Riven is Live!

I'm happy to announce that Riven, the next Reflections (Alec and Adri) book, is now live at all of the major retailers.

The Setup:

Adri is the happiest she's ever been, but a noose is slowly tightening around the entire pack. Alec's victory in Chicago put the shape shifter ruling body on notice that he was going to do everything he could to bring them down, but she knows that right now he needs time to secure allies, time that they are almost certainly not going to have.

Alec's power has grown to a level Adri never would have believed possible just a few months ago, but the Coun'hij has the perfect tool for killing him and destroying every structure in Sanctuary. All indications are that Puppeteer is stalking them with an army of bestial creatures who are immune to Alec's special ability.

Alec has taken his first step towards reestablishing the monarchy, with him as the king, and now that Adri is back in his life he seems to know who he wants to be his queen, if they manage to survive. Unfortunately Adri never realized becoming royalty was part of the bargain when they got back together.

You can find Riven at the following locations, and a print version is hopefully only a few weeks away:

iTunes

Amazon

Amazon UK

Barnes & Noble

Smashwords

Kobo

Sony, Diesel and others will follow as Riven makes it into the Smashwords premium catalogue.

As indicated previously, Riven will be on sale for $2.99 until the end of the week as a thank you to all of you, after which it will revert to its normal price of $3.99.

In other news, the fourth Guadel Chronicles book, Shattered Ties, will be released on September 1^st and it will be followed by another Eldon Murphy Reflections book featuring Geoffrey towards the end of this year.

As always, thank you for everything that you are doing to help spread the word and for coming along to see what happens on Adri and Alec's journey together.

Dean

An Ending

My favorite part of writing is seeing a story come together. It's almost like building something with blocks. You start out with an idea, but it isn't until you actually start building your structure that you realize all of the details that you didn't have quite right, that you hadn't thought through yet.

There's something incredibly magical about taking facets of a particular story and putting them together in ways that you didn't expect to when you started out. I'm constantly amazed at the way that things will just click into place almost without any help from me. Things that I put in without really thinking about them at the time turn out to be pivotal later on it the series.

That means that my writing process is a little bit of an exercise of faith each time. I always know at least a little bit of what needs to happen in a given book, but so much of it just happens during the course of actually sitting down to write.

Usually there are two big milestones to any book. The first is when I know how I want the book to end and the second is when I know how I'm going to get from wherever I am to that ending. Once I know those two things then finishing the book is mostly just a matter of putting in the time to get all of the words down on paper.

Last night I figured out how I'm going to end Alec and Adri's story. I don't know exactly how I'm going to get there still, but I know how the series is going to end; and that's incredibly liberating.

I sat down for half an hour or so last night when the idea first came to me and sketched out the essentials; who would be involved, what new characters need to be introduced before it could happen and some key changes that will need to take place in a couple of existing characters.

It wasn't until I finished getting that all down that I realized something else.

For most of the last twenty years I've had another story rattling around in the back of my head. It's a Wheel of Time style epic fantasy set in the same world as the Guadel Chronicles, and there are some overarching themes that I always planned on working into the story there. Oddly enough, the ending of the Reflections series will have some of the very same themes, just done in a different way.

I really wish I could tell you all more, but I'd probably better just leave it right there for now. I don't think this was just coincidence though. It feels a bit like I've got a story that I'm supposed to tell, and that it's determined to make sure that it's told regardless of anything else.

Riven Cover Reveal...sort of

Katie has finished the cover for Riven, but this time we've done things smart and we did the print cover from the start rather than starting with an e-book cover and then coming back later and redoing everything so that we could release a print version.

The trickiest part this time around has been trying to settle on an border that we felt like dealt with the transition between the left side of the girl's face and the spine of the book. I'm in the process of ordering print proofs for our final four versions, which will probably be what decides things for us, but I thought that all of you might want to see what we've got so far.

(Remember the printing process results in .125 inches being cut off from all four sides, so the border you see here will be half the size on the actual printed books.)

I think that Katie and I are leaning to #1 for the print version and the gold border from #3 for the e-book, but I'd love to hear what you think.

The blurb on this one may not be what I end up using when all is said and done, but it gives you a bit of a feel for what's in store :)

Dean

End of April Status Update

It's hard to believe that April is already nearly over. This month was a 'down' month for me meaning that I haven't written any new fiction. Instead my time has been spent editing and wrestling with books that needed put into paperback.

Honestly those are some of my least favorite parts about being an indie writer, so I'm trying to make sure that I don't let those activities take over all of my time. The plan this year is to spend alternate months writing and fill in with all of the other housekeeping chores that need done since I have such a backlog of housekeeping tasks. January was dedicated to Shattered Ties (Guadel #4) and March was spent writing the sequel to The Greater Darkness (this book doesn't have a name yet, although I'm thinking of something like 'Reflected Darkness'), so it's just about time to sit down and start up another book.

The bad news is that I'm not yet sure which thread of the overarching story to pick up next, but the good news is that I feel like I've managed to get quite a bit accomplished over the last little while:

New Fiction:
Riven is fully edited and I've gotten responses back from all of my beta readers. That means it just needs a cover and then I'll spend a couple of days getting everything formatted for the various e-book retailers.

Shattered Ties is with my editor, RJ Locksley, for the next round of major editing.

Trade Paperback:
The first three Guadel Chronicles books are now available in trade paperback.

I've reformatted Broken and Torn yet again (this makes 3-4 times for each of them), but now they just need a wraparound cover.

Splintered, Intrusion, Scent of Tears and Trapped are all fully laid out, so they just need revised covers and then I'll order physical proofs.

Forsaken is about 90% of the way done from an interior standpoint, so another few hours ought to see it to a point where it also just needs a cover before proofs can be ordered.

Lastly, I've done a bit of work on my blog that I hope will work as intended. I've added a 'coming soon' block on the right side so that it's easy to quickly find out when a given book is scheduled to be released. With any luck that should help make sure that you all get a chance to get new releases during the first week when the price will be slightly cheaper. I've also re-worked the list of my books that was previously on the right side of the blog. It's still on the right side, just below the 'coming soon' panel, but now the list has a single entry per book which links to a separate page for each title. It's a little cleaner than the way I had it before, but more importantly, I've put the books up in order by series. I've had a number of e-mails lately from people who weren't sure what order to read the books in, so hopefully this change will help make that a little clearer.

Between now and the end of the month I'm also hoping to upload revised versions of nearly all my books up to the various retailers. These new versions will fix some errata that I found in the course of prepping each book for trade paperback, but they will also be modified slightly so that the reading order of the series is more obvious.

I'm excited to get back to writing fiction in May and I'm extremely happy with how Riven has turned out. My beta readers have been even more excited than usual after reading Riven and I can't wait until all of the remaining details are squared away so that all of you can finally read it.

Thanks,

Dean

March Status Update

Release date for the next Reflections novel:

I'm incredibly happy to be able to announce a release date and an official name for the next Reflections novel, the one that had been code named 'TWB' up until now. Riven will go live July first and will continue Alec and Adri's story, taking it in directions that were hinted at in Forsaken along with introducing some exciting new developments!

Riven will have a retail price of $4.99 (or the local currency equivalent), but in an effort to reward all of my faithful fans, I'll be setting the price to $3.99 for the first week it is out. That means that you can have Riven downloaded to your electronic device of choice in time for the 4^th of July (for those here in the States) and you'll pay the same amount for it that you paid for Trapped despite the fact that Riven is ~20% longer.

In all honesty, the discounted price allows me to kill a few birds with one stone. I've covered my reasoning in my blog post entitled "The Business Side of Things". A lot of you won't care about anything in that particular post, but for those who someday want to succeed as an indie writer, or even just those of you who are interested in business, there are some worthwhile bits in that post.

Before you all run off to read "The Business Side of Things", please remember that nothing I'm saying in that post is meant to detract at all from the fact that I really am trying to give back in a small way at least to all of you fans that have done so much to help spread the word about my writing.

Dean's mailing list:

You're going to sense a recurring theme here, but I've been doing a lot of thinking over the last five or six months about just exactly how I can best move forward with the business side of my writing career. Those of you who read the business post I'm referencing above will see how my mailing list ties into all of that, but for those who don't care to read that particular post, I just want to let you know that I've made some changes to my mailing list.

I'm still committed to not spamming my mailing list subscribers with a bunch of information that they don't care about, but now when you sign up for my mailing list you'll get a Smashwords Coupon code that will allow you to download a free copy of both Thawed Fortunes and Torn in just about every electronic format known to mankind.

This means now that on most of the major retailers that you can get the first two books in each of my series for free, which means that I'm giving away almost $20 in free novels to anyone that has even the slightest inclination to try out my stuff. Obviously, my hope is that this will draw people into trying out both Broken and Frozen Prospects, and then going on to read Torn and Thawed Fortunes before ultimately buying the rest of the books in each series.

I'd love for any of you who haven't already signed up for my mailing list to go ahead and do so now and for everyone to help spread the word. More than anything else, my mailing list gives me a way to let my readers know when a new book goes live.

Status update:

Just in case any of you are curious, I thought I'd take a minute and let you know what I've been working on. The beginning of December was mostly about getting final edits and formatting done for Forsaken and Brittle Bonds. The middle and end of December was spent writing Riven, which I finished up on the first of January. I then spent most of the rest of January writing Guadel #4, which was the hardest book I've written yet.

It's hard to get into chapter and verse about why this particular book was so difficult to write without getting into spoilers, but essentially it boiled down to the fact that I made some implications about Va'del's character in I'rone, and I wasn't quite sure how I was going to make that happen. It wasn't until I was more than halfway through writing my rough draft that I really knew how I was going to get where I wanted to be for the closing scenes of this book. It will be interesting to see what my advance readers, and then ultimately all of you, think about this fourth book, but having made it through all of the blood, sweat and tears, I think it's one of my strongest pieces of work yet.

February has been spent doing a first past editing run of Riven (once Katie had finished reading it) and then in progressing the various trade paperback editions of my work that have been giving me fits for months now (more on that below).

Paperback versions of Dean's work now available:

As of right now, Frozen Prospects and Thawed Fortunes are both available on Amazon as trade paperbacks.

Links:

Frozen Prospects

Thawed Fortunes

Brittle Bonds has been laid out and I'm currently going through my quality control process to make sure that the final product is up to snuff.  I've got Splintered about 80% of the way through the layout steps and Forsaken is about 95% through layout. On both of those, revised print quality covers are the next big step before they go into quality control.

Broken and Torn (the consolidated novel) has a finalized cover (which I'll be posting a picture of in the next little while) and now is just waiting on a final editing pass before I order proofs and start my quality control process.

Any interest in an interview series?

There is a storyline in the 4th Guadel book that I was originally planning on incorporating into the book, but which I ultimately ended up leaving out because I couldn't get it to quite come together like it needed to.

As I was thinking about that a few days after I finished the rough draft, I decided that maybe the best way to get some of those tidbits of information out would be to do an interview series where some of my readers got a chance to ask questions, both before a book came out and then again after the book came out.

What do you all think? A good idea? A waste of everyone's time? If someone is interested in coming up with some questions shoot me an e-mail and we can talk it through.

Forum Mods

One of the ideas that continues to bounce around the back of my head is that of doing a forum for my readers. The biggest benefit would be that it would provide a single place for fans of either series to get together and talk about what they loved in each book.

Obviously the big downside would be that getting a forum up and running would be a big undertaking given that I don't have any experience in that kind of thing and then it would be an ongoing demand on my time to moderate it.

Given that the writing is still a ways from paying all of the bills, I have to continue to focus my time and efforts on getting more books written, but I'm still interested in seeing if I can find a way to see this happen.

If any of you have experience setting up and/or running a forum I'd love to hear from you. It's possible that we can work something out where I can make it worth your while to help me get the forum up…

Forsaken Blurb Help + Cover Reveal

Hi, everyone.

It seemed like those of you who voted on the blurb for Trapped quite enjoyed being able to provide feedback, so I'm continuing the tradition and adding in a vote for possible covers as well.

I've got another three blurbs pasted into the post below. As always, I'd love to hear from you. Just use the comments section to let me know which blurb and cover combination is your favorite. I feel better about these blurbs generally than the ones for Brittle Bonds (which I'll be posting soon), but you can still tell me that they all stink and that I need to go back to the drawing board. :)

Here are the covers:

They are very, very similar.  The second one has a slightly darker background to it and the third has a watermark across the background.

 

Here are the blurbs:

Blurb 1
The power he needs to protect his friends and family is just outside of Alec Graves' reach. The dominant shape shifter pack in North America is circling like vultures and there are other, more savage opponents approaching in the distance.

Given the danger he's in, Alec doesn't have time for a broken heart, but Adri's departure has left him barely able to function. The pressures inside his pack are building to lethal levels and for the first time in his life, he's not sure he can walk the path that honor demands of him.

Walking out on Alec was the hardest thing Adri had ever done, but she didn't bargain for the long-term impacts that would be involved. She hasn't been able to get past her feelings for him yet and it's starting to impact nearly every aspect of her life.

Even more concerning, she now knows what the darkness really hides. Dangers that she thought she'd left behind in Sanctuary are stalking her again, but this time Alec's pack isn't in a position to protect her.

Blurb 2
Shape shifter Alec Graves has kept his pack together against overwhelming odds but he can feel things starting to spin out of control. A steady stream of challengers are already lining up to try and take control of his pack and the contests will be to the death.

His most trusted lieutenants are at each other's throats and a strange sickness has started infecting some of his pack members, but he can't seem to find a path that will allow him to skirt ruin and fulfill his obligations. Even worse, he's not sure he cares to continue the fight anymore.

Adriana Paige is friendless and alone in New York City. It would be an intimidating prospect for anyone, but she knows that the shadows of the big city conceal supernatural dangers that she's ill-equipped to handle.

As both Alec and Adri's worlds teeter on the edge of ruin it's quickly becoming apparent that their actions will impact each other in ways they can't foresee.

Blurb 3
Not every girl would have the courage to walk away from a boyfriend worth billions of dollars, but that's exactly what Adri did. It wasn't because she didn't love Alec, but because she couldn't be part of his violent, unforgiving world.

Now Adri is alone in New York and quickly realizing that while she left Alec, his world isn't going to let her just walk out on it.

Alec should be on the top of the world. He defeated the alpha of a rival shape shifter pack and then proceeded to stand off the thugs sent by the dominant pack. The victory wasn't bloodless though and Adri's departure has sent Alec into a tailspin that even he can see won't end well.

Enemies, both old and new, are preparing to destroy the Sanctuary pack and it's starting to appear as though the only hope for Adri and Alec's friends and families rests in a reconciliation between the two of them.

Thanks again, everyone. I'm really excited for Forsaken to go live!

--Dean

The Greater Darkness is Live!

I'm happy to announce that Greater Darkness is now available for purchase!

As I've indicated in past blog posts, I’m releasing this one under a pen name because it’s a bit darker than Broken, Torn or The Guadel Chronicles.  Torn is a bit heavier on the action and lighter on the romance than Broken.  The Greater Darkness is even a bit lighter still on the romance and heavier on the action than Torn.  Because of that I didn't want people to buy it based on my name without first giving them a heads up that it is a bit of a departure from the other stuff I've written.  That being said, while the romance isn't as strong in this book, it sets the stage for not one, but three separate love stories, so for those of you that like romance that is a bit more subtle and which develops slowly, over the course of several books, this could still be right up your alley.

I've actually written three different blurbs for The Greater Darkness, one focusing on the action, and one more focuses on one of the romances that it lays out in this installment.  I wasn't quite happy with either of those options so I've got a third blurb that tries to combine both elements.  Without further delay, here are the setups.

Balanced (Combined) Setup:
Something powerful is stirring in the darkness.  Something so ancient that even creatures who've been alive for hundreds of years have long since discounted this new threat as nothing more than myth.

Geoffrey knows even less than most about this rising menace.  His memories were all violently ripped away from him, leaving nothing of his past but dreams containing haunting glimpses of a beautiful girl.

A chance encounter offers up a possible link to his past, but forces beyond his control are threatening to push him into the middle of a conflict that could sweep away everything, and everyone he’s been fighting so hard to protect.

This time, saving the girl may very well cost Geoffrey his soul.

Action Setup:
Something powerful is stirring in the darkness.  Something so ancient that even creatures who've been alive for hundreds of years have long since discounted this new threat as nothing more than myth.

Normal humans will be caught in the crossfire, but then that's always the way of things.  Geoffrey has no memory of his past life or any idea how to survive in the violent, dangerous world in which he's trapped. Despite his best efforts, he's about to find himself in the middle of a conflict that threatens to sweep away everything, and everyone he's been fighting so hard to protect.

Romance Setup:
Geoffrey’s memories were all violently ripped away from him, but his dreams still contain haunting glimpses of a beautiful girl that he somehow knows was important to him.

Forces beyond his control are quickly arraying against him but he can’t abandon his one possible tie to his past life.  He knew going in that it might cost him his life, but now he’s realizing that his determination to save the tiny flame of goodness she represents, might cost him his soul.

The Greater Darkness is available at the following retailers:
Amazon US ($4.99)
Amazon UK (GBP 3.00)
iTunes ($4.99)
Barnes & Noble ($4.99)
Kobo ($4.99)
Smashwords ($4.99)

Intrusion is Live!

This post is more than a little late, but I just wanted to let you all know that Intrusion is officially live.

Here’s the setup:
Jess awoke to a world she doesn’t really understand, hounded by impulses that are quite literally more than any human could be expected to control.


It’s painfully evident that her friends and family are doing everything they can to help her regain her footing, but she can’t help resenting the fact that none of them lost as deeply as she lost in their last confrontation with the Coun’hij.


More than anything she wants to turn to Alec for help. The alpha of the pack should be a constant source of strength and reassurance, but in his own way he’s nearly as damaged as she is. What’s worse, a new threat has just arrived in Sanctuary and Jess is starting to wonder if Alec will sacrifice her as the weakest link in a crippled pack.

Those of you who’d signed up for my mailing list before Intrusion went live all got coupon codes to go get free copies of it, I’rone and Handoff as a thank you.  A few people that I saw actively promoting Reflections on Twitter got sneak previews of Intrusion a couple of days before it went live-also as a thank you for their efforts to help spread the word.

I can’t guarantee that I’ll always manage to get the thanks out to everyone who deserves it, and in fact I can guarantee that there are many, many of you out there helping spread the word in ways that I’ll never see, but I’ll continue to try and provide little perks here and there where I can.

Here are the links for the various places you can purchase Intrusion, apologies to all of the Apple, Kobo, Sony and Diesel users out there.  Unfortunately the aggregator I’m using to get books onto those sites takes a little while to get them pushed up to those particular retail stores.

As always, thank you everyone that tells a friend about Reflections or the Guadel Chronicles.  Your efforts are appreciated.

-Dean

Amazon

Barnes & Noble

Smashwords

Intrusion Cover Reveal!

Katie has finished up the cover for the next installment in the Reflections Series and I have to say I think it's absolutely the best one she's done yet.  It always amazes me how she can take a bunch of different stock photos and combine them into something so incredible.

Without further ado...

I don't want to spoil anything, but I will tell you all that this is a short story told from Jessica's perspective.

There are a couple of finishing touches that need squared away before Intrusion will go live on the usual retail sites, but I hope very much to have it up fairly soon.

Apologies for the wait, but some of you may be excited to hear that it's at least partially occasioned by the fact that we've been hard at work on getting audio books produced for Broken, Torn, and Frozen Prospects.  I'll post a bit more about that as we get close to those projects wrapping up.

One last thing, if you haven't signed up for my mailing list please consider doing so the next mailing is going to be really exciting!

Thanks,

Dean

Splintered Cover Reveal

Things have been quiet here at DeanWrites, but I wanted to break the silence and share the cover for Splintered.

It pretty much goes without saying that I'm excited about this one.  I think Katie did an excellent job!  We now have a bit more clarity around the release date-sometime early April.  Don't forget to join my mailing list for additional details as they become available and a cool freebie shortly after Splintered goes live :)

Dean