Archive for release information

Fantasy fiction from a Christian perspective – DS 2 releases May 1, 2015

· Thursday, April 30th, 2015

Writing fantasy fiction is not as easy as I once thought…

a young J.R.R. Tolkien, fantasy fiction author

So says I, author of now 2 novels out of an originally planned 5 (It’s since dwindled to 3. It’s all I can muster at this point in my life).

But it’s been a lot of fun, regardless.

I’ve always enjoyed fantasy fiction, especially growing up. By the time I was in Jr. High school was reading Tolkien, Piers Anthony, and others. It was a very fun time for my growing mind…

But I never dreamed I’d be writing my own fantasy fiction series. That is, until I had kids.

These fantasy fiction stories come from the same place that many authors find their inspiration – stories they told their kids when they were small.

I don’t know how I decided to tell the first story to the kids. It was probably a lark on a car ride home from church or a friend’s house.

Dragons sounded good, so I created this character out of thin air: Hon, the Dragon Slayer.

Each installment of the story featured this brave, resourceful Dragon Slayer who fought a different dragon (of a different color and with varying breath weapons) in each story.

They were fun, childish stories then, with Hon winning every battle, never getting seriously hurt, and being the sterling hero that kids appreciate.

I remember the car rides home from various places and the kids yelling, “Daddy, tell us a “Hon story!” Those were the first iterations of these books.

These fantasy fiction books have come a very long way from their original inspirations.

Now the “Hon stories” have become 350+ page adventures, full of real-life issues that challenge the reader on a deep level.

I know, because writing about the issues in these books challenged me on a personal level.

There are struggles with loss, hope, anger, tragedy, faith, and the goodness of God in all of it. And I try really hard to address those things without coming off as “preachy” or sanctimonious.

Reviewers of the first book have said that I’ve done a pretty good job of it. I’m thankful for their encouragement.

These Christian fantasy fiction books are available… almost…

Dragon Slayer Beginnings fantasy fiction

Book one in my fantasy fiction series

If you’d like to get your own copies of book one “Dragon Slayer: Begnnings” with it’s new and improved red cover, it’s available in ebook or paperback at http://amzn.com/B00IUMGOPU

The new book (at the top of this post) releases tomorrow – May 1, 2015 in both ebook ( http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00VU6XGHC ) and paperback (https://www.createspace.com/5423699 ) formats.

I appreciate any feedback on the books and would also be totally blessed if you are able to pass the word along to anyone you think might be interested.

You can use the social media buttons on this post to do that.

And also, if you could leave a review of the books on Amazon once you’ve read them. That would be great too!

Most of all, I’d appreciate your prayers for this new series to break into the fantasy fiction market so more lives can be impacted for the kingdom of God!

There’s nothing that would matter more to me.

Thanks for your encouragement and support!

Categories : about the series, release information

Dragon Slayer: Rising is now available for Pre-order on Amazon

Posted by faithforward@gmail.com

· Thursday, April 9th, 2015

If you’ just can’t wait (even though you’ll have to wait until May 1st, 2015) you can pre-order the Kindle version of “Dragon Slayer: Rising” and it will be delivered to your Kindle or Kindle account on May 1, 2015.

How can you do it?

Click the big yellow button!

And if you’d be so kind as to pass along this message to others you know might be interested – I’d appreciate it!

Categories : about the series, release information

Tags : amazon book, dragon slayer, pre-order, preorder

Book 2 of the Dragon Slayer Chronicles is well under way!

Posted by faithforward@gmail.com

· Wednesday, March 19th, 2014

BOOK 2: Dragon Slayer: Rising – writing now!

I recently took a writing retreat to get a jump start on the next book in the series, and got a TON done! By the end of the 4 days I had almost 20,000 words written… and they were not just fluff words that will be edited out later. If you don’t mind me saying so, I think these 10 chapters are pretty much “keepers.” Since then I’ve added a couple thousand more words – so we’re looking at 22,482 words to date!

As you can tell from the top line of this post, I’ve settled on a name for the second book, it’s Dragon Slayer: Rising! I’ll be connecting with my graphic arts guy in the next few months to get the cover for the book started.

The name alludes to the overall plot of the book… both the dragon masters and the dragon slayers are on the rise, developing plans, engaging in treachery (the bad guys, of course), and discovering things that are going on behind the scenes that will throw the entire conflict into high gear!

My favorite characters… so far…

As you might imagine, there are some character developments that I’m really excited about.

Cedrick: Cedrick is not actually “new” to the series. Up until this point, he’s only been mentioned. But Lord Kendrick and Lady Patrice’s second child will rise to the occasion in this installment, even though he’s only 11 years old when the story begins!

Lord Hugo Champlain: OK, sorry for the spoiler there, because until now you’ve only known him as “Hugo.” He’s one of the dragon masters and appeared to fill, what appeared to be a “wimpy” role in the first book. But in the second book, look out! That’s all I can say…

Quinn: This is an entirely new character who’s quirks and personality has already grabbed me. (Yes, it is possible for an author to be surprised by his own characters). He’s Kendrick’s “spymaster,” and will have a huge impact on the rise of the dragon slayers.

Queen Amla: Another new character that is going to add a lot of intrigue on the dragon master’s side. All I can tell you for now is that she’s Rajic’s wife/queen… and she’s more than she appears.

Another writing retreat begins!

My last retreat to focus on the book was at the home of some friends who were out of town and needed a dog-sitter. Well, they are leaving again – TOMORROW – so I’m going to be focusing on my writing again for a concentrated burst. I expect to get even more done than last time… if I can avoid getting a full-blow flu that my daughter so generously shared with me. I would appreciate your prayers about that!

I’d love to interact with you, the fans of my dragon slayer series…

The internet provides us some amazing benefits, and one that I’ve not seen many authors take the greatest advantage of, is the ability to connect with fans. I think savvy authors can enter into great conversations with fans about plot, characters, story flow, and even grammatical/typo stuff, and I’m not at all threatened by that prospect.

So… if you’d like to connect on that level, feel free! Use the comments section below this post to try it out. Who knows… I might even start a Facebook or Google+ Community to make the conversation more “private.” We don’t want to let out any spoilers to people who haven’t gotten into the series yet, do we? Let me know what you think of this idea… and which platform you’d be more likely to use!

Thanks… God bless!

Categories : characters, plot, release information, the writing process

Tags : building an author community, dragon slayer book 2, new characters, writing retreat

Being a self-published, Christian author is a strange road to walk…

Posted by faithforward@gmail.com

· Friday, January 17th, 2014

But being a self-published author brings with it a TON of things you wouldn’t expect right off…

You have to do your OWN publicity, without ticking people off!
You have to do your OWN marketing!
You have to enlist the help of friends and family for a variety of things (cover art, proof reading, etc.)
And for me, as a believer in Christ, I have to walk a VERY, VERY fine line between self-promotion and trusting God.

That last one is my main concern out of all of them.

I want this book to get out there. I want others to be blesseded by it. It is a work of CHRISTIAN fiction after all… which means that I’ve put my heart, soul, and every ounce of the teaching-gift God has given me into making this fictional account instructive for people desiring to know God and walk in His ways.

The point is, I want people to read it and be helped… so promotion is needed (just like Paul promoted the gospel in every town he visited). So, I’m trying a lot of different things…

[list icon=”icon: book” icon_color=”#b77474″]

I’m now on Goodreads as an author, to enable me to interact with readers who may be interested in my work.
I’m also researching “best practices” for self-published promotions and marketing.
I’m running a book giveaway contest on the book’s website (you can enter here).

[/list]

BUT…

I don’t want the promotion to become self-focused, or market-driven, or all about the “success” and money that could come along with it.

I want to trust the LORD in the promotion.

I’m curious, do you have any thoughts about that? How would YOU walk that balance? (feel free to comment below).

Categories : release information, the publication process

dragon slayer book one is out to beta readers

I’ve done it… the book is out to beta readers!

Posted by faithforward@gmail.com

· Thursday, January 16th, 2014

It’s time for the “beta reader” step… but it’s not the first time for me…

What I mean is this…

I did something that seemed smart to me at the time, and some established authors told me, “Good luck with that!”, but I did it anyway.

Earlier in the process I sent out my book to beta readers CHAPTER AT A TIME as I was writing it and then self-editing it.

It worked great for a while… everyone was excited (most of them were friends after-all), but life acted like, well, LIFE and got busy for most of them. OK, all of them. The only person who stuck with me each week as I sent out the next chapter was my dear mother, who is of retirement age and actually enjoyed having the book to read each week. Everyone else, me included, simply got too busy to keep up with a weekly commitment like that.

My mistakes:

Not being consistent – my life got busy too, so I wasn’t able to get the chapters out on time every week.
Not being disciplined to write – this contributed to me not getting the chapters out on time.
Not staying on top of the edits I received. After a while they became too overwhelming each week (when everyone was still on board).
Starting the beta read process WAY TOO SOON.

My lesson learned: WAIT and do a beta read (if you do one) all at once when you are finished with the book.

BUT NOW IT’S IN THE HANDS OF “REAL” BETA-READERS

… or should I say, beta readers who I’ve recruited and timed in a more traditional way… or are beta readers really traditional at all? Nevermind.

The point is, I’m very excited about that!!!!!!!! (Can you tell?)

I’ve given my 20-some folks right at two weeks to read the book and return their comments, suggestions, and other stuff related to the book. Then I’ll take about a week to get things digested and edited and move ahead with the next step…

A new online friend from Google+ (you ARE on Google+ aren’t you?) has agreed to help me fine-tune everything. She has a process designed specifically for writers and we’re going to walk through it regarding this book. You can find M.J. at www.writingeekery.com.

It’s been a wild ride so far… and it feels like the car is picking up speed!

Categories : release information, the publication process