Genre: Urban Fantasy
Magic Forgotten is an Adult Urban Fantasy set in Eastern PA. It is the story of a paraplegic, freelance writer who has withdrawn from the world only to be dragged back out by the appearance of two strangers in his back yard. They are a Sidhe, the old elves of England, and a human wizardess, a captive of the elf, and they are here to take over the world. The writer and the wizardess have to stop the elf from achieving his plans.
Excerpt
Dan awoke with a splitting headache.
This was not surprising considering he was seated at his desk with his head resting on the computer keyboard. The corner of the escape key pressed into his forehead hard enough to leave an impression.
“At least they left the computer.” He mused as he tried to look around at the room. Everything seemed to spin as he moved. He lifted a hand to his forehead as he groaned in pain. His groan stopped as he felt something imbedded in the skin just above his nose, between his eyebrows. He probed with his fingers, trying to judge what it was. Smooth and oval, was all he could tell by touch. As he lowered his hand to look at his fingers for any residue, he noted something on the back of his wrist. Both wrists, he soon saw, had oval green gems the size of a nickel imbedded in the skin, just above the joint where it did not impair movement. As far as he could tell by touch, they matched the stone in his forehead. The sickly green color did little to help Dan’s queasy stomach.
His computer screen caught his attention as he examined his wrist. On the screen was a logo Dan did not immediately recognize, a sign-on for a database he had never entered before, to his knowledge. Looking from his hands to the screen, Dan wondered: had he had been typing under someone else’s control and accessed something he wasn’t supposed to see?
“Oh, shit. Steven King strikes again.”
About the Author
A lifelong Pennsylvania resident, Jack began a love of books sitting amid the mystery of hospitals and medical paraphernalia. Mythology of all cultures and a fascination with martial philosophies led to King Arthur, the knights of the round table and an array of science fiction and fantasy authors that had a strong impact on his life.
Real life got in the way of a writing career to start, but thirty years in the life and medical insurance field led Jack to a job as a stringer for local newspapers and writing for medical and insurance journals. In addition to years in the insurance field Jack also has fifteen years experience as a journalist and freelance writer, and has even won a Keystone Press Award (1998) for his journalistic efforts. Jack has written on a wide variety of subjects and keeps his hand in medical and insurance matters on a daily basis.
In addition to newspaper reporting and magazine articles, Jack has written articles for a variety websites–some under his own name and some as a behind-the-scenes contributor. Jack’s first short fiction piece, a novella, was serialized in an old BBS site in 1992, with the first hard copy magazine story arriving in 1993. Four dinner theater plays written by Jack have been produced and performed for local theater in Eastern Pennsylvania. His novels are now coming to light with the release of There Are Giants In This Valley published by Archebooks Publishing.
With experience as a journalist, short story writer, playwright and novelist, Jack often speaks at writer’s conferences, to writer’s groups and to school gatherings. If you are looking for a speaker on esoteric subjects, Jack probably has something tucked away in a folder for the occasion.
He lives in eastern Pennsylvania with his supportive wife, a squad of feline editors, and an array of edged weapons to inspire his works.
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The book is on sale for $0.99.
Interview
- Tell us a little about yourself?
I am a novelist, journalist, playwright and a medical underwriter. I served as a stringer on local newspapers- won a Keystone Press Award for my investigative reporting- and worked on a wire service covering the insurance industry as well as served as a contributing editor to a life underwriting journal for eleven years.
2. What made you want to become a writer?
Probably sitting in hospitals as a child and reading a LOT of books (they were cheaper than making models). I began to have my own ideas for stories and started writing them down.
3. What are your biggest literary influences? Favorite authors and why?
Robert Heinlein- who taught me I could do whatever I set my mind to. Also Alan E Norse- who reinforced the idea of keep on keeping on.
4. Do you think people have misconceptions about the speculative fiction? Why do you think it is a worthwhile genre?
People hear Speculative and think we’re all writing some far out ideas that have no relation to reality. While some speculative Fiction is pretty far out, most of it is just projections of current situations and ideas and taking them out to their respective conclusions. A case of “What if?” as much as “Why not?”
5. Could you tell us a bit about your most recent book?
Dan Braden’s life was comfortable, sort of. A motor vehicle accident robbed him of the use of his legs, but his skills at running a wheelchair were second only to his skills as a freelance writer. While working, two strangers appear in his yard – a Sidhe, the long lost elves of Britain, and a human wizardess whose family was enslaved by the Sidhe for their powers. Why visit Dan’s backyard? The Sidhe have returned to rule the Earth. Yet, they made one mistake: the human wizardess, Thook, decided it was time to take back her life. Together Dan and Thook defeat the Sidhe and send him home to Albion. But there’s a new challenge. They must figure out how to stop the impending Elven invasion.
6. Do you have a day job in addition to being a writer? If so, what do you do during the day?
I am a medical underwriter for life insurance. I sit and read medical reports all day and figure out how healthy people are and what the company should charge them for life insurance.
7. Tell us a little about your plans for the future. Do you have any other books in the works?
Magic Forgotten is the beginning of a series so I have the other books in that series to write. Plus I’m writing a YA SF series, a mystery series, and several stand-alone books in a variety of genres. Plus a few short stories here and there.
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In a world of magic, wind, and electricity, Catter Jeck is offered the chance to explore a myth. Travelling from city to city, his search for the centre of the magic catches others in its coils. When the Lord Heir of Meton offers to continue the search in his flying machine, the consequences of their crash – and Toru’s accidental link to a dying Healer – suddenly become of central importance to all of their lives.
Kate Coe is an editor, book reviewer and writer of fiction & fantasy. She writes the sparkpunk GreenSky series and blogs at 
Henna is one of the most powerful sorcerers in the Order of Napthol, and her runes ’s runes tell her that the future of Kavet is balanced on the edge of the knife. The treaties between Kavet and the dragon-like race known as the Osei have become intolerable. The time has come for the royal house to magically challenge Osei dominion. Prince Verte, Henna’ lover, is to serve as the nexus for the powerful but dangerous spell, with Naples–an untested young sorcerer from the Order of Napthol–a volatile but critical support to its creation.
Amelia Atwater-Rhodes wrote her first novel, In the Forests of the Night, when she was 13 years old. Other books in the Den of Shadows series are Demon in My View, Shattered Mirror, Midnight Predator, all ALA Quick Picks for Young Adults. She has also published the five-volume series The Kiesha’ra: Hawksong, a School Library Journal Best Book of the Year and VOYA Best Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror List Selection; Snakecharm; Falcondance; Wolfcry; and Wyvernhail.
