Things Old and Forgotten

I’m so excited to have Mae Clair at Entertaining Stories once more. She’s here to tell us about a new collection of short stories she’s published. Make her feel welcome, and use those sharing buttons to spread her good news.

Hi, Craig. Thanks for hosting me today and allowing me to share my newest release with your readers. Things Old and Forgotten is a collection of short fiction that includes stories in several genres—magical realism, fantasy, speculative, even two that touch on mild horror.

When I was in tenth grade, my English teacher gave me his Lord of the Rings book collection to read, and an entire new realm unfolded before my eyes. Prior to that I’d been reading mostly science-fiction, but the discovery of epic fantasy was unlike anything I’d encountered before.

I was hooked, and spent the next decade devouring books of wizardry, magical artifacts, and enchanted realms. To this day, I still love a good epic fantasy or sword-and-sorcery novel. When it came time to put together my collection of stories for Things Old and Forgotten, I couldn’t resist including a few fantasy tales. Below is the opening from The Chaos Stone, one of the fantasy tales included in my collection.

EXCERPT:

Cold, velvety blackness. It was the element O’Lorian knew best. He stirred stiffly, limbs awakening in protest. A dull fire burned in his side as he struggled to sit. The rock at his back was rough and pitted. Overhead, jagged stone disappeared into shadow, defining the vacuous scope of a cavern. Garrick had done well in securing cover.

“Aseyrofen.” The bird materialized at the mouth of the cave, its ghostly wings luminous in the darkness. O’Lorian offered his arm. “Where is the human?” The bird alighted on his wrist with a scathing cackle. “Fled? How senseless.”

Especially after the human had gone to the trouble of cleaning and bandaging his wound.

O’Lorian slipped from the cavern, spurred by hunger.

“You need not fear for Trent, my lady. I would not destroy the means of my salvation, particularly when I may yet require his assistance. Our destination is still a few days distant, and these woods are unfamiliar. I would not have found the cave in time.” He paused, inhaling deeply. “Do you sense it, Aseyrofen? The slumbering phantom that awakens with the sun’s demise?”

The bird nipped his sleeve in gentle reprimand.

“Yes, I know, but it’s been some time since I fed. The werebeast’s blood was defiled.” He withdrew his sword. “I promise to be civilized, my lady. As genteel as possible. Perhaps you would care to join me?”

With a screech of displeasure, Aseyrofen vanished into the trees. Laughing softly, O’Lorian did the same.

BOOK BLURB:

A man keeping King Arthur’s dream of Camelot alive.
A Robin Hood battling in a drastically different Sherwood.
A young man facing eternity in the desert.
A genteel southern lady besting a powerful order of genies.
A woman meeting her father decades after his death.

These are but a few of the intriguing tales waiting to be discovered in Things Old and Forgotten. Prepare to be transported to realms of folklore and legend, where magic and wonder linger around every corner, and fantastic possibilities are limited only by imagination.

 

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Thanks again for hosting me today, Craig. In honor of my love for autumn—a fantastic time to curl up with a book—Things Old and Forgotten will be on sale for .99c through October 31st.

PURCHASE LINK

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