It's a lovely June day in Blighty, with blue skies, wispy clouds and a temperature in the comfortable ~80F or 27C in my northern rural idyll.

It's not quite flaming like a rampant dragon taking on its prey or enemy, just warm enough.

Still, despite the blissful climes, I am as throng as Throp's wife; with so much to do, it seems, I could do with a fella as half as good as myself to take up some slack.

I think of time, as I want to do as we approach the summer solstice or the turn of the year. Nights grow longer until the year turns once more shortly before Christmas.

In my novel and its prequel, Dragon's Unleashed and Dragons' Shadows, the Solstices are essential dates, marking the fictional antediluvian world's year and times for ritual and celebration.

In Dragon's Unleashed, we get to go to the Giant's Summer Conclave; in Dragons' Shadows, we glimpse a trial of strength in preparation for that meet.

I want to say a big thank you to all who volunteered to beta-read Dragons' Shadows, those who have contacted me via Telegram in particular, and you know who are, the spelling and grammar errors, some from fat fingers, others from a fathead, and all are much appreciated.

If anyone would like an advance beta copy of the prequel, drop me a message.

I hope to move forward with Dragons' Shadows soon, but for now, here is a big reveal for my loyal and suffering subscribers to this really exciting newsletter.

A map.

Lands of Men

I'd always intended to "do" a map for Dragons Unleashed. I started more than once, only to get sidetracked or discouraged.T he challenge is to create something that can translate to black and white for the print edition of Dragons Unleashed; this also means another variant/update of that book will include the map.

Dragons Unleashed!

Last Ember of Azrith by Rowan Ashborne

Writers of fantasy stories, and I include myself in this club, strive to create a fresh take on a classic story staple or "Our Monsters Are Different" , and in Sword and Sorcery, there are a couple of tropes that stand tall, even taller than giants, one is the magic weapon, the other be dragons.I certainly did that with Dragons Unleashed, and Last Ember of Azrith by Rowan Ashborne, takes an interesting direction, one that fans of Dungeons & Dragons will find engaging, I think. Here, the protagonist is Kaelan, a half-dragon warrior wrestling with his fiery powers. The backdrop to this high fantasy novel is the embattled kingdom of Azrith, where an oppressive empire reigns. Elira, an elf princess, leads a rebellion against tyranny. These two characters' evolving alliance drives a narrative brimming with action, magic, and heartfelt moments . Ashborne's vivid world-building brings Azrith to life, from enchanted forests to menacing imperial strongholds, complemented by magical elements like dragon fire and elven rituals. Themes of power, trust, and hope weave through the fast-paced plot, balancing intense battles with character growth . While I took a very different route for my fiery flying serpents in Dragons' Unleashed, the half-blood or hybrid is a compelling story, be it Kaelen in Azrith or Mr Spock for Vulcan, the Cambion, like Merlin in Arthurian Legend, is a fantasy staple.

In other news!

My historical science fiction vampire and other monsters story is rolling forward. It is a version of this hybrid creature trope since Jack and his brothers are, in the parlance of the time, chimaera, an attempt to combine the strengths and eliminate the weaknesses of both humans and vampires, with varying degrees of success and failure, far from a new idea. Still, the essential difference, and these are different monsters, comes in how I imagine the familiar things and how they work together. At the heart of the story lies a fundamental question: To what extent are our choices truly free, and to what degree are they shaped by instinct, culture, or external systems of power? Using monster tropes and the figure of the hybrid Chimera as a mirror, the narrative explores the cost of sublimating instinct and rejecting societal norms and whether enlightenment ideals—personal freedom, democracy, and self-determination—can triumph over deeply ingrained hierarchies and desires.