Blurb:
History is quite a fascinating thing. We know the stories that have been told to us since we were children, but there are secrets… Magical secrets that are desperate to be revealed.
Pompeii was a tragedy the world will never forget, but what really caused the volcanic eruption that ended it all?
Why was the great sword Excalibur really destroyed?
The rolling hills of Victorian England seem peaceful enough, but what secrets really lurk there?
And would it surprise you that there are darker secrets in Ancient Rome than people ever dreamed?
If the Great Fog of London isn’t what it seems?
You think you know Harry Houdini, but do you know the man behind all the tricks?
And what if the mystery of Roanaoke runs deeper than you could ever imagine?
Could Ireland’s potato famine really be caused by a mage gone mad?
What if a ghost ship off the coast of England was more than a phantom?
Want to find out the secrets behind each of these stories?
Read nine exciting tales where history and magic collide from authors Michaela Baker, James Quinlan Meservy, Ariel Paiement, Joshua Reid, Alicia Scarborough, Maria Vermisoglou, Joanna White, Kandi J. Wyatt, and Sara Zagorski.
JAMES Q. MESERVY,
AUTHOR OF EXCAL’BYR
James Quinlan Meservy loves literature! His favorite genre to read is classic literature (Charles Dickens is his favorite author), and his favorite genre to write is fantasy.
Even when he attempts to write something that is not fantasy, his work-in-progress becomes fantasy by the end of the first draft.
He lives in Southeast Idaho with his wife and children, and spent his childhood moving all across northern Utah. He considers his home town to be Mendon, Ut, a small community near Logan, Utah in the Cache Valley.
A few words of acknowledgement.
Arthurian Lore, especially Excalibur and Merlin, will always have a special place in my heart, and when I was asked by Joanna White and Ariel Paiement to join their anthology, Glimpses of Time and Magic, I considered what historical fantasy story I could create and set in the Realm of the Light.
At first, I wanted to use an old favorite story of mine about a Viscount in England who died on that realm’s version of the Titanic, but as I wrote and developed the story, it took on a life of its own, and became The Viscount of Sternboard, A Realm of the Light Novella, so I had to find a new story.
I thought about my favorite historical time periods and what lore and mythology I already had involved in the Realm of the Light series, and I realized that while I reference Excalibur briefly—okay, so I think I only reference it once—in The United, The Realm of the Light Book 1, I never developed any aspect of Arthurian Lore, and I realized that this anthology was an opportunity to explain the creation of Excal’byr, and the Realm of the Light version of Camelot.
Thank you, Joanna White and Ariel Paiement, for inviting me to join Glimpses of Time and Magic. Thank you, Ariel Paiement, for designing this cover.
I would regret it if I did not take this opportunity to express my appreciation to Dorcia Beland for editing Excal’byr. Further, I would like to express my gratitude to my BETA readers, Karen Eisenbrey, Tessonja Odette, and my wife for helping me to perfect this story.
Finally, I would like to thank my readers for their continued support.
You can connect with James on his website or through his author’s page on Facebook.
Website: https://jqmserv.wordpress.com
Facebook: @James.Quinlan.Meservy
For updates from James Quinlan Meservy, his Reader Group,
Friends of the Dominion of Rai, and to receive your free copy of The Viscount of Sternboard, A Realm of the Light Novella, go to http://eepurl.com/druDar.
I am James Quinlan Meservy, Fantasy author extraordinaire, creator of creatures, embellisher of events, and firebrand. “Stories that kindle imagination.”
Was the great sword Excalibur really returned to the Lady of the Lake, or was she destroyed?