Of course, if you want a sneak peak on the novel, you can read the short story which launched it all in the DAW anthology Swordplay, edited by Denise Little. The first - BLACK BLADE BLUES - comes out in trade paperback and hardback April 27th, 2010. Tor Publishing has agreed to purchase the first three books in my Black Blade series. The opportunities for you to read my work has just gotten even better. I just hope you are entertained in the process. I continue to launch my words into the world, for all to read if they have the mind. The characters and worlds I build have been given loving care by some pretty spectacular editors. Selling my own tales still comes as a surprise to me. Once I hit the workforce, I discovered how poorly most librarians are paid, and I ended up in high tech instead.īut I live my life surrounded by books and story. There for a while, I thought the coolest thing in the world would be to grow up and be a librarian. I read early, and became a regular at my local library. I can’t remember a time I wasn’t absorbing and creating story. She embodies all the strength of the women who have influenced me over the years. That is why I was drawn to the character Sarah in my new novel. All of my life has been steeped in the stories of average people doing extraordinary things - and most of them were women.

There were always women coming and going in our house, friends, family, folks who needed a hand, and folks who had one to lend.

My mother first among them: raising three boys after the death of my father, with grace and wit. My life has always been heavily influenced by strong women. Howard during my childhood in rural Kentucky. (from author's website) I learned to love science fiction at the knee of my grandmother, listening to her read authors like Edgar Rice Burroughs and Robert E. It is at this moment, when she has lost everything she has prized, that one of the dragons makes their move.Īnd suddenly what was unthinkable becomes all too real…and Sarah will have to decide if she can reject what is safe and become the heroine who is needed to save her world.

Could the sword really be magic, as the 'dwarf' claims? Are dragons really living among us as shapeshifters?Īnd as if things weren’t surreal enough, Sarah’s girlfriend Katie breaks out the dreaded phrase… “I love you.” As her life begins to fall apart, first her relationship with Katie, then her job at the movie studio, and finally her blacksmithing career, Sarah hits rock bottom. And that’s when things start to get weird. One of the extras, who claims to be a dwarf, offers to help. The lead actor breaks Sarah’s favorite one-of-a-kind sword, and to avoid reshooting scenes, Sarah agrees to repair the blade. Sarah Beauhall has more on her plate than most twenty-somethings: day job as a blacksmith, night job as a props manager for low-budget movies, and her free time is spent fighting in a medieval re-enactment group.

Black Blade Blues by J.A. Pitts