"Grave Circumstances" Up for Pre-order!

I'm happy to say that my latest novella, "Grave Circumstances" is up for pre-order now for eBook, and will be releasing March 5th, 2021 in both eBook and Paperback!

Description:

Welcome to Eli’s Elixorium,
your one-stop potion shop…

Kennard Froste has come a long way from the kitchens of Draghof Keep to opening his first elixorium, where locals can sip tea, buy healing salves, or order a hand-crafted invisibility draught. He and his gnome wife, Nymiphi, have sunk their life savings into the shop, and nothing will stop them from making it a success. Not the outrageous taxes or permit fees. Not the strain it’s put on their marriage. Not even a horde of the undead.

It will take a staggering amount of holy water to combat the zombie legion, and only Kennard is equipped to handle it. As the town becomes overrun with animated corpses, it’s up to Kennard, Nymiphi, and an orc blacksmith and her elven wife to defeat the necromancer in their midst. Even if it means making the biggest sacrifice.

What the heck is a "Winds of Taramore Story?"

Simple! Taramore is a fantasy universe I've decided to jam any not-scifi stories into. Whenever you see "A WINDS OF TARAMORE STORY" then I'm just referring to a high-fantasy setting and you can bet that story will be packed with all the elves, goblins, humans, etc. AND fantasy tropes anyone could ask for. The various novellas and short stories, along with future novels, will all take place in this same setting and in some cases characters may overlap and there may be Easter eggs or references across novels even if the story lines are disconnected.

Okay...so, the heck is an Elixorium? An Eli?

So "Grave Circumstances" follows the first Elixorium set up by Kennard Froste and his wife Nymiphi in the fantasy realm of Taramore. I was sitting in the coffee shop I like to write at one day (as all writers do!) and the idea of Starbucks and other massive organizations which span various states, countries, regions, or jurisdictions sprang to mind. It's pretty amazing if you think about it, how many laws and different logistical nightmares one organization which spans various regions may have to deal with. I flipped that idea to a fantasy setting....what if you had a potion shop set in, like, Lord of the Rings? Adventurers are always wanting to get new potions or whatever to post their strength or perform great feats or heal wounds...various elixirs for their party. How much harder would logistics for a chain of cafes be, if they dealt with the rigors of a fantasy world? "Oh sorry, we cannot make your invisibility potion because our wagon train full of newt eyes got burned down in the mountain pass by a rather ornery dragon." or ... "hey I'm going to open this new potion shop in the goblin town down the road... and if that's so then the liability is going to be pretty high because goblins are notoriously rowdy."

So that was the core idea. Having a story take place around each new location would allow for the setting and location to really shine, and characters of those franchises to juggle trying to run a successful business with whatever overworld issue presented itself. Life rarely pigeonholes itself into inconveniencing you at your workplace! I just needed the name of the "franchise" now.

Fantasy potions...draughts....brews....elixirs...Elixir...Apothecary...Apothecarium...ELIXORIUM!

ELIXORIUM was born! Eli just happens to be a name associated with one of the characters, and a little bit of alliteration never hurt.

So there, that's my announcement and a glimpse into how my mind works and where the concept came from. You can preorder the eBook here--the paperback is still being formatted. Thank you for any support or reviews you end up leaving, it helps keep the dream alive!