Yes, after much talk on Twitter and Facebook, the novella is finally here. The 56,000-word “Beneath the Surface” takes place between Books 5 and 6, and I hope it’ll tide you over until the last book is ready to go. For those who missed it, here’s a preview as well as an interview with Sgt Yara (the secondary point-of-view character in the story).
Blurb:
All Sergeant Evrial Yara wanted was to protect the young emperor from those plotting to kill him. Joining forces with a group of notorious outlaws wasn’t part of the plan, especially not when one of them is determined to charm her out of her uniform at every turn. Working with the criminals might have been worth it if their efforts had saved the emperor, but it seems he’s not the rightful heir to the throne…. Evrial may have thrown away her career for nothing.
To make matters worse, fate isn’t going to give her time to calmly decide what to do next. While she’s traveling back to the capital with Amaranthe Lokdon and the rest of the outlaws, Evrial uncovers artifacts that have been smuggled aboard their steamboat. They’re deadly enough to threaten the entire city, perhaps the entire empire. Oh, and they could kill everybody on board the boat too. These scenarios just weren’t discussed in the Enforcer Academy.
Grab a copy at Amazon, Kobo, Barnes & Noble, or Smashwords (iTunes link coming soon)!
Just out of curiosity, why are you choosing to call it a novella? The SFFWA says novella is from 17,500 to 40,000 words.
My guess: because her novels are more like 100k+ words.
Well, all I ever intended to write was a short little novella. 😀 And, yes, as Carradee pointed out, most of my novels are 110-130K words so this doesn’t seem like it should fall into the same category.
Already bought and read it. So fun! ^_^ Looking forward to Decrypted and EE6, which I also plan to buy and read on release day, if possible.
Uh oh, I better get back to editing then! Thanks for the support. 🙂
Yes, do get back to editing 😉
And now I’ll go to bed and enjoy some time with Amaranthe and sgt. Yara… OK, that came out wrong 😉
Just don’t let Sicarius or Maldynado find out! :O
OMG! I love the cover! It’s amazing! I’m so excited to read it, can’t wait.
A pre-semester treat! Thanks, Lindsay. (This helps with the prepping procrastination.)
I can’t wait to read it but I’m going to try to wait until Saturday when I will be kid and husband free. But honestly I don’t like the cover art. This one and Shadows Over Innocence just don’t look right to me. Some of the lines incongruent, somethings aren’t centered. Unless that is how you meant for it to look but it is just not my cup of tea.
Thanks for the feedback on the cover art, Becky. I hope you get your kid/husband-free day and enjoy yourself! 🙂
I want this novella– but I haven’t got anything to read it on (except my PC). Is there any possible chance of there being a hard copy version?
Hey Elissa, I’m kicking around the idea of making a paperback with the novella and the short stories that are out. It may take me a while though. I have people chasing me with duct tapes and whips demanding I focus on EE6. :O If you want to send me a note, I could send a Word .doc of it at least, and you could print it out if you like.
I was hoping my comment didn’t come off as rude. It was bugging me. I will have a peaceful night on Saturday. Husband is going to winter jam and our daughter is staying the night with my mother in law. I was originally going to go to winter jam but decided a night off would be nicer
Ahh! It’s so awesome so far!! I’m really trying to savor it so that the wait for Decrypted and EE6 isn’t too excruciating…But I’m already over halfway finished! It’s just so hard to put any of your books down Lindsay!!! >_<
Glad to hear you’re enjoying it, Vi! Thanks for reading. 🙂
Congrats on the new novel, Lindsay. By the stats I saw on Amazon – it is already a bestseller! You are an inspiration to all self-published authors. 🙂
Amen to that! I was just admiring the Amazon stats myself. I’m so excited for you, Lindsay!
Haha, only for a couple of days as you guys run over to grab it. It’s fun to be up there for a little while though. Thanks!
The book costs $2.99 on Smashwords and $6.24 on Amazon. I assume that’s not your doing, but Amazon charging their extra fee to international shoppers because of the high cost of shipping e-books abroad… :-S
Weird. I got it from Amazon for the equivalent of $2.99 USD, and I’m in Canada. (Seriously, what is with those crazy international ebook surcharges?)
I already whipped through this one and Decrypted yesterday. Can’t wait for the next EE!
It’s my impression that Europe is hit pretty hard by Amazon’s extra e-book fee. AFAIK it’s a remnant of some pretty bad deals Amazon did with the European telcos, when they rolled out the original Kindles with free 3g data plans (AKA the “Whispernet”).
*faint* Nope, I don’t see any of that extra money. Some telecom company is getting rich somewhere!
I really prefer the cover art of this compared to the others. Also, I bought it from Amazon for £.192 which google informs me is just over $3.00. I’m not complaining. Great work Lindsay!
Well, better than $6.24 at least! Thanks for grabbing it, Mo!
Wow! What a great novella! I just finished it and it will make the wait for EE6 that much longer. You have such a talent to create such fun and endearing characters. I can’t wait to read what you write next!
Thanks for reading, Leslie!
Just finished reading beneath the surface and absolutely loved it! Looking forward to EE6 🙂
Hi Lindsay,
I bought the novella first thing the other day from Smashwords – I just can’t get enough of EE.
A bit of a feedback which I feel compelled to voice now and not after I’d read EE5 after purchasing that from Smashwords as well! (that site is really easy – keep publishing there!) – Anyways, it struck me in this novella when Amaranthe admitted to Sespian that Sicarius and her are a “We’re a We” – I wasn’t sure that Sicarius and her had outwardly made it official even amongst themselves that they were together. Cuz even up to that point in the beginning – she’s sick of having him taking care of her and she can’t imagine going all the way physical with him as yet!
Anyways the reason i’m bringing this up is – Sicarius has been with Amaranthe for 10 months now – isn’t he going to be more outwardly affectionate towards her and vice versa? I feel Amaranthe’s maintained her jovial one-sided conversations – which I just love – yes but as far as her relationship with Sicarius goes – can’t he now atleast in private times talk more – do sth more – that continues beyond just one scene? Like the kiss in chimney-cudn’t there be more acknowledgment of it even when they got out? I don’t know – i guess i just want them to have some time to themselves where he can be full of emotions – sorta like he was when she went to the picnic with that editor and he came by and they shared their kiss.
Also you know the cover from ice cracker 2 – Amaranthe’s hair was a completely short hair in that – howcome? Cuz personally I like her in that look – rather than with a bun – which i think makes her look older than she is. Also shouldn’t she change a little as well – let loose even though she’s a tidy person – it is easier to maintain short hair from a tidy perspective as well. Having a bun just doesn’t seem appropriate for her age – now that she’s not an enforcer she doesn’t need to keep it right? Time changes everyone – and atleast this little act to perhaps cut her speaks to her difference in attitude from when she was an enforcer right?
And one last thing – are we going to have a reason behind Amaranthe’s opportunistic nature? As you said Yara was even surprised that Amaranthe didn’t have parents and yet she was like who she was. Just thinking what makes her so – well her?
Again I can’t wait for EE6 to come out – and I do hope Decrypted has Sicarius in it as well. And I hope EE6 finally shows him being more physical with her even in their interactions with each other in front of the others. It’s abt time – we’re six books in please:)
Just a tiny disclaimer – by physical in their interactions i mean Sicarius can be more vocal abt this feelings towards her and vice versa. As when Amaranthe speaks – she usually turns it into a joke – how about both of them stick to being serious abt how they feel towards each other sometimes – just some character growth pls :)))) Either way i love your work – i love the humor – i love the action – i love the strategy – i love it all 🙂
Thank you for the thoughtful feedback, Shikha. The fellow who did the IC2 cover didn’t speak a lot of English, so I didn’t get too detailed with character specifics. 😀 Maybe Amaranthe will change her hair style once things settle down, but a bun or pony tail is pretty practical for when you’re running around, doing athletic things all the time.
I don’t think Sicarius will ever be particularly chatty about feelings (or anything for that matter), as it’s just not the kind of guy he is. You’d be hard-pressed to get him to admit he even *has* emotions. Amaranthe is just good at reading between the lines. 😉
Thanks for reading!
*bows before Empress*
Now, what are you doing out of your writing dungeon?
What and awesome book. Full of humor as usual.
My favorite part: “‘If they had’ came a voice from behind them, ‘It would be a mistake on his part.'”
LOVED IT!
was that Sicarius speaking of himself as a third person? — just confirming – cuz i’m kinda gettin confused if it was Akstyr who said that. As it doesn’t sound like Sicarius would speak of himself as a third person!
It was Sicarius. Attempting levity. He needs to work at it a bit. 😛
Thank Lindsay for the feedback, that sets me at ease really. All I’ve got left to beg you is to just put more of their interactions in there then perhaps. A whole day together – a half a day together without getting interrupted? Man that’s such a tall order to ask as there’s no time for that. They need a vacation – lolz!
Oh it was him – I knew it but i just cudn’t believe it that he was attempting that brazent a humor. I just loved that scene. Oh man 😉
I really really enjoyed that, thank you so much!
Thanks for reading, Annamal!
I absolutely loved the novella! I love the Sicarius/Amaranthe scenes and the action and the ending and… It was awesome. Haha
One question though.
When does EE6 come out?? I’m soo looking forward to it now!!!! I must be addicted or something!!!! Lol but I just live Amaranthe and Sicarius moments, those are my favorite!
I’m finishing up with Decrypted (Encrypted sequel) right now and plotted out EE6. Looking at a late spring/early summer most likely. We’ll see how long the novel gets. There’s a lot of story still left to tell! 🙂