In Tirog, rulers of a domain are its source of magical power
Lady Trinafar, seventh child of a seventh child, should be a source and become the next ruler of Eideann after her mother Igrainid. But she is not a source. No-one knows why. When she meets Fergus in Edinburgh and he persuades her to take him to Tirog, she doesn’t realise that she is triggering a series of events that will affect not only her but the future of Eideann itself.
The Magic Is Always With Us will be out in paperback at the end of April.
The cover, designed by Penelope Hill, shows The Harlequin as he attempts to gain access for his planned heist of The Draper’s Reel from the god Pardeem. The cover includes his calling card after any stunt, a columbine flower.
The Harlequin: The Draper’s Reel will be published in eBook format on 12th July and in paperback on 12th August 2024.
Question my honesty if you must, but nobody, and I mean nobody, questions my skill.
I’ve never paid much attention to the gods, which may be why I foolishly agreed to steal Pardeem’s reel. It seemed a straightforward enough challenge for a master trickster like me, but with things like this you never know.
Leaving my cosy retirement isn’t difficult. Wearing the Harlequin’s hat again feels right. However returning to Emor holds challenges. Old friends and enemies wait in the shadows; maybe I can turn that to my advantage. But now my own god seems to be paying me far too much attention. This isn’t going to be straightforward.
But that’s the thrill, isn’t it? To dance with peril, to spin with the twists, to confound expectations and to embrace the trick for its own sake. The Harlequin doesn’t give up at the first hurdle.
If I can carry this off, it will be the heist of a lifetime.
We are delighted to reveal the cover of David M Allan’s new fantasy novel The Magic Is Always With Us. Set in Tirog, the land of the Sidhe that is co-incident to the human world and accessed through portals or lacunae in the barrier that separates the two. There are Realms and Domains in the land of the Sidhe, with population centres that are often in the ‘same’ place as they are in the human world. So, Eideann in Alba is co-located with Edinburgh in Scotland.
The cover, designed by Alison Buck, was inspired by a passage in the book where the main protagonist, Lady Trinafar, is standing in front of the throne of the ruler of Obharden (co-located with Aberdeen):
The floor in front of the throne was covered by a yellow and green carpet with a maze pattern. It grabbed Trinafar’s attention. It’s a trap, isn’t it. Start tracing the curves and the magic will ensnare the watcher. She knew she should ignore it, but it was difficult. It must give him an advantage over any visitors. It took a lot of concentration, but she did manage to drag her eyes away from the maze and look somewhere else. Even with the effort she had put into breaking the mesmeric effect it wasn’t until he spoke that she was completely free of the influence of the carpet.
No… not the start of a joke but of an adventure that crosses worlds, space and time!
The Fairy Queen’s electrum, the most valuable material in the world, has been stolen. By chance Philbrach Hohenheim, a gnome, finds himself on the trail of the thief. A motley fellowship is formed between the gnome and other creatures. The pursuit crosses lands, times and realities until finally a major puzzle at the borders of the world is solved. On the way, Philbrach encounters giant pigeons, a sentient fungus, a seafaring merman, the Sun’s chariot driver and other helps and hindrances.
The final book in Juliet Kemp’s acclaimed epic series is lauded both by other fantasy authors and fans
DARTFORD, KENT – 24 February 2023 – Elsewhen Press is a publishing house specialising in high quality, entertaining and thoughtful speculative fiction, often addressing current, real-world issues through a fictional prism. Author Juliet Kemp, activist and campaigner, has long been fascinated by politics and how the various elements of society interact, negotiate and compromise. For the Marek series, Juliet has built a fascinating and believable world juxtaposing political in-fighting, social inequity, familial conflicts, territorial and trade disputes, against a backdrop of an innovative magic system. That this world, and Juliet’s writing and story-telling, has proved engaging to readers is amply demonstrated by the award-winning authors who have been expressing their admiration of the books in the series.
Multiple Nebula-award winning author Aliette de Bodard wrote, of The Deep and Shining Dark (book 1 in the series), “A rich and memorable tale of political ambition, family and magic, set in an imagined city that feels as vibrant as the characters inhabiting it.”
Book 2 in the series was Shadow and Storm, about which Lamda Literary Award winner, Rivers Solomon, wrote “Shadow and Storm is an absolute delight to read, the literary equivalent of sinking into the embrace of a dear friend. Warm and cosy but never short on adventure and intrigue, Kemp’s second entry into this series won’t disappoint. The characters are real, full of depth, and richly drawn, and you’ll wish you had even more time with them by book’s end. A fantastic read!”
Author, sociologist and humanitarian aid worker, Malka Older, had this to say about The Rising Flood, the third book in the series, “Fantasy politics with real nuance and believable uncertainty, characters whose richness and depth has developed over three books, and a growing threat that starts pulling together threads across the series make The Rising Flood a fantastic read, while Marek is a textured place that is a joy to return to.”
The final book in the series is The City Revealed. Una McCormack, New York Times bestselling science fiction author, wrote “The City Revealed is an absorbing fantasy set in a richly imagined world. A lovingly drawn and diverse set of characters struggle both personally and politically with the consequences of their own and others’ actions, and strive for cooperation without sacrificing principles. A thoroughly satisfying read.”
Another accomplished fantasy author, Juliet E. McKenna, wrote of The City Revealed, “Eminently satisfying epic fantasy where the personal, the political and the magical are multilayered and interlocked.”
About building the world for Marek, Juliet Kemp has said, “In creating Marek, I wanted an independent city-state (I’d been reading about mediaeval Venice and the other Italian city-states, and why they fell); and I wanted it to be in relationship with another country, to generate plot-tension. Marek is a port, because ports are great (I’m biased; I live right by the river in what was once the Pool of London). Specifically, I decided it would be the port for the landlocked country of Teren, upriver; and put swamp between Teren and Marek to make contact harder. That also gave me a founding story, and one that I could tie in to the beginning and foundation of Marek’s very particular form of magic, mediated by the cityangel, who made a deal with the people who founded Marek. But despite being a port, Marek doesn’t carry its own goods; the Oval Sea is monopolised by a sailing nation who do all the carting around of things – a source of tension in the first book, and a window into the wider world that we don’t see directly. Marek is primarily a trading city, so the ruling merchant families of Marek are rich. Being physically cut off, Marek’s become more independent over time, including financially; and Teren wants to claw back some of those riches. That became a major series plot arc. Meanwhile… who within the city has, and doesn’t have, power? The trading families have power, but they rely on the Guilds for much of what Marek trades (added value); and the Guilds are getting stronger and more arsey. And then there’s the lower city… Some of my characters at times make some quite stupid political decisions, given the underlying drivers. I’ve watched real life people make some quite stupid political decisions, in recent years, so, well. Fiction needn’t be more sensible than reality. It’s been a lot of fun to write in the world; maybe I will be back to it some day!”
The City Revealed is now available in eBook format on most platforms and in paperback from Amazon and good booksellers.
Notes for Editors
About The City Revealed
Independence brings self-determination, but also threats from without and within
The city of Marek rests on newly-independent laurels. Their ties to Teren, the land-locked nation for which they served as sole trade link to the world, are cut; Teren’s Lieutenant, Selene, has been expelled, and her seat rests empty in the Marekhill Council chambers.
But Selene, fresh from her political defeat, threatened to return – next time, not with honeyed words or veiled threats, but with armed soldiers and war sorcerers. Last year, the sorcerers of Marek narrowly defeated a single Teren-summoned demon; how might they fare against a dozen or more?
Twisting the already fraying cord of a city under siege, the common people of Marek grow increasingly fervent in their own demands for representation – for a say in how the city is run, and for whom it is run.
Marcia, Fereno-Heir, agrees with the Lower City; they deserve a better say. But much of the Council won’t hear of it – and, of course, there’s Selene’s threat of an army of sorcerers at the city’s magical border. Sorcerers that half the Marekhill Council wouldn’t even accept as real.
She must work with the sorcerer Reb, her lover, to force the Council to recognise the truth of magic, whilst her sorcerer brother, Cato, rushes to build some sort of defence.
Because if Teren’s demons can pass the Cityangel’s wards, it’ll be the end of them all.
Juliet Kemp lives by the river in London, with their partners, child, dog, and too many fountain pens. They have had stories published in several anthologies and online magazines. Their employment history variously includes working as a cycle instructor, sysadmin, life model, researcher, permaculture designer, and journalist. When not writing or parenting, Juliet goes climbing, knits, reads way too much, and drinks a lot of tea.
After a six-year wait, the latest, much-anticipated, novel in Christopher G. Nuttall’s Royal Sorceress series depicts a society that continues to be ardently patriarchal despite the most powerful magician being female
DARTFORD, KENT – 27 January 2023 – Elsewhen Press, an independent UK publisher specialising in Speculative Fiction, is committed to publishing entertaining books. Their most popular author is Christopher G. Nuttall, frequently one of the best-selling science fiction and fantasy authors on Amazon. As well as being a prolific self-published author, Nuttall has been published by indie publishers. His first professionally published book, The Royal Sorceress, was published by Elsewhen Press in 2012 and was an instant hit. Since then, there have been three more books in the series, the last one published in 2016. The Revolutionary War, the long-awaited next instalment in the story of Lady Gwendolyn Crichton, the eponymous Royal Sorceress, is now finally available.
Christopher G. Nuttall is a master storyteller, with an insatiable interest in history and in studied exploration of what might have been if events had been even just slightly different. That led him to set up one of the first alternative history websites in the early days of the world wide web. He soon had a large following among the community of history and alternative history fans, so when he started writing his own fiction it found immediate success. He has subsequently been writing stories in a number of different series, both science fiction and fantasy, but often with an eye on alternative history and social justice.
Peter Buck, Editorial Director of Elsewhen Press, says, “The Royal Sorceress series continues to be very popular, in ebook, print and audiobook – even now, 10 years after the first book was published. The stories are set in the early 19th century where English researchers had, some years before, discovered the scientific basis of ‘magic’ – enabling Britain to win the American war of independence, and the British Empire to flourish while other nations struggled to develop their own magical talents. As well as allowing Chris to explore the implications of such changes in global events, politically, the premise of the series addresses the disconnect between a society that has advanced both technologically and magically, but is still stuck with old social mores and attitudes. This is made evident in the attitude of politicians and military who are aghast that the most powerful magician in the country is a woman. His peerless skill at combining alternative history, social satire, and fantasy means that the stories appeal not only to fans of historical adventures and alternative history, but also to fans of fantasy and steampunk fiction. Since the success of The Royal Sorceress, Chris has been writing a variety of stories, but there have always been many readers regularly asking for the next instalment in Gwen’s story. At last, this much anticipated tale has arrived, with Gwen going to France for the first time.”
The Revolutionary War, is published by Elsewhen Press in eBook format today and will be available in paperback on the 27th February.
Notes for Editors
About Christopher G. Nuttall
Christopher G. Nuttall has been planning sci-fi books since he learnt to read. Born and raised in Edinburgh, Chris created an alternate history website and eventually graduated to writing full-sized novels. Studying history independently allowed him to develop worlds that hung together and provided a base for storytelling. After graduating from university, Chris started writing full-time. As an indie author he has self-published many novels. This is his latest fantasy to be published by Elsewhen Press, the much-anticipated fifth in the popular Royal Sorceress series. The first was The Royal Sorceress, followed by The Great Game, Necropolis and Sons of Liberty. The Revolutionary War continues Gwen’s story. Chris is currently living in Edinburgh with his wife, muse, and critic, Aisha, and their two sons.
After years of inconclusive war, the Franco-Spanish Empire is on the verge of collapse. The military is coming apart, the people are starving, the economy is on the brink … and yet, as long as the crown keeps tight control of its magicians, all hope of revolution and victory remains faint. The secret police are in control, rebel magicians are hunted down and eliminated before they can pose a threat and, worst of all, the government has found a new way to enhance magical power. The situation seems dire. But with a little help, there may be a chance.
Returning from America with Bruce, her fiancé, Gwen is not best pleased to be sent to Paris to train the rebels in magic, to give them a fighting chance against the government before the stresses of war threaten to destroy the British Empire as surely as their French enemies. But with shadowy figures lurking in the background, and an entire country on the brink of chaos, Gwen must face her gravest challenge yet …
… In an environment where her enemies hold all the cards.
It’s 1830, in an alternate Britain where the ‘scientific’ principles of magic were discovered sixty years previously, allowing the British to win the American War of Independence. Although Britain is now supreme among the Great Powers, the gulf between rich and poor in the Empire has widened and unrest is growing every day. The King’s Royal Sorcerer, is ageing and must find a successor to lead the Royal Sorcerers Corps, one who is Master of all known magical powers. There is only one candidate, one person who has displayed such a talent from an early age, but has been neither trained nor officially acknowledged. A perfect candidate to be Master Thomas’ apprentice in all ways but one: the Royal College of Sorcerers has never admitted a girl before. So start the adventures of Lady Gwendolyn Crichton, soon to be the Royal Sorceress.
An adventure to solve a mystery wrapped in an enigma bound by a conundrum and secured by a puzzle, their novel is set in a world they originally designed for role-playing campaigns.
DARTFORD, KENT – 23 September 2022 – Elsewhen Press, an independent UK publisher specialising in Speculative Fiction, is committed to publishing outstanding books by talented authors. Although most of our books are written by a single author, sometimes two writers collaborate on a book that could perhaps never have existed had either attempted to write it alone. The Vanished Mage by Penelope Hill and J.A. Mortimore is a perfect example.
Peter Buck, Editorial Director of Elsewhen Press, said, “We were at a science fiction convention in London in 2019, when Penny and Judith came to talk to us. In the course of that conversation, they told us how they had first met. ‘Well, I wasn’t expecting that!’ I said. That, they replied, was typical of the responses they get when they explain they owed their friendship to Star Trek.”
Penny and Judith met in Kew Gardens
Fans of the show since its first UK airing in 1969, they met at a fan gathering in Kew Gardens in the late 1970s (there are photos!) and have remained firm friends ever since. Living at opposite ends of the country didn’t prove a barrier when they decided to start writing together – although, in the days before the internet came along, this led to weekly three hour phone calls!
“I often spent my holidays at Penny’s house,” Judith said. “We would spend happy hours plotting our novels together – and we still do that to this day!” Those hours led to the completion of one collaborative novel, and the pair spent a good many more developing the next one.
“We had fun back then,” Penny said. “Exploring the emerging web, discovering the intrigue of pre-Facebook bulletin boards, and sharing the joy of playing early computer games – in between writing chapters and whizzing them back and forth between us via email.”
The origins of The Vanished Mage lie in the campaign world Penny created in her days at University – developing from some rough ideas around how to create a variety of cultures and backgrounds for player characters into a richly detailed and unique world of its own. The backdrop offered by that world, the Known Kingdoms, gave them the chance to tackle a self-contained mystery. Their heroine, familiar with her world and her city in particular, provided them with a perspective to work with. Stepping in the footsteps of Sherlock Holmes and his later counterparts, they focused on the mystery and let the world unfold around the reader as their protagonists carried out their investigation. The first draft was finished by the late 1980s, but never published. Penny and Judith put it aside and moved on to other things. But they never entirely abandoned it and, after meeting Elsewhen Press, dusted it off and submitted it.
Peter Buck, added, “Fantasy stories are often set in an invented world with unfamiliar cultures and peoples. The world-building skills that authors need to make their settings believable are much the same as those needed to make a compelling immersive adventure game. So it’s no surprise that a world originally designed for role-playing games should be a perfect setting for a fictional quest. What is perhaps more surprising, though, is how well the setting lends itself to a mystery which challenges an investigative duo with Holmesian characteristics while retaining the essence of a fantasy – would Sherlock ever have used an enchanted sword?”
Despite the many years that have passed since their first meeting, Penny and Judith are still firm friends and indeed co-own a house with a third friend whom they met – yes, through Star Trek! “Penny’s late mother used to introduce us to people as her daughters,” Judith said, smiling. “Isn’t it amazing how an originally short-lived TV show created life-long friendships?!”
The Vanished Mage, is published by Elsewhen Press in eBook format today and will be available in paperback on the 17th October.
Notes for Editors
About Penelope Hill
Penelope Hill has wanted to be a writer for as long as she can remember, and her fascination with both futuristic and fantastic worlds has fuelled that ambition ever since. She is an avid reader, a long time role-player and games-master, and loves world-building: designing exotic places, writing mythic histories, and crafting cultures. She’s been a costumer and is busy developing her skills as a textile artist, so when she’s not writing she can usually be found stitching, knitting, knotting, or exercising other creative skills. During her working life, she spent many years supporting services in local government, and eventually found herself contributing to the development of both local and national policy, particularly around privacy and confidentiality. The research for her PhD helped influence some of that work, but has also brought new perspectives to both her writing and her world building. While she has published academically, she prefers creative writing, and retirement has given her the opportunity to pursue her long-standing ambition to become a professional author. She currently lives in Gloucestershire with her cats, a huge library of books, a treasure hoard of fabric and thread, and far too many dice.
About J.A. Mortimore
J A Mortimore (Judith) was born in London in 1953. She started writing stories at a young age and has never stopped. She wrote fanfiction for many years in a number of fandoms, all pre-internet. She has been active in science fiction and fantasy circles for longer than she cares to think about. She has a doctorate in policing young people. She has a short story in an anthology published in 2022 and has written space operas with romance which she plans to self-publish. Now retired, she lives in Gloucestershire with two friends, a number of cats, and far too many books and half-finished manuscripts.
About The Vanished Mage
A vanished mage… A missing diamond… The game is afoot.
Cover art by Penelope Hill
“From Broderick, Prince of Asconar, Earl of Carlshore and Thorn, Duke of Wicksborough, Baron of Highbury and Warden of Dershanmoor, to My Lady Parisan, King’s Investigator, greetings. It has been brought to my attention that a certain Reinwald, Master Historian, noted Archmagus and tutor to our court in this city of Nemithia, has this day failed to report to the duties awaiting him. I do ask you, as my father’s most loyal servant, to seek the cause of this laxity and bring word of the mage to me, so that my concerns as to his safety be allayed.”
The herald delivered the message word-perfect to The Lady Parisan, Baroness of Orandy, Knight of the Diamond Circle and Sworn Paladin to Our Lady of the Sighs. Parisan’s companion, Foorourow Miar Raar Ramoura, Prince of Ilsfacar, (Foo to his friends) thought it a rather mundane assignment, but nevertheless together they ventured to the Archmagus’ imposing home to seek him. It turned out to be the start of an adventure to solve a mystery wrapped in an enigma bound by a conundrum and secured by a puzzle. All because of a missing diamond with a solar system at its core.
Authors Penelope Hill and J. A. Mortimore have effortlessly melded a Holmesian investigative duo, a richly detailed city where they encounter both nobility and seedier denizens, swashbuckling action, and magic that is palpable and, at times, awesome.
Cover art and maps by Penelope Hill
ISBN: 9781915304186 eBook / 9781915304087 paperback 212pp
Visit bit.ly/TheVanishedMage
“From Broderick, Prince of Asconar, Earl of Carlshore and Thorn, Duke of Wicksborough, Baron of Highbury and Warden of Dershanmoor, to My Lady Parisan, King’s Investigator, greetings. It has been brought to my attention that a certain Reinwald, Master Historian, noted Archmagus and tutor to our court in this city of Nemithia, has this day failed to report to the duties awaiting him. I do ask you, as my father’s most loyal servant, to seek the cause of this laxity and bring word of the mage to me, so that my concerns as to his safety be allayed.”
The herald delivered the message word-perfect to The Lady Parisan, Baroness of Orandy, Knight of the Diamond Circle and Sworn Paladin to Our Lady of the Sighs. Parisan’s companion, Foorourow Miar Raar Ramoura, Prince of Ilsfacar, (Foo to his friends) thought it a rather mundane assignment, but nevertheless together they ventured to the Archmagus’ imposing home to seek him. It turned out to be the start of an adventure to solve a mystery wrapped in an enigma bound by a conundrum and secured by a puzzle. All because of a missing diamond with a solar system at its core.
Authors Penelope Hill and J A Mortimore have effortlessly melded a Holmesian investigative duo, a richly detailed city where they encounter both nobility and seedier denizens, swashbuckling action, and magic that is palpable and, at times, awesome.
Juliet Kemp lives by the river in London, with their partners, child, dog, and too many fountain pens. They have had stories published in several anthologies and online magazines. Their employment history variously includes working as a cycle instructor, sysadmin, life model, researcher, permaculture designer, and journalist. When not writing or parenting, Juliet goes climbing, knits, reads way too much, and drinks a lot of tea.
Christopher G. Nuttall has been planning sci-fi books since he learnt to read. Born and raised in Edinburgh, Chris created an alternate history website and eventually graduated to writing full-sized novels. Studying history independently allowed him to develop worlds that hung together and provided a base for storytelling. After graduating from university, Chris started writing full-time. As an indie author he has self-published many novels. This is his latest fantasy to be published by Elsewhen Press, the much-anticipated fifth in the popular 
Penelope Hill has wanted to be a writer for as long as she can remember, and her fascination with both futuristic and fantastic worlds has fuelled that ambition ever since. She is an avid reader, a long time role-player and games-master, and loves world-building: designing exotic places, writing mythic histories, and crafting cultures. She’s been a costumer and is busy developing her skills as a textile artist, so when she’s not writing she can usually be found stitching, knitting, knotting, or exercising other creative skills. During her working life, she spent many years supporting services in local government, and eventually found herself contributing to the development of both local and national policy, particularly around privacy and confidentiality. The research for her PhD helped influence some of that work, but has also brought new perspectives to both her writing and her world building. While she has published academically, she prefers creative writing, and retirement has given her the opportunity to pursue her long-standing ambition to become a professional author. She currently lives in Gloucestershire with her cats, a huge library of books, a treasure hoard of fabric and thread, and far too many dice.
J A Mortimore (Judith) was born in London in 1953. She started writing stories at a young age and has never stopped. She wrote fanfiction for many years in a number of fandoms, all pre-internet. She has been active in science fiction and fantasy circles for longer than she cares to think about. She has a doctorate in policing young people. She has a short story in an anthology published in 2022 and has written space operas with romance which she plans to self-publish. Now retired, she lives in Gloucestershire with two friends, a number of cats, and far too many books and half-finished manuscripts.
