Elijah David

When I finished my Master's degree in 2013, I had a collection of stories that formed my thesis. They represented the work of the previous two years, and I grew a great deal during that time, learning how I could push my characterizations and storytelling techniques in new directions with limited space. In the seven years since, I have seen about half of those stories published in anthologies, and I have written a few more in the same setting, largely to fill in gaps in the overarching story of the collection. Now, at last, I am bringing that collection to the world. On January 12, 2021, The Path of Lucius Park  will be available for purchase on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Books-A-Million. It is currently available for preorder on Kindle . I'm very pleased with this collection, and with the cover below. It captures the stark but hopeful view of the world I was dealing with when I first began the stories inside. I hope you'll enjoy reading them. John Valley is a place of i...

 About a month ago, Paper and Thorns  made its debut into the world. After some delays getting the Kindle edition up and running, I'm glad to say that this series is firmly established. Yes, you read right. Series . But more on that later. If you have missed my previous glimpses into Paper and Thorns , here's a little backstory. I have always loved the story of "Beauty and the Beast" (see also my recent post about the story over at SpeculativeFaith ). Back when Disney's live action remake of the animated film came out, my artist friend Mirriam sketched what she thought the Beast should  have looked like (I'll give you a hint: there were lots of horns and menace going on). The design sparked an idea and I started chipping away at the story of that Beast and what his happy ending might (or might not) look like. After a couple of false starts, Paper and Thorns  really took off. It's a short book (less than 100 pages), and that is purposeful. I tend to str...

Over the last month and a half, I've been posting on blogs other than Inexhaustible Inspiration as part of a blog tour to get the word out about Albion Academy . While I've tried to make sure to link to them here and on the Facebook page, I thought it would be handy for everyone to have a list of all the links on one post. Here they are from oldest to newest: Redeeming Myths at SpeculativeFaith ( Mike Duran's rejoinder to the SpecFaith post ) Interview at Amanda Bradburn's blog Why I keep coming back to Arthurian legend at The Splendor Falls on Castle Walls Interview at Mirriam's blog The Magical Origins of Albion Academy at Further Up and Further In Interview at Lilly's Scribblings Guest Post about Real Life Locations in Fiction Guest Post on Mixing Mythologies at The Other Half of the Story

It's time to reveal the cover for Albion Academy ! This is something I've been sitting on for a couple of months now, and I'm happy to share it with all of you. The cover was designed by Susan Krupp  and I couldn't be happier with it. That's great, you say, but what's the book about? Glad you asked. Is a Djinni just a trickster? Can a wizard only learn magic? Must a Valkyrie always ferry the dead?  For Mortimer, Merlin, and Bryn, it seems the fates have already written the ends of their stories. When Mortimer asks unorthodox questions, the Djinni Elders exile him to a human school of magic—Albion Academy. Merlin's friendship with a mortal only increases his mother's determination for him to live up to the heritage of his ancestors. And Bryn's prophetic sisters outright declare that her fate is tethered to Mortimer, Merlin, and the mysterious door in the school's basement.  As the three of them struggle against the constraints o...

It's been a crazy couple of months since I last posted. Our little Samwise joined us, and our lives haven't been the same since. I haven't been idle with my writing in those two months, though I'm still learning the balance of having a writing life with an infant in the house. I've been making a lot of progress with Albion Academy 's publication. We have a cover, which I'll officially reveal in an upcoming post, and I'm a few chapters away from the end of the galley proofing, which means the official manuscript will be finished before long! Some of you may remember the Almost an Inkling flash fiction contest I participated in last September and October. The winning entries in that contest have finally been released in an ebook from Oloris Publishing. You can pick that up in EPUB or MOBI format here . In anticipation of Albion Academy's forthcoming publication, I'm going to be overhauling Inexhaustible Inspiration. This change will come in t...

I've been trying to write this post for the better part of two months. But I never quite bring myself to sit down and type. This year started out with an exhausted and creatively weary me. I'd just come off of NaNo and the Christmas season in which I'd been in two separate church dramas with three total performances. I needed a break. And then the break became more of a hiatus. I did some revision work on Albion Academy , and I toyed with finishing There's No Place like Home? , but really I just took a break from everything. Then the Year of Major Life Events TM started rolling. We learned we were going to be parents, we started looking for a house. We had weddings and birthdays, anniversaries and funerals. My brother's wedding date was moved, and we were now both in the wedding. We found a house. I was elected as a deacon at our church. I signed a contract to have Albion Academy published. Oh yeah. That was the original reason for this two-months-in-the-m...

Today it is my very great pleasure to interview/host Mirriam Neal as part of the blog tour for her newly published novel, Paper Crowns. I had the privilege of beta reading this book last summer and I can't wait to read the final version. Below you can see the beautiful cover and the synopsis of the book. Ginger has lived in seclusion, with only her aunt Malgarel and her blue cat, Halcyon, to keep her company. Her sheltered, idyllic life is turned upside-down when her home is attacked by messengers from the world of fae. Accompanied by Halcyon (who may or may not be more than just a cat), an irascible wysling named Azrael, and a loyal fire elemental named Salazar, Ginger ventures into the world of fae to bring a ruthless Queen to justice. And without further ado, the interview: ED:   Ever since I first read  Paper Crowns , I've only been able to think of it as a fun romp through Faerie. What drew you to writing a story about Faerie in the first place? What...

I have a short story in an anthology! My short story, "The Debt-Keeper," was published in the Crossover Alliance Anthology Vol. 2 this month. That's me on the top right of the list. :D I've been keeping this announcement under wraps until our family Christmas celebrations were past, though, because part of our gifts to our parents were copies of the anthology (which you can purchase directly from The Crossover Alliance in your ebook format of choice  here  or in Kindle and paperback formats here *). This is a big deal for me, and I've had the hardest time not spoiling the surprise. You can also check out this awesome group interview  that Peter Younghusband (who also wrote the foreword to the anthology) conducted with all the authors in the book. I wrote a little about the origins of the story and the world of John Valley where it and my two stories in When the House Whispers are set. If you'd like to get a book of stories to entertain a...

Two of my stories set in John Valley have been included in a Halloween-themed anthology put out by Oloris Publishing, When the House Whispers . This is basically my face right now. You can purchase the anthology here  in EPUB or MOBI format.