The Worlds of Nicki Chapelway: Part One Amar

 

So, a few months back, I did a series on writing multiple series in a single world. (You can find those posts here, here, and here). As a fantasy author, I've created many worlds, and some of those worlds I like to come back to while others feel complete with only a single series set in this world. It isn't becuase I like some worlds better than others (*cough* although that might very well be the case with Ruskhazar *cough*), but each of my worlds bring a unique element to the table which is why I wanted to do a blogging series highlighting each of the specific worlds I have created.

Today's post is about Amar.

Images via Pinterest

Images Via Pinterest

Amar is the world where two of my series are set. The portal fantasy adventure My Time in Amar and my Alice's Adventures in Wonderland reimagining Return to Amar. There will be a third series set in Amar, this one with heavy Oz vibes, but that's still some years away so I'll just focus on the first two series.

Amar is one of four realms, existing alongside it are Earth, the Fairy World, and a Dark World. Amar is sort of like the middle world (the Midgard for you Norse mythology lovers) and so has influences of each of the realms and people who dwell in it that are from the above-mentioned worlds.

Unfortunately for Amar, a dark entity has taken up residence on it, perverting the very magic of the world and forcing it to take a much darker turn...

To stop the perversion that taints Amar from spreading to the other realms, a powerful mage by the name of Marius the Great, sealed off Amar from the rest of the realms. So that only he or someone as powerful as him can actually create doorways between the worlds.

Climate and Terrain: Amar is a massive landmass made up of several separate kingdoms. It has mountains, marshlands, lakes, and forests and everything in between. It has two islands, one Bexton is a tropical island and the other Ione is covered in mountains and a tad cooler in climate.

Creatures and Monsters: Amar is full of magical creatures from unicorns to naiads and mermaids. It has werewolves, faeries, giants, trolls, dragons, and all manners of fantastical beasts. However, due to the darkness polluting Amar, many of these creatures take a more deadly form. The faeries that are trapped in Amar have been driven mad and are far more animalistic than the ones existing in the Faerie World. Likewise, mermaids, unicorns, and the other creatures are corrupted and should be avoided at all costs.

Dragons exist as a hivemind to the queen and have thus far been able to avoid this corruption, but they are still ferocious creatures and extremely dangerous.

Political Atmosphere: Amar is divided into 14 separate countries. Each have different rulers and laws, however they are all bound under a pact of peace to keep one from invading the other. Ione and Glanoss are ruled by an immortal emperor, it was his invasion of Glanoss that caused the other kingdoms to rise together and force him into this pact. Dexton, Vinis, and Len are comprised of several powerful lords who each rule individually and are independent of any king. Bexton has a governor, but due to a powerful curse on their island everything save for immediate survival has been abandoned. The rest of the kingdoms are ruled by their respective kings, regents, or stewards.

Magic: For the most part, magic is a rare commodity in Amar. Once there was a line of human elementals, but they married in with the faeries and between intermarriages and feuds the line of the elementals eventually died out. Mages are the descendants of these elemental and faerie marriages, and they are very rare and quite powerful. They are the only human magic wielders.

Other magics are able to be gifted for instance faeries have been known to gift abilities, such as the ability to see the future, to favored mortals, however since the faeries have been for the most part sealed away from Amar this has not happened for some time. However, bloodlines still exist of faerie-blessed individuals. Likewise, Axius, the emperor of Ione, has been gifted a dark magic that grants him immortality.

Religion: Amar does not have a specific religious system that is mentioned.

I hope that you enjoyed this little glimpse into Amar! If this sounds like a world that you might want to dive into more deeply then you can check out My Time in Amar, book 1 A Week of Werewolves, Faeries, and Fancy Dresses or Return to Amar, book 1 A Certain Sort of Madness.

Harbinger of the End Release Party

I can't believe that it's finally here! Harbinger of the end has released into the world!

To think it all started with this post. And now there's a full-fledged book out there in the wild. I couldn't be prouder of the story this ended up becoming.

I'm going to keep this post short and sweet. Go and buy my book! Seriously, I stayed up till 2:00 AM working on this story. Please reward my efforts by getting yourself a copy.

To help you do just that and to celebrate the release I've prolonged the Pre-Order sale, the ebook copy will remain on sale for only $2.99. But this is a limited time sale! It ends on the 28th so make certain to snag your copy before then because it will be going up to $4.99 after that point.

Order your copy now!

Get the hardback edition with its alternate cover!

Project and Title Reveal The Second

 

Okay, you guys, it's time to reveal my second project that I will be releasing through Kindle Vella next year.

Awoken

Yup, after years of claiming I would never have a single word title... I now have a single word title. Hate on something long enough and if you aren't careful, you'll end up doing it yourself.

It's going to be a ya story and it's the first in a seven book long series, oh and it's a LitRPG/GameLit story. That's right... this book is about a character who ends up in a video game (my dream come true tbh).

My main character is Ava Mox an18 year old video game nerd. Her favorite video game franchise is the Domain of the North (which is basically a marriage of The Elder Scrolls, Dragon Age, Baldur's Gate, and Dark Souls/Elden Ring franchises to get a bit of an idea what the video game is like—in other words pure awesomeness). She's had a rough childhood and has been having a bit of a hard time adjusting since she moved in with her brother. To escape her problems and soul crushing job as a cashier she plays video games. She feels more at home with her band of companions that she travels with in-game and is starting to develop a bit of a crush on Lance, the battlemage she is romancing. However, as she reaches the end of her favorite game in the franchise she is left with a decision, either she must sacrifice her character or leave her companions to die. She makes the decision to kill off her character, determining that she will just restart the game, but apparently things in Domain of the North were just a little more real than she thought. Her companions have minds of their own, and Lance is willing to do whatever it takes to bring back the girl he has fallen in love with, even if it means dabbling in the dark arts of necromancy.

Only instead of bringing Ava's character back to life, it brings Ava to the North. And thus begins her glorious and nerdy misadventures as she geeks out, explores her favorite game in real life, and tries to convince her crush that she's still the same girl he fell for.

I sort of count it as a portal fantasy as well, becuase the video game world is a fantasy RPG (which stands for role playing game for those of you who are not familiar with the term) and my main character is a teen from Earth who ends up in another world. However, this story has some key differences with my other portal fantasy worlds. One of those differences is experience.

In my previous portal fantasies, my main characters are pretty much in over their heads, even if they have done research on their world like Jaye did, they still don't have a whole lot of information because this is an entirely different world than what they were raised in. So of course, there is a learning curve there.

With Ava though? She has an almost godtier knowledge of The North gotten by spending nights scrolling through fan pages, reading up on every theory, and learning everything there is to know about this game (which is certainly not based off of my own experience playing video games, no sir, there's no way I would be that obsessive).

I really can't wait to start releasing these episodes. This is just going to be such a fun story.

A sketch I did of my charries from this book a little while ago.

Aesthetics:

About (this is a really short blurb because Kindle Vella has a strict character limit):

When Ava dies at the end of her favorite video game, she thinks that it is just game-over. However, her in-game companions refuse to accept her character’s sacrifice. When a necromancy spell gone wrong, brings Ava into the video game she is ecstatic. Finally, she finds herself in a place where she feels like she belongs, now if only she can convince the companion she was romancing that she is the same person as her character so he will stop giving her the cold shoulder, that would be great.

Just like Savage Gods and Spellbooks, I already have the cover for this one. I'll be revealing it on September 19th. Can't wait to share this story with you all!

Harbinger of the End Alternate Cover Reveal

 

Surprise! I know that this isn't my usual day for posting, but I have an alternate cover to reveal. This one is for the hardback edition of Harbinger of the End. And believe me when I say that this is a reveal that you aren't going to want to miss.

So, let's get scrolling!

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A reluctant bride.
A trickster groom.
The lineage of a god comes to an end.

Long ago, Loki and Odin swore an oath of brotherhood. Since then, Loki believes that it is enough to love one soul, and wreak havoc on all else, until he learns that he is the one who will be responsible for bringing about the Twilight of the Gods. In a desperate attempt to forestall Ragnarök, Odin betrays his brother and forces him to take a bride. A Valkyrie, someone who will be loyal to Odin, and doubtless keep the god of lies in line. But if Odin believes that Loki will be controlled by the whims of one woman, then he is terribly mistaken.

Sigyn has never regretted the decision she made to leave behind her life as a mortal princess to serve Odin as one of his Valkyries, until now… When Odin orders her to marry Loki, Sigyn feels trapped by her duty and the oaths she swore. Even worse, to marry means that she will no longer be a Valkyrie, and she will lose all immortality that comes with it.

Tricked during his wedding vows, Loki finds himself exiled to Midgard and bound to a mortal. Now he must keep his new bride alive long enough to find her a new form of immortality or risk being dragged into death with her. Sigyn seeks to find a new purpose after everything that she once believed in betrayed her. Allying themselves to great mortal heroes, they set out to slay a dragon, claim a legendary treasure, and unite kingdoms. All the while, seeking to discover the truth to the question that could change their lives forever—what makes one worthy of becoming a god?

This standalone is perfect for romantic fantasy fans and readers of Emma Hamm and Sylvia Mercedes, who are looking for a new slow-burn, swoon-worthy story. It’s a sweeping tale of love, betrayal, and dragon fire set in a world of Vikings, witches, and gods.

Coming 8.21.22

Pre-Order Now

Pre-Order Signed Paperback + Swag

Pre-Order Alternate Cover Edition Hardback

This cover was designed by Kae and the typography was done by GetCovers. It will be available exclusively in hardback and sold through Barnes and Noble. Just like the ebook pre-orders, if anyone pre-orders a hardback copy (and is a resident of the United States of America) and sends me a proof of purchase to my email (nicky(dot)chapelway(at)gmail(dot)com), they will be entered in the same giveaway as those who purchase an ebook to win a paperback copy of Harbinger plus all the included swag.

Or if you just want the paperback and swag, you can buy that straight from me. The choice is yours!

Project and Title Reveal

 

Today I'm super excited to finally be revealing one of my projects I've been cooking up in secret.

It's another story set in Ruskhazar (we're at like 25 books set in this world now). But I can't help it, there's just so much going on in Ruskhazar during the third era and every time I turn around, I find another story. But don't worry the connections between each individual series and standalones in this world are loose and each series can be read separately. So, you won't have to read all 25 books just to make sense of one.

This one is the first book in a duology, as I stated last week, I'll actually be doing something different with releasing this book. Before I publish it, I'll actually put out each chapter in episodic format through Kindle Vella. I'm pretty excited to try out this new platform. Since I'm such a novice when it comes to Kindle Vella, I don't actually know all of the details such as when I'll start releasing chapters except that it will be sometime next year in 2023. I also don't know when I'll publish the full book, but it probably won't be until book two releases on Kindle Vella as well (so maybe late 2024 or sometime in 2025).

All I know is that it will be available in Kindle Vella next year.

The story is about Victor Andreev, a character who you are actually going to meet very briefly in Rage Like the Gods. He's a guard aboard the prison transport ship my main characters all find themselves on at the beginning of the book. The one that got sunk by a kraken. In the chaos of the kraken attack and the prisoners all trying to escape, Victor gets unalived by one of the prisoners aboard the ship.

 I don't want to call anyone out but um, yeah, it was this girl right here. >>>>>>>

I never said my protagonists from RLtG were saints, in fact, I distinctly remember calling them disaster children. So, yeah, Dagmy killed Victor. It was very rude of her.

Except that wasn't the end for Victor, because while his soul is drifting off to Skyhold, he hears a disembodied voice offering to give him a second chance at life. All he needs to do is agree to be this person's vessel.

Victor agrees, which was probably a bad move on his part, but in his defense, he had been sort of out of it. Anyway, he finds himself revived by the demigod Likho, patron of dark fates and sudden deaths, a being that has been dead itself for the past thousand years, hence him needing a vessel to do anything on the mortal plain.

Victor quickly learns that partnering with powerful and malevolent beings was a bad idea, but it's too late to do anything about it now. Fighting against madness that threatens to punish him for his huberis and struggling against becoming a pawn of the half-deity in his head, Victor makes his way through Ruskhazar, trying to find his sister so he can tell her he isn't actually dead. All the while he must avoid people who would have him killed for the heresy of dealing with demigods. On his journey he meets a sibling duo who are in a desperate need for a second chance, with their own dark past when it comes to demigods, and a grandmotherly figure who also made a deal with Likho to cheat death.

Oh yeah, and there's a dragon that just came back from the dead. And it's cranky.

Basically, it's the story of a lot of sorcerers and a lot of undead people running around causing chaos while two really unlucky siblings just throw some flames in the fire thinking they will be helping. So in other words, it will be chaos. And certainly, one of my darker stories considering my main character is lowkey possessed and highkey a revived corpse.

The Title...

Did any of you guys guess it correctly?

The Aesthetics...

About...

He’s already died once

She thinks he just might be her second chance.

This is why you shouldn’t bargain with malevolent beings.

 

Victor Andreev doesn’t remember much about how he died. What he does remember is agreeing to serve a powerful entity to cheat his death. Now granted a second chance and bound to the demigod patron of dark fates and sudden deaths, Victor wonders if he made the right choice. There is a reason that dealing with demigods is illegal…

Bronwyn and her brother have spent their whole lives running from their pasts. Now graduated from the Academy, they set out to claim a new life for themselves as Magickers. But the past has always had a tricky way of catching up with them.

When Victor and these siblings meet, they join forces to survive in a world where nothing dead remains that way for long. The whole world is crumbling, the end is nearing, and nothing is what it seems. Certainly not Victor who finds himself slowly descending into a madness meant to punish him for his hubris. But that is preferable to when the demigod takes full control. Sorcery and magic were never supposed to meet. And soon Victor and Bronwyn find themselves wondering how much longer they can continue to cheat fate… or if they are doomed no matter what they do.

Welcome to Ruskhazar, a land threatened by dark magics, dragon fires, and waking dead. If you like anti-heroes, slow burn sizzling romance, and kick-butt heroines then you won’t want to miss this high fantasy series that is perfect for fans of Michael J. Sullivan and J.R.R. Tolkien.

I already have the cover for this bad boy. Mark your calendars. I'll be revealing it on October 3rd.

So, I haven't Talked About My Gameplan Lately...

Whelp, so the good news is that I do in fact have a gameplan.

The downside to that is that it is an extremely ambitious gameplan. Which I suppose is entirely advantageous for you because it means more books.

Okay so here's the deal. I plan on releasing ten books next year. Yup, that's right, I said ten. That will almost double the number of books I currently have out.

But notice that I didn't say publish? Well, there's a reason for that. You see, I'm actually going to be releasing a couple of my projects through Kindle Vella. I'm very curious to try out this new platform. Not to worry, the books I release through Kindle Vella will be published just like all the rest... eventually. But for the time being, they'll only be available through Kindle Vella. These are stories that I haven't introduced yet, but never fear! The next couple of posts on this blog will be about those books.

Another book of mine I'm actually going to be querying. I don't know if that will go anywhere or if I'm just going to decide that indie publishing is the best route like I did for Of Gold and Iron, but I'm very excited to see where this story will go. I'm not going to say anything about it at this point because I do enjoy an air of mystery, however, if you've been following my writing closely for the past few years you probably already know what it is. It's the one that's been sitting on my hard drive collecting dust for the past four years. Hopefully it will be seeing the light of day very soon. Next year even...

That's still seven books though that I will be publishing in my regular fashion. To break it down, we have the final Of Dreams and Nightmares and My Time in Amar books. The first two books in the Apprentice of Death Series that I announced at the end of May in this post here (in case you missed it). The first book in a planned trilogy that I won't be officially announcing for a little while yet.

And then finally, two books which will be set in Ruskhazar (I'm going to spoil myself a bit and admit that one of the Kindle Vella stories will also be set in Ruskhazar so I'll actually be releasing three books in this world next year). The two Ruskhazar books I'll be publishing are Folly of Gods the sequel to Rage Like the Gods and The Gods Created Monsters which will be my first release of 2023.

And yeah, that is... a lot of books to say the least. But I'm pretty excited to stretch myself in this manner. I've already finished writing all of the books that I'm going to be releasing this year, and now the rest of the year is dedicated to writing next year's books. I've already finished one of them (the one I want to querry which I actually wrote in 2018). I'm maybe about halfway done with TGCM (unfortunately I didn't manage to finish it all up during NaNo... boo), I'll be focusing on finishing that over these next couple of weeks. Then after that I'm starting An Apprentice of Death. I'll also be working on my Kindle Vella projects on the side and hopefully get a good chunk of one done and perhaps all of the other before next year (they will be released in episodes so the whole story does not have to be done by the time I start releasing them—although I would like to have at least one done so I only have to worry about writing one in weekly terms). Over the fall I plan on working on that secret first book in a trilogy project.

Then early next year I'll start Of Dawn and Fire and An Apprentice of Death book 2. Then I'll be focusing on Folly of the Gods and An Era of Evil since I don't plan on releasing those until November and December respectively.

So ultimately, I would very much like to have at least five of next year's releases done by the end of this year. And a couple already started and partly through before we get into 2023.

At least, that's my current gameplan anyway.

Which of my books is your most anticipated release? Is it getting confusing with me having so many secret projects? Don't worry, after these next couple of weeks, I'll be down to one secret project and one "mystery" (but already revealed it's just been a few years since I've really talked about it) projects. As always, I love to hear from you. Comment below!