Hurray! The final book in the Tanesh Empire Trilogy is now available!
The Blurb:
Riyune the dog dies in the myth worlds, binding the desert heart and protecting the real world from horrific chaos.
Yet, he still lives, and returns with Trulliç and Nadeem.
The emperor, denied the desert heart, turns his attention to Trulliç, determined to destroy the desert magician.
How can Trulliç, still young and untrained, possibly defeat the mighty army poised at the border?
The Ghost Dog—the final book in the dark epic the Tanesh Empire Trilogy—pits untrained farmers against dedicated soldiers, sister against sister, and magician against magician, with no guarantee of winning.
Be sure to read the first two books in this immersive trilogy: The Glass Magician and The Desert Heart.
I’m linking to Amazon throughout this post, but all the books are available all over: https://amzn.to/2tMi6Lw
I really loved writing these novels. I wrote them over the course of three years, though I held onto them, not releasing any of them until all three were written. I figured that was only fair, as while each novel ends, they all did kind of cliff-hanger as well.
I started exploring this world with the short story, The Blood Hound. I started with the idea of a hound protecting a pregnant woman who carried a babe of power. However, I’d also written a lot of time writing up the creation myth for the people, stories of all the gods, how the humans got magic, and so on.
I love doing that kind of thing. It’s the best part of being a writer, making shit up.
I also enjoy writing epic fantasy. It means creating that entire world, all the people, the cultures, economies, and societies. I find that world building very satisfying. I generally base all the names on a particular earth culture, that way they all sound alike. For these novels, I used Turkish.
And while the scope of an epic fantasy is large–the entire empire is at stake–I am still focused on the individual, two of them, actually, for these novels.
First, you have Trulliç, who starts as a boy and an innocent. I love his arc, coming into himself, recognizing what had happened to him as a child and how to overcome it. I enjoy his magic as well, keeping him so grounded and land based.
Then you have Nadeem, a wild one, who was never innocent. She has a different arc, learning to live beyond her dreams.
Why am I talking about the island of dark epic fantasy? Because, as you may or may not know, I write all over the map. So I actually created one. (http://www.leahcutter.com/faq/what-book-should-i-read-first/map/) The island of dark epic fantasy is actually just off the coast of the Historic Fantasy island.
To me, the dark epic fantasy feels more complicated, in part, because I make up so much, but also, because I generally don’t use a single POV or narrative. I also don’t tend to outline, though I did create one of the shortest outlines I’ve ever done for book one: 26 words long. Though the two characters were having completely different lives and events, their emotional journey needed to be similar. (Books two & three had no outlines, though I did know pieces of the end of each.)
The Tanesh Empire Trilogy isn’t the only dark epic fantasy I’ve ever written. There’s also When the Moon Over Kualina Mountain Comes. (http://amzn.to/1imz2Ib) This, too, was written from multiple points of view, and had a tremendous amount of world and myth building. It’s based on New Zealand as well as Polynesian cultures/names.
This novel was also inspired by a short story, The Doom of Alokai Temple. (Available for free: https://www.knottedroadpress.com/free-content/the-doom-of-alokai-temple/) I took the events there and then set the novel a few generations later, after the northern witches had landed on the southern islands. It’s culture clash at its finest, something I adore writing and thinking about.
There will be a second novel, as I’ve always envisioned it as a duology (not a trilogy.) As I recently read through When the Moon I would expect that I’ll write the next one probably before the end of the year, but not sooner.
The sister island to the island of dark epic fantasy is my historic fantasy. It’s dark (because, hello, that’s kind of what I write) but not as epic, I feel. First, there’s my very first novel, Paper Mage. (http://amzn.to/vzpWTj) It has the same world building and magic building, though a lot of that was based on historic events, as it’s set in Tang dynasty China, around 837 AD.
Then there’s A Sword’s Poem. (http://amzn.to/17oJYYl) It’s set in Japan, early in the Heian era, around 678 AD. This novel was truly a novel of the heart. I’d had the notes for this novel, and it took me years to get around to writing it. It’s actually composed of three novellas, The Making, The Breaking, and The Reforging.
I will write more historic fantasy, as well as more epic dark fantasy. I enjoy this island, and giving you this taste.
Now, for something truly exciting!
I am taking part in a giveaway! That’s right, if you enter to win, you’ll get a FREE copy of The Glass Magician. This offer will only last for a week, though. You may also get a bunch of other cool free books.
The link to the contest is here: