Where else can you get assassination attempts through hostile wilderness for just $0.99?
(You can read the full description for the book on the Amazon link above – and a billion other places on my site. So please check it out and it might just be the summer read you’re looking for!)
Surprise! The paperback version of book 2 of the Tomahawk and Saber series is out a few days earlier than scheduled. So you can literally get your hands on this book now.
In this book, which some of the early readers thought was even more suspenseful than Language of the Bear, we go along with Pyke and Wolf Tongue as they … well, I’ll just give you the jacket copy:
Wolf Tongue of the Susquehannock and Lieutenant Hugh Pyke of the British Army barely survived their first mission together. Now with the French and Indian War beginning to flame around them, the frontier of the Pennsylvania Colony is restless.
When they’re called back to protect Millers Town from Indian raiders, Pyke and Wolf Tongue discover the settlement is outnumbered and there is no militia to reinforce them. Even worse, Pyke and Wolf Tongue fear the townsfolk harbor secrets just as deadly as their attackers.
As Pyke tries to build a haphazard defense with a band of farmers and children against an almost inevitable slaughter, the mysteries of the town begin to unravel. Pyke realizes his life is in danger from the very people he is duty-bound to protect—perhaps, even from the beautiful French outcast who seems to know more than she should.
With a final, crushing attack imminent, Wolf Tongue hurries to rescue a kidnapped girl who might be the only hope for the town’s survival while Pyke struggles to protect the innocent. As they carve away layers of deceit, both men must confront the terrible truths behind Millers Town to survive the dangers to their lives, their peoples, and their honor.
Through the Narrows continues the historical adventure of the Tomahawk and Saber series, filled with suspense and action that captures the deadly brutality, danger, and history of Colonial America.
So, you know. If this is the kind of stuff you like, please check it out.
And if you do like it, you’ll be happy to know there are more stories coming—Evan and I are hard at work on the next Tomahawk and Saber adventures. I think you might be surprised at some of the twists coming down the, ahem, pike.
I’ve been challenged.
Mike Fuller, a fellow historical fiction writer, tagged me in the “777 Writer’s Challenge” in which I’m dared to share seven lines, beginning with the the 7th line down on the 7th page of a work-in-progress.
Well, I’m not usually one to back away from challenges. So here’s an excerpt from Through the Narrows (written by me and Evan Ronan), the second novel in our Tomahawk and Saber series:
As he turned, a sudden movement caught his eye and he reflexively braced himself. He grunted and twisted his body as a boy slammed onto his back. Wolf Tongue rolled, swinging the boy over his shoulder and locking him in a hug against his chest.
Root Cutter, Wolf Tongue’s nephew, struggled against the grip for a moment before Wolf Tongue released him.
The boy turned to face his uncle and lifted his chin high. He was growing quickly and strong, one of the few who seemed to be. He almost stood to Wolf Tongue’s shoulders and had a sharp jaw and quick hands. Like his uncle, he wore his hair shaved on all sides and with a lock of hair at the back crest, but today he wore a tight cap dyed red and black. His nose, like that of his mother who was taken by the pox, was arched like a hawk’s beak.
Root Cutter straightened his leather tunic. “You never saw me hiding there. If I’d had a knife …”
Wolf Tongue winked. “If you had a knife, I’d have a new one for my collection.”
Slightly more than seven lines. And also only barely a work in progress, as it will very shortly be released. (Don’t worry, I’ll let you know when it’s out.) But fun anyway, I hope.
Thanks for the challenge, Mike!
Brace yourselves, dear readers, for duels, battles, scalping, backstabbing, blackmailing, broken hearts, and general mayhem, because …
Language of the Bear is available now!
This is the first book in a historical fiction series written by me and Evan Ronan. We like to say it’s Lethal Weapon meets Last of the Mohicans. (You can see the full description and sample chapters on the Amazon link above.)
Fun, right? Well, we thought so. I had an amazing time and learned so much working with Evan on this book. We had so much fun, in fact, that we’re already almost finished with the next in the Tomahawk and Saber series, Through the Narrows, and looking down the barrel at a third.
You can find Language of the Bear on Goodreads here and for purchase at Amazon.com.
Language of the Bear is THIS close to publication! We had some back and forth with our editor for a bit, and are now finalizing edits and cover art.
And because publication is so close, I want you to start reading it.
I’ll be sending out the first chapter free to you lovely people on my mailing list. If you’re already on my it (thank you!), you’ll get an email in the next few days. But if you’re not,
click here to get on my list before the book comes out and I’ll send you chapter one of Language of the Bear.
And don’t worry about getting hammered with emails—I don’t send newsletters often or bombard you with nonsense. I’ll generally only email you when there’s actual news, special announcements or deals.
LOTB is getting so close I can smell the campfires, but the writing goes on for other projects. And everything that goes along with the writing, like the research so key in historical fiction.
Here comes the summer reading.
LOTB is the first novel in the Tomahawk & Saber series and it takes place in the days just before the French and Indian War. And then the second book, Through the Narrows, brings our heroes even closer to the actual war. (It’s sometimes called the Seven Years War, which is odd because it’s generally marked as 1754 – 1763. You do the math).
Then the untitled THIRD book … well, I won’t tell you exactly. But suffice to say, I’m redoubling my efforts at research for the French and Indian War and all the goings-on around it.
Of course, I’ve been reading books about Colonial history, Native American tribes of the eastern woodlands, and all that goes along with that era for a long time. Especially during the writing of LOTB, there was a lot of digging for historical details again.
But that book largely takes place on the frontier, away from much of what makes it into history books. Now, though, as Evan Ronan and I are finishing the plotting for the third book, we’re both refreshing our history and getting some additional research in to really make this era and story come alive.
I’ve got a stack of books to start with. Some I’ve read before, others not. And the research begins in earnest as soon as LOTB is published.
(I say that as if it’s an onerous task. Really, I get to sit and read about exciting history and people. … Good work, if you can get it.)
You guys! Guess what! I have a book coming out!
(You can tell I’m excited because I almost never use exclamation points.)
To make a long story short, I wrote a historical adventure with my friend Evan Ronan, and after a few near misses at traditional publishing and lots of good, personal feedback, we decided to publish it ourselves.
Right now, we’re doing the final polish of the manuscript after receiving comments from our editor, and our very talented designer is working up cover art—I’m sure I’ll show that off quite soon.
That means we’re on the final leg of producing the novel, and …
Language of the Bear will be available through Amazon in ebook in April, and print in May.
The genesis of the book and our decision to publish it ourselves is a long story that I’ll get into another day.
But for now, here’s what our book’s about:
In the hostile wilderness of Colonial America, a young Native American warrior and a British officer are forced into a secret assassination mission. But when they learn their prey is more dangerous than they feared, can they complete their mission, protect a dying tribe, confront a madman, and still survive?
With war rumbling on the horizon, Lieutenant Hugh Pyke arrives in the Pennsylvania Colony hoping to prove himself against the French. Instead, he finds himself blackmailed into a dishonorable mission to assassinate the cousin of the woman he loves.
Wolf Tongue, a brash warrior of a dying tribe, volunteers to guide Pyke through the dangers of both the landscape and its indigenous nations. Even as he fights to protect his people from European and Native invaders, he struggles to earn the respect of those he would save.
An action-filled, old-fashioned adventure, Language of the Bear is the first novel in the Tomahawk and Saber series.
And yes, this is the first novel in the series. In addition to working with final edits on Language of the Bear, we’re also wrapping up the second book (tentatively titled Through the Narrows), which is slated for release in May.
If you’re on Goodreads and this sounds like something you might dig, please add it to your to-be-read list, because it’ll certainly make these two guys smile.
Nathanael Green 