Coffee & Convo welcomes M. Edward McNally author of The Sable City, a Musket & Magic Fantasy.
Thank you so much for joining us. Tell us about The Sable City. Is it part of a series?
Volume I of the Norothian Cycle. Volume II (Death of a Kingdom) and II (The Wind from Miilark) will be available this year, shooting for May/June for the next one.
As most epic fantasies are, The Sable City is a lengthy book. Can you briefly tell us about the story?
The most condensed synopsis I have come up with thus far for the Sable City is the following: Girl seeks Boy.
To expand on that just a bit, the "Girl" is Tilda Lanai, a newly-trained Island Guilder in the service of a powerful Trade House. The "Boy" is John Deskata, the exiled heir who may be the only chance of saving the House from economic dismemberment by its rivals. Tilda's search for John takes her across a war-torn continent and to the gates of the ancient Sable City. In the company of a sinister sorceress, a broken-hearted samurai, and a mercenary long on charm but lousy with a crossbow, Tilda must brave the fearsome ruins to find her man and bring him home again.
The story for the Sable City grew out of its "world," and that world was actually something I began sketching out while in grad school for Russian/East European history. Studying the Balkans in the 1990's made me very interested in exploring issues of national, ethnic, and religious identity, and writing about things is the way in which I explore them. So as not to step on any toes, I did the obvious thing and invented my own world, and my youth spent with Tolkien, Eddings, and Dungeons & Dragons led me to incorporate fantasy elements to what became something of a hobby. To move things a bit forward from most fantasy settings I was familiar with, I took my history a bit farther down the technological timeline, into an early-gunpowder/Age of Sail period. By way of explanation, I can only say that it is too hot to go outside in Arizona for much of the year, and scribbling histories in notebooks and drawing big maps with colored pencils was cheaper than cable.
Why did you decide to become an Indie author?
To expand on that just a bit, the "Girl" is Tilda Lanai, a newly-trained Island Guilder in the service of a powerful Trade House. The "Boy" is John Deskata, the exiled heir who may be the only chance of saving the House from economic dismemberment by its rivals. Tilda's search for John takes her across a war-torn continent and to the gates of the ancient Sable City. In the company of a sinister sorceress, a broken-hearted samurai, and a mercenary long on charm but lousy with a crossbow, Tilda must brave the fearsome ruins to find her man and bring him home again.
The story for the Sable City grew out of its "world," and that world was actually something I began sketching out while in grad school for Russian/East European history. Studying the Balkans in the 1990's made me very interested in exploring issues of national, ethnic, and religious identity, and writing about things is the way in which I explore them. So as not to step on any toes, I did the obvious thing and invented my own world, and my youth spent with Tolkien, Eddings, and Dungeons & Dragons led me to incorporate fantasy elements to what became something of a hobby. To move things a bit forward from most fantasy settings I was familiar with, I took my history a bit farther down the technological timeline, into an early-gunpowder/Age of Sail period. By way of explanation, I can only say that it is too hot to go outside in Arizona for much of the year, and scribbling histories in notebooks and drawing big maps with colored pencils was cheaper than cable.
Why did you decide to become an Indie author?
Before I started studying history I had been a lit student in college, and had a few short stories published here and there in the early '90's. Though I had not written any fiction in years, when the character of Tilda Lanai started inserting herself in my hobby, I had an idea what to do about it. Tilda brought me back to writing again, and getting a Kindle for Christmas was the final piece of the puzzle that led me to where I am now, being a self-published Indie writer, and pitching an e-book at you right this very minute.
Where can we find The Sable City?
Where can we find The Sable City?
If anything I've said here makes you think Tilda and her world might be of interest to you, The Sable City can be found on the following sites. As the book is quite long, the free samples are as well, and the first five-or-so chapters should give you a good taste.
(Kindle)
http://www.amazon.com/dp/
(Nook)
http://search.barnesandnoble.
(other readers)
http://www.smashwords.com/
(Kindle)
http://www.amazon.com/dp/
(Nook)
http://search.barnesandnoble.
(other readers)
http://www.smashwords.com/
Thank you so much for sharing with us.
