Category: Steam Empire Chronicles

Laurel Emperor Off to the Editors!


Laurel Emperor is off to the editors, culminating an eight year journey with the Steam Empire Chronicles. I won’t lie, I was exhausted finishing this book. It’s topped out around 94,000 words, with two brief epilogues. Beta readers were generally excited to see what was happening, although my readers will probably want to brush up on the events of the fourth novel – Steel Praetorian – to ensure they understand what’s going on!

Now begins the preparations for Cover Art (already under way!) and Kickstarter goals to get illustrations added to the novel! I’ll have more on that in a few weeks. In the meantime, here’s to the (temporary) end of the road!

– Daniel

Written Word Media Promotion Review

A review of the Written Word Media promotion service!


Salve!

As many of you know, I’ve been documenting how difficult it can be for a self-published author to promote their books consistently when you’ve also got a day-job. There are many tools on the web that can help the self-published man or woman, but many require a fair amount of time up front.

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Laurel Emperor First Draft Finished

Laurel Emperor is done!


Propoganda Poster
One last hurrah with the recruitment poster!

Salve!

It’s come to this, the end of the five book arc of the Steam Empire Chronicles. Laurel Emperor is done, and now awaits the tender (or not so tender) mercies of the beta readers.

All that’s left to do is get it to the editor’s this month (as soon as possible!) so that I can get the novel published! Once it gets to the editor, I’m anticipating running a kickstarter to once again add illustrations to the last novel. I wasn’t really happy with how I could only get two illustrations into Steel Praetorian, and I’d love to add some more to Laurel Emperor, considering it is the final novel of the series!

So what’s the estimated timeline? I’m hoping for an April/May Publishing date, right before the summer break, where everyone needs a good book (or five, I’ve got five novels now!) I’m anticipating trying to get the ebook version out first, followed by a print version later.

So what do you think? Would you be more inclined to get an ebook version over a print version if it came out first? Or would you be willing to wait for a print version? Let me know your thoughts!

– Daniel

How To Write Ten Thousand Words in a Weekend

How to Write Ten Thousand Words in a Weekend.


Salve!

Julius Brutus Caesar
If he had a watch, he’d be making sure to stay on schedule

I’ve been super busy this weekend because, don’t you know, Laurel Emperor is due to the editor in less than a month! Eek!

So how did I do it?

Simply put – patience, focus, an outline and nourishment.

Continue reading “How To Write Ten Thousand Words in a Weekend”

How to End Your Novel or Series

Some Common Ideas for ending your novel or series


Salve!

So I’m busy writing the end of the Steam Empire Chronicles, and it hit me.

I’m writing the end. Gasp! It’s the END of the story I’ve spent the last six years writing. EEK! What to do! I wrote out several possible endings, even as far back as book two, but I’ve compiled this blog post to help other people who may be struggling with how to end their own novel or series. As far as I see it, there are several standard ways to end a story. What matters is the twist.

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Snow Day – Type Day! 70k On The Way


Howdy everyone!

It’s a snow day here in Maryland, where a wee tiny amount of snow has truly snarled a large chunk of traffic and provided me with the wonderful opportunity to catch up in typing for Laurel Emperor. I’ve hit 70k today, and that’s awesome because the end is in sight! Here’s a brief tidbit from today. As I said, I can’t share too much about what’s going on, because everyone deserves some surprises!

“How many times have I told you to call me Constantine, at least in private? I swear, if Tribune Gwendyrn didn’t remind me I presided over a water fight back in Brittenburg, I’d have gone crazy from all this…authority.” He drank the arak in one shot. “By Dionysus’ beard, I’d forgotten what this tasted like.” He examined the bottle of Syrian alcohol, grimacing as it went down. “Queen Naja insisted you drink this with me? What’s she trying to do, poison us?” He asked. Both men chuckled. Alexandros was glad to hear a bit of happiness return to the tent. It had been pretty dour the last few hours.

Also, as a reminder, if anyone is interested in ordering signed, author copies of any of my novels, simply email me using the CONTACT ME function above, with your name, address, and books, plus any message you’d like me to add (for gifts, as an example). I’ll send you a paypal quote and I can get to work on that!

Ciao!

Laurel Emperor Beta Readers!

Looking for a few good men and women to beta read Laurel Emperor! Do you have what it takes to read a book before it’s released and tell me what you think?


Greetings! Welcome to 2018 – I’m a bit behind I know. But things have been busy here. I’ve spent the last few days completing the entire Laurel Emperor outline (for real!) and have begun the last few chapters. If you didn’t know, I wrote the final chapter of the series somewhere in the middle of book number two. Don’t ask me why, I just happened to feel the need to record where everything was going.

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Holiday Gift Time!

Remember to grab your copy of Brass Legionnaire this holiday season – for yourself or someone special! Now only 99 cents!


Salve! Happy Holidays!

Just a reminder that you can grab all of my books in print and ebook form this Holiday Season!

Cover
Click here for the Paperback Version!

If you’re not sure where to start, get my Award Winning first novel – Brass Legionnaire – Now only 99 cents in ebook!2013_EBook_WINNER-sm

Once you’re hooked, check out the rest of the series with Copper Centurion, Iron Tribune, and Steel Praetorian! Get all caught up before the series finale is published next year!

You can get all these novels on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Smashwords, and through the Apple iStore.

What’s that? You want even MORE Roman Steampunk Adventure fun!?

Check out my novellas! Fast and quick reads with great backstory on characters you’ve come to love.

Both are cheap as chips, especially during this holiday season. You can get both for 99 cents. Check them out as well, and buy the whole set!

 

64k Words – Progress Made This Weekend!

I hit 64k words and provide a longer snippet – can you guess what’s happening?


Salve!

So I participated in my own little word sprint this weekend in an effort to make up for the fact that I’ve been doing just poetry writing the last handful of days. Thus, a Word Sprint! Nearly 4k words today and still going! I wanted to post a snippet of what I’ve been doing, but like I’ve said before, it’s getting more and more difficult to post snippets without ruining big surprises or giving away earlier-in-the-story ones! Anyways, I hope you’re having a wonderful weekend and that NaNoWriMo is treating you well! Remember to subscribe and like on my blog and on Facebook to get the most out of my writing!

Continue reading “64k Words – Progress Made This Weekend!”

60k – NaNoWriMo Goal Halfway there!

60k words reached! Halfway to my NaNoWrimo Goal!


Salve!

As promised, here’s today’s second post with a TINY snippet. These chapters are harder to share considering that more and more important things are happening! Needless to say, these are some characters you haven’t met very much before. Need to remember who they are? Go back and reread your copy of Steel Praetorian. Don’t have one? Go fix that problem today! For now, I’ve hit 60,000 words! So happy! We’re halfway to our goal of 80,000 words. If I can do even better that would be awesome. I’ve noticed that I’ve had a lot harder time being motivated to type the novel, and I wonder if it’s the distraction of both school and class now. Anyone find some ideas for making yourself type or carve out time?

Anywho, enjoy the snippet and be sure to subscribe and like for more!

Continue reading “60k – NaNoWriMo Goal Halfway there!”