Scott Appleton's Blog, page 5

Crime in the future

In the future, it may be easier to frame someone for a crime. It may also be more difficult to convict a killer…

Coming immediately on the heels of my new fantasy story, I am pleased to give you an original sci-fi tale! The Only Suspect is available exclusively on my website. Just open the page for Free Fiction on AuthorAppleton.com and choose the story. Or, follow this link: The Only Suspect

New and Free original Fantasy story for my readers!

Let me preface this by saying that I do not celebrate Holloween but I know that many people do, and the story I have is appropriate to the season. It is a darker tale that has nudged at the back of my brain for years.

It has been about seven years since I last wrote an original fantasy short story. But I recently got a new writing device (which I will review later) and this was my first piece written on it.

You will now see a new page available on my website. One that I have been intending to add for a long time but did not have suitable content for: Free Fiction is your portal to a new library of imaginative tales which I will be populating with original stories as I am inspired to do so.

The first story is up, and I think you will enjoy it. It is titled Chormain’s Deadly Good Deed. This is written from the dragon’s point of view, thus providing a unique perspective on the theme. Enjoy, and do feel free to leave a comment on the story if you wish to!

Do we censor the Bible for young readers?

As an author of fantasy fiction, I have often been challenged on some of the things that I choose to write about. Well-meaning readers and concerned parents want to know how I handle violence and romance in the stories. These are fair questions, but might they be handled better by first asking another? Do we censor the Bible for young readers?

I read the Bible cover to cover when I was ten-years-old. It was an eye-opening experience and mind-boggling as well. It was full of good and evil and made me aware of things that were, quite frankly, taboo to young conservative Christian homeschoolers. Do we censor the Bible for young readers in the same way that we do other books, or is a double standard being applied?

Unfortunately the majority of conservative youths will first be educated on sex, romance, violence, betrayal, and many other things when they move out from their parents’ protection… by the secular culture.

Such was the case with me. My first interactions with people in various work environments exposed me to cursing, violence, drug addicts, and promiscuity. Fortunately for me I had already read a lot about these things when I had read the Bible cover to cover. I read about incest, murder, war, cursing, and many other things that corrupt and destroy our world. As a result I was not surprised by them, even though it was a harsh reality to face. Coming into contact with these things in person was far different than simply reading about it.

I made friends with people who were destroying their own lives with drugs and such, and to this day I still think of some of those people fondly but sadly. I was never one to do things just because someone said to. When I wanted to learn about a subject that my parents hadn’t discussed with me openly, I would turn to the encyclopedias and the dictionaries and start researching from there. Later in life the internet played a big part in that as well.

The Bible is not a “sail bright and easy” book. It details horrible deeds. But it also tells the truth of other things that are quite wonderful and often avoided by concerned parents. Some people will disagree, but I believe that it is clear that the Song of Solomon is clearly an erotic tale of a real couple’s experiences.

This brings forward the question: should we censor what is being read by our youths? I do not have a full grasp of this, but I do believe it is folly to let the world answer these questions that our children will raise. An acquaintance of mine once put it very aptly: he would rather that his daughter saw something on a movie that she was watching with him, and that he could then discuss it with her then and there, than that she should see it elsewhere and have someone else interpret it for her. Others who do not have our youths’ best interests at heart are all too willing to teach them, filling in the gaps as it were.

I do not believe that we need to censor the Bible, well probably most any other book as well. But we do need to ground them in a consistent Christian worldview if we want them to make good choices. This is an enormous task but a fascinating one to consider.

When I am writing my fantasy stories, I am looking to create a world that the readers can be absorbed in. I don’t want something that is so watered down that it loses its realism. I do not want to state that something is wrong in the story, instead I want to show the reader. After all, when you live it through the characters’ eyes, the consequences become evident and the choices that they made become clearly good or evil.

Q: Should we censor parts of the Bible for young readers?

Audiobook progress update and sample!

The audiobook version of Swords of the Six is fully recorded now! This is a big project but feels very rewarding. Right now I am taking all of the rough files and putting them through postproduction in preparation for their publication on Audible, Hoopla, iTunes, and other audiobook vendors.

I think this is going to finish at about 16 hours of listening time. The audio quality turned out better than I had hoped and I have found that the key with the narration is to simply relax, be myself, and sink into the story.

I have been promising you guys a more substantial sample of this audiobook, so here it is at last! This is the excerpt where albino the dragon hatches his daughters from their eggs. I hope that you enjoy it! It is my intention to have the audiobook published by this Christmas.

Swords of the Six (audiobook) chapter 4: Shizar Palace

Swords of the Six audiobook recorded!

With great pleasure (and from an exhausted state of mind because it is 2:15AM) I am pleased to announce the completion of recording for Swords of the Six.

This was a whole lot of work, and I suspect just as much work is ahead of me as I launch into post-production. The audio files have to be edited and brought into alignment with audiobook publishers before I can release this to the public. Building my own whisper room/recording booth definitely made a huge difference in accomplishing this mammoth task.

I hope to have this out by Christmas 2020, but I have never done an audiobook prior to this so there may be unforeseen hurdles. But I cannot wait to offer this product!

Chapters preview “In Search of Dragons”

For all of you who have been patiently waiting for my eighth book, which is the fifth novel in The Sword of the Dragon series, I thought I would give you a fun preview. How about a listing of the first few chapters? This novel is now over 13,000-words in!

I am not really an outline writer, but sometimes my chapter headings end up looking like an outline. So here’s a list of the first few chapters that I managed to carve out of an ancient monolith on the world of Osira.

The Sword of the Dragon series (book 5) In Search of Dragons

Chapter 1: The Phantom’s Guidance

Chapter 2: A Prisoner of Spiritual Darkness

Chapter 3: Almost One Thousand Swords

Chapter 4: Three Faces to Never Forget

Chapter 5: The Fortunate One

Chapter 6: Whispers of Insurrection

Chapter 7: A Phantom in Sunlight

Chapter 8: Dragon Blood in Her Veins

All books now published! And new distribution announcements

The first four books in The Sword of the Dragon series are now officially available both on Kindle and in Paperback editions! And I am expanding distribution (as promised) to other retailers and platforms.

Now available in Paperback and on Kindle (Amazon.com):
Swords of the Six
Dragon Offspring
Key of Living Fire
The Phantom’s Blade

As of today, Swords of the Six and Dragon Offspring have also been submitted for publication on the international e-reader Kobo. I hope that this reaches new readers and reacquaints some who have lost track of my writing over the years.

Also, I am in the process of setting up distribution for all of the paperback editions. You will soon be able to purchase at any retailer, online or otherwise, and the titles will also be available to your libraries. I will update you when this takes effect.

May God’s blessings be with you all!

The Phantom’s Blade special edition now available on Kindle!

It’s here! The special edition of The Phantom’s Blade (The Sword of the Dragon book 4) released on Kindle today.

I am finishing the files to send to the printer for the paperback edition today. With this completed I can focus on writing new books!
You can check out the new edition of The Phantom’s Blade by clicking this link.

Key Of Living Fire special edition now available!

Book three in my primary fantasy series, The Sword of the Dragon, is finally available both in paperback and on Kindle! Check out the three-book-collection and get ready for next week’s release of book four to match!

You can now purchase the original three books in my series. Next I am going to delve into the writing of book five, In Search Of Dragons.

Amazon has added a series page to help readers navigate the order of my fantasy novels. You can find my series’ pages here:
The Sword of the Dragon series’ page
The Neverqueen Saga’s page

Purchase the new edition of Key Of Living Fire here:
Key Of Living Fire (paperback)
Key Of Living Fire (kindle)

Job layoff upside, publishing updates & audiobook preview

Despite the craziness resulting from the worldwide spread of COVID-19, this has been a wonderfully productive season for my publishing efforts… and it is going to be extra productive these next couple of weeks! Why? Because my day job has laid me off due to the virus. The doors are closed and I will be home for at least two weeks. What does this mean for my writing, audio, and publishing efforts? An influx of creative time that equals writing and recording heaven for this introvert!

It is time to update you regarding the release of the new edition of Key Of Living Fire, building of my private audio recording studio, recording Swords Of The Six audiobook, and the updated edition of The Phantom’s Blade. Not only that, but having the series all re-released with their matching covers and updated content . . . puts me in position to write the next novels!

The new edition of Key of Living Fire is being published this week. It has been slightly expanded, and of course matches the new covers! Distribution is being set up through Ingram, so you will be able to buy the book anywhere books are sold, whether online or in a brick and mortar like Barnes & Noble. Also, this is being made available on Kindle, Apple Books, Kobo, and others.

The Phantom’s Blade is being released this month as well! There is no real content change to this title, only a redesign to bring it in line with the other books in the series. Like the others, this will become widely available in the next few months, both in print and in ebook formats.

HOME RECORDING STUDIO

The other bit of news is no less exciting. After many hours of careful planning and hard work, I have finally built an audio recording booth. It is tucked in the closet in my office, which makes it easy to record away from the busyness of home life. After all, I have five kids from the ages of two to nine. The recording booth allows me to shut out exterior sounds, keeping the audio clear of interference. It is a simple setup. Just a folding chair and a Blue Yeti microphone on the shelf made for it. Of course, you can see that I have a pop filter set up as well. My greatest challenge is keeping my kids out of it when they are supposed to. They think this is the biggest thing since dark chocolate!

While I am on the subject of audio recording, I have the first three chapters of Swords Of The Six recorded. I thought it would be nice to provide you with a sample, so here it is!

“The Beginning of Things” from SWORDS OF THE SIX

What’s next? With the original novels in The Sword of the Dragon series back in circulation, it is time for me to buckle down and write book five, In Search of Dragons. There are a couple of other writing projects I cannot wait to dig into, including the standalone fantasy novel The Dragon’s Eye Diamond . . .. But I am getting ahead of myself and the first project is In Search of Dragons.

Expect updates from me more frequently this month.

Due to my being home for a couple of weeks (maybe longer) I will be applying many extra hours to 1) publishing Key of Living Fire 2) publishing The Phantom’s Blade 3) recording Swords of the Six audiobook, and 4) finally delving fully into writing In Search of Dragons (The Sword of the Dragon book 5).

Q: Which project are you most looking forward to?