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Merritt Daniel McDowell

@mdmcd.com

934 followers 628 following 77 posts

ink-stained wretch & nom de guerre of jayxwolf.bsky.social Song of the Scourgelands, Bladesmith & Brigand, Beneath the Shattered Gods & more tk. Inquiries: m @ mdmcd.com A drowned man carries no burdens, not even the heart of another—

Posts Replies Media

Merritt Daniel McDowell @mdmcd.com · 04/07/2026

A good evening with an old friend:

Extremely beat paperback stuffed with page tabs and pink post it notes

Attempting to close that book with so much paper in it

Why yes that extremely beat paperback is the one and only BRINGER OF THE SCOURGE with its heavy metal warrior princess and acid-green lettering

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Merritt Daniel McDowell @mdmcd.com · 20/06/2026

omg it's heeeeeeeeeeere

my copy of the SHATTER THE SUN anthology from neon hemlock and a delightful postcard with a very hunky barbarian librarian on it

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Merritt Daniel McDowell @mdmcd.com · 05/06/2026

Crunchy bits of newsy news if you follow on main, you may have already seen that BY THIEVESLIGHT finally has a cover! I am getting print proofs this coming week and I am Cautiously Excited! to be getting this out there very soon

cover art for BY THIEVESLIGHT featuring main characters Vencario and Ilwyn smirking at each other suggestively

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Merritt Daniel McDowell @mdmcd.com · 27/04/2026

My forthcoming "The Nature of the Sword" for Shatter the Sun is my first pro short story sale, and through the magic of my Little Treat protocol, i had cause to commission some fun art of those terrible fellows Ilwyn & Vencario! @jkasonetc.bsky.social captured their dynamic really well!!

Pencil sketch of Vencario Eratena by Jaxton Kimble; Vencario is a dark-haired fellow in a wide stance with a smirky expression on his face, doing a Knife Trick with his right hand and an i-dare-you gesture with the left; both wrists wrapped and with a cestus over the knuckles. His shirt is open at the front; the whole of him being rather cavalier.

Pencil sketch of Ilwyn M'gavn by Jaxton Kimble; Ilwyn is a broad-shouldered ginger fellow with his smithing gear on, and a similar amount of try-me in his gesture and expression, if slightly less overt than Vencario, still very certain he has the upper hand. Or hammer.

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Merritt Daniel McDowell @mdmcd.com · 31/12/2024

Last day to snag the ebook of my SPFBOX Semifinalist old school revival fantasy adventure Bringer of the Scourge at a discount! books2read.com/bringer

Cover art for Bringer of the Scourge featuring the demon-armored Vierrelyne du Talorr standing triumphant on an iridescent fog of war.

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Merritt Daniel McDowell @mdmcd.com · 10/12/2024

And, of course, if you think my old-school renaissance adventure fantasy might be your jam: books2read.com/bringer And I do have review copies available (digital only)

Trope map for Bringer of the Scourge features the cover art of a woman in Elizabethan beaded cauls and a lace collar and heavy ornate fantasy armor a la Warhammer on a shimmering fog of war background

The trope map reads:
The princess might be a monster
Dreadful prophetic dreams
Loathsome otherworldly creatures
Tough + badass older lady mentor
Dramatic escapes
Mysterious cultist on an equally mysterious mission
Demonic enchanted weaponry
Sometimes trauma is a bonding experience

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Merritt Daniel McDowell @mdmcd.com · 28/11/2024

Hey all!! The Indie Black Friday Sale is this Friday, & a certain old-school revival fantasy adventure is one of the 170 titles available for a buck! fantastic lineup including a ton of spfbo friends 💜 A huge thank you to @jamesldulin.bsky.social for hosting! www.jamesldulin.com/blackfridays...

Indie Black Friday Sale image featuring covers from 44 of the 170 books in the sale this year; the full list of books is available on the site linked in the post.

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Merritt Daniel McDowell @mdmcd.com · 24/11/2024

Authors, let's start a chain of posts of your FIRST published book! Quote-post the cover, a link, and three words about it! Here's mine! Bringer of the Scourge (2023) old-school adventure fantasy books2read.com/bringer

cover of M Daniel McDowell novel Bringer of the Scourge features warrior princess Vierrelyne du Talorr, dressed in heavy fantasy armor and wearing a diadem with an evil green gem. Her pose is heroic, holding a banner aloft and a giant broadsword in hand. She is standing in an eerie iridescent fog of war. the logotype of the title, in an ornate calligraphy, is the same eerie green as her gem.

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Merritt Daniel McDowell @mdmcd.com · 22/10/2024

Crown of the World Unbound, the third book in the Scourgelands sequence, is coming in summer 2025! 👑 To mend what is torn, she must first gather the pieces. Kharise gen Valuur once wandered the many lands of Derebor. Now she must don its shattered crown—or someone else will. 👑

An iridescent dark cover with glowing text that reads "Crown of the World Unbound" in a swirly calligraphy with "M Daniel McDowell", "Song of the Scourgelands: book 3", and "Full cover to be revealed" in bold type

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Merritt Daniel McDowell @mdmcd.com · 29/08/2024

I am still in somewhat startled disbelief that I am a #SPFBOX semifinalist! Honored, stunned, relieved, humbled... I'm veritably verklempt. I still have not gotten around to doing all the little things about it, but I am beside myself. 💜

Cover art for Bringer of the Scourge features Princess Vierrelyne in her cauls and lace collar contrasting her heavy demon armor

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Merritt Daniel McDowell @mdmcd.com · 31/01/2024

so, it turns out that I require the DIAMONDLIKE creation-pressure of an existing cover and a hard deadline to make myself do the thing HOWEVER Since I am hand-painting my cover and I'm extremely a specific type of person: we have A PLACEHOLDER THE SHEPHERD IN SHADOW: June 2024

On a black background, centered scrollwork modern blackletter calligraphy in white that reads: The Shepherd in Shadow

Below this, a centered nine-faceted gem icon in white followed by the text:

M. Daniel McDowell

FULL COVER TO BE REVEALED

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Merritt Daniel McDowell @mdmcd.com · 27/09/2023

oh right I have a book out this week!! two days ago even!! BRINGER OF THE SCOURGE is here!! Finally, after a summer of intense drafting and revisions and a little fancy footwork in the aesthetics. a.co/d/h74cWc8

card shows the cover art of Bringer of the Scourge with the text including the title and description "retro grimdark fantasy" with tags reading: prophecies & dark visions, shadow princes, enchanted weaponry, dramatic escapes, sacking a castle for fun & profit, sometimes trauma is a bonding experience, breaking the cycle of a cursed legacy, the princess is a monster in this one"

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Merritt Daniel McDowell @mdmcd.com · 09/09/2023

one of my fellow Derby contestants made me this really lovely Tropes and Themes meme image for my book! I love it! BRINGER OF THE SCOURGE will be available September 25th on all the usual platforms (and possibly some unusual ones)--D2D is giving me grief, but Amazon pre-order is up! a.co/d/7Xv005S

Image shows the cover of Bringer of the Scourge, a dark fantasy adventure novel with a cover that features a young woman in elizabethan cauls and lace collar wearing intense magical fantasy armor inclucing a crown with a wicked-looking eyelike green gem at its center.

the book is categorized as a "retro" grimdark and the image features trope arrows that say:

-enchanted weapons
-prophetic visions & dark dreams
-shadow princes
-enchanted weaponry
-sacking a castle for fun and profit
-dramatic escapes
-sometimes trauma is a bonding experience
-the princess is a monster in this one
-breaking the cycle of a cursed legacy

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