Swords of Talera

Nothing quite beats the thrill of seeing your story in print. When the story in question is one you first wrote over two decades ago, the thrill must be even sweeter.

A friend of mine, Charles Gramlich, just published SWORDS OF TALERA, a swashbuckling tale in the tradition of Edgar Rice Burroughs and Robert E. Howard. This is a story he first wrote in his early twenties. Since that time he’s gone on to earn a PhD in psychology, become a professor at Xavier University, and write—and publish—dozens of short stories and one horror novel, COLD IN THE LIGHT. At one time, he revised Swords of Talera and started on a more serious search for a publisher. But by then the sword and planet genre was fading. The story came out as a serial in a SF magazine, where it received the magazine’s Readers’ Choice award. Now, the recent revival of the fantasy genre means the trilogy (he has written two sequels) is finally seeing publication in book form.

Charles is a member of my Monday night writers group, so over the years I’ve read and enjoyed bits and pieces of the two sequels—WINGS OVER TALERA and WITCH OF TALERA. Anyone who reads Charles’s blog knows his glorious gifts for atmosphere and description, while a lifetime of watching people added to his professional mastery of psychology gives a rare resonance to his characters.

Congratulations, Charles!

And here’s the Amazon link.