and...Whispers of the Goddess is out!

So, it is available here at Smashwords and here on Amazon

This has been a long time coming, I wrote Whispers of the Goddess in a white heat back in January of 2010. It was a combination of all kinds of things that fire my imagination. Templars, the Crusades, the Holy Grail, Varangian Guard of Byzantium (Viking mercenaries), Greek and Norse Gods, all told in a proper Sword and Sorcery style. 


I was even more thrilled to have the tale accepted into RBE's Roar of the Crowd anthology, but that died the slow death with some misphaps  and the tale was returned. So I have edited it, added in a couple other short tales starring Tyr (the main character) that have been published elsewhere and got the wonderful Carter Reid (Space Eldritch 1 and 2 covers, his ow Zombie Nation comic along with a slew of others for some great spec fic authors) to do a a cover for me.

My description:
"From the wrath of the Northmen, O Lord deliver us." -- Old French Prayer 

Warships of the Fourth Crusade surround Constantinople threatening murder, rapine and worse. 

The only option left the impotent Emperor to avoid the sacking of the great city, is to secretly give away a sacred relic. 

Enter Tyr, a red-handed Swedish mercenary and Wolfram von Eschenbach, the Templar poet, together charged with retrieving the holy artifact and escaping the city. 

What they don't know is that arcane forces, old as myth, are marshalled against their mission. The old gods of multiple nations war with the New. 

And Ragnarok is coming to Greece. 

Plus two more short sword and sorcery tales of Tyr: Hel Awaits and Sailing to Valhalla 

What the critics are saying about David J. West's writing! 
"Brutal, gory and depressing," - Jennie Hansen, Meridian Magazine 
"I was afraid to read this book." - Marissa Walker, Timpanogos Times 
"And he just keeps getting better," - Keith West, Amazing Stories 
"One of the most well-written fight scenes I've ever had the opportunity to read." - Darkeva, Hellnotes

The Thunder Rolls...

I didn't have a table of contents until a day or so ago and now that the ebook for both volumes of  Thunder on the Battlefield are available here it is.

Thunder on the Battlefield: Sword
Featuring

G. Jerome Henson: “THE HORDE”

Jay Requard: “PAPER DEMONS”

D.T. Neal: “THE WOLF & THE CROW”

John F. Allen: “FOREST OF SHADOWS”

Marcella Burnard “EMISSARY”

David J. West: “THE DOGS OF WAR”

Alexis A. Hunter: “THE RED HAND”

James R. Tuck “WHERE THE RED BLOSSOMS WEEP”

Loriane Parker: “THIEF OF SOULS”

W. E. Wertenberger: “THE GNAWED BONE”

Stephen Zimmer “ALL THE LANDS, NOWHERE A HOME”

J.S. Veter “THE WITCH OF RYMAL PASS”
 
Thunder on the Battlefield: Sorcery
Featuring

Jeffe Kennedy: “NEGOTIATION”

Alex Hughes: “THE FOURTH RULE”

Selah Janel: “THE RUINS OF ST. LOUIS”

Steve Grassie: “MARK OF THE WARRIOR”

James R. Tuck: “ANGELS OF SCRAWL”

M.B Weston: “THE CHERUBIAN, THE LINDWORM, AND THE PORTAL”

Brady Allen: “GRINDING THE GEARS”

S.H. Roddey “BLACK ICE”

Steven S. Long: “THE TWO FIRES”

D.A. Adams: “ACROSS THE WILDS”

Mark Taverna “DARK GENESIS”

Steven L. Shrewsbury “WHORE OF JERICHO”

G. Jerome Henson: “THE HORDE”

Jay Requard: “PAPER DEMONS”

D.T. Neal: “THE WOLF & THE CROW” 

John F. Allen: “FOREST OF SHADOWS” 

Marcella Burnard “EMISSARY” 

David J. West: “THE DOGS OF WAR”

Alexis A. Hunter: “THE RED HAND”

James R. Tuck “WHERE THE RED BLOSSOMS WEEP”

Loriane Parker: “THIEF OF SOULS”

W. E. Wertenberger: “THE GNAWED BONE” 

Stephen Zimmer “ALL THE LANDS, NOWHERE A HOME”

J.S. Veter “THE WITCH OF RYMAL PASS”

- See more at: http://seventhstarpress.blogspot.com/2013/08/full-list-of-authors-for-both-thunder.html#sthash.72Z2d87q.dpuf

G. Jerome Henson: “THE HORDE”

Jay Requard: “PAPER DEMONS”

D.T. Neal: “THE WOLF & THE CROW” 

John F. Allen: “FOREST OF SHADOWS” 

Marcella Burnard “EMISSARY” 

David J. West: “THE DOGS OF WAR”

Alexis A. Hunter: “THE RED HAND”

James R. Tuck “WHERE THE RED BLOSSOMS WEEP”

Loriane Parker: “THIEF OF SOULS”

W. E. Wertenberger: “THE GNAWED BONE” 

Stephen Zimmer “ALL THE LANDS, NOWHERE A HOME”

J.S. Veter “THE WITCH OF RYMAL PASS”

- See more at: http://seventhstarpress.blogspot.com/2013/08/full-list-of-authors-for-both-thunder.html#sthash.72Z2d87q.dpuf

Thunder on the Battlefield: Sword

Featuring

G. Jerome Henson: “THE HORDE”

Jay Requard: “PAPER DEMONS”

D.T. Neal: “THE WOLF & THE CROW” 

John F. Allen: “FOREST OF SHADOWS” 

Marcella Burnard “EMISSARY” 

David J. West: “THE DOGS OF WAR”

Alexis A. Hunter: “THE RED HAND”

James R. Tuck “WHERE THE RED BLOSSOMS WEEP”

Loriane Parker: “THIEF OF SOULS”

W. E. Wertenberger: “THE GNAWED BONE” 

Stephen Zimmer “ALL THE LANDS, NOWHERE A HOME”

J.S. Veter “THE WITCH OF RYMAL PASS”

- See more at: http://seventhstarpress.blogspot.com/2013/08/full-list-of-authors-for-both-thunder.html#sthash.72Z2d87q.dpuf

Thunder on the Battlefield: Sword

Featuring

G. Jerome Henson: “THE HORDE”

Jay Requard: “PAPER DEMONS”

D.T. Neal: “THE WOLF & THE CROW” 

John F. Allen: “FOREST OF SHADOWS” 

Marcella Burnard “EMISSARY” 

David J. West: “THE DOGS OF WAR”

Alexis A. Hunter: “THE RED HAND”

James R. Tuck “WHERE THE RED BLOSSOMS WEEP”

Loriane Parker: “THIEF OF SOULS”

W. E. Wertenberger: “THE GNAWED BONE” 

Stephen Zimmer “ALL THE LANDS, NOWHERE A HOME”

J.S. Veter “THE WITCH OF RYMAL PASS”

- See more at: http://seventhstarpress.blogspot.com/2013/08/full-list-of-authors-for-both-thunder.html#sthash.72Z2d87q.dpuf

Thunder on the Battlefield: Sword

Featuring

G. Jerome Henson: “THE HORDE”

Jay Requard: “PAPER DEMONS”

D.T. Neal: “THE WOLF & THE CROW” 

John F. Allen: “FOREST OF SHADOWS” 

Marcella Burnard “EMISSARY” 

David J. West: “THE DOGS OF WAR”

Alexis A. Hunter: “THE RED HAND”

James R. Tuck “WHERE THE RED BLOSSOMS WEEP”

Loriane Parker: “THIEF OF SOULS”

W. E. Wertenberger: “THE GNAWED BONE” 

Stephen Zimmer “ALL THE LANDS, NOWHERE A HOME”

J.S. Veter “THE WITCH OF RYMAL PASS”

- See more at: http://seventhstarpress.blogspot.com/2013/08/full-list-of-authors-for-both-thunder.html#sthash.72Z2d87q.dpuf

Thunder on the Battlefield: Sword

Featuring

G. Jerome Henson: “THE HORDE”

Jay Requard: “PAPER DEMONS”

D.T. Neal: “THE WOLF & THE CROW” 

John F. Allen: “FOREST OF SHADOWS” 

Marcella Burnard “EMISSARY” 

David J. West: “THE DOGS OF WAR”

Alexis A. Hunter: “THE RED HAND”

James R. Tuck “WHERE THE RED BLOSSOMS WEEP”

Loriane Parker: “THIEF OF SOULS”

W. E. Wertenberger: “THE GNAWED BONE” 

Stephen Zimmer “ALL THE LANDS, NOWHERE A HOME”

J.S. Veter “THE WITCH OF RYMAL PASS”

- See more at: http://seventhstarpress.blogspot.com/2013/08/full-list-of-authors-for-both-thunder.html#sthash.72Z2d87q.dpuf

Thunder on the Battlefield: Sword

Featuring

G. Jerome Henson: “THE HORDE”

Jay Requard: “PAPER DEMONS”

D.T. Neal: “THE WOLF & THE CROW” 

John F. Allen: “FOREST OF SHADOWS” 

Marcella Burnard “EMISSARY” 

David J. West: “THE DOGS OF WAR”

Alexis A. Hunter: “THE RED HAND”

James R. Tuck “WHERE THE RED BLOSSOMS WEEP”

Loriane Parker: “THIEF OF SOULS”

W. E. Wertenberger: “THE GNAWED BONE” 

Stephen Zimmer “ALL THE LANDS, NOWHERE A HOME”

J.S. Veter “THE WITCH OF RYMAL PASS”

- See more at: http://seventhstarpress.blogspot.com/2013/08/full-list-of-authors-for-both-thunder.html#sthash.72Z2d87q.dpuf

Thunder on the Battlefield: Sword

Featuring

G. Jerome Henson: “THE HORDE”

Jay Requard: “PAPER DEMONS”

D.T. Neal: “THE WOLF & THE CROW” 

John F. Allen: “FOREST OF SHADOWS” 

Marcella Burnard “EMISSARY” 

David J. West: “THE DOGS OF WAR”

Alexis A. Hunter: “THE RED HAND”

James R. Tuck “WHERE THE RED BLOSSOMS WEEP”

Loriane Parker: “THIEF OF SOULS”

W. E. Wertenberger: “THE GNAWED BONE” 

Stephen Zimmer “ALL THE LANDS, NOWHERE A HOME”

J.S. Veter “THE WITCH OF RYMAL PASS”

- See more at: http://seventhstarpress.blogspot.com/2013/08/full-list-of-authors-for-both-thunder.html#sthash.72Z2d87q.dpuf

Thunder on the Battlefield: Sword & Sorcery

“HARK! to the sounds of battle. Mighty men and women who take their destinies with the strength of their arm and the sharpness of their blades. These are tales of warriors, reavers, barbarians, and kings. Lands of wonder populated with monsters, black-hearted sorcerors of Stygian power, and heroes who have blood on their hands and on their steel.

This is SWORD AND SORCERY.”

Available this Thursday in eBook formats, and mid August in print, SSP is proud to offer a 2 volume anthology edited by James R. Tuck, author of the Deacon Chalk Novels. Introducing Thunder on the Battlefield: Sword, and Thunder on the Battlefield: Sorcery, featuring two dozen brand new, hard-hitting sword and sorcery tales!  My tale The Dogs of War features Tyr, a viking mercenary and the Templat poet - Wolfram Von Eschenbach - more of them will be available soon in a sequel of sorts Whispers of the Goddess.
Here are the two covers from artist Enggar Adirasa!  Stay tuned for more information on this exciting release week! I was hoping for a table of contents list but I don't have one just yet. I'm excited to see who else is in the books.

Whispers of the Goddess is Coming

I haven't been around, all my regular readers know why, but finally my first project of the year is almost here.

I need to figure out all the nuances and get it put together but WHISPERS OF THE GODDESS my novella from the departed Roar of the Crowd is coming soon.

Here is the back cover blurb I recently put together, (and thanks to Angie Lofthouse for helping polish it)

"Warships of the Fourth Crusade surround Constantinople threatening murder, rapine and worse.
The only option left the impotent Emperor to avoid the sacking of the great city, is to secretly give away a sacred relic.
Enter Tyr a red-handed Swedish mercenary and Wolfram von Eschenbach the Templar poet, together charged with retrieving the holy artifact and escaping the city.
What they don’t know is that arcane forces, old as myth, are marshaled against their mission. The old gods of multiple nations war with the New.
And Ragnarok is coming to Greece."


Here is the cover by the talented Carter Reid - he also did the SPACE ELDRITCH cover.


In other news, the prequel of sorts for Whispers of the Goddess, The Dogs of War, has been accepted into the Thunder on the Battlefield, Sword & Sorcery collection edited by James R. Tuck, so if you like one tale I hope you will like the other and we can get some cross-pollination going.

J. Edgar

J. Edgar directed by Clint Eastwood

I've seen three movies in the last two weeks (for work ironically) and this is the only one I feel like admitting to. I don't normally care for Leonardo DiCaprio but I do like historicals and Clint Eastwoods films. A bit slow and ponderous, the film still carried itself with interesting insight into an enigmatic almost mythic character of American 20th-century history. Though a historical film I found it to be rather timely, it's hard not to look at the Occupy Wall Street protesters and the other bad news bears and not see the similarities between the early days of Hoover's dealing with communist insurgents and our own uncertainty today. It's like I always say people don't change that much.

Still this wasn't something I think I need to ever sit down and watch again and there wasn't as much sheer entertainment as there is in some other bio pics such as JFK, Hoffa, or even Nixon, but it is worth viewing at least once. It did grant some humanity to an otherwise atypically vilified (perhaps not unjustly) character and I couldn't help but chuckle at some of the hinted secret files. I also had to wonder if Eastwood made a few of his own digs in the movie.

I usually avoid traffic cops like the plague but I have to respect how much Hoover actually brought to the FBI, the innovations in forensic science, national fingerprinting, the man was a visionary in his field. Also Stephen Root was especially enjoyable as one of the first forensic scientists that Hoover utilized. The rumored aspects of Hoover's secret life were also dealt with in a believable and reasonable manner. The costumes were great but the makeup was atrocious, I thought DiCaprio as an old man looked more like Gordon B. Hinckley than J. Edgar Hoover.



You tell me.



My IRONCLAD Guarantee

I know the movies I have been talking about lately are my preaching to the choir & but you faithful readers will dig this one too.

IRONCLAD rocks.

Set in 1215 not too long after King John, Paul Giamatti (is wonderfully wicked) has signed the Magna Carta, he has second thoughts and tries to renege. But the nobles aren't going to stand for it and prepare a tiny force to hold Rochester castle, a strategic strong point.

Enter our Templar knight, Thomas Marshal played by James Purefoy, still channeling Solomon Kane, as a key defender against John.

There are some other fine actors - Brian Cox, Jason Flemying, and Charles Dance but the actor I was especially excited to see in action again is Vladimir Kulich.

Now I would not have recognized his name, but I would have recognized  Buliwyf from The 13th Warrior (a classic in my book). He is the captain of the Danish mercenaries employed by King John to win back England-and I was hankering through the whole movie for the point where he would fight Purefoy's Templar. (The image I found makes him look as how I picture my character Tyr, a Swedish mercenary in the forthcoming Roar of the Crowd anthology (& other antho's I'm working on))

The battles are bloody and visceral and IF you know who you are-you have my guarantee you are gonna like this movie.