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I knew that Evermeet was scheduled for audio book release today, but I was pleasantly surprised to learn that several more are now available.  Tangled Webs and Wildwalker, books 2 and 3 of the Starlight & Shadows trilogy are out today. (Not sure what the story is with book 1, Daughter of the Drow, but I'm looking into it...)  So is my short story collection, The Best of the Realms Book III.

Today's Forgotten Realms releases also include two anthologies to which I've contributed:  Realms of Infamy and Realms of the Arcane.  These anthologies are a great way to sample a variety of writing styles and topics, and well as to revisit recurring characters.  

I'm delighted to see the backlist returning in audio format. 

You've probably heard about WotC's partnership with Audible, and the release of many of the Realms novels in audio book format. I was very pleased to learn that EVERMEET will be released on January 8.  If you follow this link, there's an audio sample of the reading, along with more information.

The Songs & Swords books are in production, and last month I exchanged several emails with Eileen Stevens, the voice actor who's recording The Best of the Realms Book III: The Stories of Elaine Cunningham. Just for fun, I sent her sheet music for "Elminster's Jest," an extended version of the ballad Danilo's singing sword belts out in the book Elfsong. She sang it on the recording.  I heard an audio clip. She has a sweet, clear soprano voice--not quite the rollicking baritone and bawdy tavern style I'd envisioned, but I think it's a fun and interesting addition to the performance. 

I'll post updates as more audio books are released.  

Hi, folks.

I'm currently expanding my website (www.elainecunningham.com) to include a page for each book. These pages include cover art, a brief story description, links to sample chapters, links to review sites and/or specific discussion threads, and links to various online booksellers of print, digital, and audio books. Since this is a time-consuming process, I'm adding one book a day, and I'm currently working my way through the Forgotten Realms books. 

Each page will have basic story and purchasing info, but I'm adding extra bits; for example, on the Elfshadow page is a list of novels and short stories featuring Arilyn, Danilo Thann, and Elaith Craulnober. I'm putting up the Elfsong page later today. It will include sheet music (lyrics and melody only) for "Elminster's Jest," the song Danilo's singing sword belts out during the heat of battle. Aspiring fantasy artists have created some nifty portraits of Liriel, so when I get to the Starlight & Shadows trilogy, I'll add a fan art gallery. And so on. I'd welcome feedback and suggestions.

If you're interested in adding some of the Forgotten Realms backlist books to your library, I hope these pages will make the process a little easier and more interesting. 

Sweet water, light laughter,
ec

I didn't set out to specialize in elves. They just show up when I'm writing, and they hang out, playing my harp and making snooty comments about the quality of my wine collection, until I put them in the story to get rid of them. As one does. 

In addition to the elves of the Forgotten Realms, I've written about the linchetti (the nightmare elves of Tuscan folklore), elves in current day Rhode Island (the Changeling Dectective series), and started exploring a new approach to crystal-based elven magic in my Tales of Sevrin series.  Earlier this week, Interaction Point Games announced the publication of a new short story, "A Single Thread." 

This tale follows the misadventures of two less-than-perfect elves in a fantasy version of medieval Europe--Kingdoms of Legend, a Pathfinder-compatible RPG setting.  For more information, please follow this link to the post on my website:

tinyurl.com/9cdhpxp

Hope you enjoy this new tale!

A lot can happen in 14 years. Take Evermeet, for example.

Back in 1998, the island of Evermeet was an inviolate elven homeland, protected by high magic and peerless elven warriors. It had been a refuge for thousands of years, and the elves saw no reason to think things might change. Then, in the year DR 1371 (aka 1998), they got a disturbing wake-up call--an invasion that forced them to rethink their assumptions and shore up their defenses. 

Perhaps they did TOO good a job.  When the Spellplague hit, it swept away the whole frickin' island.  But that's another story.

EVERMEET Island of the Elves is an older tale, one that begins with the mythology and history of Toril's elves--or, at least, the version of elven history and mythology that the secretive People permit humans to know. The book exists in three layers: a series of tales that follow the history of the royal Moonflower family, the gradual unfolding of the 1371 invasion, and the quest of the book's narrator, the bard Danilo Thann, to give his lover--Arilyn Moonblade, a half-elf of royal blood--some small part of the heritage denied her. 

EVERMEET was published in hardcover in 1998 and in paperback the year after. It's been out of print for several years now, but tomorrow, August 7, it will be released in eBook format.  If you're new to this tale, if you want to replace your 13-year-old paperback copy, or if you're transferring your Forgotten Realms books to digital format, I hope you'll consider adding the EVERMEET eBook to your library.

In case anyone might be wondering what sort of stories I write OUTSIDE of the Realms, here's a twelve-part answer:

http://www.elainecunningham.com/2012/04/12/just-keep-weaving/

The link leads to a post on my author website about JUST KEEP WEAVING, a collection of twelve short stories. These range widely in tone and topic, including urban fantasy, ghost stories, historical fantasy, Arthurian legends retold, flash fiction, and tales inspired by myth and legends. You'll find elves here, but the linchetto of Tuscan folklore are nothing at all like Toril's elves. The pirates are more historical than hearty, the witches include a medieval strega and a suburban kitchen witch.

The collection is available as an ebook. Links to Kindle, Nook, and Smashwords are included on the link above. For people who prefer print to digital, I hope to have a print version available in May.

Beginnings are easy. That's why a lot more novels are started than completed. This post on my author blog discusses the challenges of story middles, whether it's the middle part of a novel or the second book of a trilogy.


It also takes a peek at Honor Bound, the second book of the Thorn trilogy in the Tales of Sevrin series.  

Readers who enjoyed Arilyn's story in the Songs & Swords series, and Liriel's mischief and mayhem in the Starlight & Shadows trilogy will probably feel right at home in Sevrin. 

Hope to see you there!  

This week four more of my backlist novels were released as ebooks:Thornhold and the Counselors & Kings trilogy--The Magehound, The Floodgate, and The Wizardwar. 

Here's a link to a post on my website that displays the cover art and provides handy links to the books' pages on the Nook and Kindle bookstores. 
  

There's more Sevrin lore and fairy mischief up on ElaineCunningham.com, featuring our friends Askur and Bejarki, the unfortunate fishermen from the Winter Wolves tale.

  tinyurl.com/bohgn4y

In the mood for a very short fiction break?  "Winter Wolves," a new Sevrin lore post, offers a short and slightly twisted tale of wolves and wishes, fairies and philanderers.

tinyurl.com/6tk43v3