Wrath of the Gryphonwind is here!

It's finally here! Wrath of the Gryphonwind is now for sale at Amazon in a print edition! Wrath of the Gryphonwind is a gay-themed steampunk young adult novel with gryphons and dragons and a werewolf and...well, here's what it's about!

Young inventor Owen Pyke would rather build mechanical men and steam-powered potato peelers than become an armored, gryphon-riding knight of the sky. But joining the Gryphonwind guild is Owen’s only ticket out of the orphanage. Together with his beloved bond-gryphon Odrynn, Owen and his fellow Gryphonwind cadets train for aerial battle in the war to end faun slavery in the south. After Owen angers his faun friend By’yalt’r by flirting with By’yalt’r’s boyfriend Eryk, the faun disappears and Owen is suspected of harming him. Owen must quickly find out what happened to By’yalt’r while avoiding the violent anger of the faun’s bond-gryphon, along with a private detective hiding a terrifying secret and a nosy reporter who might be a werewolf. But an unsavory man follows Owen to stop the boy from uncovering the truth. And the angry Gryphonwind armies of the southern protectorates are drawing ever closer to the great city of Port Cedryssene...

Sounds like fun, doesn't it? There's plenty of action and excitement to enjoy! And check out the great cover art by April Danaher! Keep an eye open for Wrath of the Gryphonwind in Kindle and e-reader editions, coming soon! But you can get the print edition now. Enjoy!

Wrath of the Gryphonwind at Amazon.com

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UPDATE: Wrath of the Gryphonwind is now available in a Kindle edition! I'll have the version for other e-readers up soon, too.

Wrath of the Gryphonwind Cover Update

Artwork by April Danaher for Wrath of the Gryphonwind

Wow. Just...wow!

April Danaher has really outdone herself here. I love this! The characters, the colors, the whole atmosphere of the work is amazing! She really captured the boys (Owen and By'yalt'r) and the gryphon (Odrynn) so well! I get so tickled when I see something I created in words become pictures in someone else's hands.

Wrath of the Gryphonwind will be ready to read before you know it! Stay tuned for further updates.

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Wrath of the Gryphonwind Coming Soon!

Artwork by April Danaher for Wrath of the Gryphonwind

My YA fantasy novel Wrath of the Gryphonwind is nearing completion! It has young warrior knights flying into battle on armored gryphons and a gay teen love triangle and a murder mystery and...well, here's the description I wrote for it:

Young inventor Owen Pyke would rather build mechanical men and steam-powered potato peelers than become an armored, gryphon-riding knight of the sky. But joining the Gryphonwind guild is Owen’s only ticket out of the orphanage. Together with his beloved bond-gryphon Odrynn, Owen and his fellow Gryphonwind cadets train for aerial battle in the war to end faun slavery in the south. After Owen angers his faun friend By’yalt’r by flirting with By’yalt’r’s boyfriend Eryk, the faun disappears and Owen is suspected of harming him. Owen must quickly find out what happened to By’yalt’r while avoiding the violent anger of the faun’s bond-gryphon, along with a private detective hiding a terrifying secret and a nosy reporter who might be a werewolf. But an unsavory man follows Owen to stop the boy from uncovering the truth. And the angry Gryphonwind armies of the southern protectorates are drawing ever closer to the great city of Port Cedryssene...

I'm very excited about this one! But one thing I'm even more excited about is the cover art being created for it by April Danaher. April is an extremely talented artist, and those of you who follow the Ponies (you know who you are!) probably know her excellent work already from her DeviantArt page. The drawing above is the cover of the book prior to being painted in full color. Here's another sketch April made of the characters in my novel.



I love the concepts and the dynamism of her line drawings. Stay tuned for more information and a look at the finished cover for Wrath of the Gryphonwind!

BONUS PONY PIC: Here's one of my favorite Pony pictures by April, which was one of the pictures that convinced me she was the right artist for this project. I simply love this work!



"Summer Fun," by littletiger488

April's DeviantArt Page (littletiger488)
April's Website

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Wrath of the Gryphonwind Update

Today I finished the second draft of my latest novel, Wrath of the Gryphonwind. I like to write the first two drafts of my stories and novels in longhand and then type them into the computer. This novel has all kinds of adventure and drama, with warrior gryphons and a missing faun and a kid who just wants to find love, all wrapped up in the steampunk background of the glittering city of Port Cedryssene. If you have read my stories "Gryphonwind," "White Fire," "The Hot Bolt Kids," or "Freedom," you have already met some of the characters in the novel. I've created several new characters as well, including the aforementioned lovelorn kid who thinks he wants to be a soldier when what he really wants to be is an inventor. It will be a pretty fun ride, I hope. Anyway, now to let the novel rest for a short while and then on to the third draft! A writer's work is never done!

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"Gryphonwind" is up!

Hot off the press, my short story (well, novelette, really) "Gryphonwind" is now up at The Piker Press. The editor, Sand Pilarski, created a lovely illustration to go with the tale, which you must go see for yourself. "Gryphonwind" will be presented in four parts. Props to anyone from Cedar Cove who figures out what this tale is really about!

The story is currently on the front page of The Piker Press, and here's a hard link to "Gryphonwind" if you're looking for it after this week. I'll post links to the subsequent parts as updates to this post, so bookmark this post for future reference. Or better yet, just bookmark The Piker Press!

Thanks to Sand for believing in one of my favorite tales!

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UPDATE: Now that "Gryphonwind" has been moved off the front page at The Piker Press, I changed the link above, and here are links to the separate parts of the story. Sand's illustration graces Parts 2, 3, & 4 of the story. Enjoy!

Gryphonwind Part 1
Gryphonwind Part 2
Gryphonwind Part 3
Gryphonwind Part 4

Coming Soon: White Fire

I learned yesterday that my story "White Fire" has been accepted by Gypsy Shadow Publishing. There's no date set when it will appear, but it should be up soon. I'm pretty excited about "White Fire," as I am about "Gryphonwind" appearing at Piker Press. "White Fire" occupies the same universe as "Gryphonwind," and the stories share a few overlapping events. But the characters in "White Fire" are new, and the story is both exciting and touching. More to come as details develop!

Pictured: Gypsy Shadow creates covers for each work they publish, so I'm trying to come up with ideas and images of the characters to give their artist some ideas. The sketch above is one I made today of By'yalt'r, the main character of "White Fire."

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Coming Soon: Gryphonwind

A nice little online magazine called The Piker Press has graciously accepted my story (really a novella), "Gryphonwind." I learned today that the story should appear in the April 19 issue, and it will probably be put up in installments due to its length. "Gryphonwind" is an epic tale about gryphons and flying knights, dragons and witches and wizards, love and bravery and loyalty -- and it's based on a true story! I'll post another update when "Gryphonwind" goes online. Meanwhile, go check out the offerings at The Piker Press. I'm sure there's something there to keep you busy until April 19, right, Bruce?

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