Jonathan Moeller's Blog, page 307

FROSTBORN: THE EIGHTFOLD KNIFE now underway

I’ve written five books this year. GHOST IN THE FORGE, SOUL OF SWORDS, GHOST IN THE ASHES, FROSTBORN: THE GRAY KNIGHT, and most recently GHOST IN THE MASK.

So the best way to celebrate having written five books, of course, is to write a sixth one! FROSTBORN: THE EIGHTFOLD KNIFE is now underway. I’m hoping for a rough draft of 80,000 to 90,000 words or so.

-JM

outlining FROSTBORN: THE EIGHTFOLD KNIFE

Now that GHOST IN THE MASK is out, I’m working on the outline for the second FROSTBORN book, FROSTBORN: THE EIGHTFOLD KNIFE. So far the outline, which I jotted down as ideas came to me, looks like this:

“Ridmark opens the door. Wolves. Old woman. Girl betrothed to blacksmith. ”

Why? Why does Ridmark open the door? Where is the door? Are the wolves behind the door? These are all important questions, that as the author of the book, to which I should really know the answers.

Perhaps the door is MADE of wolves! Now that would be a plot twist.

Anyway, I should know the answers to these questions soon.

GHOST IN THE MASK now available!

I’m pleased to report that GHOST IN THE MASK is now available at Amazon, Amazon UK, Amazon Canada, Amazon Germany, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, and Smashwords. (iBooks should be available in a few weeks.)

Click here to read the first chapter of GHOST IN THE MASK.

-JM

GHOST IN THE MASK, the first chapter

Follow this link to read the first chapter of GHOST IN THE MASK!

-JM

GHOST IN THE MASK update

Looks like the final draft will be about 100,000 words, which comes to approximately 4830 Kindle locations and 260 pages on a Nook.

That officially makes GHOST IN THE MASK the longest book in THE GHOSTS series.

So far.

If all goes well, I should have the first chapter available to read in a few days.

-JM

review appreciation

I would like to take a moment to say thank you to everyone who has left a review for one of my books. It really does help!

-JM

Reader Question Day #73 – more character duels

The topic of which character would win in a fight seems to be evergreen! Here are a few more:

Ivan K asks:

Caina vs. Romaria?

It would depend on the environment. Caina is more comfortable in an urban setting, and Romaria in a wilderness location. Physically, Romaria is stronger and quicker (and can also change into a giant wolf), and her senses are far sharper. That would be an advantage in the countryside, but Caina could turn that into a massive liability in the city – if she lured Romaria into a tannery or a dyeworks, for instance.

So, in a city, Caina would likely be able to to outwit and defeat Romaria after luring her into a trap. In the countryside, though, Romaria would win very quickly.

Lord Richard Mandragon vs. Halfdan?

In straight physical combat, likely Lord Richard. They didn’t call Richard Mandragon the “Dragonslayer” for nothing (he did kill a dragon in his youth), and in the world of the Grim Marches, leadership is heavily tied to physical prowess. It doesn’t work that way among the Ghosts or the Empire of Nighmar.

That said, both Richard and Halfdan are fairly cerebral, and they both basically have the same objectives – order, peace, and good government. They both subscribe to Clausewitz’s idea that war is simply policy pursued through a more extreme method, and both prefer to obtain their objectives via the least amount of bloodshed possible – better to assassinate one man than to fight a war that kills ten thousand. I suspect that Richard Mandragon and Halfdan would be more likely to work together than to fight.

Joseph N asks:

Molly Cravenlock vs. Kylon of House Kardamnos?

If Molly stabs Kylon in the back in the first few seconds, she would win.

But after that, the odds are increasingly against her. Kylon’s water and air sorcery lets him match her Demonsouled speed and strength, and even exceed it for short bursts. Additionally, Kylon’s ability to sense sorcery means he can also sense Molly’s teleportation ability – and that means he can sense where she is going to appear a split second before she does. That would be a lethal advantage.

However, Kylon doesn’t have Molly’s Demonsouled healing ability. So if she manages to wound Kylon, the odds tilt in her favor. But the longer the fight goes on, the more likely it is that Kylon will win.

-JM

GHOST IN THE MASK cover art and excerpt

Above is the cover art for GHOST IN THE MASK, designed by Clarissa Yeo.

And let’s have another excerpt!

“Among the Anshani, the Kingdom of the Rising Sun is regarded with fear and horror. For in ancient times, the great pharaohs and their necromancer-priests enslaved us, and held us as their thralls for countless generations.” He grimaced. “Only after the Bloodmaiden rose in wrath and threw down the great pharaohs, binding their spirits to scream forever upon the burning desert wind, were the Anshani people made free. Ever and always, the Anshani people will be the enemies of the Kingdom of the Rising Sun, for if old Maat were ever to arise anew…she would take her first vengeance upon Anshan.”

“The Bloodmaiden?” said Caina. Something scratched at the back of her mind. She had heard that term before.

“A figure of legend and myth,” said Anashir. “The stories differ…some say she was a sorceress of power who was spurned by the pharaoh, and so destroyed the Kingdom of the Rising Sun in vengeance. Or that the pharaoh slew her father, and she took her revenge. She appears in the tales of other nations as well…the Bringer of Dust, the Queen of Crows, the Moroaica.”

“In the version of the story I heard,” said Caina, trying to keep her voice calm, “the pharaoh’s men murdered her father and turned her into one of the Undying, to serve the pharaoh as a concubine for all eternity.”

And she knew it was the true version of the story because she had seen it in the Moroaica’s memories. 

-JM

GHOST IN THE MASK excerpt:

Let’s have an excerpt from GHOST IN THE MASK:

The slave poured the wine.

“Thank you,” Kylon said.

The slave blinked in surprise, smiled, and lowered her eyes. Kylon had grown up around slaves, had been served by them all his life. Then he had met that cold-eyed Ghost woman in Marsis. To save her friend’s son from the life of a slave, she had killed Rezir Shahan and thrown the attack upon Marsis into disarray.

She had changed the fate of nations, all to save her friend’s son from a slave’s collar.

Ever since then, Kylon could not be comfortable around slaves.

-JM

GHOST IN THE MASKS editing underway

The editing for GHOST IN THE MASK is now underway. Here is the official description of the book (pending updates):

Caina Amalas is a nightfighter of the Ghosts, the spies and assassins of the Emperor of Nighmar, and through cunning and valor she has cast down both proud lords and mighty sorcerers.

But a power darker than any she has ever faced is awakening. 

When a mad assassin armed with a sorcerous blade rampages through the Emperor’s capital, Caina must track the weapon to its origin, a ruined city blighted by the folly of sorcerers, a city that holds weapons far more potent than mere blades. 

Weapons that can resurrect an ancient empire of dark sorcery to enslave the world anew…

-JM