The Rules Change Premieres Next Week

The sequel to The Fall of the House of Kyzer debuts next week. The Rules Change, written by John Bahler, presents an intriguing society in Falcon Point, the long-time enemy of Thyrion. Here’s what you’re in for:

After barely escaping his own city alive, Jaysynn, the last heir to the throne of Kyzer, finds himself eking out a living in a refugee camp outside an enemy city. Falcon Point, the city that rebelled against Jaysynn’s ancestors and declared its independence, now carefully guards and controls its resources in a time of devastation and chaos.

Stripped of what little power he had, Jaysynn considers accepting a new life of less responsibility. But a peaceful future of anonymity alongside the peasants, including fellow refugee Kyrie, may not be possible if the leader of Falcon Point, Governor Vac, learns there is a son of Kyzer on his doorstep.

Get in at the ground level next week. It’s a new city, full of intrigue and fascinating characters. I think you’ll enjoy this new chapter in the world of Children of the Wells.

The Doctor’s Assistant Ebook Now Available!

The Doctor’s Assistant, the second book in the Bron & Calea series, is now available as an epub, mobi, and PDF.

Bron and Calea are on the road to the only place Calea firmly believes still has magic: the megalopolis of Thyrion. Along the way, though, they need some patching up. In the small town of Averieom, they find assistance—and more than they bargained for.

Young Nyasha Cormorin has been assisting doctors in Averieom for years. But after the Cataclysm, she no longer feels any ties to the community, and she’s determined to leave. She’s going where she wants to go, and no one can stop her.

Download the book for free, here!

The Fall of the House of Kyzer Ebook Now Available!

The first book of the story of Jaysynn, black sheep of the powerful Kyzer family, is now available as an ebook.

If you haven’t had a chance to read the start of this exciting new series set in the aftermath of Thyrion’s Cataclysm, pick it up! And if you have read it, get a copy to keep or to send to friends!

Soon we’ll be starting The Rules Change, the sequel to The Fall of the House of Kyzer. Make sure you’re up to speed. Trust me, a lot’s in store for Jaysynn, youngest son and only heir to the Kyzer name.

Download it here as epub, mobi, or PDF. It’s free! (Or pay what you want, if you’d like to send the author a token of your enjoyment.)

Characterization in a Shared World: Behind the Scenes of The Doctor’s Assistant

by Laura Fischer
October 11, 2013

The Doctor’s Assistant is almost finished being posted as I write. Perhaps when you read this, it will be done. That will be the final marker of a long journey from conception, to outline, to rough draft, to editing and proofing, to final publication.

I very much enjoyed the journey of writing that book. As I said in my last blog here, this project succeeded in breaking a long dry spell in my writing. As of today, I have written more than 150,000 words this year, not all of them fiction and not all them worth reading, but certainly all of them worth writing. So here I’ll take a break from my other projects to reflect a bit on the journey behind me, just as Nyasha and Calea and Bron are now forced to do. (more…)

Ideas on the Wind

By Natasha Hayden
October 4, 2013

This summer, I could barely keep up with my responsibilities on CotW between extra editing duty and busy real-life plans. But September swooped in and, suddenly, I had nothing to do. No stories were waiting in the queue (though, not to worry, we are all queued up again). My personal life also returned to normal. So I actually had time to read a few good books and post a new blog on my site, reviewing the sci-fi novel Ender’s Game. (more…)

Changes on the Wind

By Natasha Hayden
September 27, 2013

photo credit: paul bica via photopin cc

It seems like forever since I last wrote a blog for Children of the Wells. Come to think of it, I hardly wrote a blog for my own site, natashasshelf.blogspot.com, all summer. Besides being busy with life, I was scrambling to edit some of the story posts mere days before they appeared online. I was grammar editing for Laura Fischer, our usual grammar editor, but since she wrote The Doctor’s Assistant, I was her backup eye. I also recently finished content editing the sequel to The Fall of the House of Kyzer, which you should be seeing toward the end of October.

Change is in the air once again as the seasons turn, and you’ve probably already noticed a change on CotW. After a crazy summer behind the scenes here, we are returning to our schedule of serializing only one story at a time. We simply don’t have the manpower and hours (after all, we have to work elsewhere to get paid!) to keep two stories going at once. Deadlines have been in flux (hence the editing only days before publishing), and we realized that in order to continue to provide high quality stories to you, we were going to have to cut down on quantity. (more…)

Fan Art!

By Nick Hayden
August 30, 2013

If you know me, you know I’m not artistic. In fact, I’m notoriously imprecise and vague when someone who is artistic asks me specifics about my characters. I’m not a visual writer.

However, I love the fact there are so many people in this wide world who enjoy the visual arts.

As a special treat this Friday, I wanted to share with you some sketches drawn by reader Jarod Marchand. (Yes, he happens to be Nathan’s brother.)

Enjoy one reader’s rendering of the characters of Children of the Wells!

Bron

Calea

Jaysynn

General Dracon

Nyasha

Elsewhere in the Multiverse

By Nick Hayden
August 23, 2013

Children of the Wells, I’m really excited about the stories we have written and those planned for the future. I love the characters and the world and certain surprises we have waiting. But, like the rest of the writers and editors, this is not my only project.

Two weeks ago, we shared an episode of Nathan Marchand’s vlog, which he puts out about twice a month. This week I’d like to share a bit of what I’m doing outside of Children of the Wells–which is more writing, mainly fantasy. (Surprise!)

Actually, the big news right now is the publication of a new book, The Unremarkable Squire. Here’s the back cover copy:

A squire’s oath is to be of service… but to whom?

In the kingdom of Basileon, an unremarkable and emotionally detached young man named Obed Kainos is about to stumble into adventure—quite against his will. When the knights of the realm gather in a quest to search for the lost Armor of Arkelon, Obed is chosen at random to replace Sir Lance Valentino’s recently deceased squire. But while trying to perform his menial tasks faithfully, the young squire becomes entangled in the plots of mages, thieves, and kings.

And that’s just his first week on the job.

Unfortunately for Obed, his indifference cannot save him from his new oath. For despite his enigmatic personality (or perhaps because of it), he manages to attract a band of misfits to his cause— the ugly, the arrogant, the clumsy, and the cowardly—putting the legendary armor within the grasp of one who never wanted anything at all.

If you read The Select’s Bodyguard, this is different. It’s more light-hearted and set in a vaguely Arthurian world. But, if you like great characters (as we do here at Children of the Wells), I think you’ll find more than a few in The Unremarkable Squire.

And, in the tradition of serialized fiction, you can try the first four chapters for free. If you like it, it’s available on Amazon in both print and as an ebook.

And now back to our regularly scheduled programming.

After the Cataclysm took our magic,
how do we rebuild?