M. Scott Verne's Blog
October 9, 2012
CoG Kickstarter & 2nd Novel Update
I thought I'd put in a quick note here to update you all at Goodreads, so here goes...
Kickstarter was a total success for us and we got more than we were expecting in terms of pledges. Even more importantly (for us anyway) was that we got a lot of NEW readers who pledged so they could get the first book! This was an unexpected surprize and we are really looking forward to to seeing what they thought of the first novel.
Meanwhile we have been making steady progress on the new CoG: Guardian novel and are now just filling in the gaps in the prose. Often a scene comes and you write it when the muse strikes, regardless of where in the story that scene take place. Eventually you have lots of scenes like that, and then you realize its time to "connect the dots."
We know where the novel is going before we even start writing it, but we don't write it in chronologial order.
All right, that's it for now. Thanks all for helping us on Kickstarter adn oplease, if you haven't reviewed or rated our books here at Goodreads - Please do!
Kickstarter was a total success for us and we got more than we were expecting in terms of pledges. Even more importantly (for us anyway) was that we got a lot of NEW readers who pledged so they could get the first book! This was an unexpected surprize and we are really looking forward to to seeing what they thought of the first novel.
Meanwhile we have been making steady progress on the new CoG: Guardian novel and are now just filling in the gaps in the prose. Often a scene comes and you write it when the muse strikes, regardless of where in the story that scene take place. Eventually you have lots of scenes like that, and then you realize its time to "connect the dots."
We know where the novel is going before we even start writing it, but we don't write it in chronologial order.
All right, that's it for now. Thanks all for helping us on Kickstarter adn oplease, if you haven't reviewed or rated our books here at Goodreads - Please do!
July 17, 2012
Help us finish the 2nd CoG Novel!
If you don't know by now, Wynn and myself are well on our way towards finishing the second City of the Gods Novel. And now that we have a track record of putting out the first novel and several other related City of the Gods products, we figured we'd try to put the second novel up on Kickstarter. You can pledge as little as $1 or buy the 2nd novel by pledging $25 dollars. You can get other items as well, including City of the Gods comics, the Anthology, or even have your name put in the book. So please take a look and see what its all about here: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1...
Here's a Description of book 2:
City of the Gods: Guardian - Forced by a mystical bond, D’Molay and Mazu must travel across the Realms of the Gods in search of Circe, one of the greatest Sorceresses of Greek myth. But finding her is only half the battle, for they must also rescue one of Circe’s victims and return her to an impatient deity.
To make matters worse, D’Molay begins to doubt his own sanity as he begins to hallucinate and becomes convinced that someone or some thing is stalking them. What is Circe’s secret task, and does D’Molay know something that threatens the very existence of the City of the Gods? Uncover more mysteries of this unique world in this second book in the series.
If you go to our Kickstarter pages, you can also find various imaged from book 2, including the front and back cover.
Here's a Description of book 2:
City of the Gods: Guardian - Forced by a mystical bond, D’Molay and Mazu must travel across the Realms of the Gods in search of Circe, one of the greatest Sorceresses of Greek myth. But finding her is only half the battle, for they must also rescue one of Circe’s victims and return her to an impatient deity.
To make matters worse, D’Molay begins to doubt his own sanity as he begins to hallucinate and becomes convinced that someone or some thing is stalking them. What is Circe’s secret task, and does D’Molay know something that threatens the very existence of the City of the Gods? Uncover more mysteries of this unique world in this second book in the series.
If you go to our Kickstarter pages, you can also find various imaged from book 2, including the front and back cover.
June 23, 2012
Now win the City of the Gods Novel
Last month we gave away our Mythic Tales Anthology. This month we are giving away a free copy of our novel City of the Gods: Forgotten. This is our epic illustrated fantasy novel which is over 400 pages. Its sort of a fantasy/mystery. Be sure to check out the great reviews we've gotten at Amazon.com
Meanehile, here's the Goodreads link where you can win a free signed copy.
http://www.goodreads.com/giveaway/sho...
Bye for now and thanks for reading!
Meanehile, here's the Goodreads link where you can win a free signed copy.
http://www.goodreads.com/giveaway/sho...
Bye for now and thanks for reading!
April 5, 2012
WIN AN AUTOGRAPHED COPY OF MYTHIC TALES!
WIN AN AUTOGRAPHED COPY OF MYTHIC TALES!
I want you to read our book, so here's your chance to get a free signed copy of it mailed to you, plus you'll have a chance to write something for our next anthology! The contest is right here at Goodreads - just look for my book Mythic Tales: City of the Gods. Its in my list of publ;ished books.
Here's what the book is about:
A collection of new illustrated stories featuring many of the gods of myth and legend. Travel to Olympus, the Celtic Realm, the Grand Pyramid of Horus and walk the streets of the City of the Gods. With tales of dark fantasy, touching pathos, swashbuckling adventure and humorous hijinx, you’ll experience the many moods of the gods. With Mythic Tales by Randy Lindsay, Wendall Brown & Jefferson Swycaffer. Also includes ‘forgotten’ stories by Edgar Allan Poe, and Bram Stoker with numerous illustrations by legendary Gustav Dore. Great for anyone who wants to read new tales about the classic deities of our past or as an introduction to the City of the Gods universe. 152 pages with 60 illustrations.
Try to get your free copy today! And good luck!
I want you to read our book, so here's your chance to get a free signed copy of it mailed to you, plus you'll have a chance to write something for our next anthology! The contest is right here at Goodreads - just look for my book Mythic Tales: City of the Gods. Its in my list of publ;ished books.
Here's what the book is about:
A collection of new illustrated stories featuring many of the gods of myth and legend. Travel to Olympus, the Celtic Realm, the Grand Pyramid of Horus and walk the streets of the City of the Gods. With tales of dark fantasy, touching pathos, swashbuckling adventure and humorous hijinx, you’ll experience the many moods of the gods. With Mythic Tales by Randy Lindsay, Wendall Brown & Jefferson Swycaffer. Also includes ‘forgotten’ stories by Edgar Allan Poe, and Bram Stoker with numerous illustrations by legendary Gustav Dore. Great for anyone who wants to read new tales about the classic deities of our past or as an introduction to the City of the Gods universe. 152 pages with 60 illustrations.
Try to get your free copy today! And good luck!
February 4, 2012
Get Published in our next Anthology!
I thought I might catch your attention with that Blog Title. Don’t worry its not a put on or a hoax. We just published a new Anthology and are now opening the next volume to any would be writers who might like a chance at getting your story published. There’s no entry fee, though there are a few rules.
First, let me tell you what the Anthology is about:
Mythic Tales: City of the Gods - Is a collection of new illustrated stories featuring many of the gods of myth and legend. Travel to Olympus, the Celtic Realm, the Grand Pyramid of Horus and walk the streets of the City of the Gods. With tales of dark fantasy, touching pathos, swashbuckling adventure and humorous hijinx, you'll experience the many moods of the gods. With Mythic Tales by Randy Lindsay, Wendall Brown & Jefferson Swycaffer. Also includes 'forgotten' stories by Edgar Allan Poe, and Bram Stoker with numerous illustrations by legendary Gustav Dore. Also Perfect or for anyone who wants to read new tales about the classic deities of our past or as an introduction to the City of the Gods universe. Here’s the Amazon link to the book: http://www.amazon.com/Mythic-Tales-Ci...
Eleven different writers contributed stories for the first Anthology and you can be in the next one. OK here are the rules…
Audition Guidelines
What is required:
Read City of the Gods: Forgotten and Mythic Tales.
Familiarity with the Map Pack is not necessary, but recommended as it contains important details about the City's layout and locations.
No previous publishing credits are required, but if you have them, please let us know.
What to send (2 Options)
Send a 500 word writing sample featuring D'Molay encountering any god or goddess of your choice. The scene must take place in the City. This sample need not be part of a complete story that you wish to submit if you successfully complete the audition process and are invited to do so.
OR:
Send a description of the story you want to write for the next Anthology. The story should include at least one of the characters that appears in City of the Gods: Forgotten.
A brief sample of some of your story writing would also be helpful.
Your reward
All submissions that follow the rules will receive an exclusive City of the Gods souvenir crafted by co-creator Wynn Mercere.
Some writers will be invited to submit a story for Mythic Tales 2 (to be published in 2013). Invitations will contain complete details on that process.
Writers whose stories appear in Mythic Tales 2 will relieve a credit for writing the story and a contributor’s copy of Mythic Tales 2, plus a special City of the Gods prize.
It’s a great way to get a publishing credit and visit the gods at the same time.
How to submit
Email your audition to MScottVerne@gmail.com as a Microsoft Word .doc file or PDF attachment. Please include an email address you check regularly so that we can contact you.
Deadline for auditions is September 30, 2012.
All right, so there you go. Now’s your chance to get your first publishing credit, no tricks, no fees, just write a good story that fits in our little universe.
Are you up to the challenge?…
First, let me tell you what the Anthology is about:
Mythic Tales: City of the Gods - Is a collection of new illustrated stories featuring many of the gods of myth and legend. Travel to Olympus, the Celtic Realm, the Grand Pyramid of Horus and walk the streets of the City of the Gods. With tales of dark fantasy, touching pathos, swashbuckling adventure and humorous hijinx, you'll experience the many moods of the gods. With Mythic Tales by Randy Lindsay, Wendall Brown & Jefferson Swycaffer. Also includes 'forgotten' stories by Edgar Allan Poe, and Bram Stoker with numerous illustrations by legendary Gustav Dore. Also Perfect or for anyone who wants to read new tales about the classic deities of our past or as an introduction to the City of the Gods universe. Here’s the Amazon link to the book: http://www.amazon.com/Mythic-Tales-Ci...
Eleven different writers contributed stories for the first Anthology and you can be in the next one. OK here are the rules…
Audition Guidelines
What is required:
Read City of the Gods: Forgotten and Mythic Tales.
Familiarity with the Map Pack is not necessary, but recommended as it contains important details about the City's layout and locations.
No previous publishing credits are required, but if you have them, please let us know.
What to send (2 Options)
Send a 500 word writing sample featuring D'Molay encountering any god or goddess of your choice. The scene must take place in the City. This sample need not be part of a complete story that you wish to submit if you successfully complete the audition process and are invited to do so.
OR:
Send a description of the story you want to write for the next Anthology. The story should include at least one of the characters that appears in City of the Gods: Forgotten.
A brief sample of some of your story writing would also be helpful.
Your reward
All submissions that follow the rules will receive an exclusive City of the Gods souvenir crafted by co-creator Wynn Mercere.
Some writers will be invited to submit a story for Mythic Tales 2 (to be published in 2013). Invitations will contain complete details on that process.
Writers whose stories appear in Mythic Tales 2 will relieve a credit for writing the story and a contributor’s copy of Mythic Tales 2, plus a special City of the Gods prize.
It’s a great way to get a publishing credit and visit the gods at the same time.
How to submit
Email your audition to MScottVerne@gmail.com as a Microsoft Word .doc file or PDF attachment. Please include an email address you check regularly so that we can contact you.
Deadline for auditions is September 30, 2012.
All right, so there you go. Now’s your chance to get your first publishing credit, no tricks, no fees, just write a good story that fits in our little universe.
Are you up to the challenge?…
January 28, 2012
Why do People Write?
So I thought I’d start of by talking about something that happened to me the other day while having dinner with two other writers. We were all talking about our various projects when one of them asked, “So what is it that inspires each of us to write? What is your end goal in authoring?”
It was a great question, perhaps the most important question you can ask an author. What drives someone to spend months and years to craft a saga, create a world and populate it with (hopefully) interesting characters?
Is it the thought of riches and fame? Just wanting to tell stories and share ideas, or possibly the thought of some form of immortality? Each of us had a different answer.
One of us just likes the idea of creating. He wasn’t even that interested in the success of the project, just the shear joy of creating something unique. The other author wanted fame and the chance to craft interesting stories. They both looked at me awaiting my answer. I thought about it for a moment and realized what I really enjoyed about writing, was the process of playing with history, and building a world that helped explain a mystery in our own “reality.”
Perhaps it was a strange answer, but that’s the one I gave. When Wynn Mercere and myself created the City of the Gods, the idea was partly to explain why mankind stopped believing in gods and magic. “What if the Gods were really here –why did they leave and where did they go?” That’s the underlying theme.
Once we created the world, the characters started to present themselves to us and their stories flowed forth. We used their personalities to help explain the mystery of the gods. So there’s more going on in the book then you might notice at first – I’ll just leave it at that. You’ll have to read the book to see what I mean.
We’ll be expanding and writing in the City of the Gods Universe for the foreseeable future, so if you liked the first book, I promise you, there’s more to come. We are already well on our way on the second book, and in February we are be releasing Mythic Tales: City of the Gods, an anthology starring many of the main characters from our first novel. We’ve set this collection of short stories to work as an introduction to the world for those that haven’t read the first book and as a deepening of the back-story of many characters for those that have. (More about that next time.) Meanwhile, I’ll post the Novel's Chapbook for you, so you can give it a test drive. You can get it on Amazon, as a paperback or for your Kindle - Just search for City of the Gods: Forgotten or visit http://www.cityofthegods.com
It was a great question, perhaps the most important question you can ask an author. What drives someone to spend months and years to craft a saga, create a world and populate it with (hopefully) interesting characters?
Is it the thought of riches and fame? Just wanting to tell stories and share ideas, or possibly the thought of some form of immortality? Each of us had a different answer.
One of us just likes the idea of creating. He wasn’t even that interested in the success of the project, just the shear joy of creating something unique. The other author wanted fame and the chance to craft interesting stories. They both looked at me awaiting my answer. I thought about it for a moment and realized what I really enjoyed about writing, was the process of playing with history, and building a world that helped explain a mystery in our own “reality.”
Perhaps it was a strange answer, but that’s the one I gave. When Wynn Mercere and myself created the City of the Gods, the idea was partly to explain why mankind stopped believing in gods and magic. “What if the Gods were really here –why did they leave and where did they go?” That’s the underlying theme.
Once we created the world, the characters started to present themselves to us and their stories flowed forth. We used their personalities to help explain the mystery of the gods. So there’s more going on in the book then you might notice at first – I’ll just leave it at that. You’ll have to read the book to see what I mean.
We’ll be expanding and writing in the City of the Gods Universe for the foreseeable future, so if you liked the first book, I promise you, there’s more to come. We are already well on our way on the second book, and in February we are be releasing Mythic Tales: City of the Gods, an anthology starring many of the main characters from our first novel. We’ve set this collection of short stories to work as an introduction to the world for those that haven’t read the first book and as a deepening of the back-story of many characters for those that have. (More about that next time.) Meanwhile, I’ll post the Novel's Chapbook for you, so you can give it a test drive. You can get it on Amazon, as a paperback or for your Kindle - Just search for City of the Gods: Forgotten or visit http://www.cityofthegods.com
