Hi. My name is Martin.

I’m basically a normal guy, not too different from you I’d guess. A job that’s going–well, not exactly nowhere, but not anyplace fast. An apartment in the DC suburbs. A Mazda 6. A couple of beers on a Friday night. You know, a normal, regular guy.

Except that one day I found myself in the 12th century. The Middle Ages. You know, the “medieval” in “Ima get medieval on yer ass.” I’d say that one day I woke up in the 12th century, except I didn’t really wake up. It just happened. On vacation in New Orleans one minute; naked in the Ardennes forest the next. Not too clear on what, if anything, happened in between.

I played my share of Dungeons & Dragons in college. Saw The Lord of the Rings two or three times—maybe four. Might be a real adventure, right? Except for that whole Black Death thing. And the Spanish Inquisition. And people getting burned at the stake and all that. I wasn’t a history major. I don’t know when those things happened—er, will happen—exactly. They haven’t hit me yet, but they might be scheduled for next week for all I know.

In the mean time I’ve got an overly ambitious local lord trying to overthrow the one person who’s given me a home. A devil-worshipping black mass trying to make a shish-kabob out of one of my few friends. And a self-proclaimed sorcerer who seems to think I’m all that stands between him and plans to dominate the world—or at least the parts of the world they know about.

If that ain’t bad enough, everyone here seems to think I was sent by God or someone to stop all that from happening.

Did I mention that everybody here speaks French? I took French in high school. Got Cs. Crap. I don’t even know how to wipe my butt in this century. Anybody know when toilet paper is going to be invented?

Wish me luck. Or back this campaign and read my story!

In The Mason of New Orleans, a guy from our time finds himself in the middle ages. He appears with nothing (not even clothes), and has no idea how or why he got there—but he’s our POV character, so we’re along for the ride! Martin struggles to make himself understood to the travelers he appears before—a noblewoman, a knight, a scholar, and their retainers—they speak medieval French; he speaks bad high-school French. Somewhere it comes out that he’s a civil engineer in his world. The best they can understand is that he’s a mason—and it so happens the lady very much needs a mason.

So he’s taken under Madeleine’s wing and given a mission: help fortify her manor against the designs of a ruthless local lord. But the brutal Etien, Compte de Namur will go to any length to prevent his success. And in the meantime, Madeleine’s servant Celestine is abducted by a mysterious cult—and there’s more to her, it seems, than meets the eye. The Templars get involved; the knight Stephan takes a hostage; Gaspard pursues the Philosphers' Stone in his dank laboratory; Martin himself is abducted; and there’s a mysterious self-styled sorcerer lurking somewhere in the wings. Action, mystery, and a bit of bloodletting ensue as Martin attempts to survive, succeed, and figure out how, or even if, he can get home.

The Angel of Ecbatana picks up where the first novel leaves off. Martin’s adventures came to a satisfying conclusion at the end of The Mason of New Orleans, but (spoilers!) he’s still in the 12th Century. He’s hung up his mason’s trowel and picked up (rather uncertainly) a sword—and that comes with a whole lot of new worries. The action is just as fast, the mysteries just as deep, the plot twists just as astonishing, and the characters just as relatable and pleasant to be with. But the stakes—for Martin, and perhaps history itself—have if anything gotten higher!

As an author, I had a few priorities when writing these books. Here’s what I hope you get out of them:

Perhaps I’m not the most unbiased judge of whether I succeeded in those goals. But reader reviews have been good. If those seem like the building blocks of a book you’d enjoy, I think you’ll dig The Mason of New Orleans and The Angel of Ecbatana.

The Mason of New Orleans already exists—it was first published as an ebook about a decade ago. It's a hefty novel: about 170,000 words (or roughly 17 hours of reading or audiobook time). Don't let that scare you, though—it's a fast-paced page-turner!

The story rocks, and it features a decent map of the castle at Bois de Haillot, but otherwise the presentation is a bit basic. It could be so much more!

The upgraded edition will feature improved and additional maps: a more detailed map of the castle, along with maps of Bois de Haillot and southern Namur, at a minimum. And the print edition will be autographed—an exclusive just for the backers of this campaign.

You'll find those maps, and other upgrades, in both the print and ebook edition. And this campaign funds an audiobook!

Martin's story reaches an exciting climax in The Mason of New Orleans. But it leaves a few lingering questions, not least regarding how and why he's in the 12th Century. Turns out it might not be pure happenstance! The Angel of Ecbatana continues Martin's tale as he continues to navigate the 12th Century and discovers that the events of the first book maybe didn't wrap up as neatly as it seemed...

I'm about 40% of the way through The Angel of Ecbatana, so it won't be out until 2025. Like The Mason of New Orleans, this book will come out in print, ebook, and audiobook formats.

As it stands, the print versions of The Mason of New Orleans and The Angel of Ecbatana will be high-quality trade paperbacks. But wouldn't it be nice if they were hardcovers? I work in the publishing business, and I know a thing or two about making a deluxe book. Through stretch goals, with your help, we can seriously upgrade the print versions of these novels!

Do you long for the feel of a hefty book in your hands? Or maybe you prefer to read on your Kindle or other device. Maybe you love listening to audiobooks. Whatever your preference, this campaign is funding your favorite format for both The Mason of New Orleans and The Angel of Ecbatana.

If you back for the print version of these books at any pledge level that includes them, I'll autograph your copy of each. That's an exclusive bonus just for backers of this campaign!

And check out the art prints! Created by the talented character artist Olivia Ryan (also my daughter), these six prints illustrate Martin, Madeleine, Stephan, Celestine, Gaspard, and Juliana—key characters in both books. One or more are included in each pledge level—back at The Squire or The Patron to get all six!

Remember, every print book is autographed! And through stretch goals we might upgrade the print versions of these books to deluxe hardcovers.

Are these books for you? Download a sample chapter The Mason of New Orleans—along with a taste of The Angel of Ecbatana—and find out for yourself! Your download includes both a PDF and ebook sample.

When will you get your books? The Mason of New Orleans in its original edition is available now, so I'll shoot you the ebook as soon as the pledge manager closes (about a month after the campaign ends). You'll also get the new upgraded edition when it comes out—but that's mostly an improvement in presentation and graphics, so don't feel like you have to wait that long to start reading. Here's the full timeline:

If you're into tabletop gaming—roleplaying games in particular—welp, so am I. I'm the COO and a partner at Monte Cook Games, publisher of innovative, high-imagination RPGs such as Numenera, the Cypher System, Invisible Sun, and No Thank You, Evil! That's the past decade or so of my career—prior to that I've held roles ranging from global Brand Manager for Dungeons & Dragons to running a little indie game publisher, going back nearly 35 years.

My work in fiction is less expansive, but not without success and a bit of recognition. My novella Infestations, for example, received an Origins Award nomination for Best Game-Related fiction.

I've also had the good fortune of travel, including a number of years overseas. Living in Portugal as a kid in the '70s launched my love for medieval landscapes and exposed me to a rural society that (particularly back then) still practiced lifestyles and traditions with roots going well back into the middle ages. More recently I spent four years in southern England, a region steeped in history—my family and I could (and did, frequently) visit Stonehenge, the Roman fort at Portchester, the HMS Victory, and scores of amazing castles, cathedrals, walled towns, and other vestiges of medieval life, without traveling more than an hour from our doorstep. 

Tying this all together is an intense love of story, character, and place—and particularly the medieval world of Western Europe. I love exploring that world, and I want to take you into it. I want to send you there with characters who come to life in your mind, who you see and imagine, and who you love spending your hours with. And to share a journey that moves rapidly through its many twists, mysteries, and surprises.

The cover art for The Mason of New Orleans was painted by the always awesome Drew Baker. Drew is probably best known for his work for Star Wars, Magic: the Gathering, Dungeons & Dragons, Legend of the Five Rings, and other imaginative properties. Successful funding of this campaign will include a Drew Baker cover for The Angel of Ecbatana. (The cover shown here is a placeholder.) You can see more of Drew's work on Instagram.

The character illustrations you see here are by Olivia Ryan. Liv specializes in fantasy character art, and she's available for commissions. You can find Liv on Instagram, Ko-fi, and elsewhere online.

I (Charles) did the other graphics on this page, along with the cover design for The Mason of New Orleans (the latter with assistance from Olivia). I'll be doing the maps and other graphic elements for the upgraded edition of that book, plus The Angel of Ecbatana.

This campaign is part of Booktopia, a celebration of creativity and collaboration from a vibrant collective of writers, authors and artists collectively running crowdfunding projects from September 5th - September 26th.

Each of the 50+ Booktopia creators have paired up with a fellow participant to create two unique and limited freebies together. If both projects successfully fund, backers who support both will get the cross-collab freebies from each (so that's TWO freebies), as listed on their campaign page. One will ship from each creator. The more pairs of Booktopia creators you support, the more freebies you will earn.

I've partnered with Steamboat Willie's Secret Diary. Back both of our projects and I'll send you, in digital format, an exclusive alternate opening chapter of The Mason of New Orleans. Martin's arrival in the 12th Century is astonishing to Martin—and perhaps just as much so to Madeleine and the other characters he suddenly appears in front of. You get Martin's point of view in the novel (and the downloadable preview, above), but this alternate chapter tells the tale from the perspective of Madeleine, Stephan, and Gaspard, maybe even revealing a bit of their fight with the self-styled sorcerer that preceded Martin's arrival. Get it for free—along with a digital poster for Steamboat Willie's Secret Diary—if you back both campaigns!

Plus, if you back five or more projects, you get a free Limited Edition Booktopia 2024 reward.