He wasn’t supposed to survive. But he did. Now the Dark Ones are after him.

As I Wake (and See the World) is the prequel to The Beholder, a fast-paced action-packed fantasy series that introduces the readers to a world of the Sighted, a select group of people who have paranormal powers, abilities, and gifts.

If you love The Beholder, this is a stunning companion to it! If you haven't read The Beholder yet, then this is a great place to start!

This is a description for As I Wake (and See the World) by Ivan Amberleke The short can be found in Breakwater Harbor Books' newly released anthology, Gateways!

As I Wake (and See the World) is the prequel to The Beholder, a fast-paced action-packed fantasy series that introduces the readers to a world of the Sighted, a select group of people who have paranormal powers, abilities, and gifts.
For those who have already read the series, this story will lend more depth and detail, while for those who are new to my universe, it provides a glimpse into the conflict between the forces of light and dark.
This short story is different from the rest of the series as it is written in the 1st person, present tense. I hope that will make your read more enjoyable.
I’d like to say thanks to my friends (who are also terrific writers) Ted Cross, Yannis Karatsioris, Scott J. Toney, Paul Freeman, and Simon Paul Wilson for their invaluable edit advice and unwavering support.
 
 
An excerpt... For more download 'Gateways' for FREE in eBook on Amazon today!

AS I WAKE (AND SEE THE WORLD)
by Ivan Amberlake
 
Angry clouds scowl at me. They’re the first thing I see when I open my eyes.
Clouds above me.
A hard surface below me.
A road?
I can’t hear any cars. Just the wind.
I stare at the clouds. They’re strange. They don’t move, even though the wind shoots past me.
The back of my head throbs, my skull about to split in two. It hurts so much I close my eyes, listening to the wind. My left ear is clogged like someone has pushed cotton wool inside. My forehead hurts and I swear there’s something sticky smeared over it.
Blood? Dirt?
I’m not sure. My arms won’t move so I can’t check it.
Where am I?
The monochrome sky frowns at me, as if accusing me of something I did but can’t recall. As I try to think of how I ended up like this, lying in the middle of nowhere, my brain refuses to function. I force my eyes left and right, up and down, but all I can see is the clouds, hovering, unmoving, threatening to pour with rain.
They are unlikely to tell me a thing.
There must be something for me to remember. My name? Or where I live.
No. No idea.
As my senses kick in, I smell something burning. Heat washes over me and I push myself away.

Featuring gripping Independent authors from around the world, GATEWAYS is the second collection of short works published by Breakwater Harbor Books. Compiling heart-pumping tales of Science Fiction, Fantasy, Horror and Crime are nine stories that will thrill you, rivet you, and some will even make you sleep with the light on.

As I Wake (and See the World) – He wasn’t supposed to survive. But he did. Now the Dark Ones are after him.
IVAN AMBERLAKE

Arrival - Zoya's mind is hijacked and her clone wakes to find she has no choice but to be a colonist on a new planet.
TED CROSS

Living in the Pages - Hendrix Massey wished for a dream on a desperate day as he sat in a deli on Harris Street. What he got was magic.
MINDY HAIG

The Fall of Eon - Three mortals versus one planet-devouring horde. Existence is on the line. Just another day in the life…
SCOTT J. TONEY

Lethal Black Book - Ever heard the phrase ‘two whores is too many’? Love isn’t cheap and business is deadly.
MELISSA SIMONSON

Blind Alley - In a high-tech future, low-tech ex-operative Burgundy sets out with Big Boy, his .500 Magnum Smith and Wesson, and Leyla, his capable techie partner to settle a score and clear his name.
DYANE FORDE

Pivot of Fate - Ama’na was a grand dream of Kin and Celt seeking peace from ancient prejudices until a fell moon and desire tore it asunder.
LELA MARKHAM

Foresight - Falath believes he has free will. Tamilin knows differently.
DEE HARRISON

Incident in Class 4666 - A normal Monday at school for Emi Matsumoto and her classmates: History, Math, Art, and a prophecy of Hell on Earth.
SIMON PAUL WILSON

Gateways is a step into the novel realms of Breakwater Harbor authors. Each work is a standalone, giving a gateway into the larger work it was inspired by.

Every good book needs a dedication. For me as an author it's one of my favorite parts of writing. After all the long hours writing, editing and formatting there's one last thing to do and that's writing the dedication. For the Nova Trilogy I decided a good while back that each book will be dedicated to authors who have greatly supported me in my writing and who have helped me progress in my work. I dedicated book 1, NovaForge, to Ivan Amberlake, who has become so essential in my editing process and who, more important than that, is such a fantastic friend. Book 2, NovaSiege, is dedicated to... drumroll please... author Cara Goldthorpe. We met years ago on the author website Authonomy, quickly realizing that the realms of our fantasy books had similar names and that we both greatly enjoyed each other's works. Cara co-founds Breakwater Harbor Books with me and I cannot think of a better author to dedicate NovaSiege to. I hope she and all my readers enjoy the book! The dedication to her and a link to the book on Amazon is below! Have a vivid and wonderful day!

---------------------------------
This book is dedicated to Cara Goldthorpe, a fellow author who stood behind my work from early on and who has read, helped in editing and highly supported my books as they publish. She helped provide the confidence to delve into the published world and is a co-founder of Breakwater Harbor Books by my side. Goldthorpe is a brilliant author and I greatly look forward to her first published release!

From Meridia and Meridisia to the beyond!
---------------------------------

"NovaSiege is book 2 in the Nova trilogy, and I must say I’ve been really enjoying this trilogy so far and can’t wait to read the next book in the series. It is set in the distant future on a planet where people’s minds are manipulated by the essences. The world-building is just amazing. As I’ve already mentioned in my review of NovaForge (book 1), the author has a gift for inventing new worlds teeming with monsters, which makes his series stand out.

"I loved spending more time with the main characters. With each page we get to know them better, and we can understand what makes them fight. It’s Faith and Hope. They play a crucial role in all of Scott Toney’s novels, including NovaSiege.
NovaSiege is a well thought-out novel which you’ll never want to put down until the final page. I certainly look forward to reading Book 3 of the series."

'Fusion: A collection of short stories from Breakwater Harbor Books' authors' is the WINNER of the Best Anthology category for the '2014 eFestival of Words Best of the Independent eBook Awards!'
 
This festival was put together by Bards and Sages Publishing, a Publisher of Speculative Fiction and Roleplaying Games since 2002, and nominations were voted on by the general public. The winners were announced during the actual festival which included virtual panel discussions, live author Q & As, seminars and workshops.

BHB's authors are honored to have won top honor in the Anthology category and are also honored to be considered beside the other high quality Anthologies involved! BHB author Claire C Riley is also the runner up for her Vampire novel, Limerence, in the Best Novel category! Check out Fusion below and go to Amazon to get your free copy today! Below is also the link to the eFestival website!

http://www.efestivalofwords.com/2014-efestival-of-words-winners-t568.html

Featuring gripping Independent authors from around the world, FUSION is the first collection of short works published by Breakwater Harbor Books. Contributing heart-pumping tales of Science Fiction, Fantasy, Horror and Crime are seven stories that will thrill you, rivet you and some will even make you sleep with the light on. Authors from across a wide variety of genres, Dee Harrison, Ivan Amberlake, Claire C. Riley, Scott J. Toney, Mindy Haig, Cara Goldthorpe and C.M.T. Stibbe.


The Sliver of Abilon – A Mirrorsmith Tale – 'and you thought it was safe to look in the mirror?'

Diary of the Gone - Without a girlfriend, bullied by the Principal’s son, and haunted by the dead, Callum Blackwell thinks his life can’t get any worse. But he’s wrong.

Life Ever After. Nina's Story: Part one. – When the dead begin to rise, it's time to put your differences aside and run!

NovaFall – When the Meteor falls, the essences will come, forging flesh and planetary souls as one.

Cybilla. – To claim his Muse, one man must find the gate between the mortal and the immortal worlds.

Capturing Perfection – An artist's tale of love, loss and beauty in Renaissance Milan

Until The Ninth Hour – Until a man loses his daughter to a serial killer, until he loses his best friend, until he is down on his luck, Darryl Williams must put all thoughts of retaliation out of his mind.

An excerpt from Dee Harrison’s The Sliver of Abilon – A Mirrorsmith Tale

Junah Venmark, Master Mirrorsmith, exited the wayportal directly into the seaweed stench of Abilon. The foul odour tickled the back of his throat and he gagged on a rise of bile. Mirrorsmith Guild protocol demanded that he preview his destination before he arrived but it could not prepare him for an assault on his other senses. He vomited onto the trackway, just thankful that there was no-one to witness his most pitiful entrance ever. He loathed the smell of mouldy greens – it stirred up too many reminders of his wretched childhood in the back alleys of Varna, largest city on his homeworld of Vargo – but this was kabbige soup intensified tenfold.

When his heaving subsided, Junah sank down onto his rump, trying to ignore the early evening dew which was soaking into his leggings. He pulled a kerchief from his belt-purse, to wipe the spittle from his lips, and cursed this ill-favoured world. Sissik, his wail, chittered and scurried around him like a silver-furred cyclone, mewing her distress. Junah winced when she skipped onto his tender stomach, the better to peer into his face with her large, prosimian eyes. He ran a finger down her spine and she slowly relaxed beneath his touch.

Junah ill? She sent.

No, I’m fine, Little One he reassured her. He grimaced. The smell caught me out, that’s all.

Sissik wrinkled her own nose. Nasty, nasty stink, she concurred.

Junah delved into his purse a further time and extracted a couple of lozenges from a packet. A few chews later and he could smell nothing.

“Next time I’ll take ‘em before I get here,” he promised out loud. “Not that there’ll be a next time!”

Junah clambered to his feet and peeled the sodden fabric from his buttocks. Sissik took her accustomed place on his shoulders, hiding beneath his long, dark hair and curled around his neck like a fur collar. Wails were native to all the worlds of the Regium, even the undeveloped ones like Abilon. Some wails, the silver-furred ones like Sissik, were prized for their ability to generate the acoustic frequencies that Mirrorsmiths depended upon. Others, the plumper, browner ones, made good eating. Whenever Sissik irritated him, which was often, Junah threatened to dye her coat russet. Now, however, she was quiescent, understanding that it was time for work.

The wayportal, part of the network of gates that connected all the worlds of the Regium, had opened between a pair of standing stones that dominated the headland to the north of Abilon.

For your FREE copy please visit one of the links below!

'Fusion: A collection of short stories from Breakwater Harbor Books' authors' is a finalist in the Best Anthology category for the '2014 eFestival of Words Best of the Independent eBook Awards!'
 
This festival is put together by Bards and Sages Publishing, a Publisher of Speculative Fiction and Roleplaying Games since 2002, and nominations are currently being voted on by the general public. That means its time for YOU (Stop looking at other people around you), yes you to go and vote Fusion to the top of the pile! In August the winners will be announced during the actual festival which will include virtual panel discussions, live author Q & As, seminars and workshops.

BHB's authors are excited and honored to be finalists! In addition Claire C Riley is a finalist in the Best Novel category for Limerence and Ivan Amberlake is a finalist in the best Contemporary Fantasy/Urban Fantasy category! Check out Fusion below and go to Amazon to get your free copy today! Below is also the link to the eFestival website!

http://www.efestivalofwords.com/2014-finalists-for-best-of-the-independent-ebook-awards-t513.html

Featuring gripping Independent authors from around the world, FUSION is the first collection of short works published by Breakwater Harbor Books. Contributing heart-pumping tales of Science Fiction, Fantasy, Horror and Crime are seven stories that will thrill you, rivet you and some will even make you sleep with the light on. Authors from across a wide variety of genres, Dee Harrison, Ivan Amberlake, Claire C. Riley, Scott J. Toney, Mindy Haig, Cara Goldthorpe and C.M.T. Stibbe.


The Sliver of Abilon – A Mirrorsmith Tale – 'and you thought it was safe to look in the mirror?'

Diary of the Gone - Without a girlfriend, bullied by the Principal’s son, and haunted by the dead, Callum Blackwell thinks his life can’t get any worse. But he’s wrong.

Life Ever After. Nina's Story: Part one. – When the dead begin to rise, it's time to put your differences aside and run!

NovaFall – When the Meteor falls, the essences will come, forging flesh and planetary souls as one.

Cybilla. – To claim his Muse, one man must find the gate between the mortal and the immortal worlds.

Capturing Perfection – An artist's tale of love, loss and beauty in Renaissance Milan

Until The Ninth Hour – Until a man loses his daughter to a serial killer, until he loses his best friend, until he is down on his luck, Darryl Williams must put all thoughts of retaliation out of his mind.

An excerpt from Dee Harrison’s The Sliver of Abilon – A Mirrorsmith Tale

Junah Venmark, Master Mirrorsmith, exited the wayportal directly into the seaweed stench of Abilon. The foul odour tickled the back of his throat and he gagged on a rise of bile. Mirrorsmith Guild protocol demanded that he preview his destination before he arrived but it could not prepare him for an assault on his other senses. He vomited onto the trackway, just thankful that there was no-one to witness his most pitiful entrance ever. He loathed the smell of mouldy greens – it stirred up too many reminders of his wretched childhood in the back alleys of Varna, largest city on his homeworld of Vargo – but this was kabbige soup intensified tenfold.

When his heaving subsided, Junah sank down onto his rump, trying to ignore the early evening dew which was soaking into his leggings. He pulled a kerchief from his belt-purse, to wipe the spittle from his lips, and cursed this ill-favoured world. Sissik, his wail, chittered and scurried around him like a silver-furred cyclone, mewing her distress. Junah winced when she skipped onto his tender stomach, the better to peer into his face with her large, prosimian eyes. He ran a finger down her spine and she slowly relaxed beneath his touch.

Junah ill? She sent.

No, I’m fine, Little One he reassured her. He grimaced. The smell caught me out, that’s all.

Sissik wrinkled her own nose. Nasty, nasty stink, she concurred.

Junah delved into his purse a further time and extracted a couple of lozenges from a packet. A few chews later and he could smell nothing.

“Next time I’ll take ‘em before I get here,” he promised out loud. “Not that there’ll be a next time!”

Junah clambered to his feet and peeled the sodden fabric from his buttocks. Sissik took her accustomed place on his shoulders, hiding beneath his long, dark hair and curled around his neck like a fur collar. Wails were native to all the worlds of the Regium, even the undeveloped ones like Abilon. Some wails, the silver-furred ones like Sissik, were prized for their ability to generate the acoustic frequencies that Mirrorsmiths depended upon. Others, the plumper, browner ones, made good eating. Whenever Sissik irritated him, which was often, Junah threatened to dye her coat russet. Now, however, she was quiescent, understanding that it was time for work.

The wayportal, part of the network of gates that connected all the worlds of the Regium, had opened between a pair of standing stones that dominated the headland to the north of Abilon.

For your FREE copy please visit one of the links below!

Fifteen-year-old Callum Blackwell thinks his life can't get any worse. But he's wrong.

Callum is haunted by the dead. The entries he makes in his diary keep them away.

When The Blackwells move to the gloomy town of Olden Cross, Callum enters unwittingly a plot decades deep. He's shadowed by the dead and bullied by the living.

When his friends begin to disappear and the grip of the perished ones tightens, Callum's only defense against them--the Diary of the Gone--goes missing.

Does he have the will to face the Gone?

'Fusion: A collection of short stories from Breakwater Harbor Books' authors' has been nominated in the Best Anthology category for the '2014 eFestival of Words Best of the Independent eBook Awards!'
 
This festival is put together by Bards and Sages Publishing, a Publisher of Speculative Fiction and Roleplaying Games since 2002, and nominations will be narrowed down to finalists and then voted on by the general public starting in July. In August the winners will be announced during the actual festival which will include virtual panel discussions, live author Q & As and even run a seminars and workshops.

BHB's authors are excited and honored to have the nomination. In addition Claire C Riley has been nominated in the Best Romance and Best Novel categories and Ivan Amberlake has been nominated in best Contemporary Fantasy/Urban Fantasy! Check out Fusion below and go to Amazon to get your free copy today! Below is also the link to the eFestival website!

http://www.efestivalofwords.com/post3276.html#p3276

Featuring gripping Independent authors from around the world, FUSION is the first collection of short works published by Breakwater Harbor Books. Contributing heart-pumping tales of Science Fiction, Fantasy, Horror and Crime are seven stories that will thrill you, rivet you and some will even make you sleep with the light on. Authors from across a wide variety of genres, Dee Harrison, Ivan Amberlake, Claire C. Riley, Scott J. Toney, Mindy Haig, Cara Goldthorpe and C.M.T. Stibbe.


The Sliver of Abilon – A Mirrorsmith Tale – 'and you thought it was safe to look in the mirror?'

Diary of the Gone - Without a girlfriend, bullied by the Principal’s son, and haunted by the dead, Callum Blackwell thinks his life can’t get any worse. But he’s wrong.

Life Ever After. Nina's Story: Part one. – When the dead begin to rise, it's time to put your differences aside and run!

NovaFall – When the Meteor falls, the essences will come, forging flesh and planetary souls as one.

Cybilla. – To claim his Muse, one man must find the gate between the mortal and the immortal worlds.

Capturing Perfection – An artist's tale of love, loss and beauty in Renaissance Milan

Until The Ninth Hour – Until a man loses his daughter to a serial killer, until he loses his best friend, until he is down on his luck, Darryl Williams must put all thoughts of retaliation out of his mind.

An excerpt from Dee Harrison’s The Sliver of Abilon – A Mirrorsmith Tale

Junah Venmark, Master Mirrorsmith, exited the wayportal directly into the seaweed stench of Abilon. The foul odour tickled the back of his throat and he gagged on a rise of bile. Mirrorsmith Guild protocol demanded that he preview his destination before he arrived but it could not prepare him for an assault on his other senses. He vomited onto the trackway, just thankful that there was no-one to witness his most pitiful entrance ever. He loathed the smell of mouldy greens – it stirred up too many reminders of his wretched childhood in the back alleys of Varna, largest city on his homeworld of Vargo – but this was kabbige soup intensified tenfold.

When his heaving subsided, Junah sank down onto his rump, trying to ignore the early evening dew which was soaking into his leggings. He pulled a kerchief from his belt-purse, to wipe the spittle from his lips, and cursed this ill-favoured world. Sissik, his wail, chittered and scurried around him like a silver-furred cyclone, mewing her distress. Junah winced when she skipped onto his tender stomach, the better to peer into his face with her large, prosimian eyes. He ran a finger down her spine and she slowly relaxed beneath his touch.

Junah ill? She sent.

No, I’m fine, Little One he reassured her. He grimaced. The smell caught me out, that’s all.

Sissik wrinkled her own nose. Nasty, nasty stink, she concurred.

Junah delved into his purse a further time and extracted a couple of lozenges from a packet. A few chews later and he could smell nothing.

“Next time I’ll take ‘em before I get here,” he promised out loud. “Not that there’ll be a next time!”

Junah clambered to his feet and peeled the sodden fabric from his buttocks. Sissik took her accustomed place on his shoulders, hiding beneath his long, dark hair and curled around his neck like a fur collar. Wails were native to all the worlds of the Regium, even the undeveloped ones like Abilon. Some wails, the silver-furred ones like Sissik, were prized for their ability to generate the acoustic frequencies that Mirrorsmiths depended upon. Others, the plumper, browner ones, made good eating. Whenever Sissik irritated him, which was often, Junah threatened to dye her coat russet. Now, however, she was quiescent, understanding that it was time for work.

The wayportal, part of the network of gates that connected all the worlds of the Regium, had opened between a pair of standing stones that dominated the headland to the north of Abilon.

For your FREE copy please visit one of the links below!