Blog - Page 24 of 31 - Gary David Gillen

Blood and Tempest by Jon Skovron

Blood and Tempest by Jon Skovron, Book #3 of Empire of Storms

Introduction

Red has been a pirate, a gangster, and a tool of the Biomancers. Hope has been a Vinchen warrior, a pirate captain, and has now sworn to an oath of non-violence. When they come together will they topple the Empire of Storms or will they perish in the attempt?

Summary

Red begins the novel in the capital of the Empire of Storms, Stonepeak. The emperor is dying, his heir Prince Leston is not ready to assume power, and the Biomancers are attempting to gain control of the empire. Red is caught in the middle. He is friends with the emperor’s heir. He does not like how the Biomancers have manipulated him. Lady Merivale Hempist gives him a mission. She is Red’s boss and she is the spymaster of the empire working for Prince Leston’s mother. She wants him to recruit Hope and the rogue Biomancer Bigga Lin to aid in their cause against the Biomancers. Red is eager to comply.

Hope has gone back to the site of her destroyed hometown looking for answers. She has sworn an oath of non-violence and strives to understand what that means to her. Hope searches nearby islands and encounters a strange boy called Uter who has powers over life and death. She takes Uter with her to Galemoor, the island of the Vinchen warriors. Wentu is the only Vinchen left on the island because grand teacher Racklock has spurned the past and has taken all the warriors to serve the Biomancers.

Summary Continued

Stephen is a young Vinchen warrior following the orders of grand teacher Racklock. He is conflicted by the things he has seen and by what Racklock expects him to do. The Vinchen search for Brigga Lin who they think will lead them to Hope.

Brigga Lin has stayed with the pirates that were left of Hope’s pirate fleet as a member of the pirate crew and the lover of pirate captain Gavish Gray.

Jilly is Brigga Lin’s apprentice. She wants to become the world’s first Vinchen Biomancer trained by Brigga Lin and Hope.

Hope, Uter, Brigga Lin, and Jilly head to Stonepeak with the help of Gavish Gray, his pirates, the Black Rose of Paradise Circle, and her gangsters. They are aligned against the Biomancers and the Vinchen warriors. Blood and Tempest concludes as the final volume of the Empire of Storms trilogy.

Recommendation

This was a great novel. It is a fitting conclusion to the trilogy. The best elements from the previous two novels have been expanded and enlarged to give a sweeping end to the saga. The Kraken arrives and is not a disappointment. It was perfectly executed until a disappointing ending. Does an unsatisfying ending spoil an otherwise superior novel? It doesn’t for me in this case. I enjoyed the journey.

My first minor quibble is that Uter’s unusual power was not featured in the conclusion. He does complete one minor task but it was not necessary for the protagonist’s plan. I suspect that Uter was put in this novel for possible use in further volumes of the series. So, I can understand the addition of him and I will delay by criticism until that proves out.

My major problem with the ending, without giving it away, is not so easily deferred. Hope and Red have been striving since the beginning of the series to topple the Empire of Storms. I expected them to topple it themselves. Unfortunately, something happens and the conclusion is taken out of their hands. They set up the action but it wasn’t by their efforts that brought the novel to its conclusion. That was my problem with the ending.

Links

This is the link to the Goodreads page of Blood and Tempest by Jon Skovron.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/34523154-blood-and-tempest

This is the link to my review of Bane and Shadow by Jon Skovron, Book #2 of Empire of Storms

Bane and Shadow by Jon Skovron

This is the link to my review of Hope and Red by Jon Skovron, Book #1 of Empire of Storms

Hope and Red by Jon Skovron

Writing Progress Report January 2018 and Annual Review

This is my Writing Progress Report January 2018 and Annual Review.

Ollie being cute.

Annual Writing Progress from December 2016 to December 2017

Worked on Assassin in New Marl City. I want to expand the novel from 20 chapters to 36 chapters (98000 words total). I wrote 14 Chapters of the novel this year. After Chapters 29 and 31 are written, then The First Draft will be completed!!!

The stories 4 Humours, Space Station Sunyata, Grognard, Get to the Point, and LARP Film Noir have been submitted to magazines.

Statistics of magazine submissions since December 2016 are; 5 different stories submitted a total of 15 times with 0 accepted, 0 pending, and 15 rejections.

Annual Events from December 2016 to December 2017

I attended seven conventions in the past year. They were Winter Fiction Fest in Cleveland, ConCoction in Cleveland, Marcon in Columbus, Cleveland Inkubator at the Cleveland Public Library, Confluence in Pittsburgh, Western Reserve Writers Conference at the Cuyahoga County Public Library, and the Indy Author Day at the Cuyahoga County Public Library.

This is a link to the Cleveland ConCoction website.

http://www.clevelandconcoction.org/

Annual Writing Goals for 2018

Complete the novel Assassin in New Marl City. I want to expand the novel from 20 chapters to 36 chapters (98000 words total). After Chapters 29 and 31 are written, then The First Draft will be completed!!!

Type the Edits for Chapters 15, 16, 18, 20, 24, 26, 30, 32, 33, 34, 35, and 36 of Assassin in New Marl City.

Type Chapters 10, 12, 13, 14, 15, 17, 19, 21, 22, 25, 27, 28, 29, and 31.

Polish and submit the stories Chemithurgy, Sleeping Disease, Space-Dog Confession, White Bracer, Mage Squad, I Shall Not Return, Prisoner of Tarnal, and Kay-Eye for submission to short fiction magazines.

Submit 4 Humours, Space Station Sunyata, Grognard, and LARP Film Noir to other short fiction magazines.

Hire an editor for Searcher of Riven from Fiveer and then Self Publish the Novelette.

Hire an editor for Ruins of Yarnud from Fiveer and Self Publish the Novella.

Convert a 24000-word Screenplay called Cuba Liberto into a novel of 72000 words.

Annual Planned Events for 2018

I plan to attend ten conventions in 2018. They will be Winter Fiction Fest in Cleveland, ConCoction in Cleveland, the April Western Reserve Writers Conference at the Cuyahoga County Public Library, Marcon in Columbus, Cleveland Inkubator at the Cleveland Public Library, Confluence in Pittsburgh, the September Western Reserve Writers Conference at the Cuyahoga County Public Library, CapClave in Gaithersburg, the Indy Author Day at the Cuyahoga County Public Library, and the Book Baby Authors Convention.

Purchase an e-book cover for Assassin in New Marl City from Fiveer.

Put the first ten chapters of Assassin in New Marl City into the writing program, Scrivener.

Work on completing a Query letter to use to find an agent for Assassin in New Marl.

Writing Progress from December 2017

Wrote Chapters 23 and 25 of Assassin in New Marl City.

The stories 4 Humours, Space Station Sunyata, Grognard, Get to the Point, and LARP Film Noir have been submitted to magazines.

Statistics of magazine submissions since December 2016 are; 5 different stories submitted a total of 15 times with 0 accepted, 0 pending, and 15 rejections.

Events from December 2017

None to Report.

Writing Goals for January 2018

Continue to work on Assassin in New Marl City. I want to expand the novel from 20 chapters to 36 chapters (98000 words total). Write Chapters 29, and 31 of the novel this month. The First Draft will be completed!!!

Type the Edits for Chapters 15, 16, 18, 20, 24, 26, 30, 32, 33, 34, 35, and 36 of Assassin in New Marl City.

Type Chapters 10, 12, 13, 14, 15, 17, 19, 21, 22 23, 25, 27, and 28.

Polish and submit the stories Hybrid-Dog Confession, White Bracer, Mage Squad, I Shall Not Return, Prisoner of Tarnal, and Kay-Eye for submission to short fiction magazines.

Submit 4 Humours, Space Station Sunyata, Grognard, and LARP Film Noir to other short fiction magazines.

Hire an editor for Searcher of Riven from Fiveer.

Hire an editor for Ruins of Yarnud from Fiveer.

Planned Events for January 2018

Purchase an e-book cover for Assassin in New Marl City from Fiveer.

Put the first ten chapters of Assassin in New Marl City into the writing program, Scrivener.

Work on completing a Query letter to use to find an agent for Assassin in New Marl.

Links

I wrote four blog posts for garydavidgillen.com including my writing progress report for December 2017 linked below.

Writing Progress Report December 2017

Murder by Munchausen by M. T. Bass

Murder by Munchausen by M T Bass

Murder by Munchausen by M T Bass, Murder by Munchausen Mysteries Book 1

Introduction

In near future, Cleveland, Ohio, detective Jake and his partner E. C. are searching for an Android Subject (AnSub) that has committed a murder. When hackers reprogram synthetic humanoids to commit murder the crime is called Murder by Munchausen. Their squad responds to AnSub crimes and are not so affectionately called the Geek Squad. Jake captures the AnSub and when that crime intersects a serial killer’s crimes, Jake is forced to solve both crimes or risk the life of someone he loves.

Summary

Jake was a detective in the Robbery/Homicide department with his partner Maddie. Something happened which Jake calls “the Incident” and he takes the fall. Jake is reassigned to the Geek Squad, which is the least desirable department in the police force. Maddie stays in Robbery/Homicide.

The novel opens sometime after his transfer. Jake and E. C. take the AnSub to their department android authority who Jake has dubbed Q, named after the character in the James Bond novels. Jake is fond of what he calls old-school thinking and practices. Jake did not have a romantic relationship with Maddie when they were partners. They become romantically involved now. Maddie is assigned a case that could involve a serial killer reenacting past serial killer crimes. Jake thinks his case is related to Maddie’s investigation.

Jake is helped by Maddie, Q, reporter Jamal, the owner of a diner retired cop Cutty, and a Secret Service agent to solve his case. He follows the evidence to someone called the Baron. Jake must trap the Baron in the act to prove his theories and that involves letting Maddie come into harm’s way. Will Jake risk his new love to prove his case?

Recommendation

I liked that the author included locations in Cleveland such as the West Side Market, Edgewater Park, the Flats, and Cleveland Clinic. I have frequented those locations and I think that the author has described and used them effectively. Most of Jake’s retro thinking, words and actions worked in the context of the story. He has a wise guy attitude that is appealing. I thought that the author missed an opportunity to complicate Jake’s relationship with Maddie by further developing his thoughts about his former girlfriend Amy. If they had met that would have added complications.

This was a short novel and I understand the limitations of that space, but I would have liked the story better if there was a more definitive conclusion. It felt like half of a novel. I think that there will be a worthwhile conclusion in The Darknet, Murder by Munchausen Mysteries Book 2 and I plan to read it when it is released.

Links

This is the link to the Goodreads page of Murder by Munchausen by M. T. Bass.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/32830615-murder-by-munchausen-future-crime-mysteries-book-1

This is the link to my review of Somethin’ for Nuthin’ by M. T. Bass.

Somethin’ for Nuthin’ by M. T. Bass

Structuring Your Novel by K. M. Weiland

Structuring Your Novel: Essential Keys to Writing an Outstanding Story by K.M. Weiland

Introduction

K. M. Weiland believes that structure is the most important component of storytelling. Structure is required in all of art, does not limit creativity, is not formulaic, offers a checklist of the must-have elements of a story, and solidifies the mastery of the craft. She details how story structure, scene structure, and sentence structure defines the writer’s work.

Summary

There are two camps in the theory of writing. One is called the plotters, who create outlines and view storytelling as a construction. The other group is the pantsers, who write from the seat of their pants and see where the story leads them. Perhaps the best description of this theory is by George R. R. Martin who says, “I think there are two types of writers, the architects and the gardeners. The architects plan everything ahead of time, like an architect building a house. They know how many rooms are going to be in the house, what kind of roof they’re going to have, where the wires are going to run, what kind of plumbing there’s going to be. They have the whole thing designed and blueprinted out before they even nail the first board up.

The gardeners dig a hole, drop in a seed and water it. They kind of know what seed it is, they know if planted a fantasy seed or mystery seed or whatever. But as the plant comes up and they water it, they don’t know how many branches it’s going to have, they find out as it grows. And I’m much more a gardener than an architect.”

https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/749309-i-think-there-are-two-types-of-writers-the-architects

K. M. Weiland shows in this book how to become a plotter/architect. Her thought is that if the writer has a solid structure built before writing then the writing will go smoother and there will be less false starts and extensive rewriting in the second draft.

Recommendation

I believe in much of the advice in Structuring Your Novel by K.M. Weiland and have used it in the novel that I am writing. What was most helpful was examining the complete outline transcript from her novel Storming which is available on her website.

https://www.helpingwritersbecomeauthors.com/

The transcript uses the ideas from this book and from her other books on writing. Another resource that is available on her website is a template for the writing program Scrivener. The program is available for 30 days free on their website.

https://www.literatureandlatte.com/scrivener/overview

Using the ideas of K. M. Weiland should help any author to improve their writing.

Oathbringer by Brandon Sanderson

Oathbringer by Brandon Sanderson, Book #3 of the Stormlight Archive

Introduction

The former city of the Knights Radiant, Urithiru, has been discovered and the order of the Knights Radiant has been revived. The Everstorm has returned along with the Voidbringers, called the Fused. Dalinar Kholin, the Uncle of the Alethi King Elhokar must try to unite all humans to fight the Voidbringers. His memories are coming back which complicates his problems. War has come to the world of Roshar and Dalinar is the only one who can win the war for the humans.

Summary – Three Viewpoints

There are three main viewpoint characters in this long novel. Dalinar is the novel’s main character. He has the flashback chapters which detail why he does not remember his wife and what happened up to the time that he lost his memories. Kaladin is the leader of his bodyguard and is the first member of the Knights Radiant order of windrunners. Kaladin’s flashbacks were in Book 1. His focus in this novel is to discover what the Voidbringers are planning.

Shallan’s flashbacks were in Book 2. Her struggle is with dealing with her other personalities which are taking over more and more of her life. She created these personalities to cope with the terrible things that have happened to her in her life. The personality Radiant trains with the Shardblade and is the ideal Knight Radiant. The personality Veil pretends to be worldlier than Shallan and associates with the underground gang called the Ghostbloods. Shallan also has trouble figuring out her relationship with her fiancé Adolin, who is Dalinar’s elder son. Shallan’s talents are creating illusions and creating items by surgebinding of stormlight. She is a member of the Knights Radiant Order of Lightweavers.

Summary – Voidbringers and Parshmen

The Voidbringers attack Kholinar, the Alethi capital, and the people gathered at Urithiru lose contact with them. Dalinar sends Kaladin to find out what is going on there. Kaladin first stops by at his hometown to make sure that his parents are well. He discovers that the Parshmen have been awakened.

The Parshmen are a non-human race that have been the slaves of the humans and have been in a state that is called dull form which decreases their intelligence. The Alethi have been fighting the Parshendi on the Shattered Plain since the Parshendi had Dalinar’s brother, Alethi King Gavilar, assassinated by the assassin in white. The secret they discover is that the Parshmen are actually Parshendi in the dull form. Some Parshendi, called the singers, have brought the Everstorm back and have awaked the Parshmen out of dull form. The Everstorm brings the Voidbringers who are called the Fused. The Fused are singers melded with ancient powerful spirits of Parshendi trapped by the Heralds in another plane. The Fused seek to overthrow the humans and retake Roshar as their own. The original Knights Radiant had discovered a secret about the Parshendi and had forsaken their vows.

Summary – Dalinar’s Visions

Dalinar has visions of the past which are brought to him by the Storm Father. The Storm Father is a Spren. Spren are creatures that are bonded to Knights Radiant and serve to focus their use of Stormlight. Kaladin’s spren is Sly, Shallan’s is Pattern, and Dalinar’s is the Storm Father. Dalinar is a Bondsmith and discovering the nature of his powers is important to his struggle. Dalinar hears the words unite them in his visions and he interprets that to mean that he must unite all the countries that have Oathgates.

Oathgates are used by Knights Radiant to teleport people and things from one Oathgate to another. The first two Oathgates that they control are at the Shattered Plains and at Urithiru. There is a total of ten Oathgates that circle the main Oathgate at Urithiru. Dalinar knows of other gates at Kholinar in Alethkar, Azir in Azir, Vedenar in Ja Kaved, and Thaylen City in Thaylenah. He brings the rulers of the countries to Urithiru to convince them to help him defeat the Voidbringers.

Dalinar sends a group to Kholinar to find out what happened there. The group includes Kaladin, Shallan, Adolin, and Elhokar. They face many trials and discover the secret behind the fate of Kholinar suffering tragedy along the way.

A climatic battle looms at Thaylen city where Dalinar has gathered his allies and awaits the coming of the Voidbringers. Dalinar must face his past and suffer unexpected disappointments in his mission to save the human race on Roshar.

Recommendation

This is a great book. It expands on the first two books and intensifies the conflict. The reader learns more about the lore of the Heralds, the desolations, the Voidbringers, and the Everstorm. Dalinar’s loss of memory is explained in full and Dalinar shines as a conflicted hero. Kaladin is the true hero of this series and learns more about himself and his abilities. Shallan fights her other personalities and finds a way to be happy about herself.

Oathbringer was Dalinar’s shardblade until he gave it up to Sadeas to save Kaladin’s bridge four crew. Sadeas is dead now and Dalinar has the shardblade back. Oathbringer the shardblade played an important part in the flashbacks that occurred before Dalinar’s loss of memory.

Opinion

In my opinion, about the only misstep of Oathbringer by Brandon Sanderson is the handling of Adolin. He was the fourth main character in the first two books. He doesn’t appear as a viewpoint character until halfway through this book and is reduced to having only commentary about his clothes and looks. I expected a little more than that from Adolin.

A pleasant surprise is the development of Szeth-son-son-Vallano, the assassin in white. I think that he has an important part to play in the next two novels of the series and I am looking forward to understanding his role in this series. I wonder how Shallan will continue to deal with her multiple personalities and her relationship with Adolin. The flashback character for book 4 is Eshonai and book 5 is for Szeth. This series continues to amaze and I look forward to reading the next two volumes and the next group of five volumes in the coming years.

Links

This is the link to the Goodreads page of Oathbringer by Brandon Sanderson.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/34002132-oathbringer

Link to my review of Promise of Blood (Book #1 of the Powder Mage Trilogy) by Brian McClellan. The Powder Mage Trilogy has an interesting magic system like The Stormlight Archive series. The system uses gunpowder as the magic element.

Promise of Blood by Brian McClellan

Link to my review of Black Prism (Book #1 of the Lightbringer Series) by Brent Weeks. The Lightbringer series has an interesting magic system like The Stormlight Archive series. The system uses turning light into luxin as the magic element.

The Black Prism by Brent Weeks

Nemesis Games by James S. A. Corey

Nemesis Games by James S.A Corey, Book #5 of the Expanse Series

Introduction

The Rocinante must be refitted at Tycho Station after the crew’s last adventure in Ilus (New Terra) which was detailed in book #4 Cibola Burn. The crew splits up, each going on separate missions located around the solar system. Ships are disappearing mysteriously. Disaster strikes on Earth. The crew must come together to defeat a new menace or the balance of power in the solar system will be irrevocably changed.

Summary

For the first time in the series, all four members of the Rocinante crew are viewpoint characters. We can finally see what is inside the minds of Naomi, Amos, and Alex.

Four Viewpoints

Alex Kamal decides to reconnect with his old life on Mars including meeting with his ex-wife. He encounters Bobbi Draper and they go on a mission involving missing Martian MCRN ships.

Amos Burton goes back to Earth to face his past. There is a huge reveal of his true identity. He faces the disaster occurring on Earth. He visits Clarissa Mao (aka Peaches) in the prison where she is incarcerated. They must find a passage to Luna despite facing hostile enemies.

Naomi Nagata has a secret past that she kept from everyone including James Holden. Her secret is directly related to the reason for the missing ships. She must complete a difficult mission alone to redeem herself from the choices that she made in the past.

James Holden supervises the repairs on the Rocinante at Tycho Station. He works with the leader of the OPA, Fred Johnson, in discovering the whereabouts of missing colony ships.

Convergence

The four characters converge together and work on the same goal of dealing with each of their pasts and finding the shocking truth of the new order of the solar system.

Review

I think Nemesis Games is a great book. It is my second favorite book after the first of the series. Using the three new viewpoints was ingenious. Some viewpoints were more successful than others. Naomi’s was the best. Her secret was well thought out. She faced an extreme dilemma and was conflicted realistically. She attacked her problem with an analytical mind and found a solution which didn’t solve everything. James Holden was his usual action-oriented self. He worked well with Fred and thought things through. Amos had a lot to deal with in his past and faced it well. It seemed that the purpose of his journey was to bring Clarissa into the novel.

The timing of the events seemed too close to be realistic and that was the only weakness of this part. The weakest section was from Alex. It didn’t seem that he had enough of a motivation to return to Mars. His interaction with Bobbi was interesting but was also too much of a coincidence that it occurred.

Recommendation

The biggest problem with the novel Nemesis Games is that while there is some resolution to it, it serves only as a set up to the next novel, Babylon Ashes #6. By contrast, the previous four books all came to a strong conclusion. Fortunately, I don’t have to wait for a year to read it. I won a copy of the e-book in a Goodreads giveaway so I will read it very soon.

Links

Link to Goodreads page for Nemesis Games.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/22886612-nemesis-games

This is the link to my review of Cibola Burn by James S.A. Corey, Book #3 of The Expanse series.

https://www.garydavidgillen.com/cibola-burn-by-james-s-a-corey/

Writing Progress Report December 2017

This is my Writing Progress Report December 2017.

At the Big Ten Championship Game on December 2, 2017. Ohio State 27 and Wisconsin 21.

The Ohio State Football website is linked below.

https://ohiostatebuckeyes.com/sports/m-footbl/

Writing Progress from November 2017

I wrote four blog posts for garydavidgillen.com including my writing progress report for November 2017 linked below.

Writing Progress Report November 2017

Wrote Chapters 12 and 19 of Assassin in New Marl City

The stories 4 Humours, Space Station Sunyata, Grognard, Get to the Point, and LARP Film Noir have been submitted to magazines.

Statistics of magazine submissions since December 2016 are; 5 different stories submitted a total of 15 times with 0 accepted, 0 pending, and 15 rejections.

Events from November 2017

None to Report.

Writing Goals for December 2017

Continue to work on Assassin in New Marl City. I want to expand the novel from 20 chapters to 36 chapters (98000 words total). Write Chapters 23, 25, 29, and 31 of the novel this month. The First Draft will be completed!!!

Type the Edits for Chapters 15, 16, 18, 20, 24, 26, 30, 32, 33, 34, 35, and 36 of Assassin in New Marl City.

Type Chapters 10, 12, 13, 14, 15, 17, 19, 21, 22, 27, and 28.

Polish and submit the stories Hybrid-Dog Confession, White Bracer, Mage Squad, I Shall Not Return, Prisoner of Tarnal, and Kay-Eye for submission to short fiction magazines.

Submit 4 Humours, Space Station Sunyata, Grognard, and LARP Film Noir to other short fiction magazines.

Hire an editor for Searcher of Riven from Fiveer.

Hire an editor for Ruins of Yarnud from Fiveer.

Planned Events for December 2017

Purchase an e-book cover for Assassin in New Marl City from Fiveer.

Put the first ten chapters of Assassin in New Marl City into the writing program, Scrivener.

Work on completing a Query letter to use to find an agent for Assassin in New Marl.

The Dead Key by D M Pulley

Introduction

The Dead Key by D M Pulley is a story about two women separated by time but connected by a secret involving an abandoned safe deposit box. In 1978, Beatrice Baker interviews for a job at the First Bank of Cleveland. In 1998, Iris Latch is an architect who is examining the First Bank of Cleveland building for a redevelopment project. The Bank was closed twenty years before and has been abandoned for all those years. The safe deposit boxes are still locked from the day the bank closed. Iris must figure out what happened at the bank in 1978.

Summary

The chapters alternate between the two viewpoint characters. Beatrice gets an interview with Mr. Thompson at the bank with the help of her Aunt Doris. Beatrice is young and naïve but gets a job in the secretarial pool. Max, who is another secretary, takes Beatrice under her wing. Mr. Thompson, Aunt Doris, and Max all have secrets and Beatrice must discover the truth, or someone will end up killing her. Iris has been doing menial work for her architectural firm. She is assigned to assist Brad in drawing floor plans for the old First Bank of Cleveland building so that the building could be redeveloped.

Iris sees the locked safe deposit boxes in the building’s basement and is curious about their contents. She is involved with her coworker Nick both romantically and work-related. This complicates Iris’s life. Beatrice and Iris’s stories are connected through one man, Ramone. He was a janitor in 1978 and has served as the lone security person for the entire building from 1978 to 1998. His knowledge is important to both women.

Recommendation

There is a lot to like about this novel. The background is interesting. The writing is clear. The mystery is complicated. I find that the protagonists keep this novel from being great. Beatrice is sympathetic because she is young and thrown out of her element. She should have grown more as a character because of all the stressful events that occurred during the story. Iris is simply unlikeable. She smokes, has a superficial relationship with Nick, and is frankly dumb. Iris does risky and foolish things in this novel. She stumbles onto the truth despite her shortcomings. I wasn’t rooting for her to succeed and thought that she ended up where she should have.

Links

This is the link to the Goodreads page of The Dead Key by D M Pulley.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/22914448-the-dead-key

This is the link to my review of The Unclaimed Victim by D.M. Pulley. Ethel from March 1938 and Kris from April 1999 are connected through the Torso Killer of Cleveland. They are targets. Can they survive?

Unclaimed Victim by D.M. Pulley

The Crimson Campaign by Brian McClellan

Book #2 of the Powder Mage Series

Introduction

Will Tamas escape from the Kez army and save Adro? Can Adamat rescue his wife and children from Lord Vetas? Will Taniel shake off his demons and defeat the demi-god Kresimir, again?

Summary

Tamas is at war with Kez. He becomes trapped behind enemy lines with two of his elite brigades. They face a long and dangerous journey to find their way back to Adro. Adamat must rescue his wife and children from Lord Vetas. He enlists Taniel’s friend Bo to help him defeat his foe. Bo is the last Privileged in the city of Adopest and Adamat goes to great lengths to secure his help. Adamat’s story is one of family and sacrifice and Adamat must extend himself to save his family. Taniel starts this novel in a haze den, unable to come to grips with what occurred at the end of the previous novel, Promise of Blood. He breaks his melancholy as the forces of Kez attack deep into Adro. Taniel is the last Powder Mage on this front. Taniel and his faithful companion, Ka-Poel, fight back the invaders. The looming battle between Kresimir on the Kez side and Mihali on the Adro side concludes with Taniel caught in the middle.

Recommendation

This novel is a great follow up to the first novel in the series, Promise of Blood. The action is non-stop and the three main narrators have compelling stories. Bo becomes an important character as well. The potential relevance of Nila and Vlora is hinted at but they remain underdeveloped characters. This middle novel sets up a gripping conclusion in the third novel of the series which is called The Autumn Republic.

Indie Author Day 2017

Introduction

The Indie Author Day as held on October 14, 2017, at the South Euclid-Lyndhurst branch of the Cuyahoga County Public Library in South Euclid, Ohio.

Link to Cuyahoga County Library website

https://www.cuyahogalibrary.org/

There were four activities presented at Indie Author Day.

Summary – Anna Kopp

The first activity was a lecture by Anna Kopp entitled So You Wrote a Novel: Now What? A Crash Course on Today’s Publishing Options.

This is the Goodreads link to Rise of the Chosen.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/30553316-rise-of-the-chosen

She presented four steps to consider after your novel is finished.

Step 1. Revisions. Find beta readers and an editor to help on revisions.

Step 2. Pick a Publishing Path. There are three; traditional publishing through an agent, traditional publishing through a publisher, and self-publishing.

Step 3. Make sure that you are ready. Have a finished and revised manuscript for fiction. Research agents and/or publishers to submit query letters or self-publish.

Step 4. Building an author platform. Get followers on social media, do book signings, create author merchandise.

Final tips. Write, read in your genre, don’t despair, do your research, get help, and don’t give up.

After Indie Author Day, a librarian e-mailed Anna Kopp’s power point presentation to anyone in the audience that wanted a copy of it. It was helpful to review the presentation later.

Summary – Presentation

The second activity was a presentation about the free services and resources available at the library. The event was held at the William N. Skirball Writer’s Center. The librarian talked about upcoming workshops, author’s presentations, monthly self-publishing roundtables, and the Self-E program. During this presentation, pizza and refreshments were available.

Summary – Videos

The third activity was a series of internet videos displayed on the projector screen. The topics were about writing and publishing. The videos can also be re-played.

Use pressbooks
Write a fantasy novel
Market your book
The costs of self-publishing
Get your book into libraries
Publish with Ingram Spark
Produce a professional book.
Amazon’s Kindle Direct Publishing
Draft 2 Digital and Smashwords
Create Space and KDP Direct.

Videos #1 to #7 can be found at indieauthorday.com/resources

Videos #8 to #10 can be found at Teachable.com in the A to Z of Self-Publishing program.

I watched the first two videos before I went to the fourth activity. I watched the rest of the videos online later.

Summary – Book Whisperer

The fourth activity was an appointment with the book whisperer.

From 2:00 PM to 5:00 PM Deanna Adams, the book whisperer, had 15-minute one-on-one appointments to discuss questions about writing and publishing. In my appointment, I went over a query letter for my novel, Assassin in New Marl City, with her. She helped me in finding better words to use in the query. My goal is to send this query to agents to acquire representation for my novel.

This is the Goodreads link to The Writer’s GPS.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/27810622-the-writer-s-gps

Conclusion

The four activities presented at Indie Author Day 2017 were well worth the time invested for independent self-published writers and writers considering self-publishing.

Links

I attended the Indie Author Conference and Showcase on November 12, 2016, at the Parma-Snow branch of the Cuyahoga County Public Library in Parma, Ohio. This is the link to my recap.

Indie Author Conference and Showcase