2019 WATTY AWARD WINNER | TO BE PUBLISHED BY 'W BY WATTPAD' IN FALL 2024 Jessie is a twenty first century kinda gal stuck in the Regency Era. Armed with a new university degree and a plane ticket to Paris, the plan was to celebrate graduation in the City of Love, kissing as many drunk French girls (or boys, she's not picky) as she can. Only, she never makes it. Mid-Atlantic, a mysterious accident sends Jessie hurtling to what should be a watery grave. Rescued from the ocean, Jessie is lucky to be alive. Only problem? The crew of the ship she's on is convinced it's a sailing vessel that just narrowly missed out on participating in the Battle of Trafalgar. Stuck in Regency-era England, Jessie is left with no choice but to enter into the services of as a maid and companion in return for what shelter her new employer can provide, and resign herself to a life of quiet servitude and forever hiding her sexuality. What she didn't count on was that her new boss would be Margaret Goodenough - the world famous authoress whose yet-to-be-completed novel was the first lesbian kiss in the history of British Literature, and a clever woman. Clever enough to know her new servant has a secret. Now Jessie is caught. Margaret's own perception of her place in society is transforming, the text of her novel is slowly changing, and Margaret herself is finally unafraid to embrace her own Sapphic desires. Margaret - and her main characters - are turning into irresistibly headstrong and modern women. Jessie must tread the tenuous line between finding her own happiness in a world where she is alone, and accidentally changing the course of history. Should Jessie suppress the manuscript, or is her duty to the woman she's learning to love? What is a twenty first century gal to do? * Cover Photo: Jenn LeBlanc & Getty Images Original Cover by: @RodneyVSmith

There is no night in the Everburning City. There can never be. ***** For four hundred years the Everburning City has withstood the advance of the life-strangling fog known as the Gloam. Its walls have held back five invasions, but on the eve of the sixth, the city's inhabitants know things have changed. Golems are coming out of the mist, and the bodies of the dead are rising at the Gloam's bidding. The city's last and most desperate line of defence comes in the form of the Crafters, individuals who can channel the power of fire, though they risk their sanity each time they do. The brightest of these valiant heroes are Tabitha a'Loria and her apprentice Gerald Reath. Risking their lives, they mount their airships, determined to save the last bastion of humanity - the Everburning City. [[word count: 100,000-150,000 words]]

In Hajinn, singing isn't just forbidden: it's well known that it drives people mad. When Rajheem, a boy who loves music above all else, is plucked from his lowly existence to become the personal minstrel to Raja Helen, Third Seat of Hajinn, he is overwhelmingly grateful. As a foreigner, she holds none of the Hajinni superstitions toward music. What Rajheem initially considers a stroke of luck begins to seem like part of a frightening plan. There are Fair Folk in Helen's palace, creatures who walk the line between the world of the living and the world of the dead. They steal children away from their homes in the night, never to be seen again. As the people of Hajinn grow increasingly uneasy with their ruler’s inability to rid them of this infestation, a rumor begins that the Fair Folk were sent from the country to the east. At the same time, Rajheem realizes his singing talents go far beyond the power to create music. He can freeze people in their tracks, invoke fear in the hearts of his enemies, and even bend the fabric of reality itself. This gift embroils Rajheem in Helen's plot to usurp rule of Hajinn. As Rajheem struggles to control his newfound abilities and discover the reason his people abhor music, Helen orchestrates her plans to veer Hajinn toward war with a country it has been at peace with for hundreds of years.

When Roan’s parents and the people of Longlight perish in a raid, Roan is filled with rage. Torn between his desire for revenge and the legacy of peace he has inherited, he is taken in by a sect of warriors. Here he learns he has exceptional talent as a fighter. But Roan is haunted by visions he can’t understand. When he commits his first act of violence, he flees in disgust into the most wasted lands of all, the Devastation. It is only when Roan meets the strange girl Alandra that he begins to understand his life’s purpose and why the village of Longlight was destroyed.

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

Two stubborn-headed royals. One enemy bent on slowly destroying them. The only solution? Marriage, of course. But the moment James and Liliana meet, each hold grudges against the other, and they do not realize that their own attitudes are being used against them. Draken is determined to end the royalty in every painful way possible. When a long-expected war finally rages, things get much more dangerous. Riding on their final hope, it appears that the kingdoms are destined for destruction. Will Liliana's skills in combat and James' fiery heart be enough to withstand Draken's menacing grip? 1st book in The Crowns of Crecidia series. Watty Awards 2012 runner up in Historical Fiction.

Azinger's series is fast-paced action-packed fantasy. In a medieval world of forgotten magic, mortals are lured to the chessboard of the gods where an epic struggle of lives, loves and crowns hang in the balance, yet few understand the rules. In this game of power, the pawns of light and darkness will make the difference in the battle for the kingdoms of Erdhe: Katherine, 'The Imp': a young princess with the stout heart of a warrior will challenge the minions of a thousand-year-old evil. Liandra: The Spider Queen; who uses her beauty to beguile, her spies to foresee, and her gold to control, will need all of her skill and strength to fight a rebellion with her own blood at it's heart. Steffan, the puppeteer, will corrupt the innocent and unwary with greed and desire, as he sets an entire kingdom ablaze. The Steel Queen is the first book of The Silk & Steel Saga.

A medieval romance by Elise Cyr He fought for king and country, but that battle was nothing compared to the one he’ll wage for a woman’s heart. Still reeling from the news of her father’s death during the Norman Conquest, Isabel Dumont is unprepared when trouble arrives at the castle gates. Alexandre d’Évreux, a Norman knight with close ties to England’s new king, has arrived to secure the land and the loyalties of the Dumont family. Desperate to protect her people, Isabel strives to keep the confounding knight at arm’s length and hide the truth about her father’s death. For Alexandre, the spoils of war come with more than just a generous gift of land. They come with Isabel Dumont. Vowing to marry only for love, Alexandre finds himself in a difficult situation as a conqueror granted dominion over the land and its people. Isabel is the one person capable of helping him win the regard of those living in the war-torn country…if he chooses to accept her. Just when Alexandre finds a spark of hope that he and Isabel have a chance at love, she vanishes. His quest to find her plunges him deeper into the conquest’s fallout. Was she taken? Or did she leave? CONTENT WARNING: Entering into this novel may cause extreme affection toward knights of old, admiration for strong-willed women, and the overwhelming belief that love really can conquer all. Kensington Books: http://www.kensingtonbooks.com/book.aspx/30198 Amazon.com: http://www.amazon.com/Siege-Heart-Elise-Cyr-ebook/dp/B00J0FILLQ/ Barnes and Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/siege-of-the-heart-elise-cyr/1118940307