Tag: Fantasy

The Last Dragonfly

This epic teen fantasy is the newest release from E. G. Moore (and is specially priced for the next few days).

Eragon meets The Forgetting in this powerful story about friendship, loyalty, and discovering that things aren’t always what they seem.

Sixteen-year-old Governor’s daughter Etoiny longs to throw off her upper-class responsibilities and become the first female scientist of Taachat. When she accidentally wounds a thought-extinct dragonfly, she must race to find a bygone cure in order to present it to the Science Society for admission.

She soon realizes two powerful people are on the hunt for the dragonfly and its healing ability. Just as Etoiny finds a way to save her dragonfly, she discovers horrors her father has allowed in the underbelly of Taachat and it makes her question who she wants to be.

Etoiny must decide whether to claim her place as a renowned scientist by offering the creature for experimentation or sacrifice her dream, team up with her animal friend, and fulfill their magical destiny.

Note: In case you’ve forgotten, we profiled this author last year!

About the author

E.G. Moore is an award-winning author and poet who loves to weave subtle fable-like lessons into her stories for middle graders and teens.

Weird Weather? Submissions Open

Smoking Pen Press is pleased to announce a new Call for Submissions for a short story anthology for our Read on the Run series. We’re seeking stories about weather. But we aren’t interested in fair winds or ordinary weather, we are looking for Ill Winds and Wild Weather. All genres are considered.

  • Submissions accepted 15 March – 30 April 2023
  • 1,200 to 7,000 words
  • Attach to email as DOC or DOCX file

Contact spp (at) smokingpenpress (dotcom) for more information.

Photo by NOAA on Unsplash

Fantasy Writers – Free

ProWritingAid, the makers of that great self-editing software, is continuing its trend of periodically offering free online classes for specific genres. For 27 February through 2 March, the focus will be on FANTASY.

Replays are available on-demand for a week after the event. Did I mention that it’s free..?

This event offers a lot including

  • Live interview with bestselling author R. F. Kuang (Babel)
  • Jessica Brody of (Save the Cat! Writes a Novel)
  • Workshops on outlining, writing, and editing your fantasy story
  • Networking events to get to know other fantasy writers

Learn more and register today.

First ‘Trouvères’ Adventure

A new book from our recently-profiled Idaho author, Ellis “Skip” Knox.

Theft, illusion, and murder in a ruined paradise

The Compagnie des Trouvères are to perform at festivities on the beautiful island of Capreae. When a young illusionist is accused of stealing the duke’s signet ring, Val and the other Trouvères step in to prove his innocence.

Young lovers are here for a betrothal. Powerful nobles are here to put their mark to a peace treaty. But someone is out to ruin both, and no one seems to care if an obscure illusionist pays the price for their schemes.

No one, that is, except for the Trouvères.

About the world of Altearth

The Signet Ring is the first in a series, but it is the fourth book that is set in Altearth, a world where magic is real, monsters roam the land, and the Roman Empire never fell. These include:

  • Goblins at the Gates, which tells how magic first came to Altearth
  • A Child of Great Promise, the story of a girl who thought she was half-elf and half-human, but discovers she is neither.
  • Into the Second World, an adventure story that reveals central mysteries about Altearth.
  • Mad House, a novelette about the unlikely pairing of a sprite and an ogre, and a house going insane.

And now The Signet Ring.

Here you can meet Valentin, Charlot, Enzela, Miron, and Tusco—acrobats, actors, and magicians—who will fight for you when no one else will. In subsequent books they will travel across Italia, into Germania, and then to Gaul. They will seek justice for the wrongly accused, but eventually must face their own accusers.

Ellis “Skip” Knox

Ellis L. (Skip) Knox is a writer, medieval historian, and the creator of the fantasy world called Altearth, a place where magic is real, monsters roam the land, and the Roman Empire never fell.

His work includes several short stories published in online magazines as well as these intriguingly titled novels:

  • Goblins at the Gates
  • A Child of Great Promise
  • Into the Second World
  • The Signet Ring (released August 2022)
  • Mad House

Do you have a writing routine? Where and when do you write?

I have a study with my books, computer, and table. I write four days a week (I’m retired), usually for two to four hours.

Continue reading “Ellis “Skip” Knox”