Knots & Anchors

Knots and Anchors
syaffolee

Wray of Despina wants revenge. The House of the Black Cockatrice killed his father, disgraced his mother, and crushed all chance that he could become the next Seer. He would do anything to destroy this House for the wreck it has made of his life, even if it means enduring dangers from beyond the known multiverses.  Mad Dita is the descendant of a long line knot finders and knot jumpers, cartographers and navigators bred by the technologically advanced Ancients to travel the byways that tether cities in different parallel universes. But after a violent altercation with her former employer leaves her awaiting trial for murder, she has no choice but to accept Wray's offer to drop the murder charges and to use her skills to aid his quest for vengeance.

The key to Wray's plans is a book left behind by the Ancients that purportedly explains how the tethers between cities were made, maintained, and destroyed. As Wray and Dita jump from city to city on the trail of this book, they discover they have a far bigger problem. Ever since the Ancients disappeared several centuries ago, the tethers have been mysteriously deteriorating and snapping. Even if Wray succeeds in breaking the House of the Black Cockatrice, they may never be able to go home again.

for more information, please contact the author at syaffolee {at} gmail {dot} com.

Stars for the Dead/Black and Dark Night

Stars for the Dead 
Taethowen
Blog: Black and Dark Night. (excerpts will be posted here.)

Dina was eleven when she witnessed her parents murder, right after she saw the mark on her mother's arm that labeled her a heretic. She hid the secret for years, because if her people knew that their High Priestess had converted, Dina's life would be in danger.

Forced to join the Otwlh, an army of female soldiers, Dina gains access to the palace and learns that everything is not as it seems. Before long, a coup takes place, and Dina finds herself on the wrong side of everything she has ever known.

Now, with three races on the brink of war, Dina finds herself questioning everything - especially the supposed heresy of her mother, and which side is the right one.

for more information, please contact the author at teaandyarn {at} gmail {dot} com.

X (a fairy tale)

X (a fairy tale)
Kate - Happenence

A fairy tale – The kingdom is in a crisis. There is much financial trouble due to the debts of Queen Cinderella. With a king who can’t say no to his queen, a queen who’s addicted to glass shoes and a population who treat their beautiful queen as the one and only fashion icon there’s trouble to pay. Chiropodists everywhere are in demand. The price of glass has rocketed. The general shoe market is in collapse with its antiquated techniques. The specialised glass houses are holding the kingdom to ransom.

And somewhere, with an ordinary pair of shoes, a practical knee length dress covered by a not-so-white apron and too much dirt under her nails, there is a young girl called Tilly-Anne.


Under the advice of Old Man Jarmin, and in the company of Pedro the goat herd and the odd but intelligent Metilée, Tilly-Anne goes in search of the answers that the older generation just aren’t ready to face.



for more information, please contact the author at ceoughtbridge {at} gmail {dot} com

Leeder's Grain

Leeder's Grain

T.A. Raskelt

"It was always a given fact in the village of Cadge Down that no-one ever crossed the Burning Grounds into the wood. The salt-sewn mix of ash and deadened soil was the only thing between the locals and the monstrous forest guardian that haunted the edge of the forest, keeping humans out and faerie folk in. The Rotted Knight was the stuff of legends, old legends that struck fear into the hearts of children because here, the legends were real, and you didn't spite tradition.

Mollith was never really one for tradition.

And so, into the woods she went, and to the woods she was bound, the day the Rotted Knight tracked her through the woods and struck a bargain in return. It wasn't long before Mollith realized that perhaps she had underestimated the old legends, and some things were far more dangerous than they first appeared."

for more information, contact the author at taraannraskelt {at} yahoo {dot} com.

Adrishta

Adrishta
sreya

Adrishta, or "unseen" in Sanskrit, is my NaNo project for 2011. It stars Hemavati, a woman whose mute daughter is kidnapped by the Gods and held for ransom.

What do the Gods want?

Indra, king of the Devas, is no longer secure of his own power. The king of the Gods in heaven hides a terrible secret, one that would unravel the entire order of the universe if revealed. Hema, a housewife and protector of a weapon given to her by the goddess Parvati, is his last and greatest hope for silence.

But Indra didn't count on one small thing: hell (or heaven) hath no fury like a woman betrayed.

for more information, contact: forthejournal {at} gmail {dot} com.