J.M. Ney-Grimm

Biography

J.M. Ney-Grimm lives with her husband and children in Virginia, just east of the Blue Ridge Mountains. She's learning about permaculture gardening and debunking popular myths about food. The rest of the time she reads Robin McKinley, Diana Wynne Jones, and Lois McMaster Bujold, plays boardgames like Settlers of Catan, rears her twins, and writes stories set in her troll-infested North-lands. Look for her novels and novellas at your favorite bookstore—online or on Main Street.

Where to find J.M. Ney-Grimm online

Series

Blood Blade
A cursed sword slices down through the ages, bringing disaster to all who dare wield the blade...
Blood Falchion
Price: $1.99 USD.
Hunting Wild
Price: $3.99 USD.
Gael & Keir
On the hunt for a magical lodestone to augment Keir’s gift for healing, Gael and Keir must tackle and solve the dangerous mysteries plaguing each new stronghold they visit.
Kaunis Clan
The Hammarleeding people dwell in the high mountain valleys of my North-lands. They wield a tribal magic born of dance and song and the flow of sacred waters. Ritual and tradition hold a special place in Hammarleeding culture. Their rites are beautiful and uplifting, but they underpin a way of life that features many thou-shalt-nots. In each story of the Kaunis Clan Saga, one woman—or one man—challenges the shibboleths that threaten her—or his—particular bright dream.
Sarvet's Wanderyar
Price: $3.99 USD.
Crossing the Naiad
Price: $1.99 USD.
Livli's Gift
Price: $3.99 USD.
Winter Glory
Price: $3.99 USD.
Lodestone Tales
In the years that came before the ancient days of the North-lands, a brilliant inventor fabricated the lodestones—powerful artifacts that concentrate magical force. Men and women may walk the earth a short while, but the lodestones persist through centuries, even millennia. When they fall into the hands of mortals, history changes. Follow the lodestones down through the ages as adventure follows adventure, and ordinary folk rise to meet extraordinary challenges.
Skies of Navarys
Price: $3.99 USD.
Resonant Bronze
Price: $1.99 USD.
Rainbow's Lodestone
Price: $1.99 USD.
Star-drake
Price: $1.99 USD.

Books

The Hades Cycle
Price: $6.99 USD. Words: 66,930. Language: English. Published: March 17, 2024 . Categories: Fiction » Fairy tales, Fiction » Fantasy » Historical
The arrogant king of the underworld is stunned when the mountain nymph he steals to be his queen—a glorious creature of sun and breeze—repudiates him and threatens his throne.
Were It Only Exile as Promised
Price: $1.99 USD. Words: 4,900. Language: English. Published: September 7, 2023 . Categories: Fiction » Science fiction » Short stories, Fiction » Science fiction » Utopias & dystopias
IN A WORLD OF SILENCED VOICES, one champion vows her sister will not go unheard. Thania inhabits a far future in which digital goods and virtual reality substitute for physical products and experiences. Thania has always accepted the constraints of her culture, but when her beloved sister discovers real paints and canvas—banned as hazmat—Thania’s complaisance starts to crack.
The Smith and the Hermit
Price: $0.99 USD. Words: 6,330. Language: English. Published: November 7, 2022 . Categories: Fiction » Fairy tales, Fiction » Fantasy » Short stories
WITH THE HOT BREATH and snapping jaws of the hounds too close behind, he runs . . . Beran creates magical marvels at his forge. Obsessed with his art, he ignores the people of his household and town. When a corrupt and jealous rival falsely accuses the smith of a dangerous crime—and makes it stick—Beran lacks allies.
To Haunt the Daring Place
Price: $2.99 USD. Words: 15,640. Language: English. Published: October 6, 2022 . Categories: Fiction » Fantasy » Epic, Fiction » Fantasy » Short stories
HALF THE KEY to his escape beckons from cold solitude, the other half from hottest battle… Coehlin, a merchant-mage and sometime scholar, pursues the ordinary goal of recovering his fortune after the wars—with snatches of arcane reading on the side. When he follows his curiosity to a haunted vale, wielding philosophy and magic, Coehlin metamorphoses into a monster trapped in a cursed maze.
Right, Wrong, and Amazing
Price: $0.99 USD. Words: 4,610. Language: English. Published: October 5, 2022 . Categories: Fiction » Women's fiction » Chick lit
SOMETIMES THERE'S NO WAY to be right. Sometimes you simply show up and hope wrong is enough… Genevieve, mother to a teen, believes if she does everything right she can prevent life’s pain from touching either of them. But 15-year-old Kaitlyn—sullen, sulky, resentful—failed to get the memo. All the patience, humor, and active listening in the world aren’t worth spit when a teen refuses to talk.
Blood Falchion
Series: Blood Blade. Price: $1.99 USD. Words: 6,260. Language: English. Published: September 6, 2022 . Categories: Fiction » Fantasy » Epic, Fiction » Fantasy » Short stories
Young Caelan relishes the carefree days and friendships of boyhood despite his palsied limbs. He loves his aunt, the Lady Agace, who mothered him from infancy, and trusts his father, Lord Jekis, ruler of Castle Balazoron and proud to name Caelan as his heir. But when a cursed sword enters his father’s possession, eroding Lord Jekis’ sanity and prompting him to evil, Caelan’s world falls apart.
Read-Only Ash
Price: $0.99 USD. Words: 3,300. Language: English. Published: September 6, 2022 . Categories: Fiction » Science fiction » General, Fiction » Science fiction » Short stories
Uzuri, a new-minted astronomer on her first posting, can’t wait to observe the stars from deep space. But when she awakens unable to form or hold new memories, probing the mysteries of the universe must surrender to unravelling the mystery of her own loss.
Mythic Tales (Boxed Set)
Price: $9.99 USD. Words: 262,120. Language: English. Published: March 11, 2020 . Categories: Fiction » Young adult or teen » Fantasy, Fiction » Fantasy » Historical
Fantasy mixed with history—rich, ancient, and vivid. Three novels: CAUGHT IN AMBER—a girl without memories tangles with twisted Roman gods; BLOOD SILVER—a faie knight seeks to protect the bright mortal world from his dark faie king; and FATE'S DOOR—a sea nymph fights destiny to save her lover from shipwreck.
Tales of Old Giralliya
Price: $2.99 USD. Words: 16,340. Language: English. Published: January 13, 2020 . Categories: Fiction » Fairy tales, Fiction » Fantasy » Short stories
A troll-mage rains death upon the land from his citadel in the sky. Who—if anyone—can defeat him? Three ducal brothers fight for the rule of their duchy, crushing fields and hamlets under their chariot wheels. Can young Andraia, kidnapped from her village, bring the destructive struggle to an end? Adventure and magic in the tradition of THE RED FAIRY BOOK and the TALES OF THE BROTHERS GRIMM.
The Hunt of the Unicorn
Price: $2.99 USD. Words: 9,530. Language: English. Published: January 8, 2020 . Categories: Fiction » Fairy tales, Fiction » Fantasy » Short stories
He would be king one day, and called as king to be wise for his people. But wisdom—and kindness—no longer come to him. Brychan, princess in a corner of a Wales that never was, requires a unicorn’s horn to mend what is broken within him. Ancient fables speak of unicorn miracles, but if she finds the magical beast, will the powers of his horn prove to be living truth? Or lying legend?
Sovereign Night: A Fantasy Mystery Novel
Series: Gael & Keir. Price: $4.99 USD. Words: 96,330. Language: English. Published: January 2, 2020 . Categories: Fiction » Fantasy » Epic, Fiction » Fantasy » Historical
Something’s wrong in Hantida. Reavers comb the streets of the river city by night, crashing their gauntleted fists on a residence gate or a workshop door, and taking . . . a child, a grandmother, or some sleeping fool who thought himself safe. Gael and Keir—newly arrived in Hantida on a quest for healing—must penetrate the rotten core of secrets, intrigue, and conspiracy fueling the abductions.
Kaunis Clan Saga (Boxed Set)
Price: $9.99 USD. Words: 104,440. Language: English. Published: December 4, 2019 . Categories: Fiction » Young adult or teen » Fantasy, Fiction » Fantasy » General
The mountain people of the North-lands wield a tribal magic born of dance, song, and the flow of sacred waters. Despite the beauty of the rites, their traditions underpin too many thou-shalt-nots. In each story of the Kaunis Clan Saga, one woman—or one man—challenges the shibboleths that threaten her—or his—particular bright dream. A 3-book boxed set: Sarvet's Wanderyar, Livli's Gift, Winter Glory
Journey into Grief
Price: $8.99 USD. Words: 15,530. Language: English. Published: June 9, 2019 . Categories: Poetry » Themes & motifs » Death, Nonfiction » Biography » Autobiographies & Memoirs
In time, we all become men of sorrow, women of sorrow, people of sorrow. John Claypool echoed this truth in the preface to his book Tracks of a Fellow Struggler, and it is a bitter truth indeed. In the passing of youth, the loss of love or health, the flight of safety, the death of our beloved—sorrow comes. Only in companionship do we find solace. May you find it here.
Blood Silver
Price: $3.99 USD. Words: 42,570. Language: English. Published: July 10, 2018 . Categories: Fiction » Fairy tales, Fiction » Fantasy » Epic
In a mythical Ireland that never was, mortal villages perch all unknowing beside enchanted knolls. Beneath them dwell the cruel and capricious faie folk. Tahaern, a faie warrior by birth but not in spirit, eschews his vicious origins. Loving the bright world, he serves a mortal village as healer. But when the faie declare war upon their neighbors, Tahaern must again take up his sword...
The Tally Master: A Fantasy Mystery Novel
Series: Gael & Keir. Price: $4.99 USD. Words: 147,460. Language: English. Published: November 4, 2017 . Categories: Fiction » Fantasy » Epic, Fiction » Fantasy » Historical
(4.00 from 1 review)
Seven years ago, reeling from a curse in the wake of battle, Gael sought sanctuary and found it in a most perilous place. But the citadel of a troll warlord—haunt of the desperate and violent—proves a harsh refuge for a civilized mage. Set in the Bronze Age of J.M. Ney-Grimm’s North-lands, THE TALLY MASTER brings mystery and secrets to epic fantasy in a suspenseful tale of betrayal and redemption.
Fate's Door
Price: $4.99 USD. Words: 160,870. Language: English. Published: August 26, 2017 . Categories: Fiction » Fantasy » Historical, Fiction » Young adult or teen » Fantasy
Secrets, like troubles, come in threes. Nerine, a sea nymph of the ancient world, knows too much about both. Love and coming of age in a mythic Mediterranean where the gods and goddesses of old shape history.
Caught in Amber
Price: $4.99 USD. Words: 66,710. Language: English. Published: May 16, 2017 . Categories: Fiction » Fairy tales, Fiction » Young adult or teen » Fantasy
(5.00 from 1 review)
When young Fae awakens in a locked and deserted castle, she remembers nothing. Who she is, where she comes from, none of it. A mythic tale of family and betrayal told with all the twists and moments of sheer joy that J.M. Ney-Grimm brings to epic fantasy.
Winter Glory
Series: Kaunis Clan. Price: $3.99 USD. Words: 30,380. Language: English. Published: May 7, 2017 . Categories: Fiction » Fairy tales, Fiction » Fantasy » General
Caught in a cold and snow-shrouded wilderness, far from home, Ivvar confronts the woman he once cherished and an ancient scourge of the chilly woodlands in a complicated dance of love and death. Ivvar’s second chance at happiness—and his life—hang in the balance.
Hunting Wild
Series: Blood Blade. Price: $3.99 USD. Words: 22,790. Language: English. Published: March 23, 2017 . Categories: Fiction » Fantasy » Epic, Fiction » Young adult or teen » Fantasy
Young Remeya worships the forbidden horned god. A worship made taboo half a millennium ago. Performed still in secret by a few. Quietly tolerated by the king. Epic fantasy in which old beliefs and old loyalties clash with hidden magic in the Middle Ages of J.M. Ney-Grimm’s god-touched North-lands.
Serpent's Foe
Price: $1.99 USD. Words: 8,480. Language: English. Published: February 27, 2016 . Categories: Fiction » Fantasy » Epic, Fiction » Fantasy » Historical
Once she stalked the duat by Ra's side, carrying his light in her eyes and battling the monsters that assailed them. Now, tormented by confusion and her own fury, she longs to regain the unique powers which - inexplicably - elude her in captivity. In this mythic tale of pride and revelation, a fight beyond death delivers one last chance at redemption.
A Knot of Trolls
Price: $6.99 USD. Words: 71,470. Language: English. Published: February 19, 2014 . Categories: Fiction » Fairy tales, Fiction » Fantasy » Short stories
North-lands spellcasters who reach too boldly for power transform into trolls - grotesque villains wielding a potent magic and destined for madness. A KNOT OF TROLLS features seven of these evildoers, each pursuing a unique design for troubling their neighbors. Across the ages of the world, ordinary youths must rise to the challenges laid down by trolls. Destiny and hope lie in the balance.
Devouring Light
Price: $3.99 USD. Words: 24,680. Language: English. Published: December 30, 2013 . Categories: Fiction » Fantasy » Epic, Fiction » Young adult or teen » Fantasy
Mercurio guards the planet Mercury with quirky devotion. He loves the oddball chunk of rock, with its illusion of retrograde motion, its out-of-sync orbit and spin. Almost as much as he loves playing pranks. Now the joke’s on him. In a solar system of mythology and clockwork fantasy, a tale of rising stakes unfolds with all the clever misdirection and teasing wordplay that Mercurio enjoys.
Resonant Bronze
Series: Lodestone Tales. Price: $1.99 USD. Words: 9,410. Language: English. Published: October 1, 2013 . Categories: Fiction » Young adult or teen » Fantasy, Fiction » Young adult or teen » Fairy Tales
The warriors of Torbellai brought back a prize in the night, and young Paitra wants to see it. Even hidden away in the armory, the artifact changed the whole mood of their mountain citadel from dread foreboding to hope. But the warlord hid the fighters' plunder for good reason. Forged by trolls and radiating magic, it presents grave risk to any who approach it. Will Paitra survive his curiosity?
Sarvet & Livli
Price: $6.99 USD. Words: 76,140. Language: English. Published: September 6, 2013 . Categories: Fiction » Young adult or teen » Fantasy, Fiction » Fairy tales
A cloistered world meets two world changers. When Sarvet’s culture hems her in, she pushes back. Her daughter, Livli, does likewise. SARVET & LIVLI is an omnibus containing both the novella SARVET'S WANDERYAR and the novel LIVLI'S GIFT in their entirety.
Crossing the Naiad
Series: Kaunis Clan. Price: $1.99 USD. Words: 6,440. Language: English. Published: August 18, 2013 . Categories: Fiction » Young adult or teen » Fairy Tales, Fiction » Fairy tales
Its truth forgotten in the mists of time, the old bridge harbors a lethal secret. Neither marble statues awakened for battle nor an ancient roadbed grown hungry, something darker and more primal haunts the stones and the wild river below. Kimmer knows the stories, but she doesn't know why the crumbling span feels so fraught with menace. Her way home lies across the ruin. Dare she take it?
Skies of Navarys
Series: Lodestone Tales. Price: $3.99 USD. Words: 21,620. Language: English. Published: July 26, 2013 . Categories: Fiction » Young adult or teen » Fantasy, Fiction » Fantasy » Epic
When a royal geomancer announces that a tidal wave threatens Navarys, Atlantis of the North-lands, every citizen springs to action. In the uproar, the aeromancer Palujon steals unique and magical lodestones. Mago vows to retrieve the artifacts. But his friend Liliyah questions Palujon’s motives. Why would a man of his stature break the law? Is he truly a rogue? Life and death hang on her answers.
Livli's Gift
Series: Kaunis Clan. Price: $3.99 USD. Words: 55,560. Language: English. Published: January 13, 2013 . Categories: Fiction » Fantasy » Epic, Fiction » Fantasy » Historical
Livli struggles with a secret she keeps from everyone, even her closest friends, and she must solve the problem at its heart before she’s discovered. Her answer lies in a half-remembered folk-tale from her childhood. Without that lost bit of magical lore, Livli stands to lose everything, including the most precious thing in her life: her son. With it . . . she stands a chance.
Perilous Chance
Price: $2.99 USD. Words: 12,430. Language: English. Published: December 21, 2012 . Categories: Fiction » Young adult or teen » Fairy Tales, Fiction » Fairy tales
Clary needs a miracle, but wonders rarely step forth to solve life's problems. While her mama lies wearily abed and her papa spends the day . . . elsewhere, Clary struggles. Then she visits a bramble-grown quarry. Hidden there, her miracle awaits: a miracle of razor-sharp talons, world-shaking magic, and ravenous hunger. When it cracks the egg, can Clary survive? Something wondrous this way comes!
Star-drake
Series: Lodestone Tales. Price: $1.99 USD. Words: 8,830. Language: English. Published: October 30, 2012 . Categories: Fiction » Fairy tales, Fiction » Fantasy » Epic
Gefnen-herald to Koschey the Deathless-hunts life. When the piercing scent of youth tingles his senses, Gefnen focuses his chase. The prey-a boy-lacks guardians strong enough to best a troll. But other seekers tilt chances in this game. Spirit of storm, poignant memories, and something more ancient than memory or wind shape looming tumult. Gefnen hunts victory, but a darker victory hunts him.
Rainbow's Lodestone
Series: Lodestone Tales. Price: $1.99 USD. Words: 8,820. Language: English. Published: July 21, 2012 . Categories: Fiction » Fairy tales, Fiction » Fantasy » Epic
A lost birthright and unending agony. On whim, the rainbow’s child falls to earth, where a cruel adversary takes advantage of her innocence. Can she reclaim her thunder-swept heavens? Must she dwindle and die? This transcendent short story of J.M. Ney-Grimm’s troll-ridden North-lands explores how inner freedom creates outer opportunities. Earth trumps heaven until ancient music plays.
Sarvet's Wanderyar
Series: Kaunis Clan. Price: $3.99 USD. Words: 21,620. Language: English. Published: March 5, 2012 . Categories: Fiction » Young adult or teen » Fantasy, Fiction » Fantasy » Epic
Running away leads right back home—or does it? Sarvet walks with a grinding limp, and her mountain culture keeps girls close to home. Worse, her mother emphasizes all the things Sarvet can't do. Can dreams—even big dreams—and inner certainty transform impossible barricades into a way out?
Troll-magic
Price: $4.99 USD. Words: 170,280. Language: English. Published: December 28, 2011 . Categories: Fiction » Young adult or teen » Fairy Tales, Fiction » Fairy tales
(4.50 from 2 reviews)
Prince Kellor, cursed by the troll-witch Mandine to live as a north-bear, wrestles with the challenges of his beast form. Pain wracks his body, and unpredictable rages blur his mind. His childhood friend Elle holds the key to his escape, but should he endanger her by seeking her help? A lyrical Beauty and the Beast tale, rife with shining glory, dark magnificence, and unexpected significance.
The Troll's Belt
Price: $2.99 USD. Words: 15,700. Language: English. Published: December 12, 2011 . Categories: Fiction » Young adult or teen » Fairy Tales, Fiction » Fairy tales
Young Brys Arnsson digs himself into trouble. Bad trouble. Tricked by a troll in J.M. Ney-Grimm’s richly imagined North-lands, Brys must dig himself and his best friend back out of danger. But that requires courage . . . and self-honesty. Traits Brys lacks at depth. A twist on a classic, THE TROLL'S BELT builds from humor-threaded conflict to white-knuckle suspense.

J.M. Ney-Grimm's tag cloud

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