Praise for the Epic Artesans of Albia Fantasy Series!

"Better than A Game of Thrones" - SCIFI, Amazon reviewer.  

"Most impressive. Fantastic series ... don't miss it!" - K S, Amazon Vine Voice and Top 1000 Reviewer

"A must-read for fantasy fans" CR, Blogger and Amazon reviewer

"5 stars, but deserves so much more" AA, Amazon reviewer

"Splendidly written in a wonderful voice" RM, Author and Amazon reviewer

"One of the best fantasy books I've ever read" DC, Author and Amazon reviewer

Today is the first official day of the relaunch of my Artesans of Albia fantasy series. Below you will find the Rafflecopter widget for the Giveaway, and also the list of what's to win. So many cool prizes!

The first prize is a signed print copy, mailed anywhere in the world, of each book in the first trilogy. That's King's Envoy, King's Champion, and King's Artesan. Plus - yes, PLUS! - ALL of the e-books in the Book Blast! That's an awesome list from some awesome writers! Check it out once you've seen the rest of this post.

Here is the new series trailer - what do you think?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=76ORbCO_wGI

Below is an overview review written by one of my Artesans series most ardent fans, Dan Gamble. There are no spoilers, so don't worry! My grateful thanks to Dan for becoming so involved in the characters and plot, and for giving me the thrill of reading his thoughts and feelings. Here's his series review:

Review of Artesans of Albia

Only once in a while do you come across a series that really draws you in, and know you are going to be a fan for years to come, Artesans of Albia is just one such series. What follows are my personal thoughts and reflections on the series, as the first trilogy is wrapped up and the next installments await.

Fantasy as a genre today is very much a sifting for gold type of exercise, those grains of gold are there, but they are not necessarily easily found. Luckily for me, quite by chance I came across Cas Peace’s new series, Artesans of Albia. It is both epic in scope like the best fantasy works of their time, however it also very much personal and relatable. Personally two things really stand out for me and make the series what it is; characterisation that is neither stereotypical nor rushed, and the fascinating and well thought out system of magic.

No story succeeds without strong characters, but the Albia series is simply awash with them; the inestimable Major Sullyan, the flawed but admirable Taran, the complicated and private General Blaine, the gentle, but strong Rienne, the list goes on. Given the dearth of characters you might think that there is the risk of them standing out so much individually the power of the group and the relationships between them are lost. Not so. One of Cas Peace’s strengths as a writer is to create a whole range of characters who we can not only relate to and feel strongly about, but who can at the same time maintain a whole range of relationships between themselves. It is this more than anything in some ways that drives the story, the characters’ motivations are a core facet of this series and one that is a pleasure to read and follow. You feel their struggles, their triumph, their suffering and their pain as the story progresses, but never once does it feel contrived, but merely the natural progression of their development as people. The series as it moves forward to its conclusion in the years ahead will rise and fall upon these characters, and because of that I feel it is in safe hands.

The other big area for me within the series, is the system of the magic. This is especially important given its central place in both the story, as well as being integral to a number of the main characters. The idea of metaforce, how it interacts with the world, how it is learned and how it is perceived is central to the story and the world that Cas Peace creates. The fact it is not an afterthought, but clearly been well planned, allows it to have standing and acceptance within the story. Given that the fate of Artesans, those who train with and use metaforce, I can see being one of the key plotlines as the series progresses, the planning in this area is very important. It is especially enjoyable to read about the different ranks, the limitations and consequences of such power combined with the struggles of the main characters, as well as the wider political ramifications that result.

While those are the two stand out areas for me personally, each reader will take away something different, depending on their own preferences and beliefs, but the series is not found wanting in that regard, being rich in so many areas that a make a great series what it is. However it would be remiss of me to mention something that may perhaps be unique to this series and Cas herself, and that is music. While many writers may use music and song in their works, this series is the first I have read where those songs have actually been recorded and performed, and actually have meaning within the series and to the characters themselves. Versions which have been performed live by Cas herself can be found on her website, are both haunting and really add more depth, and another layer to the world that has been created within the series. You can quite happily enjoy the series without hearing these songs, but if you do you will gain a greater appreciation and understanding of those events that the songs relate to. It is just one more thing, a nice touch, simple, but important and powerful, that brings out the depth in the series, both in the world and the characters themselves.

King’s Artesan concludes the first trilogy in the triple trilogy that will ultimately make up the whole Artesans of Albia series. I have been drawn in by the first three and the great writing contained within those pages, and am greatly looking forward to the remaining two trilogies that will develop the series and bring it to its conclusion. This talented author and the Artesans of Albia series in particular comes highly recommended. Truly a special find, one of the golden nuggets in the body of fantasy work today.

Here are the e-books included in the BookBlast:

King's Envoy, Artesans of Albia Book One, Cas Peace

King's Champion, Artesans of Albia Book Two, Cas Peace

King's Artesan, Artesans of Albia Book Three, Cas Peace

The Circle of Talia Book One, Shadows of the Realm, Dionne Lister

The Dream Keeper Chronicles Book One, The Dream Keeper, Mikey Brooks

Seeking A Scribe, Enchanted Bookstore Legend One, Marsha A Moore

The Dream Keeper Chronicles Book Two, The Dreamstone, Mikey Brooks

League of Elder, Sygillis of Metatron, Ren Garcia

A Knight of Silence, Candace C Bowen

A Change of Plans, Donna K Weaver

Spur of the Moment, Candace C Bowen

A Song of Betrayal, Jesse Duckworth

Echoes of Erebus, Joseph Picard

The Slaves of Erafor Series Book One, The Reader of Acheron, Walter Rhein

A Sword Called ... Kitten? Gordon A Long

Watching Yute, Jospeh Picard

Why Are People So Stupid? Gordon A Long

Lifehack, Joseph Picard

a Rafflecopter giveaway

And here's the schedule for the rest of the tour. There are fascinating character interviews, including Sullyan, Robin, and Rienne, plus other guest posts and author interviews. Please enjoy!

ARTESAN’s Blog Tour Schedule

December 12^th – December 19

December 12^th – Kelly P.'s Blog

December 12^th – Candace Bowen

December 13^th – Donna K. Weaver

December 13^th – Musings of a Writer

December 14^th - <3.....Laura Crean.....<3

December 14^th – Book Lovers Life

December 14^th – Dionne Lister, Author

December 15^th – Heoric Fantasy Books

December 15^th – Ozero

December 15^th - Harren Press

December 16^th – Beesley Buzz

December 16^th – R.K. Grow

December 17^th – Itz2Mainstreem

December 17^th – Ren Garcia

December 18^th – Cabin Goddess

December 18^th – Illusions of Intamacy

December 18^th – Inside Mikey's World

  

December 19^th – Airborn Express

December 19^th - Litery of Erana

December 19^th - Telling Stories

The Alchemy of Song.

I adore being a writer. I love it for so many different reasons, but one of the strongest is being able to use something I’m good at for helping other people, or making them smile.

 

Of course, I hope that my fantasy series, Artesans of Albia, connects emotionally with my readers. I like to think I can feel them laughing, crying, getting angry, feeling sad, experiencing the first pangs of love, grieving, and all the other human emotions that keep us alive, along with me as I write. I have always written from an emotional viewpoint, and I have a hard time imagining how you could NOT write from an emotional viewpoint. I invest every bit of my heart and soul into what I write – be it fiction, non-fiction, or songs. I know from the wonderful reviews that King’s Envoy and King’s Champion have received that many readers are able to feel what my characters feel, and this is something vitally important to me. I know I have succeeded as a writer when that happens.

 

The other aspect of my creative life, however – song writing – is different. The addition of music to the words heightens or changes the listener’s responses, because there are two different connections going on. First you have the meaning conveyed by the words of the song. This, generally, is unambiguous, although some song writers do seem to delight in producing words that confuse and puzzle! With those who don’t, the listener immediately knows what the writer is trying to say.

Then there’s the more visceral, maybe even spiritual, connection formed by the music, which is a far more subjective and fluid medium than the written word.

With written words, readers can impose their own ‘voice’ or imagination over that of the writer, and this can sometimes alter the meaning of those words beyond anything the writer envisaged. Written words can be fickle, even misunderstood. Think of those texts or emails sent in haste, whose recipients took umbrage over what was meant as a joke. It is nigh-on impossible to convey tone of voice with a few bald words, and emoticons must be used instead, to provide a visual key.

With music, however, it is so much easier to convey emotions that everyone can instantly relate to. Even people who don’t like music can hear the mood the composer intended to create. And when you put both together! – well, an alchemy occurs unlike any other, instantly transporting the listener to a unique place inhabited only by that song.

 

This is what I have tried to do in my own song writing. The songs I am creating for my Artesans series are steered by each book – some exist in full within the book itself, in poem form, such as The Wheel Will Turn, from King’s Envoy, used here in the book trailer from Rhemalda Publishing. Others exist as snippets, or are only mentioned by title. Creating these is a challenge I relish.

A completely different challenge, however, comes into being when you decide to create a song for someone else. It becomes a beast with dual nature, because there is someone else to please – someone else’s feelings and desires to consider.

When I read Mikey Brooks’ soon-to-be-published MG novel, The Dream Keeper, I immediately wanted to create that alchemy by writing the lullaby that eases young sleepers into the Land of Dreams. Mikey’s prose enabled me to hear the song so clearly, and the more I thought about it, the more I found myself humming a pleasing and soothing melody. In his book, the lullaby exists only as a hummed melody – there are no words. However, my creative juices had started to run and I simply had to add some words. Once this was done, of course, I had to face the hardest part of all – I had to let Mikey hear it! What he didn’t know – and won’t know until he reads this blog post – is that I have never written a song for anyone else before. I have written songs with people, and I have worked with others on my own songs, but I have never actually created a song completely and totally for someone else – let alone without their knowledge! Plus, I had to record it on my computer, with just my voice and my rusty old guitar that I haven’t played for years!

 

Thankfully, the recording came out well enough for Mikey to imagine how the polished lullaby would sound. I was so relieved he liked it! I recorded it to a lovely sound track created by my wonderful song-writing partners: David Snell (my brother) and David Shepherd (collectively known as Nex’t’Nothin). I will be adding it to my website as a free download, and I’m sure it will feature on Mikey’s website too. Maybe even on a trailer for The Dream Keeper, so why not watch out for it? And while you’re at it, why not buy The Dream Keeper when it is published? It’s a wonderful book, well written, with lots of tension and action. It’s classed as MG, but it’s a great read for adults, too! I will be hosting a Giveaway and a guest post by Mikey on this blog on May 24^th. Hope to see you then!

On Editing ... A Door Called Sally.

Some of my fellow Rhemalda authors have blogged recently on the subject of editing and, with the second book of my Artesans of Albia series, King’s Champion, nearing this process, I thought I would add my own thoughts.

Being a British author in an American publishing company brings its own unique set of circumstances when it comes to edits. As I am also a freelance editor, proofreader and writing mentor, I have experience of this process from both sides. Does it make having my own work edited easier or harder? The answer is that I don’t really know. No one likes to see their precious text covered with red, or have someone tell you that a certain scene doesn’t work, or that you have failed to spot a glaring typo in the sentence you’ve read a hundred times. Yet maybe I can take this process easier than some, because I have personal experience of trying to be diplomatic when dealing with other writers. I know that the process isn’t personal, and that my editor is trying to help me make my novel as clean and as good as it can be. And I do know how hard it is to spot your own mistakes! A case in point was when I first decided to design and have printed some King’s Envoy bookmarks and flyers. How many times did I check and recheck the wording on the files before I sent them to the printer? And how ticked off was I when they came back, and my mother instantly spotted the “h” missing from the word “publisher” and the “g” missing from the middle of “engaging”?

Very ticked off. Seriously – very!

So, if an experienced proofreader can still miss typos, a good, impartial editor is invaluable.

Yet there is leeway for discussion when your edits come back, especially if your novel, like mine, is set in a particular historical period.

My Artesans of Albia series is set within a completely fictional fantasy world, yet for inspiration I drew heavily on the English Medieval period. There are no machines in my novels, no guns or engines; people rely on horses for transport and swords, bows and knives for defense. The nobility live in fortified manors or castles, wealthier citizens in towns, the ordinary people in small villages. Health care is basic, with drugs being purely herbal, although procedures such as blood transfusions are just coming into use.

 Ok, you are thinking – what does this have to do with editing?

It all comes down to terminology.

If you follow a certain trade, you will use terms that most lay people will not understand. For instance, how many people today could name all the parts of a sword? How many of you know what a tang is, or a quillon? Yet a swordsmith or blacksmith would know these terms intimately. The same applies to the various sections of a castle – it’s no good someone telling you there’s a fire in the bailey if you run with a bucket of water to the keep.

This issue of long-forgotten, or specialized terms came up for me once the first round of King’s Envoy edits came back. Two in particular caused some confusion. The first was the word “midden”, and the second was the term “sally port”. For those of you who don’t know, the word “midden” means a dung heap. It can apply equally to what comes out of a horse’s stable or to the unusable leftovers from a kitchen. It is, quite simply, a pile of refuse. This is where the differences between UK English and US English come into play because although it’s an old word, I believe more UK readers would recognize the term than readers in the US. As it was not vitally important to the story, and I didn’t want to make my readers keep reaching for their dictionaries, I was quite happy to substitute this word and use “dung pile” instead.

However, the term “sally port” is a specialized term relating to castles and fortified manors. Simply put, a sally port is a small door either to the side of, or actually let into, the huge doors or gates leading into a fortified building. It would be used when a small number of people, on foot, wanted to enter or leave. The word “sally” can also mean a charge or sortie (as in battle) or to go forth, as in an excursion. The term is derived from the Latin “salire”, meaning “to leap”. (Who says fantasy novels can’t also be educational? J)

In this case, I felt justified in sticking to my guns and asking for the term to be kept in the novel. As the photographs show, I also managed to find a living example of a genuine sally port in the ruins of a small castle in Pembroke, Wales, UK.

So, although the editing process can often mean change, it can also be useful for highlighting what is important, or what needs to remain.

Expect Unusual Excitements!

You would be forgiven for thinking that having your first book published is the epitome of excitement, that it doesn’t get any better than that. And, in many ways, you’d be right. Before my Artesans of Albia series was accepted by Rhemalda, I spent many years believing nothing could top being offered a contract, and then seeing my very own creation, my book, displayed on a bookstore shelf. Don’t get me wrong – that was, and still is, one of the best moments of my life. But, of course, the excitement doesn’t end there.

There’s the entire exciting process before the book is ready for publication – editing, cover design, layout, etc – followed by reviews, a book launch and, hopefully, the thrill of fan mail. There’s a bit of stress involved there too, of course, but on the whole, the process is exciting, especially the nearer you get to completion. For some reason, I didn’t consider any of these things when I was dreaming my dream of publication. I guess I thought I wouldn’t have much involvement in the cover design and book layout stage; I imagined the publisher would have their own style and that I, as the author, would have little or no say in how the book looked. It’s one of the many perks of signing with a small press rather than a large, impersonal one – you get much more say in these important decisions, and it was my first unexpected excitement.

There have been others along the way and they will probably be subjects of other blog posts. But my latest excitement was the most unexpected of all, and I can still hardly believe it happened. It resulted from a casual stroll around an antiques centre following a nice walk with  my husband, Dave, back in the summer. The UK has many of these centres – they sell traditional antiques such as furniture, items of silver, old paintings, etc, but they also sell architectural salvage, such as old stone urns or statues from people’s gardens, as well as “kitchenalia” and jewelry. In fact, you can find almost anything. Outside this particular shop, mounted on the wall high above my head, as if it was flying, was the most gorgeous metal owl. Sculpted in rusted iron, it is, to me, a thing of incredible beauty. It was a bit pricey though, and we left the shop without buying it. Imagine my excitement when I found that Dave had bought it for me for Christmas! He is just so lovely (Dave, I mean. Well, and the owl too.)

After I had opened this wonderful present on Christmas Day, Dave proceeded to tell me the story that went with it. As a way of advertizing my book, both of our cars carry flyers in the window depicting the King’s Envoy cover. When Dave went to visit the workshop of the artist who made the owl, in order to collect mine, the artist saw my flyer. He was instantly drawn to the depiction of the tangwyr, the strange flying predator on the cover, and asked Dave all about it. He said he liked to create strange and wonderful creatures in metal and that my tangwyr would make an excellent sculpture. He said he might make one later in the year. In fact, he was so taken with the idea that he made his sculpture within two weeks, and sent Dave some photos of it. Because Dave didn’t want to tell me about the owl, he had to wait until Christmas to show me these incredible pictures. To say that I was amazed and excited would be a huge understatement! 

So it seems that being an author and having a book published can lead to all sorts of wonderful and exciting things. I feel so proud that my tangwyr creation, brought to life initially by the talented artist Eve Ventrue, should have led to its existence as a striking and beautiful work of the metal smith’s art. I simply have to have one, and have high hopes for my birthday in March. Watch out for another blog post then!

How Do You Find Inspiration?

One of the commonest questions fiction writers get asked, I think, is “where does your inspiration come from?” The simplest, and actually truest, answer is “everywhere”, yet that always sounds like a cop-out to me. In reality, inspiration CAN come from anywhere; from your everyday life, from the people around you. It hides within the events of your day, or maybe what you see on TV or read in the newspaper. It can spring out at you from something you overheard, some joke or snippet of gossip while you were in the coffee shop or having lunch with your friends. Creative people can recognise inspiration where others might only see the ordinary, or mundane.

Personally, I think that finding inspiration also depends on what type of genre you write in. If I was a romance writer, or a crime writer, I could find a wealth of inspiration on any news channel. Horror writers too, I’d imagine – far too often! But what if you’re like me, a fantasy writer? How does a writer who works in unfamiliar, created worlds find inspiration? Does it come purely from our own imagination or can it also be found in our everyday lives?

The answer, of course, is “yes, of course it can,” and just the other day I found a prime example of how inspiration works for me.

I am extremely fortunate to live in a particularly beautiful and rural part of North Hampshire in the UK. I am surrounded by farmland, by fields of crops, by hedges that change their colours depending on the season. Rabbits and hares, deer and pheasant run in the fields (not always a good thing when you own Lurchers, as I do!) and there are wide field margins around which the farmer permits us to walk. Our roads are country lanes and therefore fairly quiet, and the village is one of the prettiest around. It also contains some of the nicest people you could wish to meet.

This area is primarily a working, food-producing farm. Wheat, sesame, oilseed rape, grass for seed and hay, sheep, cattle and pigs can all be found in the fields. Tractors are a regular sight and they can churn up the lanes and field margins, especially at this time of year. Farmers by nature and profession are a practical lot, not given, you’d be excused for thinking, to flights of fancy. And yet, one day, I turned a corner of a field I often walk around and was confronted by the scene in the photo above. There, in the entrance to a mundane, muddy, working farmyard were these fabulous standing stones, appearing as if by magic (although I suspect by tractor) overnight. I was entranced. Such an unexpected sight immediately set my writing senses a-tingle – how could I fail to be inspired?

What gets your creative juices flowing? Has anyone else come across something so unexpected, it resulted in a piece of writing? I’d love to hear!

What is an Artesan? (originally posted at Rhemalda in April 2011)

When I first began writing my fantasy series Artesans of Albia, it had a very different title. The premise is that a section of my world’s populace, drawn from five separate races, would be born with a certain talent. One manifestation of this talent is the ability to learn how to control one’s inner life force; an energy I call ‘metaforce’. Once this was decided, I found I needed a vehicle through which this metaforce would be channelled; something possessed by every living thing but which was unique in each case. I experimented with various terms until I hit on the word ‘matrix’. The matrix would be akin to the psyche, and it would be a thing of ephemeral, mystical beauty. It can only be seen by another practitioner of the craft and is an intricate, four-dimensional ‘pattern’, consisting of whorls, spirals, helixes, colors and emotions. The more skilled the practitioner, the more complex their matrix would be.

Having decided these things, the series’ title became obvious. It just had to be ‘Masters of the Matrix’. Brilliant title, I thought – I love it! (Can you see where this is going?)

I wrote happily on, oblivious to the slap in the face that was coming my way. Sometimes I just hate the film industry… Ok, of course you know, it was the release of the Matrix films. I spat feathers when the first one came out – how dare they ruin all my careful planning – not to mention a perfectly good series title? Not fair! For a while I toyed with the idea of keeping my masterpiece – maybe I could capitalize on the connection? Thankfully I thought better of it; can you imagine how mad someone would be if they bought one of my books by mistake, thinking it was related to the films? And I could just imagine what agents or publishers would say…

Anyway, now I had a problem. The people who exhibit this talent are not magicians or wizards in any sense of the word. Their ‘powers’ owe more to Druidical beliefs, or that of Wicca, than to such creations as Gandalf or Merlin. I had to find a unique name for them, a term that reflected their knowledge; their artistry.

One of the best-loved books in my writer’s arsenal is my Roget’s Thesaurus. It was a 21st birthday present from two great-aunts. (Actually my parents bought it, but the money came from my great-aunts.) They are both gone now – my 21st birthday was a long, LONG, time ago – but I still frequent my Thesaurus. When I’d exhausted all the obvious and immediate terms I could think of for my talented people, I dug through its many permutations and suggestions until I whittled all the possibilities down to two words. Artist and artisan.

Both these words carried elements (pun intended) of the skills my people possess, but both were too ordinary. I rejected them, but it wasn’t long until I realized there was nothing else. I’d already decided against coining a brand new word; I wanted potential readers to at least have an inkling of what the term might mean. Eventually, in desperation, I tried altering the word ‘artisan’ by exchanging the ‘i’ for an ‘e’. Bingo! The rest, as the old cliché goes, is history.