Today is release for Book III Kings of Lore and Legend. Unfortunately, this is a true series and I really need you to read Books I & II first. You can’t drop in here at this book, pick it up and really know what’s going on. Sure there is a synopsis of what has gone before, but you won’t be able to see the growth Farrell made; how much of an impact Miceral has on that development; the magic might not make sense, etc. To make it easier for you to get started on the series, I’m giving away a free copy of Book I – The Last Grand Master to everyone who wants a copy. You can get a copy by signing up for my mailing list, or you can download it free from DSP Publications. I’d recommend signing up for the mailing list. (Of course I would, but listen to why you should be your click the DSP Publications link.) In addition to monthly updates, I’ll be sharing a slew of “lost” scenes that were cut during the revision period. I also hold gift card giveaways every couple of months just for reading the newsletter.
Plus, DSP Publications has reduced the price of Book II The Eye and the Arm to .99 cents through May 1st. For more details check out the links below:
Book two, The Eye and the Arm, is now just .99 cents. The sale is only until May 1, 2016.
Blurb:
Dumbarten should have been the end of Farrell’s efforts to find his distant ancestor Kel, but the Six have other plans. Farrell is told to continue his search for answers in Agloth, the temple city to Seritia. Forced by the Goddess to ride across the vast continent of Lourdria, Farrell and his companion learn that Meglar’s reach extends well beyond the borders of Ardus. And Agloth, despite being dedicated to the Goddess of Love, is also home to a millennia-old curse that Farrell must end if he wants to complete his task.
Answers don’t come easily, and Farrell determines he must travel to the Dwarf Kingdom of Colograd to continue his quest. When an ally of Meglar’s threatens Agloth, Farrell cuts short his time in Colograd and rushes back to defend Seritia’s home. The attack seems doomed to fail, but the death of one of his companions distracts Farrell at a critical moment. Battling against his crushing grief, Farrell struggles to save Agloth, his friends, and himself. And even if he survives, he still hasn’t found Kel or his answers.
First let me say to all authors, if you want to work with the best, submit to DSP Publications and Dreamspinner Press. Everyone loves their publishers and honestly, you should. But this is special. In the world of writing, I’m still relatively new—just don’t tell them that. They treat me like royalty and always have.
Now, I can hear the skeptics out there; “anyone can say their publisher is good, tell me why.” I’m glad you asked. One of the so called pro’s of self-publishing is the ability to give away your first book or cut the price of another to build readers. I wanted to do both with the first two books of the Champion of the Gods series. Having a publisher, I can’t do that. But they can—and they did!
So, as you’ve seen in my previous post, I’m going to do a monthly update email group and as an incentive for people to join, I’m giving away a copy of The Last Grand Master for free to anyone who signs up.
(⇓If you missed it, click the link below⇓)
And, if that wasn’t enough, they’ve agreed to cut the price of Book 2 – The Eye and the Arm, to encourage folks who’ve read The Last Grand Master to buy book two. I don’t know how long it will last, so get it while it’s only $3.99.
(⇓ Click the Banner Below ⇓ For Where To Buy Links ⇓)
Kings of Lore and Legend, Book three of Champion of the Gods is done. Now to submit it and hope DSP Publications accepts it.
In King of Lore and Legend, Farrell and Miceral are going to endless Lourdria in pursuit of the Gifts of the Gods and hopefully more information on Kel. Their travels will take them to the center of the continent to Agloth, city of the Goddess of Love.
One of the things I’ve really not done much with is highlight the ‘beings’ of Nendor. Unicorns and Peregrines are not horses and birds in my world. They are highly intelligent beings who are favored of the gods. Not are they intelligent, they have their own ruling class and their own society. Although Miceral and his people—the Muchari—are charged with protecting and taking care of the Peregrine and Unicorns, neither group needs the Muchari. In KOLAL we’re going to spend more time—a lot more time—with both.
As the beginning of The Eye and the Arm hinted at, the dwarves of Nendor will have a prominent roll in the coming war. Since the dwarves of Trellham were tricked into starting the first war between the gods, it is fitting that the dwarves have a hand in the second war. In KOLAL, Farrell, Miceral, Nerti and Klissmor are going to Colograd, the ‘youngest’ of the three dwarf nations. By virtue of his ending the war and saving what was left of Trellham’s dwarves, Kel had close ties with the other dwarf nations. As Kel’s heir, Farrell is going to inherit some of that relationship. He’s going to learn more about dwarfish culture and his roll in their society.
Peregrines might be my favorite beings on Nendor. Although I’ve not done much with them, we’ll see more of them in the coming books. They won’t have the same prominence as unicorns because Nerti and Klissmor are closer to Farrell and Miceral, but Peregrines a favorite of mine. Rothdin, Farrell’s adoptive father, showed some of his mettle near the end of The Eye and the Arm. His wisdom and strength will be called upon later in the series, but in Kings of Lore and Legend, Grohl and Takala, Farrell’s adoptive brothers, will get a larger look.
If you’re new to the Champion of the Gods series, start with The Last Grand Master. Click the banner to be taken to the book page where you’ll find information about the book, reviews and buy links:
If you’re interested in more information about the series, check out Book Two: The Eye and the Arm:
It’s finally release day. The Eye and the Arm has been a work in progress for a while. When I submitted book one in…wait, really? No way…yep way back in the Summer of 2012, I absolutely expected I’d have the next book released six months later and then a new one every six months until the series was finished. After all, the entire series is written in rough draft, how hard could it be to get them out like clockwork? Yeah, we see how that worked out.
For different reasons, none of which matter anymore, it took considerably longer to get book two out. The good news is Book Three—Kings of Lore and Legend is on schedule for a March ’16 release. And I’m very hopeful that the rest of the series will follow on schedule.
If you’ve not read Book One, The Last Grand Master, it’s still on sale for .99 cent but not for much longer, so get started now.
ABOUT THE BOOK
Title: The Eye And The Arm
Series: Champion of the Gods Book 2
BLURB:
After defeating Meglar at Belsport, Farrell returns to Haven to recover from his injuries, but Khron, the god of war, has other ideas. He gives Farrell a new mission: free the survivors of the ancient dwarf realm of Trellham from their three-thousand-year banishment. To fulfill Khron’s near impossible task, Farrell will need the help of his distance ancestor, the legendary wizard Kel. But Kel has been dead for a thousand years.
Farrell finds information hinting that Kel is alive, so he moves his search to Dumbarten, Kel’s birthplace. To reach Dumbarten unannounced, Farrell and Miceral disguise themselves as mercenaries on board a merchant vessel. Their journey is disrupted when pirates attack their ship. While attempting to subdue the attack, Farrell is struck down by one of Meglar’s minions.
Unconscious and trapped in his own mind, Farrell’s only chance for survival rests with Miceral and the peregrine king Rothdin entering his thoughts and helping him sort fact from illusion. To reach Farrell, they will need to rely on an untested spell from one of Kel’s spellbooks. If they succeed, Miceral can guide Farrell home safely. If not, Farrell will destroy not only himself, but Miceral, Rothdin, and everyone around him.
DSP Publications
Length: 99,775 words/296 Pages
Release Date: April 14, 2015
Check out the Video Trailer:
EXCERPT:
“Relax, my friend.” Klissmor’s voice calmed Miceral’s growing anxiety. “You won’t feel my presence.”
Miceral took a deep breath. “Will I be able to hear?”
“Every word. Ready?”
“No, but let’s do it.” He took a deep breath and closed his eyes.
“I need your eyes open for everyone to see.”
He snapped his lids open, blinking several times before could focus again. “Sorry.”
“Master Teberus.” Miceral knew the words came from him, but as promised, he didn’t feel anything. “I have Masters Erstad and Wesfazial as well as Wizard-Priestess Glendora. Ask your questions to Miceral and we four will also hear you.”
“Astounding.” The elder Arlefor glanced at the high priestess. “All four at once?”
“Wizard.” Miceral had heard that tone enough to know Klissmor’s mood. “Maintaining this link, this far away with this many minds, is a strain. If we are to save Farrell, you must focus on him.”
“Of course. My apologies.” Teberus bowed deeply. “My examination of the one who did this to Farrell confirmed that he is no wizard.”
“Then how in the eight gates of Neblor did that man defeat Farrell?” Even though Teberus couldn’t know, Miceral recognized the voice as Wesfazial’s.
“The obvious answer is the correct one. A wizard gave this man the weapon.”
“But Farrell could defeat all four of us and all the other wizards you brought with you and not be tested.” Erstad’s steady temperament sounded tested. “No weapon used by a nonwizard should be capable of this.”
Teberus raised the crest of his hairless eyebrow. “But since that is what happened, we must use it as the basis of our search for a cure.”
No one answered. As the silence dragged on, Miceral’s anxiety slowly returned. If Haven’s senior wizards didn’t know what to do, who could?
“Tell us what happened.” Erstad’s request almost didn’t register with Miceral.
“No,” Klissmor said. “Show them. Let them see the memory.”
Miceral closed his eyes and focused on reliving the attack. The clarity of the image caused his chest to tighten, making it hard to breathe. He knew the result, but watching it again, almost in slow motion, added to his agony.
When the image played over again, he realized Klissmor must have been guiding his thoughts.
“My apologies, old friend—the need is great.” Klissmor’s voice didn’t interrupt the stream of images.
“Do whatever you need. Just find a way to save Farrell.”
“Your friends are doing all they can. Have faith that Lenore will send us what we need.”
When the memory started for the third time, he didn’t find any comfort in Klissmor’s assertion. The Six wouldn’t—couldn’t—help. He needed something that didn’t exist—a great wizard like Heminaltose or Kel.
“In theory, I recognize the magic.” Erstad sounded confused. “But I’ll need to find a reference to be sure.”
“What about Farrell?” He knew he shouted, or at least what Farrell told him passed for shouting, but he couldn’t prevent it. “He could be dead before you find that.”
“It can’t be helped, Miceral. I need to be sure before I suggest a counterspell. If I’m wrong, whatever I try might kill him.”
“He is in no immediate danger.” Teberus put his hand on Farrell’s forehead. “But my fear is the number of spells that draw on him for power. I can only give him but so much. If he doesn’t wake, his body will burn out.”
“Do what you can, Master Teberus. We’ll begin searching immediately and contact you when we find the answer.” When Erstad stopped speaking, Klissmor’s presence left with him.
For those who don’t own it (or who want a copy with the new cover art) The Last Grand Masteris on sale now through the release of Book 2 – The Eye and the Arm on April 14, 2015.
Also – you can now pre-order The Eye and the Armfrom all your favorite places.
As most who follow my blog know, The Eye and the Arm—Book two in the Champion of the Gods Series—is being released on April 14, 2015. It’s now on the DSP Publications Coming Soon Page and I’ve got the cover art to prove it. 😀 You can pre-order it here:
These Works In Progress (WIP – not to be confused with Wayward Ink Publishing’s WIP) updates are always a bugger for me. I have such good intentions, but never seem to have the time to finish anything.
BUT – this time I have some news without hopes or best intentions. This time, I actually have completed stories to announce. (Shocking, yes I know.)
So After many months of start and stop, of rewriting while trying to keep the story intact, I’ve finished the rough draft of Book 2 – The Eye And The Arm.Those who’ve followed my blog know I struggled with this. Not because I didn’t have the story set, but because I had to make the story fit within a word limit. I’m having second thoughts now. Overall, I feel the Champions series is good – dare I say very good, though I know the hubris of saying that. My issue is I wanted it to be a bit more epic.
Nendor has three main continents – Ardus, Laudria & Erd. My goal was to make each book a journey that took the reader to each continent and back and than in Book 4 I’d wrap things up. The 100-120K word limit left me two choices: abandon the 4 book model in favor of more books or abandon the original series and try to create a new, scaled down story that would fit in the 4 book model.
Originally I decided to go with the former – preserve the overall story by breaking things into more, but shorter books. That sound great in theory, but the issue has been conflict, tension and keeping the readers attention. My original book 2 would have been about four times longer than the current book. With revisions and eliminating things that aren’t essential, The Eye And The Arm would probably be about three times longer – give or take 20-30 words. The first third set up the rest. Cutting it down to the first third didn’t make sense because it was all set up and no conflict/tension – or not enough to justify a book.
Re-writing the story required a major rewrite, I might as well have written a whole new book. That has been the labor of the last ten months. (Of course I also published Purpose, finished NaNoWriMo, wrote a couple other things when I needed a break, joined the Wednesday Brief Flashers group – oh yeah, and I got married and helped raise our daughter.)
The next step is to do a quick self-edit and send it to a few people who’ve agreed to read it and give me their honest opinion. Once I get that back, I’ll know where to go next.
In the meantime, I plan to work on another of the many projects I’ve been wanting to write. Stay tuned – details to follow. 🙂
This is my blog’s 200th post. I wish I had something stupendous to announce, or wildly entertaining. Instead I figured I’d use it to do what I had planned to do today all along – post an update. Boring? Perhaps, but I try to make it mildly interesting if I can.
When I started this site/blog, it was meant to promote my first book and the others that would hopefully follow. I had no idea what that really meant – even if at the time I thought I had it all figured out. In the 199 posts that preceded this one, I learned a few things that I hope will make the next 200 better.
I’ve almost finished Book Two of Champions – well the rough draft. I hope to have this finished by mid December and submit it and see what happens. Hopefully by next month’s update I’ll know for sure when I plan to submit it.
Right now it’s NaNoWriMo and I’m taking a stab at successfully doing it. I’m writing a story I’ve titled Harp Strings. This is a contemporary story so it’s a bit of a new genre for me. Although I wrote Second Shot and Bettor To Lose, neither of those were submitted for publication. This one will be – hopefully it will get picked up. I’ve posted the rough draft of the first chapter if anyone wants to take a peek and let me know their thoughts.
Also, because this is post 200 and I promised something mildly interesting, I’ve also posted the first chapter of two other stories I’ve started – typically if I have a new idea that needs to be written, I’ll take a break from what I’m doing and write as much as I can of the new story. Some get more than others. But here are two that I’ve started:
I’m quite sure how much to write about the plot – I don’t want to give too much away so I’d want to think about it a bit more before writing too much. The basis of this is there are Angels living among us and we don’t know. The story revolves around Nick Fenton who is not all that lucky at love. He blames part of it on having a totally hot best friend/roommate who always seems to be the center of attention. But things are never as they seem including Nick’s lack of a love life.
I’ll be honest, in some ways, this is the story I most want to write. But it is also another series and I really need to finish Champions before I start a new one. Dlgen get’s it name from the warriors graced by the gods with special talent. There are 5 levels of Dlgen, and I planned to have 5 books each one following Harlan as he progresses through the ranks.
Harlan is 18 when the book starts, his father – Telg is the only living Dlgen of the fifth order. Telg adopts Harlan after he comes upon Harlan being attacked by the other boys in his village. Harlan has been disowned by his family and cast out. But Telg saw something special in Harlan and claimed him as his own son.
Harlan is indeed special. The gods have chosen Harlan and Stefrem, a prince of Gillum, as the ones to protect the world from a return on an ancient evil. But first these two need to figure out that they don’t hate each other.
My plan is to finish NaNoWriMo and then finish Champions – book two. The rest of Champions is written – in rough draft form – so I hope to get all those books out in rapid succession after book two. Once that is over, I have to decide what to focus on next.
So here’s a quick Poll – what should I focus on after I finish The Eye And The Arm; Book Two of Champion of the Gods? Please vote and leave comments if you like.
Dumbarten should have been the end of Farrell’s efforts to find his distant ancestor Kel, but the Six have other plans. Farrell is told to continue his search for answers in Agloth, the temple city to Seritia. Forced by the Goddess to ride across the vast continent of Lourdria, Farrell and his companion learn that Meglar’s reach extends well beyond the borders of Ardus. And Agloth, despite being dedicated to the Goddess of Love, is also home to a millennia-old curse that Farrell must end if he wants to complete his task.
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