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* An outcast rogue must break a curse put on his fate, or die on his nineteenth birthday. To survive, he'll need the sword of a maiden, the aid of an immortal, and the power of forbidden magic that could cost him the only girl he ever loved. **** *** THE JACK OF SOULS won a Silver IPPY this year! *** THE JACK OF SOULS won 1st place in the PNWA Competition in Fantasy! * *** THE JACK OF SOULS won 1st place in the Southwest ��������rs competition! * *** A "Featured Book" on ��������! * *** Now a "Staff Pick" on Kickstarter! * *** Available on Amazon in paper, hardback, and ebook ! * *** My contract with Kindle Select won't allow me to post more than 3 chapters here, but... *** Sign up for my newsletter on stephenmerlino.com for alerts when it's free on Amazon! * MY INSPIRATION I wrote this out of pure love of trickster rogues; I love the wit over brawn motif -- Odysseus over Achilles, Raven over Eagle -- so I like to play with it in my stories. In JOS I set the rogue and con-artist Harric against a foil of warriors in a land threatened by magic and civil war. Whenever possible I turn familiar tropes on their heads: instead of a handsome young Lancelot, I cast a broken-down ex-champion addicted to pain-killing herbs; instead of a dashing Squire Brian, the old knight reluctantly takes an ambitious young woman as squire. Similarly, I re-imagine the standard medieval milieu by infusing aspects of two of my favorite historical periods, Elizabethan England, and The American Frontier. Both eras boast a kind of nationalistic arrogance that borders on hubris, and a magnificent spirit of resourcefulness and re-invention that is fun to play with. SERIES The Jack of Souls is first in a series. I am posting parts of the sequel here now (The Knave of Souls), to help me refine the story.

Everybody says that Hunter has a horrible sense of direction, not to mention that his lies are always over-the-top. He gets lost frequently and can be gone for days at a time, then suddenly reappear with another crazy story, like how he was being chased by a dragon around a desert island. Thing is, they aren't lies. Hunter is one of the rare few who have the ability to hop from world to world with next to no effort. Years after Hunter gave up telling people what happens every time he vanishes, he has become a World Explorer for the IDWES (the Inter Dimensional World Explorer Society). He isn't famous, though. In fact, most world explorers don't even know of him. But he is one of the most efficient World Explorers out There. After years of expecting the unexpected and keeping an eye out for anything that might be there, the last thing he expected to happen (though it was still on the list) happens soon after he finishes mapping an area. His thirteen-year-old niece Saffron runs into him, in the dark, otherworldly, monster infested forest he was mapping. And he can't bring her home, because she was cursed. And she can't tell him who did it. What will happen to the pair? ------------------------------------------------------------- On pause till I finish writing the whole thing next month! Sorry 'bout that!

When your soul is hunted, you can't hide forever. Thousands of years ago, an evil known as the corruption seeped into the land. Where once it was contained by the Sentinels -- humans or elves gifted with magic -- it now thrives unchallenged, gaining strength and claiming those that once fought it for its own. Nineteen year old Skye has always known this. Living with demons on your doorstep is a constant fight for survival, but she’s determined to not become one of the corruption’s monsters. To keep her soul pure, no matter the cost. But with the Sentinels gone, betrayed by their own, it’s only a matter of time before the corruption seizes them all. When a scouting mission goes awry and Skye is taken prisoner, her blades can’t save her. Marked by the corrupted Sentinel, she waits for a fate worse than death to take hold. Only when the Silverborn, knights dedicated to fighting the corruption come to free her does something awaken within her. Something powerful. The power of a Sentinel. Celestial. Fire. Water. Nature. Shadow. None are safe from the corruption. *+*+*+*

Sam Dalcome thinks he is so completely average that no one ever notices him. Until he discovers a mysterious stranger outside his home. Bewildered, he tries to uncover the stranger's intentions. But Sam is sidetracked when he and his friend Travis discover a secret passageway deep in the town's quarry that leads to a hidden cavern. What they uncover next will not only change their lives forever, but will uncover the first clue to a deadly Dalcome family secret. Sam finds himself drawn into a world of mystery and magic he never knew existed, which brings him closer to a destiny he never knew was possible. HAVEN SERIES: Known as a place of refuge, Haven is a sanctuary for those with supernatural abilities. Decades of peace between the Witches, Vampires, Goblins, Elves, and Orcs is coming to an end. Now the once tranquil world is shrouded in deception and corruption. Dark secrets tear at the very fabric of their alliance giving way to an evil that stirs in the shadows. Exhilarating and utterly gripping, the HAVEN series is an action-packed journey full of suspense, magic, mystery, and intrigue.

There are a lot of names for people like Kali. Mind-deaf. Handicapped. Disabled. Null. In a world where telepathy is as easy breathing, Kali is doomed to be an outcast. Born without the ability to communicate mind-to-mind, she spends her days working as a waitress at The Echo, a legendary rock club where telepathy is banned. And then she sees him. Cian is more than just a rock star. Hailing from a foreign land half an ocean away, there's a reason his fans call him a rock god...and it's more than just his music. It only takes one song from Cian for Kali to realize that telepathy isn't the only psychic ability out there. And for the first time in her life, she starts to believe she might be more than just a null. But more is at stake than Kali's budding powers. A long dead war is given life anew. Kali has to figure out who she is and who she can trust before it's too late.

Ambrose. The name is not only feared, but shunned and reviled. He's a monster sentenced to a life of desolation and loneliness, and no one but his tormentor knows his whereabouts - at the bottom of the ocean. A creature of the sea cursed because of one simple mistake... Mari. Her life was a small happy bubble until it's popped by the finding out that her boyfriend has been cheating on her - just as the cruise ship she's on starts to sink! She's sure that death is near until she drowns upon an underwater cave...and a hulking man with swirling eyes. Seeing a chance to escape, Ambrose forces the terrified Mari to help them both, but not before ultimately changing her life...and her legs. Their worlds turning upside in the matter of minutes, Ambrose is on a mission to clear his name and Mari's on a mission to return to land. But how can she do that when she slowly starts to fall for the dangerous, damaged man who only wants to be free...and heal her own heart in the process? THIS IS A FREE SAMPLE

[Featured Story and �������� Prize Winner 2014] When Malachi, an exiled murder, activates a magic relic and duplicates his world, he uses his newly found power to win over the Larks, dog-like creatures from the North. Seeking to locate his missing daughter and plot revenge on those responsible for her disappearance, Malachi marches south, leaving destruction in his wake. Whik Winfield, a young, adventurous Hemonstalian, is swept up in the chaos. He escapes with fellow survivors to the mysterious island of Sebolt, leaving everything he knew behind, including his best friend Sonora. Whik hoped peace could be restored in his new home, but when he finds a mysterious device and creates a world of his own, his troubles double. Can Whik understand how to wield his world-building power before Malachi takes it all away? When the path of worlds can change with a shift in the wind, Whik learns that all second chances come with a price. This dark fantasy novel interweaves Whik's story at ages 9 and 17, as he comes to terms with creating another him, attempts to stop the fall of his nation from a ruthless murderer, and realizes that in order to save the girl he loves in one world, he may have to die in another.

A Prophecy. A Shipwreck. The Battle for Britain begins... They hardly remember the May-children. The one hundred and forty children King Arthur exiled from Britain. Mordred – he’s the one they talk about. They say he was the only May-child who survived. They were wrong. This is the story of the children King Arthur sent to their deaths on the strength of Merlin’s prophecy. This is the untold history of the Children of the May. Children of the May is the first novel in S. J. Moore’s Children of the May saga. Inventively adapted from tales in Thomas Malory’s Le Morte d’Arthur and other medieval sources, the Children of the May stories are full of action, adventure, mystery, humour and romance - a version of the Arthurian legends for today.

Welcome to the new age. In the year 2090, players can enter a Lord of the Rings-like world for themselves. Jump into Tralheim. Join the revolution. Luke, a recent university graduate, Noelle, a high school dropout, and Tetsu, a sixty-five year old retired businessman have formed a fellowship, one built upon both companionship and trust. Together, their adventures have taken them from one end of the world to the next. After two years of play, they have conquered Tralheim and retired to a quaint seaside town. Luke prefers the quiet life, while Noelle is still haunted by scars from her past. And Tetsu? He’s just a perverted old man. Life is good. Unknown to them, something sinister moves in the dark. Something that will sunder the very rules of the game. Evil has its eyes on Luke, plotting his destruction from the Gray Tower. New companions, old enemies, and a talking wolf: Luke, Noelle, and Tetsu are in for one hell of a ride. They just don’t know it yet.