Recent Appearances as of April 2021

Hey, everybody! Been a long time since I've shared anything, huh?

To be honest, there hasn't been that much going on. But so far this year I have made two appearances on the internet. First was as a panelist at thisyear's Life the Universe and Everything writer's conference. I had one panel called "Domesticity in Fantastic Settings." It was a really fun discussion about, well, it's in the title, domesticity in fantasy settings.

LTUE just made it available for everyone, so if you want to check it out:

I also recently appeared on a podcast called KnightVision. Another really fun conversation with other authors about writing. Give it a watch:

 

Hopefully you all can get some enjoyment out of these. I know I did.

I'll be back soon with some actual news(maybe a post about the book I just finished writing?) Until then, be good!

2019 Review and 2020 Preview

The new year is upon us! 2019 is basically over. Which means it’s time to review the past year and discuss the one to come.

2019 was a pretty good year for me as far as book related stuff goes. I somehow managed to release 4 books. 3 of my own and an anthology I edited along with my buddies Austin James and J.L. Mayne.

The anthology, if you haven’t heard, is a genreless for-charity book called Where There Are Dragons. It includes 19 stories and poems from an amazing collection of writers. They run the entire spectrum of genre with every story completely unique in its sensibilities. Of everything I released this year I think I’m most proud of this little book. Plus, every sale goes to support suicide prevention and awareness, so it makes me feel like I’m actually doing something worthwhile with my time.

The 3 other projects that released this year were Knit, Purl, Slip a novella I wrote as a Christmas gift for my sister about lady monster hunters who use items knitted from magic wool, then Jack Bloodfist: Freelancer the second in my Jack Bloodfist series about my suit wearing orc, and Gods of the Broken Sea the sequel to last year’s Knights of the Dead God.

While three books and an anthology really isn’t something to sneeze at, I can’t help but feeling I could have done a little more… Oh well, there’s always next year…

Speaking of next year, here’s what I have planned: I have 3 books planned for next year. All of which I am incredibly excited for.

As has become customary, I now write a novella every year for Christmas, and as fate would have it, I got the same sister in our annual gift exchange, so that means sometime next year after she’s read and approved it I’ll get to share Unravelled the sequel to Knit, Purl, Slip.

More over-the-top action scenes, more bad-ass ladies killing monsters. It’s everything I wanted it to be.

I’ll keep everyone updated on a more solid release date, but it will likely be in the first half of the year.

After “Unraveled” the next planned release is Orcs of the Southern Front the sequel to Gods of the Broken Sea and the third book in my Broken Redemption series. Orcs is set three years after the conclusion of Gods and is going to take the series in a direction I think might surprise some of my readers. Or not. Maybe you guys know exactly what’s going to happen, which I wouldn’t put past you.

I’m aiming for a September-October release for this one. That would keep the series fairly consistent at a book a year schedule, and nothing would make me happier than being able to deliver a sequel on a predictable schedule like that.

Speaking of sequels and predictable schedules… My final project for 2020 is going to be Lightning’s Price. The much anticipated, too-long awaited sequel to Son of Thunder. This is my current active writing project and for the first time in years I can finally see the end of the tunnel, and it is much closer than I had expected.

Despite the fact that I’m currently working on this one, don’t expect it anytime too soon. I’m aiming for a November-December release.

I have one more release planned for 2020: The audio version of Gods of the Broken Sea should be dropping sometime in March. The wonderful Senn Annis is returning to continue reading Arthur and Mikaia’s story. She read Knights of the Dead God and I’m super excited that she’s coming back for book 2.

And that’s it for the news! Thanks for sticking with me through 2019. 2020 is going to be a good one, I think.

Pre-Orders for Gods of the Broken Sea!

Good news, everybody! Gods of the Broken Sea, the second in my Broken Redemption series, sequel to last year's Knights of the Dead God is releasing on October 4th and is now available for pre-order.

Gods of the Broken Sea and What Comes Next

Now that I have finally completed Jack Bloodfist: Freelancer and it's available for pre-order(releasing April 21, 2019) I'm returning to the world of Domhan and the adventures of Mikaia Goretusk and Arthur Shield that I started in Knights of the Dead God.

The second book in my Broken Redemption series is titled Gods of the Broken Sea. It's about our two heroes and a new group of allies as they become pirates to sail the titular Broken Sea to meet an Elven sorcerer queen with the hope that she can help them get Mikaia home.

Time

I feel like every one of my blog posts lately have been announcements of some kind. Not that I'm complaining. I like announcing things, I just hope you guys don't hate reading them... I'll try to post something that's not an announcement in the near future. But, if you're interested in reading something that's not me telling you about a new development of some kind, well, maybe check out my Patreon? I've currently got a post for every tier, with a packed schedule of awesomeness. Lore posts, sneak peeks, downloads, all the good stuff. Even polls so you can help determine what I work on next.

That's a good segue to the announcement itself:

Starting on June 20th I will be writing full time.

There are a lot of things that factored into this decision, but the primary one being this is the only thing I've ever wanted to do with my life and it's about damn time I actually start treating that dream with the respect and time it deserves.

So that's what I'm doing.

Being able to work on my writing full time means I should be able to release more, quicker, while still being able to put in the necessary time to keep, and hopefully raise, the quality of the work.

Now, of course, I wouldn't be able to do this if it weren't for the support of the readers. So, those of you that have purchased my books: Thank you. You have no idea how much your support means to me. And I hope I can count on you to continue to support me as I release more writing into the wild.

That's all I have for you as far as text goes, so here, have a picture of my weirdo dog:

Weekly Recommendation - Short Fiction

I've decided to do something new. Once a week, instead of trying to convince you to buy my book, I'm going to recommend someone else's book. Or books. I might settle on a theme for the week and throw a bunch at you, like I'm going to do this time. Hell, I might even go as far as actually reviewing the books I'm recommending beyond just saying, "It's really good, guys." But I'll probably still say that a lot.

This week I decided I'd focus on some short fiction. I have two short stories and a short story/poetry collection. All reads that you can likely finish in under an hour each. Two from writers I know, and really think you might like as well, and one I only recently discovered, but who might be a little better known.

Let's begin, shall we?

First up is a little piece anyone that knows me might be familiar with already:

Demon: The Dark House

I have to start this recommendation by pointing out that I know the author of this one. He's an old friend, and one of my most trusted beta-readers. So I'm biased and I know it. Doesn't mean I don't actually love this story. Because I do love this story. Not only for what it is, but for what it's going to be. This story, on the surface, at least, is a simple action piece. A man hunting a pair of demons through a dark house using a sword forged from his own soul. For every demon he kills, his sword grows darker, and the voices of those he's killed torment him, slowly pushing him closer to insanity.
I talk to Mayne on a regular basis, and I always enjoy turning the conversation to the follow up story he's currently working on. If it even comes close to matching my expectations, we're all in for a treat.

Next on this week's list:

Regurgitations

Again, I have to give a disclaimer. I also know Austin James. I know, I know, I must really be a big deal. Well, I appreciate you all thinking that. But I only know him because of this collection of stories and poems, so you don't have to accuse me of being totally biased. I helped with some of the ebook formatting and I got to write an awesome blurb you can read on the book's amazon page: 

"The stories and poems in this collection all have an edge. The kind that can cut. All previously published, these are Austin James’s regurgitations. Reflections on human emotion and experience. Stories about the failings of love and the sharp, twisting knife of loss. Poetry that reveals the tragedy that is winter, the painting that is the rearview mirror, and the feeling in the stomach that only the right nutmeg blonde can produce. In this collection are two short stories and three poems, each ready to impart something, maybe wisdom, to the reader."

And I meant every word. While not what anyone would call genre fiction, which is my usual wheel house, I would still heartily recommend this short collection to anybody. I've been lucky enough to read a few more of James's stories, and the guy knows what he's doing. Do yourself a favor and drop the $0.99 for this quick read.

And finally:

The Litany of Earth

The Litany of Earth by Ruthanna Emrys is a short story, or Novelette if you want to get fancy, inspired by the Lovecraft mythos. The narrator, Aphra, is one of the last surviving residents of Innsmouth(yes that Innsmouth) trying to start her life over after everything was taken from her.

Anyone familiar with the Lovecraft's stories will know what I mean when I say she has the "Innsmouth look," and I have to say, I loved the fact that the protagonist is a character that in almost any other story inspired by Lovecraft likely would have been cast as the villain.

I mean, she worships Cthulhu. You know, Cthulhu? Yeah, you know him. But the whole time I read this story I just sympathized with her. I almost understood why someone would want to worship a massive winged-squid-faced-monster-of-madness. I won't say too much about the story, other than to tell you that you can read it for free on Tor.com. I recommend it. 

I really enjoyed this story, and upon completion was super excited with the news that there is a full length novel just released starring Aphra. Winter Tide. In fact, apparently, there's a whole series planned. Winter Tide has moved up on my reading list pretty fast, and it's likely going to be one of the next books I read. Fingers crossed that I like it as much as Litany.

Alright, everybody, those are my recommendations this week. Read them. Or don't. I'm not the boss of you. I just thought you might enjoy them. 

Have your own recommendations? Got a short story(or novel, or tv show, I'm not going to regulate this) you love more than life itself? Please share.

Announcements and Whatnot

Only a few weeks until Salt Lake FanX. I love Salt Lake Comic Con, and I'm pretty excited/terrified about the fact that I will have a table this year. That map up there points to my tiny table in the corner of the show. Just a small speck amidst a sea of awesome, but if you happen to be attending, come find me. I'd love to talk books and all manner of geekiness with anyone that wants to. I'll even have copies of both my books, Fixer and Son of Thunder. I'll also have random stuff to give away. Nothing too exciting, bookmarks, autographs, oh, and Audible promo codes for both Son of Thunder and Fixer. I may also have minions patrolling the halls with instructions to reward their favorite cosplayers of the show with said codes. We'll see.

In other news: I just approved the proof for Son of Thunder's paperback edition. FINALLY. It took me way longer to get that one right than I expected, but I'm happy with the final product. So if you've been waiting for that, it should be available soon.

There's also a new paperback version of Fixer out in the wild. There were a few typos in the previous version that I had to fix up. Also changed the books measurements a little. I don't know if anyone besides me cares about that, but there it is.

I also really wanted to thank anyone and everyone that's been grabbing the Son of Thunder audiobook. In just a few weeks it's already sold more copies than Fixer has in over a year. Which kind of makes me sad for Jack, but I'm glad people seem to be enjoying Berun's story. Hopefully you'll come back for the next one. There's a storm on the horizon for the Thunder Mage, and I really think you'll all enjoy watching where the lightning strikes.

And finally, here's a picture of my weird dog:

That is all.

Overdue Announcements for 2017

So with January almost over, I decided it was time to let everyone know my plans for the year. I want to be as transparent as possible with those of you that care to know more about what's happening on the writing front. So that's what this post is for. It includes some fun stuff, some maybe disappointing stuff, and some stuff that you'll probably just "meh" at.

First order of business: Paperback and Audio format for Son of Thunder.

Paperback editions of Son of Thunder should be available for purchase by the end of the month. You might be asking why it's coming so long after the release of the ebook. That's a reasonable question. Mostly it's because I've done my best to make sure the paperback has more to offer than the e-book.
I commissioned an artist for some illustrations, and we added some chapter headers. You're only going to see those in the physical copy of the book.
Here's a taste of what you can expect:

I'm pretty sure it's been worth the wait. I'll announce it when it's officially available, but expect it soon.

Audio edition of Son of Thunder is so close.

I just finished listening to the narration, and guys, it's good. Like, really good. I know I'm biased, but trust me, it's pretty great.
My first step in getting this audio book ready, was to open it up for auditions. I got some amazing auditions. So many talented people submitted. It almost physically hurt me to make the final decision. Because picking one of them meant I was denying other talent. It got worse when I shared the auditions with friends and family and the vote was split. Same number of votes for all the front runners. In the end I chose Sean Tivenan. In situations where I only have good choices and I can't just have everything, I trust my gut. After listening to Sean's performance, I'm glad I did. I think you'll agree when you hear it.
I'm not sure when this will be available. A few hoops to jump through, but once Audible has approved it, you'll be able to grab your own copy.


Now onto other news. Namely, sequels.

Some of you might be familiar with an orc by the name of Jack Bloodfist. I'm still working on his second adventure. I'd originally promised that would be available last year. Well... Turns out I lied. I swore I wouldn't be that guy, but... Sorry. I'm pushing myself to have it ready this year. I do have a good chunk done, and if there's enough interest, I would be happy to share a few peeks into Jack's next adventure. I just wanted to assure everyone that it is coming.
The second Jack Bloodfist novel is going to be titled Freelancer. In this one, you're gonna get to see Jack face off with a powerful necromancer, angry angels, a renegade demon, and maybe a werewolf or two. It's going to be bigger and better than the first one in every way.
I just hope we all get to enjoy it sooner rather than later...

The other sequel on my plate is, you guessed it, the second book in Thunder's War. Son of Thunder has only been out for a few months, but I've been working on this series for longer than I care to admit. Which means, it's all outlined. Book 3's outline is still kind of rough, but book 2(Working title is Lightning's Chosen) is just begging me to start writing it in earnest. Honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if this beat Freelancer to the printer.

I have other projects in the works, as well, but as far as 2017 goes, I think it's safe to assume that either Freelancer or Lightning's Chosen will show up first. Hell, maybe we'll even see both of them if I manage to write as much as I want to this year. But, don't be surprised if you see something random show up instead. I do have that pirate novel I want to write...

One final piece of news for the year: I have a table at Salt Lake Comic Con Fan X this March. This is my first time as a vendor at this con. My first time as James Jakins the author, and not just attendee #20,346. I'll be selling copies of both Son of Thunder and Fixer. I'll even use my non-existent artistic talent to draw orcs if requested. Doesn't even have to be in one of my books. I'll deface anything if you ask.

That's it everybody. Have a great 2017!

Chapter 1 Part 2

Some more news for those of you anxiously awaiting my next release. I've officially finished the proof reading phase of Son of Thunder. All final corrections have been made and the book is practically ready to go. Still planning on a late October release, but I will keep you all informed if that changes in any way.
In other news, now that Son of Thunder is no longer distracting me, I've returned to Freelancer, my Fixer sequel, with a vengeance. I'm aiming to have the first draft finished by the end of November. I'll make sure to share a sneak peek or two as I go.
And, since I'm so fond of sneak peeks, remember that last one I shared? I hope so, it was the last thing I posted... Anyway, that was the opening scene of Son of Thunder, and I decided I'd share the rest of chapter one with all of you. It's below for you to enjoy. And stay tuned, I plan on posting the entirety of chapter two, as well.

The Chained Dragon

Two weeks ago I shared a little sneak peek of my next book, Son of Thunder. The response was pretty positive, which makes me happy. I've had some requests for more, and today I plan on delivering. I'm gonna share the entirety of that same scene. But, before I do that, I want to share something else. 

BEHOLD!

Good News, Everyone!

Exciting news, everybody! I just finished editing my latest novel, Son of Thunder. I've been working on this one for a while. Finished the first draft almost a year before I'd even considered writing Fixer. And now it's done.

Of course, this is where things get scary, because now I get to put it out there. I get to let others read it and judge it. Love, hate, or 'meh' it. 

My trusted beta readers have all given this their stamp of approval, so I'm confident that at least a few new readers are gonna like it.

I've already commissioned the cover art, and, guys, it's gonna be so good. And sometime soon, you're gonna be able to see it. See it and read it. 

Speaking of reading it... Who wants a special sneak peek? Too bad, you're getting one anyway.

The Empty Hall

Because Halloween is my favorite holiday I do my best to celebrate in appropriate ways. One way is by sharing things I have written. I like writing things that I find creepy or scary. The following excerpt, while not the most disturbing thing I've ever done, is still pretty good, if I do say so myself.

Those of you that have read Fixer already will recognize a familiar name in this story. Yes, it is the same guy. In fact, this story takes place in the same world.

Haven't read it yet? Well why not?

Either way, I hope you enjoy this little peek into an empty house.