A Wild Book Appears! (Updated 4.20.20)

Promo update!

We've added our final currently published title to the Smashwords Authors Give Back Promo.

It Came From Hyperspace!

joins our other titles:

Tales of Yhore: The Chronicles of Monch

Beyond the Burning Sea (Fate's Crucible #1)

Between the Darkness & Dust (Fate's Crucible #2)

Feral

Promo code: AG100 (use this at check out for 100% off!)

Our thanks to Terminus Productions for working with us to add It Came From Hyperspace! to our free offerings. 

If you like what you read in It Came From Hyperspace, you should go check out the RPG Tabletop System it's based on and help another indy artist in the process:

Legion: The Game

Enjoy and stay safe out there.  If you have the option, tuck in and read a book... or five.

>>Update to the update!<<

The Authors Give Back Promotion has been extended to May 31st!  Thanks to everyone who has picked up a book.

Promos, Principles & Pandemics

Some words from us to you about...

PROMOS:

Life has kept us busy. We're still working on Book 3 of Fate's Crucible (no working title yet), but while we slowly chip away at that, we would like to offer you the following titles for FREE on Smashwords:

Tales of Yhore: The Chronicles of Monch

Beyond the Burning Sea (Fate's Crucible #1)

Between the Darkness & Dust (Fate's Crucible #2)

Feral

Promo code: AG100

Use the AG100 promo code when checking out and you can take them all with you for the price of $0.00.  We hope you enjoy and it is a welcome distraction to all of our collective worries.

We're looking into how we can mirror this on Amazon, but... you know... Amazon.

PRINCIPLES:

We're getting around to changing the front matter on these older books, but we'd like to make sure it's spelled out for you here. When we first started all this, we were novices and had a very different view of how we wanted to protect our works. They were a bit overprotective at first. If you have one of those first editions, you'll know what we're talking about. 

We've matured a bit and rewrote those title page notes. Here they are, in case you happen to have or get an older version:

This work is licensed for your personal enjoyment. Please do not electronically duplicate or re-sell. However, if you would like to share this book with a friend, we think that's awesome. We are a home-grown, independent publishing partnership and are thrilled to know you think enough of our work to share it with others. Tell us about it through our social media; links to where you can find us online are in the back. We're grateful for all your rates and reviews. Thank you for reading and sharing!

We mean that. Especially right now. If you get a free book through the promo and think a friend might enjoy it, feel free to pass it along with our blessings.

What about "don't duplicate or resell?" Okay, so we're a bit insecure. We like to see numbers. File-sharing on websites and reselling physical copies makes tracking numbers difficult. We're not going to be mad about it, but please think of our fragile egos.

There are other talks on making things more available on a permanent basis, so keep an eye open for more announcements here.

PANDEMICS:

Please be safe out there during this time. Wash your hands, practice social distancing, listen to reputable scientific sources for best practices. 

We're a fledgling Empire, but we wish health and happiness to all of our friends and family. That includes you, dear readers.

~Lions of the Empire

Darkness < New Book! > Dust

Between the Darkness & Dust is the second book in the Fate's Crucible series, by Lions of the Empire writers T.B. Schmid and R.Wade Hodges.

This is what the cover looks like:



We think that you should get it.

You can find it at Smashwords:  https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/798310

You can find it on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Between-Darkness-Dust-Fates-Crucible/dp/1985377101

Thanks to Smashwords, you should also be able to search and buy from your favorite e-retailer (apple, kobo, etc.).

Thanks in advance for your reads and reviews. We really appreciate it.

Listen to this!

Feral was the Lions of the Empire's first release, and perhaps its spookiest to date. Now it's back... as an audio book available from Audible.com!

Return to the frozen northern reaches of Valheim and experience a whole new dimension to this chilling tale of survival against all odds!

Sometimes tales flow down from the mountain peaks like the snow-fed streams that bleed down their bony flanks. Strange beasts. Stranger men. Stories spun in the glow of highlander watch fires to pass the time swell and strengthen - every retelling a new tributary - until the tale becomes a legend. But sometimes, the legends are real...

Feral on Audible.com

2017's May Days Giveaways!

It's May once again and time for us to give things away.

Up for grabs on Goodreads.com is not one... not two... but all three books currently published by Lions of the Empire!

As in previous years, we have three copies each of Tales of Yhore and Feral up for grabs! Links for those books can be found immediately below.

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Tales of Yhore

by D.F. Monk

Giveaway ends May 31, 2017.
See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

Enter Giveaway

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Feral

by T.B. Schmid

Giveaway ends May 31, 2017.
See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

Enter Giveaway

And for the first time we're also giving away four copies of Beyond the Burning Sea!

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Beyond the Burning Sea

by T.B. Schmid

Giveaway ends May 31, 2017.
See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

Enter Giveaway

The Giveaways are on until May 31st. We'll be shipping copies the end of that week so you can have the books for your summer reading. But don't wait until then! Read and Enjoy and keep an eye here for upcoming announcements about book 2 of the Fate's Crucible series!

You Get What You Pay For

“You Get What You Pay For” or “Something’s Rotten in Mylesia”
by TB Schmid

By the dead and rotting gods, her hood stank.  Or maybe she had it backwards: the sack covering her head smelled like dead, rotting gods, rubbish, cats - take your pick.

Maybe I should add a nose hole, or at least cut the mouth a little bigger.

She knew as soon as the thought crossed her mind it was a bad idea, but then bad ideas were something of a specialty of hers. Under the hood, she allowed herself a sly smile.  Maybe a new name is in the offing.

“You hear they found Zara’s body?”

Her ears perked up and she slowed near the fishmonger’s stall.  The speaker was a thickset man with heavy gloves shoved into the back of his leather apron.  Tor, the blacksmith.  

“Aye, that’s all anybody’s been talkin’ about this mornin,” answered the fishmonger.  “Poor girl.  Bled dry and dumped in The Sludge.  Riigha and his boy found her caught up in their nets.”

The Sludge was a foul, boggy delta where The Viper bled into the eastern end of Niht’s Haven.  Since Mylesia squatted on the river’s banks, The Viper tended to receive the bulk of its waste.  It stunk worse than the girl’s hood, but it was a good place to get rid of a body.  Usually.

Big Announcement Time!

Six years ago, almost to this day, an idea became a partnership. After countless hours of writing, editing and collaboration, along with the support of our friends and family, we are finally ready to proudly proclaim:

The Lions of the Empire are releasing the first book in the Fate's Crucible saga!

-Beyond the Burning Sea-

It has been over two hundred and fifty years since the sky fell and the Young Gods died.

The pride of the Sea Kings' fleet, the SKS Peregrine, has done the impossible: she has travelled beyond the Burning Sea, long thought to be the southern edge of the world of Ruine. Now, all that remains of her crew struggle to find their way back, led by a young man bearing a book filled with dark secrets. A terrifying truth pursues them, while the Endless Dark of the ocean patiently waits below.

Back on the mainland, the city states of Gundlaan strive to form a united nation. On the fringe of its western frontier, there are whispers of a sinister force gathering. The Laegis Templars, the mortal remains of the Young Gods' army, are dispatched to deal with the problem, but in the vast and untamed Deckoran Wilds, Death itself is never far away...

 Beyond the Burning Sea ebook pre-orders are available now!

On Amazon Kindle: https://amzn.com/B01LDAA8UM\
On Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/662368

Physical and ebook release is in two weeks, September 20th! More news and links to follow.

We look forward to introducing you to the world of Ruine and we hope you enjoy the visit. You're welcome to stay as long as you like.

Tim & Wade

Available Now at Smashwords

One of us wrote a book. 

Synopsis:

Pursued by a racist and dangerously unstable patrol commander through a remote wilderness as a ferocious winter storm closes in, two lovers soon learn that something far more sinister has also picked up their trail. Caught between the vicious designs of their pursuers and an unspeakable evil, overcoming their own inner demons may be their only hope of survival.

Here's one early review:

"It's quite good" -the other one of us.

It's true that I'm not entirely impartial.


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