Welcome to my blog.
Tell us a bit about you and your background.
I went to college at Louisiana Tech University, studying psychology, but my passion really lies in writing. I watch a lot of anime and play some video games, and I hope to become a full time writer at some point in the future.
Do you start a new story with the plot or characters first?
I start with the story and let the characters do what they want with the thing. It’s an exploratory process.
Is your writing style planned or freestyle?
My writing style is very freestyle. I am very much a pantser.
If you use music while writing, name your favorite types.
I really enjoy dubstep, chillstep, and electro swing.
Can you share a tip about what you do when you get stuck in creating a story?
Just keep writing, even if you don’t want to! It’s the only way to truly finish what you’ve started!
What do you hope readers gain from your stories?
A sense of adventure, a sense that anything can be done if you really want to do it.
BLURB
Forty years ago portals opened all around the world, leading to dungeons with dangerous monsters inside, monsters that can escape into the real world and do incredible damage. At the same time, people began manifesting spirits that allowed them to fight back.
Markus Red just manifested his spirit and it’s a weak one, the weakest one there is. But he squeezes into the position of Adventurer and is sent to Ixtham Academy, where he’ll learn to fight those monsters and destroy the dungeons invading New York City. He is on the lowest rung, but he soon finds an ally in Dr. Barrimore, an eccentric scientist with views that no one else seems to take seriously.
Together the two of them work on a project that will change everything Markus is. But will surviving at the bottom give him the power and courage he’ll need to make it to the top?
Dungeons and Dragons meets Harry Potter in this new, imaginative urban fantasy that will keep you turning pages long into the night!
The Lesser One is available only at Amazon:
EXCERPT
“Good luck,” mouths the commander.
The three of us nod and jump off the tank at the same time. The tank backs away as soon as we hit the ground. The balrog is a block and a half away, striding through the streets with the presence of a movie monster
Corbin kicks in the door of the building closest to us and points to the interior. “I’ll stay here and keep the devils out!”
Esla nods. She and I run inside and start climbing stairs.
I’m happy that I’ve been working out lately. If I hadn’t, I wouldn’t have been able to keep up with her. As it is, I barely manage. We reach the twentieth floor just as the balrog passes by the nearest window. Esla holds up the laser device. There’s a timer. A minute and twenty seconds. She runs to the window framing the balrog and points the laser at the spot between its horns. I make sure my bow is in its place on my back.
A green dot appears on the balrog’s head. Half a second later, it stops and looks straight at us. With a single meaty hand, it claws out the nineteenth floor. The ground begins to tilt. Steel groans.
Esla manages to keep her balance, and keep the dot trained on the balrog’s head.
The balrog rips out another floor out beneath us. I’m starting to slide, but manage to lean against a pillar and hold on.
Esla is not so lucky. She slides towards the window, feet first, and hits the glass. The glass shatters and she falls out. Grabbing the ledge with one hand, she uses the other to toss the device. “Catch!”
I catch the device — a feat I have never managed before in my life. Holding on to it with my free hand, which is now completely green, I notice the time is almost done. Quickly, I point it back at the balrog’s head.
10… 9… 8… 7…
The roar of a huge droneaircraft blossoms overhead.
6… 5… 4…
The balrog smashes the building with its side, sending ripples through the concrete. My hand is now completely green. It is so close, its heat haze drifts over the floor. Worse, I can see the whites of its eyes.
3… 2… 1… 0…
A blast of fire with the intensity of the sun rips through the air and slams into the balrog right where the light was shining. Molten metal and rock flies everywhere. The balrog reels. The pillar I am leaning against collapses, sending me sliding straight towards the firestorm in front of me.
I am in a life or death situation.
I am near a huge monster.
And I don’t even care about what will happen to me next as long as I survive.
I brace my heels against the floor, stabilizing myself for a half-second, then grab my bow and nock an arrow. The fire around the balrog slips down its body, revealing a patch of its head where the red crackling slade-rock armor has been broken. The balrog is still very much alive, and is turning to me with its gigantic, devilish eyes.
My Anima vision spots a tiny point. It’s where the missile hit, about the size of a penny.There, the balrog’s very essence is exposed.
I fire my bow. My entire body turns green, and I am suddenly am convinced that I am a papaya. A piece of fruit sliding off a grocery store shelf.
My arrow buries itself inside the balrog, diving deep. The balrog’s eyes go wide. A light switch flicks in its brain. It staggers, rips some holes in the buildings around it, and stomps on a tank. The flames around it erupt in a display of fireworks that shoots hundreds of meters into the air. The balrog moans, roars, and then collapses to the ground. I slip off the tilting floor and float into the open air.
I am aware of everything. Yet I know nothing. A beam of light cuts open the balrog’s body. A blood-red ring floats out of its chest, spinning, and wraps around my stomach. I am floating, not falling.
Unimaginable power flows through me. My entire being explodes into magic, pain, and the pure essence of reality. I scream without making a sound as I float towards the street.
I land with a bump. My vision snaps back into focus, and so does reality. I am no longer a papaya, and my hands are back to normal — except for the blood-red cracks running through them. They shimmer with a starry radiance, almost as if they are alive.
Zeppy Cheng is a Wisconsin author who loves to write, play video games, and watch anime. He spends most of his time doing one of those three. He has a BA in psychology from Louisiana Tech University.
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