#fantasy

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Free @ : https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/1462617

Having an abusive assassin for a sister was bad enough, but when Lyra’s older sister, Nicole, becomes obsessed with killing the teenage troll, her life becomes a special kind of nightmare. Will she escape, or become just another victim of the unstoppable woman?

@bookstodon

(Left) The cover of Troll Song, by Owen Tyme, Illustrated by Ryan Johnson. There's a woman in mud spattered white, leather armor crossing a pair of short swords against the neck of a terrified, shirtless dwarf. The woman has white hair and a darker skin tone on the left side of her face. Her left eye is green and her right eye is blue. The dwarf's hair and beard are blond. The background is a green forest, with some flowers among the tall grass. (Right) The background is a snow-covered forest, with a pair of dark silhouettes in it, one small and the other large, like a giant. The smaller silhouette is of a young woman walking away and the interior is filled with musical symbols, in green, white and two shades of blue. The larger silhouette is a woman wielding two swords and the interior is full of blood spatter. The larger one appears to be chasing the smaller one. The following text is laid over the scene: “I can’t die until Lyra takes her last breath! She’ll regret betraying her sisters!” “There’s no price I won’t pay to see that happen, no pain I won’t endure and I’d sacrifice the whole world to seal her fate!” (Bottom) https://books2read.com/TrollSong

It's the annual Smashwords sale and a bunch of Space Wizard books are half-off! Discover a Sherlock Holmsian murder mystery with music, magic, and aliens in William C. Tracy's The Society of Two Houses!

https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/1713186

50% off @ : https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/1667520

The Hunter seeks peace and quiet to mourn the loss of her best friend in a world that seems bound and determined to make that task impossible. Enemies attack when she’d rather be alone, allies can’t take a hint and the arch-demon Wrath seeks the Hunter’s hand in marriage, even though she’d sooner kill him.

@bookstodon

(Left) The cover of She Seeks Peace, by Owen Tyme. The background is a snow-capped, craggy mountain with green, grassy hills at its base, which feature yellow and blue flowers. The foreground is dominated by the round symbol for peace, in gold. Along the bottom of it are two olive branches. At the top is a dove in flight. Arranged on the lower three spokes of it are three figures based on the AIGA symbol for a woman. The figure on the right is blue. The one in the middle is a very dark gray, bordering on black, which includes a top hat. The figure on the left is red and has horns, like a demon. (Right) The background is a view from the interior of a gun's barrel, with the rifling very apparent and the following quote over the top: Reggie looked down the barrel of one of his own pistols, which the girl held in both hands, because the M1911 was a little large for someone so small. There was a long, silent moment as the girl giggled and met his gaze. The murderous look was gone, replaced by something more playful, like a cat toying with a mouse. (Bottom) https://books2read.com/SheSeeksPeace

22

Oh how the words flowed as I added 5,097 to Expired Reflection. The next 2 chapters, though, I’ve kind of written out of relevance.

That’s the risk.

Then again, I’m over 80% of the way through the draft. I don’t need to amend the ending, I just need to use what I already know to bridge the gap.

I’m seeing the story filling-in & am excited.

*Have fun, zoom in on the map!

Be everwell.

A black and white map of the archipelago Republic of Pannulus, which is located off the northeast coast of the Continent of Tremjara. The roughly circular island group is surrounded by the Veiled Sea to the west, Greenwall Strait to the northwest, Oln Strait to the southwest, and the Titania Ocean elsewhere. Of the over twenty islands, the primary island, Sancthor, is larger than the others combined at about sixty percent. Centered in the group, and shaped like an arrowhead, it points into the ocean. Enormous Lake Arcana is in the west, the nation’s capital, Arthune, on its eastern shore. To the south where the arrowhead narrows is the Vortex Gulf. The Mysquanmic Vortex is located there and influences all aspects of Pannulus life. The Eventide Mountains dominate its center. The next two largest islands, about equal in size, make up over thirty percent of Pannulus. Shorus, shaped like a bucking bronco, its tail to the north and head low, is in the extreme south and separated from Sancthor by the Akasha Sea. The Evertree Mountains fill its center. Subtonia Island, the fifth largest island, is between the bronco’s legs. Scurpia Island, shaped like a scorpion, its pincers facing northwest, is in the north, the Spinal Range running along its length. It’s separated from Sancthor Island by the Nevermist Sea and Ryskor Sea. Also separating Scurpia from Sancthor is Serpent Island, the nation’s fourth largest. The country’s other islands are scattered.

Ulysses reviews "Down the River" by J. Scott Coatsworth, River City book 2:

"Anyone who ever read Armistead Maupin’s Tales of the City will appreciate this book... I was moved to tears more than once, because everything seemed to spark a memory, or a familiar resonance, with my own lived experience. 5 stars."

https://www.queerscifi.com/review-down-the-river-j-scott-coatsworth-2/

@lgbtqbookstodon @diversebooks @bookstodon

In honor of the winter solstice, this week's Sunday snippet comes from my frothy romantasy novella Snowspelled, which is set at a Winter Solstice house party in an alt-19th century England (ruled by the Boudiccate). It's available in ebook & paperback now:

https://books2read.com/snowspelled

The cover of Snowspelled, by Stephanie Burgis, shows a young woman in Regency-style clothing under a long and gorgeous coat holding a lantern amidst swirling, magical snow. Above and around that cover image is this snippet from the book: There were shadows under his eyes now that I hadn’t seen two months ago. His light brown cheeks, still dusted with dark stubble from his journey, looked disconcertingly hollow.
But I would not worry about him. I would not.
Instead I looked pointedly from his tangled hair to the branch that lay at his feet. “You were in too much of a hurry to protect Lady Cosgrave’s hedges? Not very well-mannered for a houseguest.”
He arched one dark eyebrow, his narrow lips quirking into a half-smile. “And you’re worrying about propriety now? You really have changed, Harwood.”
The familiar name ran like a knife beneath my ribs, making me suck in a breath. “Miss Harwood,” I said icily, “if we’re worrying about propriety. We’re no longer affianced, if you recall.”
“Oddly enough,” said Wrexham, “I have no difficulty at all in remembering that small detail.”

QSFer H. B. Wasiak has a new MM fantasy romance out: They Meet in Dreams.

It’s 1999, and Max Reid’s summer gets pretty weird when a boy from his dreams starts feeling way too real.

Seventeen-year-old Max seems to have it all. He’s popular with girls, great at baseball, always surrounded by friends. But behind the jokes and ...

https://www.queerscifi.com/new-release-they-meet-in-dreams-h-b-wasiak/

@MMbookstodon @lgbtqbookstodon @diversebooks @bookstodon

It's both a thrill & an honor that my short story "Mail-Order Magic" was selected to be part of the Sunday Morning Transport Holiday Storyflod this year! Find it linked here along with the other amazing chosen stories: https://www.sundaymorningtransport.com/p/smt-2025-holiday-storyflod-part-1

21

Felt a little stronger yesterday as I passed the 3rd Plot Point (75%) & added 4,450 words to Expired Reflection.

Events will soon happen fast, but first there’s the séance as Tacit reenters the story. She is a challenge to write, but a joy, & arrives with a lesson:

Beware bringing the past back to tell its tale, for it may not tell the tale that you were expecting it to tell.

Be everwell.

The first three books in the Kovenlore Chronicles sit on a dim shelf where a gargoyle protects them. Each book’s cover is the negative image of a golden, hand drawn map showing mountains, plains, and rivers, but sometimes a black void. The titles are always displayed across two lines up high, the color varying. Between the two lines of the title is always a set of turquoise eyes. A subtitle, always in turquoise, is below that and shares which number book it is in The Kovenlore Chronicles. At the bottom is the author’s name, Christina Anne Hawthorne, and always in a dark yellow. All text is outlined in black, the titles possessing a shadow. Book 1, Trust in the Forgotten, is on the left, it’s title in turquoise. Book 2, A River in Each Hand, is at center, its title in red. Book 3, Exhuming Truths, is on the right, its title in dark blue.

Challenge : Birthday Wish

Visions guided Wraithvine to a village isolated on a forested island just off a wild coast. There ze finds a village where a fortnight before everyone over the age of 13 vanished. The children are distraught, food is running low, and the twelve year old girl who’s birthday is only days away cannot sleep.
What has happened to the adults and can Wraithvine get to the bottom of the mystery in time? -- Deathshead419

There was something deeply wrong with this section of the wide ocean. First there were the merfolk and their warped predator false god. Now there was this place.

Wraithvine had followed the trail of smoke and regular puffs of it. Someone at the fire wanted and needed attention.

Desperately so, as it turned out. There was not a single adult on the island. Nobody over the age of …

Looking for some soft, comfy reading to ring out this hard old year? You're sure to find something delightful in my whimsical fantasy story collection. Elves, gargoyles, mischievous young magicians, heroic aunties, brave doggo, and much more.
@bookstodon

Bookshop.org
https://bookshop.org/p/books/relics-from-a-traveling-show-k-m-herkes/0abf2118b4e0a1c2?
Other booksellers:
https://books2read.com/RelicsFromATravelingShow

3D mockups of a paperback and ebook for Relics From a Traveling Show by K. M. Herkes on a green background with dancing gingerbread figures wearing top hats in the foreground and strings of vintage holiday bulbs hanging overhead. The cover of the book shows a figure in a green and blue traveling cloak, shown from the rear, seated at a desk gazing out an arched window at a carnival tent bathed in sunset light. The figure has short brown hair, and they are petting the ears of a dog sitting beside them. The dog's mouth is open in a happy doggy grin. An eldritch lamp decorates the desk, beside a binder labeled "DPS Orientation Guide." At the left stands a tall bookshelf filled with artifacts, books, and knickknacks. A bonsai tree sits on the windowsill, and a pair of sinister glowing eyes lurk in the shadows behind the chair.

This week's Saturday snippet comes from my cozy-spooky romantasy novella A Marriage of Undead Inconvenience, which is out now in ebook & paperback:

https://books2read.com/undeadInconvenience

And so is its sequel!

https://books2read.com/honeymoonGrave

The cover of A Marriage of Undead Inconvenience shows an ominously closed entrance-gate at the top of the cover and a bat with its wings outspread at the bottom, all framed by climbing roses. Above and beside it is this snippet from the story: “I am not suffering from dementia, Miss Dunhaven.” Red swept in a sudden, sheening wave across the vampire’s brown eyes, making Margaret suck in a breath, as he sliced out his words with a lethal edge. “You gravely misunderstand me if you think me de-fanged.” “And you mis-name me, my lord.” Her hand tightened around the handle of her teacup. “As I believe you are fully aware, my name is ‘Lady Riven’ now.” Lord Riven’s red-sheened eyes narrowed. She bared a ferocious smile in response.