Writer Level Up – My First Completed Trilogy!

Hey everyone!

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!

Kindle/Amazon Print
Powell’s
IndieBound
Barnes & Noble

My First Completed Series

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 ;)

Thanks for reading, everyone!
-Jon Wasik

Toss A Rating To Your Writer

If I had an advocate like Jaskier to sing my praises, I’d hope he’d sing, “Toss a rating to your writer, oh readers a’plenty, oh readers a’plenty!”  And now congratulations, if you’ve seen Netflix’s Witcher, you probably have a certain song stuck in your head ;)  What can I say, except you’re welcome!  :D

Today marks the launch of Chronicles of the Sentinels 2, Retribution, and I’m so excited to present this newest chapter of Sentinels to the world!

But as a writer, there’s one thing I often struggle with – ratings.  The struggle is real ;) and except for the most famous of them all, just about every writer out there knows the struggle.

I mean, sure, there’s all sorts of purported hacks and tricks out there to being a successful writer (one of which is to write and publish a new novel every month.  That’s ludicrous and unsustainable!)  But the one thing that everyone can agree upon, including statistics, is that ratings and reviews make or break a writer.

That is to say, no ratings breaks a writer, dozens or hundreds makes a writer.

I wrote about it before, but an analysis shows that a reader that has to choose between one book with ten 5-star ratings, or a book with one hundred or one thousand 3- or 4-star ratings, will choose the latter almost every time.  There’s a bias involved, but as someone who doesn’t study statistics and behavior, I don’t know what that bias is called.  Even though the latter book has worse ratings, it has more of them, and that makes a reader more likely to try it.

As this article I read not long ago points out, there’s an even greater reason ratings have become more important than ever.  “…the slush pile (unfortunately) has been dumped into the reader’s lap.  There are a lot of bad books out there.”  The author goes on to say, “Want to know the bigger problem?  There are a lot of good books out there.”

Ratings help readers find the good ones.

So to all of you avid readers out there, but especially to my fellow writers out there, your ratings are important.  Your reviews even more-so.  Do your writers a favor and toss a rating to your writer.

We’ll love you for it :)

Retribution Available Everywhere!

Don’t forget to snag your copy of Retribution, available today!

• Amazon Kindle
• Amazon Print
• Barnes & Noble Print
• Powell’s Print
• Indie Bound Print

Middle Story Conundrum – Sentinels and Star Wars

In 2020, thanks to all of the lock downs and days off from work, I was able to do what I’d never done before – write three novels in one year!

When it came time to write the second novel in the Chronicles of the Sentinels trilogy, I knew I had to do it right.  Too often, I’ve read or watched trilogies in which the middle story was just filler, and did little to advance the story or characters.  I’ve also heard people say they hate when all middle stories do is focus on inter-character relationships and don’t give enough action, adventure, or plot development.

So I looked to one of the most famous, and well-liked middle stories of all for inspiration – The Empire Strikes Back.

Except, back then, when I started analyzing Empire to try to figure out what made it work so well, I was a bit confounded.

What Makes A Great Story?

So what makes a great story?  Honestly if you can find a Universal answer to that question, you’ll be rich for life ;)  But one of the things that is drilled into a writer’s head from the moment they take any creative writing classes or go to any peer events like writer critique meetings is that of a character achieving a major goal.

When it comes to genre fiction like fantasy, this can come in many forms, but often is through action-packed sequences of daring adventure and trying battles against the forces of evil.

But in the end, the good guys win, and get what they were striving for in that story…right?

Except, that didn’t happen in Empire Strikes Back.

The good guys didn’t win.  At all.  The best they did was survive.

I mean, yeah that’s an accomplishment, given the forces that were arrayed against them.  But they didn’t defeat the Empire.  They didn’t destroy any weapons or win a strategic victory or gain ground.  In fact, they lost ground.  They lost an important ally.  They lost far more than they won.

So what made it work?  What makes it so popular compared to the other Star Wars movies?  (And yes, I know it isn’t everyone’s favorite, but it is definitely super popular.)

The Right Combination – Action, Character, Plot

Luke learns the ways of the Force.  Han and Leia fall in love.  Luke learns about his father.  There’s a healthy dose of sci-fi action, fantastic music, amazing set pieces.  And the fact that our heroes are never safe until the very end (and even then, one of them isn’t safe,) leaves the audience on the edge of their seats throughout.

Empire was the right combo of all of that and more.

It also expertly built upon the fact that these characters were already established.  Other than introducing one new protagonist more than halfway through, it didn’t have to focus on establishing new characters like A New Hope did.  It also didn’t act like the protagonists hadn’t changed or hadn’t gone through more adventures between the first and second movie.  They were already different at the beginning of Empire, and they all changed again by the end of the movie.

It also didn’t rehash the story from A New Hope, something far too many sequels do (I’m looking at you, Ready Player Two.)

In short, Empire Strikes Back made all the right moves, hit all the right beats, and not only satisfied the audience with quality story telling, it left them wanting more (what happens to Han?  Do they rescue him?)

Retribution – Striking the Right Chord

Legacy introduced the characters for Sentinels, the Universe, the stakes.  So when it came time to write Retribution, I knew that I would try to hit all those same beats that Empire Strikes Back did.  I didn’t have to introduce the characters, and this allowed me to hit the ground running (literally….page one, Chris is running) and allowed me to give the characters more room to develop and grow.

And while I didn’t intentionally mean to make it so much like Empire as I did, in the end of the book, the characters survive.  That is their biggest accomplishment.

But not their only one.  Of course, what victory they do celebrate, I’ll not spoil ;)  But it was a link to Legacy, integrating the first book while setting the stage for the third, all while telling its own story.

Plus the villain has their own victory to celebrate in the end.

If I did my job right, Retribution will be even more popular than Legacy.  And it definitely will leave you wanting more!

Don’t Forget to Pre-Order!

Thanks for reading, and if you’re ready to continue the journey with Chris and the Sentinels, don’t forget to pre-order your copy of Retribution today!  Retribution comes out on February 19th, 2022.

Kindle Edition
Amazon Print
Barnes & Noble Print

-Jon Wasik

 

Retribution Cover Reveal, Release Date, Pre-Order!

Whew, the title says it all, and it’s a lot!

I’m so very excited to share with you all the full cover reveal for the 2nd book in the Chronicles of the Sentinels trilogy, Retribution!

I absolutely love it, and I hope you all do as well!  The artist, Shupeipa (on Fiverr) did an incredible job in both keeping in tune with book 1’s cover, while making it look amazing and showing off their ever-improving artistic skills!  There’s so much depth and nuance to the character in the cover, and even though Shupeipa hasn’t read book 2 yet, they captured Chris’s emotions (not to mention his wounds) spectacularly!

Here’s a look at the full print-edition cover!

If you’re thinking “wow, that’s good even for your skills!” I have to give credit to Beck, they helped me with colors, layout, etc :)  They have a much better artistic eye for that sort of thing.

Better still, I’m excited to announce the official release date!

February 19th, 2022

That’s only two months away!  :D  And even better, you can pre-order today!  The links below will take you to your version of choice – as before, the eBook is only available on Kindle.

• Kindle eBook
• Amazon Print
• Barnes & Noble Print

I’ve decided to continue to make it a Kindle exclusive for the ability to participate in Kindle Unlimited.  Why?  Because as of today, I’ve had far more activity from KU reads than any other version of Legacy.  I’m sorry for those who do not use Kindle, but as a struggling self-published author, it’s my best bet to get my stories out to as many readers as possible.

In any case, despite a handful of changes and setbacks to self-publishing platforms, I’m glad that I was able to get the pre-orders available a month earlier than I was able to for Legacy!  Here’s hoping release day is just as successful for Retribution :)

Thanks for reading!
-Jon Wasik