There are things afoot in Derby

Wanted to highlight the marvelous Boo Books who are up to all sorts of shenanigans over in Derby.

The brains behind Boo belong to Alex Davis who also runs the wonderful Edge Lit festival at which we launched Noir Carnival last year.

After the Fall came out earlier this month and we think it’s well worth checking out.

After the Fall cover FINAL-page-001

Chapter 7 : Starfang

Chapter Seven

The first few hours were tense, scanning the area for any more drone ships. I spent a frantic hour reading tactical readouts and reports, and approving the current ammunition count. We were too far from any friendly dock.

Messages from the Sector 41B governors were starting to pour in. Most of them openly denied involvement with Yeung Leung, with the usual effusive offers of assistance and help. I read the messages with a growing lump of cold fear and rage in my stomach. They were hiding something. Fools. Liars. Cowards.

They were just trying to protect themselves and their families. It was a vicious cycle.

With a sigh that came straight from inside, I shut down the comm. Screen. We would be short of allies in the sector.

~*~

Remain vigilant.

Do not rattle the grass. You might startle the snake.

The message blinked at me. Father’s imprint. I could just hear his solemn voice behind the words. He had also used a hanzi proverb, one which he liked to drill into my head when I was younger. I wasn’t exactly the best student when it came to proverbs. I was above average for tactics. A lot of hanzi proverbs were used in tactic class, including the ancient Art of War manual. I listened, jotted them down dutifully, and promptly forgot about them. Actual combat was different from words.

It was going to be a mind game.

~*~

Continue reading “Chapter 7 : Starfang”

Next!!

We told you we had a lot lined up for 2014 right? Right?

Having just released the marvelous White Rabbit by K.A Laity and the first Young Adult novel, the excellent ‘Warrior Stone : Underland’ By R.B  Harkess we are not slowing down. Next up we have the two volumes of ‘The Girl at the End of the World’, ‘Missing Monarchs’, the part prose part poetry novella ‘The Velocity of Constant’ and what we are calling ‘the summer of the wolf’, because we have two werewolf novels coming up. ‘Heart of Fire’ by J.Damask and 25 Ways to Kill a Werewolf’ by Jo Thomas.

We’ve already show you the other covers, so here is Jo’s wraparound to keep you on the edge of your seat.

25 Ways Wrap 72ppi

 

Sign up to our newsletter for more information and a free sampler of forthcoming poetry chapbook ‘And the Fox Crows’ by V.C. Linde

It’s none stop in the Fox Den to bring you fantastic fiction.

‘Read all about it’

We don’t push the newsletter very hard and we have no auto subscribe function so if you want to receive it you need to sign up over there in the side bar. We would like to say we think you should get it.

From time to time we offer additional giveaways that aren’t available through other means and newsletter subscribers do get some exclusives. We also only do three or four a year so you won’t be bombarded with weekly mail or press releases for every book.

The next one, being sent out at the end of May includes a free sampler of our forthcoming poetry chapbook ‘And the Fox Crows’ by V.C.Linde, a download code for a birthday giveaway of the Nun & Dragon ebook (ltd numbers). It’s also got some guest articles that are well worth reading, Fran Terminiello talks about HEMA and Mhairi Simpson recounts with typical humour the experience of editing Tales of Eve.

It’s well worth getting signed up and having a read.

omg

 

Chapter Six

And we return to our serial StarFang – Aunty Fox

 

Chapter Six

I only met April when we were ten. It was the year when our clan defeated the Amber Eyes and held a big celebration to honor this victory. It was also held during the Mid-Autumn Festival; the event was very grand with the entire clan and sub-clans gathering on Noah’s Ark. Clan duties had kept my aunt, April’s mother, away for a long time – and the celebration was the only time she could attend. She wasn’t a ship captain, but a planetary governor, overseeing the agricultural growth and exports of food. April was the only cousin I didn’t get to see during every Spring Festival.

Dressed in a sky blue gipao, I fidgeted and tugged at the horrible fabric which was making my skin itch. I was standing dutifully beside Father and Mother while they toasted the assembled guests, relatives and allies with expensive wine. The hunt would be later. I glanced around, feeling bored; the green forest was calling out to me. At the same time, I felt awkward and uncomfortable, all gangly limbs and a body which had started to rebel against me. I hated the idea of growing up. The stupid gipao was attenuating every curve, every bulge.

I caught the eye of another girl, about my age, dressed in a red gipao and looking as uncomfortable as I was. The red shimmered under the light of multiple lanterns hung in the guest hall like a contained fire.  She had huge eyes and curly black hair. But what drew my attention to her was her smile. It lit up the hall. I was suddenly consciousness of my hair, tied in a neat ponytail… and I wanted to tear out the stupid hair-band and run screaming away to the forest

She smiled back and my world froze. I had never seen her before.

During the banquet, she came over, the strange new girl. She stretched out a hand in greeting.

“I am April Yue,” she said. Up close, she was pretty. “You must be my cousin, Ming Yue.”

This girl was my cousin. I tentatively grabbed that hand in return. She felt warm.

“Ma told me about you, said that there would be a girl about my age at the banquet,” April smiled. “Have you eaten already?”

I stared at the half-finished bowl of longevity noodles, my appetite gone. My parents were talking to their guests, going around each table, wine glasses in hand. I wasn’t part of their celebration.

“I am not hungry,” I said.

“Interestingly enough, so am I,” April shrugged. “You going for the hunt?”

“I can’t… turn yet,” I confessed, feeling my cheeks redden with heat. April pulled my hand and we slipped out of the banquet hall, which was loud with conversation, into the central courtyard with its lotus leaves and flowers. I often hid here, on normal days, to feed the koi fish that dwelled beneath the lotus leaves. As we ran along the corridor, the koi swirled in flame-colored patterns of red and orange, eager for their daily feed of fish food.

“I can’t either,” April said. “I can only do the eye-color changing thing.” She concentrated, inhaling slowly. Her eyes became gold with black rings. “But everyone can do that and turning is not a competition.” The gold faded back to brown.

A long howl interrupted our conversation. It was the signal for the hunt.

We didn’t take part in the hunt until we reached fourteen, the age where most youth experienced their first turning. By then, we had spent so much time together, my aunt having sent April to study at the school before entering the academy.

April gave me a rose agate pebble with smooth edges when I turned thirteen. It fit in the center of my palm. She said that she found it while she scoured the beach. She loved beaches. I loved her for that. When we were twelve, we realized our relationship was different. We were cousins, but we felt something stronger than that. Young as we were, we couldn’t describe how we felt.

I had the pebble made into a pendant. I didn’t wear it though. Instead I kept it in the main drawer of my desk on board the ship, to remind myself of what was real and tangible.

Continue reading “Chapter Six”

Warrior Stone : Underland Out Now!

Out now!

Underland is a twisted copy of The Real that uses industrialised magic to power a weird mix of stolen technology. It’s just enough like The Real to make travelers over-confident and get them into trouble. Which is just what happened when Claire Stone accidentally falls through rushing home one night. Claire is offered a job as a Warrior, hunting down and destroying shape shifting monsters.What adventure-hungry lover of fantasy could refuse? Everything seems great, until a friend goes missing and the Warrior has to turn Hunter.

WSUsmall

‘Warrior Stone: Underland is an action-packed urban fantasy that brought Neil Gaiman’s Neverwhere to mind. Fill with adventure, magic, slick weaponry and a great cast of supporting characters (Evie is brilliant).’
Kim Curran

Available now for Kindle via Amazon worldwide

Paperback coming soon via Amazon

Ebook versions available soon via SpaceWitch

 

Crowing Foxes, Emily Nation and Warrior Stone

Lots of news for you all today.

First of all Warrior Stone is winging its way out into the world. We are very proud of this first Young Adult novel on the Fox Spirit roster. It’s had a cracking review already as well as some incredible pull quotes.

Cover by Linzi Goldstone 

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We also have a cover image reveal for Emily Nation by Alec McQuay, out later this year. The image is by Jenna Whyte. The novel is post apocalypse punk set in what’s left of Cornwall.

Book cover Base 2 copy

 

 

Finally, the sekrit project we have been working on for some time!

‘And the Fox Crows’ is a collection of poems based on fox mythology from all over the world by V.C.Linde. A free sampler will be send out with the next newsletter so sign up now! The cover will be by S.L.Johnson and we look forward to revealing that soon!

 

Foxy Horror

Shadows by Joan De La Haye

After being sent to an institution in a catatonic state covered in blood from stabbing her unfaithful boyfriend, Sarah is forced to confront the truth about her father’s death and the demon, Jack, who caused her fathers suicide and is now the reason for her horrific hallucinations. Unlike her father, Sarah refuses to kill herself. 

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Joan De La Haye brings us a psychological horror in ‘Shadows’, a tale of obsession, demons and madness. There will be more horror coming from Joan late 2014 in ‘Burning’ a novella of witchcraft and an incubus as they should be. Joan delivers real horror!

Oasis by Joan De La Haye

For Fans of post apocalyptic worlds Joan offers a this zombie novella with a little twist.

The planet has been fried by solar flares turning it into a desert. The surviving population has been affected by solar radiation, turning them into Zombies. Only a handful of people remain unaffected. A family of civilians, guided by a crack army unit who has seen more action than they can handle, must make their way to the safety of a UN base at the South Pole called New Atlantis.

oasis cover 600x800

 

Heart for the Ravens by Colin F Barnes

Originally intended for Tales of Eve this gothic tale of love gone wrong and Frankenstein science became a stand alone novella. An excellent read for fans of a more Mary Shelley horror.

Katerina Roeslling is the daughter of a wealthy businessman and resents being treated as just another asset by her father. When she meets Willhelm, a rough-hewn, but charismatic, soldier, she thinks he is the right man for her, but he is just the start of a tragic nightmare.

HeartForTheRavensEbook-Lores

Chapter 5: StarFang

Welcome back to our StarFang serial. We have our first bit of fan art, a picture of Francesca, drawn by Rhiannon Rasmussen-Silverstein. 😉 (http://rhiannonrs.tumblr.com.) Wonderful job Rhiannon, thank you! – Aunty Fox

francesca

Chapter Five

Help me.

I mulled over the words during my shift, while the data and scans chirped and blinked around me. Nothing else happened after we had captured the cargo box. The space in Sector 41B was so serene, so tranquil. The purge on Neo-Samarkand was still ongoing, according to Governor Seeto’s updates.  It had also become a small scale civil war on-planet, each gang family acting out their petty differences by shedding their enemies’ blood.

The little girl slept, watched over by the medical staff.

A little girl didn’t belong on a warship.

Help me.

Should I place her somewhere, on a neutral planet, safe from harm? No. The moment I retrieved the cargo box, she was my responsibility. A Black Talon would not abandon a child, even if she was not blood kin. Starfang’s crew was all related – my Pack-crew consisted of my cousins, first or second. April was the daughter of my mother’s younger sister. Ju Fan and Mariette were my second cousins. The little girl wasn’t blood; I was aware of the tensions she triggered when she came on board.

Help me.

Was the message written by her mother? Her father?

Later, when I was off-shift, I worked out my frustrations in the ship’s gym with Nangun drills. In the confines of the ship, I suddenly ached for the forests, the green trees, and the blessedly openness of the open sky.

“Can I join you?” April said at the doorway. “I sure needed some exercise.”

“Go ahead,” I grinned. “Grab your weapon of choice.”

“You know about ship rules: no sparring, except with a referee,” she said, grappling another pole from the rack. She hefted it in her hand, testing its weight.

“Of course, I do. I was the one who came up with the rule.”

April went through her favorite wushu form: beigun, Northern Staff. Her movements were dazzling, she beautiful and wonderfully alive. I slipped in, joining her. Our dance became a dance of opposites, of two different styles and schools. Halfway through, April began laughing.

“You know,” she said as we passed each other, “I qualified for inter-clan competitions. I was that ready. Sifu said no, and that made me so mad with him.”

“He said that? How come you didn’t tell me that?”

“You were always too busy with something else. As far as I could remember, you were extremely active at the academy.”

We passed again, our bodies close, almost touching.

“Sifu’s standards are always too demanding,” I said, knowing that April could hear.

“That’s why he’s Sifu,” her slim form danced in. We were face to face, our lips almost touching. April pulled back, chuckling nervously, her face sad.

“Clan rules,” she stated simply, erecting that invisible, tangible wall.

“I know,” I said.

We were washing up when the comm-screen on the side-panel chimed. It was Sick Bay.

“I will be down in about a few minutes,” I rubbed my wet hair with a dry towel.

~*~

Continue reading “Chapter 5: StarFang”