I’ve finished the revisions for RAVINE OF BLOOD AND SHADOW and I’m on course for a late January 2019 release. I’m currently doing a final pre-formatting read through before sending the manuscript for formatting. After that, a final read through and then I’ll be ready to launch. At this stage there will be ebook and print versions, with an audiobook to follow in the future.
Any readers who previously purchased the original: CARNIFEX may be able to download the new version (RAVINE OF BLOOD AND SHADOW) from their retailer; if not, I am giving away free e-copies to every subscriber on my mailing list (so sign up now!). Any difficulties, please email me (see CONTACT).
If you are a reviewer, please email me if you would like an ARC.
I’ve also finished major revisions for book 2, MOUNTAIN OF MADNESS, and book 3, CURSE OF THE BLACK AXE. I’ve also prepped book 4, LAND OF NIGHTMARE for revising. Books 5 and 6 (WRATH OF THE LICH LORD and FATE OF THE DWARF LORDS) are next.
The cover art for MOUNTAIN OF MADNESS is in progress. All 6 of the re-booted novels will have new covers painted by Anton Kokarev.
The first 6 books of ANNALS OF THE NAMELESS DWARF will be released about a month apart during the first half of the year.
All queries about remaining rights (audio and foreign language) should be directed to my agent Laurie McClean (see CONTACT).
Depending on my other writing commitments (I’m currently working on 4 novels for a publisher) I hope to finish writing at least one more Nameless Dwarf novel this year (provisionally titled KING OF ARNOCH). After that, there are two more novels (the last of which is already written).
Because I’m writing so much at the moment, I’ve been trying to refill my tank by reading more fiction than I usually do. I’ve caught up with Stephen R. Donaldson’s The Seventh Decimate, and his Auger’s Gambit, both of which I enjoyed. I’ve been hanging out at Barnes and Noble, skimming through the fantasy books, but for whatever reason I can find nothing that appeals to me. I suspect I am less interested in the fantastical world building and elaborate magic systems than I am in relatable characters and great prose (both of which are areas I’m always trying to improve upon).
After weeks of looking for something that might help towards those ends, I’ve stopped looking at the fantasy section; after all, I want good stories, characters, and writing, not necessarily pixies, wizards and dragons; and while Grimdark was refreshing at first, I’ve grown quickly tired of its gritty cynicism.
I’ve just finished reading Evelyn Waugh’s Brideshead Revisited, after many years of promising to. It was well worth the effort. I’ve also read all 11 extant Saxon Tales novels by Bernard Cornwell (probably my favorite series right now), plus several other Cornwell historical fiction books. All the above have helped far more with my own writing than the fantasy novels I had been attempting to read, so I’ll probably keep on reading outside of the genre, at least until something grabs my attention. Considering I don’t currently have the time to start any fresh world building of my own, this approach seems to work well, because I already have the Nameless Dwarf world fully built, which means more time to work on style, prose, characters etc.
ONCE A KING is still stuck in publisher limbo. Hopefully we’ll have some news about it over the next few months.
