The Reason for Simplicity

There's the old saying that goes: you can't judge a book by its cover.

And yet, that's not entirely true. Often, our initial impression comes from that book cover. It's the eye-catch that piques our curiosity and draws us to it. That is what it's supposed to do, after all.

There are exceptions to this, of course. An author that we're familiar with doesn't need a flashy cover with neon strobe lights pointing to it. The name is enough for us to pick up the book. But if the author is someone you've never heard of, well... that flashy cover is pretty much required.

So when I finished overhauling my Exiled trilogy, I had to make a decision. Go with flashy covers to draw attention to the books, or keep them in a simpler form. Now, I'm no Stephen King by any means, so for me, right now I should fall under the 'flashy covers required' category.

I chose not to.

Oh, I could have. The opportunity was there. I should have leapt at the chance and had those neon strobe lights all over them, right? So why didn't I?

Because I wanted the covers to reflect the deeper meaning within the overall story. A flashy cover, in this particular case, would have been the wrong choice.

I mentioned it before in my blog about the 'rebirth' of the trilogy, but I'll say it here again. There is much more to the trilogy than just a story. I'm not saying that just to pique a curiosity, I'm saying it because there truly is a deeper meaning within the story that one will discover. There are several points with the books, in fact, but the covers reflect one of those, something which could not have been emphasized in a flashy cover. It would have taken away from it, completely negated one of the key deeper meanings.

Granted, the overall story has to be interesting, and I believe it accomplishes that in the way I wanted it to. Sure, there's strong language, there's some violence and horror elements, there's even a few steamy scenes in each of the three books. Steamy. Not over-the-top explicit graphic scenes. But unlike a lot of today's movies where they toss in a shower scene for no other reason than to show some skin, those steamy scenes aren't thrown in there just for the hell of it.

The covers for all three books don't fall into the 'flashy' range, and for good reason. They reflect one of the deeper meanings within the story: often times, what we see on the outside is far different than what lies underneath.

So the question is, does one judge based only on what they see, or does one look closer and see what lies underneath?

www.amazon.com/dp/B00L9NO5U8
  



Rebirth of the Exiled trilogy

I've been writing for close to 5 years now, and in that time I've put out several different works. A collection of poetry. A short work detailing my initial journey to becoming an Indie author. (both of those are available for free on Smashwords, so please don't hesitate to grab them! http://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/ScottBorgman)

My main focus of course has been fantasy, and consists of the three Tal'Avern Chronicles books, with the fourth and final book in that series being started soon. Those are available exclusively on Amazon. Link to my Author page there: http://www.amazon.com/Scott-Borgman/e/B00KROBR4W

If you click on that however, you'll notice three other books which make up the Exiled trilogy. Until now, I haven't really mentioned them much, nor have I promoted them. About a month ago, I was actually considering unpublishing them. But not wanting to make any rash decisions, I asked opinions from my fellow Indies, and got an overwhelming response to keep them active.

So I decided if I were going to keep them up, I should read through them again. I've grown much more critical of my work over the past few years, and that pretty much demanded that they get overhauled, which I did over the past month or so, 7 days a week, 12+ hours a day (one of those was 19 hours... sorry babe!) until they were where I expect them to be.

With their 'rebirth' so to speak, I feel I need to give some of the backstory to them. First and foremost, they now fall under the Urban Fantasy and Paranormal Romance genres, and are recommended for 18+ due to strong language, violence, and sexual content.

Originally, the trilogy was written with one purpose in mind: To tell an interesting story with real lessons woven within it. That has not changed, nor will it. They're lessons that I hope will be passed on, lessons that took the loss of my youngest son, Cameron, on Oct. 18, 2010 when he was only 3 years old in order for me to learn. I can't help but wonder even today if that was the reason all along why Cami was given his wings, so that I would write the Exiled trilogy.

There's a deeper meaning behind the books, behind the story. You'll find it within the pages. And maybe the reason why I never really mentioned them before or promoted them was because when I wrote them initially, they were written during a time when I was trying to come to grips with the piece of my heart that had been broken. Maybe I needed time to let the pain dull and turn into the desire that I now have to write for the enjoyment of others, until I was ready to go back and write them at the level I expect of myself now which I didn't back then.

One of the main themes in the Exiled trilogy is that there is a veil that covers the world which hides the truth behind it. In that respect, the books have their own veil. All one needs to do is look behind it to find the true meaning, the purpose, and the lessons within the pages. Lessons that I learned from a 3 year old boy who I miss with all my heart, but who I honor and who I hope is proud of me with every word I write.

The Exiled (book 1)  www.amazon.com/dp/B00L9NO5U8/
The Exiled: Continuation (book 2)  www.amazon.com/dp/B00L9O95FC/
The Exiled: Infinity (book 3)  www.amazon.com/dp/B00L9Q1TKE/



Stigmatism and Discrimination - One Dad's Story

Recently, I read a story and watched a video that was focused on trying to help end the stigmatisms and discriminations that pit bulls face today. After watching it, like so many others who own pit bulls, I was compelled to add my voice and submit a picture of myself and my four legged family member. (www.themajorityproject.com)

But I'm going to take it a step further. I'm going to tell you a story, and I hope that by the end of it, some of those stigmatisms and discriminations may be lessened, if even only a little bit.

My wife, Nyki, had wanted to get a dog for years. One day back in early September, 2010, one of our neighbor's friends stopped by his house with a litter of puppies, and put a sign out in front of the yard that read 'pit bulls for sale.'

Very few people who drove by stopped to take a look at the pups. I imagine most of those who may have been interested were turned away by the words 'pit bull.' But Nyki wanted to see them, so we went over.

The pups were adorable, as they always are. Most of them had black and/or white coats, and were busy playing with each other when we stopped on the other side of the chicken wire fence that had been erected to keep them in the yard. One however, saw us and immediately came over.

Unlike the other pups, this adorable little girl had a beautiful brindle coat. My wife reached down and picked her up. It was love at first sight. As she held that puppy, I saw the look in her eyes. I didn't have to ask, I just went to the bank to get the money the owners were asking for the pup.

They had named her Angel originally, due to her being born with two small patches of white on her shoulders that resembled wings. By the time she became our newest family member, those patches had disappeared and become the same brindle color as the rest of her coat, so we decided instead of keeping the name to call her Jaena.

The first night she was with us, there was a terrible thunderstorm. Knowing she was in a new place and likely scared, I suggested to my wife that we should let Jaena sleep on the bed with us. It was only one night, after all...

By day 2, Jaena decided the bed would suit her quite nicely:

She became good friends with our youngest son, Cameron (Cami) instantly:

About a month after that picture was taken, Cami passed away in a tragic car accident. It was one of the worst things my family has ever had to go through in our lives. I mention this because Jaena was what kept us going. She'd been named Angel at first, and she lived up to that original name.

I grieved for Cami in my own way, through writing the Exiled trilogy, while Jaena clung to my wife. She was her rock, her strength... Jaena was her Angel - and mine as well.

Cami used to run to the door when I came home from work and give me a hug and a kiss. After he passed away, when I came home from work, Jae would be standing right where he used to stand, jump up to put her front paws on my shoulders, and give me kisses. She continues to do that.

Cami had always been a big cuddler, especially with Nyki. Jaena took over that duty for him as well. I think maybe a part of him is still with us through Jaena:

Jaena has a home and a family who loves her, and she returns that love unconditionally. She loves to play with her squeaky toys and tennis balls, and sprawl out on the couch or on the bed. She's not a fan of water, and refuses to go outside to do her business if it's raining - she'd rather hold it until the rain stops. Getting her into the tub to take a bath takes months. She loves cheese, going for walks, and watching SpongeBob on TV. When we check her for ticks after a walk, she stands still while we look her over carefully. The few times we've had to pull one off of her, she's never made a sound, growled, or snapped. And afterwards when we've said "all done!" she's always given us 'thank you' kisses. When we all go out, she sits by the door and looks away, refusing to give us kisses because she's being left alone for a bit (trying to guilt trip one of us into staying home with her, I think!) but when we come home, she's right there waiting with wagging tail and kisses. Never once have I seen her bare her teeth like I often see those little 'devil dogs' as I call them do.

During the school year, she'll run to the door when she hears the school bus stop to drop off our three kids and bark excitedly. Nyki and I will tell her "Jaena, the kids are home!" or "Jaena, who is that?" and get the most adorable howl in reply from her. (Her mouth goes into a little 'O', it's so cute!)

She does the same when Nyki comes home from work, or even if I just make a quick run down the street to go to the local grocery store to grab something. 5 minutes or a few hours, she's always waiting to greet us home.

She could tone down the barking a bit. Squirrels, rabbits, the occasional person walking by on the sidewalk she'll bark at, but all we need to tell her is "Jaena Marie! You know better than that!" and she'll give us this look like 'I was only saying hello!' but stop barking.

Any dog can be vicious. Pit bulls are merely the latest ones to be discriminated against. It boils down to how they're raised. What they're taught. How they're treated. And most importantly, how they're loved. Rottweilers and German Shepards are just a few others that have already gone through this kind of discrimination.

Recently, my youngest daughter came home and brought a friend with her. She'd never been to our house before. When Jaena heard them walking down the drive, she barked at them, of course - but her tail was wagging a mile a minute. When they came in, she greeted the new person in typical Jaena fashion: she jumped up and put her front paws on the girl's shoulders and gave her kisses.

Jaena isn't a pet to us. She's a family member. A bit spoiled, I'll admit, but she's as much a part of our family as the rest of us are.

So I ask, if people are so insistent on claiming these breeds are so vicious, going so far as to have a checklist that states if they meet certain criteria that they're 'dangerous', then why hasn't one for humans been written up yet? If you're a certain height, have certain facial features... if your arm muscles are a certain girth, the criteria would state that person is 'dangerous' correct?

The simple fact is such claims are ignorant and unfounded, and these stigmatisms and discriminations need to stop. Yes, there have been pit bulls that have attacked people. There have also been Chihuahuas that have done so. And labs. The list goes on and on and on.

Among every breed of dog, there have been such incidents. But there have also been heroes among those breeds who have protected their families, sometimes making the ultimate sacrifice for them.

I've added my voice to many others who, like me, want to end the bashing against these beautiful animals. Of course, it wasn't exactly an easy thing to do. You see, Jaena tends to be a bit camera shy, unless we catch her snoozing or we snap a sneaky pic. Though I think maybe she does it because she has a sense of humor as well:

Finally, after about 8 tries, we decided to play the 'treat' card:

I am a Fantasy Writer. I have a 'pit bull' as a family member. I am proud to add my voice in saying     I am the MAJORITY.

 

(Jaena was given her treat afterwards as promised)

Paperbacks For Tal'Avern Chronicles Have Arrived!

After several months of hard work, I’m both pleased and excited to announce that the Tal’Avern Chronicles, which have been available on Amazon in digital format for some time, are now available in paperback as well!

Making them available in paperback has been on my To Do list ever since I started writing the third book in the series way back in September 2014, since I know that not everyone necessarily likes the digital reading devices. Many people prefer traditional paperbacks, (I’m a paperback person myself, but the reading devices are nice!) and I wanted to give those readers the same opportunity to meet and walk along with the characters in Tal’Avern as far as the story has progressed so far (there’s still one more book to write in the Chronicles series, which I’ll be starting in August 2015 or so.)

Probably the most important question everyone thinks is: What age are these appropriate for? Well, I first started reading the fantasy genre in 6th grade, so my own personal experience says: anywhere from there on up.

Here comes the catchy line that reels you in, right? Well, that’s actually just after the links to the books below, but I’ll give you a hint: it’s not what you’d expect.

Without further ado, here are the links for the paperbacks for both US/Canada readers (Amazon.com) and UK readers (Amazon.co.uk):


US/Canada
Province of a Thief (Book 1):  http://www.amazon.com/dp/1511899506/   $10.99
Darkness and Dragons (Book 2):  http://www.amazon.com/dp/1512144894/   $12.99
Through Trials and Towers (Book 3):  http://www.amazon.com/dp/151230669X/   $13.99

UK
Province of a Thief (Book 1):  http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1511899506/   £8.99
Darkness and Dragons (Book 2):  http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1512144894/   £10.64
Through Trials and Towers (Book 3):  http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/151230669X/   £11.60


For those of you who have never been to Tal’Avern before or perhaps have never ventured into the fantasy genre, I invite you to stop by my Amazon page (link below) and check out the Kindle editions.

Even if you prefer paperback books, each book’s Kindle edition page has the ‘Look Inside’ feature, where you can read a sample from that particular book. This is one of my favorite features about Amazon, because it gives you a taste of the story and allows you to make an informed decision based upon that, which is how I choose to pitch my work. As Bones would say to Kirk if he were in my shoes, “I’m a writer, not a car salesman!”

Here’s the link to my Amazon page:  http://www.amazon.com/Scott-Borgman/e/B00KROBR4W.

It lists all of my works - not just the three books (so far) in the Chronicles, but the Exiled trilogy as well, which is currently only available in digital format (suggested for a more mature audience - 16+.) I’m still rolling around the idea of bringing them out in paperback as well, with all three rolled into one book.

Thank you, everyone; I truly appreciate the support. And if after reading through some (or all) of the book samples, you choose to step into Tal’Avern, (digital or paperback) let me thank you again. It is truly an honor and a privilege to allow me into your lives and be your storyteller as you walk along beside the characters in Tal’Avern.

Respectfully,

Scott A Borgman
Facebook: www.facebook.com/saborgman
Twitter: @ScottBorgman

Try Before You Buy

How many times have you seen an advertisement on T.V. that hyped up something so much it made you believe that you simply HAD to have it/see it/do it?  Movie ads do this constantly. They show 30 seconds of amazing scenes and then you come to find out that those 30 seconds were the ONLY good parts of a 2 hour movie?

Video games do this as well... I could name a few right now (but I won't) that hyped up something to the extreme that players stood in line for midnight releases, only to find out that the end product was far less than what they expected. Yes, I've been in that group of gamers. Several times.

Unfortunately, many times we don't find out until after we've given them our hard earned money that it wasn't worth the money we spent. There's no 'try before you buy' option in most cases.

Of course, with things like YouTube and Twitter now, it makes it much easier for the consumers to let the world know exactly what they think. And when all the hype is not lived up to, the backlash that comes afterwards can be brutal.

One of the things that I love about being an author on Amazon is that readers do get this option. I love it because... well, let's face it: I'm a storyteller, not a car salesman. Sure, I have my Author page on Facebook (www.facebook.com/saborgman) and I have my Twitter (@ScottBorgman) but do I sit on them and spam 'Buy my books! Buy my books!' for hours every day? No.

Yes, I'd love to have millions of fans, what author wouldn't? But I believe readers and fans should be earned, not suckered into impulse buying, or buying something simply because a million other people did, which as we all know has happened as well.


Here is where the 'try before you buy' comes in. Every one of my books on Amazon has a 'Look inside' above the picture of the cover. Click on the cover picture, and you can read a sample of that book.

We've all heard the phrase 'you can't judge a book by its cover', but let's face it... most of the time that's exactly what we do: we make an impulse decision based on what our eyes show us in those first few seconds.

Grocery stores are a prime example. There are always little side displays near the registers targeted specifically for impulse buying. It's done because quite simply, it works. We see something that catches our eye and on impulse, either while we're walking by or waiting in line, we grab it.

Books are no different. It's true that having an eye-catching cover will bring in more sales than one that isn't, and some of those sales probably are impulse sales. Is that a bad thing? It depends on your point of view.  Personally, I feel like having a great looking cover and a less than exciting story within is no different than what I mentioned at the beginning of this blog.

Sure, the author gets that impulse sale, so the flashy cover did it's job, right? Well, yes... and at the same time, a huge, resounding no. Readers may buy a book on impulse because of the cover, but flashy covers don't turn readers into fans for an author: it's the stories inside that do that.

Now, not everyone enjoys certain genres. Some people just AREN'T into fantasy or sci-fi, thrillers or romance, etc. At the same time, some people have never read anything in a particular genre, but seeing an attractive cover on a book written in that genre may bring out some curiosity about it.

This is what makes the 'Look inside' such a great tool on Amazon, and I recommend that everyone take advantage of it. You don't have to buy anything blindly, only to find out afterwards that it wasn't what you expected. The 'Look inside' gives you that 'try before you buy' option - a few licks first to see if you like it, rather than having to buy the whole bucket of ice cream right away, so to speak.

Personally, I would rather have a thousand readers who made their decision to buy my books based on what they read from the samples than a hundred thousand who bought them on impulse based simply on the attractiveness of the book covers.

Some of you are probably thinking 'yeah, right!' but I'm being honest. Authors are usually in it for the long haul. We're not looking for a quick lightning strike and then running for the hills, cackling and screaming 'suckers!!!' and never writing another word.

I mean authors who make writing their life, not ones that pop out a book and say 'Yes, I wrote a book! I can check that off my Bucket List!' I'm not saying those aren't authors too, they are. They're just in a different group - like artists who have one hit wonders. They're still artists, but do we put them on the same level as someone like Elvis or Michael Jackson, Whitney Houston or Eminem?

The point is, a thousand fans will continue to support an author, and a loyal fan base will grow over time and could very well surpass that hundred thousand. Sure, it takes longer, but I'm not going anywhere.   

So whether you're a fan of fantasy or simply just curious about the genre, take a 'Look inside.' Please don't impulse buy because the covers look amazing. Let the samples help you make that final decision, because ultimately it's the story inside that counts. Sure, the covers are the initial eye-catch, but that's what they're supposed to do.

You may read through the samples and decide that you want to step into the world of Tal'Avern and travel along with the characters. Or you may read the samples and decide that you're not interested. But either way, you're making an informed, thoughtful decision - not an impulse buy. And that's what matters to me.

It may not be a 'getting the most sales possible' tactic, but its how I choose to promote my work. I want to earn my readers and fans. After all, they're the reason that I created Tal'Avern and the characters that live within it in the first place.

 

For those who read through some of the samples and decide not to visit Tal'Avern, you have my sincerest thanks for giving me a few minutes of your time. I honestly appreciate it.

Those who decide to step into the world of Tal'Avern for the first time with Province of a Thief, the first book in the Chronicles series, you also have my sincerest thanks. I hope you enjoy the journey you are about to begin, and the characters you are about to meet. Welcome to Tal'Avern.

And finally, to the readers who are returning to continue their journey with Darkness and Dragons, and to those that have been waiting for the next part, Through Trials and Towers (which just went live a few days ago on April 3 and is now available), welcome back and thank you so much for returning!


**US/Canada**

Province of a Thief (Book 1): www.amazon.com/dp/B00KR140EO

Darkness and Dragons (Book2): www.amazon.com/dp/B00LSWNHPO

Through Trials and Towers (Book 3): www.amazon.com/dp/B00VL9MCLE

**UK**

Province of a Thief (Book 1): www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00KR140EO

Darkness and Dragons (Book2): www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00LSWNHPO

Through Trials and Towers (Book 3): www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00VL9MCLE


**Only digital versions available right now (working on paperbacks though!)**

A Common Writing Mistake - and How to Fix It!

While getting my Tal'Avern fantasy books prepared for paperback editions, I've had my fair share of frustrations -the latest one being in how 'clean' they look.

Choosing the font, the size, and what kind of paragraph layout you want are fairly easy personal choices.  But what I want to focus on in this blog is one of the most common 'mistakes' writers make.

I just did it in that last paragraph, actually. Do you see it?  I'll do it again. See the difference?

For some reason, it's very easy to get this mistake ingrained into your writing, and you may not even realize that it is a 'mistake'. It's putting that extra space before starting a new sentence. I know, shocking, right?

Look, I'm guilty of making this mistake, so if you're sitting there gasping and saying to yourself 'oh my God, I do that!' don't worry. You are not alone. I've been doing it for years and never realized that it was a mistake until tonight.

Being my own worst critic, I want my paperbacks to look flawless. Perfection is what every author strives for, after all. It's the reason we could easily edit our work forever and never feel that it's perfect.

Luckily, that need for perfection is how I found out I've been making this mistake, and I wanted to share it with you all because there are certainly others out there that make the same simple mistake. Like me, you may be guilty of the 'two-spaces-before-every-sentence' habit as well. And the first step to solving a problem is knowing that the problem exists in the first place. Until tonight, I didn't know about it.

Now, you may be thinking 'it's only one extra space, what's the big deal?' That extra space before a sentence is what will keep your books from looking clean. Like many authors, I use Word, and I can tell you from experience, Word does not like that extra space. It completely throws off the justification, and you can literally spend hours trying to 'fix' it. Again, I'm speaking from experience.

So how do you fix something like that? A 300-500 page document with thousands upon thousands of sentences will take weeks to go through, sentence by sentence, hitting that delete button and taking out that extra space before every single sentence!

I actually started doing that. Yes, I honestly thought that was my punishment for not realizing I had made such a simple writing error. But after two pages, I thought to myself, maybe there's an easier way to go about it. A simpler way. Okay, maybe 'simpler' isn't the right word. 'Sneakier' is more appropriate.

Word has a wonderful tool called Find, and another called Replace. I've used them on occasion. I am now in love with the Replace tool.

So for those of you who have that habit ingrained in you as well to put two spaces before every sentence, here's what you do to save yourself a lot of time, grief, frustration, and retain a full head of hair rather than pulling out entire handfuls at a time:

Click on that Replace tool, and in the 'find' section, start at the beginning and hit the spacebar twice and then A. Tab down to the 'replace' section, and hit the spacebar once and type A. It will look something like this:

      Find:  A
Replace: A

Now just hit the 'replace all' button, and let Word do all your work for you fixing every sentence that starts with A by taking out that extra space before it. I had 583 replacements in my document, if you were wondering.

Obviously you'll want to go through and take care of the rest. B, C, D... every letter of the alphabet should get checked for a fix.  And don't forget to do a fix for any sentences that have two spaces in front of a " (I just remembered to do that one myself!)

In the end, all of my sentences were fixed. I didn't keep track of just how many times I made this simple mistake. Suffice it to say, the document was over 350 pages long. It was a lot of 'mistakes.'

Now, is this going to change that bad habit of putting that extra space before every sentence? Honestly, I don't think so. For this blog, I had to consciously tell myself 'one space once space' before each sentence.

And yes, I did go back and 'fix' a few two-space-sentence-starters. I'm just so used to putting those two spaces before each sentence that I'm not sure I can break that habit, so don't feel bad if you find yourself doing the same thing.

But as long as you remember to take a few minutes to fix this common error when you're all done writing the world's next best-seller and looking it over, it will come out looking that much closer to perfection.  And that's what we strive for. Oops. Ahh well, nobody is perfect.

New Covers and Tal'Avern

Hello, readers!

I haven't updated for a few months as I've been writing and editing the next book in the Tal'Avern Chronicles series.  That has all been completed, and the new book will be publishing on Amazon soon.  I'm aiming for a mid to late March release.

First, I'd like to show off the new covers for Books 1 and 2.

 

 

The artwork was done by an extremely talented illustrator named Mat Sadler (www.matsadler.com).  As I write this, he is working on the cover for the next book in the Tal'Avern Chronicles series.

 

Both books are available now on Amazon, while Book 3 will be as well as soon as it is published.  Right now only digital copies are available, but for those of you who prefer physical books, take heart!  Paperback editions are next on my To Do list!

 

To stay updated, you can follow me on Twitter @ScottBorgman and/or on Facebook at www.facebook.com/saborgman.

 

Aside from showing off the covers and trying to help Mat get some well deserved exposure, I wanted to say something about the world of Tal'Avern.

 

* * *

 

So changing gears, allow me to talk a bit about the world of Tal'Avern.  Now, it's certainly not the first fantasy world, nor will it be the last.  So what sets it apart from others?  What makes Tal'Avern unique?

 

These are the questions many readers ask themselves when they're looking for something new to read.  Obviously, the book cover images are the first thing you see.  They look amazing.  But the covers only catch your attention.  You need more to be compelled to step into the world, am I right?  What is it about Tal'Avern that may just help you decide to see what awaits?

  

And so I offer a peek into the world for you, so that you can have a better understanding of what lies within the pages.  Like many fantasy worlds, Tal'Avern has its share of common fantasy themes.  Magic, dragons, elves and dwarves, twists and surprises (to name a few).
 

What sets it apart however, are the characters.  Traditionally, the 'heroes' of fantasy books have been male.  A few of the most famous characters many fantasy fans recognize are Drizzt and Elminster.  I could list others, but you get the point.
 

Sure, there are always female characters in those stories, but even though they may be portrayed as a 'main character', I kind of feel like most of the time they tend to walk a step behind.  Now, there are always exceptions.  I merely suggest that this is usually the case.

 

 

 

 

What makes Tal'Avern unique is that many of the main characters are female.  They're not perfect.  They struggle, they have flaws, and sometimes they fail.  It's what makes them so memorable and so easy to believe in.  They don't hide behind the male characters, but they stand beside them as equals.  Many times, even a step ahead of them.

 

When I created the world of Tal'Avern, that was my goal.  To break away from the mold, from tradition.  Soldiers and city guards in Tal'Avern have women within their ranks.  Some command armies, are leaders of noble houses, one in particular is unique among all others in the magical community.

 

They fight just as hard, their victories are celebrated just as much, and their deaths are mourned with just as many tears.  Some attain the highest respect and others commit the darkest of deeds. 

 

With a cast of compelling characters, some you may love and some you may despise.  Some you may cheer for, others you may turn the page, hoping that they are about to fall.  Some you may share laughs with, and others cry alongside.

 

So if you're looking for something new, something different, and something that I believe is a break from tradition in the fantasy genre, below you'll find the links to the first two books.  If this will be your first trip to Tal'Avern, I recommend starting with the first book in the series, Province of a Thief.

 

The second book, Darkness and Dragons, continues the story.  It brings back many of the characters that you meet in Province as well as introducing new ones.  The third book in the series I am hoping to have published by the end of March 2015.

 

I truly hope you enjoy the journey.  It is my honor to say to you:  Welcome to Tal'Avern.

 

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US/Canada (Amazon.com)

 

Province of a Thief: www.amazon.com/dp/B00KR140EO/

Darkness and Dragons: www.amazon.com/dp/B00LSWNHPO/

 

UK (Amazon.co.uk)

 

Province of a Thief: www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00KR140EO/

Darkness and Dragons: www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00LSWNHPO