Juno Books

Seaborn by Chris Howard

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From Author Chris Howard:

I want everyone to hear about it! Feel free to read and share the book (for other uses and rights questions, email me and I can forward to my agent) but please send along the link to this page because I'd like as many people as possible to know that they can give to one of my favorite organizations, Monterey Bay Aquarium or Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute.

Seaborn

Nominated for Urban Fantasy Land's
2008 Readers' Choice Awards

"Dark and atmospheric, Seaborn is an imaginative new entry in the world of paranormal fiction."--Liz Maverick, author of Wired

"From the first page of Seaborn, you are immersed. Chris Howards navigates a wild ride through a brilliantly edgy and richly atmospheric alter-world. Here is a fresh, formidable spin on sf/f and Howard is a talent to watch out for. Seaborn will leave you spellbound"--National Book Awards Finalist Adele Griffin

"Seaborn is no regular fantasy about mermaids. It is an epic, created with a linguist's, a sociologist's, and a poet's touch....Chris Howard has created a rich complicated world....We are obviously in the hands of a great writer..."-- Blogcritics

"Chris Howard is to be applauded for Seaborn's unique (or at least rare) in urban fantasy setting of the sea....So this will suit readers who've had enough of vampires, shifters, witches, psychics, fae and whatnot. Originality is the key selling point here, as is Mr Howard's startling array of talents" -- Tez Says

"This is a must-read, must-have and worshipped. This mythology junkie is more than satisfied and begs people to buy more than one copy as soon as possible. If I am correct, after several generations a first issue of this will be quite valuable." -- Temple Library Reviews

"Chris Howard is someone I will be paying close attention to from this day forward. As a debut novel Seaborn succeeds where many others in the same class have not. It puts together a fascinating new world (within our own), drawing from Greek mythology and developing that into its own unique fantasy creation. -- Fantasy&SciFi Lovin' Review

"Seaborn is the first novel for Chris Howard, and what an amazing tale it is. From the underwater society to the surfacers on land, the detailed account of preparation and battle is vividly drawn....This is a book I'd recommend to fantasy readers, but horror fans should enjoy Aleximor and Corina's tale as well." Darque Reviews

Fantasy
ISBN: 9780809572816
384 pages, $7.99
Publication Date: June 2008(ebook), July 2008 (print)

All Life began in the ocean.
The tides, the salt, the rolling waves are in our souls.
The sea will always have the power to call us home.

There is a world deep under the sea, a kingdom that has endured thousands of years without the modern world knowing it exists. Those who dwell there are Thalassogenêis: SEABORN

Kassandra is the Seaborn king's granddaughter--the one he wishes he'd killed when he'd had the chance. She comes from the sea, but she has spent her whole life in exile on the surface, learning to control strange and frightening powers she barely understands. But now she's ready to declare war on the murderous king.

Corina Lairsey is a scuba-divi ng Californian who has freed herself from a controlling relationship...andfinds herself in another. Only this time, Aleximor, an ancient Seaborn sorcerer, is literally inside her head and wearing her body. Corina must strive for control of her self, fighting against time as Aleximor trades pieces of her life away in exchange for power over the path between the worlds of the living and the dead.

Aleximor wants revenge for his 400-year imprisonment and his dangerous machinations threaten to destroy both young women and the world of the Seaborn.

The Author's
EVERYTHING SEABORN Page


"A new world is born in this fantasy work of art. The sea has alot on offer in this fresh and unique debut book by Chris Howard. With some darkness, a lot of depth and some fantastic characters this is a must read for any fantasy fans who like the sea aspect or who just want to try something a little different." (A PNR Reviewer Recommended Read) -- ParanormalRomance.org

"As epic fantasy Seaborn is imaginative and flush with mythological detail. The ocean dwelling Seaborn culture is fascinating....a fresh and entertaining read..."-- SciFiGuy

"In Seaborn, Chris Howard explores a new dimension of urban fantasy. Rather than keeping to the city as the genre would imply, Howard delves into an undersea world....[and takes] readers in a new direction. His passages are densely packed with detail and each chapter reads smoothly. His characters appeal to all readers, whether they are familiar with the genre or not....I would strongly suggest that fantasy lovers who are tired of vampire novels check this book out." -- Flamingnet

"Seaborn takes the reader on a non-stop above and below the sea adventure. It follows many different story lines that come together at all the right times. The fast-paced chapters will have you up all night not wanting to miss what is going happen next...You won't want to put this book down." -- DCL

"[A] fascinating read." (four stars) -- RTimes Book Reviews

About the author

Chris Howard loves to create, primarily with words. As an army brat, he grew up all over: Fort Belvoir, Virginia, Indiana, Presidio of San Francisco, France, Germany, and Japan. His story "Hammers and Snails" was the amateur division winner of the Heinlein Centennial Writing Contest. He is a writer who also paints, working in pen and ink, watercolor, and digital formats. He has settled in coastal New Hampshire with his wife and two wonderful kids. Chris has blogged steadily since 2004, mostly on writing, art, Aristotle and technology. Seaborn is his first novel. Read his blog and Saltwater Witch: The Seaborn Web Site

Chris has many diverse interests and seems to have time for all of them, even though he is a software engineer who frequently travels -- not to mention two children and and a wife. He thanks his parents for his ability to juggle many balls at one time. "My father's an engineer, a career US Army officer, who took us all over the world to live. My mother was an actress (off Broadway), author, journalist, artist, everything. Growing up, I never felt that any occupation, study, or interest was off limits."

He created Kassandra, one of the two main protagonists of Seaborn, as a way to teach his daughter Chloe how to write fiction. "We spent weeks in the winter of 2003-2004 doing story structure lessons, world-building exercises, character development. Chloe asked me to teach her, and I said I'd give her everything I know about writing. My son Christopher is more of the visual artist, graphic novels, movies, and we'll see where he goes with that--someplace exciting, I'm sure."

He does admit to running "in a state of perpetual tiredness, kept alive by coffee" and that he and "couldn't do any of it without my wife, Alice."

Chris started writing Seaborn "thinking about the loss of control, the loss of freedom, and how awful that would be. I had already written about Kassandra, so she came first, but Seaborn really began with me exploring the loss of freedom in different forms. Corina Lairsey loses everything, all physical control to someone--something--else who has moved in and taken over her body--and she has to bargain, plead, calculate her way back to freedom. Kassandra has an entirely different problem with autonomy. She has what appears to be all the power in the world, but can't trust a single thought in her head, can't really be certain that anything she does is her own will, or some other power inside her pulling strings.

He wrote Seaborn's first three chapters, which ended up being chapters two through five. "then I wrote the ending, and outlined the middle. I had a lot of characters, and many never made it into the story. Some of what ended up being chapters of Seaborn's sequel, Sea Throne, were first part of Seaborn, but it didn't make sense to bring in characters that weren't really going to join the main action in the first book. So, I cut those and moved them to next book.

Chris usually starts with an idea when he writes, not characters. "Characters typically come out of the story as it's developing. I may start with a character name, but not really fill in the spaces until I'm well into writing the story."

He also paints and draws for each book. (See some of Chris's art.) "I do a lot of character studies, scene studies. I must have a couple hundred sketches, scribbles, full drawings, watercolors, digital format works for Seaborn and Sea Throne--many of them posted on my blog. I like to have the ending figured out--and even written to some extant--before I can really get into the story. I need direction, some point to aim for, a place to drive the characters toward. After that, it's all writing, and I can usually put down a thousand words a day--easy. I just push on through even when I'm not sure if it's working. I do a lot of re-reading. I know the word is that writers shouldn't go back and read everything, but I do it all the time, a hundred times, editing it at every pass. I think it works.

On the eve of his first novel's publication, Chris Howard has just completed a short story and hs a couple of novel-length ideas "rolling along". One's another Seaborn story, although not with Kassandra and the others. The one that may get off the ground soonest is a YA about food, cooking, and magic."

Nine-cities -- Somewhere on the floor of the Atlantic. Art by Chris Howard.

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