Good morning and welcome to The Morning Edit. Today I’m joined by Lee Patton, fiction editor at The Arcanist and author of A Valley of Shadow, a modern reimagining of classic sword and sorcery.

We dive into the heart of the sword and sorcery genre and ask: does it have literary value beyond swords, violence, and adventure? How can internal struggle enhance the external narrative often found in these stories? And how can the genre be modernized for today’s readers?

As an avid student of sword and sorcery, Lee Patton shares why this genre still matters in 2025 and how authors can revive it for a new generation.

If you’re a fan of Robert E. Howard, Conan the Barbarian, Fritz Leiber, or Michael Moorcock, you won’t want to miss this conversation.

Pre-Order "A Valley of Shadow" by Lee Patton: https://thearcanist.net/novels/avos.html

Follow my Kickstarter: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/thearcanistsrefuge/novels-of-dusk-and-dawn

Pre-Order A Valley of Shadow: https://store.thearcanist.net

Good morning, and welcome to the Morning Edit. This week I'm joined by fantasy author, Lee Patton (A Valley of Shadow). Today we're talking about of our shared experiences studying Literary Theories, such as Formalism, New Historicism, Psychoanalysis, and Post-Modernism and how these things inform our understanding of story as writers.

Follow Novels of Dusk and Dawn on Kickstarter: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/thearcanistsrefuge/novels-of-dusk-and-dawn

Good morning, and welcome to the Morning Edit. Today, I'm discussing my thoughts about finishing Ashen Rider, the third novel I've written and the first I'll be publishing. I discuss the novel's themes and their relation to my life as well as the state of the publishing industry, and why indie was the clear path for a book like this.