#ExcerptWeek – USURPER’S LEGACY by Deborah Jay #EpicFantasy

September 19, 2015September 19, 2015 / Deborah Jay / Debby Lush / 4 Comments

So this time I am treating you to a teaser excerpt from my upcoming release, sequel to THE PRINCE’S MAN, titled (probably) USURPER’S LEGACY.

This is from the prologue, which gives us the climactic scene from the end of the previous book from the villain’s point of view…

“Risada!”

The high voice cut through the crackle and hiss of the burning hall. Mykel spun towards it and saw the one piece of good fortune left to him. When the beam fell, Lady Risada had been forced back from the dais and now stood, wavering on unsteady feet amidst tumbled chairs, two rows over. Mykel smiled. Small compensation, but at least one of Halnashead’s spies would not leave the hall alive. He raised his sword.

“I don’t think so.”

The voice came from right beside him—just before a chair crashed against his shoulder, knocking him off balance. One of its legs caught him along the side of the head and stars sparkled across his vision. The breath that whooshed out of his body was replaced by smoke as he inhaled, and he coughed it back up even as he lashed out at his attacker. His sword swung through empty space as something smacked into the back of one knee, felling him.

He landed in a tangle amidst fallen chairs and smouldering greenery. Heat seared his lungs as he struggled to regain his breath. If he didn’t escape the hall soon he would die, yet he still found his focus drawn to Lady Risada, on her knees now and so tantalizingly close.

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#Excerpt Week – Epic #fantasy – THE PRINCE’S MAN by Deborah Jay

September 14, 2015September 14, 2015 / Deborah Jay / Debby Lush / 8 Comments

Excerpt from THE PRINCE’S MAN

Epic fantasy ~ Think James Bond meets Lord of the Rings…

Chapter 12 – TUNNEL CREEPERS

Rustam squeezed past Nightstalker, and scrambled up behind Elwaes. He had no idea what tunnel creepers were, but the fear in the elf’s voice was all too apparent.

“Go Risada, go!”

The grey leapt forward, kicking loose stones from beneath its feet to clatter away down the mountainside, adding to the horses’ rising panic. Sickly pale, bloated creatures swarmed out of the holes, and Rustam gagged on the mephitic stench that preceded them. Risada’s mount spooked sideways and jumped half a length up the left bank to reveal the pallid, segmented body of a creeper blocking the path ahead.

The nightmarish thing, which stood as high as the gelding’s chest, shifted its weight rapidly between its six legs, threatening great speed although the huge body merely quivered up and down with the multiple joints clicking loudly. Tiny eyes glittered from behind its mouth-parts, vanishing as ragged fronds waved under its pincers. Those pincers with their wickedly serrated edges and pointed tips held Rustam’s horrified gaze, and he felt his empty stomach constrict even further: the monster’s exoskeleton looked as tough as armour, probably impervious to steel, except perhaps at the joints. Not that he had any desire to get close enough to test the theory. Continue reading →

#Excerpt from THE PRINCE’S MAN by Deborah Jay #EpicFantasy

June 7, 2015June 7, 2015 / Deborah Jay / Debby Lush / 1 Comment

Excerpt from THE PRINCE’S MAN – prologue

Risada tiptoed across the darkened bedchamber and felt behind the tapestry for the hidden niche. Her tiny fingers located it and she grinned as the lock tripped with a faint click.

She heard voices in the outer chamber and light flickered around the doorframe. Heart thudding against her ribs, she dropped to her knees and scuttled forward through the swinging panel into the secret room. This was such fun!

Careful to close the panel behind her—Daddy said you must always lock doors when you were going to have your back to them—Risada wasted no time clambering onto the chair she had positioned beneath the spy hole. Her nose wrinkled at the smell of dust. It seemed like ages since Daddy had shown her how to work the hidden catch. Certainly it had been before that woman had arrived.

At thought of Mistress Chalice, Risada scrunched her face up into a ferocious scowl. How she hated her dancing tutor. Oh, the woman was very polite, and she was very beautiful—all the servants said so—but Mummy didn’t like her so Risada didn’t either. And the maids were saying such wicked things about Mistress Chalice and Daddy. Well, tonight Risada was going to see for herself.

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Excerpt 2 from THE PRINCE’S MAN, #EpicFantasy by Deborah Jay. #readers #books

March 11, 2015March 13, 2015 / Deborah Jay / Debby Lush / 5 Comments

Yesterday I shared a snippet of dialogue from the first meeting of the two main characters in THE PRINCE’S MAN.

Today we have an action sequence. To set the scene, Rustam and Lady Risada are fleeing an enemy’s lands, burdened with an unconscious elf they have just rescued from a dungeon.

Enjoy 😀

Rustam tightened the horses’ girths while Risada filled the canteens. They had just remounted when thundering hooves pounded down the slope behind them and three riders burst into the clearing.

On the edge of his vision Rustam saw Risada drop the bay mare’s reins, draw her dagger and raise a blowpipe to her lips in one fluid set of movements, while he struggled awkwardly to free his sword from the saddle scabbard beneath his left thigh.

Nightstalker pranced eagerly, destroying the tiny moment of concentration he needed to snap his mind into high speed. The elf bounced in front of him, blocking his view. He cursed and curbed the mare sharply. She half reared in protest.

The glint of a blade sliced towards him. Rustam threw himself sideways just as Nightstalker squealed and lashed out with her hind feet. Already off balance, Rustam slithered from the saddle pulling the elf with him, and they crashed heavily to the ground. Continue reading →

#Excerpt week – THE PRINCE’S MAN by Deborah Jay #EpicFantasy #readers #books

March 10, 2015March 10, 2015 / Deborah Jay / Debby Lush / 4 Comments

Stepping up to the plate 😀

Thanks Marcia for this great idea – sampling authors we’ve not met before.

So here is a little teaser snippet from THE PRINCE’S MAN, a novel best summed up as ‘James Bond meets Lord of the Rings’.

Excerpt – THE PRINCE’S MAN

“Dart, meet Charmer. Charmer, meet Dart.”

Rustam looked pleadingly at Halnashead. “You’re joking, surely? You must be. She can’t be Dart; she’s—”

“What?” cut in Lady Risada. “A woman?”

“No! Well, yes. I suppose so.” Rustam shifted uncomfortably, his mind reeling as it tried to adjust to the concept of a noblewoman as a player. Female servants on occasion, yes. But a lady?

He glanced aside at the lady in question. She stared coldly back.

“Please, please!” Halnashead drew their attention. “I want you two to get on with each other. Does it surprise you so much, Rusty?”

“Rusty?” echoed Lady Risada derisively.

Taken aback by the lady’s obvious animosity, Rustam considered the prince’s question. “I suppose it shouldn’t. With her court position, the lady has access to all levels of nobility; certainly a great asset to your Highness.”

“And don’t you forget it, dancer boy,” muttered Risada.

Halnashead frowned. “Be nice, Risada. Rustam is my most skilled agent.”

“Most skilled womaniser, you mean!”

More to follow tomorrow…

Introducing Deborah Jay

October 3, 2014 / Marcia Meara / Leave a comment

So happy to have Deborah Jay joining our group. Deborah will have some updates around November 1, but for now, hope you’ll enjoy a quick introduction, and some info on her books, one of which is on sale through tomorrow, so act fast!

Fantasy Novelist Deborah Jay

Living mostly on the UK South coast, she has already invested in her ultimate retirement plan – a farmhouse in the majestic, mystery-filled Scottish Highlands where she retreats to write when she can find the time. Her taste for the good things in life is kept in check by the expense of keeping too many horses, and her complete inability to cook.

She has a dream of a day job riding, training and judging competition dressage horses and riders, and also writes books and magazine features on the subject under her professional name of Debby Lush.

A lifelong fan of science fiction and fantasy, she started writing her first novel aged eight, and has never stopped. Her debut novel, epic fantasy The Prince’s Man, first in a trilogy and winner of a UK Arts Board award, is available from most ebook retailers.

Her eco-Urban Fantasy, Desprite Measures, (first in a projected 5 book series) is the tale of a Scottish water sprite trying to live as a human, and is currently available on Amazon.

Desprite Measures is currently on sale for 99 cents.
Sale ends tomorrow, so act fast.

On the surface she’s a cute and feisty blonde, a slender pocket rocket fitness coach. But Cassiopeia Lake has a secret; she’s really a force of nature – an elemental.

Water sprite, Cassie, has lived undisturbed in her native Scottish loch for eons. Now, one encounter too many with modern plumbing has driven her to live in human guise along with her selkie boyfriend, Euan. It’s all going fine – until a nerdy magician captures Cassie to be an unwilling component in his crazy dangerous experiment.

Escape is only Cassie’s first challenge.

She’s smitten by her fellow prisoner, the scorching hot fire elemental, Gloria. But how do you love someone you can never touch?

And what do you do when your boyfriend starts to hero-worship your persecutor? Not to mention that tricky situation of being the prize in a power contest between two rival covens of witches.

So when Gloria’s temper erupts and she sets out to murder the magician, can Cassie keep her loved ones safe from the cross-fire, or will she be sucked into the maelstrom of deadly desires and sink without trace?

Buy Deborah’s Books Here:

Desprite Measures
The Prince’s Man – Amazon
The Prince’s Man – B & N
The Prince’s Man – Apple
The Prince’s Man – KOBO

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