Assassination. A fugitive comtesse. A lethal sleep-spell.
Wyre and wraiths. Wizardry against sorcery. And regicide.
In Dream a Deadly Dream, a sorcerer’s plot to kill the king weaves together past and present, dream and reality, to create a nightmare that can kill.
The Fugitive Comtesse
For three years Cherai, the comtesse Muirée, has hidden from the conspirators who assassinated her father. Now, in the weeping season, a sorcerer has woven a lethal sleep-snare to entrap her. Although she doesn’t know it, she holds the key to the conspirators’ chance to seize the throne of Vaermonde, a chance thwarted when they killed her father too quickly. The poisoned nightmares sent by the sorcerer will compel Cherai to turn herself over to her father’s murderers.
Only a chance-met wizard can free her from the sorcerous sleep-spell.
The Exiled Wizard
Alstera wandered into Vaermonde, seeking an opportunity to rid herself of the bindings on her power. When she encounters Cherai, she realizes the nightmares are caused by a sorcerer. Breaking a simple sleep-spell without any expectation of extrinsic reward should remove one of the bindings. Selfishly, she attaches herself to Cherai.
Yet the sleep-spell is not a simple one: it is a powerful sleep-snare, designed to kill once the conspirators have the document that Cherai’s father hid. Alstera must use forbidden blood-magic—another crime against wizardry—to slip her powers through the binding sigils tattooed on her wrists.
Will the poisoned nightmares kill Cherai? Can Alstera free her from the sorcerer’s web before the conspirators kill the king? Threats come from both enemies and friends, from steely blades and magickal spells.
Dream a Deadly Dream, a novel of 119,000 words, is the second book in the Fae Mark’d Wizard series.
1st is Weave a Wizardry Web
3rd is Sing A Graveyard Song
Visit Remi Black’s blog or her page on this website to discover more.
Here at Writers Ink Books we will Celebrate Five Anniversaries … and Two New Releases still to Come.
Five to Celebrate in November ~
cover design by Deranged Doctor Design
Autumn Spells
The corrupt dame Neehla wants the swordsman Hethan to bring a Green mage to Senric Keep. There she will reincarnate herself in Saisha’s younger body. She bespells Hethan to rip away Saisha’s power.
Hethan and Saisha first met in Baien Castletown. Although they were attracted, her magic prevented him from pursuing any connection.
Now the dame’s dark spells brings them together.
Can Saisha disentangle Hethan from the sorcery? Or will she be trapped and turned into a wraith while the dark dame inhabits her body?
Back in 2016, Edie Roones published her second book (which is actually the first book she wrote — and rewrote — and reworked — and revised — then totally gutted and wrote again — then revised one more time during 2016 to publish it ~ on the 5th! And we celebrate it now!
Edie’s currently working on the final book in the Seasons in Sanswardquaternary. A corrupt invading army. Gitane Witches working dark spells. Scattered mages and swordsmen determined to fight evil. [But she’s distracted by Wild Sherwood, so this keeps being pushed back. Oh well.)
with Bk 4: Spring Magicks — coming for real, just not soon. Gives you time to read the others.
Dream a Deadly Dream
cover design by Deranged Doctor Design
The exiled wizard Alstera wandered into Vaermonde, seeking an opportunity to rid herself of the Fae marks that shackle her power. The nightmares of the fugitive comtesse Cherai offer the chance to serve one of her penances and free one element of her power.
Can Alstera stop the poisoned nightmares before they kill Cherai? Or will she fall into the tainted blood magic before she frees Cherai from those sorcerous deadly dreams?
Published in 2017, the dark epic fantasy Dream a Deadly Dream is the second book in the grim Fae Mark’d Wizard series.
The opening trilogy is a best-bargain bundle of this epic fantasy, released this summer as Tangled Spells. Available as an ebook or a massive paperback here:
This novella, intended to be a short story, brings to the forefront two secondary characters from Christmas with Death. (See below. It’s also a 2017 November publication to celebrate.
Jack Portman had never forgotten Filly Malvaise.
Then she walked into his local pub and into the clutches of a loan shark.
Can he rescue her before she falls victim to evil?
Published in 2020, “The Lion’s Den” is set in the London of the early 1920s with the Bright Young Things. The returned soldiers of the Great War — like Jack Portman — have settled uncomfortably into their lives.
You can join M.A. Lee’s newsletter to receive a free copy of this novella. Then you can celebrate a bargain! Email us at winkbooks@aol.com.
Christmas with Death
cover design by Deranged Doctor Design
A November 2017 publication for the Christmas market, Christmas with Death was never on the plan until M.A. Lee’s sister wanted to see the next book with Isabella Newcombe and Madoc Tarrant.
Christmas is for miracles, merriment, and murder.
An English country Christmas in 1919 should be a joyful celebration. Isabella Newcombe, however, discovers only petty sniping and bitterness when she and her friends are invited to Emberley.
Rumors of affaires and drug addiction as well as accusations of blackmail sour the holiday atmosphere. Then the four friends discover the body of a fellow visitor, shot dead and left lying in an ice-skimmed pond.
With multiple motives and suspects, will Scotland Yard solve the crime before Isabella is the murderer’s next target? Will an imperfect murder be impossible to solve?
Christmas with Death is the second novel in the Into Death series. Each novel of the Into Death series is complete and not a cliff-hanger. Enjoy a richer experience by reading all three books in the Into Death series. All three books are available in paperback and ebook.
We would not be Writers Ink Books if we didn’t also celebrate a nonfiction publication.
Discovering Your Plot
On the 29th of December, barely making 2019, DiscPlot released.
cover by DDD — who else?
What do writers want from plot?
What do writers need from plot?
Are those questions the same? Not really.
As wordsmiths, we writers know that wantand need are two different words.
The want is a circumstance that we writers can control. We want plot specifics to help us craft story and exceed reader expectations.
The need is a circumstance of obligations from reader expectations of story. While readers may want the comfort of the genre elements (the tropes), they also wish to have their interest and curiosity piqued.
Can we writers deliver on the expectations and the surprises in order to please our readers?
That’s the involved question that Discovering Your Plot hopes to answer.
This guidebook covers plot structure and the necessities of genre expectations so we writers can anticipate what readers want.
It is NOT a list of tropes by genre or even a list of tropes that every novel should have.
DiscPlot explores the six most common plot structures.
It is NOT a list of characters for plot or story. It is not a list of the “17 characters your novel needs” or the “characters used by famous authors”, as listed on social media sites.
It’s a detailed examination of the major sections of a novel.
It’s NOT a word-based or page-based formula of a novel’s structure.
cover designed by — guess who?
By the end of Discovering Your Plot¸ writers will have the tools to construct a story as well as diagnose problems with pacing, tension and suspense, and sequencing events.
Discovering Your Plot is Book 6 in the Think like a Pro Writer series and the second of the Discovering set of how-to guidebooks for writers at all skill levels. While the approach is for newbies, every writer can benefit from this fresh look at any novel’s framework.
The Discovering set covers Characters, Plot, Author Branding, and Sentence Craft as well as completing a Novel—from the seeds of idea to publishing the manuscript.
Find DiscPlot at this link: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0838PTN49/
DiscPlot is part of the Discovering Your Writing four-book best-bargain bundle, available in ebook and paperback. As of this writing, the paperback cover has not arrived … although it is close. I will add a link when the ppb releases … and then I’ll celebrate another Best-Bargain Bundle!
assassinated her father. Now, in the weeping season, a sorcerer has woven a lethal sleep-snare to entrap her. Although she doesn’t know it, she holds the key to the conspirators’ chance to seize the throne of Vaermonde, a chance thwarted when they killed her father too quickly. The poisoned nightmares sent by the sorcerer will compel Cherai to turn herself over to her father’s murderers.
