Hello everyone and welcome to my stop on the Escapist Book Tours virtual book tour for Tim Beeden’s Fantasy novel Envy! Today, I am so excited to kickoff the tour by sharing a guest post written by the author!
You can find the guest post from Tim Beeden below, along with all of the info about the book, the author, as well as links to purchase a copy of Envy for yourself! We’re also thrilled to be hosting a giveaway for the duration of the tour where a couple of lucky folks have the chance to win eBook copies of both Envy and its predecessor Greed OR a paperback copy of Envy! Also, be sure to take a look at the schedule at the bottom of the post (or check out the official tour page here) and follow along to see the stops from our other awesome hosts!
Book Information:
Envy by Tim Beeden
Series: Seven Deadly and Four Novels
Genre: Fantasy
Intended Age Group: Adult
Pages: 293
Published: May 9, 2022
Publisher: Self Published
Blurb
When Charlie Lightfoot plays his fiddle, people listen.
More importantly, they pay.
It could be that music is Charlie’s way out of a tough life on the Backstreets of Calver.
There are, however, plenty of people who are only too happy for Charlie to stay exactly where he is. Not only that, they’ll do whatever they can to keep him there.
But when Charlie decides to take his future in his own hands, he realises just how far-reaching the hands of others can be.
A story about always keeping your eye on someone else’s blessings.
“Envy is a Seven Deadly and Four novel set in and around the notorious city built on a hill – Calver. Once within the city’s great walls, you’ll encounter such luminaries as Auntie, Drunk Morgan, Mr Lunk, Blind Watch ‘em, as well as Charlie Lightfoot and his friends. Just remember to watch your step, keep your wits about and carry something pointy.”
The Seven Deadly and Four books have been described as “ideal for fans of Douglas Adams and Terry Pratchett.”
See Also:
Green is the Colour • A Journey Where You Don’t Stop Believin’ • Travellin’ Band
Book Links:
Amazon Universal Link: https://www.azonlinks.com/bc/2ZJPR
Author Direct: https://www.sevendeadlyandfour.com/shop
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/60767862-envy
Seven Deadly and Four – What’s That All About?
I’ve been asked by the wonderful folks over at Escapist Tours to put together a guest post.
They suggested I talk about my books, which is great and I can definitely do that (scroll down for that waffly-descriptive goodness).
But I wanted to give you as much as possible upfront. That way you can decide if you want to read on. So, in a somewhat random, yet hopefully interesting fashion:
| Films that have influenced my writing | Where are your books set (aka Worldbuilding)? | Characters – my writing is character-driven. For me, characters are everything. | Food that has inspired my writing* *actually, just consumed whilst writing. |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Princess Bride Shaun of the Dead Blazing Saddles Beetlejuice The Goonies Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid The Big Lebowski Young Frankenstein Duck Soup The Jerk | Calver and the surrounding Kingdom. Calver is a massive city, clinging to the side of a huge hill. It’s split into three sections (Upper, Middle & Lower) by three immense walls. Within Lower Calver, you’ll also find the Backstreets. | Greg & Ralph Hoffenbach Charlie Lightfoot Marvin, Mr Lunk, Ticker the Vengeful, Auntie, Eve Manslayer, Evangeline the Blue, Dodge, Art Rosebud, Drunk Morgan and many, many more. | Donuts Custard Creams Strong Coffee Builder’s Tea My wife’s baking Pickled Onion Monster Munch |
You’ll notice one valuable omission from the table above. No, not Reece’s Pieces. There’s no mention of books. That’s deliberate.
Because it’s simply impossible to pick just a few books which in some way or another led to me starting this journey. They all did.
Specifically if they contained two things above all else: interesting characters and a story with a soul.
People may say lots of things about my books (and they have – a bit harsh, mum) but one thing they’ll never accuse my books of lacking is interesting characters and a story with a soul.
This is where everything began for me. I wanted a world chock-full of the weird and the wonderful. Rich, poor and everything in between. But I wanted it to echo worlds already known, mainly ours. Which is why, for me and me alone (because if you can’t please yourself when writing, it’s time to bring in the ghost writers), I made the decision to stick to the lighter side of fantasy. I built a medieval-esque world. And I plonked a host of weird and wonderful characters in there and left them to it. In a way, it was my own slightly weird version of Medieval Sims. Every so often I check in on them just to make sure no one’s got too out of hand.
You won’t find magic, non-human characters or mythical creatures in my books. This is fine because there are plenty of authors far, far better than me at writing those kinds of books (looking at you Will Wight, Ryan Cahill, LL MacRae, and Krystle Matar to name but a few of the phenomenal authors I’ve read recently).
If you want humour and humanity, if you want characters that remind you of those found in Saturday afternoon films, if you want a slice of life featuring the downtrodden but unbent and if you want a place where people do what people do (fall out, laugh, cry, annoy each other, try to overthrow the King for their own personal gain, build war machines and then kick each other in the dangleberries), then my books might be for you.
Or not.
Either way is absolutely fine with me. Truly.
Because, and this is the wonderful thing, there are so many books out there that I’m sure you’ll find your next great read soon. And a world with readers in it is a place I want to be.
Happy reading.
Tim.
Carry on reading for the waffly-descriptive goodness, as promised earlier:
My books take place within the Seven Deadly and Four world. For those wondering, I’m talking about the seven deadly sins: greed, envy, wrath, pride, lust, gluttony and wearing sandals with socks (just kidding, it’s sloth). The four last things are death, judgement, heaven and hell.
I took this idea from a painting by Hieronymus Bosch and it’s well worth a look if you like your art medieval, vivid and nightmare-inducing.
Each of my books are named after one of the sins and last things. I’ve written two out of the eleven (Greed and Envy) with the third, Wrath, about halfway done so far.
Each novel in the world is a complete, standalone book, although a few familiar faces do cross over. This means you can read them in any order and that, to me, made perfect sense.
Greed starts in the Kingdom and moves into Calver, Envy starts in Calver and moves out into the Kingdom and Wrath will be set way before the Kingdom or Calver existed.
The reason for doing things this way was because in creating the Seven Deadly and Four world, I wanted something that was uniquely mine. And different. Each book has a different slant and that way, I get to challenge myself to deal with different themes.
Greed deals with themes such as finding out what’s truly important in life. It deals with human relationships, the part wealth pays in our notion of happiness and what noise a hay salesman makes when he hits the ground after a spy’s thrown him through a window.
Envy deals with music and its transformative powers as well as the corruptive nature of ingrained privilege. It looks at friendship, what belonging means and if the social ladder is greased from the outset. It also introduces the phrase ‘stabby-stabby, leaky holes time’.
The Seven Deadly and Four World. Come and join us. Just make sure you’re carrying something pointy.
About the Author
Tim Beeden is someone who likes to make things up. Things like stories, ideas and friends. He’s lived a varied life, has had thirteen different jobs and will one day work out what he wants to do (aside from living in a cabin in the woods of Denmark). He loves to travel and is utterly convinced he’s part Viking (much to his wife’s continual annoyance).
His Seven Deadly and Four books will (eventually) consist of eleven books, each one named after one of the seven deadly sins and four last things. To date, he’s written Greed (a story about two hapless brothers, a precious stone and a host of characters who have worked out what’s important in life and are now trying to take it from someone else) and his latest book, Envy.
He’s married with one child and has a dog whose ears are too big and legs are too short.Author Website: www.sevendeadlyandfour.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/beedendoesbooks
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/beedendoesbooks/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/beedendoesbooks
Giveaway
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