The Look Inside feature has been activated on the Amazon listing of Among the Shadows. Take a peak at part of the Prologue (it be nice if they cut the excerpts off where the chapter ends…maybe the rest will appear here) and see how it all begins…
Books
Take a Look Inside!
Categories: Books, Fiction, Writing
Tags: Amazon, Among the Shadows, Darrick Dean, excerpts, fantasy, Watchers of the Light
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The Veil has Broken, The War has Begun
The world forgets evil exists even as it creeps over the land. You must stand firm. You do not have to wait for the day evil is to come. That day has already passed.
The war has begun! Among the Shadows: Watchers of the Light Book 1
Paperback at Amazon.com:
And, of course, the e-book for Kindles is here.
What was locked in shadow now stirs, and where darkness has laid dormant, evil awakes.
Categories: Books, Fiction, Writing
Tags: Among the Shadows, book launch, Darrick Dean, fantasy, historical fantasy, veil, Watchers of the Light
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Hunt for Adventure
James Bond. Doc Savage. Indiana Jones. MacGyver. All guys who seemed to have unlimited resources and unlimited adventures. All owe something to the pulp action stories of yesteryear — with Doc Savage being one of the icons of that era.
Now we have Gabriel Hunt.
The Gabriel Hunt series is an attempt to bring back the pulp action hero by the folks at Hard Case Crime who have almost single-handedly brought back this genre (now published by Titan Books). With a premise of Hunt being “backed by the resources of the $100 million Hunt Foundation and armed with his trusty Colt revolver,” how can you go wrong?
The series is fast-paced escapism as Hunt travels the world in search of lost places, deadly ancient mysterious and Bond-esque villains at every turn. And, of course, Hunt is quite the lady’s man.
Unfortunately, the series only went six volumes. Recently re-released (although not with the original pulp-art covers), maybe the Hunt Foundation will return? Perhaps Hunt can save us from too much “heavy handed message fic” — not that we want to check out from the issues of society, but sometimes escapist fiction can teach us a thing or two.
Like that we need a few more Hunts, Savages and MacGyvers in the world.
Categories: Books, Fiction
Tags: Adventure, Doc Savage, escapism, Gabriel Hunt, pulp fiction
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Awakening Strength
A new excerpt from Among the Shadows:
The wild men were too frenzied to notice or care that it was a woman who approached them at a steady pace. One, though, wondered why she didn’t look the least bit afraid, and why her eyes radiated in the fading light. Unfortunately, his fear didn’t overcome his momentum.
Kyra easily deflected the first blade and thrust the other katana into the man’s neck. She pulled it out and turned to block another. He at least made another swing before she wrestled the sword from him and slashed him with her second blade.
This all before the first attacker hit the ground.
Another ran at her, only to be pummeled into the ground by Scout. Two others were almost on him with their swords when they screamed in pain and hit the ground face first. Arrows stuck in their backs. Knights had chased the wildmen, wondering who fought them in the moonlight. A woman appeared out of the light.
“Are you another from the portal? Another Watcher?” They asked her, nervously eyeing the cat as it approached Kyra.
“I suppose I am.” She wiped the blades on the ground. “I came here looking for my mother. Saken took her, and I mean to take her back and show him my mother’s blades.”
“Saken is dead. Your mother saw to that. They left for the portal. That way, where the beast went. It is not far.”
“Come, Scout, this isn’t over.” Alice hadn’t strayed. Kyra mounted her and paused to catch her breath for but a moment. A terrible strength had been awakened in her.
She liked it and she didn’t.
The war has begun.
Categories: Books, Fiction, Writing
Tags: Among the Shadows, Darrick Dean, excerpts, Watchers of the Light
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Kat Bloodmayne is Tainted
Kat Bloodmayne has a secret. She has the power within her to use nature as a weapon. Problem is that she doesn’t know where the power came from or how to control it all that well. People around her are getting hurt, and worse now that she is being hunted for her power.
Hunted by someone she knows well, protected by a man who may not be on her side and running in a world where the darkness is far more sinister than she she could have imagined.
This is Morgan L. Busse‘s new book Tainted. Set in a dystopian steampunk world — think Victorian with airships where science and the old world clash and converge.
Also think fantasy with a bit of Frankenstein simmering in the background.
I was very impressed with Morgan’s new page turner. There have many repetitive attempts at dystopia in book and film, and many failures or not-quite-there steampunk attempts. Morgan doesn’t succumb to these pitfalls and creates an original story in a well-realized world. I could see this story playing out on the big screen and Morgan has certainly established herself as a storyteller to pay attention to.
And Kat Bloodmayne is not a heroine to be trifled with.
Categories: Books, Fiction, Uncategorized
Tags: dystopian, fantasy, morgan l busse, steampunk, Tainted
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Goodreads – Get Reading
I’m in the process of updating my Goodreads page. Still more to do, but I know many of the writers and biblophiles out there are also on Goodreads. So click over to my Goodreads page and lets get linked up on the web’s top reading social media site. And if you aren’t on Goodreads, and are a book fanatic, what are you waiting for?
First-look: Among the Shadows
And now, a first-look excerpt from Among the Shadows:
The Righteous One unsheathed a blackened dagger that Solana swore had a subtle red glow. This wasn’t time to sit by like a distressed princess. These men had almost killed her and still intended to do so. No time like the present to stir things up a bit. Their drug had all but left her body as she drew the ripples of energy through her body to her fingertips. Dust began to spin on the floor beneath each hand, rising to them in a swirling column. Soon torrents of air tore through the doorway, forming a cyclone around her. Her hair whirled; her eyes burned green. One man tried to shoot as Solana approached them, but she sent the bullets back into his chest by blasts of air she commanded. Her opponents had never imagined such a terror as they shouted and cursed in their native tongue. They turned to run, but the vortexes of air she threw reached them first, lifting each off the ground and crushing them against the wall. Falling into a crumpled heap, they didn’t move.
Ethan attached an octagonal beacon to the wall and pressed a button on the device. A red light began to flash. He looked at the man on the floor. His breathing was labored. “A little something to hurry you on your way to the Dark One.”
The final moments of the Righteous One’s life were about to slip away. No inkling of remorse could be found in the dying man’s eyes, no longer veiled. In a final moment of clarity, he spoke carefully and slowly.
“The worst evil you can imagine is but a shadow of what lies conspiring, hidden and unseen, waiting patiently to emerge and spread its suffocating malice. I am nothing compared to what is to come.” His eyes froze, vacant and still, and the last breath left him
Darkness fled from the room.
“That was a bit disconcerting,” Solana said, with a shiver. The weight of oppression had vanished. A crossing through the veil.
Now Ethan was quiet; his gaze didn’t flinch from the vaguely outlined road. What he had done – what they had done – no doubt ran through his mind. In hers, it made her feel alive, but would it always? She could see that Ethan had been through so much more.
“Here it comes,” he said in a whisper.
Solana looked through the broken rear window of the truck. A streak of fire fell from above. An explosion reached into the sky and a rumble moved across the desert. Poetic justice it was.
No one could hide from the Light.
Among the Shadows breaks through the veil August 2016.
Categories: Books, Fiction, Writing
Tags: Among the Shadows, Darrick Dean, excerpts, fantasy, Watchers of the Light
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Cover Re-release
Yesterday I announced the release date of Among the Shadows. Now I’ll re-release the covers for today’s reveal:
These were first released quite awhile ago when I thought I was a lot closer to finishing book one than I really was. Well time flies and now the time has come…Update (7/11/16): In prep for final publication, we made a couple tweaks to cover including shorter backcover text, revised spine and some adjustments to front.
New Press and AtS Release Date!
Introducing:
Sword and Shadow Press™
This will be the imprint for my Watchers of the Light and Servants of the Flame series of fantasy novels and possibly future books by myself or other authors.
And now for one other important bit of info. Release date for Book 1 of Watchers of the Light, Among the Shadows is finally here:
July 2016
Exclusive excerpts begin Friday…
Lost in Muirwood
I downloaded a book over two years ago and never got around to reading it until recently. This is very unusual for me given the rate I read books. I now wish I would have read it sooner, because Jeff Wheeler‘s The Wretched of Muirwood is an immersive, medieval fantasy world easy to disappear into.
In this first volume of the Legends of Muirwood trilogy, we find the orphan Lia – the “wretched” – who is a servant in the Muirwood Abby. Then, on one stormy night, an injured squire shows up on her doorstep.
Needless to say, everything was about to change.
A classic fantasy tale of a young person coming of age and learning who she really is. It’s an oft-told tale, but it’s the new details, characters and obstacles that an author unveils that take the reader in. Wheeler’s world is atmospheric, the characters compelling and the story pulls you forward into a land of warring factions, hidden magic and discovered destinies. You can always tell if I have enjoyed an e-book when I have ordered a paper copy for my collection.
And the next two books along with it.
Categories: Books, Fiction
Tags: fantasy, Jeff Wheeler, Muirwood, The Wretched of Muirwood
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Darrick Dean 