Saturday update time, a bit later than usual due to helping my roommates move.

As of now we're at 274 followers and 78 orders, which means two thresholds hit(and a 3rd so close to being hit) and 2 more sections of chapter 6 as a result. The next threshold is 290 followers and every 20 after, and/or at 80 orders and every 10 after.  In addition to that at 100 orders all remaining sections of chapter 6 as well as chapter 2.1 of book 2 (Exile, Hunted) will be posted, at 150 orders chapter 7 of Exile, Magus and chapter 2.2 of Exile, Hunted, at 200 orders chapter 8 or Exile, Magus and chapter 2.3 of Exile, Hunted, and as soon as we reach 250 orders I'll posted chapter 9 of Exile, Magus and chapter 2.4 of Exile, Hunted.

After reaching 250 orders all further thresholds will result in me posting more sections of Exile, Hunted, though the cutoff will be the end of Chapter 3 for it. I will warn anyone not wanting spoilers to not read Exile, Hunted yet, because it does have quite a few spoilers in regards to Exile, Magus. 

The two sections of Chapter 6 that I'll be posting up today jump fully into the raid on the slavers' camp now that the introduction to the slavers' leader, Turideas Caldus, has been made. Of course we'll be seeing Buscidia and Pentaz in action, but I'm even more excited for you to see Quelzhumi, D'naeshira, and Kitden Zutden in action. All three of them have had a bit more training with their magic than Pentaz, and their approaches differ quite a bit from his so it was really a great chance for me to show off some of the different approaches to magic used by other Magi.

It does leave us on another cliffhanger though, so get those orders in as quickly as possible.  Since we are so close to the funding deadline, from this point on I'll post up new chapter sections at the same time as any update(typically Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday, and Sunday) so long as a new threshold has been met.

 Without further ado, I'll go ahead and post up Chapter 6 sections 2 and 3 for your reading pleasure. Afterwards, if you're continuing to enjoy what my story is bringing to you then you should go to the book page here and click that order button so that I can keep posting more content for you and ultimately get the full book into your hands.  Only 12 days left now, so don't delay!

That's all for this Saturday update, due to a suddenly hectic schedule I may have to postpone my Sunday recommendations until Monday. As always thanks for your time and support, keep reading, and most importantly keep enjoying!

Thursday update time.   First we've made some forward motion, 74 copies ordered and 269 followers, but with only 2 weeks remaining we need to make a great deal more progress in order for me to get this book into all of your hands.  That means that I need and beseech all of you who haven't ordered to do so, preferably now but anytime before the deadline will earn you my heartfelt thanks.  And for those of you who have already ordered, I hope you'll continue to recommend to everyone you know who would also enjoy Exile, Magus.  All of the support I've received thus far has been truly heartwarming, and I don't intend to give up so I hope you don't either.  Inspirational big game speech done, now on to the geek stuff.

I've always been a complete map-geek, and seeing John Robin's recent update has made me really want to get back to doing my best to prettify my maps of Pentaz' world(or more specifically the continent on which his story takes place).   I've pretty extensively mapped out that continent over the decades of my obsession with this world, and also far less extensively mapped out the 2nd largest continent on that world.  Unfortunately all of those maps are cluttered, worn-out messes which are pretty much only decipherable to me at this point.  With that in mind I had set out to draw up new copies of them, and to make them a joy for others to look at.

As some of you may remember I did previously post up 2 of the newly drawn maps, but they were of what amounts to two different islands which are both kinda speckish on the larger map(which I have yet to finish a new drawing of to show you all).  At one point I even purchased watercolor pencils in the hopes of fully coloring the maps to give the full effect, but alas my schedule became too hectic and I had to let the map remaking fall by the wayside.  I make no promises, but I do say now that I fully intend to finish the map of the Zaltruscan empire, Frozen North, and Llanchland which I had started some months back and share it with you all before this campaign is over.  This would show you the area in which the bulk of Exile, Magus takes place(only chapters 5 - 8 take place in areas not shown on this particular region).  The next map after that will be the Badlands and the peninsula known as the blade which will cover the areas in which chapters 5- 8 take place.

Also, for those of you who have read chapter 3 as well as the first section of chapter 6 I posted up recently, you may recall talk of two ancient(and long dead) civilizations - Thirosia and Melexi. While neither of them are of vital importance in Exile, Magus, they do each have various parts to play throughout the series (such as a certain Thirosian artifact in Exile, Hunted).  I don't dwell too long on either civilization at any point in Exile, Magus or Exile, Hunted for the sake of narrative flow, but I do love discussing them which is why the idea for a blog post I mentioned on Tuesday focuses specifically on them.

Beyond that if there is anything you have seen mention of in any of the chapters I've posted up that you're curious about, or just any questions you have about my world and/or characters in general, then I hope you won't hesitate to discuss them with me either on Facebook(https://www.facebook.com/redthomasjarnold) or Twitter(@thoasoold), though I will keep all such conversations spoiler free. Hopefully anyway. I also periodically post a bit of insight into my mind/world on my blog(http://thomasjarnold.blogspot.com/).

Now, because I enjoyed it last time(and I hope you did too), I'm going to give you another short pronunciation guide. This time I'll focus on Chapter 1. Just as last time, feel free to ignore my way of saying any word and instead read/say it however you want to.

Thierdenvolgenlund: thear'den'vole'ginn'lund.  This name was actually inspired by that time I read the Nibelungenlied.  I wanted a name that had the same cadence as Nibelungenlied, so I just let sounds roll around in my skull until Thierdenvolgenlund jumped out screaming and waving an axe.  Sidenote:  I cannot say Thierdenvolgenlund without sounding a bit like the Swedish Chef(Muppets).

Kerutda Magul: care'oot'duh mah'ghoul. Never mispronounce this in her presence, she's known as the Lady of the Hammers for a reason.

Muix: myoo, not to be confused with moo. That's right, the i and the x are mostly pointless and there only because I like the way it looks when written out. Fun fact: only 1 person other than me has ever pronounced this right without any prompting or hints from me. My jaw dropped at this occurrence.

Palkaz: paul'kaz or pal'kaz or paul'kuz. I can never make up my own mind on this one, just depends on just how much I'm giving into my lazy Southern tongue.

Pentaz: pin'taz

Duertanso: dyoor'tan'so. A bit of a compound origin to this one.  When the Muix family first popped into my head, the main focus was Duertanso's grandson, Gwydion.  Gwydion has(or I suppose more accurately will have) a lot of brothers, the most unremarkable of which is a fellow named Bartanso.  I always felt kind of bad that poor Bartanso is the one brother who really has nothing going on for him, so when I decided to dive into telling the story of Pentaz(who had always been pretty enigmatic in Gwydion's tales) as well as Palkaz I decided I wanted to reflect a bit of Bartanso's name in their father's name.  I knew Duertanso was sort of a thinking action hero in his younger days(I mean, he led a squad to kill a dragon after all) and probably a bit of a swashbuckler at that, so my brain naturally went to The Three Musketeers(my brain has very crooked roads, so my natural does tend to be convoluted) and thus I combined the 'tanso with a bit of D'Artagnan to make Duertanso.  Well, now that I've shared that long winded origin that no one wanted to know I'm gonna call it a day on the pronunciation guide for this update.

 I have taken up far too much of everyone's time now though, so I'm going to leave it at that. Since we've hit the threshold(and are near to hitting more thresholds) I will be posting up the next section of chapter 6 on Saturday.  If we can get hit more thresholds(every 10 orders and 20 followers), then I'll post up more sections of chapter 6.  If we hit 100 orders by Saturday I'll post the remainder of chapter 6 as well as section 1 of chapter 2 on book 2 (Exile, Hunted).  Thank you for all of your time and support, and don't forget to buy and recommend Exile, Magus.

Well, its Tuesday again and unfortunately I don't have a blog post to announce, but I did come up with an idea late last night so I won't disappoint next week. As for Exile, Magus' funding status: we're at 68 orders, 265 followers, and only 17 days left to hit the funding goal, so for all of you who haven't ordered you should not delay much longer(or at all) and go ahead and hit the order button. My thanks to all of you who have ordered, will ordered, and have supported in other ways such as recommending to others.

Beyond that I thought I would use the bulk of my Tuesday update to give another nod to a book which all of you fans of epic fantasy will enjoy. With only 12 days remaining and 95 copies left to order, this book needs your help!

Storm of Fury by Andrew Wood is an epic fantasy novel set in a war-torn land besieged by its own god. While avoiding a seemingly endless web of political schemes and plots, a young man must overcome his own lack of skill to confront his deity.

To find out more about this project, visit Storm of Fury’s homepage here: https://www.inkshares.com/projects/storm-of-fury

OR, read more about it now: 

If there was one thing in certain in life, it was that man was a sinful creature. It his nature, it permeates his mind and perhaps even his very soul. It is whispered that once, long ago, man could simply ask for forgiveness, and it would be granted freely. But not anymore…

The great, almighty god Na’lek has scorned his creation, angered by their constant failings and unholy acts. Now, his divine rage is made manifest as an immense, supernatural storm. This is the Fury, and its sole purpose is to eradicate mankind.

This eternal war, god against man, has continued for countless years. The Fury has assailed men for so long that even the storm’s origins have grown vague in the minds of the people. This was the era that Kaven was born into.

After nearly two decades of proving himself over and over to be a failure in all he does, Kaven is presented with an opportunity. While the world falls apart around him, Kaven is tasked to go out into the Fury and beg for mankind’s forgiveness, one last time.

But if Kaven can survive the perils within the storm, the anger of his god and the treachery of his fellow man, the secrets that he uncovers may be far too much for him to bear…

Want to hear more? Check out the homepage and read the first three chapters for free!

And take a look at what John Robin and myself had to say about Storm of Fury: "The world Andrew Wood takes us to with this story is superb and believable. It's a tough act to establish a storm as an antagonist, but Wood does a great job of creating real extensions of this storm that give it a tangible, menacing presence, a la George R. R. Martin's White Walkers or Jordan's Myrdraal. In fact, the mood and tone very much conjured the familiar world of Wheel of Time, where instead of a dark one we have a menacing storm that is just as terrifying. This is fine epic fantasy and I very much hope to see this book in print so I can read it in its entirety." -John Robin, author of Blood Dawn

"A wonderfully immersive example of what epic fantasy should be. Whether describing the fury of a divinely created storm, the horror of monsters and titans, or the love of pastries shared by father and son soldiers it does so in a fast paced but highly detailed way. It will leave you wanting to know more about what are both highly developed characters and a highly detailed world. I can't wait to read the entire book." -Thomas J. Arnold, author of Exile, Magus

Go ahead, take a look and buy a book!

BUT HURRY! The book’s campaign ends on JANUARY 17TH ORDER YOUR COPY NOW!

https://www.inkshares.com/projects/storm-of-fury

Sunday recommendation time again.  I'm going to continue to be a bit lazy since I'm now down to books that have more than a month left in funding on my short list, and I'll only be recommending 2 today as well as sharing some more reviews for my own book(we're up to 262 followers and 68 orders in case you were wondering).  Hopefully you'll be purchasing 3 different books as a result of this.

 "Exile, Magus" by me:  Andrew Wood, author of Storm of Fury says, "What stands out the most about Exile, Magus is its unique approach to a story.  Thomas Arnold has brought something new and dazzling to the world of Fantasy, and Exile, Magus will make a fine addition to any book shelf."

Rob Gokee, author of Tacocity: Los Angeles Through the Eyes of a Tacophile, says, "With his preview of Chapter 5, Thomas paints a grim & visceral view of the aftermath of a battle. There are casualties on both sides, and you find yourself feeling for characters you've just met in a world of elves and shapeshifters. Thomas' writing draws you in, and threatens to keep you there."

These were also two of my favorite reviews, right after John Robin's, because they seem to grasp two things I was going for with this book.   The first was a departure from typical fantasy, namely due to "the hero's journey" of Exile, Magus being an internal one which is only illuminated by the (action-packed) going ons around Pentaz and Buscidia as opposed to the more standard fantasy model of "the hero's journey" being created by grand forces outside of the character with the internal being a reaction to them.  The other point is that I did try to make it a point to always show the suffering on both sides of battles, which is the sole reason I tend to get pretty descriptive with my battles and the deaths that accompany them. On to the wonderful work of others now.

"The Animal in Man" by Joseph Aspahani: I'm not normally a fan of the anthropomorphic, but I can't not enjoy the opening chapter. Through excellent writing Joseph pulls you into a rolling scene of tracking a target as well as the moment when things get more complicated than the tracker wants them to. Throughout it all you feel as if you are right there with Maxan, the fox-man doing the tracking, on the streets and rooftops, spying on a hyena bandit, a wolf cultist, and a couple of mystery entrants. I want more of this book so I can continue to unravel the mystery that Maxan and I only got to see the very beginning of.

"Omega Children" by Mike Bologna: 'Tracking the development and maturation of synthetic life, Omega Children gives a unique take on the birth of A.I.' That short description from the book's page definitely hooked me. Seeing the evolution up to full A.I. to me is even more fascinating than seeing the aftermath. Both the prologue and the sample chapter are the book's page are excellently written, and each provide a decided different tone. With the prologue we are taken into what I presume to be a much later point in the story when you have a seemingly sinister moment as the main character comes to the realization that the machine is in fact alive. With the sample chapter you get what is mostly the main character's largely internal ponderings on just what qualifies something as alive, a practice in philosophy which manages to be both humorous at times and thought provoking throughout. It also sheds light on the realization from the prologue. If you're like me and a fan of science fiction that makes you think, or more accurately to philosophize, then this certainly seems like the book for you.

My own book's funding period ends 1/22 so don't wait around to go ahead and preorder your copy of it. "The Animal in Man" funding period ends around 2/18 and "Omega Children" ends around 3/6 though this assumes my math is correct on both of those so be sure to check them out yourself to make sure.

That's all I've got for today. Thanks for taking the time to read my thoughts, order some books, and keep enjoying this new year.

We're at only 20 days to go before the 1/22 funding end date.  At 257 followers and only 63 of those who've ordered(for a total of 67 books ordered) the Quill goal of 250 is easily within reach, but only if those of you who haven't ordered go ahead and do so.  If you're reading this just take a moment to check and see if you've ordered, and if you haven't then place your order as soon as possible.  Take the advice given on episode 9 of the Writebrain podcast by J.F. Dubeau and Paul Inman.  My thanks go with you.

I was also inspired by that episode of the podcast to give a little bit of a pronunciation guide here.  The first thing to remember when trying to pronounce a name in my books is to do it however you want to, I'm not gonna complain.  For those of you who are curious about how I pronounce some of the names though, I'll post up 6 here.

Magus:  may'Gus(as in the oh so manly name)

Buscidia:  Boo'sid'eee'ah, or Boo'sid'ya when I'm feeling my southern roots more.  Also, this name was created as an alteration of Boudicae, the Celtic queen who gave the Romans a bit to fear for their crimes against her and her family.  To reflect Buscidia's Zaltruscan heritage though I made it a point to somewhat Roman-ify her name, though, since the Roman empire is one of my chief inspirations for the Zaltruscans.

Quelzhumi Taehls:  kwell'zoo'me tay-ells

D'naeshira:  duh'nie'sheer'ah or sometimes duh'na'uh'sheer'ah

Kitden Zutden:  kit'den zoot'den... probably didn't need to bother with that one, but I love my wild gnome prankster.

Laohna:  lay'oe'nah  (similarly Tesuna is tee'soo'nah, sneaky number 7 there)

It is a Saturday update, so that means mentioning the new content I'm posting up.  This week we get to leave book 2 (Exile, Hunted) and return to Exile, Magus.  This time I'll be posting up section 1 of Chapter 6, so a bit of the cliffhanger ending of Chapter 5 gets alleviated.  This is one of my "nonstop action" chapters though, giving insight into the characters through the pressure cooker that is their 3-pronged raid on a Zaltruscan slaver camp.  As such its really trading one cliffhanger for another as the raid plays out over the middle 4 sections of this Chapter, with the first section giving insight into the slaver commander and their recent past.

Anyway, enough of my rambling on it.  Enjoy getting to watch some Wilder Elves, Buscidia, as well as Pentaz and his fellow students from Laohna's magic Academy get a real test of their skills.  I just wish we could have made it to 70 orders before now, so that I could have posted section 2 as well.

That's all I've got for this update.  If you haven't ordered, go ahead and do so because I really want this book in all of your hands, whether its in paperback or on e-reader.  Thanks for your time and support, and enjoy the rest of your first weekend of the year.

Thursday update time.  I'm still not fully awake yet, so it'll probably be a bit more terse than usual.

Continuing to run a day late. First up, I'd like to remind everyone that we're now down to only 25 days left in my own funding period, so hopefully you'll preorder my book before then.  On that point I'm going to start modifying my recommendations slightly to highlight some of my favorite reviews posted for Exile, Magus.  Without further ado, here's my Sunday recommendations on this Monday day (links embedded in titles and author names as always).

"Exile, Magus" by Me:  I couldn't recommend ordering this more... okay, so I'm horrible at self-promotion.  Instead I'll post up my favorite review, this one from John Robin, author of Blood Dawn - "Exile, Magus, brings out the grand voice of high fantasy. Thomas Arnold brings together echos of Gulliver's Travels, Terry Pratchet, and Tolkien with his witty, scholarly narrative voice, strange races with strange names, and sense of a rigorously-thought-out world. I expect from what I read to enter something amusing, thoughtful, and intriguing all at once!"

"Annabelle's Dream and Other Stories" by A.R. Patterson: Simply an amazing powerful narrative. It succeeds in not only drawing you into the events Annabelle experiences, but also into her psyche and emotional turmoil as she endures them.

"The Children of the Forest" by Byron Gillan: With a riveting action sequence for an opener, The Children of the Forest quickly draws you into a world of airships and legends of wolf-riders. In the first four chapters currently up you get an enticing glimpse into what is obviously fully developed world and its varying cultures, as well as those who people it. The writing style engrosses you in both the characters and the world, so much so that I'm impatient to read the full book.

"Prophecy of the Stars" by Melissa Berg: I love the amount of depth given to characters in such a short time. Add to that what appears to be a highly developed mythology/structure of this world's magic as well as a very engaging narrative style, and Prophecy of the Stars quickly becomes another must read for me.

I have finally caught up a bit on my recommendations(which is why I slowed to only 3 this time), with all of the above having ending dates in February if my math is correct(except for my own which ends on 1/22). Even though you have two months or more on all of these, you shouldn't delay if you're interested. That's all I've got for recommendations today. Now I'm going to return to trying to figure out what I want tomorrow's blog post to be about. Long fiction is easy, I tend to get such writer's block only when it comes time to figure out to write short things. Enjoy the rest of your day, and hopefully you'll be hearing from me about my blog post tomorrow.

A day late with this one thanks to the holidays, but it was a break I needed.  I hope the rest of you have also had a holiday which you enjoyed.