Review of Elizabeth Lang's THE EMPIRE, by All Books Review Intl.

    "It will be interesting to discover which will make you beg. Will it be the pain or the pleasure?"

    The brilliantly intelligent scientist; Adrian Stannis suddenly finds himself pulled away from the walls he put up in his own mind, to keep him in solitude. Trapped doing research on a small science vessel far away from others, he finds that for once he must rely on friends he never wanted to make, in order to succeed. Everything he once knew seems to have been destroyed as he's pushed into the middle of political rebellion and an alien invasion. After a strange kind of torture, he is pushed even farther from other beings but his freedom and even his life may depend on the trust he finds so hard to create.

    Elizabeth Lang has created a wonderful story of intrigue and twists and turns that I couldn't put down from the moment I picked it up. The story was interesting and compelling, pushing me towards the end hastily. As an avid reader Ms. Lang has had a passion for science fiction and fantasy since she was young and her love for these things was obvious throughout the well written pages of her work. The characters were well developed, and you could see the differing thought processes in each person and how much they were affected by the situation. I truly began to believe in these characters as I read The Empire; they communicated so realistically amongst each other and had appealing personalities to read about. Elizabeth Lang began her writing career later in life, but once she started she just couldn't stop and I certainly hope that doesn't change, because her words are wonderful. 

    Overall, I was very pleased with The Empire and I found it to be quite an adventure, leaving me wanting more. Hopefully, I will be able to read her other novels and complete the story because I continue to wonder what might happen next. Elizabeth Lang has created a story that will appeal to people on many levels and I hope that she continues writing wonderful stories like this.The Empire is highly recommended by Kirsten Bussière,  www.allbooksreviewint.com

via Writing Raw

Sneak Peak at early cover concept: Ian Hall's Opportunities: Jamie Leith at Darién

We loved Roan Carter's artwork for Ian Hall's upcoming novel so much we wanted to share it with you. Lettering etc will be improved, and the usual formatting, but this is essentially it. As an aside, Roan has also done the art work for the upcoming SQ Magazine #3.

Writer Profile: MF Burbaugh

Born in the post war era of 1947 and raised in the farm country of upstate New York, MF Burbaugh saw ground level life and death.

Joining the Army in 1966 and spending almost two years in Vietnam, he added to that grounding of reality, and after 21 years in the Army he now resides with his wife of forty years in El Paso, Texas.

He writes in the sci-fi/fantasy genre but has a collection of short stories based in the 1860s of a humorous western genre, where he received good reviews. He tries to bring his stories to life such that you feel you are right there.

He writes a weekly column on a website dedicated to aspiring young authors to assist them were he can.

We had the pleasure of making the acquaintance of 'Skip' last year, where we were enchanted by his manuscript, We Were Legends, a science fiction story. This is now in pre-production, but we surprisingly were were presented with a novella, Circle of Seven, late last year, and we fast tracked it into production - and were delighted with the result.

After being kidnapped by pirates, a young earth girl, Myra, finds herself on a strange planet full of magic, hate, and ancient prophesies. Befriended by a Dwarf Princess, she struggles to understand her environment or die.
War looms on the horizon as Elves, Dwarfs, Dragons, and others face the reality of an ancient judgment to come.

This is the story of pirates, death, war, magic, and ancient prophesies.
Myra may hold the key to their planet's destiny in her tiny hands as she struggles to fulfill the ancient writings and stay alive.

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And stay tuned for We Were Legends:

Jake is a NASA pioneer pilot in a newly developed one-man explorer ship who takes to the stars to escape torment. Odds of survival are less than four in ten, and it is believed NASA pads the statistics.

He is forced to crash on an unknown planet that is dying, as its star gets colder in defiance of the laws of physics. Jake begins his survival quest with a few technological items from his ship and a still-functioning computer. It gets more complex when he rescues a beautiful girl and struggles to overcome the life and death challenges of the planet's inhabitants, mega-fauna, and extreme climate. He discovers a few of Earth's ancient stories of gods and demi-gods that are embroiled in hate, vanity, and what some call magic, are more than myths.

With success or failure, Jake proves that legends are made, not born.

Writer Profile: Gerry Huntman

Gerry Huntman is a father, husband, writer, publisher and IT Consultant. This means he is also a very good juggler. He lives in Melbourne, Australia, with his wife and young daughter. Gerry has created fantastical worlds since he was a young child and was a creative influence in the Australian Roleplaying scene for decades. Recently he made the decision to write seriously for publishing and has already published a dozen short stories in many journals and anthologies. He is working on an epic fantasy, its sequel, and a modern day science fiction action adventure. His current project is a dystopian Young Adult novel, and is not far away from publishing an anthology of short stories based on his Evyntyde fantasy world.

Gerry is a team member of the IFWG Publishing company and has worked hard to help new writers emerge in the industry. As a writer as well, it was inevitable that he would publish through our company, and it is with pleasure that we took on his mid-grade fantasy novel, Guardian of the Sky Realms. Gerry has published with other companies, and we consider it fortunate to have him on our authors book, as well as team member.

This is the cover of Guardian of the Sky Realms. The following is the official blurb:

Maree Webster is an 'almost-emo' from the western suburbs of Sydney, Australia. She hates school and only has a few friends. She has an infatuation with Angels and Fallen Angel stories. Life was boring until she one day decided to steal a famous painting of angels from a small art gallery.

Her life will never be boring again. She meets a stranger at the gallery who seems to know her. She stumbles into a world where cities float in the sky, and daemons roam the barren, magma-spewing crags of the land below.

But not all is well. Maree is turning into something she loves but at the same time, fears. Most fearful of all is the prospect of losing her identity, what makes her Maree, and more importantly, human. She has ties to the human world that she can't bear to sever.

Guardian of the Sky Realms takes the reader on a journey through exotic fantasy lands, but also across the globe, from Sydney to Paris, and the Himalayas to Manhattan.

It is about transformation.

Writer Profile: Linda Penhall

Linda Penhall left her native home in Ireland for the sunnier climes of South Africa in 1997. Upon arrival in Jo’burg, she did something totally out of character―she bought an Irish Pub and Restaurant. Prior to this, she was involved in the equestrian and airline industry, so becoming a restaurateur was a rather strange experience and one that didn’t last―it just wasn’t her! Two years later, she packed up and moved to the Eastern Cape where she now lives in organized chaos as a full time writer along with her husband and daughter, two spaniel type dogs, a lovable but loopy ginger cat and of course, her well-used laptop.

Linda came to us with a manuscript very close to publication ready, which impressed us. The story, while not the usual we publish, entranced, delighted and captured us with the strength of its characters. We were happy indeed to invite Linda into our stable of authors, and very much look forward to the sequel of They Never Give Up. 

This is the cover of her debut novel, and the following is its official blurb:

Cathy and Pauline are leaving footprints—raised ones.

Cathy is gorgeous, smart and quick-witted—her life looks promising to say the least. And to round it all off she has a devoted husband who thinks the world of her. Everyone assumes she’s got it made. But has she?

Pauline is the life and soul of every party—firmly believing the world to be some kind of giant playpen. Underneath this rebellious guise is a woman who desperately wants someone to love her for who she truly is.

Set in an Irish backdrop, the story humorously explores the vibrant and multicolored lives of these two lifelong friends as they love, work and laugh in the midst of horses, rehab, aviation, a whiskey guzzling skinflint father and a deplorably meddlesome mother-in-law.

They Never Gave Up will strike a chord with all women especially those who have ever been let down to the point of betrayal.

Reviews

They Never Gave Up is packed with so many emotions and the voices of the characters are wonderfully authentic. It's also a heartwarming read that to me, places a wonderful emphasis on the power of true friendship. I think if you're looking for chick-lit with substance, you'll definitely find all that and so much more in They Never Gave Up - Tammy February - Women24 - South Africa

A cracking good beach read. Barbara Manning – Daily Dispatch - South Africa

Delectably honest - laugh-out-loud funny and heartfelt. Tim Botha - Go Magazine

Story Quest Short Story Contest

For those who have been following this contest, the 3rd (and now annual) Story Quest Short Story Contest will open for submissions on 1 August 2011 and close on 31 October 2011. There are some changes that most of you will know of for this year, but we have one important addition:

1. The important one - we have decided to charge $5.00 per submission (to a maximum of 3). This is not a money making venture (believe me) but it helps defray some of the costs associated with administering the contest - in two ways: firstly, we have been getting a lot of submissions and this means that the revenue generated from the fee will help pay for our editors' time. Secondly, it will discourage frivolous entries and in effect, reduce unnecessary workload.
2. This year we have fully transitioned our contest to Speculative Fiction only. The web site discusses the scope of genre and styles in more detail.
3. This year we changed to an annual competition.
4. This year we have changed the prize to modest cash prizes and publishing in SQ Magazine - for the winner and runners up.

We encourage those of you who are specfic writers to submit to our contest in August. We enjoy reading the entries and helping elevate author profiles.

MF Burbaugh's Circle of Seven Now Released In eBook Formats

As foreshadowed a few days ago, MF Burbaugh's novella, Circle of Seven, has now been released in Kindle and NOOKBook format. PDF will come shortly, as well as print.

Visit the eBook Store for more details.