Philippa Ballantine - Author

Award-winning Author of fantasy, science fiction, and steampunk

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It’s just around the corner…

These are the months when all sorts of goodies are landing in my mailbox. Today it was these lovelies. Apparently they are called cover flats, and contain information to entice the bookseller.

I found three interesting things

  • They mention my podcast history- quoting the number of podcast downloads. (So keep that in mind podiobook authors)
  • Apparently I am ‘a promising Ace author’
  • And they list Author Home ‘New Zealand’

There’s only one more thing to come… a box of books.

I have also revealed the first of my competitions over on booksoftheorder.com

If you want a chance to have your name appear in the sequel to Geist, Spectyr, a signed (by me and Jason Chan) print of the book’s cover, and plenty of chances to win a signed copy, then you’ll want to check it out.

Also Geist is now available to preorder on the ibook store, as well as massmarket and Kindle versions on Amazon.

This thing is really happening. Either that or I am having a really, really vivid dream!

Chasing the Bard for free

In the spirit of the month, with Geist coming out, I’ve decided to release Chasing the Bard for free until the end of the year.

Yep. For Free.

I have done some minor edits and put in the new chapter from the podcast.

So grab it now- Epub – Pdf

And enjoy the beautiful new cover art by the talented Alex White of the Gearheart. He is the definition of the renaissance man and you should definitely check out his podcast.

Feel free to let people know, and I hope you enjoy taking the text with you.

Trailer for Geist

Swimming with the big fish still means I need to get the word out about Geist, and this has pretty much been consuming my life for the last month.

One of the things I wanted to do was create a book trailer- but there was one big problem- yeah… my lack of video skills.

Luckily Tee Morris rode to the rescue, and you can find the result on my homepage, and scattered around the internet. I think it gives a pretty good idea of the tone of Geist.

So if you want to help spread the word, please feel free to imbed the video from youtube.com where ever you feel like it.

Silence is the killer for a book… and silence scares me.

The first Geist review…and it’s a Harriet!

This is a bit of a nerve wracking time for me. My first big New York City book, and I am gearing up for the reviews.

So when my Google Alert told me that someone had reviewed Geist, I was excited and nervous… and then I found out it was from Harriet Klausner

The key to this great horror-fantasy is the belief in the magical world of Philippa Ballantine summed up by the Guardian and the Pretender when she says “If wishes were horses,” and he finishes with “I would never have to walk again.” Little touches like this bring alive the prime element of the Bond, which make the realm of Geist seem genuine. Sorcha and her two comrades are terrific characters who keep the story line focused even as the plot entertainingly switches from fantasy to horror. This is a wonderful thriller.
And if you don’t know who she is- have a read here

All I can say is, thanks Harriet. I feel like I have already arrived, and it was a nice start to the month of October!

Love and fire

A while back I wrote a short story for my good friend PG Holyfield. The Tales of the Children are set in the world of Caern, and supported the release of Patrick’s Murder at Avedon Hill.

Writing in another person’s universe was a really fun opportunity, and it was nice to get to play with genuine elves. I have always been of the opinion that elves (and the Fey) are not portrayed as dangerous enough.

This floaty, dreamy vision of elves never really flew with me, so when I got to write in Caern, I was determined to write about elves as I imagine them; sharp, deadly and a race you really, really do not want to annoy.

So what happens when humans do what humans do, and invade an elven island. Yep, they bring a whole world of hurt down upon themselves.

Can humans gain a foothold on the island of Kandriel? If Syliene, an elven warrior and priestess of Thei-Shan has anything to say about it, the answer is no.

Have a listen here