My oldest daughter's first weeks in Arkansas have been exciting--including a "live shooter on campus" incident that turned out to be a hoax. I think my wife and I worried more than my daughter did. But she's making friends and getting her work done, and I couldn't be more proud.

My other two daughters started school as well--my youngest is in high school! Crazy. I know I keep saying this, but it's gone by so fast! We are back into the help-me-with-homework evenings, Friday-night football games, and never-ending car troubles. This thing where boys ask girls to Homecoming with posters... why did that start? Feels like something Hallmark should take advantage of.
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Writing has been tough since the last newsletter. It isn't writer's block, and it isn't too many interruptions--the problem is getting all the complexities I want in the story to be compacted into a storyline that also provides action. I'm definitely not hitting the mark yet, but it's better than it was a couple of weeks ago.

I typically have points like this in each story, but this one has proved particularly difficult. I think it's because I locked down tighter on some of the major pieces of the story and didn't leave as much wiggle room. As you might suspect, I've also got to move an army while still keeping the story personal. Lots of challenges.

That said, I also have to spend time on marketing. I've been digging into reviewer quotes to use them in my ads. So thank you to those who have reviewed. Here's some of the ads I'm trying out. This stuff is hard--finding the right images and quotes (or other messages) is very different from writing stories.

Which ad would draw you in?

Imaginative new take on fantasy

Read this if you love dragons

Why I fell in love with fantasy...

For fans of Tolkien and Sanderson

All books by Steven J. Morris

Indie Author Showcase

Assassin Royale

King's Dark Blade Book 1

by Richard Davis

Gentleman. Ladykiller. Assassin. Spy.

King Ember has a secret weapon. His name is Killian Lord. He’s the king’s personal assassin. No one is faster with a blade, quicker on a horse, or sharper with a quip. He’s the only man in Alba allowed to kill outside the bounds of chivalry.

And nobody does it better.

In “Assassin Royale,” trouble brews in the north. Evil King Globe is gathering his forces along the border. An invasion is coming—but where will he strike?

Yet King Ember has a bigger problem. Maximilian Durandal, a dark knight in Globe’s service, has seized the Berghoff estate, a castle by a mountain lake. He’s searching for a powerful magical artifact—the Moonlight Shard.

Legend says whoever wields the Shard can conquer the world.

In the wrong hands, it could destroy Alba.

Short on manpower and time, Ember sends for his secret weapon—Killian Lord.

Lord’s mission is simple. Stop Durandal. But there’s a problem: Durandal is the greatest swordsman on the continent. No one has ever beaten him. He’s obsessed, indomitable, undefeated.

Then again, he has never fought Killian Lord…

“Assassin Royale” is a fast-paced fantasy adventure for fans of action, magic, and a hero who is both assassin and charmer. If you love epic fantasy and James Bond, read “Assassin Royale” today.

Because “No Time to Die” sucked!

Blood and Water

Elemental Dragons Book 1

by Jessica Turnbull

Dragon markings aren’t supposed to appear on humans… but Hazel has them all over her back.

The government sends Hazel, along with every teenager in the country, to an elemental camp to master their powers before they get out of hand. But when her dragon egg hatches into a rare colour, her element is the least of her problems.

Now under scrutiny, she must make sure that no-one ever finds out about the strange markings on her back. If they do, they will permanently sever the bond with her dragon, leaving him dead and her in eternal agony.

What she doesn’t know is that there are others in a similar predicament to her. All different elements and all different markings, but with one thing in common: a previously extinct dragon wants to eat them to consume their powers.

In a world where political parties divide those who would live with dragons as equals or slaves, she needs to figure out the truth before she is swallowed alive by the dragon hunting her.

Fans of Anne McCaffery and Cordelia Castel will love to delve into this world of elemental powers and plenty of dragons!