Today’s the day – I’m so excited to announce that The Awakening, Project Sirius book 1 is available for purchase! Head on over to your favorite online bookstore and purchase your copy today!
Better still, if you’re an Amazon Kindle Unlimited subscriber, you can read it today for absolutely no charge!
Click the link of your choice below to find your copy today!
As an independently-published author, I humbly ask for your help – once you’ve read The Awakening: please leave a rating and a review! Your review doesn’t need to be long or complex, a simple “I liked it” or “I didn’t like it” or “It was okay” is more than enough! Ratings and especially reviews helps increase a book’s visibility, something all independently-published authors struggle with, so every review counts and is a huge boon to us!
The first review has already hit Goodreads, and exactly as I hoped, the book is very much written for a YA audience in mind, so spread the word to all the other YA Sci-Fi fans out there, especially in the LGBTQ+ crowd, and we can bring this new series to its audience!
Thank you for reading, and, well…I have a secret to tell you.
I’m so excited to announce that my first ever compilation of novels, Chronicles of the Sentinels Trilogy, is now available to pre-order! This is a digital-only box set, though I could be convinced to release a print edition if enough folks ask ;)
Click here or click the cover to head on over to the Amazon page and pre-order today!
I’ve been thinking about doing this for a little while now, but I felt like enough time had passed since the final book came out, and who doesn’t love a good summer read?
Does Sentinels Have A Future?
As many of you already know, later this year I’m releasing the first in a new series, Project Sirius. I also plan to begin writing the Sword of Dragons book 5. So where does that leave Sentinels?
Honestly at this time, I have no plans to further write the story.
But I did. Once upon a time, this trilogy was meant to kick off a larger saga. Unfortunately, due to the struggle I’ve experienced finding an audience, I don’t currently plan to write any more stories.
However, that doesn’t mean I won’t. If I finally find the audience, if I finally figure out this whole marketing thing and Sentinels explodes in popularity some day, there’s definitely plenty of tales left to tell.
Once upon a time, I’d intended to write two standalone stories, one from Alycia’s perspective and one that would be from Emmi’s perspective, before kicking off a second trilogy.
Alycia Taylor – Created with MetaHuman Creator
Alycia’s story was meant to be a sort of detective story. While coming to terms with her powers and the loss of her father, Alycia begins experimenting more with her enchantment abilities – eventually imbuing abilities into herself through self-tattooing her skin.
But when apparent magical suicide bombers are found to have similar enchantments on the remains of their skin, the eyes of the Sentinels turn towards her. Intent on proving her innocence and stopping the culprit, Alycia dives into investigations. Her journey would take her to one of the smaller Sentinel field offices in North America, and quite possibly ensnare her into deeper, darker magic.
Emmi Dubois – Created with MetaHuman Creator
Emmi’s story would take place after – struggling with the aftermath of London, trying to find meaning in life again without getting lost in her animal forms, Emmi starts to isolate herself from the others. When covert troops from Shara’s home world strikes at the new Sentinel facility, intent on abducting the gnome Babbar, she’s thrust into the middle of action once again.
With the governments of Earth still reeling from all that they have learned about magic and other worlds, this couldn’t have come at a worse time. But since Shara is now Commander of the Sentinels, she is tasked by the President of the U.S. to travel home and negotiate. She chooses Emmi to go with her, hoping that being around other shapeshifters might help her better control her powers and find her center.
But Shara’s home is nothing like she remembers, and Emmi becomes embroiled in a far more sinister plot, very quickly finding herself in way too deep…
From there, the trilogy would pick up, and while I didn’t have full story ideas worked out, I intended for news of Earth’s defeat of Marduk to have spread to the far corners of the Universe, drawing the attention of many admirers, and making many others feel threatened – especially other Infernals.
Someday I hope to be able to tell these stories, but for now I’ll let them sit on the back burner and hope that Sentinels finds the audience it deserves.
Until then, enjoy this new box set, spread the word, and don’t forget to leave a rating or review on Amazon!
Today’s the day, Advent Darkness, The Sword of Dragons Book 4, is available! I’m so excited to finally be able to share this newest adventure for Cardin, Sira, and Kailar!
New worlds, new adventures, and a new (if questionable) ally awaits you on these pages! And since this is the first Sword of Dragons to be distributed by IngramSpark, the print edition is available in more than just the Amazon store! Click the respective link below to get your copy from your chosen venue!
Today’s the day – the third book of the Chronicles of the Sentinels trilogy, Champions, is out! Before I get into what this means to me as a writer, up front I wanted to be sure you all knew how to find it. Click the respective link below to be taken to your online bookstore of choice!
Not only does this conclude the Chronicles of the Sentinels trilogy, but it represents a major milestone in my writing career – my first completed series! It’s been a long, long time coming, too.
It feels somewhat strange to have reached this point now, 7 years after my first book was published (and that was the first Sword of Dragons novel.) Has it taken me too long?
In reality, the answer to that question is ‘no.’ Stories take however long they take, and the Sword of Dragons is a much larger, more complex story. I originally intended it to be upwards of 10 books, though since then I’ve pared it down to make for tighter story telling and character development. Nevertheless, there’s still a lot of ground to cover in that saga.
Funny enough, while Sentinels is my first completed series, development started allllll the way back in June 2014, when I first came up with the idea of an urban fantasy story centered in Denver, but whose mythology/back story dealt not with Ancient Egypt or Mayans, which are super-common tropes, but Ancient Babylon, a relatively untouched (as far as I know) mythology in urban fantasy.
I was super excited about the idea, and decided that it would be my experiment to prove to myself that I could make it as a writer – I treated working on it like a 2nd job, and worked on it at least a couple of hours every single day. I developed, wrote, and edited (first round of edits) the first novel in three months!
After a combination of critiques from a critique group I was part of with the Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers and a detailed rejection from an agent (the common critiques were “very interesting story idea, but the character is boring and the writing needs work.”)
I set it aside, and put it on the back burner, and started reading more urban fantasy (starting with the famous Dresden Files.)
Years later, I had an idea of how to better write the story and the characters. I experimented with the first couple chapters, and received considerable praise from a couple of beta readers. Then COVID-19 became a pandemic, and while the world shut down and my own job was put on a relative freeze (I still had to go to work, but all I could do was maintain, I wasn’t allowed to change anything,) I set out to write the trilogy back-to-back.
And today, you finally get to see the final results of that :) What’s more, I always intended Sentinels to be more inclusive and diverse. I was uncertain about writing a Japanese-American character since I’m a white guy, but I also felt like there was already enough white heroes out there. I also wanted to include more LGBT (for many reasons, some personal, some not,) and while it was only hinted at in Legacy and Retribution, I’m really excited about the character introduced in Champions. Especially after seeing Beck’s connection with them.
Seriously, to my fellow writers, we need more representation in fiction. Your non-white, non-male, and LGBT+ readers out there will appreciate it.
Parting Thoughts
This has been an….interesting journey. The reception Sentinels received from the outset was not as enthusiastic as the beta readers’ reactions, to be sure. But especially after reading/hearing thoughts and opinions from some of those who haven’t enjoyed the trilogy, and based on what my beta readers continue to insist, I strongly believe that this is a result of failing to reach the target audience.
I believe in this story and the characters, and there is a growing group of people who likewise believe in it and love it. It wasn’t the Earth-shattering hit I had hoped it to be, but as time has gone on, I’ve found that it isn’t the abysmal failure I thought it was a year ago. The greatest struggle now will be effective marketing – how do I get readers whom this story was written for to find it and read it?
Well, that has always been, and will probably forever be my struggle. I am not good with marketing. But I won’t give up. I won’t stop trying.
Will I ever write more stories in this Universe? Maybe. I love the characters and there are more stories for them. I won’t say which characters are ripe for more development, because I don’t want to spoil what happens in Champions, but there’s definitely room for more stories.
And to be honest, the more enthusiastic responses and reviews I get for Sentinels, the more likely I am to pick it back up.
But until then, I still have the Sword of Dragons saga to finish, and at least a YA Sci-Fi to work on.
This is the end of one chapter of my writing career. But there are many more to come. So turn the page, and join me for the next chapter. Starting much sooner than you might think ;)
This has been such a long time coming, and I am so very excited to finally share this new chapter with you all! Dark Dragons, gods, demons, mysterious assassins, elementals, this book has it all and more! Who will survive? And who will perish?
Also an exciting announcement, come check out a live streamed virtual release party today, July 18th at 2PM Mountain Time! This will be my first-ever virtual release party, and I’m so excited to bring you this event and to interact with all of you. I’ll be talking a bit more about what this book is about, answering questions and responding to comments live, and then I’ll read the first couple chapters, so come join in the fun!
You can catch the stream either on my author’s facebook page:
See you at 2PM! And to all of you who have been following along and have been long-time fans, thank you so much for your support. You all are fantastic!
After yet another long period without posting a blog, I come bearing good tidings! I have not been idle, and I am happy to say that the third book in the Sword of Dragons series is nearly ready for release!
And I have some pretty crazy statistics to go along with it. Starting with the fact that I first wrote about developing book 3 on this blog in 2015. Book 3 has been in one level of development or another for five years!
Photo by Beck Wasik
So why the long delay between two and three? Unfortunately there’s no easy answer for that. Long story short, two major factors: Life, and relaunching the series in 2018. Neither of which I regret, and both of which were absolutely necessary. Given the feedback I’ve received (in person, any way) and the sales numbers, the 2nd editions of books 1 and 2 are catching a lot more attention than the original editions did, and that’s good news all around! It has helped spur me on to finish book 3, and make it the best possible book I can.
So, where are we at now? I just finished a major revision and edit of book 3, and have sent it off to two more beta readers to help ensure it is as clean as can be.
What did the first beta readers think? The biggest positive thing they had to say was that pacing was fantastic, and that there were many times they had to go back and re-read a chapter because they forgot they were supposed to be beta reading. There were some critiques as well, and that was what resulted in a month-long revision and editing effort. I am much happier with the story and writing now, and I’m hoping the 2nd round of beta readers will have little critique :)
Additionally, since I do not anticipate a need for any more major revisions, I have gone ahead and started getting the book ready for publication. I know that there will be more edits to come, particularly for grammar and spelling mistakes (hopefully they are minimal,) but it shouldn’t change the page count too drastically, and thus the dimensions of the final product won’t be vastly different.
About that…. page count. Back in 2015, I wrote this blog article about how complex book 3 was turning out to be. The final product turns out to be the most complex story I’ve ever written, with countless story threads diverging, and then in the end, coming together for the final climax. I had to track where all characters were, when, and why, and then weave their tapestry together in such a way that readers never felt like they went too long without seeing what a particular character was up to.
So when my beta readers agreed that I pulled off the pacing spectacularly, I about cheered!
The downside? This is also the largest novel I’ve ever written. By nearly 100 pages. For those who like numbers, here’s a comparative breakdown.
Artwork by Vuk Kostic
Rise of the Forgotten – The Sword of Dragons Book 1
290 Pages
~105,000 words
Burning Skies – The Sword of Dragons Book 2
373 Pages
~136,000 words
The Orc War Campaigns – A Sword of Dragons Story
388 Pages
~152,000 words
The Sword of Dragons Book 3
481 Pages
~173,000 words
Mostly, this isn’t a bad thing. I always knew my novels would get longer with each book, as I added more characters and story threads to be given attention, and dove deeper and deeper into the existing characters.
The downside, however, will be pricing. The minimum Amazon will let me price book 3 at? Over $17. For comparison, Burning Skies and The Orc War Campaigns are sitting at $14.99. So my intent is to list book 3 at $17.99. This isn’t as expensive as some books, but trade paperbacks would definitely cost a lot less. The downside to self-publishing and print-on-demand, I suppose. On the bright side, I’ve already heard people tell me they are willing to pay this much, since they enjoyed the previous books so much :)
Also on the plus side, eBooks don’t cost more to publish longer books, so I’ll still be pricing the eBook at $4.99 :)
What’s Next for Book 3?
I’ve already designed the cover, and I’ve already ordered a preliminary proof copy, to check how the cover looks, and to have a physical copy to proofread. I’ll go through that book as well as await beta reader feedback, and go from there.
Additionally, I am already starting to plot out a marketing campaign, including a title reveal in the near future, followed by chapter title reveals, and finally, a cover reveal when pre-orders are ready!
When will it be released? Well, that’s another bit of info I’ll be revealing in the near future, but I don’t intend to rush it like I did the first releases of books 1 and 2. That means it won’t be in May like the other first editions were. I already have my eye set on a summer date, but I don’t want to say it until I’m absolutely sure I can hit that mark :)
The final bit is determining whether or not I can have an in-person release party. With the Coronavirus Pandemic and social distancing, I just don’t know how things will be in a couple of months. So if it looks like that might not be feasible, then I’ll have to try to figure out a way to host a virtual release party.
Well that’s all for today! Thank you for reading, I hope you’re as excited as I am for the upcoming release! Believe me, this one will be worth the wait you’ve all had to endure :)
Hi everyone, it’s here!! The day has arrived, and three books in the Sword of Dragons series are available in print and Kindle! :D Click the covers below or the links beneath them to go to their store pages!
Today’s the day – I’m so excited to announce that The Awakening, Project Sirius book 1 is available for purchase! Head on over to your favorite online bookstore and purchase your copy today!
Today’s the day!!! Secrets of the Cronal – The Sword of Dragons Book 3 is now available on both Kindle eBook and Print!
A Writer at Heart 