Sunstone – Early February, Bloodstone – Early March

Posted on 30 January, 2015 in Marketing, New Releases, Writing

I am making progress with getting Sunstone and Bloodstone out. Sunstone is ready to go.  Got the final proof today.  Perhaps there might be the first chapter of Bloodstone inserted at the back.  Still thinking about that.

I’ve just about got the cover of Bloodstone finalized.  I’ve got a couple edit runs to go and that oneBloodstoneCvrMed will be ready.  I’m afraid I’ll need it because Darkstone is likely to get a very thorough examination.

Anyway, here is the Bloodstone cover.  I like it and I don’t think there will be much change before the third book in the Warstone Quartet is finished. The Bloodstone is a teardrop (or a blood drop, if you will) shape.  Of the two swords, one is polished and represents youth and the other is well worn and represents age.

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Guy to Attend LTUE

Posted on 15 January, 2015 in Uncategorized

I livlogo-footere in Utah.  There are a few writing conferences in the state during the year and I go to them on a sporadic basis.  This year, I’m scheduled to attend all three days of LTUE (Light, The Universe and Everything), which is held in Provo, Utah.  It used to be sponsored by Brigham Young University, but the last few years they have held the event off campus, so I don’t know if it still is.

The conference is February 12, 13, and 14 (Valentine’s Day).  There are usually some very good sessions.  If you run across me, say hello.

Work In Progress

Posted on 11 January, 2015 in New Releases, Work in Progress, Writing

Now that the Warstone Quartet is going with the January publishing of Moonstone, I had intended to issue a book every month or two.  However, I’ll probably accelerate that a bit.  Sunstone | Dishonor’s Bane is already at the editor’s proofing stage.  The cover is complete and shown here.

SunstoneCvrMedThat means a probable February release for Sunstone.  Bloodstone will follow after that, but it will likely need a few more writing passes than Sunstone. I would estimate a release towards the end of March.

My latest fresh novel is one I had started for NaNoWriMo, Mechanisms of Magic.  I’m still in the draft mode for that book.  I’d like to turn it into a three book series, but we will see.  I’ve got the first book plotted out and that looks more like the plot of a standalone.  I’ll know more by the end of January.

The Warstone Quartet has proven to be a lengthy undertaking.  The first draft of Moonstone was completed in December of 2013.  So it took a year to get published.  However, I also published five books (including my three anthologies) between the first draft and the Jan, 2015 publish date and that included drafting the three other books of the quartet.

I still am considering doing some short story work.  It’s good for generating novel ideas as well as good writing practice.  My goal for 2015 is one decent story per quarter.

I’ve also got some revival work (sequels to previously written books) for The Power Bearer and another installment of The Nile City Adventurers series (I stopped at the first story and there are four planned.)

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My Current Job Stream for Publication

Posted on 3 January, 2015 in Distribution, Production, Self Publishing

So I had problems getting Quest of the Wizardess turned into an epub.  It turns out that the recommended method for creating an acceptable document for Smashwords doesn’t work with simple epub conversion tools.  The primary problem is creating a table of contents using bookmarks and hyperlinks.

I ended up buying a epub creation and editing tool called Jutoh.  It was recommended at a writers conference I attended last fall (IndieReconLive).  I had to pick apart all of the bookmarks and blast through all of the hyperlinking.  Along the way, I eliminated drop caps, which also got in the way.  After I did all of that work, I was rewarded with a clean epub file which I was able to upload to iBooks.

printpressSince I do my own publishing through CasiePress, I’ve had to learn to create job streams to accommodate various input engines. So now, I create in Scrivener.  I export that to MS Word and use their spelling and grammar checker.  Then I export that into InDesign for the creation of my print file for Createspace.

For ebook distribution, I’ll now export back to MS Word (Jutoh likes .docx files) and reformat for ebooks.  That becomes my gold standard for input into Jutoh.  For Smashwords and Amazon, I’ll create a separate file that has the bookmark/hyperlink table of contents and input .doc files.  For Kobo, Barnes & Noble and iBook, I’ll create an epub in Jutoh and submit that.

Lots of work, but I do that to have better control over my distribution.

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Editing continues on Moonstone

Posted on 19 December, 2014 in Work in Progress, Writing

I ended up in a stall getting Quest of the Wizardess out.  It needed a few more edit passes.  I tried to generate an acceptable epub for iBooks, but failed.  So I’ve got it out on every outlet except iBooks.  That will come in January after I get some epub editing software.

I have a proof copy of Moonstone in my aged, wrinkled hands and am over halfway through.  It looks like it will emerge into the world in the first few weeks of January.  Then it’s on to Sunstone.  It’s been a while since I have touched the draft, so it will be fun to edit.

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Moonstone | Magic That Binds due for release in December

Posted on 18 November, 2014 in New Releases, Production, Writing

Following on Bellia’s heels, the first Warstone book will release in December.  The proof will arrive after Thanksgiving and then it will go up.  Here is the cover.  A change from these pages is that I put a tag line on all of the WMoonstoneCvrMedarstone books.  Book 1 is Moonstone | Magic That Binds, Book 2 is Sunstone | Dishonor’s Bane, Book 3 is Blood Stone | Power of Youth and Book 4 is Darkstone | An Evil Reborn.

Each cover will be a derivation of the Moonstone cover, the gem behind some illustration.  This one has the Moonstone in the pommel of the sword.  It sure is easier to create a cover without people.

 

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Quest of the Wizardess Released in November

Posted on 18 November, 2014 in New Releases, Production, Work in Progress, Writing

QotWCvrMedThe Quest of the Wizardess is in proofing and should be ready for release by the end of this month.  The cover looks much the same, with a few tweaks and the Gleaneran God’s War series was removed.  If I get around to turning this into a trilogy, then I’ll put on a new cover.

The proof is coming from Createspace and I’ll get through that Thanksgiving Weekend and debut the book on Amazon.

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A Cover and New Title among Other Things

Posted on 1 October, 2014 in New Releases, Self Publishing, Work in Progress, Writing

My Bellia novel has a new title:  Quest of the Wizardess.  I also have a new cover.

QotWCvrMed

Quest of the Wizardess Cover

The girl comes from an ad I saw on the web.  I totally modifed her face, but her pose was exactly what I wanted.  I used the red robes to bring the color out in the otherwise drab cover.  I had to draw in much of the robes, the hand and the sword.  The building in the background is the Temple of the Blind God.  It’s in the book and I used the dome of St. Paul’s cathedral in London along with part of the cathedral at Bourges, France.

I have a few edits to go before this gets published.

This month I have been continuing to work on the Sara Featherwood Adventures.  I input the wrong file for the first book and have had to re-edit it.  I’ll have trade paperbacks out with the new edits in October.

Warstones is out dipping its collective toes in the water at some agents, then I’ll get to work on those books.  I’ve got a chunk of editing done, but there’s more to do on the quartet’s 1200+ pages.

As for new writing, I have a mystery novel in mind for NaNoWriMo.  This year’s NaNoWriMo will give me the motivation to get it done in November.  I think that will come in around 70,000 words.

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Bellia novel

Posted on 28 August, 2014 in New Releases, Work in Progress, Writing

I don’t have a title for this epic fantasy novel yet.  It stands alone, but there are all kinds of hooks for a trilogy.  It’s about the daughter of a family of wizardly hermits.  They are all killed and she has to leave their home to avoid the same happening to her. Typical sword & sorcery stuff.  It has a unique magical system and Bellia, the main character, gets involved in gods that used to live on their world, but have left.  Lots of action and Bellia does her best to defend herself.

I’m planning on self-publishing this sometime in October.  It’s ready for a proof edit.

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