Three groups of authors have banded together to put together three awesome Fantasy Story Collections, and now we’re bringing them to you with a chance for you to win paperback copies as well as a $30 Amazon Shopping Spree!

Read on to find out more about this anthology and enter the giveaway! 

The Anthologies:

From the Stories of Old

Fantastic Creatures

Here be dragons … and selkies and griffins and maybe even a mermaid or two. 

Twenty fantasy authors band together to bring you a collection of thrilling tales and magical monsters. Do you like to slay dragons? Or befriend them? Do you prefer to meet cephalopods as gigantic kraken or adorable tree octopuses?
Each story focuses around a fantastic creature from folklore or mythology, and they range from light and playful tales for the whole family to darker stories that may make you wish to leave the lights on. These stories carry the Fellowship of Fantasy seal of approval. While our monsters may be horrifying, you won’t stumble into graphic sex and constant swearing.
Perfect for the fantasy lover who can’t get enough of mythical beasts.

Steampunk Fairy Tales

A toyshop owner builds a set of magic clockwork dolls that delight a factory town. A three-inch tall samurai faces a giant iron ogre with only a sewing needle and a coin. A scientist seeks an antidote to his formula gone wrong, with the help of his partner’s beautiful daughter. All of these stories and more are included in Steampunk Fairy Tales.

Written by authors from three different continents, every enchanting tale combines the futuristic Victorian concept of steam and fashion with memorable stories, from the recognizable “Jack and the Beanstalk”, to other popular and unfamiliar works from Germany, France, Italy and Japan. With steam driven gadgets such as mechanical goggles, hoverboards, and an orchestra of automatons, Steampunk Fairy Tales is a charming and unique collection of works for current lovers of the genre, and those just diving in.


Download Volume One for FREE
Purchase Volume Two for 99 cents!


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I’ve always found the idea of a “bride from the sea” deeply disturbing. You know that bit of myth—the sailor or fisherman sees a pretty lady splashing about and steals her little fur coat, and now she can’t return to the water. She’s in his power, so yay! He scores a wife. I’m not sure whose fantasy that is, but it sure isn’t mine. It sounds like slavery to me, and I’ve never liked stories that glamorize that kind of thing.

But those stories still abound in folk lore, and so I think about them. I think about them from the woman’s perspective, what it would be like to be married to a man who stole your freedom, your identity. And what if he wasn’t all that awful of a person—what if he was my worst nightmare? A relatively decent person who just doesn’t see the wrong in what they’re doing? Or sees it, and perhaps regrets it, but just lets that slip by because life is comfortable as is? I mean, you’ve got a wife and maybe a kid, and maybe you shouldn’t have done that thing, but it’s okay, really. We’re one happy family now, aren’t we?

Seekers is about one such family. It’s a story of things that shouldn’t have been done, and love that isn’t enough. It’s a story of unraveling. And, strangely enough, it’s also a story of learning to seek for what your heart most needs.

 Mini-Giveaway

 Today, I’m excited to share my fantasy novella, Sunbolt, with you! Here’s the blurb:

” width=”297″ height=”475″ />The winding streets and narrow alleys of Karolene hide many secrets, and Hitomi is one of them. Orphaned at a young age, Hitomi has learned to hide her magical aptitude and who her parents really were. Most of all, she must conceal her role in the Shadow League, an underground movement working to undermine the powerful and corrupt Arch Mage Wilhelm Blackflame.

When the League gets word that Blackflame intends to detain—and execute—a leading political family, Hitomi volunteers to help the family escape. But there are more secrets at play than Hitomi’s, and much worse fates than execution. When Hitomi finds herself captured along with her charges, it will take everything she can summon to escape with her life.

Download your free copy today!

Intisar Khanani grew up a nomad and world traveler. She has lived in five different states as well as in Jeddah on the coast of the Red Sea. Until recently, Intisar wrote grants and developed projects to address community health with the Cincinnati Health Department, which was as close as she could get to saving the world. Now she focuses her time on her two passions: raising her family and writing fantasy. To find out more about her writings, visit her website or sign up for her monthly author newsletter.

What it’s all about

Here be dragons … and selkies and griffins and maybe even a mermaid or two.

Twenty fantasy authors band together to bring you a collection of thrilling tales and magical monsters. Do you like to slay dragons? Or befriend them? Do you prefer to meet cephalopods as gigantic kraken or adorable tree octopuses?

Each story focuses around a fantastic creature from folklore or mythology, and they range from light and playful tales for the whole family to darker stories that may make you wish to leave the lights on. These stories carry the Fellowship of Fantasy seal of approval. While our monsters may be horrifying, you won’t stumble into graphic sex and constant swearing.

Perfect for the fantasy lover who can’t get enough of mythical beasts.

Available at these retailers: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo

Scavenger Hunt Stops

Be sure to check out all the other stops to get all the clues to the giveaway and pick up special prizes along the way.

Kandi J. Wyatt

A. R. Silverberry

Bokerah Brumley

H. L. Burke

Lea Doué

Morgan Smith

Jessica L. Elliott

Caren Rich

Julie C. Gilbert

Nicole Zoltack

D. G. Driver

Intisar Khanani

Scavenger Hunt Giveaway

a Rafflecopter giveaway

a Rafflecopter giveaway

You can follow the blog swap with this schedule:

 ** Blog Swap Schedule **

July 28 (Tues.): https://kandijwyatt.wordpress.com/ (Terry on my site)

July 29 (Wed.): http://www.terrypersun.com/#!blog/c23fy (Me on Terry’s site about Fantasy Creatures Big and Small)

July 30 (Thurs.): http://www.jonathangouldwriter.com/blog/

August 1 (Sat.): http://www.terrypersun.com/#!blog/c23fy

August 2 (Sun.): http://michaelgmunz.com/blog/

August 3 (Mon.): http://www.terrypersun.com/#!blog/c23fy

August 4 (Tue.): http://www.elisestephens.com/

August 5 (Wed.): http://www.terrypersun.com/#!blog/c23fy

August 6 (Thur.): http://davidmcovenant.com/?cat=1

August 7 (Fri.): http://www.terrypersun.com/#!blog/c23fy

August 9 (Sun.): (E.S. Tilton) http://sexyfantasyfiction.com/

August 10 (Mon.): http://www.terrypersun.com/#!blog/c23fy

Welcome Terry Persun as he talks about the window to a book’s soul, the cover.

Book Covers

I have wanted to talk about book covers for a long time now. I see so many of them on indie author books (even my own) that just don’t cut it. A good cover is expensive. Yes, you can go with a “cover house” for $100 or so, but even they start to look the same after a while. Check out the romance genre and you’ll see the same cover over and over again until it’s difficult to tell if the books are really different or not.

I’ve worked with small publishers, indie cover artists, friends who have better artistic senses than I have, and still find it difficult to get the right cover for a particular book. But, and I mean this, I find that Booktrope cover artist Greg Simanson (http://www.simansondesign.com/#!) is one of the best. He has everything a great cover artist needs: creativity, a willingness to try something different, and an open mind. He’s produced covers for me that were conceptionalized by another artist. He’s taken a theme and grown it from book to book. And he’s created abstract covers that say as much about the novel as the words I’ve written.

This is how I feel about his covers for my Doublesight novel series. Through open-mindedness and creativity, I believe he’s found a way to show the progression of the story lines simply and effectively through a single image for each cover. Here are the covers for the series.

Notice how the main character, a crow shape shifter, appears in each cover (yes, even the last one—with crow wings on the dragon). Notice how the circular element indicates movement and growth at the same time. And notice how the colors go from warm to hot, intensifying from book to book. Cover art is as important as the book itself, and I’m very happy with Greg’s work. When I saw the cover of my latest novel in the series, Gargoyle, I could feel the tension of the story all over again. Here’s a quick synopsis:

Not in control of his own abilities, and unsure about shape-shifting into his beast image, Korlan must learn about his skills, limitations, and power while struggling to save his mother from certain death.

Nashtin, King Belford’s cousin, took over the throne of Weilk Alshore, and is out to find Zimp, who he believes is the last of the doublesight to have infiltrated Castle Weilk and started a bloody battle that took many soldier’s lives. Zimp, along with other doublesight, now live in a hidden village where they hope to raise their children in peace.

When Nashtin finds Zimp and her friends’ village, he captures Zimp to take back to the castle. Barely able to control his own beast image, Zimp’s son, Korlan, pulls together a band of the most unusual doublesight shape-shifters in the village, and goes on a mission to save his mother.

—GREAT NEWS—

Starting on September 1st Doublesight will be one of Amazon’s Kindle Worlds (https://kindleworlds.amazon.com). Join me, by writing a short story (5,000 to 10,000 words), novella (10,000 to 50,000 words), or novel (over 50,000 words) and get it published. I need to have a handful of stories ready by the September 1st, 2015 launch date, so if you’re interested, please contact me for more information. Any characters you create are yours to keep. Let’s have fun together. TerryPersun@gmail.com

My Best in Fantasy Review:

http://bestinfantasy.blogspot.com/2014/08/doublesight-terry-persun.html

BIO:

Terry Persun has been writing and publishing short stories and novels since the early 1970s. He has been the recipient of seven novel and poetry awards over the years, including the Star of Washington Award, a Silver IPPY for historical fiction, two Book of the Year finalist awards in the science fiction category, two finalist awards from the USABookNews International Book Awards (one in science fiction and one in historical fiction), two poetry chapbook awards, and a Jeanne Voge Poetry Award. Terry writes in a variety of genres including science fiction, thriller, mystery, and mainstream fiction. He is a respected keynoter and speaker at libraries, writers’ groups, writers’ conferences, and universities across the country. Terry has an MA in creative writing from SUNY Stony Brook.