Frank Hofer's Blog, page 12
January 26, 2013
Customer Review: Stacey K
January 9, 2013
Amazon Verified Purchase
This review is from: Duck Blood Soup (The Caldarium War) (Kindle Edition)
I’m just going to get right into my pros and cons…
Pros:
1. Hard to put down. I just wanted to keep reading and find out what was going to happen next.
2. There are characters to love and hate. Some of my personal favorites are Jeunelux, Dramian, Vilmish, and Groenendael. I can’t wait to keep reading their story lines.
3. Wizards…I love books (and movies) about wizards. I think most of us have fantasized about being a wizard at one point in our lives.
4. Fast read. As much as I would love to have 24 hours a day to read, I don’t, I have about an hour or 2 tops right before bed.
5. Did add new types of character species that I haven’t encountered in reading before. Fun for the imagination.
Cons:
1. Character names (at first). It took me a few chapters to get used to the names of the characters. I found myself stumbling over some of them, which would obviously interfere with the flow of reading. After about the 3rd chapter, the names started sinking in and eventually starting rolling off my tongue.
2. Book length. I realize this contradicts my pro of a fast read, but I feel like the book could stood to have been a little longer, continue the story lines a bit before tackling the next book. I don’t want to get into details with spoilers. Where do you stop with the stories, I don’t know, maybe it’s just me wanting to read more!
I recommend giving this book a chance. It’s a very entertaining read with lots of action and character interaction. The authors did a great job of jumping from location to location and tying everything and everyone together. Can’t wait for the next book!
On Amazon
January 22, 2013
Free Promotion Day – Thursday 1/24/2013
Get a free copy of Duck Blood Soup on Thursday from http://www.amazon.com/Duck-Blood-Soup-Caldarium-ebook/dp/B00AGOISEU. If you grab a free copy, please leave us a review on Amazon and goodreads.
January 21, 2013
Muskets and Magic
It should come as no surprise, and it is something that I’ve long suspected: we weren’t the only writers to coin the term “muskets and magic” nor the only writers who wanted to avoid “sword and sorcery” fantasy novels and instead place our stories in an 18th or 19th century locale. Gunpowder Fantasy has links and reviews to like-minded writers.
I’ve started working on a guest post for Gunpowder Fantasy on engineering with magic that I’ll hopefully find time to complete this week.
January 17, 2013
Author Profile – Frank
Frank Hofer lives in Silicon Valley with his wonderful wife, three dogs, and three cats. He used his BS in Computer Science to land a job flying over a dozen one-of-a-kind science satellites. Career highlights over the past ten years include a failed attempt to get the call sign “Gilligan” assigned to his ops team for the joint U.S./Soviet satellite mission known as “Skipper”, and labeling spacecraft anomaly data “The Big Battery Bake-off”, which oddly enough was not well received. Despite his antics, Frank has managed to survive in an industry known for volatile staffing levels. His current job is testing spacecraft flight software. Frank is considered an amateur Iron Chef and enjoys trying new cuisine. He spends his vacations visiting National Parks and lately has taken an interest in archaeological sites in the American southwest, especially those with Native American petroglyphs.
January 16, 2013
Author Profile – James
James Hofer lives in St. Louis, Missouri with his amazing wife that he still can’t believe he tricked into marrying him, three wonderful children who regularly argue about who the favorite is, and their various pets. He is a graduate of the University of Missouri, Columbia with a BS in Electrical Engineering and an MS in Food Engineering. James has very nearly been to lots of wonderful and exciting places, including Australia, Japan, China, Russia, Germany, France, the United Kingdom, and the Middle East, but for one reason or another never seems to leave North America. James has written a number of technical documents that no one should ever be forced to read as well as countless blog posts that no one ever has. Duck Blood Soup is his first attempt to write something that relatively normal people may enjoy consuming.
January 15, 2013
Writing with a Partner
We have a guest post over at The Cellophane Queen where we discuss writing with a partner when you’re 1500 miles and two time zones apart. Check it out: http://mgddasef.blogspot.com/2013/01/long-distance-writing-collaborations.html
January 13, 2013
Duck Blood Soup – Behind the scenes
Writing rule: Never kill off an underdeveloped character. It is okay to kill of an anonymous character, but it is not okay to kill off a partially developed character. Either take the time to develop the character enough so that the reader cares about them or kill off an anonymous character in their place.
Example: Baron Amicone was never in danger of dying in Book 1 because he is underdeveloped at this point. Lt. Petrev Avidita on the other hand, …well…, let’s just say that his fate changed regularly between various edits.
January 12, 2013
Book Reviews (Again)
Duck Blood Soup (The Caldarium War)
www.amazon.com
When Eizenfeng’s leading wizards combine science with magic, the world changes dramatically. Technological advancements, coupled with racial and economic tensions propel the country toward war with a longtime ally. Jeunelux is oblivious to the building turmoil; scorching days harvesting tomatoes …
