Well, no two ways of putting this, I’ve been away... derelict... near-defunct. The reasons why are complicated, deeply personal, and way too messy to get into in a reader update. But time and tide wait for no man, no matter what craziness he’s got going on back home. Consequently despite my mostly-absence we’ve still managed to  accrue some
MAJOR NEWS 
on the Feyside front! (Seriously, sometimes I think it would be best for me to just abdicate entirely and let this thing write and market itself...but I digress...) First off, somewhere over the last week, Feyside crossed the 200 order mark - quite the milestone! And yet not the biggest news of the week, given that-
Feyside is the February pick for John Robin’s Epic Fantasy Syndicate! This collective of book enthusiasts makes its picks on the basis of offerings demonstrating  "grand epic fantasy with magic, a fully immersive secondary world, and series potential" - I am honored to in any way measure up to those mighty qualifications. Thanks to John and to all of my Inkshares author friends on the Goodreads forums for this enormous vote of confidence.
Finally, I’ve gotten my nose back to the editing grindstone and prepped another chapter or two for your review -- look for those shortly!

Best,
Peter

P.S. As always, a reminder to my colleagues on Inkshares and especially to anyone participating in the current Inkshares contest - I am happy to exchange preorders on a 1-for-1 basis, no prearrangement needed. Go ahead and order mine up to your limit and I will immediately reciprocate - PFB

You guys wanna see something funny? I almost forgot this existed... Here is the book trailer for the original Version of "The Amaranth".

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rYZmDPJ0EEs

Hi everyone!

I reached (and surpassed) 90 unique readers yesterday, so I made a raffle video late last night. That being said, any pre-orders today weren’t included in the drawing, but will be in the next.

Also, like I’ve said before, when I hit 100 readers, I will be raffling a $50 Amazon gift card in addition to the traditional prizes.

So, here it is. Check it out if you’ve won:

https://youtu.be/SnuIx0myPWM

I will contact the winner later via e-mail.

I’ve been straddling the line between campaigning and writing lately, just to let you know where I’m at. If you know anyone who might be interested in my novel, please send them in my direction.

As always, thanks for everyone’s support!

Sunday review/recommendation time.  I would have been posting up hours ago, but I am easily distracted when there is snow falling and stray cats feeding outside my back door.

Just as a reminder folks, bold text always denotes an embedded link with my updates.  Before I get to my recommendations I’ll give you a quick behind the scenes on my planning for the future of Exile, Magus.  I’m thinking about making a few changes to the story(the most major of which is a new introductory scene if I can only think of one, perhaps a prologue of sorts), and to aid in this I have enlisted the help of a few beta readers.  The feedback I’ve gotten so far has been insightful and quite useful in keeping my thoughts un-nebulous and mostly focused.

I believe I’ve mentioned it before, but in case I haven’t:  my dream layout for Exile, Magus would have a piece of full page cover art in front of each Part as a sort of illuminated title page.  To work towards that end I’ve been looking around for artists and have now got quite a long list which I’d like to work with, so I’ll be stopping my search and actually sending out messages to said artists to see whose work I can actually afford.  I hope to have a total of 14 pieces of art for Exile, Magus, and if I can find money for it I hope to work this into a giveaway when I most likely relaunch my campaign at a date yet to be determined.  No promises or details though, because its far too early for either.

With that out of the way its time to get on to the recommendations.  I still have my old shortlist that I’m working through, but I also can’t help but keep getting distracted by some of the wonderful new projects brought out of the woodwork by the current Nerdist Space Opera contest.  Since I’ve covered most of the projects on my old shortlist, I plan to cover one book from it, as well as two space opera books today, next Sunday, and then alternate Sundays with this same layout until the contest ends.  For the space operas I’m going to try to focus on one which has not made it to the top 10(because who doesn’t love an underdog) as well as one which is in the top 10.

Children of the Wise Oak  by  Oliver Tooley:  My inner pagan has long leaned to the Celtic, so the opening paragraph with its excellent use combination of vivid imagery and Celtic mythology to describe a sunrise was simply mesmerizing to my mind’s eye.  From here Mr. Tooley continues with a masterful technique, easily blending exposition, mythology, imagery, and characterization to settle me firmly into the mindset of this particular group of ancient Celts.  With this foundation it is impossible not to get swept away into the compelling narrative.

I’m very disappointed that this one hasn’t received more attention yet, it really is a superb work of historical fantasy.  Hopefully most of you simply haven’t found it yet and now that I’ve pointed it out to you we can get this book the attention it deserves soon, since its funding deadline is drawing very near - sometime around 3/16 if my math is correct.

To Live and Die in Avalon  by  Jason Chestnut:  Mr. Chestnut’s first chapter succeeds in combining two genres which I’ve always had a (perhaps unsavory) love for - 60’s spy movies and classic science fiction serials.  With imagery and characterization absolutely dripping with the sleek and sexy 60’s style blended so well with action and aliens that would easily fit into a Buck Roger’s adventure, To Live and Die in Avalon is such a joy to read that I can’t wait for more.

This is my underdog space opera recommendation, and I cannot understand how it hasn’t already broken into the top 10 on its own.  Check it out for yourself and see what I’m talking about.

The Traveller’s Cup  by  AC Baldwin:  I’ve long been a fan of the intermingling of science fiction and fantasy(even doing it myself at times), so how could I possibly pass up reading a book with the premise which it seems one may be able to sum up as a space race/treasure hunt amidst a civil war between space dragons and wizards?

The opening uses well-crafted narrative to quickly give us the exposition and characterization we need to get a good feel for the dynamics between the lowly Grays and aristocratic Lumens, as well as to give us insight into the mind of our unlikely protagonist as he is drawn into the race quite on accident(or his own foolishness, take your pick).  The high quality of writing and promise of the concept leaves me desperately hungry for more of Ms. Baldwin’s story.

This is very near to being an underdog in the space opera, sitting at position 10 in the contest as of this writing.  I hope to soon see it race up to one of the top 3 spots and stay there.

Wait there’s more!  I nearly forgot this bit.  I had promised at the end of my campaign that if Exile, Magus hit 300 followers I would post the final sections of Part 6.  Well, we passed the 300 mark days ago, so I will be posting up and sending out those sections sometime in the week to come.

That’s all I’ve got for this time, thanks for your time and enjoy yourselves!

Hya folks.

A) Thanks for whoever provided feedback/recommendations/reviews - it is really motivating to see that people (rather than my mom) are interested. And in the same breath - thanks to whoever is following!

B) A week later than promised I uploaded a new chapter. It is essentially chapter 10 (out of currently 24 written chapters), so you can see how the plot is thickening. it also introduces two new characters (I hope this doesn’t disappoint anyone).

C) Since I am off on a well earned week and a half holiday at the end of Feb, the schedule would be to finish the novel then. If i manage to do that, I’ll start funding ~mid March, hoping to have a website and even more supporters by then, I will also upload another chapter to keep you all interested, but it may be the last one - buy the book...! ;-)

Many thanks to you all!

Jon[(i)athan] Dital

Announcing Blood Dawn Risk!

Coming soon, to see the Blood Dawn funding campaign to an end, I will be hosting a game! 

I wanted to take a moment today to discuss some of the features of the upcoming game, its purpose, and how you can personally get involved. 

Blood Dawn Risk will see God-Kings and Dragons competing for control of territory in the world of Blood Dawn.  Those who have achieved official God-King or Dragon status as of today — by pre-ordering three or seven copies of Blood Dawn, respectively — will be prime competitors on the map.  Did you only order one copy?  Or did you miss your chance to be a God-King or a Dragon in time for the game?  There’s still a role for you in the game!  If anything, you’ll be courted by other God-Kings and Dragons, hoping to get you to ally with their forces.

In the set-up of the game, laid out on the official Blood Dawn map, God-Kings will have Houses assigned to a territory.  Houses want to gain control of as much territory as possible, by expanding into neighbouring territory.  There are rules in place, though, so Houses can’t just rampage across the land, doing what they want!  A house must have a troop strength equal to or higher than that of the territory they wish to claim.

Houses may wish to overtake territory already claimed by another house!  If this happens, then the Houses will move to the game’s built-in dice combat system to battle against each other.  The winner will claim the strength of the House they’ve overpowered.  Houses may also form alliances with each other, if they choose to get along.

But this is the world of Blood Dawn, where nothing is easy.

Hidden covertly in unclaimed territory will be the Dragons.  If a House tries to claim territory that a Dragon is inhabiting, the House must battle the Dragon, using the dice combat system.  If the House wins, it adds the strength of the Dragon to its troops.  But if the House loses, then the Dragon can start roving the land, leaving death and destruction in its wake!

Houses and Dragons can add to their troop strength by pulling their friends in to pre-order a copy of Blood Dawn.  Each pre-order equals one boost in strength for a House’s troops or hit points for a Dragon.  So, to win, you or your alliance, must bring your fantasy-loving friends into the fold, selling them on Blood Dawn!

And with this game, there are lots of fantastic prizes.  While some of the prizes are yet to be determined, the grand prize, awarded to the Dragon or House that emerges triumphant, is one to make any Blood Dawn fan envious!  The winner (or winning alliance) will receive a one-hour Skype conversation with me to discuss the formation of a unique nation that will then be worked into the next revision of Blood Dawn!  That’s right — the winner of this game gets to help craft the novel!

Through this game, we will achieve a boost in pre-orders of Blood Dawn.  If we can hit 750 pre-orders, Blood Dawn will qualify for the full Inkshares publishing imprint, which includes comprehensive editing, full publication, wide distribution, and promotion by Inkshares.  So, by helping to win this game, you’re helping Blood Dawn reach many more readers.

The official rules, game web page (complete with dice combat and a chat terminal), and your place in the game, will all be announced soon!  Houses and Dragons will have a chance to amass allies shortly before the game is officially launched.

I want to take a moment to thank the amazing people that are helping see this game from vision to reality.  Joseph Terzieva, author of The Lost Generation, is writing all of the game code and compiling all of the programming.  Cara Weston, author of She Is The End, helped craft the initial idea and really pushed me to see it through to completion.  And John Anderson, my artist, has coloured my map and is creating custom emblems for Houses, Dragons, and other game components.  If you haven’t already pre-ordered Joseph or Cara’s books, please click on the links above to pre-order their books and show your appreciation for the incredible work they’ve done.

I will be contacting all of the God-Kings and Dragons soon to get them started on preparing for the game — so if you’re one of these people, keep an eye on your inbox for an email from me.  And if you’re not one of these individuals, still keep an eye on your inbox for the email announcing the start of the game — you can check out the webpage and follow along, and perhaps pre-order a copy and ally your strength with a Dragon or House! 

Thank you so much for your time. 

John Robin