Over the next several months, new sequels to Witches and Aydia will be hitting the digital bookstore.

In August, readers can look for the third installment in The Cross-Worlds Coven Series. The next book, in fact, will pick up right where Earth Fire left off. So what’s in the future for Tiffany and Blake, as well as the Coven itself? You’ll soon be finding out.

The second book in The Aydian Series will be out in January. Aydia is a little more “adult” than Witches and Earth Fire, while weaving an intricate tale of a revolution on a faraway planet. And yes, the storyline with Rayson and Saira becomes even more complicated, revealing the events that blasted them apart years before, even as they once more grow closer in the present day.

So I do hope you check these two new series out. …

Book Two in the Cross-Worlds Coven Series is now available on Kindle!

In this sequel to Witches, Tiffany Smith is once more on the front lines of an inter-dimensional conflict. What she discovers while battling this new threat will shake Tiffany’s deepest held convictions…including her loyalty to the Coven itself.

As many of you know, Witches has been out, as a stand-alone book, since August of 2011.  In January of this year, after publishing Aydia, the first book in the Aydian Series, I decided to turn Witches into a series of its own.

So here it is, The Cross-World’s Coven Series. Book two, Earth Fire, should be out in late April 2013. I’m aiming for late July of this year for the third installment in the series.

Witches now has a brand new cover, which I think looks fantastic. It wasn’t easy finding a model that really fit Tiffany’s personality, but I think this really does nail it. So if you haven’t read the first book yet, better pick it up, because books two and three are coming soon!

I’m busy working on the sequel to Witches, which will now become a series. Book Two should be up in April, with Book Three coming out this fall.

In the next chapter, Tiffany Smith is again called to service with the Coven, but complications from her life on Earth soon get in the way. I don’t want to reveal too much right now, but trust me in that the whole Witches world is greatly expanded.

So if you haven’t read the original Witches, now is the time, and get ready for the next installment in April!

Witches by Phil Stern takes you on a journey with magic and a new universe. The plot of the story runs smooth even though new characters were introduced leaving room for a series. The short 51 page story kept me entertained and wanting more. I enjoyed this short read and I’m sure others who like the genre will as well.

Four Stars

Nearly two years after first publishing, it’s starting to come together.

By Phil Stern

To be honest, my first year as a full-fledged, independent author wasn’t much fun.

I first hit the “publish” button on The Bull Years in February of 2011. Like everyone else, I imagined wild success and instant fame. (Ironically, central themes to the book itself). But, as with virtually all first-time authors, it was a struggle out of the gate.

At the time I was worried about arriving late at the Kindle party, but in retrospect I was a bit early. Sure, Kindle was the next “big” thing, but was still gaining general awareness. In many quarters, online publishing was regarded more as a gimmick than legitimate endeavor, a passing fad for kids to play with. Clearly, it still had much to prove.

The Bull Years sold a few copies here …

Quite enjoyed this book. Nice easy read, nothing too in depth that you makes go what the??? Would recommend it

Lisa Manning, Melbourne Australia

The book was magical. I like that everything is straight to the point.  There could have been more detail on magical creatures, rocks, spells,and covens.  Overall an enchanting short story.

Heather, USA

For centuries, the witches have controlled the power of magic. They have travelled between the worlds and used their `gifts’ freely. But now a wizard has rising and challenging their powers. One by one, three young witches have disappeared. With notes left behind in their place, it was as if the wizard was mocking the witches. The council decides and sends six of their best to find and kill this wizard. With other dead or captured or injured, it falls on Tiffany to take care of the business herself. She is the strongest witch of their generation and turns out to be the only hope that her people could have of survival.

This is an action packed novella of some 55 odd pages. There’s a lot in those few pages. We learn a lot about the different worlds, how the witches’ …

Phil Stern is an unusual author. If you did not know that his name was Phil and he was a man it would be easy to think he was a female as his writings often have female leads and he is in tune with that strong, yet vulnerable side women really want to see in female leads. You know this is true, when you are alone at home you yell at the foolish girls in movies that go into dark basements with no weapons and die, or have to be rescued; wonder why anyone would go into the woods on a hike in skimpy clothing and high heels; and bemoan the weak woman who needs to be rescued.

Real women are strong, weak, vulnerable, powerful, and use all of that to take care of themselves and everyone around them. This is …

With the domination of Young Adult, today’s Sci-Fi and Fantasy landscape lacks sex appeal and realistic adult female characters.

By Phil Stern

In the not-too-distant past, Science Fiction was a highly sexualized genre.

In 1966, Raquel Welch burst onto the scene in the soft-porn caveman epic One Million Years B.C. In 1968, Jane Fonda repeated the trick in the equally absurd Barbarella, complete with the famous zero gravity undressing scene and torture via the orgasm organ.

Of course, in those days “sexy” and “sexist” generally went hand-in-hand. The original Star Trek featured weekly doses of helpless, ineffectual women in short skirts. In Robert A. Heinlein’s novels, women were nothing more than pretty sex objects. The quasi sci-fi James Bond films were outrageously sexist, none more so than 1964′s Goldfinger, featuring possibly the most famous Bond girl of all, Pussy Galore.

Into the late 1970′s  nothing …

“In the world of Witches, it seems like young women can’t catch a break. Abused by their fathers and envied by their mothers, they seek shelter in the magical world of Haven. Here they hone their powers and cross boundaries into other dimensions. When a rare male wizard kidnaps several young witches, Haven must take action. Tiffany, a rebellious young witch, is drafted to search for her missing “sisters,” beginning a cross-dimensional quest against the forces of evil.

 
But whose evil? With the possible exception of Tiffany, everyone in this story commits reprehensible acts. The villain is odious, but his cruel quest for revenge is built up with a heart-rending backstory. The plight of the young witches is sympathetic, but it is impossible to endorse the social structure of the coven, which thrives off its own form of sexual abuse. Tiffany …

“The first thing that I noticed is the writing. Phil Stern has a way with language that left me envious (“I want to write like that!”) Really good, tight and intelligent, engaging and all-over great.

 
The plot is a magic-imbued take on misogynistic men and how witches deal with them. It’s not all black and white-on the contrary-sufficient background and psychological insight is given to properly evaluate both sides.

 
Since this is the second in a series, I don’t know how much the story relies on the first novella. I had some troubles following dialogues, I didn’t know whether it was because some things were explained in the first book.

 
I loved the world(s)-building. Some scenes were graphic and scary enough to etch themselves in my memory and spice up the plot, while others were more reminiscing, allowing me to …

“Very fast paced, very well written…the magic was very uncomplicated, and it was easy to lock onto the characters and their personalities. The landscapes are rich, new and fresh. A very engaging story, but I would not recommend it to readers under age sixteen–or readers with conservative sensibilities. A very good read; I cannot wait to read more!”

“Witches conveys in great dialogue, and smooth flowing descriptions, another world that is in chaos…”

By Holly on her blog “From An Innovative Pursuit of Creativity.”

For the full review click here.