PROPHECY REVEALED by Ron Hartman

PROPHECY REVEALED
by Ron Hartman

Daniel Marten crossed the Burning Sea and convinced himself that he is the Prophesied One. But what does that mean? In this second installment of the Prophecy Chronicles trilogy, Daniel forges new alliances in his bid to save Naphthali from the Emperor. He meets the Tene’breon, a magical race that has evolved to use the Weave as effortlessly as he breathes air. The leaders of this race recognize him for what he is…but they also see something more.

Naphthali has been dramatically altered by the rule of a new governor, a man whose power is tied to Daniel in a horrifying way. How far will Daniel go to save Naphthali? And what is the secret that binds his destiny with his new allies? Only time will tell in The Prophecy Chronicles: Prophecy Revealed.

EXCERPT
Rage started to build inside Daniel. He closed his right hand into a tight fist and felt a dull ache that quickly gave way to burning pain. Of course that was alright too, because that was as it should be. He looked back to his desk and there, on the now cluttered surface was—Ah! His solace. The ones he turned to at his darkest moments. Ashley and the kids beamed at him from photos.

He turned to the thing doing a poor job of mimicking one of his closest friends. Her eyes flashed orange and she gave off a series of clicks as realization struck. She may be orchestrating this, but it's my mind, and I can control what happens. He looked at the pictures of his beloved family and considered his office, his refuge. She'd perverted it, desecrated it. Rage continued to build, and Daniel knew soon he would be powerless to stop it. Let it. He didn't want to stop. Still looking at the photos, he started to speak, his voice shaking with fury. "These are my family, my friends. I give them my time, and my care." He turned to not-Meg. "You are not one of them, and you will have no more." The last came out in a roar as he closed the distance between himself and his tormentor.

He opened his right fist and clamped it around not-Meg's throat, slamming her to the wall. The burning grew to encase his entire arm when he tightened his grip, but he refused to let go. He pulled his face to within inches of hers, and glared with suddenly steely eyes. "Who are you?" he growled.

~Buy PROPHECY REVEALED at the Rogue Phoenix website.

AN INTERVIEW WITH RON
-What made you want to write?

I remember when I was in grade school deciding I wanted to write a novel. I sat down at the computer and cranked out about five or six pages of my masterpiece…and ran out of material. At that point I realized writing was probably a little more challenging than I first thought! I am a voracious reader, though, and have been ever since grade school. At that time I kept reading, but I put aside the idea of writing for the time being.

It wasn’t until about seven years ago that I seriously considered writing again. At the time I had a job that I had to travel a lot for, and the hours in the car gave me time to think. I had time to nourish kernels of ideas, some of which had been bouncing around in my head since I was in high school. I can tell you, if you have several hours a day to drive and think, James Blunt’s music can be one heck of a muse! Most of the broad strokes of the Prophecy Chronicles trilogy were nailed down in my mind at that time.

I wrote an outline for the trilogy then, but again I got side-tracked and it was about another year and half before I actually started writing the books. The first two books in The Prophecy Chronicles, Prophecy Foretold and now Prophecy Revealed, are available, and the final installment is being polished as we speak.

-What draws you to fantasy?

I’ve always been drawn to Fantasy. The first real book (meaning lots of chapters and no pictures) that I remember reading was The Sword of Shannara by Terry Brooks. I’ve been hooked ever since, though my tastes have broadened some since that time. A couple of years later I read The Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever series by Stephen R Donaldson. Parts of that series stuck with me ever since childhood. When I was ready to write The Prophecy Chronicles, I knew the protagonist (Daniel Marten) would be pulled from our world into a strange new place where everyone recognized him, but he didn’t know what they wanted. From these foundations in fantasy, The Prophecy Chronicles was born, and the rest, as they say, is history!

-Name a fun fact you learned researching this project.

Did you know that in the Middle Ages assassins from India used a weapon called the Katar? It had a blade like a knife attached to a handle kind of like brass knuckles, so when the user made a fist the blade stuck out from his knuckles (think Wolverine-style in the X-Men…). It could be used as a piercing or slashing weapon, and could be quite effective in the right hands.

That was the foundation for the A-blade, a weapon that is near and dear to Daniel Marten’s heart. In my version of the Katar, there is not a single knife blade. Instead, the entire weapon looks like a capital letter “A”, where the slanted sides are sharpened blades and the cross-piece is the handle. When wielded, the blades extend down to a few inches past the user’s wrist, and the point rises out in front of his knuckles. In the first book of The Prophecy Chronicles, it was carried by Daniel’s friend and protector Soren, but in Prophecy Revealed it has been passed on to Daniel. When Soren is telling Daniel about the blade, he even gives it its actual name in Naphthali—the Katareen. Sounds familiar, huh?

-Which of your characters would you go out for drinks with?

Hands down, it would be Ashley, Daniel’s wife. She is patterned in large part on my own wife, who is my best friend, so I think she’d be the most fun to hang out with. Actually, in the book Ashley is frequently mentioned, but not really brought to the fore, so maybe she wouldn’t count. I think of the characters that take center stage, I would have to say Bastion. He is a member of a race of people that are magically enhanced humans called the Tene’breon. He’s also a master of a magical martial art called Shal’tiar. He probably wouldn’t drink with you, but he would be very calm and friendly, and would have many interesting insights to share. You’d also know you were safe—he’d kick the butt of anyone trying to cause trouble!

-For aspiring writers, any tips?

Be brave, be tenacious! It can be extremely difficult to get a book published. The deck truly is stacked against new talent in this business, so you’d need to be prepared for large, heaping portions of rejection. Probably your best bet for starting out would be to send queries to smaller publishing houses. It took me about two years to find my publisher, Rogue Phoenix Press, and it has been smooth sailing ever since!

-Is there a genre you could never write? Which and why?

I don’t think I could write a romance novel. I do believe in true love, and I believe in being bowled over by it. My relationship with my wife is proof of that. I think I would like to write a love story someday, but it would have to be in the mold of either fantasy or mainstream fiction. Just thinking about the heaving loins and ripped bodices in romance novels makes me giggle like a school girl…

ABOUT RON

Ron Hartman has had a life-long passion for the written word and is an avid reader. The Prophecy Chronicles are his first written works. The first in the series, Prophecy Foretold, was released in October of 2012. Prophecy Revealed is the second in the trilogy. Ron graduated from the University of Iowa College of Pharmacy in 2000 and lives in Ottumwa, Iowa with his wife and three children.

Visit Ron’s website.

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Comments

  1. Thanks so much for having me today! I'm excited to be here, and I'd love to hear what you have to say. Any questions? Please, don't be shy!

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  2. I love the sword and the story sounds great!

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  3. Thanks! It was a lot of fun to write. I found the idea of a Katar (sorry, I mean Katareen in Naphthalian parlance) fascinating and unique, so I knew one of my characters had to use one!

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  4. Replies
    1. Thank you, Serena! If you liked that, there's more where it came from! If you get a chance, check out The Prophecy Chronicles. I think you'd like it!

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  5. Replies
    1. Thank you, Mary! Great questions make a good interview!!

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