Hey, fantasy fans! As you probably know, yesterday was the U.S. release date for King Arthur: Legend of the Sword, the latest cinematic take on the legend of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table. It’s sure to be a fast-paced, action-packed version, given it’s directed by Guy Ritchie (Sherlock Holmes, The Man From U.N.C.L.E.) and stars Charlie Hunnam (Pacific Rim) and Jude Law (Sherlock Holmes). If you have plans to see it this weekend, and fantasy adventure is thing, perhaps you might be interested in a couple of our titles…
For a Few Gold Pieces More is a collection of ten critically acclaimed short stories by Richard C. White, bestselling fantasy author of Gauntlet: Dark Legacy: Paths of Evil. Think Lord of the Rings meets the “spaghetti Westerns” of director Sergio Leone (A Fistful of Dollars; The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly), as a Rogue With No Name travels a world of epic-fantasy adventure, looking for treasure—and revenge against the woman who sent him to prison for a crime he didn’t commit (but she did). Here’s the back cover copy:
For the right price, he’ll get you out of trouble. Cross him, and you’ll never pay enough…
It’s amazing what you learn living on the run.
Fleeing for my life, convicted on trumped-up charges, and denied the use of my own name, I’ve stayed one step ahead of the Imperial Guard by focusing on one thing—taking care of myself first. So, I don’t know where you heard the ridiculous rumor about me helping people here and there around the Empire. And if, and that’s a big if, it was me, there was something in it for me. Trust me on that.
In the various towns and villages I’ve visited over the years, I’ve seen depravity, cruelty, torture, greed, lust—and that’s just the humans. Trust me; compared to them, the creatures that haunt the edges of the Empire are more honest and trustworthy. At least they’re not trying to slip a knife into your back…usually.
Only a few things have been constant while I’ve been on the run. My desire for revenge against the person who framed me all those years ago tops the list. Weird things happening in quiet villages, dark forests, or icy mountains never seem to change. And third? Well, that would be my luck.
I can always count on it to be bad.
Weighing in at a hefty 420 pages, For a Few Gold Pieces More sports a cover painting and a frontispiece illustration by fantasy artist Shane Braithwaite.
Terra Incognito: A Guide to Building the Worlds of Your Imagination is a nonfiction reference book for fantasy writers and gamers in which Rich takes you through the step-by-step process of constructing a world for your characters, from societies and governments to currency and religion. Included is an interview with New York Times bestselling author Tracy Hickman (Dragonlance) that discusses his methods of world building, as well as his creative experiences during his time as a designer for gaming company TSR, the original home of Dungeons & Dragons.
What you’ll find in the pages of Terra Incognito is information that’s vital for just about any writer, especially when it comes to world building, and Rich shows you how to do it:
- Avoiding the pitfalls of naming characters, regions, and countries
- Applying the technique of “outside in” to develop and then refine ideas for your world
- Creating a world your readers can relate to, regardless of its technological levels
- Identify how to create backstories and conflict by observing how your world comes together
- Adding details to make your story richer without overwhelming your readers
- Identifying useful resources for research
For a Few Gold Pieces More and Terra Incognito: A Guide to Building the Worlds of Your Imagination are available right now in print and digital formats. Visit their respective product pages for ordering information.
