The Grail Curse promo video

Here's a promo video for the Grail Curse, the second volume in the Lion of Arria series:

New videos!

So I've got some videos here, first up is a promo for almost all my published books so far:

Next up are a couple videos promoting Rulers in Wander-land: Reimagining Alice in Wonderland.

I hope the video quality's okay on this website. Here's the second one.

That's all for now, but hopefully I'm going to work up a couple more for some other books.

Tarn & Beck: Into the Tunnels

Okay, it's been almost a year since I last posted, and I'm publishing the sixth volume of my Tarn and Beck series. Tarn & Beck: Into the Tunnels pretty much picks up right where The Werewolf and the Chimera left off, and it officially ties in one of the characters from my Legends of Arria/Lion of Arria series, Sir Pacaben.

I'd been half hoping to get into crossing over my stories, and I'd done it before, albeit a bit more loosely with Tashiana from Jobe & Paracleus showing up in The Professor & The Satyr, and Cedric from Tarn & Beck showing up in Jobe & Paracleus, too. But I'm building things up here, as you may have noticed, getting Sir Pacaben involved with Tarn & Beck and their gang, and now...well, I'm looking forward to even bigger crossovers down the road with them.

Not too many spoilers, I suppose. I've been terrible about spoilers. I spoiled Under the Dome for my sister, when my dad was watching series 3 and she was starting season one, and I'd read some funny recaps about it on io9. From everything I gathered, it wasn't a good series.

Okay then, loosening things up a little. I'm not very good at social media and blogging, if you've noticed with my scant, few and far between posts. I've been thinking about that lately. If I was more inclined, maybe I would start over and try to make an effort in that department. Maybe a broader blog or web page, for all of my books or for a more popular series of mine.

I'm fond of The Smiling Stallion Inn, I've used that moniker for a while now, but it's not picking up steam or anything like that. And very rarely do I check up on some of these sites or update them to see if there's any traffic flow.

I like to write, as you may have noticed with how much I've published in recent months, and I like to find a way to get it out there. So I focus on that, and social media takes a backslide. Whee, there goes a year without posting.

So here I am, la-dee-da, contemplating what I should do with this blog/website or not. I could try to update or revamp it. I could consider getting a new, centralized website that I might be able to update or revamp as often as I can, showcasing books and such. I need to discuss a broader range of topics, too. Like writing, books, pop culture, influences, things of that nature.

I'm still going to write and publish, although looking at what's going on there, it's still not quite on course. I need to bump it up more and promote, or else find another method.

Wish me luck, and let's hope it's not another year before I post again. Whee!

Book Updates for July

More updates for books that have been published and republished in the last few months.

I've brought back most of the Lion of Arria series, from The Grail Curse to Family On Fire, and have now added two new books, Fight for the Windbow and Adia: The Lion's Daughter.

The Grail Curse

Family On Fire

Fight For The Windbow

Adia: The Lion's Daughter

These are volumes 2-5 of that series, as The Knights of Arria currently won't be available. I decided to go ahead and do that as it's still separate from The Legends of Arria series.

I have also published The Fox Bard, hopefully the first of the Jobe and Paracleus spin-off series.

The Fox Bard

This book really only features Jobe and Paracleus, though with a surprise at the end, and is separate from the main Legends of Arria series as well.

Finally, in addition to The Cursed Coin and The Fairy Reel, I have also published The Wizard's Spell-Book and The Importance of Being Tarn & Beck in the Tarn & Beck series.

Tarn & Beck: The Wizard's Spell-Book

The Importance of Being Tarn and Beck

Right now, I'm working on the 5th Tarn & Beck, a spin-off to the main Tarn and Beck line, another Legends prequel featuring Monika, and I should probably edit Power Over Death some more to turn in to my publisher. Servants and Followers is currently being edited with my publisher right now.

That's all going on right now. Hopefully I shall update more soon!

Update and Tarn & Beck: The Cursed Coin Excerpt

Hello, just a quick update. Tarn & Beck: The Cursed Coin is now available as well as its sequel, Tarn & Beck: The Fairy Reel, on Amazon. I've been editing my second Legends of Arria book, Servants and Followers, and sent it in to my publisher for a look. I've also been writing a special new book for what I hope might be a Jobe & Paracleus spin-off series, but I'm going to wait before I share that.

I've also been updating my Wattpad page, it's under SmilingStallionInn, just for some advertising and promotion. I'm putting in more excerpts from published, unpublished, and fanfiction works on there, too, so check it out if you want. Here's a sample from Tarn & Beck: The Cursed Coin.

Chapter 1:

Son of a Rat-Catcher

In a large Dickensian office, a company of clerks sat around at roll-top desks, rows and columns of them like the pages inside the ledgers they wrote in. They calculated various figures and formulae with large registers and other devices, keys clicking and clacking inside the machinery with the totals popping up behind a glass screen.

Of course, they could have figured out all of the numbers themselves, but it was faster to rely upon the mechanics of these machines. Any slip-up, of course, was blamed upon the clerk and not the machine, so they had to be precise and careful.

They wrote reports and stamped documents, sending off various paperwork through messengers and office-boys for processing and recording. There was talk of installing some contraption of pneumatic tubes for faster delivery to other departments, but it was decided that such a system was more bother than it was worth.

Just outside the office in the hallway, a short, hapless young man in his twenties, Beck, returned from his break. He brushed the crumbs off of his vest and waistcoat, adjusted his tie and the kerchief in his pocket.

He smoothed down his slick black hair that he oiled in the morning, trying to appear urbane or at least keep it from sticking up. He sniffled a little, suffering a cold.

He wiped his glasses again, mentally going over a problem he’d been dealing with before he left, and entered the office. He should’ve noticed that the office seemed unusually quiet and productive, even by the strict standards imposed upon them by their bosses.

That should’ve alerted him something was wrong, but he was still distracted and preoccupied.

It was important to the firm that his work should continue unabated, never mind the small interruptions and breaks necessary for a human like him. He wasn’t a bleeding calculator.

Meticulous and studious described most of the clerks at the Lavonya banking and insurance firm for good reason. The firm’s reputation depended on their work and the clerks wished to appear as assiduous as possible for better promotion and compensation.

Smug might have also been the word that Beck would have used for some of them. But he attempted to keep his opinions to himself and hold his head down to his work, even as difficult as that sometimes was.

Beck walked down an aisle between desks, ready to get back to his job. Most of the clerks didn’t look up at him, preoccupied. However, a tall, snobby clerk named Greg smirked as Beck sat down at his own desk, which was unoccupied with its roll-top closed.

Beck unrolled the top, and quickly closed the top again. He glared at the others sitting around him, wondering who was the culprit.

Most of them appeared to be hard at work as if they didn’t notice what was going on. However, several of them started squeaking like rats or mice. Beck fumed to himself.

Beck rolled open the top again and stared down at a dead rat lying on top of his desktop and paperwork. Greg looked up from his work and seemed to notice the rat.

“Oh, look, a rat. Always a problem, aren't they?” Greg said.

Beck got up from his desk, pretending to ignore Greg for now. He headed toward the supply closet where the night cleaners stored their equipment.

However, he had to pass by Greg’s desk on the way. “Rats get you everywhere.” Greg remarked as if to thin air while Beck passed by.

Beck paused and shook his head, not looking back at Greg as he pushed up his glasses. “You all are nothing more than children at heart. The school bullies who refuse to grow up.”

Beck continued on as Greg glared at him. “How dare you insult us like that.”

Beck opened up the supply closet door, fetching a pail, gloves, and a bag. “This is something that should have been left behind at the schoolyard ages ago.” He coughed and slammed the closet door shut before heading back to his desk.

Beck slipped the gloves on, unrolled the desktop cover again, and snatched up the rat, disposing of it into the bag.

“Did the rat die of natural causes?” One of the clerks asked.

Beck began sorting through the documents that had been left on his desk, tossing the papers that appeared to have been befouled by the rat into the pail. He ignored their comments, sniffing the papers occasionally and trying not to sneeze.

“Or was it a trap or poison?” Another clerk asked.

Greg smirked at Beck. “I bet a rat-catcher like you could tell.”

Beck turned around and faced the clerks as he slipped off the gloves, his voice hoarse. “All right, go ahead and laugh. But if it weren't for rat-catchers like my father still working down below, rats would be overrunning this place.”

He tossed the gloves and frowned, grim and serious. “Although how could you tell with the rats already running this place?”

The clerks stared at Beck, shocked as Greg got up and confronted Beck. “Now see here! If that is a dig at the firm, then you really have gone too far.”

Greg kept poking Beck in the chest for emphasis. “This firm just happens to be the best, most respected business in this city, this country.”

Beck looked down at Greg’s finger poking him like he wanted to bite it off and sniffled.

“It's trusted everywhere currency is spent.” Greg stopped and crossed his arm, glaring. “Do you still want to work here?”

Beck looked up at Greg. “My father happened to be a boxer as well. Would you care to sample a move?”

Greg ducked one of Beck's swings, but received another punch.

Tarn and Beck: The Cursed Coin

The Smiling Stallion Inn is now available at many major online retailers, but I'm also interested in bringing another potential series to light. So I'm announcing that earlier this year, under the pseudonym Roger Nickleby (I made the connection obvious in case I ever made it public), I self-published an adventure fantasy story Tarn and Beck: The Cursed Coin.

Why am I announcing it now? Because I'm changing that story into something of a romance and republishing it soon under my name. Just a taste of what readers might like about The Smiling Stallion Inn and Legends of Arria series.

I was sort of angling in that direction anyway, even if I wasn't ready then to commit Tarn and Beck to a romance. But I hope to expand that potential series too with more stories, and that romance might be a key part of it.

So here I go, say good-bye to regular adventurers and hello to romantic adventurers Tarn and Beck in just a little while.

The Smiling Stallion Inn: preorders

The Smiling Stallion Inn is now available for preorders in advance of its November 30th release.

The Smiling Stallion Inn, Torrid Books

Here's a link to the Torrid Books page of The Smiling Stallion Inn, although the page needs to be fixed a little.

The Smiling Stallion Inn, Simon and Schuster distribution

And here's a link to the Simon and Schuster page for The Smiling Stallion Inn, as Torrid Books has a distribution deal with that publisher.

Here's the blurb:

'Basha, a wistful young man, yearns to marry his girlfriend Jawen. Yet he is self-conscious of their differences and his lack of prospects. He is scorned by Jawen’s father, the wealthy merchant Lapo, as an orphan bastard left on the innkeeper’s doorstep.

Even Basha’s adopted family, especially his brother Oaka, doubt Basha and Jawen belong together. But Basha wants to prove that he is worthy of Jawen’s love by getting a spot on the town’s militia. And he wants to propose to her the next night at the Courtship ritual.

Yet when things go awry at the militia tryouts and Courtship ritual, and Basha seems to be plagued by crows and a mysterious guardian, can he set things right again? Will Basha have to take a drastic step to prove his love to Jawen? And how might that change the course of history and legends in the country of Arria?'

Here are links to the various retailers:

The Smiling Stallion Inn, Amazon

The Smiling Stallion Inn, iTunes

The Smiling Stallion Inn, Barnes and Noble

Smiling Stallion Inn, Blio

The Smiling Stallion Inn, Books A Million

The Smiling Stallion Inn, Google Books

The Smiling Stallion Inn, Kobo Books

More to come soon.

Final Decision on series

After some consideration on my own, I've decided to go ahead and take down the rest of the Legends of Arria series, and maybe the Knights of Arria books, on November 6th, just to avoid any contention with The Smiling Stallion Inn release later this month. I may keep up the rest of the Lion of Arria series, The Grail Curse and Family On Fire, until some decision is made there, but I will raise prices, too, depending on what the sales price is for Smiling Stallion Inn to avoid competition.

I'll need some time to work on and edit Servants and Followers, Power Over Death, and The Tiger of Light on my own to lower the word count, so not sure when the new versions of these books will come out. I probably won't need to edit The Tiger Enchantment, though, when I submit it to the publisher and the future installment or installments of this series (? for series end/break) will be a lower word count, too.

Current Status With The Smiling Stallion Inn

New editing for The Smiling Stallion Inn is finishing up, and so it might be ready for a November 30th release from Torrid Books, Ebook ISBN will be 978-1-68299-210-4. Fingers crossed that it won't be delayed.

I haven't really discussed the status of the sequels or the secondary series with the publisher yet, but fair warning once more, depending on response, the other self-published versions might be taken down in the near future. I will try to provide a time frame or window if it's a week or a couple of days.

The Smiling Stallion Inn is Not Available

I'm currently in the process of setting up The Smiling Stallion Inn with a new publisher and so the book is currently not available/published. I apologize for the suddenness of this change to those who were interested in reading it, but it shall be available again in the future with the new publisher.

The rest of the series and related series is currently still self-published, but may eventually go to the new publisher, depending. Just a heads up there.

Sincerely,
The Author

Title and Cover Changes coming up

Fair warning to those who have already purchased and read my books and to those who have been interested in acquiring them--I have decided, partly as a marketing move and with the hope of gaining more casual readers to change some or most of my book titles.

I probably won't change The Legends of Arria book titles as those seem to be good enough for now.

I'm sort of leaning towards more casual or general titles, especially for the Legends of Arria 2002 series--and I'm probably going to change the name of that series as well--to attract readers who might be hesitant or uncertain about the book at first glance. I'll admit some of those titles are a bit obscure, though pertinent to the book, and maybe long winded. I'm going to stop using the Part 1 (and future Part 2) for The Kirna's Apprentice and get a more general, though pertinent, title for those books.

I hope these changes might yield a good response in future readership and I don't want to put off any former readers who come across these books with new titles and realize they are the same books. Admittedly I have been writing and rewriting a similar story for a while now, albeit with some changes in plot and characters.

But I would also hope that readers might eventually read both of the main series, (uh, the 2008 books are more of a transitional stage) because I hope to eventually...

Oops, not certain if I want to reveal that just yet. Near future.