Hey everyone! I’ve seen a lot of new followers in the last few days. Welcome. As I said in previous updates, I’m preparing to hunker down and finish the novel over NaNoWriMo. My job should be picking up in intensity during the Christmas season, so we’ll see if I can squeeze time in to write. I’ll keep you all in the loop as far as the progress goes.

Last week’s Q&A went well. Only a couple of people stopped in to ask questions, but they were good ones. Me and Atticus (my kitten) enjoyed answering what was thrown out there.

I’d love to see some more recommendations from those who have backed the book. Those recommendations get seen by everyone, and can be as little as a single sentence. I appreciate it!

It’s the final countdown...

Thanks everyone!  So, it has been a great week so far and I cannot thank everyone enough for the support.  A special shout out to J Graham Jones, who is the first person from outside of the states to support this project with her dollars (or pounds I suppose).  I am within striking distance of finishing my second draft and I’ll have more samples this weekend.  

As most of you know, I am in the Crypt TV horror contest which ends on Halloween.  Despite joining super late, your support has helped me move into 5th place in less than two weeks.  As I am making up for lost time, I’m hoping that those of you haven’t pre-ordered will do so this weekend if you believe this project belongs in the winner’s circle, which I certainly believe it does.  For those of you who have ordered, I thank you again.  If each of you can convince 2 others to pre-order over the weekend we will likely move up to the top three.  Again, thanks for everything.  You’re all amazing.  Also, if you don’t pre-order the terrorists win. 

Cheers,

Dan

The Kentaros are one of the Courtless races in the realm of Tír na nÓg. Commonly called The Wildfolk, Centaurs, orHorselords, the Kentaros hail from the vast and mysteries Greatwood Forest. The Wildfolk are primarily nomadic and thus, they do not have a settlement to call their capital. The herd is led by the Champion of the Greatwood, who is selected to lead the herd for life through a contest of strength. 

The Wildfolk are a primal people, who live in harmony with nature and are rarely seen outside of the Greatwood Forest. They are fierce people, who see themselves as guardians of the Weefolk of Tír na nÓg. The Wildfolk were born of the tempest winds. The Kentaros bear no sigil, but are affiliated with the Courtless peoples of Tír na nÓg.

The Faunus are their cousins. Also of the Courtless races. The Faunus are known for their skill as entertainers and for their intimate relationship with the forests. Although most Faunus reside in the forests of Tír na nÓg, some choose to live in the cities and settlements, the City Faunus are widely known for their skills as musicians and poets. While some are revered most City Faunu are ridiculed for their inability to control their excessive drinking. The Faunus celebrate life daily and give thanks for the abundance of life by gorging themselves on food and drink. This makes them a popular target for the other races. 

Forest dwelling Faunus do not fall pray to the same vice as their City kin. Most are seen as shepherds of the forest. They are considered a priestly caste for the Weefolk and those who live within the expanse of the Greatwood. They are sought for their intimate knowledge of the trees with which they share kinship.

Tomorrow, I will go over more of the Weefolk, which encompasses everything from Dryads, to Kelpies, to Pixies, etc, etc. 

(Temporarily forgot how this thing works and added my thing as a comment, not an update. Whoops.) 

 Anyway -- hey all. It’s been a few months. I’ve been dealing with some personal stuff, trying to figure out my gender transition, coming up with a new name, etc. But I’ve done all that! Yay! So hi again!

This project is still very much a thing, although the plot has changed a lot since the last time you’ve seen it. (I’ll be updating the blurb shortly). This has caused me to need to basically rewrite the entire thing -- so I’ll be tackling that during November for National Novel Writing Month. In the meantime, I’ll be sharing my NaNo prep with you all here, as well as on my Twitter feed. :)

Referral giveaway update time, just as a reminder that it is still going on.

To sum up for those of you who haven’t read about it a previous update(about a month or so I think):  if Exile, Magus reaches funded status, then I will go through the list of those who have referred the book.  Anyone who has also ordered at least 1 copy of Magus themselves(ebook or physical) will have 3 added to their effective total.

The 10 people with the highest  effective totals will then be contacted to claim an item from the giveaway pool in order from highest to lowest referrals.  In the case of a tie the person who ordered their copy of Magus first will be chosen.  Currently I’m in the lead of referrals, but since I’m obviously not eligible that doesn’t matter.  First place is only ahead by 1 referral, and 2nd place is something like a 20 way tie last I checked, so it would be easy for anyone to move up the ranks as it were.

Any items in the giveaway pool after the referral portion is decided will then move to a giveaway pool just for those of you who were kind enough to order the book.  As I’m trying to add as many items for giveaway as I can, I’m not sure how many items will be left over.  If Magus funds I’ll divide everyone who has ordered up as evenly as possible chronologically and roll off(because I love rolling dice) for the remaining prizes.  So, for example, if we only hit 250 orders and there were 10 items left over from the referral giveaway, then there would be 10 lists of 25 orders each which I would roll on.

The items currently available for giveaway are:  

• 1 signed copy of Oliver Tooley’s "Children of the Wise Oak" (2 available)
  
• 1 signed print of the Exile, Magus cover art (Calden family crest) by Rachel Donne (3 available)
• 1 signed print of the title art for Part 4 - Llanchland (Buscidia vs. the Cog Monster) by Lizzy Perez (3 available)
• 1 signed print of the title art for Part 11 - Ansvari (Talari calling wind spirits) by Lho Brockhoff (3 will be available, currently on order awaiting shipment from artist)
• up to 10 wild cards; this is intended as a you name something that we can both agree on.  Some acceptable examples of the top of my head are:  you get to name a river, lake, mountain range, town/city, or other such location within the world of Exile, Magus;  I write a piece of short fiction for you;  I design a one-shot adventure for a tabletop RPG for you.  Really though, anything you can name that I’m reasonably capable of doing would be acceptable in this category.

So as it currently stands there are 21 items available which means 11 would be left over after the referral contest.  I’m hoping to scrape together enough money to fund at least 1 more piece of art before this campaign is over, and since I make it a point to get 3 signed prints with each commission that would up the total pool to 24.

As a reminder though, Magus does need to fund before these giveaways happen.  As much as I wish I could just do giveaways without regards to funding status, I can’t for practical reasons.  Put simply, I plan to get this book out, and while I really do hope this can be done through Inkshares, if it can’t then I’ll likely be going the self-publishing route.  If I go the self-publishing route I’ll like have to crowdfund at least a portion of that, and I’ll need the items currently available as part of any crowdfunding effort since my budget couldn’t really support giving them away twice.

The art mentioned above is all viewable on my page, but I’ll also be posting it below.  You can check out a bit about "Children of the Wise Oak" on its Amazon page here.

Thanks to everyone for your time and support!  Enjoy your weekend, and the art to follow!

Calden Family Crest

Buscidia vs. the Cog Monster

Talari calling wind spirits

Hi everyone, 

I don’t have much of an update. I just wanted to let everyone know I am in the Geek & Sundry contest. I realized it only a day or two ago. I would have seen it sooner, but I’d assumed I missed my window of opportunity. Either way, at 92, I’m much closer to the top than the bottom. I know my story is worth reading. So, I’m going to ask for your help to try and make it. I’m aware it’s a long shot in such a short amount of time. Fortunately, I procrastinate often. Being a long is sort of my thing. In the immortal words of Walt Disney,  “It’s kind of fun to do the impossible” 

Thanks for reading. 

Hello, all! It seems like just yesterday I was writing to you, to share with you some character concept art from my book, Witherfist. (Oh, right, that’s because it was yesterday.)

I’ve unexpectedly got some more art to share with you. This is drawn in a different style and is another image of Witherfist herself, Irusai. This is a different Irusai to the one you can read about in the first chapter of Witherfist. A much more composed, calm woman, in her days as a respected provincial governor - before she tattooed the true name of an ancient spirit onto her arm and became the notorious fugitive she is today. 

This guy’s great at the Patience Game!

Why hello everyone!  I would like to apprise you of a few minor updates.  First and foremost, the book is (and has been) in cue to begin the formal publishing process (line-editing, second readthrough by a professional third party, sizing and formatting, cold readthrough, sending to the printing press, discussing marketing and an ideal release date, etc).  It has been for a little while and is, well, progressing.  Yay for the game of Hurry Up and Wait!

In the meantime, InkShares has rolled out a general policy wherein, if enough interest is generated at a later date,  more good things roll out for the project.  Yay!  I have also updated the quick blurb at the top of the "Funded" page to better describe the book.  If you, dear followers, haven’t checked out the new landing page, I would be honored if this effort was made.  The link is here.  

If you would prefer not to click on the link, the updated text is as follows:  

Surviving abuse leaves no soul unscathed, and this is especially true of Ptielieren, an elite elvish bodyguard involuntarily integrated into an aversive-heavy culture.  Strength can exist absent a ringing victory and weakness does not signify defeat.

The word count available for this introductory blurb is truncated but I think it gives a better overview of the content.  As always, I love emails and direct messages and am always happy to reply to messages on Facebook.  I wish a wonderful day and, to those who celebrate Yom Kippur, may your fast be an easy one.