The Dungeoneers and the Treasure of Roan - available now!

Alas, four years after I started writing the thing ... it's finally out. Go get your Dungeoneer on now via Amazon or, if you happen to be in Prince George or Quesnel, stop in at Books and Co. and buy a copy. It's a kickass little indie bookstore that recently re-opened a cafe in the former cafe spot ... and it was busy there this morning when I dropped by. Much thanks to the staff for always being so supportive of indie authors.

As part of launch day activities, a Q&A with me was released on Young Adults Books Central. Here's a snipped:

YABC:  What inspired you to write this book?

I had an image in my head of a thief running up a snowy mountainside, looking back over his shoulder to make sure he wasn’t followed and then disappearing inside the mountain in search of something. I couldn’t shake it. I wanted to know who he was and what he was after.

YABC: What scene in the book are you most proud of, and why?

I think it’s one of the flashback scenes after the Charlie job goes sour and Wincott takes his anger out on Sish. It’s a loaded and traumatic moment and explains how they get to where they are at the beginning of the book.

You can read the rest here.

Here's what early reviewers on NetGalley are saying about my debut novel:

And, if you need further enticement to buy my lovely little young adult fantasy novel, here's the first page ... you can see it's dripping with attitude from the first paragraph. Yeah, the whole book is like that.

About that goblin...

Now, if you've made it this far in the 'launch' newsletter, it's time to address a character that's popped up in the reviews ... Meat Cleaver (not his real name, but I'm not going to give it away). Some background: Meat Cleaver is a goblin who shows up almost from the beginning, and very, very slowly becomes important to the outcome of the book.

Originally, the goblins were going to be largely dispensable in this book ... throw away monsters similar to what you'd find in a basic dungeon campaign setting. Somewhere along the way I decided to make them as intelligent as people, organized and gave them a rich back story, only portions of which you see in the book. And from that rose Meat Cleaver, who, honestly, might be the only honorable character of the whole lot (Terry the Barbarian might be a close second).

Anywho, give it a read and let me know what you think of good ol' Meat Cleaver.

Other fun things to catch in this book:

• Pay attention to the red thimble ... track it

• Yes, the jade monkey is a shout-out to The Simpsons

• Cold Fish Lake is a real place in Northern B.C.

• The Ribbon River is actually the Fraser River, the Moon is the Nechako and Fort Rivers is... you guessed it, Prince George

• And the Erdor & Expanse Co. and Royal Merchants Guild of Mordren? None other than fantasy stand ins for the Hudson's Bay Company (may it rest in peace) and the Northwest Co.

So, yeah, you're in Canada here, specifically, a version of Northern British Columbia.

Anywho, I'll be sharing more bits and pieces in the coming weeks to flesh out the world and some thinking around this book ... maybe even a rough teaser of book two. Stay tuned. Buy a copy. Tell your friends to buy a copy. Tell your grandma to buy five copies. And spread the word around the interwebs via #TheDungeoneers and #MeatCleavertheGoblin

Thanks!