Finished!

Well, for the one or two readers (both of whom are most likely in the UK) who are still waiting for the follow-up to Dragon Stones (which was once upon a time the #1 best seller on the Kindle fantasy lists in the UK), it is finally finished!  The new book, Shards, is part one of a two-part fantasy series, and clocks in at about 111,000 words.  For those who are keeping track, that’s somewhat shorter than A Flock of Crows is Called a Murder or Dragon Stones, but longer than Night Watchman or Long Before Dawn.  Why release it as two books instead of one?  Well …

Attack of the Kindle Cases: Part Four

So after using the Kindle case with the built in light, the New Yorker case, and the Dragon Stones case, I decided that what I really wanted was a flip case.  Maybe one that had some storage pockets.  Maybe one like this, from RooCase:

Evolution

Yes, I’m still here! I’ve been reworking my fantasy novel Shards, AKA “The Big Book”, since mid-December. At this point I should have Part One available within a few months, to be followed (in another ten or twelve months, based on how long it has taken me to rework Part One and on the fact that Part Two is longer).

Why is it taking me so long to finish editing Shards Part One, you ask? Well, I finished Shards quite a while ago (“quite a while” being at least a decade) and when I finally went back to edit it … well, when you go back and read something that you wrote that long ago, what immediately strikes you is that it’s terrible. That’s what happens to me, anyway.

Here’s Where The Story Ends

Most of the readers of this blog are probably aware of my other, much-more-popular-than-this-one blog, Dennis’s Diary of Destruction, which features the antics and adventures of three dogs, an evil cat, ninja hedgehogs, a sarcastic field mouse, a stoner ex-DEA drug-sniffing dog, and various other bit players. When I discovered that Dragon Stones had hit the best-seller list on the Amazon.co.uk Kindle store, I put Dennis’s blog on hiatus so I could concentrate on finishing my next fantasy novel (which is not a sequel to Dragon Stones — but, due to popular demand, such a sequel will be coming eventually). This decision produced much sadness amongst Dennis’s nice readers. Fortunately, one of them, Mango Relentlessly Huge, has most thoughtfully provided an ending to my book so that I can get back to Dennis’s Diary that much faster. So here, for your reading pleasure, is the final chapter of my next novel, as written by Mango the mastiff. Enjoy!

Scene of the Month: “Dragon Stones”. Again.

Well the votes are in, and the winner for the first scene of the month is (surprise!) Dragon Stones (which is holding at #2 on the Epic Fantasy chart over at Amazon.co.uk — thanks, UK readers!). This scene takes place the morning after T’Sian has cremated a man whom she inadvertently frightened to death, and involves various unpleasant odors. Or pleasant, depending on your point of view.

Scenes-Of-The-Month: “The Wolf” and “Dragon Stones”

Well, the votes are in and we have another tie this month between The Wolf and Dragon Stones. It’s been a while since that happened, and it’s been so long since The Wolf last put in an appearance that I don’t remember where we left off. I think I said there were werewolf hijinx coming up, didn’t I? Let’s find out.

Scene of the Month: Dragon Stones

The votes are in (although about half the time this month I forgot to include the poll in the weekly post) and the winner by a landslide for the next Scene of the Month is perennial favorite Dragon Stones! Will The Wolf ever come out on top again? Who knows? But the moral is, werewolves shouldn’t mess with dragons, on account of dragons breathe fire. At least my dragons do.

Scene of the Month: Dragon Stones

The votes are in and the winner for the next scene of the month, by a landslide, is “Dragon Stones”. This is sort of a good thing for all you fans of “The Wolf” as it lets the anticipation drag out a little longer, given that “The Wolf” is less than half finished and would run out of scenes long before “Dragon Stones” will. (Hey, I’m trying to think positive thoughts.)

And now, here is a random scene from “Dragon Stones” for your reading enjoyment!

Scene Of The Month: “Dragon Stones”

The votes are in and the winner of the next scene of the month is Dragon Stones! It’s been a while since Dragon Stones won.

Scene-Of-The-Month: “Father’s Books”

The results are in and we have a new winner for Scene of the Month: Father’s Books, another of my unpublished horror novels. Although (unlike perennial winner The Wolf) this one is finished, I’ve decided to stick with doing the scenes in order; and because the first scene is so short, I’ve decided to include two of them.