C.N. Faust's Blog, page 22

10% off Baron of Blood paperback!

Hello my darlings,

I was going to save this offer for memorial day weekend, but I thought I would spoil you all a bit now – and maybe give you some time to have that order in BEFORE the weekend?

Anyway, my offer amounts to this: the first ten people to go like my Facebook fan page will get a 10% coupon code that can be applied to the paperback edition of Baron of Blood! Is that awesome, or is it awesome? If you like my page and I don’t seem to notice within three seconds, be sure to leave a comment here letting me know you did it. That will motivate me to go check!

Also, note: for the coupon to apply, you have to purchase Baron of Blood specifically from this Amazon page: https://www.createspace.com/4290504

So, before I go off and forget, here is the link to my Facebook fanpage: https://www.facebook.com/pages/CN-Faust/571018122923463 !

I’ve never pushed a print book like this so hard, but I will admit – I am in deeply enamored of it. Also, if you buy the print version, be sure to post a picture to aforementioned FB fanpage with you giving a thumb’s up or something! XD

I really need to go to bed. :p

Your most adored,

C.N.F.

 

Cy Does Real Life

Hello my darlings,

So, perhaps it is time I made a “Cy does real life” type post instead of my usual prolific promotions. That is, after all, why I encourage fans, readers, and friends to follow my blog. I want you to get to know me as a real person, and not a promotional machine (so far I’m not sure how well that has worked out). I try very hard to also maintain the correct image for a new author whose reputation is as fragile as glass. It’s something of a personal Catch-22.

Something that has come up often in conversation when discussing my book are the prevalent gay relationships. I will make it clear that I DO write gay fantasy, but I do NOT identify as solely a gay fantasy or gay romance writer. I consider myself a writer, and I consider my genre to be fantasy. I have never tried to really market my book as anything other than what I consider it to be – an epic high fantasy novel. Of course I will thrown in the gaymance tags every now and then – but people have a right to know what they’re getting into, sure! I don’t feel like the sexual preference of my characters should make such a difference in the overall plot – whether it is war or intrigue or whatever have you. But Dragoloth is a country where gay as well as hetero relationships are fostered and encouraged. It is simply their culture – I don’t hate straight people, I don’t bash straight relationships. I don’t try to push any sort of agenda. Whatever the character wants, whatever feels right for the story, or whatever I happen to be feeling like at the time is what ends up being put on paper. Pharun is gay as the longest rainbow – but did you know ****SPOOIIILLLEERRR*** that he was married to a woman for seventeen years? Oh, and he has like – six children? And did you know ***MORE SPOILERS**** that Shrukian has over ten (!) children, and is married to like, five different women - but he has also had several romances with men? Those sorts of relationships are the hub of my character’s souls, and that is something I cannot change – nor do I wish to change it.

My characters live as people – they have basic human desires (even those who are not so human) and needs. They will satisfy those needs however they deem fit. Likewise, I like to give them the liberty to love whoever they want (as long as it furthers the plot, haha) and I am happy to say that many of my wonderful readers have not taken issue with this, rather they have embraced it. It is only a few people (and most often those I know personally) who ever bring it up.

I just had to say my piece. Your thoughts are always appreciated!

Your most adored,

C.N.F.

A Free Day?

Hello my darlings,

I was thinking about setting up Baron of Blood for free sometime soon to attract some interest to its release. Maybe on Memorial Day weekend. What do you think?

Once I sell enough ebook copies to cover the expenses, I think I will also set up a few copies for a Goodreads giveaway. (As much as I hate on Goodreads’ customer service, I still use that venue up shamelessly).

Your most adored,

C.N.F.

It’s Live!

Hello my darlings,

Baron of Blood is officially live! The Kindle version is already out, but the paperback will take a few hours or so to appear on the market. In the meantime, feel free to check it out and enjoy! Click on the picture below to take a look.

Your most adored,

C.N.F.

Book Review: A Circle of Iron by Greg Benage

 Rating: Five Stars

 

I like to think that I don’t give five stars out too freely, but this book actually impressed me. I’ve       been needing a new fantasy book to read, and I found this one for free in my Nook library. I wasn’t expecting very much when I dove into it, but it ended up taking me by surprise.

I don’t know what won me over the quickest – it had to be either the fantastically wonderful, colorful, memorable characters (I have high standards for characters, but Benage had some really good ones) or the compelling world that I found myself looking into. It wasn’t the usual grand-scale, sparkling Elven paradise or the even the grim dystopia that I find myself so found of. It was a straightforward, humble setting with the focus being heavily on the action and the characters. I even found myself enjoying the female character – which talk about high standards, I almost never enjoy them! Benage really hit the nail on the head with this delightful treat and I commend him for it.

My biggest real criticism is that it is way too short. The Nook version was only about 180 pages and I felt like there could have been so much more content and plot wise. I think Benage has real potential if he could just bulk his content a bit more and give it some weight.

I don’t think Benage does himself enough credit by listing this book as “free”. It is on Smashwords, so I know that all of you darlings could probably get it on your Kindles and iPads too (which if you can, I would recommend doing so!). But I think, honestly, that if this was a book I had come across by chance in a bookstore, I would have paid money for it. It just goes to show – another great example of ‘never judge the book by its price’! They might surprise you.

Trucking Along

Hello my darlings,

Today has been something of a very lethargic type day. But things seem to be slowly getting better… I have a cold Dr. Pepper waiting for me in the fridge and I think I smell brownies in the oven – ripe for the pilfering (hopefully?). On the other hand, as you all know I have been spending some time editing Baron of Blood, and I think I have decided to put it in paperback (’cause it would be such a beautiful paperback) and eBook, but to market it minimally and see how well it does on KDP select alone for the 30 days of its life. Such pursuits are mostly to satisfy my own curiosity, but I think I sold myself on it when I fell in love with the cover. I’ve been in love with the book for some time now – and I think it has been on my shelf for far too long.

Of course, I am a little nervous as to how it will be received. It IS a war-themed fantasy novel, but it is also heavy on the romance - and a lot of the romances are between men. My books have always had heavy gay themes and relationships but this one is a lot stronger than my other works. I already know some people are going to love it and some are going to hate it. I’m just afraid that it won’t be taken seriously because of it. We’ll see how it goes, yeah?

In the meantime, I’ve been working on giving myself a website (in addition to this blog) and here is the prototype so far: http://cnfaust.wix.com/theageofwakingdeath#

I am pretty proud of how it turned out so far, as I basically built it from scratch. We’ll see how things progress and if it helps me at all. It might just be yet another thing for me to look at it and go, “I am so awesome. Look at how pretty this is!”

Baron of Blood will start out as $3.99 as a new release, and I was very proud of myself for being able to get the paperback down to $8.99 (for those of you who don’t know my history, I have never before been able to get a paperback down lower than $10.99. And this one is actually a smaller size, not the monster 6×9′s). So hopefully, the lower price plus the manageable size might allow it to sell better. Who knows – we’ll see! I will post a link on here when Amazon makes it officially for sale. And don’t forget there is a Wattpad excerpt for you to check out before you buy!

Your most adored,

C.N.F.

Baron of Blood

Hello my darlings,

I can’t seem to make up my mind on what I am going to do with “Baron of Blood”. Thus, while I am waiting on the possible agents’ response(s), I posted a sample onto Wattpad. I guess I am just unabashedly curious as to if or whether people would read / enjoy it. So, here goes. If you read it, let me know what you think!! The cover mock-up I did just for fun, but isn’t it pretty?

Check out the sample I have on Wattpad : http://www.wattpad.com/17319931-baron-of-blood-sample

Your most adored,

C.N.F.

Hunting, Promoting, and Publishing

Hello my darlings,

Once again, it has been an obscene amount of time since I have made any sort of blog post – I apologize. Things have been insane around here and like any good entrepreneur, I am incredibly busy.

Where shall I start?

Well, I guess I could begin with mentioning that I have started making submissions to literary agents. Why, you might ask? I am not sure. I got a wild hair the other day because I have a series (that is set in Dragoloth but takes place about two generations before The Dragon’s Disciples) that I want to publish. The book (the working title of which is “Baron of Blood” (totes original, I know)) I am actually very proud of. It was the first “war novel” I ever really attempted and I find the characters to be rich, the plot to be complex, and just the overall situation to be just be incredibly awesome. I was so happy when I finished it, I consider it one of my best works. So I am seeking out an agent who can maybe do a little bit better by it than I can. But if no one is interested, I will step up and publish it alongside all of my other works (under a different series title). That’s the backup plan anyway.

Aside rom that, I noticed that I have gotten lazy with my promotion of “The Dragon’s Disciples” and “The Heretic Priest” and I need to step it up. I have also been lazy with my writing of “The Hollow Living” i.e. I haven’t written much of anything in days. I am hoping to pick up a new fantasy book and get some inspiration juices flowing. Lazy, lazy author.

On the publishing end of things – Future Fantasy Pub is evolving quickly (not rapidly enough for my impatient self! ) But we have gotten some GREAT submissions for our magazine thus far (the name of which has officially been established as “Orcs and Aliens”!) So keep them coming! You are all awesome. I extend a hearty “Thank you” to everyone who has promoted us / submitted so far. We are going to have a great first issue come August!

Which reminds me, we are also holding a cover art contest / full time cover art illustrator auditions. The description from our FB event reads as follows:

Prizes: First place – full-time go-to cover artist for Orcs and Aliens magazine*

Second, third, fourth place: your artwork will have its own feature in the first issue of our magazine!

… Please email all submissions along with your FULL real name, the medium in which your art is rendered, and the title of your artwork (if applicable) to futurefantasypub@outlook.com in the format of a high quality .JPEG. Be sure to put “Orcs and Aliens Art Submission” in the subject line!

(all artwork that comes sans a title will be labeled as “untitled” if chosen to be featured).

Preferred themes: Anything sci-fi or fantasy (or a blend of both!) themed. Can also contain elements of horror.

Artwork does not have to contain orcs or aliens!

* Currently not a paid position, but has potential to become one.

The link to the event is HERE: https://www.facebook.com/events/116635105173509/ and the link to our company FB page is as FOLLOWS: https://www.facebook.com/FutureFantasyPublications

Once we get closer to the release of our new issue, Orcs and Aliens will have its own FB page and website. Work, work, work!

It’s not just the fact that all of this is coming up so soon. It’s the fact that we are getting all of our legal ducks set up in a row, plus the wedding is coming around the corner and there is just so. much. to do!

I might just go insane. :p

Your most adored,

C.N.F.

Imaginary Friend Talk – How Your Characters Control Your Life (Podcast)

And so it Begins

Hello my darlings,

I promised myself I wouldn’t do this. I promised myself I would not make any extremely personal posts – especially not long, ranting posts about my upcoming wedding. Yet alack – here I am doing exactly this.

But seriously, you guys, it’s coming in October and I am having the damndest time!

Wouldn’t you know the biggest issue is money? I am not expecting monetary help from anyone when it comes to this wedding. When I set the date I figured I would be employed over the summer and that would help things, but then my job prospects fell through and now I am left with a handful of tentative plans and hopes but nothing concrete.

I think it’s part of the reason I have been pushing The Dragon’s Disciples sales so much lately. It’s my only source of income right now, and I need a wedding dress. And a venue. And a million other things, it seems like.

It’s going to be a 50′s themed wedding. This is the dress I’m looking at:

 

My goal is to spend no more than $50 on the dress and not a penny over $100 for the venue. We are having a potluck reception, so that is taken care of. It helps that I have the best bridesmaids in the world who are all cavaliers of penny-pinching and design. I’m certain we can pull it together… it’s just very, very stressful.

Another idea that was just presented to me would be to be married at the courthouse by a justice of the peace – and then have a mock ceremony / party afterwards where everyone can come. That is so far my favourite plan – and the most likely one.

Thank you for letting me get this off my chest!!

Your most adored,

C.N.F.