Jonathan Moeller's Blog, page 227

FROSTBORN: THE SHADOW PRISON rough draft finished!

I am pleased to report that the rough draft of FROSTBORN: THE SHADOW PRISON is now complete. 146,700 words in 28 days!

Next up is the short story THE ELDER SHAMANS, the final short story in THE BONE QUEST series of FROSTBORN short stories. Newsletter subscribers will a coupon code to get THE ELDER SHAMANS for free.

Once that is done, I’ll start cracking on edits. Once the edits are done, I think THE SHADOW PRISON will be just slightly shorter than SOUL OF SWORDS, which will make it my second-longest book to date.

THE SHADOW PRISON was 146,700 words in 28 days, but the FROSTBORN series was fifteen books in four years. Fifteen!

What a ride! Thanks for coming along to the end!

writing priorities

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It’s funny how priorities change over the years. Ubuntu 17.04 Zesty Zapus came out today, and in the old days I would have spent my writing time downloading, installing, and testing it.

Instead, I’m going to use today’s writing time to try and push to the end of FROSTBORN: THE SHADOW PRISON. So no more Internet until FROSTBORN: THE SHADOW PRISON is done!

Fortunately, I don’t think that’s too far off now.

why so serial?

 

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Matthew asks in response to my post about writing 10,000 words in a single day:

“You ever thought about writing serially? Like releasing a few chapters of something a week and making it like 99 cents? 10k is absolutely insane. I’m not sure I know another author who makes 10k words in a week.”

Good question! Actually, I have tried something like that, and I concluded that it doesn’t work at all well.

I released THE THIRD SOUL as a serial, and I wrote THE BONE QUEST series of FROSTBORN short stories structured as a serial, and based on the reaction to them I’ve come to the conclusion that a large majority of readers simply do not like serials and prefer novels. Both THE THIRD SOUL and THE BONE QUEST get a lot of complaints because of their length.

So, I’ve concluded that the majority of readers prefer novels to short stories, novellas, and serials. (I like short stories, but I kind of suspect they might be an artifact of the old days when people did a lot of reading in magazines and there were only so many pages available.)

I think the only way a serial would work is if you wrote the entire thing in advance and made sure each, say, 10k words were ready to go every Friday, like a webcomic artist who prepares three or four weeks’ worth of comics in advance before launching his website.

Of course, if you did that much work, you could just release it as a novel to fewer complaints about length.

I’m launching three new novel series this year – SEVENFOLD SWORD, GHOST NIGHT, and a science fiction series, and I haven’t decided if I’m going to have short stories accompanying them. If I do, I think I’ll group the stories in their own series like THE BONE QUEST, but have each one be completely stand alone.

-JM

a 10k day

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Yesterday was a successful writing day, because I wrote 10,000 words of FROSTBORN: THE SHADOW PRISON.

I write relatively fast, but even for me, 10k days are extremely rare. Everything has to go just right in Real Life – no computer problems, no home maintenance tasks, my brain has to be firing on all cylinders, and so forth, but yesterday was one of those days.

In fact, the last time I hit a 10k day was November 30th, 2014, when I wrote 10,000 words of GHOST IN THE RAZOR in a single day. It was right after Thanksgiving, and I was snowed in with nothing else to do, so I just kept going and going on GHOST IN THE RAZOR. I think the section I wrote was the part where Caina and Kylon reunite under the Ring of Cyrica and run into their old friends from the Kindred.

Some people really like that scene, so I think it worked out.

FROSTBORN: THE SHADOW PRISON updates

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I am now past 120,000 words in the rough draft of FROSTBORN: THE SHADOW PRISON. Still not done, but getting closer!

I did some math, and at 120,000 words, even incomplete FROSTBORN: THE SHADOW PRISON is already the 5th longest book I’ve ever written, with SOUL OF SWORDS the longest at 149,000.

But we’ve still got a ways to go with FROSTBORN: THE SHADOW PRISON, so I’m looking forward to seeing where in the Top 5 it will land! Another 29,000 words, and it will be the longest book I’ve ever written.

-JM

 

FROSTBORN: THE SHADOW PRISON – 100k words

I passed 100,000 words in the rough draft of FROSTBORN: THE SHADOW PRISON today.

And I’m still only on Chapter 22 of 34! Ways to go yet.

FROSTBORN: THE SHADOW PRISON UPDATE

Now 90,000 words into the rough draft of FROSTBORN: THE SHADOW PRISON.

I estimate I have between 40,000 and 65,000 words left to go.

I would post a brief excerpt but pretty much the entire book is a spoiler for the rest of the series, so no excerpts.

a short GHOST IN THE RING excerpt

Yesterday a reader on Facebook asked when I was starting GHOST IN THE RING.

Actually, I already did! It’s my side project while I work on FROSTBORN: THE SHADOW PRISON, and once FROSTBORN: THE SHADOW PRISON is done, GHOST IN THE RING will become my main project.

Let’s have a short excerpt!

“That sword,” said the magus. “That’s an Iramisian valikon. Where did you get it? Did you find it here?”

“No,” said Kylon. 

“Where did you find it, then?” said the magus. He didn’t seem afraid, only fascinated. “Those weapons are legendary. There are only a few left in the world. All the rest were destroyed when the Alchemists burned Iramis.”

“My wife gave it to me,” said Kylon.

The magus snorted. “Clearly a woman of exquisite taste.”

-JM

Military Fantasy Promo!

I’ve been fortunate enough to have the FROSTBORN books in the Top 20 of the Military Fantasy category on Amazon for a while now. (Thanks everyone!) Some of the other writers on the list put together a group sale, and were kind enough to invite me.

Here are the books we put on sale this week. If you’re looking for something fun to read this week, you can find it here!

FATEMARKED, by David Estes.

In the spirit of fantasy epics like George R.R. Martin’s A Game of Thrones and Brandon Sanderson’s The Way of Kings, The Fatemarked Epic promises immaculate world building, an ancient prophecy, a mysterious source of magic, a diverse cast of characters, war, political intrigue, and romance.

The Hundred Years War has ravaged more than three generations of kings, queens, and citizens across the Four Kingdoms. Corrupt rulers dominate. Religious intolerance runs rampant. The cycle of vengeance continues to turn with the seasons.

An ancient prophecy by a legendary oracle has been long forgotten. The prophecy promises the return of peace to the Four Kingdoms on the backs of a chosen few, the fatemarked, individuals marked at birth and blessed with specific magical powers. One shall be the Kings’ Bane, and will bring death to the warmongering rulers, using fear to force peace; another shall be the Peacemaker, bestowed with the rare ability to heal. Opposite sides of the same coin, dark and light, death and life, the Kings’ Bane and the Peacemaker are responsible for the fate of an entire continent.

As they fight to achieve their destinies, adversity will hinder them in every realm: in the frozen north, assassination attempts and a brutal power struggle; in the holy west, a vicious queen and her self-righteous army of warriors; in the mysterious iron-clad forest of the east, revenge and glory rule the day; and in the southern empires of Calyp and Phanes, maturing dragons, slaves, and a civil war.

To truly fulfill the oracle’s prophecy of peace, both the Kings’ Bane and the Peacemaker, as well as the other fatemarked, will need to overcome those who seek to destroy everything in their pursuit for power.

The first book in an epic saga years in the making, Fatemarked will sweep you away to another land, another time, when magic and dragons, kings and queens, and courage and valor still meant something.

STIGER’S TIGERS, by Marc Alan Edelheit

The empire has endured many centuries but is now threatened by multiple wars and a major rebellion in the South.

A nobleman from an infamous family, imperial legionary officer, and a born fighter… Captain Ben Stiger finds himself reassigned from a crack legion to the rebellion simmering in the South. Placed in command of a truly terrible company, the 85th Imperial Foot, he is unknowingly sent on a suicide mission to resupply an isolated outpost, the garrison of Vrell. Along the way he must rebuild his new company, gain the respect of the men he leads, survive an assassination attempt, fight bandits, rebels, and an agent of an evil god. His companions on this journey of discovery and adventure are one of the few remaining elven rangers and a paladin on a quest for the High Father.

The battle to save the empire and the world begins here in the first book of this exciting new series!

Winner of the 2016 Independent Publisher Book Bronze Award for Fantasy!!!

THE KNIGHTHOOD, by Evan Currie. 

A War was waged.

Humanity lost.

Now it’s time for a rematch.

In the now near forgotten past, civilization spanned the planet and the stars. When the invasion came, it did not start with a bang but with a whimper of sickness. By the time the enemy showed themselves, the war had already been lost. Demons from nightmare, wielding magic and raw physical power, fell upon what was left in a wave of destruction. The warriors of humanity fought, and died, making the invaders pay for every inch of ground they took… but take it they did.

Now the fighting is left to those who survived, and even that has ground to a near stop as final defeat looms.

One last spark in the darkness, one last lesson to teach the enemy before humanity’s sun has set, one last stand. A spark can start a conflagration, and hope is the last, best, weapon any man can wield.

Stand against the dark. Fight in the shadows, that others may one day walk in the light.

FROSTBORN OMNIBUS ONE, by Jonathan Moeller

Combined for the first time in one volume are the first three books of the internationally bestselling FROSTBORN saga – FROSTBORN: THE GRAY KNIGHT, FROSTBORN: THE EIGHTFOLD KNIFE, FROSTBORN: THE UNDYING WIZARD, and the prequel novel FROSTBORN: THE FIRST QUEST.

RIDMARK ARBAN was once a Swordbearer, a knight of renown. Now he is a branded outcast, stripped of his sword, and despised as a traitor.

But he alone sees the danger to come, and undertakes the dangerous quest to stop the return of the Frostborn.

-JM

FROSTBORN: THE EIGHTFOLD KNIFE now in audiobook

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I am very pleased to report that FROSTBORN: THE EIGHTFOLD KNIFE is now available in audiobook at Amazon, Amazon UK, iTunes & Audible! As with the first book, it is narrated by Steven Crossley.

Don’t forget you can also get FROSTBORN: THE GRAY KNIGHT in audio at Amazon, Amazon UK, iTunes, and Audible.

-JM