The first book of The Grails Covenant, a trilogy of novels set in the world of Vampire: The Dark Ages. Obsessed with acquiring the Holy Grail for the Lasombra clan, the vampire Montrovant sets out on a quest that pits him against the Knights Templar and sends him through the lair of an ancient Egyptian evil and the deserts of the Holy Land.
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I was born in a very small town in Illinois. Clay County has less people in it than your average large city, and Flora , Illinois , is so tiny it barely hits the map. That's where it happened, though. My grandparents lived there, and I spent a lot of happy times with them in my youth -- particularly my grandfather, Merle Cornelius Smith, who was likely the most amazing man I'll ever claim association with. But that's another story, and this one is about me.
My first really clear memories start around my third year of life, when my father left. He took me out for a drive, let me sit on his lap, then went back out for milkshakes and never came back. Things blur quite a lot during that period, but after a period of living with my grandparents, my brother and I were whisked away to Charleston Illinois , where our mom had a job working in one of the cafeterias at Eastern Illinois University , and had married a barber named Robert Leland "Bob" Smith. I could write volumes about good ol' Bob, but I won't. If you really want to meet him, look between the lines of the bits and pieces of Deep Blue where Brandt talks about his father. Think Seagram's 7, Ballantine beer, cheap cigars, Hank Williams, Sr., and Archie Bunker and sort of squash it all together into a 6'4" 270 or so pound frame -- that was Bob. Formative? Yes. Important here? Nope.
I escaped Charleston , family, Bob, and a number of other things in 1977 when I left in June and joined the United States Navy. I headed for San Diego , where I went to boot camp, headed next to Groton CT for submarine school (which I dropped out of because my ears wouldn't equalize) and ended up in North Chicago attending Electronics Technician "A" school. I learned guitar, got engaged, unengaged, taught Bible School , got excommunicated, and moved on to San Diego , California once again as part of the crew of the USS Paul F. Foster.
My time in the US Navy would fill a dozen books. In fact, parts of it can be found in almost everything I've written. Many of my novels were typed on US Navy computers (later on my own, but still on board) and the first two issues of my magazine, THE TOME, were printed and published on board the USS Guadalcanal (thank you Uncle Sam for supporting the arts). I was stationed on a lot of ships, went on a lot of cruises, lived in Rota , Spain for three years, and wound up retired in Norfolk , Virginia . I've worked as a contractor ever since, a variety of computer, networking and database related jobs, and all that time, I've been writing.
Now I live in the historic William R. White house in a tiny place called Hertford , NC , where you buy your hardware from a man named Eerie Haste, and you can still get an ice-cream cone for fifty cents. I have a woman who loves and supports me, Patricia Lee Macomber, two great boys by a previous marriage who live in Virginia, but visit us every couple of weeks, a beautiful, talented teenage daughter named Stephanie who sometimes seems to be the only adult in the family, a taller-by-the-day video game and sports loving son named Billy whose biggest failing is he likes the Oakland Raiders, and a beautiful, way-too-smart little girl named Kathryn Mary -- Katie Bug, for short -- all of whom I adore, and who appear to have looked past my faults to love me in return.
I've sold twelve novels to date (though hopefully by the time many of you read this that will be a larger number. I've published over 150 short stories, been in 32 or so anthologies, countless magazines, year's best collections, won awards -- notably The Bram Stoker Award for poetry, which I share with co-authors Mark McLaughlin and Rain Graves. I've been President of the Horror Writer's Association, and I'm an active member of both SFWA and the newer International Thriller Writer's Association.
DNW
My first really clear memories start around my third year of life, when my father left. He took me out for a drive, let me sit on his lap, then went back out for milkshakes and never came back. Things blur quite a lot during that period, but after a period of living with my grandparents, my brother and I were whisked away to Charleston Illinois , where our mom had a job working in one of the cafeterias at Eastern Illinois University , and had married a barber named Robert Leland "Bob" Smith. I could write volumes about good ol' Bob, but I won't. If you really want to meet him, look between the lines of the bits and pieces of Deep Blue where Brandt talks about his father. Think Seagram's 7, Ballantine beer, cheap cigars, Hank Williams, Sr., and Archie Bunker and sort of squash it all together into a 6'4" 270 or so pound frame -- that was Bob. Formative? Yes. Important here? Nope.
I escaped Charleston , family, Bob, and a number of other things in 1977 when I left in June and joined the United States Navy. I headed for San Diego , where I went to boot camp, headed next to Groton CT for submarine school (which I dropped out of because my ears wouldn't equalize) and ended up in North Chicago attending Electronics Technician "A" school. I learned guitar, got engaged, unengaged, taught Bible School , got excommunicated, and moved on to San Diego , California once again as part of the crew of the USS Paul F. Foster.
My time in the US Navy would fill a dozen books. In fact, parts of it can be found in almost everything I've written. Many of my novels were typed on US Navy computers (later on my own, but still on board) and the first two issues of my magazine, THE TOME, were printed and published on board the USS Guadalcanal (thank you Uncle Sam for supporting the arts). I was stationed on a lot of ships, went on a lot of cruises, lived in Rota , Spain for three years, and wound up retired in Norfolk , Virginia . I've worked as a contractor ever since, a variety of computer, networking and database related jobs, and all that time, I've been writing.
Now I live in the historic William R. White house in a tiny place called Hertford , NC , where you buy your hardware from a man named Eerie Haste, and you can still get an ice-cream cone for fifty cents. I have a woman who loves and supports me, Patricia Lee Macomber, two great boys by a previous marriage who live in Virginia, but visit us every couple of weeks, a beautiful, talented teenage daughter named Stephanie who sometimes seems to be the only adult in the family, a taller-by-the-day video game and sports loving son named Billy whose biggest failing is he likes the Oakland Raiders, and a beautiful, way-too-smart little girl named Kathryn Mary -- Katie Bug, for short -- all of whom I adore, and who appear to have looked past my faults to love me in return.
I've sold twelve novels to date (though hopefully by the time many of you read this that will be a larger number. I've published over 150 short stories, been in 32 or so anthologies, countless magazines, year's best collections, won awards -- notably The Bram Stoker Award for poetry, which I share with co-authors Mark McLaughlin and Rain Graves. I've been President of the Horror Writer's Association, and I'm an active member of both SFWA and the newer International Thriller Writer's Association.
DNW
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Interesting,
By A Customer
This review is from: To Sift Through Bitter Ashes (The Grails Covenant , No 1) (Paperback)
I was pretty darned impressed with this book, I couldn't put it down. I was a little hesitant to pick up a book that was based on an RPG, but this proved to be a great story. The characters were auprisingly well developed and the flow of the storyline was outstanding.The story is one of a power-crazed servant of the La Sombre clan that embarks on a quest to find the Holy Grail and return it to his master, Claudius Euginio, and bring power back to his clan. The historic relic was fabled to be protected beneath a mosque in the city of Jerusalem. The story shows how easily the brotherhood of the night can manipulate mortals to do as they wish. The ending left you with a few extra questions, but overall, it did a good job of setting you up for the second novel. Montrovant...an interesting character filled with an overly arrogant nature for his kind. I loved the characters in this book. I have played all the White Wolf RPGs, and I love being able to follow the story that follows some of the legends of the RPG books. For those of you that haven't played White Wolf, do not fret - this novel is very easy to read as long as you do have a little bit of knowledge involving the vampire.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Bored.,
By
This review is from: To Sift Through Bitter Ashes (The Grails Covenant , No 1) (Paperback)
I found this novel incredibly boring. It is a political novel set in the time of the Dark Ages for Vampire the Masquerade. There is little action. There is little character development. The plot is slow. The story is about a Lasombra Lord named Montravent who is determined to uncover the Holy Grail for the benefits of his clan. In order to do this, he sets out on a journey to manipulate the politics of the Middle East during the times of the Crusades. It was tiring for me to read about how everyone was terrified of this being before them and how they believed he was an agent of God sent to answer their prayers.The novel was slow in pace. At the end of each chapter there was very little to keep me going as a reader. I understand that this was the first novel in a trilogy and that potentially the author has the ability to have everything 'pay off' in the end. But the first novel in a trilogy is usually supposed to be the strongest of the set. I was dissapointed with this story because I planned to read it in conjunction with the Devil's Advocate Trilogy. Maybe I'm just not a fan of Vampire the Dark Ages. A Classic D&D story will be more entertaning and more worth your time. Vampire the Masquerade "Dark Ages" was a nice idea, but failed on the market. The World of Darkness is better left to a modern day setting.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Entertaining Book with Psuedo-historical facts,
By A Customer
This review is from: To Sift Through Bitter Ashes (The Grails Covenant , No 1) (Paperback)
After first few chapters, I was bugged by the familiarity of some of the characters. Then it hit me like a ton of bricks that the characters were actually the personage responsible for the founding of Knights Templar. Montraval of course did not exist in the creation of the Templars, but it works for the character build in the story. The fact that Kli Kadesh (nice pun with the name: vessel of Knowledge in Hebrew) is implied to be Judas was odd. The inconsistancy of course was that Kli was quoted to have said he was around for quite some time before the Christ's coming. I mentioned this to the author and he explained why he had to add that inconsistancy. Something about the Publishers not wanting Judas being Kli Kadesh.Being a Vampire Novel buff, the story was enjoyable. I would like to see the next books and see how it ends. Not quite as enthrawling as Brian Ludlums Necroscope series. But you have to like Montraval and his arrogance. Can't wait to see if he survives the series!
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