Hi everyone.
A late update, I waited until tonight hoping that iTunes/iBooks would get Shattered Ties live sometime today. It looks like that isn't going to happen. The approval queue there generally takes about a week, sometimes a little less, sometimes a little more.
I loaded it up on Thursday or Friday of last week (I'm not positive which day as I'm a little punch drunk tonight). I figured that would give enough time to get it live before the release date as it was a little more than a week.
It turns out that wasn't enough time. There were a few issues on my side that led to this one not being loaded up as soon as it should have been, so I'm re-working the process on my side to make sure that I get subsequent books loaded up at least 2-3 weeks before the release date.
Shattered Ties is up now everywhere else (links below), but I'm very sorry for all of you Apple users who are going to have to wait for an extra few days. I'll do a new post as soon as it goes live as well as a tweet and a e-mail blast as soon as it goes live for you guys.
Amazon US
Amazon UK
Kobo
Barnes & Noble
Smashwords
Saturday, August 31, 2013
Tuesday, August 27, 2013
Dean has a forum!
Some of the more observant--or obsessive :) --may have already noticed the new link on the right side of the blog, but I just wanted to put up another quick update for you all to let you know that with some great help from an awesome fan in the Netherlands named Chris (thanks Chris!), I now have a forum up and running where any or all of you can hang out, connect with other fans, or ask me some of those insightful questions that I sometimes get via e-mail.
I've got a few iron's in the fire right now, so moderation and responses might be a little slower than ideal, but I'll try to at least check in once a day and say hi if there are any new posts.
As a teaser, I've put the 'Winter Escapes' short stories up there and I'm prepared to dole out a little more information about 'The Priest' if people ask the right kind of questions.
Thanks,
--Dean
I've got a few iron's in the fire right now, so moderation and responses might be a little slower than ideal, but I'll try to at least check in once a day and say hi if there are any new posts.
As a teaser, I've put the 'Winter Escapes' short stories up there and I'm prepared to dole out a little more information about 'The Priest' if people ask the right kind of questions.
Thanks,
--Dean
August Update
We're coming up on nearly a year of me writing full-time, which seemed like something that deserved a blog post, along with the semi-regular update that I'm past due getting out.
Since I quit the day job I've written seven books and published five books. I had two books partly finished before I quit, which means I've currently got 4 more books that are in my production pipeline and which will be published in the next six to eight months.
The first of those is the fourth Guadel Chronicles Book (Shattered Ties), which will be available at the temporarily discounted price of $3.99 (or your local equivalent) starting on the first of September.
The next book, which I'm hoping to get out in November is another Eldon Murphy Reflections (Geoffrey) book, this one featuring the daughter that nobody…well almost nobody, knew that he had. In the tradition of my Eldon Murphy books, this one will be a little more edgy than what I usually put in my Alec and Adri Reflections books. Nothing too bad still, more PG-13 heavy than PG-13 lite, but I still would rather warn people than have something catch them by surprise. In good news, I've already sent this one out to one of my awesome UK fans, Claire, to take a first look at it and she loved it. (Thanks Claire.)
The next book that will be released is my first Dark Reflections full novel, which will be told primarily from the point of view of Alec. I'm hoping for this one to go live sometime in December, after which the second Dark Reflections book (featuring Adri) should be released in Feb 2014.
From a purely business perspective it could be argued that I'm being really stupid to write anything other than Alec and Adri books right now. Trapped, Intrusion, and the Greater Darkness haven't sold anywhere nearly as well as the Alec and Adri books.
All I can figure is that a lot of readers see names other than Alec and Adri's in the blurbs and choose to skip those particular stories, which is a shame because I've received really good feedback on some of those stories and ultimately they are a big part of what goes into making the Reflections universe—Alec and Adri's story—more full and complex.
I'm probably preaching to the choir as it's mostly my most hardcore fans that are going to end up reading this, but I do hope that you'll pick up the new releases even when they aren't directly Alec and Adri books.
On several levels I feel like I had to write these two Dark Reflections book before I could continue on with Alec and Adri, just like I have to flesh out Geoffrey's story a little more before I can continue on with Jasmin and Ben's story.
Dark Reflections gives me a chance to explore other sides to characters we already know and love as well as showing the humanity of some of our favorite villains. Dark Reflections is an alternate timeline, a parallel universe, but it's tightly intertwined with the core Reflections story and it's going to offer a level of depth that I simply couldn't pull off any other way.
Dark Reflections is a story of what could have happened. It's a grimmer place than the Reflections timeline, but not everything is terrible. Like anything else it's a balance of good and bad, but more than anything else, it shows just how much impact the actions, even just the existence, of one person can have.
I can't tell you for sure yet what chapter of the story I'll pick up next. August is an 'off month' meaning that instead of writing I'm desperately trying to get through editing passes of the next Eldon Murphy book, the first Dark Reflections novel, and tie up loose ends for the release of Shattered Ties. If I have a few extra minutes in there I've got a whole slew of print books that need finished up, and a few other assorted projects.
In some ways the sheer breadth of the options I have to choose from is intimidating, especially as the separate storylines start to interact more with each other, but it's also incredibly exciting. I really think that this story is going to be something special. I'm not a good enough writer to write it all yet, but I can see how to get there and I do get a little better with each book.
I don't know if my books will ever have a movie made about them, or if millions of people will read these stories. It's possible that they will never make the kind of splash that I'd love to see them make, but regardless of how well or poorly they ultimately end up doing from a sales perspective, I really am grateful to have you all along for the ride, I'll try my absolute hardest to deliver on the potential of these books, both the Reflections series and the places I'm hoping to be able to go with Jain and Va'del's world.
Thanks again,
--Dean
Since I quit the day job I've written seven books and published five books. I had two books partly finished before I quit, which means I've currently got 4 more books that are in my production pipeline and which will be published in the next six to eight months.
The first of those is the fourth Guadel Chronicles Book (Shattered Ties), which will be available at the temporarily discounted price of $3.99 (or your local equivalent) starting on the first of September.
The next book, which I'm hoping to get out in November is another Eldon Murphy Reflections (Geoffrey) book, this one featuring the daughter that nobody…well almost nobody, knew that he had. In the tradition of my Eldon Murphy books, this one will be a little more edgy than what I usually put in my Alec and Adri Reflections books. Nothing too bad still, more PG-13 heavy than PG-13 lite, but I still would rather warn people than have something catch them by surprise. In good news, I've already sent this one out to one of my awesome UK fans, Claire, to take a first look at it and she loved it. (Thanks Claire.)
The next book that will be released is my first Dark Reflections full novel, which will be told primarily from the point of view of Alec. I'm hoping for this one to go live sometime in December, after which the second Dark Reflections book (featuring Adri) should be released in Feb 2014.
From a purely business perspective it could be argued that I'm being really stupid to write anything other than Alec and Adri books right now. Trapped, Intrusion, and the Greater Darkness haven't sold anywhere nearly as well as the Alec and Adri books.
All I can figure is that a lot of readers see names other than Alec and Adri's in the blurbs and choose to skip those particular stories, which is a shame because I've received really good feedback on some of those stories and ultimately they are a big part of what goes into making the Reflections universe—Alec and Adri's story—more full and complex.
I'm probably preaching to the choir as it's mostly my most hardcore fans that are going to end up reading this, but I do hope that you'll pick up the new releases even when they aren't directly Alec and Adri books.
On several levels I feel like I had to write these two Dark Reflections book before I could continue on with Alec and Adri, just like I have to flesh out Geoffrey's story a little more before I can continue on with Jasmin and Ben's story.
Dark Reflections gives me a chance to explore other sides to characters we already know and love as well as showing the humanity of some of our favorite villains. Dark Reflections is an alternate timeline, a parallel universe, but it's tightly intertwined with the core Reflections story and it's going to offer a level of depth that I simply couldn't pull off any other way.
Dark Reflections is a story of what could have happened. It's a grimmer place than the Reflections timeline, but not everything is terrible. Like anything else it's a balance of good and bad, but more than anything else, it shows just how much impact the actions, even just the existence, of one person can have.
I can't tell you for sure yet what chapter of the story I'll pick up next. August is an 'off month' meaning that instead of writing I'm desperately trying to get through editing passes of the next Eldon Murphy book, the first Dark Reflections novel, and tie up loose ends for the release of Shattered Ties. If I have a few extra minutes in there I've got a whole slew of print books that need finished up, and a few other assorted projects.
In some ways the sheer breadth of the options I have to choose from is intimidating, especially as the separate storylines start to interact more with each other, but it's also incredibly exciting. I really think that this story is going to be something special. I'm not a good enough writer to write it all yet, but I can see how to get there and I do get a little better with each book.
I don't know if my books will ever have a movie made about them, or if millions of people will read these stories. It's possible that they will never make the kind of splash that I'd love to see them make, but regardless of how well or poorly they ultimately end up doing from a sales perspective, I really am grateful to have you all along for the ride, I'll try my absolute hardest to deliver on the potential of these books, both the Reflections series and the places I'm hoping to be able to go with Jain and Va'del's world.
Thanks again,
--Dean
Tuesday, August 20, 2013
Cover and Blurb for Shattered Ties (Guadel #4)
It's getting very close to September, in fact time is flying by almost too fast. I'm going to have to really hustle to get the last few items wrapped up that need doing so that I can get Shattered Ties up for pre-order on iTunes and Kobo.
I wanted to stop for just a second though and let you all see the cover and the blurb.
The setup:
Brittle Bonds (The Guadel Chronicles Volume 3) saw Va'del and Jain driven from their mountain home by traitors among the People. The pair's time in the lowlands, surrounded by hostile priests of a foreign religion, tested them in ways they never anticipated, but they never forgot their friends and family who were fighting and possibly even dying on the frozen slopes of the White Spike Mountains.
Shattered Ties picks up the story of that fight and follows the desperate efforts of Javin, On'li, Va'ma and the rest as they try to survive against overwhelming odds. The Guadel who were so opposed to Va'del joining their ranks are about to find out that he's the only person with any chance of saving them from the enemy that they created.
I wanted to stop for just a second though and let you all see the cover and the blurb.
Brittle Bonds (The Guadel Chronicles Volume 3) saw Va'del and Jain driven from their mountain home by traitors among the People. The pair's time in the lowlands, surrounded by hostile priests of a foreign religion, tested them in ways they never anticipated, but they never forgot their friends and family who were fighting and possibly even dying on the frozen slopes of the White Spike Mountains.
Shattered Ties picks up the story of that fight and follows the desperate efforts of Javin, On'li, Va'ma and the rest as they try to survive against overwhelming odds. The Guadel who were so opposed to Va'del joining their ranks are about to find out that he's the only person with any chance of saving them from the enemy that they created.
I especially love the wraparound cover that Katie did for the print version. Here it is, stripped down to mostly just the art.
I hope that you're all as excited about this one as I am. Shattered Ties posed some new challenges for me, but it's got more action and magic in it than the first three books combined and I'm happy with the final product.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)