H.O. Charles's Blog, page 18

Silar is one of my favourite characters to write for

I do love his heart-on-sleeve attitude and the way he faces his problems. He has an incredible ability, but is so loyal to his closest friend and so conscious of Artemi's happiness that he does not use it to steal her away.

The poor man has been through quite a tricky time through the last two books, and it doesn't get any easier for him in the third. Actually, without wishing to blow my own trumpet too much, I think his story in the third is quite powerful. I kinda want to give my own character a hug to make it all better :-)

A very interesting case study on how not to self-publish

Clearly the multitude of 5* fake reviews of 'The Hacker Hunter' were enough to shift some of Mr Keenan's books...

Check out The Hacker Hunter's reviews.
And what Amazon forum-ers are saying about this.

I've now broken the back of the next FB book

There've been a few fits and starts lately - problems with life in the real world! I have been a very sad robot. But fear not, because the third book is now cooking and I've passed the halfway mark. Woohoo! I don't have an ETA yet, but I shall be sure to post one here as soon as I know what it is.

Diesel eBooks are offering you a whole $0.19...

To review Nation of Blaze! Oh, what glorious riches! I'm not sure what the terms and conditions are...

http://www.diesel-ebooks.com/item/SW0...

City of Blaze in Kindle Nation!!

"Appointment Reading,"  apparently. I had to look that up, as it's not a phrase I've heard often (but it means good things). Anyway, it's on their site and Facebook page, so please show it some love!!


Kindle Nation Daily Bargain Book Alert: H.O. Charles' CITY OF BLAZE is Appointment Reading at just $2.99, and Here's a Free Sample! http://bit.ly/vicC1S And here

What to expect

I have the entirety of the series mapped out in detail now, with each of the next five books planned and outlined down to individual scenes (the whole series has to fit into seven books). I've found I'm not the sort of author who can write blind, or dream up the next scene in a day. On the plus side it means that, should I ever do a Robert Jordan and kick the proverbial before the series is complete, someone else can finish it off for me. I can only hope that someone would have the time or inclination, of course. It also means that I won't be doing what many authors in the fantasy genre do, which is produce an overly bloated series that drags well past its sell-by date.

And there will be an end, and it shall be big. Very big. It'll sort of stretch over books six and seven. I only hope it does not disappoint!
The eagle-eyed among you will have noticed a certain pattern across the first two books, and this pattern will be maintained throughout the Array.

I'm really getting into writing the third book now. It was missing a certain someone at the beginning, which has made it surprisingly tough-going in places. For me, when I get into the characters I really feel everything they feel. So, just as it's hard for them to continue without someone close to them, I find it difficult too! But, well... I think if you've read Nation of Blaze you'll know that won't be a problem for much longer!

There are also some nice resolutions to questions posed in the previous books, and a light foray into quantum theory. It's what every fantasy romance epic should have.

I'm very pleased to see some top ratings for NoB(!) on iTunes US, and the same book has gained a four star rating on B&N (what went wrong?! I jest, of course). So yes, not a bad start to the week!

City of Blaze to appear in Kindle Nation Daily

My book is going to make an appearance in Kindle Nation Daily next week, and it'll be splashed all over their Facebook page. So keep an eye out for the scribbly cover! I'm very excited to be receiving some publicity :-)

In other news, I've taken a holiday this week from writing (for the first time in nine months) just to reset my brain after we had our car firebombed (our very own Vehicle of Blaze). Feeling a little more chilled now!

Vote for meeee

Goodreads have opened their 'Best Book of 2011' competition.

Alright, I'm not likely to beat George R.R. Martin and his much-derided addition to the ASoIaF series... but maybe City of Blaze could get a look-in?

If you enjoyed either of my books then please take a moment to offer me a vote or two. I am always grateful!

Vote Here

A sunny day in November

What a beautiful day it's been today, and how loud the builders have been! Yes, yes, I appreciate that they're finally plumbing in the sewage plant on my estate*. It's dirty, smelly, unforgiving work they're doing - but do they have to do it so noisily? I mean, the whole of Calidell's fate rests on a few, desperate people and all I can hear is GNEEEEEEEEEEEEEERRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR THUD THUD BANG RRRRRRRRRRRRRR. Clink.

I've managed some writing today, together with another read through everything I've done so far for Book 3. I think it's starting to come together now, which is a relief!

I've also watched rather too much House. Whoops.

In other news, it's been wonderful to see that City of Blaze received its first 5* rating (and first ratings evaaahh) on the Kobo and Barnes & Noble sites. And there are now four sparkly stars on both books' Goodreads pages. Happy faces all around!

*Sadly not the giant, tree-filled, massive house sort of estate; more the kids-on-bikes-and-guys-with-souped-up-cars variety.

Paperback version of City of Blaze!

Proof copy arrived this morning, and I've tweaked the two things that required tweaking. It's now available on Lulu. £7.99 isn't as cheap as I'd like, but Lulu's overheads are vast. You can apply a 20% discount by using the code BURIEDUK305 before 28th October. Otherwise it's looking pretty hot!

[image error]


Nation of Blaze is still at the printers, but it should arrive in physical form soooon!