[Book] "Tales of the Nun & Dragon" edited by Adele Wearing

It's Monday and I do enjoy, when a Monday starts on a good note. Today is the official publication date of Fox Spirit Books' debut in the 'Bushy Tales' anthology series, "Tales of the Nun & Dragon", edited by Adele Wearing. For all interested, you can find the ebook through the American and British Amazon and if indie is your life blood, through Wirzards Tower Press as well, though that will be available in the coming days. 

  

‘Tales of the Nun & Dragon’ features twenty three stories by a mixture of well-known and new authors who offer up a delightful blend of genres. There are zombie dragons, latex nuns, trips through time, nunsploitation and some unusual fantasy tales and fables. The book also features internal illustrations by artist Kieran Walsh. 

To celebrate the launch of ‘Tales of the Nun & Dragon’ and in honour of International Talk Like a Pirate Day we are running a small contest.

Between now and the 19^th September 2012 we will be taking open submissions of flash fiction (up to 1000 words) on any interpretation of the subject of pirates and piracy. The three best stories will be posted on the Fox Spirit website and their authors will receive a hard copy of Tales of the Nun & Dragon once it becomes available. They will also be invited to submit for a place in one of the two Bushy Tales anthologies planned for early 2013, ‘Tales of the Fox and Fae’ and ‘Tales of the Mouse and Minotaur’.

Competition entries must be sent as a pdf or word doc, to adele@foxspirit.co.uk and titled ‘Pirate Flash’. Any entries over the 1,000 word limit will not be considered.

I've had a fun time following the exploits of Adele Wearing in the publishing world. I'm a huge supporter of Fox Spirit Books and so far, I'm very happy about the decisions that go behind each launch. That's the way a small press should move through the world. 

Early reviews have been favorable as well. The Eloquent Page and Tony's Thoughts have found the anthology to be delightful and with some free time on my hands, I will share my thoughts on it as well. 

Art: "Tales of the Nun and Dragon"

This is a bit overdue as I have been absent-minded all August, which seems to be rather predictable for me this years in particular. Now, I would like to draw your attention to a fun project entitled "Tales of The Nun & Dragon", which will soon be published by Fox Spirit Books.

Here's the official blurb: 

"The Nun & Dragon is an old pub, although not England’s oldest. Still, even before a pub stood there the site seemed to draw travellers who had a tale to tell. It sits in a small English village with one of those odd names like ‘Barton on the Beans’ or ‘Sheepy Magna’, though it isn’t either of those. 

It’s not a place you find by looking, it’s a place you stumble across when your armour is scorched and bent or your hair bleached white by an encounter with an unholy order. There is a reason it’s known as ‘The Nun & Dragon’ after all. 

It’s a place that draws stories, the kind no one would believe if you told them somewhere else, but here, where the homebrew tastes slightly of honey and cinnamon and the fire is always blazing, people will take you at your word. 

If you collected all the stories ever told at The Nun and Dragon you would see all of history and culture from our world and possibly, if the tellers are to be trusted, beyond it, gathered there."

What you might not know, however, is that I have received a copy of the illustrations, which will appear in the book itself. Drawn by Kieran Walsh, these are pure monochrome beauties that bring out the nostalgia in me, even though I'm technically not old enough to demand nostalgia rights.