❝Tell me a story, love.❞ In which, a slave girl tells a bloodthirsty king a story in exchange for her life. [07.15.16] all rights reserved ©2016

The story of a fighter pilot and experiences he has gathered in his life and has yet to have that will change his outlook towards life and the world.

nm to say

Sixteen-year-old Sawyer Satoya-Sabinsky has it all. He's a genius in the wizarding chant language Silversong and the most popular boy in Willard Academy, a prestigious school for aristocratic wizards. He can afford to hex idiots out of his way and choose the prettiest girls. When winds of change sweep over Willard and non-aristocratic students are admitted to study there, Sawyer refuses to accept it. He arranges a resistance movement, but his arrogance rapidly gains him enemies, none more dangerous than the Paraforce, a wizarding terrorist organization whose fighters use Shadowsong, a terrifying chant language that Silversong can't block, no matter how good you are at it. And the Paraforce might not even be Sawyer's greatest challenge - it might be Mia, an eccentric, crippled girl, who poses uncomfortable questions and kindles that aching secret Sawyer thought he had buried forever.

SAMPLE OF PUBLISHED BOOK THAT WAS FIRST WRITTEN ON WATTPAD. Fletcher was nothing more than a humble blacksmith's apprentice, when a chance encounter leads to the discovery that he has the ability to summon demons from another world. Chased from his village for a crime he did not commit, he must travel with his demon to the Vocans Academy, where the gifted are trained in the art of summoning. The academy will put Fletcher through a gauntlet of gruelling lessons, training him as a battlemage to fight in the Hominum Empire's war against the savage orcs. Rubbing shoulders with the children of the most powerful nobles in the land, Fletcher must tread carefully. The power hungry Forsyth twins lurk in the shadows, plotting to further their family's interests. Then there is Sylva, an elf who will do anything she can to forge an alliance between her people and Hominum, even if it means betraying her friends. Othello is the first ever dwarf at the academy, and his people have long been oppressed by Hominum's rulers, which provokes tension amongst those he studies alongside. Fletcher will find himself caught in the middle of powerful forces, with nothing but his demon Ignatius to help him. As the pieces on the board manoeuvre for supremacy, Fletcher must decide where his loyalties lie. The fate of an empire is in his hands ... Did you know that the Wattpad version of Summoner: The Novice is just a large sample of the first draft? The professionally published version is longer and 100% completed, with more demons, more lessons and more action! You can buy it now in all good bookstores and online, including Barnes and Noble, Waterstones, Amazon, Kindle, iBooks, Google Play, Kobo and Nook. Please vote, follow and add my book to your reading list if you like my writing :) The cover is by Małgorzata Gruszka, one of my favourite artists: This book is represented by Juliet Mushens at The Agency Group.

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

If you're judging this book by its cover and title, you're already proving the point this story wants to make. Try to move past this satirical obstacle in front of you. This is a story about bullying, and like the hundreds of other books on the topic, it will show you the harsh reality of being discriminated, belittled, ridiculed for something you cannot control- how you look, who you love, or what you believe in. But unlike these books, this story's sole purpose is not to tear your heart out of your chest as you mourn over your loss of faith in humanity. Instead, this book will make you laugh and love alongside these characters. Just like in life, there will be moments of dread and surrender, but there will also be moments of happiness, laughter, and love. - Naomi Lorraine, better known as Nerdy Naomi with her thick-rimmed glasses and straight-A report card, is the most unpopular girl in her school. Even with the help of her sarcastic comebacks, that doesn't stop her from getting bullied by everyone in Dartwell High. Every day her childhood bully, Raymond Meyers, knocks her off her feet, literally. However, she can't do anything but survive the laughs, insults, and bruises high school gives her. There are three senior transfer students, dubbed the Three Musketeers: Bennett Frazier, Jordan Wallace, and Declan Lynch. All in one day, Naomi catches their attention one by one. With her snarky attitude, but innocent look, they can't help but want her. But not the way you're thinking. Oh no, not like that. Instead, it's probably the whole opposite. It's quite simple really. She'll be their good girl. And they'll be her bad boys. ~ [This story is a first draft written by a 13 to 15-year-old girl so it has its fair share of grammar mistakes and plot holes.] Wattys 2015 Talk of the Town Award Second Place Story of 2015 Best Humor and Overall Points of The Fiction Awards 2016 Third in the Writers Awards 2016 Highest Ranks: #1 Humor, #1 Teen Fiction

★Love, monsters, and forgotten gods.★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ "What would you sacrifice to save the ones you love?" This is the question that Bran, sole survivor of the Thirteen-the empire's most famous band of heroes-and Brass, a gladiator sentenced to death, have to answer in the wake of a terror that almost destroyed their world over 10,000 years ago. Follow at the heels of evil in this dark fantasy epic. About the world: The Harvest Wars is set in Ruuin, a dystopian world of dark medieval fantasy, in which the walking dead are regarded as merely a natural catastrophe... ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ You should enjoy this book if you also liked... TV-Shows: The Witcher Books: The Witcher, The First Law Series, Warhammer Fantasy Spiele: Skyrim, Bloodborne, Dark Souls Comic: Berserk ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ Awards & Honors ---------------------------------- German Best Book Award 2019 - 🥉 in category: "Dangerous Affairs" Extended Wattpad Feature from 2015-2017 Wattpad Friends & Family Featured Wattpad Friends & Family Book of the Month

++Featured Story++ Ranked #60 in Fantasy on May 13, 2016... Thank you, readers, for an amazing run... 35.5K reads! 1.6K comments! You guys rocked this! Due to publishing contract issues, the book cannot appear in entirety. Check it out on Amazon or other ebook retailers. The third book, STRAITJACKETS & HOLY WATER, will be featured in Fall 2018 in the epic urban fantasy collection RITE TO REIGN! www. RiteToReign.com ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The darkness is rising and one man stands against it: the exorcist mage Simon Alliant. But in Baltimore, he finally meets his match...a part-mortal divinity with the power to whisper away demons. Simon Alliant is an exorcist who battles demons, whether he wants to or not. Sometimes it's not so bad...he gets to play with magic, after all. But for Simon, magic represents a demon of another kind. He's addicted to magic and it takes more than a handful of charms to keep that particular demon at bay. Chiara is part Light, part Dark, and stubbornly mortal. The woman has a way with words: she literally talks demons into abandoning their human hosts. Simon thinks that's not the only trick she has up her sleeve-and that's pretty high praise coming from a mage like him. As intriguing as that may be, Simon has too many reasons to distrust her...one of them being his more-or-less partner, an angelic Watcher. Amidst all the celestial warnings of the rising dark comes a new prophesy that makes him wonder: is Chiara a threat to him and all of mankind? Or will she be his salvation? THE DEMON WHISPERER series includes the stories: CHARM CITY (The Demon Whisperer #1) MURDER THE LIGHT (The Demon Whisperer #2) THE ABSENT-MINDED MAGICIAN (The Demon Whisperer #3) TWELVE STEPS DOWN (The Demon Whisperer #4) and the prequel STRAITJACKETS AND HOLY WATER (The Demon Whisperer #0) You can see cover art for the books and other info at my blog: http://ash-krafton.blogspot.com/p/charm-city-demon-w.html

*Read This Three Episode Excerpt Today!* The king has been crippled. Can his brother hold the kingdom together against the machinations of their rival cousin? Read and enjoy this first tale in the Continuing Tales in the Matter of Manred, a new fantasy novella. This exciting new sword-and-sorcery action-adventure tale follows the continuing adventures of the warriors, kings, and sorcerer-priests of the Matter of Manred Saga. For more information on this dark new world of fantasy literature, visit MDellertDotCom: Adventures in Indie Publishing.