Gregory S. Close's Blog, page 3
August 21, 2013
GoodKindle Newsletter includes In Siege of Daylight today
Today's GoodKindle newsletter features my absolute favorite piece of writing that I've ever written and published: In Siege of Daylight.
Yes, this is my favorite, which places it above such previous landmarks as the 2010 LANL Open Enrollmeny Summary of Material Modifications and the CVS Benefits Operations Manual. The latter two are hard to come by now, but In Siege of Daylight is ready and available anytime you need it!
Click on the graphic to visit the GoodKindle page for In Siege of Daylight and get your copy today!
Cheers!
-Greg
Yes, this is my favorite, which places it above such previous landmarks as the 2010 LANL Open Enrollmeny Summary of Material Modifications and the CVS Benefits Operations Manual. The latter two are hard to come by now, but In Siege of Daylight is ready and available anytime you need it!
Click on the graphic to visit the GoodKindle page for In Siege of Daylight and get your copy today!
Cheers!
-Greg
August 19, 2013
WorldCon Details and Discounts
LoneStarCon3 -the 71st Annual World Science Fiction Convention is fast approaching! I will be there in San Antonio from Aug 29th - September 2nd to network, promote and sell In Siege of Daylight as well as promote the pending Kickstarter for my next novel/series Greyspace. Here are the details:
Where in the Con am I?
I will be in the Dealer's Room (Hall A of the Henry B. Gonzales Convention Center, at Table C-5).
WorldCon Discount - In Siege of Daylight paperback for only $12.00:
In honor of the convention, and to dupe unwitting passers-by into buying my big giant book, I will be offering a WorldCon Discount. For the Con-goers I will be selling the paperback for $12.00, which is about $5 cheaper than you can get it on Amazon (about $10 off list price), not counting shipping costs. Also, I can sign the heck out of your copy and dedicate it to your friends or enemies, depending on your opinion of the book.
I am also selling the paperback direct from my Square Marketplace site where the same $12 discounted price will apply (autograph/dedication included), but there is a $3.50 charge for shipping (via media mail).
In the unlikely event that I sell out of my stock at the Con, or if someone at the Con would prefer me to ship it for them instead of lugging it around, I will still be able to process payments through Square and ship books out after I return home.
My Friends from The Genre Underground:
Joining me at prestigious Table C-5 will be two other authors. I am linking to their sites below and providing a brief bio so that you can find out more about them and their novels.
M. Todd Gallowglass
M Todd Gallowglas has been a professional storyteller at Renaissance Faires and Medieval Festivals for over twenty years. After receiving his Bachelor of Arts in Creative Writing from San Francisco State University in 2009, he used his storytelling show as a platform to launch his fiction career. He is the author of the Tears of Rage and Halloween Jack series, which have spent time on various bestseller lists. He was a fiction contributor for Fantasy Flight Games and developed creative content for the reboot of the children's classic Reading Rainbow. Now he spends most of his time trying to find the perfect balance between family, writing, airsoft (because it's not as messy as paintball), and gaming while he's not off somewhere telling stories.
M Todd Gallowglas is a proud member of the Genre Underground
J.L. Doty
Jim was born in Seattle, but he's lived most of his life in California, though he did live on the east coast and in Europe for a while. From a very early age he made up stories in his head, but he never considered writing. In his family you went to college, got a degree in something useful and got a real job. So he got a Ph.D. in optical engineering, and went to work as a research scientist. But he was still making up those stories in his head, so he wrote the first draft of A Choice of Treasons, and as he says, "It was 250,000 words of pure, unmitigated crap. It was terrible: poorly written, poorly plotted, shallow characters that no reader could come to care about. It was the hardest decision I ever made, but I literally threw it away and turned to other projects." He spent more than a year writing the first draft of Child of the Sword. Then he went back to A Choice of Treasons and started again, from scratch, a complete rewrite from the get-go. He worked on it for several years before releasing it, and also spent some years putting Child of the Sword through a number of rewrites to insure quality.
Science has always been a passion of Jim's, but writing is an addiction. He's finished four books now, with four more that are in various stages of completion. The SteelMaster of Indwallin, book 2 in The Gods Within, should be released quite soon, and Still Not Dead Enough, book 2 in The Dead Among Us, is scheduled for a March 2013 release.
Jim has a big pet peeve regarding lasers as weapons in science fiction. He spent decades working in the laser and electro-optics industry, even did some research on laser weapons in the 80's. And when writers use a laser as a weapon in a story, they invariably get it wrong, usually by violating some basic law of physics.
Jim intends to keep on writing and producing more stories, but no laser weapons.
The Genre Underground
Fitting the right book with the right reader. Bringing you the most cutting edge Fantasy, Science Fiction, and Horror that you want to read.
You can also find the Genre Underground on Facebook.
Thanks! Hope to see you in Texas in a couple of weeks!
Where in the Con am I?
I will be in the Dealer's Room (Hall A of the Henry B. Gonzales Convention Center, at Table C-5).
WorldCon Discount - In Siege of Daylight paperback for only $12.00:
In honor of the convention, and to dupe unwitting passers-by into buying my big giant book, I will be offering a WorldCon Discount. For the Con-goers I will be selling the paperback for $12.00, which is about $5 cheaper than you can get it on Amazon (about $10 off list price), not counting shipping costs. Also, I can sign the heck out of your copy and dedicate it to your friends or enemies, depending on your opinion of the book.
I am also selling the paperback direct from my Square Marketplace site where the same $12 discounted price will apply (autograph/dedication included), but there is a $3.50 charge for shipping (via media mail).
In the unlikely event that I sell out of my stock at the Con, or if someone at the Con would prefer me to ship it for them instead of lugging it around, I will still be able to process payments through Square and ship books out after I return home.
My Friends from The Genre Underground:
Joining me at prestigious Table C-5 will be two other authors. I am linking to their sites below and providing a brief bio so that you can find out more about them and their novels.
M. Todd Gallowglass
M Todd Gallowglas has been a professional storyteller at Renaissance Faires and Medieval Festivals for over twenty years. After receiving his Bachelor of Arts in Creative Writing from San Francisco State University in 2009, he used his storytelling show as a platform to launch his fiction career. He is the author of the Tears of Rage and Halloween Jack series, which have spent time on various bestseller lists. He was a fiction contributor for Fantasy Flight Games and developed creative content for the reboot of the children's classic Reading Rainbow. Now he spends most of his time trying to find the perfect balance between family, writing, airsoft (because it's not as messy as paintball), and gaming while he's not off somewhere telling stories.
M Todd Gallowglas is a proud member of the Genre Underground
J.L. Doty
Jim was born in Seattle, but he's lived most of his life in California, though he did live on the east coast and in Europe for a while. From a very early age he made up stories in his head, but he never considered writing. In his family you went to college, got a degree in something useful and got a real job. So he got a Ph.D. in optical engineering, and went to work as a research scientist. But he was still making up those stories in his head, so he wrote the first draft of A Choice of Treasons, and as he says, "It was 250,000 words of pure, unmitigated crap. It was terrible: poorly written, poorly plotted, shallow characters that no reader could come to care about. It was the hardest decision I ever made, but I literally threw it away and turned to other projects." He spent more than a year writing the first draft of Child of the Sword. Then he went back to A Choice of Treasons and started again, from scratch, a complete rewrite from the get-go. He worked on it for several years before releasing it, and also spent some years putting Child of the Sword through a number of rewrites to insure quality.
Science has always been a passion of Jim's, but writing is an addiction. He's finished four books now, with four more that are in various stages of completion. The SteelMaster of Indwallin, book 2 in The Gods Within, should be released quite soon, and Still Not Dead Enough, book 2 in The Dead Among Us, is scheduled for a March 2013 release.
Jim has a big pet peeve regarding lasers as weapons in science fiction. He spent decades working in the laser and electro-optics industry, even did some research on laser weapons in the 80's. And when writers use a laser as a weapon in a story, they invariably get it wrong, usually by violating some basic law of physics.
Jim intends to keep on writing and producing more stories, but no laser weapons.
The Genre Underground
Fitting the right book with the right reader. Bringing you the most cutting edge Fantasy, Science Fiction, and Horror that you want to read.
You can also find the Genre Underground on Facebook.
Thanks! Hope to see you in Texas in a couple of weeks!
August 15, 2013
Editer's Donut Hlep!
I still remember my shock and indignation the first time my brother informed me about the role of an editor. I was sixteen(ish). Old enough to know that I wanted to write. Young enough that I had no clue what that endevour might entail. We were out walking the dog and talking about important things: comic books, D&D, science fiction, fantasy and, of course, writing.
Someone had dropped the ball, or sold out, or jumped the shark. I can't remember exactly what the catalyst was, but it inspired me to announce something to the effect of: "Well, nobody's going to touch my words. Not in my book. That's ridiculous!"
And, sadly, I truly meant that. At sixteen(ish) I was not truly aware of the difference between talent and craft. The thought that another person would be intruding on my creative territory really seemed like a violation.
"It's not like Asimov had an editor! Or Tolkien. Or Stephen R. Donaldson. Or..."
"Sure they did," my brother said, without pause.
WHAT?
That was the bombshell. The thought that Isaac Asimov did not personally pen and arrange every single word of The Foundation Trilogy or Caves of Steel or even Lucky Starr and the Pirates of the Asteroids, the realization that someone helped him write those seminal stories of my youth, it shattered me.
How could they not be talented enough to write those books by themselves? I wondered.
I absorbed that information, and over the years I (reluctantly) accepted the reality that critical and specific feedback could actually be quite helpful in the writing process. I still attributed it mostly to slip ups and typos.
Sure. Slip ups and typos could happen to anybody. Good thing to nip those in the bud, I reasoned.
Several years later, one of the alpha readers of In Siege of Daylight put this acceptance to the test. He not only provided some valuable help catching typos, but he actually (shudder) suggested that I take out certain words! Words that I had written! I stared and stared at his emails, as if trying to comprehend a foreign language.
But that's a good word, I thought. Why would I take that out?
I experimented a little. I lost an adverb here and there. I took out a flowery description there. But I couldn't quite execute the number of innocent nouns and verbs that he suggested. A few of them died an ugly death of deletion, but most of them lived on to needless modify a perfectly good verb another day.
Several more years later, I was polishing up the now decade-old manuscript of In Siege of Daylight and I pulled out those old emails with their sacrilegious edits, and I took a look at the suggestions with fresh eyes. I realized that most of his suggestions were actually pretty good. Adverbs died by the thousands (okay, probably dozens). When I took out most of those words, it really did help, or at the least, it forced me to look at a more creative way to state what I'd originally written. A huge chunk of ego died in those days.
Around this same time, I was posting these re-polished chapters to a site called Writer's Cafe, hoping to get some feedback or even more edits. Mostly, this did not work out. Useful critique is quite the elusive beast, I found. It was a year or more before I started getting reviews/edits from another user called "Weaver." It actually started with a different piece, Greyspace, which I'm finishing up now, and then moved on to my old, abandoned epic fantasy.
It was clear right away that Weaver was powerful in the Ways of Grammar. Some of the suggestions were obvious fixes, and I applied those immediately. Others made me stop and think. Hesitantly, I experimented with applying the changes and re-reading the passages in question.
As it turned out, most of these changes made great sense and actually improved the writing. At first glance, I'd thought some of the suggestions were small and was tempted to shrug them off. I'm glad I didn't. Suddenly, this discarded old book which had for so long represented the soul-crushing failure of an unrealized dream was coming to life again. I was enjoying the process of re-reading it, and relishing the improved flow of the dialogue and the narrative. And the improvements were exponential. For every edit Weaver suggested, it inspired me to make more and more changes of my own. What before had been adequate prose was now more clear and concise and I could feel the book finally coming together. The missing pieces that had eluded me for so long were falling into place like Tetris pieces dropping from the sky. (Slowly, slowly dropping from the sky, as my wife might clarify, much like the earliest levels of Tetris).
In short, I have no doubt that my editor saved this book , and by extension the upcoming sequels, from the slush heap of old writings that clutter my hard drive. Weaver didn't just fix comma splices and dialogue tags, but provided a sounding board for plot and character and narrative flow and world-building. Truly, a partner in crafting the novel. So much so, that I feel any success of In Siege of Daylight I must share with Weaver (and converesely, if it fails miserably it will be completely Weaver's fault). :D
So... thank you to my brother for breaking the news to me, and to my alpha-reader for slaughtering adverbs, and to Weaver for making In Siege of Daylight the best that it can be.
Shameless Plug:
Incidentally, if you are looking for a good editor of science fiction and fantasy fare, and you can tolerate diverse references to everything written in the genre, insane attention to detail and lots of weird witty humor, you should consider hiring my editor to be your editor.
Details here: http://northofandover.wordpress.com
Someone had dropped the ball, or sold out, or jumped the shark. I can't remember exactly what the catalyst was, but it inspired me to announce something to the effect of: "Well, nobody's going to touch my words. Not in my book. That's ridiculous!"
And, sadly, I truly meant that. At sixteen(ish) I was not truly aware of the difference between talent and craft. The thought that another person would be intruding on my creative territory really seemed like a violation.
"It's not like Asimov had an editor! Or Tolkien. Or Stephen R. Donaldson. Or..."
"Sure they did," my brother said, without pause.
WHAT?
That was the bombshell. The thought that Isaac Asimov did not personally pen and arrange every single word of The Foundation Trilogy or Caves of Steel or even Lucky Starr and the Pirates of the Asteroids, the realization that someone helped him write those seminal stories of my youth, it shattered me.
How could they not be talented enough to write those books by themselves? I wondered.
I absorbed that information, and over the years I (reluctantly) accepted the reality that critical and specific feedback could actually be quite helpful in the writing process. I still attributed it mostly to slip ups and typos.
Sure. Slip ups and typos could happen to anybody. Good thing to nip those in the bud, I reasoned.
Several years later, one of the alpha readers of In Siege of Daylight put this acceptance to the test. He not only provided some valuable help catching typos, but he actually (shudder) suggested that I take out certain words! Words that I had written! I stared and stared at his emails, as if trying to comprehend a foreign language.
But that's a good word, I thought. Why would I take that out?
I experimented a little. I lost an adverb here and there. I took out a flowery description there. But I couldn't quite execute the number of innocent nouns and verbs that he suggested. A few of them died an ugly death of deletion, but most of them lived on to needless modify a perfectly good verb another day.
Several more years later, I was polishing up the now decade-old manuscript of In Siege of Daylight and I pulled out those old emails with their sacrilegious edits, and I took a look at the suggestions with fresh eyes. I realized that most of his suggestions were actually pretty good. Adverbs died by the thousands (okay, probably dozens). When I took out most of those words, it really did help, or at the least, it forced me to look at a more creative way to state what I'd originally written. A huge chunk of ego died in those days.
Around this same time, I was posting these re-polished chapters to a site called Writer's Cafe, hoping to get some feedback or even more edits. Mostly, this did not work out. Useful critique is quite the elusive beast, I found. It was a year or more before I started getting reviews/edits from another user called "Weaver." It actually started with a different piece, Greyspace, which I'm finishing up now, and then moved on to my old, abandoned epic fantasy.
It was clear right away that Weaver was powerful in the Ways of Grammar. Some of the suggestions were obvious fixes, and I applied those immediately. Others made me stop and think. Hesitantly, I experimented with applying the changes and re-reading the passages in question.
As it turned out, most of these changes made great sense and actually improved the writing. At first glance, I'd thought some of the suggestions were small and was tempted to shrug them off. I'm glad I didn't. Suddenly, this discarded old book which had for so long represented the soul-crushing failure of an unrealized dream was coming to life again. I was enjoying the process of re-reading it, and relishing the improved flow of the dialogue and the narrative. And the improvements were exponential. For every edit Weaver suggested, it inspired me to make more and more changes of my own. What before had been adequate prose was now more clear and concise and I could feel the book finally coming together. The missing pieces that had eluded me for so long were falling into place like Tetris pieces dropping from the sky. (Slowly, slowly dropping from the sky, as my wife might clarify, much like the earliest levels of Tetris).
In short, I have no doubt that my editor saved this book , and by extension the upcoming sequels, from the slush heap of old writings that clutter my hard drive. Weaver didn't just fix comma splices and dialogue tags, but provided a sounding board for plot and character and narrative flow and world-building. Truly, a partner in crafting the novel. So much so, that I feel any success of In Siege of Daylight I must share with Weaver (and converesely, if it fails miserably it will be completely Weaver's fault). :D
So... thank you to my brother for breaking the news to me, and to my alpha-reader for slaughtering adverbs, and to Weaver for making In Siege of Daylight the best that it can be.
Shameless Plug:
Incidentally, if you are looking for a good editor of science fiction and fantasy fare, and you can tolerate diverse references to everything written in the genre, insane attention to detail and lots of weird witty humor, you should consider hiring my editor to be your editor.
Details here: http://northofandover.wordpress.com
August 13, 2013
Great Prizes Await: Enter the Bearded Scribe's "You Really Liked Me (Several Hundred Times)" Giveaway!
The Bearded Scribe, respected on-line blogger and reviewer of all things Fantasy and Science Fiction, is holding a Giveaway and my novel (In Siege of Daylight) is one of many, many great prizes from many great authors. Take a look...
Greetings, Beardies!
A while back I had mentioned on Facebook (and by default, Twitter) that, in honor of reaching 500 Likes on our Facebook Page and 1000 Followers on Twitter, I would be holding a Giveaway.
A Giveaway, there shall be...and it's a doozie! We have some great prizes, donated by some great authors. In addition to their generosity, I've decided to donate a prize of my own.
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The Prizes & Their Benefactors:
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Joshua Allen Mercier is the Founder and Executive Editor of The Bearded Scribe . He is a passionate reader and an aspiring author currently shopping his first manuscript, The Assassin of Aldarhaij. He studied Creative Writing at Alma College and is a self-confessed nerd, linguaphile, and Grammar Nazi. He believes that Oxford comma is not optional, and that its absence is a punishable crime.
World-Building Critique & Feedback. With this service, I'll review your world-building material and notes for consistency and clarity, discrepancies and weaknesses, strengths and uniqueness, among other factors. I will offer a thorough critique with detailed feedback, pointing out places in your world that need work or reinforcement. The service includes the initial email exchange of your notes, my critique and feedback, and two, thirty-minute sessions via Facebook or iMessage (in addition to an initial 30-Minute Consultation). Prize valued at $70
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Cidney Swanson is the author of The Ripple Trilogy and the Saving Mars series. She has always had a thing for words. At an early age, she knew she’d be a writer. Her dad taught literature, and her mom made sure she and her sister had library books.
Her parents took the sisters to see Shakespeare plays as well, and as a seven-year-old, Cidney interrupted the actors performing The Merchant of Venice when one of them lied to another in Elizabethan English. Cidney recalls seeing the actors onstage breaking into choked laughter when she called out, “You liar!” No one mentioned to her that Shakespeare was difficult to understand, so she simply followed along, commenting when she couldn’t stand the fibbery anymore.
By the time she turned nine, Cidney read and wrote stories constantly. She found Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women and became convinced the author had modeled her character “Jo March” after her. As a teen, she fell hard for fantasy and science fiction and soon wrote her futuristic tales in Tolkien’s Elven script. (Which also came in handy for hiding journal entries from her sister.)
Cidney traveled with her teacher-parents every summer, driving through Alaska, Canada, Mexico, and a dozen European countries by the time she reached high school age. She was able to travel abroad three out of her four years in college as well, adding Israel and Eastern Europe to her list.
Through her twenties, and into her thirties—which she describes as her “decade of giving birth”—Cidney journaled, wrote poems and essays, and started novels that were never finished in between chasing chickens and changing diapers. She also started two successful businesses and home-schooled her kids with her husband’s help. She describes those as great years for taking in life, an activity she highly recommends for any aspiring writer.
Cidney lives with her husband and assorted animals and kids in Oregon where she writes full-time, planning her next novel and her next international adventure with equal enthusiasm. She no longer, however, interrupts theatrical performances. Even if someone’s lying.
One (1) copy of Defying Mars. One winner will be handsomely rewarded with a copy of Defying Mars , the second book in the Saving Mars series.
Five (5) Specialty Saving Mars Bookmarks. These collector bookmarks, inspired by the cover from the first book in the Saving Mars series (aptly titled, Saving Mars ), are from a remaining limited quantity, generously donated by Cidney.
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Lana Krumwiede’s first name rhymes with banana, and she pronounces her last name KRUM-widdy, as in a clever bread fragment. But don’t worry too much because she’s not touchy about it.
In third grade, Lana wrote in her autobiography that she wanted to be a mother, a writer, and the church organist. The organist thing didn’t work out very well, but the other two dreams made up for it. Her work has appeared in Highlights , High Five , Spider , Babybug , The Friend , and Chicken Soup for the Child’s Soul . Freakling is her first novel. She also has a picture book under contract with Candlewick.
Before she remembered she wanted to be a writer, Lana worked as an office manager, a stay-at-home mom, a preschool teacher, a Spanish teacher, a bilingual kindergarten teacher, a swimming instructor, and a reading tutor. She lives in Richmond, Virginia with her husband and youngest daughter. Her three older children are off having adventures of their own.
Lana has tried psi many times, especially in association with cleaning house, but could never make it work. She does have a few mildly supernatural abilities, which include untying knots, peeling oranges, and dominating in board games. Her perfect day would include reading, writing, swimming, cooking, telling jokes, spending time with family, and pie.
Two *SIGNED* Copies of Freakling.
In twelve-year-old Taemon’s city, everyone has a power called psi — the ability to move and manipulate objects with their minds. When Taemon loses his psi in a traumatic accident, he must hide his lack of power by any means possible. But a humiliating incident at a sports tournament exposes his disability, and Taemon is exiled to the powerless colony. The "dud farm" is not what Taemon expected, though: people are kind and open, and they actually seem to enjoy using their hands to work and play and even comfort their children. Taemon adjusts to his new life quickly, making friends and finding unconditional acceptance. But gradually he discovers that for all its openness, there are mysteries at the colony, too — dangerous secrets that would give unchecked power to psi wielders if discovered. When Taemon unwittingly leaks one of these secrets, will he have the courage to repair the damage — even if it means returning to the city and facing the very people who exiled him?
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Brian Rathbone is a former horse trainer and computer programmer. He used his old world knowledge and love of fantasy fiction to create The World of Godsland fantasy series, which begins with The Dawning of Power trilogy.
Brian began working from home, finally finding the time to write down the story that had been growing in his mind for over a decade. At times he felt like a juggler in motley while he balanced the writing of code and the writing of fiction, but it’s all been worthwhile.
He is currently working on writing Fifth Magic, the seventh book in his World of Godsland series.
Two Copies of The Dawning of Power trilogy, the first three books of his World of Godsland series. Echoes of the ancients’ power are distant memories, tattered and faded by the passage of eons, but that is about to change. A new dawn has arrived. Latent abilities, harbored in mankind’s deepest fibers, wait to be unleashed. Ancient evils awaken, and old fears ignite the fires of war.
In times such as these, ordinary people have the power to save the world . . . or destroy it.
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Paige W. Pendleton. The secrets of the Red Paint People have haunted Maine for 7000 years. Paige is busy writing those tales.
She is currently working on The Keeper and the Scimitar of Salaman, the third installment of her Black Ledge series.
Two Copies of The Keeper and the Rune Stone. An unholy ritual, a ticking clock. Four children discover that there are things that go bump in the night...
Centuries ago a group of Elves committed an unholy ritual. But the ritual was a spectacular failure. It transformed the Elves into the Noctivagae - the beings we know as vampires.
Striving to maintain a fragile peace, the ancient Elves and Dwarves negotiated an accord, which they've renewed every year on the summer solstice. The ceremony depends on the magical Rune Stone, but it's missing. If it is not found—and quickly—the consequences could be dire, and not just for Elves and Dwarves.
Four children, Rob, Jack, Eleanor, and Flora, stumble into the fantastical excitement when they happen across a wise being who inhabits a nearby cave. He is the Keeper of the Realm. He befriends the children and enlists their help.
The adventure that follows is based on my suspicion that Elves and Dwarves came to Maine with the ancient Norse in the time of the Red Paint People. The story is filled with suspense, magic, adventure, and charming supporting characters. It’s both heart-warming and heart-pounding.
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Gregory S. Close has lived on both coasts of the United States (and that wholesome corn-fed part in-between) as well as Dundalk, Ireland and the tiny islands of the Kwajalein Atoll.
Greg loves travelling and sampling the native cultures, foods, customs, and beers of the world. Greg is married to a rocket scientist and lives in California with his two daughters, a cat, and one and a half dogs.
Three Copies of In Siege of Daylight. This new epic literary fantasy follows Calvraign, who is an apprentice to the king’s bard. His studies are filled with prophecy, romance, mythic enemies, and magic, and he contents himself with such fantasies until the day that he is suddenly called to the capital city. His best friend, Callagh, the most skilled huntress in their village, senses something isn’t right with Calvraign’s hasty summons and follows him. Her instincts prove true, as his arrival throws the king’s court into chaos, and the two are abruptly torn from their simple country life and plunged into a real-life version of Calvraign’s tales. A menacing prophecy reveals that an all-encompassing dark magic has already been loosed upon the world, and there is only one way to stop it. Calvraign must reverse the Darkening before treachery takes the life of the crown prince and plunges the kingdom of Providayne into chaos. And Callagh must keep him alive long enough to do it….
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Daniel Harvell wrote one short story at the age of 10 about a pit on the moon laden with poisonous hamburgers, and suddenly he was an author. That’s the way he saw it when “Murder on the Moon” became an instant hit with his fourth-grade classmates. He’d always been a voracious reader, but upon sharing his little yarn with friends, Daniel suddenly realized the freedom (and power!) of becoming the storyteller. Over the next few years, he would go on to write several short stories, mostly involving murder mysteries and his schoolmates.
The thrill of whodunits subsided when he discovered the long and (theoretically) rewarding payoffs of the soap operatic style of telling tales, which was followed quickly by his unearthing of the superhero fiction genre (which is just soap operas in spandex). Fast-forward to Daniel's last semester at Florida State University, where he was starting to regret my decision to pursue a business management degree instead of something more literary. He had big stories in his head. Instead of second-guessing his educational path, however, Daniel used his free time to pursue his passion. A few months later, his first novel had arrived in the world—and it wasn’t pretty. Like all writers, though, he had to start somewhere.
Daniel went back to the drawing board with his ideas for The Survivors —a contemporary fantasy story about what would happen if real people found themselves empowered with superhuman abilities. But The Survivors wasn’t so pretty either. The concept was fun but the execution was rough. It was temporarily shelved while he set out to learn how to be a better—and publishable—writer. And 10 years later, Daniel thinks he may have learned a thing or two.
He wrote another novel in the interim years (more on that soon!), but The Survivors will always be his baby. In many ways, the work of an artist is like his or her child. Now his little one’s ready to play with the big kids. After the many years of edits and rewrites, Daniel is proud of the novel into which it has grown.
Two Copies of The Survivors. When seven strangers impossibly survive a horrific airplane crash, they find themselves changed in remarkable ways. The survivors are endowed with powers that defy explanation. Some are blessed. Some are cursed.
Going their separate ways, they adapt their extraordinary "gifts" to their ordinary lives. The results, however, aren't always pretty—particularly when one of them engages in a killing spree. With little more to go on than the psychic link that they all share, the survivors seek out one another to uncover the murderer and bring him or her to justice.
The fireman, the grandmother, the psychiatric patient, the basketball player, the mute girl, the rich blonde, and the man in the wheelchair—they all have secrets worth hiding. They can't trust each other. They can't even trust themselves.
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S.M. White has read a metric ton of text in his life. You could probably crush a dozen men beneath the weight. He studied creative writing at Spalding University, which turns out is simply reading and writing; that was nice. He has spent countless hours watching fantasy films, at times awed and at other times disappointed. He has held swords and shields and dead things. He once undertook a daunting quest to recover the stolen car keys to his mother's station wagon. Maidens have handed me favors ranging from bracelets to perfume-drenched letters to lengths of fake hair. When he encounters dragons, he keeps his wits about him and his gold coins close. He is a liar. He is a thief: he has stolen words out of men's mouths and claimed them as fictional musings. His friends often question him on his whereabouts (they seldom check Medieval Outfitters). He is not a serious person; of this, he is serious. He spent his formative years training to be a ninja. In this, he can don dark clothing and climb the tallest trees, he can do a front roll and a cartwheel, and he can fashion a smoke bomb from a tennis ball and match heads. If you were to ask him a question, he would instantly become evasive and confusing (mostly as a product of his uncertainty, but also because he's super mysterious).
Say something poignant, the Internet says.
Very well. He has won many insignificant things and has lost many precious things. This, he feels, is important. It is one thing to hold an object in your hand knowing its worth is a paltry measure in regards to what you might have been holding. This idea of loss is a vibrant and living thing. It lets you see that what is offered is not always what should be taken, and that what should be taken is hardly ever offered. And there waits cynicism, the most powerful of writerly attributes. If you don't know hopelessness, or dejection, or heart ache, you do not know conflict. Pain can be observed on television, or read about in the paper. But to live it, that it what molds a heart and moves a soul. His writing can be dark and terrible and harsh. This is not a product of formal training, or awards, or degrees. It is a result of his humanness, of his longing to understand agony and love and how the two survive in the same world. His stories are studies of the human heart, of humanity's need for good, and of the dreadful movements of evil as done by minds capable of love.
Three Copies The Lonely Man: The Witch's Price. A man responsible for the downfall of a nation. The nation responsible for the downfall of a man.
Mhets and six other greedy men quested to steal the Chained God’s treasure. They were successful. The gods, in their fury, took the lives of Mhets' companions one at a time, and now seek to snuff out the remaining thief. To survive, and to further spite the divine for their part in taking the love of his life, Mhets finds refuge in a witch’s hand. But the vile deal he enters into promises nothing but trouble. Sorcerers, mercenaries, and death wait on the horizon as he moves to complete his end of the terrible bargain. Journeying at the behest of the witch, Mhets learns just how black his heart has become, and how that darkness inside him might spell salvation for the world.
This installment starts the tales of Mhets Sorrowbringer, a man wronged and angered in life. He owns a past riddled with atrocity, betrayal, and death, but here is where his true story starts. Here is where the man called Mirthless Mhets begins to write his legend.
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The Tour Hosts:
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I Heart Books is a page whose focus is on the promotion of reading, books, and their authors. They provide service for both trad-pub and self-pub authors of all genres. They strive to bring their readers fun and positive posts, while keeping up with current news in the “book world."
Good Choice Reading focuses mainly on Young Adult, New Adult and Romance in all genres. The blog is coordinated by a wonderful group of girls who love to read and share the love they have for books with others!
Diamonds & Coal Book Reviews is run by Anna, an unrepentant 23-year-old nerd. She loves all different sorts of books, has watched too many movies to count, and is always happy to discover new music. That said, her graphic novel/superhero passion knows no bounds. (Hellboy is her favorite—you'll never convince her any other superhero is better!) When she's not at work in the Electronics Department of her local Target, every waking moment revolves around her blog. Come and join her in finding more of the interesting, shiny things in life.
Fae Books is run by Sarah Fae Graham, a 24-year-old Army wife who lives in Catterick Garrison in the United Kingdom. Fae Books is all about promoting authors, bloggers, writers and everything bookish in between. It hosts a lot of giveaways as well as free book posts, excerpts, interviews, and guest blog posts from the people with whom Sarah Fae is working. She runs a reviewing team who are in high demand and tend to book six months in advance. She's also in the process of beginning her own Tours. You can find more information on Sarah Fae and Fae Books by clicking on the above banner—it's never too soon to get Fae Books involved.
Alexis Holcomb is currently a writer, but aspires to one day be a full-time author. She specializes in fiction and loves inspiring others to follow their passions and dreams. She's a hands-on type of person that can just as easily fix a 3 course meal for a group of friends as she can do maintenance on her or her husband's vehicles. She's proud to be an Air Force sergeant, a wife, a mother, a teacher, and a writer.
Alexis is also a contributor at The Bearded Scribe .
Wordweaver. A child of the American Great Plains, Court Ellyn moved wherever the oil industry took her family. Born in the panhandle of Texas, she has lived from one end of the Lone Star state to the other, as well as New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Indiana. She is settled at last, or so she hopes, in a growing town southwest of Oklahoma City with her husband, her fat cats, and her writing.
Having to move frequently, drove her to fill her playtime with characters and stories that, at first, she acted out with her sister. Then, when she was fourteen, she began writing what she calls “poor and unrealistic historical fiction,” primarily because her mother discouraged her from reading and writing in the fantasy genre. But because of films like The Never Ending Story , The Princess Bride , and Willow , her fate was sealed. Throughout high school her tastes gravitated toward the fantastical until she secretly purchased her first fantasy novel at a gas station. Her mother warned her, “Be careful.” And so Ms. Ellyn has been carefully reading and writing fantasy ever since.
Ms. Ellyn attended the University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma, which she claims provided an excellent liberal arts education but failed to dispel the dragons. She graduated Summa Cum Laude in 2000 with a degree in English and History and an emphasis in Creative Writing. Shortly after, she married her high school sweetheart and determined to write professionally. Sadly, she learned the hard way that a college education does not guarantee book sales. Regardless, Court’s stories have since appeared in numerous magazines such as Kaleidotrope , Silver Blade and the Dead Robots’ Society’s Explorers: Beyond the Horizon anthology. In the spring of 2012, she celebrated the publication of the first novel of a fantasy series, over which she labored for a more than a decade. After a literal outpouring of sweat and tears, both Volumes of Book 1 are available at CreateSpace and at Amazon.
Court is also a contributor at The Bearded Scribe.
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The Giveaway:
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a Rafflecopter giveaway
Good Luck to Everyone! And have FUN!
Greetings, Beardies!
A while back I had mentioned on Facebook (and by default, Twitter) that, in honor of reaching 500 Likes on our Facebook Page and 1000 Followers on Twitter, I would be holding a Giveaway.
A Giveaway, there shall be...and it's a doozie! We have some great prizes, donated by some great authors. In addition to their generosity, I've decided to donate a prize of my own.
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The Prizes & Their Benefactors:
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Joshua Allen Mercier is the Founder and Executive Editor of The Bearded Scribe . He is a passionate reader and an aspiring author currently shopping his first manuscript, The Assassin of Aldarhaij. He studied Creative Writing at Alma College and is a self-confessed nerd, linguaphile, and Grammar Nazi. He believes that Oxford comma is not optional, and that its absence is a punishable crime.
World-Building Critique & Feedback. With this service, I'll review your world-building material and notes for consistency and clarity, discrepancies and weaknesses, strengths and uniqueness, among other factors. I will offer a thorough critique with detailed feedback, pointing out places in your world that need work or reinforcement. The service includes the initial email exchange of your notes, my critique and feedback, and two, thirty-minute sessions via Facebook or iMessage (in addition to an initial 30-Minute Consultation). Prize valued at $70
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Cidney Swanson is the author of The Ripple Trilogy and the Saving Mars series. She has always had a thing for words. At an early age, she knew she’d be a writer. Her dad taught literature, and her mom made sure she and her sister had library books.
Her parents took the sisters to see Shakespeare plays as well, and as a seven-year-old, Cidney interrupted the actors performing The Merchant of Venice when one of them lied to another in Elizabethan English. Cidney recalls seeing the actors onstage breaking into choked laughter when she called out, “You liar!” No one mentioned to her that Shakespeare was difficult to understand, so she simply followed along, commenting when she couldn’t stand the fibbery anymore.
By the time she turned nine, Cidney read and wrote stories constantly. She found Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women and became convinced the author had modeled her character “Jo March” after her. As a teen, she fell hard for fantasy and science fiction and soon wrote her futuristic tales in Tolkien’s Elven script. (Which also came in handy for hiding journal entries from her sister.)
Cidney traveled with her teacher-parents every summer, driving through Alaska, Canada, Mexico, and a dozen European countries by the time she reached high school age. She was able to travel abroad three out of her four years in college as well, adding Israel and Eastern Europe to her list.
Through her twenties, and into her thirties—which she describes as her “decade of giving birth”—Cidney journaled, wrote poems and essays, and started novels that were never finished in between chasing chickens and changing diapers. She also started two successful businesses and home-schooled her kids with her husband’s help. She describes those as great years for taking in life, an activity she highly recommends for any aspiring writer.
Cidney lives with her husband and assorted animals and kids in Oregon where she writes full-time, planning her next novel and her next international adventure with equal enthusiasm. She no longer, however, interrupts theatrical performances. Even if someone’s lying.
One (1) copy of Defying Mars. One winner will be handsomely rewarded with a copy of Defying Mars , the second book in the Saving Mars series.
Jessamyn has escaped Earth with food for her starving world, but her troubles are just beginning. She must rebuild her life without Pavel, the Terran boy whose kiss haunts her. Her success is further tainted by the loss of her beloved brother. Ethan disabled the deadly lasers orbiting Mars, but this has created a fervor to re-open trade with Earth which Jess knows would be disastrous. Add into the mix a secret which could launch an interplanetary war, and Jess finds herself at the center of an intrigue where, in order to save the world she loves, she must defy it.
Five (5) Specialty Saving Mars Bookmarks. These collector bookmarks, inspired by the cover from the first book in the Saving Mars series (aptly titled, Saving Mars ), are from a remaining limited quantity, generously donated by Cidney.
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Lana Krumwiede’s first name rhymes with banana, and she pronounces her last name KRUM-widdy, as in a clever bread fragment. But don’t worry too much because she’s not touchy about it.
In third grade, Lana wrote in her autobiography that she wanted to be a mother, a writer, and the church organist. The organist thing didn’t work out very well, but the other two dreams made up for it. Her work has appeared in Highlights , High Five , Spider , Babybug , The Friend , and Chicken Soup for the Child’s Soul . Freakling is her first novel. She also has a picture book under contract with Candlewick.
Before she remembered she wanted to be a writer, Lana worked as an office manager, a stay-at-home mom, a preschool teacher, a Spanish teacher, a bilingual kindergarten teacher, a swimming instructor, and a reading tutor. She lives in Richmond, Virginia with her husband and youngest daughter. Her three older children are off having adventures of their own.
Lana has tried psi many times, especially in association with cleaning house, but could never make it work. She does have a few mildly supernatural abilities, which include untying knots, peeling oranges, and dominating in board games. Her perfect day would include reading, writing, swimming, cooking, telling jokes, spending time with family, and pie.
Two *SIGNED* Copies of Freakling.
In twelve-year-old Taemon’s city, everyone has a power called psi — the ability to move and manipulate objects with their minds. When Taemon loses his psi in a traumatic accident, he must hide his lack of power by any means possible. But a humiliating incident at a sports tournament exposes his disability, and Taemon is exiled to the powerless colony. The "dud farm" is not what Taemon expected, though: people are kind and open, and they actually seem to enjoy using their hands to work and play and even comfort their children. Taemon adjusts to his new life quickly, making friends and finding unconditional acceptance. But gradually he discovers that for all its openness, there are mysteries at the colony, too — dangerous secrets that would give unchecked power to psi wielders if discovered. When Taemon unwittingly leaks one of these secrets, will he have the courage to repair the damage — even if it means returning to the city and facing the very people who exiled him?__________________________________________________
Brian Rathbone is a former horse trainer and computer programmer. He used his old world knowledge and love of fantasy fiction to create The World of Godsland fantasy series, which begins with The Dawning of Power trilogy.
Brian began working from home, finally finding the time to write down the story that had been growing in his mind for over a decade. At times he felt like a juggler in motley while he balanced the writing of code and the writing of fiction, but it’s all been worthwhile.
He is currently working on writing Fifth Magic, the seventh book in his World of Godsland series.
Two Copies of The Dawning of Power trilogy, the first three books of his World of Godsland series. Echoes of the ancients’ power are distant memories, tattered and faded by the passage of eons, but that is about to change. A new dawn has arrived. Latent abilities, harbored in mankind’s deepest fibers, wait to be unleashed. Ancient evils awaken, and old fears ignite the fires of war.
In times such as these, ordinary people have the power to save the world . . . or destroy it.
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Paige W. Pendleton. The secrets of the Red Paint People have haunted Maine for 7000 years. Paige is busy writing those tales.She is currently working on The Keeper and the Scimitar of Salaman, the third installment of her Black Ledge series.
Two Copies of The Keeper and the Rune Stone. An unholy ritual, a ticking clock. Four children discover that there are things that go bump in the night...Centuries ago a group of Elves committed an unholy ritual. But the ritual was a spectacular failure. It transformed the Elves into the Noctivagae - the beings we know as vampires.
Striving to maintain a fragile peace, the ancient Elves and Dwarves negotiated an accord, which they've renewed every year on the summer solstice. The ceremony depends on the magical Rune Stone, but it's missing. If it is not found—and quickly—the consequences could be dire, and not just for Elves and Dwarves.
Four children, Rob, Jack, Eleanor, and Flora, stumble into the fantastical excitement when they happen across a wise being who inhabits a nearby cave. He is the Keeper of the Realm. He befriends the children and enlists their help.
The adventure that follows is based on my suspicion that Elves and Dwarves came to Maine with the ancient Norse in the time of the Red Paint People. The story is filled with suspense, magic, adventure, and charming supporting characters. It’s both heart-warming and heart-pounding.
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Gregory S. Close has lived on both coasts of the United States (and that wholesome corn-fed part in-between) as well as Dundalk, Ireland and the tiny islands of the Kwajalein Atoll.
Greg loves travelling and sampling the native cultures, foods, customs, and beers of the world. Greg is married to a rocket scientist and lives in California with his two daughters, a cat, and one and a half dogs.
Three Copies of In Siege of Daylight. This new epic literary fantasy follows Calvraign, who is an apprentice to the king’s bard. His studies are filled with prophecy, romance, mythic enemies, and magic, and he contents himself with such fantasies until the day that he is suddenly called to the capital city. His best friend, Callagh, the most skilled huntress in their village, senses something isn’t right with Calvraign’s hasty summons and follows him. Her instincts prove true, as his arrival throws the king’s court into chaos, and the two are abruptly torn from their simple country life and plunged into a real-life version of Calvraign’s tales. A menacing prophecy reveals that an all-encompassing dark magic has already been loosed upon the world, and there is only one way to stop it. Calvraign must reverse the Darkening before treachery takes the life of the crown prince and plunges the kingdom of Providayne into chaos. And Callagh must keep him alive long enough to do it….__________________________________________________
Daniel Harvell wrote one short story at the age of 10 about a pit on the moon laden with poisonous hamburgers, and suddenly he was an author. That’s the way he saw it when “Murder on the Moon” became an instant hit with his fourth-grade classmates. He’d always been a voracious reader, but upon sharing his little yarn with friends, Daniel suddenly realized the freedom (and power!) of becoming the storyteller. Over the next few years, he would go on to write several short stories, mostly involving murder mysteries and his schoolmates.
The thrill of whodunits subsided when he discovered the long and (theoretically) rewarding payoffs of the soap operatic style of telling tales, which was followed quickly by his unearthing of the superhero fiction genre (which is just soap operas in spandex). Fast-forward to Daniel's last semester at Florida State University, where he was starting to regret my decision to pursue a business management degree instead of something more literary. He had big stories in his head. Instead of second-guessing his educational path, however, Daniel used his free time to pursue his passion. A few months later, his first novel had arrived in the world—and it wasn’t pretty. Like all writers, though, he had to start somewhere.
Daniel went back to the drawing board with his ideas for The Survivors —a contemporary fantasy story about what would happen if real people found themselves empowered with superhuman abilities. But The Survivors wasn’t so pretty either. The concept was fun but the execution was rough. It was temporarily shelved while he set out to learn how to be a better—and publishable—writer. And 10 years later, Daniel thinks he may have learned a thing or two.
He wrote another novel in the interim years (more on that soon!), but The Survivors will always be his baby. In many ways, the work of an artist is like his or her child. Now his little one’s ready to play with the big kids. After the many years of edits and rewrites, Daniel is proud of the novel into which it has grown.
Two Copies of The Survivors. When seven strangers impossibly survive a horrific airplane crash, they find themselves changed in remarkable ways. The survivors are endowed with powers that defy explanation. Some are blessed. Some are cursed.
Going their separate ways, they adapt their extraordinary "gifts" to their ordinary lives. The results, however, aren't always pretty—particularly when one of them engages in a killing spree. With little more to go on than the psychic link that they all share, the survivors seek out one another to uncover the murderer and bring him or her to justice.
The fireman, the grandmother, the psychiatric patient, the basketball player, the mute girl, the rich blonde, and the man in the wheelchair—they all have secrets worth hiding. They can't trust each other. They can't even trust themselves.
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S.M. White has read a metric ton of text in his life. You could probably crush a dozen men beneath the weight. He studied creative writing at Spalding University, which turns out is simply reading and writing; that was nice. He has spent countless hours watching fantasy films, at times awed and at other times disappointed. He has held swords and shields and dead things. He once undertook a daunting quest to recover the stolen car keys to his mother's station wagon. Maidens have handed me favors ranging from bracelets to perfume-drenched letters to lengths of fake hair. When he encounters dragons, he keeps his wits about him and his gold coins close. He is a liar. He is a thief: he has stolen words out of men's mouths and claimed them as fictional musings. His friends often question him on his whereabouts (they seldom check Medieval Outfitters). He is not a serious person; of this, he is serious. He spent his formative years training to be a ninja. In this, he can don dark clothing and climb the tallest trees, he can do a front roll and a cartwheel, and he can fashion a smoke bomb from a tennis ball and match heads. If you were to ask him a question, he would instantly become evasive and confusing (mostly as a product of his uncertainty, but also because he's super mysterious).Say something poignant, the Internet says.
Very well. He has won many insignificant things and has lost many precious things. This, he feels, is important. It is one thing to hold an object in your hand knowing its worth is a paltry measure in regards to what you might have been holding. This idea of loss is a vibrant and living thing. It lets you see that what is offered is not always what should be taken, and that what should be taken is hardly ever offered. And there waits cynicism, the most powerful of writerly attributes. If you don't know hopelessness, or dejection, or heart ache, you do not know conflict. Pain can be observed on television, or read about in the paper. But to live it, that it what molds a heart and moves a soul. His writing can be dark and terrible and harsh. This is not a product of formal training, or awards, or degrees. It is a result of his humanness, of his longing to understand agony and love and how the two survive in the same world. His stories are studies of the human heart, of humanity's need for good, and of the dreadful movements of evil as done by minds capable of love.
Three Copies The Lonely Man: The Witch's Price. A man responsible for the downfall of a nation. The nation responsible for the downfall of a man.Mhets and six other greedy men quested to steal the Chained God’s treasure. They were successful. The gods, in their fury, took the lives of Mhets' companions one at a time, and now seek to snuff out the remaining thief. To survive, and to further spite the divine for their part in taking the love of his life, Mhets finds refuge in a witch’s hand. But the vile deal he enters into promises nothing but trouble. Sorcerers, mercenaries, and death wait on the horizon as he moves to complete his end of the terrible bargain. Journeying at the behest of the witch, Mhets learns just how black his heart has become, and how that darkness inside him might spell salvation for the world.
This installment starts the tales of Mhets Sorrowbringer, a man wronged and angered in life. He owns a past riddled with atrocity, betrayal, and death, but here is where his true story starts. Here is where the man called Mirthless Mhets begins to write his legend.
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The Tour Hosts:
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I Heart Books is a page whose focus is on the promotion of reading, books, and their authors. They provide service for both trad-pub and self-pub authors of all genres. They strive to bring their readers fun and positive posts, while keeping up with current news in the “book world."
Good Choice Reading focuses mainly on Young Adult, New Adult and Romance in all genres. The blog is coordinated by a wonderful group of girls who love to read and share the love they have for books with others!
Diamonds & Coal Book Reviews is run by Anna, an unrepentant 23-year-old nerd. She loves all different sorts of books, has watched too many movies to count, and is always happy to discover new music. That said, her graphic novel/superhero passion knows no bounds. (Hellboy is her favorite—you'll never convince her any other superhero is better!) When she's not at work in the Electronics Department of her local Target, every waking moment revolves around her blog. Come and join her in finding more of the interesting, shiny things in life.
Fae Books is run by Sarah Fae Graham, a 24-year-old Army wife who lives in Catterick Garrison in the United Kingdom. Fae Books is all about promoting authors, bloggers, writers and everything bookish in between. It hosts a lot of giveaways as well as free book posts, excerpts, interviews, and guest blog posts from the people with whom Sarah Fae is working. She runs a reviewing team who are in high demand and tend to book six months in advance. She's also in the process of beginning her own Tours. You can find more information on Sarah Fae and Fae Books by clicking on the above banner—it's never too soon to get Fae Books involved.
Alexis Holcomb is currently a writer, but aspires to one day be a full-time author. She specializes in fiction and loves inspiring others to follow their passions and dreams. She's a hands-on type of person that can just as easily fix a 3 course meal for a group of friends as she can do maintenance on her or her husband's vehicles. She's proud to be an Air Force sergeant, a wife, a mother, a teacher, and a writer.
Alexis is also a contributor at The Bearded Scribe .
Wordweaver. A child of the American Great Plains, Court Ellyn moved wherever the oil industry took her family. Born in the panhandle of Texas, she has lived from one end of the Lone Star state to the other, as well as New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Indiana. She is settled at last, or so she hopes, in a growing town southwest of Oklahoma City with her husband, her fat cats, and her writing.
Having to move frequently, drove her to fill her playtime with characters and stories that, at first, she acted out with her sister. Then, when she was fourteen, she began writing what she calls “poor and unrealistic historical fiction,” primarily because her mother discouraged her from reading and writing in the fantasy genre. But because of films like The Never Ending Story , The Princess Bride , and Willow , her fate was sealed. Throughout high school her tastes gravitated toward the fantastical until she secretly purchased her first fantasy novel at a gas station. Her mother warned her, “Be careful.” And so Ms. Ellyn has been carefully reading and writing fantasy ever since.
Ms. Ellyn attended the University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma, which she claims provided an excellent liberal arts education but failed to dispel the dragons. She graduated Summa Cum Laude in 2000 with a degree in English and History and an emphasis in Creative Writing. Shortly after, she married her high school sweetheart and determined to write professionally. Sadly, she learned the hard way that a college education does not guarantee book sales. Regardless, Court’s stories have since appeared in numerous magazines such as Kaleidotrope , Silver Blade and the Dead Robots’ Society’s Explorers: Beyond the Horizon anthology. In the spring of 2012, she celebrated the publication of the first novel of a fantasy series, over which she labored for a more than a decade. After a literal outpouring of sweat and tears, both Volumes of Book 1 are available at CreateSpace and at Amazon.
Court is also a contributor at The Bearded Scribe.
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The Giveaway:
__________________________________________________
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Good Luck to Everyone! And have FUN!
July 2, 2013
The GoodReads Giveaway and Kindle Freebie Day
Hi Folks,
GoodReads has supplied me with my list of addresses for the 10 winners of the HHHC* of In Siege of Daylight. I will be stuffing them in envelopes today and mailing them tomorrow. Congratulations to the winners - I hope you really enjoy the book! Sorry if you entered and did not win, but I hope you find your way to the book someway/somehow and also enjoy it.
The Kindle giveaway on Amazon went pretty well, I think. Thanks to the help of my friends and social media I was able to get about 300 downloads on July 1. This propelled me (at least for the day it was free) up to #13 in the Epic Fantasy (Free) Category. Very cool! Hopefully it will help garner more positive reviews and great referrals so that I can enjoy similar success with paid sales so that I can keep writing.
If you've ended up with a copy, whether paid, free or borrowed, please remember to review it on Amazon and GoodReads and (wherever else you can).
Thanks again to everyone who participated!
GoodReads has supplied me with my list of addresses for the 10 winners of the HHHC* of In Siege of Daylight. I will be stuffing them in envelopes today and mailing them tomorrow. Congratulations to the winners - I hope you really enjoy the book! Sorry if you entered and did not win, but I hope you find your way to the book someway/somehow and also enjoy it.
The Kindle giveaway on Amazon went pretty well, I think. Thanks to the help of my friends and social media I was able to get about 300 downloads on July 1. This propelled me (at least for the day it was free) up to #13 in the Epic Fantasy (Free) Category. Very cool! Hopefully it will help garner more positive reviews and great referrals so that I can enjoy similar success with paid sales so that I can keep writing.
If you've ended up with a copy, whether paid, free or borrowed, please remember to review it on Amazon and GoodReads and (wherever else you can).
Thanks again to everyone who participated!
June 28, 2013
In Siege of Daylight is FREE on July 1, 2013!
I apologize to everyone I know, because most likely I just spammed you with an announcement about this. So, I will keep this brief.
The Kindle version of In Siege of Daylight will be $0.00 on July 1, 2013.
Please download it.
Share and encourage others to download it.
Details: http://www.goodreads.com/event/show/895208-free-kindle-version-of-in-siege-of-daylight
Why, you might wonder, would I want as many people as possible to get my book while it is FREE instead of hoping that they pay for it the day before or the day(s) after the promotion? Because getting a lot of free downloads really helps the book in terms of the Amazon.com ranking and algorithms (that determine how and where the book is displayed for on-line shoppers). Data shows that books with a successful giveaway trend better in sales post-giveaway.
So I need your help to make the giveaway successful! Because data also shows that books with unsuccessful giveaways don't trend any better at all.
Also, I need to expand my audience and get some folks to read (and hopefully enjoy) In Siege of Daylight so that they will leave positive reviews. Positive reviews also help a lot. In scientific terms, it helps "a lot a lot."
P.S. If it really bothers you to get it for free you can always buy 12 copies later if you want to. :D
The Kindle version of In Siege of Daylight will be $0.00 on July 1, 2013.
Please download it.
Share and encourage others to download it.
Details: http://www.goodreads.com/event/show/895208-free-kindle-version-of-in-siege-of-daylight
Why, you might wonder, would I want as many people as possible to get my book while it is FREE instead of hoping that they pay for it the day before or the day(s) after the promotion? Because getting a lot of free downloads really helps the book in terms of the Amazon.com ranking and algorithms (that determine how and where the book is displayed for on-line shoppers). Data shows that books with a successful giveaway trend better in sales post-giveaway.
So I need your help to make the giveaway successful! Because data also shows that books with unsuccessful giveaways don't trend any better at all.
Also, I need to expand my audience and get some folks to read (and hopefully enjoy) In Siege of Daylight so that they will leave positive reviews. Positive reviews also help a lot. In scientific terms, it helps "a lot a lot."
P.S. If it really bothers you to get it for free you can always buy 12 copies later if you want to. :D
June 26, 2013
This just in...
A friend of mine mentioned that In Siege of Daylight had featured in her Science Fiction & Fantasy email alert/suggestion list this week. I thought this was pretty much the coolest thing ever. It was even in the subject line of the email. I'm not sure what I did to deserve such good fortune, but I was pleased to see it for myself when Amazon sent the same email my way.
I haven't seen any effect on sales yet, but still... it's a nice bit of free exposure. Every bit helps!
I haven't seen any effect on sales yet, but still... it's a nice bit of free exposure. Every bit helps!
June 11, 2013
You can't win all the reviews...
Well, I was riding high for a week on a nice 4 Star Review from Clarion ForeWord, but the review from Kirkus came in today and it is [ahem] less-than-impressed with In Siege of Daylight.
The nice part is summed up thusly: "Close's greatest strength is his prose, which brings this world to life with a literary sensibility that stands out in a sea of standard, boilerplate fantasy novels."
Unfortunately, those very nice words are immediately followed by: "If only the plot were as impressive as the words that detail it." And the review concludes with a resounding "Despite strong prose, this fantasy tale is ultimately undone by its overly familiar plot and distractingly peculiar names."
A link to the entire review can be found here at Kirkus Reviews.
On the whole, I think it's a fair and objective critique. I'm disappointed, but I have to move forward - accept the positive, learn from the negative, and try harder next time.
The nice part is summed up thusly: "Close's greatest strength is his prose, which brings this world to life with a literary sensibility that stands out in a sea of standard, boilerplate fantasy novels."
Unfortunately, those very nice words are immediately followed by: "If only the plot were as impressive as the words that detail it." And the review concludes with a resounding "Despite strong prose, this fantasy tale is ultimately undone by its overly familiar plot and distractingly peculiar names."
A link to the entire review can be found here at Kirkus Reviews.
On the whole, I think it's a fair and objective critique. I'm disappointed, but I have to move forward - accept the positive, learn from the negative, and try harder next time.
June 4, 2013
Clarion gives IN SIEGE OF DAYLIGHT 4/5 Stars!
Clarion Review
In Siege of Daylight: Book One in the Compendium of Light, Dark & Shadow
Gregory S. Close
Four Stars (out of Five)
It is no mean feat to craft a fantasy world that is different, familiar, interesting, and fresh.
Gregory S. Close has done that and more with In Siege of Daylight: Book One in the
Compendium of Light, Dark & Shadow, a weighty and daunting tome, but one worth delving
into.
The author notes in his acknowledgments that he lived in Ireland for a time. So it is no
surprise that the landscape, language, and literary tradition of the Gael have more than just
seeped into Close’s writing. In Siege of Daylight is infused with Gaelic and Celtic sights and
sounds, and not just because of the flood of tongue-curling names like Ilnymhorrim, Dieavaul,
Calvraign, and Dwynleigsh (respectively, a sword, the villain, a hero, and a castle).
The very land of Providayne, in which the fantasy is set, drips with all things Irish, from
the woodland magic of faeries to the prominence given to bards, around a pair of whom one of
the three main threads of the story is woven. The other principal story lines involve a quest by a
mercenary captain and his medical companion (a talking female “lizardman”), and a military
campaign centered around one of the Raogmyztsanogg, or “dread forest watchers” (rangers in
whose veins runs the blood of a magical folk who can command the trees and vines to fight). All
three paths pit these heroes against the requisite evil wizard and his army of dringli, hrumm, and
graomwrnokk warriors.
As with many evil dark lords in fantasy, this one wields a mighty magic device, a
blade—but not just any blade. As one minor character warns, “The sword of the Guhddan-kinne
does not simply send you beyond the Veil with a mortal blow! This blade cuts so deep it sunders
the strings that hold your soul and binds you to ages of bloody torment at the service of the Dark
God!” That mouthful is screeched by a character of whom Close, poking fun at himself as a
writer and at the genre, notes, “as a priest, she had somehow managed to spit all that out in one
breath with the proper inflection.”
The prose here is rich and lyrical. Yet when he gets too serious or pompous, Close is
quick to take it all down a notch, such as when he has his otherwise gloriously noble ranger hero
literally caught with his breeches down.
Close’s writing, however, is not perfect. The Gaelic and guttural names often confuse
and overwhelm the eye and the ear. Many of his terms are not described, and he leaves it to the
reader to puzzle out whether his characters are cursing at a creature, praying to a god, or sighing
over a local delicacy. Close also vastly overuses italics and is inconsistent in their use
(sometimes the italics represent thoughts, yet other times a character will deliver one line of
dialogue in italics and another in normal print, often on the same page or even in the same
paragraph).
These criticisms aside, In Siege of Daylight is engaging, engrossing, and entertaining.
-Mark McLaughlin
(Feel free to buy your own copy here: In Siege of Daylight)
June 3, 2013
Want a FREE copy of In Siege of Daylight?
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In Siege of Daylight
by Gregory S. Close
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