The Sweetest Downfall

My self-published novella, Monster, is now available for purchase!


They say that there’s a monster in these woods; Hadrian’s heard it all his life. But it's only a myth, a warning given to children by exasperated parents. The fog-choked woods behind the village are vast and empty. There are nothing but animals beneath the trees.

Then, a villager is found dead, and life takes an unexpected turn. The woods are suddenly much more sinister. To prove himself and his courage, Hadrian must venture there alone.

Only to discover that a monster is indeed very real. And it takes a very familiar form.

Hadrian watched his breath puff out in front of him, a grayish mist in the biting air. The breeze flowed down from the mountains looming over his village and seemed to carry a chill year-round. It only worsened after the sun set. His thick cloak did well to combat against the cold, but his lips were freezing. As were his ears. Hadrian loosed his hair from its low ponytail and let the long strands settle over his ears. There, one problem solved.

He stomped his booted feet to warm them and his dark eyes again searched the depths of the forest. He saw nothing. The torches could only pierce so far into the moss-streaked trees, and he was loath to admit that he didn't like peering into the unknown. He held half-imaginings of things lunging at him from the black, with claws and teeth aimed for the vulnerable skin of his throat.

It was all Omi's fault. If he hadn't spent their entire childhood filling Hadrian's mind with all sorts of dark tales, Hadrian wouldn’t have such an active imagination. But here he was, pretending the darkness had eyes and the moss had limbs with which to grab him.

Hadrian shivered and his hand fell to the hilt of his sword for comfort. His mum had often accused him of having too strong an imagination. It served to worsen his fear, and now was no exception. But as his fingers traced over the symbols etched into the pommel of his sword, he felt comforted. The familial glyphs of bravery and honor were a reminder of the vows he would soon take.

He lifted his eyes to the sky and peered through skeletal branches to catch sight of the moon. It was a pale orb crawling higher in the sky, marking the continuation of another cycle. Only a couple hours left in his shift. Then, he could return home to a warm bowl of vegetable stew accompanied by thick bread, crusty around the edges. Hadrian's mouth watered at the thought. His stomach growled. His mid-shift snack seemed forever ago.

Hadrian paced to keep the blood flowing, and made certain to keep track of the low fence which surrounded his village. He kept one eye on the forest at all times. The bare, bony trunks of the trees gleamed white in the darkness, only their upper regions full of leaves thick enough to blot out all light. He imagined beady eyes glowed back at him and shivered again.

The worst of creatures in the forest were wolves and the occasional cougar. Both occasionally ventured down from the surrounding mountains, drawn by the scent of human life. Sometimes even a bear would wander out of its lengthy hibernation. Those were the existing dangers, in any case. But few spoke aloud of the mythical monster that haunted the woods: the Troblin and its terrible hunger.

The Troblin's existence had long been legend. A tale to scare children into behaving. Something to keep them from venturing into the forest on their own.

Don't be late for supper or the Troblin will get you.

Foolish youngsters are dinner for the Troblin. He'll be crunching on your bones before long!

Or, Hadrian's personal favorite, Listen to your parents, or face the wrath of the Troblin!

Hadrian didn't believe in the Troblin, but sometimes, looking into the forest as he did now, he could imagine a lumbering beast amongst the scattered trees. He could see hairy hands reaching out of the dark. He could hear the plop-plop of thick saliva dripping from pointed fangs and a slurping tongue.

Hadrian jerked his eyes away from the forest and skimmed the fence line. He was here as sentry, after all, to protect those within the village and warn them in case of attack. The nearest settlement was a week's ride away, across ever-expanding plains that were baked by an unforgiving sun. Hadrian's people didn't worry about other humans. It was the wild animals they feared.

Well, the wild animals and the mythical Troblin.

Category: General Fantasy
Page Count: ~119pages
Rated: PG-13 for fantasy-typical violence and language
Summary:

It was marked as the end of an era and the beginning of a new age. It was a sign that Normaud had advanced from its history of barbarism and deceit. The Seeker abandoned her sword and shield, ending a line that had served the monarchy for centuries.

Now, decades later, someone has taken the heirs of Normaud. Only she can find them, emerging from her self-imposed retirement to take up the blade once more.

Normaud's enemies are many, and time is against her, but the Seeker will do what she must to see the heirs restored to their rightful place, even if it means surrendering her own life.

Reviews:

4 Stars by Long and Short Reviews

Good afternoon!

Starting a new, second job and getting sick twice meant my January goals fell a little by the wayside, but I shall persevere.

The Seeker first round of editing has gone through well. I've received all the feedback I was supposed to get so now I've got to do the second drafts. I may have a cover artist lined up so huzzah!

In the meantime, goals for February are to work on some fanfiction I need to finish, but original fic wise, I want to focus on The Seeker edits and formatting, and preparation.

When I need to write, I'll work on East of Eden and plotting Quisling, which is the next part of WOTA.

Busy times ahead. I promise to keep updating as I go. :)

Good morning everyone~

Just an FYI, you've got 30 days to buy The Requiem of Janus before all rights revert back to me. I'm pleased and proud of how long the first run of my first novel lasted. Almost four years! So I'm hoping when I can finally manage to get back on track, I can keep this going.

So take this opportunity to get your copy today. :)

You can buy it directly from Torquere Press or from Amazon. And if you want more information about the book, here's the link to my discussion page and it's accompanying free reads: http://n-wilkinson.dreamwidth.org/29555.html

Thanks to everyone who has supported me over the years. I really appreciate it. Here's hoping the new novels will see just as much success.

Originally published by Sugar and Spice Press, Monster's contract ran out this year. I have decided to continue offering it to the public through self-publishing. At the moment, it is only available for purchase through Paypal, but I intend to market it through Amazon and CreateSpace as well.




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Good afternoon everyone!

This is a fly-by post to let all fans of my original fiction know that I'm hosting the Torquere livejournal today. Stop on by to say hello and enter for a chance to win free stuff! I'll also be posting bits from my eventually upcoming fic Shady Hill for the curious and also talking about the yet untitled sequel to The Requiem of Janus. I'll also be offering opportunity for prompting ficlets for original works.

Hope to see you there!

http://torquere-social.livejournal.com/

Late author is late. I meant to post this earlier but my brain's not firing on all cylinders.

Join me today at the torquere_social (http://torquere-social.livejournal.com/) where I'm going to be chatting about In Darkness Dwells and offering a chance to win a free copy of it! Not to mention all the tasty excerpts I'll be providing!

As part of the Charity Sip project, we authors volunteered to review some of our fellow author's work in something called a Review Reacharound.
( Read more... )

Good evening fellow fictioneers!

I don't have any flash fiction today because RL is made of suck and I'm exhausted. But I should be good to go tomorrow so be looking for those then.

In the meantime, a lovely e-mail came to my inbox recently and I thought I'd share the good news. Four Years On, my short story based on Jason and Kale from A Thousand Words was accepted for publication in the Charity Sip Blitz for Torquere Press. Huzzah! Now, this Blitz is not for profit. All proceeds go to benefit the It Gets Better project, so I won't be making any money. But that's fine by me. This charity is one I heartily support and I'm proud to be a part of something that benefits others.

This publication is tentatively set for September. I'll post more information as it comes!

Greetings everyone!

Back in August I announced that my short story, Monster, had been published through Sugar and Spice Press. That was true! However, their website can, on occasion, be a little difficult to navigate. Now that the requisite time has passed, Monster has been released to outside distributers. Which means, you can pick up a copy at these, possibly easier to use, websites.

Amazon I Fictionwise

It's priced at $4.99 and I hope that if any of you have the money to spare, you'll check it out. It's about 35K words and it's a general fantasy with a bit of a twist ending. There's no slash here, or sex actually, so it's safe for a young adult audience. Perhaps you can give it as a gift? 

Anyway, check it out if you have the inclination. I'd greatly appreciate it. Thanks!