I’ve decided to re-release the first three Kozef and Ceinan (Kozef and Cainen now!) stories as an anthology/omnibus ebook, titled Crooked Streets. I’d like to think that this will make it easier for new readers to get into the series, and hopefully it will drum up some positive buzz in the lead up to publishing my novel, Emerald Sons, later this month.
So I have a new book coming out soon (a proper 150,000-word novel this time! Not just a 25,000-word novella or a dinky little short story) and I thought it only fitting that I should update the ol’ weblog.
The last theme was looking a little bit old hat, in my opinion. So I went looking through the currently available themes, and it turns out that the old black-and-orange theme I’d been using had been discontinued by WordPress years ago! I had no idea.
But I’m quite pleased with this new one. I think it looks quite a lot better than the previous one. And I made sure to include some banner images that evoke fantasy settings. Be sure to tell me what you think.
And of course, watch this space for news about the upcoming novel. I’m aiming for an ebook release this December (but before Christmas).
The latest Kozef and Ceinan adventure story, Thieves’ Boulevard, is now available for purchase on Amazon.com! It clocks in at about 25,000 words, so you can consider it a novella rather than a short story or novelette. Hope you enjoy it!
The fantastic cover art is courtesy of Milek Jakubiec.
In the Donjon quarter, the sordid slum-district of the sprawling metropolis of Auvand, the vagabond soldiers of fortune Kozef and Ceinan come into sudden possession of a treasure of unimaginable value. Knowing that such a coveted artefact will only bring grief and trouble rather than wealth and riches, they resolve to simply discard it and walk away.
But to grasp it for even a moment is to court the attention of underhanded forces who will stop at nothing to claim it for their own ends, and Kozef and Ceinan soon find themselves the target not only of the Polecats – the society of thieves and robbers that holds the entire slum-district in its clutches – but also a mysterious and beguiling woman for whom stealing and subterfuge come as naturally as breathing.
My newest ebook, “Grey Scourge”, is now available for purchase on Amazon.com! Hope you all like it.
A man-killing beast terrorizes the countryside surrounding the town of Vaudain, and the local liege-lord has offered a princely sum of money to anyone who can present him with its carcass. Drawn by the chance of some hard coin in their purses, the penniless mercenaries Kozef and Ceinan join forces with an estimable wolf-catcher and begin the hunt. The creature proves, however, to be more ravenously aberrant than they ever could have thought possible – and the mystery of its origin is revealed to be darker than they ever could have imagined.
A medieval adventure novelette. 16,500 words.
My new story, “Leathern Men“, is now available for purchase at Amazon.com. It’s a medieval adventure story, the first to feature itinerant mercenaries Kozef and Ceinan, two characters who I expect to spend a lot of time with in the future. It’s a 15,000-word short story, so it’s very long as far as short stories go, being and a few thousand words shy of novella length. As always, hope you all like it.
Kozef and Ceinan – itinerant soldiers of fortune and hard-on-their-luck seekers of glory – agree to evict a band of violent thugs from a small city inn in exchange for food, drink and lodging for the night. The ruffians, however, prove to be journeymen of the Tanner’s Guild, the criminal syndicate that dominates the city of Thieudan through violence and intimidation. Kozef and Ceinan draw down the hostility of the entire guild and must fight to save not only their own hides, but also the lives of those who they first set out to help.
My Gothic horror short story “The Playwright’s Woman” is now available for download. It’s available on Amazon (for 99 US cents) and Smashwords (for free, if you can’t afford 99 cents). 
Hope you all like it.
In late Victorian London, playwright Kevin Francis Darley struggles with both poor reviews and writer’s block. He begins a dalliance with the mystical spirit absinthe and meets – and falls immediately in love with – an enigmatic young woman from his homeland. She inspires and enlivens him, but the man who knows Kevin better than any other cannot help but be wary of the profound and disturbing change that he sees in his friend.
“The Playwright’s Woman”, a Gothic short story with paranormal romance elements. Yes, paranormal romance elements.
I didn’t just sit down one day and tell myself to “Write a story in a popular genre (like paranormal romance) so it will sell millions”; it really is a story I’ve been meaning to tell for quite a while now. It’s about Kevin Francis Darley, a struggling absinthe-swilling playwright in late Victorian London, and incorporates elements from Celtic folklore.
In terms of publication date, well, as per Blizzard, it’ll be ready when it’s ready. But I’m almost there, bear with me.
Seeing how experimentation with pricing is all part of the indie publishing deal, I thought I’d see what happens when I make “Abomination” free on Smashwords for a while. So now you can download it from there without even signing up or logging in. It won’t get me any money, of course, but maybe it will lead to some favourable reviews or something.
I would have made it free on Amazon, too – I’ve seen a few $0.00 ebooks in the Kindle store – but I can’t for the life of me figure out how to do it.
“Abomination” is now available at Smashwords.com for 99 cents. Smashwords is good in that it automatically converts submitted texts to multiple formats, so now the story is more widely available than it would have been had it only been published through Amazon. Through Smashwords, you can now get “Abomination” in Nook, Kobo, Sony ereader and even PDF formats.
Getting my document ready for a proper conversion (as per the Smashwords style guide) was a bit of a pain – I had to re-upload the .doc several times – hopefully it will be worth it in the long run.
R. J. Creaney's Blog 