R.A. McCandless's Blog, page 13

First Review for Aubrey

If you look long enough, they start to dance.
Woohoo! The Clockwork Detective received a five star review:
The Clockwork Detective is a steampunk fantasy mystery involving flying airships, an ornery but dedicated constable with a ⏰ Clockwork leg, palace intrigue, centaurs, and magic.  The constable is a strong female character who a whole series might be built around.  The centaurs are a  most intriguing group, unyielding, terrifying, battle-hardened.  As a reader, you...

Free Short Story?

I'm king of the mountain!
One of Constable Aubrey Hartmann’s first adventures (chronologically speaking) took place on the battlefields of the Cimarron before she lost her leg—Grenadiers and Dragon’s Fire. It was featured in Gears,Gadgets & Steam (Tinkered Tales Book 1) anthology. It was a fun story to write, and to get to some of the realism, I read William Howard Russell’s The British Expedition to Crimea which was a first-hand account of many of the battles as told by one of the world’s...

Signed Edition Available

Don't mind if I do!
Wow.  Thank you!
The Clockwork Detective has received a lot of support. Tons. I’m both overwhelmed and under-prepared. Some folk have reached out to me to ask about a signed edition, and I’m thrilled to provide those. I don’t have a price on the paperback version of the book yet, but I’ve started a list of those interested!
For anyone who would like a signed version of the books, please go to this form , fill it out, and hit send.
When I do have a price, and the paperback...

The Clockwork Detective Proofs

The proofs are in the pages!
When I came home last night, there was a medium-sized box from Amazon. I hadn’t recalled ordering anything, so I figured it was probably my wife’s.  When I picked up the box, it was WAY heavier than it should be . . . that’s when I realized what was inside:
BOOKS!
Not just any books, but the PROOFS for my next release! There are so many little thrills along the way to publishing, some of which are not seen by everyone else. Finishing a draft, signing a cont...

James Blaylock Knows My Name!

The story of James P. Blaylockand his quote for my book is crazy. Not literally crazy, but close enough that you don’t need to correct me with “figuratively”.
In July of 2017, I had finished a book. It was a steampunk book. I was not about to give this book to my current publisher—Maya—so I went hunting for a new publisher.  I reached out to fellow writer, and former WildChild Publishing Alum, Jenn Nixon.
Jenn was gracious enough to reach out to some publishers she knew and see if they’d b...

Biff Bam Pop! Interview

Clockwork crossbow? Sure, why not?!Biff Bam Pop! Ran an interview with me for my latest novel THE CLOCKWORK DETECTIVE.  I found the question about my boys an interesting one.  Here’s a small sample:

Gilbert: Tell us a little bit about yourself.
R.A. McCandless: I’ve been a writer both professionally and creatively for over two decades. I was born under a wandering star that led to a degree in Communication and English with a focus on creative writing taught by none other than the Dean...

Aubrey Hartmann Short Stories?

“The day we die heroically?”
Constable Aubrey Hartmann’s first novel doesn’t release until May 7th, but she had a couple of adventures before she flew into Aqualinne. Here’s a brief sample from “Grenadiers and Dragon’s Fire”:
Screams crossed the sky, spitting sparks and fire until they slammed into the lower slope of Bourgogne Hill.  Explosions erupted a moment later with a shower of dirt, bloody limbs and two unfortunate Imperial soldiers.
“Lieutenant!” a voice yelled down the line. ...

The Clockwork Detective - Release Date May 7th, 2019

Bigger than life and reporting for your library!
Here’s all the news that’s fit to print (and a day late, because I was recovering from the flu).
Audrey Hartmann’s debut novel THE CLOCKWORK DETECTIVE the first in THE CONSTABLE OF AQUALINNE series will release Tuesday, May 7th, 2019.
Oh, but there’s more! You don’t have to wait AND you can save some of that hard green stuff you work for. Here are the details from my publisher:
***PRE-ORDER SALE $4.99***Regular price $7.99 as of release on 5/7/19
Or...

New Information Coming Soon!

Staying tuned isn't easy in this corset!
It looks like we’ve got a release date for THE CLOCKWORK DETECTIVE!
It's closer than I thought.
Stay tuned!

And Lo, Jesus Said WTF Bruh!?

I posted the meme over there to the right -->
A “friend” posted the following (and yes, he’s serious):
Jesus used fish that was freely donated. Not taxpayer fish. But better then that, as a small businessman (carpenter) from a rural town, you know he voted Republican.
Ooops.  Unfortunately, I was raised Catholic in Utah, went to Catholic elementary school, and at one point, I even considered becoming a priest. I've read plenty of scripture in my time. Here's my response:
Nice try. But no,...