Eternal Knight

500!

2012-01-12T13:37:00.000-05:00

Eternal Knight hit the big 5-0-0!

My last sales update (October) had EK at 415 books sold. I knew 500 was in striking distance. November saw 41 more sales, pushing the total up to 456. December added 43, bringing EK to 499.

Happy New Year! Number 500 sold just a couple of days after the hangovers wore off.

No, I'm not quitting my job to write full time. 500 (mostly $.99) books won't take me that far. What does it mean? In practical terms, not much. However, it is a really cool milestone. Sure, I'm thousands of sales away from publishers or agents taking any notice of me. But each sale brings me closer to those readers who are the super-promoters. The readers, who when they like something, really go out of their way to tell EVERYONE they know about it. I've had a few of them so far and they are wonderful. Maybe I'll hit that critical mass of super-promoters and Eternal Knight will take off. Fingers crossed.

Reviews are still strong, ratings are still good, and everyone I know (and some who I don't) keep offering encouragement. A thank you to everyone who has supported my efforts so far. I haven't made much money so far, but all of the positive feedback has made the entire effort more than worth it.

Thank you !

Matt

EK: Workaday Reads' Best Self-Published Novel of the Year

2011-12-19T21:08:00.000-05:00

WOW! I just found out that Sarah at Workaday Reads named Eternal Knight as best self-published novel of the year! I've said it before, but nothing beats hearing nice things said about something you created. I'd like to thank Sarah for the honor. Workaday Reads is a wonderful blog. Go take a look!

I know I've been a bad blogger lately. The real world, work, life, family, etc... I have plenty of excuses. I'll just let you know that things are going well and I'll try to be a better blogger in the new year. More importantly, I'll be a better writer in the new year.

I'm so psyched about Sarah's selection that I'm going to give away a free, signed copy of Eternal Knight. Due to postage costs, I'm only making it available to residents of the USA. However, if you are international, I'll give you an ebook copy if you would still like to enter.

All you have to do to enter is to make a comment on this blog post. I'll choose the winner on December 26th.

All my best,
Matt

Argh! The guilt!

2011-11-30T21:57:00.000-05:00

Not writing. Not a word in weeks. It is not writer's block. It is just not writing.

A good friend of mine is an author. When I spoke with him about how I longed for solid periods of writing time he laughed. "You have to make time to write. And you have to write every spare chance you get. Even if it is just twenty minutes."

I know he is right, but it is so hard to do. A spare twenty minutes is so easily filled with some (any) other activity than writing.

Writing a novel means climbing a mountain of 100,000 words. When I wrote Eternal Knight I climbed that mountain at a pace of several thousand words per day. In fact, I climbed up and down every crag of that mountain multiple times and ended up with 250,000 words. Too much climbing!

A while back I wrote a post about writing 1,000 words a day. The mountain of my next novel would be climbed in 100 writing days (plus editing and revising time, of course). That didn't seem so bad. But I couldn't hit 1,000 words. I couldn't hit 500. And the mountain kept getting taller.

It isn't that the book is getting longer... I still have it planned for 100,000 words. It is just that the fewer the words I write per day, the longer it will take to hit 100,000. And the longer the final goal is from being achieved, the harder it is to motivate myself to write.

I must break this cycle. The book will not get done at all if I don't put pen on paper. My life is different from when I wrote Eternal Knight. I need to accept that fact, adjust, and get to work.

October Numbers

2011-11-13T11:39:00.000-05:00

The real world has been occupying a lot of my time recently. With the end of the first quarter I found myself with a ton of grading and lesson planning needing to be done.

I'm just popping by to report my October Numbers:

October (September, August, July, June, May)
6 (5, 12, 38, 60, 125) Paperbacks sold in person.
3 (3, 5, 12, 6, 28) Paperbacks sold on Amazon
47 (16, 8, 3, 5, 15) Kindle ebooks
1 (1, 0, 0, 0, 1) Smashwords ebooks
1 (0, 0, 1, 0, 4) Apple ebooks
0 (0, 0, 2, 5, 2) Nook ebooks

Total October Sales: 58

Total sales since release: 415

When I published Eternal Knight six months ago a friend asked me how many books I hoped to sell.

"A gazillion," I replied. "But five hundred would be cool."

It looks like I'll hit that five hundred mark sometime around the turn of the year. Two things really have me feeling good: 1) the continued positive feedback I am getting from readers. I cannot say enough how rewarding it is to hear nice things said about your book. 2) $.99 ebooks are the way to go. You don't make much money, but it sure gets the book into a lot of hands. The new price definitely caused the Kindle numbers to pop.

Have a good one. I'm going to go grade some tests. And then mow the lawn/leaves. (Mowing leaves sure beats raking them.)

Hey! I'm on TV

2011-11-02T15:06:00.000-04:00

This year the Wissahickon High School TV Club started a new project. They created a book chat TV program. And I'm the host!

Each episode is half an hour long and consists of three segments. It shows on our local access cable channel on a rotating basis. So far we have filmed three episodes, and will probably do ten total for the year. Jessica Brasch, the TV Club sponsor has some contacts in the publishing world and is using them to bring in authors.

My job is the fun part. I get to interview the authors on camera. Let me make this perfectly clear to you, I am totally unqualified for the job. I have no on-camera experience at all. The interviewing part is no problem... it is the teleprompters and the switching back and forth from camera to camera to guest that is the tough part.

After three interviews I am getting more comfortable, but I am definitely still a rookie. I ended the second episode (ridiculously) abruptly. Ugh. I don't know what kind of editing magic will fix it.

Here is the first episode. I can't tell you if it is any good because I haven't watched it. If I watch it I will just beat myself up over ever mistake I made. And I'm sure there are many. In the fist episode Shelleah Jackson and I interview each other. Shelleah Jackson is a student-author in our school. Enjoy! (I hope)

WissLit Episode One

Book Review: Loki

2011-10-14T19:47:00.001-04:00

God of Mischief. Father of Lies. Harbinger of Destruction. Exiled and tortured by the gods, Loki swears vengeance. He will summon the mighty Fenris Wolf and the legendary Midgard Serpent, and they will lead an army of giants and all the dead in Niflheim. Brimming with the power of the most destructive being in the Nine Worlds, he will not rest till Asgard is in ashes and all the gods are dead under his heel. -Amazon.com book description

Mike Vasich's novel, Loki, was frustratingly close to being excellent. The writing was terrific. The research and world building were first class. The action scenes were well choreographed and truly exciting. So what's not to like?

Loki is the story of the Norse gods, their battles with the giants, and the coming battle of Ragnorak. Reading the cover, I was expecting the god Loki to be the protagonist of the novel. I thought I was going to get a retelling of Norse mythology from Loki's perspective. That quickly proved not to be the case. The story is told from many points of view. The positive aspect of this is that the reader gets the whole story - you are always where you need to be in order to learn about what is going on. Unfortunately, I never became attached to one particular character. I had nobody to root for in this dramatic battle between Loki, the Norse gods, and the giants. I found myself not caring about who would win. I never had a reason to root for one side or the other. Instead of reading like a novel, it was more a narrative retelling of Norse mythology.

As such, it was terrific. The gods are distinct characters, each with their own personalities, powers, likes, and dislikes. I know a little bit about Norse mythology. It was great to see the stories I knew from my youth come alive in a fully realized way. If you have any interest in Norse mythology, Loki is a must-read.

I have one major recommendation if you want to read the novel as a novel and not as a retelling of Norse mythology. Every so often in the book the author has written out Norse prophesy. (You can identify these sections because they are in italics. They also make up a small percentage of the book's length.) The prophesy sections are then followed by a chapter or two of narrative. Do not read the prophesies! They give away all of the major events of the following chapters. Seriously, my recommendation is to skip the italicized sections. They destroy all of the tension in the following chapters. The book is far more exciting without them! Rant over.

If you read Loki without reading the italicized sections it will read much more like a novel. An exciting novel with an impossible-to-beat climax.

Mike Vasich is a talented writer. I highly enjoyed Loki and look forward to reading more of the author's work.

I give Loki four stars (if you skip the italicized sections).

September Numbers

2011-10-06T22:00:00.000-04:00

I was walking out of school the other day and a student walked up to me and told me how much she liked Eternal Knight. I had never met her before. I don't have the words to tell you how great that felt.

But that's not the point of this blog entry. I'm just stopping by to let you know how September went. It started of with a bang - a book club was hitting Kindle up for their copies and we were off to the races. Unfortunately, the second half of the month slowed down.

September (August, July, June, May)
5 (12, 38, 60, 125) Paperbacks sold in person.
3 (5, 12, 6, 28) Paperbacks sold on Amazon
16 (8, 3, 5, 15) Kindle ebooks
1 (0, 0, 0, 1) Smashwords ebooks
0 (0, 1, 0, 4) Apple ebooks
0 (0, 2, 5, 2) Nook ebooks

The $.99 pricing model seems to be paying off in October. Ten Kindle sales (and a couple of Smashwords sales) in the first six days of the month. We'll see if the pace keeps up.

Don't forget about the Goodreads Eternal Knight giveaway. There are only a few days left to enter. Click the link to the right to enter.

Have a great one!

Eternal Knight on Sale

2011-09-28T21:11:00.000-04:00

Eternal Knight is on sale as an ebook for 99 cents. The new price is already in effect on Amazon and Smashwords. It should be in place on Barnes and Noble and Apple very soon.

The 99 cent sale price will expire on November 1st. At that time I'll hold a Goodreads Author Q&A session that will last for one week.

I'd also like to remind you of the Goodreads Eternal Knight giveaway going on right now. There are three signed copies of Eternal Knight up for grabs. All you have to do to enter is to click the button to the right of the page!

Spread the word!

All my best,

Matt

Book Club, Giveaway, and Great Review

2011-09-22T13:38:00.001-04:00

Book Club

I went to my second book club meeting as a guest author last night. What a wonderful time! It reconfirmed that meeting with readers is the best part of being an author. We spent a good bit of time talking about how Eternal Knight was written and what it is like to go through the self-publishing process. It was also nice to spend some time talking about other authors and books (like The Hunger Games and Twilight) and our likes and dislikes.

One topic that came up was how The Hunger Games could affect Eternal Knight. Like The Hunger Games, Eternal Knight features a strong female protagonist who shoulders the burden of responsibility for the well being of her family. Katniss and Hadde are both strong-willed and both happen to be excellent archers. Could the huge success of The Hunger Games (both the novel and the forthcoming movie) have a halo effect on Eternal Knight? Will Katniss fans become Hadde fans?

Many thanks to Ree McGinley for inviting me into her home and introducing me to her book club friends!

Giveaway

I’m giving away three free, signed copies of Eternal Knight on Goodreads. The contest is free and very easy to enter. Just click the button on the right of the screen. Go ahead and sign up!

I’m trying to make Goodreads a bigger part of my promotional efforts. The site is a haven for bibliophiles.

Great Review

Eternal Knight just received a terrific review from Sarah at Workaday Reads. I’ve probably mentioned this before, but despite the fact that Eternal Knight isn’t exactly raking in the dough, it gives me incredible satisfaction when I hear that somebody loves (or even just likes) my creation.

Still having fun. I could definitely do this for a living!

By the way, if you have a book club, or know of someone who has a book club, I'd be more than happy to meet them! I've had a blast doing them so far and will do everything I can to make it to a book club meeting.

Book Review: Servant of a Dark God

2011-09-16T21:41:00.000-04:00

The novel’s events take place in a world where the use of magic is strictly controlled by powerful magic wielders know as Divines. A rebel group, the Order, is secretly growing their organization in the hope they will one day overthrow the Divines. When one of the rebels is exposed, Talen, a young farm boy, finds himself caught in the middle of the ensuing conflict.

Characters:

The novel does not have a single protagonist, nor does it have a single point of view. The main character is Talen, the son of a prosperous farmer. He is a well-written, but sometimes irritating character who steadfastly stays true to his beliefs. I didn’t always like his thoughts or actions, but they were realistic and believable actions for him to take. The reader also spends a good bit of the book in other characters’ POV’s--for most part those of Talen’s friends and family. I will not go through all of them, but will simply say that they were distinct characters with their own interesting story lines. One of my favorite POV’s was that of Hunger, a dreadful, powerful monster.

World Building:

Good world building is extremely important for me as a reader. Without it I cannot build the willing suspension of disbelief required to become fully engaged in the novel. Having said that, John Brown has done an fabulous job at world building. The magic system is unique and interesting. There are no fireballs or spells of invisibility, instead magic-capable people steal Fire and Soul from others in an effort to multiply their own strength and longevity. The world building also includes a very realistic conflict between foreign overlords and the oppressed locals they have conquered. The cultures are creative and believable, with their own rules and rites. I’m also pleased by the fact that Brown knows his weapons and armor (as well as the tools of everyday living). Nobody tries to “load” a bow (is that longbow magazine fed, or bolt action?) and they draw their bows with a thumb-ring. Small details like these, well-placed, enhance the realism of Servants of a Dark God.

Engagement/Willing suspension of disbelief:

For most of the novel I was completely engaged in the story. The process of discovery and the ever-growing threat to the protagonists had me reading the novel as fast as I could. As the novel reached its climax there were two elements that pulled me out of the story. One was the non-stop series of disasters that befell the protagonists. It was relentlessly grim--to the point I believed only a miracle could save the day. The problem is, miracles are really unbelievable. I want the protagonists to save the day. The story got to the point where I didn’t believe they could realistically do it. This left me expecting an unrealistic ending and not fully engaged. The other aspect that pulled me out was the incredible power some of the magic wielding humans and creatures possessed. Anyone on the next “level” above you in the hierarchy of magical power was completely out of your league. You had absolutely no hope of defeating them.

These were not major flaws in the novel, but they did create some space between me and the story. They certainly did not slow the pace of my reading. I had the novel in my hands every moment I could spare.

Impact:

Despite the small complaints, I highly recommend this book. It was a great adventure in a wonderfully realized world. The richly textured world and unique magic system are still with me days after finishing the novel. I look forward to what the author will bring us in his next novel.

Workaday Reads Interview

2011-09-12T13:44:00.000-04:00

I was interviewed on Workaday Reads. The topic of the interview was polishing your manuscript. Sarah is doing an entire month on Small and Self-Publishers. Stop by and take a look at the interview!

I am also still looking for actors to play the parts in the Eternal Knight movie. Make your suggestions in the comments section of my last post if you'd like to play. Anyone who participates gets a free Smashwords copy of Eternal Knight.

Casting Call Part Two

2011-09-08T19:42:00.001-04:00

Thanks to everyone who participated in Part One of the Eternal Knight Casting Call. In part one we looked for actors and actresses to play the parts of Hadde, Arno, and Waltas.

For Waltas I especially liked the suggestions of Cilian Murphy and Alan Rickman. Both would be superb choices. Waltas is a scheming bastard, but he also has to be believable as a knight and a Saladoran nobleman. I suppose we'll leave it to the director whether or not he or she wants an older or younger version of Waltas.

My favorite Arno suggestions were Ken Watanabe and John Rhys-Davies. Although they are not specifically described as being Asian in appearance, the Landomeri are described as black haired and "exotic" (in Waltas' words). Maret also comments on how Hadde looks different than the Saladorans. I think it would be great if the director chose to use Asian actors and actresses for the Landomeri, in which case Ken Watanabe would be perfect for Hadde's father. John Rhys-Davies could definitely pull off Arno's gruff humor. A personal top pick for me would be Nathan Fillion. He was great in Firefly and Serenity and would make a fantastic Arno.

Now, the most important role of them all... Hadde. I loved all of the Hadde suggestions: Thandie Newton, Grace Park, Hailee Steinfeld (she'll be old enough to play the role in a few years), Natalie Portman, and Jennifer Lawrence (although she'll need to have black hair). My favorites from this list would probably be Grace Park and Natalie Portman. I loved Grace Park in Battlestar Galactica and I certainly think she could pull off a great Hadde. Natalie Portman would be a superstar draw for the film. I've added Your Highness to my Netflix queue and I'll soon see how she does in a fantasy role (as an archer to boot). I am not as familiar with the other actresses, but now that I have read up on them I want to see some of their movies. (I just put True Grit [Hailee Steinfeld] on my Netflix queue as well.)

Years ago, as I was just getting into writing Eternal Knight, I imagined Angelina Jolie as Hadde. I later also considered Natalie Portman. My two recent top choices for the role have been Maggie Q and Summer Glau. Although less famous than Angelina Jolie and Natalie Portman, I can see Hadde in my head when I look at both Maggie Q and Summer Glau. Maggie Q came to my attention when I saw her in Live Free or Die Hard. Summer Glau is best known for the TV series Firefly and the movie Serenity. The Hadde role requires an actress who can handle a tough, physical role and who can display a fiery spirit. Based on what I have seen in their prior roles, both of these women would be great for the lead role.

Now on to the next batch of characters:

Morin (Age 25) The tall, handsome Prince of Salador. He is the second only to Champion Nidon as a swordsman, and second only to his brother Boradin as an elementar. A bold leader of men and smooth charmer with the ladies.

Enna (Age 42) Hadde's mother. Religious, practical, and tough. She loves Hadde more than anything in the world. Lame in one leg due to an old wound, she is fiercely protective of Long Meadow and not one for foreign adventures.

Astor (Age 27) Prince Morin's best friend and brother-in-arms. Many think he looks more like Morin's brother than Morin's real brother does. He worships (and envies) Morin. He is Morin-lite, and knows he will never be Morin's equal.

Put your suggestions in the comments section. I look forward to hearing from you!

Fourth Month (August) Numbers

2011-09-06T22:28:00.001-04:00

My three month charity period ended last month, but I'll keep posting my sales numbers just for the heck of it.

August (July, June, May)
12 (38,60,125) Paperbacks sold in person.
5 (12,6,28) Paperbacks sold on Amazon
8 (3,5,15) Kindle ebooks
0 (0,0,1) Smashwords ebooks
0 (0,0,4) Apple ebooks
0 (0,5,2) Nook ebooks

Total books sold in four months: 329

Paperbacks sold in person dropped off a lot because I didn't do any book signings in August. The numbers will go up in September because I am back in school and Eternal Knight will be on sale in our school library (with all profits going to charity).

I picked up several new reviews (both from readers and book bloggers). Eternal Knight is currently the 10th best reviewed epic fantasy (and 21st for all fantasy) on the Kindle Top Rated list.

I am expecting good things for September. I have a review from a book blogger with a very large following coming out later in the month. I also have an interview coming out on September 12th on Workaday Reads. Saving my favorite for last... I will be visiting a book club on September 21st. My first book club meeting was a blast and I can't wait to meet this group!

September is already off to a good start with nine Kindle sales in the first six days.

And I'm sill having fun!

Hadde's Banana Blueberry Smoothie

2011-08-30T22:24:00.000-04:00

Hadde stopped by to visit on several occasions this summer. I was doing a lot of planning for the sequel to Eternal Knight, and really wanted her advice. Now, you should really understand that I am not Hadde's favorite person in the world right now. If you've read Eternal Knight you know that I put her through some really awful abuse. In fact, I think the only reason she agreed to come at all was because it has been a really hot summer in Landomere (and especially on the Kiremi Plains) and I have 1) air conditioning and 2) a freezer.

Despite the tragic events in Eternal Knight, Hadde thought she had some reason to expect a break when the novel concluded. Unfortunately, it was not to be, and things have actually gotten worse for her. I can't go into any story details, but she did at one point attempt to stab me with a pen as I was showing her the outline. I am not showing her the last three chapters.

Anyway, Hadde was visiting, and as she always does, she raided my fridge looking for some "exotic" foods they don't have in Landomere. I hadn't been shopping in a while and the fridge was pretty empty, so she started digging around the freezer. There she found some frozen bananas (I was saving them for banana bread) and some frozen blueberries (my wife makes some mean blueberry muffins). Hadde grabbed the ingredients and starts experimenting. Here's what she came up with:

Hadde's Banana Blueberry Smoothie
Ingredients:
2-3 ice cubes
1 frozen banana
1/2 cup frozen blueberries
1/2 cup to 1 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla

Crush the ice cubes in a blender. Add all the other ingredients to the blender. Blend. Hadde likes to blend it for a long time (long enough for the blueberry skins to completely disintegrate). Use 1/2 cup of milk if you want ice cream consistency. Use 1 cup of milk if you want milkshake consistency. Makes two servings.

Hadde's B-B Smoothies are so good that I have stopped buying ice cream altogether. And the smoothies are MUCH healthier. I tried to tell her how good they were, but she just took the blender and stormed out.

I got a note from her the other day (Maret took dictation) demanding that I write banana trees and freezers into the next novel. Guess I'm not getting any more help.

Killer of Men and Marathon book review

2011-08-24T15:47:00.003-04:00

I am adding a book review feature to my blog. Twice a month I will review novels (fantasy, sci-fi, and historical fiction for the most part) and post my reviews. I will only review books that I think deserve four and five stars and am not taking solicitations for reviews. These will all be books that I have personally selected.

For my first review I have selected two books: Killer of Men and its sequel Marathon by Christian Cameron.

I will freely disclose that I know Christian and am a fan of his writing. I have also previously interviewed him. The following is my honest review of his latest two novels. American (US) readers will be discouraged to learn that Christian's novels are difficult to obtain in the US because his publishers apparently feel that we can't handle realistic historical fiction. There is the possibility of purchasing the Kindle version from Amazon.co.uk

Killer of Men and Marathon Review

Summary (from Goodreads): Arimnestos is a farm boy when war breaks out between the citizens of his native Plataea and and their overbearing neighbours, Thebes. Standing in the battle line - the wall of bronze - for the first time, alongside his father and brother, he shares in a famous and unlikely victory. But after being knocked unconscious in the melee, he awakes not a hero, but a slave. Betrayed by his jealous and cowardly cousin, the freedom he fought for has now vanished, and he becomes the property of a rich citizen of Ephesus. So begins an epic journey from slavery that takes the young Arimnestos through a world poised on the brink of an epic confrontation, as the emerging civilization of the Greeks starts to flex its muscles against the established empire of the Persians. As he tries to make his fortune and revenge himself on the man who disinherited him, Arimnestos discovers that he has a talent that pays well in this new, violent world, for like his hero, Achilles, he is 'a killer of men'.

Characters: Killer of Men and Marathon are both first person accounts of the life of Arimnestos, the son of a Greek blacksmith who grows up to be a fearsome warrior-- a killer of men. The book takes the form of a story being recited to Arimnestos’ daughter by him. As such, we know that 1) he survives and 2) he becomes a great man. What we are left to discover are the trials and tribulations of his strife-torn life. I’ll leave it to say Arimnestos does not have an easy life.

There are many other characters in the books, many with similar sounding names. It is sometimes a challenge to keep the many other characters straight, but the book wouldn’t be the same without the large cast. The novels are too epic in scope to have a small cast.

World building: Cameron completely captures the feel of the ancient world. The novel is filled with rich descriptions of geography, economics, technology, religion, arts, and government. This is not done in the form of info-dumping. The culture comes through the story in a very natural manner. Cameron has a scholar’s mastery of the ancient Greek world.

Engagement (Willing suspension of disbelief): Killer of Men and Marathon both utterly absorbed me. Once I started reading, I didn’t want to put the books down. There were no jarring or unrealistic elements that pulled me out of the story and into the real world. When you read one of Cameron’s books, you are IN his world.

Writing/Mechanics/Editing: I found both novels to be error free. This seems to be increasingly rare, even with professionally edited novels. Cameron perfectly balances a fast-paced, engrossing read, while also getting across important philosophical and political concepts. Cameron also writes action scenes as well as any author I have ever read.

Cameron does use a lot of Greek vocabulary in his writing as opposed to using modern alternatives, however the meaning of the Greek terms is easy to pick up in context. To me it enriched the novels.

Impact: Cameron’s novels stay with me long after I have finished reading them. One of my favorite elements of his novels (including his Tyrant series) is how well he captures the spirit of the soldier and the profound importance of the “brotherhood of arms”. Arimnestos might be a killer of men, but he is still a human being who feels loss and knows the impact of his actions. The killing in Cameron’s novels is not there for mindless entertainment, it always serves a deeper purpose.

I highly recommend these books and eagerly look forward to the next one in the series.

(Five Stars)

Eternal Knight Casting Call

2011-08-19T22:06:00.000-04:00

"Who do you think should play Hadde in the movie?"

It is one of the most common questions I get. [We are all positive thinkers here, right? A movie deal will happen.] Now, I have some ideas for some of the characters, but I will freely admit to being a little out of touch with what's hip in Hollywood. That's where you come in.

Who do you think should play the major characters? Just leave your choices in the comments, and in a few days I'll reveal my picks. Feel free to mention why you like that character and/or any roles they've been in. I'll post a couple of characters every few weeks until we get through all of the significant characters.

Hadde (Age 20) Petite but athletic. Black haired and considered exotic/different/barbarian by the Saladorans (think aristocratic northern Europeans). Hadde is brave and stubborn, sometimes to a fault. The actress needs to be able to handle a demanding athletic role.

Arno (Age 42) Hadde's father. A bear of a man. Sarcastic, funny, and tough. He is a village leader and is willing to make tough decisions when they need to be made. Handsome in a mature, rugged way.

Waltas (Age 24) A powerful South Teren (Saladoran) Earl. Hawk-nosed and fierce looking. You need an actor who can play a Class I jerk. Elitist, racist, and sexist, he's a slimy schemer, but also a warrior to be feared.

Have fun! As an added bonus I'll give a free Smashwords ebook copy of Eternal Knight to anyone who participates. Just mention that you'd like a book in the comments.

Two Terrific Reviews

2011-08-09T10:11:00.000-04:00

It has been a good couple of weeks for Eternal Knight. The novel has pulled in some nice reader reviews as well as two excellent blog reviews.

The first blog review is from Leslie Wright at Blogcritics. In it she says:

Heppe has done a great job of building a world on the edge. The wasting is a plague on the place and its people and he makes you feel the despair and hopelessness of the people. -- and -- The story is full of action and adventure, and some very interesting bits of magic. If you enjoy epic stories of warriors and adventure, you will certainly find your fill here.

The review itself wasn't starred, but Leslie did give it five stars on Amazon. Before you jump over to read the review I will mention that it does contain a good bit of plot summary.

The second blog review is from Kayelee Rock at Sift Book Reviews. Here is the point in the review where I developed an author crush on Kayelee:

Small happenings in the story that we as readers might think inconsequential come back to surprise us at unexpected times. Each part of the story connects and intertwines with the rest of the story so incredibly well that I was blown away at the cleverness of it.

It is feedback like this that keeps me writing. (It certainly isn't the money.) Eternal Knight earned 4.5 out of 5 stars from Kayelee.

I'd like to thank both Leslie and Kayelee for taking the time to review Eternal Knight. Book bloggers do a great service to the writing community, and their efforts are much appreciated!

Free Books...

2011-08-06T21:33:00.000-04:00

That's right, I'm giving away free copies of Eternal Knight.

There is a catch or two. Or three.

1) I am only giving ebook copies away via Smashwords.

2) I am only giving them away until August 14th.

3) If you accept a free book, I am asking you to write a review.

The details:

Smashwords is an online book publisher. They have made Eternal Knight available in a variety of ebook formats. Have a Kindle? Works. Nook? Works. Sony reader? Works. PC? Works. Other formats? Probably works. You get my drift. The download onto your reader might not be the typical one-click, but Smashwords has made it pretty easy for you.

Just go to: http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/54342 and when you buy the book enter the discout code: SQ35Q

Now about that review...

The review doesn't have to be anything fancy. Just your honest opinion of the novel. You are not required to write a positive review! And, um, how could I stop you if you did?

Cross-posting your review in various places would be greatly appreciated. Just cut and paste. Places you could post your review:

1) Smashwords
2) Amazon (The big Kahuna. Really, this one is important.)
3) Barnes and Noble
4) Goodreads
5) Your blog
6) Your facebook
7) Twitter (just have to cut it down to 140!)
8) Anywhere else it might get some attention.

Hey, Matt, I really didn't like it that much. Do you stil want me to post a review? I don't feel right posting a bad review.

No problem. I'll be totally honest here. 5's and 4's help me. 3's don't hurt that much. 2's and 1's hurt. If you took me up on the free book offer and like the book, I would really appreciate the review. The only way Eternal Knight is going to be successful is through word of mouth. If you don't like it and don't want to write a bad review, I would still appreciate it if you would drop me an email and let me know what didn't work for you. I am working on the sequel, and the feedback will help!

And feel free to spread the word about this offer.

Matt

The Finally Tally

2011-08-03T12:09:00.000-04:00

As my three month Eternal Knight charity period has drawn to a close, it is time to do the finally tally.

July+June+May=Total
38 + 60 + 125 = 223 paperback books sold by me (including a dozen sold by Susan Miller at a Cure-CMD conference). Most of the books were sold at school and at three book signings.
12 + 6 + 28 = 46 paperback books sold on Amazon and CreateSpace.
3 + 5 + 15 = 23 Kindle ebooks sold.
0 + 0 + 1 = 1 Smashwords ebook sold.
0 + 0 + 4 = 4 Apple ebooks sold.
0 + 5 + 2 = 7 Nook ebooks sold.

Total books sold over three months: 304.

Total amount raised for Cure CMD and the Wissahickon Educational Opportunities Foundation: $1,400. I am very happy that I have been able to raise this amount of money for these two great organizations. They both do great work and are worthy of our support.

I am also very pleased by the total number of books sold. As I previously mentioned, some of the numbers have fallen off due to the end of the school year and the loss of initial sales to friends and family.

There are some positive signs, however. Book reviews remain very strong. Eternal Knight now has 21 reviews and is the 27th top rated epic fantasy on Amazon.com. Eternal Knight is also 65th top rated amongst all fantasy genres. I continue to believe that strong sales will follow good reviews.

I also just received an invitation to speak with a large book club. I had a wonderful experience with the first book club I met and can't wait for this second opportunity.

Back to work!

Book Club Meeting

2011-07-26T19:11:00.000-04:00

Just as soon as Eternal Knight was released a former student of mine, Kelsey Tarzia, picked it up and read it in a single day. I loved hearing that. I also loved that she Tweeted about it, Facebooked it, and reviewed it on Amazon. What else could and author ask for?

Well, she told her mother about it. And not long after that, Robin Tarzia made it her selection for her book club's summer read.

Last Wednesday I went to Robin's house and met the eleven members of the book club. It was one of the coolest experiences I have had as an author. Now that I sit here thinking about it, it was the coolest experience, beating both the book release party and my first book signing.

The meeting lasted for two and a half hours. I didn't want it to end. We spent half the time talking about the writing process and how Eternal Knight came to be written. The rest of the time focused on the characters and themes of the novel. None of the club members are big fantasy readers, although most had read Harry Potter and a couple had read some of Lord of the Rings. It was nice to hear that once they got into the world of Eternal Knight they really enjoyed it.

It was fun hearing some of their questions. I think I started a few too many responses with, "It was really important to me that..." and blah, blah, blah off I'd go. But they were very gracious about listening too me and none of them actually nodded off.

I also had the chance to ask them a few questions. My favorite question to ask readers is about their favorite scene. I love knowing what worked for them, as well as what didn't. I'd share some of them, but don't want to give any spoilers.

The biggest problem with being the center of attention for the evening was that I didn't get a chance to take advantage of the fabulous spread of food Robin had laid out. I was talking so much I could only take small bites and was once caught chewing a mouthful of cheese and crackers while everyone waited for a response to a question. I'll have to work on my eating strategy for the next event. The wine drinking strategy worked fine, however.

The book club was a terrific group. I have to say I envied them. I love books and would love to be able to join a club. I asked if the club was really just an excuse to party every once in a while, but they insisted it wasn't. They are true bibliophiles.

My sincere thanks to the entire club for having me over. I had a great time. I'd love to come back when the sequel is finished. A special thanks to Robin and Kelsey Tarzia for making the event happen.

11 Days Left

2011-07-21T10:58:00.000-04:00

As most of you know, I have dedicated the first three months' profits from Eternal Knight to charity. I am very happy that the novel has raised over $1,200 (and counting) for Cure CMD and WEOF.

At the beginning of my efforts I had low expectations and high hopes for how much money Eternal Knight would raise. Well, I beat my low expectations, now it it time to make a final push for the high hopes.

If you were thinking about buying Eternal Knight, I hope you do it now. I want to make this fund drive as successful as possible. Let me take a minute to share a little bit about Liam Miller with you. Liam is the son of two of my best friends and is my motivation for donating my profits with Cure CMD.

I've mentioned Susan, Scott, and Liam Miller before (in the "charity" post I linked to above). Liam is going into eighth grade--a fact that makes me feel really OLD. How can he be one year away from high school already?

Besides being a natural born killer in Call of Duty (a game I will never play against him again for fear of utter humiliation), Liam is a huge hockey fan and serious power hockey player. Liam is a member of the Philadelphia PowerPlay, a power wheelchair hockey league.

(image linked from the Philadelphia PowerPlay website)

Most importantly, Liam is is an all-around good guy.

This weekend is the Cure CMD Family Conference. Susan is taking a stack of signed copies of Eternal Knight to the conference and will be selling them at a table between sessions. Thank you, Susan. I hope you have a great conference.

Second Month (June) Numbers

2011-07-15T22:37:00.002-04:00

How did things go in the second month? Numbers were down, but that was to be expected. My May numbers were very big (relatively speaking). I had access to a very large market in my high school (I could sell there because all profits were going to charity) and there was a lot of friend and family demand for the novel.

The numbers:
June (May)
60 (125) paperbacks (sold by me)
6 (28) paperbacks (sold through Amazon and CreateSpace)
5 (15) Kindle ebooks
0 (1) Smashwords ebooks
0 (4) Apple ebook
5 (2)Nook ebook

Five additional book bloggers have agreed to review Eternal Knight. I am really looking forward to these reviews. I think the book bloggers will have a strong multiplier effect.

I received five additional Amazon reviews. I now have fifteen Amazon reviews with an average score of 4.8. Eternal Knight is the 45th top rated epic fantasy on Amazon. I am very hopeful that the good reviews will translate into stronger future sales.

The challenge right now is to keep up the faith and keep promoting Eternal Knight. Of course I imagined EK sales exploding right from the start (hell, I'm a fantasy author--I have a vivid imagination), but I rationally understand that this is an unrealistic expectation. Adam Heine passed this link on to me. It shows sales growth for various self-published novels over time. The important lesson I got from it is that it can take time for a novel's market to develop. What it doesn't show is the effort that goes into marketing your novel. I have to keep exploring new avenues.

Eternal Knight is about to enter its last two weeks of charitable fund raising. It it's first two months it raised approximately $1,200 for the Cure-CMD and WEOF.

And just a reminder, if you are a fan of Eternal Knight, please consider reviewing it on Amazon (or wherever you buy your books). Reviews make a difference.

This is what it's all about

2011-07-07T23:51:00.002-04:00

I don't know if Eternal Knight is going to ever make a profit. Right now it is down several hundred dollars (and a gazillion hours of effort).

I'm pretty sure it will someday make back the cash I put into publication and promotion. Making up for all the hours of effort... I'm not so sure.

I'm also not sure it matters too much. I'm currently working on the sequel to Eternal Knight. My labors are not fueled by the piles of cash Eternal Knight is raking in. That just isn't happening (yet).

Right now I'm fueled by good vibes.

When I crunched all the numbers (costs and revenues, profits and losses) and published Eternal Knight I forgot to factor something in. I forgot to factor in the value of good vibes. Where do the vibes come from?

Readers.

It is hard to put into words just how wonderful it feels to get positive feedback from readers. It brings such a great feeling of accomplishment when someone tells you that something you created purely from imagination and effort brought them pleasure.

Sometimes these complements come from expected sources, and as genuine as they might be, they cannot compare to the kind words from an unexpected source.

So, with permission from the author, I'll share with you a message I received yesterday. I almost called it fan-mail, but calling it that wouldn't do it justice. And while I have received several wonderful reviews, this message trumps them all (my apologies to the kind authors of those reviews).

The author is the daughter of an old army buddy and his wife. Friends I haven't seen in sixteen years.

Hello Mr. Heppe,

I am Megan Johnson and I met you when I was only one year old, but now I am seventeen and about to enter my senior year at high school.

My mom and dad (Bjorn and Sheri) have mentioned you from time to time and I wanted to personally write to you to say how much I enjoyed your book. Your book related to me very well. The main character Hadde never quit and always tried to beat her opponents, which always seemed to be the opposite sex.

This book had everything that I like in a book. It had the romance, battling, and pure excitement throughout the whole story. I would have to say that my favorite part of the story was when Hadde was showing up all of the men during the bow and arrow contest.

This book was so interesting that is was one of those books that I literally never put down, that is unless my parents said I had to do something or go to bed. I am so excited and can't wait until your next book. Also thank you for serving our country. Good luck with the next book!

Sincerely,
Megan Johnson

Now how cool is that? I think it made my ~~day~~ week.

I also think I'll print it out and put it on the wall next to my computer. It will be a nice place to look for inspiration.

How old?

2011-07-01T23:55:00.000-04:00

How old should my child be to read Eternal Knight?

I've been asked this question many times in the past month. It is a challenging one to answer.

Eternal Knight is not a Young Adult (YA) novel. It is funny how many people automatically think that fantasy means YA. I think it is a result of the Harry Potter age we live in. If you aren't a fantasy genre reader it is easy to make the fantasy=YA assumption.

Most fantasy novels have great appeal to YA audiences. They might not have been purposefully written for the YA audience, but there is nothing objectionable in them. The Lord of the Rings was not written as a YA novel, but how many of us read the books as teenagers? When I think about some of the books that had an impact on me as a teenager (Shannara, Thomas Covenant, The Belgariad, Riftwar, Amber, Dragonriders of Pern) I can't remember much that my parents could object to. I wouldn't have a problem with giving any of them to a thirteen year old.

GRR Martin is about as popular as they come right now. His works are considerably grittier than much of the fantasy I have read. The sex is more explicit, the violence is more graphic, and the tone is grimmer. The books are also more sophisticated in content and style. A Game of Thrones would not pass my thirteen year old test. That is... for most thirteen year olds.

So should a thirteen year old read Eternal Knight? I'll give the answer any good economist would give... it depends. My question is how sophisticated is the thirteen year old in question. Eternal Knight is not stylistically challenging to read. It is not a piece of sophisticated literary fiction that demands the reader chew on every sentence. However, some of the content is adult. No, there's no sex on the page. But it is implied to have occurred between two of the chapters. And there are a few sexually charged scenes. Some of the violence is pretty graphic as well.

I know a couple of thirteen and fourteen year olds who have read, and enjoyed Eternal Knight. I do worry that a grumpy parent will seek me out, upset at something their child read in the novel. It isn't a conversation I want to have. After the child has read the book is too late.

When parents ask me if Eternal Knight is right for their child I give them the straight scoop on what their kid is going to read. And if they still aren't sure, I tell them that they should read it first. I might lose a sale with this approach, but it is better than dealing with a disgruntled parent. Hey, if the parent reads the book they just might like it. Fantasy isn't just for kids.

Doylestown Book Signing Photos

2011-06-27T23:51:00.000-04:00

Here are some photos from my book signing at the Doylestown Bookshop on Friday. Sorry it has taken me so long to get them up here. Things have just been crazy around here lately.

The signing was great. Thanks to everyone who came out! And thanks to the Doylestown Bookshop for hosting me.

My daughter and I before the signing. She was in charge of

keeping my supplied with books and getting underfoot.

She did an exceptional job at both.

Signing the first book. This doesn't get old.

Things are hoppin' at the book signing!

An adoring fan.

Thanks for coming, sis.

Caught in an "author pose" at the end of the signing.

Talking with Scott and Susan Miller after the signing.

Their son (Liam) is my motivation for donating the Eternal Knight

profits to charity. Liam wasn't feeling well and couldn't make the event.

On July 4th I am doing another signing at Beachcomber Swim Club in Blue Bell, PA. It is actually more of a fundraiser than a signing. Unfortunately, you can only get in if you are a Beachcomber member. The good side is that I'll have a large crowd and should raise some nice money for WEOF and Cure-CMD.

I have a couple of more events waiting in the wings. I'll announce them as soon as I have hard information.

Have a good one!

Matt

Book Signing This Friday

2011-06-20T11:09:00.001-04:00

Just a reminder that I will be signing books at the Doylestown Bookshop this Friday, June 24th. The event runs from 7-9 PM.

I am really looking forward to this event. Doylestown is my hometown (I was born in the (old) Doylestown Hospital and graduated from Central Bucks West High School). Lots of friends and family will be able to make it. Even my high school English teacher is even going to be there. This is going to be a blast!

By the way, my wife pointed out to me that Eternal Knight is the #72 Best Rated Fantasy (epic) on Amazon.com. This is really great news for a new, self-published novel. I know a lot of you have read the novel and privately expressed how much you liked it. It would be a huge favor to me if you would take a few minutes to review it (Amazon or elsewhere). The review doesn't have to be fancy, just a short, HONEST review. Thank you.

Hope to see you on Friday!

Matt

Book Two Timeline

2011-06-17T00:26:00.001-04:00

Time to get cranking on book two. Here's the timeline:

5 day to complete outlining. The process is almost done.

100 days to write the novel. The pace? I have to average 1,000 words a day for those 100 days. I don't know if I can do this. I used to come home from work and write 1,500 words an evening. That was BC (before child). I could also pound out 5,000 words in a solid day of effort--again BC.

To some of you 100 days might seem very short. But you have to remember that this is a sequel. The world (and character) building is all done. I've also been thinking about (and outlining) this story for years.

As I finish each chapter I will send it to my critique partner, Mike Shultz. He'll see the novel in rough first draft form and help me beat it into shape. Mike is great for both story and writing advice.

10 days to clean up the first draft, turning it into the second draft.

30 days with my Beta Readers. Two definite Beta Readers will be Kemp Brinson and Ann Emery. Both were invaluable in the writing of Eternal Knight.

5 days to complete Beta Edits. A lot of these edits will have already been done as Ann and Kemp worked their way through the novel.

1 day for CreateSpace formatting and upload.

10 days for CreateSpace vetting and shipping of proof copies.

20 days with Proof Readers. Five trusted proof readers will go through the novel with a fine comb. Their job isn't to critique as much as it is to find mistakes. Although their suggestions are always appreciated.

1 day for final proof corrections.

1 day for CreateSpace, Smashwords and Kindle formatting and upload. Over the next few days the novel goes live.

A grand total of 183 days. Let's add around a 10% fluff factor and we get approximately 200 days. Mid to late December.

Wow. I'd better get it in gear.

Really get it in gear.

By the way... I had a short article appear in phillyburbs.com, the online edition of several Bucks County, PA newspapers. The main point of the article was to remind everyone about my book signing event at the Doylestown Bookshop on June 24th, starting at 7PM. I hope to see you there.

On "Cheating"

2011-06-09T10:15:00.000-04:00

A long time ago I set out three goals for my writing. Here they are/were...

1) The novel is published by a legitimate publisher. I will not self-publish.
2) I have to do a book signing. I don't care if the only people who show up are my family members. I will do a signing.
3) I have to get a photograph of me pointing at my book on the bookshelf at a bookstore. My last name is Heppe. This lands me right between Robert Heinlein and Frank Herbert. I'll be insane with joy at the sight of Eternal Knight on a shelf between The Moon is a Harsh Mistress and Dune.

WAHOOOO! SUCCESS!

Sort of.

Kinda.

I cheated.

1) I self published.
2) I didn't hold my book signing in a book store.
3) The photo (above) was taken in my school library.

How do I feel about cheating? GREAT!

1) I used to think self-publishing was for the riff-raff. Maybe it was. But the times are 'a changin'. "Real" authors are self publishing and the walls are crumbling. Getting published by a "legitimate" publisher was my goal because it would have meant that I had proven myself to the powers-that-be in the industry. I would have passed a test of acceptability. I didn't pass the industry test.

What is the test now? Before I truly feel that I have attained goal #1, I have to pass, not an industry test, but a reader test. Will the readers tell me that I have succeeded? Will the readers tell me that I am an author? That is the true test.

2) The book release party at Wissahickon High School was a blast. It felt real, even though it was a party I threw for myself. It was a coming out party for Eternal Knight. For the most part it was attended by people I know, all of them supporting me in my efforts. Did I attain goal two? I think the true test will be on the 24th, when I do my book signing at the Doylestown Bookshop. There will be a lot of friends, but a lot of strangers as well. And the event will be held in a real brick and mortar book store.

3) The photo. I LOVE that photo. Robert Heinlein, Matt Heppe, Frank Herbert. Soooo cool. But there is only one place in the world where that photo is legit: the Wissahickon High School Library. Will that photo ever be taken in a Barnes and Noble, or in a Borders, or in any other big bookstore? I don't know. I'd like to think so. However, I'm not so sure this goal is as important to me as it once was. More important is the feedback I get from readers who say that they have enjoyed Eternal Knight. It is hard to express how much enjoyment I get every time a reader tells me that they liked something I wrote.

Even more fun is when they ask, "When is the next one coming out?"

I'd better get to work.

Book Release Party

2011-06-05T23:56:00.000-04:00

The Eternal Knight Book Release Party was a great success. Thanks to everyone who came out!

Me signing books. I don't see getting tired of this.

Mike Shultz (in light blue) was instrumental in getting Eternal Knight

into publishable form. Janis (red) and Karen (green) are two of my

biggest word of mouth and Facebook supporters.

Because of my (former) student Claire (lt. green) I met

her mother Ann (white). Ann's critique group (which included Lisa [in blue]

took my amateur writing, ripped it apart, and rebuilt it from the ground up.

I can't thank them enough.

Me, speechifying about Eternal Knight.

More speechifying!

Next up: Doylestown Bookshop

Book signing event on June 24th

starting at 7 PM.

WINNER!

2011-06-03T09:57:00.003-04:00

The winner of the Eternal Knight Kindle/Nook/$100 Amazon Gift Card Contest is....

Emily Smith

Emily wrote a wonderful review of Eternal Knight on Amazon.com. She also tweeted about the contest and the book release, for a total of four "tickets" in the raffle.

In all there were 40 raffle "tickets" generated by book reviews, tweets, and other social media. I really appreciate the efforts of everyone who entered the contest. As an independent author I face an uphill battle in my efforts to get attention for Eternal Knight. The contestants helped push me up that path.

The next big event...

Tomorrow! Book release party at Wissahickon High School.

The event will run from 2-4 PM on Saturday, June 4th. John Conahan is going to open the event with some live music. This is reason enough to come!

All profits from tomorrow's event (books, food, drinks) go to WEOF and Cure-CMD.

I hope to see you there! Spread the word!

First Month Numbers

2011-06-01T21:30:00.001-04:00

The Eternal Knight online book release party was one month ago today. How have things gone?

The numbers:
125 paperbacks (sold by me)
28 paperbacks (sold through Amazon and CreateSpace)
15 Kindle ebooks
2 Smashwords ebooks
1 Apple ebook
1 Nook ebook

60 Book bloggers contacted.
1 blog review from a book blogger.
10 bloggers have agreed to review the novel (stretching out for the next six months).

Reader reviews (some of which were cross posted)
10 Amazon reviews
1 B+N review
1 Smashwords review
2 Goodreads reviews

One newspaper article.
One newspaper press release.

$40 donated for charity by generous readers.

Total raised for charity over the past month: $785.

How do I feel about all of the above? FANTASTIC!

It has been a really great experience so far. I am in the red (money wise), and will be for some time. But it is hard to express the value of holding your own novel in your hands, and the feeling you get when people give you positive feedback. Creating something that other people enjoy is a wonderful feeling.

Next up...

In two and a half hours my Kindle/Nook/Amazon Gift Card contest ends. It didn't draw as much attention as I had hoped it would, but c'est la vie. The readers who posted reviews were a huge help. Pretty soon, a lucky winner will get to pick their prize!

This Saturday is my real world book release party. I was out shopping for decorations and goodies today. I am really psyched about the event. John Conahan will open up with a half hour music set while we mingle and snack. I'll follow him with a half an hour of book talk and thank you's. We'll wrap things up with a book signing and chit-chat with the author. I hope you can make the event. It will be held at Wissahickon High School and will run from 2-4 PM. Bring a friend (or three).

On June 24th I'll hold a book signing event at the Doylestown Bookshop. It will run from 7-9 PM. I've dreamed of doing an in-store book signing for ages. It is just around the corner....

Book Two Outline Phase

2011-05-28T09:15:00.001-04:00

I am deep into outlining Book Two. I am a planner, not a pantser. When I write by the seat of my pants I produce a lot of dead end story lines and wasted time. Because of this tendency, I invest heavily in the planning process.

The nice part is that this is Book Two and my world and 80% of the characters have already been created and are well established. This means that my planning is now mostly focused on creating the time line and storyboard.

Right now I am filling in the specifics in a very detailed outline. I love this process. It really puts my brain into the story, thinking about and imagining every scene. I don't think in words, in my mind the story plays out like a movie. If I don't like the way the movie is playing, I hit the rewind and re-direct the scene.

The process is extremely helpful when the actual writing begins. I have seen the scenes before, in great depth, and the writing process is much easier for it. My outline includes little details that are key to setting the tone. I am actually considering importing my outline into the novel itself, and basically overwriting it as I go. This will eliminate flipping back and forth between documents. I'll try it out and let you know how it goes.

When will I write sentence #1? My guess is somewhere around June 15th. How long will it take to write the novel? This is a tough question. Most of Eternal Knight was written in one summer, just before my daughter was born. This time I won't have the luxury of long stretches of uninterrupted writing time. Writer's Block won't be a problem (I think). I know the story too well. Finding the time to write... that will be the challenge. Realistically, I need to have most of the manuscript completed by September if I want to get the book out early in the new year.

***

Other Info:

You have four days left if you want to enter my Kindle/Nook/Amazon Gift Card contest. Check out the link at the top of the page for information.

The newspaper article I mentioned in my last blog post was very complementary, however they did get the time wrong for my Book Release Party on June 4th. The party will run from 2-4 PM at Wissahickon High School. And the error could have been mine. I could easily have accidentally told the reporter the incorrect time.

My First Newspaper Review

2011-05-25T17:13:00.001-04:00

My first newspaper article/review came out yesterday. The online edition is here. I met the reporter a week and a half ago and we had a really nice conversation. It was great fun. I've heard that a lot of writers don't like the selling process. So far I'm having a blast. I love signing books and am really looking forward to my two book events.

The actual newspapers come out tomorrow. I'll have to run out and pick up a stack of them.

REMINDER: You have one week left to enter my Kindle/Nook/Amazon contest!

Countdown(s)

2011-05-23T12:16:00.000-04:00

Nine days left in the Kindle/Nook Giveaway contest. There are three ways to win:

1. Spread the word about the contest.
2. Spread the word about Eternal Knight's release.
3. Write a review of Eternal Knight and post it on a blog or a bookseller's website.

Check out the link for details.

Twelve days left until the Eternal Knight Book Release Party. It will be held on June 4th from 2-4 PM in the Wissahickon High School Audion. All are welcome!

One month (June 24th at 7-9 PM) until I do a book signing at the Doylestown Bookshop.

By the way...
Eternal Knight has raised $600 for WEOF and Cure CMD so far, and we're just getting started!

Upcoming Events

2011-05-17T22:14:00.000-04:00

Ok, so the blog posts have been a bit tame lately. I have been pouring all of my efforts into promoting Eternal Knight. On Sunday I gave my first newspaper interview. It was great fun. I'll make certain to link it when it comes out. Besides that I have been contacting loads of book bloggers about reviewing Eternal Knight. The problem is that most of them have long backlogs of books to reads. Several have agreed to do reviews, and most will come out over the next two months.

On June 4th I am hosting a book release party at Wissahickon High School. The party will start at 2 PM in the Audion lobby with live music from singer-songwriter John Conahan. We'll eat baked goodies and mingle while John performs before moving into the Audion itself for a book talk by yours truly. After I blather on for a bit and answer a few questions, we'll continue our snacking while I sign books and count all the money we have raised for Cure CMD and the Wissahickon Educational Opportunities Foundation.

On June 24th I will be doing a book signing at the Doylestown Bookshop. We'll start at 7 PM with a reading and Q+A session and then move on to the signing. Doylestown is a great town with loads of restaurants and neat shops to visit. Make an evening of it!

I just found out today that Eternal Knight is available in NOOK. That's the last big distributor I was waiting for.

Off I go. Have to sell some books.

By the way, your reviews are really important. If you liked Eternal Knight, please consider writing an Amazon review. And if you are really motivated you could cross post on B+N and Goodreads. Eternal Knight will only succeed with the support of its readers.

Thank you,
Matt

Kemp Says

2011-05-14T23:27:00.000-04:00

My friend Kemp recently wrote a nice article about being a part of the creative process:

I HELPED MAKE THIS!

He also had a nice article written about him:

Polk Lawyer in Tune...

Eternal Knight wouldn't be what it is without Kemp. Take a look at the articles and give him some great feedback.

And, by the way, Eternal Knight is now available from Apple.

Interview and Contest

2011-05-09T23:51:00.001-04:00

I was recently interviewed by CherylAnne Ham at her Making Words Happen blog. It was a fun experience to be the interviewee as opposed to the interviewer. Stop by her blog and say hello. She has a lot of great writing advice. She also does reviews on Good Book Alert.

I'm still plugging away at promoting Eternal Knight. I'm getting a lot of nice feedback, however the challenge seems to be getting the word out. How do you get attention for your book when there are so many others out there? I have been writing to a lot of book bloggers in the hope of getting more reviews. I also have my book release party on June 4th at Wissahickon High School, and it looks like I'll be doing a book reading and signing at the Doylestown Book Shop on June 24th at 7PM. I'll confirm the date soon as I am trying to see if July 1st will work.

Don't forget my Kindle/Nook/Amazon gift card contest. The link is at the top of the page. It is easy to enter and the prize is terrific.

New Eternal Knight Map

2011-05-07T14:57:00.001-04:00

Steven Sandford just sent me this map he created for Eternal Knight.

It is fantastic! This map will replace the current Eternal Knight map and will be used in the rest of the novels in The Orb series. Steve also did the maps for Christian Cameron's historical novels. Check them out here. By the way, Christian writes some of the best historical fiction you will ever read.

Just a reminder that I am running a Kindle/Nook/Amazon Gift Certificate contest. Entry is simple. You get raffle tickets for writing a review of Eternal Knight and/or simply telling other people about the contest and the novel's release. Piece of cake. Check out the link at the top of the page for details.

If you enjoy Eternal Knight please let your friends (or enemies, hell, just tell everyone) know. Word of mouth is a novel's best friend. This is especially true for an independent novel!

All the best,
Matt

Five Star Review!

2011-05-03T21:50:00.000-04:00

Eternal Knight just received a five star review from Good Book Alert! What a great way to send Eternal Knight into the world. It was also the first review I have ever received from someone I truly didn't know. Friends might tell you that they like something you've done, but it is so hard to truly accept what they are saying at face value. After all, they are your friends and they don't want to hurt you.

I'd like to thank everyone who stopped by for the virtual release party last night. I had a lot of fun. It felt good to officially release Eternal Knight.

We had four free book winners from last night:
Twitter: Susan Kaye Quinn
Facebook: Karen G
YouTube: Adam Heine
All commenters: Brennan W

I'll get your books out to you ASAP!

Dont' forget the Kindle/Nook/Amazon Gift Card Contest. It runs until June 1st.

Goodnight!

Virtual Release Party

2011-05-01T19:00:00.008-04:00

Welcome to the Eternal Knight Virtual Release Party!

For the next two hours I will be on my blog, Facebook, and Twitter, answering questions and giving away prizes. Prizes in the form of free books! I'll also introduce my Kindle/Nook/Amazon Gift Certificate contest.

For now, let's start with introductions. I am the guy who is incredibly excited to be here tonight because I am officially releasing my novel, Eternal Knight.

The first contest: I will randomly pick a winner from everyone who comments on my blog. All you have to do is introduce yourself, tell us the name of your favorite novel (or character), and tell us why you like that novel (or character). If you are a writer, you can tell us about your favorite project. The winner gets a signed copy of Eternal Knight. If you are overseas, you'll get an ebook copy.

Keep refreshing your screen. More to come!

The BIG TICKET contest of the night is the Kindle/Nook/Amazon Gift Certificate Contest. Hit the link to check it out.

Free book contests are going to involve:
Twitter
Facebook
Youtube

The Youtube free book contest: I'll randomly pick a free book winner from everyone who comments on the Eternal Knight trailer one of my student made for me.

The Facebook contest requires you to "spread the word" about Eternal Knight on Facebook. You have to make a Facebook update that announces that Eternal Knight has been released. One free book to a random winner. Post below and let me know that you've Facebooked the EK announcement.

The Twitter contest is the same as the Facebook contest. Spread the word. But instead of announcing it here, you have to include the #EternalKnight hashtag. One free book to a random winner.

All of the contests (except for the Kindle/Nook one) will last until midnight EST, Monday, May 2nd.

If it is before 9 PM, refresh your screen to see new comments while you are visiting.

Release Eve Thoughts

2011-04-30T22:18:00.003-04:00

Eternal Knight has been a project 23 years in the making.

That's a helluva long time, Matt, some of you are thinking.

Yep.

I started Eternal Knight in college. I had two primary inspirations for starting a novel...

1) I had just finished a fantasy trilogy that I was supremely disappointed with. I had read the author before, and liked his books. But this trilogy felt mailed in. I never felt any threat for the main characters. They were just too powerful (and too good) to die. After griping about it for a while, I thought it was time to put up, or shut up. Could I do better?

No, I will not tell you who the author was.

2) My second motivation was Star Wars. I have always believed that Luke Skywalker should have turned to the Dark Side. I'll save my defense for this proposition for some other time. It did, however, give me the start for a novel. I would write a fantasy novel in which the "Luke Skywalker" character would turn to the Dark Side.

Did I just give away the most important plot element of Eternal Knight? Nope! The book has changed a lot in 23 years. The world is the same, the underlying threat is the same, but the story is nothing like it was back then.

I won't take you though all 23 years of writing Eternal Knight. (You're welcome.) I'll just say that the early years were marked by tremendous doubt that I had the skill to write a fantasy novel. I kept comparing myself to JRR Tolkien and realizing that I could never write like he did. And if I couldn't write like Tolkien, I couldn't write fantasy.

Half way through Eternal Knight I gave up and write a science fiction novel. Voila! The problem of having to write as well as Tolkien was eliminated. Unfortunately, the sci-fi novel was not good. The story was fine, but the writing was not. But the experience did help me grow as a writer. It also showed me that I could finish a full-length novel.

With renewed confidence, I returned to Eternal Knight. I loved the story too much to let it slip away. And, with more maturity, I realized that there was no requirement in the fantasy genre to write like Tolkien. With the help of some great critique partners, I managed (with many fits and starts) to complete Eternal Knight. Over a period of several years I sent three volleys of query letters out to agents, each without success.

I waited and waited for "the call". It never arrived. But I couldn't bear to let Eternal Knight die on my hard drive. I had too much faith in it. So I decided to self-publish. It wasn't an easy decision. When you decide to self-publish you paint a great big target on your chest. After all, you have just declared yourself worthy of publication. You have just ignored all of the gatekeepers in the publishing world. And when you declare yourself worthy, you have to be prepared for those who are going to take aim at you.

And so I find myself here, releasing Eternal Knight to the world. I couldn't be happier. And before I go further, I must say that I couldn't have done this alone. I thought of reprinting my acknowledgements page here, but decided against it. I want the people on that page to have the experience of reading their names in the book. But to everyone who has helped or encouraged me...

Thank you!

Eternal Knight Trailer

2011-04-29T20:47:00.001-04:00

One of my (fantastic) students created this Eternal Knight commercial. Thanks, Anil!

Perfect timing! The Eternal Knight virtual book release party is this Sunday, May 1st, from 7-9 PM EST. I'll be giving away signed books and revealing the rules for a Kindle/Nook/Amazon gift card contest.

FOUR DAYS!

2011-04-27T17:33:00.000-04:00

Four days until Eternal Knight is officially released!

Join us on Sunday night from 7-9PM EST for a virtual release party. FREE BOOKS!

I'll also announce a Kindle/Nook/Amazon gift card contest.

And don't forget the June 4th real-world book release party at Wissahickon High School.

Of course, I couldn't wait and pre-ordered a stack of books. I hand-sold 27 copies today. Still not tired of signing books! And I don't see getting tired of it any time soon. That's $135 for WEOF and Cure CMD! More to come...

Nine Days and Counting

2011-04-22T09:14:00.001-04:00

Nine days until the official release of Eternal Knight!

What do I have in store for you?

May 1st: Virtual Release Party from 7-9 PM EST. I will be hanging around my blog, my Facebook author page, and twitter answering questions and giving away free copies of Eternal Knight. I will also be starting a month-long contest with the first prize of a Kindle, a Nook, or a $100 Amazon gift card!

June 4th: Book Release Party from 2-4 PM EST in the Wissahickon High School Audion in Ambler, PA. We will have snacks for sale (all proceeds going to WEOF and Cure CMD). There will also be live music provided by John Conahan. I will have copies of Eternal Knight for sale and will give a short book talk/thank you speech.

I hope to see all of you at both events!

Matt

A Note to my Family, Friends, and Fans

2011-04-18T00:22:00.001-04:00

Eternal Knight will be coming out very soon. It will appear first as a paperback in my CreateSpace store. (CreateSpace is Amazon's print on demand subsidiary.) Soon after, it will be available in its Amazon Kindle version, and then as a paperback on Amazon. A few weeks later it will be available via virtually every eBook distributor. The official release date is still May 1st, and I am 100% certain it will be widely available at that point in time.

A lot of you have wished me the best in this endeavor, and I am very appreciative of all the support. As you know, I am self-publishing Eternal Knight. This means I could really use your support. There are a number of ways you can help Eternal Knight be a success.

1) Each of you needs to buy about 50 copies in a variety of formats.
2) Rate and review EK wherever you bought it. (And on other sites as well.)
3) Blog about it.
4) Tweet about it.
5) Facebook about it.
6) Talk it up.
7) Buy a few more copies.

What Eternal Knight needs is buzz. There is no publishing house putting advertising money behind EK. Its success will be driven by its readers.

Do I want you to tell everyone how much you liked it? Hell, yes! Do I want you to lie about it? NO! Please be genuine in your support. If you think it rates 5 stars, by all means give it five stars. If you think it deserves 3 stars, some good comments, and a few (gentle) rebukes, go right ahead. If you think it deserves 1 star, well, don't you have something better to do than reviewing books? Turn off the computer and take a nice walk.

People browsing through Amazon will know a fake, dolled-up review. Don't do it.

As most of you know, I am giving all of the profits from Eternal Knight to charity until August 1st, 2011. Here's how you can get your charity dollars to go the longest distance:

In paperback:
1) Buy it from me in person. Not only do you save shipping, but I can buy the books at wholesale.
2) Buy it from my CreateSpace store.
3) Buy it from Amazon.com
4) Buy it from any other retailer. (This option actually pays almost nothing to charity.)

In eBook: Almost 70% of every purchase will go to charity. It doesn't really matter which eBook retailer you buy it from.

Thanks!
Matt

The "Final" Proof

2011-04-14T22:07:00.002-04:00

Just received the "final" proof copy of Eternal Knight in the mail today.

"Final" because I might find something wrong with it and have to resubmit it... ***argh*** My fingers are crossed that we don't find any flaws.

No problem. We still have time before the official launch. And I'd rather catch those last few mistakes than rush in and print 250 flawed copies.

I'd show you a copy, but...

Helen took the only copy and won't give it back. Comet is happy. They won't move from that couch for hours.

I worked on the Kindle version today. A few kinks, but they'll be worked out. My friend, Mike Shultz, is a whiz when it comes to fixing technical glitches, so we'll figure it out soon. By the way, if you haven't read his writing advice, you need to get over to his site.

Still on target for a May 1st book launch. Seventeen days away!

It looks like we'll be holding a BOOK RELEASE PARTY in the Wissahickon High School Audion lobby on June 4th from 2-4 PM. John Conahan will be performing the entire play list from his awesome Better off by Myself album. This fact is reason enough to go to the party! Mark your calendar. Everyone is invited.

More soon!

Book Release in 23 Days!

2011-04-07T22:12:00.000-04:00

Just a quick update on how things are going...

~~1) Finalize cover.~~
2) ~~Write acknowledgments~~.
3) ~~Write "about the author".~~
4) Get map back from artist. >I have my own map ready just in case.
~~5) Finish back cover text.~~
6) Get two blurbs from (kind-hearted) authors.
~~7) Set up social media.~~
8) Format text for Kindle, Apple, and Nook. >Did a test run. No problem.
9) Prepare for release party/event. >Will probably be held June 4th.
10) Contact local newspapers.
11) Learn more about marketing. >Working on it.
12) Upload final copy for printing. >Just days away. Finishing final proof read now.
13) Order books. How many? >Still don't know about this one.
~~14) Reveal secret big announcement.~~ All profits go to charity.

I am still on target for the May 1st release. Getting very psyched!

Cover Unveiling

2011-04-02T08:52:00.001-04:00

Here it is! Eternal Knight's cover!

It was done by Ken Hendrix at crowdSPRING. I LOVE THIS COVER! I can only hope the quality of my writing matches the quality of the cover...

Here it is, front and back:

I have my cover. My proofreaders are mostly finished. The map is on its way. We are getting very close.

All Profits...

2011-03-30T17:29:00.000-04:00

We are just over a month out from the official release date of Eternal Knight. Things are getting really exciting. I have to say, preparing Eternal Knight for publication has been a blast.

One big question remains... what am I going to do with the truckloads of loot that I am about to haul in?

I know that's been at the top of your mind as well.

And here's your answer:

Until August 1st, 2011, all profits from Eternal Knight will be donated to charity. The money will be divided between Cure CMD and the Wissahickon Educational Opportunities Foundation.

Why these groups?

Cure CMD’s mission is to bring research, treatments and in the future, a cure for Congenital Muscular Dystrophies. Two of my closest friends have a son with CMD. Liam is a fantastic kid. Seriously, there's nothing not to like about this guy. (Scott and Susan might have something to say about this, but hey, I don't have to live with him.) Susan and Scott are the type of friends who will drop whatever they are doing and come to your aid if you need them. Over the years they have shown my family great friendship. It gives me great happiness to do this for Liam, his parents, and all the other families dealing with CMD.

The Wissahickon Educational Opportunities Foundation is a non-profit organization that promotes innovative, educational experiences for students in the Wissahickon School District. I firmly believe that education is they key to building a better society. My family lives in the Wissahickon School District, my daughter attends school in the Wissahickon School District, and I teach in the Wissahickon School District. If you didn't get it yet, WSD means a lot to me. Through Eternal Knight I hope to give something back to my community.

How much will I be donating? I have no idea. Like many writers I daydream about bestseller lists and movie deals. Realistically, I understand that this is not going to happen. What I am hoping for is to sell 500 books. Each book will make $2-$4 for charity depending of format and place of purchase.

I started this blog two years ago. In my first post I wrote about my three goals as a writer. By self-publishing Eternal Knight I miss all three goals. I find myself at peace with that failure. I have loved every step in the process of writing and self-publishing. I believe in Eternal Knight and am proud that it won't die a slow death on my computer. Eternal Knight will soon see the light of day and in doing so raise money for two great organizations.

The Proofs are In

2011-03-25T18:59:00.000-04:00

The proofs arrived today. Very cool to see Eternal Knight in print, even if it just has a temporary cover on it.

I immediately went to the post office and sent three copies off to my proof readers (THANK YOU!). Hopefully they'll come back with some nice feedback in the next week or so. The proof edits shouldn't take more than a day to knock out once I get the comments back.

My cover is in the oven. I am using CrowdSpring to create it. If you get a chance, check CS out. You offer a reward for the cover design and artists compete to design the best cover for you. It's a really cool concept.

The acknowledgments and about the author are done, so as soon as the cover, the map, and proof comments come back I am in business. May 1st still looks to be a good date for the official book release.

Now I need to focus on marketing. What's the best way to get the word out? That's the question I need to start finding answers to.

And there's another big announcement coming... but you'll have to wait for that one.

To Do List

2011-03-22T15:53:00.000-04:00

Forty days until release day. What still needs to be done?

1) Finalize cover.
2) ~~Write acknowledgments~~. Proof acknowledgments.
3) ~~Write "about the author".~~
4) Get map back from artist.
5) Finish back cover text.
6) Get two blurbs from (kind-hearted) authors.
7) Set up social media.
8) Format text for Kindle, Apple, and Nook.
9) Prepare for release party/event.
10) Contact local newspapers.
11) Learn more about marketing.
12) Upload final copy for printing.
13) Order books. How many?
14) Reveal secret big announcement.

The cool thing is that I am looking forward to every one of the above steps.

Am I missing anything? I'm certain I am.

Back Cover

2011-03-20T09:36:00.001-04:00

Getting a lot done this weekend. Two of the easier tasks were knocking out the "acknowledgments" and "about the author" notes.

The back cover text was a little more difficult. Back cover text is much more visible and plays a role in attracting readers. Here is my effort so far:

Hadde of Landomere is a huntress who has sworn to protect and provide for her people. But when the Wasting brings famine and destruction upon the peaceful forest, she must leave Landomere to seek aid in the distant Kingdom of Salador.

Hadde's mission is fraught with peril. Strange silver-eyed warriors dog her path, brigands wait in ambush, and even the Saladorans pose their own dangers.

An unlikely alliance with a Saladoran Prince and unexpected news of an ancient evil transform Hadde's mission from one to save her village to one to save the world.

So, what do you think? Enticing? Lame? Riddled with errors? I'm not crazy about the prince and ancient evil sentence. All thoughts appreciated...

It's in the Proof

2011-03-18T08:36:00.000-04:00

Just ordered five proof copies of Eternal Knight this morning. They should arrive in five days. Can't wait!

Anyone want to be a proof reader? You'll get a proof copy of the novel (temporary cover, no jacket info, no interior info--just formatted text) and will need to carefully read with a pen in hand.

This is what I'm looking for:

1) Spelling mistakes
2) Grammar errors
3) Formatting problems (especially underlines that should be italics).
4) Terrible word choice or repeated words on the same page.

This is not what I'm looking for:
1) Writing suggestions. This won't be a critique session, just proof reading.
2) Story advice (Hey, Matt, maybe Hadde should be a 45 year old man instead of a 21 year old woman. Oh, and she/he should carry a six-shooter).

If you are in the Philly area, all the better. However, if you can offer a fast turnaround and solid proof reading, I'll happily mail one off. (Unless you live in, say, Thailand.) I'm putting out the open call because I don't want the proof reading done by critique partners or anyone else who has already read the manuscript.

Thanks for the help!

Next post: the checklist of things still to be done.

Countdown to release date: 44 days.

On Joining the Great Unwashed

2011-03-11T23:19:00.003-05:00

It is with great pleasure that I announce Eternal Knight will be officially released on May 1st of this year.

Who is the publisher?

moi

Yes, you read that right. I am self-publishing my novel.

It was not an easy decision, but I ultimately decided that it was the right one for me. My original goal was to follow the traditional route. I would gain an agent, the agent would find a publisher, and all would be right with the universe. Things fell apart in stage one. I couldn't land an agent.

Why didn't I land an agent? It is impossible to know for sure. The majority of the agents I queried only wanted a query letter and five to ten pages of the manuscript. I think I had a good query letter, nothing spectacular, but no serious flaws.

Was it the pages I sent? I think this might be the case. The opening of Eternal Knight is a dramatic action sequence. Unfortunately there is nothing that screams this book is different! The dramatic twists and turns that set Eternal Knight apart from other fantasy novels don't occur for several chapters. The first chapters set you up for the twists that are to come. The agents, unlike a reader, never got that far.

Eternal Knight is also an epic fantasy. No elves, goblins, or dragons, but it is still epic fantasy. My query was competing with approximately a gazillion other epic fantasies. My agent queries failed to set it apart from my competitors.

Why do I think it will succeed as a self-published novel? I have great faith in Eternal Knight. I know that I have created an exciting, entertaining story. I am certain that many readers will gain great enjoyment from it.

Of course every delusional self-published author thinks the same. And their books are terrible and don't sell.* What gives me the right to claim that I am not one of the great unwashed?

Audacity, more audacity, always audacity.

When it comes right down to it, I just couldn't bear the idea of Eternal Knight sitting on a shelf in my office until.... what? Until I die? I've poured too much of myself into the book to let it die with me. What do I have to lose by putting it out there for the world to see? I am proud of what I've created, and it will give me great pleasure to share it with others, as few--or as many--as that turns out to be.

I am incredibly excited by the entire process of preparing Eternal Knight for publication. In fact, I am more excited about writing than I've been in a very long time.

I have a lot more that I'll be sharing with you over the next month and a half. And a few surprises as well.

Off I go, more work to do.

*clearly they aren't ALL terrible and don't sell. Just most of them. Some are quite good. Some are best sellers.

Winds of Change

2011-02-25T19:57:00.000-05:00

So you thought I had disappeared from the blogosphere. I suppose I did.

We shall now commence with the Litany of Excuses:

1) We moved into a new home.
2) We unsuccessfully tried to sell our old home.
3) We had to find renters for our old home.
4) I became bummed out about the entire "getting published" thing.
5) I escaped my depression by playing EVE Online, a really cool sci-fi MMORPG.
6) I have a real job.

But the winds of change are blowing...
1) Done. Needs work, but it is a nice place.
2) Done trying.
3) Done. Have some great tenants moving in this weekend.
4) Got over it. Doesn't matter any more.
5) Done. Gave away my fleet of ships and fortune in ISK.
6) Not an excuse.

So what's up? Things are changing for the better, the wind is in the sails, and we're heading for the high seas.

And Eternal Knight will be in print.

Dracula vs. Frankenstein

2010-11-24T22:25:00.001-05:00

Just finished Frankenstein the other night. Combined with Dracula, I've now successfully caught up on two classic, must-read sci-fi/fantasy novels. Both were good, but after much thought, I'm giving the nod to Dracula.

What tipped the balance?

Monster Characters (tie score): Both monsters are terrific. Deviously intelligent, immensely strong, and as agile as any professional athlete, both are more than a match for any mortal man. Frankenstein's monster was intelligent and agile? That was a surprise. I was used to the movie monster with big shoes and a square head. No so in the novel. Like Dracula, he is able to climb sheer cliffs, and Frankenstein's monster also easily dashes across an Alpine glacier. FM (he is never named) is also well-read and an eloquent speaker. In fact, of the two, FM is the more devious. Dracula gets props for special powers: assuming the form of mist, wolf, and bat, and of course, sucking blood and creating more vampires.

Human Characters (Frankenstein wins): Ugh, the male protagonists of Dracula were uniformly brave, just, intelligent, considerate, blah, blah, blah. Not a flaw amongst them. The were all the best examples of Victorian Manhood. Lucy and Mina were wonderful, supportive wives, and helpless victims. Victor Frankenstein on the other hand, was a deeply flawed and much more realistic person. I didn't especially like him, but he was a far superior character.

Story (tie score): Both were creative, original stories. Dracula follows the human protagonists as they struggle to save Lucy, Mina, (and all of England) from the supernatural power of the vampire. Frankenstein is the more personal story of Victor Frankenstein and his tragic life following the creation of his monster. Frankenstein also gives you much more insight into the monster's personal story.

Believability (Dracula wins): When it comes to the willing suspension of disbelief, it isn't even close. Frankenstein just had too many holes. One of the worst examples: FM spends months secretly living in an unused room, spying on a French emigre family living in Switzerland. Although FM gathers wood for the family every night (much to their surprise), they somehow never see his footprints in the snow. And although this giant of a man lives just a few feet from them, they never hear a sound. Too much to believe.

Engagement (Dracula wins): I couldn't stop reading Dracula. Even though it didn't have the pace of a modern novel, it was still a page-turner. Frankenstein...just...dragged...on...and...on. Page after page of exposition. Page after page of Victor Frankenstein having yet another emotional breakdown. Long, long sections of back-story that weren't even needed.

Overall I'd give Frankenstein a good rating of 3/5 stars and Dracula a very good rating of 4/5.

Last post I asked if any of you knew how Dracula died. Bram Stoker went into great depth explaining how a vampire could be killed. It required a stake through the heart, decapitation, and stuffing garlic in the vampire's mouth. This is how Lucy and the three Brides of Dracula are slain. Dracula however, has his throat slashed by an English lawyer wielding a Nepalese Kukri knife before being stabbed in the heart by a Texan wielding a Bowie knife. Didn't see that coming, did you? Hrm...why kill Dracula this way after putting so much effort into describing the proper way of killing a vampire? Smells like the makings of a sequel to me.

So how did Frankenstein's Monster meet his end? And where did it happen? No peeking.

Dracula

2010-10-15T23:44:00.000-04:00

Just finished reading Dracula the other day. Absolutely loved it. Why?

1) It's a great story. Yeah, it might not have the pace of a modern novel, and the fear factor might not be up to current standards, but it is still one hell of a story.

2) I loved getting a taste of Victorian culture. I am a history (and economics) teacher and was fascinated by the insights into the technology, language, and thought depicted in the novel. One of my favorite examples were the blood transfusions given to Lucy by Dr Van Helsing. Lucy receives three direct blood transfusions from three different men, and blood typing receives nary a mention. Van Helsing also comments on the potent nature of "male" blood and the positive effect it will have on the weakened Lucy.

3) I feel like I filled on of the many missing gaps in my "must read" list. Dracula is a book I think every fantasy, horror, or thriller fan has to read at some point. It was also the first epistolary novel (it consists entirely of journal entries, letters, telegrams, and newspaper clippings) I have ever read. I had no idea the novel took this form when I picked it up. A cool reading experience.

So what didn't I like? I only have one major complaint about the novel, and that has to do with the (human) characters. With the exception of the insane Renfield, the main characters ridiculously, boringly good. The five male protagonists were uniformly intelligent, brave, and morally upright. The women, Lucy and Mina, were kind, helpful, and supportive, at least until Lucy turned into a vampire. Mina was the perfect, supportive wife, studying stenography and memorizing train schedules to aid her husband in his law career. Adding a few character flaws would have made the story a lot more interesting and could have potentially added a lot of tension to the story.

Overall, I highly recommend Dracula. Read it!

Bonus question: How does Dracula die? Don't cheat and look it up, just tell me how you think Dracula dies.

House for Sale

2010-09-23T22:35:00.000-04:00

I'll be AFK for a little while. We are buying a new house and selling our old house. The process is sucking up all of my free time. I'll be back in a week or so.

And if you're interested in a nice house in Blue Bell, Pennsylvania......

Inspiration

2010-09-08T23:08:00.000-04:00

Where do your ideas come from? The question is never far from the lips of non-writers. Someday I'll write about the origins of Eternal Knight. But today's post is about my next work. So.... where did the ideas come from.....

1) Lions
2) My wife and daughter
3) My neighbor
4) Yesterday's Enterprise (an episode from Star Trek: The Next Generation)
5) Charlie Brown and the little red-headed girl from the comic strip, Peanuts.

We'll start with LIONS. Everyone loves lions, don't they? They are majestic and powerful, noble, heroic, and occasionally cute and cuddly. For the purposes of this blog, we'll ignore the bloodthirsty, vicious aspects.

I'll credit two lion documentaries as inspiration for my next novel: Lions of the African Night and Lions and Hyenas: Eternal Enemies. Both films demonstrate the total devotion the lioness feels for her offspring. Lions and Hyenas puts this devotion into the context of an eternal war with a remorseless enemy. Now a lioness can handle a single hyena one on one, but she will have trouble killing it. And if a pack of hyenas show up, a small pride of lionesses can be overwhelmed.

An adult male lion is another matter. A big male is a hyena killer, but they are often away from the back, unable to protect the pride. The following video is six minutes long. It shows what happens when the lion arrives on the field of battle. (The video is the end of Lions and Hyenas. If you like lions/wildlife documentaries you should watch the whole program from the beginning. The video is also not necessary for you to get the gist of this blog entry.)

And, by the way, there are no lions in my novel.

my wife and my daughter

My wife and daughter are also not in the novel. But I will say that being a husband and a father change the way you look at the world. And my wife is a lioness. Trust me, if you are a threat to our daughter absolutely nothing will save you from my wife's wrath.

my neighbor and I

The photo doesn't do Chris justice. I am 5'10" tall and 160 pounds. Chris is 6'9" and 300 pounds. He's a big dude. He's not imposing. He's IMPOSING. He's also one of the nicest people I've ever met. How nice? Plowing driveways, rescuing neighbors in their broken down cars, and running generators (powering sump pumps and refrigerators) during a power outages. All for free. He does those things because those are the "things neighbors do".

Chris is in the book, sort of.

Yesterday's Enterprise is a terrific Star Trek episode. What do I like about it? It is a story of sacrifice. I am an absolute sucker for tales of sacrifice (both real and imagined). There are some people out there, who knowing they will certainly perish, step forward and do the right thing. They are willing to risk their one chance at life in order to save the lives of others.

And finally... the little red-headed girl in Peanuts. What does she have to do with my novel? How did she serve as inspiration? Unrequited love. Poor Charlie Brown, he loves her so, but can never get her attention, yet alone her love. Done poorly unrequited love can be pure sap. Done well it can be heart wrenching.

Putting it all together we have the story of...

a child in peril and a mother who will do anything to save her against insurmountable odds.
a giant of a man, feared by those who meet him, but who always does the right thing.
another man charging to the rescue, fearing he will be too late to save the woman he loves.

...all enfolded in a story of sacrifice.

The YA feel

2010-08-22T22:58:00.001-04:00

A while back I considered changing my protagonist's age to 16 and revising Eternal Knight into a YA novel. YA seemed to be the the "place to be" and it wouldn't require a major rewrite to make it happen.

But it didn't work. At least it didn't work for me. Hadde isn't a sixteen year old. She has always been a twentysomething to me. I originally wrote her as a 28 year old. Only later did I revise her down to 23. I just can't imagine her any younger than that. She is just too tough, too experienced...too world-wise to be a sixteen year old.

I recently read a Dystel & Goderich agency blog entry on the YA summertime feel. The post's author, Miriam, notes that YA is about good storytelling that doesn't get bogged down with dense writing or dark mid-life themes. YA offers a great escape, and that's why even adults love it.

Eternal Knight isn't a Young Adult novel, but I do think it offers the escape and good storytelling of a YA novel. But how do I get that across in my query letter? How do I get a query letter reader to realize that I'll take them on a great journey in less than 250 words?

Summer Vacation

2010-08-10T00:09:00.000-04:00

Maybe I took summer vacation a little too seriously this year. Taking a look back, my last blog post was written on the last day of the school year. I guess I started behaving just like my students do... I shut down.

What did I do with my time?

I played a good bit of EVE Online. A terrific game, but it just takes too much time to really play it the way I would want to. I quit last night.

I spent a lot of time with my daughter. One of the great things about being a teacher is the amount of time it gives you to spend with your child(ren). We had (and will have for a few more weeks) a great time at our local swim club. My daughter started doing the backstroke for the first time. I can now do a really ugly front flip with a half twist.

I got a lot of work done around the house. We briefly thought of selling our house this summer. This brought on a period of frantic activity as we fixed the place up. Now the house looks so good we want to keep it.

I thought about writing. Thought about it. Now I have some really great ideas that need to go down on paper. My next blog post will be about inspiration. I just need a photo of my neighbor before I can write it...

Back soon.

Battles, fights, and general mayhem

2010-06-14T10:06:00.000-04:00

Novels often include the most ridiculous depictions of combat. Fantasy novels are some of the worst, but the problem cuts across all genres. If we want to broaden our scope we should include all of the following movie genres: action/thriller, science fiction, fantasy, martial arts, and war (although some war films have gotten much better recently). We can also include virtually anything shown on television.

Many offenses (but certainly not all) fit into the following categories:

Stormtrooper effect/Principle of Evil Marksmanship: bad guys are terrible shots. (Even if described as being lethal killers.)

Law of the Conservation of the Ninja: ninja (bad guys) are weaker in large groups. (A single ninja is nearly unbeatable.)

One-at-a-time attack rule: Large groups of villains will only attack one at a time.

Two friends of mine have written excellent blog posts on the topic or realistic combat:

Christian Cameron writes the best historical fiction I have ever read. In this blog post he writes about the nature of warfare. (The blog thread is actually about the use of elephants in ancient warfare.)

Mike Shultz' fantasy novel, The Sword of Memory, is being published in Germany this fall. In this writing advice column (click writing advice and check out Lesson 16) he discusses rules for combat realism in fantasy.

Nothing makes me want to drop a novel faster than unrealistic action/combat sequences. So follow Mike's rules and read Christian Cameron's blog and we will all enjoy a better reading experience.

Now go out there and hurt your good guys.

Sooooo........

2010-06-08T10:35:00.001-04:00

I've been away for a little while. What have I been up to?

My manuscript is in the hands of the German editor of my friend Mike Shultz' novel. I met Carsten when Mike and I had lunch with him in NYC last August. I'm going to put my query process on hold while Carsten has the manuscript. With no prior writing credits, I think my query letter will look substantially stronger with a foreign publication on it. Just need it to be accepted.....

I haven't been doing much writing. Mike suggested I work on the sequel to Eternal Knight, but write it as a stand-alone novel. I like his idea and have been doing some outlining.

I have also been playing some EVE Online. It is a wonderful science fiction MMORPG set in outer space. I've been splitting my time between chasing NPC pirates and playing the commodities markets. In EVE 90% of goods are player-produced. This allows for genuine market activities to occur. I'd love to find a way to include aspects of the game in the teaching of my AP Economics class.

Off to fire up the engines on the Hussar, my Thrasher class destroyer. Or maybe I'll take the Adam Smith out on a trade run. I hear there are good prices for oxygen over in the Pator system.

The Motivation of Evil

2010-05-19T21:42:00.000-04:00

Several years ago, when I was first outlining Eternal Knight, my friend, Christian Cameron, sat down with me and let me “pitch” the novel to him. In my pitch I described an epic struggle of good versus evil, all revolving around three ancient artifacts of great power.

As I described the evil warlord leading his hosts in a vicious war of conquest, Christian stopped me.

“What’s his motivation?” Christian asked.

“Huh?”

“The bad guy. Why’s he trying to conquer the world?”

“Uhhh,” I started. And then, “Hmmmm.” I thought about it for a bit. “Because he’s, well, bad.”

Christian just gave me a pathetic look. “He’s got to have a reason he wants to do this.”

“He’s evil. Like Sauron.”

“You’re not Tolkien. Tolkien could get away with it.” And then Christian said something to me that hit me like a truck. “You know what Hitler saw when he looked in the mirror? He saw a hero.” I don’t know if Christian is the first person to make that statement, but it set me back for a moment.

Hitler saw himself as a hero. The bad guy thinks he’s a good guy. What if my bad guy thinks he’s a good guy?

“He thinks he’s saving the world,” I said.

“From what?”

Ahhhh…from what?

And so the Wasting was born. A dreaded disease of magical origin threatening all life in the world. A disease that everyone wanted to cure.

The good guys want to cure it as well. Wait a sec….

What if my bad guy is really the good guy? What if my protagonist discovers she is on the wrong side?

Wait a sec… what if there are no good guys? All the major powers are self-interested and use the Wasting as an excuse to improve their situation.

And so Eternal Knight was born. A protagonist who has grown up in a world dominated by war and the Wasting leaves home to seek aid from greater powers. In her journey she discovers that good isn’t always good and evil isn’t always what it appears to be.

Thanks, Christian.

Crazy Busy

2010-05-09T23:02:00.000-04:00

Sorry I've been away so long, but I've been crazy busy lately...

I teach AP Economics to high school seniors and we are taking our AP Exams this Thursday. This is always a very intense time of the year. The whole focus of the year is success on the AP Exams (microeconomics and macroeconomics). If students do well (a score of 4 or 5) they can usually get college credit for the course. This makes success potentially worth two thousand dollars.

In a few days my school year eases up in a big way. Just have to make it through this final push.

On to writing... I've been analyzing and re-analyzing my query strategy. I don't want to mass-query every possible agent all at one time. However, a limited-query effort will mean a lot more waiting. So who do I query first? Patience, patience, patience....

Query-time is a good time to think about the next project. What's been on my mind?
1) The sequel to Eternal Knight.
2) Another novel set in the Eternal Knight world.
3) Re-writing a sci-fi novel I completed (and then abandoned) years ago.
4) Write an oil/espionage thriller.

I did manage to finish the Turkey Hill Classic bike race I mentioned in my last post. "Finish" being the key word. I placed 27th out of 50 starters in the Cat 5 (beginner) race. Don't let this fool you--I was way off the back of the pack. Twenty starters never finished the race.

I enjoyed the experience of the bike race, but was disappionted by my performance. I was dropped by the pack (peleton) in the first half of the first lap (of four 10k laps). I was really hoping to see what it would be like to mix it up in the peleton. The pace was incredibly fast off the start. It was much more than I excpected from a Cat 5 race.

Off to bed! Have a great one!

Biking on the Brain

2010-04-24T09:07:00.002-04:00

Sorry for the silence--I've had biking on my brain.

About two weeks ago I went out for a two hour bike ride with my friend Whit. (He runs a terrific cycling blog called Pave.) I had a great ride and as we finished Whit made a comment that I should enter a race. That's all the motivation it took. I immediately signed up for the Turkey Hill Classic, a 40k (24 mile) road race near Lancaster, Pennsylvania. I have entered the race as a Category 5 (beginner) and am both very excited and very nervous about the event.

For many years I was a competitive distance runner. However, running and cycling are very different beasts. They both share the same goal--crossing the finish line first. But bike racing is a much more tactical event. In running you can just take off and lead the whole way. Strong finishers might want a slower pace, and poor sprinters might want a fast pace, but overall tactics are pretty simple.

In bike racing you can save over 30% of your energy just by drafting (following closely) behind the rider ahead of you. Leading a race from the beginning becomes almost impossible as all of your competitors will be 30% fresher than you. What will my strategy be? It's called "Don't be stupid." This will consist on trying to control my exuberance and not charging out to the lead from the very beginning.

What does this have to do with writing? Not much. However, I will say that cycling is a great sport for writers. Cycling provides a lot of time to think, and I spend a lot of riding time thinking about Eternal Knight. Many good ideas have come to me while in the saddle.

Any how is my writing going? Very well. I am not rushing into the query process, but am letting the manuscript "rest" for a bit before jumping into things. I am resisting the urge to mass query and will take it one step at a time.

Chapter One "Wordle"

2010-04-12T15:05:00.001-04:00

Adam Heine inspired me to "Wordle" the first chapter of Eternal Knight. Not a surprise that "Hadde" came out very big.

I wonder what people who have never read chapter one would get out of the wordle...

THE END

2010-04-08T23:25:00.000-04:00

Finished my "final" read through of Eternal Knight today. It feels good to be "done". What's with all the quotation marks? Well, a novel is never really "done". Someone out there will find mistakes that need fixing. Someone else could make suggestions that would improve the manuscript. No novel is perfect.

What's next? Time to find an agent. I'm not going to rush into things. I have a list of agents that needs one more going over. I also have a few readers looking at the first few chapters--just to make sure I don't have any silly mistakes left in there.

I won't be reporting back to you on the query process. What kind of impression would it make on a curious agent if they came here to find me reporting a stack of form rejection letters? So... I'll keep posting, but you won't hear about how the query process is going.

It felt great to read, THE END. I love Eternal Knight and I can't wait for it to move on to the next step on the path to publication.

Progress, Disney, and Dad

2010-04-05T22:41:00.000-04:00

Progress

So close I can almost feel it now. I am on chapter 21 of 29 of my final read-through of Eternal Knight. It scares the hell out of me that I just read one of my favorite chapters and loved it. What's scary about that? If it turns out that nobody else likes it, well... it makes me out to be a deluded idiot. And who wants to be a deluded idiot?

Progress has been excellent over the past week, this despite the fact that we just got back from Walt Disney World. So now, a brief commentary on Walt Disney World:

Disney

1) Disney is an amazing organization. The employees were incredibly helpful and friendly. The whole park is clean and runs like clockwork. They picked us up from the airport and took great care of us up to the very moment they returned us to the airport.

2) We stayed on the resort (Port Orleans) and used their dining plan. The dining plan, combined with a $500 gift card (a free upgrade to our package) meant that we only spent $40 cash above the actual package cost. If you go, get on the dining plan, it will save you a ton of money. And make reservations well before you go. Once you get there you will have a very hard time getting meal reservations at their (excellent) sit-down restaurants.

3) Use the Fast-Pass system. It lets you cut to the front of the line for the really popular rides. My strategy: get to the park as soon as it opens, get a Fast Pass for the most popular ride in the park, ride your #2 and #3 choice rides, and then use your Fast Pass. Then, if you are there during Spring Break, be prepared to wait forever for another ride. Or, go back to the resort and swim and do other activities. After dinner, go back to one of the parks. By the way, we'll never go back during Spring Break-- it was mobbed. The crowds were the only downside of the experience.

4) I think you're best off waiting until your youngest child is five or six before you go. I don't think you can get the full experience before then. And toting around a grumpy kid at a theme park is just no fun. Amelia just turned six, and she had a great time. You also need to be 44 inches tall to get on the decent rides.

5) Must do activities.... The Himalaya roller-coaster at Animal Kingdom was great. The Safari ride was also very good. We didn't get a chance to see the shows there, but I heard they are good. Animal Kingdom was MOBBED. The Stunt Show, Indiana Jones Show, and Jedi Training were all great Hollywood Studios events. The auto Stunt Show was truly amazing.

One of the best parts of the trip was the chance to visit with our friends the Brinsons and the Grodes. In a later blog post I'll write about my adventures in the World of Warcraft. The best thing to come out of that year of gaming was my friendship with Kemp and Melissa and Bob and Lori. All are Orlando area residents and came out to the park to see us. Bob and Lori brought their kids and spent the day at Magic Kingdom with us. Kemp and Melissa brought their daughter and met us for dinner. Two years ago (the last time we were in Florida) my wife was incredulous that I was taking us to meet my World of Warcraft friends. She was certain they would kill us and that our bodies would never be discovered. They turned out to be some of the nicest people IN THE ENTIRE WORLD.

I haven't played WoW in over a year, and they were still happy to spend the day with us. Bob and I keep in touch with occasional phone calls. Kemp has become a valuable Eternal Knight editor. These are good folks!

Dad

My dad and his wife also happen to be in Florida on vacation right now. Debbie told me that my dad has been out twice to hit some golf balls. The last time he hit golf balls was over two years ago. Why the lapse? A terrible battle with cancer. The rare (and aggressive) cancer was in his nasal passage, pressing up against his brain. The radiation and chemo beat the hell out of him. The surgery (which intruded into his brain) was equally traumatic. The recovery has been riddled with complications.

So to hear that he has the strength to hit even a small bucket of balls at a driving range is wonderful news. I look forward to when I can play a round of golf with him again.

Quick Post: Pages to Fame

2010-04-03T21:44:00.000-04:00

I found out about Pages to Fame on the Intern's wonderful blog.

Pages to Fame looks very interesting. It is a website where you submit the first page of your novel and then people rate it on a 1 to 5 scale. Earn enough good ratings and you'll be requested to send in five pages. More success and you send in 50 pages, and then a complete novel.

Why do it? Pages to Fame promises that real world agents will read your work as it passes up each rung on the ladder. Does it work? No idea--I think it's too new to have had any major success stories yet.

Judging the pages is fun. You get to wade through the slush pile like an agent, quickly deciding if each work has merit or not. You also get to see how your ratings compare to those of other participants.

For now I'm just going to judge. If I like what I see, and don't hear anything fishy about the site, I'll send in a page. Can anyone think of a reason not to?

Setting Goals

2010-03-27T22:55:00.000-04:00

It's time for me to get back to setting goals. I used to be a big goal setter. It started in seventh grade when my father gave me Rhinoceros Success. Rhinoceros Success is a skinny self-help book starring a rhinoceros who always charges for (and achieves) his goals. The greatest thing it taught me was to write down my goals, read them every night and morning, and to visualize achieving them. The first goal I set was to break the mile run record at Unami Junior High School.

I wrote my goals as specifically as possible (including the splits for each lap of the race) and dutifully read them every night and every morning. I visualized the race, imagining my coach calling out the splits, and how I would feel at every curve and every straight. And I imagined crossing the finish line in 4:54--breaking the school record by one second.

The first meet of the season came and I was in the best shape of my life. I couldn't wait for the mile to start. The gun went off and I soon found myself in the middle of the pack. I didn't panic, but kept on my pace, and by the end of the lap was in third place. I was also exactly on my pace. Half way through the second lap I was in first place, and one second too fast. The third lap found me well ahead and one second slow. I finished the race with a big win, but more importantly I finished in 4:54. I had hit the exact time I had visualized.

Did visualization magically cause me to run the exact time I had visualized? No, it didn't. It was a lot of hard work. So what did the written goals and visualization do for me? It established a mindset within me that I would achieve what I had set out to do. It motivated me to do what was necessary to achieve my goal.

And why did I put all of this on my writing blog? Because visualization and goal setting apply to more than just sports. While in the "writing phase" of Eternal Knight I set a goal of 5,000 words per work day. A that pace the novel quickly ballooned to 200,000 words-- I didn't have a clue what I was doing back then. I loved that phase of the writing process. Meeting those goals gave me great satisfaction. And because I knew I had a goal for upcoming working days, a part of my mind was always focused on the story, planning what I would write.

Now I am in the "final reading" phase of the process. Writing goals are harder to create for this phase. And because the goals are harder to create, I have a harder time keeping my focus. Enough! It's time to wrap things up. I'll publicly state my goals:

1) I will "final read" at least one chapter per day. "Final reading" includes some light editing.

2) I will finish my query letter and synopsis by April 2nd.

3) I will send my first query letter out by... well, I've set the date, but I'm keeping it under wraps. No need to announce to agents who my top pics were.

I'll re-write the goals (in "proper" format) later, this post is LONG.

Finally, my friend, author Mike Shultz, has added a new writing lesson to his website. Take a look, his lessons are excellent.

Cold Wars Round One

2010-03-19T19:57:00.000-04:00

Just for a change, I thought I would post a battle report on my writing blog. My other battle reports can be found here. I thought I'd give my "writing friends" a chance to see what I do with my "wargaming friends." The two circles don't often overlap.

For those of you who are total novices to historical wargaming.... it is the simulation of battles using painted miniature figurines and model terrain. Dice and rulers are used to determine where units can move and the outcomes of fights. Actually, we use dice, rulers, and thick rule books with lots of rules. And we love it. For me, half the hobby is painting the miniatures, and half the hobby is fighting the battles.

As I have previously mentioned, wargaming has played an important part in my writing efforts. Although I am writing a fantasy novel, realistic action and believable battle scenes are still very important. I don't want to put anything into the novel that turns the reader off and breaks the willing suspension of disbelief.

About a month before Cold Wars, Matt Iverson contacted me looking for a partner. This was very fortunate for me as Matt is one of the best Field of Glory players in the United States. As Matt (who I will now refer to only as Mr. The King) was the more experienced player I deferred to him on most of the decision making. "We" decided that since the tournament was to be played on a 8' by 5' table (larger than the standars 6x4) we would take a very fast, maneuverable army. Our choice: Western Turks. It is an army almost entirely comprising of mounted archers.

Our Army:

One Inspired Commander.
Three Troop Commanders.
Two units of Nobles (Undrilled superior armored cavalry with lance and sword).
Four units of Arsiyah (Drilled superior armored cavalry with bow and sword).
Eight units of horse archers (Undrilled average unprotected light cavalry with bow and sword).
Two units of poor quality light foot archers.
Two units of poor quality light foot javilenmen.

Mr. The King thought the biggest threats to our army would come from lancer cavalry armies as well as longbow based armies. So he suggested we do some test battles on the Thursday before the tournament. The test battle against a Bosporan (lancer cavalry) army was very close and resulted in us making some army adjustments. In particular we dropped our plan to take a list that included Tibetan allies. Our second test match was against a 100 Years War English army. I ran the English and was totally humiliated by Mr. The King. The fight gave us confidence that we could deal with longbows. This was fortunate as at the tournament our first opponent was...

a Free Company army from the 100 Years War time period! Our opponents fielded something like:

Three units of heavily armored knights.
Four units of longbow.
Two units of dismounted men-at-arms.
Two large units of crossbow.
One unit of light foot.

We won the initiative and chose (of course) to fight on the steppes. A basic map of the battle:
(CLICK ON THE IMAGES TO GET THE FULL PICTURE)

From our test match we knew we could win if we could concentrate bowfire against isolated longbow units. This became the core of our strategy. I took a majority of our bow-armed light horse and cavalry and drove hard for the Free Company's left flank. We wanted the flank threat to force them to break their line.

Mr. The King would take some mounted units and all of our foot and threaten the other flank. Our lancers would feint in the center, hoping to pull some longbow forward, before re-deploying to one flank.

Our deployment:

Their deployment:

Our Camp:

The camp was about five feet from the nearest Free Company unit. It soon became buried by the "tools" of war.

After a few turns:
The Free Company army has advanced very aggressively. In response to my sweeping flank attack, all three of their knight units start a re-deployment to the Free Company left. Surprised by the bold advance of the enemy crossbow, we quickly send our lancers to our left flank. One unit of armored cavalry is sent to skirmish a longbow unit in the center of the battlefield. This will not go well.

Near disaster:
Mr. The King set up a fantastic flank charge on an overextended crossbow unit (1). Armored cavalry hit the crossbow from one direction, while light horse hit it from another. The crossbow become disrupted at contact, and the proceed to win the fight! A second crossbow unit (2) is now in position to deliver a flank charge on our cavalry... except Mr. The King rolls a 12 and kills the enemy Commander in Chief! The second crossbow unit immediately becomes demoralized at his loss. On the horizon (3) an enemy longbow unit is a looming threat.

The Shootout:
My masses of horse archers swing left against the Free Company flank. Unfortunately, my opponent is going to roll several poor cohesion checks over the next few turns. Two units of light horse out shoot and (eventually) destroy a longbow unit. My armored cavalry disorder (with bowfire), and then charge and fragment a second unit of longbow. Concentrated light horse attacks on dismounted men-at-arms cause more casualties.

Another scare:
Mr. The King's lancers have arrived on the scene. They charge a disrupted unit of crossbowmen, only to lose two stands. They manage to heroically fight on and fragment the crossbows. To their right, a second unit of lancers crashes into, and disrupts another longbow unit. These units will eventually rout, breaking the army.

The battle is a major victory for the Turks. We lost one unit of armored cavalry bowmen in the center of the battlefield. Deciding to be cautious, we put the unit in one rank to skirmish with a six stand longbow unit. We figured our four dice of superior bowfire could take their four dice of average bowfire. We were wrong.

Shooty cavalry armies can definitely take on longbow armies in FoG. However, it is really important to break up the enemy line. Given the 8' by 5' table, the best our opponents could have done would have been to corner sit and hope for a draw. Coming out to fight us in the open was very dangerous.

Coming soon... Cold Wars Round Two.

And... if you are interested in historical fiction (Hellenistic) read my interview with Christian Cameron, author of the Tyrant series.

An interview with Christian Cameron

2010-03-15T21:24:00.001-04:00

Christian Cameron is the author of Washington and Caesar, a historical fiction set during the American Revolution. He is also the co-author (with his father) of the Gordon Kent military thriller series. The latest book in Christian's Tyrant series was just published in hardcover in England.

A reenactor, wargamer, and former US Naval Intelligence officer, Christian brings his novels to life with great depth and realism. He recently took a few minutes out of his schedule to answer a few questions.

How did you learn the craft of writing?

I learned to write in high school. I went to a Jesuit School in Rochester New York, and in senior AP English, we had to write a five page essay, every day, in one hour. The priest (Fr. O’Malley, a fine man) would write the topic on the board—and bang, off you went. There is no better training. However, constant D+D playing also played a role—role playing games sharpen your mind for plot. Of course, that’s only true if you run them as plots—it isn’t true if you just cater to your players.

And in the US Navy, when I ran a shop of analysts, I had to produce a sixty-one hundred page “newspaper” of intelligence every day for a year. I had forty people working for me, but I had to assemble and edit the articles.

What is your writing process like? Do you write every day? Do you keep strict word count goals?

I sit down in a coffee shop with a laptop, every day, as soon as I take my daughter to school. I write without stopping for five hours. I pre-set my margins and so on so that a page of typed mss equals a page of a printed book. I write 15 to 40 pages a day. 40 is rare, and twenty is more like average. I used to write five pages a day and think I was being productive, but I realized that I could work a great deal harder than that. I don’t conflate research and writing—I spend months on research for historicals and I spend time plotting and writing out character arcs for my main characters—but to be frank, that’s all just practice, because when the words start to go on the page my characters all too often refuse to do what I thought they might, and my unconscious character arcs are almost always BETTER than my carefully drawn ones.

How did you get your agent? Did you go through the query process?

Nepotism. I got my Dad’s agent. And I wrote my first book with my dad, so I never had to endure the rejection. That came later—around book 7-8; suddenly, I couldn’t get a contract for three years and I got a flood tide of rejections.

The lesson I learned form that is trite—everyone has heard this. Write what you know and love. Never try to write what someone thinks you should write.

You've published modern espionage thrillers, a Revolutionary War historical novel, and your current Hellenistic historical fiction. Having written all three eras, has one become your favorite? Which era appeals to you the most as a writer?

Nil humanum alienum sum. Which is to say, I love history. All history. Black, European, Feminist, Military, Social, whatever. History is merely the sum of all the good and bad stories of the human race. So I’ll be a historical writer til people stop buying my books. But I have a hard time choosing between the ancient world and the Neo Classical world…

You reenact both the Revolutionary War and ancient Greek time periods. Would give up the modern world to live in either period? What if you could pick your social status?

At the risk of sounding smug—most people who want to live in the past would have had the same lives at Arthur’s Camelot that they have now. Adventure is all around us—I know guys who serve as mercenaries in Africa and women who have spent fifteen years having wonderful adventures with Medecins Sans Frontiers and so on. I had a few adventures of my own. I suspect that the world is what you make of it. The past was no more glorious, and lacked tampons and safety matches and free health care (sorry, it works…).

On another level, though, I’d love to be able to pick my staff and friends and go be Charles XII of Sweden for six years—to see if I could make Sweden and not Russia the northern superpower. I’d love to be able to form my own team to run the British counter-insurgency campaign in the Champlain Valley in 1777, or try my hand at saving the Phillipines in 1940-41. But live there?

To the reader, it appears you pay meticulous attention to the details of history. What have you fudged in order to make a story work?

Heh, heh. I should say I’ll never tell…

I just wrote a fairly angry blog entry about this sort of thing on my own. When you deal with the ancient world, there are NO FACTS. It’s easy when you are a wargamer, or a student—you read some well-written secondary sources and you “know the period.”

But the truth is we know nothing about, say, Alexander’s campaigns. We have a bunch of campaign histories written LONG after all the participants were dead. In fact, our knowledge of Jesus as a historical figure is better than our knowledge of Alexander. We don’t know the exact, archaeologically provable location of ANY of Alexander’s battlefields. We don’t know what Macedonians soldiers wore, despite the best efforts of all the modern Osprey artists. We don’t know their armor, we don’t know what their shields looked like—the world is full of people who will tell you that they do know—but they don’t.

We don’t know the real dates on any battle of the ancient world. In many cases, we don’t even know what year they happened.

Now—lest I sound like some sort of revisionist—we have a pretty darn good idea about a lot of stuff. But it is theories piled atop theories—don’t get me started on how our whole theory of the ancient world depends on the dating of clay pots in Egypt… and an honest writer understands from the git-go that it is all theory. So there is, in fact, quite a bit of wiggle room.

Did Alexander get whupped at Jaxartes River? (I say he did). Was there even a battle there? Did Alexander, in fact, invent Jaxartes to cover for his constant losses to irregular warfare? Or did he beat the Skythians just as Arrian says he did?

Who knows?

Anyway, I’m not above altering history a little—that is, playing with perceptions of it—to fit the story. But not in any concrete way. No magical medicine cures from China, no 7 barrelled guns with magical powers (the Nock gun did exist… it doesn’t really work the way some people imagine). In my books, the main characters die like rabbits—because that’s what happened in the ancient world. They die of disease and they die in battle and some of the women die in childbirth. And that represents the truth.

Your Tyrant series is experiencing great success in the United Kingdom. Why is it so hard to get historical fiction published in the United States?

US Publishers think that Americans are idiots. I don’t happen to agree, but there it is, and I’ve been told so, in just so many words, by US publishers. “British readers are more intelligent,” they say.

If you could take one person you know back in history to be your operations officer for a Hellenistic battle, who would that person be?

Bye and Large, Hellenistic officers were competent—or better. Among the main contenders—Cassander, Polyperchon, Antigonus One-Eye and Demetrios, Ptolemy, Seleucus, Eumenes, Lysimachos—there’s not one incompetent. The Macedonian system of brutal internal rivalry, murder, and insubordination, was not very good at running an empire, but it did create some really good leaders.

That said, my choice is Eumenes the Cardian. Military secretary to Alexander, later the weakest of the Successors in military power. He didn’t have really strong military leadership skills, or rather he did, but since he was a Cardian and not a Macedonian, the Macedonian aristocrats hated him. He was a superb hand to hand fighter, and he was a deep thinker, and even a cursory examination of his efforts shows that he routinely outmaneuvered Antigonus, and you have to admit that Antionus was consistently good. So in my bid for world domination, I’d like to have Eumenes the Cardian as my Operations officer.

On the other hand, I’d like to have Matt Heppe as my Chief of Staff. Matt and I have won more team wargames at various tournaments than—well, than lots of people, and I think that if I were going to be transported back in time and needed a chief of staff—

Ah, I knew there was a reason I asked you to do this interview. It was because you are an outstanding judge of character.

Visit Christian's website for more information on his Tyrant series. The Online Agora is an active site both for discussing the novels and for information on ancient Greek reenacting.

Excellent Day!

2010-03-11T22:25:00.000-05:00

Worked on Eternal Knight for several hours today. It was great! I am on the final stretch and heading for the finish line.

What's left to do? Not much...

1) Complete the read-through. Wonderful and terrifying. No, I'm not describing the book--I'm describing my emotions. I really, really feel good about the novel. It reads like a "real" novel. This is where the terrifying comes in. What if I am utterly delusional? What if Eternal Knight isn't the book I think it is? Well, we'll find out soon.
2) Touch up my query. My query is definitely not incompetent. It won't be laughed at and instantly rejected. But is it good? I dunno. I have no prior writing accomplishments to boast of. Will the query land the hook?
3) Fix up synopsis. Ugh. Writing this was the worst.

I've gained several new blog readers recently. Welcome to Eternal Knight! If you're interested in learning a little bit more about the story you can...

Read chapter one. I am always looking for feedback on this chapter. If I can get the agent to page 50 I know I will have them for the entire journey. But they won't get to page 50 if they don't get through chapter one.

Read my query letter. Spoiler alert! My query gives away the conclusion and major plot points of the novel.

Read my synopsis. Same spoiler alert as above, but even more so.

Please feel free to comment on any of the above. I am happy to get any help I can find.

Have a great one!

Don't be an akinos!

2010-03-05T22:07:00.000-05:00

About half way through my novel you start hearing of a character named Akinos--a figure of legendary evil. Unfortunately, as my critique partners pointed out, it was a little late in the novel to first hear of him. Couldn't I introduce him earlier?

But how? An info dump of ancient world history didn't exactly fit into the storyline. And when I say it didn't fit in...it didn't fit in at all.

Akinos' legendary evil came as a result of his murder of his own brother. It was an act of betrayal that brought ruin to the world. Akinos disappeared immediately after the murder and his name became synonymous with treachery and evil.

Several hundred years have passed since Akinos' disappearance, and what's the first thing that comes to someone's lips when they are mistreated?

"Don't be an akinos."

By the time the reader reaches the half way point of Eternal Knight they have heard those words (in one form or another) on three different occasons. And now, when they read of Akinos the Betrayer, they should have an ahh-haa moment. They've read that word before, and always in a negative context. No info dump needed. The reader already knows that Akinos is infamous, important, and bad.

And a few chapters later, the reader learns that legends are legends and the truth isn't necessarily the truth.

Wargame Preparations

2010-02-27T13:56:00.000-05:00

I've taken a few days off from writing to prepare for Cold Wars, a historical wargaming conventions I go to every March. I've mentioned my wargaming before. This year I am teaming up with Matt Iverson for the 1000 point Field of Glory doubles tournament. I've faced off against Matt a few times in tournaments before, but this year we will be partners. This works out well for me as he is one of the best wargamers in the country (and he always beats me).

What does this have to do with writing? A lot, actually. I really strive for historical, technological, and military realism in my writing. You won't find any Conan-like warriors single-handedly wading through an army of goblins in my novel. The action in Eternal Knight is gritty and realistic. The armies behave like real armies would on a battlefield.

Anyway, I'm off to finish painting some generals.

Contest

2010-02-18T15:04:00.000-05:00

I've never entered a contest before, but I'm going to give this one a shot. It is sponsored by the Guide to Literary Agents blog (one of my favorites). I have to submit the first 150 to 200 words of my full length (Middle Grade or Young Adult) novel. Due to the recent changes in my manuscript, Eternal Knight now fits in the YA category.

Here's a look at my entry:

Hadde crouched behind the rotting trunk of a fallen tree. Ahead of her the Kiremi raiding party crept deeper into the forest. She counted a score of them--more than enough to destroy Long Meadow. And the Kiremi weren't alone. Strange warriors in fur cloaks marched with them.

She flexed her fingers against the cold wind and gripped her bow tighter. Dromost take them! Isn't the Wasting enough?

Dry leaves crunched behind her. Startled, she ducked and turned, but it was only Belor and Calen. "Danger, close," she hunter-signed. "Stay low."

Belor nodded and the two hunters crouched lower as they made their way toward her. Hadde was about to turn back to the raiders when a gust of wind sent a wave of dead leaves washing over them. Nearby, a Wasting-weakened tree branch cracked and fell crashing to the forest floor.

Suddenly, three arrows whipped into the forest, one embedding itself into a tree just strides from Hadde. Belor and Calen snatched arrows from their quivers.

...and wish me luck! First prize is a critique of 25 pages of the manuscript, a query critique, and two books from the Guide to Literary Agents.

Kemp Sweep Complete!

2010-02-12T23:27:00.000-05:00

Whooohooo! I just completed the "Kemp Sweep" of Eternal Knight. This sweep was based on a comprehensive critique of the novel by my friend Kemp. Someday, after the novel has been published, I'll share his critique with you. I cannot emphasize enough how important good critique partners are to the writing process.

What's next? Right now my wife is reading the novel. I'll call this the Wife Sweep. Helen is looking for copy editing errors and areas where a reader might want more clarity. The Wife Sweep will not take long and will result in a very clean final manuscript.

All done? Not quite. I've decided to make one significant (but not awfully difficult) change to the manuscript. I'm gong to change Hadde's (my protagonist) age from twenty-four to seventeen. Why make such a change?

1) It will add more tension to the novel. Hadde will go from experienced veteran to young adult. When she makes it to Salador the culture clash will be much greater due to her youth. She will also not have the veteran confidence to deal with some of the conflicts she finds herself in.

2) It will allow me to promote the book as a young adult fantasy novel. I have become convinced that a YA fantasy with a strong female protagonist will be a stronger sell than a straight forward fantasy.

How long will these revisions take? Not long. Perphaps two weeks to make revisions, a week to do one final sweep, and one week to prep my queries and launch them into the world. It's getting close!

Just Arrived

2010-02-08T18:08:00.001-05:00

My friend Christian Cameron's latest novel just came out in England. [For some crazy reason he hasn't been picked up by a US publisher yet.] Christian writes fantastic historical fiction. The Tyrant novels are set in the ancient Hellenistic world and follow the adventures of Kineas (an Athenian mercenary commander), and in this novel, his children. The latest novel, Funeral Games, is the most action packed of the three novel. I enjoyed it greatly, and highly recommend the entire series. The earlier novels are available in the United States.

Excuses and Apple iTablet

2010-01-26T22:28:00.000-05:00

Soooo..... I haven't blogged much lately. Only a few tweets as well. Why? I'm too frakking busy! But it's a good kind of busy. I'm on Chapter 22 (out of 29) in my "final sweep" of edits on Eternal Knight. I should actually call this the "Kemp Sweep," as the edits are 80% based on the advice my friend Kemp gave me in a wonderful critique of the manuscript. After the Kemp Sweep I will do a very quick Wife Sweep. Helen is a very careful reader and will catch all the little stuff that I have missed in my 20 trips through the manuscript. After the Wife Sweep comes Query Launch.

Projected Query Launch Date: February 24th.

Apple iTablet Prediction: I think Apple is going to sell books through iTunes for very low prices. I think they will try to undercut Amazon. Can't wait to see what they come out with.

*edit*
Seems I had my information wrong on the iTunes book pricing. It looks like books will be more expensive, but will have additional content not available on a Kindle device. I am sort of baffled why publishers are so upset at the $9 price for ebooks. I would imagine marginal costs for production of electronic "copies" are very low. Even at $9 I would think profits would be very high.

The iPad pricing seemed pretty competitive. I won't be getting one any time soon, but it looks pretty cool.

A New Year

2010-01-02T23:58:00.001-05:00

Thanks for all the comments on my Heifer International post. I donated $32 to the cause. Next year (when I'm a big-deal soon-to-be-published author) we'll have a lot more hits and a lot more money going to charity.

2009 was a very good year. My wife and daughter are both doing very well and I made some breakthroughs. Topping my list:

1) I really dove into editing Eternal Knight and am very happy with the way things are going. I have to give particular thanks to my friends Kemp Brinson and Mike Shultz for their help. Kemp read the entire novel fresh and gave some fabulous feedback (and encouragement). Mike and I have been critique partners for several years and he has been a great writing mentor to me.
2) I went back to studying martial arts. This is one of the best decisions I have ever made. I spent most of my thirties getting out of shape and putting on a few extra pounds. Five months of training under Sensei Marchand and Joshu Billings has put me back in fighting form. Not only has it helped me get back into shape, but it has improved my focus, discipline, and attitude.

I'm looking forward to a great 2010. My biggest goals:
1) Be the best father and husband I can be.
2) Find and agent and a publisher for Eternal Knight. Still hoping for a query launch in January. However, the queries won't go out until I am 100% satisfied with the novel. As long as I'm making solid progress I won't worry too much about dates.
3) Earn the right to be re-awarded my black belt. (I turned my black belt in to Sensei Marchand when I returned to my studies. My goal is to earn it back this year.)

I wish you all the best in 2010!

Heifer International

2009-12-23T13:18:00.000-05:00

Nathan Bransford has offered to donate $1 to Heifer International for each comment left on his blog today. Heifer International is a wonderful charity that helps promote sustainable growth and alleviation of poverty. Please visit their site and check them out.

Nathan also encouraged his readers to make similar offers. Well, I'm throwing my hat into the ring. I'll donate $1 to Heifer International for each comment left on this blog entry today. Nathan has very generously offered to donate up to $1000 dollars. Someday I'll boldly match him. I'm going to cap my contribution at $150.

If you're a writer, please tell us about your book/manuscript and leave a link to your site.

All the best!

Matt

*edit* I've decided to extend this until December 30th. Keep the comments coming!

Drive-by Hi

2009-12-13T21:40:00.000-05:00

I'd really love to give you a nice long blog post.

But I'm not going to. Every minute I spend on a blog post is a minute I'm not editing my novel. Last week was a bad week for editing. So this is going to be a drive-by, "Hi!"

I'm off to edit. See ya later!

Progress Report

2009-11-29T00:17:00.000-05:00

Turkey Day Weekend has been excellent so far. I've made great progress with editing. I always have the huge hurdle of getting past the many excellent writing blogs I follow before I actually get into my own work. I'd say they put me back a good hour tonight. It's after midnight and I've been going full steam ahead for the past two hours and I have to stop. ARRGH! Amelia will be bouncing on my head sometime around 7:30AM and I need to get some sleep. Otherwise I'll be one comatose daddy tomorrow morning.

Still on target to start querying the first week of the New Year!

Openings

2009-11-18T21:57:00.001-05:00

Over and over I have read that the first few pages are critical if you want to grab an agent. And so the fear sets in. It would be awful to lose a chance at getting published due to a weak first 600 words! With these thoughts on my mind, I've been putting a lot of effort into my opening pages.

The opening scene involves my protagonist, Hadde, tracking a raiding party heading for her home village. The raiders are nervous that they are about to be ambushed. My struggle in writing this scene was in how to describe the nervousness of the raiders. My initial efforts involved a lot of telling and little showing. I was doing a lot of things like this:

The Kiremi, with their bright tunics and curved bows, warily scanned the forest.

They seemed weary and defeated, not like the last time they had stormed her village.

The problem was in describing someone who was nervous, without saying, "They were nervous." Fidgeting with their weapons seemed pretty weak.

I went to my friend, Mike Shultz, and asked his opinion. He thought I should show the Kiremi raiders reacting to something. Something like a falling tree branch that startles them. VOILA!

I posted my new opening at the Evil Editor's website. We'll see what his minions have to say about it. The revised opening is down in the comments. You can compare it to the original and see if you think it has improved much.

If you don't feel like rooting through the Evil Editor site to find my revisions you can see my opening here. The link takes you to a google doc where the opening is a work in progress. If you scroll down you can see revisions and comments made by my critique partner.

What I've Been Reading

2009-11-04T23:14:00.000-05:00

The Road, by Cormac McCarthy

The Road might just be the best book I have ever read. It is gripping, grim, and wonderfully written. If dark isn't your thing, you might want to pass. Everyone else must read this book.

Funeral Games, by Christian Cameron

This is the third book in Cameron's Tyrant series. I've loved the entire series. Cameron does a wonderful job making the third century BC come alive. He writes the best historical fiction I have ever read. Funeral Games follows the story of the twin children of Kineas (the primary protagonist of the first two novels).

Lamb, by Christopher Moore

A very funny, very irreverent book about the "missing years" of Jesus Christ's life. I loved it. It isn't anti-religion, but I could see how a very religious person could be offended by it. Despite it's irreverence, it is very sympathetic to Jesus' life and message.

Cover Art

2009-10-25T13:01:00.000-04:00

My previous post focused on my former students, Sam Tsui and Kurt Schneider, and their musical talents. I also mentioned that Sam did the painting of Hadde of Landomere you see on the blog. I first learned of Sam's artistic talent when he was a sophomore in high school. Toward the end of the school year I went to our school's art show and saw this piece of art:

I was so impressed that I asked Sam to paint Hadde for me. I wanted a sketch of her as well as a cover for my novel. I gave Sam the first three chapters of the manuscript and a description of what I was looking for. In short order he produced this:

I love what he did. The scene is from a fight that takes place in chapter one. It is a brutal fight that sets the dark, serious tone for the book. Tension is critical for a fantasy novel, and in chapter one we discover that Hadde lives in a world full of peril. In fact, it is a world in peril.

Will this be the actual cover of the novel? I'm sure it won't. The publisher will have their artists create the real thing. Sam's cover serves another purpose. I had him blow it up to poster size, and it now hangs on the wall in my office. It is wonderful inspiration for what I hope to accomplish.

My Famous Former Students

2009-10-06T14:13:00.001-04:00

Two of my former students are experiencing some tremendous YouTube success. So much success that they were interviewed on national television by Bonnie Hunt. I taught Kurt Schneider and Sam Tsui in my AP Economics class. They were the kind of student a teacher never forgets. Kurt was an amazing mathematician who never opened his economics book once the entire year. He didn't need to. Sam added acting and artistic talent to his academic achievements. He's responsible for the sketch of Hadde you see on the blog. He also made an Eternal Knight book cover for me. I'll add the cover to a later blog entry. Check them out:

I am a Wargamer

2009-09-12T17:55:00.000-04:00

What's wargaming?

Wargaming is a hobby that involves using painted lead soldiers, models, dice, and rulers to recreate historical, fantasy, or sci-fi battles. There are two very different aspects of the hobby. One half is the collecting and painting of the figures. The other half is the fighting of the battles. I've been wargaming since the mid 90's. This includes both friendly matches and tournaments.

What does wargaming have to do with Eternal Knight?

The novel is a fantasy novel, and as such includes elements of magic and the supernatural. However, I like to think of it as an uber-realistic and gritty fantasy novel. The willing suspension of disbelief is tremendously important to me. I want you to believe in what is happening on the page. This is especially important in action and battle sequences. As soon as the reader frowns at the novel and says, "That can't happen!" the writer has lost. Wargaming has been hugely helpful to me in two ways.

First of all it has made me very well versed in the history of warfare and military technology. A history nut will recognize that I've set the technology level of the novel at approximately 1350 CE (in Western Europe). I chose that technology level, and I stuck to my guns. You won't find wildly incongruous combinations of weapons and armor. I once read a fantasy novel in which one of the protagonists (unarmored and wielding a rapier) defeated a plate armor clad knight. Of course he won because the knight was so encumbered by his armor that he could barely move. AARRGG! It was a ridiculous depiction of what this combat would have looked like in real life. If armor so encumbered knights that they could be defeated in such a manner, knights never would have worn so much armor.

Wargaming has also helped me understand the big picture of a battle. The rules include elements such as morale and fatigue. Fantasy novels are filled wiht armies fighting to the death. Except in rare circumstances, this just doesn't happen. Fear and fatigue take a terrible toll on armies. Self-preservation is a powerful motivator--I don't care if you are a human, a goblin, or a dragon. Now, sometimes in history a unit has managed to fight its way out of impossible odds. It happens in wargaming as well. But when it happens in a book, the author needs to work twice as hard and make me BELIEVE IT!

If you'd like to take a look at some of my historical wargaming tournament battles just follow this link.

Kindle on the iPhone

2009-08-19T08:47:00.000-04:00

Nathan Bransford recently wrote a post about e-books, Kindle, and the iPhone. He was so enthusiastic about the iPhone Kindle app that I went out and downloaded it (for free). I needed a book to read so went to Amazon and downloaded ($7.50) Philip Pullman's, The Golden Compass.

Wow! This is fantastic! The iPhone is easy to read on and the application is simple to use. You'd think it would be difficult to read on the small screen. Nope. Since you can use your finger to sweep to the next page, there is no interruption to your reading as you advance. Text size is adjustable and the screen lighting is variable to fit your current reading conditions.

I've wasted a lot of down time (waiting in line, Dr's office, daughter's gymnastics lesson, etc.) with iPhone games. Now I have a novel in my pocket any time I want it. My consumption of novels has significanly decreased over the past few years--no more. I have a feeling I'll be consuming a lot more books in the coming months.

Oh, so far (the first 15 pages or so) The Golden Compass is excellent.

Very Cool

2009-08-11T10:49:00.000-04:00

My friend, Mike Shultz, took me to New York City to have lunch with his editor (Carsten Polzin of Piper Fantasy) yesterday. Carsten was in New York for a few days of business following Worldcon in Montreal the previous week.

Carsten "discovered" Mike's novel, Sword of Memory, after reading one of his short stories and checking out the link to Mike's website. Carsten saw that Mike was working on a novel and asked to take a look at the manuscript. One thing led to another and Mike now finds himself in the unusual situation of having his novel published in German before being published in English.

We ate at the Gramercy Tavern on East 20th street. I was very impressed. Great service, excellent food, and wonderful beer. It was made all the better when Carsten announced at the beginning of the meal that his publishing house was picking up the bill. Cheers to Piper Fantasy.

We spent at good two hours talking about the path Mike's novel would follow to publication, the publishing industry in general, and fantasy in specific. I thoroughly enjoyed the entire affair. It was just plain cool to find myself sitting in a restaurant in the publishing capital of the world talking to an editor. I couldn't help but imagine that somewhere, just a few blocks (or so) from my table, my future agent and publisher were waiting for my manuscript.

Much appreciation to Mike for taking me along, and to Carsten for both the meal and conversation.

In the dumps

2009-07-21T21:47:00.000-04:00

Feeling blue. This project is taking forever and I just can't find the time it needs. My manuscript needs to be as perfect as I can possibly make it before I even query an agent. At this point I'm thinking "as perfect as I can possibly make it" just won't be good enough. How many more hours do I pour into a project that will never see the light of day? Do I even have the writing chops to get something published? How many hours of study and practice will it take to gain the necessary skills?

Bah.

So what's keeping me going?
1) I absolutely believe that I've created a great story.
2) The rewards (I'm not talking money--I'm not that big a fool) of successfully getting published will be phenomenal.

Evil Editor

2009-07-16T16:37:00.000-04:00

I put my opening 200+ words on Evil Editor. 17 Comments so far. Nothing too brutal. I confused some readers in the second paragraph with my description of the Kiremi raiders. They also wanted a minor character (Geros) mentioned earlier. Several readers said that they would read further. Overall it was a positive experience.

Back in the Saddle

2009-07-09T21:32:00.000-04:00

Sort of fell out of the saddle for the past week. No blogging, worse yet, no writing. I'm back into it tonight. Working on the critical first three chapters. When you're querying cold you really need to land the hook in the first three chapters. My friend Kemp is helping with the polishing process. I really need to set aside a specific time for writing. Pre-child it was very easy to do. Not so much any more.

Best wishes to my friend Mike Shultz. He just recently started the query process. Let's hope for lots of requests for complete manuscripts.

Paying Attention

2009-06-30T22:45:00.001-04:00

I am a much different reader than I used to be. I used to blast through books, barely taking in the details as I rushed to finish the story. That's all that mattered to me...story. It's a problem for me now. I have a great story to tell, but I need to take to the time to set the scene and write the emotions and describe the details. It's not enough that they're all in my head. I have to get it down on the page.

That's what I'm doing right now. One more trip through the manuscript, making sure that I've dotted the i's and crossed the t's. I want the world of Eternal Knight to be as real to the reader as it is in my head.

I've been re-reading two novels in an effort to capture how the authors handle description and narration. One is George R. R. Martin's, A Game of Thrones, and the other is Christian Cameron's, Tyrant. I love the way these two authors write.

Progress Report

2009-06-26T09:33:00.000-04:00

Slow but steady progress on editing. I'm going to revamp my time schedule for the query process. I'm thinking August 1st right now. It's been very hectic around the house finishing up landscaping and getting ready for a family reunion. Things should quiet down next week.

I'm very happy with the last batch of changes I've made. Kemp's suggestions have been a huge help. I'm not worried about the delay in querying--writing doesn't pay the bills around here. I needs to make the manuscript as flawless as possible before I launch it into the world.

Rainy Day

2009-06-20T12:53:00.001-04:00

Yet another rainy Pennsylvania day. My daughter and I pulled out the paint and markers and got to work on some art projects.

I tried to get her to stick around for the photo, but she bailed on me. She painted a nice forest scene as well a the sun shining on some flowers. I decided to do some Eternal Knight images.

The top image is Helna's Orb. It appears in the novel as a pendant on a necklace worn by the protagonist, Hadde. Helna is the creator goddess in the mythology of the Eternal Knight world.

The lower image is the face of the shield, Forsvar. The shield differs from the other shields in the novel as it is a round shield--the others are heater shields (you'll see some below). Forsvar is 500 years old and there have been changes in arms and armor since its creation.

The crossed warhammers on a white field are the coat of arms of Earl Waltas. White is the color of the South Teren of Salador and is often worn by its nobles.

The yellow dragon on a blue field is the coat of arms of Maiden Maret's family. I'd have to look in the manuscript to be certain, but it might be a blue dragon on a yellow field. Blue is the color of the East Teren of Salador.

Red if the color of the Royal House of Salador. Unlike the individual coats of arms worn by nobles, all of the Knights of the House carry the same shield. The Knights of the House are the elite profession soldiers in direct service to King Boradin. I am unhappy with the piece of "art". The lightning image should look like the one on the shield Forsvar. Sir Nidon, the Champion of Salador, carries a plain red shield in order to distinguish him from all other knights.

Progress

2009-06-16T10:45:00.000-04:00

I sent my last chapters to my "final reader" last night. Kemp is giving me one last round of feedback from the perspective of someone who has never seen any part of the novel before. He's already given me loads of excellent advice. So far he hasn't found any critical flaws--things what would need a major overhaul.

Today I'll start a final run through the book incorporating changes Kemp has recommended and fixing any bugs that I discover. I think this process will take about two weeks. After that it's agent query time.

Agent Dreams

2009-06-15T07:05:00.000-04:00

Last night I dreamt I was in New York City looking for a hotel room. I came upon a row of townhouses and each home had a sign in front advertising itself as a bed and breakfast.

Every single sign had the name of an agent I've researched for future solicitation for representation. I remember wondering if staying at their bed and breakfast would help my chances at signing with them. I also remember comparing prices and peeking in the windows to see how clean and welcoming each B+B was.

It's so funny how the subconscious mind works. More than any time in the past I really think my novel will be published. With each passing day I grow more and more excited for the possibilities for my manuscript. With each passing day I also come closer to sending out that first batch of queries.

I also dreamt of receiving a stack of envelopes in the mail. I couldn't bear to open them. Phone calls are good. Emails can be good. SASE envelopes are not good. I've received some of those envelopes before. They are where the fleeting dream hits the hard wall of reality.

Getting published is a difficult road to travel. That's what will make success that much sweeter.

Back at it

2009-06-08T16:49:00.000-04:00

Final exams are graded and my seniors are long gone. Time to get back to work on Eternal Knight.

The good news: My friends Mike and Kemp have been giving me some great feedback on the manuscript. The reworked manuscript will be greatly improved due to their advice.

The downside: My query letters will be delayed by about a month. All for the better. I want to put forward the best piece of writing possible.