My Memories Free Digital Software Contest

 

As much as I enjoy writing on my books and blogs, sometimes I just have to take a break and craft. That being said, I've discovered the fun and convenience of digital scrapbooking! I have tried a few online programs this summer and I am delighted with this one. This is a winner! I like that I can use it both offline and online. And it's always growing with new graphics and improvements. Yep! The owners of My Memories have come up with a great Digital Scrapbooking Software that is easy to learn and loaded with lots of tools to make beautiful albums, books and journals!

Not into scrapbooking? Why should you be interested in this software? Well, I thought the same at first, but once I thought about it, I realized I can use this for my novel writing and to organize my research materials. And any book I design with this software can be printed into a real book that you can carry and reference while you are writing. The software is so good the wonderful people at My Memories have decided to offer one Software Download for FREE to one of my readers here at my blog!

To enter, simply do one of the following:

-Visit My Memories Website and choose a favorite layout from their gallery, then tell me what you chose with comment on this post.

-Like My Memories and Realmwalkers on facebook and tell me you did in a comment on this post.

-Follow the My Memories Blog and leave a comment on this post saying you did!

Winner will be drawn Thursday July 31, 2014.

If you don't win or just can't wait, then how about a special discount just being one of my readers? Use the code STMMMS34133 to automatically receive $10 off your purchase of this software!
 Just go to My Memories.com and enter the number for your discount and start downloading this popular scrapbooking program. 
 

Here are a few layouts that I just created with My Memories!

Put your notes, mind maps, research information, charts, etc...

Add all your character sheets and sketches.

Add all your maps so that they are in one place for quick reference.

And don't forget, you can have all these professionally printed into a one of several size hard-cover books or just keep them as ebooks on your computer. Other ways you can use this software is for your blogs, world-building, book signing flyers and invites, book event ads, ebook samples and other promotional materials. The list goes on! Still not sure you can figure out how to use this creative program? No problem. Check out this link for a series of My Memories Suite tutorials.

Still want to learn more? Then check out these links. You have till July 31st
to get your very own FREE My Memories digital scrap booking program.
 
My Memories Blog- http://blog.mymemories.com/
Facebook- http://www.facebook.com/pages/MyMemories/140359372717593
Twitter- http://twitter.com/#!/mymemoriessuite



Use the code STMMMS34133 to get $10 off instantly! 

Why aren't you writing?

I was checking through my Google+ writers forums this morning and found this article shared by Chicki Brown. This article comes at a good time. I am getting ready to start on my next book now that most of my book signing events are over. I still have a few to do in the next two months, but I really need to get down to doing more writing. After reading this article, I realize I have become a slacker and have lost the momentum.  Even my blog here is not as active as I want it to be so I am going to have to do something about it. This is the right place to begin creating and sharing ideas about my characters and places which, in turn,  may inspire you to do the same with your project.

My fictional world of Tiaera is far from finished and I have some new characters I'll be introducing with my next novel.  The working title that most of my Google+ writer friends liked was "The Guardians of Fayre Sea." Other suggestions are welcome, so leave me a comment below if you can think any.  Other suggestions are as follows:

The Fayre Sea Pirates
Souls of the Wave
The Trident and the Cutlass
Fayre Sea
The Merfolk of Fayre Sea

The story I am working on is about not one but two races of merfolk (or merpeople) who inhabit the waters just off the coast of Athrylle known as The Fayre Sea. They are rivals who strive to live in peace while menacing pirates sail their ships between those two continents. The story will involve the piratess, Felucia Athlynn, a character you met in "Realmwalkers." There will be raiding, romance, betrayal and mystery if everything turns out the way I plan.

I've been working on the story outline this week and I've done several pages so far. Right now it looks like it's going to become a novel (as opposed to another novella) and I hope to have it done by the end of the year. It will be a follow-up story that takes place after "The Priestess and the Ravenknight" and ends right before "Realmwalkers."

 THIS IS THE PLAN SO FAR!  

Yes, I guess you can call me a plotter. I need to do research and write notes. I update my maps, notebook, character sheets and outline before I can do any actual writing.  I don't find this method of writing too rigid for my creativity as my methods and outline are always subject to change as the story unfolds. This is why I won't give out too much about it at this time. Once the book takes shape, I will give more details for those of you interested.

And none of this will ever get done if I keep finding too many things to do instead of writing, which brings me back to this article. I hope you find it helpful as I did.  Keep writing even if its short stories, articles, poetry, etc... I meet readers hungry for a good story at every event.  Whether it's by ereader, audio or the printed book, readers still abound in search of a great story.

The Clock's Ticking: Why Aren't You Writing?

Goblins got my Dragonling!

It's not even Halloween yet, and I have just discovered that my old but cherished website (Dragonling.com) has been possibly hacked by goblins. I wish to emphasize that at this time it is only possibly so, and not yet confirmed. So please don't go there until I can learn more. I have decided that I need to warn you all and remove the link I have to my virtual fantasy realm until I learn what has happened and what can be done about it, if anything.

I found out about it last Friday and have spend many hours now trying to do what I can instead of writing more pleasant posts or drawings. I went to my webhost (3ix.com) who I've been with for almost 20 years now and the tech rep there did a scan. He assures me his scanning indicates there is NO malicious code or malware on any of my webpages. He said that Google just saw something unexpected and decided to blacklist my site as a safety measure. He had me fill a form to pass on his scan info to Google and request that Dragonling.com webpages be reviewed again.

That was all done last Friday and I am still waiting to hear from Google.

I have since then changed my passwords associated with my web hosting service, access area, Cpanel, etc... and I spent hours looking at the source code trying to find anything I can recognize as being abnormal or suspicious. So far I've found nothing, but I am no expert. Then I decided to simplify the home page, removing many links there in the hopes that will deleted whatever problem Google saw. I have visited the website many times (once I could get past the Google BLOCK webpages) and I have checked my laptop over and over for any viruses or malware using Trend Micro. All looks and seems clean and unaffected. No problems whatsoever.

So, I don't really know if goblin hackers have really done anything to my beloved website, but I care about my friends and readers who come here to let you all know why I haven't been posting normal news and stories and won't be for a few more days. I will be back to my normal posts next week.

While I wait on Google's results, I'll look into other places where I can host Dragonling.com that might be safer from hacking. I welcome any suggestions or help to speed up solving this problem. Funds are very limited so my options are too. I am thinking of re-creating Dragonling.com in Wordpress or Blogger or one of the many FREE website companies online. I will need about forty webpages to move my entire realm over.

I hope it doesn't come to this.

Worldbuilding: Holidays for Fictional Worlds

It's October and it's time to break out the boxes of various holiday decorations and feverishly make new ones if I plan to participate in any of the several holiday craft fairs in my city. This thought brought me to wondering if I should create holidays for my fictional world. If you have read some of my previous posts, there is a festival of Wynterfest which is mainly celebrated up in the frozen country of Wynterlande.

The topic today is: Should a writer and world builder bother with creating holidays for their fictional world?

I did a little research this morning and the first place I went to was Middle Ages Holidays. Since Tiaera is basically a "parallel earth" with added magic and planetary differences, I tend to write about Earth's Middle Ages. Something one must consider is religion. Since Tiaera has no Christianity as a religion, I can't use any of the christian practices of the Middle Ages and as I see at that website, most of the holidays were church related. Tiaera is set in the Middle Ages, but it was created by a goddess I made up named Astria. Since she is not historical, I am free to make up any holidays and festivals as I see fit. Oh, this is going to be fun! LOL! But before I can begin this I need to get some ideas and figure out what to do.  A writer shouldn't create holidays just because they want to. Holidays should never interfere with your book or story.

If you are building a fictional world similar to earth, you need to ask yourself the following questions:

1. Are you going to keep writing about your fictional world long after the book you're writing is done? It so, then time will pass... months, years, etc... and holidays may work to set the scene of your next story on that world.

2. What period or era are you writing about? Historical? Futuristic? Modern age?

3. Does your world have seasons and is it worth noting this in your writing?

4. Does your world have gods? If it is parallel to earth, are there religions and gods like our own?

5. What kind of holidays should you create? Religious? Meaningful and significant? Seasonal?

6. How are your inhabitants going to recognize such holidays? Festivals? Traditions?

The more I think about Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years, the more I have to consider what I will want to use for future blog stories like my current one: Add a Spark for Valor.
As I (and sometimes Jack) continue with the chapters (posts) for this story, it will be fun to work on holidays as the background settings that can add to the plot much like we did in Realmwalkers.

I hope this post makes you think about your fictional world. Do some research and determine if your book or stories would benefit from such events. Soap Operas on TV used the holidays. Internet and video games use them. Books too. Let me know what you think about this. Are you going to add some holidays? If so, feel free to comment and tell me about them. I bet there are some great ideas out there!

Worldbuilding and Tiaera

A good friend of mine asked me the other day about the term "world building." I briefly explained it to him, but this morning I have decided to look into this a little deeper for those of you who read and/or write fiction. This might be useful should you ever decide to try making a fictional world of your own.

What is Worldbuilding?

Worldbuilding is the process of constructing an imaginary world, sometimes associated with a whole fictional universe.^[1] The resulting world may be called a constructed world. The term "worldbuilding" was popularized at science fiction writers' workshops in the 1970s.^{[citation needed]} Developing an imaginary setting with coherent qualities such as a history, and ecology is a key task for many science fiction or fantasy writers.^[2] Worldbuilding often involves the creation of maps, a backstory, and people for the world. Constructed worlds can enrich the backstory and history of fictional works, and it is not uncommon for authors to revise their constructed worlds while completing its associated work. Constructed worlds can be created for personal amusement and mental exercise, or for specific creative endeavors such as novels, video games, or role-playing games. 
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World-building

I have seen the term spelled a few difference ways i.e. world building, world-building and worldbuilding.

When Jack and I began writing our novel Realmwalkers, we realized we needed to make a fictional world because this would free us from any problems with reality based on earth and earth's history. We could start from scratch and use anything our minds came up with so long as it was plausible in the minds of our future readers. Since we wrote about science fiction and fantasy, it behooved us to try this in order to present our story in the most realistic way.

Well, Realmwalkers was finally written and has done very well in sales so far. I created this blog about the world of Tiaera to help promote the book. As some of you may have caught on, I came up with the name "Tiaera" which sounds like the Spanish word "tierra" meaning earth or ground. It is a parallel earth with trees, mountains and oceans, but with some differences. What are they? Well, read some of the stories here or read Realmwalkers to find out. Anyway, I realized I really enjoyed adding more details about this fictional planet called Tiaera.

And I am not alone. There are many sites on the Inet where one can go visit a variety of worlds based on books, TV, and games.

The way I started with Tiaera was by making a series of maps using MSPublisher, a desktop graphics program. I didn't have the luxury of a stylus and tablet at that time. Every drawing had to be done by drawing with a normal mouse or by drawing the map, scanning it and enhancing it using Adobe Photoshop. One of my first maps of the new planet looked like this.

I never made a world before so I just made little chunks of outlines to represent countries and Jack helped me determine how big it was going to be so that it made sense to the reader. It turned out it is actually smaller than earth, more like mars. Thanks again, Jack, for helping me with the technicalities of worldbuilding.

Then I experienced the fun of assigning names, much like Adam did when earth was created, and I found it was a lot of fun. I went to various fantasy name generators and tossed around some made-up names with Jack until all the oceans, countries, and islands all had a name. This was really fun to do while I waited for Jack to go over some chapters at his end.  Once I had the world done, I began to work on each continent.

There is no end to what you can do when it comes to worldbuilding. Many stories, movies, books and games can limit the amount of information about the world to just a few sentences or go all the way to graphic images and videos. It's up to the author or designer involved. Just remember that too much scenery and description shouldn't overwhelm the story at hand. Use just enough to set the scene and no more.

After the maps were done, I created lists of information about races, transportation, climate, languages and prominent landmarks. I used my previous experiences in games like D&D, Meridian 59 and Everquest 1 & 2. I also used recollections from the many sci fi-fantasy stories and movies. There is nothing wrong with stealing general ideas from others as long as you do not steal a copyright protected character or item. So be sure you research whatever you use that you did not fully create yourself.

I'm glad to have this blog now to further create more stories and invent new items through my creative abilities. I still don't use any special map-making software. I have looked at Dungeonjinni and ProFantasy Software, as well as others, but I decided to use the tools I already had. I still use pencil, ink, scanner, MSPublisher and Adobe Photoshop for maps and graphics. Such graphics may help me with future books or videos. It's a creative process that I really enjoy.

If you are thinking about worldbuilding, here are a few links that might help or inspire you. I've used a few of them for creating the world of Tiaera:

Seventh Sanctum
Pirate Name Generator
io9.com
World Building School
sfwa fantasy-worldbuilding questions
Free Fantasy Maps
Map Making for Authors
Wikipedia

Free Writing Meters

I'm heading out today for a four day trip to Stagecoach Trails Guest Ranch to do some writing, scrapping, drawing/painting, eating, resting, swimming and riding.  It's a lovely dude guest ranch and I can't wait. I'll be taking my laptop (no Internet tho) and art supplies and hope to enjoy this event along with twenty-two other ladies.

I know this has nothing to do with Tiaera so let's get down to why I am posting today!

I have found a neat website that offers not one, but 16+ FREE Writing Progress Tracking Meters and I wanted to share this find with you! I hope to pick one of these out for use here at my blog when I finally get back to working on my next story based on the world of Tiaera. It's still waiting for me to finish and I intend to use a meter to help remind me where I am at in getting it finished. It will also give you all an idea as to how close I am to completing it, in cause you are wondering.

Click here for Tia Ross' blog post about Free Writing Meters.

For you writers out there, I hope this info helps you find a good meter to help keep you motivated with your writing. It doesn't need to be used for a novel. You can also use a meter to help you keep track of how many words you have written this week or this month.  You can use a meter for projects, blogs, writing assignments, competitions and clubs. If you're a online content writer, novelist, blogger, short story writer, or journalist, a writing meter may be useful for you.

Check these out and see what you think. Send me comments here if you have have used one or are using one.

Well, it's time for me to mosey out and ride into the sunset. I hope to have the next post for "Add a Spark of Valor" ready for next week.

Yeehaaaa!! Happy writing/riding!

Flickr and My Blog Slideshow

Flickr has opened up it's server "gates" and is now offering it's members ONE TERABYTE of server space and that is great news for those of us who like to take screenies and photos. It also lets you upload and share your videos too. Up until recently, it limited the non-paying members about 200 images max. So if you like to share photos, screen captures (screenies) or artwork, check out the new Flickr.com and enjoy all it's tools and benefits. Oh, and it saves all your images in FULL resolution. For those of us who want that, it's a real benefit. I have tried Photobucket, Revel and Picasa.  They all have limitations. I also see that Google's Drive now offers you up to 15 GB of space. Well, Flickr offers a Terabyte. I still can't believe they can do this for FREE!

What does that have to do with my World of Tiaera blog? Well, for those of you who haven't noticed, I have a slideshow of graphics about Realmwalkers and Tiaera. If you scroll down and look at the left column you will see my dragonling logo.  It looks like this:

Click on it and Flickr's slideshow will appear to show you my virtual gallery of graphics. Most of these graphics are in color and you might recognize a couple of drawings from Realmwalkers. It only has about a dozen images right now, but in time, I will be adding more. The slideshow also has controls so you can control the speed of each of the images.

On a side note, you may also notice that I have added another column to this blog. In an effort to make improvements, I decided it was time to try three columns instead of two. Please leave some feedback about these changes and definitely let me know if you ever have problems with any of the links here. I would really appreciate it.

I hope you take a minute to check out the slideshow and feel free to share it with your friends. Enjoy and have a great weekend!

New Extended Realmwalkers Video

I just created a new version of my original Realmwalkers video. After some editing and a few extra pictures, I came up with this. I hope you like this better. A special thanks to my friend, Vince, for his help with "Quality Control."  I owe you a Starbucks, buddy!

Another Freebie Weekend!

The two day promotion last weekend just didn't seem to be long enough. I have met with friends who missed out on the event and wanted to download my new ebook. For those of you that still want to get a free copy of my ebook novella, The Priestess and the Ravenknight, please click on the link below and it will take you straight to the Amazon webpage where you can get it for FREE.today, tomorrow and Sunday! It's supposed to be available all day long from midnight to midnight. Make sure you are paying ZERO cents when you purchase the ebook there.  Some of you may have bought this ebook before, but this is the latest version with a new graphic and it's now seven chapters long instead of five. 

http://www.amazon.com/The-Priestess-Ravenknight-ebook/dp/B00B9EQS2K

FREE Today, tomorrow and Sunday!

I realize not all of you will have a Kindle, but Amazon.com does offer a free app here Free App for non-Kindles  With this app you can read your ebook on a PC, laptop, Ipad, Iphone, etc...

Enjoy the ebook and please please please review it at Amazon! Have a great weekend!

Blog Interview & Hastings Book Signing

Hello friends!

It's been a very busy month with several book signings in the area. The next one is at Hastings Books, Videos and Music next Saturday from 11 - 3PM. This is the Lake Havasu Store located at 321 Lake Havasu Ave. N.  (928) 680-7272. I will be signing copies of Realmwalkers and promoting my new ebook, The Priestess and the Ravenknight. Stop by to visit with me, ask questions and get out of hot mid-day heat at Hastings this Saturday. Is it summer already? Really? What happened to spring?  Hahah!!

I have also been invited to Virginia Nelson's Guardian's Hangout blog when she posted an author's interview about me. If you wish to see it click here: Guardian's Hangout  I hope you find it interesting and inspiring. Virginia also resides in Arizona. Maybe one day we can meet in person. She seems like a very busy lady and is currently doing a blog hop this month.

Keep on writing and stay in touch!

Beware Booktango

It is sad to say that my experience with the new DIY eBook Publisher did not go well. After almost four weeks of  dealing with them, I am left with my damaged ebook, The Priestess and the Ravenknight. I still have good clean copies of it here on my PC and it will take me a day or so to change the Copyrights Page, get an ISBN ordered, convert the files to mobi, epub and PDF and finally get them distributed myself.

As the saying goes: If you want something done right, you may have to do it yourself.

In all fairness, the blame for my displeasure rests solely on the few reps I met with in Chat and by phone. Booktango itself may be a fine company, but their Customer Service dept needs help and further instruction. When I discovered that my ebook had been altered and rendered unusable for distribution, I tried to get their reps to fix the problems I found in the proof copy I downloaded. It did NOT happen. I tried to fix the problems myself online using their Editor program, but the Editor glitched and would not allow me to save or re-submit the corrected ebook manuscript. On their advice, I emailed the files and copies of my graphics to Customer Support.

They wanted to charge me $19 to fix my ebook. That was the final insult. THEY were the ones that added the duplicate pages and page breaks!! They were charging me to fix their mistakes! I didn't want them to do anything more than to remove what they had added and remove the extra page breaks that got placed somehow in my promotional page. I could not remove them myself as I cannot see them using their Editor program.

Well, the calls to both their Specialist and their Supervisor proved a total frustrating waste of time. They listened and sympathized. They read over my chat logs and asked the same questions over and over until I finally blew up and called their reps a bunch of young ill-trained IDIOTS!

I can't even cancel my account by phone or email. They are sending me a form to fill out and sign before they can terminate my account.  I can't help but feel in the back of my mind that someone there butchered my ebook (through carelessness or deliberately) just so I would be need to pay them to have it fixed. I can't prove anything so it's just a thought. In any case, my damaged ebook will not be fixed and I have gone and done it myself and am cancelling my account with Booktango.  Be forewarned. And if you are doing business with Booktango, good luck!

Trying out Booktango.com

I removed this post as my experience with Booktango proved to be negative. If you want to know what happened, read the other post here. Beware Booktango

The Next Big Thing Blog Hop

The holiday season is upon us but as many of you know, our work still continues in our daily lives. And that includes us wordsmiths who eek out a living doing what we enjoy so much.  Thanksgiving turkey and Christmas shopping will have to defer for my need to work on my next big thing which my newest ebook that is currently going through the final stages of production. I am eager to get it ready as a Kindle and PDF file.

I hope you'll find this interesting and happy holidays to you all!

1. What is the working title of your book?
The Priestess and the Ravenknight

2. Where did the idea come from for the book?
I wanted to write about two of the characters you meet in my last co-written novel "Realmwalkers."

3. What genre does your book fall under?
Medieval Fantasy Romance

4. Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition?
That's hard to say. My guess would be Alex Pettyfer for Krymson and Amanda Seyfriend for Azurene. 

5. What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?
Two dark elves make a bold attempt to defy an evil deity in order to save hundreds from death.

6. Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?
Self published as an ebook only.

7. How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript?
A few weeks. It's not a novel but a novelette. I also did the artwork and formatted the pages myself.

8. What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?
Realmwalkers which is featured at this blog.

9. Who or What inspired you to write this book?
I like these two characters a lot and wanted to write their story.

10. What else about your book might pique the reader’s interest?
I tend to add artwork to my stories that I hope my readers will enjoy and find interesting. Here below is the graphic I created for the cover of the ebook.

 

 

 

If you enjoyed this post you are invited to visit other writers who write similar works. Get to know them and leave comments for a chance to ask any questions you might have and perhaps win free copy of one of their books. 

kelleysrealm.blogspot.com

www.susanroebuck.com

heatherhambelcurley.wordpress.com

portaloflight.wordpress.com

www.sharonpoppen.com

 

The Book Exchange - Local Authors Party

Time is passing so fast. Here we are in the second week of November and Christmas decorations are appearing all over town.  I thought about that as I sat at my table with several books of Realmwalkers to sell. The Christmas music reminded me of how close we are getting to Thanksgiving and Christmas. Now's the time to sell my books as the snowbirds who come to Lake Havasu shop and enjoy our warmer weather.

The bookstore was small, but it was filled with lots of wonderful books and gifts for book lovers. It was The Book Exchange here in Lake Havasu City and it held its first ever Local Authors Party.  Authors from all over this city were invited to bring their books to sign and sell.  They served refreshments and our club, The Lake Havasu City Writers Group, came to participate in the event.

The Book Exchange - 1761 Mcculloch Blvd N, Lake Havasu City, AZ 86403 (520) 453-4043

People came and some bought our books so it was a good event. I met some new authors and hugged some of the returning writer friends I have come to know for years. Everyone was in good spirits and I managed to sell a few books.  I can't complain as I wasn't sure I would even sell one.

The staff was friendly and very motivated to do business with us local writers. There is talk about having this book event every month from now on. We'll see. I intent to come back next month for certain as it will take place just before Christmas. And copies of Realmwalkers will be available there as well at the Local Authors section of the store. So if you missed the event, my book will still be available for purchase!

Next Saturday, I also have a book signing event up at the Kingman City Hastings Books, Music & Video store,  Nov. 17th at 11 - 3. 

Busy... busy... busy!  Be safe out there when you're shopping or going to holiday events.  God bless you all. Take care and keep warm!

RAINBERRIES

I was inspired to draw this morning and decided that I would design Velanth's rainberries mentioned in Chapter 6 of Realmwalkers. I first began the drawing by doing a rough sketch then outlined it in ink. After coloring it with color pencils using a blend of apple green and teal for most of the berries I hand drew the name in brown & black. Since they are called rainberries, I wanted to make the berry itself shaped as a teardrop. In my mind, these berries are thin skinned and translucent as if filled with water, but the insides are like jelly. Rainberries grow very rapidly whenever it rains in Velanth. Soaking up the rain water, they grow to the size of white grapes, and are safe to eat within 24 hours after they ripen.

The faes of the city of Velanth are experts at knowing when to harvest the berries, mashing them just at the right time for if left too long in the bushes, the berries become toxic. Great care is taken to prevent travelers visiting the outskirts of Velanth. Signs are posted in all languages and word is spread from city to city to ensure no one accidentally eats the berries long after they ripen. This was done after many a griffin rider fell to his death after being intoxicated. The necessary warnings are also on every label when the bottled juice is exported over all of Tiaera.

Eating a few ripe rainberries straight from the bush does no harm. The juice is sweet, of course, producing a mild tranquilizing affect when consumed. Once plucked from the bush, the berries make delicious juice, wine, tea and medicine. For medicinal purposes, a concentrated dose will render the drinker fast asleep. The healer needs to be very careful, however, for an overdose would make the drinker comatose. Once comatose, the patient would have to be cared for until they awaken as this can take anywhere from a few days to a few years.

It is also illegal to misuse rainberries all over Tiaera. Violators can expect to be fined and even jailed depending on the severity of the crime.

Marketing and Future Plans

The books have been selling nicely as many friends and fellow writers have stepped up to buy a book. Such support has been very touching and exciting as I continue to promote wherever I can.  Most of my marketing supplies are homemade, but effective in getting the word out locally. I also found out that some online book sellers like Amazon.com are now selling Realmwalkers. I can't sign those, but they are fast and in a few cases even less expensive than I can sell here at my blog.

One day soon, I hope to get back to writing my short stories featuring some of the characters in the book which I will post here. There will be more maps here soon, as well as a glossary to help out with some of the archaic words used in the book. I also plan to draw some more illustrations to post here along with the stories. Stop by and subscribe here for future updates.

More than a Novel

Book Cover Design

Realmwalkers is a 6" X 9" softcover book that weighs just under 2 lbs. It has 460 pages of text and graphics and is just over 1" thick.  It has 21 full page illustrations and 10 small images, artwork and graphics that took me hours to draw and enhance by computer. This is no pocket size novel and I chose this size so you wouldn't have to squint to read it. The cover is printed on 10pt stock, full color and laminated for durability. The interior paper is not the cheap, thin greyish newspaper used in many novels on the market.  It is library-quality with professional trade paperback binding and sturdy 60 lb. bright white paper.

Title Page

World Map and First Chapter

REALMWALKERS is Coming Soon!

Audrey and Carlyn stand outside a bookseller shoppe and see the new book being displayed.  The book cover features a bow and quiver, a strange looking 'window' with the image of Tiaera inside it and a long sword.

"Hmmm... a book about welmwalkeos?" says Audrey, pointing with her little gnomish finger.  "I wondeo if Masteo Alain knows 'bout dis."


Carlyn isn't impressed. "I thought we were going to the tavern. I can't read anything while I am thinking about a nice cold brew." 


" Okies, I doubt we will be in da book anyways. Let us away. I wanna a dwink too."