After a long few weeks of school finals, holiday retail work and the holidays themselves, I’ve got something special to post here. I’m nearly halfway done with my first novel, the opening book in a fantasy trilogy, so I thought it was about time to provide just a sneak peek for anyone who might be interested.

Below is just a brief excerpt from what has turned out to be one of my favorite scenes that I’ve written so far. Hopefully it’ll spark some intrigue for anyone who reads.

The book is tentatively entitled Echoes of Light, the first book in the Radiant Legend Trilogy. The excerpt here comes from an action scene about midway through the story, where the main hero must face off against a monstrous adversary to protect his close friend, the princess of the kingdom.

Read on-

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Alamor did not even look back at the princess as she fled; his fiery eyes were locked solely onto the winged-beast in front of him. He stood unflinching before the creature as unprecedented vigor stoked his skin. He was the one thing standing between the beast and the princess. He was the only person who could protect her now.

He would not fail his beloved friend.

No. Never again.

The winged-monster drove towards Alamor with another horrible cry. It beat its wings and lifted itself off the ground, slashing at Alamor with its long talons. He leapt out of the way just in time as the claws ripped through the purple carpet down to the stone floor beneath. The creature quickly lashed out again, swinging one talon in a furious swipe. Alamor ducked underneath, and the monster’s nails passed just inches over the back of his neck.

When he straightened, he saw another talon coming toward him. He lifted his shield and deflected it off the steel surface. He somehow kept his footing despite the impact of the blow, and immediately replied with a hard cut of his sword.

Alamor felt the blade score over the creature’s talon and dig into its skin. The winged-horror drew back with a shriek, stepping gingerly on the leg that Alamor struck once it landed.

Alamor charged ahead, but he only took three steps. The monster aimed its wings at him as a salvo of feathers shot from its plumage. Alamor lifted his shield purely out of instinct, and he soon realized that it likely saved his life.

The feathers that raced from the monster’s wings were stiff and sharp, like a storm of flying daggers. Most either bounced off Alamor’s shield or lodged into the floor around him, but at least two managed to sneak around his defenses. Even though they only nicked him, the barbed feathers cut clear through his armor and cleaved his skin beneath.

Alamor painfully dropped to one knee as his teeth grated together. His beastly adversary seized the opportunity and swung one of its wings. Alamor was lifted clear off of his feet as he was batted aside, and skidded across the floor once he landed.

The princess’s terrified scream brought his focus back to the battle even as one side of his body nearly went numb. He rolled out of the way just as the winged-monster tried to pounce onto him.

Alamor hastily ambled away. When he turned back to face his monstrous adversary, it had already sent its spine-covered tail whipping towards him. Twice he let it scrape across his shield, staggering him both times. Then the beast aimed low and swung at his legs.

The tail raked beneath his knees, and Alamor was sent crashing to the temple floor as a sharp holler flew out of his throat. Were it not for his crimson armor, Alamor knew that his legs would have been shattered or torn to shreds—maybe both.

The monster lifted its tail high into the air and brought it down, swinging at what it thought was a defenseless Alamor.

But just before the tail reached him, Alamor met it with his blade and seared through it in one fluid motion. Alamor heard both a thud from the severed stump landing on the ground and an agonized screech from the beast as he hurried back to his feet.

To his surprise, the damage he had just inflicted upon the monster did not stun it for long. It shambled towards him in a maddened rage, lashing out once more with its talons…
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If all goes to plan, I’ll have the book completed by the end of March, and after a few months of editing and publishing preparations, it’ll be available by August or September-ish. During that time I’ll be sure to post a couple more excerpts, so keep checking back if you’re interested!

Nothing too extensive this week. If you look at the site’s header, you’ll see a new tab entitled “Articles”, where you’ll now find some of my favorite journalistic pieces that I’ve written over the years. If you’re not interested in hockey or video games they probably won’t interest you too much, but hey, that’s what I’ve loved writing about all these years.

I’ll be sure to update that any time I get another piece published somewhere. I have a couple pieces about the Buffalo Science Museum and Buffalo Zoo that I wrote a class this semester that I’d like to showcase somewhere. And at some point I’ll shorten the hyperlinks listed there now that I’ve finally learned how to code them here on WordPress.

I also have one or two additions to the Short Fiction page. I finally listed the first mixed martial arts story I ever wrote, and I added some brief details behind an upcoming short story which will be made into an audio story sometime this winter.

In the meantime, I’m busy beyond words. Working retail during the holidays is one thing, but college has absolutely kicked my butt this semester. Thank God I’m two class days and 1 exam away from being done for a month and a half’s worth of winter break.

I’m also making great progress with my novel, the first in a high fantasy trilogy I’m working on. I’m about 40-45% of the way done, and should hit the halfway point before the end of the year. I’ve written some excellent scenes in the last few weeks, especially the ones with all of the action and fighting–those have turned out to be really high energy. I’m excited to proceed onward with the story and I’m positive that it’s going to turn out great.

I’ll have something more interesting to post next week, promise. ‘Til then, it’s back to writing, for me.