Please enjoy this little intro to Mel Chesley, a fellow fantasy author. Her first fantasy novel, Adversarius is now available. I'm so thrilled to be able to support a new author, especially one as entthusiastic and hardworking as Mel. Please read about her book, the first in The Shadow of the Rose series.
Blurb:
Two kingdoms, two goals.
The king of Relavia is determined to wipe out his warring neighbors in
Paridzule, a worthy adversary for over five hundred years. News of an arranged
marriage between his son and the daughter of his lifelong enemy has fueled the
temper of Relavia's tyrannical king. What he doesn't realize is the true
measure of his son's honor and how far he is willing to go to gain peace.
Author Bio:
M. L. Chesley is an Alaska based author, online blogger and
MMORPG junkie. She has been writing fantasy for several years. Between writing,
work and family she barely has time for much gaming, but some days, raids take
precedence over all. If you would like to learn more about her world, created
in this book, go to
www.mlchesley.webs.com.
You can also follow her blog at
www.caledonialass.blogspot.com.
Links:
Twitter: @MLChesley
Purchase Links:
Excerpt 1: Captain Sorcha Lilanthroe pushed
her spyglass back in upon itself and leaned on the railing of the quarterdeck.
She chewed the inside of her cheek, trying to make a decision.
“Fromas,” she finally beckoned her bosun and brother-in-law to her. She passed
him the spyglass and lifted her chin in the direction she had been studying.
“What does that look like to you? Two points off the port bow,” she directed.
Fromas lifted the contraption to his eye and surveyed the
horizon. The suns shone onto his bald head. After a moment, he lowered the
spyglass. He tilted his head slightly as he looked at his captain.
“Looks tae be the remains of a
ship,” he confirmed her suspicions. “Hard tae tell, but by the color of the
sails, might be a warship. Possibly from Paridzule.” Smoke billowed up over the
wreckage and as they sailed closer, flotsam appeared in the water. The wake of
her ship, the Blue Drake, pushed it easily aside. Sorcha lifted her chin again,
indicating another point off the opposite railing for him to inspect.
“And what do you make of that? Four points starboard.” He lifted the glass to
his eye once more and whistled softly.
“That looks tae be a survivor,” he passed the spyglass back to Sorcha.
“Indeed it does.”
“What be your orders, Cap'n?”
“Prepare to bring them aboard.”
“Man overboard!” Fromas bellowed, and the crew below them on
the main deck relayed the order and prepared to pull the person from the water.
One of the crewmen grabbed the gaff, leaning over the railing with the long
pole. He made sure to hook the wreckage the person floated on—not flesh. Some
of Sorcha's crew pulled on a rope attached to a pulley, sending a man sitting
on a plank with a rope tied to each end like a swing, high into the air.
Another pull of the rope and he swung beyond the railing as they lowered him
into the water. As the man wrapped his arms around the unconscious form, he
gave a shout and the men on deck pulled again, lifting both people out of the
water and on to the deck, water spraying everyone in a wide arc.
Sorcha left the quarterdeck, going down the stairs to where
her crew gathered around the still figure. She jabbed them with her elbows,
shoving them roughly aside.
“Someone go fetch Percy. Move!” She shoved several more of
her men out of the way and knelt down, pressing two fingers to the cool skin of
the girl's neck. Life pulsed there, weak, but life nonetheless. She grabbed
first one hand, then the other, looking for something specific. Sorcha found it
on the right hand, slipped it off of the unconscious girl's finger and deftly
stuck it in her pocket. “All of ye get back to yer stations!” she hollered.
Most of the men frowned down at the girl lying on the deck but knew better than
to disobey their captain.
Isn't that a cool cover? Do you have any questions for Mel? Can you leave a like for her on Amazon? Please check out her blog.
