No, not a new book (yet), though I do have one in progress. I’ve changed the title of Demoniac Dance to To Dance With Dragons.
Why?
Because after the audiobook of Dance of the Goblins was released, it occurred to me that while the old title worked fine in the series, as a stand alone book, it didn’t really represent the story very well. To Dance With Dragons does stand alone well and would appeal to YA readers who enjoy quick action, coming of age themes and various other aspects of the story.
So I gave it a lot of thought to come up with a new title that reflected what actually happens in the story. Hint: the dragons feature rather a lot. Most retailers will show the new title, though the big A refused the change.
In the meantime, Smashwords is having it’s Read an Ebook Week sale! To Dance With Dragons is only 99 cents until Saturday, 11 March. The full Trilogy is also on sale.
If you enjoy audiobooks, look for this title soon. I’m investigating the options for who to release it through that allows me to keep the new title. I think it’s important for the audio version. This one will have a female narrator as the main character is a young girl, Namah.
If you haven’t read this story and E-books are your preference, grab it now at Smashwords!
When a cataclysm left a handful of survivors without technology and few supplies, they built a simple feudal society on the rubble of the city. Then the creatures in the deep places moved closer to the surface, staying out of sight, until one day…
The Smashwords July Sale is on! Come lurk in the goblin caverns! The first 2 books of the Goblin Trilogy are 99 cents through July! No coupon necessary!
Discover a dark world where legends begin and natural magic reigns!
Dance of the Goblins
They say that the earth shifts on its axis every 200,000 years…
When the planet shifted, most of the surface dwellers were destroyed. The few pockets of survivors were left without technology and little supplies, but they built a simple feudal society on the rubble of the city.
Meanwhile, the creatures in the deep places moved closer to the surface, taking over the old underground transport tunnels abandoned by the humans. Their own Shamanic way of life had survived only by staying out of sight of the humans who habitually killed what they did not understand.
Five generations of humans passed and the descendants of survivors settled into a way of life that was simple but satisfying, until one day a man wandered into one of the old tunnels…
Demoniac Dance
Long ago, in a time forgotten, the ruined city was filled with people and goblins were believed to be only a legend.
Now a young girl, Namah, flees her home in the small settlement south of the river, escaping from an unwanted marriage. Desperation takes her to the riverside, the site where as a toddler she remembers being treated kindly by a goblin who had befriended the human ruler, Count Anton. But another memory of that day unsettles her as she pushes the small boat into the current. A memory of bubbles in the river, and of blood. There’s something in the water still.
It is a time of grim omens. Driven by an instinct that she belongs with the northern people across the river, she soon meets the children of Magicians…and of goblins. Yet there are greater challenges to face. Trouble is brewing, and at the center of the conflict lies tension between species as well as between the ever combative northern and southern humans.
Count Anton is caught between those who are eager to assist him and those who have their own agendas. Meanwhile, a new enemy arises from over the sea. Foreign humans come to invade, expecting an easy conquest of the rich lands that Count Anton has so wisely kept productive of food supplies. The goblins see the danger of this invasion to their own uneasy peace with the familiar local humans, but they disagree among themselves as to whether they will best serve their kind by helping the surface dwellers, or by leaving all humans to kill each other once and for all.
The magic of powerful enchanted weapons belongs to the goblins alone, but a goblin sword gifted to Count Anton might save the humans, conquering all in its path, if Anton can work out how to invoke its power. Ever vigilant against unseen enemies and unknown conspirators who lurk in the shadows, Namah and the children of magicians must survive in a world where goblins dance with dragons in the skies, where monsters and men, friend or foe, might take any form.
It’s a strange thing, because as adults, we often don’t actually do anything for the holiday apart from decorating in pumpkins and ghosts, yet we get excited for it.
Social media is jumping with it already, or maybe that’s just because of the people I tend to associate with?
These days my primary observance for Halloween consists of scouring the supermarkets for pumpkins just to keep around for October and reading Dark Fantasy and Horror books, as well as watching the sales for good deals on more of the same.
The same for Christmas. I do the decorating and the family exchange presents, but the really atmosphere of holidays comes from reading Victorian and Dickensian books that idealise the time of year.
I can personally recommend the above two books.
Holidays are a thing of the spirit. They catch our imagination and give us permission to feel something special just because of the time of year.
Many people become depressed around the holidays because they’ve lost that childhood excitement. What we have to remember is that the enthusiasm comes from within, not from buying things.
There is much to complain about in today’s world. I hope you’ll all join me in leaving those things beyond our control to one side for just a little while and recapturing the childlike wonder that goes with the holidays.
Through July, Smashwords is having their annual July sale and The Chase for Choronzon is free on Smashwords in all e-book formats! A zany adventure through time and space you dont want to miss! https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/1021094
Well, I seem to have missed 2020 on this blog. Don’t we all wish we could have missed the entire year?
This last year has been difficult for everyone in a myriad of ways. Many writers have found it difficult to write, even with more time available. Ironically, my situation is such that it hasn’t affected my available time much, apart from making it necessary for me to be the one who does the family shopping.
I have been writing though. Mostly short stories and notes for novels. In my last blog, I explained how a short story for an anthology inspired me to start another series. Details for this one have been simmering and my notes file has expanded exponentially. The shape of the first story has been falling into place. It’s the closest I’ve ever come to having an actual outline.
I really liked the characters Lesana and her miniature dragon, Khadri. The landscape for their journey through the Crystal Mountains has been growing and the details of what lies around and beyond have been filling in. How they survive a journey through terrain ruled by dragons is making sense now. I’m just about ready to start actually writing it.
In the meantime, I’ve also nudged the marketing for my Goblin Trilogy. I’ve just done a giveaway of Demoniac Dance and it had a pretty good uptake. As I was sending out the copies, an idea struck me of how to use an incentive to get people to actually write reviews.
I’ve never been comfortable with the commercial mailing lists that so many authors use. You know the drill. You see a giveaway. You follow a link to a page where you agree to sign up for a mailing list in exchange for receiving the free book. You download it onto your computer and a day or two later, before you’ve even transferred it to your e-reader, the e-mails start coming in asking for a review or even just your thoughts by return mail.
What too many authors don’t think about is that the reader might have downloaded twenty free books that day and were already reading five books, and perhaps even have a backlog that could take a couple of years to catch up. Next you start getting ‘newsletters’ from those authors on top of all the others from previous giveaways telling you updates on the sequels to the series you still haven’t started yet.
As a reader as well as a writer, I unsubscribe from these pretty fast. New releases, great. Blow by blow journaling of the writing process fifty or a hundred authors is too much for my inbox. I don’t want to be a part of that.
So, my epiphany was to offer another freebie to those who send me a link to their Amazon review of Demoniac Dance. I didn’t put a time frame on it. Hopefully this will prompt those who were genuinely interested in the description of the book, as opposed to just collecting freebies, to push it to the top of the reading list and to write the review.
I’m going on the assumption that only those who enjoy the book will want the freebie. No book is for everyone and if they don’t like the one they’ve got, the chances of liking a related book aren’t too high.
So, anyway, I decided to make a list to curate manually. Yes this can be time consuming. I’ve offered the recipients of the freebie an easy unsubscribe and sent their free book individually and addressed them by name. It’s more personal, even if the body of the email gets copied and pasted. My readers aren’t just sales marks to me, they’re part of a tribe of Fantasy readers who enjoy the same sort of stories I do. Stories with magic and dragons, imagined worlds and breathtaking adventures.
These are people who want to know about new releases in my Fantasy worlds. No one should be on that list who doesn’t want to be.
If you would like to be added to the list, drop me an e-mail at jaqdhawkins@yahoo.com. If you don’t have time to compose a message, the words “Please subscribe me” will do.
Alternatively you can continue to follow this blog. I will try to write posts more often. I don’t want to use this one for writing advice. I contribute monthly to an excellent blog for that, The Story Reading Ape.
Scout Media has put out a new flash fiction collection – A Flash of Words 2. Each of the pieces involves a game in some form, which makes for an interesting collection!
Through January, guest posts from the authors are being shared by several blogs and on Facebook. Have a look at my Guest Post page for the full collection! These will be updated through the coming month including one from me! Because I have an entry in the collection.
What’s mine about? You’ll have to wait and see! Or hop over to Scout Media and buy a copy. If you buy direct from them, you also get another free Flash of Words book as well as a soundtrack list for The Games! It’s also available at the usual retailers, including Amazon.
I’m in good company with these stories. The quality bar was set pretty high so I’m very pleased to have made the cut. I should mention that the stories are Horror genre, though there’s nothing too extreme.
It’s got to be done, hasn’t it? In these days of lockdown hardship I’m happy to slash the prices on my books to help those stuck at home to find inexpensive entertainment at home. Reading is the most inexpensive home entertainment there is.
So, over this sale weekend, the complete trilogy in one volume is on sale across the Amazon stores for 2.99 in whatever currency, except Australia that Amazon requires a $3.99 minimum price and a couple of countries with very different currency exchanges. I’ve marked those down as far as I’m able as well.
Well, we’re under extraordinary circumstances after just a couple of weeks that changed the world as we know it. Dystopian novel anyone?
Many authors are offering free books to those self-isolating to do what we can to help. Smashwords has organised an event to assist with this and I’ve made my fiction available there free through the event, as well as my most recent Mind, Body, Spirit release, Echoes of Ganesha.
You don’t have to sign up to the website to download free books. They offer all e-book formats, including PDF in case you don’t have an e-reader. For those who don’t usually do e-books, you can get a Kindle app for free on your tablet or computer and .mobi format works on that. I sometimes read on my tablet if my Kindle is charging. You can even do it on your phone.
I will see how quickly I can format my most recent fiction, The Chase for Choronzon and add it. Happy reading. Reviews, especially on Amazon, are always appreciated but no obligation. Just enjoy the escapism in these trying times.
Goblins & Steampunk 