R.A. McCandless's Blog, page 47

Teeth, Door Knobs, and Chandaliers

Take my teethâNOW!A few years back, when Porterâs first loose tooth started to wiggle, he became incredibly nervous.  It makes sense.  Something as solid as defined as your teeth, that you worked so hard and so painfully for through the infant/toddler stage, shouldnât just fall out!
Thatâs insane!
Also, Porter is a bit of a worrier.  Heâs always been a good rule-follower, wants to be on-time (or early) to everything, and heâs still the teacherâs helper.
Yeah, heâs that kid.
He was...

The Shadow Portal - Interview

Angels without the punk, just aren't punk enough for me!I'm delighted to have R.A. McCandless on the blog today as I love his Flames of Perdition books. I can happily recommend them to anyone who enjoys Urban Fantasy.
Tell us about the book you want to talk about today.
Hell Becomes Her
Angels should be a humanâs worst nightmare. Del didnât think there was anything worse than angels, or their fallen kin, demons. She and her partner Marrin helped to keep the world safe from the horrors of escaped...

Smaller, Grainy and Awesome

Thereâs a 41â flatscreen TV to the immediate left of this picture which all three know how to operate, and yet this is the scene I came out to this morning.
Second-hand Kindle for the WIN!
On the other hand, I spent about thirty minutes yesterday trying to get a new app to feed to my Chromecast with minimal success.  I could have achieved the same end by simply using the computer weâve had hooked up to the flatscreen for the past ten years.  This is probably a case of ânewer is better...

Interview on Litzophreniacs3!

Itâs a new year and a new guest author interview! Today, weâd like to introduce you to fantasy and historical author, R.A. McCandless. R.A. has just released the second book in his Flames of Perdition trilogy, Hell Becomes Her . His first novel in the series, Tears of Heaven , won Best Science Fiction and Fantasy in the Preditors and Editors Readersâ Poll and was also a finalist in EPICâs 2015 eBook Awards. In addition to his two novels, R.A. has contributed to a number of anthologies. Currentl...

Probably the Best Review Ever

Captain Awesome approves!What is this âcriticismâ of which you speak?  All who read my books love them and despair!
There isnât an aspect of my writing that hasnât been criticized.  The first time and the first hundred times pretty much hit the same way.  The difference is how an author takes that criticism.  You canât please all the people all the time, so you write for a particular audience, and hope that anyone who crosses a genre line also enjoys the work. 
The lat...

I Smell Elf!

I'm sorry, but we appeared on the cover, so we must fight.Thereâs very little genre fiction, especially fantasy, I wonât read, provided the writing is good. I have a strong love any world where a dragon can make an appearance.  The scaly beastie doesnât have to actually show up, but the fact that one canâplease and thank you!
That said, some authors worry about relying too much on genre tropes.  Gripes have been offered that werewolves and vampires and dragons and elves have all been...

Chivalry Isn't Dead

May I hold the door for you?A brief, and interesting, view of chivalry for fantasy writers and fun.
The original qualities of chivalry, even the idealization of them, were based on notions that are still very much alive todayâthe strong should defend the weak, keep their word, and be generous to everyone. The idea was that a chivalric knight was essentially a warrior-priest.  Some of the orders even took priestly vows of abstinence and poverty, like the Knights Hospitallar and the Knights...

Making an Ass out of Assumption

Nice ass!My question is, do you think the ansible needs any explanation within the story itself? We do live in the golden age of information, so it's not hard for someone to Google what the word means if they're curious, but I try not to assume too much on the part of my readers.

Ursula K. Le Guin coined the name âansibleâ as a corruption of "answerable" for the communication devices in her science fiction.  There is actually no end of similar concepts, whether borrowed from Le Guin or th...

In Which I Attempt to Explain Everything

Step 1âDo everything!What's a good launch strategy for a fantasy ebook? Stick to Amazon? Open wide on amazon and smashwords? I'm reading article after article, several books, too. I can't decide. Keep in mind that I only have the one book. It's going to be remain in my editor's hands for a month or so longer, and i want to be prepared, have a plan ready.

Wow!  This is like asking, âHow do I write a book?â  In fact, this is what the entire publishing world is all aboutâlaunch and sell...

Giving Up

Clearly, George made a deal with the Devil!This getting old thing is dumb.  Someone should have warned me.  Over vacation, doing nothing but relaxing with my family, sitting by warm fires and watching crap TV all day, I would wake up in the morning sore.  Not just a little sore, but full on, work-out-five-hours-a-day-grunt-lifting-the-heavy-weights-while-beefcakes-yell-encouragement sore!
Yeah, that a thing.
Part of the problem might have been the complete sedentary lifestyle I a...