Updates and Newsy Things

“The odds are never in her favor. Good thing this mage doesn’t play by the rules.”

With a tagline like that, you know Ember Wright is about to throw down and kick some asses!

The latest installment–and Season One finale–of our Ascending Mage series is coming out on Sunday, September 22, 2019. You can order it now in paperback form, or pre-order the ebook and it’ll get delivered to your device after midnight on Sunday.

Just don’t expect to get any sleep when you start reading it!

Full description:

The odds are never in her favor. Good thing this mage doesn’t play by the rules.

She once passed as an obedient servant. Now, Senior Investigator Ember Wright shines a light on corruption wherever she finds it.

But the corrupt are hitting back. They’re hitting back hard. Her cover blown, they’ve branded her as public enemy number one.

With a target painted on her back and on anyone who dares help her, Ember leads a global uprising. When her changeling friends get caught in the crossfire, she learns the true cost of freedom.

Win or lose, she stands for justice against the oppressors. She doesn’t stand alone.

Ascending Mage 5: Changeling Uprising is page-burning modern fantasy with a kick-ass heroine and magic that will grab you by the throat.

Last month, we began auditions for the voice actor who will narrate the Ascending Mage series.

We posted audio samples of our top four picks and invited you to cast your vote.

Several hundred ballots were submitted, along with helpful feedback. Everyone had their personal preferences for who gave the best performance resembling their own interpretation of Ember Wright.

Ultimately, the decision was ours.

We wanted a convincing actor who was easy to listen to, exhibited a faster pace to match our page-turning style of writing, and who had experience creating professional-grade audiobooks. Though all the vocal talent was great, the decision became crystal clear.

It’s our privilege to announce that we found that perfect voice!

Stephanie Willing is an actress living in New York City with experience in a wide range of audiobooks, commercial voiceovers, and theater. She’s adept in various accents, genders, and age ranges—vital, considering the ensemble of characters she’ll be portraying in our novels. Because she narrates romance and also writes children’s fiction (and our Ascending Mage series is definitely not child-friendly), she’ll be recording under the pseudonym of A. V. Caris. She’s got a new website dedicated to genres of more mature audiobooks such as ours.

Says Stephanie:

I’m absolutely thrilled that your words and my voice are going to bring this exciting series to life. This is gonna be a lot of fun 🙂

Stephanie is upgrading her recording booth to a Studio Bricks setup. Ascending Mage 1: Changeling Justice will be the first audiobook she narrates in the new studio, with post-production engineering expected to occur in October. The rest of the Ascending Mage novels will follow.

She’s working with a dialect specialist to get Ember’s accent just right. Stephanie has also been studying North Dakotan accents to ensure authenticity, even though we’re convinced that we North Dakotans have no accent; it’s everyone else who has one!

In case you missed the poll, here’s Stephanie’s audition:

Welcome to the team, Stephanie — or should we say, A. V. Caris!  It’s so exciting to know that our stories will soon reach a whole new crop of people who prefer reading with their ears.

We’re delighted to announce that the fourth novel in the Ascending Mage series has been released!

Description for Ascending Mage 4: Nothing Broken

Her changeling friends are imprisoned. To free them, she’ll have to break the laws of magic.

Ember Wright managed to save her friends’ lives, only to see them locked up and tormented. With each passing day, the changelings weaken and submit to their interrogators. Secrets start to slip.

Running out of options and allies, Ember turns to an ancient, forbidden form of advanced magic. Her reluctant teacher’s warning echoes in her head: almost all mages who attempt the spell become corrupted by it.

Complicating matters, her overbearing mother decides to come visit–in the middle of a crisis. What could possibly go wrong?

As though an answer to Ember’s desperate prayers, an otherworldly force reveals itself. Will this new power be her greatest weapon? Or will it be her ultimate undoing?

Ascending Mage 4: Nothing Broken is page-burning modern fantasy with a kick-ass heroine and magic that will grab you by the throat.

You can grab your copy of Ascending Mage 4: Nothing Broken on Amazon.