Looking for news about Galen Beckett and the Mrs. Quent novels? Hoping to learn what Mark Anthony has been up to since penning The Last Rune Series? Puzzled by this odd new web site you’ve stumbled upon? Don’t worry–you’re not lost (well, at least not yet). This is indeed the new home for both authors.

     

Why one site for two writers, you ask? Well, I think it’s time for a few introductions. In case you weren’t privy to the fact, Galen Beckett is an alter ego of fantasy author Mark Anthony. After handing in the first Mrs. Quent book, my publisher felt it was different enough from The Last Rune novels to warrant a new identity. And while it’s true the setting and tone are distinct, in retrospect it’s interesting how similar the two series really are.

For one thing, witches figure very importantly in both. In The Last Rune series, Dr. Grace Beckett learns to shape the natural energy that flows between all living things—a force called the Weirding. Similarly, in the Mrs. Quent novels, Ivy Quent learns to direct the power of the trees in the ancient, semi-sentient groves of Wyrdwood. “Weird” is simply the modern equivalent of the Old English term “wyrd”, which loosely means fate or destiny—or the ability to shape these things.

Given the common origin of the Weirding and the Wyrdwood, and the fact that both series are now complete, it seemed like a good time to gather all of my books into one place. If you’ve read the Mrs. Quent novels, you may be interested in journeying to Eldh through the books of The Last Rune. Or the opposite may be true. If so, use these pages to explore each series. And no matter which world you journey to, I hope you enjoy getting lost in the Wrydwood….

It’s been over thirteen years now since Beyond the Pale came out, starting off The Last Rune, and eight since the series concluded in The First Stone. The years have been going so fast I’d swear someone has been toying with the rune of time. (That wasn’t you, was it, Master Larad?)

     

The print versions of the books are getting a little harder to find now (unless you peruse the shelves at a used bookstore, of course). But the good news is that all six books are now available in ebook format. Which means that, if you’d like to return to the mystical world of Eldh (or wish to venture there for the first time), you don’t have to step through a magical billboard like Travis, or get lost in a snowy forest and hope for a knight to find you like Grace. Instead, you can simply download the ebook from all of the most popular ebook stores.

For more about the series, check out The Last Rune page. And I’ll be sure to look for you the next time I’m at King Kel’s hall. (You’ll be at the king’s table, I’m sure, not rolling around the floor with the dogs and the wild men. At least I hope so!)

It’s been nearly eight years to the day since the first inklings of the idea of a primal and sentient forest—that is, the Wyrdwood—came to me. In the time since I made two faltering attempts at trying to write a story about it, including one which was set when Mr. Quent was a young man and Lady Shayde still a girl named Ashaydea, before I came upon the story that would grow into The Magicians and Mrs. Quent.

The House on Durrow Street followed after considerable labor. Happily, The Master of Heathcrest Hall flowed a bit more easily from the pen (or fingertips). I’ve now travelled with Ivy through magickal doors, across the windswept moorland, to make one last visit to Heathcrest Hall, there to uncover the awful secret, lost in the mists of time, that lies at the very foundation of society in Altania. And what does Ivy do with such dreadful and powerful knowledge?

Well, I hope you’re curious to find out. If so, there’s no longer any need to wait and wonder, as The Master of Heathcrest Hall has now arrived on bookshelves, both real and electronic. If you seek out a copy, I hope you’ll let me know what you think. And in the meantime, thank you for coming along with Ivy, and with me, on this illusory journey.

Read an excerpt | Get a copy (book or ebook)