Jon F. Baxley — Read an excerpt of The Blackgloom Bounty. Find out more about The Blackgloom Bounty and read an interview with the author. From the author: The Blackgloom Bounty is fantasy reading for all ages. Harry Potter is great for younger kids, but when they grow out of it, I want my books to be where they gravitate. I want them to be able to read a chapter, then get online and Google a term or a phrase to learn more about the time period. Yes, Blackgloom is fantasy. However, it’s also a medieval epic with lots of historical imagery, phrases and geographic locations to make the storyline credible. Every reviewer thus far has lauded the book for the fast, unrelenting action, interesting characters and multiple plot lines that all lead to a dramatic (and apparently very satisfying) ending. That’s important to me—to know that people ‘get’ the book—that they understand what motivates the characters.
Note: FanLit forum members may have a free copy of the e-book version of this book. See our forum for details and download.

Terry Cloutier — Read an excerpt from The Demon Inside (The Zone War 1). Synposis: For Edward Fox, the complex fantasy world that he created, called The Zone, has always been his salvation. Traumatized at an early age by a terrifying kidnapping ordeal that forever left him scarred, both mentally and physically, his fictitious world is all that stands between him and the memories that plague him relentlessly. Inside The Zone, he is free from those memories, even if only temporarily, and there he feels safe and empowered from the real world around him. A magical realm where he can be whomever he wishes, whenever he wishes, with the awesome powers of a God always at his disposal. But now, something has changed. His worst memory of all has somehow found its way inside his safe haven, tormenting him mercilessly, forcing him to make a tragic choice. After a botched suicide attempt that leaves him lying in a coma, Edward awakens in The Zone to find that now the rules have been dramatically altered. His God-like powers have been stripped from him, leaving him alone and helpless in a world of magic and mayhem that is ruled by a mad Emperor bent on his annihilation...an Emperor that seems all too familiar. Peopled by diverse characters from his past and present, some of them determined to destroy him, and some to save him, Edward must somehow learn to survive against all odds as a vicious war erupts around him, with the prize not only control of The Zone itself...but his mind as well.

Read an excerpt from The Balance of Power (The Zone War 2). Synopsis: Rescued from the brink of death by the mysterious power of the Master Eye, Edward Fox and his friends make a daring escape from the city of Palantand and flee to the safety of Caprica Island. Once there, he is dismayed to learn from the Old Man that his ordeal is far from over, in fact, it has only just begun. Tired and disenchanted, Edward has no choice but to allow Jasmiine Vaxin to return to the war-torn Tralon continent to try to lead an uprising against the Empire specifically designed to buy him some much needed time. With the mighty Doorgen Sandon by his side, Edward sails for the far off continent of Ventrolous in search of an all too familiar artifact buried in a mythical moving lake called The Lake of Sorrows . a lake that is also jealously guarded by a magical creature known only as The Chrimlian. Meanwhile, the juggernaut that is the Empire of Halandon continues to expand outward aggressively, sweeping everyone before it aside as the Emperor sets his hungry sights on total victory. As kingdoms continue to fall beneath his mighty war machine, each square mile of new territory brings Daamand Wain that much closer to overall control of the balance of power in The Zone . and ultimately, control over Edward. Somehow, Edward Fox must do what he has never been able to do in real life, he must overcome his guilt and his fears and become more than he is, for if he doesn't, he and The Zone will soon cease to exist forever.

Craig Herbertson — see a biography of Craig Herbertson.  Read the first few chapters of School: The Seventh Silence.
Use this link to find Craig's book at Amazon UK. Publisher: Jean Deforte has found a caterpillar. But lost his little sister. It's a difficult year. Father is dying and mother has sent him to an English school. Nobody likes Jean because he is half French. The girls are laughing. The teachers are on his back. The bullies are waiting in the hallways. Unluckily for Jean there are worse things than bullies: There are vacant black holes in the corners of his mind. There are darker things that would gladly fill them. Jean is about to discover that his school is more foreign than he could possibly imagine. Behind the stockroom door there are other classrooms. Classrooms where paper planes carry passengers, statues cry and board games cost your life, books ask you questions. There are endless dusty corridors, back ways, cellars and chimney flues, hidden rooms, and garrets and just occasionally you might find a pupil running for his life. Better join him. Jean knows his little sister is here. But is she hiding or helping? Is she alive or dead? In point of fact is Jean alive or dead? It's a question that the enigmatic Moonster might answer. But he is trying to get out, not in. Jean's quest to find her becomes a personal journey. A journey to the door of the Seventh Silence. A rite of passage, a symbolic journey through Hades, the struggle between good and evil, the adventure of appearance and reality? There is something here of Dante, Peake, Carroll. Add a little Kafka, Philip K. Dick and Conrad and you will have guessed that this is not a book for children - unless like Jean they are very brave.

Beth Johnson — see a profile of Beth on our reviewers page. Read Chapter one of Fate the Vagabond: Volume One of The Children of Earth and Sky. Description: Vagabonds are creatures of mixed human and dragon blood who, under the control and guidance of a governing body called the Tribunal, protect the land from rogues of their own kind, and from dragons who are consumed by the mysterious illness known as Dragonrage. Fate is a young Vagabond who has earned a reputation for being able to find any quarry. This ability is actually an inborn gift, one she believes unique to herself, and one that leaves her estranged from others of her kind. While on an assignment to capture a dragon who has done no wrong, so far as Fate knows, she meets a mysterious stranger named Vandalin. This meeting is the first of several events, including a kidnapping by the infamous rogues known as the Three, that awaken old suspicions in Fate, suspicions about the true purpose and intent of the Tribunal. Hers is a story not only of adventure and excitement, but of loss and gain, of the dangers of trusting implicitly in what you know, and the dangers of being unable to trust at all.

Carolyn Kephart — Chapter one, The Wysard: Volume One of The Ryel Saga.  Visit Carolyn Kephart's website.
Publisher: Quest to rescue a father's trapped spirit from the evil place between life and death.

Lisa-Marie Owens — Chapter three, Darius Prince of Legend (not the final edited version). Visit Lisa-Marie Owens' website.  Description: The Kingdom of Scottshire has known peace and prosperity for generations, but change is on the wind. A deal made between a wizard and a peasant girl unleashes a catastrophic chain of events on the unsuspecting king and his people. Caught off guard by an old enemy, the people of Scottshire are unable to defend themselves against a new and unconventional kind of warfare. Under constant attack, King Adrik is faced with the horrible truth that he must abandon the search for his young son and concentrate on defending his kingdom. The cost of war has diminished Scottshire’s resources leaving the entire kingdom desperate for a savior.

Jason Pratt — Cry of Justice won the 2007 Christian Small Publishers Association retailer poll for Novel of the Year. First Section, Cry of Justice.  Publisher: HOPE AND LOVE - PRIDE AND HONOR. Monsters wander the world of Mikon. Caught in the aftermath of a vicious international war, thousands of refugees have fled the Coastal States, bringing their dangers with them into the wilderness near the untamed Middlelands. Castaways from an imploding civilization- fighting to find and to understand the most dangerous of treasures ... Portunista: innovative, ambitious, intemperate; a maga seeking her path to Imperial glory ... Seifas: dark and lethal, alienating, poetic; a hunter whose words are his tears ... Gaekwar: lanky, laconic, sardonic; 'only a cowherd', yet wielding exotic weaponry ... Othon: the Implacable One; a quiet, quick-thinking giant of a man ... Dagon: arrogant, insecure, buffoonish; a miserable commander with a knack for solving puzzles ... Pooralay: ruthless and compassionate, loud and brusque- when he wants to be; a thug on a mystical quest ... Bomas: renegade killer planning a subtle genocide; Artabanus: self-proclaimed Arbiter, drawing every power to himself; Praxiteles: incompetent madman, possessing and possessed by the Roguent Gamin ... In their increasingly desperate struggles- for food, for knowledge, for life itself- what will make the difference between brigades and bands of brigands?

Robert Rhodes— see a profile of Rob on our reviewers page.

Short stories
The Hero of Hawk's Field:  He wakes in a bandit-plagued forest, with only a donkey and woodsman's axe ...
Chasing the Wind:  A reminiscence, over breakfast, with one blessed—and cursed—by a remarkable memory.
The Play of Her Life:  In a time of oppression, Gabriela prepares for the role of her life.
To Be A Man: A Story in The Return of the Sword Anthology (March 2008)

Novels
The Dance of Seasons (Book One, Spring): This is an abandoned manuscript of a novel that Rob “worked on for years before realizing it was too deeply flawed to warrant further effort." He gives us the following caveats: (1) This is an unfinished work, and (2) the author intends its posting for the purpose of cautioning fantasy writers as much as inspiring them.
Rob may not be happy with the whole but still enjoys parts of it, especially those with Siltanen, for whom he has big plans in another work in progress.