FINALIST IN 2013 IDA CONTEST

 

The Unhewn Stone
placed 3rd in the Young Adult category of the International Digital Awards Contest for 2013.

 Available from    Amazon,     Barnes & Noble,    MuseItUp

This novel for older teens  reinvents the legend of Wilhelm Tell through the eyes of a Swiss time traveller who belongs to the tyrant Governor Gessler's family.

On a mission to prevent the legend from happening and restore his family honour, Stefan Gessler enters the 14th century as a stubborn, proud, arrogant, pacifist unaware of the dangers he will face and the difficult lessons he will learn.

Tour modern and medieval Switzerland. Experience life in the Middle Ages, first hand. Encounter fascinating characters while you live by your wits and maybe, like Stefan, reinvent yourself. Does Stefan make the right choices?  You be the judge

Excerpt from a review of The Unhewn Stone by Great Historicals:

This novel is suspenseful, yet humorous at times. It is a coming of age story. From its likeable protagonist to its detestable antagonist, and the plentiful adventures and suspense in between, this is a wonderful novel to savor. Luscious prose that is simple and uncomplicated, allows the reader to slip easily into the story. Can the hero alter the past to improve the future for others? That is one of the main premises in this fascinating tale.

Climbing the Amazon Graph

It's still on sale for only $1.99 Amazon Kindle The Unhewn Stone

Thanks to whoever bought The Unhewn Stone in the last couple of days the Amazon graph looks healthier. No longer down near the million mark it's climbed to just under 129,000.

That's a massive jump for one or 2 sales.

I wonder what would happen if just one more person bought it.

It would be so good to get below the 100,000 while there's still a chance.

The window of opportunity is so short as we all know.

Cover Designer: Tiger Matthews

 

 

Fighting legends in the Middle Ages is a dangerous game, even for the modern young magician known as the Chosen One.

By means of a magic orb, an opportunity presents for Stefan to travel back to 1307, the era of the Wilhelm Tell legend. His grandfather urges him to go. He wants Stefan to restore family honour by preventing the events of the legend from happening. You see, in the very town where Wilhelm Tell is revered above all others, Stefan is an outsider. He is a Gessler, descended from the tyrant governor who forced Tell to shoot and arrow through the apple on his son’s head. Stefan’s family still bear the stigma after 700 years.

Stefan’s mission is to stop Tell from killing Governor Gessler and thus prevent Tell from becoming the Swiss National Hero of Liberty. After all, Tell is a killer, so is there really any difference between freedom fighters and terrorists? Stefan’s grandfather suggests that while Stefan is in medieval Switzerland he should try to discover the alchemist’s secret of changing metal into gold. If Stefan can do this, his grandfather promises, he’ll lose his complex and get his heart’s desire. For Stefan that means the love of the cool beauty Ursula. Pursued by a shape shifting sibyl and an evil knight, and mistrusted by his distant family, Stefan is trapped inside the legend with no hope of escape.

The Unhewn Stone is reduced for today

If you'd like to lose yourself inside a medieval legend for a few hours, The Unhewn Stone can take you there. This ebook is on a Super Duper Sale  today at MuseItUp publishing on Amazon Kindle and also at Smashwords   ONLY $1.99 - use coupon code KZ84U at Smashwords' checkout.

When Stefan Gessler goes back to 1307 AD to prevent the Wilhelm Tell legend from happening and restore honour to his family name, he expects to be awed as the hero from the 21st century. He's in for the shock of his life. Not only does Wilhelm Tell trap him in the 14th century but a shape shifting sibyl and an evil knight are determined to keep him there, dead or alive.

Stefan is accepted by most of his distant family, especially the young nobleman Rolf, his cousin, but he belongs to the wrong side of the feud against Tell. His ancestor is the the tyrant governor Gessler who won't listen to Stefan's wise advice, not even to save his own life. 

This is a hero's journey, a coming of age novel with a difference. Stefan hides behind masks while trying to find his true identity in the fascinating and often frightening world of the new Switzerland, in the Middle Ages.

Alchemist or modern man, hero or fool,  and does he really need to pursue the elusive Ursula even on the other side of time? That's for Stefan and the reader to decide.

Writing the Novel

I wasn't sure if there had ever been a monastery at the site of my fictional town which is a real town in real life so I had to be cautious and when I had the chance I checked the details.

My fictional St. Gabriel's monastery was built about 1000 AD, made of wood. That way when it fell into ruin sometime after 1307 AD there would be no trace of it in the modern world as there would be from a stone one. Plus timber (a wattle and daub structure) would more easily burn if I needed it to.
I imagined in the Eastern Arcade salt and grain would be stored at the near end of the promenade.
The time in Switzerland proved to be necessary. I discovered that a monastery does dominate the town of Altdorf. It has been there since the 1580's. In the book I had Stefan wonder if there'd ever been one, so I had to make a quick adjustment during the final edit, to counteract that major error. While in Switzerland, I found it fascinating to discover here is little difference from the Uri Bull emblem seen in Altdorf today and the one common in 1315 AD.