Jonathan Moeller's Blog, page 171
January 30, 2019
now editing MALISON: DRAGON FURY
Editing is underway for MALISON: DRAGON FURY! I would share the cover image, but I haven’t actually made it yet. 
January 29, 2019
The 25 Bestselling Books of 2018
It’s end of the year bookkeeping time, and that means I can list my 25 bestselling books of 2018!
Thanks for reading them! Enough of you read my books that I had to buy special software to keep track of how many copies I sold.
1.) SEVENFOLD SWORD: NECROMANCER
2.) SEVENFOLD SWORD: SHADOW
3.) FROSTBORN OMNIBUS ONE
4.) SEVENFOLD SWORD: UNITY
5.) SEVENFOLD SWORD: SORCERESS
6.) SEVENFOLD SWORD: CHAMPION
7.) SEVENFOLD SWORD: SERPENT
8.) SEVENFOLD SWORD: WARLORD
9.) SEVENFOLD SWORD: SWORDBEARER
10.) SILENT ORDER: OMNIBUS ONE
11.) SEVENFOLD SWORD: TOWER
12.) FROSTBORN: THE MASTER THIEF
13.) FROSTBORN: THE SHADOW PRISON
14.) FROSTBORN: THE IRON TOWER
15.) FROSTBORN: THE DRAGON KNIGHT
16.) FROSTBORN: THE DARK WARDEN
17.) FROSTBORN: EXCALIBUR
18.) FROSTBORN: THE GORGON SPIRIT
19.) FROSTBORN: THE BROKEN MAGE
20.) FROSTBORN: THE DWARVEN PRINCE
21.) FROSTBORN: THE WORLD GATE
22.) FROSTBORN: THE FALSE KING
23.) FROSTBORN: THE HIGH LORDS
24.) CLOAK GAMES: BLOOD CAST
25.) CLOAK GAMES: LAST JUDGE
So it looks like the FROSTBORN/SEVENFOLD SWORD universe wins the popularity contest! But I was very surprised to see that SILENT ORDER: OMNIBUS ONE made the top 10.
-JM
January 26, 2019
Where the heck is MALISON: DRAGON FURY?!?
Now that SEVENFOLD SWORD: MAZE is out, a few people have asked why MALISON: DRAGON FURY didn’t come out with MAZE the same way that MALISON: DRAGON CURSE came out with SEVENFOLD SWORD: TOWER.
2018 was an educational year for me in many ways, and one of the things I learned is that releasing two books at the same time isn’t sustainable in the long term. It’s something I can do once in a while, but regularly just isn’t doable. So I made these changes for the rest of the MALISON series:
-The MALISON books will come out shortly after the SEVENFOLD SWORD books.
-The MALISON books will no longer be in Kindle Unlimited.
-The MALISON books will be on B&N, Kobo, iTunes, Google Play, and Smashwords in addition to Amazon. (MALISON: DRAGON CURSE will be on all ebook stores shortly after February 4th.)
-When MALISON: DRAGON FURY comes out, newsletter subscribers will be able to get a free copy of DRAGON CURSE. The links will be through Smashwords and Bookfunnel, so both Amazon users and people who prefer other stores will have a chance to get DRAGON CURSE for free.
As before, the MALISON series will have a grand total of four books once it’s done.
I’m on Chapter 6 of 10 of MALISON: DRAGON FURY, and the book should be out in the first half of February!
-JM
January 25, 2019
SEVENFOLD SWORD: MAZE now available!
I am pleased to report that SEVENFOLD SWORD: MAZE is now available at Amazon US, Amazon UK, Amazon DE, Amazon CA, Amazon AU, Barnes & Noble, iTunes, Kobo, Google Play, and Smashwords.
The quest of the Seven Swords holds a dark secret at its heart.
To find a way to destroy the Swords, Ridmark has entered the Durance of Urd Maelwyn, a twisted dungeon built by a dark elven tyrant. There he must find the mad smith who forged the Swords.
But the ruler of the Durance does not let prisoners escape her iron grasp…
-JM
January 18, 2019
table of contents for SEVENFOLD SWORD: MAZE
Editing is underway for SEVENFOLD SWORD: MAZE, so let’s have a look at the Table of Contents.
If all goes well, the book should be out towards the end of next week.
[image error]
-JM
January 17, 2019
sign up for my newsletter and get a free short story!
Sign up for my newsletter, and when SEVENFOLD SWORD: MAZE comes out in a few weeks, you’ll get a free copy of the short story SHIELD KNIGHT: RHODRUTHAIN!
-JM
January 15, 2019
a brief SEVENFOLD SWORD: MAZE excerpt
Editing SEVENFOLD SWORD: MAZE today, so let’s have a brief excerpt!
Ridmark shrugged, lifted Oathshield, and stepped into the mist. He focused on his link to the sword, preparing to call on its power to shield himself from hostile magic. But nothing happened. He felt a chill from the mist, but it didn’t seem harmful, and Oathshield did not react with rage as it did when faced with dark magic.
“Seems harmless enough,” he said. He paused. “Though I realize that has probably been the last words of many men.”
-JM
January 14, 2019
SEVENFOLD SWORD: MAZE cover image!
The rough draft of SEVENFOLD SWORD: MAZE is done! 106,500 words in 26 days.
Now it’s time to share the cover image of the book, which you can see below.
If all goes well, SEVENFOLD SWORD: MAZE will be out towards the end of January. Subscribers to my newsletter will also get a short story called SHIELD KNIGHT: RHODRUTHAIN for free when MAZE comes out, so this is an excellent time to subscribe!
[image error]
-JM
January 13, 2019
game development
I’m reading BLOOD, SWEAT & PIXELS by Jason Schreier, a book discussing how ten different video games were made. It’s an excellent read, and a great account of the cutthroat competitiveness of the video game industry. Given the complexity of game development, it’s astonishing that any games are ever successful at all.
It also makes me very glad I never got into game development!
My one brush with game development came in 2015 when I had the chance to write a tie-in novel for a game. It seemed like a good opportunity and a fun game, so I wrote a 60k word tie-in novel for the book. Unfortunately, the publisher and the game company had a falling-out shortly after I finished the book, so nothing ever came of it. That said, it wasn’t a wasted experience. I was writing GHOST IN THE INFERNO at the time, and I didn’t want to stop writing INFERNO to work on the game book, so I wrote both of them simultaneously. That was the first time I had ever worked on two different novels at the same time. It was a useful skill, and I’ve done it more or less continuously since.
Unfortunately for the game industry, experiences like that (your project gets canceled because of business reasons) is the norm rather than the exception. Also, it’s a lot better to work on your own intellectual property than on someone else’s, especially if you’re a writer.
But back to the original point, BLOOD, SWEAT & PIXELS is an excellent read, and I definitely recommend it if you’re at all curious about game development.
-JM
January 11, 2019
FROSTBORN: THE GORGON SPIRIT now in audiobook!
I am pleased to report that FROSTBORN: THE GORGON SPIRIT, the seventh book of the FROSTBORN series, is now available in audiobook at Audible, Amazon US, Amazon UK, Amazon AU, and iTunes, as excellently narrated by Brad Wills.
You can get the first seven books in the FROSTBORN series in audiobook starting here!
-JM
