Scribe of Destiny : Humorous Fantasy by Paul Barrett & Steve Murphy Book Tour with Guest Post and Giveaway
Say Hello to Fantasy's Most Reluctant Hero
Scribe of Destiny
by Paul Barrett & Steve Murphy
Genre: Fantasy Comedy
Briar,
son of Patch, is perfectly happy working as a low-level scribe for
the Church of Ubel, spending his off time painting seascapes, walking
on the beach, and being alive.
That last one is put in
imminent danger when the Church hierarchy determines the god Ubel has
gone insane. A delegation is gathered to journey to the Oracle of
Hiephi so they can learn what must be done to cure the psychopathic
deity. Briar, very much against his will, must accompany the group,
ostensibly to chronicle the journey for inclusion in the official
Church archives.
During their adventures, horrific visions
of an angry, scowling teenager plague Briar, and he soon learns there
is a deeper, darker reason behind his inclusion in this insanely
dangerous quest.
Facing the likes of bloodthirsty pirates,
a bloodthirstier gnome talent agent, and The Slobbering Hound of
Chaos, Briar slowly, and oh so unwillingly, learns his place in the
world. He might even manage to become a hero. If he survives.
Crow pushed open the door and walked in before me.
Protocol dictated that I, as the guest, should have been allowed first
entrance—just another petty slight. I was going to have to invent an
outstanding payback. Crow had to know it would come. He didn’t serve the
Archbishop at all times, and when he was off-duty, he was fair game.
The chamber was large and well decorated, with
straight walls covered in soft sheer curtains and tapestries, most depicting
saints martyred in gruesome ways while serving Ubel. A four-poster occupied one
corner, wrapped in dark blankets. A stout wooden desk sat in the room’s center,
clean except for a single sheet of parchment upon which the Archbishop
scribbled with a quill. Light streamed in from an open window, aided by large
oil lanterns that gave off the salty scent of whale.
As I looked about the room, a strange sense of
unreality walked over me, a collision of what was with what used to be. For the
briefest moment, I felt like a piece of taffy tugged on by two ravenous
children, each wanting the lion’s share of my mind. This chamber was how the
rest of the cathedral should be but wasn’t. Or was the cathedral right and the
chamber wrong? It gave me an instant headache.
“Are you okay?” the Archbishop asked in his dull,
grating voice. “You look as if you’ve seen a ghost.”
“Ghosts don’t exist,” I said reflexively.
“Don’t they?” the Archbishop said with an amused
smile. He looked at Crow, who stood beside the large desk, and his smile
faltered. “Why are you still here?”
“I await your Grace’s pleasure.”
“Well, his Grace’s pleasure would have been to have
breakfast ready before he left home this morning, but since you were nowhere to
be found, his pleasure now is that you depart since nothing here concerns you.”
Crow’s face fell as if the Archbishop slapped him.
Which he had, in a way. Only great effort kept me from cheering. Crow glared at
me. I offered a smile and a dismissive wave of my hand. We both knew I had won
this round.
“As your Grace wishes.” He bowed and left, closing the
door harder than strictly necessary.
The Archbishop eyed me for a moment, as a butcher
might study a choice cut of meat. I shifted on my feet and stared at the
rug-covered floor, unable to meet the man’s gaze. Today was the most direct
contact I’d had with him my whole time in the Church since I usually worked
with the priests or the archivist.
He cleared his throat, and I looked up to find him
folding the parchment. He grabbed a small taper, dripped wax onto the fold, and
pressed a ring into the wax. “Have you had any more strange feelings since I
saw you last?”
You mean other
than the feeling this room exists in someplace outside the rest of the building, I wanted to say. I still could get no sense of what
the Archbishop thought of my earlier peculiar behavior and didn’t want to push
things. But I couldn’t outright lie either. “Just a headache,” I said.
The Archbishop held up two pieces of parchment, one
large and square, the other small and rectangular. “I want you to deliver these
to Elder. This one,” he indicated the smaller one, “he is to read.” He waved
the larger one. “This he is to deliver to the Holy Unseen.”
He gave me another grin, the kind you offered to
people at funerals. “I understand from the priests that you are a good scribe.
It will serve you well. Now take these.”
Puzzled at his strange comments, I walked over and
took the parchments. As I touched them, I caught the thought nice working with you and felt the kind
of sizzling jolt you might get from a torch smashed across your forehead. I
looked at the documents as the Archbishop stepped back. These documents were
another piece of the life-shift puzzle that had begun to assemble this morning.
I couldn’t make out exactly what would happen, but I felt the answer was close.
Had I known how close, I would have burned the
parchments, scattered the ashes, and moved to the swamp for the rest of my
life.
What’s coming
from the twisted minds of Paul Barrett and Steve Murphy
So now that Scribe of Destiny is
out in the world, that same world is clamoring to know what else is in the
feverish brain pans of Paul and Steve that they are going to unleash.
There are several things in the
works from our new favorite writing duo. First up will most likely be a little
one-off story that doesn’t have a title yet but can best be described as a
“pseudo-LitRPG experiment.” It will be their first self-published novel and is
currently in final edits.
Next is Knight Gambit (working
title), the third book in their space opera series, The Knights of the Flaming
Star, available from Falstaff Books on Amazon. Paul is also finishing up A
Scream of Destruction, the last book in his solo Necromancer Saga trilogy.
Looking further afield, they are
halfway through the second book in the Spade Case Files with an outline for the
remainder. They are also in the beginning stages of their “epic fantasy”
trilogy, because of course they are.
There are plenty of other ideas
floating in their diseased craniums. So, you are going to see them around for a
long time.
Steve Murphy has spent much of his life in uniform, starting with four years in the Navy,
then a stint in the Army National Guard, followed by 23 years as a police officer, 9 of those as a SWAT sniper.
So naturally, he writes science fiction, fantasy, and space opera. This is his third novel, with several more in the works with Paul. In addition to writing, Steve has also worked as a consultant and set decorator for the film industry. Steve is an outdoor enthusiast who enjoys camping, backpacking, whitewater, sailing and motorcycle riding. The father of two boys, now grown men, Steve lives somewhere in North Carolina with his wife and two dogs.
Paul Barrett has had
Paul Barrett has had multiple careers, including rock and roll roadie, theater stage manager, mortgage banker, and support specialist for Microsoft Excel.
This eclectic mix allowed him to go into his true love: motion picture production. He has produced two feature films (Cold Storage and Night Feeders) and two documentaries (The Final Gift, In the Footsteps of Elie Wiesel.) When not producing films, he works
as a script supervisor or props assistant. Amidst all this, Paul worked on his writing. This is his fifth novel, with more on the way. Paul is an avid board gamer, miniatures painter, movie enthusiast, and all-around nerd.
Paul lives in North Carolina with his graphic designer husband and four furry overlords, aka cats.
Paul and Steve have been friends since 1980, enduring the rough and tumble of life through thick and thin.ince 1980,
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