I don't have much of a description for this yet, but the title pretty much sums it up. For what it's worth, though, this is probably going to be a blog that I update sporadically. I'm not here to earn money, I realized recently (who'd a thought?). So if it's not what that, what's the point? Well, I guess I just want to be an influence, or create an experience. Every now and then, I have a thought that sounds kind of good. Why not write them down? So, as we struggle down this lonely road of life, let's walk and talk together, just to make it a little less lonely.

A Preview to my story, 'Please Remember Us. . .' The full story is here: http://www.wattpad.com/story/22019704-please-remember-us

************************************************************************************** An outcast rogue must break a curse put on his fate, or die on his nineteenth birthday. To survive, he'll need the sword of a maiden, the aid of an immortal, and the power of forbidden magic that could cost him the only girl he ever loved. ************************************************************************************ *** THE JACK OF SOULS won a Silver IPPY this year! *** THE JACK OF SOULS won 1st place in the PNWA Competition in Fantasy! * *** THE JACK OF SOULS won 1st place in the Southwest Writers competition! * *** A "Featured Book" on Wattpad! * *** Now a "Staff Pick" on Kickstarter! * *** Available on Amazon in paper, hardback, and ebook ! * *** My contract with Kindle Select won't allow me to post more than 3 chapters here, but... *** Sign up for my newsletter on stephenmerlino.com for alerts when it's free on Amazon! * MY INSPIRATION I wrote this out of pure love of trickster rogues; I love the wit over brawn motif -- Odysseus over Achilles, Raven over Eagle -- so I like to play with it in my stories. In JOS I set the rogue and con-artist Harric against a foil of warriors in a land threatened by magic and civil war. Whenever possible I turn familiar tropes on their heads: instead of a handsome young Lancelot, I cast a broken-down ex-champion addicted to pain-killing herbs; instead of a dashing Squire Brian, the old knight reluctantly takes an ambitious young woman as squire. Similarly, I re-imagine the standard medieval milieu by infusing aspects of two of my favorite historical periods, Elizabethan England, and The American Frontier. Both eras boast a kind of nationalistic arrogance that borders on hubris, and a magnificent spirit of resourcefulness and re-invention that is fun to play with. SERIES The Jack of Souls is first in a series. I am posting parts of the sequel here now (The Knave of Souls), to help me refine the story.

"What the hell?" I took a step closer to the mirror, staring at my reflection in disbelief. The person looking back was still me, but at the same time it wasn't. I had the same thick, dark, curly hair. The same hazel eyes. The same olive skin with a light dusting of freckles (ugh) scattered across the bridge of my nose. But my curls were now streaked with highlights. And not the subtle, golden-brown ones that sometimes appeared during the summer. No, these were an aggressive, dazzling blond that went from the roots of my hair all the way to the tips. It looked like I had spent a full day getting my hair done in some upscale salon. Never mind that I had never set foot in such a place since the day I was born. My eyes appeared somehow wider and more luminous. The colour brighter, my eyelashes darker up against them. And, when I looked closely, my pupils seemed to be slitted almost like a cat. I looked down at my body. My skinny arms-which had always refused to gain any definition no matter how hard I exercised-were lined with flat, wiry muscles. My bony shoulders were now curved and smooth. My scrawny legs were toned like a dancer. I reached down and lifted my shirt, revealing two subtle lines running vertically down my perfectly flat stomach, hinting at the rock-hard abs underneath. My whole body was rippling with strength. Like liquid steel.

For a preview of this story copy and paste this link in you browser: http://www.wattpad.com/story/27705103-a-preview Nathan and Silver were almost-sort-of normal highschoolers embroiled in the struggle of trying to figure out life. They thought that they would just have to live with the fact that their little subjugated country, Enthrallia, would always be under the boot of the the Mythic Empire, but that was before they discovered that they aren't entirely human. A confusing course of events begins to unseat everything they thought they knew about themselves, leaving them with many questions and no one to turn to for answers. While they are trying to figure out who they are, how to overcome their demons, and and how to fit into a new, strange, and racially biased culture, world empires go to war over a heinous terrorist attack that they themselves witnessed first-hand. Updates Weekly