The Knight Case, #1
by T. Nathan Mosley
Date of Publication: January 27th 2017
Cover Artist: Ruben G. Ramos
Genre: Fantasy/Urban Fantasy
BLURB
Detective Cameron Knight does not believe in magic. It's kind of hard to when you're a single(-ish) mother in a high stress job that pulls you from bed at all hours of the night. One of these nights, though, Cameron encounters a magician. Not one of those guys who pulls rabbits out of hats, but a real, true magician. Of course she doesn't believe it. Until Mathias reveals to her a world that is full of magic, Knights, kings, and more.
Following the writings of one of the most powerful magicians to have ever lived, Mathias escaped to Earth, running from Knight Captain Emil Rouland. Emil has been tasked with bringing Mathias before the King of Draeca to face the King's justice.
But Marek, a magician and enemy of Mathias, has other ideas. He sees this as his big break to finally exact his revenge on Mathias and become the hero he's always wanted to be. Little do they all know, however, the cost of traveling between Earth and Draeca has a terrible cost.
The fate of both worlds will hang in the balance as Vee, a being of immense power and evil, plots to conquer one, or both, of the worlds.
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"We found someone - a man. He's... not quite right, and he's got this weird costume on. Said he knew about the explosion. Thought you'd want to try talking to him." The kid said. Cameron exchanged a look with Kim and pulled the cigarette from her mouth, sighing. It would have to wait.
"Alright, where is he?" Kim said.
"Over talking to the paramedics, they're saying it's dementia, uh, maybe caused by shock or something. I'm not a doctor."
"That's what we pay them the big bucks for. Good work, uh..." Cameron inspected the officer's name badge, "Officer Winsley. Off you go." Cameron nodded to him and patted him on the shoulder as she blew past him, heading for the ambulance. The 'costume' Winsley had reported was actually a set of long, flowing green and gold robes that draped off the man. A heavy cloak was set about the man's shoulders, and he spoke calmly to one of the paramedics as they asked him questions.
"My eyesight is perfectly fine, madam. This is the third time you've put that lightstick into my face - I kindly request that you cease immediately." The man said, and the paramedic looked to the detectives with a shrug.
"He checks out. No signs of drug use that I can see, physically healthy, just..." The paramedic made a spinning motion with her hand, one finger pointing at her head. "He's all yours." She said.
The man stood as the detectives approached, his head bowing to them so deeply it bent his shoulders and torso towards them. "I know not who you are, but please allow me to thank you for getting that... vulture, away from me. Poking and prodding with her..." he waved a hand, "instruments." The man was strikingly handsome, and Cameron couldn't help but notice how focused and intense his blue eyes were as he regarding them. His black hair was slicked back with some sort of gel, and it was cut close to his head - just long enough to be styled and flare out slightly behind his ears and along the back of his neck.
"That's her job." Kim said as Cameron took the time to light her cigarette, puffing on it as Kim continued, "She's a paramedic. She wanted to make sure you were okay."
"Ah, a healer! I beg pardon, I did not understand her ways, and this word... 'paramedic'. It is foreign to me," he said, a look of worry crossing his face. "Please, assure her I am quite alright. Perfect in all of my faculties," he paused as Kim and Cameron shared another look, "Well, except, I cannot seem to find my staff, but it will turn up sooner or later I suppose."
"Alright, cut it out. Enough of the jokes," Cameron said, and the man frowned at her in confusion, "How about we start from the beginning. Who are you, what are you doing here, and what do you know about the explosion?"
The man's face brightened some, and he swept into a low bow, leg forward and one hand on his chest as the other swept out to one side. "I am Mathias, Lord of the House of Relain, personal magician to His Majesty King Lerrad Olmsith of the Kingdom of Draeca, and..." Mathias frowned, "Well, that is who I used to be. I am now an outlaw by decree of King Lerrad, but I suppose that is not what you are inquiring about. I brought myself here as I was fleeing from his soldiers - you understand I am sure, it is difficult to corner a magician," he finished with a wink at Kim.
Cameron put a hand on Kim's arm as she took a long drag from her cigarette, stopping Kim from decking the wacko. "Alright, let me get this straight. You're, what, some sort of wizard? And you want us to believe that you brought yourself here, using..."
"Magic, yes, of course. The signs are evident," Mathias said, nodding towards the warehouse. "My apologies about the, ah, building there. An unintended side effect of my hastily constructed spell. I believe in my haste I may have made a mistake in the incantation. It would also explain the disappearance of my staff..." He said, his tone turning thoughtful as he spoke.
"Can you give us a moment?" Cameron asked.
"But of course," Mathias said, bowing his head towards them again.
The detectives stepped away from the man and Cameron dropped her cigarette, smashing it into the pavement with her shoe. "Okay. What the hell." She said.
"He's clearly lost his mind. The explosion knocked him into something and he snapped," Kim said.
"He didn't have a mark on him, Kim. No dust, no ash, nothing," Cameron pointed out.
"Well, okay, but - wait, you're not saying you actually believe him?"
"No, of course not! Magic and spells and kings... Ridiculous, of course. Okay, how about this: He sets a bomb, gets clear, and then the shock of what he's done makes him conjure some crazy fantasy."
"What, like repression or something?" Kim said, glancing back at Mathias - if that was even his name. He was standing patiently, watching them with his hyper-focused eyes and his hands clasped behind his back.
"Yeah. Maybe it started before he even knew what he was doing. Got caught up in his fantasy and doesn't really know what's going on."
"Okay. Works for me. How do we handle him?"
"Play along, for now." Cameron said, frowning towards Mathias. He returned her frown with a wide, toothless grin. She looked back at Kim and sighed, pulling another cigarette from her pocket. "It's gonna be a long night."
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Author Info
T. Nathan Mosley was born and raised in Woodstock, Georgia. He is an avid fantasy and science fiction fan and gamer. He lives in Roanoke, Virginia with his two cats and dog that he tries constantly to avoid spoiling too much. His primary genres include general fantasy and urban fantasy, though he has played with the idea of science fiction on occasion. He is currently studying to become a professor of mathematics.
MY INTERVIEW WITH T. NATHAN MOSLEY
How would you describe your style of writing to someone that has never read your work?
Let’s start with the most difficult question, shall we? I believe strongly in telling the reader only what she needs to know. You don’t necessarily need to know every single piece of furniture in a room, what colors the walls are, or how something smells. If it’s relevant, I try to include it. If it isn’t, it’s left out.
As for characters, I believe everyone has a story to tell. You could probably pick any person in my books and write an entire story about them. Characters are the glue that hold a book together. You can have the best setting and the best plot, but if your characters aren’t relatable or interesting, everything falls apart.
I like stories that have a clear winner and loser, even if the winner is a bad guy. Shades of gray or give and take stories don’t really appeal to me. I try to make sure that no matter what, my stories have someone you can root for.
What are some of your writing/publishing goals for this year?
My primary goal this year is to finish the second book of The Knight Case, Knight Captain. I don’t expect to be able to publish it until early next year, but if I can finish it this year, that will be a job well done for me. I have a couple other projects I’m working on as well, but I’ll talk more about those in a bit.
Do you feel that writing is an ingrained process or just something that flows naturally for you?
Writing for me is a bit of both. I can’t write every day, I burn out if I write day after day for too long. I do, however, schedule time for writing every week. If I don’t write, I force myself to catch up the next week. Sometimes that results in writing sessions that are six or more hours long, but it’s the standard I hold myself to.
Do you have a character that you have been working on for a long time that still isn't quite ready, but fills you with excitement to work on the story?
I have two, currently. Hannah, and Nikolaos. Hannah’s story is going to be a science-fiction action novel, while Nikolaos hails from a fantasy world of my own design, not unlike Draeca in Lady Knight. Both characters are just ideas right now, but their stories are the kind of thing that came to me fully formed and the idea of writing them out is something I look forward to.
If you could spend one-week with 5 fictional characters, who would they be?
Being well read is almost a requirement for any writer, so I had a tough time narrowing this down. But, in no particular order…
Rezkin, from Kel Kade’s King’s Dark Tidings series. These books are a bit of a guilty pleasure for me, but his views of the world make him rather unique in terms of his setting.
Pattern, from Brandon Sanderson’s Stormlight Archive series. Pattern is everything you’d want in a companion – insightful, entertaining, and sometimes a bit frightening. His outlook is so radically different from typical human thought that I’d have a good time talking to him.
Quaeryt, from L. E. Modesitt Jr.’s Imager Portfolio. I have a feeling he would spend more than a quint asking me questions.
Jonah, from Kurt Vonnegut’s Cat’s Cradle, if only so that I could get a copy of the Books of Bokonon.
Captain Jim Holden, from James S. A. Corey’s The Expanse series. Recently, I’ve felt like he just needs a hug and a vacation.
Where would you spend one full year, if you could go ANYWhere? What would you do with this time?
I would love to return to Australia. It’s a beautiful country, and the people are absolutely awesome. The two weeks I spent there several years ago simply weren’t enough.
Can you share your next creative project(s)? If yes, can you give a few details?
After Knight Captain, I intend to start working on what I’ve tentatively dubbed Prophecy Twelve. I expect that book to take several years to finish, being an epic fantasy novel, but I want to start on the outline and characters for it. Prophecy Twelve is the book that Nikolaos comes from.
Alongside that, I’ll probably start working on Hannah’s book and the third book of The Knight Case. Knight Captain, the second Knight Case book, will be focusing entirely on Emil and Draeca, while Detective Knight, the third book, will return to Cameron and Earth and focus entirely on her.
I have the fourth and fifth/final books of The Knight Case planned, but don’t have any details to share yet.
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