The Road to Bedlam

Today is the release day for The Road to Bedlam in the United States and Canada and we’re celebrating here at Shevdon Manor by giving away copies of both books: Sixty-One Nails and The Road to Bedlam as a pair, in the US edition, signed and dated 26th October 2010, to be posted anywhere in the world, free of charge.

In order to win, you will need to put your thinking caps on.  In the books, fey power is an expression of five elements.  These are Fire, Earth, Air and Water and the Void, as in the early classical elements of Buddhist, Hindu and Greek philosophy.  These are not literal elements, but a way of understanding how fey power manifests, which is through combinations of these elemental aspects.  The void does not combine with other elements but underpins all, so it stands alone.

There are situations where fey power is used in Sixty-One Nails, but in case you haven’t read it yet (why not?) an example would be; Blackbird is a creature of Fire and Air and she can create a swarm of hornets by breathing into her cupped hands, releasing stinging mayhem upon an attacker.  The troll, Gramawl, is a creature of Earth and Water, and can move silently, no matter what surface he walks upon.

In order to win the books, you must imagine that you are able to combine two elements from Fire, Air, Earth and Water to express a magical fey power.  Email me to explain what the power is, how it works and, importantly, what limits it has. Note that the Void is excluded from the competition as it stands alone, and for reasons that may become clear in future books.

The most imaginative and interesting entry will win the signed copies and, potentially, may be included in book three as one of the powers of an escapee – the relevance of that word will become clear as you reach the end of The Road to Bedlam.

Send your entries by email to mike (at) shevdon (dot) com with a subject of BEDLAM COMPETITION ENTRY, including your name and contact details so that I can get in touch if you win.  You need to explain in the email which pair of elements create the ability, and what this achieves for the fey concerned.  Remember that this could end up in a book, so dream up something urban, magical and edgy – but not so powerful that it unbalances the rest of the story, otherwise I won’t be able to use it.

I may award secondary prizes for close runners-up and even post the best ones on the blog for all to see.  As usual in these matters, family members and those involved with producing or publishing the books are excluded from the competition.  The rules are as I make them, and I reserve the right to change them if I need to.

The best entries will win points, and you know what points mean….