C.D. Verhoff's Blog, page 7

The Galatia Novels Are Landing!

The Galatia Series is an action-packed epic fantasy about the rebuilding of human civilization.

Prequel - Red the First. Release Date: Available Here**
Book 1 - Promised Land. Release Date: Available Here**
Book 2 - Seeker of the Four Winds. Release Date: Dec. 21, 2013*
Book 3 - Exiled: Release Date: June 21, 2014*
* Release dates are subject to change **Already available at Amazon and other online retailers.

Sneak Peek

The Galatia Series is an action-packed epic fantasy about the rebuilding of human civilization.
The Galatia Novels are landing!

Prequel - Red the First. Release Date: Oct. 21, 2013*
Book 1 - Promised Land. Release Date: Available Here**
Book 2 - Seeker of the Four Winds. Release Date: Dec. 21, 2013*
Book 3 - Exiled: Release Date: June 21, 2014*
* Release dates are subject to change **Already available at Amazon and other online retailers.

Sneak Peek

An action-packed epic fantasy series about the rebuilding of human civilization.
They're coming, they're coming, Fall of 2013!


Red the First: a GALATIA novel, The Prequel Promised Land: a Galatia novel, Book One
Seeker of the Four Winds: a GALATIA novel, Book Two
The tentative publication date for Book Three is Summer of 2014. 
As the weeks roll along look for the official cover reveal and blurb blurt for the above titles. 
Continue to watch this blog for more information. 

Sneak Peek and a FREEBIE

Interested in a FREE reviewer's copy of Promised Land ?
You might be in luck. I'm seeking early reviews for places like Amazon, Barnes and Noble, iTunes, Goodreads, book blogs and so on. If you live in the continental United States, I can offer you a paperback. Quantities are extremely limited, so mailings are on a first come basis. I am also offering the book as a PDF file. Fill out the Contact Form on this page. In the Message Box, write "Promised Land Freebie" and indicate the format you prefer. Please, don't forget to send me your mailing address (if applicable) and email address.
An alluring epic fantasy series about the rebuilding of human civilization.
They're coming, they're coming!


A prequel to the Galatia Series - October 2013.Book One - November 2013.Book Two - December 2013.
The tentative publication date for the third book is the Summer of 2014. 
As the weeks roll along look for the official cover reveal and blurb blurt for the above titles. 
Continue to watch this blog for more information. 

Speaking of Fantasy: Atlas Virtual Reality (KickStarter) - Oculus Rift

I'm not a product pusher, but this is too cool to ignore. Every gamer's dream has come to town at an affordable price. In Atlas, you virtually exist in the game. Unlike older virtual reality games, there is no disconnect, physical bodily movements match what's happening in the digital fantasy world. 

I want one, but it requires an iPhone. That's genius right there. Relying on the expensive technology customers already own cuts down on the cost of producing an Atlas. If I remember from the video, the Atlas costs about $100.00. Really? As someone who needs to exercise, this might be a fun enticement. Getting chased by murderous rock monsters would certainly make my walk more interesting.

When In Doubt, Draw It Out

When in doubt, draw it out.  Words to live by as a fiction writer. It doesn't matter if you're a lousy artist. The important thing is that the act of drawing employs more than just the imagination. Tactile and visual senses are involved as well, which implants the character deep into your memory banks. 

Speaking for myself, the better I can see a character in my mind's eye, the better I can describe him on the page. For instance, in the case of the forest dwelling wumpers, I started out with only a vague idea of what they looked like - round, bouncy, lots of eyes, sharp teeth - but the details were hazy. The wumper I outlined on paper didn't match the one in my head (and never will), but that's not the point. After I drew it a few times, the picture in my imagination sharpened, and my prose became more descriptive. As a writer, any exercise that can do that is worth doing. 

Below is my first sketch. Pathetic, but effective.    



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Excerpt from Galatians Arise, Chapter 6:

The elders said that the wumpers probably came from a distant star and had hitched a ride to Earth on a Celerun ship. In theory, that made them fascinating creatures, but right now Josie just wanted them leave.
    The wumper coming at her now looked like a beach ball on a slinky without all of the fun associations. This ball of flesh wasn’t colorful or cheerful. It looked like a densely packed gray tumbleweed covered with hundreds of glistening black eyes. Its beak jutted out like wedge of cheese filled gray shark teeth, constantly snapping in mindless pursuit of anything that moved.
    Its single leg scrunched on impact with the forest floor, and then expanded again like a spring, propelling it forward with great force. One moment it was there, the next moment it had bounced out of sight, to land with a wump a few yards away.

(My daughter said, "Your wumper looks like Big Bird with sharp teeth. Better stick with the writing, Mom.")


I'm still editing book one of Galatians Arise, but I'm pushing for a fall release date. If you would like to beta read or obtain a free reviewer's copy when it comes out, contact me at: 
cdeannaverhoff@yahoo.com  

Perpetual Novels

I love paperback books, and I hope they never go out of style, but the versatility of the digital format tantalizes the imagination. Whether an ebook is forty pages long or four thousand, the cost of materials and distribution is zero. The time to hug a tree and break books from their paper prisons has come. Down with artificially imposed word counts based on printing costs alone. Let's free books to be as long or as short as they ought to be. A printed book is written in stone. An ebook can be as fluid as a river, changing its prose, its length or its course at the click of a button. In the future, I envision the rise of the Perpetual Novel, where an author can add new scenes, additional characters and unexpected twists on a regular basis. One day soon readers will be able follow their favorite fictional characters in real time. Wouldn't that be fun? The sky is the limit for digital books if we dare to fly them. 

Zombie Dad

A zombie has just bitten your arm, but you haven't turned yet. You are stranded in the middle of nowhere with your infant daughter. What would you do?  I love this video's take on it.

You're Never Too Old To Learn Something Stupid

PARAPROSDOKIAN: a figure of speech, often humorous, in which the latter part of a sentence is surprising or unexpected.


1.Where there's a will, I want to be in it.
2.The last thing I want to do is hurt you; but, it's still on my list.
3.Since light travels faster than sound, some people appear bright until you hear them speak.
4.If I agreed with you, we'd both be wrong.
5.We never really grow up, we only learn how to act in public.
6.War does not determine who is right - only who is left.
7.Knowledge is knowing a tomato is a fruit. Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.
8.They begin the evening news with 'Good Evening,' then proceed to tell you why it isn't.
9.To steal ideas from one person is plagiarism. To steal from many is research.
10.Buses stop in bus stations. Trains stop in train stations. On my desk is a work station.
11.I thought I wanted a career. Turns out I just wanted paychecks.
12.In filling out an application, where it says, 'In case of emergency, notify:' I put 'DOCTOR.'
13.I didn't say it was your fault, I said I was blaming you.
14.Women will never be equal to men until they can walk down the street with a bald head and a beer gut, and still think they are sexy.
15.Behind every successful man is his woman. Behind the fall of a successful man is usually another woman.
16.A clear conscience is the sign of a fuzzy memory.
17.You do not need a parachute to skydive. You only need a parachute to skydive twice.
18.Money can't buy happiness, but it sure makes misery easier to live with.
19.There's a fine line between cuddling and holding someone down so they can't get away.
20.I used to be indecisive. Now I'm not so sure.
21.You're never too old to learn something stupid.
22.To be sure of hitting the target, shoot first and call whatever you hit the target.
23.Nostalgia isn't what it used to be.
24.Change is inevitable, except from a vending machine.
25.Going to church doesn't make you a Christian any more than standing in a garage makes you a car.
26.Where there's a will, there are relatives.

Fun Trivia II

Every day 20 banks are robbed. The average take is $2,500!

The most popular first name in the world is Muhammad!

Tablecloths were originally meant to be served as towels with which dinner guests could wipe their hands and faces after eating!Saturday mail delivery in Canada was eliminated by Canada Post on February 1, 1969!

In Tokyo, a bicycle is faster than a car for most trips of less than 50 minutes!

There are 18 different animal shapes in the Animal Crackers cookie zoo!

Should there be a crash, Prince Charles and Prince William never travel on the same airplane as a precaution!

Your body is creating and killing 15 million red blood cells per second!

The king of hearts is the only king without a moustache on a standard playing card!

Chocolate has always been included on all American and Russian space flights.

White cats with blue eyes are often deaf, however, if they have only one blue eye they are deaf in the ear closest to the blue eye.