Jonathan Moeller's Blog, page 157
August 12, 2019
DRAGONTIARNA: THIEVES now underway!
I have started on the rough draft of DRAGONTIARNA: THIEVES, and if all goes well, it should be out in October.
Meanwhile, here is where I am at with my other projects:
-Editing is underway on GHOST IN THE VAULT. Hoping to have that out in September!
-I am 20,000 words into CLOAK OF WOLVES, Nadia’s next adventure.
-The audiobook versions of FROSTBORN: THE WORLD GATE and GHOST IN THE MASK are finished and should be out in late August or early September.
-JM
August 11, 2019
Jonathan Moeller vs Kindle Unlimited, Yet Again!
I really, really, really hate to concede this, but Kindle Unlimited works very well with long series of long novels.
My DEMONSOULED experiment with KU was successful this summer, so after I moved DEMONSOULED out of KU and back onto all the other retailers, I decided to try THE GHOSTS/GHOST EXILE with KU.
(But NOT the GHOST NIGHT series, I should note – GHOST IN THE VAULT will be available on all retailers in September!)
It’s going really well, and I haven’t even started advertising it properly yet. Yesterday was my best ever day for Kindle Unlimited, and today looks like it will be better yet.
Right now 6 of the GHOSTS books are in the Top 100 of their category on Amazon US, and that hasn’t happened in years.
I’ve resisted Kindle Unlimited for years, but I’m going to concede that it makes sense to swap some of my older, completed series in and out of the program.
-JM
August 10, 2019
DRAGONTIARNA & GHOST NIGHT questions
Edward asks:
“How many books will ghost nights and dragontiarna be? Also if you can tell us, which of your ideas will be next on your list to write or if you can’t tell us anything about the story itself how about which genre it falls into?”
DRAGONTIARNA will be between 10 and 16 books. I’ve plotted out the entire series, but I haven’t decided how many books I’ll divide the plot into. For SEVENFOLD SWORD, I had a hard limit of 12 books because of the audiobooks, but I have to admit towards the last three books it started to feel a little cramped – like I have to get this, this, and this into book #11, because we’re just about out of space. I wanted to avoid that with DRAGONTIARNA. So it’s plotted out, but I’m not sure how many books it will be. It depends on how many subplots I add – Selene wasn’t in the original outline draft of SEVENFOLD SWORD, for example.
I’m planning to do a DRAGONTIARNA book every other month, but we’ll see how it sells. If it doesn’t quite sell as well as FROSTBORN/SEVENFOLD SWORD, I might change that to every three months and give myself a chance to do some other things, like the idea for a science fiction epic that’s been bouncing around my head for a while.
For GHOST NIGHT, I don’t actually know how many books it will be because I changed the outline about halfway through GHOST IN THE AMULET.
(SPOILERS for the first four books of GHOST NIGHT follow.)
Originally, in the outline for GHOST NIGHT, I planned to spend the entire series in Ulkaar. Except I just got bored with that idea, and I wanted to write like I did in the first GHOSTS series, where Caina tends to visit a new city every book. So I tossed the original outline and rewrote it (which is why Morgant turns up a third of the way through GHOST IN THE AMULET). I haven’t divided the rest of the new outline into books yet, but the entire series will probably end up at around 9 to 12 books or so.
What’s interesting is that I was looking over the previous GHOSTS books for continuity while writing GHOST IN THE VAULT, and I don’t really think Caina was on an entirely even psychological keel from the end of GHOST IN THE SURGE until the end of GHOST IN THE TOWER. Meeting Ariadne Scorneus was very good for Caina, in that she talked to a female relative she immediately didn’t hate and want to kill. It’s interesting to see how Caina is evolving from a secret agent to a mentor and a person of authority.
Anyway, I hope this will be my publishing schedule for the rest of 2019.
September: GHOST IN THE VAULT
October: DRAGONTIARNA: THIEVES
November: CLOAK OF WOLVES
December: DRAGONTIARNA #3
-JM
August 9, 2019
GHOST IN THE VAULT book description!
What is GHOST IN THE VAULT going to be about?
I wrote the book description, so I’m glad you asked! If all goes well, the book will be out in the first week of September.
###
Caina has made many enemies, and chief among them is Lord Corbould Maraeus, the most powerful noble in the Empire of Nighmar.
But the Empire is facing dire peril, and Corbould needs all the allies he can find. If Caina can find a missing ambassador, Corbould is willing to forego his vengeance against Caina.
Except no mere political intrigue has snared the missing ambassador.
For the ancient evils in the forgotten Vault of the Moroaica are awakening…
-JM
August 8, 2019
writers’ block and time management
John asks:
“If I might ask you a question with your having 3 books going consecutively that your writing how do you keep from confusing the stories? And do you ever get writer’s block?”
I do outline everything in advance, which helps things from getting tangled together.
It helps that the books and personalities involved are all really distinct from each other, and they tend to slot into different genres. The Ridmark books are epic fantasy, which has its own rules. Nadia’s books are urban fantasy. Caina’s books are mostly epic fantasy, but they kind of veer from genre to genre a lot. Like, GHOST IN THE FLAMES was a murder mystery, GHOST IN THE MAZE was a heist novel, GHOST IN THE ASHES and GHOST IN THE TOWER tended to be thrillers with sorcery, and so on.
The settings also have their own rules – like, Ridmark’s world and Caina’s are lower-tech, so no guns. However, Nadia’s world does, and she will happily shoot her enemies if she can get away with it.
It also helps that the characters have their own distinct personalities and react to things differently.
I don’t have writers’ block. I did when I was younger, but now I have the opposite problem – I have too many ideas and not enough time to turn them all into books.
-JM
August 7, 2019
two new audiobooks!
Last week was pretty busy, but I did have two new audiobooks come out!
The first is CLOAK GAMES: FROST FEVER, as excellently read by Meghan Kelly. You can get it at Audible, iTunes, Amazon US, Amazon UK, Nook, Kobo, Google Play, and Scribd.
The second is GHOST IN THE ASHES, as excellently read by Hollis McCarthy. You can get it at Audible, iTunes, Amazon US, Amazon UK, and Amazon AU.
If you’ve got one more road trip to take this summer, check out these audiobooks!
-JM
August 6, 2019
A Brief Addendum To Recent Writing Advice
You may recall than in a recent blog post about self-publishing, I advised a reader that it was best to do as much yourself as possible, but that sometimes it is necessary to hire something out. By way of example, I cited my front porch, which I planned to have replaced.
I had two reasons for replacing my front porch – several of the deck boards had gotten rotten, and during the winter, a large ice dam had broken off the house and punched a crater in two more of the boards. This seemed like a good reason to replace the porch.
However, finding a contractor proved difficult. Actually, I shouldn’t say that. Finding contractors proved easy. Getting them to return phone calls proved much, much harder. Finally, in a burst of exasperation, I decided to do it myself. Closer inspection of the porch revealed that while many of the deck boards were in bad shape, the joists and the supporting posts were still sound.
I watched several YouTube videos on deck repair, and then spent an hour driving around a vast, city-sized Lumber Warehouse until I located the precise kind of decking I needed. After that it was a few hours with a prybar, a mallet, and a pair of pliers to remove the damaged/rotten boards and their nails, and maybe another hour to position and secure them with proper outdoor deck screws instead of the nails whoever built the porch used.
And then it was done! Six hours and $70 of lumber/screws, all told. Should further damage occur to the porch, I will have the spare lumber and screws on hand to repair it.
What can we learn from this? When it comes to publishing and home repair, whenever possible, it’s best to follow the advice of Thanos the Mad Titan and do it yourself. 
August 5, 2019
GHOST IN THE VAULT editing underway
My main project now is editing GHOST IN THE VAULT, so it’s time to share the cover image!
If all goes well, the book will be out in September.
[image error]
-JM
August 4, 2019
100 Books!
With DRAGONTIARNA: KNIGHTS, I have now published my 100th novel.
Just to amuse myself, here is the complete list of all 100 novels. List is by series, not by publication date. It took a while to type out!
DEMONSOULED SERIES
1.) Demonsouled
2.) Soul of Tyrants
3.) Soul of Serpents
4.) Soul of Dragons
5.) Soul of Sorcery
6.) Soul of Skulls
7.) Soul of Swords
MASK OF THE DEMONSOULED SERIES
8.) Mask of Swords
9.) Mask of Dragons
10.) Mask of Spells
THE GHOSTS SERIES
11.) Child of the Ghosts
12.) Blade of the Ghosts
13.) Ghost in the Flames
14.) Ghost in the Blood
15.) Ghost in the Storm
16.) Ghost in the Stone
17.) Ghost in the Forge
18.) Ghost in the Ashes
19.) Ghost in the Mask
20.) Ghost in the Surge
THE GHOST EXILE SERIES
21.) Ghost in the Cowl
22.) Ghost in the Maze
23.) Ghost in the Hunt
24.) Ghost in the Razor
25.) Ghost in the Inferno
26.) Ghost in the Seal
27.) Ghost in the Throne
28.) Ghost in the Pact
29.) Ghost in the Winds
THE GHOST NIGHT SERIES
30.) Ghost in the Ring
31.) Ghost in the Glass
32.) Ghost in the Amulet
33.) Ghost in the Tower
THE FROSTBORN SERIES
34.) Frostborn: The First Quest
35.) Frostborn: The Bone Quest
36.) Frostborn: The Gray Knight
37.) Frostborn: The Eightfold Knife
38.) Frostborn: The Undying Wizard
39.) Frostborn: The Master Thief
40.) Frostborn: The Iron Tower
41.) Frostborn: The Dark Warden
42.) Frostborn: The Gorgon Spirit
43.) Frostborn: The Broken Mage
44.) Frostborn: The World Gate
45.) Frostborn: The High Lords
46.) Frostborn: The False King
47.) Frostborn: The Dwarven Prince
48.) Frostborn: Excalibur
49.) Frostborn: The Dragon Knight
50.) Frostborn: The Shadow Prison
THE SEVENFOLD SWORD SERIES
51.) Sevenfold Sword: Champion
52.) Sevenfold Sword: Swordbearer
53.) Sevenfold Sword: Warlord
54.) Sevenfold Sword: Necromancer
55.) Sevenfold Sword: Shadow
56.) Sevenfold Sword: Unity
57.) Sevenfold Sword: Sorceress
58.) Sevenfold Sword: Serpent
59.) Sevenfold Sword: Tower
60.) Sevenfold Sword: Maze
61.) Sevenfold Sword: Guardian
62.) Sevenfold Sword: Sovereign
THE DRAGONTIARNA SERIES
63.) Dragontiarna: Knights
THE MALISON SERIES
64.) Malison: Dragon Curse
65.) Malison: Dragon Fury
66.) Malison: Dragon Umbra
67.) Malison: Dragon War
THE CLOAK GAMES SERIES
68.) Cloak Games: Thief Trap
69.) Cloak Games: Frost Fever
70.) Cloak Games: Rebel Fist
71.) Cloak Games: Shadow Jump
72.) Cloak Games: Shatter Stone
73.) Cloak Games: Truth Chain
74.) Cloak Games: Tomb Howl
75.) Cloak Games: Hammer Break
76.) Cloak Games: Blood Cast
77.) Cloak Games: Last Judge
78.) Cloak Games: Sky Hammer
79.) Cloak Games: Mage Fall
THE CLOAK MAGE SERIES
80.) Cloak of Dragons
THAT ONE MYSTERY NOVEL I TRIED TO WRITE AND THAT SOLD POORLY
81.) Share the Pain
THE SILENT ORDER SERIES
82.) Silent Order: Iron Hand
83.) Silent Order: Wraith Hand
84.) Silent Order: Axiom Hand
85.) Silent Order: Eclipse Hand
86.) Silent Order: Fire Hand
87.) Silent Order: Wasp Hand
88.) Silent Order: Master Hand
89:) Silent Order: Image Hand
90.) Silent Order: Ark Hand
THE TOWER OF ENDLESS WORLDS SERIES
91.) The Tower of Endless Worlds
92.) A Knight of the Sacred Blade
93.) A Wizard of the White Council
94.) The Destroyer of Worlds
THE THIRD SOUL SERIES
95.) The Third Soul Omnibus One
96.) The Black Paladin
97.) The Tomb of Baligant
THE CLOAK & GHOST SERIES
98.) Cloak & Ghost: Blood Ring
99.) Cloak & Ghost: Lost Gate
100.) Cloak & Ghost: Rebel Cell
-JM
August 3, 2019
DRAGONTIARNA: KNIGHTS now available!
I am pleased to report that DRAGONTIARNA: KNIGHTS, the first book in my new epic fantasy series, is now available at Amazon US, Amazon UK, Amazon DE, Amazon CA, Amazon AU, Barnes & Noble, Apple Books, Kobo, Google Play, and Smashwords.
Ridmark Arban has defeated both the mighty Frostborn and the evil of the Seven Swords, and now he only wishes to live quietly with his family.
But Ridmark’s oldest enemy, the Warden of Urd Morlemoch, has not forgotten him.
And the Warden knows a dangerous secret.
For the dragons are returning…
-JM
