Shadowslayers by Colin Sephton

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Colin Sephton will be awarding a $10 Amazon/BN gift card to a randomly drawn winner. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

Welcome to It's Raining Books. Why do you write in your genre? What draws you to it?

The genre I write in is fantasy. I just think you can be so imaginative and free, creating your own world with its own unique life forms and characters. Anything goes, and nobody can tell you you’re wrong! It’s your world, you are the creator, and you can have fun with it.

What research is required?

The level of research depends on what you are writing. This trilogy of which Shadowslayers is the second novel and it is a metaphysical science-fantasy journey that weaves together ancient Vedic wisdom, modern scientific speculation. It’s a deep psychological and spiritual inquiry and at its heart it asks what is consciousness? Can we alter fate? And what does it mean to be whole in a fragmented universe? The two protagonists, Ignatius and Indigo are struggling to come to terms with the events of the first novel (Timeslayers) when they are unwillingly thrust into another, and much darker, cosmic adventure. Their relationship with each other may be due to affection, but it may also be out of necessity because they are the only two humans who have shared this experience.

Name one thing you learned from your hero/heroine

I guess I have learned that the two protagonists are really aspects of myself. They both represent me! This is something I hadn’t realized at first. They have different personalities, Ignatius often symbolizes reason, tradition, or structured inquiry, and Indigo represents intuition, inner knowing, and spiritual receptivity. When I am writing their dialogue, it flows easily in my head. So, I think they are both me!

Do you have any odd or interesting writing quirks, habits or superstitions?

I’m not sure how many other writers work like this, if any, but sometimes I have a scene in my head that is so detailed and exciting I must use it. I might have no idea where it will fit into my novel, but I just think it’s such a good idea it must be used so I write it, add more detail, edit it, then will work and weave it into the plot somewhere.

Are you a plotter or pantser?

I think I Am both. I will often be a pantser. I like to get what’s in my head down on paper or into the laptop. But then to develop an idea, particularly if it is complex I will scribble charts and tables in a notebook or create a spreadsheet on the laptop. I can then see all the links throughout a long plot and can move things around and add in to improve them.

Look to your right – what’s sitting there?

Nobody. Writing is a solitary craft! When I can I like to work in my study surrounded by my inspiration, science books, fantasy books, graphic novels and art books. However, I can work virtually anywhere because I do a lot of my writing in a notebook, on an iPad or a laptop. I write in coffee shops, hotels and even at the beach.

Anything new coming up from you? What?

I have a couple of things that are imminent. I have the third book in the trilogy, called Soulslayers that will be published in November. I also have an art book I am looking to release soon to accompany the first novel, Timeslayers, containing all my fantasy artwork showing the world and characters that inhabit the cosmos I have created.

Do you have a question for our readers?

If you wrote a fantasy novel yourself, what would it be about?

When doppelgangers start appearing in Oxford, Union Jack agents Ignatius and Indigo find themselves on another cosmic quest, one they didn’t set out to investigate.

Drawn into the search for the elusive and dangerous Book of Shadows, they find themselves traveling across the cosmos once again, racing against other versions of themselves, and visiting the Oracle to be given prophecies of terrible destruction that will engulf the cosmos in darkness. Only these two heroes—or their doubles—can open the book, which would lead to dreadful consequences for themselves, the world and the whole of creation.

The agents must outwit their own mirror souls and invade the impregnable Administorium, which holds the answers they need but also fearsome enemies of both the Union Jacks and the entire cosmos. In this quest, Ignatius and Indigo must protect not only England and the Empire, but the world and the cosmos.

Read an Excerpt

The scene became liquid, and blackness enveloped all, circling everything in the room, like an archaic ghostly phantom made of deadly vapours, before giving way to the slightest of dim light in which Indigo could see the ancient crepuscular shadow deepen and fully form into the upper body of the Queen of Shadows. She had concealed herself and had escaped the destruction earlier and was now a phantom bent on revenge. Her beautiful face appeared before Ignatius and she kissed him, her blue lips locking on to his as she pulled him closer, her slender arm locked around his neck. He had no escape. She looked directly at Indigo and sneered. The queen knew this would hurt Indigo the most.

As the queen kissed Ignatius again, then withdrew her face, Indigo could see she was sucking the lifeforce from his rigid lifeless body, revealing her black fangs as she pulled back, black tendrils draped between them like foul saliva.

The queen was now fully formed, her naked body displayed, her legs wrapped around Ignatius like a succubus in the night. Black tattoos covered her body, and as she moved, so did the tattoos. They writhed and changed shape, sliding over her skin, caressing her, absorbing energy from her.

Indigo knew it was only a matter of time before Ignatius would be an empty husk, a living zombie.

About the Author:

Colin was born in Coventry and worked in the automotive industry for over twenty years before becoming an Engineering teacher. Obtaining his first library card at the age of thirteen, he became an avid reader of Fantasy and the mysteries of the Universe. He has an inbuilt curiosity for lost knowledge and ancient texts that may help to unlock the secrets of consciousness and the universe. Living in Oxford for many years, he has now moved back to his home county of Warwickshire where he enjoys creating and working with his wife on their garden in which he writes and entertains their two grandsons. He has always been an artist and writer and is inspired by the worlds created by Robert E Howard and Michael Moorcock, with the artwork of Frank Frazetta.

Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/timeslayers
Art Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/sephtonart
Website: http://www.colinsephton.com

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Shadowslayers-Colin-Sephton-ebook/dp/B0FN4H2SH5/ref=sr_1_1

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Timeslayers by Colin Sephton

This post is part oo a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. The author will award a $10 Amazon/BN gift card to a randomly drawn winner. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

Welcome to It's Raining Books. Why do you write in your genre? What draws you to it?
I can’t say I made a conscious effort to choose the genre in which I write. I have always been interested in the novels of Jules Verne, and tend to read a lot of Fantasy books, particularly those of Robert E Howard and Michael Moorcock, so there is no obvious connection to what I read. But I wanted to write something that was a bit more relatable and where better to start than a non-specific Victorian time where steam is the main source of power, and the age of discovery is at its high point. After all the discoveries that are made along the way in Timeslayers are major revelations and are contrasted with the Victorian earthly discoveries such as those of Babbage.

What research is required?
Research started with my interest in mythology, especially Norse and Greek mythology. Although I draw influence for world-building from an interest in anything to do with the mysteries of the universe and consciousness, and anything unusual. I have a natural curiosity to know why we are here and how we came to be here, so I am always reading up on the latest scientific discoveries and combining that with my love of fantasy worlds.

Name one thing you learned from your hero/heroine.
One thing I have learned from my hero and heroine is that essentially, they are other aspects of me. When I am writing I will let the dialogue flow as I know what they would say and how they would feel. As I have got to know them better, I understand what their reactions would be in a situation.

Do you have any odd or interesting writing quirks, habits or superstitions?
I am not sure if this is an odd way of writing, as I don’t know how other authors carry out their creative process, but sometimes I will have an idea pop into my head anywhere and at any part of the day and I will have to write it down. I will develop an entire scene without knowing where I will use it in my novel, but then work to weave it in somewhere.

Are you a plotter or pantser?
I am a bit of both, I plot and at other times I just write and see where it takes me. I usually start a novel by writing down how I think it will start and after a couple of chapters when I have a better understanding of where I am going, I will write a simple bullet point synopsis. This usually gets revised along the way when I have more detail. But for Timeslayers I wrote a lot of detail, I guess because it is my debut novel and I needed to explain the world it is set in and the characters, so I had a very detailed spreadsheet complete with where scenes connected and the wordcount for each chapter.

Look to your right – what’s sitting there?
If I look to the right, I see one of my bookcases rammed with steampunk novels, Tolkien, Kipling, William Blake, P. G. Woodhouse, Marvel graphic novels and a lot of art and design books and even more fantasy art books.

Anything new coming up from you? What?
I have the sequel to Timeslayers coming up which takes place immediately after events from the first novel, and I am currently writing the third novel in the series.

Do you have a question for our readers?
A question for your readers would be, do you like the steampunk or fantasy genres and if so why, what draws you in? What is it about fantasy worlds that really attracts you?

In a Steampunk Oxford, Ignatius and Indigo are both agents for the Union Jacks, a secret organisation. The role of the Union is to protect the British Empire, which is at the height of its powers, and help in its technological advances. They have discovered the existence of the mystical Book of Consciousness written by the creator of the cosmos, the genderless Omnisoul. The book is the history of everything that is, that has been and that will be. The agents are aided by Skye, who accidentally calls forth seven merciless immortals called the Charon.

Known as the Beautiful and the Damned, the Charon are the Infernal Dukes of Hell, created to carry out the will of the Omisoul. But they are tired of their immortality and want to end their existence. Elsewhere, the sorcerer Ragnar of Roc has conjured a hole in spacetime, allowing the draconic Elder God Calabi Ya to re-enter the cosmos from the Ghost Worlds. He is as old as the Omnisoul and wants the book to learn his destiny. The two Union Jacks leave Oxford and are taken on a journey across the cosmos in the great ship Taraka, which sails through space and time. Ignatius and Indigo are mere pawns in the cosmic ocean of fate, carried to fabled places, witness to bloody massacres, and half-willing conspirators in the Charon’s plot to thwart the Omnisoul’s plan and defeat the protectors of the Well at the Centre of Time.

Read an Excerpt

Glancing around cautiously, Ignatius could see that nobody else in the library had moved, gestured or even looked. He looked back at the book he was reading. He had to concentrate on the unfamiliar text to translate with any accuracy. Its author, Enoch Slipnot, had an unsteady hand, and the inks was faded in places. As he read the next section, his right hand began to tingle, a slight burning sensation.

It came through the Land of the Duranki. Those trained in the art of Al Kimiya brought forth sentient life, the fiery whirlwind that passes like lightning through the fiery clouds, believing they could master this Unholy Great One.

I have read of the great horrors the Unholy One brought forth, seeking the emerald tablet thought to have been hidden in the library of the Mystorium by the Order of the Ti-Botta. If this great red shadow should discover the sword of great power, he will wreak destruction on a cosmic scale and the whole cosmos shall tremble at his feet. The great runesword has been forged with an edge keen enough that it may even cut through the aether. Only a being in harmony with the cosmos can make use of such a weapon and with the Great Book, Turiya and the power of the Charon, summoned by the High Priest, stop the Unholy One.

I am unswerving in my task as the last remaining warrior-priest of the Charon – the Dragon- slayers of the Ecclesiarchy…

About the Author:

Colin was born in Coventry and worked in the automotive industry for over twenty years before becoming an Engineering teacher. Obtaining his first library card at the age of thirteen, he became an avid reader of Fantasy and the mysteries of the Universe. He has an inbuilt curiosity for lost knowledge and ancient texts that may help to unlock the secrets of consciousness and the universe. Living in Oxford for many years, he has now moved back to his home county of Warwickshire where he enjoys creating and working with his wife on their garden in which he writes and entertains their two grandsons. He has always been an artist and writer and is inspired by the worlds created by Robert E Howard and Michael Moorcock, with the artwork of Frank Frazetta. Amazon Buy Link: http://www.amazon.com/Timeslayers-Colin-Sephton/dp/196230809X/ref=sr_1_1

Publisher Author Page: https://cinnabarmoth.com/colin-sephton/
Website:https://sephtonart.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/timeslayers/

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