Series Highlight - The Khamlic Wars

I started writing this series in the late 90s (A long time ago!) The two main characters in the prequel (Olga and Flip) were named after one of my favorite bands of the time, Toy Dolls, and I think the goofiness of that old punk band creeped into the characters some.

It's set in a world known as Tiall. Here's the goofy map that I did long before I had any skill in photoshop (not that I have that much now...)

The prequel, Olga the Heroic takes place in the Kingdom of Tiall, while the "main series" is set in the Nation of Trilam. I put main series in quotes because it only ever made it to one book, and here's a little explanation of why:

After my time as a game designer at New World Computing came to an end (read: company was circling the drain and I got laid off), I had some time on my hands before I took the job at EA (working on Medal of Honor). During my hiatus, I wrote the Slave of Wellspring. It was a thing to do that kept my writing chops up and follow my 12-year-old me's dreams to become a published author.

So after I started at EA, my free time completely vanished. I was working 80 hour weeks and had a 1 hour - 1.5 hour commute each way to the EA office. Not much time left for writing.

So What's it About?

In the world of Tiall, there's a magical force that's the gift of the creator god (named Kham). this force, called Khamli can be manipulated into spells and things just like any magic system.

In the prequel, Olga was extremely gifted at seeing the Khamli, but was a terrible magician (called Casters). One of his spells accidentally kills his lord, the Duke of Wellington and he has to flee for his life. Then he gets entangled in a search for the lost daughter of the king and evil Casters.

The next book picks up in the Nation of Trilam, where it's illegal to use Khamli without a license. Rochin, a young man gets sick with a fever and nearly dies. It's only because of his fortitude and help of a Caster named Marlos Maven that he survives.

When he recovers, he realizes he can not only see the Khamli, but can use it to predict the future. When this comes out, he is accused of violating the law and is found guilty at a mock trial. His punishment is exile.

On his way out of town, he gets captured by slavers and sold into slavery, just as his hometown erupts into rebellion. He must find his way out of slavery and make his way back to his father!

why are there different covers for Slave of Wellspring

Well, that's because I'm planning a second edition of the first book. I wasn't the greatest writer when I wrote it, and the book has a ton of grammar and dialog tag mistakes. I've already gone through Olga the Heroic (because it's shorter) added new content and fixed most of those issues. The Slave of Wellspring is next on the list.

I don't have a timeline for the second edition since I'm elbows deep in Book 2 of Aeolwyn's Conquest, which is already gotten so big I've had to punt my plans for the whole second half into Book 3.

But, if you're an enterprising young editor who wants to fix my 20 year old mistakes, let me know!