Blurb

Where reality fails, dreams are eternal.

After saving the realm from the wrath of the gods, crystal sorceress Everleigh Bennet hopes to return home and relax with her family. Instead, she finds her lover, Felix, imprisoned by the God of Wisdom in a scheme that threatens to remove his free will forever. Everleigh must venture to the kingdom of Terrangus to either free her family from the clutches of the Masked God or, if fate wills it, grant them eternal peace.

Protocol of Valor is a novella set in the world of the Legacy of Boulom series. It takes place 60 years before the events of Platinum Tinted Darkness.

About the Author

Timothy Wolff lives in Long Island, New York, and holds a master’s degree in economics and a career in finance. Such a life has taught him the price of everything but the value of nothing. He enjoys pizza bagels, scotch, karaoke, oxford commas, and spending the day with family and friends. The obvious culmination of the past 36 years was to write a fantasy series where a drunk teams up with a swordsman, two mages, and lizard-people to oppose god. Why do we write these in the third person?

Strength without honor—is chaos!

He can be reached at:

@TimWolffAuthor on X

Timwolffauthor on Instagram/Threads

@timwolffauthor.bsky.social on Bluesky

timwolffauthor@gmail.com

Krystle Matar’s Legacy of the Brightwash is a book I’ve slept on for too long, but I’m glad I finally read it.

It’s increasingly hard to find good fantasy reads these days, as it almost seems that I’ve exhausted the trove of good ones, only now struggling through the genre’s dregs. So, it makes me happy when, once in a while, I stumble upon good recommendations such as this.

Synopsis

Legacy of the Brightwash is a dark fantasy story mainly told from the eyes of Tashue, a war hero turned cop of a Dominion that uses the supernatural talents of a special category of its populace to power its steam industry.

All is well in Tashue’s city until the day the corpse of a youth washes up on the banks of the Brightwash. What happens afterward is a chain of grim events, each more significant than the last, that will shake Tashue’s formerly unwavering faith in his government and the law.

And, what will he do, caught between his desire to free his son from the Rift, a cornerstone of the institution he helped build, and the proddings of the elite seeking to use him for political gain, even as revelation after revelation makes him question everything he stands for?

Review

Legacy of the Brightwash is a delightfully written, grimdark, steampunk story with a surprisingly well-written romance subplot.

Dark fantasy isn’t typically synonymous with dewy-eyed characters, but the author cleverly positions this element as a much-welcome backstory alongside the expectedly tenuous and grim main plot.

It’s all so brilliantly done!

The romance between Tashue Blackwood and Stella Whiterock aside, the story is quite engrossing for the first half of the book until things slow for a bit before the climax in the final few chapters. That’s not bad pacing, in my opinion, but I felt that there was more than enough going on for the author to weave the threads of intrigue as thickly from start to finish without slowing down the intensity.

Still, it’s a great read!

The author’s writing style is dialogue rather than narrative-heavy, which, coupled with the relatively simple writing style, makes for a very easy read, especially with the mushier scenes.

There are also a number of interesting secondary characters, even if I feel that we ought to have seen more of Ismael Saeati.

Final Thoughts

As good as Legacy of the Brightwash is, you get the feeling the closer you come to the end of the read, that everything in the book is but a teaser of more exciting things to come in the next book. I’ll certainly be reading it!

About the Reviewer

Ojo Akinwale is a budding writer, editor, and literary community builder who holds a degree in Archaeology and is an avid fan of the Chelsea football club and the Wheel of Time series (the books). A student of war, when not reading about dark lords and mercenary bands, he can be found poring over texts on history, politics, science, and technology.
Ojo is also the editor-in-chief of Littafi – Africa’s biggest digital literary and art interface. Honest critic, reviews, insights, news and recommendations from all genres.

Book and Movie Reviews, News, Recommendations and Merch

I have no clue if you should, but hopefully after reading this, you will.

First, let me share a little win…

May 2025 was my first ever time hitting 100,000+ page reads in a single month. I also went over 1k in revenue and 600+ sales for The Price of Power, book one in my Dreams of Dust and Steel series. And as of writing this, it’s June 10th, and I’ve broken my previous record for page reads in a day–eight out of the last eleven days. In fact, I hit 100k page reads in the last two weeks.

After accruing a good little fan base and some awards from my first time publishing book one in my main series, Dreams of Dust and Steel, I was faced with a big decision to relaunch or keep going.

Aka, shoot for the moon or watch my series peter into nothing.

The relaunch would be a huge risk. I would be sacrificing 220 reviews/ratings and the possibility of turning my fans against me.

Ultimately, I decided to move forward, and while I wouldn’t say I’ve seen the full fruits of my plan yet, things have been going in the right direction.

My Strategy

Create a continuous sales stream through peer sharing, cover reveals, a semi-rapid launch, and well-timed promo stacks while trying to avoid a surge in sales that Amazon might suppress.

This took quite a bit of finagling and required me to overcommunicate with my author swaps. At times, I felt wrong asking so much from peers, but I know we’re all here to help one another, so I danced that fine line of annoying and clear, and hopefully didn’t burn any bridges.

What I Did

– I banked a ton of newsletters swaps. Around forty, scattered across launch month, but focused mostly in the first two weeks.
– Banked content. I finished A Graveyard for Heroes (book two) in the series last July–it released June 11th. I also wrote Banners of Wrath (book three). Once you have enough content, you can do a rapid or semi-rapid release, so I staggered my main series launches with a pair of novellas and plan to drop something every two months. With five releases at my disposal, I have a ten-month window to generate buzz and momentum.
– I reached out to higher-profile writers of varying levels in my genre. Surprisingly, I got some big names to back my work.
– New, better covers–a big reason for the relaunch.
– A+ content on Amazon. Muy importante. Do it.
– Physical ARCs: some but not a ton. I spent most of my budget on covers, design, and editing.
– Large eARC team, 200 as it stands, but only managed to get about fifty initial reviews in month one.
– Started a Discord, got 100+ readers into it, and then ran a giveaway.
– Got a teeny bit more active on TikTok.

Unforeseen Roadblocks

– Having never done AMS ads before, I went hard into them this time… only to discover their efficacy had been hamstrung by Amazon moving from the A9 model to the A10 algo. Shit. So, I had ramped up a TON of spending in March–the exact time when they changed it–and it stagnated, leading to a handful of direct sales.
– If you relaunch, I suggest doing so if you have under 100 ratings and an ARC team of over 150. While I had the latter, the former made it a huge obstacle to populate the book at the top of searches above the old edition. See, when you unpublish a book from Amazon, you can never unpublish the physical edition. It stays. Forever. Beware. Some folk bought it by mistake–I’m sorry!
– I launched the week of the big tariff kerfuffle in the US (April 2nd). This effectively neutered any posts, reshares, etc. on Twitter for that week. Larger media outlets regularly getting thousands of views were relegated to the lower hundreds and a smattering of likes/comments. Woof.


What Flopped?

– Ads. I did my homework, but that algorithm change pulled the rug out from under me. I’m sticking with them and playing with them since my daily royalties are still exceeding my spend, but we’ll see where I land with them.
– Big-name shares. Mileage varied. A story on IG from a former indie turned trad got me the most, though not more than the handful of solid influencers.
– …newsletters, kind of? I theorize this has lost some efficacy over the years as the community has become more incestuous. I know many of my readers received the same promo email for my book from other authors ten+ times. To highlight this further, I joined a novella giveaway with a dozen other authors during launch. I have a 3k newsletter sub list, so I didn’t expect to get more than 50-100 new subs from it. The giveaway netted 150. When I uploaded the list, I got zero new subs, which lends credence to the idea that indies and indie readers have a fairly localized sphere of effect. To be successful, I think it’s best to look at ways to bring folk in from outside the regular community without abandoning its core people.


What Has Worked So Far?

– Instagram influencers between 3k-15k followers. I’ve found these to be the best, especially if they consistently post and engage their audience. I think it has to do with them having a big enough following that some posts can get great traction, but remaining small enough that they still interact with most folk in the comments. The average human can manage about 150 relationships on the high end–I think this could have something to do with the audience size and effect that creates the aforementioned influencer sweet spot.
– Content cadence. I put out the cover reveal for Banners of Wrath before A Graveyard for Heroes was even released. This has kept the buzz going. Readers are excited to finally get a deluge of content, and the longer I can stay in their circle of awareness, the better.
– Promotions. Did I make back the money? Nope, and that’s including a BookBub international deal. However, timing is important. The promos managed to get roughly 500 copies of The Price of Power into the hands of new readers, with A Graveyard for Heroes coming out a few weeks after. Also, netted about fifty pre-orders and managed to outrank Joe Abercrombie in the UK on the opening weekend of The Devils. Very cool street cred.
– Pricing. I launched at $4.99 because I knew I could capitalize on all the work I’d done to build the launch and bring in new readers. This was risky since most folk I knew had already purchased the ebook during the previous edition.
– AMAs on Reddit. Great place to engage new and existing readers.
– Networking is everything. All these tactics I’ve mentioned are sure to undergo changes. All except this one. The right favor from the right person at the right time creates opportunity. The more supporters you have, the more audiences you share, the more you’ll find your readers, and they’ll find you.Plus friends. We all need those! My life revolves around this career now, and I can say wholeheartedly that the authors I’ve met have made it worth all the ups and downs.

If FanFiAddict will have me, I’ll return in a couple of months to update ya’ll on the journey. Once A Graveyard for Heroes drops, I should have a better idea if this relaunch has been a true success.

So far, the trajectory of sales, royalties, and page reads has all gradually increased. I had some MAJOR meltdowns when I got depressingly low initial numbers in April. “Oh no, it failed!” I would say to myself, then curl up in a ball.

I had to remind myself this is a game of patience, and initial surges weren’t ever a part of the plan.

Hopefully, this helps some folk who are considering a relaunch. Happy to field questions if anyone reaches out on socials.

Synopsis

Tell me how it happened…

Layne was a soldier, conscripted to fight under the Fox in a vengeance fueled march. He, and his friends, were due for a fated confrontation, one that has ended in blood and loss. Now, the inquisitors want to hear every detail of his conscription, his training, and the duel against the assassin in grey.

A backwards narrative full of banter and blood Z.B. Steele presents An Inkling of Flame, a Song of the Damned novella.

Review

An Inkling of Flame is a grimdark fantasy that lives up to that term. It’s filled with tragedy, heartache and pain. A very real-world exploration of themes like finding oneself, friendship, duty, and sacrifice. I could go on for a while about how this novella broke me. But allow me to say this. An Inkling of Flame is a masterpiece in storytelling. I’m someone who likes stories that have lighter topics, but this story drew me in and kept me hooked.

The main characters, Layne, Sharp, Spark, Harwood, their personalities shine in every word and page. Spark may be my favorite in the story. I can relate with her, and I can see how she gravitated to the other characters. Layne and then Sharp would be a close second, sorry Harwood, you were great too! As I understand it, An Inkling of Flame is a prequel to Z.B. Steele’s book Whispers of the Storm. As I have yet to read that story, I just got a taste of his series. The ending of An Inkling of Flame seems to tie into the main book, which I really appreciated.

To give it a one sentence review, I’d say. A heartbreaking tale of friendship, war, and loyalty. If you like grimdark, and are ready to feel some feels, I would definitely recommend this story. It’s beautifully dark and complex. Believe me, again, I could go on, but suffice it to say, this story deserves recognition.

About the Reviewer

S.R. Arrkewey is an epic fantasy author who wishes to captivate readers with intricate worlds and compelling characters. Living in a quiet, secluded cottage nestled by an imposing mountain, Arrkewey finds inspiration in the wonders of the cosmos and the whisper of the stories that flow over the whole of the multiverse.

Blurb

After the incidents in her village, Lina has a new goal: to journey to the city of Vrysta and become a Slayer.

On the surface, it looks like it will be simple. A short trip, followed by a test, with her dream practically in arm’s reach. She couldn’t be more wrong. A series of mistakes upon arrival sees Lina not only failing the test, but being forbidden to take it again. Stranded in an unfamiliar city, now she must find a way to get by. More importantly, she has to find a way to keep her dream alive.

She knows it won’t be easy. Vrysta is a sprawling city, and the obstacles she has to navigate are just as daunting as the city’s size. Slayers are stranger and messier than they seemed. The only familiar thing is the curse, the ever-present threat that Lina’s world can fall apart at a moment’s notice.

Ironically, that curse is the very thing that Lina wants to fight.

About the Author

Ayrton Silva was born and raised in Brazil, and has been a fan of fantasy and historical fiction for as long as he can remember. An avid reader throughout his life, he now draws inspiration from his favorite books, video games and songs, as well as from his background in software development, to come up with dysfunctional worlds and dangerous magic systems.

Married, and owner of one disastrous dog, he spends most of his days coding for a living, but in his free time you’ll usually catch him trying to juggle his writing and hobbies. Something usually comes crashing on his head, but he doesn’t mind.

Currently has several short works published, and is working on his debut novel (and several more shorter stories).

Website: Home – Ayrton Silva
BSKY: Ayrton Silva | (@ayrtonmsilva.bsky.social) — Bluesky
X: Ayrton Silva | (@ayrtonmsilva) / X

Blurb

THE GODS HAVE FALLEN, AND SO WILL THE STARS.

Centuries ago, the old gods who walked Endlia vanished from the lands. The prophecy of the Boy with the Star-Shaped Eyes foretold their return, and now, news of the boy’s existence has plunged the Five Realms into chaos, reigniting old wars and starting new ones.

Ket Norlath has strived to hide from his past. But his new life is destroyed when soldiers ransack his farm and take his family. An ambitious king gives him a choice: serve his cause and seek out the boy from the prophecy – kill him or capture him – or watch his family say their final prayers. Ket chooses to walk a familiar path, paved in violence and bloodshed. With the help of a homicidal court jester and a teenage witchling, Ket travels north. To end the prophecy. Restore balance to the Five Realms. Before the power that grows there ends them all.

About the Author

Tim Meyer dwells in a dark cave near the Jersey Shore. He’s the author of more than fifteen novels, including Malignant Summer, The Switch House, Dead Daughters, Limbs, and many other titles. When he’s not working on the next book, he’s usually hanging out with his wife and son, shooting around on the basketball court, playing video games, or messing with a new screenplay. He bleeds coffee and IPAs.

You can learn more about his books at timmeyerwrites.com.

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/timmmeyer11

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/stores/author/B009ISFTZ6

When I began as a fiction writer, I had no idea how to create a character. My method was trial and error with an emphasis on the error. Eventually, I stumbled on to characters who I felt were authentic, fleshed-out people, but I couldn’t tell you how I got there.

I looked for ideas online to improve my process and found lists of questions about a character’s physical descriptions, relationships, history, weaknesses, interests, personality traits, communication styles, etc. There were over 100 questions on these forms for each character, and none of it helped me understand the person I was writing any better. It was helpful to document their brown eyes for continuity, but that didn’t define them.

The goal was to create authentic characters not lists of traits.

Listening to Brandon Sanderson’s lecture series (highly recommended viewing) helped me hone in on the fundamental core of a character. Sanderson broke down characters by values, motivation, personality, and quirks. He went further to place them on a set of three spectrums: Proactivity, Relatability, and Capability.

While his ideas helped me conceptualize a process of building a character, I felt like there were things missing from the framework. I had a difficult time putting my finger on it until I read The Green Bone Saga, by Fonda Lee, specifically the character Hilo.

Warning: there will be extremely mild spoilers for The Green Bone Saga here. Look for the next bold line to skip the mild spoilers.

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When we met Hilo, he was the Horn of the No Peak clan, one of the two key advisors for the leader of the clan and the head of the enforcement arm of the organization. He was a brash, bull-headed traditionalist who loved his family more than anything and thought he could fight his way through every problem.

Over the course of the books, Hilo’s biases about women, people who can’t use jade, and LGBTQ folks changed and adapted. His political awareness and ability for nuance grew. He learned ways to settle conflict without his first thought being violence. These changes didn’t come out of nowhere. They didn’t make Hilo unrecognizable. They all sprang from the core of his character, his belief that family was the most important thing in life.

The part of Hilo that believed family was everything never changed. It was who Hilo was. So when many of the details about how he moved through the world changed, he was still recognizable. He was the same person at his core, and the changes felt earned because each change was directly related to that unchanging seed in the middle of his character.

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End of mild Green Bone Saga Spoilers

When I looked at my own characters, the idea that each of them had an unchanging core belief that defined them helped me better understand who I was writing.

Kaylo, the main character of my Malitu books, took responsibility for the world around him, and he couldn’t help it. He blamed himself for tragedies. He forced himself to be a leader when he had no desire to be one. He upended his life for a stranger because he couldn’t stop taking responsibility.

I started incorporating this idea of a character’s seed into my writing. As I began outlining and worldbuilding for my next series, I took it a step further and created a model for understanding my characters.

The Seed Model

Before I get into the model, as with any piece of writing advice, don’t take it if it doesn’t help. This is a model that works for me. It is very new and untested. I have no authority to claim there is a right way to create characters. In my opinion, there are an infinite number of ways to go about creating characters, and they each have their uses.

Secondly, there are elements of my model that are reflected in various other models. Those other models are just as valid. It all depends on what works for you.

Now that that is out of the way, here is The Seed Model.

At the center of the pentagon is the seed. It is the focus of this character creation model and everything inside the pentagon is a reflection of the character’s seed. I define the seed as an unchanging core belief.

This should be something simplistic and internal to the character. Meaning, the seed should not be about another character. It can be about the importance of love, family, or relationships, but individual relationships change with time and circumstances. This seed should remain in place, even if character relationships change.

A seed might be a longing for power, a character’s belief that they are meant for something great, a commitment to justice, or a desire to be of use.

From one simple idea, the character grows.

I have broken down the internal characterization into 5 categories: Motivation, Personality, Self-Perception, Capability, and Ethos. All will be a reflection of the character’s seed, even as some of them will change throughout your story.

I want to make a note: when I say reflection, I do not mean these categories are always in alignment with a character’s seed. For instance, an antagonist might long for power at their core, but build their personality to hide that truth.

The Five Categories

Unlike the seed, these five categories are largely where we see progression and changes within characters. Over the course of a story and a series, a character is going to change in several of these categories. It all depends on the type of character arc they will experience.

What I am proposing in this model is that even when a character changes in one of these categories, their motivation/personality/self-perception/capabilities/ethos will continue to be an extension of their seed. That tether between who they become and who they were creates an arc rather than an altogether different person.

Motivation – What does the character want?

This is the goal or set of goals that drive this character’s action. It is an outward extension of the character’s seed. It changes with time, circumstance, and progress.

Personality – How are they perceived?

These are the mannerisms, quirks, and behavioral patterns that the character exhibits. These change, but only with difficulty. These changes often show outward growth or decay in how a character interacts with the world around them.

Personality is largely affected by a character’s self-perception. It can be an honest reflection

or a dishonest reflection of self-perception.

Self-Perception – How do they perceive themselves?

This dictates the tone of a character’s inner voice. When in this character’s POV the audience is able to witness how this character treats themselves and thinks about themselves. This is often a reflection of whether the character is in alignment with their seed.

Capability – Are they equipped to achieve their goals?

This is the measure of the character’s skillset versus the task they are set against. It may include magic, intelligence, physical combat ability, resilience, and a range of other skills.

Ethos – How do they understand the world and their role within it?

This dictates the rules a character imposes upon themselves. It is often in service of their seed. It creates limits to the means that a character is willing to pursue to achieve their goals.

Outside the Pentagon

Every character has a variety of external influences that affect their internal characterization. I identified six that stuck out to me as especially salient, but there are countless others.

External Conflict – What obstacles are in the way of this character reaching their goals?

Relationships – Who is the character connected to?

Societal Expectations – How do the communities around this character expect them to behave, especially those with power to enforce their expectations?

Political Capital – What amount of control does this character have over the resources and workings of their society?

Social Capital – How well connected is this character with the people in their community? Are they able influence others or leverage their communities to help them achieve their goals?

Current State – What are the current circumstances/status quo of the world around the character?

Final Thoughts

I could ramble on for far too long about what I believe goes into creating authentic characters, and maybe I already have.

Let me end by saying that this tool isn’t meant to be static. When I am writing characters, I often learn things about them that contradict or are out of tune with what I once thought. During my writing process, I might discover that I have misidentified a character’s “unchanging core belief”. However, if that happens, I need to reevaluate the other aspects of the character and assure they are in alignment and consistent, especially over the course of a series.

One of the most fundamental parts of creating an authentic character is that they are consistent. They should change and grow throughout a story, but they always need a tether of consistency or else it reads like the character has been replaced.

If any part of this framework is helpful for you, please feel free to use it. If it feels completely ridiculous, ridicule me to your heart’s content in your discord groups. If it seems obvious, redundant, and a complete waste of the time you spent reading, I apologize.

Good luck creating wonderfully complex characters.

About the Author

James is a nerd with a head full of stories and limited time to put them on the page.

He grew up in Grand Rapids, MI, spending an excessive amount of time at a local community theater where he developed his affinity for storytelling. This affinity grew into a deep admiration for language and spoken word poetry while studying mathematics and education at the University of Michigan. A few hundred mediocre poems and lackluster performances later, he decided his dream of writing a novel might not be as ridiculous as he once thought. He firmly believes that art—even silly books about magic, or maybe especially silly books about magic—has the ability to tell stories that sink beneath the surface.

Author website: https://www.jamesdulin.com/ 

Twitter – https://twitter.com/JamesLDulin 

Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/jameslloyd27/

TikTok – https://www.tiktok.com/@jamesldulin

Blurb

IN THE CENTER OF THE FOREST SITS A HOUSE OF LEAVES AND ASH. INSIDE THE HOUSE, HIS HEART AND LIES.

Inside the house called Sempiternity there is a lake, at the center of which an island sits. Upon the island, a spire of stone. Surrounding the spire, an orchard of dreams.

Beneath an apple tree sits faceless Self, who writes of sorry things. “What an awful place. What a cruelty it is, being birthed of pain.”

But when a dog that should not be wanders into Sempiternity through a door that should not be, Self learns a terrible truth: Sempiternity is no longer safe, no longer theirs. Fictional failures come in search of proper ends, in search of slaughter quelled by Self’s prosaic hand.

In search of lies.

Thus, Self departs Sempiternity for the forest dark, for at its center is the ruined town of Own.

The place where the nightmare began.

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About the Author

Fantasy author | Book designer | Colorblind | Doggo enthusiast | Long-suffering Knicks & Suns fan

Website | Twitter/X | Facebook | Amazon | Goodreads

And now, for the true reason you are here.

Blurb

GRASPING AT THREADS

If there’s one thing Henley Yu has learned, it’s that nothing is easy when it involves Chief Operator Kittinger.

The pair can finally face the world together, focused on the pursuit of the Ethereal lord who escaped into the Actuality. This time the mortal world won’t be a silent victim, and Kit and Henley will hunt their quarry with the help of mages who have plenty to lose.

But Kit punched through something he shouldn’t have in the battle for the Order Headquarters. His transgression has opened him up to a darkness that swallows him whole, leaving him cold and his body empty. What is broken can only be mended by the hand of the maker.

In his fight for Kit and their future together, Henley will need help from the only one who knows the real story behind the Between—but only if the Lineman is willing to lend his aid.

Secrets will be revealed and the final battle unfolds as the Connections series comes to a close!

The Author

You can find the author, Christina K. Glover, over on X @ https://twitter.com/wontwriteitself

Blurb

Sometimes, the promise of a different story doesn’t quite go the way you planned.

After the adventure of a lifetime and hatching a dragon of his own, Camaráin promises his mother that they won’t be forced on the same journey his sister embarked on. That pledge appears to have happened a bit too literally: for as much as Camaráin’s hatchling Brían loves to sit and read with him, they share neither the Bond nor the friendship that Camaráin’s sister had with her dragon.

When his grandparents invite the family to their new home outside the capital city of Mór, Camaráin thinks the extent of his new story is getting rid of the belligerent gnome that has taken up residence in his grandparents’ bathroom. At least, until the gnome forms an instant rapport with Brían that leaves Camaráin flummoxed—and also quite jealous.

If Camaráin is to discover why he cannot form a Bond with his new dragon, he must navigate the strange webs of Mór spun by a secret scholarly society, a band of fae hunters, tourists taking up too much space, and the banned books section at the local library.

Evidently, the days of bonding over books and a cuppa have yet to make their way to the land of Nóra.

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About the Author

Joseph John Lee is the fantasy author responsible for unleashing The Spellbinders and the Gunslingers trilogy and The Dragons of Nóra duology, and has been a semifinalist in Mark Lawrence’s annual Self-Published Fantasy Blog-Off. A true product of New England, he prefers Dunkin’ over Starbucks, sometimes speaks with a Boston accent, and does not say the word “wicked” in casual conversation as much as one may think. He currently lives in Boston with his wife, Annie, and their robot vacuum named Crumb.