I just received an e-mail from Absolute XPress, the publishing house putting out my book. They told me my first novel, Pandora’s Box, is slated to be released October 31!
That’s right–I’ll be published on Halloween. Maybe I should have a book signing while wearing a costume. That’d be hilarious. At least I won’t forget the day I published my first book.
The issues I was having with the site have been corrected, and I have Wes Dekoninick to thank for it. If you ever need a website built or a guy who knows WordPress inside and out, give this guy a hollar. Tell him Nathan Marchand sent you!
You can check out his online portfolio here: http://www.gradientgraphics.net/.
So now you can enjoy the promised short story I wanted to post last week. It’s called “Baptized in Fire.” I wrote when I took the fiction writing class my junior year at Taylor University Fort Wayne. It was written for Writers’ Digest‘s monthly short story contest (sadly, I didn’t enter it). It was one of two stories I wrote to experiment with different elements of a science fiction universe I was conceiving at the time. Someday I hope to revisit it and make a series of books out of it.
For now, enjoy the story!
I have someone working to fix the problem I’m having with splitting posts on this site. He has to run tests with a smaple post, so if you see a random book review appear and disappear, don’t be alarmed (or as they used to say in The Outer Limits, “Do not adjust your dial.”
Once that is taken care of, I should be posting a short story by this weekend.
Due to WordPress being a bit obnoxious, I have decided to hold off on posting a new short story for the time being. But fret not, readers! I will not leave you without new material. Below this entry you will see a new poem by yours truly: “A Man Out of Time.” I hope you enjoy it! (And please be patient on the short story).
A Man Out of Time
By Nathan Marchand
I was born too late
I should’ve been born a millennia ago
During the days of knights
When a man distinguished himself serving God, king, and country
And won fair maiden’s heart with his chivalry
Because men living by honor were envied by all
I should’ve been born five centuries ago
During the days of Reformation
When men risked even death for the Truth
A Truth worth all the beatings, hangings, and burnings
A Truth that offered True Life to all
I should’ve been born two-and-a-half centuries ago
During the days of Revolution
When colonists banded together and forged a nation
When patriotism was a virtue
And examples of heroes left for generations to come
I should’ve been born seven decades ago
During the days of heroes beating back the darkness
When warriors died for the Dream or returned as heroes
When men were praised for sacrificial service
And defended the right of others to criticize their work
Mine is a time of cynics
When pessimism is the path to “enlightenment,”
Good men are sought for destruction, their virtue assassinated,
Heroes are shunned, their callings spat on,
And hopeless hearts are exploited
I am a man out of time,
A romantic among cynics,
A warrior among cowards,
A light in darkness,
Carrying the ideals of times past
Only to meet with Rejection
And give my heart this era’s bitter waters
Yet will I fight for freedom, Life, and ideals,
For God, king, and country
Never retreating, never surrendering until victory is won
Like the men who went ahead of me
Before my delayed birth.
I am a man out of time born at the right time
The promised short story I was going to post has been delayed. Why, you ask? Technical difficulties. I wanted to be able to split posts into multiple pages for easier reading, but after inserting the proper codex, it merely cut off my entry after what was supposed to be page one. After doing some research, I discovered that my WordPress theme doesn’t support pagination. I tried to add a code that would make it possible, but it still doesn’t work.
So as they used to say on TV, “Please stand by.”
Here are the rules: 1) Check out the site to see what it is like. 2) Submit a one-line tagline on this status. 3) Submissions must be made between now and Sunday night at midnight. 4) Only one entry per person. 5) I will read them all and select a winner Monday.
The winner will have his tagline used on my website and receive a free autographed copy of my first novel, Pandora’s Box, when it is published in the next few months. (Send me your mailing address in case I don’t know you).
Have fun!
EDIT: THE CONTEST HAS BEEN EXTENDED UNTIL FRIDAY, JULY 16, AT MIDNIGHT!
I will be posting a new short story on the website in the next day or two. I just need my friend Nick Hayden to look it over first. Be sure to check back!
Greetings, readers, and welcome to The Worlds of Nathan Marchand! Don’t know who I am? Read my biography.
After a week of construction, my site is worthy of unveiling. Below this entry you will find three of my poems. If you’d like to read some of my short stories, click here. I don’t have many works posted right now, so please be patient.
I hope to have a synopsis of my upcoming novel, Pandora’s Box, posted soon, as well as its first chapter. Once I coordinate things with the publisher, that all should fall into place.
I will also use this site to announce any appearances I plan to make, book signings I hold, writers’ conferences I attend, and/or other news. So, be sure to check back often to see what’s up and what’s going down!
I intend to keep working on the site, so I would love to hear what you think of it. Any suggestions on how to improve the site would be much appreciated.
For now, enjoy my site! Feel free to explore.
Valor’s Heart
by Nathan Marchand
Endure! Endure!
Though burning arrows pierce my chest,
Poisoned swords cut my side,
And traitors’ knives stab my back.
Yet will my Valor’s Heart,
a gift of my King,
Fight on.
Hold the line! Hold the line!
Let not the Enemy advance
To steal, kill, and destroy!
I hold back the black torrent
As red rain pelts my face.
He shall not pass so long
As my Valor’s Heart beats.
I fall! I fall!
To my knees, sword in hand,
Stained with my crimson life-blood
Mingled with my Foe’s black blood.
My strength is spent, my time has come
To exit this stormy stage.
The Enemy laughs as his
black sword plunges into my chest
But though he slays me
My Valor’s Heart still boom-boom-booms
Like a war drum drowning the battle’s thunder,
Summoning my King’s warriors to the line,
the Enemy of my Soul shuttering at their battlecry.
Rest now, rest.
I return to my King
But Death has lost his victory,
His sting is dull.
And my Valor’s Heart,
a gift of my King,
Still rallies His warriors
’round its thunder.