Release Today! Buried Hope III: Monsters In The Mines

This isn’t late, right? Of course not…

Buried Hope III: Monsters In The Mines is now released today! The third part of this serialized epic fantasy/science-fiction novel comes out at 128,000 words, larger than the last two chapters combined. So if you weren’t sure about Spes before, you’ll be sure about it now. Two new PoV characters, more action, more twists and more questions. Check out the blurb below, or just skip it all and get it on Amazon for a measly $2.99. I promise you, this will not disappoint. (I’ll also offer a recap at the end of this post to get everyone back on track. Since these chapters are meant to be part of one large novel, not so much recap is offered inside the individual parts.)

Spes is torn. 
Treachery in the rebellion. Blasphemy in the Synod. Murder in the Guard. Webbings that have trapped the three heroes of the underground world. 
The Council has claimed that the Number has returned from the dead world above; once more the worldwalkers roam. And though the citizens cheer for Number Thirty-Two’s life, not all are convinced of the Life Keeper’s ruse. The blessed blood of the iron ladies stirs, and the Iron Maiden has come to stand as Spes’ silver fist. 
But beneath it all beat the rumblings of legends long-forgotten. The tunnels to the mines have been buried and caved, the darkness has begun to settle. In the wake of dust’s rise and the echoes of the blasts, the girl once thought dead descends again to the bottom of the world. 
In search of the monsters in the mines. May the Eye watch us all. 

Buried Hope III: Monsters In The Mines, Delayed

Yep. Back when Dirt Is Dead came out in July, I said Monsters In The Mines would be out by September, but even back then there was a voice in the back of my head that was telling me it would never happen. I tried my best to prove that voice wrong, but a few things got in the way, including:

*Monsters turned out being 20,000 words longer than I had anticipated it to be. It’s currently at 130,000, when I had previously projected 110,000. For comparison, Buried Hope is 25,000 words while Dirt Is Dead is about 90,000. More story!
*The story took another direction (a better one, don’t worry!)
*Life and all its doldrums

I apologize sincerely to anyone who might be waiting, but I can guarantee you that it will come out by October. How do I know that? Because it’s pretty much done. I’m going through another round of edits before I send it off to betas, and assuming they don’t find some disastrous inconsistency, it’ll be out within the month of Halloween.

Anyway, if anyone has anything to say about Dirt Is Dead and just everything going on with the story so far, I’d love to hear it. And if you’d be so kind as to write a review on Dirt Is Dead’s Amazon page and then tell me about it, I’ll send you a free copy of Monsters In The Mines when it comes out. I hate to ask but I really do need reviews; doesn’t have to be fancy — short and sweet, short and sour, anything would work.

So yea! I apologize for the delay; I’m trying my best to publish the best work I can publish, but I know that’s not a very good excuse. I will say this: Buried Hope IV: Shadows Of The Second Sun (which is also the last part of the Buried Hope novel) will be out by January, guaranteed. I know this because the voice in my head wants to say December, but now I know that voice just exists to embarrass me, obviously.

Here’s the cover, done by the amazing Damonza:

If anyone has any questions regarding anything you think I could answer, feel free to ask. Other than that, I’ve got nothing to say. Hope you all have a nice day!

The Dangers of Formulas, Pulp Fiction and the Pressures of Self-Publishing

(This post might come off a bit hateful. I apologize in advance; I have a really strong opinion about many aspects of writing, which shouldn’t be much of a surprise. This post is also very focused on fantasy writing.)

While procrastinating from my daily wordcount goal today, I stumbled upon a post written by successful fantasy author, Michael Moorcock, wherein he thoroughly discusses his strategy for writing a novel in three days. A relief from the thousands of writing blogs out there all writing the same posts about writing, I clicked on the post.

And God, did it bother me.

Leave A Review, Get A Free Copy Of The Sequel!

Quick post — I’ve been pining for reviews lately. I really appreciate everyone who’s taken the time to write one for the first installment of Buried Hope, but before I do any paid promoting on the big sites, it’d be nice to have a few more (and some on the second book as well).

So this is my offer: Leave a review on the Buried Hope Amazon page, show me that the review is yours, and I’ll email you a free copy of the $2.99 90k word sequel, Buried Hope II: Dirt Is Dead. And for those of you who have already purchased the second book, if you write a review for Buried Hope II: Dirt Is Dead and show me that the review is yours, I’ll send you a free copy of the upcoming third installment, Buried Hope III: Monsters In The Mines in September (and this one is the best yet, in my humble opinion).

Writing Sample

I haven’t posted a sample of my fiction here in a while. I thought it might be time again to show the world what my word-weaving ways are like these days, and I have the perfect chapter to do it. This is the first chapter of the third installment of my book, Buried Hope, but it’s also the introduction of a POV character so you won’t be too confused. Some of the terms and locations will be difficult to grasp probably, to someone who hasn’t read the first 120k words of this story, but just imagine it as an underground prison, I suppose. Again — don’t expect to get it completely if you haven’t read Buried Hope 1 and 2. This is simply just to show my writing.

Hope you guys like it!

THE MAN WITHOUT A FACE

The Faceless Man’s blood began to ripple beneath his clay flesh.

On Worldbuilding and Originality — This Is Not A Tour

I love speculative fiction. I love everything about other worlds, other series’ of events, other realities. Simply put, reading speculative fiction — especially multi-million word epics — enables you to live beyond materiality. With various cultures and landscapes and laws and anything, speculative fiction spans the gamut of imagination.

But I don’t want to talk about how to write your own language, how to structure your own religion, how to give your world the details it needs to seem real. I’m sure there is a plethora of guides and books out there for that very subject, although the best advice I can think of for that is just to keep aware of reality, and understand why reality is reality. When you understand how a building stands, you’ll know how to redesign it so it will still stand in your own way.

Buried Hope II: Dirt Is Dead

Is out. It took me a lot longer than I thought it would — beta readers, then revisions, improvements/changes in writing style — but it’s finally out. At 89,000 words it’s nearly 4x as long as the first part of this serialized epic fantasy/science-fiction novel. This is my little baby and I hope you guys like it! Again, I’m sorry it took so long, but the third part of this book will come out in September. You can purchase it for $2.99 on Amazon here.

Rebellion has engulfed the underground world of Spes. Chaos grips the days, battles flood the nights, for the citizens of the city are lost in a reality that is stripped of the worldwalkers’ ancient blood. The Council struggles to maintain the hierarchy with the unexpected transition of the Chancellor’s line, the rebels of the forgotten Columns strike with a fury that cannot fade, and the red priests of the hallowed fields pray that the Great Eye may not blink at the folly of those who have promised themselves to His sight.

And still the buried wonder what the old men may  scry.
And still the cold wind shivers the bones of those who lie.
And still the darkness knows ‘tis but the Beyond where spirits cry.

For the burning sun and the dead world’s breath are truths cursed to all who die.

Being Afraid of Writing

(Firstly, for anyone who might be keeping up, I’ve got the next part of Buried Hope all finished up. It’s a lot longer than I thought it would be at about 300+ pages. Just a few more rounds of editing and it should be good to go. Will be out before May, I’m 90% sure. I’m sorry it’s taken so long, this post can partially explain why.)

2013’s been rougher than 2012.

I’m not sure what it is, because nothing too negative has happened in my life lately, nothing that I didn’t have to deal with last year. I think it’s phases. Phases of bla bla and bla bla and more bullshit that I’m sure no one really wants to hear about, and me telling sob stories is not the point of this post.

I’m writing this post today because I want to talk about one of the biggest side-effects you get when you get into these “phases”: You don’t want to write. 

Self-Publishing, One Month In (And I Need Reviews!)

So here we go. A month (and a week) into self-publishing. I’ve received a few messages from some of you guys asking for an update on my self-publishing adventure. Truthfully the reason escapes me, because there are probably thousands of blogs out there that have this exact post, but I guess you guys like me. I’m kidding. You have to read this.

Buried Hope is published!

I am now officially a self-published writer, which means I have to rescind my self-given title of Unpublished Bestselling Writer. Maybe Soon-To-Be Bestselling Writer, just to keep the same shallow sass. This isn’t as exciting as I thought it would be, though it probably doesn’t help that I’m going through a lot of personal things right now. But it is absolutely great still.

It’s up on Amazon and you can buy it here.

It’s a 25,000 word sci-fi/dystopian novella at $.99, and I have both a short blurb and a long blurb you can read to pique your interest.

The world is dead… and for a thousand years, they’ve hidden.

The citizens claim they love Spes, the underground city where they evade the deadly toxins of the surface world, but the walls never end and the guards never cease to watch. There is a longing to escape, and a hope that someday the world might live again.

But how do the people know what they are told is truth? How far will they go to trust the unknown, and how much will they fight for that they cannot have?

And…

The world is dead. The world is dead. The world is dead… and for a thousand years, they’ve hidden. The bulb in the sky burns too hot and the winds of the surface world cut like knives. But it is the air that will kill you—when the cold wind seeps in, you die.

In the underground city of Spes, one bloodline has been granted the living gift by the timeless Eye. Only the Numbers and their blessed blood can survive the toxins of the world-with-no-walls. Through the Home Gate, the Number teleports to distant Gates—where the speeds of time have ripped, and years in one are days in another—to see if time has cured the land from the sins of men long gone and dead. 

Thirty-one Numbers have come and gone, the gilded cloak passed from kin to kin, and when young Victor takes his right as Number Thirty-Two, his callow heart leads him wrong. He breaks the code. He risks his life. He travels to the surface world without planting the seed in his chosen bride, the seed to continue the blood solely his.

The Chancellor and the Eye’s Guard must hope the young Number returns from the voyage to the dead world, or the ancient line will end. And if they end, how will Spes know if the world is habitable? If they end, how will Spes survive the Eye?

So yeah, it’s only $.99 which is pretty much one less soda this week. I’d really appreciate you guys giving me a chance, and if you like it maybe you could leave a review. Every review and every purchase helps me go up the ranks, and higher ranks means more visibility.