Monthly Wrap up
October of Busy Projects
October has been a whirlwind of fun and side projects while Truth Bearer has been with beta readers. Editing resumes next week with their feedback.
Cataclysm
Colonel Jaxon Conway returns five months after his plane crash with proof of a miraculous head surgery and a fractured memory. He becomes a fugitive when the military believes aliens saved him and he asks for a bible. The aliens are his Irish relatives coming home from space. He goes below the ninth with their aid. He finds a church and the disenfranchised. Will he survive long enough to remedy the ills of an imposing city state and help his space relatives find home once again on Earth?
I pulled this off of Kindle Vella and moved it here as one of my first serial fictions that you can read all of if you become a paid subscriber. I welcome feedback on the story and would love to discuss the story with you. Editing has gone into the story, but it has not had professional eyes on it yet.
Cataclysm was written in four and a half months from mid December 2020 to around the end of April 2021. It is what got me back to writing the way I used to love writing. I also decided during writing this it was time to take writing seriously and learn how to publish.
October Adventures
I put Champions of Light into a Fantasy Free For All on the first Friday of October. I had 666 free ebooks snagged around that event. I’m not sure of the fruits of this adventure because I don’t have Truth Bearer published yet. I did it more for fun and learning. I also found it amusing that it was that number of free books when my story has definite allegory to Christianity in its Light versus Dark religion. My quirky sense of humor is seeing this as a possible way for the enemy of God to get a black eye. This sense of humor may explain some of what I do in Cataclysm.
The last Friday of the month, I had fun sharing with a group of fellow writers and authors about my writing based on harvest time. I put what I shared there into a post here on Tales of Karnum called Harvest Time. This fun event I hopped into with only a couple of days to prepare led to me knowing how to start Last of Dragons. My critique group felt it needed more lead in and structure to help the reader have a foundation to stand on from the beginning. I now have to write that scene for my next turn of critiquing in November.
I also have another author talk on November 3rd at a local library. That should be fun and isn’t really an October Adventure, but prep work happened this month.
Truth Bearer’s cover is finalized. Other than close friends and family, you are the next to see it. Let me know what you think. I’ll put it here next to Champions of Light so you can compare the two for the Light Series thus far.
Book Releases by Other Authors
Four books in A Classic Retold came out in October.
Unearth the Tides by Alissa J. Zavalianos
Beware the Wasteful Tides
Should the Crimson Death Take You
Huxley Krew Gannon III always knew he would be a royal guard; defending the Crown is in his blood. And coming from a long line of Gannons, that means the job is to be taken seriously at all costs.
When tragedy strikes, Huxley is framed for treason, and his only option is to flee to Braka’s most-feared place: The Wasteful Tides.
It’s rumored a monstrous beast haunts those waters, but what Huxley encounters is even worse: an elusive captain, magical herbs, a beautiful lady, and unearthed truths that could change the course of history.
Unearth the Tides is a fantasy retelling of Jules Verne’s 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. Filled with mystery, found family, and themes of truth and forgiveness, Unearth the Tides is perfect for those who love the coziness of the classics and the thrill of adventure.
Raise the Dead by Nina Clare
Would you go into hell to rescue the one you love?
After long years of hardship Jane Rochester is now a young bride settling into a quiet life with the man she loves. But a mysterious stranger at the door resurrects old troubles, unearths buried secrets, and revives a family curse; the past will not leave them in peace.
A malignant force is tearing Jane’s new family apart, and she will have to journey into the very mouth of hell to seek to break it, with no assurance of ever returning home to the living world.
Nina Clare re-imagines Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre in a fantasy quest through the supernatural realms of heaven and hell.
Summon the Light by Tor Thibeaux
Everything he ever loved is gone. Can what is broken ever be restored?
In a quiet, seaside town, Nick works as a smuggler, disguising himself as a human and hiding his secret past as the servant of the magician Prospero. It’s been two years since the attack that devastated the great magician’s island leaving it dark and ruined. Prospero and his beautiful daughter, Miranda, are dead, and even Nick’s best friend, the spirit Ariel, has slipped into a coma. Nothing is left.
Nick has resolved himself to mere survival when a voice from the past suddenly begins to call to him, urging him to rebuild the magic island’s ruined chapel. No matter how futile the task, Nick cannot ignore the haunting call to restore the heart of the island.
But hope is not the only thing awakening. Darkness is stirring as well—darkness that understands the meaning of Nick’s task better than he does.
As Nick begins his work, he is stalked on land and sea—by enemies human and inhuman—all of them prepared to do whatever is necessary to keep him from summoning the light.
Tor Thibeaux re-imagines Shakespeare’s The Tempest in an epic story of good and evil in a high-stakes fantasy adventure.
Chase the Legend by Hannah Kaye
The End of the Map lies far behind you now. Here there be dragons.
The nation of Outer Melvia runs on the power of dragon oil, but only the Hunters of Map’s End are fearless–or foolish–enough to pursue the great beasts of the deep.
In the wake of a broken engagement, Ilsa Starling boards the Hunting vessel Relentless in search of the solace the sea promises her.
But dragons are not the only threats that lurk in these uncharted waters. As first mate aboard Relentless, Ilsa becomes a key player in the impossible quest determined by her captain, Adam Chase. Once Map’s End’s rising star, Chase lost everything to an ill-fated encounter with a legendary white dragon that haunts the seas at the very edge of the world. Now the captain swears to avenge himself on the beast and restore all that was stolen from him, no matter what–or who–he may lose along the way.
In this gaslamp fantasy reimagining of Moby Dick, Hannah Kaye spins a tale of hurt and healing, breathing hope into Herman Melville’s timeless tragedy.
Book Reviews
I’ve been slow on reading but I finished Emily Golus’s tale from A Classic Retold, Crack the Stone. Click on the title to see my full review. In short, I had a good time reading this story with a female goblin as the main character. It was a fun twist on the classic of Les Misérables.
November Plans
The primary focus is editing Truth Bearer based on all the feedback I have. Around that I will work on the first scene for Last of Dragons and give it to my critique group.
I should have all of Cataclysm posted by November 5th, but may have to wait on some feedback on the last few episodes that need other eyes for a last check. These last few were not posted yet when this existed over on Vella. The goal is to have as much done as possible before I dive into editing Truth Bearer.
I’ll start up a Scrivener project for book 3 of the Light Series. I have some idea where to go based on how Truth Bearer turned out. I want a place to throw notes as ideas come up.
I know this was one of my longer newsletters, but a lot is going on. Let me know what you think by emailing me or leaving comments on the posts you read on Tales of Karnum.