Here’s the link to my new book: The Unbound Realm, Volume 1: A Door into Evermoor
I really had to expand my writing toolbox for this one, and I couldn’t be happier! Had to tone down the swearing (no f-bombs, believe it or not, and I also dialed down the rest of the naughty words as much as seemed appropriate for a PG-13/TV-14 story). First-person perspective, and a hard focus on “fantasy-style” dialogue (I used Roland from the Dark Tower books as inspiration, since his way of speaking always seemed commanding, poetic, badass, and strangely romantic all at once).
Here are a few of the phrases that I created to fit the spirit of the story: “May light find you in dark places” / “And may it ease your eyes and guide your feet.” (That’s what you say when you’re about to leave, and that’s how you reply when someone is leaving). “Wind at your back and sun on your brow.” (That’s how you greet someone) “A day and an age” describes a long stretch of time. “low-shadow” is an adjective that indicates something distasteful. “The Eventide Clear” is a reference for death. “Kai” and “Sha” are used in place of Mister and Miss. I threw a bunch of others in there, but I can’t remember them all. (Honestly, it might be where I had the most fun; battle scenes are cool, but I love when I read archaic dialogue and it feels organic and novel without being cheesy.)
It has come to my attention that for all my editing (over thirty read-throughs), I slipped up in chapter 9, where I mentioned Elier and Lucky (a High Taire Duelist and his thieving companion) by name a few minutes before they had verbally introduced themselves. Sorry if that drew any of you out of the story. I have republished the book where they are referred to as the thief and the Duelist until they say otherwise. Those are the hazards of being an obsessive editor—you start losing track of what the audience and the characters know and when they know it. Ironically, that’s also a hazard that makes itself apparent when you don’t edit enough. Damned if you do, damned if you don’t. (Not really, though—if you edit your ass off, your brain may go numb, but your manuscript is going to flow a hell of a lot better. That’s a worthy trade-off imo).
Anyways, for those of you who purchased the book, enjoy reading about Jon and his epic fantasy journey! There are other worlds than these!
Dirty Sci-Fi Buddha 
love the cover. Great job.
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Thanks!
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such a beautiful cover
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Thank you!
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Congrats and good luck
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Thanks!
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Intelligent YA is one of the hardest challenges.
Well done on taking this bold step, and best wishes.
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Thank you! It is indeed.
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Keep on keeping on I admire your willingness to ‘take up baton’.
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Just gotta get the ideas out of my head. 🙂
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One of the longest distances known to Humanity is getting the creative process out of the head and onto the paper/laptop.
(I’ve got two of them at present! 🥴)
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Yep. I thought I was being impatient until I heard Tarantino it took him close to a decade to write some of his movies.
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If a job’s worth doing……
One thing a Tarantino film never is, is shabby and shoddy.
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Congratulations!
Gwen.
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Thanks!
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Very Interesting
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Can I ask who did your cover? Its lovely
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a Fiverr artist named emilianohc
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Thanks! I might look them up!
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Congratulations!
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Thanks!
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This sounds like a great story and right up my street!
Congrats!
Also don’t worry about missing things in the edit, you get so close to the story that you miss things. I’m forever catching edit slip ups in ARCs (and even published books) and sending them back. It feels nice knowing you helped the creation process!
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Indeed! Slip ups are inevitable…
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