Frank Dorrian's Blog, page 5

Review of The Shadow of the High King by Frank Dorrian

A very flattering review of my first novel, The Shadow of the High King, by Carlton Rolle. Thanks again!

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If interested in discovering a new book to read? Check out my review and more at Ingrid Hall.

Reviewed by Carlton Rolle

Frank Dorrian was born in 1987 in Liverpool – his hometown, a post-industrial cityscape, served as poignant inspiration for his creative efforts. He would commence writing in earnest during his teenage years, composing stories to sate desires of both expression and introspection.

Today, Frank is a qualified mental health nurse. He works in the field with people suffering severe psychiatric and psychological disorders, and additionally offers private mind coaching sessions for those needing a refreshing take on life’s trials. When not writing, Frank spends his spare time reading, playing computer games, and attending a martial arts gym. He has previously competed as a fighter domestically in the UK and abroad in Thailand.

The Shadow of the High King is Dorrian’s first book. It follows events within the…

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Writing News and Next Release

So, I’ve been totally silent regarding writing developments over the last two months since I released The Shadow of the High King. My apologies, as I’ve been undergoing a complete and utter change of career since late August.

But, I’m quite happy to announce that while I’m currently working on the follow up to The Shadow of the High King, I will be occasionally releasing shorter fiction set in the same universe and feature characters and factions from the Weaving Shadows trilogy.

The first of these is a novelette entitled To Brave the End (behold the cover above!), and will be released in late November/early December on Amazon in eBook format (and a few other retailers) for 99p.

For those of you who’ve read the book, or are still reading it, To Brave the End will tell the story of Red Harry of the Blackshield Dogs and how he earned his name.

For those of you who preordered The Shadow of the High King, the eBook is free of charge as a small thank you from me for your valued support. I’ll be emailing you all on release day (those of you who’ve given me your emails) regarding it, and anyone who’s email I haven’t got, please feel free to drop me a message to claim your copy.

1 Week Since Release

So, The Shadow of the High King has been out for a week today, and I couldn’t have asked for things to go better! People are buying and reading the book, I’m getting great feedback from all sources and it was #9 in Amazon’s Top Ten Celtic Fantasy books until this weekend (it’s currently still #25)- so thank you everyone who’s bought a copy so far!

I’ve had reviews starting to come through from people who’ve read the book, and I’ve had some glowing praise from my readers, and have kept up a nice little 5 star streak I’ve held since James A. Hunter first reviewed my book on his blog (HERE in case you missed it first time around).

Thank you again everyone, you’ve made the book already more successful than I ever imagined it would be, I’m looking forward to what the future holds for it, and I’m hard at work on my next couple of books that will be out in the next year or so – one of which is, of course, Book Two of The Weaving Shadows.

And for anyone who’s interested or considering buying the book, you can see some of the reviews it’s received below, and you can buy it HERE.

Release day tomorrow – one day left to win a free copy

So, tomorrow’s the big day – the product of 2 years hard work, stress, struggle and oddly twisted fun in tormenting my book’s characters emotionally and physically.

Thank you everyone who’s pre-ordered an eBook or bought a print copy – it’s always taking a chance buying a book from an unknown author, especially one with no laurels or plaudits from bigger names, and I’m eternally grateful for everyone who has because you’ve made it all worthwhile – I’m looking forward to seeing your thoughts on my writing!

For those of you taking part in my giveaway – thank you for helping to expose my book to a larger audience. Something indie authors like myself struggle with is getting noticed (as there’s literally about a million of us all clamoring for attention at the same time), so I’m deeply grateful for everyone who’s helped to get my writing a little more attention.

There’s one day left for anyone who wants to still give it a go – I’ll be trawling through Facebook tomorrow and tallying everything up. It’s still pretty close as to who is getting the print copy, so it’ll be interesting to see who has the edge come tomorrow evening.

I’ll be declaring the winner on here and Facebook at 6pm tomorrow – so keep your eyes peeled.

The Shadow of the High King

It’s been a crazy-long time since I’ve done a book review—not that I haven’t read a ton of great books, but life has just been too hectic for reviews. I had this blog tour. Then some writing confer…

Source: The Shadow of the High King

1 Week Till Release – Facebook Giveaway Mini Competition

So – I’ve been quiet on here for a few weeks, my apologies, it’s been a hectic month.

However, I’m very pleased to say, The Shadow of the High King will be released one week today, August 30th, 2016 in eBook and paperback formats! Huzzah! The eBook is currently up for pre-order on Amazon, which you can have a little look at by clicking here.

I’ve had a fair bit of feedback so far from reviewers and it’s all been very positive so I’m pretty dang excited to see the reaction of a wider audience to my writing! Big buzz!

So, to honour this most momentous of occasions, I’m going to be giving away one of my own personal paperback proof copies, signed, on release day.

The catch? Ya’ll gotta help promote me and my work, I’m a struggling indie author scrabbling for some attention!

Here’s how it goes:

LIKE my Facebook page

LIKE this post

COMMENT on this post

SHARE this post

And… agree to review the book on Amazon with an honest opinion of it once you’ve read it.

All very simple, typical and laden with Facebook cheese, but hey – you’re helping out your bro Frank and it’s an easy way to net a free book!

Whoever achieves the most likes on their post or my page gets the print book, and the five next highest will get a free eBook copy as a runner-up prize if you agree to a review on Amazon once you’ve read it.

So, thank you in advance everyone who takes part!

Guest Blog: Six Things to Consider When Creating Convincing Characters in Dark Fantasy by Frank Dorrian — MightyThorJRS

As part of my Guest blog series for authors and fellow bloggers I am proud to present another guest blog spot. Frank Dorrian the author of The Shadow of the High King has been kind enough to write a guest blog post for MightyThorJRS today. I am very excited and I would like to thank Frank for the opportunity to […]

via Guest Blog: Six Things to Consider When Creating Convincing Characters in Dark Fantasy by Frank Dorrian — MightyThorJRS

First physical copy through

So today in the mail, the first physical copy of The Shadow of the High King arrived. Awesome!

There’s five weeks left till proper release, which is August 30th 2016. EBook copies are already up for preorder on Amazon and Kobo for 3.99 if you’re a kindle reader, and print will also soon be up for preorder too in the next few weeks.

Nearer release day I’ll also be doing a small giveaway competition for 10 free ebook copies and this print copy I’m holding – my own personal copy of the book – so keep your eyes peeled! Release day is drawing close.

Release date: 30th August 2016 – eARCs now available!

And so, at long, long last, I’ve reached the finish line with The Shadow of the High King! It’s all done, all dusted and I’ve set the release date for eBook and print formats as 30th August 2016. Keep that date in your diaries.

I am currently approaching book review bloggers to garner interest in the book and spread the word, and have free eARCs available to those willing to read and review the book online for me.

Thank you again to everyone who has helped me in the process of getting this book finished, you’ve all been invaluable, indispensable and I couldn’t have done it without your support.

Keep your eyes peeled – The Shadow of the High King will be available in 2 months and counting.

The Writing Journey – a Light through Darkness, and the Final Touches

It’s been a while since I last posted on this, as I’ve been majorly busy with editing and redrafting the last few chapters of The Shadow of the High King. But, at last, I’m pleased to say, it’s nearly finished.

There’s perhaps a dozen or so pages left that need redrafting at this stage, and once that’s done with its only the minor alterations suggested by proof readers that need to be implemented, and formatting the document for publishing.

It’s been a long journey since I first started typing the opening chapter without a clue where it was going back in mid-2014 to what it became when I finished the first draft in October 2015, and its awesome that I’m actually finally here at this point and almost ready to put it out – I honestly never thought it’d get to this stage, but its great that is has and so many people have shown so much interest in my writing. Hopefully you’ll all enjoy the finished product of 15 months of blood, sweat, tears and sanity-eroding rewriting.

So, hang tight, and keep your eyes peeled over the next month – The Shadow of the High King will soon be available, and I’ll be gearing up a little release day event online for it. For anyone who hasn’t seen it, here’s the back cover blurb to give you a taste of what’s to come.