J. P. Moore writes in southern New Jersey, where the spirits that drift through mossy wilderness inform his fiction. He thinks himself less a writer and more a dowser for the currents of mythology that run beneath everyday life. Moore pulls these to the surface, forcing his characters to make sense of the aftermath. Histories are lost or misunderstood. Futures are uncertain. All of the heroes are gone.

Only the unlikely heroes are left.

"Mr. Moore has a fine descriptive sense. He knows his world to the last cobblestone ... He has a flair for a well-turned phrase ... One Sold is a good read for those who enjoy fantasy placed in a well-drawn and detailed world."

Jeanette Cottrell, author of Sliding on Rainbows

   One Sold Cover

Dure is a city where dreams die, a dark and gritty mining settlement under the heel of the imperial Talarian League. The city walls draw a prison of fog on coastal cliffs around Elysa Ustanon, a prostitute who learns that she is the first of three prophesied Dreamers who will shatter the illusion of reality. Sea storms bring Rourke Artomey, a famed investigator and man of science running from his own illusions. Rourke works to end a rash of abductions that have plagued Dure but quickly finds himself staring down Elysa’s strange powers.

Elysa and Rourke are soon caught within a web of political and religious intrigue. Regional governors vie for the imperial throne. Merchants and burghers scheme, balancing conquered and rogue nations within a plot to control the trade of the known world. Religious schools compete to inherit a post-apocalyptic afterworld. All the while, a secret order of knights, keepers and shapers of the realm’s hidden history, works to insure that truth and magic are neither sold to the highest bidder nor stolen.



J. P. Moore reads his fiction and provides exclusive commentary in the Fiction and Other Dark Matter Podcast. Click on the links below to listen to a recent episode, or subscribe to the podcast using iTunes or other pod-catching software. Point your podcatcher to: http://feeds.feedburner.com/JPMoore

Episode 3: "Abramov's Riddle"

Pavel Abramov stumbles upon the find of his career. The narrator is jealous. This short story first appeared in the Spring, 1994 issue of The New Jersey Review. Portions of Devin Anderson's "The Mutiny," downloaded from Podsafe Audio, set the tone.

Click here to listen to this episode.

Episode 2: Commentary on "Useful Visions"

J. P. Moore discusses the story, his inspirations and other drivel as he drives the New Jersey Turnpike.

Click here to listen to this episode.