I should actually have a new release to announce in the very near future, but for now feast your eyes on these gorgeous new covers for two of my existing fantasy stories.
You can see the covers under the cut for friends list mercy:
Let’s start with Muse & Crisis, a two-story collection featuring tales of troubled artists and their muses.
The image is digital art by an artist named Setory, found via Dreamstime. It’s a stunning image and matches the stories and the mood perfectly, even though the villainous muse Alicia looks quite different in my imagination.
And here is the blurb:
Muse
Twenty-three years ago Alicia offered Mark fame and fortune as a rockstar, in exchange for an early death. Mark refused, walked away from Alicia and from music altogether. He walked away and made a life for himself, a success of himself.
But now Alicia is back, not a single day older than when Mark last saw her. Once again, she has a proposition for him, a proposal of artistic collaboration. Only this time, it’s an offer that Mark cannot refuse…
Crisis:
Once upon a time, Steve was a hotshot writer, the mastermind behind a series of hugely popular comic books. But Steve’s career also cost him his marriage and left him alone with only a shaggy grey dog for company. And sometimes, late at night, the doubts creep up on Steve and that niggling voice in his head just won’t shut up. Even worse, the voice sounds and looks just like Channa Dal, the time and dimension hopping amazon warrior from the Logarithms of Time series and Steve’s most popular creation. So is Steve going crazy or has Channa really left the comic pages to torment her creator?
Two troubled artists, two muses, two short tales of art, creativity, inspiration and the demons they sometimes unleash.
List price: 2.99 USD, EUR or 1.99 GBP
Buy it at Amazon US, Amazon UK, Amazon Germany, Amazon France, Amazon Spain, Amazon Italy, Amazon Canada, Amazon Australia, Amazon Mexico, Amazon Brazil, Amazon Japan, Amazon India, Kobo, Barnes & Noble, Apple iTunes, Casa del Libro, DriveThruFiction, OmniLit/AllRomance ebooks, Libiro and XinXii.
More formats coming soon.
Next, we have the new cover for The Hidden Castle, another two-story collection, which includes the titular epic fantasy novelette as well as a bonus story:
The cover is digital art by an artist called Assnezana, found at Dreamtime.com. Again, the dreamy imagery of the castle hidden in a misty forrest is nigh perfect for the story, not to mention absolutely gorgeous.
The Hidden Castle:
Once the bloody battle of Yarra was over, the black-garbed mercenary known only as the Traveller wanted nothing more than to ride away and find himself a new employer and a new war to fight in. But then a dying man reached out to the Traveller to give him a silver locket and begged him to deliver a message.
The Traveller gave the man his word – and mercenary or not, he was still a man of honour. So he headed off to deliver the message, right into the heart of the vast and uncharted Jewodda forest, not knowing that he was about to meet his destiny…
Bonus Story: The Black Blade
It fell from the sky in a trail of fire during the worst storm the realm had ever seen. A sword as black as the night, corrupting all it touched. The black blade would bring one hundred and fifty years of blood and darkness to the land of Allagat, before it finally found its match…
Two short tales of epic fantasy of 8000 words altogether.
List price: 2.99 USD and EUR or 1.99 GBP
Buy it at Amazon US, Amazon UK, Amazon Germany, Amazon France, Amazon Spain, Amazon Italy, Amazon Canada, Amazon Australia, Amazon Mexico, Amazon Brazil, Amazon Japan, Amazon India, Kobo, Barnes & Noble, Apple iTunes, Casa del Libro, DriveThruFiction, OmniLit/AllRomance ebooks, Libiro and XinXii.
More formats coming soon.
The new cover even inspired me to take another look at the proposed sequel to The Hidden Castle, a story called The Hangman’s Bride, which I wrote and than abandoned approximately three-quarters in. It holds up surprisingly well, though we still don’t learn the Traveller’s real name.
As a matter of fact, the Traveller is probably the most reticent character I have ever written, since he still refuses to as much as tell me his name, not to mention what precisely his relationship with the villainous ruler Aran Gator is.
sending...
I really like the style and the clear colour separation for your title and author name – I bet that works well in small sizes, too.
Glad you like the new covers. They do look pretty good as thumbnails as well, which is crucial, since this is how people see them in online stores.
That was my thought, too.
Also, as an aside – I’ve definitely committed to being at Loncon 3. I’ll actually be doing an extended London stay – I haven’t visited since 1997. I haven’t been in Britain since then – period. How are your plans developing? I know you regularly manage to visit the UK.
Andrea K. Höst will also definitely be there. Bookblogger Li from Bookdaze hasn’t finalized her plans yet either. As far as I know Ana and Thea from the Booksmugglers will be there. Michelle West said she’d go and I saw on the site that Kate Elliott and Jo Walton have confirmed their attendance.
I’m still not sure if I’m going to go to Loncon, though I bought a membership months ago (and nominated for the Hugos). But knowing that you and Andrea and Kate Elliott and Jo Walton and Ana and Thea and Liz Bourke are going to be there is a very strong argument for going.
I decided to splurge and have some days before, as well – I picked a hotel I’d stayed in before in central London (I don’t really aim for the late night galas and stuff, I’ll be pleased to see people and hopefully talk to some as well ^^). I haven’t been there since 97, so that should be a pretty big change what with all the upheaval since then.
These last two years at the job have been horrendous, so whatever happens next, I will have had that.
I really ought to reread my first post 😛 – then I wouldn’t repost info I already mentioned. Sorry.
If I’m going, I’ll try to stick fairly close to the convention centre (lots of hotels in the area, including some decent chain hotels), if only because tube service gets rather erratic later in the evening. And though I’m not much for parties and galas either, I’m also not too keen on sitting on a drafty platform waiting for a train I narrowly missed. Besides, I don’t know the Excel (which didn’t yet exist last time I was in London), so I don’t know how safe it feels in the evening.
If you haven’t been in London since 1997 (which was around the time I was a student there), prepare for some big changes. Particularly, the whole City/Docklands and East End area has changed a lot.
Sorry about the horrendous times at the job. I certainly sympathize, teaching can be tough. At least you have Easter holidays now.
Beautiful covers, Cora. I have to admit I haven’t seen the previous covers, but these look magnificent.
Glad you like the new covers, Martyn. The old ones can still be seen here and here BTW.
Your new Katla covers are great as well BTW, though I also liked the old ones.