I am so excited to be a part of this anthology!
It was Kickstarted and did very well. As it blew by stretch goals, it opened up to new submissions. I was lucky/good enough to have my story The Assassination of Poppy Smithswife chosen to be one of the stories to be included in a “companion volume” of additional stories.
Since it is in the companion volume that was for the Kickstarter, the only place it is available now is in the e-version only of Blackguards: Tales of Assassins, Mercenaries, and Rogues. But goodness, what an e-version it is!
I have shamelessly stolen Anton Strout‘s post from Face Book and reproduced it here. (I hope you don’t mind, Anton!)
He said:
BLACKGUARDS from Ragnarok Publications has arrived! More awesome authors than you can stick a shiv in!
BLACKGUARDS plus the BLACKGUARDS BLACKLIST is a collection of 38 spectacular, grimdark, heavy-hitting, epic fantasy tales, most of them set within the proprietary worlds of the authors herein. This is THE massive fantasy collection for the assassin / mercenary / rogue / thief enthusiast.
Awesomeness abounds within, including a short story set in Anton Strout’s Simonverse. Learn about the early nefarious days of Simon Canderous before he joined the Department of Extraordinary Affairs when art thievery ruled his days.
As for the rest of the collection, check out this amazeball list of authors that you’ll be getting:
Featuring a Forward by Glen Cook (Black Company) and assorted tales of wicked ways by:
Carol Berg, “Seeds”
Richard Lee Byers, “Troll Trouble”
David Dalglish, “Take You Home”
James Enge, “Thieves at the Gate”
John Gwynne, “Better to Live than to Die”
Lian Hearn, “His Kikuta Hands”
Snorri Kristjansson, “A Kingdom and a Horse”
Joseph Lallo, “Seeking the Shadow”
Mark Lawrence, “The Secret”
Tim Marquitz, “A Taste of Agony”
Peter Orullian, “A Length of Cherrywood”
Cat Rambo, “The Subtler Art”
Laura Resnick, “Friendship”
Mark Smylie, “Manhunt”
Kenny Soward, “Jancy’s Justice”
Shawn Speakman, “The White Rose Thief”
Jon Sprunk, “Sun and Steel”
Anton Strout, “Scream”
Michael J. Sullivan, “Professional Integrity”
Django Wexler, “The First Kill”
Anthony Ryan, “The Lord Collector”
Paul S. Kemp, “A Better Man”
James A. Moore, “What Gods Demand”
Jean Rabe, “Mainon”
Bradley P. Beaulieu, “Irindai”
S.R. Cambridge, “The Magus and the Betyar”
Clay Sanger, “The Long Kiss”
This special eBook edition of BLACKGUARDS also includes the anthology companion entitled THE BLACKGUARDS BLACKLIST, thus you get an additional ELEVEN cutting-edge stories by:
Rob Hayes, “To the End”
Rebecca Lovatt, “To Steal the Moon”
Ed Erdelac, “The Muttwhelp”
Anthony Lowe, “The Lonesome Dark”
Linda Robertson, “Comeuppance”
Sam Knight, “The Assassination of Poppy Smithswife”
S.M. White, “Telhinsol’s Shadow”
Noah Heinrich, “The Laughing Wind”
Mike Theodorsson, “Bloody Gratitude”
Brenda Carr, “Gret”
Erik Scott de Bie, “Angel of Tears”