The Shaman Within - Paperback

by Barbara Taft Verducci (Editor), Hannah Thome (Illustrator), Jared Snell (Illustrator)

Farstand is a place where it's illegal for peasants to bear weapons, read books, worship gods other than Sho, and move beyond life's station. Women are disallowed employment without the sanction of men. Abi's worthless father hopes to kick her out of his peasant holding without a dowry. She beats him by a day, leaving on her own, though forced to do so under threatening calls of witch and murderess. Those aren't the only sins they're likely to burn her for, as she takes up her weapons and book of Goddess-given spells, naively facing the empty world beyond her mother's door. And the Goddess laughs, sending a dream: "A thousand men shall fall before your sword."

Author Biography

Author Bio: Gary is a published author of several short stories and the novel Zombies in Our Hometown. He is one of the founding members of the Ohio Writers and North Columbus Fantasy/SciFi writer's groups and is a longstanding member of the prestigious Columbus Writing Workshop. Gary is also a credited editor for LivingDeadPress and has assisted many published authors in their editing efforts. His recent work has shifted toward novels in the historic fantasy, urban fantasy and paranormal humor genres. Gary has a BFA from the Columbus College of Art and Design, teaching certification from Otterbein College, an MBA from the Ohio State University and a First Class FCC license earned while an electronics systems instructor for the US Army. He is employed as a Communications Systems Specialist for the City of Columbus, Ohio. Gary is also the Contributing Editor for the writing blog, "The Write Tip", for Loconeal Publishing. Look for Gary's next novel, Search for the Queen, due out in 2012.