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!

In Which I Say a Naughty Word

In my morning ramble through the minefield that is the internet I noticed there was a little bit of excitement about some new app that cleans up eBooks. Cleans up as in removes naughty words.

My initial response was a hearty, "meh." Some people just have no tolerance for anything outside their comfort zone. And while that's incredibly sad, it's not really worth burning anything over.

But the more I thought about it, the more I realized, it actually is kind of a big deal. It's at least worth a few words on my part.

Plans for November

NaNoWriMo is almost here! I'm sure the majority of people couldn't really care less about that, but I do. I love the self imposed deadline, the mad rush to finish a first draft. There's even an imagined sense of community when you consider that people all over the world are in the same rush as you.

That Moment When it Suddenly Makes Sense

  I recently played through the game Flower. I loved it. Every single second of it. It didn't take long. Maybe two hours, two hours I wished had lasted longer. I have always been a fan of traditional storytelling. I pretend to be a writer, so I would be I suppose. So I was a little surprised at how fully I was engaged in this game. For the two or so hours it took me to complete the main “story” I was utterly and completely in love with what thatgamecompany had done.