Category: Fantasy Fiction (Page 1 of 2)

10 Serial Installments up & running!

The first ten installments of ‘A Stolenworld Serial’ – based on the ‘Stolen’ trilogy, but divided into novella-sized segments – are up & running, Kindle only. 24,000 – 31,000 words per book, for those who prefer reading their fantasy in bite-sized chunks. Best spot to get all the links is to go to my website and go to the Stolenworld Serial page – link below!

Stolenworld Serial Page on kakrisko.com

OR visit Stolenworld, the website, the location of all things Stolenworld – maps, documents, gifs, trailers, and art, including some NEW art:

Stolenworld

Here’s one of the covers:

‘The Twisted Trees’ cover

Ali’s Friday Fiction: featuring Cornerstone: The Delving

‘Cornerstone: The Delving’ (the sequel to ‘Raising Rook’) is being featured on author Ali Isaac’s Friday Fiction blog! Head on over to the link below for a sneak peek, review, and other goodies, and don’t forget to take a look at Ali’s wonderful Conor Kelly series and other works!

‘Cornerstone: The Delving’ on Friday Fiction

Winners!

Congratulations to the 10 winners of the Stolen/Crypt of souls Giveaway on Goodreads! Your books are in the mail!

Crypt Cover 600

Cover of Stolen

New Fantasy paperback giveaway!

August 5 (midnight) – September 5 (midnight), 2016:

This giveaway includes the first TWO volumes of the ‘Stolen’ fantasy series (both published by Malachite Quills/Chimera Tales) PLUS the ‘Companion’ booklet, which features maps, documents, family trees, word origins, philosophy and religion, extra history, and more! All three signed by author.

You’ve got a whole month to enter – don’t forget! Follow THIS LINK to the giveaway.

Note: these two volumes are first editions, no longer in print. They include original cover art by Andrae Harrison.

Cover of Stolen

Cover of ‘Stolen’ – first edition

Cornerstone: The Delving released

I’m pleased to announce that Cornerstone: The Delving (the sequel to Cornerstone: Raising Rook) has been released for Kindle (click the link). Paperback version should be coming soon; watch here for updates.

Don’t forget that Raising Rook is available for Goodreads giveaway through the 31st AND there’s a Kindle Countdown going on as well! Get your first book free or cheap, then continue with The Delving.

And don’t keep Rook waiting. He’s getting…impatient.

Cover for The Delving

Goodreads Giveaway: Cornerstone: Raising Rook

Five copies of the paperback version of Cornerstone: Raising Rook (Book ONE in the series) will be available for giveaway at the link below starting May 15 and ending May 31.

Cornerstone Giveaway

You’ll need to be a Goodreads member or sign up (free). The giveaway is in anticipation of the release of the second book in the series, Cornerstone: The Delving, on May 25th. In addition, there’ll be a Kindle Countdown sale starting the 25th and ending the 31st if you’d prefer the ebook version of Raising Rook – starting at just .99!

The Cornerstone books are modern fantasy fiction, geared for adults but suitable for teens and up, featuring a unique set of circumstances and characters. Reviewers appreciate the fresh ideas and approach. See the description on the book page, and get your name in soon!

Raising Rook book cover

Raising Rook book cover

Stained glass window

Children’s songs and stained glass

When I was a kid and attending Girl Scout Camp on a regular basis, there was a song we used to sing to make fun of the nursery rhymes we had only so recently recited earnestly. The chorus went like this, in a sort of sing-song tune:

“The window, the window, the second-story window,

With a heave and a ho, and a mighty throw, (they/she/he) threw it out the window!”

The verses were done by inserting the first three lines of a four-line nursery rhyme, so:

“Mary had a little lamb

Its fleece was white as snow

And everywhere that Mary went

She…threw it out the window!”

Followed by the above chorus. Try it! It works with Jack Sprat, Little Miss Muffin, and Peter, Peter, Pumpkin eater (cruelly), and a number of others.

With that in mind, here’s another teaser from the upcoming sequel Cornerstone: The Delving. It’s a window, though it’s on the third story, not the second. It’s hand-made stained glass, by a central figure in the book. But is she a ‘good guy’ or a ‘bad guy’?

Stained glass window

wooden cane with metal scrollwork

Teaser: Caduceus

This object figures in Book Two of the Cornerstone series (Cornerstone: The Delving), due out in May or June. Readers may remember it from the first book. In The Delving, it changes hands. Is this ultimately a good thing or a bad? Depends on whose side you’re on…

wooden cane with metal scrollwork

Book review: The Queen and the Dagger

The Queen and the Dagger Book Cover The Queen and the Dagger
Book of Theo
Melanie Ansley
Fantasy
Kindle

This is an excellent, richly-imagined short book for older children/younger teens, combining elements of fantasy, myth, and storytelling tradition. The reader remains fully immersed in the world from the first sentence. Editing is impeccable. There’s nothing to distract you from the well-paced storyline.

The characters are unique and carefully drawn. No one is perfect, but each has her own merits. The plot is true epic fantasy, a great introduction to swordplay, quest, and chosen-one themes that run throughout contemporary adult fantasy works. Pacing is steady, with no dead spots. The setting is unique and familiar, yet alien at the same time. It will feel most familiar to children graduating from elementary  anthropomorphic animal stories to more advanced chapter books and novels. There are betrayal, danger, and personality clashes as well as fellowship and alliance.  It has a Lion King-feel to it, of fate and inevitability not wholly under the control of the actors.

After finishing this book (in one sitting!) I immediately checked for more in the series. This is one I’d like to follow. It brought me back to the childhood tales I loved to read, yet it was sufficiently advanced for adult readers. Recommended for just about anybody.

Link to The Queen and the Dagger on Amazon

A draft in the hand is worth…

It’s been a while, but I’ve finally got a draft in hand of the sequel to Cornerstone: Raising Rook (tentatively called Cornerstone: The Delving). After starting off fast, I stalled out, despite having written part of the last chapter and knowing where I needed to go, which is my usual technique. Then I wrote the last few chapters all in a rush when I finally got going again.

While it’s definitely satisfying to have an 80,000 word manuscript, there’s a lot more to do: general editing, consistency, timeline checks, removing parts that don’t fit or are unnecessary, adding new parts, proofreading, re-reading, re-re-reading, re-re-re-reading – yeah. Not to mention formal editing, formatting for ebook and paperback, and commissioning cover art.  But it feels like an Accomplishment, and at least somewhat like a relief.

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