Before I begin, I would like to thank my friend and fellow
author, Judith Arnopp for hosting me on her blog. We both appreciate how hard
it is to find people who might be interested in reading our respective novels,
so I value any opportunity to reach out to a potential new audience.
I’d like to think that I might find some new readers among
Judith’s blog followers, despite that fact that my genre is fantasy, not
historical fiction. Many of us read multiple genres, after all, and historical
fiction and drama—more specifically the medieval, Dark Ages and eras
beyond—have always fascinated me. I love reading about the Saxon and Roman periods,
and am always attracted by characters such as Boudicca and King Arthur, and the
many influential leaders who no doubt contributed to the myths and legends
surrounding their times. It was this allure, I suspect, plus my own love of
fantasy novels, that first led me to try my hand at writing.
I never intended to be an author, though. My initial
scribblings were mainly to relieve boredom and stress, and later to satisfy a
need for the kind of story I just couldn’t find among the shelves of my local
bookstore. These were the days before the Internet made finding good novels
easy, and before budding writers could find knowledgeable help and advice
simply by posting a comment on Facebook. Oh – if only I’d known then what I
know now! I made so many mistakes
when I first started writing, and even more when I was finally convinced that
my story could be good enough to submit to an agent. I’d have saved precious
cash too, as I was far too trusting and naive. I would never have believed that
an agent could abscond with someone’s reading fee (yes – I did once pay a
reading fee. I know better now, of course!), and was devastated to learn that
there were unscrupulous people who could pass themselves off as agents merely
to charge a reading fee and then abscond with that naive person’s
trustingly-paid money. Oh well. We live and learn.
So, having lived and learned through those trying
experiences, which included the thrill of being offered publication by a small
US publisher only to have said company disband three years later, setting me
adrift as an indie author, I can still count many successes and highlights in
my writing career. My first novel, King’s Envoy, gained the HarperCollins
Authonomy Gold Medal award in 2008. That book, plus the second novel, King’s
Champion, eventually became Amazon UK bestsellers. King’s Envoy was also short listed
for the 2015 BookViral Book Awards. The entire first trilogy has been endorsed
by one of my writing heroes, the US sci-fi, fantasy and non-fiction author
Janet Morris, who has accepted two of my short stories, The Wyght Wyrm and
Black Quill, for inclusion in her Perseid Press HEROIKA anthologies. Another of
my shorts was included in the British Fantasy Society’s 40th anniversary
anthology, Full Fathom Forty, published in 2011. I am still very proud of that
achievement!
Yet despite that nice list of successes, my biggest thrill
still comes from the comments and reviews of complete strangers who have picked
up my novels and enjoyed reading them. I am often humbled and overwhelmed by
the impact they tell me my novels have had. To me, that is the ultimate goal of
the author, and was the reason I started writing in the first place: to connect
with someone else’s heart and have them experience the excitement, trepidation,
fear, anticipation and ultimate satisfaction of following my characters within a
world I created out of my own imagination. I would be overjoyed should some of
you decide to give my novels a try—please see the buying and social media
links.
An excerpt from King’s
Envoy
Taran
circled the noble warily, searching for weak points. The sun’s heat was
increasing, he was sweating profusely. He lunged at the noble, forcing him back
across the dusty ground, but the man disengaged and came at Taran again, giving
him no time to draw breath. We’re too evenly matched, thought Taran, there’s
no advantage. Sunlight struck blindingly from steel as his blade clashed
and rang on the noble’s, labored breaths grunting through his throat.
They
struggled back and forth for half an hour or so. Taran was bleeding from many
superficial cuts; he was bruised and sore, but so was his opponent. Neither, it
seemed, could gain the upper hand. Now that Taran’s early anger had been
forgotten in his struggle for survival, he began to despair. A strange heaviness
was weighing his arm and he was having trouble holding his own. He was
dismayed; his stamina was usually greater than this. But his concentration was
centered on his opponent’s latest flurry of vicious cuts and it took him a
while to figure out what was happening.
He couldn’t
understand it. What he suspected should not be possible. He and the noble
hadn’t learned each other’s pattern of psyche, there was no way the other man
could be affecting Taran’s life force. But it was undeniable. Insidiously, and
contrary to all the rules and codes, the noble was draining Taran’s metaforce
and using it to empower himself.
Outraged
and confused, Taran’s mind shut down like a steel trap, cutting off the other’s
leaching force. In panic, he accessed his psyche, using his own Artesan skills
to bolster his flagging strength.
“Foul,”
yelled his opponent. “The use of metaforce is forbidden by the codes.”
Taran saw
the watching huntsmen stir at this cry. Infuriated by its hypocrisy, he
realized he had walked straight into a trap. He couldn’t impeach the noble
though, it was too late. And anyway, there was no one to believe him.
As he
automatically blocked a low swipe to his leg, Taran recalled a glance exchanged
between the noble and someone among the huntsmen. Coupled with the strange
eager light in his opponent’s eyes, these signs should have warned Taran that
something was amiss. Yet it had passed him by and this new failure only
increased his frustration.
Enraged by
the deception, Taran attacked with a burst of vicious strokes. The noble gave
way before him but there was a knowing look in his eye. Now Taran understood
that he had planned this all along. He had never intended to honor the
contract. With no witnesses to speak for him, Taran was totally unprotected. He
would have cursed himself savagely if only he’d had the strength.
About Cas Peace:
Amazon UK Bestselling author Cas Peace
lives in the lovely county of Hampshire, southern UK. On leaving school, she
trained and qualified as a teacher of equitation. She also learned to
carriage-drive. She then spent thirteen years in the British Civil Service
before moving to Rome, Italy, where she and her husband Dave lived for three
years.
As well as her love of horses, Cas is mad
about dogs. She currently owns two rescue lurchers, Milly and Milo. Cas loves
country walks, working in stained glass, growing cacti, and folk singing. She
is also a songwriter and has written and recorded songs or music for five of
her fantasy books. They are available to download (free!) from her website. You
can also find Cas on www.reverbnation.com
Cas’s first novel, King’s Envoy, was awarded a HarperCollins Authonomy Gold Medal in
2008. The novel has since gone on to become an Amazon UK Bestseller, and was
shortlisted for the 2015 BookViral Book Awards. Her Artesans series has also won the critical acclaim of US fantasy,
sci-fi and non-fiction author, Janet Morris. Cas contributed to the 2015 Janet
Morris-edited Perseid Press anthology HEROIKA
1: Dragon Eaters, and has another in the soon-to-be-published HEROIKA 2: Skirmishers. She also had a
short story published in the British Fantasy Society’s 40th Anniversary
anthology Full Fathom Forty.
As well as being a novelist, Cas is also a
freelance editor and proofreader. Details of her Writers’ Services and other
information can be found on her website: www.caspeace.com.
King's Envoy: http://geni.us/1o97
Artesans of Albia Kindle Box Set: http://geni.us/SpBptY4
King's Envoy on Audio Book: http://geni.us/kingsenvoy
Cas Peace on Reverbnation (for book songs): http://geni.us/1GBh
Cas Peace Writers' Services for editing/copyediting/proofreading): http://www.caspeace.com/cas-peace/writers-services/editing/9-copy-or-line-editing
Social Media:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/cas.peace
Twitter: @CasPeace1
