Saturday, August 30, 2014

Book 2 is officially titled...

Center justified! Italicized! Emboldened... Boldened? Emboldened! Underlined! Book 2 of the Lore of the Reluctant series is officially titled:

City of Blades

Time to celebra--Dang it. Time to celebrate!

And here's the rough synopsis that will eventually go up on Amazon/Goodreads/what-have-you:
Acys, Kalen, and Jasper are a long way from home. Take abruptly from their camping trip in the Sierra Nevada, they've been plunged into a new world with fantastical tendencies -- the Realm of Shiloft. Granted new bodies by mysterious means, with new lives and memories to match, the three lifelong friends wander the world as very hesitant sellswords, hoping to someday find their way back home. 
In this adventure, which the trio have desperately tried to avoid, an unexpected detour on the long road to Vellonae drops the companions in the middle of the labyrinthian coastal city of Elsingr, where the old ways are paved over wholesale in favor of the new, and the gods and goddesses of the Starfall are unwelcome. During their mid-journey festivities, the trio are attacked by the most vicious, most regicidal assassins guild in the land: the dreaded Backblades. 
Now, they must plot their way through the winding roads of Elsingr, and survive long enough to determine who paid such a large price for their heads... Also, they're suffering from hunger, sleep deprivation, and they're generally pretty annoyed with each other, so there's a good chance they'll kill each other off before the Backblades can.
Still aiming for a late September/early October release window. Hope to see you then!

Tuesday, August 26, 2014

More Writing. More Shadowrun.

Back to college. Back to making more progress on Book 2!

I've updated the progress bar to reflect a rough estimate of where I am as far as writing goes. We're definitely closing in on the end, and I think now that summer fun is over and I have more time to crank out some chapters in the library, that percentage will rise drastically over the next few weeks.

I'll also work on getting another sample from the story going in the near future, along with a proper post to "lock in" the final title for Book 2. At this point, I've let it sit for long enough and it still seems right, so I'm gonna take the leap and stick with it for the duration.

On the promotional side of things, I would also like to get some kind of free ebook up on Amazon that serves as an introduction to Lore of the Reluctant. Stories like Wool have proven that having that low barrier of entry is ideal.

So just to break everything down:

1 - Lock in the final title for Book 2.

2 - Finish Book 2!

3 - Begin the editing process. Call in those old favors. Send my editor friends on guilt trips.

4 - Research the possibility of getting The Outcasts of Vampire Flats on CreateSpace (physical copy), iTunes, and B&N Nook. Consider doing the same for Book 2.

5 - Write an "Introductory Story" for the Lore of the Reluctant series to publish for free.

6 - Hire Lexy to get started on the cover art.

7 - Publish Book 2!

And, of course, since I promised myself that I'd write/publish at least three stories using this setting, I'll eventually start plotting out Book 3, which is really just a vague idea at this point.

I'll keep this blog updated as I go through the steps! And I do want to thank everyone who has an interest in this story for being patient.

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I've been hopelessly addicted to the Shadowrun universe lately, and there's 20 years' worth of material waiting for me to read through. This is gonna get dark, I can already tell!