The Lord of Dreams is now up for pre-order! When a fairy king grants a human wish, there’s more at stake than dreams. Claire Delaney has a good life, despite her adolescent angst. But she wants more. In a moment of frustration, she wishes to be “the hero.” What she actually wants is to be the center of attention, but what she gets is a terrifying Fae king demanding that she rescue an imprisoned fairy, facing fantastical dangers and hardships she could not have imagined. Yet the dreams–and the rescue–are only the beginning of her journey. She is at the […]
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As promised, here is my second set of mini reviews of the books in Light in the Darkness: A Noblebright Fantasy Boxed Set. You can find the first set of mini reviews here. If this is the first you’ve seen of noblebright fantasy, you can find an overview here on my site and on Noblebright.org. In that overview post, I promised reviews of the books in this first noblebright fantasy boxed set, along with content notes and caveats as appropriate. The books are in alphabetical order by author’s last name in the set, but that’s not the order in which I’m reading them, so […]
A few days ago I wrote an overview of noblebright fantasy, which you can find here on my site and on Noblebright.org. I want to make noblebright fantasy a recognized subgenre of fantasy the way grimdark is now. In a discussion elsewhere on the internet, one author mentioned to me that, while the term is great, much of classic fantasy literature fits the noblebright definition. He questioned whether there is any utility in inventing a term for something that already exists and continues to be written. I agree… many of the best-loved works of fantasy are noblebright, or at least […]
I decided to interview Hannah, the narrator of A Fairy King and A Fairy Promise. Several readers submitted questions, so I asked Hannah directly. If you have any more questions, or questions for other characters, please let me know! Here she is! C. J.: Hi Hannah. Thank you for making time to speak with me. Hannah: You’re welcome. She is soft-spoken. She brushes her hair back from her face with a slender hand; a ring flashes on her finger. C. J.: That’s a beautiful ring. Is it from Cadeyrn? Hannah: Her smile lights the room. Yes! Isn’t it beautiful? She hesitates, then says, Although I […]
Like many authors, I like to dream of my books being made into movies. Good ones, of course, with huge budgets so that all the props are meticulously detailed and the actors are perfect and the musical score is magnificent and original and awe-inspiring. My hypothetical movies will be like the Lord of the Rings movies (except without the tiny changes that are oh-so-important to Tolkien purists like me), so that the soul of the books and the characters is laid bare, brought to life for viewers who haven’t yet discovered the books themselves. So… who do I imagine playing my characters? […]
I occasionally post on Quora.com, a question and answer site. Recently someone asked why Labyrinth is so great. You might already know that I love Labyrinth. But let me tell you more, because this movie is dismissed far more quickly than it deserves. Someone else had already given a short answer that mentioned the fantastic story and David Bowie, but I will go deeper. I don’t like the sequel manga and I think it derailed some of the fantastic symbolism, so my answer below is going to pretend it doesn’t exist. In my mind and in my answer, I’m treating the movie completely as a […]
My lovely fan Courtney has made more fantastic fan art! Check out this adorable Niall from A Long-Forgotten Song series (Things Unseen and The Dragon’s Tongue so far): She’s also done some cosplay! See it here and here If you’re inspired by my characters, please share your art! I’d love to see it.
To celebrate reaching $25 per story on my Patreon campaign, I interviewed Kemen Sendoa from the Erdemen Honor series. This interview takes place after Honor’s Heir, so beware of spoilers! I’m also sharing this scene for #SaturdayScenes, a weekly event on G+. You can find me on G+ here. SPOILERS AHEAD! Kemen enters the room. As the author, I wrote from his perspective, imagining what it would be like to be tall, to be male, to be a soldier, to be a Dari. I experienced these things from his perspective, not my own. Now I see him from […]
This is some of what I’ve been reading lately: Realmgolds – Mike Reeves-McMillan – I think I got a copy of this during a free promotion months and months ago, but I forgot and bought it on Amazon a few weeks ago. Oh well. Mike has reviewed several of my books (all in the Erdemen Honor series), coining the term cheerybright to describe what I (and he and a few other people) write. I’ll write a separate article on cheerybright soon – it’s basically the opposite of grimdark. He didn’t know I was reading his book. This is Mike’s first book, […]
This is some of what I’ve been reading lately: The Legend of Eli Monpress series – Rachel Aaron – I just finished Spirit’s End. If you’re looking for a break from grimdark, you should really check out this series. There’s plenty of death, destruction, and high stakes, but it’s told from a lighter perspective, with characters worth loving and rooting for. There is real loyalty and self-sacrifice, along with some really fantastic and inventive magic. As a random aside, I have no idea why the covers are so different. They’re obviously part of different editions, but I don’t know why. The second […]