Happy New Year 2016!

I think I did one of these a year ago, so maybe this is going to be an annual tradition.  Anyway, here are my plans for 2016.

1.  Make sure Heroes of Bardoom gets distributed to all the ebook channels.  This is in progress and I'll post and tweet when it's finally complete.

2.  Publish Broken Circle.  I've contracted with Lulu to start this process.  I have a cover from Amy (first peek at Dakoran), and I've finished my final edit.  Now it just has to go through the process which normally takes 3-4 months.

3.  Publish Against All Gods.  I've sent my cover ideas to Amy.  She indicated she should have time to start on this project in mid-January.  In the meantime I am now 50% done with my next to last edit.  What do I mean?  I may have explained this before, but no need for you to search my blogs, so here's my process for each book.

a.  Send cover ideas to Amy and settle on a broad topic for the cover.

b.  Take my current version for the volume and do a complete edit review to correct grammar, spelling, typos and to format the Word file in a manner acceptable to Lulu.

c.  Once I have an edited and correctly formatted version, I do a read-through edit and here I'm still looking to correct grammar, spelling and typos, but I'm also rewording things that just "don't sound right".

d. By this time I should receive the final cover back from Amy and I'm ready to contract with Lulu.

In the above terms I've completed a thru d for Broken Circle.  I'm in the middle of b for Against All Gods.

3. (continued)  I hope to have Against All Gods available by July or August.

4.  Publish Councils End.  A best case scenario will have this published by the end of the year.  If all of this comes to pass I will try to make a push in 2017 to complete the nine volume series.  If I do any serious marketing of the books, it will probably not happen until 2017.

5.  Clean up the web-site a bit.  Mostly I want to revamp the "Books" page and get some better synopses out there and more accurate links to locations where the books can be purchased.

6.  Be a little more active on Facebook and Twitter and try to get my friends to share some links and for those who have read the books to try and get a few of them to put some reviews on Amazon, Barnes and Noble or Lulu.  I'm hoping I can count on them for a little help.  I wouldn't mind some help here from anyone who happens to read this.

7.  Continue to fuel my imagination by attending pop culture conventions when I can.  Feel free to reach out to me if you happen to attend and want to connect at any of these.  Sadly, I will not be able to make San Diego Comic Con this year (already going through withdrawal).  But I should be at the following.

a.  C2E2 in Chicago

b.  Wizard World Madison

c.  Gen Con

d.  Wizard World Chicago

If I'm able to make anything else, I'll let you know.  And if you do make it to Gen Con, Amy Nagi, the wonderful cover artist is usually there.  Make sure to send some love her way.  Ok, that's it, 2016 is off and running.  Let's have some fun!

2015 Year End Missives

Two blogs in the same month?  Yeah, you can look forward (for better or worse) to more frequent blogging in the next few years.   Call it an early New Year's resolution if you like.

Hey, before I go on, I have to mention how excited I am that the Force (and the Star Wars franchise) have awakened.  I remember sitting through the original Star Wars movie for 3 consecutive showings when it first came out and ended up seeing it a total of 10 times.  I'll stop here, or may end up getting into unintentional spoilers.  But yes, I would probably list Star Wars as one of the top 10 creative influences when I developed the Verdan Chronicles.

Many of you may be going, "Huh, how did a space series influence a sword and sorcery epic?".  Well, think about how magic works in Verdan.  I talk about it as an energy field that certain individuals are born with a talent for harnessing and manipulating.  In that respect, it's not coincidence that it resembles how the force works.  No, I really don't talk about a light side or dark side of magic, but to me magic is agnostic and it's the intentions of the user that make it light (good) or dark (evil).

I guess that whole topic brings up the notion of 'just what were my influences'.  I'm sure it's no surprise that Lord of the Rings is on the list.  I even took a college course that revolved around studying The Fellowship of the Ring.  The single biggest influence probably came from all the comic books I read (mostly Marvel) and then all the Dungeons and Dragon texts and modules I enjoyed playing.  You have to remember that I created the Verdan Chronicles over 35 years ago, so any modern influences didn't exist until later in the series.  The vampires created in Dark Passages were influenced much more by Bram Stoker than by Anne Rice or Joss Whedon (although the second novel wasn't completed until a little over ten years ago, so there may have been a little influence).

Game of Thrones?  That's an obvious one, but I really had no knowledge of the books or TV series until working on the fourth of fifth novel.  I now realize I've digressed into a rambling discourse on my influences, which is not why I started this post. (while tempted to delete and start over, I guess it doesn't hurt to share the above thoughts)

OK, so the reason I'm blogging today is to let you know that Heroes of Bardoom is now available at Lulu.com for purchase.  That went fast.  I've given my approval for it to be part of their Global Distribtution, so it should show up in Amazon, Barnes and Noble and iBooks in the coming weeks.  I'll try to confirm for you when that's official.  I've also officially contracted with Lulu to begin the process to publish Broken Circle, the fourth volume in the series.  I think I mentioned last time being 30% done with the final edit.  You can make that 100%.

I'll save my goals for 2016 for the next blog, but expect me to make more of an effort to get the books published.  I've started my next to last edit of Against All Gods (only about 3% done at this point).  I will be blogging a little more and sharing more tweets, but as I told Lulu, "If I have any available funds, it is going to go into publishing the books, not marketing them."  I think Lulu would like me to spend some money on marketing, but that may have to wait.  It's more important for me to tell the story.  I'll work on sharing it later.

That's it for now.  Have a wonderful New Year's celebration whereever you are!

Happy Holidays from Verdan

I really do hope, that whatever your faith or beliefs, you are having a wonderful holiday season.  It’s a perfect time to reflect on the past year and be reminded of those things most important in life.  It’s also a perfect time to be thankful for any blessings and good fortune that have come your way.  Certainly, I’ve had a lot to be thankful for in my life.

Just to give everyone a quick update on the series, Volume 3:  Heroes of Bardoom is in the final stages of getting ready for publication.  I’m not sure why, but it just seemed like this time it took Lulu a little longer to get everything ready.  In any event, the cover is done, and as usual, Amy did an awesome job.  The color tone is a little lighter on this one, so it shouldn’t suffer the same fate as Dark Passages, which came out pretty dark online.  You can see the amazing artwork on the Cover Art web page.  The text (or galley as they call it) was sent for my final review about a week ago.  I’m 95% through my final edit and should be done later today.  At that point it goes back to Lulu and is ready for them to publish.  Although, I’m not certain how much work they do during the holidays, so I expect to see it available in January.

Volume 4:  Broken Circle is in progress.  Amy has finished the cover art and I hope to get that posted for your review over the next week.  My final edit review is about 30% done, but I should be able to finish it over the holidays.  That means I should be able to send everything off to Lulu by the first of the year.  Given their lead times you can likely expect to see it available in March or April.  I wish it could go faster, but at least the end product is pretty awesome.

Last thought for the day:  It’s kind of silly but anyone who’s read my blogs will understand that I’m absolutely in love with the story told in my series.  I love my characters and will stand by my love for these things against anything already out there.  If I have any concerns or insecurities, it’s been over the quality of the writing.  Don’t get me wrong, I got very good grades in my college English classes, but I just don’t think it’s a strength.  Also, a couple of English majors have made a few constructive suggestions that I’ve tried to correct with mixed results.

But here’s the thought.  When I started the Verdan Chronicles, one of the creative choices I had was to write a fantasy series set in a fantasy world or I could have written a story about sword and sorcery set in an earlier time period in Earth history.  I chose the former for very specific reasons.  One important reason is that I tend to be a perfectionist and if I chose an early period in history, I would want to research that history and remain as historically accurate on my facts as possible.  By choosing a complete fantasy setting I removed that constraint and was allowed to create my own world and its own history.  I could then focus on the story and characters and not worry about historical research.  It was a creative choice.

So here’s the silly notion.  I’m not only writing about a fantasy world, but I’m writing in the common language of that world.  That language happens to closely approximate English, but is slightly different. Grammatical differences with English are irrelevant, because the books are written in Verdanese.  OK, I said it was silly.  But if I stick to that story it allows me to shrug off those notions that my writing Is less than perfect.  It’s absolutely perfect from a Verdanese perspective.   So does anyone buy this?  Probably not, but for the moment it makes me feel better.

Lost in Thought

Been a while since I posted, so just thought I'd drop some random musings.

Still waiting for Lulu to send me their draft of Heroes of Bardoom.  Not sure how long it will take for me to review.  It usually takes 1-2 weeks.  After that, it's usually a few more weeks until everything is finally published.  Still, it should be out there as an early Christmas present.

Been carrying around a notebook and pen for random moments at converntions or waiting rooms to jot down some new material.  If I live to see the original nine book story published, I'm more convinced that Volume 10 may see the light of day.  It's title will be Whisper in the Universe.  That's all I'll say about it right now.

I can't imagine being the only author who's had random daydreams about wondering what their work would look like if translated to the big or small screen.  When I first started writing, I quickly put those thoughts aside feeling that the level of magic and epic nature of some of my storylines would be prohibitive.  But I've seen some pretty amazing stuff lately and think the technology is there.  I really do think the story is as good as anything else being produced, so it would really come down to directing, cast decisions and screenplay adaptation.  Still it could be done.

Do I think Verdan Chronicles would make "must watch" viewing.  Maybe.  Again, depends upon choices made.  The story is there.  But some gaps would need to be filled.  I think the most difficult aspect would be comparisons to shows like Game of Thrones.  It's not the same, but genre-wise would be a likely comparision.  I think GOT is so brilliantly done that I fear not only my work, but anything that resembles it will pale in comparison.  Would hate to be viewed as a cheap knock-off.  Although, in my case I feel pretty comfortable saying my story was born well before GOT was published.   If someone wants to date the original paper and ink, I still have the most of the first book's original draft from over 35 years ago.

I can't wait for the remaining volumes to be published.  The series somewhat resets itself every three volumes and never more than the where the story goes in Volume 7.  When I daydream about translating my story to other media, I think volumes 7, 8 and 9 could stand on their own and are original enough that there's nothing I've seen on television that would be an accurate comparison.  At least not yet.  But I also think there are enough fantastic storytellers out there that it won't be long.  Too bad no one really has seen my story.  Sigh.

For the first time in many years I may not be at San Diego Comic Con in 2016.  I'm already starting to go through withdrawal at the prospect.  It's not really a convention for everyone, but if you love pop culture, I encourage you to try it at least once in your life.  I know, many people try, but only a few are allowed to attend.  I wonder if it will stay that way or will the appeal of these conventions eventually diminish?

Winter is coming.  It's true, but I also can't say that any more without thinking GOT.  I'm not really a cold weather person and miss those periods of outdoor activity.

Amy and I have been discussing the cover for Volume 4.  I think we've settled on an overall subject and theme.  I can't wait to see her interpretation.  I'm really hoping to move forward on Volume 4 as soon as Volume 3 is done.

Thanks for reading.  I hope anyone who sees this continues to work on their own aspirations.  If you'd like to share any of your thoughts, don't hesitate to comment.

Current Status of the Chronicles

Taking a few moments to bring everyone up to speed.  I'm still in the midst of my summer travels having completed my journey with my younger son to San Diego Comic Con and recently returned from Gen Con with my older son.  One more con to go, Wizard World Chicago, in a couple of weeks.

I hope some readers eventually find their way to this website.  I can't thank you enough for taking the time to read The Fourth Age and/or Dark Passages.  For a couple of books with little to no marketing, I feel fortunate whenever anyone stumbles across them on Amazon or Barnes and Noble and gives them a chance.  I sincerely hope you enjoyed them.

The exciting news is that the cover for Heroes of Bardoom, the third volume in the series is complete.  I hope to add it to the Cover Art page in the next few days.  I can't thank Amy Nagi enough for the wonderful covers.

Note:  The awesome cover for Heroes of Bardoom has been added.  Check out the Cover Art page.  :-)

So when will the book be published?  Well, I have to get through the next month and assess my financial situation.  While a few people a month are finding the books, self-publishing is a little more expensive than that.  It doesn't help that my job situation is a little unsettled, but not to worry.  Getting these books out there is life goal and in a worst case scenario I have a few collectible items that might find their way into other hands.  One way or another, I'm committed to seeing the third book published this year.

And then what?  I'm almost half way through my final edit of Broken Circle, the fourth book in the series.  I hope to start working with Amy next month on the cover and, if possible, I'd like to start the publishing process before the holidays.  But I doubt it will get into the market until early next year.  While I would love to get the fifth book, Against All Gods, out there before next summer.  I'm afraid my financial and job situation will drive that decision.  

At some point, I may need to explore marketing opportunities just let people know these books exist.  If any of you reading this enjoyed them, you can help by letting your friends know about them.  All I can say, is that the nine book story is completely written, although there's still a fair amount of editing to do on the last few books.

Something else unexpected happened while at Gen Con last week.  I was sitting in the convention center having a coffee and killing time prior to a True Dungeon run, when I had the urge to start writing.  I never go anywhere without a pen and notebook, so out they came.  What resulted were 4-5 pages that may very well turn out some day to be the beginning to Volume 10.  Will it happen?  That depends on you.  The first nine books were for me.  They constitute a story rattling in my head for nearly thirty years and became a "bucket lst" item to get them written.  

If I do continue the story of Verdan, it would be more of a thank you to readers who are interested in what happens next.  At a very high level I think I have a storyline that could be very interesting to both write and read.  It would likely take another two or three books to tell, but might be fun if there's interest.  Let me know.

That's all for now.  Not sure if anyone noticed that I started a blog revolving around myself, but it never really came together.  So you get this instead.  Maybe I'll come back to it in the future.  Take care everyone and stay cool.

Dave