Drown the Witch

Second edition

Beware of witches bearing second chances

 Susan Fletcher has been hired to infiltrate a secret society of witches. Her contact promised fame, fortune and protection from the fallout.

Now Susan’s contact is dead, murdered by one of the people she threatened to expose. Can Susan uncover the murderer, maintain her cover, and escape the mansion of monsters?

Review the book for free here

I decided to release a second edition of Drown the Witch due to a complicated chain of reasoning that I think makes sense, but I wouldn’t want to testify to that in a court of law. The main reason is I’m a much better writer now than I was when I first released DTW, and the book’s now in a much better state (which is nice, because I still quite liked the original).

Reviews:

★★★★★

“WOW wow wow! It's been a while since I read a book that changed my worldview; this one definitely qualifies. It starts a bit slow and difficult to follow, but if you can get past the first couple chapters you're in for one hell of a ride.” - Friesaregood

Is That An Aura of Wild Magic Engulfing You, Or Are You Just Pleased To See Me?

Laceco was studying movement styles at a circus before the Telegram Flu left him bedridden for years. He partially recovered, but since then, certain people near him have experienced magical phenomena. Their emotional pain has manifested literally. Laceco believes this is because he is cursed, so he runs away from the circus he grew up in, climbs the nearest mountain and begins a new life as a hermit.

A month later, he wakes up to find himself lying on the floor, whilst his bed is occupied by a strange woman he’s never seen before. Both of them scream at each other to get away – they’re both in terrible danger. The woman flees Laceco’s cabin, but the wild magic whisks her back the next night, and the night after that.Laceco is unhappy about this, partly because it consistently results in him sleeping on the floor, but mostly because the strange woman seems to be causing his bed, his shack, and the mountain around his shack, to be consumed by mould and decay. Laceco has to learn all he can about this strange woman’s manifestation, but he can’t save her. The manifestations are born from emotional pain, so she has to be the one to face her pain and deal with it, before it’s too late.

Review the book for free here

The Hungry Dark

A fantasy thriller

Every fire witch is cursed, but Melita considers herself more cursed than most.

Exiled to the edge of the world, because of her chronic illness, her only joy comes from exploring the long-dead city of Tenebro. Monsters lurk in Tenebro, devious traps seek to sever your connection to reality and then, of course, there’s the Hungry Dark itself, which can strip the flesh from your bones in mere seconds. Melita isn’t bothered by the monsters, she’s good friends with one of the traps and she loves the Hungry Dark because it’s where her light shines brightest. Tenebro is the place Melita goes to leave her symptoms behind.

When a mob attacks Melita’s village for harbouring exiles, she flees to the dark with her friend and fellow cave raider Teya. Together, they’ll delve deeper than ever before, chasing a myth which might hold the key to keeping their village safe from rampaging humans once and for all. The creatures of the dark want Melita’s head, but her illness is the real threat, and that’s something she can no-longer run from.

Reviews!

“It's first and foremost a great adventure! So much happens, that the story just hurtles you from beginning to end - with enough world-building to make me want to see other stories set in this world. I cried a little, I smiled quite a bit, I tensely turned page after page, anxious to see what would happen next.”

***** - Andrea Gleason-Maresca

“I'm not sure what I expected before I read this, but it certainly wasnt a suicidal witch who eats bones delving into the depths of a forgotten city, and making friends with a giant snake monster. Nonetheless, it was incredibly enjoyable.”

**** - ZR_Reads

“This novel wears its heart on its sleeve, and in so doing it makes a story that has some dark scenes and addresses difficult topics still feel like a cozy adventure. The world that is built is both interesting and vast, and we only get a glimpse of it. This, I think, is great. There is no hand-holding or info dumps explaining different magics or any of the aspects of the world that are outside of our normal, and since it has a very soft magic system we can get thrown right in and figure things out as we go. Yet there is still infinitely more world to discover, if we want to, and that made it a really fun place to spend some time. The characters we spend time with are interesting and unique, they definitely don’t feel generic or like they are simply a few colors added to a stereotype.”

**** - Gyalten Lekden

“…the sincerity and earnestness of the narration give the book this really charming quality that is really refreshing in this day and age where the genre is dominated with grimdark and cynical science fiction/fantasy.

The way the plot is structured makes it easy for the book to have many of these earnest or sincere moments. Because the plot always moves quickly, never really lingering too long in one stage of the story, and in each of those stages, there's always an opportunity for the characters to develop and reveal more and more sides of themselves.” - Primo Saktyawan Sugiharto

Many Hands

A Role-Playing Game I co-wrote as part of DriveThruRPG’s PocketQuest 2022 game jam.

Free Weeks is Cantaci’s biggest and best summer camp for adults with disabilities. You play as one of the Many Hands, aiding the campers and fending off bandits.

Drown the Witch

Susan Fletcher has been hired to infiltrate a secret society of witches. Her contact promises fame, fortune, and protection from the fallout. Now, Susan’s contact is dead, murdered by one of the people she threatened to expose.

Can Susan uncover the murderer, escape the mansion of monsters, and above all, keep the witches from discovering she's not one of them?