July 4th Weekend Book One Sale!

This weekend for the 4th of July, I am reducing the price of Book 1 in my BEGINNINGS fantasy series, WOTHLONDIA RISING, on Kindle to 99 cents!  It sets the table for the series and gives you much needed and entertaining backgrounds for each of my characters.

Cover art by William Kenney

Quote from editor, Stephanie Dagg regarding Wothlondia Rising.

"Here are a handful of sentences from Gary’s stories that have stuck in my mind because of their sheer power or beauty:

Nimaira still lay on the cold ground, rubbing her jaw, with tears—not tears of pain, but tears of what might have been—welling in her beautiful eyes.

His eyes were reflections of the bluest of skies, quite unlike those of any ogre, whose eyes were always as black as the darkest caverns of the Subterrane.

The Paladin felt the darkness closing in on him, wresting control of his soul.

He merely stood frozen in place while a tumult of emotions bombarded him.

She had wept for countless hours and felt there should be no more tears left to cry, yet still they came, unbidden and unending.
You’re going to enjoy Wothlandia Rising, make no mistake."

Take a look at the reviews here for yourself on Amazon and here on Goodreads.

Wothlondia Rising : The Anthology is a collection of 5 previously released short stories plus a never-before-released 6th one, that are prequels to Covenant of the Faceless Knights (1st full-length novel). It includes the story, Distant Familiarity, which describes the events just prior to the prologue to Covenant of the Faceless Knights, too, which is also included in this anthology! The series details significant events from the past that shape the course of these characters, setting them on the path that will forever change their lives! It includes all of the following stories:

A Rose in Bloom recounts the thrilling events of a young Rose Thorne, not yet a woman, who is trying to find her way in the city of Oakhaven. Orphaned and discarded, she finds refuge in a kind madam at a local brothel and eventually meets a man who is more than she bargains for....

Maturation Process is the telling tale of the high elf, Elec Stormwhisper, who lives in the overbearing shadow of his father, Keryth. Treated as an outcast and feeling alienated from his own people, he exiles himself for a decade, finding a friend in a strange place and begins to accept his own unique destiny. Will this young and inexperienced elf ever find his true calling?

Tears of Blood is the amazing recount of the attacks on the region of Stonehill by the ancient and malevolent undead that are known as Blood Rot Zombies! Saeunn and the barbarians of both Chansuk and Greymoors must find a way to stop the undead infestation before they spread their miasma all across the face of Wothlondia! It is a tale that will forever change the young barbarian woman in more ways than one...

Strength of Faith is a tale that places a young acolyte of The Shimmering One, Garius Forge, on a path that tests his spirituality and also places him face to face with a demonic presence that has the power to alter the face of Wothlondia forever! Will his reverence and devotion to his deity be enough to overcome this horrible demon?

Reflections is an exploration into the true classifications of self-image. This short and sweet tale tells of the half-ogre barbarian, Orngoth, who begins to realize the true picture of what he is and where he comes from. During a raid with his ogre barbarian kin--the Ironskulls--Orngoth has an impromptu meeting that could forever change his own destiny. Will he see his true self in time or will he continue down the path of reckless endangerment?

Distant Familiarity is the tale of three legendary figures in the history of Wothlondia, who are attempting to recover an ancient evil that was stolen away from them. Tiyarnon the High Priest, Rolin Hardbeard and Nimaira Silvershade set out to recover the artifact that has forever altered their former companion Sadreth, twisting him into something altogether evil. Can these ancient heroes find and recover the item before it is reunited with its former host?


See excerpts from this and my entire series here! Have a great weekend and happy reading, no matter where your imagination may roam!

Please join me and the other amazingly talented authors over @ Skulldust Circle where we have formed a Writer's Circle that must be seen--a collection of brilliant, up & coming independently published speculative fiction authors with much to give both now and in the future!

All Artwork and covers by William J. Kenney

Visit my AMAZON AUTHOR PAGE

See you in Wothlondia! Cheers!

Also, please visit MY HOME PAGE to enjoy an extended reading experience and to see what else Ashenclaw Studios, LLC has in store in the future!

All maps, names and content copyright Ashenclaw Studios 2012 unless otherwise noted.

Excerpt of The Legend of Ashenclaw

Here is a little snippet of my upcoming short story in the SKULLDUST CIRCLE ANTHOLOGY, due out mid-September.

(Yes, mid-September as one of our contributors has had some unexpectedly bad luck in his personal life, so please be patient with us!)

That being said, keep your eyes peeled for the upcoming anthology and be sure to snag it on kindle as soon as it becomes available! It will include such authors as Jeremy Laszlo, Ben Martin, William Kenney, Ross Kitson and yours truly! And there are some new guys being introduced to the world of 'author-hood' in this anthology, so please welcome them as well! I am personally excited beyond words as to what this may mean for our little group and we are all psyched to have you, the reader, introduced to all of us in one book!

We hope you will enjoy it! So, without further ado, here is the intro to my story.

The Legend of Ashenclaw

It was an especially hot summer this year. That fact was well known by all.

Triniach leaned upon his staff and peered skyward, seemingly searching for something. The always-aloof wizard rubbed his chin thoughtfully, penetrating the thickening and white beard that grew upon it. His bright robe was made of the finest silken fabrics offered by a Veldennian seamstress and consisted of brilliant blues and purples. The woolen garments beneath however, were soaked with sweat and threatening to spill forth any moment, but Triniach did not seem to notice or care.

The calendar year was 414 according to the Wothlondian timekeepers and the heat had never been worse. Where was it coming from, thought the mage, dabbing his brow with a piece of cloth, though it did no good as more beads took their place immediately.

“It seems the summers are broadening,” he spoke aloud, calling over his shoulder to his companions.

“It is getting to be more than I can stand,” spoke Jon Veinslay, a paladin in service to The Watcher. The symbol of the god of the sky, a stylized eye, was proudly emblazoned upon his plated armor and shield, colored in pale silver with accents of deep blue and white.

“No wonder,” quipped the sorcerer behind him, Azbiel, who sat upon a flat rock that jutted slightly from the hill upon which they stood at the base of the Chaos Crests in the region of Hartsdale. “It's all that damned armor you’re wearin’.”

Jon simply raised an eyebrow at his adopted brother, who smiled sarcastically and genuinely through the heat and together they shared a laugh.

“I trust the cold feel of steel in my hands over magic any day, brother,” Jon rebutted. “At least I can rely on that which I can touch with my very own hands and this armor will protect me more so than that robe you wear.”

“Against swords and tangible weapons most assuredly, brother. But, I could roast you alive in that very armor in which you place so much trust. Does this look real enough to touch?” Azbiel said, gesturing and holding an outstretched hand face up as a flame burst forth from his palm, burning just as the campfire they set last eve. For a moment, the fire mounted in the mages hand until it was a sphere shaped ball of fire hovering just above his hand. It spun like a ball of yarn and was growing in size until it was the size of a ripe melon. 

“Go ahead and touch it,” Azbiel said. “It’s as real as the steel you carry at your side, alright. It will melt your skin and turn that very shell you wear to slag.”

“Enough, boys,” called a very gruff but very female voice from behind them. Twarda, a dwarven warrior with arms the size of an ogre’s, made her way over to them. She lumbered slowly in her plated hauberk and her arms hung with a light chainmail over them, barely containing the muscles below. Her shield reflected the symbol of an anvil, the crest of the family Stoneshell from the Mountains of Crescent Ridge in the northeast.

“The both of ye’ can argue ‘til yer both dead fer all I care,” she added, taking a tall drink from her waterskin, no doubt full of ale. “We got more important things ta’ be talkin’ on.”

“Yeah, like where in the blazes is this fraggin’ heat comin’ from,” called a high-pitched, yet male voice, like that of an adolescent boy. Breaching the crest of the hill and plopping to the ground was the halfling, Figit Tallshadow. His long dark hair was tied back in a ponytail to keep the heat from his neck and his leather sleeveless jerkin was open, revealing his pale, hairless and very skinny chest. A pair of daggers was belted to his hips; one on either side, but the companions understood that the rogue carried many more hidden on his person. He was a worthy adversary despite his outward appearance, which they all knew he often played to his advantage. 

 Please join me and the other amazingly talented authors over @ Skulldust Circle where we have formed a Writer's Circle that must be seen--a collection of brilliant, up & coming independently published speculative fiction authors with much to give both now and in the future!

All of my work can be found on AMAZON -- Kindle versions here

See you in Wothlondia! Cheers!

Please visit MY HOME PAGE to enjoy an extended reading experience, see direct links to purchase my full length novel, Covenant of the Faceless Knights, the short stories: Wothlondia Rising, and to see what else Ashenclaw Studios, LLC has in store in the future!

All maps, names and content copyright Ashenclaw Studios 2012 unless otherwise noted.

Skulldust Circle Anthology Coming Soon!

I am excited to announce that Skulldust Circle is working on an anthology of short stories! The main goal here is to give our fans and readers who may not know us or that may only know one of us, a sampling of our writing styles. So far, we are putting together stories based on whatever worlds we’ve already created. That should be happening in the next 2 weeks or so, if all goes according to plan, so keep your eyes peeled! We are still in the latter stages of development, but once the book goes live, we will certainly let you know.

Possible titles: ‘Skulldust Circle’ (I know…weird, right?) or ‘A Gathering of Dust.’

The tome shall include works from William Kenney, Jeremy Laszlo, Ross Kitson, Ben Martin & Gary Vanucci (me) at the moment. I don’t pretend to know what the others are writing about, but I expect them to make comments possibly on what it is they are doing or even do their own posts with explanations to that end.

My story is about the scorching drake (more commonly referred to as a red dragon) that started it all: Ashenclaw! Ever want to know what happened those years ago when the land was burnt to ash by the scorching drakes? Ever wonder where my realm got its name? Wonder no more!

And the best part about the whole thing is that I involved some of my friends that I used to play certain MMO’s with and I was able to put a good deal of them into the story! It was a ton of fun to write and I hope that the readers really enjoy it, especially them! The story is simply entitled ‘THE LEGEND OF ASHENCLAW’ and it runs approximately 21K words. I look forward to feedback and would love to hear your comments about the whole Skulldust Circle project!

 Please join me and the other amazingly talented authors over @ Skulldust Circle where we have formed a Writer's Circle that must be seen--a collection of brilliant, up & coming independently published speculative fiction authors with much to give both now and in the future!

All of my work can be found on AMAZON -- Kindle versions here

See you in Wothlondia! Cheers!

Please visit MY HOME PAGE to enjoy an extended reading experience, see direct links to purchase my full length novel, Covenant of the Faceless Knights, the short stories: Wothlondia Rising, and to see what else Ashenclaw Studios, LLC has in store in the future!

All maps, names and content copyright Ashenclaw Studios 2012 unless otherwise noted.

How Much Editing?

I have been working on a prequel to Covenant of the Faceless Knights that is situated in the Realm of Ashenclaw setting and is an anthology of short stories about some of the characters from the novel. It tells a series of short stories at or around the same timelines and describes what events that person is experiencing, a decade plus before the novel takes place.

Reviewing the work, I find myself doing the same things as far as edits go and feel that I am growing as a storyteller. That being said, how much editing is too much? Whether you write novels, term papers, blogs or short stories, it does not matter. We all experience this and I deal with it each and every time I re-read a section of my work. I am not talking about grammatical errors as they are caught most of the time (not always) and sometimes there can be sloppy sentence structure that needs re-working, which I take care to fix as best I can.

I am talking about editing in the sense of the overall storyline. What can you add, what can be taken out and what is over-done. When you finish reading a chapter, do you sometimes feel like the author hasn’t given you enough information or that you have had enough already and the story needs to move on.

I find myself habitually and obsessively reviewing my work and ‘tweaking’ it here and there and figure that this is something that many writers have to overcome. I am my own worst critic I think and have several educated readers reviewing my work as well. They tend to talk me off the ledge when I feel that I have hit the wall, pick me up and dust me off, etc.

I for one (as I am sure many others can relate) do not have the funds at this time to hire an experienced editor, so am doing the best that I can with the resources at my disposal.


My experience lately is, while engrossed in the writing, I have been trying to relay information as organically as possible. This leaves me wondering if there is too much or too little information given in one chapter, etc. Most of the time it seems to work, but still begs the questions:

How much is too much editing?

How many of you go through multiple re-writes or re-wording during your edits and do you have any advice for the budding author?

Do any other writers out there review their work obsessively?

See you in Wothlondia! Cheers!

Please visit MY HOME PAGE to enjoy an extended reading experience, see direct links to purchase Covenant of the Faceless Knights and to see what else Ashenclaw Studios, LLC has in store in the future!

Photos from Stock.xchng

All maps, names and content copyright Ashenclaw Studios, LLC 2011 unless otherwise noted.