The Arinthian Line: its first signed paperback set giveaway

Today marks the five-year anniversary of the launch of Arcane. In celebration of this amazingly special milestone, I am hosting my first ever giveaway. The winner will receive a complete signed paperback set of The Arinthian Line series (sword not included). I will announce the winner in the comments on Saturday, November 30th, 2019.

HOW TO ENTER:

1. Follow me @severbronny on Instagram, where this contest is being held
2. Like the contest post on my profile
3. Leave a comment on the post naming your favorite fantasy character of all time, from any series.
4. Tag two people you know like fantasy books.

Giveaway is international. Entrant must be 16+ years old, or have parental permission. One entry per Instagram account. Entries from giveaway-specific accounts will be disqualified. Contest closes 11:59 pm PST Nov. 29, 2019, at which point one winner will be chosen at random. Winner must provide an address so I can ship them their prize. Postage will be covered by author. This giveaway is not sponsored, endorsed or administered by, or associated with Instagram.

Good luck!

-Sever
P.S. And not long after this contest—you guessed it!—comes the launch of Mercy’s Trial :)

Mercy’s Trial (Fury of a Rising Dragon, book 3) cover and blurb reveal

Grasping at a sliver of hope, a group of friends undertake a perilous quest last attempted thousands of years ago . . . a quest to summon dragons.

A ruthless enemy has conquered Augum’s kingdom. Sheltered beneath a protective dome, the Academy of Arcane Arts stands as the sole remaining stronghold.

And Augum and his friends are about to abandon it.

Little does he know escaping will be the easy part, for a harrowing adventure awaits. Along the way, he’ll have to evade an enemy that always seems one step ahead—while dealing with an ally questioning his leadership.

But his greatest challenge?

Learning when to show mercy . . . and when to drive in the sword.

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COMING THIS DECEMBER

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Arinthian Line news!

Hiyas!

How was your summer? Mine has been hectic, to say the least. But I’ll get to that in a moment. First off, I want to share some massive news that many of you have been hoping would happen for quite some time. At long last, the last two audiobooks in The Arinthian Line series are going to be published!

That’s right–Clash is launching on Christmas Eve, December 24th, and Legend is launching Mar 31st 2020! Which means you’ll finally be able to listen to the entire adventure straight through. In fact, you can pre-order the Clash audiobook now using this link.

I can’t thank you enough for your patience. Audiobooks are a massively labor-intensive and expensive process, so I am particularly grateful to Grammy winner Stefan Rudnicki for believing in the project and pushing to have it completed. Stefan has narrated some heavyweights, including Orson Scott Card’s Ender’s Game. Here’s what he had to say on the matter:

“It’s been my honor and pleasure to voice Sever Bronny’s first three Arinthian Line novels, and I’m thrilled that I’ll now be getting back into that magical world for another 45 or so hours of high adventure storytelling. Over these years, Augum, Bridget, Leera, and of course Anna Atticus Stone, have become some of my very favorite characters. I think of them as friends, and the thought of hanging with them some more feels more like a vacation than work.”
—Stefan Rudnicki, September 2019

This announcement is quite timely, for I’m celebrating a personal milestone–on this day, four years ago, I quit my day job to be a full-time author. It’s hard to describe what that means to me in a notoriously fickle industry. And another anniversary is coming up too: the 5-year launch anniversary of Arcane. I’ll be throwing a contest to celebrate that moment (late November), which will have its own email.

Other news:

Mercy’s Trial (Fury of a Rising Dragon, book 3) is on schedule for a December launch. Cover and blurb reveal coming soon. The book is massive–240,000 words–and is in the late editing stages. It was an incredibly complicated project that took a lot of energy to finish, but man was it rewarding (you guys are going to love where things have gone with the trio and their friends). But I’ll talk more about it in the coming reveal (wait till you see the cover!).

And thank you to everyone who voted for Arcane in the Epic Fantasy Fanatics contest! Arcane qualified for the next round thanks to your efforts. It’s now in the judging phase of the contest.

And yes, there will be a book 4 in the Fury of a Rising Dragon series.

All my best to you and those you love,

Sever

Two pieces of news this time around:

– Announcing the name of book 3
– I need your help nominating Arcane for its first-ever book contest

Firstly, I’m excited to announce that the name of the next book, coming out in December, will be Mercy’s Trial (Fury of a Rising Dragon, book 3). It’s an epic work (a book as long as Legend!). It’s currently with my wife, who is doing the developmental editing. When that gets done, it’s going to go through another couple of edit rounds before a line editor takes over. The cover reveal will come in the next few months. In the meantime, I’ll get to start writing book 4! Needless to say, I’m ultra excited.

Secondly, I’d like to ask your help with something I’ve never tried before–a book contest! Epic Fantasy Fanatics is running a massive contest on Facebook, and I’ve submitted Arcane for contention. The tricky part is that Arcane will require 100 nominations to enter the main contention round, and I’ve only got a handful so far because I haven’t publicized that I’ve entered the contest. Nominating the book is super quick and easy:†††

Simply go to Arcane’s nomination page (link below), scroll down, and click on “nominate”. Doing so will prompt an automatic Facebook dialogue asking you if you wish to nominate Arcane. Click on “Yes.” †

Link to Arcane’s nomination page

The nomination round ends in four days (July 14th), so your help in getting us to 100 is crucial. Thank you so much for your amazing support :)

So what do you think of the name Mercy’s Trial? Are you as excited as I am?

All the best,

Sever

The Latest News

Let’s get to the big news first: the audiobook for Honor’s Price (Fury of a Rising Dragon, book 2) just launched today!

It’s narrated by the accomplished Gary Furlong, from Ireland.

I’ve been getting a lot of emails asking about when more audiobooks are going to come out, but unfortunately audiobooks take a long time to produce—especially for fantasy epics, which is the kind I write. The best thing you can do to help speed the process along is to get the distributors to take notice, which means leaving an honest review of any of my audiobooks on audible.

On to other matters.

I hope the wait for book 3 in the Fury of a Rising Dragon series is not too excruciating. I’ll be releasing the title of the work in the coming months. I’m also still on track for an early December launch, and am having a blast editing the book. It’s a big adventure with a lot of new character development and a whole new storyline that’s going to take things in an incredible direction. Augum’s main challenge in this work will be to control his temper while stepping into the shoes of a true leader. The girls too will have their own unique challenges.

I’m quite excited about where things are headed with this series, and have big plans for our intrepid trio—as well as a unique combination of spellcasting and story I simply cannot wait for you to experience.

There’s been a lot of mail in general from you happy folks (I post the “best-of” here on this site). You’ve been amazingly supportive and understanding of how long these stories take to crank out and get right. So, from the bottom of my heart, thank you to each and every one of you :)

All my best to you and those you love, and happy listening to Honor’s Price!
Sever

P.S. I added a recent photo of me inducting Honor’s Price into the local downtown library here in Victoria, BC.

Kindle ebook of Burden’s Edge is on sale for $0.99 for first time ever

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If you know someone who’s looking to start a new adventure, let them know that for the first time ever, the kindle version of Burden’s Edge (Fury of a Rising Dragon, book 1) is on sale in the U.S. for only $0.99 cents on Amazon. But you’ll have to hurry because the sale expires early Wednesday morning.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B077VP3VJL

#epicfantasy #fantasybooks #fantasyfiction #youngadult #comingofage #yalit #epicreads #yabooks #fantasynovel #booksale #bookdeal #ebooksale #kindledeals #amazonkindle #kindlebargain #kindle

A peek behind the curtain

Finished writing book 3 recently, and now I’m rereading the first two books of the Fury of a Rising Dragon series in preparation for the first round of editing. It will go through numerous rounds of edits before release later this year

Reading my own books might seem strange but I find it to be an important part of the process. And yes I do laugh at my own jokes 😂 Currently at the scene where the trio and friends visit Olaf for the first time in “Castle Squalor”—Olaf’s house. It’s one of my favorites in Honor’s Price. Do you have a favorite scene in the book?

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#severbronny #writing #writerslife #fantasyauthor #author #writer #bookstagram #authorlife #amwriting #amwritingfantasy #authorsofinstagram #writerlife #writingprocess #writeratwork #fantasynovels #fantasybooks #fantasyfiction #epicfantasy #yalit #epicreads #yabooks #yabookstagram #fantasynovel #yafantasy

First draft of Book 3 (Fury of a Rising Dragon series) nearing completion.

I just passed 200,000 words in book 3 to the Fury of a Rising Dragon series (title to be announced). The book is rapidly nearing its conclusion—and it’s one epic conclusion. But it’s only one battle in a war, which means, you guessed it:

Yes, there will be a book 4!

The expected release date of book 3 is December of this year (2019).

Thank you for your patience and your continued support. Your letters and comments inspire me to give it my all with my writing.

I love this job.

#fantasybooks #youngadult #ya #epicfantasy #fantasy #fantasyauthor #fantasywriting #fantasynovels #fantasyfiction #dragons #books #writing #author #writerlife #writeratwork #writersdesk

Honor’s Price (Fury of a Rising Dragon, book 2) has launched!

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When a cunning enemy enslaves the kingdom, a famed warlock-knight must survive a gauntlet of perils to save his people.

Augum Stone is only sixteen and already a legend. He heard his name chanted in the arena by tens of thousands. He vanquished a notorious tyrant and ended a war. And he revived a warlock-knight order that lay dormant for generations.

But these feats came with a price—he needs combat to feel alive, to test his limits.

As Augum struggles with restraint, a callous enemy kingdom enslaves his people. And that enemy wants more than mere control—they’re searching for an ancient weapon with which to conquer Sithesia.

Now, with the future of all the kingdoms at stake, Augum and his friends must cobble together lost historical clues to find the weapon before the enemy does. Standing in the way is a manipulative prince, a traitorous nobility, a vengeful

rival . . . and Augum’s own reckless nature.
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This launch marks three years of full-time writing. Three years. In total, I published seven books, stacking up to 1.24 millions words. I am grateful to you, dear reader. And I am grateful to my amazing wife, who believed in my writing when she could have easily told me, after I had already failed in making a living in my music career, that I should be more practical. Yet she pushed me to see where it goes, knowing I was having a blast writing.

And I’m still having a blast writing (thank you, my love!).

Many of you have written me wonderful heartfelt letters expressing your love for the trio’s journey. You have motivated me to give it my all with this work, which has been a year in the making. It’s a big book—230,000 words / 634 paperback pages, almost as long as Legend. In this new chapter in their lives, our illustrious trio find themselves embroiled in a new adventure—one of courage, determination, and especially, growth.

Thank you for supporting my work—it means more than you know :)

Now on the book. The kindle version can be purchased from Amazon HERE. The paperback version can be found HERE.

Enjoy the adventure, and I’d love to hear your thoughts when you’re done reading.

All my best to you and those you love,

—Sever

Honor’s Price (Fury of a Rising Dragon, book two) blurb and cover reveal

It’s that time! Here’s the cover and blurb reveal for Honor’s Price (Fury of a Rising Dragon, book two). (Launch is on schedule for the end of the month).
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When a cunning enemy enslaves the kingdom, a famed warlock-knight must survive a gauntlet of perils to save his people.

Augum Stone is only sixteen and already a legend. He heard his name chanted in the arena by tens of thousands. He vanquished a notorious tyrant and ended a war. And he revived a warlock-knight order that lay dormant for generations.

But these feats came with a price—he needs combat to feel alive, to test his limits.

As Augum struggles with restraint, a callous enemy kingdom enslaves his people. And that enemy wants more than mere control—they’re searching for an ancient weapon with which to conquer Sithesia.

Now, with the future of all the kingdoms at stake, Augum and his friends must cobble together lost historical clues to find the weapon before the enemy does. Standing in the way is a manipulative prince, a traitorous nobility, a vengeful rival . . . and Augum’s own reckless nature.

* * *

Are you as excited as I am? The book is undergoing formatting as we speak, and we’re still looking at a late September launch. You’ll hear from me again soon!

—Sever

P.S. I just sent out an email to all my subscribers which includes the first chapter (those of you with Gmail accounts may want to check your “Promotions” tab–and drag and drop them into your regular email tab, as sometimes emails get lost in the shuffle like that).

Burden’s Edge audiobook available for preorder #epic #fantasy

Surprise!

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The Audiobook for Burden’s Edge (Fury of a Rising Dragon, book one) is now available for preorder, and is launching in only a week–June 28th! It’s narrated by the accomplished Gary Furlong, who brings an Irish flair to my work.

Also, I just signed a contract with Grammy winner Stefan Rudnicki, who narrated Arcane (The Arinthian Line, book one), to narrate Riven (The Arinthian Line, book two), which is tentatively scheduled for a November launch. The plan is for him to finish the entire series.

Lastly, Honor’s Price (Fury of a Rising Dragon, book two) is on schedule to launch late summer. It’s with the line editor as we speak. After I get it back, I expect things to go quickly on the final few edit rounds. It’s a massive book, almost as long as Legend, and has a ton of plot twists, going in directions few would guess. I am beyond excited with this book, as I feel it’s a nice balance between The Arinthian Line and the direction Fury of a Rising Dragon is taking. The trio grow as people, as do their friends. It was a complicated and ambitious undertaking, but I had a total blast writing it and am truly proud of the work. I suspect you will be enthralled :)

Enjoy :)

—Sever

Augum, Bridget and Leera news; audiobook news; and an interview with AC Cobble.

Items in this update:

1. Augum, Bridget and Leera news.
2. Audiobook contract signed for Fury of a Rising Dragon series.
3. I interview AC Cobble, author of the bestselling fantasy series Benjamin Ashwood.

Item 1: Augum, Bridget and Leera news.

I’ve been getting a lot of emails asking when Honor’s Price (Fury of a Rising Dragon, book two) will be ready. Well, I finally have some news on that front. I finished the first draft of the book and the first edit round. It’s now entered the deeper editing stages, which will be compromised of approximately six more additional rounds of editing before it will be ready. So we’re looking a late summer-ish launch.

It’s a big book, almost as big as Legend (The Arinthian Line, book five), and is packed full of action, drama and plot. Augum, Bridget and Leera discover ancient secrets about Arcaners while facing a Canterran cult, assassins, and the Von Edgeworth line. There’s a turning-sixteen womanhood ceremony for a certain someone, numerous personal trials for the trio, a frank encounter between Augum and Jez, new spells, and loads more.

Item 2: I signed an audiobook contract with Tantor for the Fury of a Rising Dragon series.

I’m excited to announce that Fury of a Rising Dragon will become an audiobook series! I’ll announce who the narrator will be on my author Facebook page shortly. As to The Arinthian Line, I’m in talks with Grammy winner Stefan Rudnicki to finish the series, so keep your fingers crossed (Audiobooks are notoriously expensive projects and I write long books, so no guarantees yet).

Item 3: I’m trying something different: an interview with an author some of you may have already heard about :) Away we go!

I’d like to welcome AC Cobble, the author of Benjamin Ashwood, to this edition of “Milk Crate Interviews with Sever Bronny.” AC, there’s your milk crate (mind the dust and piles of half-read books) and I’ll take my seat on mine after this awkward pause.

(Awkward pause)

All right, isn’t this fun? My wife works with me in my author career and is super supportive (she set up the milk crates for this interview. You might find her lurking about the place munching on granola bars, Kindle in hand). I also have a cat named Buddha. She’s a small loaf with big eyes and likes to wander about the place like a princess. Any pets, kids, dolphins on your end? Wife? Husband?

Hi Sever, thanks for having me! I’m married to a wonderful wife who … well … initially said no to me becoming a full-time author. She came around though! She has an open mind, if not an initial faith in my ability to tell a good yarn. To be fair to her, my last creative endeavor was painting. It ended in a lot of brainstorming and a still-blank canvass, which she’d bought me for my birthday 6 years ago (someday, someday). We have three children, all boys, ages 8 months to 5 years. Now that I work from home, taking time out of the day to deal with the fighting, crying, and people yelling for food is a wonderful reminder of what my corporate life used to be like. It’s like I never left! My wife has a dog, which after 10 years of dating and marriage has still not accepted me. Maybe the nightly battle where the dog “forgets” she has her own bed in our room and doesn’t need to be in my spot is just a friendly joke? Every night I get a look from the dog that says, “I would prefer it if you died”. Ah, what else? I’m from Tennessee originally but live in Houston, TX now. I love to travel but have very few hobbies outside of writing and the family.

You mentioned you lived a “corporate life.” What exactly does that mean? Any parts of that life you miss? What do you love most about being a fulltime author?

Before making the jump to the book business, I worked for a massive, global corporation (think top 5 in the world). My days were filled with the normal things at any place like that – meetings & e-mail. There were plenty of the stereotypical people and politics that you can imagine going on, which I don’t miss a second of. But there were also some really awesome people who I keep in touch with still (had a few over for dinner this weekend!). I also really enjoyed my final role at the company. I was something like an internal consultant. I traveled about 25% of the time, worked from home 74%, and went to my local office 1%… That was pretty cool – and helps explain how I held a full-time job and wrote a couple of novels. I role allowed me to travel all over the world. I worked in 8 different countries. I saw some really amazing places that I never would have seen otherwise, and a lot of those influences made it into my books.

What’s best about being a full-time author? Freedom. You’re the captain and crew of your own ship, and you can sail where ever you please. I imagine many people who own their own businesses feel the same way, but as Authors, we don’t keep a storefront, we don’t have hours we’re open, we don’t have clients we go visit. What we do, is entirely up to us. That is an amazing feeling.

You’ve written a story in the same genre as me which makes me feel like we’re kindred spirits (come here, buddy! *awkward hug*). What made you so badly want to write coming of age fantasy? What initially inspired Benjamin Ashwood?

Nothing better than meeting another author and doing the handshake, fist-bump, hug dance! Somehow, that always ends up with me gently punching people. I’m ready for the union to proscribe a standard greeting we can use when we emerge, pale faced and blinking, from the writing caves.

Oh, you asked a question…

I was inspired by the books I grew up reading. Robert Jordan, JRR Tolkien, David Eddings, those guys. I love the way all of their stories start, and that’s how I started my tale. A young boy leaves his small village on an adventure. It really spoke to a younger me, and it still does today. It’s the sense that you don’t know what will happen next, but anything is possible. It’s one of the times a fantasy trope connects really solidly with my real life experience. Sometimes, I feel like I hewed too close to those books in the beginning of Benjamin Ashwood, but it’s intended as an homage to the stories I love. As you read deeper in my series, the themes and plots diverge wildly from the books I grew up with. I started on the shoulders of those giants, but the core of the story takes the expectation from those tales and turns it on its head. In real life, I don’t think heroes are Chosen Ones, and I wanted to write a story about that.

What challenges you these days?

In addition to writing my Benjamin Ashwood series, I’ve started a small press called Cobble Publishing. I have 3 other authors under my banner and we’re in production with several of their books! Juggling that along with my own work is a logistical nightmare, but it’s the kind of challenge I really enjoy. At heart, I’m still the business guy I was before I began writing, and I love that part of publishing.

In the creative space, one thing that is tough for me is keeping it fresh. I’m writing my 5th Benjamin Ashwood book, and like the others, there are fights, magic, and all of that great stuff. How is a fight in Book 5 different and more exciting than one in Book 1? That’s the challenge. I want to keep raising the bar for myself and delivering ever more exciting scenes to my readers. It has really pushed me to innovate and expand my writing. I mean, how many ways can you hit a guy with a sword? We’ll find out…

What’s coming up next for you that you’re excited about?

You ready for this? I just released a Boxset for my first 3 Benjamin Ashwood books. On April 17th, I have a debut YA Fantasy from one of my authors, Tanya Schofield, titled “Awaken: Melody’s Song Book 1”. On May 8th, another author, Thomas Webb, has a Steampunk Alternate history called “Stalemate: Clockwerk Thriller Book 1”. I’ll sneak a small collection of Benjamin Ashwood short stories out there sometime in May as well, then on June 5th, “Burning Tower: Benjamin Ashwood Book 5” hits the shelves! Oh, did I mention that there’s a German language version of Benjamin Ashwood Book 1 in the works, hopefully arriving in June? July, we’ll release a currently untitled epic fantasy from author Mark E Lacy. That covers the next 4 months…

Whew. I told you there were some logistics involved!

Finally, I’m doing some early groundwork for a brand new series that I hope to unveil in late 2019. The amount of world building and character development I’m doing is far more than I’ve done before, but if this works, it will really pay off for readers (um, I hope).

That’s a lot on your plate, are you not worried it will take away from your writing energy?

I’ve found that having something else going on really helps keep the creative juices flowing. This began as a hobby for me, a way to relax from the stress of the job, new kids, etc. Writing is my down time, and it relaxes me. When I’ve tried to ramp up and go full bore, I burn out pretty quickly. Very rarely have I been able to sit down and write for a full day. When I have managed it, I needed several days off to recover. So, maybe because it’s how I got my start, I tend to write in bursts of 2-3 hours then switch gears and focus on something else. The great thing about starting a small press is that “something else” keeps me engaged in the industry. I love books, being around books, writers, and every aspect of this process. It’s all fun to me, and it keeps me busy while those creative juices recharge.

You and I are extremely lucky to do what we do full-time. I occasionally dole out advice to budding writers who dream of becoming full-time authors. What advice would you give to those who wish to make this a full-time living?

I completely agree – we are extremely lucky. I tell people that being a writer is exactly as awesome as you imagine it to be. Being an Author (caps) is an easier job for me than Every Other Job I’ve Ever Had. It pays better, too. Seriously. There cannot be a better job than this! But, as Cypress Hill once said, “It’s a fun job, but it’s still a job.”
Yes, you get to do all of the awesome creative stuff. And yes, you are your own boss. It’s completely true, you can work anywhere in the world, at any time. Literally everyone you meet will be jealous. You make up stuff and write it down for a living! But, you also have to do the icky parts of the job. This is your business – you should treat it like a business. You have to market, you have to do book keeping, you have to negotiate, you have to invest in your product, and you have to hold yourself accountable for getting it done! More so than anything else, like a business, you have to serve your customer. Everyone telling you to “write only for yourself” is, in my mind, doing you a huge disservice. It’s not to say you can’t write what you love – see earlier about my influences – but if you want to sell what you’ve written, someone has to want to read it. At the end of the day, the job of the writer is pleasing the reader, not themselves.

They’ve made you walk the plank. What was your crime, and any parting final words for humanity?

Ha, I love this question! Because it’s easy for me to answer… I’ve been in the rum barrel.

In fact, the rum barrel is now more like – just a barrel. So, the rest of you scurvy scallywags are going to be high and dry for the rest of this Caribbean cruise. Up until this exact moment, my trip was quite pleasant. Now, let me raise my tankard with the last of the grog, and share a little wisdom with you:

“In life, with few exceptions, you only achieve what you strive to accomplish. No one wins the lottery without buying a ticket. No one becomes a rock star without putting in countless hours of practice. No one writes a book without pounding out the words. Life isn’t always fair. When you try your best, you still may not reach your goal. But I’m willing to bet everything I have – you’ll never get there until you do try. Study, effort, work – those are your lottery tickets. Being a full-time author (and rum thief), it feels like I hit the lottery. The truth is, I put in the work. I earned it. I DID IT. Whatever your dream, DO IT. Start. That is the only way you can get there.”

Now, I’ll turn up the grog, scream to the heavens, “I regret nothing!”, slip, bang my head on the plank, and fall limply into the water where I’m brutally consumed by vicious sharks and mutant sea turtles. Let’s be honest, there are worse ways to go…

Thank you, AC Cobble and my readers have brought you up a few times, so it’s been a real pleasure getting to know you both here and behind the scenes :)

AC Cobble is the Amazon bestselling fantasy action & adventure author of the Benjamin Ashwood series.

Sever