M.G. Darwish's Blog, page 3
December 31, 2019
The Long Night: Blood Will Be Served – On sale for 0.99$ ONLY!
Alfred Zeidan is a monstrous Vampire.
He is the Fortier, the strongest among all undead.
Though within the shadows dwell demons forgotten and withered.
For not all monsters are demons…
…and not all demons are monsters.
The Long Night: Blood Will Be Served is now on sale! Grab a digital copy for 0.99$ only! What better way to celebrate the new year then have Alfred speak to you about monsters and how he hunts them down?
The promotion will run from 31st of December until the 7th of January. Be quick, and pick it up… lest the Long Night engulfs us all.
Grab on Amazon for 0.99$ only!
The post The Long Night: Blood Will Be Served – On sale for 0.99$ ONLY! appeared first on M.G. Darwish - Official Website.
The Long Night: Blood Will Be Served - On sale for 0.99$ ONLY!
He is the Fortier, the strongest among all undead.
Though within the shadows dwell demons forgotten and withered.
For not all monsters are demons...
...and not all demons are monsters.
The Long Night: Blood Will Be Served is now on sale! Grab a digital copy for 0.99$ only! What better way to celebrate the new year then have Alfred
December 7, 2019
6 Reasons Why You Should Read Indie Books
That is just plain
November 23, 2019
After The Long Night, What’s Next?
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Well, I’m finally done with the work needed after launching The Long Night. The wheel will continue to roll, but right now for me… The Long Night joins the family while I continue to work on other projects and books. I figured an update was long overdue (I did disappear for quite some time).
What have I been doing?
A release consists of a lot of work -naturally. For me, it was organizing a blog tour, a book blitz and getting reviews up and running. Throughout the release of The Long Night, my email newsletter has been growing rapidly (it’s been a challenge to keep up the pace). I try to send about 2 to 3 newsletters every week (and of course, having more than a thousand people in my list now means that I’m responsible to provide them great content and value. I’ve done many, MANY giveaways and I plan to continue to do so while moving forward.
Between answering emails, negotiating a few contracts with distributors (an announcement is coming soon) and you know… writing, that doesn’t leave me with enough time to sleep in the day. But it’s all for in good taste. I’ve honestly enjoyed the process of launching The Long Night -a thing that I think taught me a lot of hard lessons about the publishing industry as a whole. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not in any way, shape or form new to this… but it’s all been leading up to this moment exactly. Where I can be happy about the launch and feel a bit optimistic about the future.
What I’m going to do?
There’s only one logical thing for me to do: audiobooks. In my quest to provide my books in as many formats as possible, I’m really excited and thrilled to be working on producing Audiobooks for Titanlord and Fortier: The Long Night. This has been going on for a few months now and I’ll be posting an update by the end of the year.
Things have been growing like crazy for me. To the point where I’m struggling to keep up with emails and tasks. A few friends have thrown the idea to hire a PA or a VA for that matter, but I want that personal connection to and from my readers. All my newsletter subscribers, readers and anyone who emails me or contacts me… I want them to know and FEEL that it’s me answering and interacting with them. So, even if I go ahead with this, this is a promise that it’ll always be me answering any questions, or feedback from anyone contacting me.
More giveaways, writing advice, and how-tos are also coming your way. I’d love to write a blog post about writing myths that are passed around by aspiring authors at some point so obviously be sure to look for it very soon.
What’s the progress?
The audiobook for The Long Night is almost finished (it’s past the halfway mark) and I’ll be doing an announcement really soon and give you a small taste of what I’m working on (with an incredible voice artist).
I have many podcasts planned, and some interviews… but nothing concrete yet. I’m expecting to have an announcement by mid-December. I’ve also been working on a few videos on YouTube, so there’s that as well.
Now, most importantly, books, and stories! Originally, my goal has always been to publish 1 full novel and at least 3 short stories per year. I stopped writing shorts this year, but I have a lot of outlines and half-written shorts just waiting to be wrapped up. I’m having an inner battle with myself as to evolve one of the shorts into a full-fledged novel but I’ll keep you posted about that.
Here are my official working projects:
Titanlord 2: In the process of finishing the 1st draft (Est. October 2020).
Fortier 3: Outlining.
That’s all for now. Do you have any projects you’re working on? Be sure to leave a comment if you do!
Regards,
M
The post After The Long Night, What’s Next? appeared first on M.G. Darwish - Official Website.
After The Long Night, What's Next?
What have I been doing?
A release consists of a lot of work -naturally. For me, it was
November 2, 2019
Answering Reader Questions – Part 1
I’m so excited for this. If you didn’t know, I asked readers from my newsletter to send me any questions they wanted me to answer. So, I’ll be going through them in this post. There was no limitations, and they could ask me anything related to writing, or about the Roman Republic, there was only one rule: I couldn’t use Google to answer them.
I still have a lot of news to announce but depending on my schedule, I will be doing this at least once every 3 months.
P.S: If you’re interested to subscribe to my newsletter, click here for more information.
Answering Reader Questions – Part 1:
Questions by Shandra:
Q: I desperately want to write a story, but I don’t know where to begin. Help?
A: It largely depends on what you’re trying to write, but almost always start with the outline. Decide what the story is, what message you want to portray, and then figure out the beginning, middle and end. Write something (for your eyes only) to guide you where to take the story and then… open up whatever you use to write and write. I strongly recommend reading a few books on the three-act structure and don’t forget to read.
Q: Do you brainstorm using writing prompts?
A: I’ve never been a fan of writing prompts. I do (what I call) free writing whenever I’m feeling mentally blocked, but more often than not they’re just really awesome ideas that I want to write down. This is how Fortier actually started (from a discarded idea).
Q: How much wood could a wood chuck chuck if a wood chuck could chuck wood?
A: I would say around 600 pounds.
Question by Ole:
Q: Who was the first actress to play Catwoman on the TV show Batman?
A: Here is where I admit that I never watched Catwoman (I’m very picky when it comes to which movie I watch).
Question by Lorri:
Q: When is the next book coming out?
A: Currently, Titanlord: A Thousand Ashes is slotted for release on October 2020. The next Fortier book however, is slotted on October 2021.
Questions by Micheal:
Q: When you start writing a book what do you consider enough inspiration to get you started, in other words do you work from a small idea and grow from there or, you find an ending you want to have and build a story to get there?
A: That’s a great question. The answer to which might not be that great: I trust my writing process above all; with time, you’ll quickly realize that hard work and perseverance are better friends than motivation and inspiration. It all starts with an idea or a concept, then I dot the outline (briefly and broadly) and then start from the beginning. In almost all cases except 1 or 2, I didn’t know how the story would end until I reached there.
Q: When you are creating a book how much time do you spend daily writing, or developing characters, or researching ideas?
A: That generally depends on my schedule. If I have a “main project” but I look at it in terms of how many writing sessions I can have in a week. The goal shouldn’t be a number but a portion of the story. For example, when I was writing The Long Night, I spent weeks researching Rome (as a big portion of the story takes place there) and since I am a history freak it was easy to wrap that into the story.
When I did the research, I finished a big chunk of that part in one sitting (about 3,000 words). It really all depends on what you’re trying to write. Fantasy will take longer to formulate a working magic system (the rules of which, you should decide from the start) for example than say a crime thriller.
With regards to characters, I research them all the time. Every interaction I have (be it online or offline) is potentially a research project for me. Life really has a way of seeming big but in reality, it is filled with specific patterns that occur to everyone. You could probably write the types of lives the entire population would live and there would only be about a dozen types only.
Q: When creating a conversation between 2 or more characters how do you stay true to the character you are speaking for, in order to keep the story flowing or introduce new ideas or directions?
A: In every chapter or a scene, there can only be one POV (point of perspective) and this ensures that the flow remains constant (because everything happens from the perspective of a single character). I don’t really struggle with character voices because everyone is unique to me. I love all of them equally. You also have to factor in how people behave in real life; people might speak the same language but there is always something unique about their style.
In a lot of ways, people speak from their own experiences so a character should reflect that when they interact with the main character. For example, someone who has been in wars will often look down on those who haven’t; but still try to evoke violence… so their tone will change accordingly (they will look down on them, be arrogant and condescending) -this is only an example.
Questions By Stuart
Q: What was the vision that made you write fantasy books?
A: The book I wanted to read didn’t exist.
Q: I usually pick books by their covers, what do you think about that?
A: Ever heard of “don’t judge a book by its cover”? Well, it exists for a reason: people do it. That is why publishers and indie authors understand the great importance of having a professional design the cover. A cover will often make or break a book.
Q: I don’t usually like too much romantic stuff in fantasy, what’s your thoughts?
A: I’m 100% the same! This is why I don’t really write romance (or little of in my books) because I often think that there are a ton of other engines to drive characters with. I don’t think you’ll ever see me write a love story (or romance).
Wow, I never thought answering reader questions would be this difficult honestly – those were great questions! I’ll be sure to do a part 2 really soon, but meanwhile, don’t hesitate to comment any follow-ups or questions below!
Until next time,
Write on!
The post Answering Reader Questions – Part 1 appeared first on M.G. Darwish - Official Website.
Answering Reader Questions - Part 1
I still have a lot of news to announce but
October 16, 2019
Tour Schedule – The Long Night
The Tour Schedule for The Long Night is here! I’m very excited to announce the beginning of the The Long Night Blog Tour! I’m working with XpressoTours to organize this, and I couldn’t be happier with the results. So, I’ll put the tour schedule here so you can check out the interviews, reviews and posts. Feel free to go through them, and comment away (I’ll definitely be checking the blogs and repsonding to the comments when I can).
P.S: If you haven’t checked the publication announcement, here it is.
This was honestly a thrilling experience that I can’t wait for everyone to check, so don’t hesitate and click the topics! You cane ven find a playlist that I used when writing the book (so you can immediately feel the same vibe I was feeling when I wrote it).
Don’t forget to participate in the tour giveaway as well, I’m giving away lots of prizes to some lucky winners!
Tour Schedule – The Long Night
Keep in mind, that the schedule will show dates that are coming (look towards the next posts).
October 14th
cupcakesandbookshelves >> Excerpt
Urban Fantasy Investigations >> Interview
October 15th
A Dream Within A Dream >> Playlist
I Smell Sheep >> Review
Jazzy Book Reviews >> Excerpt
October 16th
I’m Into Books >> Excerpt
Jessica Belmont >> Review
Valerie Ullmer | Romance Author >> Excerpt
October 17th
The Avid Reader >> Review
Ilovebooksandstuffblog >> Excerpt
JB’s Bookworms with Brandy Mulder >> Guest post
October 18th
Daily Waffle >> Excerpt
fundinmental >> Excerpt
diary of a wannabe writer >> Review
Blog Tour Giveaway
Fortier Series
Fortier: Blood & Moon
Grab for 0.99$The Long Night: Blood Will Be Served (Book 2 of Fortier)
Grab for 2.99$
The post Tour Schedule – The Long Night appeared first on M.G. Darwish - Official Website.
Tour Schedule - The Long Night
Don't forget to participate in the tour giveaway as well, I'm giving away lots of prizes to some lucky winners!
Tour Schedule
Keep in mind,
October 2, 2019
The Long Night: News and Early Reviews
It's almost a month since The Long Night: Blood Will Be Served has been released and in this post, I'll be going over the news circulating it as well as share newspapers and articles where it was published in.
Aside from that, early reviews have been coming in (a huge thanks goes to every one of my subscribers who were a fundamental support in making
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