During this time of lockdowns, I have decided to offer the first book of Ferrian's Winter for free. The digital copy can be claimed from Smashwords: www.smashwords.com/books/view/722889
This offer lasts until December 31st.
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Last night, I reached a milestone of progress on the third book of Ferrian's Winter: 100,000 words! This marks 50% completion of this book.
Progress has been slow due to heavy writer's block and struggling motivation. But it does continue. I do have a title in mind for Book Three. For now, it is tentatively titled: The Black Pyramid. I have just published a sci-fantasy novella called Mercury Eye. It is a futuristic fantasy action thriller involving robot dragons. :) It is a standalone book, not part of a series, and is a short read at about a hundred pages (35k words).
The story was actually written quite a while ago, around 2005 I think. It garnered a lot of positive comments and a Mod's Choice when I posted it on Elfwood (once-popular fantasy site) back in the 'good old days'. Someone even wanted to turn it into a radio play at one point, but I didn't have the inclination or know-how back then to rewrite the whole thing as a radio script. A missed opportunity, I guess. :( In any case, I always liked the story and still think it's pretty cool, so I dusted it off, edited it and put it up on Amazon and Smashwords for everyone to enjoy. The cover was drawn by me, as well. Oh, I forgot to mention: it's an ebook only at the moment, but a print version will be coming soon. Stay tuned! Great news! Ferrian's Winter, Books One and Two are now available as paperbacks!
The books can be purchased from Amazon. Readers from some countries may need to use an alternative version of Amazon when ordering, as the books cannot be shipped from some sites. (Eg. Australian customers will need to use the .com or .uk website; Dutch customers need to use the German site .de). Signed copies can also be bought directly from me using PayPal, upon request. If you have any questions about my books or any trouble purchasing them, please don't hesitate to ask! Here is the beginning of Chapter One of the third book of Ferrian's Winter. It contains no spoilers as it deals with a couple of brand new characters. (The rest of the chapter contains things you need to have read about in the previous books, hence I can only post this short excerpt). Enjoy! :)
* * * Lightning tore the air asunder; bright, angry veins striking at the mountain pass as though seeking to split the ancient grey gorge deeper. Rain pummelled the rocks and turned the sky into a twilight haze. All around, high, snow-capped peaks soared; stolid, oblivious and cold. A young woman struggled against the storm, a slim figure bent with exhaustion, hugging herself, her booted feet dragging on the trail. The racing mud caught her feet and she slipped, falling hard on her shoulder. Close beside her, a stream roared, leaping over rocks like a white beast. Rain poured down her face so that she could barely see. She could no longer tell if tears were mingled with it. The fall had caused her no pain, but knocked what little breath she had left from her lungs. She was numb all over; the rain had a sleety edge to it that coated the ground with a perilous layer of liquid ice. The cold had seeped all the way through her thin silken clothing, through her skin, through her bones, even through her warmest cloak. There was no part of her that it had not claimed as its own. It had seized her thoughts; held her limbs hostage. She wasn’t sure how she had even made it this far. She turned her head heavily to look at her right hand, lying on the streaming path as though it belonged to someone else, clenched in a fist so tightly she could not open it; her knuckles stood out bone-white against her light brown skin. But the small object they held was still there. A weak blue light glowed between her fingers, trailing off into invisible wisps. It seemed fragile in the fury of the storm, but it was the strongest it had been since she had started her journey. And though the rest of her hand was lifeless, where the stone pressed against her palm she felt a soft, cool caress, as though she clutched a breath of summer breeze. There was a clattering sound from somewhere ahead and a pair of hoofed feet appeared before her. Then she was being pulled gently but firmly to her feet. She wasn’t sure that they would support her, but her companion held her steady. She looked up into his face. His long red hair streamed with rain, the ebony beads entwined in it shiny. Water rippled over his golden-brown skin like a smooth stone in a river. His expression was steadfast, his dark eyes calm. He looked down at her clenched hand, reached out and carefully took it in his own. A shiver passed through him as the blue light brushed his skin, and his jaw tightened. Then he released her hand, turned back to her and nodded. They continued onwards. Hello everyone, and apologies for the lack of updates! Since publishing my two ebooks last year, there hasn't really been a lot to say. (Other than massive thanks to all who have bought them so far!) Well now... I feel that I have something worthwhile to talk about. :)
Yes, I have started writing a third book of Ferrian's Winter! It was never intended to be a series or trilogy; while writing the first two books, I had firmly in mind that the story would be told in two parts. They ended up being two very long parts, indeed, but two parts, nonetheless. I was satisfied with the ending of Grath Ardan; I felt that Ferrian's story had been told the way I wanted it to. But well, some things were left... hanging. And this was intentional, because no ending should really be an ending. But the fates of some of the characters, and the consequences of some disastrous events opened up some very interesting questions. And I wanted to know the answers to those questions. No. Ferrian's Winter is not done with, just yet. :) I am currently fifteen chapters into the third book. (As yet untitled; I'm just going to call it Ferrian's Winter: Book Three for now). Can't really say much about it, due to huuuuuge spoilers. But it is set four years after the events of Grath Ardan. Certain things in the world of Arvanor have... changed. There are some new characters, and some old characters. And some weird, mysterious black pyramids. And other crazy stuff. :) I am not a prolific or even regular writer. I write when I feel like it, and make it up as I go. Sometimes, I will write obsessively for a couple of weeks, then nothing at all for months. So, I cannot estimate how long it will take me to finish this book, let alone when it might be published, although I'm going to say a couple of years, at least. I hope to be able to share this new, exciting adventure with everyone sometime in the future. I will stop by with updates now and then. If anyone would like to be a beta reader for Ferrian's Winter: Book Three, please let me know! Ferrian's Winter will be on sale from December 25 to January 1 at Smashwords and Amazon. Book One is 50% off and Book Two is 25% discounted.
As yet these are ebooks only, no print editions available yet (apologies!!) but I'm working on it and paperback versions should be available some time in 2018. Have a great Christmas and Happy New Year! Ferrian's Winter: Book Two: Grath Ardan is now available for purchase at Amazon and Smashwords! If you have read the first book and enjoyed it, please go check it out! If you are new to Ferrian's Winter, I highly recommend reading Book One FIRST. Book Two is a direct continuation of the story and contains pretty massive spoilers (some momentous things happen at the end of the first book).
Blurb for Book Two: Having finally arrived at the Sorcerer’s Valley only to narrowly survive a mutinous attack by Lord Arzath’s minions, Ferrian finds events take a twisted, horrifying turn. Holed up in Requar’s beautiful white castle with the Winter raging out of control and no one that he can trust, Ferrian sets out on his own to find the legendary forbidden library of Grath Ardan -- said to contain every word ever written. There he hopes to discover the truth about the Winter and a vain, fleeting hope of reversing the awful tragedy that has befallen the one man he thought could help him. But will the truth be more than he can bear? And who will be left to fight the terrible evil unleashed hundreds of miles away on a fiery, volcano-ridden island by a crazed general, as the Aegis -- the red shield that has imprisoned ancient Dragons for a thousand years -- finally fails? And something much worse than either Dragons or Ferrian’s Winter threatens all life on Arvanor... Just for fun, I have uploaded a few pics of the Sorcerer's Valley in Minecraft. It was built on a PS4 in creative mode. Obviously, a few artistic compromises had to be made (it's Minecraft!) so it's not gonna look exactly how most people (including me) would imagine it from the books. But I love Minecraft, it's ace, and I wanted to see if I could recreate some scenes from my story.
Building these castles was quite interesting as I had never before visualised how every single part of the buildings connected. I had to invent stairways and hallways to connect the scenes from the story in a logical way. I had to think about the actual architecture, decorative touches, how to build a freakin' grandfather clock with two blocks, and where exactly rooms were positioned so that they matched the descriptions in the text. Had to build up the mountains behind them as well, which was a massive pain. The interiors are all fully furnished, and there are secret passages. ;) I'm pretty happy with how the castles turned out, all things considered. (Yes, they are kinda chunky and too close together. Forgive me; it was an experiment...) Especially fond of them considering events later in the story, of which I cannot speak. But this is where it all began! The black castle and the white castle. (Good and evil? I'll let you decide. ;) ) Considering doing some other locations such as Forthwhite. And I'd love to do Fleetfleer (the Angel city) but it's a massive amount of work... In any case, enjoy; and/or scoff at my rubbish Minecraft skills, as you wish. :) There are further pics on the Ferrian's Winter main page. Here is the cover for Ferrian's Winter: Book Two: Grath Ardan.
In which Ferrian travels to a strange, magical and forbidden library in the land of the Angels, said to contain a copy of every word ever written. |
All of my books can be purchased in digital form from most online ebook retailers, including
Amazon and Smashwords. Paperback versions of my books are available from Amazon's print on demand service. AuthorMegan Leigh is a Tasmanian expat writer and artist living in Amsterdam. She paints nature and animals and writes weird and wonderful stories of fantasy and adventure. Subscribe for updates!
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