You’ve reached the internet home of D.W. Goates, author of the award-winning 2019 Gothic novel A Witch’s Burden.
I am excited to announce the release of my third novel, Meet Maybeth: A Confederate Girl, available from Amazon et al! This new foray, though a return to my roots in historical fiction, nevertheless represents a third genre for me. Technically a middle-grade children’s book, it was written for broad appeal. Click HERE for all the particulars concerning its release, but first, feast your eyes on its fancy cover and synopsis!
Reviews have been positive! Click HERE to see what Readers’ Favorite reviewers had to say about my new book!
The war is over. Dixie’s “deconstruction” has begun. And way down South, a girl is coming of age. . .
Eunice Mary Elisabeth—“Maybeth”—Stancil, a ten-year-old child of a planter, might’ve become more girly if it hadn’t been for the late conflict. Confined thusly to her family’s rural plantation, she’d had to make do without her previous comforts. With no new toys, clothes, or books and very little travel, she long ago began to seek most of her fun out of doors.
Maybeth’s days are filled with fishing, swimming, and playing in the woods with her gang, until her best friend’s family loses their home to a carpetbagger. To make matters worse, this crooked Yankee has moved in his entire family, including his sickly young daughter.
Will Maybeth be able to help her best friend and deal with those Yankees in a world where all the adults seem to stay at loggerheads?
Meet Maybeth: A Confederate Girl is a historical middle-grade novella written in the style of a popular American franchise. Its intent is neither to mock nor infringe upon that series but to simply offer a different perspective on another kind of girl who makes up the living, breathing tapestry of the Americas.
Intended for skilled readers, ages 10 and up.
Contains some certain language, as well as historical themes.
My second book, A Southern Fried Fantasy Adventure Story, remains available for sale worldwide as a trade paperback and eBook. You can even check it out physically for free from thirty-nine separate libraries in seven states! This light, wholesome fantasy romp is the only one of my current projects open to a sequel. Don’t get me wrong–like everything I’ve written, it is self-contained, but this one just might get a follow-up someday. The first few chapters of the story can be previewed HERE at Amazon, and reviews are available HERE at Readers’ Favorite.
Escapist Fun for Everyone!
In an empire that never was, in a land strangely familiar, a young bounty hunting swordsman meets a curious elf maid. She’s on a pilgrimage, while he only seeks adventure, yet they team up when they happen to discover the seeds of a sinister plot. An evil prince whose house has seethed for centuries against the crown has finally decided to disturb the peace.
Noble Galan, the tall handsome swordsman, and Ivy, a slip of an elf, will rise to the occasion. But will they be enough against the prince’s many allies? Thick as thieves, his sorcerers, spies, and fixers abound. Yet the empress has supporters of her own, among them a man of certain skills named Birk. Hey! Wasn’t that rogue working for the prince? And Eloise—you’ve heard of her, haven’t you? She’s only the second most powerful woman in the entire land—an action duchess who’ll never take “no” for an answer.
Add to the mix a fuzzy little vixen, and the recipe is complete—for an adventure so great and a bite so big, that even mighty Galan might not be able to chew it!
A Southern Fried Fantasy Adventure Story is a low fantasy, light novel-style book in a larger “heavy novel” package. Inspired by old pulp fantasies such as those published during the 1980s, as well as older anime adventures like Hajime Kanzaka’s Slayers, the work is supposed to be just as unserious as it isn’t. Intended as pure escapist fun, the story’s focus is always on the characters—the strong plot often necessarily overshadowed by all their little adventures along the way.
A Witch’s Burden, silver medalist for first novel in the 2020 Next Generation Indie Book Awards, remains available for sale in both hardcover and eBook formats. Click HERE to read a (5 star!) independent review, and HERE to read a preview for free!
It is also available to check out from scores of libraries, even internationally, in the United States, Germany, New Zealand and the UK. If it’s not in yours yet, be sure to ask. And don’t forget about inter-library loan!
Click HERE for special coupon codes for A Witch’s Burden only.
The summer of 1830 draws to a close in a world no less modern than today’s is less ancient.
Fräulein Elke Schreiber has languished since university as a mere teaching assistant in spite of her modern education and impeccable qualifications. Desperate for a classroom of her own, she secures a job offer by correspondence, spending almost all of her meager savings to fund a fortnight of travel south from her native Bremen to the insular village of Waldheim in the Kingdom of Bavaria. Once there, however, she discovers that the true horrors of her life have only just begun. Danger lurks, and that her unambiguously written job offer was instantly reneged upon becomes the least of her worries when a new friend disappears under mysterious circumstances.
Stuck among the small-minded and superstitious villagers until she can earn enough money to leave, Elke isn’t fool enough to believe their rumors about the reclusive Margrave living in the castle above the valley–everyone says he’s a witch–but neither does she have any desire to meet him.
Yet she does.
A Witch’s Burden is a tale of unbridled romanticism told in classic Gothic style. Blurring the lines of genre, the story is foremost a literary work–its historical setting being secondary to its central timeless theme.
