Three adopted siblings return to their backwater hometown for their father’s funeral, only to find themselves tested in a challenge to identify one of them -- or their own mother -- as his killer.
As of this writing, we have about FORTY-TWO HOURS LEFT on the Inkshares Mystery & Thriller contest. If you haven’t placed a pre-order yet for "Cat’s Paw", now would be the time to do it.
From the last will and testament of Sir Lawrence Linwood, dated 14 September 1914:
...However, in the event that I should die from unnatural causes, that is, by another’s hand; and, assuming the identity of my killer remains a mystery to the police; then, in lieu of the above, I bequeath the entirety of my residual estate, less the bequests listed in the first section, to whichever of my three children (Alan, Roger, or Caroline) first identifies my killer to the police....
From Sir Lawrence Linwood’s letter to his younger son, Roger Linwood, dated 28 March 1921:
...As such, I will be contacting my solicitors within the next week to alter my will in your favour. I’m afraid Alan will not be pleased, but as he has no time for England, I have no time for him; and Caroline, of course, never expected anything to begin with. Keep this information close to your chest. If anything should happen to me....
Top-50 Amazon Children’s Books: Science: Astronomy & Space (ages 9-12)
The Astronaut Instruction Manual has made the Amazon’s Top-10 list for the past three years running. Even without any seasonal promotion–besides my constant touring as Mike Mongo, astronaut teacher–we are track to do the same this year: We will almost certainly be in Amazon’s Top-50 by the end of the business day.
The coolest part for me is last week The AIM was sitting at 100 on the list. This happens fast! I love the holidays! And if you know have a pre-teen reader in your life with a passion for Space, I am sure they’ll love a newly-minted copy of The Astronaut Instruction Manual.
(If someone needs a special signed copy or even a personalized letter from an astronaut teacher for special future astronauts, just message me at mike@mikemongo.com. This is what I live for!)
Season’s greetings,
Mike
(IF you already saw this, I apologize for sending it to you twice)
TOMORROW IS THE DAY!!!
Happy December everyone! Long time no chat!
Well during that long time, I sure have been busy! So busy that More Fun and Games, the sequel to the novel you preordered back in 2016 is just about ready! How just about? Like within 2 weeks just about!
And here’s the cover!
More Fun and Games is clocking in at about 62,000 words, or about 20% longer than It’s All Fun and Games, and is chock full of adventure, intrigue and humor! Allison and the gang, having come to terms with their new world, continue eastward toward the Arcanum and their quest to defeat Magnus, the Arcanum’s wizard king.
But like any good adventure, things don’t exactly work out the way they expect. They make some new friends, make some new enemies, and discover that the longer they spend within the game the more they become their game characters. Early readers have gushed over it, so I know that you’ll like it too!
I’m so excited!
Current plans are for the ebook will retail for 4.99, and the paperback 9.99 (I hope…stay tuned...).
So, how do you go about getting the next installment? As you may remember, the Inkshares crowdfunding program didn’t work out, so I’m self-publishing it. It will be available on all ebook platforms, at your favorite online retailer, but also available at your friendly local bookstore - ask them to include it on their next order from Ingram! Support those independent bookstores if you can!
Even better, through a partnership with my own friendly neighborhood bookstore, The Briar Patch, if you live somewhere far away and would like to get an autographed copy, we’ll ship em to you! And of course, if you’re local, I’ll hopefully have a release party scheduled soonish. Check out my Facebook page if you want to stay in the know.
Now, I’ve got a secret to share with you
Oh yes I do
On release day (TBD, 2nd week of December at some point), the ebook will be available on amazon for only 99 cents. That’s right! Only 99 cents! Early purchases and early reviews make a huge impact, so if you were planning on buying the ebook, there’s a 4 dollar savings for you by getting it on release day.
If you were planning on buying the physical book, please consider spending the extra 99 cents on release day. If you do, I’ll knock a dollar off your physical book purchase at the Briar Patch (either online orders or local shoppers). There’s a little tag you get for #1 new releases and #1 best sellers in your book categories, and I’d love to get one or both!
To all of you who have poked and prodded and pestered me to release book two, thank you so much for your encouragement, faith, and patience. I just wrapped up Endgame during National Novel Writing Month, and I think you’re going to like that one too. Hopefully it won’t be another 2 years!
Thanks!
Dave
PS - you may get this message more than once, since I’ll be sending it out to a couple mailing lists, and there’s some overlap. I apologize for the spam.
Dear readers,
In 2016 more than 500 of you followed my book Blood Dawn. I left the Inkshares platform and continued to work on this book under a different publishing arrangement.
This has now led to the publication of the first part of Blood Dawn, a novel called A Thousand Roads. After more than 2 years of production, 5 editors, and 7 drafts, it is now available as an ebook for early readers. The print book will be out in January, including maps and custom interior illustrations.
Note that I am not funding anything through Inkshares -- this is just a courtesy update for Blood Dawn fans since I did promise to keep you posted when the story eventually was ready for publication.
Here is the blurb, including buy links below. Please share!
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Azzadul, the god-king, the Lord of Light revered by many. When the darkness corrupted him, he became the Dark Lord, feared the world over. His magic, once a gateway to immortality for his people, delved instead into horrors as he sought ever deeper levels of mastery. Children were stolen from their beds, coveted for his blood-rites. When he vanished, it all ended, and the people of the world tried to forget, to move on…
Jak Fuller has always wanted a home. An orphan born ten years after Azzadul’s disappearance, he has wandered far and wide, trying to forget the memory of a burning woman. When he comes to Fort Lasthall, on the outskirts of the Dark Lord’s former kingdom, he hopes to finally settle into a peaceful life. Instead, he finds himself unnaturally compelled by a dark, terrible voice, a voice that knows him, calls to him. A sense of destiny that fills him with fear.
New powers are rising in the dark places of the world. A master of fire-rites called Talamus the Red, arch-foe of Azzadul, seeks to enslave the world with a magic he has been developing for the many centuries of his life. Ready at last, there is only one weakness in his plan, an obstacle he is determined to remove: a boy, bound to an old magic that just might resurrect the power of Azzadul.
The very power bound to Jak, before he was even born…
A Thousand Roads is the beginning of a grand fantasy epic told in the tradition of my favorite fantasy authors – J.R.R. Tolkien, Robert Jordan, and George R.R. Martin – think Game of Thrones set in a more modern time with a fair helping of magic and Tolkien-esque myth-building. Originally known on Inkshares as Blood Dawn, back in 2015-2016, A Thousand Roads is the first part of the story to emerge from the revisions.
It is now available as an ebook:
Kindle: https://www.amazon.com/Thousand-Roads-John-Robin-ebook/dp/B07G5PSXZV
Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/a-thousand-roads-john-robin/1127355539
Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/a-thousand-roads-1
iBooks: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/a-thousand-roads/id1305228059
Print book will be available in January. I will update you at that time.
Hello everyone!
I realize it’s been a long time since my last update, and I have reasons ranging from a back injury that’s been plaguing me for months (that seems to finally be resolved) and of course, just putting my head down and trying to move The Tide of Madness closer to completion.
I won’t lie, the finish line is still a way off. The first draft had more problems with it than I had hoped. But with so many different points of view, continuity issues are to be expected. The majority of the characters in The Bones of the Past were separate enough that I didn’t have to worry so much about a day here or there. But Tide will see a lot more interaction between the various characters, so I have to be a lot more careful. I’m writing shorter chapters (splitting up each point of view) and tightening up the timeline as much as possible. Still, I’ve been hard at work and I’ve finalized the order for the 57 chapters and made the tough decision to cut a side story out of the book (hopefully just moved to book three but that’s a problem for another day).
The three notebooks in the picture hold – among elements for the following book – the last sections of the Tide of Madness that I need to integrate into the version on my computer. The majority of my creative writing still happens with pen and paper and is one of the ways I make the commute for my day job part of my writing day. This guarantees that I have at least 45 minutes once or twice a day set aside to dig further into my world and fill in the insane puzzle I created for myself.
Most recently, I’ve been getting into the backstory of some of the side characters. Min’s story is about done and was rather refreshing to write – just one point of view and a nice simple story arc. I may or may not put it out there for people to read as a novella in the future, though my focus remains on The Tide of Madness and the as-yet-unnamed book 3 for now. If there are any minor characters you’re curious about, let me know! I’ll be looking for a new side project in a month or so for those days when I’m not able to spend enough time at my computer to make significant headway on the rewrite.
Thank you all yet again for your patience and support!