Assaph’s Comments (group member since Mar 02, 2016)

Assaph’s comments from the Brain to Books Cyber Convention (FAIRGROUNDS) group.

G'day!

Thanks for visiting. I write mainly historical fantasy - urban fantasy detective stories, set in a fantasy version ancient Rome! I like to call them Stories of Togas, Daggers, and Magic.

I grew up on classic thrillers (Alister Maclean, anyone?), fantasy novels (a la Tolkein), and historical fiction set in Rome. Recently I've been devouring historical detectives by Ruth Downie, Lindsey Davis, Steven Saylor, Boris Akunin, et al.

That said, when it came time to write I combined it with my other passion - Fantasy. The result was a unique speculative fiction, telling the the grim-dark stories of a gumshoe detective, while exploring about what Classical Antiquity might look like if magic was real!

My debut novel was Murder In Absentia, which has been received very well (just check out the reviews ;-). The sequel, the next Felix mystery, will be out in May this year.

You can find more information, including free short stories with Felix to give you a taste of my writing, on my site: egretia.com .

So if you like your mysteries written in a classic noir, hardboiled detective style, and if you enjoy a touch of the fantastic in addition to suspense, I'd love to hear from you!

G'day!

Thanks for visiting. I write mainly historical fantasy - urban fantasy detective stories, set in a fantasy version ancient Rome! I like to call them Stories of Togas, Daggers, and Magic.

I grew up on Agatha Christie and Conan Doyle, and later combined it with my passion about historical fiction set in Rome. I've been devouring historical detectives by Ruth Downie, Lindsey Davis, Steven Saylor, Boris Akunin, et al. That said, when it came time to write I combined it with my other passion - Fantasy. The result was a unique speculative fiction, telling the story of a gumshoe paranormal detective, while exploring about what Classical Antiquity might look like if magic was real!


My debut novel was Murder In Absentia, which has been received very well (just check out the reviews ;-). The sequel, the next Felix mystery, will be out in May this year.

You can find more information, including free short stories with Felix to give you a taste of my writing, on my site: egretia.com .

So if you like your mysteries written in a classic noir, hardboiled detective style, and if you enjoy a touch of the fantastic in addition to suspense, I'd love to hear from you!

G'day!

Thanks for visiting. I write mainly historical fantasy - urban fantasy detective stories, set in a fantasy version ancient Rome! I like to call them Stories of Togas, Daggers, and Magic.

Ancient Rome was always one of my favourite periods, and writing about it gave me the chance to explore and learn more about it. That said, I combined it with my other passion - Fantasy. The result was a unique speculative fiction, about what Classical Antiquity might look like if magic was real!

My debut novel was Murder In Absentia, which has been received very well (just check out the reviews ;-). The sequel, the next Felix mystery, will be out in May this year.

You can find more information, including free short stories with Felix to give you a taste of my writing, on my site: egretia.com .

So if you like your historical fiction based on Classical Antiquity, if you enjoy a touch of the fantastic in addition to history, I'd love to hear from you!

G'day!

Thanks for visiting. I write mainly historical fantasy - urban fantasy detective stories, set in a fantasy version ancient Rome! I like to call them Stories of Togas, Daggers, and Magic. After all, ancient Rome was one of the greatest cities ever built, and the urban themes (that hard-boiled, noir feeling, the close quarters mystery and intrigue) carry over the years.

I grew up on classic sci-fi and fantasy novels (a la Tolkein), detectives mysteries (Christie and Doyle come to mind) and historical fiction set in Rome.

That said, when it came time to write I combined all three of my passions. The result was a unique speculative fiction, telling the the grim-dark stories of a gumshoe detective, while exploring about what Classical Antiquity might look like if magic was real!

Right now, after so many fans have told me Felix reminds them a bit of Harry Dresden in a Toga, I started reading more and more urban-fantasy detectives - a genre I expect to read a lot more of in the coming years!

My debut novel was Murder In Absentia, which has been received very well (just check out the reviews ;-). The sequel, the next Felix mystery, will be out in May this year.

You can find more information, including free short stories with Felix to give you a taste of my writing, on my site: egretia.com .

So if you like your urban-fantasy with an historical bent, if you enjoy detectives as well as sparkling vampires, I'd love to hear from you!

G'day!

Thanks for visiting. I write mainly historical fantasy - urban fantasy detective stories, set in a fantasy version of ancient Rome! I like to call them Stories of Togas, Daggers, and Magic.

(The above Dreamtime Dragons was an anthology in which two unconnected stories of mine appeared).

I grew up on classic sci-fi and fantasy novels (a la Tolkein), detectives mysteries (Christie and Doyle come to mind) and historical fiction set in Rome.

That said, when it came time to write I combined all three of my passions. The result was a unique speculative fiction, telling the the grim-dark stories of a gumshoe detective, while exploring about what Classical Antiquity might look like if magic was real!

My debut novel was Murder In Absentia, which has been received very well (just check out the reviews ;-). The sequel, the next Felix mystery, will be out in May this year.

You can find more information, including free short stories with Felix to give you a taste of my writing, on my site: egretia.com .

So if you like your fantasy with an historical bent, if you enjoy mysteries as well as grand epics, I'd love to hear from you!

Hi, India!! *waves like someone who had too much coffee*

Maddy, the name means "lucky" in Latin, which is appropriate for him.
Of course, it sometimes look more like he's the butt of Fortuna's practical jokes, but that's still a kind of luck...

Thanks guys! Just came off a couple of long flights to these wonderful comments ☺️

Wordwizard wrote: "Seriously, where's the link to the giveaway? Why is the price $2.99, not $0.99?"

The giveaway will open in a few hours. It's listed here:
https://www.goodreads.com/giveaway/sh...

The price drop is scheduled to April 6th, a day before the convention opens, and will last till April 10th, a day after it closes.

Seeing how you made it this far, you deserve something :-)
There's a giveaway for Murder In Absentia on Goodreads right now! And if you can't wait, the novel is also on a $0.99 special on Amazon up through April 10th (better hurry ;-)

If there if any question you would like to ask me, whether it is about the research I do for the books (lots and lots), talk about writing and book marketing, or even if you would like to speak directly to Felix himself - just feel free to contact me!

Post here, or just ping me on any of the major social networks:
Website, with blogs and free short stories: egretia.com
Twitter: @assaphmehr
Facebook: Assaph Mehr, author

However you chose, I'd love to hear from you!

If you made it down so far... I would like to mention a few awards that Murder In Absentia has received.

First, it received an unprecedented FIVE awards at Virtual FantasyCon 2016! That was back in October, and made it the best "first birthday" present to the book. I was as chuffed as any father would be :-)



The second honour, is that it was voted as the #1 Indie Book Worth The Read, right here on Listopia!

Here are some of my favourite quotes from Felix.

This one is from the opening chapter of Murder In Absentia:



This one Felix said to me once, and I loved it so much I wrote TWO unrelated short stories opening with it :-)



The first story is an homage to two of my favourite authors, called New Directions.
The second is a tiny flash, unrelated fiction called Lessons Learnt.

The next two quotes show Felix's usual cynical and dead-pan humour...





The last quote I will leave you with is out of the current work-in-progress, titled In Numina. Yet again Felix finds himself embroiled in some truly bizarre circumstances...

Hello fellow fans of Historical Fiction!

Allow me to first introduce my stories and then myself :-)
If you stick with me, there's a little something for you later on...

Murder In Absentia is a story of Togas, Daggers, and Magic. It draws on my three main loves in fiction: ancient Rome, detectives, and Fantasy. It is the story I always wanted to read.

The debut novel tells the story of Felix, a small-time detective specialising in occult cases. In his own words: “Purloined jewellery, missing persons, cheating spouses were what paid for my bread and fish sauce. The occasional debunking of charlatans, confirmation of ancient scrolls, and even, rarely, a real magical ring were what would one day fill my memoirs.”

This time he gets called in on a case that needs to be kept hushed from the authorities – a case that seems well over his head…

Since publishing Murder In Absentia, I have published a few short stories with Felix. These are small cases, his regular fare, which serve both as introduction to his world and as a diversion for me when I am working on the editing / publication phase of novels. You can find them free on my blog here.



As for me, I has been a bibliophile since he learnt to read at the age of five, and a Romanophile ever since I first got his hands on Asterix. I've had my nose in a book as far as I can remember.

After years of reading classic Sci Fi and Fantasy, detective stories and mysteries, and - recently - a lot of historical detectives set in Rome, such as those by Lindsey Davis, Steven Saylor and Ruth Downie, I sat down one night and started to write. I haven't stopped since.