Beyond the Fifth Gate - Review

Those of you who own my creative writing book Pumping Your Muse may remember the flip side exercise that generated a new female character. That character grew to become the protagonist in my novel Beyond the Fifth Gate. Look what the latest review says about her:

Beyond the Fifth Gate has a strong female main character who reminded me of Xena without the long hair or possibly Seven-of-Nine without the spandex. Elita starts off a little weak in her fighting skills (but realistically, how hard would it be to practice when you live in a hive and are guarded day and night by big bugs?) but her first mystical gate provides two teachers who not only give her a crash course, but join her on her quest to freedom. There are plenty of plot twists along the way and the ending is a real shocker which truly caught me off guard just when I thought I had it all figured out.

You can read the entire review at Queen of Convolution.

Review written by:

Caprice Hokstad

Author of the fantasy novel, The Duke's Handmaid, and its sequel, Nor Iron Bars a Cage.

Website: www.Latoph.com

The Devil Can Wait Review

Title: The Devil Can Wait
Author: Marta Stephens
ISBN 978-1-905202-86-7
Publisher: BeWrite Books

A flu outbreak leaves Detective Sam Harper short handed and over extended as he searches for a serial killer. The Devil Can Wait by Marta Stephens grabs you from the first chapter when a man and his dog discover the body of a young man washed up from the bay, the third victim of a serial killer and not a single clue. The local press and a pesky female reporter from the Chandler Times complicates his life further when she withholds evidence to get a story.

Stephens feeds threads of evidence throughout a multi-dimensional and intricate plot that spans two continents and leads to conclusions that increase the urgency to find a suspect before another young boy is murdered. This fast-paced thriller masterfully weaves mystery into the lives of believable characters and a well-crafted setting. Can the murder of a woman in a small Columbian pueblo, and the theft of her black pearl ring be related to the murder of the boys found in Chandler Bay? Or could the simpleton working in Dominick Ray's Garage actuality be the serial killer? The author creates solid leads raising suspicions that weave a web connecting to three possible suspects and then raises a new question. The death of each victim is different. Could this mean four different killers?

The Devil Can Wait interlaces a complex plot that grabs the reader and doesn't let go. This book will appeal to readers with varied interests as it has everything: tension, conflict, murder, mystery, romance and the ability to keep the reader turning the page as Sam Harper is thrust into a world that leads to a cursed papal ring tied to biblical prophecies in the book of Daniel. Sam's not a religious man, but it raises the question of whether a series of unrelated murders are the result of a sick mind or are they actually connected to the beasts in Daniel chapter 7? Harper's investigation leads him on an unpredictable trail making him more of a believer with each turn. This one is a must read.

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Reviewed by author and full-time freelance writer, Donna Sundblad, who resides in Georgia with her husband, Rick. Among her published works you'll find Pumping Your Muse a creative book for writers, Windwalker and Beyond the Fifth Gate, two young adult Fantasy novels, and various inspirational short stories and articles. Check her website for more information at www.theinkslinger.net.

The Daemonhold Curse - Review

The Daemonhold Curse
by author Teel James Glenn

Fantasy/ Sword and Sorcery/ Mystery
Published by ePress-Online
Isbn#: 978-1-934258-07-1

TCM review by Eugen M. Bacon

“(Arinna) slapped him hard enough on his right cheek to stagger him. ‘Next time, Master Daemon, should you lay hands upon my person,’ her voice like a glacier, ‘I will close my fist before I reply to the insult.’”

Dame Arinna sparks bold, disarming in chamber as she is in combat. When night fills with sound, a curse settles upon the land. Come face to face with mortality, Lady Fidelity Daemon must employ the priestly expertise of warrior protectors. Fine pace, engaging dialogue and insightful writing, not to mention excerpts as if fresh from Fight School, all rally to affirm Teel James Glenn’s convincing and unsullied charm; his ability to write something sombre with levity without shrugging off its weight.

The Daemonhold Curse opens new insight to a medieval world fenced in tradition. The mantra and ceremony of the religion of Kova parallel in notice finely sequenced fight scenes across the novel. The inspired story does not fail to whet my appetite for more Teel James Glenn, including Gift of the Mage Eye: A Story of Altiva. The Daemonhold Curse is a refreshing read as seldom isn’t for a capable, convinced author who does not shudder to employ wit.

More About the Book

Five years ago the Kova Warrior Priest Lord Erique Shoutte: failed to save the elder Daemon sister, Lady Caution. The curse of a long ago accused sorceress states that each female member of the line will die, drained of blood, before the morning of their 21^th birthday. No female Daemon has survived that morning in three hundred years.

Now the younger sister, Fidelity seeks Lord Shoutte out to protect her as her 21^th birthday approaches.

“Why me?” Lord Shoutte asks. “I failed!”

“Because then you didn’t believe,” she replies. Now you do!”

Lord Shoutte and his long time friend the fierce swordswoman Dame Arinna Cabal undertake to save Fidelity, despite the attacks of religious radicals and thugs. But can they solve the mystery and save the new Lady Daemon or will they fall victim to The Daemonhold Curse themselves?

About the Author

Teel James Glenn is a native of Brooklyn though he has traveled the world for thirty years as a Stuntman/Coordinator/Swordmaster, Jouster, Book Illustrator, Storyteller, Bodyguard and Actor.

His books in the Altiva fantasy series are: Tales of a Warrior Priest, Death at Dragonthroat, The Daemonhold Curse, and Sister Warrior all from ePress-Online as are Knight Errant :Death and Life at the Faire , Them’s Fightin Words :A Writers Guide to Writing Fight Scenes and the forthcoming: The Vision Quest Factor and A Hex of Shadows.

The Exceptionals: #1 Measure of a Man and #2 Across the Wasteland are out from Whiskey Creek Press with #3 due next year.

He has stories published in AfterburnSF, Blazing Adventures, AnotherRealm, Event Horizon, Fantasy Tales, Mad, Black Belt, Alternative Cinema, Classic Pulp Fiction Stories, Weird Stories, Double Danger Tales, Startling Science Stories, Shots Writer’s Village and others.

The Exceptionals #1: Measure of a Man

Author: Teel James Glenn & Jerry Kokich
Genre: Science Fiction/Adventure
Sub Genres: superhero//thriller
ISBN (E) 978-1-60313-244--2
ISBN (P) 978-1-60313-243-5

It was not a world anyone wanted to live in except the terrorists. Their desperation to make the rest of the world conforms to their view of the universe as far back at the 1980s had changed the world. It was a slow change at first, and then like a dam that burst, the violence and irrationality of their vision was imposed on the rest of the world.

It was from this chaos and lawlessness that a terrified world came to embrace the concept of the Exceptionals: extraterritorial bio-enhanced bounty hunters, who could go anywhere, do almost anything in the name of law. Their lives were always at risk from the narco terrorists, tyrants and hate mongers of this not-so-brave new world. TheUnited States Government and the United Nations mandated that their identities became a closely guarded secret.

Now the Exceptionals must confront demons from their past, a horror from beyond the grave and a conspiricy from within their ranks that threatens everything they hold dear. For one, may claim his very soul!!

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About Author Teel James Glenn

Teel James Glenn is a native of Brooklyn though he has traveled the world for thirty years as a Stuntman/Coordinator/Swordmaster, Jouster, Book Illustrator, Storyteller, Bodyguard and Actor.

His books in the Altiva fantasy series are: Tales of a Warrior Priest, Death at Dragonthroat, The Daemonhold Curse, and Sister Warrior all from ePress-Online as are Knight Errant :Death and Life at the Faire , Them’s Fightin Words :A Writers Guide to Writing Fight Scenes and the forthcoming: The Vision Quest Factor and A Hex of Shadows.

The Exceptionals: #1 Measure of a Man and #2 Across the Wasteland are out from Whiskey Creek Press with #3 due next year.

He has stories published in AfterburnSF, Blazing Adventures, AnotherRealm, Event Horizon, Fantasy Tales, Mad, Black Belt, Alternative Cinema, Classic Pulp Fiction Stories, Weird Stories, Double Danger Tales, Startling Science Stories, Shots Writer’s Village and others.

Tales of a Warrior Priest

Author: Teel James Glenn
Publisher: ePress-Online
Genre: Fantasy/Sword and Sorcery
ISBN Number: 0977222446
Published May 2006
141 Pages

Tales of a Warrior Priest : Return to the world of Altiva, first visited in the novel Death at Dragonthroat, a world of crystal magic and cruel combat where young Lord Erique Shoutte becomes a master swordsman and a devoted priest of the Kova religion. Follow his adventures in a series of linked short stories as he quests for love, knowledge and martial perfection and fights serpents, dictators, demons and deadly damsels along the way. These tales range from the heroic, to the mysterious to swashbuckling adventure. In the classic tradition of Conan, Zorro and Captain Blood!

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About Author Teel James Glenn

Teel James Glenn is a native of Brooklyn though he has traveled the world for thirty years as a Stuntman/Coordinator/Swordmaster, Jouster, Book Illustrator, Storyteller, Bodyguard and Actor.

His books in the Altiva fantasy series are: Tales of a Warrior Priest, Death at Dragonthroat, The Daemonhold Curse, and Sister Warrior all from ePress-Online as are Knight Errant :Death and Life at the Faire , Them’s Fightin Words :A Writers Guide to Writing Fight Scenes and the forthcoming: The Vision Quest Factor and A Hex of Shadows.

The Exceptionals: #1 Measure of a Man and #2 Across the Wasteland are out from Whiskey Creek Press with #3 due next year.

He has stories published in AfterburnSF, Blazing Adventures, AnotherRealm, Event Horizon, Fantasy Tales, Mad, Black Belt, Alternative Cinema, Classic Pulp Fiction Stories, Weird Stories, Double Danger Tales, Startling Science Stories, Shots Writer’s Village and others.

Death at Dragonthroat

Death at Dragonthroat

Written by Teel James Glenn
Genre: Fantasy/Sword and Sorcery
Isbn#: 0977222403
Publisher: ePress-Online

The strangest day in T.K. Mitchell’s life began with the former marine on the run for his life in North Dakota and ended with him on the run for his life from an entire empire on the strange world of Altiva. Will the evil emperor who thinks T.K. is after his job kill him? Will the nightmare from his mysterious past do him in? Or the strange Shadowbeast that seems unstoppable and has an insatiable appetite for blood? Then again, will T.K. give into the seductive clutches of the six foot eight blue furred warrior woman? What a way to die…….

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About Author Teel James Glenn

Teel James Glenn is a native of Brooklyn though he has traveled the world for thirty years as a Stuntman/Coordinator/Swordmaster, Jouster, Book Illustrator, Storyteller, Bodyguard and Actor.

His books in the Altiva fantasy series are: Tales of a Warrior Priest, Death at Dragonthroat, The Daemonhold Curse, and Sister Warrior all from ePress-Online as are Knight Errant :Death and Life at the Faire , Them’s Fightin Words :A Writers Guide to Writing Fight Scenes and the forthcoming: The Vision Quest Factor and A Hex of Shadows.

The Exceptionals: #1 Measure of a Man and #2 Across the Wasteland are out from Whiskey Creek Press with #3 due next year.

He has stories published in AfterburnSF, Blazing Adventures, AnotherRealm, Event Horizon, Fantasy Tales, Mad, Black Belt, Alternative Cinema, Classic Pulp Fiction Stories, Weird Stories, Double Danger Tales, Startling Science Stories, Shots Writer’s Village and others.

Windwalker by Donna Sundblad

Windwalker

Young Adult Fantasy by Donna Sundblad

HHundreds of years ago, the Stygian race welcomed disease-riddled Jonnick to their shores despite prophetic warnings. Concealed powers of darkness disembark with the refugees.

Subsequent generations of conflict draw lines of division between the two cultures unaware that the spirit of the Mage lives within the queen. Paranoia and fear prompt the issuance of royal decrees designed to thwart the coming of the Stygian savior--the Arich.

Midwives ordered to report the birth of any child born on a moonless night know it means death to the child. Effects of the law trickle to the present where Manelin, a social outcast, and Jalil, a lame Jonnick girl find themselves thrust into the midst of unfolding ancient prophecies and a world on the verge of annihilation.

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Mail from a Windwalker Reader:

I finished Windwalker. What a great story […] exciting all the way through. I was so impressed with how the [character] transformations took place with such ease. (Ojal - Queen Riona- Jalil ) It all felt perfectly natural and was easy to follow [as the story] flipped from the past , present and into the future, back to the past, and present...Wow!

Now that I am finished - I miss the characters. I had a connection with each one of them. I usually connect with a couple of people in a story, but seldom the whole works like I did in this story. You just clearly did a great job of creating each and every character. Thank you for writing it.

Loreena

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• Paperback: 220 pages
• Publisher: epress-online (September 14, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0977222489
• ISBN-13: 978-0977222483
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.6 inches