowboy’s Holiday Bride” direct from the author Cathy McDavid in exchange for an honest review. I did not receive compensation for my opinions or thoughts shared herein.
Hallo, Hallo dear hearts –
This year, my showcases for #blogmas started a bit earlier than expected – as I never know which month the Christmas stories will be available to host – as some touring companies set the standard early-on in Autumnal months whilst others leave most of their showcases for November in an early draw for Christmas readers seeking new books to read in December. Each year, I have the tendency of leaving it to chance and to simply enjoy the journey of discovering #newtomeauthors and celebrating new reads by the authors I already know I dearly love to be reading!
Such is the case today – as I came to know the Western Contemporary Romance styling of Ms McDavid through her first series with Harlequin Heartwarming which was the Sweetheart Ranch series which has concluded as a quartet! I was wicked thrilled with the ways in which she gave us a sweet ending to a series which I had truly become attached to reading. It was one of my top favourite series by the Heartwarming line overall and definitely one of my top Western Romance series I’ve been reading for the past several years.
When I first saw this blog tour being adverted I was growing more than a bit giddy about the announcement as I was curious which direction she might take us in next as she endears us to continue our journey into her next series with Heartwarming. Finding out she’s kicking off this new series “Wishing Well Springs” with a Christmas story was brilliant news – as this is how she started off the Sweetheart Ranch series as well. There is something quite special about series which begin at Christmastime and then, carry on through the seasons thereafter, connecting you to their communities, their characters and the writers who are penning them.
This marks my first #ChristmasReads for November but not for 2020 – as that honour went to reading “Christmas in Bayberry” by Jennifer Faye (see also Review) during #ChristmasInJuly. From this moment forward you’ll be seeing me share more posts about what I’m reading for Christmas, which stories/series I’ll be focusing on this year for the Christmas season and how I’m determined to spend quite a heap of time wrapped up in one Classical author’s collective works as a Christmas gift to myself this year. Stay tuned – this is only the early beginnings of my #blogmas posts for 2020!
My thoughts on how Ms McDavid concluded The Sweetheart Ranch series:
One of the reasons I’ve grown attached to the Sweetheart Ranch series (and the Harlequin Heartwarming line overall) are the realistic story-lines which continuously greet me whenever I make a return visit. What is hard about letting go of this series is the fact once you take up residence inside a series you love reading its hard to simply ‘let go’ and ‘let live’ wherever you last see the characters and where they have gone with their lives. It would be great to re-visit this series again in the future (if the author is inspired to do so) and to rekindle the joy of the Sweetheart Ranch.
Having said that – I loved how this installment focused on some rather difficult topics and remained true to its core about how those who come to the Sweetheart Ranch find a way of renewing their spirits, finding second chances and have taken some unexpected twisted turns to arrive in this small towne and to intersect their path with the Sweetheart Ranch. Some might call that fate but the beauty of the series is how serendipitously McDavid wrote their lives. In particular for this novel – if Carly hadn’t taken a chance to distance herself from her ex, she might not have had the opportunity to run the boutique at the ranch nor to raise her son without the fear of what ‘could’ happen if she had staid with her husband. Percolating in the background of this sweet and idyllic setting are dramatic lives of people who are overcoming their circumstances and finding a true way forward even if the path didn’t feel as assured previously. We all need a bit of hope and encouragement at any given time and the Sweetheart Ranch series feels like such a brilliant lift of joy to be reading.
McDavid also brought in a particular kind of craft Carly could make to turn a profit – I loved the ingenuity of what Carly chose to be a creator of as it ties into her love of the ranch and the lifestyle of a single Mum who lives on a ranch. I felt she had the right kind of instincts you need to make it in this life whilst at the same time, it felt right that she and JD might want to hope for ‘more’ for themselves rather than shortchanging their chances at happiness.
Ooh my goodness! This final installment of the series doesn’t disappoint! I had wished it might have looped back to the beginning a bit – or felt a bit more connected to the previous installments moreso than it had but what I loved about this story is how hopeful McDavid wrote it! She didn’t want you to give up on the hope peeking round the corners of the drama and the angst! And, trust me – there is angst in this novel! For one thing, McDavid truly tapped into the needless trauma self-deserving grandparents can inflict on their divorced daughter-in-laws! I was truly baffled by the lengths they went to deceive and assist someone against Carly! I mean, at some point – why did it take the grandfather to be the voice of reason?
The true heroes of this story are JD, Carly, Hombre and Rickie! Each of them has a reason to take notice of them – from JD whose rectifying where he is with his health and to Carly whose trying to sort out how to live out from under the shadow of her ex and his parents. The growth of the characters is happily in tandem with a sweet and slow romance – as both JD and Carly were unsure how they felt about pursuing any kind of a relationship. These are the kinds of romances I love most – the unexpecting ones and the ones you’re never quite sure how they will resolve until you reach the very last chapter!
Cash Montgomery creates Western-themed weddings and knows all about happily-ever-after. In theory. He’s been hurt too many times to think that he could ever be a marrying man. His business partner Phoebe Kellerman doesn’t agree with him—on anything! At Christmas, Cash is visited by three of his past girlfriends…and he begins to see the error of his ways. Will it be before he loses Phoebe, the woman he’s falling for?
In the third grade, NY Times, USA Today and Amazon bestselling author Cathy McDavid made it her goal to read every Black Stallion book ever written. Who knew such an illustrious ambition would eventually lead to a lifelong love of all things western, owning a stagecoach pulled by six mules, and a career writing contemporary romances for Harlequin?
With over 50 titles in print and 1.3 million-plus books sold, Cathy is also a member of the prestigious Romance Writers of America’s Honor Roll. This “almost” Arizona native and mother of grown twins is married to her own real-life sweetheart.
After leaving the corporate world six years ago, she now spends her days penning stories about good looking cowboys riding the range, busting broncs, and sweeping gals off their feet — oops, no. Make that winning the hearts of feisty, independent women who give the cowboys a run for their money. It's a tough job, but she’s willing to make the sacrifice.
I have decided to start participating in this book blogsphere meme with a few small changes of how it’s regularly blogged about by my fellow book bloggers. I will either be introducing my current reads of upcoming releases as I am in the process of reading them and/or I might be releasing a book review about a forthcoming title by which I had been blessed to read ahead of publication. The main purpose behind the meme is to encourage readers and your fellow book bloggers to become aware of new books being released which caught your eye and which held your interest to read. Sometimes if your still in the process of reading the books, its the titles which encouraged your bookish heart. I look forward to spending the next seasons of the year, talking about the books I have on hand to read, the books I’ve been reading and the books I might not even have a copy to read but which are of wicked sweet interest to become a #nextread of mine.
Hallo, Hallo dear hearts!
If your a regular reader of Harlequin Romances or their other imprints, I look forward to your comments – seeing what you love to read by Harlequin and of course, if you know of any mini-series or authors I might enjoy seeking out – kindly let me know! My local library has a hearty collection of their stories and I love finding new Harlequin authors to read!
The series that started it all:
Return of the #BlackwellBrothers:
The Rancher's Twins
The Rancher's Rescue
TheRanchersRedemption
TheRanchersFakeFiancee
The Rancher's Homecoming
The Rancher’s Twins by Carol Ross → my review
The Rancher’s Rescue by Cari Lynn Webb → my review
The Rancher’s Redemption by Melinda Curtis → my review
The Rancher’s Fake Fiancée by Amy Vastine → my review
The Rancher’s Homecoming by Anna J. Stewart → my review
Published by: Harlequin Heartwarming (@HarlequinBooks) | imprint of Harlequin
I have a lot of fond memories of reading through the Return of the Blackwell Brothers series as this is a series which is full of heart, family, community and the brilliant backdrop of a Western Romance series set in the heart of the Rockies. You immediately connect to the characters, feel caught in the dramas of their lives and quite soon after you’ve met them – become one of their cheerleaders, hoping to seek the redemption and the turning tides you feel they deserve.
Through each installment of this series, we have the added benefit of ‘switching’ voices & styles of the series vision per each author who is penning the installments – they all collectively have given us such a tome of #bookjoy to discover and through their collaborative efforts the Return of the Blackwell Brothers and now the newely released #BlackwellSisters series is a wicked good treat of loveliness for today’s Contemporary Western Romance reader!
I had the pleasure of being on the review tours for the Return of the Blackwell Brothers – dipping in and out of this series with renewed affection for the characters and the curiosity of intrigue set round ‘Big E’ and the devious nature of how he was affecting the lives of his relatives by his quirky antics and his unorthodox choices on behalf of their lives. Through each installment you only gathered a snippet of clues towards understanding his methods and of knowing where in the world he actual had set his hat throughout the series itself. In many regards, this unknown fact about ‘Big E’ is what enouraged me onwards deeper into Return of the Blackwell Brothers because point of fact, he was enabling them to either sink or swim on their own. And, there was a strong allure within me as a reader to see how those boys would handle their adversities and work through the challenges facing them in the wake of Big E’s disappearance.
Fast forward – as I was reading the series itself – I was hoping there would be a ‘sequel’ series – never realising until Ms Webb revealled the news in the comments of one of my reviews for her novels there was indeed a sequel series forthcoming in 2020 and through my conversations with Ms Stewart I was able to set-up a date where *all!* five authors will be chatting LIVE during @SatBookChat on the 14th of November!! I cannot even describe how thankful I am to the authors – for giving us this new series and for giving me the joy in hosting them in a live Twitter chat this month!
Today, I am helping to announce both the series and to shine a spotlight on Carol Ross’s installment of the Blackwell Sisters series – which is ‘Montana Match’. As you might have noticed, Ms Ross kicked off the original series with ‘The Ranger’s Twins’ and within those pages of the very first novel I read about the Blackwells – you could say I became smitten for life about the family, their community and the ways in which you find yourself rallying behind them.
It is feel-good Western Romance – the kind of stories you could see as a sequence of Hallmark movies and/or a Hallmark series – wherein similar to Chesapeake Shores or NetFlix’s Virgin River or Sweet Magnolias – you can see yourself settling into the setting, the towne and re-falling in love with the characters as they shift off the page to the screen. I am not sure if these series will make that leap but if they do it would be wicked good news for all of us who’ve taken their journey with them through the pages of the novels these lovely five women have given us to enjoy.
I wasn’t as inspired with this topic as much as I was to contribute a clever topic for an author whose series has left me dearly curious to READ. One of my bookish hobbies (as let’s face it, a lot of us have more bookish hobbies than non-bookish!) is finding new subniches of familiar genres and re-discovering why I love each particular genre by finding my route into a new hidden niche I haven’t yet explored – which is how I came to be featuring Mr William Ray!
Jorie’s topic for William Ray: Top Ten Secrets of Surviving in the Verin Empire ??
Hallo, Hallo dear hearts!
I positively love Indie (Press and Publishers) and Self Published Speculative Fiction storycrafters who are giving me wicked good literary wanderings within Cosy Horror, Science Fiction and Fantasy!!
For this week’s #TopTenTuesday, I wanted to do something special and a bit different – which is why I decided to creatively come up with a fun topic for the author whilst hosting this lovely blog tour which is celebrating a rather uniquely interesting book series as I’ve been in conversation with the author, Mr Ray whilst setting up this featured guest post! I do not oft get the chance to have this level of collaboration with an author about a guest post and I must admit, it was the highlight of the past few weeks for me as I took ill for over a week after the sudden loss of my Cedar trees which was explained in a series of tweets within this *thread. The collaboration proved to be the best diversion to offset what was affecting me in the aftermath of having those trees forcibly removed.
Here’s the exciting bit: you see, his series, the Verin Empire *switches!* genres per each installment of the series – you will find my notes relating to which genre applies to which installment of the series shortly. Even more interesting to mention I felt is how these genre descriptions and interpretations apply to the Verin Empire as well!!
Let me explain:
(portions of this top anchour were pulled from my conversations
with Mr Ray and are being reshared on this post with permission of Mr Ray.)
When I enquried about “Blackpowder Fantasy” (as in all humbled honestly I can’t stop thinking about the franchise of films for Pirates of the Carribean as they loved using the stuff!) this is what the author responded by explaining to me where his story fits within the scope of this designation:
Blackpowder covers a huge technological range from
quasi-medieval to Victorian war story. I’m at the far modern end of what fits in it.
Whereas when it comes to whether or not his stories
are considered gritty or grim – he had this to say:
A bit gritty. I don’t think it’s super dark or anything…
but it’s a grimy 19th century cityscape with rampant corruption. Grimy, not grim.
And, of course, I had to ask if by gritty or grim if this was by any chance inferring explicitly graphic violence in ANY of the installments as I’ve been burnt before on how far writers can take their crime scenes, death scenes and you know, that side of the story:
I don’t think the violence is super explicit in Great Restoration. It gets a little heavier in the final chapters, but there are only a couple of key deaths along the way, and they’re not particularly gruesome (and both are off-page!). Gedund is more brutal with that stuff… but then, it’s a war story and I don’t think it’s particularly gorey for its ilk.
As you can see, this is a series which might have been considered outside the purview of Jorie’s readerly curiosities but then again, you have to take into account when the film Rango came out she was one of the first to feel inclined to give it a whirl and see what a wild ride *that!* kind of fantastical Western could present!! Somewhere in the story and throughout its adventurous tale Rango managed to worm its way into her cinematic heart! Seriously, how can you not LOVE ‘Rango’? I digress.
Through the illustrations (which Mr Ray kindly shared with me for this post and for a special post which will arrive during @WyrdAndWonder’s Year 4, May 2021) you can start to see the vision he had for this series as much as how this series re-sets a standard in what you can expect to find in your fantastical wanderings. I was most intrigued by what provided the bones of this series foundation – the inspirational routes the author took to find his own voice and style within Fantasy but also to write a fantastical and engaging series which re-shifts the reader into the curious realms of where Fantasy can take them.
The only warning signs I had this series might have its ebb and flow of caution for me as a reader would be when he broached where this series falls in regards to Fantasy classification terms and inclusions – thereby, if you have any similar sensibilities as I do as a reader, you might want to note them as you consider this series for yourself:
I shift things around a lot stylistically, so Gedlund has some brutal bits, but I tend not to indulge in garish gorey detail because that pushes further from the period feel. But it is heavier on horror elements and violence than the others, being about war. The detective stories aren’t about that though. As a sort of western, Shadow Debt is more violent than the detective stories, but it’s dime-novel stuff, not Grimdark.
Two of his main influences of inspiration are the stories of Sherlock Holmes and the collective works of JRR Tolkien – which is something I can relate to myself, as although I own the full Histories of Middle Earth and all the connecting stories within the Trilogy – I’ve only accomplished seeing the film adaptations in recent decades. I am thankful I could attend one of the midnight premieres as those are the kind of experiences you can easily take for granted now in this current world of pandemics and the issues surrounding large crowds at movie premieres. Thankfully during those releases things were a bit more innocent and tamer – where you could enjoy the film and the collective experience of being in the theater without the kind of worries which are on your mind nowadays.
Through seeing those adaptations and learning about the director’s process for bringing them to life – both cinematically and visually through Weta’s visual special effects, you can uncover a lot of Tolkien’s vision as well. In that regard, just the sheer breadth of Tolkien’s work is impressive enough and is one to be respected. And, when it comes to Holmes, is there a greater private detective who has captured our hearts, our minds and our natural curiosity to observe how he sleuths? I can definitely respect why each of those would provide a wicked amount of inspiration!
What endeared me though through our conversations is when he described his series as the following:
I don’t think Gedlund is Grimdark. It’s a bit dark, but it has a more hopeful edge… Grimdark usually emphasizes an implacable world full of dark things. Gedlund has more of an… incompetent world of dark things? The theme in all the Verin Empire stories is about the lingering darkness of the past, but implicit in that is an idea that things are improving. Arc of history bending towards justice and so forth.
So, for example, there’s this broad notion that magic is fading from the world… but as you get into the details of it, it turns out most of the magical world was kind of awful and people are better off that it’s gone. Most of fantasy features a struggle against a returning evil once defeated by a more virtuous past… I wanted to show a lingering evil at war with a more virtuous (but still far from perfect) newer world.
And, this is what re-gave me the hope of being able to read the series! *whew!* Whenever you are on the fringes of discovering a new subniche of a genre you love reading, it is wicked wonderful when you can ask the author direct questions and put your concerns about their stories to rest. Especially if you’re a sensitive reader like I am or if you know your limitations when it comes to Dark Fantasy elements, graphic violence (or any amount of violence and how its portrayed) or whatever else might concern you ahead of seeking out the stories for your own readerly consumption.
I was wicked thankful for his explanation because this was my initial takeaway after this was revealled: it’s a world in transition and a world choosing how it wants to be in the future and if it is ready to shift away from the past or if it wants to revisit those darker days (in some regards),…
As you can see, he has written a series which encourages you to consider the layers and the ways in which the stories are told to further understand the telling of how the stories reveal themselves. And, those are my favourite stories to find to read. They offer a lovely challenge because of what they encourage you to ruminate over as you’re reading them.
And, of course, once he said this – I mean, what more can you ask for in this series?
Exactly! A big part of what inspired Gedlund was that visual of this ‘modern’ army fighting an immortal lich king, stuck forever in the past. The world is still has that 19th century sort of mud on its boots, but it’s marching forward. There’s rampant sexism, but there are also murmurings of the battles for Women’s Suffrage. There’s classic aristocratic corruption, but the stirrings of democracy and more sensible management. Things aren’t perfect, but they’re moving forward. Fantasy worlds all too often feel like fixed things, and I wanted to write a world that was clearly moving through history.
I loved how Mr Ray rooted real world issues into the backbone of his world’s back-histories whilst he kept the world on its own trajectory as well. I look forward to one day tackling this series and finding my way inside the world once I do – ooh, for those who are curious, his short story is available in PRINT which is something I already celebrated finding out myself! Whilst at the same time, I requested my local library to purchase Gedlund and I am awaiting their response.
One blessing I’ve found as a book blogger and as a Joyful Tweeter is generally most authors are willing to respond to your enquiries and they are blessedly approachable when it comes to a reader who wants to ask more pointed questions out of the concern for how those stories might affect them as a new reader to either their style, their genre or the thematic of the stories they are writing. Never feel you cannot reach out to a #newtoyouauthor and ask the questions which are important to you.
Today it is an honour to host a new blog tour with Storytellers on Tour – a blog touring company whose championing Indie Storytellers and giving us all a lovely chance to feature their collective works. I am looking forward to working with them as oft as I can and to the conversations and features which hosting will inspire to bring to my readers on Jorie Loves A Story!
Brew yourself a cuppa and let’s find out more about the Verin Empire!
And, I hope you’re as entertained as I was with this wicked response from Mr Ray!
Shadow Debt (Guest Post) Subtitle: A Tale of the Verin Empire by William Ray
Glynn Sorley is sheriff of Keat’s Field, a tiny settlement in an otherwise lawless frontier. With the discovery of diamonds, her town is flooded with fortune-hunters looking to strike it rich. It’s also a target for competing colonial powers, savage goblin tribes, and outlaws.
A rustler on the run from the law stumbles across his father’s mysterious legacy – a weapon of immense magical power. He uses it to ravage across the territory as the notorious outlaw Gentleman Jim.
But the weapon’s power comes at a terrible cost, and Keat’s Field may just have to pay the price…
This third Tale of the Verin Empire returns us to the world of Gedlund and The Great Restoration. It explores a frontier trapped between competing nations, where goblins reign and a lone sheriff fights to keep the peace.
Drawing inspiration from L’Amour’s Comstock Lode, Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings, and our own late 19th century, Shadow Debt continues William Ray’s bold, critically acclaimed reinvention of classic fantasy in a world of memorable characters and unique perspectives, and features sketches from acclaimed illustrator Tom Parker.
Connect with the illustrator Tom Parker via @papagaeio
Gedlund (book one) : Blackpowder Fantasy
A Case of Eager Heris (short story) :
Gaslight / Urban Fantasy | Private / Noir Detective
The Great Restoration (book two) :
Gaslight / Urban Fantasy | Private / Noir Detective
Shadow Debt (book three) : Weird West | Western Fantasy
Top Ten Secrets of Surviving in Verin Empire
by William Ray
William Ray’s Shadow Debt novel illustration provided by William Ray and is used with permisison. Art Illustration Credit: Tom Parker.
Inspiration from Jorie for this Topic: a lovely list of things to be aware of as a new visitor to this world – cautionary things, odd quirks, small insights into the places or the people therein. A bit of a last grab list of things any new person to this world would love to have in hand before they went into the world without any knowledge of it and might get into a few pickles.
Author’s Response: As the creator of Tales of the Verin Empire, I’ve been asked to offer advice for any traveler intrepid enough to tour those storied lands. Frankly, I find this a huge relief! If I can just watch you fumbling around out there it will save me a lot of work in character and plot development. With that in mind, good luck, and thanks in advance!
The Bachelor Duke
The Cowboy's Holiday Bride
Shadow Debt (Guest Post)
