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Discover Truths For Yourself
“The Princess, The Knight, and the Lost God” follows a twelve-year-old goddess from Chess Mountain who comes to Earth when her kingdom is in danger.What was the inspiration for the setup to your story?
In 2016, as a public-school teacher deeply invested in the idea of using chess as my class theme for all subjects, I was previewing a poem to possibly share with my students. It was entitled “Caïssa,” written by William Jones in 1764. The verses of that little-known work encompass the romance of the chess goddess with the god of war, Mars. I had never heard this mythological detail discussed before, not even in my chess circles, and it begged to be expounded.
When I looked for chess fiction books to see what was already out there, there were just about none. Yes, there have been famous scenes in some fictional books about chess, such as in Harry Potter and Alice in Wonderland, but no children’s books existed at the time with chess as a total theme. So, I wondered, mightn’t Mars and Caïssa have married, and in present time have a daughter near the age of my students? I knew that I wanted Kassie to come to Earth and meet mortal children, but she never would have wanted or even have been allowed to leave Chess Mountain unless she absolutely had to do so. Soon thereafter, the outline of the story poured into my mind, but it took me years to complete.
Kassie faces difficult challenges in this novel that she must learn and grow from. What were some driving ideals behind your character’s development?
Especially these days, we are all being reminded that it is important to discover truths for yourself, and not accept second or third-hand points-of-view. This is true “across the board,” if you’ll forgive the pun. It was one of the reasons Kassie needed to visit our planet. She needed to learn what humans were truly like, and not rely on the hearsay of her studies in her secluded kingdom far away. It’s difficult to grow when you stay closeted in a protected comfort zone. Also, the students in the story came from different backgrounds, and faced personal challenges of their own. Kassie’s increasing support for them changed things, which showed the princess a new aspect of her own value.
What were some themes that were important for you to explore in this book?
There are several strong themes in the story: Experiences can change your perspective. Friendships can take different forms. And by using the morals of chess, we can choose pathways to success, and even to redemption. Also, it was important to have concrete examples of how chess can deliver academics, and provide metaphors for many circumstances. There were nods to certain philosophical theories as well, if you look closely.
What is the next book that you are working on and when will it be available?
As of late, I’ve been figuratively traveling around the globe with Kassie, and together we’ve found some poignant and dramatic scenarios that would certainly benefit from her presence! And I’m sure you can guess that the fallen Originals are not done making mischief for the loyalists.
But I have also time-traveled backwards, and have had glimpses of Mars’ and Caïssa’s first meetings, their courtship, and the scenario that followed. Intriguing scenes of Kassie’s childhood with Dimitri have also emerged. In addition, the relationships between the Originals before the rebellion were extremely different than they are today, as we were given hints of in my novel. Even I am being surprised by some of the details. So, with all that being said, let’s see what materializes in 2023!
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With Maurice, a trusted knight disguised as her guardian uncle, Princess Kassie is whisked to dreaded Earth, and has a mission to complete. Living undercover as a mortal student in a NYC school, she takes comfort in a chess-loving classroom with a quirky teacher. As Kassie gets to know the human girls and boys, she is astonished to find that Earthlings are different from what she was taught, and more like herself than she ever imagined. She witnesses her classmates “puzzle” through their own difficult circumstances involving family and personal challenges, some like her own.
Due to kingdom enemies nearby, she cannot reveal who she is, or her chess strength. But when classmates are intimidated by a chess bully, Kassie battles to empower them for a tournament, while struggling to stay disguised for her own safety and that of Chess Mountain. Trouble ensues, and Kassie finds herself in a dangerous predicament.
Will Kassie make the right “moves” to solve the problem? Can she save herself, others, and the entire kingdom of Chess Mountain back home, or does she “blunder” away her chances under “time pressure”?
With its chess theme, dash of the holiday spirit, and a sprinkling of martial arts, this book will engage boys and girls straight through its dramatic conclusion, which will affect the future of children and chess forevermore.
Launching to critical acclaim in the chess world and beyond, this 220-page book is the first mythological chess fantasy ever written, and was created for the chess kids (of all ages) in your life, or those with a love for mythology and/or fantasy.
Throughout this book, not only do the principles of chess connect with the academics taught in the classroom, but they factor into the critical thinking used to solve life’s puzzles.
Where Conflict Would Arise
Scars and Scales follows an Omni dragon as he embarks on a perilous quest to unite the lands against a sorceress queen. What was the inspiration for the setup to your story?
The original idea for this story came from an imaginary game I used to play with a school friend. I liked the adventures so much I brought them home and played the same game with my younger brother and cousin. They would look forward to our sessions as I created more and more scenarios, lands, and creatures while continuing from our last point. It inspired me enough to do some sketches throughout my younger years. When I decided to finally write the tale, I obviously updated it and thought it out a bit more. Believe it or not the ending popped into my brain as I relooked at characters and notes I made. From there, it all clicked together. I could clearly see how many beings were going to be in this company, how each one would grow in their development, where conflict would arise from within their group, and most of all Xerxes. With him, I wanted to make a character who the reader doesn’t know whether to trust him or not. Give them the same feeling his companions have while traveling with him. Thus, why the viewpoint changes between a few of the characters. Beyond this, I didn’t want to write another adventure story where the protagonist slowly learns to become strong. Instead, I created a master of sorts who needs to learn something a plucky protagonist usually possesses, trust.
Your characters are diverse and well-developed. What were some driving ideals behind your character’s development?
I wanted to create characters which play against what one would think. An easy example is the bounty hunting leprechaun Donald. One would usually picture said creature as one who runs away from humans with the use of magic. Not so much in Donald’s case. In fact, he avoids it altogether by using tools and his wit. So, using this sort of basic thought I created each character with it, and this caused the surge in their development. Honestly, I could sit here and go on and on with each character… Alvilda being timid, but strong… Wolfgang with his struggle over his emotions, but controlling them enough to heal and save others… Sindri who speaks with a silver tongue, but isolates himself at the forge to create works he never finishes… Mjusnall the pacifist giant who defends others, including a bounty hunter… But I don’t want to make the answer too long.
What were some themes that were important for you to explore in this book?
Funny enough how this question melds with the other two. I wanted to write, at least with Xerxes, how difficult it can be to trust someone. Because I don’t know about anyone else, but I find it difficult to make friends. Heck, I think I can count the amount of them on one hand. So, I wanted him to show there are others who feel the same. At the same time, I didn’t want to make this bond grow easily… for we all possess some bad qualities, or we made poor decisions at some point in our lives which haunts us. This helps explore whether one can accept the worst in someone and still stay connected to them. Other than that, I’d say there are sprinklings of friendship, duty, and acceptance with a few drops of other themes throughout the story.
What is the next book that you are working on and when will it be available?
Good question. I find myself drifting between a few projects, but I focus way more on the second book of this series, Shimmer of Scales. The positive feedback gave me such a drive to work on it. So much so I’ve written over a hundred pages of it. When it will be available is the tricky part. Ideally, I’d say it’ll be available in a year. However, there are several factors which pour into it. Money is a big part of it. This book was only made possible through a combination of a relative passing away and working my butt off for years. So, if enough copies are sold (hint hint to the people reading this… though no pressure just thought it would be funny to put this here), or a publisher comes knocking with a decent offer… I can keep on this timeline.
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Ten years has passed since the slaying of the Omni dragons. These tyrannical beings subjected the world of Magitotum by the power they hold, the combined abilities of all other dragons. It was a celebrated day when Delsey, sorceress queen of Mendaxum, and her army slayed these beasts. But oh, how the lands were wrong in this thought. For soon after, the witch set her sight on conquering the rest of them. After destroying their oppressors, who else could oppose her?
Yet, there remains one hope. A single Omni survives known as Xerxes. Freed after ten years of torture, the dragon seeks to unite the lands against Delsey. He believes a mix of creatures in his own company will promote the change he seeks. Wolfgang from the healing werewolf tribe known as MoonClaw is the first to join and proves to be his biggest test. For the werewolf trusts him as much as the dragon trusts other… which is not at all. Who could blame him? Especially since the Omni’s former lover and friends were the cause of his torture and imprisonment. Yet through this journey, Xerxes needs to trust others including a silver-tongued dwarf, a timid yet strong elven princess, a pacifist giant, a bounty hunting leprechaun, and a lazy gargoyle. Together this group faces down the witch outside the fleeing city of Suregarde. The question is… do they possess the strength to succeed?
The Heath Cousins and the Silver Statue
Addie B., Wanderer and traveler to the magical land of Ambra, faces an insurmountable challenge as spring break begins. Visiting London with her parents, Addie receives a disconcerting letter from her cousin Jack, who has shared many adventures to the land of Ambra alongside her. Jack shares the unsettling news that he is beginning to forget the quests of Ambra, urging Addie to write down the stories of the magical world before all memory of them is forever lost. Feeling the sting of dread and missing her cousin dearly, Addie B. once again finds herself returning to the world of Ambra. Meeting a host of new characters and joined by dear friends from previous adventures, Addie must fight as never before to outwit the forces of darkness and guide her companions on the way back home.
I loved the enchantment of the world and felt a connection to Addie B. and her numerous friends. Each character was distinctive, from conflicted Peter to stalwart Max to my personal favorite, adorable, tiny Lulu. There were plenty of succinct recaps, which helped a new reader not to be lost in the story. The only exception was the lack of description of the antagonist Daiyu, whom I mistakenly thought was a sorcerer for about a third of the book rather than an elderly sorceress.
A concise adventure that contains just as much action as a full-length novel, Addie B.’s journey through Ambra is full of inner turmoil. Acceptance, forgiveness, courage, and moving forward are the main thrusts of the story, as the many new characters introduced seem to be setting the stage for a new phase of adventures. I loved the world, the characterization, and the good story about the cousins’ special bond. However, the conclusion to this tale had many notes of grief within it. After all, is said and done, the ending pages leave off like a symphony on a half-note, leaving the reader with both hope for future adventures in Ambra and a feeling of utter finality.
The Heath Cousins and the Silver Statue by Eileen Hobbs is a fast-paced, perfectly sized adventure in a wondrous parallel world. This children’s fantasy is filled with magic and adventure that will captivate young readers and keep them engaged from start to finish.
Pages: 180 | ASIN : B0B1W2HXTL
The Third Way of My God
The Third Way of My God is the third entry in Michael R. Schultheiss’s Rosteval Saga. It is an impressive piece of epic fantasy that serves to round out the tale told in the first two entries in the saga while still telling its own story. The book is aimed at mature readers looking to wrestle with traditional ideas of good and evil.
The book follows the main characters, Rosteval, and Ghaitt, as they lead their people in seeking a new homeland. But unfortunately, the possibility of an enemy army attack near their home looms over them. The threat of impending destruction makes survival a near impossibility.
Rosteval and his people are stuck between a rock and a hard place. They must try to survive as a celestial war between good and evil threatens to destroy the entire world. Unable to turn to either side for help, Rosteval and his followers must find a “third way” to survive.
While it is possible to pick up The Third Way of My God and enjoy the novel as a standalone story, reading the first two books in the series gives a complete picture of the immense challenges that Rosteval is up against. Schultheiss has spent a long time crafting a complex, epic world, and specific aspects of it will be lost to newcomers. Likewise, specific plot points do not resonate as deeply without the necessary background knowledge.
While the book has a lot of heavy lifting to do in completing the story set up in the first two books, it does stand on its own. The stakes are high, and despite the book’s length, Schultheiss manages to keep the pacing brisk, only pausing when necessary.
Between the plot twists and turns, it is clear that the author has something more profound to say. The book explores how traditional narratives of good vs. evil are shaped toward what ends. Overall, The Third Way of My God is an excellent read whether you’re a fan of epic fantasy or interested in challenging traditional notions of light vs.. dark. Schultheiss has crafted a profoundly complex world that is a pleasure to get lost in for hours.
Pages: 713 | ASIN : B0BFG9G3L5
Temple of Valor
Astar, an 18-year-old boy, has been at the receiving end of strange powers and dreams for quite some time. He vividly remembers every time both manifests but cannot understand what all of these mean in his life. One day, his best friend, Micah, shows him a startling discovery —a huge gaping hole on the ground, which looked eerily familiar to Astar. The events that transpired after this finally give him answers to all the confusion, and he slowly realizes that he is part of a larger world he was only imagining before. As it calls him to use his abilities, Astar must understand what his choices mean and where they could lead not just himself but the entire world as he knows it.
Temple of Valor: Astar’s Blade, by Joe Lyon, is a well-executed book that perfectly closes a trilogy that fans have anticipated for so long. It packs enough references from the past, all while emphasizing the new characters’ roles in the story. The novel, with its two predecessors, guarantees a whole new world that readers can get to explore, all while enjoying common tropes in the genre to help them connect the dots and accommodate their initial idea of fantasy.
If you did not read the previous books, it is still easy to understand the events due to the author’s careful world-building, which is something integral in a fantasy novel. This was noticeable at the beginning, where every detail of the three Devourers was explained, from the first body part that each pulled out from the hole up until they were flying up. With so many unusual elements throughout the novel, the attention to detail was a generous help in trying to grasp how the characters and the setting look like and what they are doing on that exact page. Furthermore, the sequence of the story was well-written, particularly in the action scenes where not many lines were needed. It leaves you hooked and asking for more, making the five hundred pages seem short.
Temple of Valor: Astar’s Blade is the riveting conclusion to the epic fantasy series Astar’s Blade. With so much that this book has to offer, readers will surely be left satisfied as they close the book in finality, all while imagining what the next possible approaches, another book or trilogy or adaptation, can offer.
Pages: 526 | ASIN : B0B8TQ7XZ4
Adventures, Monsters and Magic
The Emerald Lake follows an orphaned alien living on Earth as he sets off to save an underwater race from flesh eating, fire breathing serpenta and save his first love. What was the inspiration for the setup to your story?
The original story arose from a need to keep a small group of youngsters (newfound friends of my five-year-old son) occupied (quiet) as they sheltered in our crowded beach tent during a holiday shower. Within the group was one ginger-headed boy, the smallest in the group, who was being ordered around (bullied) by the bigger boys. My story was intended to show that bullying is bad but can be overcome. I needed him to overcome the challenges. The story needed adventures, monsters and magic. And so Jimmy Crikey was born and among his friends were the four witch guardians of Earth’s realms.
What was the inspiration for the culture of your characters? Is it modeled after any particular society?
The inspiration was an idealistic concept of a race of people living together democratically in a caring environment with a minimum of antagonism.
What was one scene in the novel that you felt captured the morals and message you were trying to deliver to readers?
The way a small group of beings, the Aquamites, banded together in the Emerald Lake, to overcome a stronger, dangerous foe. The young Aquamites placed their own lives in danger for the benefit of their own peoples. There was no magic to help them. They had to act using their own skills before Jimmy and the witches could act.
Will there be another book in the Jimmy Crikey series, and when will it be available?
The Story continues. One of the characters, Jade, the young apprentice witch, pleaded with me to write her story. She was convinced that if I didn’t she would die if readers did not know about her.
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The underground Emerald Lake, the home of the Aquamites, is invaded by a flesh-eating, fire-breathing serpent, which is impervious to the magic of the four guardian witches. Matilda, the chief witch, asks for Jimmy’s assistance.
Jimmy accompanies Elwinn, witch guardian of everything associated with water, to visit the Emerald Lake. They arrive at a plausible plan to capture the serpents in a spider’s web net.
Their strategy is complicated because Jimmy cannot breathe underwater unless included in Elwinn’s bubble. Several of the strongest young Aquamites agree to act as live bait to entice the serpents into a lake in an extinct volcano’s caldera.
Once the serpents are lured into the volcano’s lake Jimmy, with the help of his starship SR3 and XRU, the intelligent computer/navigator, the reptiles are ensnared in a Golden Orb spiders’ web net, ready to drag the creatures into the cold depths of deep space. During the operation to rid the Aquamite’s world of serpents, Annison is seriously injured when one serpent takes a big bite out of her lower tail. She is dying from the loss of blood. The witches do not have the power to help. There is no time to get her to Jimmy’s home plane of Attalia for advanced surgery.
All appears lost until Lord Oron reveals his true identity. Lord Oron is one of the Lords who serve the all-powerful Master. The Master could save Annison, but he refuses to bring a subject back to life from the dead. Can Lord Oron persuade the Master to intervene and save the life of Jimmy’s first love, Annison?
LITERARY TITAN 