The Fox Bard: Love Bytes Reviews.

I got a review from Love Bytes, an LGBTQ Book Review site. Here's the link below.

http://lovebytesreviews.com/2019/11/23/author-request-month-review-the-fox-bard-jobe-paracleus-1-by-courtney-bowen/

Tarn & Beck: The Dinner Party

I just published 'Tarn & Beck: The Dinner Party', Part Nine of the Tarn & Beck series. It's been a little difficult working on it.

I started it out as a Sherlock Holmes story from first perspective, my first time seriously using first perspective for a story. After working with first perspective, it's not my favorite narrative style, as I prefer third perspective.

I kept at it, though, even as the story turned out to be shorter than expected. I decided to continue on working in first perspective, though, expanding the story by adding in another story idea that I'd planned to try out.

The Dinner Party is the second story, and I had a notion about it before. Most of my Tarn and Beck story ideas, I've listed them out as notions I wanted to try, narrative tropes I wanted to experiment with.

Some I've held onto for years, trying to figure out which order I might portray them in. I've also shifted a few of these story ideas around, as Martin and Patricia and Eric the Relic Collector and his crew have appeared.

So some Tarn & Beck story ideas are actually going to be played out, hopefully, by these other characters. I've been working on the Sherlock Holmes story and the Dinner Party story for months now, even though it's a novella.

While I wrote, finished, and published several other novels and stories, I had this one on the back burner. I kept coming back to it, ever since I finished The Unicorn Foil in January, though it's difficult, not just in narrative style, but in subject matter, too.

I was trying out different approaches and genres in this story, and then I got distracted by other story ideas and novels. Since April or May, I've written two books under a pseudonym involving guys, and published them. Those two books have been more successful than my other books.

So it hasn't been a good year for Tarn & Beck. I'm not going to write out a Christmas Tales for them this year, as there isn't enough time left. I rushed a little to get this out before Halloween and I need a short break from Tarn & Beck.

I've got other ideas I want to work on, like a Larkin story that's a sequel to The Fairy Godmother's Daughter, sequels to my pseudonym books, a sequel to Wander-land and Survivors of Corrica.

I want to work on Arria, but that's up in the air still. I'll probably do more Tarn & Beck sometime next year.

But I'm also considering that maybe I'll finish up the Tarn & Beck series, maybe in a few more stories, or one or two. I could move some story ideas around to other characters, and maybe start a new story in that fantasy setting. Hopefully something will come up.

Thanks for reading.

Quarter-finalist

Just a quick announcement, I'm a quarter-finalist in the 2019 Scriptapalooza Screenplay Competition with 'The Tiger of Light', basically an adaptation of The Legends of Arria, Books 1-4, or what used to be The Knights of Arria when it was just one book.

Hopefully I might be able to republish all of those books on my own once more if things work out. Fingers crossed.

Check out my other books, including The Fay Island, the third and possibly last (?) Jobe & Paracleus book, unless I could squeeze out a fourth and fifth book farther down the line. Depends on what happens with the other series.

I've also got Survivors of Corrica, the Corrica prequel that takes place centuries before the main series. That might develop into a series as well with the ancient Arria chronicles, legends, and Knights, not to mention all of the creatures and monsters that could be developed there.

I've also got ideas for the Rulers of Wander-land prequel. I need to work on that. There's another novel I'm almost finished writing, but I'm not sure if I should publish it under my name or not.

It might be a pseudonym. It's got guys, if you know what I mean, and nothing major, but not sure if I should use my name. Might be better with a different name if my name's not great for getting an audience.

Also I started a Tarn & Beck story with Sherlock Holmes theme. It's different from my other Tarn & Beck stories. Alternating first person perspectives, for one, and it's two stories for one. I need to finish that up as well. The novel distracted me.

So, quick question for anyone who comments: should I publish novel under my name or pseudonym? Last call.

What should I work on next?

I posted this on my Patreon page, but just curious to know what readers might be interested in checking out next. I've been working on that Corrica prequel, and I'm about a third or a quarter of the way through there. But I'm also looking ahead at potential projects, and wondering what I should launch or maybe get started on in the near feature. Here are the projects on my to-do list, and what are your suggestions on what I should start first. Tarn & Beck/Sherlock Holmes pastiche Jobe & Paracleus sequel Velmella & Liana book Rulers of Wander-land sequel Another fairy-tale adaptation Legends of Arria sequel Random idea I can't create a poll on here, so leave a comment below. Thanks.

I've got a Patreon page

Hello there, just wanted to post that I've got a Patreon page now with content available on there.

https://www.patreon.com/courtneybowen

It'll be the home of character posts, author notes, polls, behind the scenes and more. Hopefully it'll be good.

The Grail Curse promo video

Here's a promo video for the Grail Curse, the second volume in the Lion of Arria series:

New videos!

So I've got some videos here, first up is a promo for almost all my published books so far:

Next up are a couple videos promoting Rulers in Wander-land: Reimagining Alice in Wonderland.

I hope the video quality's okay on this website. Here's the second one.

That's all for now, but hopefully I'm going to work up a couple more for some other books.

Tarn & Beck: Into the Tunnels

Okay, it's been almost a year since I last posted, and I'm publishing the sixth volume of my Tarn and Beck series. Tarn & Beck: Into the Tunnels pretty much picks up right where The Werewolf and the Chimera left off, and it officially ties in one of the characters from my Legends of Arria/Lion of Arria series, Sir Pacaben.

I'd been half hoping to get into crossing over my stories, and I'd done it before, albeit a bit more loosely with Tashiana from Jobe & Paracleus showing up in The Professor & The Satyr, and Cedric from Tarn & Beck showing up in Jobe & Paracleus, too. But I'm building things up here, as you may have noticed, getting Sir Pacaben involved with Tarn & Beck and their gang, and now...well, I'm looking forward to even bigger crossovers down the road with them.

Not too many spoilers, I suppose. I've been terrible about spoilers. I spoiled Under the Dome for my sister, when my dad was watching series 3 and she was starting season one, and I'd read some funny recaps about it on io9. From everything I gathered, it wasn't a good series.

Okay then, loosening things up a little. I'm not very good at social media and blogging, if you've noticed with my scant, few and far between posts. I've been thinking about that lately. If I was more inclined, maybe I would start over and try to make an effort in that department. Maybe a broader blog or web page, for all of my books or for a more popular series of mine.

I'm fond of The Smiling Stallion Inn, I've used that moniker for a while now, but it's not picking up steam or anything like that. And very rarely do I check up on some of these sites or update them to see if there's any traffic flow.

I like to write, as you may have noticed with how much I've published in recent months, and I like to find a way to get it out there. So I focus on that, and social media takes a backslide. Whee, there goes a year without posting.

So here I am, la-dee-da, contemplating what I should do with this blog/website or not. I could try to update or revamp it. I could consider getting a new, centralized website that I might be able to update or revamp as often as I can, showcasing books and such. I need to discuss a broader range of topics, too. Like writing, books, pop culture, influences, things of that nature.

I'm still going to write and publish, although looking at what's going on there, it's still not quite on course. I need to bump it up more and promote, or else find another method.

Wish me luck, and let's hope it's not another year before I post again. Whee!

Book Updates for July

More updates for books that have been published and republished in the last few months.

I've brought back most of the Lion of Arria series, from The Grail Curse to Family On Fire, and have now added two new books, Fight for the Windbow and Adia: The Lion's Daughter.

The Grail Curse

Family On Fire

Fight For The Windbow

Adia: The Lion's Daughter

These are volumes 2-5 of that series, as The Knights of Arria currently won't be available. I decided to go ahead and do that as it's still separate from The Legends of Arria series.

I have also published The Fox Bard, hopefully the first of the Jobe and Paracleus spin-off series.

The Fox Bard

This book really only features Jobe and Paracleus, though with a surprise at the end, and is separate from the main Legends of Arria series as well.

Finally, in addition to The Cursed Coin and The Fairy Reel, I have also published The Wizard's Spell-Book and The Importance of Being Tarn & Beck in the Tarn & Beck series.

Tarn & Beck: The Wizard's Spell-Book

The Importance of Being Tarn and Beck

Right now, I'm working on the 5th Tarn & Beck, a spin-off to the main Tarn and Beck line, another Legends prequel featuring Monika, and I should probably edit Power Over Death some more to turn in to my publisher. Servants and Followers is currently being edited with my publisher right now.

That's all going on right now. Hopefully I shall update more soon!

Update and Tarn & Beck: The Cursed Coin Excerpt

Hello, just a quick update. Tarn & Beck: The Cursed Coin is now available as well as its sequel, Tarn & Beck: The Fairy Reel, on Amazon. I've been editing my second Legends of Arria book, Servants and Followers, and sent it in to my publisher for a look. I've also been writing a special new book for what I hope might be a Jobe & Paracleus spin-off series, but I'm going to wait before I share that.

I've also been updating my Wattpad page, it's under SmilingStallionInn, just for some advertising and promotion. I'm putting in more excerpts from published, unpublished, and fanfiction works on there, too, so check it out if you want. Here's a sample from Tarn & Beck: The Cursed Coin.

Chapter 1:

Son of a Rat-Catcher

In a large Dickensian office, a company of clerks sat around at roll-top desks, rows and columns of them like the pages inside the ledgers they wrote in. They calculated various figures and formulae with large registers and other devices, keys clicking and clacking inside the machinery with the totals popping up behind a glass screen.

Of course, they could have figured out all of the numbers themselves, but it was faster to rely upon the mechanics of these machines. Any slip-up, of course, was blamed upon the clerk and not the machine, so they had to be precise and careful.

They wrote reports and stamped documents, sending off various paperwork through messengers and office-boys for processing and recording. There was talk of installing some contraption of pneumatic tubes for faster delivery to other departments, but it was decided that such a system was more bother than it was worth.

Just outside the office in the hallway, a short, hapless young man in his twenties, Beck, returned from his break. He brushed the crumbs off of his vest and waistcoat, adjusted his tie and the kerchief in his pocket.

He smoothed down his slick black hair that he oiled in the morning, trying to appear urbane or at least keep it from sticking up. He sniffled a little, suffering a cold.

He wiped his glasses again, mentally going over a problem he’d been dealing with before he left, and entered the office. He should’ve noticed that the office seemed unusually quiet and productive, even by the strict standards imposed upon them by their bosses.

That should’ve alerted him something was wrong, but he was still distracted and preoccupied.

It was important to the firm that his work should continue unabated, never mind the small interruptions and breaks necessary for a human like him. He wasn’t a bleeding calculator.

Meticulous and studious described most of the clerks at the Lavonya banking and insurance firm for good reason. The firm’s reputation depended on their work and the clerks wished to appear as assiduous as possible for better promotion and compensation.

Smug might have also been the word that Beck would have used for some of them. But he attempted to keep his opinions to himself and hold his head down to his work, even as difficult as that sometimes was.

Beck walked down an aisle between desks, ready to get back to his job. Most of the clerks didn’t look up at him, preoccupied. However, a tall, snobby clerk named Greg smirked as Beck sat down at his own desk, which was unoccupied with its roll-top closed.

Beck unrolled the top, and quickly closed the top again. He glared at the others sitting around him, wondering who was the culprit.

Most of them appeared to be hard at work as if they didn’t notice what was going on. However, several of them started squeaking like rats or mice. Beck fumed to himself.

Beck rolled open the top again and stared down at a dead rat lying on top of his desktop and paperwork. Greg looked up from his work and seemed to notice the rat.

“Oh, look, a rat. Always a problem, aren't they?” Greg said.

Beck got up from his desk, pretending to ignore Greg for now. He headed toward the supply closet where the night cleaners stored their equipment.

However, he had to pass by Greg’s desk on the way. “Rats get you everywhere.” Greg remarked as if to thin air while Beck passed by.

Beck paused and shook his head, not looking back at Greg as he pushed up his glasses. “You all are nothing more than children at heart. The school bullies who refuse to grow up.”

Beck continued on as Greg glared at him. “How dare you insult us like that.”

Beck opened up the supply closet door, fetching a pail, gloves, and a bag. “This is something that should have been left behind at the schoolyard ages ago.” He coughed and slammed the closet door shut before heading back to his desk.

Beck slipped the gloves on, unrolled the desktop cover again, and snatched up the rat, disposing of it into the bag.

“Did the rat die of natural causes?” One of the clerks asked.

Beck began sorting through the documents that had been left on his desk, tossing the papers that appeared to have been befouled by the rat into the pail. He ignored their comments, sniffing the papers occasionally and trying not to sneeze.

“Or was it a trap or poison?” Another clerk asked.

Greg smirked at Beck. “I bet a rat-catcher like you could tell.”

Beck turned around and faced the clerks as he slipped off the gloves, his voice hoarse. “All right, go ahead and laugh. But if it weren't for rat-catchers like my father still working down below, rats would be overrunning this place.”

He tossed the gloves and frowned, grim and serious. “Although how could you tell with the rats already running this place?”

The clerks stared at Beck, shocked as Greg got up and confronted Beck. “Now see here! If that is a dig at the firm, then you really have gone too far.”

Greg kept poking Beck in the chest for emphasis. “This firm just happens to be the best, most respected business in this city, this country.”

Beck looked down at Greg’s finger poking him like he wanted to bite it off and sniffled.

“It's trusted everywhere currency is spent.” Greg stopped and crossed his arm, glaring. “Do you still want to work here?”

Beck looked up at Greg. “My father happened to be a boxer as well. Would you care to sample a move?”

Greg ducked one of Beck's swings, but received another punch.

Tarn and Beck: The Cursed Coin

The Smiling Stallion Inn is now available at many major online retailers, but I'm also interested in bringing another potential series to light. So I'm announcing that earlier this year, under the pseudonym Roger Nickleby (I made the connection obvious in case I ever made it public), I self-published an adventure fantasy story Tarn and Beck: The Cursed Coin.

Why am I announcing it now? Because I'm changing that story into something of a romance and republishing it soon under my name. Just a taste of what readers might like about The Smiling Stallion Inn and Legends of Arria series.

I was sort of angling in that direction anyway, even if I wasn't ready then to commit Tarn and Beck to a romance. But I hope to expand that potential series too with more stories, and that romance might be a key part of it.

So here I go, say good-bye to regular adventurers and hello to romantic adventurers Tarn and Beck in just a little while.