Category Archives: Uncategorized
The Cerberus is Loose!
Now available on Amazon! (Click the cover for a direct link!)
One hundred years of peace and prosperity. War changes everything.
On the world of Zaria, Elves, magic and mythical beasts coexist beside rifles and railroads. The futures of two nations hang in the balance as rebels and revolutionaries trade gunfire with loyalists and tyrants.
Eadric Garrard was raised to believe that as the rightful King of Ansgar, his loyal nobles and fearful subjects answered to his every whim, no matter the cost or consequence. His decision to send his troops thousands of miles away will test that fear, and loyalty.
Raedan Clyve was ordinary until an Elven ritual involving a griffin’s heart turned him into something more. Twenty years later, he still struggles with the magics that rage through his body. His mentor holds him back from his full potential and he faces pressure to find a suitable wife and father an heir.
Hadrian Clyve has picked up where his father left off and works to expand his family’s influence amongst the Ansgari nobility. His aggressive negotiation of alliances and shrewd choice of marriage agreements has earned him respect, and resentment. When his King calls his troops to arms, Hadrian has other things in mind.
After a century of scheming and decades of preparation, Magnus Jarmann is ready to bring his family’s plans to fruition by launching a war of independence that will free his people and return his country to its rightful place among the nations of Zaria. The King’s call to arms creates an opportunity that Magnus cannot afford to miss.
In a war, little is held back; in a revolution, nothing is safe.
Giveaway!
To celebrate the upcoming release of The Cerberus Rebellion, I’ve decided that I’m going to do a giveaway!
Here are the what and how:
What: Depending on the number of participants, I’ll be giving away some of my short stories (you can find the descriptions on the Products page).
For up to 7 participants, I’ll give a random winner their choice of short story! For 7-14participants, I’ll give the Grand Prize winner a copy of The Chesian Wars (not yet listed, this includes the 3 short stories and an additional prelude short story) and 1 other winner their choice of short story. For 15+, I’ll give away 1 copy of The Chesian Wars and 3 short story winners.
I can do these in .mobi, .epub or .pdf format, as requested by the winner.
How: all you have to do is leave a comment below. Each comment will be assigned a number and next Sunday I’ll randomly select numbers for each winner!
So leave a comment and pass the word along. The more entries, the more winners!
Poll!
As I mentioned in a previous post, I’ve decided to add Orcs to the world of Zaria. I’m going to have two different groups present: the first is going to be the citizens of a group of city-states (as mentioned in the above linked post).
These city-states are famous for their powerful trade barons and for the dozens of mercenary groups that call the cities home. The second half of the Orcish people will be modeled after Native Americans, particularly t he Iroquois. They’re going to live in the vast plains, farm and hunt.
I have all of that well established. Where the question arises, is that I need to decide on a mount that the Orcs favor. I was considering the stereotypical large-wolf mount, but then I thought about where I’m going to have these people live. It’s very similar to the Great Plains of America: grasslands and flat areas.
A herbivore would be better suited to the rigors of travel across the plains. So here’s my question: go with the traditional large wolf/warg, European Bison (buffalo) or something else. It has to be large enough to support a race that ranges from 6’8″ to 7’6″ and several hundred pounds. If you choose other, please leave a comment!
Have you ever had one of those moments when you think maybe the universe is trying to tell you something? That just happened to me.
I was three- or four-hundred words into a post talking about me and about this blog–and I think I was being quite witty, to tell you the truth–when the whole thing disappeared. I’m sure I hit a wrong button somewhere, but it’s more fun thinking the universe took control to suggest I do a little rewrite.
So be it.
Welcome to our little blog site, Guild of Dreams, where you’ll find myself and 10 other fantasy authors pooling our resources to entertain and perhaps enlighten you. We’re all different people with different writing styles, but we all share a love of fantasy and a desire to reach you, the reader, so our aim is to write about things that you will find of interest. To that…
View original post 800 more words
Getting Ready
I just got my short story collections back from my editor (Nick over at http://www.everything-indie.com/) and once I get the edits applied and the stories formatted, I’l be releasing them into the wild.
The Cerberus Rebellion is still on track for an early July release, but I figured I would start the ball rolling as soon as possible and get some buzz going for it with my short stories.
Right now, I plan on releasing the 3 Stand-Alone short stories (2 @ $.99 and 1 @ $1.99) separate. After the cover is ready, I’ll be releasing them in a collection with a bonus 2k word prelude.
Don’t worry, I’ll keep you all posted! Look for my Products page to go live this weekend!
Controlling the Beast
With my previous post about a day where ideas wouldn’t stop rolling into my head, I thought I would do a post on how I keep myself on track with my target projects.
To be honest, it’s mostly an OCD drive to finish Project A. I keep a mental priority list going of things that need to be done.
Highest Priority: Get Current Major Work Done
Whatever the next step in getting my current major project completed it, I work on that. Be that plotting or outlining in the initial stages, the actual writing in the middle stages or paper-edits, working on feedback from betas or reviewing/applying edits from the editor in the final stages. Getting Project Alpha done is priority.
Priority 2: Next Step on Project B
While Project A is in the hands of beta-readers or the editor, I work on Project B. Currently that has been a collection of short stories that I want to release, both as standalones and a collection, alongside The Cerberus Rebellion. Same process applies here as above, get the next step done!
Priority 3: Next Step on Project C (if available)
Project C is listed as “Next Project A” in my mind. So when Projects A and B are completed and published, it will become Project A until completion. Ideally, Project C is related to Projects A and B (as when working on a series with associated short stories and novellas). Currently, Project C is the novella “The Battle at Broken Plains”. It is set in the Griffins and Gunpowder universe and is intended to be a standalone novel to fill the publishing gap between my release of The Cerberus Rebellion and The Hydra Offensive.
After that, there’s a whole list of additional projects, but they don’t get any attention until Project C’s slot is empty and waiting for a new project (right now The Griffin’s Heart (a G&G novella) is high on the list as is The Hydra Offensive (the next in the G&G main-series).
I never let the list get empty, because that’s when chaos develops! With all of the projects floating around in your head, how do you keep them straight?
Zaria and Ansgar
So here are the hi-res copies of Zaria and the Ansgar map, where The Cerberus Rebellion takes place.
The Ansgar map doesn’t include the western territories due to size constraints but a future map will be made for them.
A Character’s Death (Excerpt)
This is an excerpt from a future novel in the Griffins & Gunpowder universe. It wandered into my head tonight and I just had to get it written.
Flares continued to explode overhead, flashing white against the black of night. Fires burned in every corner of the fort, the result of powder magazines struck by explosive rounds or incendiary shells gone awry. Spouts of fire and smoke erupted from cannons and muskets all around him.
The smell of blood and burnt flesh was thick in [Name Redacted]’s nostrils. The air was hot, despite the late hour, and heavy with salt from the sea. Acrid gray smoke hung in rolling clouds and stung his nose; black pillars rose from the fires.
He could taste blood as well, from where the rifle butt had split his lip. The dry, bitter taste of gunpowder and the sweet salt of his own sweat were on the tip of his tongue.
Through the ringing, he heard the crackle of musket fire, the booming rhythm of artillery batteries lobbing rounds across the battlefield, the screams of the dying and shouted commands on all sides.
And as he stared down the barrel of the smoothbore cannon, his men skidding to a halt behind him, [Name Redacted] felt nothing.
The ten pound cannon had been rolled down from its place on a small ramp and turned inward, toward the attackers that had breached the clay walls. The gun sergeant stared at him with cold green eyes, lanyard pulled taught and gripped in a gloved hand. The gun’s officer was shouting commands, but not even his crew could hear him through the roar of battle.
[Name Redacted]’s heart beat twice, and then the sergeant yanked on the lanyard
What do you think?
The World of Zaria
The world of Zaria. Home to the Griffins & Gunpowder Universe
This map done by Jared @ theredepic.com
Gunpowder Fantasy 