In all the fuss of the last few weeks, my author copies for Flame Tree Publishing’s Heroic Fantasy Short Stories anthology arrived, and they are even more beautiful than I’d been led to believe. Be warned, what follows is a strip tease for book lovers everywhere.

First the cover, with veins of gold wrapping around the front, back, spine of the book.

Here’s another angle.

And another. Are you feeling hot? We haven’t even peeked under the covers yet 😉

Inside, past silky silver endpapers, we reach the lovingly detailed title page.

What follows are stories both new and old capturing the best parts about heroic fantasy—dashing battles, brave warriors, sweeping adventures, and monsters most foul.

My story, “Those Who Wear Their White Hair Proudly,” details a young woman’s exploits as she’s conscripted into a mysterious Order of female warriors tasked with keeping the world safe from monsters. My Pinterest board captures some of the inspiration that helped me write the story. Over at the Flame Tree Publishing blog, I talked some more about the story and my writing process.

The books are available September 29th through most online retailers, or, if you prefer, you can order them directly through the publisher’s website.

In addition to this volume of Flame Tree Publishing’s Gothic Fantasy series, I’m happy to announce I’ll also be a contributor to their Agents & Spies short story collection. Yay! I’ll have more details about that closer to its release later this year.