Beginning around 1377, medieval England was shaken by a power struggle between two noble families, which spanned generations and involved a massive cast of characters, complex motives and shifting loyalties. Sound familiar? Alex Gendler illustrates how the historical conflict known as the Wars of the Roses served as the basis for much of the drama in Game of Thrones.
Lesson by Alex Gendler, animation by Brett Underhill.
Coming very soon …
Augum, Bridget and Leera want only to study new spells and make their legendary mentor proud. But when she unexpectedly departs on a crucial quest, they run afoul of a devious old witch and are forced to make a hasty getaway–straight into the hands of a notorious maniac known as the Blade of Sorrows.
Prisoners of the Blade and his sadistic apprentice, the trio must face their greatest challenge yet: escape using nothing but an ancient spell with some nasty side effects. But more than their lives are at stake, for an entire kingdom’s hopes rest with their mentor–and she’s heading for a deadly trap.
RIVEN is the second book in the Arinthian Line series. To get word of a 24 hour release window when you can purchase it for only 99 cents, subscribe here.
Arcane (The Arinthian Line, book 1) available here.
Book 1 and 2 side-by-side:
Thank you for coming over to this blog. Sorry for the mess, been bit of a dump around here lately. Uh, have a seat between the ferns. So, what’s with the parrot?
We have a bird thing going. Book three is going to have some pirates, and probably some parrot familiars. It’s like the old adage says, “put a bird on it.”
That video. lol. So the CN in C.N. Crawford is two people apparently. Explain why you’re not crazy.
Either there are actually two of us, or it’s just me in a yellowed wedding dress with a moldering rat-eaten cake screaming into a dead garden about a husband. I’m not going to tell you which of these is true.
Since you’re not crazy, why is there a knife in both your hands? I don’t do interviews like this.
How violent is your working relationship? If it’s not violent, can you make something juicy up? This is practically Jerry Springer here. I mean, look at the raving loons in the audience.
It was pretty tame for the writing, but making crafts for our giveaway was awful. There were super-glued hands, tables getting bumped, bubbles in the resin… It was brutal. Sometimes Nick still wakes up in a cold sweat, shouting, “So many microbeads glued to my fingers!” Never make crafts with a loved one. Just don’t.
No crafts with the wife. Got it. So I bought and read The Witching Elm and really enjoyed it, particularly how Toby and Fiona grew on me as the story went along. It’s a best seller in the occult subgenre, with excellent reviews. How does it feel seeing your baby do so well?
It feels great! It’s hard sending it out into the world, but I’ve really enjoyed reading people’s responses. I especially love when people home in on my favorite things about the book, which are the humor and the creepiness.
How would you describe your book to a new reader in the genre?
One of the blog reviewers described it as “what we would have had if Joss Whedon wrote Harry Potter,” which might be my favorite description, since I love Joss Whedon. A few other people have noted comparisons to the show Sleepy Hollow. I haven’t see the show yet, but I think it also draws on morbid American history in its world-building.
Speaking of Potter, if Toby [lead protagonist] got in a fight with Harry, who’d win?
Toby would eat him alive, assuming he had his pike. Toby’s often missing his pike, though he will gain access to weapons in the sequels. As a psychologist, the phallic reference is not lost on me.
What type of person is NOT going to enjoy your book?
Someone who’s dead inside. Or I guess, someone who doesn’t like dark fantasy.
The story is set in Boston. Give me two lines in a Boston accent.
And of course first few sleepless months after having our baby were a challenge for both of us.
How much of you is in that werewolf character?–just kidding, that question was asked of Chris Fox, who wrote some book about werewolves.
Chris Fox actually based the werewolf character entirely on me. Little known fact.
What do you hate most about the publishing process?
There is a lot of multi-tasking involved, and sometimes you feel like you just want to focus on one thing at a time. You end up juggling social-media, learning new software, finding cover designers, getting feedback–all while trying to keep the focus on writing the next book. But the varied tasks definitely keep things interesting.
What do you love about indie publishing?
I love the flexibility. For example, a couple of the reviewers were confused by the first few pages, so we were able to clarify things and re-upload the book really quickly.
What advice would you give to someone thinking of publishing their book independently?
My main advice is to find a way to get as much feedback as possible for the first books, and listen to people’s input. There’s a lot of advice out there to just “write write write,” and there’s a lot of focus on word counts and cranking out books. I would counter to say–at least for a first book–take your time, and make sure you’re getting it right. Don’t try to edit it yourself, even if you’re an editor, and don’t design your own cover. Unless you’re a designer. If you’re totally broke there are still ways around these things.
What are you going to to do after you’ve won your second pulitzer?
Do they give pulitzers for books? Shows how much I know. I thought it was a newspaper thing. Well anyway I’d definitely insert it into every possible sentence for the rest of my life. “As a two-time pulitzer winner, I would like a fish sandwich with fries.”
Punchable face. Name one. Explanation optional.
Dapper Laughs, a British “cheeky chappie” “entertainer.” I would also like to punch the phrase “cheeky chappie” in the face. 
Ask yourself a question and answer it.
Best book you’ve read in the past year? I have yet to read Arcane, so I’m going to go with Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantell, which is a fantastic historical fiction book about Thomas Cromwell, one of Henry VIII’s advisors. I love the Tudor-era books.
C.N. Crawford is not one person but two. Christine (C) grew up in the historic town of Lexington, and has a lifelong interest in New England folklore – with a particular fondness for creepy old cemeteries. Nick (N) spent his childhood reading fantasy and science fiction further north during Vermont’s long winters. Together they work to incorporate real historical events and figures into contemporary urban fantasy novels.
Just a reminder that only subscribers to my mailing list will get the 24 hour “soft launch” window, when the book will be 99 cents. You can subscribe here.
1) First off, thank you to everyone who bought Arcane (The Arinthian Line, book 1), it’s done extremely well, better than I ever hoped, and continues to be a top 10 Amazon bestseller in its fantasy genre.
2) I’m accepting applications to my Advance Review Team, details here. Spots are limited, but if you get in, there’s some cool bonuses (read the new releases before everyone else does, get them for free, even score some limited edition, personalized swag).
3) Riven (The Arinthian Line, book 2) is scheduled to be released sometime at the end of this month, but only subscribers to my mailing list will get the 24 hour “soft launch” window, when the book will be 99 cents. You can subscribe here.
I was recently interviewed by author C.N. Crawford on her blog. We talked about marketing, indie publishing, and Harry Potter.
I’ll be interviewing fellow authors soon; hoping to do one a week.
At long last, I can declare my book published, my dear friends!
Warlocks before their time …
Fourteen-year-old Augum and friends Bridget and Leera dream of becoming warlocks. But with a kingdom in total chaos, it will take courage, sacrifice, and an iron will to make that dream come true
The Lord of the Legion, a vicious tyrant, has overthrown the king in a relentless and murderous quest for seven mythic artifacts–and Augum’s mentor, the legendary Anna Atticus Stone, possesses one. While Augum struggles with demons from a painful childhood, a betrayal puts him, his friends, and his mentor through a harrowing ordeal that threatens to destroy them all … and change the course of history.
Arcane, the debut novel in the fantasy adventure series The Arinthian Line, follows three friends as they navigate an ancient abandoned castle, endure grueling training, challenge old mysteries, and learn that a bond forged in tragedy might just be the only thing to save them from a ruthless enemy.
——
The paperback is 349 pages and you can buy it and the ebook from Amazon here:
http://www.amazon.com/author/severbronny
If you want to get a notice of the other book releases in the series, subscribe to my mailing list here:http://eepurl.com/HIxzX
My Goodreads page:
https://www.goodreads.com/severbronny
It’s been a long and challenging road to get this thing published. My goal is to have most if not all of the series published next year. The hardest part is over, and I thank you from the bottom of my heart for your support.
At long last, after over three years of work, I can reveal the cover to Arcane: The Arinthian Line, book 1.
Warlocks before their time…
Fourteen-year-old Augum and friends Bridget and Leera dream of becoming warlocks. But with a kingdom in total chaos, it will take courage, sacrifice, and an iron will to make that dream come true.
The Lord of the Legion, a vicious tyrant, has overthrown the king in a relentless and murderous quest for seven mythic artifacts—and Augum’s mentor, the legendary Anna Atticus Stone, possesses one. While Augum struggles with demons from a painful childhood, a betrayal puts him, his friends, and his mentor through a harrowing ordeal that threatens to destroy them all … and change the course of history.
Arcane, the debut novel in the fantasy adventure series The Arinthian Line, follows three friends as they navigate an ancient abandoned castle, endure grueling training, challenge old mysteries, and learn that a bond forged in tragedy might just be the only thing to save them from a ruthless enemy.
97,000 words. Approximately 275 pages on electronic media, 409 on print.
The book will be released sometime this month. To receive an email of release and how to get yourself a copy, sign up here.
If you would like a free pre-release advanced copy in exchange for a fair review, email me at severbronny[insert at symbol here]gmail.com
Thank you kindly for your support, your advice, your friendship.
With warm regards,
Sever
Warlocks before their time …
Fourteen-year-old Augum and friends Bridget and Leera dream of becoming warlocks. But with a kingdom in total chaos, it will take courage, sacrifice, and an iron will to make that dream come true.
The Lord of the Legion, a vicious tyrant, has overthrown the king in a relentless and murderous quest for seven mythic artifacts—and Augum’s mentor, the legendary Anna Atticus Stone, possesses one. While Augum struggles with demons from a painful childhood, a betrayal puts him, his friends, and his mentor through a harrowing ordeal that threatens to destroy them all … and change the course of history.
Arcane, the debut novel in the fantasy adventure series The Arinthian Line, follows three friends as they navigate an ancient abandoned castle, endure grueling training, challenge old mysteries, and learn that a bond forged in tragedy might just be the only thing to save them from a ruthless enemy.
A novel by Sever Bronny. Coming December 1st, 2014.
97,000 words. Approximately 275 pages.
Subscribe to receive a notice of release.
The novel’s Pinterest.
Cover reveal coming soon.
I’m fine-tuning a low budget marketing campaign for Arcane, my debut fantasy-adventure novel from The Arinthian Line series. The aim is rather simple: gather 50 core people that enjoy the book enough to talk about it.
This is a fluid list as I come up with more / better ideas, and will take into account suggestions from others.
What I have so far, in order:
The Russell Blake rule: After release, spend 75% of my time writing book four in the series, 25% on marketing.
That 25% will consist of the following:
So did I miss something? Have a trick to add to this list? Let me know! And of course, use what you like for your own campaign :)
Thanks to the following for throwing in ideas for this specific post:
Cindy Johnson
Kathryn OHalloran
Pamela Kelley
Joe Nobody
jtbullet
Sandra K. Williams
Greetings!
This is my first blog post for an entirely new endeavour: becoming an author. I’m starting completely fresh, though some of you may already know me from my other project, Tribal Machine. So allow me to introduce myself with a …
SUPER BRIEF HISTORY
For many years I pursued music as my only career. It surpassed all my expectations — I made the record of my dreams, “mastered” by the best in the world; I had my music placed in a full-length feature film (The Gene Generation); I independently (and laboriously) accumulated half a million plays on Myspace; I went on live radio; I had my ego stroked and destroyed numerous times; I had mind-blowing moments on stage (as well as some horribly embarrassing ones); I met and recorded with some amazing people, and I got to play on the road.
Except I lost all interest in touring, which is a minor complication if you want to have a successful band in the digital age. But it doesn’t matter — eventually I’ll take up music again. I’ve just been doing it for so long (and life is really short) I want to pursue some other dreams of mine — like writing.
Even while I was making music, I knew that one brave day I was going to write. That day came three years ago, though I’ve kept very quiet about it — only a few people knew I was writing, even fewer that I was writing fantasy. I’ve written three books in a series, the first spanning 100,000 words, the second close to 200,000, and the third as yet undetermined (still editing). For reference, the first Harry Potter book, The Philosopher’s Stone, is 76,944.
About ten years ago, I began writing a dream novel. I was about 20,000 words in when the computer crashed, garbling my beloved manuscript (my preciousssssss …).
I was crushed, though I learned a harsh lesson: always backup your data. It wasn’t a total loss, however — that idea went on to become The Orwellian Night, a full length industrial-rock concept album.
NEW BEGINNINGS
It’s absolutely terrifying and exciting to impart on another new adventure, especially one that, when muttered in private company, draws knowing nods or skeptical looks (or the infamous “Look over there!” distraction escape method). Even the words “self-publishing” have an arrogant flair to them, as if the wannabe author dares to presume himself worthy of joining a most prestigious and elite club.
That said, there are plenty of authors nowadays that choose the self-publishing route over the traditional one (here are six stories of success — but there are many more). There are also a great number of guides and message boards dedicated to the subject. Generally, the community of self-published authors is open and giving, sharing their numbers, successes and failures. I hope to continue that fine tradition.
So, what’s going to be the focus of this blog? Simply put, I’m going to share my exploits in self-publishing from the perspective of a learn-as-I-go newbie.
All right, I’m not a total “noob”. Prior to this blog post, I’ve read numerous books on how to self-publish, edit, etc. The one I’m currently reading is David Gaughran’s Let’s Get Digital. I’ve also done a lot of forum reading. Nonetheless, I haven’t actually put any of this knowledge into practice.
So let us begin with …
THE PLAN
– Self-publish multiple fantasy books in series (3-7 books or more per series)
– Learn
– Interact, share, blog about the process
– Write a lot
– Learn some more.
DESIRED OUTCOME
– A dual career in writing / music (though at this time, I am strictly concentrating on authorship).
LONG TERM GOAL FROM WRITING
– Earn at least $1000 a month through writing
WRITING SUCCESSES
Finished two books already, third nearing completion.
Best average: 5000 words a day.
Best day: 9000 words.
Best month: wrote 100,000 words.
THE SELF-PUBLISHING RELEASE CHECKLIST
Please visit HERE for a frequently updated version of this list
– Finish a book (done: finished three)
– Edit at least three rounds per book (done: 8 / 4 / 2 respectively)
– Domain registration (done)
– WordPress blog (done)
– Twitter account setup & sync (done)
– Mailchimp setup & sync for both Tribal Machine and Sever Bronny (done)
– Register blog with google (done by default)
– Read 20 recommended books on publishing and self-publishing (done)
– Discover 50 great bloggers
– Establish a regular blog schedule and number of blogs / month
– Print custom new business cards with book info
– Announce release date (shooting for sometime in December for book 1; books 2 and 3 every two months thereafter)
– Final beta read
– Final read through
– Final professional edit book 1
– Final professional edit book 2
– Final professional edit book 3
– Officially name series
– Officially name book 1
– Officially name book 2
– Officially name book 3
– Blurb
– Start an indie publishing company
– Hire cover designer
– Format for publication
– Smashwords registration
– Amazon registration
– Create Author Central account
– Create Goodreads account and link blog
– Pricing strategy
– EVENT: blog posting announcing release
– EVENT: Release party (optional)
– Update blog widget sidebar with all relevant info about book (cover, price, retailers, etc)
– Social media pre-release (see marketing campaign)
– Link to first chapter(s)
– Update links to book in all forum avatars
– RELEASE FIRST BOOK IN SERIES
– Implement Marketing plan
– Establish 75% / 25% writing to marketing ratio after first release
– Write at least 2000 words per day post release of first book
– Develop a deeper understanding of the blogosphere
– Blog tour
– Release book two in series
– Release book three in series
– Write and release 2-4 books per year
– Learn how to conduct a successful independent marketing campaign
– Respectfully solicit reviews on Amazon
Phew — that was tough to assemble. Anyway, the above checklist is ongoing and will be available in the “Checklist” link above. It will be updated as I go.
Now I realize I have zero subscribers on this thing (it is, after all, only day 1), but should you, dear reader, come across this post at some unknown pre-apocalyptic future date, I’d love to read about your goals and checklists :D
Also, for anyone interested in my fantasy-adventure series, you can subscribe to get an email of release here (I will only email when I have a release – no damn spam!).
