Christopher Stires's Blog

Christopher Stires lives in Riverside CA. He has written seven novels – the latest SILK & SWORDS (Medieval) and THE THURIAN CHRONICLES: THREE TALES OF HIGH ROMANCE AND ADVENTURE (Medieval) are available from Deep Desires Press (http://www.deepdesirespress.com/). PALADIN’S JOURNEY (fantasy-adventure), REBEL NATION (alternate history-thriller), DARK LEGEND (paranormal horror), and THE INHERITANCE (Winner of the 2003 Dream Realm Award for Horror) are available from Zumaya Publications (www.zumayapublications.com).

He has had over 70 short stories and articles appear in publications in the United States, Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Finland, France, Greece, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom.

ALL REVIEWS WELCOME

“…so saddle up, hold on tight, and experience the ride of your life, as Heaven and Hell collide. You'll enjoy the journey. I guarantee it … Stires’ descriptive style of writing keeps you turning pages as he draws you in and never lets go. I couldn't put it down.” – 1st 5-Star Amazon Review

“… an amazing love story with a lot of twists and turns. It kept me spellbound wanting to see what happens next.” – 2nd 5-Star Amazon Review I

“…you did real well.” – 3rd 5-Star Amazon Review

GO TO:
http://www.zumayapublishing.com/title...

**As printed in our Kingdom’s HERALD**

Dear Loyal Readers, yesterday your erstwhile scribe here was fortunate to have a brief sit-down talk with Patrick Novarro at a local tavern. This man is known as the Paladin to several notable personages in our great kingdom. I will note that the man speaks in an educated, quiet voice and I do wish the interview had gone longer than it did.

YOUR SCRIBE: Master Novarro, recently a book entitled PALADIN’S JOURNEY was released here in our kingdom’s capitol. ‘Tis the story of your quest. Did your biographer, Christopher Stires, record the facts of your tale correctly?

PATRICK NOVARRO: For the most part.

YS: Do you have misgivings about certain aspects of the book?

PN: When I didn’t recall some details, Stires used his writer’s mind to add them. I guess his additions didn’t hurt the overall.

YS: By the set of your jaw, I would venture to say you have further issue with the pen smith.

PN: I believed that certain things I said to Stires would remain in confidence between the two of us. I only told him because I wanted him to understand my mind’s quandary at the time. If I had thought he would set these events upon paper, I would never have said a word to him.

YS: Which events? Ahh … are you speaking about some aspects of your relationship with Milady Rebecca Nines?

PN: Sire, we will not continue with this line of questioning. A gentleman never discusses these issues in polite society and if one speaks of them in a tavern, then he is most plainly no gentleman.

YS: Understood. Mr. Stires is not to be mistaken for a gentleman.

A few reviewers and readers have called the book a fanciful myth tale; one has called it a lie by an evangelical charlatan. What do you say to those whom do not believe in angels, demons, and a life beyond this one?

PN: Women and men have been given free will by our Maker. They may believe, or not believe, as they choose. I will not debate the truth I know. I will say that I have fallen at times and I would not declare myself a good example of the guidance we’ve been given for this life.

YS: Then you will not challenge me to a duel for my statements?

PN: Nay. A duel would only show who was best with a weapon. The truth wouldn’t be proven.

YS: You are Thurian. Where do you hail from and what did you do before your quest calling?

PN: Born and raised in Valon. I was my father and mother’s only child but I have many relatives still in that region. I was a teacher at the university as was my father and grandfather before me.

YS: What would the people of Valon say about your younger days?

PN: I doubt they would remember much. They would more than likely speak about Lenore. She was very well liked and respected in the village. I was mainly known as Lenore’s husband if I was noticed at all.

YS: It says in the book that Milady Novarro sacrificed her life and soul to save you, and was imprisoned in Hell’s flaming palace on the River Styx. You vowed to never forsake her.

PN: I didn’t hear a question in that.

YS: In your quest to rescue Milady Novarro’s soul, you would have us believe that you personally came face-to-face with the banished angel, Lucifer?

PN: Aye. Satan and I have encountered one another more than once. If the angels had not pledged to help me in my quest, I do not believe I would’ve survived. I almost didn’t.

Before I could ask my next question, Rebecca Nines came into the tavern and straight to our table. She whispered into Novarro's ear. I must admit that I was stunned that this soft-spoken, conservative man and this woman, whose scandalous dress my editor will not allow me to describe in this paper, were partners. Master Novarro apologized for ending our interview but he had been summoned to meet with King Aaron.

As he departed, before following him, the woman Nines asked if I was the one who wrote that the book, PALADIN’S JOURNEY, was outright lie and that Patrick Novarro was fraud. Nines was half my size, if that, so I proudly replied that I was. She quick-punched me with closed fist and broke my nose.

http://www.zumayapublishing.com/title...

Patrick Novarro is the only character I’ve written about more once. My first short story sale back in the day was a Novarro tale. Five more Novarro tales followed. When I decided it was finally time to write his quest as a novel, I incorporated and rewrote his early tales into the storyline. Below are three reviews about his journey.

“…Stires succeeds … with ‘The Covenant.’ His prose is certainly anything but hardboiled or terse—indeed, there may be some who would consider it overblown—but this is a matter of the genre's style, in which such over-the-top narration is appropriate and traditional, and Stires employs it well, producing such horrifically fantastic images as blisters raised on the hero's flesh by {Satan’s} heat, then bursting into ice. The piece is quite short: {Novarro} summons {Satan} to make a bargain for his soul, and it ends with a powerful twist. There are no sword fights, shipwrecks or grand adventures, but it has no need of them to evoke a strong sense of wondrous dark fantasy.” – Flashing Swords #3 reviewed and written by Lois Tilton.

“…Stires … returns with a full short story, ‘Sanctuary Defiled at Ananyas,’ featuring a character he's apparently written about before. Patrick Novarro is, for a variety of reasons, a demon hunter working for Heaven. So when a demon and an archangel direct him to the valley of Ananyas, he goes to see what's what. Well written with interesting characters and using various aspects of the Judeo-Christian tradition to very good effect: my favorite story {of} this issue.” – Fantastic Stories reviewed and written by Michael H. Payne.

“‘The Beast of Lyoness’ … a man with a troubled past sets out to save as city from a monster that is more than willing to fight fair, this one has a satisfying end that likely won’t be what you expected.” – Demons: A Clash of Steel Anthology reviewed and written by Luke Forney.

PALADIN’S JOURNEY can be ordered in trade paperback or as an eBook at http://www.amazon.com/Paladins-Journe...

http://www.zumayapublishing.com/title...

A GENTLE REQUEST

For those who read my novel, I ask if you would please post a review, as short or long as you wish, on either Goodreads, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or Facebook. Thank you, kind ladies and gentlemen.

A BLATANT COMMERICAL

The holiday season is fast approaching. For the readers in your family or circle of friends (whether for Christmas, birthday, anniversary, graduation or no occasion at all), this novel would make a most wonderful gift. It would be a terrific reward to yourself for all your hard work. For the non-readers in your family or friends, this novel placed beside their computer, on their bed table, or in their backpack would make them look so cool. A win-win. Thank you.

PALADIN'S JOURNEY

Her sacrifice…

The gentle Lenore has given her soul to Satan to save her beloved, and has been imprisoned in Hell’s flaming palace on the River Styx.


His vow…

Patrick Novarro will never forsake his loving bride. He’ll fight demon and mortal until the archangels have cloaked her in their embracing wings.

Demons and angels, monsters and warriors, witches and wizards, kings and brigands in an age of flintlock and sword as one mortal man battles to save the woman he loves from Satan and his legion.

A quest of love and honor.

A journey of horror and death.

The novel is available as trade paperback and/or ebook from Zumaya Publications and from Amazon.com

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2...

Excerpt from REBEL NATION (http://www.zumayapublications.com)

(McKenna) hadn’t spoken to Cullen in two years – the lawyers had done all the talking during the separation and divorce proceedings. Since the signing of the final divorce papers seventeen months ago, there had been no reason or point to see him. She had maneuvered out of any (news) assignments that he might be attending in Richmond and she rarely visited Charleston any more. Still, when she was standing in the ten-items-or-less line at the supermarket and his face decorated a tabloid cover in the racks near the cashier, she felt her heart beat faster and, if the picture was of him with some incredible starlet or society belle, the rage silently volcanoed up again.

She had loved him. She would have sacrificed everything for him. She had envisioned them in their seventies, with grandchildren all around their country home, sneaking up to their room on a warm Sunday afternoon to make love. She had envisioned the angels coming for one and not being able to return to heaven without taking them both. All of this she had shared with him, and he had pissed it away as if it was nothing…

She raised her fist higher and stopped, staring at the room number. Fourteen. That was the date of their wedding anniversary. A coincidence or was Cullen pulling some goddamn stunt? If she walked into the (motel) room and there were wine and candles, she’d dust his ass before the first lie left his mouth.

She knocked, almost pounding…

(The door) swung open…

…she saw the bottle of wine and fruit spilled across the bed…

“McKen---,” he began.

She slugged him…

Repost of REBEL NATION review by Gil Ainsworth in APEX MAGAZINE (http://www.apex-magazine.com).

Chris Stires weaves an intricate and believable plot around power and politics in a world where the Union failed to win the American Civil War. Rebel Nation takes place in a United States with a North-South divide where thirteen of the Southern states are known collectively as the Confederate States and the remaining Northern states comprise the United States. Each has their own laws, their own government, and their own President. At times they barely tolerate each other but, on other occasions such as World War II and the bombing of Pearl Harbor, they support each other, pulling together for the greater good.

For the most part, Rebel Nation stays within the bounds of the Confederate States with its peculiar mix of modern day America and attitudes that wouldn't seem out of place within the covers of Margaret Mitchell's Gone With the Wind. Coca-Cola, oil and tourism somehow manage to go with the old-fashioned Deep South traditions.

The novel opens with a prologue, briefly outlining the events leading up to the Confederate coup. Perhaps a little too briefly for this reader because, not being as well-versed in American history as some (ed. Note: Reviewer is British), I found myself floundering at times with names, events, and places--sorting out fact from fiction was conceivably my biggest shortfall. But all this goes to show how well Stires has blended the fiction with reality.

We discover that a gunsmith, Major Stephen Talbridge, hero of Gettysburg and the Wilderness Campaign, is the brains behind the capture of Union officers, which not only clinches the victory for the Confederates, but also sets up the Talbridge family for a potentially rich and prosperous future.

After several generations, Talbridge guns are the weapons of choice, selling all over the world and rivaling companies such as Colt, Remington, and Winchester. Talbridge Firearms, as the company is known, is now being run by Victoria Talbridge, a Souther Belle with attitude. She is sharp and more than well-hone in the cut-throat world of modern-day business. No one, absolutely no one, messes with Victoria Talbridge and gets away with it. Helping her run the company is Morgan, the younger of her two grandsons.

Victoria has problems, however. Her only daughter and the mother of her grandsons displays bouts of mental instability, and Cullen, the eldest of her grandsons seems to take after his father, preferring philandering to business. To complicate Cullen's life, McKenna Alexander, his Yankee ex-wife is living and working in the Confederate States as a news reporter.

As if these problems weren't sufficient for Victoria, Frannie Shepherd, a Negro activist whose name was once romantically linked to that of her son-in-law, has just received a Presidential pardon. After serving twenty-nine years of her sentence for murder and conspiracy, Shepherd is now in a position to clear her name, should she so decide. But the last thing Victoria needs is Shepherd digging around, proving her innocence and possibly incriminating the real perpetrator. A crime of passion--the murder of an unfaithful husband--wouldn't save Victoria's daughter, Amanda, from a jail sentence.

Even so, Victoria Talbridge is reasonably confident that a few quiet words and a lot of cash doled out to the right people would solve the Shepherd problem. But what she doesn't take into account is the fact that McKenna Alexander still cares for her ex-husband and that someone is intent on getting them back together. An offer of ground-breaking information about Frannie Shepherd and certain members of the Talbridge family in exchange for a promise to attend the informant's funeral is irresistible to the news reporter inside McKenna Alexander. And McKenna isn't just a reporter; she's a damned good one. If anyone can find the truth, she can.

With well-developed characters driven by their individual needs and goals, Stires creates a frighteningly believable Confederacy made all the more so by its close adherence to actual events. Of course, the Confederates didn't win the Civil War, but had they done so, the country they might have created could well be as Stires describes. If you like alternate history peppered with intrigue and twists, then Rebel Nation offers a good read.

Rebel NationMy novel, REBEL NATION, has been re-released by Zumaya Publications (http://www.zumayapublications.com) with an incredible new cover by artist Tamian Wood. Now available through Amazon and Barnes & Noble.
The truth grows poisonous in the dark
In a nation where the Confederacy is a world power, shots ring out, and a famed civil rights leader is murdered.
McKenna Alexander is an investigative reporter who isn’t afraid to challenge those in power, and something about this assassination screams “conspiracy.” As she digs deeper, she begins to uncover an ugly secret that began during the Second World War and is only now coming to fruition.
As she races to expose the conspirators, they race to ensure her permanent silence, and only her despised ex-husband is willing to help her stay alive.

After 5 years of continual rejection, Agatha Christie sells her first novel, The Mysterious Affair at Styles.

J.K. Rowling receives 12 publishing rejections in a row until the eight-year-old daughter of an editor demands to read the rest of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone.

Louis L’Amour received 200 rejections before Hondo was published.

Margaret Mitchell gets 38 rejections from publishers before finding one to publish her novel Gone With The Wind.

The Help by Kathryn Stockett was rejected 60 times before it sold.

21 publishers reject Catch-22 by Joseph Heller before Simon and Schuster accepts it.

With 23 rejections, Frank Herbert finally lands a publisher for his novel Dune.

24 literary agencies turned down The Notebook by Nicholas Sparks.

31 publishers in a row turn down The Thomas Berryman Number by James Patterson.

16 literary agencies and 12 publishers reject A Time To Kill by John Grisham.

E.E. Cummings’ best-seller The Enormous Room has a dedication page ‘With No Thanks To’ all 15 publishers who turned it down.

The estate of best-seller Jack London in San Francisco has a collection of some of the 600 rejections he received before selling a single story.