Ghost from the Past

 A ghost from the past formed in the smoke as the candles went out. A scene from Accidental Wizard - preorder now. Available September 11.

Twin brothers walk through a fallen log and land in a kingdom under siege. The wizard who pulled them across dies doing it, and Chris — the one with blood on his cheek — is handed the dead man's job. His first lesson is a knife across the palm and a chandelier he has never been taught to light.

For parents and teachers: roughly 48,000 words across 31 short chapters, first person, alternating between the two brothers. Book 2 of the Accidental Adventures series, and it opens with enough context to be read on its own. No romance, no crude language. Worth knowing going in: the magic system runs on the caster's own blood, and Chris carries wounds through most of the book.

ACCIDENTAL WIZARD is on sale this month. (Note this is an affiliate link whereby I or Rac Press may receive some commission on qualifying purchases).

The unpacking continues. The storage unit is emptied--thanks to some friends--and most of that stuff has found a place in Xanadu. Unfortunately, much of it remains boxed in the caves of ice, but all the bookcases are up and in the process of receiving designated contents. I also discovered these beauties that I hadn't been able to find for years and wondered if they were lost or stolen:

I also found three boxes of metal figures--two 12 packs of adventurers and one of twice that many monsters. Old school heavy metal figures that I painted in high school and gamed with for hundreds of hours. I can honestly say that my painting skills haven't improved.

In writing, I've paused Accidental Chessmen for a day or two in order to work out the details of the titular game, because it can't be regular chess our heroes must play. They must learn and succeed at a similar game on a different planet. I took inspiration from ERB's The Chessmen of Mars for this adventure, and naturally, there must be a fabulous chess game with living players as part of the high stakes conclusion. I have to play a few games to fine tune the relationships between the pieces. The first game revealed that the casualty rate is extremely high. The losing side was down to three pieces before conceding defeat, and the winning side was down to six survivors. The short moves and layout of the board and pieces necessitate trading of pieces in an effort to create an advantage or breakthrough opportunity. The balance of power can shift suddenly.

Here's a scene from Threading the Rude Eye in which Jonathan Knight makes an exit from a tavern in a more conspicuous manner than he had hoped. The knife is supposed to be pinning the malevolent sailor's palm to the bar, but apparently depicting that would violate some ill-defined standard.

The books in the series are on sale for 99 cents each. From Sept 4 to Sept 11 -- and then it's over, so don't miss out.