Sunday, December 30, 2018

Where are we going in 2019?


2019 is just around the corner... literally! And we're working away behind the scenes on our offerings for the new year. There are some things on the books we aren't quite ready to officially announce, but we're happy to offer you some teasers so you can start anticipating.

What's coming to Altrix for the new year?

Early 2019: Unearthed

As promised, our first charity anthology will be coming in the first few months of the year. We don't have a specific publication date set yet, but we're looking forward to having some previews for you in the coming weeks! It's all coming together rather nicely, and we can promise a variety of stories from familiar names, up-and-coming writers, and a few new faces.


2019-2020: The Chronosmith Chronicles Year 1

The first books are underway! Our lineup of Year 1 titles is close to completion, and we're looking forward to sharing a closer look at the journey ahead with you. Seasons of War: Gallifrey won't be required reading, of course—these books will stand alone and feature the characters in an entirely new universe.


Summer 2019: A New Charity Anthology

Currently scheduled for this summer is another charity anthology, this one specifically Doctor Who related. We can't tell you much right now, but we'll say this: you won't see the Doctor anywhere in it. Beyond that, you'll just have to wait and see.


We have a few other projects that we're looking over between us that won't be ready to announce until we've made some final decisions on them, but suffice to say we're going to be bringing you at least the above this year. We look forward to dropping some specific dates on you soon!

Monday, December 24, 2018

A Warm and Happy Christmas Eve!


2018 has been a big year for both of us at Altrix Books. For one thing... well, we started Altrix Books! Initially meant as a vanity imprint to publish Seasons of War: Gallifrey, Altrix is now an opportunity for us to release some of our own work into the wild, and to introduce you to some wonderful new writers and their worlds.

We'll be checking in next week with a little run-down of what you can expect from us in the coming year. But for today, we wanted to take a moment and thank everyone who's given us a look in. Whether you're Doctor Who fans looking for new worlds to explore, authors seeking a new place to tell your stories, or our friends and family supporting our new endeavors, we're happy to have every single one of you on board!

Sadly, we don't have a present this year—we're working away on books and anthologies for the coming months, so consider that our retroactive gift to you. But if you'd like to take a look in on us during the holidays, here's where to find us:

Paul Driscoll continues to contribute to WhatCulture, and you can check out his contributions on his author page — a must for curious Doctor Who fans! He'll also be back with another analytical work from Obverse Books. Look forward to his book on Netflix's Stranger Things from the newly-launched Silver Archive line in the near future.

Kara Dennison is still working away on her blog. 2019 will see several new books and short stories, but for now you can keep an eye on her contributions to Crunchyroll! You can also see a new Doctor Who story from her in the charity anthology Mild Curiosities.

And we can't forget Ginger Hoesly, the artist behind our amazing covers and logos. You'll be seeing more from her in 2019, too! For now, check out her Etsy for geeky accessories and wearables, send your artsy friends to apply for her Peter Capaldi zine, and download the first book of Owl's Flower (co-created with Kara) for a cozy winter read.

Now, go and enjoy yourselves in whatever festive way you see fit. We'll be back with more next week.

Monday, December 17, 2018

UNEARTHED: What's to Come?


Hello again from the Altrix offices on both sides of the Atlantic! We hope everyone is having a relatively calm time preparing for the holidays. Both Paul and Kara are recovering from winter illness, but are staying strong as we prepare for 2019!

At present, stories are rolling in for Unearthed, and Kara is editing them and shipping them off to our illustrators as fast as they come in. The spread of styles, topics, and imagery across them is stunning. Some stories are gentle in tone, some downright psychedelic. We can't wait for you to see what our writers have come up with, and to discover some of the newer names in our line-up!

For the sake of transparency, we want to let you know that Kara has given authors an extended deadline so that they can tackle their stories amidst final exams, family gatherings, and (sadly) more winter bugs. This won't be affecting the release date to any great degree, though—we just know this is a rough time of year for unexpected happenings, and want to allow all our writers to have space to tackle those.


To use our time as effectively as possible, we're lining up several phases of production so they can happen bit by bit simultaneously. That means that as soon as the last piece is fitted in (whichever piece that happens to be), we're ready to go to print!

Again, Kara would like to thank everyone who's helped her with this project so far. It's looking to be fun and exciting—and a little bit weird—for all.

We haven't forgotten about the rest of Altrix's work, though! Paul is still working away on a summer charity anthology for Doctor Who fans, and both of us are hard at work writing and planning the trajectory of the first year of The Chronosmith Chronicles. There's a lot coming with the new year!

Sunday, November 4, 2018

UNEARTHED Artists: Meet Monica Marier


Our upcoming Unearthed anthology will feature not only twelve brand-new works of fiction, but also art from some extremely talented artists. While we put the book together, we'd like to introduce you to them. This week, we're taking a look at the work of artist and fantasy writer Monica Marier, who will be adding her touch to the book.

Monica is one of the minds behind Tangent Artists, and wielder of the pen for their three webcomic series: geek life series Donuts for Looking (concluded in 2016), macabre comedy Skeleton Crew, and "sword and sorcery and sarcasm" series CRIT!

Speaking of CRIT!, she also creates original short fiction for their spinoff books, including Miles Reyner's Handbook for Saucy Bards, The Cleric's Guide to Smiting, and The Rogue's Guide: Steal This Tome!

Keep an eye on her website for her more of her amazing art and fiction, and keep an eye out for her work in Unearthed!

Monday, October 22, 2018

Black Archive Research: Doctor Who (1996)

Both Kara and Paul have been privileged to write for Obverse Books' Black Archive range. As part of his research for volume 25 "Doctor Who (1996)", Paul carried out an extensive survey on the reception of the TV movie starring Paul McGann. The results inform every chapter of the book but for reasons of space could only appear in summary form. With kind permission of the Black Archive range editor, Philip Purser-Hallard, the full survey findings are available online here:

THE DOCTOR WHO TV MOVIE SURVEY FINDINGS

They offer some fascinating insights that will no doubt be of interest to researchers and fans alike.

The book itself is available to order along with the other volumes in the range, including Kara's study of the Peter Capaldi episode Heaven Sent. The full catalogue can be accessed here:

http://obversebooks.co.uk/theblackarchive/


Tuesday, October 9, 2018

A Message from Caudwell Children

While our copies of Gallifrey are not yet sold out, we have decided to forward what we have raised so far to the charity that Seasons of War was created to support, Caudwell Children. We received the following in response from Caudwell's Associate Director of Core Services, Lisa Bates:

Caudwell Children are so very grateful for this fantastic donation of £1,000. We would like to thank everyone involved in “Seasons of War: Gallifrey”; the Doctor Who fandom who have bought this wonderful novel, to the writers, Kara Dennison and Paul Driscoll, to Declan May for starting this all and also to Altrix Books for publishing it.

The charity’s management and running costs are covered by a kind benefactor, so all donations go directly to the children and families we help. Your donation will help us continue our life-changing work, it will make a huge difference in the lives of disabled children. 
From the bottom of our hearts, we cannot thank you all enough. x

We'd like to thank everyone who has purchased a copy of Gallifrey so far, and look forward to being able to increase our donation before the print run comes to an end. Print and digital copies can still be ordered directly from our website.

Thank you again for your support!

Monday, October 8, 2018

Not Last Call, But Approaching


Have you grabbed your copy of Seasons of War: Gallifrey yet? As we approach the end of our stock, we will be winding down promotions and sales, but we want to make sure everyone who wants a copy can get one.

As a reminder, the sales of Gallifrey are uninfluenced by the recent events around Seasons of War, as this book in particular is published and distributed by Altrix Books and we have received no communications concerning ceasing its sales. See our previous blog post for more information on this situation.

Order Seasons of War: Gallifrey here.

In the meantime, we are working on our three next projects. Kara is overseeing Unearthed, which can be expected in early 2019. Paul is completing editing on our next charity anthology, due out in the summer. And both of us are getting The Chronosmith Chronicles into place. In addition to putting together our "show bible," we are introducing some new faces to the cast of characters... including at least one created and designed by our artist, Ginger Hoesly!

More news will be coming soon. Thank you for your support!

Monday, October 1, 2018

UNEARTHED Writers: Meet Keith R.A. DeCandido


As we go through the writing period for Unearthed, we thought we'd take some time to introduce a few of our writers on the blog here and there. Some you'll have heard of, some you won't, and some you won't know you've heard of!

First up, Keith R.A. DeCandido — writer in the expanded universes of Star Trek, Doctor Who, Warcraft, Sleepy Hollow, and, coming soon, Alien.

Keith has been a mainstay both in the world of tie-in novels and on the East Coast convention circuit. We first met him via his convention appearances, and not only is he a fantastic writer, he's just a fun fella to be around. (He also teaches a really good self defense class!)


In addition to writing in familiar worlds, Keith has plenty of original material to his name. Fantasy fans may enjoy the Dragon Precinct books, a police procedural series set in a fantasy world. And all that entails.

We're happy to have Keith on board for Unearthed! If you're a fan of his, we hope you're looking forward to his contribution. If you're unfamiliar with him, you can find out more on his website. And if you're feeling generous and want exclusive content, check out his Patreon!

Monday, September 24, 2018

Statement on SEASONS OF WAR and the publication of GALLIFREY

Altrix Books is saddened to learn that the official Seasons of War page will be closing down soon. This is due to, according to new project manager Martin Meades, "a copyright and intellectual property request." They will be handling refunds and distribution of their own undistributed projects.

Seasons of War: Gallifrey, is different. Though commissioned by Declan May (the originator of Seasons of War), Gallifrey was published under the banner of Altrix Books, and at this time we have received no indication (from Seasons of War or anywhere else) that we must cease distribution of the book any earlier than we had planned to. Should we get this alert, of course, we will honor it. However, at present, we are keeping orders open until we have sold the last of our print run.

At the time of this writing, we have raised £1,000 for Caudwell Children with your generous help. We look forward to increasing that number before the final donation is sent off. To that end, you may still purchase copies from our website while supplies last.

It is also worth noting at this point that neither Paul Driscoll nor Kara Dennison works in any official capacity with the Seasons of War brand beyond the writing and publishing of Gallifrey, nor do they have information or access that will enable them in any way to help with claims, refunds, or distribution of materials. Any information to the contrary, no matter where it may be printed, is erroneous.

If you would like to continue to follow our activity on social media after the closing of the Seasons of War page, you can find us on Facebook as Altrix Books and on Twitter @altrixbooks.

Thank you for your continued support, and we look forward to presenting our next books in the coming months.

Sunday, September 16, 2018

On pitching.


Once again, we'd like to thank everyone who pitched a story to Unearthed! There were so many amazing ideas sent our way, and while we had to turn away some to keep the book from being a brick, every concept was a joy to read.

In the future, we will be accepting more pitches — both for anthologies and for stand-alone books. We look forward to hearing new ideas from more of you in future. In the meantime, we thought we'd talk a little bit about what makes a good pitch to us.

Paul and Kara are both writers, and Kara is an editor by day, so we've been on both sides of the process. We also know that every editor is different, so what we say may not apply to another publisher. But if you're looking to warm up to one of our next calls, a few things to bear in mind:

Include the ending of the story in your pitch.

There's nothing like a good cliffhanger, and we're always told to "leave them wanting more." And in some cases, that's a good thing to do. But when pitching stories to us, please including the ending. This is for a few reasons.

1. We need to know you know it. We're both writers, and we know how it is to get a good idea and not quite have the ending stuck yet. So we want to know, if you're offering us an idea, you know where you're going to go with it.

2. The ending is essential to knowing if we want the story. We love twists-in-the-tale and surprise endings, but we need to know what we're in for. The upshot of your story may help us decide it doesn't fit into what we're doing; conversely, it may be what gets you accepted. (There are at least two cases in Unearthed of the story's ending being the prime reason it was picked.)

3. We don't want no funny business. We don't want to end up getting to the end of a finished product and discovering that it contains content or sentiments we cannot or do not want to publish.


Follow the directions.

We're not putting up an overall "How to pitch" page yet because we have a few things we're still working out, and because it will likely vary from project to project (and depending on whether Kara, Paul, or both are at the forefront of it). So we'll convene on an overall Altrix Pitching System.

But for the short term, just know that the more closely you follow the directions laid out, the more likely you are to get accepted. Sticking to what we've laid out shows us that you're easy to work with, and is reassurance that if we have to send out emails with new info on a deadline, you'll be able to cope with it.


Make sure you enjoy what you're pitching.

This may seem like an odd request, but seriously. Make sure what you're sending us is something that interests you, and something you'd want to do if we said "yes." It's very easy to tell when someone is sending us an idea they're enthusiastic about as opposed to something they're rolling out just to get another pitch in. Again, we know. We're writers, and we've done both.

If the call we've got open at the moment doesn't interest you, don't worry. We have plenty of plans for the future. It's okay to wait on something that grabs your attention.


At the moment, we aren't accepting submissions for anything, as we're working away on two charity anthologies and gearing up for a series. But in the near future, keep your eyes open for more opportunities!

Monday, September 10, 2018

Thanks to our reviews and shout-outs!




It's been a busy first book launch for us! We're pleased to see so many people reading, leaving reviews, and spreading the word about Seasons of War: Gallifrey.

We're also grateful for the feedback from our readers, as it's helping us to create our "show bible" for The Chronosmith Chronicles. Knowing what you liked and what resonated with you is helping us to bring Mordicai, Savalia, Kendo, and Tor Fasa into the next stage of their adventures.

If you'd like to help spread the word (and we'd love to have you help) and aren't sure what to do, here's a few ways you can help us as we finish out our print run of this book:

Follow us on social media!

You can find us on Facebook and on Twitter. Both Paul and Kara keep an eye on these accounts, so it's a good way to get in touch with us. Plus, we keep it very active, with news not only on our own work, but also on our projects elsewhere and publications by friends of our co-founders. So you should be able to find several things of interest there.

You might also want to follow Kara on Facebook and on Twitter, or Paul on Twitter as well. Those are our personal accounts, though, so only the respective person will see what's on there. Still, we're both up to a lot outside Altrix, so you might like what you see!


Give our designer some love!

Ginger Hoesly is an amazing artist and designer who will be working with us again in future. If you'd like to support more of her work, check out her Instagram, Twitter, and Tumblr. She also has a shop on Tictail where you can pick up artbooks, prints, and more — especially interesting if you're a Doctor Who fan!

Incidentally, Ginger and Kara work together on the light novel series Owl's Flower, so check that out for more reading material and more ways to support us. And Ginger will have a zine of interest coming soon, so keep an eye out!


Review us on GoodReads!

It's a fact of life (at least for writers) that reader reviews mean a lot. So if you're on GoodReads, please drop us a review!


Spread the Word!

When you do, be sure to mention that proceeds from this book go to Caudwell Children. It's a good cause we're happy to support.


And of course, don't forget to get your copy while there's still time!

Monday, September 3, 2018

UNEARTHED: Meet Our Authors!



From archaeologists to grave robbers, from legendary criminals to explorers, everyone wants to know: What's in the Box? And thanks to our intrepid authors and artists, we can finally find out.

Unearthed will be an anthology celebrating the magic, horror, and mystery that comes with human curiosity. Our creators are a mix of familiar faces, new talent, and experienced writers from multiple circles.

Authors confirmed for Unearthed:

James Bojaciuk
Keith DeCandido
Kara Dennison
Paul Driscoll
Richard Gurl
I. E. Kneverday
James K. Maddox
Michael O'Brien
John Peel
Meredith Peruzzi
Graham Tedesco-Blair
Sharyna Tran

With cover design by Ginger Hoesly and interior art by Sophie Iles and Monica Marier


The stories will cover a broad spectrum spanning genres. You'll cross paths with everyone from gentleman thief A.J. Raffles to the god of curiosity. Historical pieces muse on the Fort River Dam and the poetry of Longfellow. Explorations take us through dimensional portals and into outer space, and reexamine the fates of the King of Kings and the King of Knights. Resurrectionists make a "grave" mistake, an ancient game turns into a deadly meme, and competitive cooking goes off the rails with today's very special ingredient.

All proceeds for Unearthed will go to ARCE, the American Research Center in Egypt, which is devoted to preserving ancient Egyptian culture and supporting scholars and archaeologists.

Unearthed goes on sale in early 2019, with preorders set to open at a later date. Thank you for all your support — we look forward to opening the doors of Altrix Books' first anthology!

Monday, August 20, 2018

What's Next for Altrix? Unearthed Progress and the Chronosmiths

Thanks to everyone for continuing to pick up our books! Again, we only have a limited number of books available, and once they're gone, they're gone. We will not be doing a second print run of Seasons of War: Gallifrey, and the digital copies will also be closing out around the time the print issues are gone.

But there's more coming from Altrix in the future!


Submissions are now closed for Unearthed, and Kara is currently going through them. Contributors should be hearing one way or the other very soon, and we'll make an announcement on here and social media once everyone has been contacted, just to make sure nothing slips through the cracks.

Judging by early work sent by featured writers and the quality of the submissions we received, it's going to be an amazing anthology! We can't wait to tell you more!


We also can't wait to tell you more about The Chronosmith Chronicles, our upcoming series spun off from Savalia, Mordicai, Kendo, and Tor Fasa! Early preparations are underway to create stories and accept guest submissions, so keep your ears to the ground!

As we mentioned before, thanks as ever for the support. We can't wait to show you what the future has in store. Just a few more little things to put in place!

Sunday, August 12, 2018

A Word with Paul and Kara



Seasons of War: Gallifrey has been on the market for just a little while, but we're already seeing positive comments and reviews from many of you! Thanks to everyone showing us your copies as they come in, and for letting us know what you think of our first book.

For interested readers — both current and potential — we thought we'd share a bit of the Q&A we sent around to our reviewers:

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What was it like collaborating with a second writer?

KD: I’m used to collaborating because of my work in webcomics, and because I work with Ginger Hoesly (our cover artist) on a light novel series. Every collaboration is going to be different. Sometimes one of us does all the typing, sometimes we both do literal 50/50, sometimes it’s more like 100/100. The one constant in entering into a collaboration is that there are no constants!
Paul and I hashed things out a lot over Skype. There would be these long silences between the two of us as we both sat there trying to figure out what to do next, but I think we were on an equal footing across the board. At least in terms of mapping out this story, we were bordering on Drift Compatible quite a bit; we’d make the same decisions the other would have made, we had the same feelings about how it should end and how the characters should evolve, etc. Declan is amazing at matching up authors!

I also think we both worry that we’re each not doing our fair share! In the end, he’s handled a lot of the editing and formatting, and I’ve taken point on the digital side of things. And that’s a part of collaboration that people often forget: what happens once the story is done, and how you get it out there, is yet another facet of working together.

PD: This was a completely new experience for me and I’ve loved every minute of it. Kara and I had never worked together before and we really only knew each other in passing, but Declan knew exactly what he was doing when he allocated the various writers for the novels. We shared the same vision for the book right from the start and our personalities and writing strengths complement each other really well.
As we wrote our allocated chapters it was great to be able to bounce off ideas with each other, or share the odd lines of dialogue to see whether or not it worked. Other characters came out from the shadows as a result. They become far more important to the story then we’d initially imagined. Caelion and Bez being the perfect examples.


Is there any character you in particular associate with the most?

KD: There’s this great anime creator named Leiji Matsumoto, and one of his most memorable series was this show Captain Harlock. The lead was this dashing space pirate, and his best friend was this
doofy little engineer named Tochiro. Matsumoto has said that Harlock is what he wishes he could be, and Tochiro is what he knows he is.

I think that’s what happened with me and Savalia and Kendo, respectively. Savalia is this really caring, really strong, really artistic and “together” person. But Kendo is much more what I really am from day to day, worrying what people think of her and making really horrible decisions and then having to deal with the fallout. There was this moment when I was working on Kendo’s chapters when my brain just went “I wonder what happens when someone with two hearts has a panic attack,” and there we are. Messed up a perfectly good Time Lord is what I did. Look at her, she’s got anxiety.

PD: I can see parts of me in all four of the lead characters: Mordicai’s social awkwardness and rebellious streak, Savalia’s conflict between wanting to be there for her family and wanting to escape into a world of pure imagination, Kendo’s feeling of being the odd-one-out, the one who needs to prove herself in a position of power, and Tor Fasa’s illogical blend of idealism and cynicism.

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The Q&A goes on in our reviewer packet. If you'd be interested in reviewing Seasons of War: Gallifrey for your podcast, blog, or website, get in touch with us on Facebook or Twitter!

And remember, the book will only be on sale for a limited time... when they're gone, they're gone! So be sure to order yours while you can!

Thursday, August 2, 2018

Seasons of War: Gallifrey is here!


The time has come: Seasons of War: Gallifrey is now in stock and ready to order!

Those who pre-ordered print and e-books should be receiving their copies in the coming days. Thank you for your patience and your support!

If you would like to order your copy, head to the book's landing page. Orders are conducted via PayPal, with separate pricing for UK and overseas orders. You can also order a digital version, or a print/digital combo. Be sure to double check your order for print editions, as shipping prices inside and outside of the UK are significantly different.

Thanks to everyone for their patience as we completed this book! We're very excited to present you with our hard work, and with Altrix Books's first title. More will be forthcoming in future!

Monday, July 23, 2018

CALL FOR PITCHES: "Unearthed," a Charity Anthology of Discovery


Whether you're disappointed it wasn't Alexander the Great (again) or lining up to drink some of that red corpse juice, you've probably got some major feelings on the discovery inside Alexandria's black sarcophagus. Are you interested? Let down? Is there something you were secretly hoping it would be?

Then we want to hear from you.

Unearthed is a charity anthology coming in 2019 from Altrix Books and edited by Kara Dennison (Owl's Flower, Seasons of War: Gallifrey), bringing together creators from all walks of life to tell stories of the contents of any coffin, sarcophagus, mausoleum, or other Big Mysterious Tomb. It can be funny, it can be scary, it can be thought-provoking — just as long as it's interesting.



Who Are We Looking For?

Unearthed is aiming to be a collection featuring creatives from all walks of life. Regardless of your background in education or exploration, we want to see what your minds dream up when presented with an unopened tomb.

That said, we're looking for both writers and artists to fill this volume!


What Are We Looking For?

Stories of up to 7,000 words, centering around the contents of a large sealed container. While it doesn't have to be funereal in nature, it should be something long-buried or long sealed away.

The contents could be a person, a thing, a non-corporeal entity, a feeling... but we do ask that whatever it is be identified at some point in the story. (Please, no "Maybe the real sarcophagus is the friends we made along the way" type stories... You can absolutely put twists in, but please tell us what's in the box!)

The setting is completely flexible. It can be past, present, future. On-world, off-world, fictional world. The climax of the story doesn't even have to be the opening and discovery of the box. Feel free to play with the theme.

Artists: we are looking for black and white art along the same themes.


What's the Charity?

All proceeds from Unearthed will go to ARCE, the American Research Center in Egypt. Founded in 1948, ARCE assists more than a dozen archaeological teams per year, as well as providing housing and materials for scholars in Cairo. They are also heavily involved in the preservation of major historical sites, and offer training programs for conservation and site management. It's our hope that our curiosity and love of history can benefit theirs.


Important Dates

August 15: Last day for pitches.

September 30: The date by which everyone will have heard back on their status.

December 14: Last date to ask for extensions.

December 15: Last day for submissions.

If you do not feel you can make these dates, please look forward to our next open call.


Provisos

  • We understand that doing unpaid work is not plausible for all creators, and thus wish to reiterate before anyone chooses to sign up that this is a charity anthology. 100% of proceeds will go to ARCE, with neither Altrix Books nor contributors receiving financial compensation. Please take this into consideration before pitching.
  • We are looking to keep this publication approximately PG-13 in rating. Artists, please take this into account as you plan your work. Writers, please keep language to about Goonies level.
  • No fanfiction, please. You may not use licensed characters in your work unless they are licensed to you — in which case feel free!
  • If you want to use public domain characters (Dracula, Sherlock Holmes, etc.), go with a light touch and make sure you bring something new to the table. We're absolutely not against playing with "open-source" casting, but bear in mind there are other people pitching, and if two people try to tell the same story one of you is going to have to change.
  • High-end knowledge of history and archaeology are not required. However, if you involve the culture and religious practices of a real group of people in your story, please research it at least enough so as to not put your foot in it.

Ready to bring your story into the light of day? Fill out this form to get started!

Sunday, June 3, 2018

COMING SOON: Book Orders Re-Opening!


Hello, and thank you all for your patience as we prepare to print Seasons of War: Gallifrey! It's been a long road putting things together and getting things in line, but the end is in sight. We're to the point of measuring book spines and doing up invoices.

For those who haven't had a chance to order -- once we have physical copies in house (or in houses), we'll be opening orders again.

For those who've ordered, you should have received some digital goodies in the form of free short stories. We will be letting you all know when the book itself is on its way to your doorstep!

For now, keep an eye on the Seasons of War Facebook page for the latest news!