NEW BOOK: A Bad Rune at Angels Deep: Tales of the Shattered Frontier (Also, r/Fantasy Book Club stuff!)

Here it is! The second book in THE SHATTERED FRONTIER series!

I can't promise I'll be able to consistently deliver two books a year like this, but quarantine has been a heck of a thing. Let's jump right into the synopsis:

THE CONTINUING TALES OF SIX-GUNS AND SORCERY!

Runes: a form of deployable magick that caused untold devastation during the war. With the stroke of a pen, entire cities were demolished, entire armies decimated--and now one such rune may have come south to Ariasun County.

Acting on scant clues left behind by the vicious lynching of a smuggler, Evaline Cartwright and Trivan Esterhazy head north to track the rune’s passage through the county. All in the hope of destroying the rune--or its possessor--before it can be used for catastrophic ends.

RELEASE DATE: February 23rd, 2020

This has been an odd writing process for me. Legitimately, I haven't been able to write this much in many, many years. A big part of it, I think, was quarantine and just wanting something to engage with. Another part was most of the footwork already being done. Seems strange that WHAT WAS YOUR NAME DOWNRIVER? took years to finish, while A BAD RUNE AT ANGELS DEEP only took three months... and is almost twice as long.  But a lot of that time spent on Book I was planning the big steps and small steps alike, and with all that locked into place I could just get up and go.

It's also very likely that my mind needed a distraction. Losing my old cat took a lot out of me. It's been just shy of five months since he died, but it still feels raw. Taking some time and writing a novel definitely took the edge off.

So, it's up for preorder now! I'll probably still take some time to make a few last minute corrections before I walk away. I'm also in the process of getting the paperback version ready. The preorder page might not be up until the second week of February, but it'll definitely launch concurrently with the Kindle version.

Other bits of news:

r/Fantasy RAF Book Club

WHAT WAS YOUR NAME DOWNRIVER? was selected to be a part of r/Fantasy's Resident Author Fantasy Book Club on Reddit! This was a great surprise and I'm very much looking forward to seeing what everyone has to say.

The book will be read through March, with a Q&A to be posted just before then, I think. If you want to join in, here's all the information. And I'll probably post all the relevant posts here as they drop.

To everyone who will be participating in the book club, I'll try to make the book free for a week beforehand.

Price Drop: The Shattered Frontier - Book I

Since Book II is right around the corner here, I'm lowering the price of WHAT WAS YOUR NAME DOWNRIVER to $2.99 as a means of lowering the barrier of entry to the series. This will likely be where it'll stay.

Lore of the Reluctant Paperbacks Temporarily Withdrawn

Now, I'm still fairly new to all this. I'm always learning, always fine-tuning. I started publishing the Lore of the Reluctant books several years ago to help myself get over the fear of putting my work out there. There was a sort of lackadaisical approach to publishing them that I'm still trying to correct, as a result. One of these was the formatting of the paperbacks of both THE OUTCASTS OF VAMPIRE FLATS and BLADES OF ELSINGR.

Basically, I'm going to spend a little more time fine-tuning the formatting for the paperbacks. Shouldn't take too long, but I didn't feel good about having them up for sale in the meantime.

The Kindle editions are a-okay, though I'll be going through and updating their "Works by" pages (I'm legit blanking on their formal names) to account for A BAD RUNE.

I think that's it! Be well, everyone!

Status Update: New cover, new projects, and fond farewells.

Hope everyone is doing well! (In this Age of Fire and COVID.)

New Cover:

Since my last post, there have been some new developments. Chief among them is that WHAT WAS YOUR NAME DOWNRIVER? has gotten a snazzy new cover! The old one was serviceable for what I was trying to accomplish at the time, which was to just get my writing projects out there no matter what. Cover art was always a barrier and I decided if it's between not publishing a story or making something for the cover, then I should go for the latter.

But! Circumstances allowed for the creation of a new cover that fit the tone of the story and I'm grateful that opportunity came along. So here is the new cover for the first story in The Shattered Frontier series:

Sha-sha-shaw!

Love the way it turned out and I couldn't be more happy about it.

I did a free promotion for the book recently and I got some very kind reviews/comments. I'm ecstatic that folks seem to be enjoying it so far. It's not a particularly long book, but it's something I've been working on awhile. Getting all the worldbuilding locked in, writing/rewriting after work, editing, formatting for both ebook and paperback. It's been a journey!

As always, if you happened to check it out, please consider leaving a review. I can't tell you how crucial reviews are for indie authors. They help expand the book's audience, take the edge off of any prospective sequel plans, and, dang it, they're a great form of encouragement besides.

New Projects:

As for the future, I think I've mentioned a number of projects since moving back to the States, but there are three main projects on the docket that I hope to see completed within a reasonable amount of time. In no particular order:

1. Lore of the Reluctant (Book 3): This Machine Kills Dragons - When I first started writing these stories, I made myself a promise that I'd see a trilogy through to completion. I've started writing the third book, but it might get knocked down in priority if WHAT WAS YOUR NAME DOWNRIVER? maintains the traction it has right now. It'll close out what I'm tentatively calling "The Long Road to Vellonae Trilogy" and leave the door open for more stories if there's some demand for more.

2. The Shattered Frontier (Book 2) - The adventures of Evaline and Trivan were always supposed to culminate in much larger novel. Book 1 shows how their friendship calcified, Book 2 would see them on a rather long journey of some personal import to Evaline. If Book 1 was a shorter adventure, Book 2 would be something closer to FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING, somewhere in that ballpark. It would also firmly establish a larger story arc that would carry on through additional novels.

I've got a decent chunk of Book 2 already done. It was originally supposed to be Book 1, but I doubled back to write a smaller story that would act as a more effective introduction to the setting and characters. A nice vertical slice!

EDIT (Sept. 28): This plan will be shifting around a little bit. I think it's all but a certainty that my next book will be TSF Book 2, but I've changed the plan as far as what the story will involve. It will be longer than WWYND, but of a similar scope. I'd like to do one more of a similar size to round out a trilogy before jumping into the juggernaut that'll be the fourth book.

I think spending more time with Evaline and Trivan, in addition to getting more of the setting on the page and dropping more hints about the larger arc, will give me some much needed runway for Book 4.

Book 2 is in the works right now. It's rough, but there are 10k+ words locked in so far. Really liking where it's gonna go!

3. Realm of Avarill Online - A while back I wrote a short story called "In the Land of Dead Dragons," which I really enjoyed writing. So much, in fact, that I started work on a follow-up novella that's maybe 60% finished right now. It's been a good excuse to revisit all of my old MMORPG experiences from games like Nexus, EverQuest, World of Warcraft, Guild Wars 2, and Lord of the Rings Online. Corpse runs and player-killing and griefing like crazy. It's irreverent, the protagonists are terrible, terrible people, but I'm hoping litRPG fans will get a kick out of it!

And, of course, I always seem to be writing short stories, so some of those might pop up on Amazon soon.

Social Media:

So think I'm finally getting the hang of Twitter! After playing around with it for a couple months, I've actually come to really enjoy it. Feel free to find me at @AntonymLowe and check out my Star Wars geek-outs, Japan pictures, writing and personal updates, and even more Star Wars geek-outs!

Goodbye, Hershey:

In a rather sad update, my cat of 18 years passed away a couple weeks ago. It was a devastating blow to the family. It's always sad to lose a pet, but Hershey has been around for more than half my life (and three presidents!) and there's still the expectation at the back of my mind that he'll be there when turn around since it feels like he's always been there.

He was a super-affectionate cat and made it a point to involve himself in everything the family did, at all times. Even though I'm thankful for every day we had with him for nearly two decades, it still doesn't seem like enough.

Goodbye, Hershey. I'll miss you like crazy, buddy.

Hate to end the post on a sad note, so instead I'll end with a link to what's currently my favorite YouTube channel. David Lynch of TWIN PEAKS and ERASERHEAD fame spending a few minutes of each morning everyday to provide a weather report in LA and wish everyone a pleasant day. Not a bad idea to make positivity a part of a daily routine!

DAVID LYNCH THEATER

Be well, everyone!

NEW BOOK: What Was Your Name Downriver?: Tales of the Shattered Realm

Another product of prolonged self-quarantine comin' at ya!

I've just gotta say, I'm so happy that I'm finally able to put this out in some way. These stories are the product of a lot of work and a lot of encouragement from interesting places. They're some of my favorite stories in that I love the characters and loved playing in their world.

WHAT WAS YOUR NAME DOWNRIVER? is a collection of three stories (one novella, two short stories) that take place in my fantasy western setting, The Shattered Frontier. They follow the adventures of war veteran, bounty hunter, and famous/infamous gunslinger, Evaline Cartwright, as she endures the travails of one of the most lawless counties in the nation. The kind of fun place where Evaline might fight your average brigand one day, and the next day a volatile mage who can destroy entire cities on accident.

Here's the synopsis:

TALES OF SIX-GUNS AND SORCERY! 

Evaline Cartwright: war veteran, bounty hunter, known to many in Ariasun County by her thoroughly-earned appellation, "Calamity Cartwright." 

Trivan Esterhazy: a woman gravely wounded, hoping to find a better life for herself in more civilized parts of the nation. 

The two have only just met, both riding a steamboat north through the county to escape foul dealings in their respective lives, but a violent attack by a rogue mage has ensured their abrupt alliance. Armed with Evaline's wits and weaponry and Trivan's instincts and common sense, the women will have to plot their way through hostile territory and wild woods in the hopes of defeating the mage and freeing themselves of its volatile magicks.

History Time! If you don't mind indulging me!

Evaline has appeared in a few other places publicly:

• The first short story I ever sold was the first story I ever wrote about Evaline called "The Lonesome Dark." It appeared in BLACKGUARDS and was recently republished in BRIGANDS.

• Michael J. Sullivan put out an open call for short story submissions to be published with the third book of the Ryria Chronicles, THE DEATH OF DULGATH, and, while it didn't make it to publication, "The Horse Thieves of Ariasun County" was a runner-up.

• "Gunfight at the Thornmount Colossus" was a runner-up in the 2016 Baen Books Fantasy-Adventure Award.

After getting that kind of positive feedback, I spent some time really fleshing out the world and the characters themselves, and doing research into American history for flavor, with the intention of writing a novel tentatively titled RIDERS OF BITTER PROSPECT. Another novel commitment was something I couldn't realistically do while I was at university and, subsequently, abroad for a year. The Japanese work week just didn't frequently allow for it.

So I opted for a collection of short stories which, again, was a pretty tough commitment. You might have noticed that progress bar on the side that hasn't moved in a while. One of those short stories just kept going until it became a novella, the anchor story WHAT WAS YOUR NAME DOWNRIVER? It's a straight-forward adventure, but it does the heavy-lifting as far as providing a cross-section for what the setting is all about and what potential stories might emerge as a result.

That's it! I hope you'll consider giving it a try. If this book does well, I'd like to work in this setting indefinitely. Love hanging out there!

Be safe!

NEW RELEASE (Kinda): Brigands: A Blackguards Anthology

A lot going on these days! I'm back from Japan and I've got a new-ish project to talk about!
The first story I ever published was "The Lonesome Dark" back in BLACKGUARDS by Ragnarok Publications. Since then, Outland Entertainment has taken over publication duties, and their first act was to take all of the BLACKGUARDS stories (even those of us published in the e-book and extra digital material) and give the whole thing a proper physical re-release. Pretty exciting!
So while you couldn't get a physical copy of "The Lonesome Dark" before, you absolutely can now!
It currently seems to only be available through Amazon and Barnes & Noble, but I'll update this post and the My Books section if I track down any further marketplaces.
"The Lonesome Dark" is a fantasy western set in Ariasun County, a secondary world where a lot of my current projects are taking place. The main character, Evaline Cartwright, is a bounty hunter/hand-for-hire in a part of the world where it's really hard to find work that doesn't end in some kind of betrayal or undue violence. She takes a job bringing the body of a Sharath boy back to a commonage, which sounds innocuous, but the trip starts to unravel as she draws closer to her destination.
Hope you consider checking it out!
Amazon | Barnes & Noble