G. Derek Adams's Blog, page 8
February 8, 2016
Review Infographic
An infographic I made -thinking about the lifespan of books. Feel free to use or share around if you find it funny and/or accurate.
February 1, 2016
Spell/Sword Audiobook Contest Winners!
Here are the winning entries!
Phil Rood
Scorecard: 6 chances
Spell AND Sword +2
Tweeted x3
Judge’s Comments: Unexpected to receive a drawing, but very pleased to do so. The barbarity, the virility of the linework, that dashing mustache! Also the sensible messenger bag really sets of the ensemble. This piece is ready to be airbrushed on the side of a van.
Rick Heinz
Scorecard: 9 chances
Sword +1
Cosplay +2
Tweeted x3
Judge’s Comments: Just look in those eyes. The intensity, the focus. Those are the eyes of a killer. A killer of hearts. Emotional damage 10d6+5, roll vs. swoon. DC Impossible.
Thomas J. Arnold
Scorecard:21 chances
Sword +1
Bad Cosplay +6
Tweeted x3
Judge’s Comments: There’s a lot to unpack here. Does he know that bird is there? Is the bird whispering forlorn secrets of regret and torment into his beard? What an adorably tiny blade! Has this piratical gentleman absconded with a fairy’s rapier? Excellent framing as well, as you can see the white abyss of nothingness that wait sto devour us all.
Margaret Poplin
Scorecard:16 chances
Spell AND Sword +2
Cosplay +2
Mystery Multiplier (Holy Shit Effect) x 4
Judge’s Comment: Wow! I don’t know if that is the proper grip one uses on a katana while casting an ice spell with your off-hand wand, but still damn. Definitely my personal favorite.
ALL of you win a free download of Spell/Sword from Audible.com. I’ll be contacting you all via email with your download codes shortly. Now I will announce the winner of The GRAY PRIZE, a 50.00 gift certificate to the local bookstore of your choice.
52 chances in the pool. The selection was totally random, based on the number of chances each of you had. I just figured out the probability and rolled some dice.
The winner of the GRAY PRIZE is: Thomas J. Arnold!
Thank you all so much for participating! And I hope that you enjoy the audiobook of Spell/Sword.
But wait ! Some of you are probably wondering what happened to the other 6 downloads? I offered to give away 10 downloads,right?! Yes, you are right, person who follows my blog and social media presence very closely but still didn’t bother to enter. I only had four entries, so they all get the download and I still have six remaining. But what am I going to do with them? Tell you what, the contest is over, but I’ll put a bounty on those remaining six downloads – all it takes is a picture as awesome as the four that I’ve shared above. Send to me any way you like, @gderekadams on Twitter is the easiest. I’ll honor this until I decide not to – or the six downloads are claimed, either way I’ll come back and update this post to prevent confusion.
UPDATE [2/1 – 2:24 EST]
1 Bounty Claimed
Dave Barrett
Judge’s Comments: Puns are never acceptable. I hate and love this.
January 18, 2016
Spell/Sword Audiobook Contest BIRTHDAY EDITION
Time for another giveaway! I’ve been sitting on these download codes for the Spell/Sword 
audiobook for long enough. My birthday is at the end of the month and to celebrate I want to GIVE 10 people a free download of the book from Audible.com. Admittedly I’m GIVING you these with the idea that you will GIVE me an honest review and GIVE me your undying support and perhaps GIVE me a sandwich if I am hungry at some undisclosed date in the future. All of this giving, it warms the heart.
10 people will win the free download, and one person will win the The Gray Prize.
The Gray Prize
$50.00 gift certificate to local book store of your choice OR I take you to lunch and tell you what nice person you are (location/travel permitting)
Unique, one of a kind Gray Witch mug, hand-made by the author with a Sharpie.
Your choice of one (1) of my completed Gundam models
One Question That I Must Answer Truthfully*
So, how do you enter?
Send me a picture of yourself with a SPELL or a SWORD. [counts twice if your picture has BOTH]. You can email to me directly spellswordcontact AT gmail DAWT com OR tweet to me @gderekadams. If you tweet it, because of the native social media boosting properties, I will add a x3 multiplier to your entry.
1 chance – Picture of you with a SWORD
1 chance – Picture of you with a SPELL
2 chances – Picture of you with a SPELL AND A SWORD
Tweet your entry – x3 Chance Multiplier
Other bonus attacks for pictures:
+2 chance – cosplay
+4 chance – Spell/Sword cosplay
+6 chance – bad cosplay
+10 chance – bad Spell/Sword cosplay
+5 chance – somebody famous
+5 chance – impressive location
+5 chance – unsettling composition/spooky
+50 chance – Lev Grossman
x4 Mystery Multiplier – ????
The contest ends at midnight on January 31st, 2016.
No purchase necessary – all entries will be entered into the drawing for the download codes and The Gray Prize. I’ll do the drawing on February 1st and announce here the winners and contact you via email to get you your filthy winnings.
NOTE: I’m going to want to share these pictures with the Internet, obviously – if you are NOT OKAY with that, you can still enter. Just let me know in the email that the images are not for sharing. I’m planning on sharing the 10 winners – along with any other pictures I get that are super hilarious or poignant.
Any questions? Drop them in the comments below – let’s go! I’m very excited to see what you folks come up with.
*What is truth? I am a secretive writer, and much of the Grand Plot of Spell/Sword still lies in shadow. This is your chance to ask me one question about the books that I have to answer truthfully and fully to the best of my ability. Or I guess you could waste it asking me about my political views or something? It’s your nickel.
January 11, 2016
Answers to No One
King Tamar sat alone. It drove her mad to be blind while her city, her people, were in peril. They were imperiled by the blazing red-white circle that, by her guard’s faltering description, filled half the night sky now. She had given them all tasks, duties to prepare the castle defenses, to prepare the city for the long night that could still fall. My vision will return. There will be much to do come dawn, either way.
She had decided the best place for her to be was the Alabaster Throne, where at least she could be a symbol of resolve and comfort to her people. Her heirs were safely on their way, bound for the far city of Caleron. They had fought her decision, but they had bowed to her Sight.
The king raised her head. Someone was there, standing a few feet from the throne, silent and unannounced. She craned her ears, trying to decide if she should rebuke this careless guard, but she could not hear the jingle of chain mail, or the creak of leather straps, or the slight tap of a blade against armor. As best she could tell, the someone was standing in the blue rectangle, recently vacated by the knight’s tribunal.
Someone walked closer.
“Could I stay with you a moment?”
King Tamar felt as though she was stepping across a dark pit and wished that she had not left her glaive in the sitting room floors below. “I am sorry, but I do not know you.”
A strong hand took hers. “You know me.”
“Though we have never met.” The king returned the grip, the way she might handle a viper.
“I was curious about something. You had them break bread together. Simple magic, old magic, from the very bones of the city. Only the hunter noticed. You wanted to bind together your little band of heroes. But why did you not tell them all that you saw?”
Tamar the Thrice Cursed smiled, all teeth. “I am a king. I owe answers to no one.”
“She will pay with the coin most dear. That is what you saw. Why did you not say it?”
Tamar reached up and methodically pulled the blood-soaked cloth from around her eyes. Blind eyes, dry-rimmed with red, but she wanted her questioner to see the iron. “There is always a Cost. I have paid it many times. My city, my children, the stones I bought with steel and death. If they were Heroes they would pay it gladly, but they are villains all, so I will spend their lives for them. I know what Tomorrow holds for them, all but the goblin. The boy’s future is a brown cloak, the girl’s is an empty cup. The monster will wither in a teardrop of stone. Is that what you ask? Is that what you want to know from a king?”
A gentle hand ran down the king’s face, and she slapped it away.
“I know a king’s burden.” The hand released her and was gone, but as Someone walked away the voice lingered, coiling around her like a green vine.
Tamar sat alone and thought of the falling sky she could not see and her father who was gone and the battles she had fought, young and bright, scattering memories like flower gems on a broken necklace—falling to break on the floor of her throne room. Then she thought of promises. Promises kept and promises yet to be fulfilled. This is the last curse. To see with eyes unclouded how utterly empty the Game. Block this cut, stamp out this blaze, rip out the beast’s heart again and again, but still it comes. Only Once—only one chance to stand, to move, to protect, to find the right path. Stone cracks, wind falters, sun fades, even Time erodes. I walk down a tunnel of wind with a fistful of sand. What does it matter if the asteroid falls? Everything ends—everything falls apart.
“The button falls off the coat,” the old woman said, but not even Someone was listening.
Excerpt from Asteroid Made of Dragons.
January 7, 2016
Book Four Brainstorming
Ha! Stumbled across my brainstorming for the title of book 4. Posting here for posterity. It’s kind of funny that I ran right past the one I finally selected before settling.
Rime Korvanus and the Four-Chamber Secret
The Four-Chamber Secret
The Black Dog Called Love
Rime Korvanus and the First Kiss
The First Heartbreak
Heartbreaker
Heart on Fire
Heart of Fire
Rime Korvanus is Going Steady
Rime Korvanus is Going All The Way
School
Wizard
Love
Love and the Council of Nine
The Council of Nine
Don’t tell my Crush I’m a Wild Mage
Wizard School Waltz
Frenzied Bursts of Magical Energy and Teenage Romance
Love and Magic
Love
Fire
Burn
Light
Tower
Love and the Study of the Arcane
The Arcane Study of Love and Levitation
Wizard
Magic
Arcane
Eldritch
Mystical
Education
School
Back to School
Madwand Love
The Preposterous Inconvenience of Love and Other Matters Both Magical and Mundane
The Inconvenience of Love
Doubt That the Stars Are Fire
Love Hath Made Thee a Tame Snake
Witchcraft in Your Lips
Dog Bark at a Crow
This Rough Magic
Fire’s Servant
Servant of Fire
December 29, 2015
December 25, 2015
Christmas Audiobook Raffle Winners
Hooray! The winners of the free download of the Spell/Sword audiobook from Audible.com are:
1. Shelby
2. Carbunkle
3. Liam Dynes
4. Janna Grace
I’ll be emailing you all directly shortly with your promotional codes – I can’t wait for you all to listen! For any of that you that missed this ‘flash’ contest, stay tuned – I’ll be doing a larger promotion soon.
December 23, 2015
Surprise! Spell/Sword Audiobook Now Available
Now available on Audible, Amazon,and iTunes. I haven’t been talking about this much, because I’ve had lots of AMOD on my plate – but this has been quietly progressing in the background and now it’s here!
For those unfamiliar:
Audiobook!Rime is a wild mage. She can bend the very fabric of reality, but at a cost – a cost to her health and her sanity. Her power is unstoppable but it leaves her empty, weak, and often unconscious. Jonas is a squire on the run – running away from the shadow of murder. They travel together to find the one person that can save Rime from the wild magic, from the inexorable madness and death that comes to those who are born to ignore the rules of the universe. The Gray Witch of the Wheelbrake Marsh, a creature out of a fairy tale.
The audiobook was produced and narrated by Rachel Ahrens (no web presence! – this just adds to my theory that she is some sort of wandering inter-dimensional sorceress) – and I cannot be more pleased with the final product. Her voice is wonderful and hypnotic, great shifts for the different character voices – I feel she really nails Jonas and the Gray Witch most deliciously. She was an absolute delight to work with and I cannot wait for everyone to enjoy her performance of the text. When you listen – MAKE SURE you leave a review on Audible – much like me, Rachel is just getting her start, and reviews are the lifeblood of writers and voice actors alike.
I hope this will be another doorway into my stuff in preparation for the release of Asteroid Made of Dragons coming from Inkshares in April. I really should wait until I have more time to properly launch this audiobook – but that just isn’t my style.
SO! It’s two days before Christmas – and I have promotional codes for free downloads of the audio book ( a 19.99 value, son!). How about I’ll take five of them and raffle them off to whoever comments on this post? Let’s say by 8 pm EST on Dec. 25th – sort of a last minute, last second Christmas gift. You have to comment here on my blog – no where else counts to be entered into the raffle. I’ll pick 5 people randomly from the comments and send them the promotional codes that night.
And GO!
December 2, 2015
Asteroids A-Z
Working with Inkshares and Girl Friday Productions on the editing of Asteroids Made of Dragons has been a profoundly crunchy experience. Lots of things I sort of expected, but presented with tireless rigor and depth that boggles my lazy writer tendencies to no end. But also I get little surprises like THIS! A breakdown of odd words and terms from the entire book – reading it is like an index of geeky madness, and it made me smile SO BIG.
If you’re really, really clever there are spoilers in this list – but only very mild 
ones. Think of this as a delightful grab-bag of the ridiculous things that the book contains.
A
the Academy
acquisitional
Al-Hazaar
the Alabaster Throne
Alain the White
amid, not amidst
among, not amongst
Archivus Eldracon (library)
Arkanic
Aufero
B
bankman
Bellwether Manor
the Black Moon
Blackstone (city)
blond/blonde (m/f)
blood dog
bog wraiths
Bolander (Minotaur)
Bragg Silverhammer
C
Caleron
Caleronai codex
Carroway (city)
chaos saw
Chester; Chet
Cooper’s Row
Corinth (city)
the Cormorant (boat)
crept, not creeped
D
Doma
dragonslayer
the Dragoon War
Dwarven (adj.)
E
eggplanty
the Empty Island
Eridia
F
Flenelle
Finding the Lost: A Researcher’s Guide to the Arkanic Civilization
the Fountain of Purity
G
gabble-blab
Gate City
glasschalk
the Glass Towers of Vo
glow globe(s)
Gilead (city)
Gilean (adj.)
the Grand Wizard
Gratha (woman)
gray, not grey
the Gray Witch
the Great Expedition
gryphon, not griffon
H
the Half-Ghost Armada
Hannibal al’Hazaar
heartblood
Hecate (sword)
a Hero; a Hero True; Hero of the Realm
High Valerian
hmmm
the Hollow
the Hunt (organization); the hunters
I
the Iron Legion; the Legion
izus
J
K
the Keep
King Tamar
the Knights of Gilead
the Knights of the Scroll
the Knights of the Sword
the Knights of the Wand
Korthan Zul
Kythera
L
the Law of the King
lordling
the Lost
M
the Magic Wild
tribes of Malgor
Measure Day
Melgatoth (wyrm villain)
Mount Cahill
Munch (Minotaur)
N
the Nameless God
Nasirah
necro-mori specimens
the Node
Nora (magic hound)
nose-boggled
not-metal (noun)
not-wood (noun)
O
Old Gilean (adj.)
the Order of the Key
P
the Paphyreal Stack
Parajuelego
Pasadena (roan)
the Pass Wall
peapod
Pice (city)
ping-pong
Precursor (adj.) Precursors (noun)
Providence Road
Q
Quorum
R
Radd Plateglass
the Raven (ship)
the Red Moon
the Red Wizard
repulsor buoys
roofmaster
S
the Sarmad
Sarmadi (adj.)
scrat
scroll board
Seafoam Trading Company (STC)
sellsword
Seroholm
sky cycle
the Shield Gates
Shield Wall
Shiloh (city)
Sidebat
the Sight (noun); Seen (verb)
the Singers
Sir Basil, Knight of the Wand
snaggle-toothed
Sparrow Unit
steepled (verb)
Sunhammer
the Swords of the Faith
Syprian
T
Tamar the Thrice Cursed
Tel
the Temple of the Nameless; the Temple
the Three-Toed Claw
Tobio
toma gate(s)
Tonic
Towerspan
traveled, not travelled
U
uhh
the Unbroken City of Kythera
V
Valeria
the Vampire Dread
the Vardeman Accords
the Vacuous Gargantua; the Gargantua (ship)
W
Waters & Moore Fiduciary Exchange
the Weary Titan
welp
the White Moon
wild mage
wyrm
X
Y
yo
Z
Zebulon
Zero (asteroid)
November 13, 2015
World Builders — G. Derek Adams
Source: World Builders — G. Derek Adams
I’m a guest today on John Robin’s blog — I’m kind of picking a fight with plotters and people who really worship world building — but in a nice, respectful way I hope? YOU BE THE JUDGE.
