I love writing.  I spend over ten hours a day at my desk.  And I am so happy that Aspen Mountain Press saw fit to publish my debut novel The Reckoning of Asphodel.  For now, just before the sequel The Gift of Redemption comes out in the spring, Asphodel is starting to get some great reviews and even an award.

Let’s start off with this: The Reckoning of Asphodel is epic high fantasy.  It has a strong female protagonist and enough romance and chivalry to satisfy the romance reader.  There’s also enough blood, guts, war, magic, and prophecy to make the fan of traditional fantasy happy.  Personally, I love epic fantasies.  Tolkien is my hero, just as Hope Mirrlees was.

More on that in a bit.

First review was from Love Romances & More.  Asphodel received five out of five stars and this is part of what the reviewer said: “…THE RECKONING OF ASPHODEL is a wonderfully complex story that lures the reader in and delivers a fast pace ride that leaves you breathless. All this reviewer could do was hanging on for the ride! New author Celina Summers delivers a stunning novel that captures the readers’ attention on the first page and never lets up until the last page is turned…”

Melissa at Dogwild *some of you know her ;)* said in her very lovely review “…The Reckoning of Asphodel is high elven fantasy at its best and I can’t wait for the rest of the story to unfold. This story needs to be in print so I can drag it around with me for reading without banging my laptop up…”

Then came this weekend.  I received a third review from Novelspot.com which read in part: “The Reckoning of Asphodel, by Celina Summers, is traditional high fantasy, with chivalric knights and wood-wise elves, beautiful princesses and wise female seers, good and evil sorcerers and magicians. It’s written in the language typical of the genre. It is, however, much better written, with more complex characters and situations, than many similar books. This is a serious fantasy novel, not the verbal equivalent of a computer game…”

That’s not what got me.  This was: “…The style reminds me a bit of Hope Mirrlees’ Lud-in-the-Mist…”

Oh my goodness.  Dang.  That blew me away.  Well, that and this:  

Don’t really know what to make of that one.  Those of you who voted for Asphodel, thank you.  If you enjoyed that first book, I sincerely hope you catch the second.  The Gift of Redemption, Book Two in the Asphodel series, should be out in 2008.  I’ll give you more details as soon as I can.  Thanks for suffering through my bragfest too.

In the end, you have to give it up for the authors and editorial staff at AMP.  There’s something for everyone here, and you can’t go wrong with the books that AMP offers.  If you want to learn more about me or the Asphodel series, check out my blog or my website.  Follow the linkies and you can find a wealth of information.

Once again, thanks!

Chat with Aline de Chevigny, Maura Anderson, Melissa Glisan, and Michelle Hasker from Aspen Mountain Press at Realms of Love. These smart and witty ladies have some very hot releases at AMP and there will be give-aways of ebook downloads during the chat.  Join us for the fun Monday at 9 PM EST, Monday, January 28.