The series is called Otherworld. Luckbane was published in 2013. The forthcoming sequel is called Soulbright.

In a dystopian future, online gaming is the ultimate escape, until one corporation offers players a chance to play their favorite sword, steam and sorcery game live and in-person on a terraformed alien world. A ragtag group of Champions has been assembled to stop the dread Firelord, last of the Dark Lords, from obtaining Godspell, an artifact so powerful that it can alter reality itself. Along the way, the players face dragons, steampunk robots, hackers, aliens and whatever perils the Gamelords think will improve their ratings, because Otherworld isn’t just a game; it’s reality TV.

There are actually three worlds I had to create for the Otherworld series. There’s the dark, dystopian future reality (which I unofficially think of as Realworld) controlled by the Megacorporations, where players immerse themselves in virtual reality games, like Impworld. There’s Impworld, the universe’s most popular sword, steam and sorcery game. And then there’s Otherworld, which is essentially Impworld 2.0 on a terraformed alien world. While I had to create entire histories, creatures and cultures for all three worlds, the majority of the story takes place on Otherworld [aka the continent of Wanjur on planet Tarak].

If you don’t do anything else, I recommend that you visit Cabon Gabrielle, City of Shields. Cabon Gabrielle itself offers a wide variety of tourist attractions. Thanks to its Sky Docks and dragonrail system, the Pearl of Olden is only a few days journey from wherever you happen to be. You can visit the Ogreball Stadium, peruse the magical artifacts in Arcanum Alley [if you can find it!], feast with the dwarves in the Mountain Hall tavern, dance with werewolves and vampyres at Club Blood, visit the griffon riders at the Royal Aerie, or take in a dragon’s-eye view of the city and its several story tall flying Shields from the top of Seneschal Tower. And don’t forget to visit the Lonely Ogre Inn while you’re there! More adventures have begun, passed through and ended at the Ogre than any other destination on the planet.

What would be the fun in that?

In all seriousness, most of the indigenous life should be avoided at all costs. Fliers are harmless, but there’s no such things as a safe wog. Named after the late Dr. Henry Woggenstein, wogs are largely unclassifiable bug-reptiles [a tentative taxon at best] with too many teeth, eyes, tentacles, claws, pincers, etc. They’re basically everything we feared aliens would be.

One should also avoid Mot Hadrall, period. Only serious gamers brave it. It is not a place for tourists. They don’t call it the Accursed City for nothing; it boasts an 85% kill rate. Most players never even make it to the castle!

It goes without saying that venturing into a Dark Lord’s castle, a dragon’s lair or an orc village will not end well. And don’t antagonize the imps!

Earth foods grow to fairy tale proportions in the miraculous soil of Tarak. In fact, all “normal”-sized trees on the terraformed continent of Wanjur are actually pygmy varieties of Earth plants. You can also expect to eat rabdil [elephantine rabbit/armadillo crossbreeds] meat, a standard throughout the universe ever since the gentle giants were created through genetic manipulation. Of course, Otherworld offers a wide variety of foods that are culturally specific to elves, humans, dwarves, et cetera. Just be aware of dishes which may fight back!

Otherworld is a sword and sorcery environment with steampunk elements. Weaponry ranges from standard swords, axes, halberds, crossbows and siege engines to pistols, alchemical phials, dragonbreath cannon, walking battle platforms, and more exotic magical weapons, like gauntlets of ogrish strength, firebows and Godspell, a weapon that can alter reality itself.

To reach Otherworld, one has to board a heilo platform and travel to a distant star system. Don’t worry; you’ll be in cryosleep during the journey and it only takes a month or so. From the Tarak system’s heilo platform, your stasis pod will be transported by solar sailor to Lunabase, orbiting the gameworld planet. Once you awaken and get over your bout of stasis sickness (sorry, it affects all living things), you can shuttle down to the Shakar Landing Field and book passage to the continent of Wanjur, but don’t forget to check out the Otherworld Zoo before you leave! There are a wide variety of ways to travel. Steampunk machines, ships that sail the skies and seas, zeppelins, dragonrails, terrestrial steeds (horses, dragonish warstriders, etc). One can also travel by magical bubble, carpet and dragonfly copter.

Otherworld is filled with all manner of creatures you won’t see anywhere else outside of a movie or virtual video game. Dragons, goblyns, bugbears, minotaurs, elves, dwarves, vampyres, ophidians… the list of fantasy creatures and races goes on and on.

One of the character races unique to the Impworld/Otherworld environs are borogs. In game lore, borogs crash landed on Obsidius [the Impworld planet] during the latter part of the Third Age. Borogs are heavyworlders; being from a planet with greater gravity than the one they’ve crashed upon, they are much stronger and agile than many other races. They are divided into three people groups: Reigans rule by psionic superiority; horned Volktans are the warrior class; and Tagnars make up the slave working class. Some of the Tagnars have rebelled against their masters and found refuge amongst the Free Peoples of Obsidius.

On a similar theme, Realworld Earth has also seen the creation and rebellion of Homo adaptis, or mutants. Pantropic mutants come in several forms, depending upon where they were meant to serve. Fur-covered mutants work in arctic regions, gilled mutants farm the oceans, etc. They were created to mine near-airless Martian mines, fight our wars and basically do anything else Homo sapiens considered too low or dangerous. The War of Martian Independence and the subsequent Mutant Wars have allowed mutants to gain recognition of their basic human rights, but racial tensions are still high.

On realworld Tarak, one might encounter a strange, towering plant called the drubulb. Drubulbs are the home of the enigmatic dru, an insectoid hive that may or may not be sapient. When the continent of Wanjur was terraformed for gameplay, not even pocket nukes could remove the dru or their drubulbs, so the Gamelords have simply posted warning signs around them.

The gameworld is filled with supernatural creatures, such as ghosts, wraiths, vampyres and werewolves. Some creatures are inherently magical; for example, dark-skinned, golden-eyed shadus elves can blend into shadows, glow in the dark and walk on any surface [even upside-down] at a thought. Some imps are nearly magic incarnate.

By the rules of the game, the phases of the two moons determine the level of power a spellcaster has at his disposal. Thrice annually, both Sylvanus and Ikon the Magebane wax full and a magic-user’s potential is at its peak. Unfortunately, their power drops to its lowest ebb roughly two weeks prior and following this “doubling,” making them vulnerable during this time. Spellcasters keep track of their power levels via a magical tattoo on their forearm. The sigil resembles a stylized hourglass, where the current stage of each moon was represented in its own hemisphere. In order to gain this tattoo, one takes the quidnunc, a gauntlet of challenges administered by representatives of the Magus Council to determine the spellcasters worthiness for the art. The Magus Council has governed the lawful use of magic ever since its formation during the Second Age. Those who pass are legally sanctioned to learn and practice magic. Those who fail are denied all but the meanest of spells on pain of death.

The magic of Otherworld is made possible by nanites, while its creatures are largely made possible by biological robots called simulacrums, or sims. Some players opt not to play live, instead piloting avatars [basically remote-controlled sims] via nodal implants from Lunabase. The game also features a variety of steampunk technology, fueled by either soulstones, technofairies, or plain old-fashioned lowtech. To give an example, when visiting the City of Shields, one can see giant walking battlestations called Sentinels patrolling its walls, zeppelins harbored in its Sky Docks and dwarven gyrocopters buzzing through its skies.

The most popular games within the most popular game in the universe are gladiator-type games and ogreball.

Ogreball was invented by ogres trying to train their cubs in the art of semi-organized team combat. The original version involved real weapons and a casualty rate. Several types of balls are used. Metal studded, leather clad balls are primarily used for making points. There are also a few metal or stone balls of larger size, used mostly as wicked, bone-breaking dodgeballs. Lastly, there is a large, ogre-sized wicker ball, inside of which is placed an unlucky prisoner (human, goblin, pig, etc.). Ogres were also known to use bombs and severed heads in gameplay. The rules of the ogrish game are uncertain. There are no goal posts; however, there is a large earthwork in the center. The floor of the playing pit is graded away from the earthworks, so that the balls will roll into ditches at either end of the pit. There, other ogre players collect the balls and launch them from oversized slingshots or, in the case of the wicker cage, a catapult. The object of the ogrish version is two-fold: beat the other team senseless until only your team is alive and/or conscious and beat the snot out of the wicker ball. It is pretty much a huge, rule-less battle with players using clubs to bash the balls at each other or to simply bash each other senseless, while mega-slingshot operators pummel everyone indiscriminately.

The civilized game utilizes an official court of play. The stadium is set up to resemble an ogreball pit with seats lining the tops of the perimeter of a rectangular field. Goal nets are placed at two opposite corners. A low net similar to a tennis court net halves the field, emulating the ogrish earthwork barrier. A pass exists on either side of the net. A semi-circle is marked off around the net in which only the goalie can occupy. He cannot leave this area. All players are protected with leather armor. The goalie bears a shield and his choice of either an ogreball club or racket. The guard players stay on their side of the net and are armed with ogreball clubs. Skirmishers can go anywhere on the field, except the goal zone. Skirmishers are armed with rackets. Unlike the ogrish version, players are not permitted to bludgeon each other. There are only two types of ball in play: medium sized leather-bound rubber balls and large leather-bound rubber balls. The field includes anywhere from 20 to 30 of the smaller balls, divided evenly along the sides of the net at the start of play and 2 to 4 of the larger balls, placed in the passes in even numbers. Smaller balls are worth 2 points apiece per goal. Large balls are worth five points. Play continues until the last ball has been caught in the nets, thus ending a set. A game consists of 1 to 4 sets, agreed upon beforehand. Balls which overshoot the net are tossed back into play. A standard game includes twenty 2-point balls and two 5-point balls at the start of a set. A championship game consists of thirty smaller balls and four larger balls and a large wicker cage ball [unoccupied] worth 20 points. No bombs or severed heads are utilized in the civilized version.

The days of the week are the same as they are on Earth. Tarak has two moons. The aptly-named Feast of Two Moons occurs when both moons are full, every 4 months.

Realworld religions find their place in the game alongside fantasy dragon cults and such. Islam, Chrisianity, Judaism and Buddhism are still very much alive. Protestants and Catholics have, for the most part, unified. The Church utilizes shepherds, bishops and paladins. The Church is headed by a ruling Council.

One particular cult of note in Otherworld is Corpus Dracon, which loosely translates as the Boy of the Dragon. Each cell is led by a Locutor Draconis, or Dragon-speaker, who tells his followers the will of the coming Dragon Kings. Corpus Dracon has no tome; its ultimate authority lies with the Locutor’s word [locally] and the Grey Prophet [ultimately]. Their aim is to usher in the Age of Dragons, ruled by the Dragon Kings. It matters not one whit to these cultists that dragons are savage destructive creatures who haven’t the slightest bit of interest in governance. The Grey Prophet is a magus who conjures illusions to back up his various prophecies; his true identity is unknown.

The realworld is controlled by the Megacorporations. Only Israel and Switzerland have retained their national identities. AmeriCo controls Earth’s Western hemisphere, and thus is generally referred to as the West. EuroCorp controls Europe and northern Asia. The Islamic Confederacy ruled Afrika, the Middle East, and India. Imperial AsiaCorp, termed the East by most, owned Australia and the remainder of Asia. Each controls various interests in Antarctica and on the lunar colonies, both points of constant friction. Each blames the other for the fact that the Mars Colonies have successfully declared their independence. Everyone works for the Megacorporations or one of their various sub-companies. GameComm is a company of AmeriCo. It uses the West’s heilo wave technology to make travel to and from Tarak a possibility. The West benefits by mining Tarak’s levitanium [the element that makes hovertech possible, once only found on Mars or random asteroids] and by receiving a share of Tarak’s supercrops. GameComm uses indentured Colonists to harvest its crops and work its mines. There is growing concern that GameComm will request recognition of its separate Megacorporational status due to its Tarak holdings and due to the fact that GameComm also owns Earth Robitics Limited, the largest producer of robots in the universe. The current Vice President of Tarak Operations, and the face of GameComm for all intents and purposes, is Kenneth Gabriel. He is pompous, self-assured and ruthless in his pursuit of ratings. He lords over Tarak from his hoverthrone in Lunabase’s Command Center.

Cultural practices vary according to the character races and kingdoms of the game. You’re going to need a handbook or a guide if you don’t want to end up tossed into a dungeon somewhere. Good luck.

In general, history inspires and informs my locations, cultures, etc. Some of the battle scenes, creatures and artifacts were inspired by watching my own kids play. For example, when I attacked my youngest son with a plush spiked club [you have got to get one of these if you have boys!], he defended himself with a plush alligator. Thus Grundy the Ogre’s live alligator “club” was born. ;]

Luckbane doesn’t really touch on any hot-button issues, though it mentions a few I’ll likely explore later, like what it means to be human and how genetic manipulation, robot sapience, etc., might affect our views of human rights, how we practice religion, etc.

-Annie Douglass Lima

The series is Legends of Astarkand; the books are A Shadow On The Land (#1); King’s Ride (#2); and Eiathan’s Heir (#3). I plan to add another couple of books before the series is wrapped up.

Wary of the mysterious tenders of lake and stream, terrified of the immortal prince Vodan’s plagues and storms, and alienated from the Dreamsender by their efforts to appease Vodan, Kandians seek a deliverer. A five-hundred-year-old prophecy brought Bjorn Horsa north over steep mountain passes to confront Vodan. Before he can be anyone’s deliverer, he must first take up the mantle of Eiathan’s Heir and ascend the throne of Astarkand.

Isolated by high mountains to the south and west, and the ocean to the east, the kingdom of Astarkand is located in a northern temperate zone with long, heavy winters and cooler summers. While vast tracts of forest still cover less accessible parts of kingdom, Astarkand is known more for its rich, rolling hills of farmland and several volcanos.

There is a lot to do in Astarkand! You can visit Lake Bleuet and sing with the mermaids, or camp in the giant’s ruins near Braskfut to view the firebirds as they perform their nightly dance. Climbing Mt. Brask is a suitably hazardous adventure to excite any adventurer! No one living now in Astarkand has ever seen the top because it’s covered year-round in clouds.

Be sure to pay your respects to the king at Hearthing Castle. If you’re very fortunate, he might even invite you to go boar hunting with him in the forests between Hearthing and Hardeburg.

Map of Astarkand

What dangers should we avoid in Astarkand?

Don’t go swimming in Lake Bleuet or the Limbler River! The water is extremely cold, and you can die from hypothermia, even in high summer.

Mermaids are always on the lookout for likely husbands. If you have a mishap at sea and a mermaid rescues you, men, be prepared to never see dry land again! Women, you’re on your own…

The head baker at Hearthing Castle makes an excellent pigeon pie, but you’ll have to ask him to remove the feet before he puts the pigeons in.

If you prefer haggis and mead instead, pay a visit to Earl Moggan! He’ll fix you up.

Knights in Astarkand wear a combination of steel plate armor and chain mail, and prefer long, one-handed swords that they can swing while holding a shield. They also armor their horses.

Downsmen like Ernie Hay O’Dell rarely go toe-to-toe with an enemy, preferring to strike from ambush. They excel in martial arts, dueling, and archery, and wear only boiled leather as protection.

Kandians use horses, boats, and their own feet to get around. While they also use wagons for transporting goods, even the high roads maintained by the king are quite bumpy. Many bridges in Astarkand wash out every spring. Kandians have adapted by using ferries at major crossings.

Mermaids use selkies in their cities the way Kandians use horses. They also catch rides with dolphins and larger fish and water mammals when necessary.

The Perfect rarely use any conveyance other than their feet or their portals.

Other sentient races you might encounter in Astarkand are: the Perfect (Kandians call them elves, but they aren’t); mermaids, possibly even giants.

White firebirdshave become very rare and found now only on Brask Mountain. Firebird feathers fluoresce when they’re exposed to fast-moving air, as when the firebirds chase moths at night. The resulting light can be painfully bright.

Fleuders are everywhere, and multiply like vermin. Fleuders look like very hairy, brownish-gold cacti on six stubby legs, and make a grinding sound when agitated. Their mouths are located on their underside between their legs. They also tend to shed, and some people are allergic to fleuder hair.

Fleuders eat decaying vegetation and prefer to live under or near the northern cabbage palm; a large clump-forming wild plant with cabbage-shaped tops with large leaves that shade from white through pink to purple as they age. In winter, the top of a cabbage palm sheds its loose outer leaves, leaving behind a tightly furled tulip-shaped center. Gardeners cultivate the cabbage palm for its beauty, but farmers try to keep it out of their fields.

While not living in Astarkand itself, but confined in a narrow mountain valley to the south, there is also a large, fire-breathing dragon.

Other creatures sometimes found in or near Astarkand: black squirrels, wolverines, dire wolves, and gar cats.

Most Kandians believe that magic is an elf-gift and cursed, but Woden’s priests do small magics such as summoning or contacting their master. They call their master Woden, but his real name is Vodan.

The Immortal Vodan can control the weather. He’s especially talented with ice and storms, but he can also create plagues. His lady-wife, Ashielle, is the ultimate green thumb. If it is possible, she can make a plant do it!  Vodan and Ashielle’s daughter Gunhild is a sorceress who shapeshifts. She is also adept at using and curing poisons, and crafts new creatures out of human and animal flesh.

Mermaids are believed to have magical powers, but they instead rely on the Dreamsender for provision and protection from Vodan’s terrible schemes. Their ability to be half fish in the water, and their uncanny voices and wild beauty are due to Gunhild’s unethical tinkering with their genes.

Gunhild is also to blame for the race of giants and for the creation of fleuders.

Vodan’s scrying bowl, which he uses to spy on Kandians, and the portals the Perfect use to transport themselves across long distances. Humans have difficulty seeing the permanent portals, although they can sometimes fall into them and be swept away. Most of the portals used in these stories are temporary.

Kandian men like to test each other’s mettle at tourneys with sword duels, wrestling, racing, and jousts, but they also enjoy dancing with the ladies, hunting with hawks or dogs, and most other medieval forms of entertainment. Everyone in Astarkand is fond of music! Troubadours and bards are welcomed into every tavern and house, from the humblest hovel to the king’s castle.

Astarkand’s calendar year is pretty close to our own, however they measure time differently, in New Kandian Reckoning (NKR) years instead of so many years A.D.

Kandians celebrate the turning of the seasons: the first blade of spring, the summer flowering, harvest, Yuletide, and the new year. They also throw parties when electing their mayors and city council, at weekly markets, and summer fairs. Depending on the social importance of the people involved, birthdays, weddings, and funerals can also be a cause for celebration.

Bjorn Horsa and his men celebrate the religious holidays on the church calendar, but they weren’t raised in Kandia, where believers have been persecuted for five hundred years.

The average Kandian was raised sacrificing to Vodan on Woden’s Day; to Ashielle when they plant and harvest their fields, and when they sit down to eat; and to Gunhild when an unexplained death occurs. Everyone in Astarkand fears Woden’s priests, who demand harsh sacrifices, even human lives.

Astarkand has been ruled since its founding by a succession of kings. The country began as a constitutional monarchy but has devolved to become feudal in structure.

It is okay to wipe your mouth on the tablecloth and to eat your ‘trencher’ if you’re a commoner (trenchers are made out of flatbread). Be sure to bring your own cutlery with you whatever your rank, because no one will lend you their personal set, and you might wind up eating with your fingers.

The rolling hills of Astarkand’s central provinces remind me of places I knew in my childhood; and the tangled scrub forest along the Joompsbette River reminds me of the peaty swamps and bottomland along streams in South Carolina.

Eating with your fingers is an acceptable practice in parts of Asia, just as it is sometimes in Astarkand.

The ecological cost of deforestation, and the grim realities and abuses inherent in a feudal society where those at the top hold all the power and those at the bottom are powerless and at their mercy.

-Annie Douglass Lima

Author’s name:  Laura VanArendonk Baugh

The Kitsune Talesseries includes so far Kitsune-Tsuki, Kitsune-Mochi, and “The Lonely Frost” (appearing in Specter Spectacular and Weird and Wondrous Work later in 2014). Another novel is quite likely!

In Kitsune-Tsuki, we meet Tsurugu, an onmyouji who has been hired by the warlord to protect his new bride from a kitsune, or shape-shifting fox spirit, which is rumored to be near. The question is, how does one find a shape-shifter who may not even exist?

Kitsune-Mochifollows Tsurugu-sama and many of the characters into a new threat, as supernatural forces threaten Kaede-dono’s life with the warlord in a wholly new and very real way.

This is Not-Japan of the Heian-Kamakura transition, roughly AD 1200. I have winked and called it “Not-Japan” because I took a few liberties to make some aspects more accessible for readers or to fudge a couple of historical facets closer together, but it’s fairly close to the historical culture.

Naka no Yoritomo is a daimyou, or warlord, subject to the shogun and fighting quiet battles of influence with other daimyou. Tsurugu Kiyomori is a talented onmyouji, which was actually a court position in the Heian era, a mystic practitioner responsible not only for supernatural protection but divination and calendar-keeping. All the supernatural elements in the story – the shape-shifting kitsune, music-loving tanuki, strong water-dwelling kappa, and more – are authentic Japanese folkloric elements popular for centuries of storytelling.

First of all, be very polite. Manners and accomplishment are everything in this society, and a beautiful girl’s marriage chances or a man’s political career can be spoiled by sloppy handwriting. Poetry is exchanged to settle everything from courtship to politics, and the quality of a poem can make or break one’s career. Speak carefully and with great consideration.

That said, this era produced poetry which has been honored for centuries, so take the time to read some of what’s passed to you. And then go outside to marvel at the military prowess which is being developed at the head of Japan’s shogunate.

Well, offending the wrong person might result in such social dishonor or death, and that would certainly be inconvenient during your visit. There’s also the concern of Naka-dono’s shadows, stealthy spies and assassins to take care of that business which shouldn’t be discussed too openly. In future centuries, their descendants will be known as shinobi or ninja, but this is their misty past.

And of course there are thousands of varieties of youkai, or supernatural creatures. Many are harmless, some are friendly and benevolent, many are indifferent, some are mischievous but mostly harmless, and some like the water-dwelling kappa prefer to prey on human flesh. Don’t worry, we’ll help you to avoid the most dangerous!

Well, sushi and the hibachi haven’t been invented yet! But you’ll be served a lot of rice and vegetables, as Buddhism is making great inroads and has reduced the amount of meat consumed. What meat is eaten may be consumed raw, which will startle your tourist palette, or you may eat cooked fish. All the seaweed you eat will help to grow your hair – ladies of quality in this era had hair which reached to the floor or even trailed several feet behind!

Tsurugu works mostly in onmyoudou, a way of reading and influencing the contrasting forces of nature, male and female, and the five elements of wood, fire, earth, air, and water. (You may have heard of something like onmyoudou; its counterpart in old China eventually developed into Feng Shui.) You will frequently see him using circles and shikigami, spirit-infused paper servants, or reading a chokubanfor celestial alignments.

The shadows, however, train in taijutsu, the use of the body as a weapon. They are more than competent with other weapons as well, knife and staff, but they know how to use their own weight and strength to advantage when they have nothing else.

Ox-cart is one of the primary methods of travel, for those who can afford it, though foot and palanquin are also seen. Horses, too, are ridden by those worthy and wealthy.

Technology is typically medieval, all muscle and levers, even though Tsurugu’s grasp of astronomy and natural science is daunting.

Your biggest surprise will be the youkai. This word is frequently translated to English as “demon,” but that’s a pretty poor translation; it means only something that is not human. A better translation for Westerners would be something like “elves,” which also are distinctly not-human and yet are seen in many varieties: Santa’s elves, Tolkien’s elves, elves which abduct children, elves which help shoemakers.

Youkai may be tiny creatures the size of a hummingbird or nightingale, or they may be enormous beings larger than Naka-dono’s spacious house. They may be as friendly as the polite beto-beto-san, who walks invisibly behind you until you gesture him ahead, or as dangerous as the fearsome oni which devours men. In general, it’s best to be cautious and polite.

The kitsune is a fox which can take the shape of a human, possibly even mimicking the appearance of someone you know. A kitsune has between one and nine tails, depending upon age and power, and it may be benevolent or malicious. They are clever and they are known to move among humans, but there are a few clues which might reveal one in disguise.

Sadly, the friendly kawausocannot be seen at all in modern Japan, as this shape-shifting river otter has been driven to extinction in its otter form.

Onmyoudou informed the lives of everyone in this era – it was magic and astronomy and meteorology and the calendar, all in one. An onmyoujiwas responsible for divining an auspicious day for beginning a new project and for deflecting negative energies. The emperor’s court kept official onmyouji, regarded just as any other government official might be.

We’ve mentioned the poetry, which was everywhere as the accepted form of communication. Men and women exchanged poetry in courtship before they met. Social status depended upon one’s graceful handwriting and turn of phrase. A moon-gazing party, in which the participants drank sake, wrote poetry, and read it aloud for prizes, might be a typical overnight indulgence among the elite.

If that seems like a ridiculous pastime, consider the sport of golf today, which is simultaneously a hobby and yet a negotiation field for many businessmen.

The native religion is Shinto, but Buddhism has been widely adopted and in some cases blended.

Naka no Yoritomo is a daimyousworn to serve the shogun, but his word is law in his own land (and many other places). He’s aware of his power and tries to use it fairly, though he is also aware of the great potential for betrayal and treachery in this shifting political climate.

Classism and sexism are inherent and powerful in this society. The elite view the lowest classes as animals, and women are greatly restricted in education, autonomy, and voice. Kaede, Naka-dono’s wife, and Murame, a farmer’s daughter, are two very different examples of how women find power and agency in this world.

The Kitsune Talesbooks are available in both ebook and paperback. You can find Kitsune-Tsuki on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Smashwords, and Kitsune-Mochi on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Smashwords. “The Lonely Frost” is a short story in the series, in Specter Spectacular, available from World Weaver Press later in 2014.

Other titles and upcoming appearances can be found at Amazonor my website.

My website and blog is www.LauraVanArendonkBaugh.com, and I always welcome comments! In addition I love to chat with readers on Facebook and via Twitter (@Laura_VAB). And please do say hello if we happen to be at the same writers’ or geek convention!

-Annie Douglass Lima

Author’s name:  William Woodall

The Tyke McGrath Series.  There are five books in this series, including Nightfall, Tycho, Avenger, Freedom, and Elysium.  Readers can begin either with Tycho or with Nightfall (which is more of a prologue).  This series is a loose continuation of both the Last Werewolf Hunter series and the Unclouded Day series, but readers need not have read those other series first before enjoying this one.

This series follows the adventures of a boy named Tycho McGrath (Tyke to his friends) who is a brilliant high school genetics student in Tampa when he discovers that a man-made plague known as the Orion Strain is about to wipe out all human and animal life on earth.  He and several friends and family members escape to the partially terraformed Moon to survive, and from there the story progresses for the next five years as Tyke grows up, falls in love, fights unexpected enemies, and sometimes learns a thing or two about his purpose in life and how hard it can be to fulfill the expectations of others.  In the process he slowly moves from being an indifferent Christian who isn’t terribly interested in spiritual things to a mature believer ready to take up the work that God has assigned to him.

This series takes place in the real universe, about a hundred and fifty years in the future.  Most of the action takes place on the Moon, Venus, Mars, and Titan (a large moon of Saturn).

There are lots of things to see and do, especially on the Moon since it was purposely designed to delight tourists.  Some of Tyke’s favorite places are the emerald green beaches of the Summer Isles in the Sea of Tranquility, the skyscraper-sized cliffs where visitors can jump a thousand feet into Lake Boscovich, and Trinity Bay on the Sea of Serenity, where visitors can hunt the edible blue Hamburger Crabs among the cypress trees.  Tyke also particularly loves the beautiful golden meadows of Eleuthera above the Cytherean Sea on Venus, and the thousand-foot Angel Falls on Mars.  The most fascinating thing on Titan is the Temple of Muwamanth, which is built of solid ice in the middle of a black jungle.  There are many other things, too.  

The leftover spores of the Orion Strain are still present all over the earth, a constant danger if you’ve never been vaccinated.  Depending on where you went, you’d have to contend with deadly heat or bone-chilling cold, hostile aliens and humans, poisonous gases, lack of food/water/air, radiation poisoning, horrific storms, vicious mutant animals, and dangerously unreliable equipment.  Not to mention traitors who might stab you in the back at any time.

Is there a distinct or unusual type of food or meal that we might be served in these worlds?  On most of these worlds the food is typical American, but on Titan one might be served a salad made of chunks of tar and sprinkled with gasoline, with a sharp piece of bone to eat with.  It would be an inedible meal, of course, but the A’rum would consider it rude not to serve you.

Human weaponry generally includes both bullets and lasers, depending on the situation.  Humans also use taser-like stunners when they don’t wish to kill.  It’s common to wear silvery, reflective “mirrorsuits” as armor against lasers.  The A’rum of Titan have no metal, so their weaponry is made entirely of string and pieces of bone.  This usually involves slings, whips, and knives.

What types of vehicles, animals, technology, etc. are used to travel in or to these worlds?  

Humans have land rovers, jets, and spacecraft of various kinds.  The A’rum either walk or fly.

Most plants and animals are typical earthly ones, except on Titan.  There you would find the sentient A’rum who resemble large hairless bats and whose body chemistry is based on acetylene rather than sugar.  There are also “fish” and “eagles” on Titan with similar body chemistry.  Plants include “algae” and succulent “elephant ear trees” with large flat leaves and lots of thorns, which will pull apart like taffy and spontaneously melt and then boil if a human holds them in his hand.  To any living thing on Titan, the body of a human being feels hotter than a blowtorch.  On the Moon one would find several genetically-engineered plants and animals including freshwater versions of marlin and giant kelp, vampire roaches which travel in swarms and attack other animals for blood, highly aggressive “monsters” which resemble giant beavers with needle-sharp teeth, the blue Hamburger Crabs which were designed to taste like hamburger meat when roasted, and many species of flowers found nowhere else.

There is no magic in these worlds, but the supernatural does play a part.  Characters have true dreams of things they couldn’t have known otherwise, and there is miraculous healing sometimes.  There are sometimes supernatural objects such as the Guardian Stones and holy water.

Is there any advanced or unusual technology in the future?  If you haven’t described it already, please give some examples.  

One of the most interesting is the tachometer, a device used for observing what will take place in the future.  It can also transport individuals to the future, although it’s strictly a one-way trip with no possible return.  There are advanced methods of genetic engineering, computer design, and engine propulsion.  There are also several methods available for terraforming new worlds (that is, transforming them into places where earthly living things could survive).

There is reverse bungee-jumping on Deimos, in which people take advantage of the low gravity to jump thousands of feet into the sky and then fall back to the ground.  There’s big-game monster hunting in the Altai crater swamps on the Moon.  One could visit Ukert Springs for a skin exfoliation treatment by the Doctor Fish who live there.  The survivors are fond of having beach parties every Saturday night with music and dancing and food.  Otherwise there are all the usual human games like football, baseball, etc.  

The human calendar is the same everywhere, but on the Moon daylight and dark each last for two weeks at a time and on Venus they last for 58 days apiece (not to mention the sun rises in the west).  On Mars an extra 40-minute “hour” is inserted at midnight every day to keep up with the rotation of the planet.  On Titan a “year” is really seven earth years long, and every three and a half years on the equinoxes, the three Kings come together at the Temple of Muwamanth for a holy festival, during which time no fighting is permitted anywhere in the world.

The survivors of Earth are mostly Christians.  The A’rum on Titan believe in God and have a tradition of prophets who dream true dreams to tell the others what He wishes of them.

The A’rum live in widely scattered clans of about a hundred members each, ruled by one member with unquestioned authority.  There are three “kingdoms” on the planet, each ruled by one King who controls all the clans in his territory.  At the time of the story, the King of Dilmun was a wicked heretic who attempted to kill Tyke and his friends.  The small band of human survivors are led by Philip Carpenter, since most of them are his children or relatives anyway.  He’s a very brave and wise leader who came to this time from the past via the tachometer.  Mars is ruled by an iron-fisted military dictator known as Colonel James Burns, and Venus is controlled by his henchman Colonel Luke Bartow.  Both of them are cruel, ruthless men who will do anything to maintain power.  The rebel forces on Mars and Venus are commanded by Captain Brandon Stone, who is rather philosophical and places a high value on life.

The A’rum deeply admire honor, and love to wage bloody warfare with each other over the slightest of insults.  They are utterly ignorant of the concept of romantic love, since everything on the planet (including them) reproduces only by budding.  From time to time they will award the title of akiri to someone who has acted with exceptional bravery and honor.  They don’t comprehend money, and the only things of special value among them are “jewels” which are actually small bits of shiny meteoric iron.  Those fortunate enough to own one of these jewels often like to string them on necklaces. 

Some of the locations are ones that I’m personally familiar with, like Texas and Florida.  The geography and conditions on the other worlds are factual information which I didn’t need to make up; I simply had to fill in the blanks about what those places might be like if they were partially terraformed.  Even the conditions on Titan are as real as we have any way of knowing.  That said, the tree covered with chewing gum in Nightfall and several other minor places and things did come from my real life.

I don’t really think anything in this series is controversial, or at least not intentionally so.  The characters frequently discuss very deep and philosophical topics such as the nature of God and the soul, thorny moral dilemmas, what exactly it means to live as Christian and as a scientist, and many other things of that sort.  But these aren’t debates, they’re simply individual characters trying as best they can to understand God and to live according to what He would have them do.

Author Autobiography  

All my books can be purchased in formats compatible with almost all e-readers. 

Click here for Amazon Kindle Editions,

Click here for Apple, Sony, Nook, & Kobo Editions.

Click here for Paperback Editions.  (These are also available on Amazon)

Where can readers connect with you online?  My Official Author’s Website is the best place to connect with me.  It’s a large site full of information and freebies.  Here you’ll find free short stories and poetry, MP3 tracks of all the music mentioned in my books, downloadable discussion questions for each book, pictures and maps of characters and places, quotable quotes, interviews, commentary, links to source materials, and contact information.

-Annie Douglass Lima

Katy Huth Jones

Title of book and/or series: 
Leandra’s Enchanted Flute

Brief summary of the story: 
Fourteen-year-old Leandra is brought to a magical land by a talking Carolina wren named Songcatcher. He believes she can save them from a canker destroying the land, since she beat cancer and her flute has been transformed by the magic of Finian Jahndra.

Brief description of the world or location you created for this story: 
Finian Jahndra is the magical heart of a distant world, bordered on three sides by ocean. The only land border is formed by mountains and a wide, swift river. Most of the inhabitants are sentient birds. For millennia they have remained isolated from humans except for a trusted few who help protect the realm from invasion.

If we were to visit Finian Jahndra as tourists, what would you recommend that we see or do there? 
Definitely begin in the Enchanted Forest, where you’ll find trees with bell-like leaves, flowers that smell like chocolate, and rainbow-colored birds who will sing along with you in a delightful chorus. Next visit the humans’ lovely castle made of stone, and if you have time, travel north to the eagles’ Aerie in the mountains. You may want to avoid the plains in the west; the ostriches are not very hospitable.

What dangers should we avoid in Finian Jahndra? 
Since only the great eagles are larger than their Earth counterparts, if you see anything else larger than usual, such as vultures, cockroaches, worms, etc., then RUN!

Is there a distinct or unusual type of food or meal that we might be served in Finian Jahndra? 
If you’re not partial to insects (live or cooked), there are starberries and graflax cakes available, which taste like honey granola.

What types of weaponry or fighting styles are common in Finian Jahndra? 
The humans use bows and arrows, slings, and catapults as defensive weapons. The birds use beaks and talons to great advantage, especially when flying in formation or running, in the case of ostriches.

What types of vehicles, animals, technology, etc. are used to travel in or to Finian Jahndra? 
The only way to travel to Finian Jahndra from Earth is via a song discovered by Songcatcher the Carolina wren. Within Finian Jahndra one must walk, fly, or ride an obliging ostrich.

What types of plants, animals, or sentient races might we encounter in Finian Jahndra that we don’t see on Earth? 
The trees are sentient, even though their language is felt, not heard, so don’t even think about cutting firewood. The birds are also sentient, with some being more verbose than others. All species are similar to those on Earth with the exception of the great eagles.

What role, if any, does magic or the supernatural play in the lives of people in Finian Jahndra?  If there is magic, please give some examples of what it involves or how it’s used. 
The magic of Finian Jahndra emanates from the life force of the trees and birds, radiating out from the Enchanted Forest. As long as the balance of nature remains, so does the magic, extending long life to the birds. Allseer, for example, is over 2,000 years old. Since the humans are not indigenous to Finian Jahndra, their health is merely improved so most of them live a full 70 or 80 years, barring accidents.

Tell us about any sports, games, or activities that are available for entertainment in Finian Jahndra. 
For most of the birds, music is the most important activity (after eating), and because of this the humans all learn to sing and/or play a musical instrument.

Are the days of the week and months of the year the same in Finian Jahndra as on Earth? What holidays or special events are celebrated regularly there? 
The days are close to 24 hours, and a year is similar to ours, but the birds don’t reckon time as we do; because they live so long, only the four seasons of each year matter to them. The humans do celebrate birthdays as well as the anniversary of the king’s reign.

What is the political or government structure in Finian Jahndra?  Who is in charge there at the moment, and what kind of leader is he? 
There is always a bird who is Lord of the Enchanted Forest; in Leandra’s Enchanted Flute it is Allseer the wise owl. The humans have a king who consults with him. Currently on the throne is King Willow Bunting, but he is absent for most of LEF.

Are there any other unique cultural practices that we should be aware of if we visit Finian Jahndra? 
Never forget that the birds of Finian Jahndra feel themselves equal to or a little better than us humans, so we should never treat them like “wild animals.” After all, they were here first.

Has anything in your actual life inspired the locations, cultures, etc. in your book? 
My three years living in Hawaii inspired the Enchanted Forest to be a colorful paradise.

What, if any, “hot-button” or controversial topics do you touch on in your book? 
Not sure if it’s “controversial” but some might be uncomfortable with a main character who has incurable cancer.

When not writing, Katy Huth Jones plays flute and piccolo with a regional symphony. She’s been a published author since 1992, mostly for children, and her favorite genres to write and read are fantasy and historical fiction. She and her husband Keith live in the beautiful Texas Hill Country, and their two sons, whom she homeschooled, have flown the nest. Like Leandra, Katy is a cancer survivor.

Where, and in what formats, can we purchase your book(s)?  
Right now Leandra’s Enchanted Flute and its sequel, Return to Finian Jahndra, are only available in digital format from Amazon.

Where can readers connect with you online?  
www.katyhuthjones.blogspot.com, on Twitter @KatyHuthJones, or [email protected]

-Annie Douglass Lima

Dyego Alehandro

Title of book and/or series: 

Avarice Dynasty: Evasion

Brief summary of the story: 

Drevin Cantrim awakens to find out he’s one of the few survivors of a starliner explosion, and that the tragedy was no accident. He must race to try and figure out what he might have done to anger the Barons before their unstoppable assassin finds him and his friends.

Brief description of the world or location you created for this story: 

The Frontier Worlds are on the other side of the Milky Way galaxy in a dense supercluster of stars. There are 105 star systems with habitable planets or otherwise exploitable celestial bodies. One of the planets visited in the story is New Mercury, a frozen rock that’s farthest from its star. It is a harsh existence but the mineral and liquid wealth of the planet means that there are always people living there. It is located in the Canine Taurus star system, in the Canine Star Province.

If we were to visit New Mercury as tourists, what would you recommend that we see or do there? 

During Sunside, there are regular tourist tours out to the mining facilities and the Worlds-famous Hosgen Glaciers. Several of the enclosed cities, known as Habitats, have excellent spas using fresh glacier water. New Mercury is not generally considered a tourist destination, however, so most of the locals would point you elsewhere for a visit.

What dangers should we avoid on New Mercury? 

Never try to fly or visit the surface without protection, and definitely don’t do it during Farside. That’s when the planet’s long rotation turns it away from the sun. The temperatures drop so quickly that the methane freezes right out of the atmosphere, dropping in large, dangerous chunks of ice.

Is there a distinct or unusual type of food or meal that we might be served on New Mercury? 

Amazingly enough, there are six types of aquatic animals that can survive the extremely harsh environment. Three of those species are edible as expensive delicacies that are only available onsite.

What types of weaponry or fighting styles are common on New Mercury? 

New Mercury is in the realm of the BloodGutters, one of the six currently-ruling Alpha Cartels. The BloodGutters, as their name implies, favor vicious warfare with a lot of chemical weapons. The planet itself has never been the site of a battle during either of the Cartel Wars; the locals figure they have a rough enough existence and don’t bother with war.

What types of plants, animals, or sentient races might we encounter on New Mercury that we don’t see on Earth? 

The only plant life are microscopic algae that populate the vast frozen oceans, and which feed two of the six aquatic species. The six-foot-long Mercales are the top predators and make for an excellent soup.

Is there any advanced or unusual technology on New Mercury? 

New Mercury is one of the few planets where the cities are completely enclosed. The large transparent domes must be protected during Farside, otherwise the constant methane-ice bombardment would crack them open. Large metal armor plates are raised over the cities every time the planet starts to head Farside. This armor system is one of the greatest, and most expensive, technological wonders of the Frontier Worlds.

New Mercury does not have a local calendar that is anywhere near Old Earth’s. The planet with the calendar closest to Old Earth is called Prime. To give an example, New Mercury’s nights last six Prime days and it has no moon so there are no technical months. Its year, measured by how long it takes to orbit, is 204 Prime years. The locals are kept in sync with the rest of the Frontier Worlds because every planet goes by Prime time, regardless of local conditions. That’s a good thing, because none of the locals would ever get to celebrate a birthday if they went by New Mercury time.

Is there a particular religion practiced on New Mercury?  Please describe what it involves. 

Religion is a varied thing in the Frontier Worlds. Most of the people who left Old Earth brought a form of religion with them, but by the time they reached the Frontier Worlds these had changed. Most believe in a God of some sort, and the Bible is still regularly used, but there are not many standardized religions left after the Anarchy and the Cartel Wars. Spur Tarc is fairly famous on New Mercury as a radical preacher who claims that a person’s footwear is exceedingly important in gaining God’s approval.

What is the political or government structure on New Mercury?  Who is in charge there at the moment, and what kind of leader is he/she? 

The power structure in the Frontier Worlds goes Barons > Alpha Cartels > Local Government. In the more populous and frequented worlds, the Barons and Alpha Cartels exert a huge amount of influence. New Mercury is a distant and harsh planet, so the Barons barely even notice it. There is a BloodGutter Governor-General in charge, but she rarely visits the planet. The local Habitats have a loose coalition of mayors who make and enforce the day-to-day laws. Government is something that isn’t really on the minds of the locals; survival is a more pressing and urgent need.

Are there any other unique cultural practices that we should be aware of if we visit New Mercury? 

If the Habitat you wish to visit is on the Farside they will be completely out of contact for up to six days. This has led to a culture where people are regularly cut off from the outside world and must rely on each other for anything they need. Patience is a huge virtue among New Mercurians, and anybody who tries to force a conversation or a landing with a Farside Habitat is usually shot out of the sky with little warning. They take their survival and their culture very seriously.

Has anything in your actual life inspired the locations, cultures, etc. in your book? 

New Mercury was inspired by the three years I spent in a small town in Iowa when I was 9-12. The world froze over every winter, something I wasn’t used to in southern California, and everything seemed to grind to a halt. The town was close-knit and everybody knew everybody else. Going outside required effort and at times great expense.

What, if any, “hot-button” or controversial topics do you touch on in your book? 

I write mostly for entertainment value. If I had to pick a theme, it would be this: humans are quite capable of ruining our own lives without needing evil alien overlords invading. But despite the sunken depths of humanity, there will always be those few who stand up and try to make things better. Drevin Cantrim is one of those people. 

The ebook is available from Amazon in kindle format, and available as every other format from Smashwords. There is also a print edition available from Amazon as well.

By the way, there is a FREE short story collection set in the same universe, in case anyone wants to see some other worlds and characters or just find out if they like my writing style.  Click here to download your copy now!  

Where can readers connect with you online? There’s my blog, which I don’t update nearly often enough. There’s also Facebook, Twitter and GooglePlus. There’s also the main portal to all of my books, including those I’ve co-authored.

-Annie Douglass Lima