"There will come a day where one will unite the Seven Jewels and rule Norvia." ~Norvian Prophecy of Old A long time ago the seven Kings and Queens of Norvia fashioned seven jewels, one for each kingdom that were to be kept separate from one another. Until now. Queen Zarya of Torah intends to possess all seven and rule the world against her daughter's wishes. She came across the prophecy one day when she was looking in a book to pass the time. That was the fateful day the darkness fell and Zianna's life changed forever. Does young Zianna have what it takes to usurp her mother and foil her plans to unite the jewels, or will she succumb to the eternal madness and chaos now known as Torah? *this story will be told from multiple points of view: Zianna, Lana, Arianna and maybe a couple others as I go along*

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

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.

After bursting onto the fantasy scene with his acclaimed debut novel, Elantris, and following up with his blockbuster Mistborn trilogy, Brandon Sanderson proves again that he is today’s leading master of what Tolkien called “secondary creation,” the invention of whole worlds, complete with magics and myths all their own. Warbreaker is the story of two sisters, who happen to be princesses, the God King one of them has to marry, the lesser god who doesn’t like his job, and the immortal who’s still trying to undo the mistakes he made hundreds of years ago. Their world is one in which those who die in glory return as gods to live confined to a pantheon in Hallandren’s capital city and where a power known as BioChromatic magic is based on an essence known as breath that can only be collected one unit at a time from individual people. By using breath and drawing upon the color in everyday objects, all manner of miracles and mischief can be accomplished. It will take considerable quantities of each to resolve all the challenges facing Vivenna and Siri, princesses of Idris; Susebron the God King; Lightsong, reluctant god of bravery, and mysterious Vasher, the Warbreaker.

[This story is free as of February 10, 2021] "Move over A Walk to Remember, and make way for one of the most heartwarming stories this side of Wattpad. It's so cute, I could cry (again)." - Grace @ HQ After tragedy strikes, Nolan loses all faith and never expects to love, let alone smile again until Nora-perky and persistent-walks into his life. ***** 15-year-old Nolan Haynes has everything. A loving family, a promising future as a filmmaker, and a pretty cool group of friends. That is until tragedy strikes and he's forced to move towns. Nolan vows never to let anyone in ever again-they always leave. But on a summer day two years later, when the super upbeat, Nora walks to his lunch table-Nolan has to try a bit harder to keep a smile off his face. Little does he know that Nora is fighting a battle of her own, one that no one could even imagine. And as the two get closer, they not only find solace in each other but in God. When Nolan is faced with a situation in which he has to break Nora's trust to protect her, can their budding relationship still stand and will God show up in all of this? [[word count: 80,000-90,000 words]] Content and/or Trigger Warning: This story contains scenes of verbal and physical abuse that may be triggering for some readers. NOTICE: Before the Morning is currently undergoing revisions! A sensitivity reader (someone who goes through your manuscript and assesses representations in your work) identified a number of issues surrounding the Filipino representation in BTM. I'm rewriting with the goal of creating a more authentic and respectful story. I'm sorry for the pain I caused by failing to include accurate Filipino culture and in having written from Nora's point of view.

Being the sister of a world famous vlogger gets hard, but every year Lace Carter gets to escape it all at the Harleen Art Camp. This place is her safe haven, the one place where she can truly escape in her art. There's only one problem- Eli Evans; the most annoying boy to have ever walked on the face of the earth. Not to mention he always beats Lace in the annual art competition. But this year, her last, Lace is determined to win and more importantly beat Eli. Too bad Harleen has decided to have partners this year, and just guess who hers turns out to be.

"This summer will be our legacy. This will be what you will be remembered by. This will be the story you tell your grandchildren about when you were in high school. We're going to travel to places we never thought existed. We're going to do things we never even thought were possible. Things that we never dreamed about doing, this is the summer." Crestview High is an average high school in an average city with people who live average lives. Except for one thing, of course: Their senior tradition of riding a bus around the country for the whole summer after graduation. Not just a normal bus, an old school bus that the Belton family bought years ago and ever since their first son graduated, they've carried on the tradition. Now, the youngest and only girl of the family is graduating Crestview, which means that Alaina Belton is determined to live up to the Belton name and make this summer memorable for all twelve people on the bus this year. Of course, with twelve celebratory teenagers under one tiny roof for two months, there is bound to be love, drama, regrets, and a few memories to be made.