Michael Timmins's Blog, page 3

Limited Time!

To let people know about the upcoming release of, "The Awakening: Part Two" (no, sorry, I don't have a date quite yet... but soon) I have put Part One on sale for 99 Cents. That's right. For a short time you can pick up this exciting first book of the Lycan War Saga for less than a dollar! You don't even need to get it for yourself, you can gift it to some lucky relative or loved one who loves fantasy novels, werewolves or just a fun, dark, exciting read. Now is the time to pick this bad boy up! So get it while the price is still hot!Buy it here now!

Cast of, "The Awakening: Part Two"

Unfortunately, the cover for Part Two is still in development, so I had to use the cover for Part One for this post. Though, it is such a beautiful cover, I never get tired of seeing it.As I posted recently, Part Two of, "The Awakening" is getting closer and closer to publication. In the meantime, I thought I would take this time to introduce you to the key players in Part Two. Part Two is a direct continuation of Part One. You have been introduced to five Trues, and now the other three to round out the original eight. We shall start with Hank Keller.Hank, is a middle-aged man living, currently, in Nova Scotia, Canada. He is a widower but is raising the son of his wife's first marriage, Simon. It isn't the situation he would have picked for himself, but it is one that he feels obligated to. Still grieving from the loss of his wife, and is newborn son he struggles with his desire for solitude and his need to hold onto the last part of wife he has...her son. Unfortunately, his shift threatens all of it.Next we will meet Gordon SandsDon't forget to stop by the website and join the newsletter for updates and blog postings as I post them.

What to Expect in the Future?

     What is coming down the road from me? Well, let me tell you. Up next is of course, Part Two of, "The Awakening." This will conclude the introduction of the new Trues. You've been introduced to some of them so far, and in the coming months I will introduce you to the rest.     So, what you can expect from me in the next month or so, is the cover reveal. I am pretty excited about this, though as of yet the artist has not had a chance to start working on it, but I expect it to go a lot quicker than the first one. So hopefully no more than a month away from being finished.     What is also happening at this moment is that I will be finishing up editing a short story I wrote called, "Intellect." This is a story from the upcoming Anthology, "Prelude to the Shards" which will, aptly be, a prelude to a series I will be writing after I finish, "The Lycan War Saga." The first book of that series will be called, "Shards of the Coven." That is a bit far off though, but the short story is almost finished, and the cover should be finished in a day or so, so I will be doing a cover reveal for that. That cover I have seen the almost finished product and let me tell you... It is awesome! That story will be made available for free on instafreebie.com and Amazon.com when it is finished.     This year will be a great year for me. I will have released Part One, and Part Two of, "The Awakening," along with the short, "Intellect." Hopefully, next year will be as productive as this year.     As always, Part One is available on Amazon, so don't forget to pick up up soon so that you will be ready for the release of Part Two!Till next time!

The Importance of Signing

As I sit here planning out for my next book signing a thought occurred to me. Are book signings really necessary? The answer. Absolutely! As an independent author especially. When you are an independent author, or even an author who is published by a small printing press, you receive little to no publicity. The only publicity you get is the ones you create for yourself.This is where book signings come in. Of all the publicity I have used, facebook ads, twitter, giveaways, paid Amazon promotions... The one that I have gotten the best results from is book signings. Sure, they aren't always successful. Sometimes you sit around for a long time, with not a single person buying a book. But that is o.k. When that happens, you are learning two things. One, you aren't always in the right spot for a book signing, and now you know that spot isn't one that is going to work for you in the future. Two, you still are interacting with those who come to your table to see what it is you have to offer, and if you are like me, you aren't very good at selling yourself, or your book. This will give you practice. Help you learn to interact with not just people, but potential customers. Every interaction is a learning experience. There is value in that.Something else you learn is how to perfect your presentation. When I first went to a book signing. I had a table and my books just lying on the table. Oh, I had some business cards and some book marks, but for the most part, just me and the books. After seeing others do author signings I saw that things like a colored table cloth for the table would be a much better presentation. Having a sign-up sheet for a newsletter should be something I am doing. After all, you don't just want to meet customers and sell them your book. You want them to know when the next book is available, or even what your next project is. You want to KEEP them as customers. Or better yet... Fans!So get out there authors. Find a great location, and stick with it. Every opportunity for you to get out there and see your customers, interact with them, and make them come back, is an opportunity worth taking.As a side note. I will be doing my book signing at The Game Room on W. Sylvania in Toledo Ohio on Saturday September 2nd from 1 to 4pm. Hope to see you all there!Please share this post!

Cast of... Samuel Pitter

Samuel Pitter's real name is actually Syndor Badru and is one of the original Trues. How he has managed to remain alive all of this time is, so far, a mystery. He has tasked himself with keeping Kestrel's resting place safe from discovery and harm and waits for the contingency spell that Kestrel cast prior to her death, comes fulfilled. Samuel is very cunning and plays the long game. He has had plenty of time to secure himself and to keep himself prosperous and hidden. He will be instrumental to Kestrel's plans to destroy civilization.That's it for the main characters from, "The Awakening: Part One."  Stay tuned for, "The Awakening: Part Two" to be released later this year. Then I will be posting about the characters from that book.Don't forget to visit my website and sign up for my newsletter. That way you can get every blog post and find out what is happening or going to be happening!

Cast of... Shae

     Shae is only fifteen years old. If you notice, I did not write her last name, as she chooses to not use one anymore.      She was abandoned by her real parents at eight, she was then raised by her foster-mother Anne and her boyfriend George. At least, until the abuse started.      Events saw her abandoned once again and she found herself prisoner to an unknown government agency, where her unique abilities were tested in horrible and painful new ways.      That all changed when she shifted.Next we will learn about SamuelLike me on 

Cast of... Blain Fouse

Blain Fouse is another one of the new Trues. He is a ruthless thug, and a criminal mastermind. From an early age he has had his share of run-ins with the law. After a few stints in prison, he perfected his skills so that he avoided capture from then on. When his lycanthropy was awoken, it brought his viciousness and desire for more power to the forefront. His ambition had always been curbed by a desire to avoid being hurt or killed, and so he was cautious by nature. Now, he is learning that he doesn't need to be cautious anymore, and now, everyone else is learning the same thing.Next, we will learn about Shea.

Not Another Teenage Werewolf Love Story!

We've all seen the shows, the movies or even read the books. These days, apart from the Underworld series, mainstream is all about the nice, pretty girl, who loves the rough, handsome, and troubled loner. They fall in love, only to find out that he is a werewolf/vampire. Then comes the question... Can their love endure? Will his wild, bestial true self destroy the love that they share? Blah blah blah blah blah! Are you tired of it? I know I am. Werewolves are monsters, and while they are also human, some of us are more concerned about the monster part, not whether the teen-wolf will shift during prom because there is a full moon!That is why I wrote these characters the way that I did. I wanted to instill the idea that these people are dealing with how shifting into a lycanthrope affects their lives. What happens to them when they find out that they become a monster?What's a Lycanthrope?A lycanthrope is a mythological creature that can shift into an animal form, most commonly into the form of a wolf. However, I choose to use other types in my novel. Some of these have mythological equivalents, but not all. Some are taken from playing D&D when I was younger, as they had other ones beside werewolf. In my novel I use, werewolf, werebear, weretiger, wereboar, werecroc, wererat, werefox and weresnake. In the book, these original eight are referred to as Trues. Those who gain lycanthropy from Trues are called Pures, and those who gain it from Pures are called lycans. The original Trues were created by Druids.Why Druids?Druids, you say? Like those guys who dress up in white robes and gather at Stonehenge? No. Not those guys. Druids were priests and scholars of the Celts. They were considered to be Priests of nature, though, like most things that have to do with Druids, nothing is known for certain. Celts and Druids kept no written histories and almost all of what we know of them is from outside information. This made them perfect to use as the main force behind my story as I was given a lot of latitude to create my own history of them. Druids were believed to be magic users and also able to shape-change into animals. This made the perfect backdrop for what I wanted. Shape-changers and a central conflict.Nature vs. CivilizationSince Druids were nature priests I felt this would lead to different schools of thought. One that believed that man was part of nature and as such could co-exist with nature, with the proper teaching. The other would believe that civilization was abhorrent to nature and that the only way from nature to survive was if man was subjugated and forced to live in a way that would not harm nature. This conflict is timely as it also mirrors, to some extent, a debate that is happening right here and now.Back to the futureI thought long and hard about whether to do this in the past or in present day/future. The thing that decided me was that as it is portrayed in the book, these monsters were created and existed at that time. Mythology and folklore were not things of late night TV or National Enquirer. In the minds of people of the time, these things were real. Where is the fun in that? So instead, I brought it the here and now. How would things play out in a world that only knows these things from books and Hollywood's imagination? How would society deal with these kinds of monsters? Are they numb to these things since many of us have grown up watching movies with these types of monsters? Or would we be scared shitless? How would it be possible for these things to exist?Stem cells? You're kidding right?Obviously, a large part of how this would be possible is fantastical. But, shouldn't there be something scientific about the whole thing? Well I thought so. So, how to make this make some semblance of sense? How would it be possible for a human to change into lycanthrope? There would have to be a change on a cellular level right? And what cells can become any cell they need to be? Stem cells. A stem cell can become bone, muscle, nerves, skin... you name it, that's what it becomes. As needed. So, if the body needed to change completely into something completely different, stem cells could effect that change. What's more, lycanthropes in my novel are supernaturally strong, they also can heal from almost any wound. They do this through manipulation of stem cells. So, with the combination of magic and science, I think I re-invented the werewolf mythology.Book OneIn the first book, I wanted to deal with each of these individuals as their lives are thrown into chaos when they shift for the first time. How they deal with it, how others deal with it, and if given this amazing and frightening power would you use it for good? Evil? Or try to run from it?I hope you will discover it for yourself.Available for purchase for only $2.99 on Amazon! Just click on the Amazon icon on the right!Or read it for free on Kindle Unlimted!Follow and like me on facebook!Follow me on Twitter!Sign up for my newsletter!  

Confession... I am a pantster!

It's true. I'm a pantster. Have been for years, though I didn't know I was. No one had told me. In fact, I only learned recently what a pantser is.You see, when a writer writes they tend to do so in two very different ways. Oh, there are a myriad of minutia that can make other categories, but really, there are just two and their variations. The first, is the planner. This writer uses outlines and timelines to plot the course of their novels. They work studiously at framing each chapter to fit into their structure that they have created to tell their story.I am not here to disparage anyone's technique that they use to write their novels. We all have our methods...but man does that sound boring as hell!...Sorry.Anyways, I fall into the other category. The pantsters. Now these writers don't design outlines or timelines. They don't meticulously follow the guidelines of who does what when and to whom. No! They write from the seat of their pants(Did you make the correlation finally?) Oh, we usually know where we are starting from, and where we are going to, and who is involved... but what happens in between? Well, that can be a mystery to us writing it, as it is when you read it. For me, this has always been how I wrote. When I DM'd dungeons and dragons, I wrote all my own modules and I found that things that I had set forth when the characters were level 1, played out when they got to level 5. It just always managed to fit together. I can't tell you how many times this has happened to me as I have written, "The Awakening: Part One and Part Two." It happened often, and I know it will happen throughout the series. It's as if my brain has already written the story and is just giving me the parts that I need to write at the time I am writing it.I'm sure that the different styles have something to do with right brain and left brain, or type A personality or type B, but... whatever. The point is, I'm a pantster, and I'm proud!

Cast of...Kat Cooper

Kat Cooper, quite frankly, is a bad-ass. Her parents had kept the tradition of passing down the information of lycanthropy and the fact that, one day, they might be called upon to fight Kestrel and her Lycans. Because of this, they chose to prepare her as best as they could. They hired a trainer, who taught her multiple fighting techniques. She also is trained in weapons, both martial and modern. While she is a slight-figured woman, she knows how to use her body size to her advantage, and what is more, with the increased strength that comes with the shift she has become a very lethal fighter, whether she is in hybrid form, or without. She kicks ass.Next time, I will introduce you to Blain.