G’day everyone!

Kanimbla is the culmination of a few things. I wanted to write a fantasy novel, but one that was set in a landscape reminiscent of the Australian outback rather than the forests of Europe. I also wanted to do away with the fluff; the characters would have to work for everything they achieved. Kanimbla is a tale of survival in a strange new land. They will struggle, they will hurt, and they will die.

The premise is simple enough; the Kanimbla and the King’s Fourth embark on a voyage to a faraway continent to open trade negotiations for the king. A cyclone forces the ship aground on the wrong side of a vast mountain range, leaving the crew to complete the mission on foot. What follows is a tale of survival and exploration as the crew battle the elements in this strange and unforgiving landscape.

There are four main characters in Kanimbla:

• Dale is the first the reader meets; he is a bit simple – proficient at his job and not much else, but he has a heart of gold and will have a go at anything. He’s a likeable chap, but a bit hopeless.
  

• Lydia is another hunter in the party; she’s a strong woman, more worldly than Dale, although she can be quite reserved until she gets to know somebody.
  

• Tanah is the second character the reader meets. He’s something of an enigma; he seems to know everybody and is very informed about the mission, although it’s uncertain what his job actually is on the ship. He doesn’t talk much about himself and his background is largely unknown, except that he spent some time in a penal colony.
  

• Finally there is Sergeant Rhyl, who is the second in command of the King’s Fourth Sword Company, and a Zealot.

Kanimbla is a finished manuscript, coming in at a healthy ~108,000 words. Would you like to read more? I’ll be posting new chapters as the book hits certain pre-order milestones.

I hope you all enjoy it.

I’m a father of three kids living in a little piece of paradise called Townsville, Australia. The weather here is perfect nine months of the year, and hotter than hell for the other three months. If we’re really lucky, winter might sneak in for a week or so (temperatures are still in the double digits).

Right now, I’m working as a security guard to pay my way through university. I’m studying a joint Bachelor of Education (Secondary English & History) and Bachelor of Art (English), and I’m in my final semester! (Yay!)

My background, however, is in construction and mining. I also spent around ten years in the Australian Army Reserves. Much of my writing is inspired by these life experiences.

In my "spare time" I facilitate a writing group called Emerge, which focuses on providing teenagers with a safe creative space to develop their talents as budding authors.

Kanimbla had a good run with Inkshares, reaching ~half the Quill publishing goal in the first few weeks, receiving Fantasy Syndicate backing, and sitting happily at #4 in the Launchpad competition.

However, with two months still left in the campaign and my biggest sources of backers still untapped (meaning success was highly probable), I chose to cancel the campaign.

There are a number of reasons for this, but the main reason is that Inkshares has very weak distribution power outside North America, and in the end I decided that the disadvantages related to this (as an Australian author) outweighed the advantages.

But never fear! Kanimbla is still going to be published, so if you have read the preview and are interested in purchasing a copy, please don’t hesitate to contact me.

Oh! And if you enjoyed Kanimbla, you can find short stories, poetry, and more of my work over at http://www.cshpicone.com

Cheers!
Chris Picone