pcoming Projects
The words are always flowing at RainHand; there's so much that the constant overflow ends up in the leaves of my idea tome, to be pulled from whenever it's time to get down to business on a new project. Read on for a list of projects that are either complete and waiting a release date, already under contract but not finished, or are in the works and looking for a home. Even if there's nothing here at the moment, rest assured there's always something going on at RainHand Books!
- I am absolutely thrilled to announce a partnership with The House Rabbit Network to produce "Enoot, Enchanted", a children’s picture book told in the vein of such tales as The Velveteen Rabbit! This fairy-tale piece tells the story of the titular Enoot Cabbage, a loppy misfit harlequin on a quest to find his place, who inadvertently becomes the first young hopper to ever interact with humans when his path crosses with a young squire and her dreams of knighthood. Set against a backdrop of castle walls, bold princesses, and misunderstood dragons, “Enoot, Enchanted” is an inclusive tale of magic, friendship, and the courage to be different. A project in the works since mid-2023, I am proud to announce that the manuscript is currently with a talented illustrator to bring the visual aspects to life! We expect a release date around summer 2025. Stay tuned for details!
- Who remembers the adventures of Theodore Ellsworth, the Traveler of Ord? Not too many of you I'd wager (except for you die-hards, you know who you are), and that's why, on my eager quest to become more involved with projects aimed at younger audiences, I'm planning remastered editions of the first and second books of the Ord Saga: "The Goldenwealth Light,", and "Everywhere the Road Ends"! New cover illustrations, updated text, and (if I can partner with some excellent talent), maybe even some maps of the World of Ord this time around! I'm excited to get back into intense fantasy world-building that steps away from the commonalities of standard magic systems and demihuman species, with the series that has been described as having "the magic of Narnia and the Neverending Story!" I wonder...is it time for volume three??
Scroll down for additional information regarding the original Traveler of Ord publications, reviews by some stellar readers, and where to find them!
- Coming up
for Spring 2025: The grim sojourn of a woman known only as ‘Terry’ through an apocalypse of genocidal rain, as begun in “Eight Glasses”, continues. This novella opens with a reprint of the original story as published in Negative Space 2: A Return to Survival Horror. Includes two brand new tales of threadbare survival, featuring Terry, Boomer, Toby, and whatever beleaguered companions they encounter on their road to nowhere. Just how long can anyone stay alive in a world where water is thicker than blood? Watch for it from Dark Peninsula Press! (This project has been delayed by the publisher--updates will be posted as they become available.)
ublished Works
A (more or less) complete list of my published works since the formation of RainHand (then Ordonline) in 2012. After a hiatus in 2016 during which I pursued personal projects (some of which may just appear as 'upcoming' works someday), I'm back in the publication game with my efforts focused; excited and ready to go. Feel free to browse, and if you find something you're interested in, consider supporting the publisher using the handy links at the end of each piece that will direct you to reader reviews and purchase information. Note that, of course, all anthologies listed also feature excellent work by other authors at the top of their game!
From Dark Peninsula Press:
Negative Space 2: A Return to Survival Horror
ISBN: 978-1960788023; 230 Pages
Publication Date: 29 June 2023
Classification: Anthologies, Horror
In "Eight Glasses", a ragtag group of dysfunctional survivors take shelter at 'Sal's Place', a classy hole in the wall where The Velvet Fog plays and nobody knows your name. Outside you won't find a single shambling corpse, but you'll wish you had, for at least the walking dead can be destroyed. What do you do when the very resource required for your survival seeks revenge for making up 70% of your body for one too many millennia? It won't stop raining, and there's not a drop to drink...
Dark Highways: The Cellar Door Issue 3
ISBN: 978-1960788047; 180 Pages
Publication Date: 31 October 2023
Classification: Anthologies, Horror
In "Purgatory's Paradise", an Ohio woman on her way to a girl's week in Vegas breaks down near the not-so-quaint little burg of Tutalla, Arizona. A friendly tow truck driver is on the scene, but something is amiss when he tries to separate her from the only safe way out of the painted desert--her wheels. A chilling message scrawled on a chewing gum wrapper warns her to go, and one thing's for sure: if she doesn't leave now, she'll never leave at all.
After Tomorrow: The Cellar Door Issue 4
ISBN: 978-1960788115; 176 Pages
Publication Date: 30 July 2024
Classification: Anthologies, Horror
It would be a night like any other in a little town called Juniper at the edge of the Everglades, save for the incessant howls and banging upon the shutters by misshapen things that have been rising from the swamp every night for weeks now. The number of survivors decreases every day, and inverse to their numbers is the grim specter of insanity that claws at the threshold of their minds. Only Edith, a young lady with an edge, feels empowered enough to save her family, but the strange clock in her possession only turns reality back for "Thirty Seconds" at a time. Where did it come from, and can one really challenge fate in so little time?
PUP From Parallel Universe Publications:
Swords & Sorceries: Tales of Heroic Fantasy Volume 6
ISBN: 978-1739367404; 339 Pages
Publication Date: 18 May 2023
Classification: Anthologies, Sword and Sorcery
Legends tell of Dracht Kar, called Gor Malin--the Blood of Ten Thousand, who sent the enemies of the Ysir to the Horsemother's Hell on the edge of her blade. Struck down in a bitter war by no fewer than nineteen men, her sisters gifted her with the Rite of Wind and Fire, that she might one day rise again in defense of her people. Eighty years hence she walks the land as a bitter, peerless revenant, bound into service by a captivating witch who carries the blood of the Thenubrian dogs that destroyed her people. What does "The Golden Witch of Adzelgar" have to gain by sending her new toy into the jungle to slaughter the jaguar men?
Swords & Sorceries: Tales of Heroic Fantasy Volume 8
ISBN: 978-1739367442; 328 Pages
Publication Date: 1 May 2024
Classification: Anthologies, Sword and Sorcery
In "The Stone Heads", Hierarch Warrioress Dracht Kar, cursed by her long-dead sisters to walk the line between life and death, leaves her shattered homeland to cross the sea. Here lies Corgrim, a village plagued by raiders with marble crowns who arrive on sail-less ships to drag the hapless off to watery graves. It's the Blood of Ten Thousand versus the curse of the Deepkin gods, with genocide hanging in the balance. One thing stands for certain, by Vaal--as heads of flesh roll, so shall heads of stone.
Swords & Sorceries: Tales of Heroic Fantasy Volume 9
ISBN: 978-1739367480; 248 Pages
Publication Date: 11 November 2024
Classification: Anthologies, Sword and Sorcery
Those who have looked upon the face of the Wastelord Margat, under whom the marching feet of conquest is the very heartbeat of life, are not so foolish as to tell the tale. Among these is the youth Lannit; torn from humble beginnings by the armies of the phun while her whole world was put to the sword. Sightless from birth, she is kept close by his side, so it is she who “sees” her usurper the most. What could the Master of All Sands want with a resourceless waif, and what is the meaning of the stygian incantations that emit from his bedchamber each night? It is the time of the Cougar’s Moon, when the white sands turn red, and nations fall. Lannit will see for the first time through "The Left Eye of Phun Margat" …and wish she never had.
From Charon Coin Press:
Paying the Ferryman
ISBN: 978-0692277089; 394 Pages
Publication Date: 18 October 2015
Classification: Anthologies, Horror
Ever since Derric died, he's been feeding the quivering entrails of sinners to a host of winged, demonic monstrosities that come calling every day, while a grisly man named Josiah whips him to the task. In "Eden in Spring" Derric will do his best to stay sane, but there are more human crops to tend every day. Is this Hell...or someplace worse?
By RainHand Books (Self-Published):
The Goldenwealth Light
The Traveler of Ord Saga, Book I
ISBN: 978-1480018310; 252 Pages
Publication Date: 21 November 2012
Classification: Fantasy, Young Adult (Ages 9-13)
When a mysterious book transports the mercilessly-bullied Theodore Ellsworth and his sister Marie to a shimmering city in a land beyond their dreams, Theo finds himself accused of a crime he didn't commit that carries the ultimate penalty. A reluctant princess, a winged gnome, and a hot-tempered young sorceress are there to help, but will they be enough to prove to an arrogant knight and thousands of fanatical citizens that the Ellsworth children aren't a prophetic evil that must be destroyed?
Everywhere the Road Ends
The Traveler of Ord Saga, Book II
ISBN: 978-1493509508; 365 Pages
Publication Date: September 18, 2014
Classification: Fantasy, Young Adult (Ages 9-13)
Left for dead in a place where malicious spirits feast on the living, Theodore Ellsworth has only just begun to learn that glory comes at a price. With his new friends fighting for their lives, Theo is thrown off course and embroiled in a murder mystery that must be solved before he can save his sister from a gruesome fate. A crackpot inventor and a pure-hearted young knight are on the job, but Theo already knows the killer. He sees the Beast of Calharik every night, when he looks down in terror at his own bloodied hands.
