C.N. Faust's Blog, page 15

Daddy got a new computer!

Hello my darlings,

Yes. That was entirely necessary.

I was roused from my sleep this morning by a heavy banging on my door. (To give you an idea of the gravity of that, the front door opens up into my bedroom. I know, I know). And what could it be but the honest and fresh-faced deliveryman, up at 8 in the morning for the sole purpose of delivering unto me my brand new shiny laptop?

I was so thrilled, I ripped open the package immediately. I haven’t been asleep since, but I have been steadily working purchasing Word (the first order of operations for a writer) installing a proper anti-virus, and of course, letting Facebook know my happiness. My new laptop is an Asus Vivobook, 11.6 inches, pink, and her name is Fanny Skeffington. (If you get the reference, you awesome).

I was going to splurge on a Macbook Pro. I really, really was. But I could not bring myself to do so. The very tiny, reasonable voice inside my head was squeaking “Dude, dude, DUDE, you’re poor, bro!” the entire time. It was then that I resigned myself to Windows 8. And while I have not heard great things about it, I am actually falling in love with it. Everything is so seamless and easy to navigate. Now, of course, I feel like I would have been lost in Applespace. Maybe once a PC, you are always a PC…

What does this mean, and why do you care? Well, dear one, this means that… THE HOLLOW LIVING CAN FINALLY BE FINISHED!!

This is cause for celebration, indeed.

Your most adored,

C.N.F.

Let us Review your Book!

Reblogged from Orcs and Aliens Magazine:

This is something new we are trying out! Take us up on it! http://futurefantasypub.wix.com/orcsandaliens#!book-reviews/c23eq

PLEASE NOTE: Orcs and Aliens is only accepting books from self-published and small-press 'indie' authors at this time. 

WE ARE NOW ACCEPTING BOOK REVIEW SUBMISSIONS FOR ISSUE #2! debut date (subject to change) January 2nd, 2013.

Are you the indie author of a fantasy, horror, or science-fiction novel?

Read more… 200 more words

Dragoloth Based RPG?

Hello my darlings,

I know I have been quiet for some time. We finally moved into our new place … which means lots of unpacking, job training, and general settling down has been taking priority. But do not despair. Things are going well and of course, I have been a closet notebooker with The Hollow Living this entire time. (I have some great scenes I might share … might…). Soon I will be getting my new computer and then blogging / writing will be much more consistent!

Hopefully. BUT! This is not the point of the post. The point is, as the title implies, a brand new Dragoloth / Drakkian Province rpg that I am starting to develop.

This is actually a project I have been wanting to work on for years. When I was 15 I tried beginning a Mahtrador-based message board, but obviously that didn’t work out too well (or you would be playing it now in the other window as you read this). This time I am going to start small. I am going to start by developing a tabletop rpg (maybe even with custom dice, wouldn’t that be sexy?) then I am going to spread out into a message board type game to reach out to more players, and then I am going to upgrade the entire thing to a kickass MMORPG (yes, you heard me).

What kind of gory monsters, treacherous princes, and deadly adventures will be involved? Well, I can’t divulge *too* much information (that would spoil the surprise!) but I can guarantee that you will see some old favorites kicking around as NPC’s.

So that is where I will leave you hanging with that. If you are interested in playing around as a field tester, definitely shoot me an email at cnfaust@outlook.com ! It won’t be ready to play for a few weeks yet, but it would be great to see how many people would be interested.

I’m going to go work on polishing up the Orcs and Aliens issue. It’s coming up so quickly!

Your most adored,

C.N.F.

Our new media package!

Reblogged from Orcs and Aliens Magazine:

The release of our first issue is fast approaching! All of our submissions have to be in by the 15th ... but the good news is that we still have room for advertising! Would you like to be among the first to advertise with our magazine? Check out our new media package! Click on the picture above to view!

20 Days of Donations Campaign

Jennie Fox

Hello my darlings,

I’m running what is essentially a 20 day blitz donation campaign for Jennie Fox (Formerly Smith, I had that mixed up). Jennie is a great woman who has always been supportive of others and ever willing to help a friend in need. She has been in-and-out of the hospital for most of her life, but now her problems with her heart are getting more severe and the hospital bills are piling up. It is to the point where the next hospital trip can only happen if there is just a little bit of help. So that is what this campaign is for! For the next 20 days, I want to help Jennie gather donations for her next hospital visit, just to get her closer to taking care of this issue with her heart once and for all. Any donation size helps, even if it just $1.00.

Her goal is a modest $300, I want to see if we can surpass it! She did not ask me to do this for her. I just want to push her cause!

I wanted to offer some kind of incentive to encourage people to donate higher. So here is what I will do: donate $50 and I will use a character of YOUR design (with explicit mention that it is YOUR character) as a cameo appearance in an upcoming short story anthology (featuring the Mahtrador family)!

Donate $100 and I will do that, PLUS I will post a list of characters from my Age of Waking Death series who will be making an appearance and you can pick one with whom your character will personally interact with in some way.

As always, show me a screenshot, or otherwise produce some sort of proof that you made the donation. The best way to do this is to email me at cnfaust@outlook.com and then we will discuss your character!

I wish I could do more for Jennie, I would love it if you guys could at least re-blog this and share for her cause!

Your most adored,

C.N.F.

I’ve ranted enough for one day…

Here is a treat. A preview of the inside of Orcs and Aliens magazine.

 

 

Reblog if you’re excited!

The Great (Ex) Roommate Debacle

Hello my darlings,

I know, I know. Good lord, where has Cy been? Has he been burrowing deep into the earth, unable to stop until he comes out the other side? Has he been unearthing lost civilizations? Curing cancer? Hiding in a monastery as he finishes his latest masterpiece?

Anything like this would be an acceptable excuse.

…None of those, actually, I’ve just been so super extremely busy and so super extremely stressed. Busy and stressed enough that I have only made marginal progress with The Hollow Living, unfortunately.

There is a rubber band in the back of my head, and someone is pulling it tighter and tighter to the point where it will at some point snap, and I will collapse in pain. That is what it feels like is happening… but I’m fairly certain it is just a headache. A horrible, stress-induced headache.

I’m not certain how to relay the events of the past few days.

Maybe I’ll just use bullet points.

Friday: Great-grandmother gets out of rehab. We take her home, set her up. Pray she doesn’t fall again.
Wednesday: She falls.

This time, the EMT’s don’t even call my mamaw first before taking my great-grandmother to the hospital. They just straight up break down her door and take her down to the emergency room.

As for all that happened in-between…

Mark gets text from troublesome roommate. We have not lived a day with this woman yet, but she wants to adjust the lease (don’t ask how, it’s too complicated) because she doesn’t trust us.
I get the job I applied for (YAYYY!!!) I learn I have to go to Greensboro five days earlier than I thought (ew) without Mark. (double ew).
Learns that I can get up there on the 5th… but nobody (absolutely nobody) is available to drive Mark up that weekend so he can move into our apartment on the 10th. (Guys, we’ve seriously known our move-in date since April or May).
Panics. Is trying to plan.
ON TOP OF PANIC, troublesome roommate won’t shut up about the lease that is already a signed and sealed deal. Starts launching personal attacks.
Other roommate that we actually like gets stressed to the point of tears.
Landlord calls Mark, because troublesome roommate’s mother had called him and kept him on the phone for HOURS.
Gets matter sorted out … but with $15 increase in rent.
Troublesome roommate not happy. Threatens to move out. Launches more personal attacks … this time at me, who has not spoken to her this entire time and did nothing to provoke being yelled at.
Decides not to put up with this bullshit, tells troublesome roommate exactly what I think of her.
Troublesome roommate blocks me on Facebook (because she is an adult) and outright just cancels her lease (fine with me).
…Rent goes up almost $70 without the fourth person (at least we have our living room back).
Lease matter settled. … Now we just have to make a day trip into town (3 hours away) to make sure all the new paperwork is in order since she up and left.
…Roommate we like can’t possibly make day trip.
Mark still is not 100% certain of how he is getting to Greensboro.
In conclusion… Mark and I went through almost an entire pack of cigarettes (and we’re only social smokers).

Did you get all of that? I wish I was one of those people who could relax and forget about stress for a little while… but unlike Scarlet O’ Hara, I cannot think about it tomorrow. I have to fix it today.

And of course, now is when I really want to get some writing done. Le SIGH.

Your most adored,

C.N.F.

Legends of Windemere: Prodigy of Rainbow Tower – NEW RELEASE!

 

The action-packed, humor-filled, dramatic sequel to ‘Legends of Windemere: Beginning of a Hero’.

Battling through a demonic assassin and an army of monsters, Luke Callindor has survived his time at Hamilton Military Academy.  Now, Luke and his friends must leave the safety of the academy to escort Duke Solomon’s heir down the L’dandrin River and into the safety of the city of Gods’ Voice.  Joining them for this journey is Nyx, a powerful caster apprentice of Rainbow Tower.  With her talent for combat magic and her short temper, Nyx will prove to be a challenge for Luke and all of their enemies.

Who will survive the harrowing trip down the L’dandrin River?  And, who will be the one to break Luke’s trust?

 

SEE MY REVIEW OF PRODIGY HERE! 

 

Find Prodigy of Rainbow Tower on Goodreads! http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18171173-prodigy-of-rainbow-tower

And don’t forget, this is book 2 in a series! Read Beginning of a Hero, book #1 of this awesome series! http://www.amazon.com/Beginning-Hero-Legends-Windemere-ebook/dp/B00BL9GBU2/

 

SEE MY REVIEW OF BEGINNING OF A HERO! 

 

Cover Art Credit:

Jason Pedersen Website: http://www.jasonpedersen.com/

 

Note: I apologize to Charles for this being so late. Things have been going badly these past few days and I completely missed my original intended posting date.

Olympia Mahtrador Portrait

Hello my darlings,

I thought I would show you a photo manipulation I did of Olympia Ondine Mahtrador, as she is in a final scene of The Hollow Living. Are we excited or what?

Guest Blog: Fan-girling, Benedict Cumberbatch, karma and my books by Susan Mac Nicol

Hello my darlings, you are in for a treat today! Today’s guest blogger is the lovely author Susan Mac Nicol. One of her topics today makes mention of actor Benedict Cumberbatch. If you don’t know who that is, take a moment to stare in wonder.

That is all.

Enjoy!

———–

I have to confess I’m usually a pretty level headed, non-emotional kinda gal. I’ve even been called a ‘cold hearted bitch’ or ‘the Ice Queen’ on occasion so you get the drift. Yet when a certain young man appeared on my television screen for the first time, I simply melted like the proverbial primordial ooze and left all common sense, a little dignity and any sexual inhibitions behind as I raced to meet him.  I know, I know…it’s a little crazy and a lot sad. But I can’t make excuses or apologies for my obsession so here I am, on Cy’s blog, bearing my fan girl soul.

My first huge crush was on Michael Landon in ‘Bonanza’. My bedroom door was plastered with pictures of him. I also had a scrap book solely for James Hunt, the racing car driver. But that was when I was about twelve or so – I think I can be excused from those little foibles.

But having said all of the above, without Benedict Cumberbatch coming into my life, I wouldn’t be where I am now. A published author with five books under her belt and others on their way. And this is how it all began. It’s a pretty karmic and epic journey…

Oh, and if you’re wondering what the link between me and Cy’s blog is as an LGBT author herself, it’s because I’ve branched out too into the MM Romance genre with a book of my own called ‘Stripped Bare’, released 22nd July. I have another couple of books on the way. I’ve found a niche here I’m very comfortable with and I just love writing it. And no, Benedict wasn’t the inspiration behind any of the characters in my gay romance books. ..although that has possibilities…*winks*

My debut novel in August 2012 was a book called ‘Cassandra By Starlight.’ I had the idea for this book, about a woman meeting a man under tragic circumstances, after I read about an incident in my local newspaper. Some idiot stood on a motorway bridge and threw a bucket of concrete onto the motorway below. The bucket hit a car, injuring a woman badly. I started thinking, ‘Imagine if that was someone jumping and they hit a car and the woman was rushed to hospital. Then the sexy older brother of the suicide jumper came to see how she was doing and va-va-voom! Instant attraction. And that’s how Cassie Wallace, a feisty, very attractive, sexy size 16 forty seven year old woman, meets the urbane and utterly delicious and wealthy Bennett Saville, actor and theatre owner, and who is ten years younger than her.

Of course, he wasn’t always Bennett Saville. He started off as someone else, a prominent business man in the hotel industry. But then I saw Benedict and I just knew I wanted one for my own. Of course, he’s a little unobtainable to the likes of me so I thought instead I’d create my own to have and to hold, to abuse, put in danger, make sure he had amazing sex and generally have a really good time with me- I mean with Cassie. The Cumberbatch inspired the character for this book without doubt. The idea of the story alone wasn’t enough to create the passion I had in writing it. The need to create the character of Bennett for my own personal use in my mind was the main catalyst.

So I wrote furiously for eight weeks and ended up with a 350 000 word trilogy. During my ‘research’ for Mr Cumberbatch’s character in the performing arts, I happened to ‘LinkIn’ with a man called Alex Baranowski. He’s a wonderful London based composer who worked with the producers of ‘Frankenstein’ at the National Theatre, the part Benedict played with such aplomb both as the doctor and the creature and which I’ve had the pleasure of seeing –twice.  Soon after Alex and I hooked up, I received an invite from a romance publishing company called Boroughs Publishing Group, to ‘LinkIn’. (I think they must have been linked in’ with Alex.) So I accepted of course, thinking that once I had the books finished, I’d send it over to them. It couldn’t do any harm, right? And bugger me if they didn’t like them and want to publish them. Only the second publisher I’d sent them to and they WANTED my work! And so that’s how my current status as a published author came to be.

And another kooky thing is –look at the picture I’ve attached. It’s not very good but hopefully you’ll get the gist. This horoscope appeared in a local newspaper the week before Boroughs told me they wanted my book, along with a picture of Benedict Cumberbatch in a crossword puzzle directly above the horoscope section. I took this a good omen and keep it with me in my purse. It’s my lucky rabbit’s foot.

I was interviewed by a couple of local newspapers who quoted the ‘Cumberbatch Connection’ and was also asked by a fellow Cumberbatch fan who works in local radio to go on her breakfast show. You can see one of the newspaper articles and listen to the podcasts of the radio interview at the links below.

http://www.susanmacnicol.com/books/

http://www.susanmacnicol.com/category/news-appearances/radio-interview-tracy-cooper/

Everything I do which mentions Benedict (which will include this blog post) I send to his publicist Karen for the ‘Cumberbatch Scrapbook’.  I don’t get a response (other than when she emailed me to congratulate me on my newspaper interviews) but she hasn’t put a restraining order on me yet so I think I’m all right to continue doing this. It must be a pretty big file by now

Right then. I hope you’ve enjoyed reading this post and it’s given you a little bit of light entertainment as you snigger at my idiosyncrasies or… feel guilty because you have experienced something similar…after all, they say authors just write about their own fantasies don’t they?

Bio

Sue Mac Nicol was born in Leeds, Yorkshire, in the United Kingdom. At the age of eight, her family moved to Johannesburg, South Africa where she stayed for nearly thirty years before arriving back in the UK in December 2000.

She has written nine novels, two novellas and a screen play since February 2012 so believes in keeping herself busy. She has found herself wanting to stay in the genre that is M/M romance so more can definitely be expected.

Sue is a member of Romance Writers of America and Romantic Novelists Association in the UK. She is also a member of a rather unique writing group, called the Talliston Writer’s Circle, which in itself has a story all of its own to tell and lives in the rural village of Bocking, in Essex, with her family.

Her plan is to keep writing as long as her muse sits upon her shoulder. Her dream is to one day make enough money to give up the day job and get that big old house in the English countryside overlooking a river, where she can write all day and continue to indulge her passion for telling stories.

http://www.boroughspublishinggroup.com/authors/susan-mac-nicol

Twitter – @SusanMacnicol7

Facebook http://www.facebook.com/susiemax77

http://www.susanmacnicol.com/blog/

Personal website – http://www.susanmacnicol.com

Linked In http://linkd.in/YFWZ40

Goodsreads   http://www.goodreads.com/Susiemax777