As of today (December, 2022), I have several titles.
- Tales of the Red Ranger Epic Fantasy.
- The Veil Western Horror.
Currently, the author is unrepresented; agent contacts and referrals are welcome. DM @F_L_Stevens on Twitter to suggest a target for a query.
Tales of the Red Ranger
Books I and II of Tales of the Red Ranger are available for agents or publishers.
Currently, these are (perhaps) too long for debut novels, with over 100,000 words. I'm in the process of rethinking them into a series of shorter books.
The fantasy world is large, and an expansive series of books are contemplated to cover a millennium of conflict between the religious orders, the earls, the neighboring kingdoms, and the Bælælves.
Book I — The Forge — is 160,400 words. How far will you go pursuing your ambition? What is Mage Garland willing to endure? Is the pursuit of power worth the personal cost?
Garland is desperate to be a mage so he can master the power of the mage’s forge. Because he’s naturally adept at magic, he can feel the power flowing around him, and controlling the power is as essential as life itself. The hierarchy in the mage temple fears his mastery and throws him into a cell to die, isolated and insane.
The mysterious, secretive free-lance Red Knight is willing to smuggle Garland to freedom. Pitting high mages against each other creates a chaos of temple in-fighting, letting the Red Knight and Garland slip away. The forge used by the Earl of Westmarch on the front-lines of a war against Outlanders becomes Garland’s new home. Using the power of the forge was all he ever wanted.
An ambitious and risky idea leads to capture by the Outlanders. Garland is traded as a pawn in their obscure struggles for power. A Wizard fleeing the remote Western Empire teaches Garland unusual magic techniques and also educates Garland on the real nature of the war against the Outlanders. Garland’s kingdom is at risk unless he finds a way to escape from the Outlands and return with his knowledge of the war.
The high knights of Westmarch don’t trust the free-lance Red Knight. The Alliance of Earls doesn’t trust the Earl of Westmarch. No one trusts the Outlanders, but they’re the only ones who know the real nature of the war on their border. No one trusts Garland except the Red Knight; only the Earl of Westmarch trusts the Red Knight.
This is a grim, dark, gritty, and detailed story about a mage’s journey into new realms of magic. If you want to see more pitches, see Thirty-Four Pitches.
Book II — The Sword and The Crystal — is 165,500 words. Are you willing to take action? What will you do to face your fears? Are you ready for the path you’ve chosen?
When Garland and the Red Knight learn the Red Knight’s ancestral home has been destroyed, they have to choose between loyalty to the king and justice for the displaced villagers. What Garland learns leaves him paralyzed with fear and undermines the entire religious foundation for his magical powers.
Book III — The Crown, The Orb, and The Scepter. Can you stand up to corruption? Are you willing to call out evil when you see it? How do you know whom to trust?
When the Earl of Westmarch starts collaborating with the Kingdom’s enemies, the Red Knight has to choose which loyalty is most important — the Earl who made the knight or the Kingdom the Earl is subverting.
As of June 2020, book III is about 124,000 words into the first draft.
Book IV — The Gateway. **How far will you go to find the real problem? Are you really willing to look behind the masks? What kind of disruption and chaos can you survive? **
Desperate Imperial wizards are searching for crystals found in the mines of Red Knight’s ancestral home lands. Before the kingdom is destroyed, Garland has to learn why the Western Empire has rekindled the war.
Book V — The Mage Lands. Can you build a team? Can you organize an effort for good? What are you willing to sacrifice to prevent the spread of evil?
The Veil
This is a series of horror books, more moderate in size.
Adjacent to our world, separated by a thin veil, are worlds of horror and terror. The people keeping the veil intact have been doing this for tens of thousands of years; civilizations have risen, fallen, and been forgotten, but their duty persists. Their long-enduring knowledge describes almost one hundred of places where an opening in the veil allows malevolent spirits to pass into our realm.
The sudden, dramatic changes in the American West interrupted the careful way knowledge and skills were passed from generation to generation.
The first of these books, The Veil, is 60,100 words.
On a pilgrimage seeking the uncanny in the American west of 1850, two nuns find a town with a horrible mystery and a madman trying to control dark powers he can’t begin to understand. They have to overcome issues of trust and ignorance to make allies. With help, they can begin an awkward spiritual journey that leaves a trail of bodies in the desert landscape.
I'm tempted to rename it The Veil: Valley of Fire. The working title I've settled on is Stitching the Veil.
I doubt I'll write all 108 parts of this. However, it is a potentially broad franchise with numerous opportunities for story-telling.