IWSG Ghost Stories and New Books

 This last year has contained some busy Wednesdays, many of which I have unintentionally "ghosted" IWSG's monthly blog hop. I love this group, so I am considering how to remedy my MIA status in the next few months, although I know November, again, I will be MIA due to a foreseen event.

This month and recently it's all been unforeseen events, like going with my dad to the ER five times.

Many thanks to all who are helping with IWSG - the admins, the monthly help for October, and for our faithful captain, Alex J. Cavanaugh. You all rock!

The awesome co-hosts for the  October 2 posting of the IWSG are Nancy Gideon, Jennifer Lane, Jacqui Murray, and Natalie Aguirre!

This month's optional question is: Ghost stories fit right in during this month. What's your favorite classic ghostly tale?

My fast answer: Ghostbusters. Way back when I was in junior high, our local small town theater (a single screen place with history that had been purchased by small business owners who renovated over time), had a free Halloween movie night. My friends and I sat in a crowded theater, a seat broke, popcorn was thrown, everyone laughed, oohed and aahed together during the movie, and that kind of experience is why I love going to the movies, and why Ghostbusters is my favorite ghost story. :)

This month, there are many new books out - including one of my own. All the info about Dark Blade Forged can be found on this page: Dark Blade Forged and I'll add a bit at the end, but first I want to mention Sherry Ellis and the Fifth Book in her Bubba and Squirt Series:

Bubba and Squirt’s Legend of the Lost Pearls
By Sherry Ellis

Journey to the past!
Bubba and Squirt embark on their most dangerous quest yet. Whisked away through the vortex to Japan, they must find two fabled pearls that hold the key to saving their father.
To top it off, they must go back and change the events of the past. As they race against time, the fate of their father, and their own lives, hang in the balance.
Will they outwit the cunning creatures that stand in their way or face their own demise trying to save their father?

Release date – October 1, 2024
Print ISBN 9798988625124 $8.95/ eBook ISBN 9798988625131 $3.99
eBook $3.99 in all formats
Juvenile Fiction - Action Adventure / Fantasy & Magic / Legends, Myths, Fables – Asian

Sherry Ellis’ Bubba and Squirt’s Big Dig to China won the Reader’s Favorites Silver Medal for the Children's Grades 4-6 category.

Sherry Ellis is an award-winning author and professional musician who plays and teaches the violin, viola, and piano. When she is not writing or engaged in musical activities, she can be found doing household chores, hiking, or exploring the world. Ellis lives in Atlanta, Georgia.
https://www.sherryellis.org/
https://www.bubbaandsquirt.org/
https://www.facebook.com/sherryellisbooksandmusic
https://twitter.com/513sherrye

Links:
Amazon - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CTWN8PSS
iTunes - https://books.apple.com/us/book/x/id6477321103
Barnes & Noble - https://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/2940167677777
Kobo - https://store.kobobooks.com/en-us/Search?Query=9798988625131
Goodreads - https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/206994546-bubba-and-squirt-s-legend-of-the-lost-pearls

Congratulations to Sherry!

Meanwhile, I released a book that's been in my files and on my shelves in some way or another since 2016. Dark Blade Forged is a Christian Fantasy novel set in the same world as The Champion Trilogy, and is a sort-of prequel about Dan Torren, one of Clara's mentors in The Champion Trilogy. When I finished that trilogy, I realized I really wanted to write his backstory, about how he received his strange, obsidian blade of power, and why he said he was an angry young man when he picked it up. This is that story.

An ancient blade buried deep within an abandoned tower of the Watch Guard calls for its next wielder.

In a world where ancient powers stir and darkness threatens, Dan Torren seeks to escape his noble family's corruption by joining the mysterious Watch Guard. As Dan and his allies uncover a sinister plot involving the Red Hand, an organization trafficking in human lives, Dan will need to confront his own inner desire for vengeance.

Dark Blade Forged Buy Links:

Books 2 Read Universal Link Updated

Dark Blade Forged is out today!

 Started as a project back in 2016, Dark Blade Forged is the first book in The Dark Blade Trilogy!

This series takes place in the World of Aramatir, the same world as The Champion Trilogy. In The Dark Blade Trilogy, we see how Mastor Dantor started as Dan Torren, a Junior Lord of Septily who seeks freedom from the political corruption of his family by joining the Watch Guard, an interkingdom agency tasked with keeping the borders safe and protecting ancient weapons between the rise of Champions.

Dark Blade Forged

Author: Tyrean Martinson

Genre: Sword Fantasy/Christian Fantasy

Series: The Dark Blade Trilogy, Vol. 1

Publication Date: October 1, 2024

ISBN: 979-8-9870648-6-3

ASIN: 979-8-9870648-4-9

Number of Pages: 330

Word Count: 93k

An ancient blade buried deep within an abandoned tower of the Watch Guard calls for its next wielder.

In a world where ancient powers stir and darkness threatens, Dan Torren seeks to escape his noble family's corruption by joining the mysterious Watch Guard. As Dan and his allies uncover a sinister plot involving the Red Hand, an organization trafficking in human lives, Dan will need to confront his own inner desire for vengeance.

When he discovers a legendary and strangely shadowy blade, he's thrust into a destiny greater than he ever imagined. Alongside his friends—Alex, a conflicted prince, and Farrald, a would-be Shepherd—Dan must navigate political intrigue, confront dark forces, and face his own family's twisted legacy.

Dan's journey will challenge everything he believes about justice, power, and his own identity. With the fate of Septily hanging in the balance, can Dan forge a new path for justice?

Dark Blade Forged is a gripping Christian Fantasy tale of friendship, betrayal, and the price of power in a world where the lines between good and evil blur with every choice. 

Dark Blade Forged is book one of The Dark Blade Trilogy! Perfect for fans of the faith themes of The Book of the Infinite Series by RJ Larson, the action adventure of The Staff and the Sword by Patrick W. Carr.

  Excerpt:

  The tug brought Dan to a door carved with several figures. The tautness of the pull intensified again him as he swept away the dirt over the carving. The figures on the door were old Champions. He could tell by the familiarity of some likenesses found in some places in Skycliff, although others weren’t as familiar to him. The group of Champions surrounded a single box in which a shattered blade rested. The carving was intricate, and Dan ran his fingers over the shattered blade, and then opened the door.

Inside, he could see the box from the carving. It was an iron trunk with a strange padlock. The grooves of a handprint lay over the top of the lock. Sand, dust, and mist swirled around the trunk, but Dan moved toward it.

Behind Dan, Terese murmured something, but he did not make out the words. Consumed now by the need to open that box, he placed his hand over the handprint. A rational part of his brain wanted him to stop, but the compulsion moved him forward, despite the unlikelihood of his hand fitting the handprint.

His hand fit perfectly in the grooves. A glow emanated around his fingers, but it was not a glow of light, but of textured shadow, a shimmering black that seemed deeper than even the dark shadows of the chamber beyond the light from Terese’s blade.

An audible click resonated through his hand, his chest, and the chamber, and the lock fell open. With trembling hands, Dan opened the lid of the iron box and gazed down at the broken blade within. It was shimmering obsidian, alive with power from within each of the seven, jagged pieces. Dan ran his fingers carefully over the tip of the top piece of the glowing shards, feeling a sensation of warmth and power running from his hands to his heart. He couldn't let this blade lay here unused any longer. He touched each of the seven shards, traced his hands over the engravings on the cross guard, and then reached for the hilt.

As his fingers came around the leather-wrapped grip, a heavy, warm wave rushed through him, from somewhere within his fingertips to the hilt, and somehow, resonated in ripples through the shattered pieces of the sword which began to melt and reshape.

In the deepest recesses of his mind, Dan wanted to let go of the blade, but he did not. He held fast as it took shape in front of him, perfectly balanced for his hand, for the extension of his arm. It was a part of him and it was hungry for justice, for vengeance, for righteousness against those who would do harm to his people, and peace for those who would live with kindness. It opened up parts of him he had closed off, even from his own thoughts, and he felt as if a part of him had been hollowed out and refilled, then hollowed and filled again.

Short Social Blurb with hashtags: Dan seeks to avoid politics by joining the Watch Guard, an interkingdom agency protecting ancient knowledge, as the Red Hand attempts to corrupt the world of Aramatir. Dark Blade Forged. #christianfantasy #swordfantasy #epicfantasy https://books2read.com/u/4AM5nK

Buy Links: Books2Read Universal Link

Amazon Universal Link with Books 2 Read