P.H. Solomon's Blog, page 267
August 18, 2016
5 Weak Words to Avoid & What to use instead – Infographic…
Here’s a good infographic about weak word usage. Reblogging on Archer’s Aim.
Chris The Story Reading Ape's Blog
Source: www.grammarcheck.net
Filed under: Uncategorized
Characters From The Bow of Destiny: Athson
This is the first of several posts revealing more about characters from The Bow of Destiny.
Athson is the main character of The Bow of Hart and a rather complex one at that. He suffers from fits over the violent memories surrounding the sack of his home Depenburgh that left him an orphan. These events were precipitated by an attack of trolls who are commanded by Corgren, a wizard in service to Magdronu, a dragon seeking for prime control of the world of Denaria.
After elves discovered Athson wandering in the Auguron Forest they took him in only to realize later that he suffered the aforementioned fits as well as hallucinations about a Mountain Hound he called Spark. But over the years, these affects have been muted with the help of an elven medicine named Soul-ease.
But Athson also holds a few other secrets that he won’t reveal so easily and this leads him into trouble. As a grown man, he’s become a ranger among the elves and is sent with his mentor, Gweld, into the largely unpopulated western Auguron region. It’s here that events conspire to drag Athson unwillingly into a quest.
Along the way, Athson gains several new friends and companions – some he likes and some he doesn’t. Often, Athson also struggles with what’s real and not since he losses – or forgets – his medicine several times. Other events leave Athson confused and grieving while he struggles to find the Bow of Hart. But along the way, Athson finds his secrets are hard to keep hidden. Additionally, he’ll find himself facing hidden information and danger from Corgren, Magdronu and trolls all of which will test his resolve and grasp on reality. Check out my internet radio interview on Speculative Cantina.
To find out more about The Bow of Destiny, click over to one of these online retailers:
About the Author
P. H. Solomon lives in the greater Birmingham, AL area where he strongly dislikes yard work and sanding the deck rail. However, he performs these duties to maintain a nice home for his loved ones as well as the family’s German Shepherds. In his spare time, P. H. rides herd as a Computer Whisperer on large computers called servers (harmonica not required). Additionally, he enjoys reading, running, most sports and fantasy football. Having a degree in Anthropology, he also has a wide array of more “serious” interests in addition to working regularly to hone his writing. The Bow of Destiny is his first novel-length title with more soon to come.
Prequel short stories to The Bow of Hart Saga:
Trading Knives – Kobo, iBooks & Barnes & Noble, Smashwords & Amazon
What Is Needed – Barnes & Noble, Kobo, iBooks, Smashwords & Amazon
Filed under: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Blogging, Creativity, Fantasy, Fantasy Fiction, Fiction, Goodreads, iBooks, Kobo, Mailing List, Pinterest, Smashwords, Social Media, The Bow of Destiny, The Bow of Hart Saga, Trading Knives, What is Needed, Writing Tagged: Amazon, Athson, Barnes & Noble, Epic Fantasy, Fantasy, Fantasy Fiction, iBooks, Kobo, P. H. Solomon, Smashwords, The Bow of Destiny, The Bow of Hart Saga, Trading Knives, What is Needed
August 17, 2016
Characters from The Bow of Destiny: Limbreth
This is the third of several posts revealing more about characters from The Bow of Destiny. The first in this series was about Athson and the second featured Spark
Limbreth is a young woman who appears in the book as a traveling companion to Hastra. At first glance, she’s just a young, brash woman with a horse and a couple of swords. She got a lot of bravado and seems to be looking to make a name for herself. But there’s more to her than meets the eye. Her horse is rather well-trained and Limbreth seems to have some cavalry skill as well as some rather good training at least as a duelist.
But just who is Limbreth? She’s not willing to reveal her identity. Is she the typical beauty so often found in fantasy books? Well, she’s not a model nor is she someone like Brienne in Game of Thrones. Limbreth certainly falls somewhere between in the looks department. Is she like an Amazon, or even Brienne? I’d call her neither. She’s skilled with swords but she’s no knight like Brienne.
I wrote Limbreth into the book many years ago as a young woman with heroic aspirations. She wears white, light-weight leather armor made for dueling and her horse is white – she seems to like the color. Last year, I happened to 
read about Joan of Arc. I’d always heard about her and even seen a few shrines to her in some churches in France (my wife’s a French teacher so I’ve been a few times). However, I’d never really studied her closely. When I did, I found Limbreth to be eerily similar to her in appearance except for the hair style (Joan bobbed her hair). I never intended Limbreth to appear like her in any way. It just turned out that way through no intention of my own.
Along the way in the book (and what’s coming in the next two books), Limbreth’s role grows. In fact, she gets some very good scenes all through the series. But Athson is the true main character since everything revolves around him and the Bow of Hart. But Limbreth’s a character who’s grown in many ways from when I first added her to the book many years ago when I wrote the first draft. She now has far more complexity to her in addition to her larger role. For more on Limbreth, check out her character interview on C. S. Boyack’s Lisa Burton Radio.
To find out more about The Bow of Destiny, click over to one of these online retailers:
About the Author
P. H. Solomon lives in the greater Birmingham, AL area where he strongly dislikes yard work and sanding the deck rail. However, he performs these duties to maintain a nice home for his loved ones as well as the family’s German Shepherds. In his spare time, P. H. rides herd as a Computer Whisperer on large computers called servers (harmonica not required). Additionally, he enjoys reading, running, most sports and fantasy football. Having a degree in Anthropology, he also has a wide array of more “serious” interests in addition to working regularly to hone his writing. The Bow of Destiny is his first novel-length title with more soon to come.
Prequel short stories to The Bow of Hart Saga:
Trading Knives – Kobo, iBooks & Barnes & Noble, Smashwords & Amazon
What Is Needed – Barnes & Noble, Kobo, iBooks, Smashwords & Amazon
Filed under: Amazon, An Arrow Against the Wind, Barnes & Noble, Blogging, Fantasy, Fantasy Fiction, Fiction, Goodreads, iBooks, Indie Publishing, Kobo, Mailing List, Pinterest, Self-publishing, Short Fiction, Short Stories, Smashwords, Social Media, The Bow of Destiny, The Bow of Hart Saga, The White Arrow, Trading Knives, Twitter, What is Needed, Writing Tagged: Amazon, Athson, Barnes & Noble, Epic Fantasy, Fantasy, Fantasy Fiction, iBooks, Kobo, P. H. Solomon, Smashwords, The Bow of Destiny, The Bow of Hart Saga, Trading Knives, What is Needed
August 15, 2016
Dream Excerpt From The Bow of Destiny
A silhouette kneels and rocks, dark against the fire beyond it. A woman’s uneven voice chants:
“The bow shall be hidden from heart…”
The swaying speaker feeds wood into the fire. Sparks snap from the coals and whirl amid the orange-blue tongues. An arc forms in the smoke and fades into the stars.
“The eagle will guide the heir…”
An eagle’s scream pierces the night wind.
“The bow shall be found at need…”
Wrinkled hands tie a wad of cloth with string – a bowstring.
“And the arrow shall Eloch prepare.”
A shooting star streaks across the horizon and drags Athson’s attention from the crouching figure before the popping fire.
The eagle screams again – louder and nearer.
The figure half-turns and tosses the packet at Athson’s feet. He stares at it, then back to the kneeling woman. Her face half-lit by the firelight reveals a pointy nose that overshadows her receding jaw. Grizzled wisps of gray hair wave in the wind. “For you who suffers in silence for a secret.”
Athson stoops and inspects the package. He unties the knot and pushes the string into a pocket. Within the cloth he finds a tattered note and more fabric he guesses is a pennant.
“Zelma’s done it.” She gazes skyward and raises her arms.
“Why more now when so much has been taken already? Why me?” His anger flares and he tosses the packet away. “This isn’t mine.” He whirls and stumbles into darkness.
“He needs to see.” The woman’s voice screeches and slices through whistling wind.
The eagle’s deafening scream stabs his awareness as immense wings snap like a clap of thunder. Talons tear clothing, pierce flesh and snatch Athson into the air. He dangles and kicks as he yells while silver landscape yawns beneath him. The curious sound of joyous cackling trails into the distance.
The Bow of Destiny is sale this week as it’s out on The Lost Bow Blog Tour – check out today’s stop on Nicholas Rossis’ site.
To find out more about The Bow of Destiny, click over to one of these online retailers:
About the Author
P. H. Solomon lives in the greater Birmingham, AL area where he strongly dislikes yard work and sanding the deck rail. However, he performs these duties to maintain a nice home for his loved ones as well as the family’s German Shepherds. In his spare time, P. H. rides herd as a Computer Whisperer on large computers called servers (harmonica not required). Additionally, he enjoys reading, running, most sports and fantasy football. Having a degree in Anthropology, he also has a wide array of more “serious” interests in addition to working regularly to hone his writing. The Bow of Destiny is his first novel-length title with more soon to come.
Prequel short stories to The Bow of Hart Saga:
Trading Knives – Kobo, iBooks & Barnes & Noble, Smashwords & Amazon
What Is Needed – Barnes & Noble, Kobo, iBooks, Smashwords & Amazon
Filed under: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Blogging, Creativity, Fantasy, Fantasy Fiction, Fiction, Goodreads, iBooks, Indie Publishing, Kobo, Marketing, Pinterest, Self-publishing, Short Fiction, Short Stories, Smashwords, Social Media, The Bow of Destiny, The Bow of Hart Saga, Trading Knives, Twitter, What is Needed, Writing Tagged: Amazon, An Arrow Against the Wind, Barnes and Noble, blogging, Coverart, Epic Fantasy, Facebook, Fantasy Fiction, Goodreads, Indie Publishing, Kobo, P. H. Solomon, Pinterest, Self-publishing, Smashwords, The Bow of Destiny, The Bow of Hart Saga, Trading Knives, Twitter, What is Needed, writing
August 14, 2016
Quotes From The Bow Of Destiny #3
Corgren, The Bow of Destiny
The Bow of Destiny is featured on blog tour this week: The Lost Bow Blog Tour first stop is at Harmony Kent Online!
To find out more about The Bow of Destiny , click over to one of these online retailers where it’s just $0.99 all week:
About the Author
P. H. Solomon lives in the greater Birmingham, AL area where he strongly dislikes yard work and sanding the deck rail. However, he performs these duties to maintain a nice home for his loved ones as well as the family’s German Shepherds. In his spare time, P. H. rides herd as a Computer Whisperer on large computers called servers (harmonica not required). Additionally, he enjoys reading, running, most sports and fantasy football. Having a degree in Anthropology, he also has a wide array of more “serious” interests in addition to working regularly to hone his writing. The Bow of Destiny is his first novel-length title with more soon to come.
Prequel short stories to The Bow of Hart Saga:
Trading Knives – Kobo, iBooks & Barnes & Noble, Smashwords & Amazon
What Is Needed – Barnes & Noble, Kobo, iBooks, Smashwords & Amazon
Filed under: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Cover Reveal, Fantasy, Fantasy Fiction, Fiction, Goodreads, iBooks, Indie Publishing, Kobo, Marketing, Pinterest, Self-publishing, Short Fiction, Short Stories, Smashwords, Social Media, The Bow of Destiny, The Bow of Hart Saga, Trading Knives, Twitter, What is Needed, Writing Tagged: Amazon, An Arrow Against the Wind, Barnes and Noble, blogging, Coverart, Epic Fantasy, Facebook, Fantasy Fiction, Goodreads, Indie Publishing, Kobo, P. H. Solomon, Pinterest, Self-publishing, Smashwords, The Bow of Destiny, The Bow of Hart Saga, Trading Knives, Twitter, What is Needed, writing
Excerpt from The Bow of Destiny
Athson sat up, his chest heaving. That was too real. His ears rang with the eagle’s screams and his face burned with the rush of frigid wind. What were those words? Something about a bow? He shook his head. Could that be it?
Soul’s-ease – he needed it. No. He’d forgotten it at the ranger station. He’d been so careless.
His gut knotted at Eagle’s Aerie glowing beneath the moon. He remembered the star falling, the knife dripping with blood. His knife. He’d bought it from that Rokan merchant weeks ago and left it in Auguron with Heth and Cireena. He didn’t know why. Athson shut his eyes and the weapon gleamed with malevolence.
He scrambled to his feet beside the low campfire. The sensation of wind scouring his face while falling clung to his mind. He exhaled. “A dream, nothing more.”
Spark flattened his ears and his tail remained still.
Athson inhaled cold air, which cleared his head. He shifted his weight from one leg to the other, observing details as his racing heartbeat slowed. The fire needed stoking much the same as when the dream started. The moon hung where it had been in its path when the eagle had dropped him. Odd. It should be lower. More time had passed than what he’d dreamed. Shouldn’t it? Athson grimaced as he rubbed his irritated hands together. He shivered in the chill as the surf rustled in the distance.
“Just a dream.” His thumping heart slackened. “Just a dream.” The slight breeze picked at his clothes. It had nothing to do with anything in his past.
The mountain hound’s tail remained still.
He watched the summit of the bluff. Was the old woman in his dream the Withling? “I hope not. They’re trouble…”
No, he couldn’t talk about those things, he needed to avoid it all – and them. “But it was so real and I remember her wrinkles.” The eagle’s flapping still thundered in his ears. What was this inheritance? What did the visions mean? “If it’s Withling’s business, I won’t be part of it.” He’d suffered enough of their trouble.
Athson flinched at the memory of the dagger. He tossed more branches onto his fire and then rubbed his sore hands together above the growing heat. It was so real. Who were those women? The old woman at the campfire looked like the one who tossed him the packet. Was either the Withling? “The young woman’s interesting.” Athson shot a sidelong glance at Spark.
The dog looked up from sniffing around, sat, thumped his tail and gave a soft woof.
“Really? How would you know? It wasn’t real. I haven’t had my draught in days. You aren’t real.”
He knelt by his blanket and froze on one knee. His jaw went slack for several seconds as awareness flooded his mind. He snatched his weapons – bow, arrows, and long-knife – and scrambled into the surrounding trees.
Spark bounded after him and waited while he panted.
Again, Athson’s heart pounded. He stared back toward his fire and his blanket and what lay beside it. The packet sat unwrapped on the ground.
The Bow of Destiny is featured on blog tour this week: The Lost Bow Blog Tour first stop is at Harmony Kent Online!
To find out more about The Bow of Destiny , click over to one of these online retailers where it’s just $0.99 all week:
About the Author
P. H. Solomon lives in the greater Birmingham, AL area where he strongly dislikes yard work and sanding the deck rail. However, he performs these duties to maintain a nice home for his loved ones as well as the family’s German Shepherds. In his spare time, P. H. rides herd as a Computer Whisperer on large computers called servers (harmonica not required). Additionally, he enjoys reading, running, most sports and fantasy football. Having a degree in Anthropology, he also has a wide array of more “serious” interests in addition to working regularly to hone his writing. The Bow of Destiny is his first novel-length title with more soon to come.
Sign-up to receive my free ebooks today.
Filed under: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Fantasy, Fantasy Fiction, Fiction, Goodreads, iBooks, Indie Publishing, iTunes, Kobo, Marketing, Pinterest, Self-publishing, Short Fiction, Short Stories, Smashwords, Social Media, The Bow of Destiny, The Bow of Hart Saga, Trading Knives, Twitter, What is Needed, Writing Tagged: Amazon, An Arrow Against the Wind, Barnes and Noble, blogging, Coverart, Epic Fantasy, Facebook, Fantasy Fiction, Goodreads, Indie Publishing, Kobo, P. H. Solomon, Pinterest, Self-publishing, Smashwords, The Bow of Destiny, The Bow of Hart Saga, Trading Knives, Twitter, What is Needed, writing 
August 12, 2016
RRBC Back to School Book & Blog Block Party!
Hello, and welcome to P. H. Solomon’s Archer’s Aim! Thanks for stopping by and joining the fun today. RRBC is having a fun all month with its Back to School Book & Blog Block Party! That’s right, we’re partying for a whole month. Links for the other party places are on the RRBC website
Today you’re visiting sweltering Birmingham, Al. But don’t worry your AC should work fine.
Prizes I’m giving away today!
$5 Amazon Gift Cards to 3 winners
Number of winners this stop: 3
To be in it to win it, be sure to leave a comment!
Now that we have all the preliminaries out of the way I’ve got a nice surprise for you today. Do you like amusement park rides? I mean, who doesn’t? Well, tomorrow I head out on a week-long blog tour. Specifically, The Lost Bow Tour and it’s going to be fun because you get to take some fund rides through the fantasy world of Denaria that parallel some of the adventures from The Bow of Destiny. Along the way, we’ll take a few breaks by a campfire and talk about how the book was written and more!
Now you should know this will not be like parks you might go to. First of all there’s not a bit of safety features and no warnings that you normally get. So just be aware, you are along for the ride – really along for the ride. Speaking of being along for the ride, check out this interview of Limbreth from The Bow of Destiny on Lisa Burton Radio which is actually pretend radio. But you can check out my internet radio interview on Speculative Cantina.
So, here’s what I -. What’s that? What about the book? Ok,let me tell you a bit about the book just for some context:
Haunted by his past. Hunted in the present. Uncertain what is real.Athson has seen things that aren’t there and suffered fits since being tragically orphaned as a child at the hands of trolls and Corgren the wizard. When a strange will mentioning a mysterious bow comes into his possession, he’s not sure it’s real. But the trolls that soon pursue him are all too real and dangerous. And what’s worse, these raiders serve Corgren and his master, the hidden dragon, Magdronu, who are responsible for the destruction of his childhood home. Athson is drawn into a quest for the concealed Bow of Hart by the mystic Withling, Hastra, but Athson isn’t always sure what’s real and who his enemies are. With Corgren and Magdronu involved, Athson must face not only frequent danger but his grasp on reality and the reasons behind his tragic past.
To find out more about The Bow of Destiny, click over to one of these online retailers:
Now that we’ve gotten that over with, let me-. What about the second book? Well, no, we can’t forget about that one. Here’s the latest on An Arrow Against the Wind. I’d like to get it released this Fall in time for the holidays so I’m making a push to finish. I’ve spent a good part of the year bogged down in a number of extraneous, persona issues but I’ve been able to proverbially “buckle-down” lately so I hope to get the book back to my editor ASAP so I can get all the necessary corrections and feedback. Then I’ll hand it over to some early readers for more feedback (if you want to be one just contact me via email and I’ll put you on a list of people). About this time, I should nail up a sign with hard release date and hope to get all the feedback in before that point. I’ll also schedule several blog tours and, hopefully, several internet radio show appearances as well and all just in time for the holidays. Look for news on how to reserve your pre-release copy at a discount price. It’ll be on sale for the tours but not as cheap as pre-release!
Now that we’ve gotten all those details out of the way, here’s what you need to know about tomorrow’s start to The Lost Bow Tour. The first stop will be xxxxxx where you’ll go on a little adventure and learn where the next stop on the tour will be.
Thanks so much for stopping by today and I hope to hear from you all during the upcoming tour this week!
About the Author
P. H. Solomon lives in the greater Birmingham, AL area where he strongly dislikes yard work and sanding the deck rail. However, he performs these duties to maintain a nice home for his loved ones as well as the family’s German Shepherds. In his spare time, P. H. rides herd as a Computer Whisperer on large computers called servers (harmonica not required). Additionally, he enjoys reading, running, most sports and fantasy football. Having a degree in Anthropology, he also has a wide array of more “serious” interests in addition to working regularly to hone his writing. The Bow of Destiny is his first novel-length title with more soon to come.
Sign-up to receive my free ebooks today.
Filed under: Amazon, An Arrow Against the Wind, Archer's Aim Digest, Back to School Book & Blog Block Party, Barnes & Noble, Blog Tour, Blogging, Cover Reveal, Fantasy, Fantasy Fiction, Fiction, Goodreads, iBooks, Indie Publishing, iTunes, Kobo, Mailing List, Marketing, Pinterest, Self-publishing, Short Fiction, Short Stories, Smashwords, Social Media, The Bow of Destiny, The Bow of Hart Saga, The Lost Bow Tour, The White Arrow, Trading Knives, Twitter, Uncategorized, What is Needed, Writing Tagged: Amazon, Back to School Book & Blog Block Party, Barnes and Noble, Blog Tour, blogging, Book Reviews, ebook sale, Epic Fantasy, Facebook, Fantasy Fiction, Goodreads, Indie Publishing, Internet Radio, Kobo, News, P. H. Solomon, Pinterest, Rave Reviews Book Club, Rave Waves, Reviews, Self-publishing, Smashwords, The Bow of Destiny, The Bow of Hart Saga, The Lost Bow Tour, Trading Knives, Twitter, What is Needed, writing
Publishing: Seeing things as they are
Sage advice for approaching the traditional publishing avenue . Rebloggined on Archer’s Aim
A few friends of mine are pinning their hopes on literary agents and traditional publishing contracts. Independent publishing is not for everyone so I don’t try hard to dissuade them. Traditional publishing is not for me, but people have their reasons. No need to rehash the why. Let’s delve deeper into building a better how.
If you go hunting for a contract with an agent or publisher, know the game and the real odds.
Many people call themselves agents. They are not all equal. Research them so you don’t waste time sending book proposals to people who do not have the connections and talents you require.
If you find the right person, make sure your work fits their submission guidelines.
Check out the agent’s social media presence. How do they talk about writers they reject? Is snark their brand? If they are obnoxious to those they turn away, they’ll eventually be obnoxious to you…
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RRBC BOOK & BLOG BLOCK PARTY
One of today’s stops on the month-long #RRBC blog party, featuring Rave Soup for the Writer’s Soul.
Hello, bloggers!!
Welcome to the Alabama stop on the #RRBC BOOK & BLOG BLOCK PARTY!! I am thrilled to have you stop by!!!
My stop’s Giveaway Prizes include these 3 fabulous items:
1) 1st Edition RRBC Anthology
2) 2nd Edition RRBC Anthology
3) $10 Amazon Gift Card
Which do you hope to get your hands on??? All you have to do is comment below and that will get your name in the hat!! ;)
Now, for the book info…
RAVE SOUP FOR THE WRITER’S SOUL
AUTHORS: Myself, along with many incredible authors of Rave Reviews Book Club.
GENRE: Poetry
BOOK BLURB: RAVE SOUP FOR THE WRITER’S SOUL Anthology is a compilation of motivational, inspirational and humorous stories from some of the most talented writers of the RAVE REVIEWS BOOK CLUB. These stories and poems are meant to inspire you and lift you up at the exact moment you need…
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Get Your Creative Juices Flowing Again With These Tips – Infographic…
This is another interesting infographic from Story Reading Ape. Reblogging on Archer’s Aim!
Chris The Story Reading Ape's Blog
Excerpt from article accompanying the Infographic:
Are you stuck in a rut? It’s not your fault. Your cynical lifestyle of sleeping, eating and working is probably contributing to that. Should you quit your job? Definitely not. Instead, you need to do something different.
To read the article and get a better version of the Infographic, click on the link or Infographic below:
get-your-creative-juices-flowing-again-with-these-tips
Filed under: Uncategorized
