Category: News & Promotions

Sequels! – Update

Just a quick note to tell y’all that I’ve finished the first draft of chapter 3 of Hollow Vengeance. Woohoo! I’m already liking how the story is shaping up.

Also, speaking of sequels, if you have a minute, I’d strongly suggest taking a look at Jamie Wyman’s Kickstarter to fund the second book of her series. I’ve read the first book Wild Card and I neeeeeeed to find out what happens! With six days left on the counter, she needs only a little more for this book to become a reality. That’s such a small sum. Let’s help her!

The Hardest Part Has Nothing to Do With Writing

Today’s bureaucratic battle: I need an ITIN to ensure that the IRS doesn’t withold 30 percent of my profits from my book sales to the US. To get that, I need to send a certified true copy of my passport. To get a certified true copy of my passport, I need to pay 45 bucks to the passport office, in person, with two forms of photo ID and for some unexplained reason two photos, one of which is signed by a guarantor.

Have questions? So do I. Unfortunately, the passport offices are closed for Easter Monday. DAMMIT! *facedesk* I just want to write books! Is that too much to ask!?

Chapter Two and Short Story Update

Woop woop! Finished the first draft of chapter two of Blood of Midnight: A Hollow Vengeance. It needs some editing but stands up well enough for me to continue on with chapter 3.

Also, my short story I Am The Way, received some more edits from my writer buddies so I will probably upload a more polished version of it soonish.

That’s all for now. Ethan out.

I Must Have This Book

I’ve read the first book of this series, Wild Card and was pleasantly shocked at the impeccable quality of the writing, the witty and engaging characters, the pacing … the only thing I wasn’t pleased with was that it ended on a cliffhanger. I must have more.

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So I’m backing the Kickstarter that will do just that. If you’d like to read the sexy, wisecracking lovechild of Neil Gaiman and Laurell K. Hamilton, I humbly suggest that you lend your support as well.

Short Stories Report

Hi y’all, just a quick post to let you know that the When Casey Met Staruff short story is a little later than I wanted it to be but now that it’s had some feedback from my writer buddies it’s much better than the first draft! I’m excited to bring it to you soon. End of this week is my latest estimate. Also, as an apology for my lateness, I’ll be giving y’all an extra short story that is not set in the Blood of Midnight storyverse. Ooooh something different!

A big thank you goes out to my bros in the Bonavista Writers’ Circle for the editing help and for an awesome meeting this past weekend. You all rock.

How to Self Publish a Novel in Canada

I was recently asked the process one must go through to self-publish a novel as I did. Okay. Let me see if I can make an explanation as easy as possible. I shall be completely straightforward and honest so brace yourself! It’s better than getting nasty surprises later.

1. Get an ITIN. You’re going to need that in order to claim the Canadian-US tax treaty and stop them from withholding 30% of your profits every time you make a sale across the boarder. Do this FIRST because it takes a full year for it to kick in once it’s processed. Do not baulk at the fee. This is a business. If you invest nothing, you’ll get exactly that in return.
2. Get an ISBN. If you’re selling your book in more than one format, request more than one ISBN. I requested 3 because I’m selling my book as an .epub and .mobi (two different ebook formats, the latter being exclusive to Amazon), and as a paperback.

Continue reading “How to Self Publish a Novel in Canada”

Short Story Update

Got the preliminary draft done on When Casey Met Staruff. Needs a bit of editing but hopefully I can get that done and have it out by the end of the month. Ideally, I’d like to put out two short stories a month for y’all. We’ll see whether or not that ends up being reasonable.

For the time-being I’m making use of my novel character template to flesh out Casey and Staruff a bit more. This story has been eye-opening in terms of who these characters are. I never realized how difficult it would be to write Casey all by himself. I’ve always relied on the banter between him and Staruff to accomplish what I need to within the story. But there’s much more to these characters than I knew.

Another difficulty I’ve come across is determining the appropriate body weight for an 8’2″ mercenary … Yeah. BMI doesn’t even begin to cover something like that. Got to account for muscle-to-fat ratio plus the weight of bones at the density they would need to be to comfortably support someone of that size. Rawr! Well, I’ll work it out somehow.

Until next time, y’all! Thanks for stopping by.

Fantasy Race Template

I found a neato template for creating fantasy races. I might tweak it a little for personal use, particularly the “alignment” bit. Defining an entire race as good or evil seems a bit problematic to me, after all. And I’d like to expand the physical limitations section beyond simply speed and strength.

In other news, I continue to work on the short story with Casey and Staruff. The going has been a bit slow given that there is noisy construction upstairs that is making it hard for me to concentrate. Bleh.

Stay awesome y’all.

Creating a Fantasy Race

Some more reading I’ve been doing on fantasy world building. So far, I’ve only read the first part of Creating a Fantasy Race but it’s already chock full of useful considerations.

In other news, I finished writing the opening scene for Blood of Midnight: A Hollow Vengeance yesterday. Beginnings are always hardest. I shall have to rely on my Writers’ Circle peers to assist me in purifying it of suckage.

Today: more work on Hollow Vengeance, editing a short story, and possibly writing up a description of the Bonavista Writers’ Circle meeting format given that we’ve had a huge influx of new members. All-around good news.

Status Update: Book II

Woohoo! I just finished blocking out the scenes for Blood of Midnight: A Hollow Vengeance from start to end. That means I can start writing in earnest tomorrow! I shall celebrate by writing a short fiction for y’all annnnd … maybe some chocolate. Just a little.

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Also, remember, for this week only, Blood of Midnight: The Broken Prophecy is on sale for half price in its ebook format! (Except for Amazon as they will not let me price it that low. Boo. But Smashwords will sell you the correct format if you have a Kindle.)

So grab a copy at Smashwords, or Kobo, for only 1.50!

As always, thanks for stopping by and happy International Read an E-Book Week!