Sneak Peek: A Pirate's Calling by Darren Simon with Giveaway

The Dangerous Legacy

A Pirate's Calling, Book 1

by Darren Simon

YA Historical Fantasy

Thin, pale, awkward, bullied, Sam Every is a thirteen-year-old who finds comfort among his friends and his days at the beach. The ocean beckons to him. It is where he feels safest. Fitting in no longer matters when he is near the Pacific’s rolling waves. Gazing toward the endless blue where it touches the horizon, he imagines the ports he might someday reach and ponders his future.

Little does he know an apparition—a hauntingly beautiful girl from the sea—will lead him farther from his home than he could ever dream, for destiny has given him a dangerous legacy.

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SNEAK PEEK

Thunder erupted again in the distance. The splash of a second cannonball, closer than the first, rocked The Mutineer. But had the cannon fire come from Fog Island or another vessel? “Who’s after us?” Sam shouted.

The man who had saved them sprinted to the tiller to take control of the sloop before he bothered to answer Sam’s question. He pulled sharply on the tiller. The sloop lurched to the right until the deck nearly touched water. Sam fell and rolled against a crate. Seawater spilled into the boat and drenched him. His back tingled again.

The burning blade! Did it call to him? If so, he ignored it. A fire sword magically embedded in his back would not stop The Mutineer from capsizing, which the boat was about to do. It didn’t. Instead, the sloop’s speed doubled as the man brought the craft in line with a stronger windstream.

“Look!” the man pointed to the right of The Mutineer. Sam, now back on his feet, stared in the direction he pointed. Through the darkness was the outline of a large craft three stories high. “The way I see it,” the man shouted over the crash of water against his ship’s hull, “if Maximilian Black is after you, you must have angered Captain Jem Slayer. Slayer is a bloodthirsty pirate with his own fleet and enough wealth to command an army of pirates; and Black is Slayer’s right hand.”

Sam held onto the railing for balance and inched closer to Sarah. She watched the mystery man from the side as if… as if she doesn’t want to make eye contact. Maybe she doesn’t trust him as much as she said. Maybe she senses something.

Sarah grasped his hand and gently squeezed.

He nodded to her. “It’s going to be all right,” he lied.

The man continued to shout his explanation. “Since Black failed, I assume Slayer has sent a warship to do what Black could not. Kill you!” He looked at the sails of his sloop. “Hang on, young ones! We are going to race the wind!”

One more explosion cut through the night. A cannonball screamed as it hurtled toward them. “No!” Sam mouthed moments before the cannonball splashed into the sea yards from the hull. Water sprayed onto the deck.

“Ha, you bloody heathens! You shall not catch The Mutineer tonight!” The man held the tiller with one hand and shook a fist with the other.

As they pushed farther out to sea, the moon emerged from behind a cloud and revealed the pursuing ship. The glow showed a vessel with three masts topped with squared sails.

Two rows of dark squares dotted the length of her hull— gunports. So this is what a warship looks like. We’re dead. A cloud began to eclipse the moon, but before it did, Sam saw the mark emblazoned on the flag that soared above the ship— a skull and bones. “Pirates!”

Deadly Waters
A Pirate's Calling, Book 2

Thirteen-year-old Sam Every has traveled back in time to the Golden Age of Piracy to face Captain Jem Slayer, master of the dark arts. Deceived into handing Slayer the ultimate weapon, the Sword of Zel-Kar, Sam has lost his hands, sliced off in his first clash with the evil pirate.

But all is not lost.

​

Sam’s friends have found their way back in time, and with the help of the pirate hunter, Benjamin Hornigold, have rescued him from the island where Slayer marooned him. Now, aided by a new band of rogues and a mystery friend, Sam must rise above his injuries and find the strength to again face Slayer before it is too late—before the future is forever shattered. ​

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Darren Simon is a former longtime newspaper journalist who now works in government affairs on California water issues and teaches college English. In his spare time, he is a freelance magazine writer. Guardian’s Nightmare is his first novel. The second book in the series is also under contract with Divertir Publishing. He resides in California’s desert southwest with his wife, two sons and two crazy dogs.

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Sneak Peek: The Witch of Willow Hall by Hester Fox

Sneak Peek: Ghosts and Exiles by Sandra Unerman

Spellhaven is no more, but its spirits remain.

Tilda Gray hates Spellhaven, the city where her husband was born, even though she has never set foot in the place, and she does not believe in the magic it’s supposed to have held. Now her husband is dead, she would rather avoid any mention of the city. But her sons, Nicholas and James, have befriended Hugo, a young boy threatened by forces none of them understand. When Hugo's uncle and guardian, Stephen Cole, visits the Gray family to ask for help, Tilda agrees against her better judgement. Between them, as they search for ways to banish or at least help Hugo cope with the ghosts that are driving him mad, they seek out the dubious aid of the exiles from Spellhaven. In doing so they must face new dangers and unknown magic, unlike anything Tilda could have believed possible.

Book Details:

Print Length: 300 pages

Publisher: Mirror World Publishing

Publication Date: April 17, 2018

ASIN: B07B24HY9Z

Genre(s): Magical Realism, Historical Fantasy

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SNEAK PEEK

Stephen Cole would never have asked for help on his own account, not from strangers and especially not from a woman and a couple of young boys. Since his slow recovery from his experiences in the trenches during the First World War, he had devoted himself to his work at the Bar and had spent little time in the company of women or children. But the help was for his nephew, Hugo, and by the time Stephen arrived at the Grays’ house in Highgate one Sunday morning in November 1933, he did not know where else to turn.

When he was shown into the drawing room, Stephen looked round to try and gain an impression of the family. He decided that the room had been decorated about ten years ago and hardly changed since then. The yellow and grey curtains had lost their bloom and the wooden feet on the armchairs were scuffed, but the parquet floor round the carpet was thoroughly polished, as were the tiles inset into the fireplace. Mrs. Gray must have had skilled and hardworking servants, not as easy to find as they would once have been. Botanical illustrations hung on the panelled walls. Stephen had no time to notice more before Mrs. Gray entered the room. 

Her appearance took Stephen aback. When he had been told she was a widow, somehow he had pictured a middle-aged woman, dumpy and depressed. Maybe he had been thinking of Queen Victoria, even though he had seen enough war widows in the early days of his practice to know they came in all shapes and styles. Matilda Gray was tall for a woman, with light eyes and a pointed chin. Her pale brown hair was bobbed and smooth. She wore a fawn twin-set and a brown skirt, not new or fashionable but shapely and trim.

‘Thank you for seeing me on a Sunday, Mrs. Gray,’ Stephen said. ‘It’s your son, Nicholas, I’d really like to talk to. He is home for the weekend, isn’t he?’

Hugo lived at school all term, and often in the holidays as well, but Stephen had been told that the Grays were weekly boarders.

‘The boys are at breakfast, Mr. Cole.’ Mrs. Gray looked as wary of him as he was of her.

‘I hope your maid gave you my apologies for disturbing you.’

‘It doesn’t matter, but you will have to explain what this is about before I decide whether Nicholas should be involved.’

‘Very well, although he is already involved in a way.’

She frowned and raised her chin at that but she said, ‘Please sit down.’

Stephen folded himself into the nearest chair as his hostess settled down opposite.

‘I’m here on behalf of my nephew, Hugo. He’s at school with Nicholas and he’s in trouble. The school is threatening to send him down.’

‘And you believe that Nicholas has something to do with this?’

The words were chipped out of ice. Stephen took a breath and sat back. ‘I’m not suggesting your boy is to blame, Mrs. Gray. I’m just trying to understand what happened.’

‘Did the school send you here?’ She sounded politely incredulous and he did not blame her.

‘I asked if I could speak to some of Hugo’s friends and the school refused. But they did say he only appeared to have one friend and that was Gray Major. They wouldn’t give me the address but Hugo did. It was about the one thing he was willing to tell me. He hardly knows me so I’m not surprised he doesn’t trust me.’

‘I take it his parents are away?’

‘In China. They haven’t been home for six or seven years, since they brought Hugo over to start him at school. I haven’t been in touch. I was – preoccupied after the war and I’ve never had much to do with children. My mother used to deal with Hugo, but she is not at all well now, so there’s nobody else.’

‘That is difficult for you but I still don’t understand how we can help you.’

‘I’m hoping Hugo might have confided in your son. But even if he doesn’t know what happened last week, if he can just talk to me about Hugo and what might have got him into this state, I’d be grateful.’

Mrs. Gray looked down at her hands for a long moment. Then she nodded. ‘Please wait here for a moment.’

Praise:

‘...Spellhaven is an intriguing novel with no easy answers or way out, which means you can keep rereading it and drawing different conclusions every time. Jane is never going to be entirely happy and settled in life – but would she ever have been, even without her magical summons? 

Refreshingly, it does not appear to be part of a series: that ending ambiguity is all you’re getting and it will keep buzzing at the back of your mind for days.’ ~ Ben Jeapes, author of Phoenicia’s Worlds and other SF novels, from the BSFA review

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Amazon

Amazon UK

Ebook: Mirror World Publishing

Paperback: Mirror World Publishing

KOBO

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Meet the Author:

Sandra Unerman lives in London in the UK. When she retired from a career as a Government lawyer, she undertook an MA in Creative Writing at Middlesex University, specialising in science fiction and fantasy, and graduated in 2013. Since then, she has had a number of short stories published. Her latest stories are in Sword and Sorcery magazine, June 2017, and Fall into Fantasy, an anthology from Cloaked Press. She writes reviews and articles for the British Science Fiction Association and the British Fantasy Society. She is a member of London Clockhouse writers and other writing groups. Her interests include history, folklore and medieval literature.

Connect with Sandra:

Sandra’s Website:

https://sandraunermanwriter.com/

Sandra’s Author Page: 

https://www.amazon.com/Sandra-Unerman/e/B0034NS9VM

Goodreads Author Page: 

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6566116.Sandra_Unerman

Cover Reveal: Ghosts & Exiles by Sandra Unerman

Spellhaven is no more, but its spirits remain.

About the Book. . .

Tilda Gray hates Spellhaven, the city where her husband was born, even though she has never set foot in the place, and she does not believe in the magic it’s supposed to have held. Now her husband is dead, she would rather avoid any mention of the city. But her sons, Nicholas and James, have befriended Hugo, a young boy threatened by forces none of them understand. When Hugo's uncle and guardian, Stephen Cole, visits the Gray family to ask for help, Tilda agrees against her better judgement. Between them, as they search for ways to banish or at least help Hugo cope with the ghosts that are driving him mad, they seek out the dubious aid of the exiles from Spellhaven. In doing so they must face new dangers and unknown magic, unlike anything Tilda could have believed possible.

Print Length: 300 pages

Publisher: Mirror World Publishing

Publication Date: April 17, 2018

ASIN: B07B24HY9Z

Magical Realism, Historical Fantasy

SNEAK PEEK

Stephen Cole would never have asked for help on his own account, not from strangers and especially not from a woman and a couple of young boys. Since his slow recovery from his experiences in the trenches during the First World War, he had devoted himself to his work at the Bar and had spent little time in the company of women or children. But the help was for his nephew, Hugo, and by the time Stephen arrived at the Grays’ house in Highgate one Sunday morning in November 1933, he did not know where else to turn.

When he was shown into the drawing room, Stephen looked round to try and gain an impression of the family. He decided that the room had been decorated about ten years ago and hardly changed since then. The yellow and grey curtains had lost their bloom and the wooden feet on the armchairs were scuffed, but the parquet floor round the carpet was thoroughly polished, as were the tiles inset into the fireplace. Mrs. Gray must have had skilled and hardworking servants, not as easy to find as they would once have been. Botanical illustrations hung on the panelled walls. Stephen had no time to notice more before Mrs. Gray entered the room. 

Her appearance took Stephen aback. When he had been told she was a widow, somehow he had pictured a middle-aged woman, dumpy and depressed. Maybe he had been thinking of Queen Victoria, even though he had seen enough war widows in the early days of his practice to know they came in all shapes and styles. Matilda Gray was tall for a woman, with light eyes and a pointed chin. Her pale brown hair was bobbed and smooth. She wore a fawn twin-set and a brown skirt, not new or fashionable but shapely and trim.

‘Thank you for seeing me on a Sunday, Mrs. Gray,’ Stephen said. ‘It’s your son, Nicholas, I’d really like to talk to. He is home for the weekend, isn’t he?’

Hugo lived at school all term, and often in the holidays as well, but Stephen had been told that the Grays were weekly boarders. 

‘The boys are at breakfast, Mr. Cole.’ Mrs. Gray looked as wary of him as he was of her. 

‘I hope your maid gave you my apologies for disturbing you.’ 

‘It doesn’t matter, but you will have to explain what this is about before I decide whether Nicholas should be involved.’

Pre-Order from:

Amazon

Read About the Book at Mirror World Publishing

Add to Your Shelf on Goodreads

And here she is. . .

Sandra Unerman lives in London in the UK. When she retired from a career as a Government lawyer, she undertook an MA in Creative Writing at Middlesex University, specialising in science fiction and fantasy, and graduated in 2013. Since then, she has had a number of short stories published. Her latest stories are in Sword and Sorcery magazine, June 2017, and Fall into Fantasy, an anthology from Cloaked Press. She writes reviews and articles for the British Science Fiction Association and the British Fantasy Society. She is a member of London Clockhouse writers and other writing groups. Her interests include history, folklore and medieval literature.

Connect with Sandra:

Sandra’s Website:

https://sandraunermanwriter.com/

Sandra’s Author Page: 

https://www.amazon.com/Sandra-Unerman/e/B0034NS9VM

Goodreads Author Page: 

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6566116.Sandra_Unerman

For Moms and Dads: Kasper Mutzenmacher's Cursed Hat by Keith Fentonmiller

KASPER MUTZENMACHER'S CURSED HAT

(Life Indigo, Book One)

by Keith R. Fentonmiller

Curiosity Quills Press

Historical Fantasy

COMING. . .

MARCH 20, 2017!!!

Kasper MUtzenmacher keeps a divine "wishing hat"--a thought-operated teleportation device--locked in the wall safe of his Berlin hat shop.

According to an old prophecy, after Kasper's Greek ancestor stole the wishing hat from Hermes, Fate cursed his progeny to sell hats, on pain of mayhem or death. Kasper, however, doesn't mind making hats, and he loves Berlin's cabaret scene even more. But his carefree life of jazz and booze comes to a screeching halt when he must use the wishing hat to rescue his flapper girlfriend Isana from the shadowy Klaus, a veil-wearing Nazi who brainwashes his victims until they can't see their own faces.

Isana and Kasper's happiness proves fleeting. Years after her mysterious death, Kasper struggles as a lonely, single father of two until he meets Rosamund Lux, recently released from a political prison where Klaus took her face. Kasper soon suspects that Rosamund is no ordinary woman. According to the prophecy, certain Lux women descend from the water nymph Daphne, who, during Olympian times, transformed into a laurel tree to avoid Apollo's sexual advances; they, too, suffer from an intergenerational curse connected to Hermes' stolen hat. As Kasper falls deeper in love, Rosamund's mental health deteriorates. She has nightmares and delusions about Klaus, and warns that he will launch a night of terror once he's collected enough faces.

Kasper dismisses the growing Nazi threat until the government reclassifies him as a Jew in 1938. His plan to emigrate unravels when anti-Jewish riots erupt and the Nazis start loading Jews on boxcars to Dachau. Then Rosamund goes missing, and Klaus steals the wishing hat, the family's only means of escape.

Kasper, however, will face his most difficult battle in America. He must convince his wayward son and indifferent grandson to break the curse that has trapped the family in the hat business for sixteen centuries. Their lives will depend on it.

Book One of the Life Indigo series, Kasper MUtzenmacher's Cursed Hat is a fantastical family saga about tradition, faith, and identity, set during the Jazz Age, Nazi Germany, and the Detroit race riots of 1943.

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MY TIDBITS

This is a well-woven tale, which mixes history and myth in a moving yet tension filled way.

Kasper is a hat maker living in Germany right before WWII and although he has friends opposing the building Hitler movement, he himself tries to stay out of trouble. But Kasper harbors secrets. His family is cursed thanks to a magical hat his ancestor stole from Hermes, one which teleports him to any place he wants. He refuses to use it until the Nazis arrest his girlfriend and allow a man who removes women's faces to torture her.

There are so many clashing elements in this book that it's hard to shove it into a certain genre. First, there's Nazi Germany. From the historical side, this is a moving novel, which takes a look at an every day craftsman and the challenges he faces during and after the rise of Nazi Germany. Kasper is not a brave man, but rather tries to mold into society as best he can to avoid trouble. But he doesn't side with the growing movement either, and keeps friendships and connections with Jews, communists and other 'rebellious' groups. Especially his children, who are half Jewish, enrich this historical aspect and make it clear how difficult it was for people in this situation to deal with the growing troubles. Kasper knows the world around him is falling apart, but doesn't know how to deal with it outside of fitting in as best he can.

The other aspect of this novel is the fantastical side. Greek mythology not only plays a role with the hat but peppers in with the world around Kasper. His second love interest, Rosamund, has a close connection to his family curse and ties into Daphne's (nymph) ancestral line. Her 'powers' as well as others in the story, bring the myth world to life while weaving seamlessly into the historical one.

As if solving the curse and handling life with Nazi Germany wasn't enough, the story also deals with the tough relationship between father and children. Kasper's relationship to his children is often not as close as it could be, but then he is raising them with his mother, since his wife already passed away. The different opinions between father and son, the distance that can form between them and how to patch a relationship pull at the heart strings.

Moving from one scene to the next, there's never a boring moment. The plot holds momentum the entire way through, swallowing into the world and characters. During the first part of the book, the children come across older than they really are. And there are moments where the information dumps a bit heavy, making it tempting to skip paragraphs now and then. Other elements, however, were done masterfully. There are hints of what might come--clues almost--sprinkled into the scenes. Also, a radio voice rattles off a daily program, which brings to life the atmosphere of society in a way which almost comes across light-hearted while still demonstrating the serious brain-washing and pushed ideals.

Summed up, this is an interesting read in so many way. Fans of historical fiction and light fantasy are sure to enjoy this different twist and will be left thinking long after the book is laid to the side.

Cover Reveal: The Sun God's Heir, Rebirth by Elliott Baker

We are revealing the cover for The Sun God's Heir: Rebirth, Book 2 in Elliott Baker's new series!

Plus, the book is available on Amazon for Pre-Order:  http://amzn.to/2lEnUke

Book Information:

Title: The Sun God's Heir: Rebirth, Book 2

Author Name: Elliott Baker

Genre(s): Historical Fiction, Fantasy

Release Date: April 18, 2017

Visit the Tour Hosts:

http://saphsbookblog.blogspot.com/2017/03/cover-reveal-pre-order-launch-schedule.html

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About The Sun God's Heir: Rebirth, Book 2:

The Count of Monte Cristo meets ancient Egypt in this riveting sequel to The Sun God’s Heir: Return.

Set during the wave tossed years of white slavery and Barbary pirates, this is the epic story of René Gilbert, a journey that defies time as he must draw on a larger awareness earned in previous lifetimes.

The plague’s dark fingers curl around Bordeaux. René must return home to save those he loves. But first he has to escape a Moroccan sultan’s clutches. In Bordeaux, an enemy waits, filled with a hatred three thousand years old. Only René can defeat this dark power, and only if he reclaims his own ancient past. In this arena, death is but the least of failure’s penalties.

Grab Book 1: The Sun God’s Heir: Return, Book 1 on Amazon ~ http://amzn.to/2mklqLB

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And here he is. . .

Award winning novelist and international playwright Elliott Baker grew up in Jacksonville, Florida. With four musicals and one play published and produced in the United States, New Zealand, Portugal, England, and Canada, Elliott is pleased to release his first novels. The Sun God’s Heir: Return, book one of the trilogy, was released this past January, and book two, Rebirth will come out on April 18th, followed in July by the third and final book of the series, Redemption. A member of the Authors Guild and the Dramatists Guild, Elliott lives in New Hampshire with his wife Sally Ann.

You can find Elliott at the following places:

Website: http://elliottbaker.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ElliottBakerAuthor/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/ElliottBaker?lang=en

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/8423737