July 1, 2017 — in addition to being Canada Day — also marks the publication date of the very first Realmgard story: Fryte’s Gold.
Although I am a Canadian author, that was not, in fact, deliberate on my end…
I’ve since released an updated version of Fryte’s Gold in 2021. The content of the story is the same, but the cover and formatting are notably better.
Cover Art & Design of both by Joel Balkovec.
Although Fryte’s Gold is not currently available in bookstores, it can be read in its entirety (specifically the slightly revised 2021 version) right here —
— on realmgard.com!
Kat Darkstone knows to expect trouble. It happens when you’re Dunstana Darkstone’s big sister.
But when Dunstana and Kat stumble upon the long-lost hiding place of the legendary treasure of the equally-legendary Captain Fryte, they may be in for more trouble than Kat ever imagined. Even after a hundred years, Captain Fryte will not be easily parted from his treasure.
Copyright J.B. Norman
Revised & Updated 2021
Originally published 2017.
Chapter 1
“Dunstana is not a normal little girl.
Normal little girls don’t pretend to be reasonably successful pirates. But, then, strictly speaking, neither does Dunstana.
She is a reasonably successful pirate.”
Chapter 2
“Sometimes, it’s hard to have a pirate for a little sister. It has, on various occasions, led Kat to get stuck waist-deep in a swamp, covered in spiders, or chased by furious hogs. There was also that time she got bit by a spider while being chased by hogs through a swamp. She still isn’t entirely sure how that happened.”
Chapter 3
“She just knows that something horrible is waiting to horribly eat her.
A Dragon, probably. Or a Turboshark. Or a Dire Marmot. Or any number of other nasty things. As Kat and Dunstana make their way deeper and deeper into the cave, it gets darker and darker.
Kat is starting to worry that she’ll end up walking right into the Dragon’s mouth without knowing it.”
Chapter 4
“It is a distinct possibility, Kat decides, that this nasty fellow is the Powers’ chosen Right Honourable King of All Rats.
He certainly looks the part. The tuft of white fur on his head even looks like a crown.”
Chapter 5
“The Journals, Memoirs, Records, and Assorted Marginalia of Captain Jonathan Fryte, Esq., Having been Set Down in Writing by the Man Himself for Perpetuity, Volume 1.”
Chapter 6
Why does Captain Fryte hate her?
Chapter 7
“The room behind the doors is a large circle with a domed ceiling. A beam of light shines down through a circular opening in the middle of the dome, illuminating what could be called, without any exaggeration whatsoever, a mountain of gold.”
Chapter 8
“Where was he hiding a Dragon?”
Chapter 9
“And if you will turn your attention to the floor, you will see a fiery chasm.”
Chapter 10
“You can boast of being the first to ever claim any portion of Fryte’s gold.”
Chapter 11
“But if a Dragon tries to eat us again, you’re on your own.”
Epilogue
“Who’s Captain Fryte? Seriously, Ginger? I must have told you all about it at least a million times! Wait here.”
I’m in the process of rewriting and getting ready to publish a new, revised version of Fryte’s Gold that I expect will go live this summer, but I’m not planning on completely getting rid of the original version, which I’m thinking will continue to be available in some form.
Stay tuned for that.
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