News from The Void 2/2/2014
Buy: The Bitter Ends Buy: Ways of the Stygia-Fallen Song Like my Author page on FacebookNews from the Void- 2/2/2014
Hello everyone, Donny here...
12 unique stories.
January 2014 turned out to be a fantastic month. I have made several new contacts in the writing world, and have several irons in the fire. I have been in talks with publishers- Offers will be presented in the next couple of weeks for signing “Ways of the Stygia” and “The Bitter Ends” as full series! I have some new opportunities to take part in anthologies with other authors.
On a personal note, that love I lost has returned to me, and it is better than ever… Which is great news, because not only do I have Jen back, I have my editor back, hehe. Life is sublime, I am blessed.
"My warhorse has new shoes"
Thomas Van PeltThe revision of Ways of the Stygia- Fallen Song turned out better than I ever dreamed. It is a victory for me, and while working on it, I fell in love with the story all over again. As Janet Morris recently told me, “If you don’t love it, no one else will.” This is the truth, and I do think you will enjoy this revision, it reads better than ever, and the new cover just rocks. If you enjoy the read, please post a review. Reviews trigger Amazon’s algorithms, and at 50, they market your books for you. By posting reviews on my own, I know the joy they can bring to an author, and the power they have to encourage. There is nothing better than seeing a favorable review. Being an author is not as simple as it seems, most of us do not have heaping piles of cash about. When I was a singer/guitarist in bands, I could see the impact of my effort firsthand. Writing is often like tossing a rock out of a jet plane, you can only guess where it lands. Feedback, even negative, is a measure to know how you are doing, and it can inspire. I would encourage you, the reader, to support all the artists you enjoy, let them know how you feel, it goes a long way.
Now, I will step down from my pulpit. Of course, the main thing I want is for you to read, and enjoy it. Reviews or not. Besides getting the stories out of my head, this is my goal. When I write, I make sure I am staying true to the story, while making the pages I write as easy, exciting and painless, to my readers as I can. I will not lie; the story does come first… It should. I never sit there trying to write a hit, I could not stomach that when I composed songs, and still can’t when I write stories. I have to want to write what I write.
Let’s talk about The Vampire Faus, Dragon Stone… work is midway, and going so well that sometimes I have to pinch myself when proofing it, to know those are really my words there. The tension between Faus and her enemies is palpable. I feel she has the perfect combination of traits, making her fascinating and fun to write about. She is beautiful, but due to her affliction, she can also be hideous. She has a huge heart, but when it is required of her, she is heartless. She is vulnerable, but tough as nails. Faus is smart, and still she makes foolish errors… Her world is anything but kind to her. Nevertheless, she can be quite fair… The mix of Ways of the Stygia lore and real world history, not actual accountings mind you, is a potent mix. I can already see two more novels from writing this one… And one of them will not have Faus in it at all, I hope to start that one, simply entitled Van Pelt, next year.
I have a short story planned for one of the anthologies I am submitting to, which I may call “Birat versus The Great Wyrm”starring you guessed it, Franco Biratoni and Saverus, of Fallen Song fame… So much writing, so little time.
I am planning to interview more authors on my blog, hopefully one or two per month. I have done two interviews so far with Matthew Keith and Walter Rhein… I enjoyed doing these interviews immensely. As an author myself, I found it exhilarating to get a peek inside their processes, and to see their reactions to my questions. This is definitely something I want to keep doing. Both authored books I thoroughly enjoyed, Matthew’s “Sway”and Walter’s “Reader of Acheron” are both highly recommended. Do check them out.
In closing, I am excited to say that the promotion I ran over the weekend for Ways of the Stygia- Fallen Song was a resounding success. Many readers took advantage of the promotion, lifting my revision up to #5 in the Dark Fantasy category and as high as #9 in sword and sorcery. It is exciting to see this book is getting some, in my opinion at least, much deserved attention. The Bitter Ends moved some units as well, and this is awesome, because as zombie apocalypse novels go, I feel it is a real winner.
That’s all for now folks… As always, thanks for reading.
I love you all,Donny Swords
Visit Ways of the Stygia- Donny Swords:
12 unique stories.
January 2014 turned out to be a fantastic month. I have made several new contacts in the writing world, and have several irons in the fire. I have been in talks with publishers- Offers will be presented in the next couple of weeks for signing “Ways of the Stygia” and “The Bitter Ends” as full series! I have some new opportunities to take part in anthologies with other authors.On a personal note, that love I lost has returned to me, and it is better than ever… Which is great news, because not only do I have Jen back, I have my editor back, hehe. Life is sublime, I am blessed.
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"My warhorse has new shoes"
Thomas Van PeltThe revision of Ways of the Stygia- Fallen Song turned out better than I ever dreamed. It is a victory for me, and while working on it, I fell in love with the story all over again. As Janet Morris recently told me, “If you don’t love it, no one else will.” This is the truth, and I do think you will enjoy this revision, it reads better than ever, and the new cover just rocks. If you enjoy the read, please post a review. Reviews trigger Amazon’s algorithms, and at 50, they market your books for you. By posting reviews on my own, I know the joy they can bring to an author, and the power they have to encourage. There is nothing better than seeing a favorable review. Being an author is not as simple as it seems, most of us do not have heaping piles of cash about. When I was a singer/guitarist in bands, I could see the impact of my effort firsthand. Writing is often like tossing a rock out of a jet plane, you can only guess where it lands. Feedback, even negative, is a measure to know how you are doing, and it can inspire. I would encourage you, the reader, to support all the artists you enjoy, let them know how you feel, it goes a long way.Now, I will step down from my pulpit. Of course, the main thing I want is for you to read, and enjoy it. Reviews or not. Besides getting the stories out of my head, this is my goal. When I write, I make sure I am staying true to the story, while making the pages I write as easy, exciting and painless, to my readers as I can. I will not lie; the story does come first… It should. I never sit there trying to write a hit, I could not stomach that when I composed songs, and still can’t when I write stories. I have to want to write what I write.
Let’s talk about The Vampire Faus, Dragon Stone… work is midway, and going so well that sometimes I have to pinch myself when proofing it, to know those are really my words there. The tension between Faus and her enemies is palpable. I feel she has the perfect combination of traits, making her fascinating and fun to write about. She is beautiful, but due to her affliction, she can also be hideous. She has a huge heart, but when it is required of her, she is heartless. She is vulnerable, but tough as nails. Faus is smart, and still she makes foolish errors… Her world is anything but kind to her. Nevertheless, she can be quite fair… The mix of Ways of the Stygia lore and real world history, not actual accountings mind you, is a potent mix. I can already see two more novels from writing this one… And one of them will not have Faus in it at all, I hope to start that one, simply entitled Van Pelt, next year.
I have a short story planned for one of the anthologies I am submitting to, which I may call “Birat versus The Great Wyrm”starring you guessed it, Franco Biratoni and Saverus, of Fallen Song fame… So much writing, so little time.
I am planning to interview more authors on my blog, hopefully one or two per month. I have done two interviews so far with Matthew Keith and Walter Rhein… I enjoyed doing these interviews immensely. As an author myself, I found it exhilarating to get a peek inside their processes, and to see their reactions to my questions. This is definitely something I want to keep doing. Both authored books I thoroughly enjoyed, Matthew’s “Sway”and Walter’s “Reader of Acheron” are both highly recommended. Do check them out.In closing, I am excited to say that the promotion I ran over the weekend for Ways of the Stygia- Fallen Song was a resounding success. Many readers took advantage of the promotion, lifting my revision up to #5 in the Dark Fantasy category and as high as #9 in sword and sorcery. It is exciting to see this book is getting some, in my opinion at least, much deserved attention. The Bitter Ends moved some units as well, and this is awesome, because as zombie apocalypse novels go, I feel it is a real winner.
That’s all for now folks… As always, thanks for reading.
I love you all,Donny Swords
Visit Ways of the Stygia- Donny Swords:
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