You’ve reached the internet home of D.W. Goates, author of the award-winning 2019 Gothic novel A Witch’s Burden. My second book, A Southern Fried Fantasy Adventure Story, is now available worldwide as a trade paperback and eBook! Please give it a try! It’s nothing like my first book, nor will it be like my third already under way. This latest novel could perhaps be like my fourth, but that is entirely up to you. This is the only one of my projects actually open to a sequel. Don’t get me wrong–like everything I write, it is self-contained, but I do have some ideas should readers take a liking to my adventurers.
One year after its release, I am delighted to report that the trade paperback format of A Southern Fried Fantasy Adventure Story has been adopted by no less than thirty-nine separate libraries in seven states! And thanks to the Hoopla Network, digital versions of both my books can be checked out from countless more libraries by patrons equipped with eReaders. I invite you to read the first few chapters of the story HERE at Amazon, and check out the early reviews available at Readers’ Favorite HERE.
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.
