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A medieval faire in a real castle!
So, I went to Switzerland in the fall and through no clever planning of my own, was in the castle town of Lenzburg on a weekend when there just happened to be a medieval faire happening. Holy. A medieval faire in a real castle?? How could I not go? Bring on the mead! The Swiss guards following me around Not too hard to escape from this jailer a “museum” room inside the castle (not necessarily medieval but cool) Not medieval but one of the “museum” rooms inside the castle a “museum” room inside the castle (not necessarily medieval but...
read moreMORGARTEN has been released!
“The forests can protect them no longer — It is time to make a stand.” MORGARTEN (Book 2 of The Forest Knights) should now be available at most online bookstores. The trade paperback version is available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and other online retailers. Amazon US Amazon UK Amazon Canada Barnes & Noble iBooks KOBO Smashwords SONY As always, thanks very much for reading!...
read moreMorgarten to be released in November!
Yep, it’s official! MORGARTEN, the conclusion of The Forest Knights Duology, will be released in November, 2012. Here’s how to save 50% on the e-book: I’ve given this some thought, and here’s how the release is going to work. First off, I just want to say thank you to everyone who has signed up for my E-mail lists so far–your support means more than you could possibly know! To show my appreciation, I will announce the exact date the book is available (on Amazon and Smashwords) to the people on my mailing list first. The book will be $2.99 for ONE WEEK. After that, it will go up to $5.99 and I will officially announce it to the world! Well, my small little corner of it anyway. How can you get in on the fun? Sign up for one of my lists! (Either one will work for the $2.99 notification) The Forest Knights Mailing List (You will receive a notification whenever I publish anything related to The Forest Knights ONLY) The J. K. Swift Mailing List (You will receive a notification whenever I publish anything new) And don’t worry if you happen to miss the one week deadline to...
read moreMORGARTEN teaser
Here is the opening scene from MORGARTEN (Book 2 of The Forest Knights). The novel is in final edits now and I hope to be able to announce a release date soon. Please consider signing up for The Forest Knights Mailing List (or the J. K. Swift Mailing List) to get special pre-release pricing and to be the first to know when it’s available! Thanks for reading… jk MORGARTEN a novel of The Forest Knights Chapter 1 The whispers came for Seraina in sleep, as they often did. Some time ago, or perhaps only moments before, she recalled sitting down against a giant spruce and closing her eyes. Seraina could still feel the ridges of rough bark pressed against her back. That sensation was a tie to the waking world and she latched onto it, resisting the pull of the voices. Her visions were rare and, so she was told, a gift from the Great Weave. Something to be treasured. But these voices calling from afar, differed from the ones she had heard before. They grew, both in volume and quantity, and as they became louder, they seemed to insist that Seraina listen. No, they demanded to be...
read moreIt’s Bean Day! (and a MORGARTEN update)
Three or four times a year comes a holiday that makes me twitch like a four year-old lying in bed listening for the bells of Santa’s reindeer, and today is that day. Hallelujah! My shipment of green coffee beans has arrived! Yeah, I’m a coffee nerd. To anyone who’s read my short story Playing with Fire it’s no secret. I roast my own stuff at home and distribute it to a select group of family and friends. Often in late-night meetings from the trunk of my car. I started drinking coffee when I was 13. Horrid, canned crystals that had more in common with ground-up asphalt than the roasted pit of a coffee cherry. But it’s amazing what 2 heaping teaspoons of Coffee Mate (also known as “powdered death” in some circles) will do to a rancid cup of asphalt water. I drank it. I survived. And now I make up stories about the stuff. Well, actually only one so far. Most people’s reactions to Playing with Fire go something like this: “Uh, wow, JK. This is really…different…than…you know…your regular historical stuff.” I then shrug and say, “I’m a complicated man. I have sides.” At this point they usually...
read moreMy book cover artist’s process
Chris Ryan did an amazing job on the cover for Book 1 of The Forest Knights (Altdorf). If you’re interested in seeing some initial sketches and how he transformed them into a beautiful cover, check it out here. I’ve asked him to do the cover for the second book (Morgarten) and I am psyched that he is going to take it on. If anyone out there needs some custom artwork done, Chris is your man. You can get in touch with him through his website. He also did the covers for my Keepers of Kwellevonne short story series. I’m going to post them here because I can’t stop looking at them! (click them to see a full size version) Healer by J.K. SwiftFarrier by J.K....
read moreRead Aloud’s 15-minute Movement
March is National Reading Awareness Month! I was a painfully shy kid for the first few years of elementary school. I never went to kindergarten or playschool, so grade 1 was my first experience with a group of kids my own age. I can still recall the awkward terror of standing alone in the coatroom everyday, looking out at the groups of kids playing together before the morning bell rang to begin class. But I was a good reader. My parents and older siblings read to me everyday at home and so when the teacher called on me to read a passage out loud in class I felt like Superman. If I had been a poor reader, one of those kids that stumbled over every second word, I would have been denied those few confidence building moments so important to an introverted child trying to fit into an extroverted world. Some people say reading is a way to escape the real world. For me, it was a way to fit in. A child who can read is empowered. It’s as simple as that. Why ReadAloud.org matters: • Only about 1/3 of low-income families read aloud regularly. • From 0-3,...
read moreFinder’s Fee for Oetzi “The Iceman”
I was reading some cool stuff about the Iceman today. And no, I’m not talking about some hitman for the mob (although…he does have a certain “look” about him). Oetzi was about 159cm tall (5ft 2.5in), 46 years old, arthritic, and infested with whipworm. But he still netted German hikers Erika and Helmut Simon $216,000. The discovery of Oetzi in 1991 in the Northern Italian Alps is old news, but I had never heard the amount that the people who found him actually received before. Wow. It pays to keep your eyes open when you’re hiking. Read the article here. Here’s the article the picture was taken from: Oetzi the Iceman’s nuclear genome gives new insights I swear I’ve seen that guy...
read moreALTDORF trade paperback now available at Amazon
Well Happy Chinese New Year everyone! For those of you who have been asking about a paper version of ALTDORF, it’s here! Sure, dead-tree books are so 2009, but I know there are a lot of people out there that still prefer the feel of paper in their hands (or just can’t stand those new-fangled e-reading contraptions–yes, mom I’m talking to you). And although it looks just like the picture my awesome cover designer Chris Ryan whipped up, don’t expect to get one of those fancy bookmarks! ALTDORF on Amazon Canada & US ALTDORF on Amazon...
read moreWhere can I get one of these baskets?
Trychle, Meiringen, Canton Bern Trychle processions take place in the villages of the Hasliberg and Haslital in the week between Christmas and the New Year, mainly after dark. The masked and disguised participants make as much noise as possible with drums and cowbells. The Huttefroueli, an old woman carrying her husband in a basket on her back – known as a “Hutte” in German – is one of the stock figures of the parade. ©...
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