Seeing the Bright Side of Romance & Fantasy

Author: Sam Page 3 of 14

The Prince & the Professor

If you met me at GRL, you probably also met W. M. Fawkes, whom I introduced as artist, writer, and all around great friend. For some time now, Waverly and I have been working on something new. We’ve created a new universe together that’s a mix of mythology, fantasy, and of course, love: Lords of the Underworld. It’s a series of standalone urban fantasy romances.

It starts with Prince of Death on March 7th, 2019, beneath the streets of Washington, DC, with a lonely prince and a sad professor, neither of whom has any idea how much they need each other…

Gifted power over life and death, Lysandros has spent millennia in the underworld, listless and alone. The youngest child of Hades and Persephone, he’s been sheltered from the threats in the world above.

Theo Ward hasn’t been so lucky. After watching his mother wither away, he’d do almost anything to have her back. When a messenger appears at the Banneker College of Magic and offers the young professor a chance to save her, Theo can’t pass it up, even if it means going straight into the underworld and dragging her home. But Theo gets more than he bargained for when he crosses paths with the prince of Hades.

Set against the king of Olympus, they must shed their past burdens and learn to trust in each other, so they can face down a storm that threatens to wipe the nation’s capital off the map.

Prince of Death on goodreads

Cover by the talented and lovely Natasha Snow

How knitting came to Rowan Harbor

So a funny thing happened a few months ago. Those of you who know me personally have heard the story of how I came to writing m/m romance: someone mentioned their favorite book, The Lightning-Struck Heart by TJ Klune, and I asked them for more information. After listening to it, and then reading and listening to a few hundred other books in the genre, I was inspired to actually finish writing a book and publish my own work. It came full circle in November, when on the same podcast where I first heard The Lightning-Struck Heart mentioned, I heard my own pen name. (~32 minutes in)

Many thanks to Laura and Leslie for making my day!

Blackbird Nominated!

I’m pretty stoked about this, you guys. Blackbird has been nominated for best paranormal romance in the M/M Romance group on goodreads. Just being put in a category with the likes of Jordan L. Hawk and T.J. Klune is an honor, regardless of the winner.

The cover, by Madeline Farlow, has also been nominated as best cover of the year, and she completely deserves it. Thank you for making me an amazing cover, Maddie!

Cover Preview – In Any Light

I’ve been planning to give Isla her own story since it became apparent how important she was to Rowan Harbor and its future. After book six, I realized that in the overall plot, this was the perfect time to tell her story. Her novelette will be released at the same time as book seven of the Rowan Harbor Cycle, Eagle in the Hawthorn, which is the current project!


The death of her mentor has left Isla MacKenzie fumbling in the dark. She’s expected to perform as the sole witch on the town council, but she also might be the only witch in town who can’t use her powers. The one bright spot in her life is Cassidy Simon, the town’s beautiful, charismatic vampire bar owner. She’s not sure what Cassidy wants from their relationship, but she hopes that whatever it is, she can give it. The events of a single day are about to change everything for Isla, and only she can control her own destiny.

The cover, as all Rowan Harbor covers, is by the lovely Madeline Farlow at clause&effect

Asexual Awareness Week

Hey guys, it’s Asexual Awareness Week again, and I thought I’d link the blog article I wrote on the subject last year:

Asexual Awareness Week: Guest Post by Sam Burns

It’s been incredibly important and powerful for me to have a community of people who support aces. Thank you all!

Success consists of going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm.

-Winston Churchill

Friendship is unnecessary, like philosophy, like art…. It has no survival value; rather it is one of those things which give value to survival.

C.S. Lewis

The fool doth think he is wise, but the wise man knows himself to be a fool.

-William Shakespeare

Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.

-Winston Churchill

I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.

-Maya Angelou

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