************************************************************************************** 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.

A Grimdark Fantasy Novel of Epic proportions. In the North Mountains an ancient danger lurks, a powerful being set on destroying all Erdil, and only the Girl Child can defeat it. Emeline lives on a farm near the small town of Aysgarth in the North of Öldeim. Torn from her home by a mysterious warrior, she embarks on a journey which will force her to face her past and her destiny as the Girl Child, but in a world where dreams are real and Immortals from Gotteril play games with the Erdilers, this will be the hardest thing she ever does. © 2015 by Joy Cronjé. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the author, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other non-commercial uses permitted by copyright law.

Josie Brown has no idea the Organic Food Store next door is haunted. Until he sees the rotting, shrieking ghost baby in the paper towel aisle. Then the nightmares start. The little girl across the street disappears from her bed. And Josie wakes up in her room the night she goes missing. Just about everyone in Sydney, Australia - including his workaholic parents and ambivalent teachers - thinks Josie is stealing the kids of Tamarama Street. It isn't long before the police, reporters, and a mob of angry kids are accusing the weird, quiet 14-year-old of being a monster. And Josie is starting to think they might be right. Only two people might believe him - Emerald, the new girl and daughter of the great marine biologist, who has been tracking the children's disappearances, and Manhattan, surf star, intimidating wild girl, and sister of one of the missing kids. Together, the three discover that what is taking the children is not human at all, but something much more ancient, powerful, unstoppable and deadly. Josie will have to face the monster and ultimately, his own demons, if he wants to clear his name and save the kids.