Publishing Anniversary Today ~ First Published in 2016
The Green mage Saisha and Hethan, a master swordsman, find themselves entangled in a dark dame’s spells.
They are drawn together at a harvest festival. They free a wounded Prica, a man cursed in the shape of a wolf. Neither expects to see the other ever again.
Yet when Hethan returns to his home keep, a dark dame ensorcells him to track down a mage. She wants to reincarnate herself in the mage’s younger body.
The dame’s dark spells bring them back together. Can Saisha disentangle Hethan from the sorcery? Or will she be trapped and turned into a wraith when the dark dame inhabits her body?
Classic battles of good against evil, magic against sorcery, and freedom against slavery and oppression
Currently Available:
Summer Sieges ~
Can Beren survive a journey through the Shadow Path and battle with the Watrani? Or will she sacrifice herself in another futile attempt to guard the Eye? With only a sword as defense against sorcery, can she survive a battle against the Gitane? Or will she discover that the road to death is littered with people who chose honor over life?
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!
Scary October needs a scary witch, and the fantasy Autumn Spells by Edie Roones offers us Neehla.
Eager to re-embody herself in a younger woman, Neehla builds her sorcerous spell.
Prologue
In this life her name was Neehla. Over many lives, she had lost some things, gained others. Through them all, her sorcery remained tangible evil, woven from the elemental air and the incense of her spells.
Her fingers flew across the loom, weaving a snare for the unwary. She snatched a spiral of smoke from the air and twisted it deftly before joining the sorcered strand to the thread on the shuttle. As it shot across the warp threads on the loom, the gray smoke deepened, becoming as darkly hued as the power that shaped it.
Join the wrestler Dav, Tall Brigit and Arthur a Bland, Irishman Finn Callum, Much the Miller’s son, and the Faerie sentinel Fenric as they battle corruption, injustice, and pure evil, all lurking outside Sherwood Forest.
5 Stories of Medieval Fantasy & Crime
“Dangerous Gold” / Sept. 1
Strong Temptation for Two Young Thieves
Two young outlaws decide to steal the Nottingham mayor’s gold as revenge for a false accusation. Haunted by misgivings, Dav of Doncaster keeps a wary eye on them … only to discover a lethal trap is closing fast.
“Keen-Edged Dagger” / Sept. 4
Murder needs a Tricky Vengeance
Orphans learn early that life is a precarious balance and justice has a keen edge. When Brigit is falsely accused of murder, how can she reveal her innocence?
“Silver Dreams” / Sept. 8
A Double Twist for a Double Theft
Finn Callum is guilty of much but never a blood crime. The Irishman thinks Nottingham is ready for prime plucking.
Quick of fingers and fleet of foot, he’s always escaped any hue and cry. To wake with a knife aimed between his eyes is a shock.
“Poisoned Roots” / Sept. 12
A Deadly Sin caused Dishonor
Envy is a deadly sin, and it killed Much’s good name and honor. That loss still aches like an unhealed wound. Cast from his family, he carved a place in Robin Hood’s band. Will a dying wish rip open that old wound?
“Memory of Magic” / Sept. 16
A Faerie Confronts Human Evil
After a visit to Robin Hood’s camp, the hunter Fenric stumbles upon slaughtered deer, killed for neither food nor sport. The trail leads this Faerie beyond Sherwood’s border and to a freehold stinking of evil.
Out of Wild Sherwood / Sept. 2
Beware the Vengeance of Outlaws and Faeries.
A Collection of Medieval Fantasy, crime and magic, foul sins and eldritch deeds.
Buy the individual short stories or the collection.
Short stories are ebook only.
The collection will be available as ebook, paperback, and audiobook.
Edie Roones’ fantasy Summer Sieges, ordinary people battling extraordinary odds and foul sorcery.
Chapter 1
Summer Sieges by Edie Roones
Her body jerked.
Beren muddled her way up. Slowly. Into the pain.
Another jerk.
Return was . . . sluggish. A great darkness. A lesser one. She wanted to retreat from waking, crawl back into the deep blackness, but pain pulsed in her head and throbbed along her arm, denying any escape.
Her body jerked again.
Hands were on her. At her hips. Metal clinking. A lift. She groaned.
The hands stilled then gave another jerk that peeled something from beneath her.
And then a growl, deep, predatory. As black as the darkness. Danger as old as time.
Whoever had pulled at her scrambled away. She tried to open her eyes then realized they were open, to night-black. The dancing lights weren’t in her throbbing head. They were torches bobbing, some bigger and brighter, others distant, like the will o’wisps that hovered over deepest springs and in magickal glades.
