Brondt Kamffer's Blog, page 10

Fantasy as Literature

"Literature" is a contentious term. It means different things to different people. To some, genre fiction simply cannot be literature—or "good" literature, as it were. Some will accept certain genre fiction as worthy of the title, notably science fiction, but then reject others, romance oft proving the chief boo-boy.

Then there is the more egalitarian or democratic position that good literature is defined relative to the reader. This may mean that the most sordid dime-novel pulp action...

New Review of The Wars of Gods and Men

As I sit here still pondering just where to take this blog and website in 2012, I received a new review for The Wars of Gods and Men from a fellow indie author I had contacted way back in April or May of last year. We've all been busy, and I completely forgotten about soliciting this one, but I am happy Keryl Raist took the time to read the book.

You can read the review here, and I think it offers some interesting thoughts on what I've done in The Wars of Gods and Men. I am far enough away...

A Year in Perspective

When 2011 began, I swore to myself that this would be the year I would break out of my shell and attempt to get published. I did not at all foresee what that would mean, but while the road has been rocky (almost impassably rocky at times), I am happy with the general progress I've made as a writer and as a human being.

Ebooks were brand new to me this time last year. I'd just got a Kindle in October and the only books I'd read were electronic versions of the types of paperbacks I was buying...

The Scion of Abacus: evolution of a book cover

With the release date for the first part of The Scion of Abacus fast approaching, I have had my hands full getting final bits and pieces ready. I spent a great deal of time in November redesigning the book cover for the novel once I decided to publish as a serial novel as opposed to a duology or trilogy. I'm going to talk a bit about the journey of creating the cover, throw up some images, and then unveil the final cover design for the serial volumes at the bottom (and, yes, that does mean...

Free "Wrath" and New Year's Resolutions

The Wrath of Kings and Princes, the second novel in The Ossian Chronicles, is now free at Smashwords. The promotion should trickle through to iTunes and Barnes & Noble in the next few days, and hopefully Amazon will list it for free early in the new year. I plan to leave this book free indefinitely.

The first part of The Scion of Abacus, my new serial novel, will be available for sale early next week, and I will be unveiling the final cover for the book very soon. As with all my other books...

Tracy Falbe: Union of Renegades

Ms. Falbe has been kind enough to provide me with the complete audio version of her novel Union of Renegades (which is currently being serialized at podiobooks.com). I've spent the morning and afternoon commutes of the past few weeks listening, and I have subsequently downloaded the ebook version of the sequel, ploughing through that at quite a pace.

Union of Renegades is quite simply an engaging story. There are some things I don't like, but these are more down to personal taste than down to ...

site redesign and new book/s coming

As you may be able to tell (if you've visited this site more than once before), I am currently in the process of shuffling things around here: setting up a static front page and slowly paring away some of the unnecessary clutter that has hung around far too long.

There are two reasons for this, and in a way they are not unrelated:

Firstly, I am entering that period of the semester when I expect to have a negative amount of time to do anything constructive over here, so I feel a static home...

Why Publish an eBook?: Guest Post by Jason Derr

Today's post comes from new independent author Jason Derr, whose novella The Boston 395 is available via Smashwords. 

Why Publish an eBook?

No one has asked me that question yet. Friends are excited to get the book, online connections are encouraging me to be 'indie' and 'DIY' in my publishing. But no one has asked me WHY?

Why, one should ask, have I published The Boston 395 independently.

In part the answer is rooted in economics. If I sell, and sell well, I will make a greater royalty as an...

derek gilbert: iron dragons

This is another book that I encountered through the podiobooks site, another gem that I would not have found any other way.

Click image for Amazon.com page. Other links go to podiobooks.com

Let me say right off that Derek Gilbert has, in Iron Dragons, created a fun, even charming, cast of characters whose quest in search of a supposedly invisible dragon is really only an excuse for the crew to get caught up in any number of hijinks.

The story story is narrated by Davian, a Third-Level Master of ...

chapter 7, part 3

[*This is a work-in-progress and may not fully reflect the final draft*]

We come now to the end of my six-month abstinence from reading Abacus' confessions. Hero and I had spoken only once of my failed attempt to give up drinking the hymaberry juice. It was not a pleasant conversation, and it lead to what was probably one of the biggest arguments we've ever had.

It was two days later when we were alone in the mage's tower. Hero was doing homework, while I was reading from one of Abacus'...