The River Against the Sea

 

The River Against the Sea

by Z. Lindsey

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

GENRE:   New Adult Fantasy

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

BLURB:

 

Some heroes have swords. Essimore Darkenchyl has a pen. But it’s a magic pen.
Some wizards have spellbooks. Essie has Gossen’s Guide to Shipping Law. But it’s a current edition.
Some sailors have . . . experience. Essie has a new diploma and a year-long contract, and her people have won wars with less.

And that’s good, because between stolen weapons, a coup, and a strange disease creeping in around her and the crew, she might need to win a war.

In a world that blends traditional fantasy with the Age of Exploration, Essie knows a pen is mightier than a sword, especially since hers sometimes shoots lightning.

But what she thinks is a routine political dispute turns out to be something much, much more, and she may have finally met the one problem she can’t talk her way out of.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

EXCERPT:

 

Essie cleared her throat. From her backpack, she removed the letter of service that granted her travel permission to sail on the ship. It was folded neatly into thirds, with a glittering blue wax seal on it.

 

“Essimore Darkenchyl at your service, sir. I’m your new fully licensed shipping coordinator with Power of the Pen. It’s an honor to be aboard.” 

 

The captain took the letter without opening it, folded it in half with no regard for the beautiful wax seal, folded it messily again, and jammed it into his pocket. The whole time, Essie winced. 

 

“Right-o.” As he smiled, the older man’s cheeks dimpled and his white teeth shined in the sun. “Well, I thought we were leaving without you, but here you are. Good on you. Great. Yeah.” The captain turned to the teenager at his side. “Grab her bag and get her stuff to her room. She can hang out there til dinner.” 

 

As the teenager shouldered her bag and grunted, she and the captain looked at each other, the captain with his beaming smile. Once the teenager left, she said, “Thanks for welcoming me onto your ship.”

 

“Yeah. Fully licensed, you say?” 

 

“Absolutely!”

 

“Okay. Have a nice one. See you at dinner.” 

 

“Don’t we need to . . . uh . . . onboard?” 

 

“You’re already on board. You managed that just fine.” 

 

“But . . . signing things. Paperwork. Reviewing the staff log. Staff log, sir!” 

 

The captain’s smile faded, but reappeared so fast she wasn’t sure if she’d seen it go.

 

“Okay, fine. Let’s talk in my cabin.” 

A Word With the Author

1. Did you always want to be an author?

My mother is a huge fan of fantasy fiction, and I grew up reading her hand-me-downs after she’d mangled the spines. I’ve always loved storytelling, and a part of me has always loved being an author. 

2.Tell us about the publication of your first book.

Uh . . . it’s expensive! I live in Mexico and most editorial, cover design, etc. services are priced with the United States in mind. That said, it’s 100 percent made me a better author and better advocate for myself. I’ve also met a ton of great people through events like the Futurescapes workshop. 

The toughest part is sticking to the budget. I could commission artwork all day long, but I’m less happy to be spending money on Amazon ads although they’re obviously more useful. 

At its heart, though, publishing is the same thing I’ve been doing this whole time--finding different ways of telling a story I love. This book isn’t a romance (there’s a stifled romance in book two and a friends-to-lovers in three, though!), but it is a love story, because the main character was inspired by my wife. Writing the novel was one way of telling that story, and here I am again telling a story about someone I care about, but in a different way. 

3.Besides yourself, who is your favorite author in the genre you write in?

My favorite fantasy writer of all time is T. H. White. I almost never read books more than twice tops, but I’ve read The Once and Future King a ton of times, and my worn and battered mass market version has pages that are puffy from teardrops. 

Like his work, my work mixes humor with character building, but my current work is more hopeful and less tragic than White. It’s not to say bad things don’t happen in my books, but that there is always a light at the end of the tunnel, even if the characters don’t see it. I doubt many people need to be reminded of the weight of tragedy. What I’m hoping to do is remind folks that you can make it through tragedy with your sense of humor and sense of wonder intact. (If that’s not too dramatic a goal for a book about a magical devil.)

4.What's the best part of being an author? The worst?

I think we all know the worst thing is the pay. Doing something you love for good money is a privilege in any profession, but this is exceptionally true for writers. For most of us, the desire to put our stories out into the world is more important than paying the bills with them. I do, of course, hope the book is a runaway success and I never work again. But the opposite result isn’t going to make me quit writing, because for me it’s a bit of a compulsion, really.  

Probably one of the most ancient uses of language is storytelling. Even animals with protolanguages do something like storytelling. So it feels like something fundamental to our being, and making things up just never gets old! It’s a joy to participate in that ancient practice. It’s a joy to see people laugh at the part in the story where you hoped they would and get really freaking angry at you at the part you hoped they would, too. 

5.What are you working on now?

While this book stands on its own, it can also be read as part of a trilogy (which is already written). But the lead character has way more than three books in her. The first trilogy considers her as a young person coming into her own, so the clear choice for the next trilogy is to show her as an old grandmotherly witch who might blow you up but would prefer to bake you cookies.

 

 

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

AUTHOR Bio and Links:

 

Zac Lindsey is an anthropologist and a linguist who focuses on the Maya people of Quintana Roo. Since childhood, he's had a not-so-secret love of weird, silly, and well-structured fantasy. When other people's parents were reading them picture books, his mom was reading him Terry Brooks. He typically writes hopeful and character-driven fantasy. 

 

Today, he lives in Quintana Roo, Mexico with his wife, daughter, and various stray cats. 

 

Insta: https://www.instagram.com/z.lindsey_fiction/

Face: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61550498257222

Amazon preorders (for ebook): https://www.amazon.com/River-Against-Sea-Z-Lindsey-ebook/dp/B0CH3TW3YD/

B&N preorders (for paperback): https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-river-against-the-sea-z-lindsey/1144077772

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

GIVEAWAY INFORMATION

Z. Lindsey will be awarding a $20 Amazon or Barnes and Noble GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.

 

a Rafflecopter giveaway