The Scroll Thief - New Book Trailer

Just a quick update to post the new book trailer for "The Scroll Thief: a Tale of Ithian".

Gorgeousness of Cover Art!

I can now unveil the beautiful cover for The Scroll Thief: a Tale of Ithian , coming 24th February 2009.

It’s by Anne Cain and I could not have imagined anything more perfect for the story.

The cover shows the main characters Malachy and Cerys. It captures my ideas of them just perfectly.

The novel will be released as an eBook on the 24th of February, 2009 and in print about ten months later.

The Wolf's Sister is out

The Wolf's Sister is available now from Samhain Publishing and various lovely eBook stores.

A love transcending race and culture…a secret that could cost everything.

A Tale of the Holtlands, Book 1

Elite Fey’na warrior Shan is driven only by hatred for Gilliad, the Lord of River Holt, the human responsible for the brutal slaying of his innocent sister. Vengeance will be his as soon as he can find a way to confront his enemy. His mind is set; his path chosen. Then he meets Jeren…

Jeren of River Holt flees for her life, desperate to escape the clutches of her brother, Gilliad, before his misuse of magic consumes what remains of his sanity. She finds safety and protection with Shan…but only so long as she hides her kinship with the Lord of River Holt. As they are pursued across the northern snow plains, their deepening trust turns to love.

A love that could shatter when he learns who, and what, she is.

All this and at only $3.50! Which is €2.20 or GB£1.78 (or thereabouts according to xe.com).

Lots of news, interviews, articles and reviews

Yep, I've been kind of busy...

I did some interviews and promo a while ago so, with only a week left before "The Wolf's Sister" comes out, its all arriving at once. Don't worry. I'll pipe down again soon.*

Raine Delight posted an article I wrote on Fantasy cunningly entitled "Why Fantasy?" and another interview which also includes a different except of "The Wolf's Sister". Warning for those at work - there are some scantily clad ladies in the site header. Actually, that might be an enticement for some of you ;)

I also got a stonking review from the wonderful Ciar Cullen - I'm so thrilled about this one.


Long is a master at characterization. Deep characterization, in a short book. Madness, longing, love, desperation, motivation, hurt, betrayal–it’s all there for each primary character. Even Anala, my favorite character (a wolf). Sniff. Because the characters are so real, the relationships are believable. Somehow Long creates connections between her characters seemingly out of thin air. And then you connect–Shan is so loveable in a manly way that it’s heartbreaking when he gets into mortal danger.

I love her description–just enough to give you the sense of the cold fantasy world without boring you. I also loved the tone of this book–serious, a bit morose, deep, desperate. In contrast, the romance is uplifting and brings light to the story.


So I got a 4.5 out of 5 and I'm delighted. :)



The lovely Jane from Texty Ladies interviewed me too - Check it out here for more information on R.F. Long than you could ever really want to know... :)

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*Maybe...

Soul Fire

Samhain have accepted my paranormal romance novel "To Regain Heaven". The title is changing to "Soul Fire" and it will be released in ebook next summer, probably July or August, with a print release ten months following, in May or June of 2010.

Yay!

The Wrecker's Daughter Available Now

Just found out that the Fall 2008 issue of Ocean Magazine, which contains my short story The Wrecker's Daughter, is out now. So go check it out here. There's an excerpt and a gorgeous picture.

Diva's Fantasy Romance Workshop

Please join us at Romance Divas THIS WEEKEND!

Friday October 10th and Saturday October 11th, we will be joined by some huge names in fantasy and fantasy-romance for a workshop on what the difference really is between the two genres.

The cover art for The Wolf's Sister arrived last night and I am (justifiably I think) very excited. So, here it is...

The Wolf's Sister Book Trailer

I uploaded the first incarnation of my book trailer for The Wolf's Sister: a Tale of the Holtlands today.

So here it is: The Wolf's Sister

Title Change News

The decision is finally made. The Penitent: a Tale of the Holtlands is now entitled

The Scroll Thief: a Tale of Ithian

and I have started the first round of edits.

The Wolf's Sister - coming soon

The Wolf's Sister is up on the coming soon pages at Samhain. You can read all about it here and follow the link to read an excerpt.

Work continues on The Penitent which will very shortly be called something else! :D

The Penitent sells to Samhain

I'm delighted to announce that I've just signed the contracts for my novel The Penitent to be published with Samhain Publishing Ltd.

It will release as an ebook early next year (between Feb and April) and then in print about 10 months later.

YAY!

Elements Review (kinda)

Ok, strictly not a review, but a post from Lee Reynoldson (Hearthweru) on the Flashing Swords section of SFReader . Elements is my short story which appears in the Flashing Swords Summer Spectacular, 2008 *

So as promised, I am quoting him everywhere!

"Last night I read Elements by R.F. Long. Loved it. Great story and nice to see an Arthurian tale that owes more to the Mabinogion than French Romance."

This totally made my day. Thanks so much Lee!

_______

*It's still available until the end of September folks.

Elements and After 39 Days

Two bits of news all in one go!

Firstly:
My poem "After 39 days" is now up at Haruah, along with an interview with yours truly.

I almost sound like I know what I am talking about.

Almost.

Read the poem here
And the interview here

And secondly the Flashing Swords Summer Special 2008 came out yesterday which includes my Celtic/Arthurian story "Elements" in a rich and varied line up.
* You can see it here and buy a pdf version for $10:
* Buy it here in print for only €11.27
* and get a sneak preview here
And just for good measure here is the TOC

The Wrecker's Daughter - Ocean, Fall 2008

I got word the other day that my short story The Wrecker's Daughter will be appearing in Ocean magazine's Fall issue this year. It will be available from www.oceanmag.org from 1st October 2008.

R

The Wolf's Sister sells to Samhain

I'm really pleased to announce that The Wolf's Sister has been accepted by Samhain.

This novella is one of my Holtlands stories and is one of those very dear to my heart so I am delighted. I will post updates about its progress as I get them but for now, let the celebrations begin!

R

Illustration for Elements

Here's a sneak preview of the beautiful illustration A.R. Stone has created for my short story Elements, both of which will appear in the Flashing Swords Summer Special, 2008, available in print only from June 2008!



You probably can't see because of the size but the border is beautifully detailed celtic knotwork. I'm starting to get really excited about this one...

P-Con & catching up

I've been largely (read completely) absent from here with NO NEWS! This is mainly due to the fact that I am working on two novels and have been largely, if not quite as completely, absent from a lot of other places as well.

The paranormal romance is complete but far too short so I am in the process of extending it. Currently it stands at just over 80% of the projected length.

The urban fantasy only moves forward in fits and starts, and has only ever proceeded in this way. It continues. I don't know how long it will be.

Different stories tell themselves in different ways. Some arrive fully formed and just waiting for interpretation (the hard part, as the image in your head is always lessened by the transfer to paper). Others are teased out, revealed bit by bit, like one of those old action series in the cinema - tune in next week...

Strange to be writing two such different beasts at the same time.

In other news I went to P-Con (www.pcon.ie) this weekend and had a ball. I'd never been to a convention before so finding one all about writing SFF in my home town was something of a revelation and a blessing from above.

'Elements' will be appearing in a Flashing Swords Summer Special. The line up looks incredible. It will be available from 1st June.

The proofs for 'Carrying Keptara' went back last week along with my author bio, so:

Coming soon...

Who knew?

It's funny the things you find out some days. Like I have a blogger profile! (Since this time a year ago, apparently!)

Who knew?

I'm R. F. Long, and I write fantasy and romance, usually combining the two in weird and wonderful ways.

My short story "Elements" will shortly be appearing in Flashing Swords. "Carrying Keptara" is in the forthcoming 'Ruins Metropolis' Anthology from Hadley Rille Books.

And I have some other things in the pipeline.

Talk soon
R