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

Thief. Murderer. Mage. Prince. Warrior. Heroes. 16 year-old Sabin's plans to join the army change when he learns he is a Serien - a warrior who wields an element. With a sentient sword, he must find the other Seriens. His goal: unite them into a force capable of defending humanity from the Guan, a humanoid race believed to be extinct. His charges are a belligerent thief, sarcastic assassin, adorable mage and arrogant prince. Each with their own agenda. Stand together or die alone. The hero price is never fair. ------------ Book 1 of the Path of Light and Fire series. Book 2 - Dragon & Phoenix (Completed). Book 3 - Frozen Light (Under Construction) The Appendix and extras can be found in the companion book "A World of Light and Fire."

❝One girl, one book, and an entire nation that wants to keep her from it.❞

Caley Lucia's life takes a turn for the worst when her mother dies of a strange disease. She is forced to go live with her father, who left when she was 5, and attend the exclusive school that he created: Trinity High. But this boarding school isn't like all the others. There's something magical about it. And Caley soon finds herself in a tangled mess full of secrets and lies and decisions. Will she be able to find the truth and make the right choice? Or will she make the same mistakes of the past?

⚠️ ORIGINALLY TITLED SILENT LUNA ⚠️ After a terrible car accident when she was seven, Eirenae's life got turned upside down. Her father changed everything, becoming rotten and abusive to the point it caused her to stop speaking entirely. Eleven years later and she still lives by his rules, trapped under his thumb. She has nowhere to go; no life outside the awful one she's forced into at home, and any time she tries to speak, her voice fails her. Without much hope left, she suffers in silence. Until moving to a new town changes everything. Arriving at her new school, Eirenae immediately catches the attention of six students. They're the nicest anyone has ever been to her, but everything about them strikes her funny: they're naturally perfect, have insane athletic reflexes, and they keep using strange words like "Alpha", "Luna", and "pack". On top of it all, their eyes horrifyingly seem to change color and no matter how much she runs or gives hints she should be left alone, they won't stop being overly friendly. No one seems to be willing to explain anything to her, so maybe it's time to bring her life back into her own hands, discover what has been hiding from her past, and let herself be rescued. . . and maybe not particularly in that order! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ -Book 1 -Precedes "Fatal War" -Started: April 4th, 2018 - Completed: May 1st, 2019 - Rewritten: May 2nd, 2022 -Published: February 18th, 2023 -#1 in Abuse: 9/21/2019 -#1 in Mate 10/5/2019 -#1 in luna 10/16/2019 -#3 in Werewolf 12/26/2019 -#1 in Whitewolf 1/28/2020 -#1 in Mute 2/9/2020 -#2 in Telekinesis 4/25/20 -#1 in Royalwolf 3/15/22 new version: -#10 in Werewolf 10/5/22 -#1 in Telekinesis 10/11/22 -#3 in Published 2/18/23 -#4 in Whitewolf 2/18/23 -#2 in Published 3/28/23 -#1 in Published 5/3/23 -#3 in Powers 10/14/25

Winter was born and breed to become the Queen of Rogues. She was never going back down. Winter didn't care if you were the best of the best she will show you what the future Queen can do. Since the age of ten, she has been training. Over the years she has become known as the Demon Princess. Not many see her face but when they do. They say her beauty is as dangerous as her. When she goes on a mission on enemy territory she finds out a few things. 1: Wayland is her mate. Her enemy, King of Wolves her mate. 2: He has a fiancee. What does she do now? Easy. Pretend as nothing happened. They always said she was born without emotions. When there two kingdoms are forced to become one what happens them? Marry the two to form one big Alpha Kingdom. But will any of them allow that to happen? Read and find out. READ AND FIND OUT Started: March 12, 2018 End: 12 June 2020

The Warlock's Chair. A place of magic and adventure. Long ago when the world was young the Faerie races ruled far and wide across the lands of the Earth. Then with the coming of Man, they disappeared into myth and legend. But they had survived. Hidden away in the secret places known only to a few humans. An ancient prediction told that there would come a day when the evil known as Ravengaard would return to seek revenge on those who had imprisoned him. And that once again the Faerie Folk would be forced to come out of hiding and confront their old nemesis. The prophecy also foretold of three children whose lives would forever become entwined with those of the Faerie Folk. They would appear in their time of need. That time is now... **** DON'T FORGET TO VOTE ****

*WATTPAD FEATURED FEB 2018* *2018 FICTION AWARD WINNER IN SCI FI CATEGORY* Leah Azemar's soul has been sent to the world of the dead. She just doesn't know it. ... Leah Azemar has spent her life trapped in a town that moves slower than she does, hiding her abnormalities from people who would fear and exploit her. But when Leah slips up and a mysterious boy called Jared comes asking unanswerable questions, Leah is thrust into a fight that she's convinced has nothing to do with her. But Jared knows things about her that he shouldn't. And he can do things that no one else in her world can do. Soon, Leah begins to realise that somewhere, deep in her subconscious, her memories have been trapped. And the more she remembers, the more she realises how badly she needs to return to the living.

In a politically volatile kingdom, Noah is tasked with finding the catalyst, a magical artifact rumored to greatly enhance the potential of the wielder. Joining his efforts are his childhood best friend and an illegitimate prince doing the queen's bidding in exchange for his lover's freedom. It soon becomes clear that many different parties are after the catalyst, though no one seems to know who started this chase or why. In order to survive and save the people he cares about, Noah will have to leave behind everything he thought he knew about magic and adapt to a new reality of unlikely alliances and painful betrayals, high-stakes power struggles, and vengeful entities.

**REBOOT OF VALTERRA IS NOW LIVE -- LOOK FOR "PRIMORDIALS" ON MY PROFILE ** The Shattering, a cataclysmic battle between the Light and Dark, left most of Valterra's civilization obliterated. Almost five hundred years later, the Dark disrupts the elemental balance of nature once again. Avos, a sheltered farm boy who is oblivious to any of the world's unearthly dangers, is thrown into the world unseen; witches, elves, fairies, demons, even the undead. He struggles to accept his new fate, while discovering new relationships and preparing for the precipice of the campaign against the Dark.