Fantasy

An offer he couldn’t refuse

Hey,

Last week was Easter, and we didn’t realize it until the Scribe got a call to celebrate with family. So happy belated Easter to those who already celebrated it and Happy Easter to those who will celebrate it soon.

You know you’ve been working too hard when holidays roll up, and you’re all kinds of unaware and unprepared. But we got Summon The Gods, book 2 of the Rogue Gods Trilogy finally edited, formatted and illustrated. It’s with the printer now, and we should hopefully have a proof copy soon. Fingers crossed!

In other news, Melinda guest starred on The Thirteenth Hour podcast hosted by Joshua Blum, and he provided our podcast with an excerpt plus an introduction to his podcast. Kristin Ardis also dropped by to talk about her book, Smoke and Light. Listen to our podcast in your player of choice. Or Watch it on YouTube.

Gateway To Hell (book 1) clocked in at 430 pages because of the illustrations. Summon The Gods (book 2) clocked in at 530 pages because of the illustrations, and it’s also a longer story since it has 54 chapters and Gateway to Hell has 47. But the page count may increase or decrease if we need to make formatting changes.)

No one knows how many chapters book 3, Storm the Gates will have. So far, Melinda has written 27 chapters, so we’re probably living on a prayer and borrowed time at this point because that’s how this crew of hellraisers rolls!

This is Ran, your host as usual, writing on behalf of my Scribe, Melinda, even though she does all the typing. I’m the loveable son from the Curse Breaker series where I have to repeatedly remind my papa, who’s a mage, that magic is cool. I don’t know why he thinks it’s not. (Actually, I do know now, but when I was a kid, I didn’t understand that at all.)

I’m also a mage and an adult in the Rogue Gods Trilogy since it takes place partially in an alternate future. And now I’d like to return you to our preview of Gateway To Hell, book 1 of the Rogue Gods Trilogy, which you can get in our upcoming kickstarter!

In our last newsletter, we met Guerren, and he fought in the last battle of a war that ended thousands of years before I was born. Then an archangel proceeded to kick Guerren’s butt.

And now back to our preview of Gateway to Hell, book 1 of the Rogue Gods Trilogy. We pick up in scene 2 of Chapter 1 which takes place thousands of years later when I’m actually alive.

But Guerren would like to stare into your soul again, so here’s a picture of some art from Gateway To Hell from a different chapter.

He really likes staring into your soul. Do you perchance have any army in there?

As you’ll see in a minute, Guerren is hunting for another army to lead since he lost the last one.

Rogue Gods #1: Gateway To Hell

Fallen But Not Forgotten (Chapter 1, scene 2)

Now, Somewhere in Hell

Guerren slapped his face. Move, damn it. You can’t stay here, or they’ll find you. He didn’t want to relive the interminable fall, his imprisonment by that plant-like creature, and the experiments the Fallen did to steal his pagan godhood. I never found out why they wanted a piece of that.

Perhaps they wanted the sliver of divinity that remained after the Fall. Perhaps the Fallen just liked to torture his kind. Only they knew why they did anything, and he wouldn’t stop one to ask.

You need to move. You can’t stay in the alley. But he was tired of running. Where could he go, anyway? There wasn’t any way to escape from Hell, and even if there was, his chains wouldn’t let him leave. Just thinking about what bound him to this realm caused the black manacles to appear around his ankles. They weren’t always visible, but he felt their cold black iron.

Darkness covered the city now in an imitation of nighttime. The alley seemed to close in around him, and he clenched his fists.

“You chose this,” said the archangel in his memory. He still didn’t know which one spoke to him at the end of the last battle when the Morning Star, better known as the Adversary, lost and the archangels threw him down into this place. Of course, they’d also thrown his army down with him.

I can’t even fault them for that. I’d have done the same thing in their place. That just made his current circumstances even more frustrating.

“It doesn’t have to be like this,” she whispered, but when he turned, there was no one else in the alley.

Look how far you’ve fallen, from a war god to a man stripped of his powers, creeping around a dark alley. Guerren shook his head. How the mighty had fallen. But he scanned the shadowed lumps along both sides of the alley anyway because her voice must have come from somewhere.

“You can rise again,” she said. She was probably a delusion, or a succubus hidden nearby was having a little fun at his expense.

“No, I can’t. I’m damned and stuck here because I chose the wrong side in a war that changed everything.” And that was his fault. They said pride went before the fall, and boy were they right. Guerren clenched his fists. “There’s no redemption for me.” Maybe he could get some payback and get some of his powers back. A remnant burned in his heart, so he wasn’t completely powerless.

“What if you’re wrong? Are you prepared to let your last chance slip away?” she asked.

“Lady, I told you. There are no more chances, not for me. I turned against the Creator, and he’s not a forgiving deity.” Guerren turned away from the voice.

“What if you’re wrong? You haven’t answered that question. “A light kindled at the other end of the alley and a door creaked open. “Come and find out who’s right if you dare.” A silhouette of a woman gestured to the light behind her.

“Who are you?” He shielded his eyes.

“I’m not important, but I represent someone who is. She can help you, but only if you’ll do the work required.” She crooked her finger.

“And if I don’t?” Although he had nothing better to do and nowhere to go.

“Hell has no fury like an angry woman. Are you sure you want to anger her? “The silhouette turned and stepped into the light. “Come and see if your dark deeds can be redeemed.”

Guerren glanced the other way into the impenetrable darkness at the other end of the alley. But it didn’t call him. That woman did, though. Well, it’s not like I have anything to lose. I’ve lost everything already. His situation could get worse, but perhaps it could also get better. I won’t know unless I follow her.

And he was a gambling man at heart, risking the lives of his soldiers in every battle. Guerren ghosted after her, making barely a sound as he glided over the broken cobblestones.

***

We’ll continue with scene 3 of chapter 1 next week, and we’ll see what trouble Guerren gets into next.

Don’t forget to follow the Kickstarter, so you know when it launches. Guerren is on the right. You’ll meet the other two characters in an upcoming newsletter!

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Get Ready For Rogue Gods!

Since the characters ran away with the plot,some books that have already published tie into the trilogy either directly because events in them are also in the Rogue Gods Trilogy.

This is Ran, and I had nothing to do with this. Remember that, even if you see me in those stories that tie directly to the Rogue Gods Trilogy.

That said, here are the books that tie directly into the Rogue Gods Trilogy:

(Shows what Papa and Robin were doing during the end of Summon the Gods, book 2 of the Rogue Gods Trilogy.)

(Ties into Storm the Gates, book 3 of the Rogue Gods Trilogy,and shows what Papa and the kid version of me were doing during certain events in the trilogy.)

(Ties into Storm the Gates, book 3 of the Rogue Gods Trilogy,and shows what Papa and the kid version of me were doing during certain events in the trilogy. Also, a certain dragon-obsessed character chases dragons.

This book is coming soon! It’s the sequel to Shards For His Gift.)

In Case You Missed It