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This week's story, "Maintenance," is a bit of flash fiction (a story told in under 1000 words) I wrote a couple of years back.  It's urban fantasy, but Forgotten Realms readers may notice a familiar element.

I just learned that four more of my Forgotten Realms books will be making their way into e-book format on December 27. 

Thornhold was intended to kick off a Harper transition arc, but instead became the "last Harper book."  It does not end the Harper saga--it was not written to do so--so some readers found the ending inconclusive. But I hope you'll enjoy this story about the power and the pain of family ties. Bronwyn is a treasure-hunting rogue whose family tree includes a paladin, a dark lord, and a tiny half-elven sorceress.  She teams up with Ebenezer Stoneshaft, a foot-loose dwarf who has family problems of his own.

Thornhold was folded into the Songs & Swords series because Danilo Thann has a secondary role in the story.  Arilyn also makes a cameo appearance, during which she receives relationship advice from Bronwyn:  "Men weren't put on this world to make our lives easier. They were just put here."  And of course Khelben Arunsun is busily pulling strings.

The Counselors & Kings trilogy takes place in Halruaa.  If your introduction to the Realms was fourth edition and post-Spellplague, you might well be thinking, "Huh?" Halruaa no longer exists--or more accurately, it barely exists.  Since this was a land ruled by wizards and permeated with magic, it's not surprising that it was devastated by the Spellplague. Most of Halruaa is now underwater, and its unique culture was destroyed.  Counselors & Kings, therefore, offers a glimpse into a lost world.  It's the story of Tsigone, a street-smart rogue, and Matteo, a young jordain--a member of a magic-resistant counselor class--who was bred and a trained to advise Halruaa's wizard lords but finds himself in the role of knight to a very unlikely lady.

I'm delighted to see these novels in e-book format, aand I hope you enjoy discovering or revisiting these stories.

If you read fantasy short fiction, you've probably heard of Martin H. Greenburg, editor of many, many anthologies. Larry Segriff co-edited quite a few of these.

Larry's new project is StoryPortals, an online anthology focusing on three different story lines. You've got a female assassin in a fantasy world with a Arabian flavor, a thief in an Asian-inspired setting, and a modern-day hedge witch practicing in Minnesota.

Bel Thorne, the hedge witch, made her debute this week with five short stories. Authors include Eberron's Marsheila (Marcy) Rockwell and veteran shared-world writer and Forgotten Realms author Richard Lee Byers.  Both stories are solid, entertaining tales.

Richard also wrote a short story about Katya, the assassin. Well worth reading--lots of action, nice twists, and a skillful use of flashbacks to tell a story within a story. 

I hope you'll stop by and check out the site.  You'll also find stories by several other writers who are no strangers to shared-world fiction, including Tim Waggoner, Will McDermott, and Keith R.A. DeCandido.

Today is the ebook release of Dreams Spheres, which is book V of the Songs & Swords series. 

In this story, Danilo Thann and Arilyn Moonblade learn that the anti-elf bias of Waterdeep's nobility has reached a new and deadly level.

Here's a link to the Amazon.com page for those who want more info.

There's a lot going on in this story--perhaps a bit too much. Readers are more divided in their opinions of this book than any of my other Forgotten Realms stories, with the possible exception of Windwalker and its unconventional ending.  Whether you liked it, hated it, or responded with a resounding "meh...", I'd love to hear your thoughts.

It's great to see the backlist coming out in ebook format.  I hope you're enjoying revisiting old friends, or getting acquainted with "new" ones.

It's good to see the backlist coming out in ebook format.  This week the first three books of the Songs & Swords series (Elfshadow, Elfsong, and  Silver Shadows) became available as ebook "reprints." 

The timing is particularly good, since Elfshadow, my first FR novel, turns 20 this month.  One more year, and it can walk into a tavern and order feywine without worrying about getting carded.   

Today is the release date for City of Splendors, a stand-alone novel co-written with the incomparable Ed Greewood.  It's a slice of life in Waterdeep before the Spellplague, and it takes an unconventional look at what it means to be a hero. 

Greenwood/Cunningham mirth and mayhem, now in digital format. Hope you enjoy the tale!

It's available at the Amazon.com Kindle Store and the Barnes & Noble Nook Bookstore.  If you know of any other ebooksellers and formats, I'd greatly appreciate it if you'd add the info in comments.

Honor Among Thieves is an "e-riginal" novella--a short novel (35,000 words) published first (and the this point, exclusively) as an ebook.  It's an introduction to the world of Sevrin and a group of rogues whose complicated lives are about to take on a few more twists.

The tone is similar to my early Forgotten Realms books, with a writing style that's a little leaner and more fast-paced.  This is not intended to be groundbreaking fantasy.  My goal was to tell an entertaining sword-and-sorcery tale with quirky characters you'll enjoy spending time with.  If you like Arilyn and Liriel, you'll probably also like Honor and Vishni. 

If you'd like to read some sample chapters, the Prologue through Chapter 3 are up on my website, www.elainecunningham.com.  Pull down the Catagories menu (right hand column) and click on either Honor Among Thieves or Excerpts.

The ebook is for sale on the Amazon.com Kindle store, the Barnes & Noble Nook bookstore, and Smashwords. 

Just posted a bit of flash fiction at the Candlekeep forum.  Since I can't cut-and-paste the text here and do NOT want to retype, here's a link:

forum.candlekeep.com/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=...