Tag: Fantasy

Camp NaNoWriMo – All’s Well that Doesn’t Finish Well


Sigh. You Knew it was going to happen. Life gets in the way! Between other commitments, summer school, family events and the like, I did not reach my foal. Sadly I barely reached 20,000 words and about 11 chapters. That being said, I don’t think this is a failure, I’ve got a great story start, and I’m going to keep working at it this month. Ideally, I’d love to be able to finish this by the fall, which is a reasonable goal. Here’s my (reduced, but realistic) goals for this young adult fantasy novel. Ideally I’ll be able to get this done before regular NaNoWriMo begins, which gives me the chance to clear this out in November.

  • Get t0 30,000 Words
  • Get to 20 chapters
  • Figure out the title and how to write query letters!

Here’s a tiny snippet of what I’ve been writing – very raw and unedited, but here it is.

“Lyria!” Artor called. More sounds of combat behind her. “Could use some help here!” She glanced over her shoulder. Artor was barely fending off the last vartu, using his warhammer and knife. Both combatants were bleeding, but the vartu’s size and strength were winning out. Lyria pulled her last arrow and aimed, waiting for a moment when the vartu would be more exposed.

In the meantime, if you want to learn a bit more about my steampunk novels in the world of the Steam Empire Chronicles, check out my Amazon page or check out my TTRPG materials at my DM’s Guild Page.

Camp NaNoWriMo Check in #1 – End of Week 1


Howdy everyone! Let’s do our check in for the first week of NaNoWriMo! The as yet unnamed final project is in progress. Let’s look at this week’s stats….

Continue reading “Camp NaNoWriMo Check in #1 – End of Week 1”

Camp NaNoWriMo 2023 – Here we go again…


Yup, you heard right! I’m tackling Camp NaNoWriMo again this year, but with a simpler goal – write a young adult fantasy novel. I’m excited to use what I’ve learned from writing D&D campaigns and adventures in this world I’ve named Teraneath. It’s also the world that includes various D&D adventures I’ve already written such as Tales from Temerrit. I’ve got so much more to reveal to you in this series, but suffice to say you’ll have to wait until the ending for the big reveal, rather than getting tons of hints and tricks!

Continue reading “Camp NaNoWriMo 2023 – Here we go again…”

Army of Brass Launch Announcement!

Check out this awesome Steampunk Collaboration with Army of Brass!


Greetings Romanpunk and Steampunk Aficionados! Steampunk celebrates its 31st birthday on April 27, so join in the festivities with the high-flying adventure, Army of Brass.

In case you DIDN’T KNOW…

“Steampunk” began as a literary genre, but has expanded to include fashion, music, art, and live events all over the world. During 2017, in honor of author K.W. Jeter coining the term in 1987, Steampunk Journal editor Phoebe Darqueling and the Collaborative Writing Challenge joined forces to create an amazing work that blurs the line between science and magic. Twenty international authors contributed chapters to this story full of gadgets, romance, and political intrigue set against the backdrop of a fantasy world informed by the culture of the 19th century. I hope to join up with this fantabulous group next year, since my series, the Steam Empire Chronicles, is now complete!

Continue reading “Army of Brass Launch Announcement!”

Brass Legionnaire: Update


So I’ve finally managed to finish the entire Brass Legionnaire Novel! Hurray! It’s about 60k words, and it’s going to the editor come February! Found some great people at Scripta Editing Services to help out and others at Streetlight Graphics to help me format it and make it look beautiful. I’ve also found some help for funding these at Kickstarter, something that I hope will pan out!

 

For those of you who missed it, download the PDF of the first chapter (Edited, revised, and wonderful!) below!

 

Warmest Regards

 

– Daniel

 

Brass Legionnaire Chapter 1

Review – Dies the Fire


Hey All, I know we’ve been a bit remiss lately in providing timely updates and reviews, but we have regular day jobs that keep us from doing what we love all the time! Anyways, Now that it is summertime we’ll have more time to write reviews for you! The first book I’d love for all of you to take a peek at is the book Dies the Fire.

Continue reading “Review – Dies the Fire”

Four Children vs an Evil Mastermind: Round 1


The Mysterious St. Benedict Society is the suspenseful and entertaining story of four youngsters – Reynie (unknowing leadership material), Kate (gadget girl with an unusual twist), Sticky (Bookworm/Intelligence Figure), and Constance (the youngest and most stubborn member of the team) – on a quest to save the world. Although it doesn’t appear that way at first, this is actually, in my view, a more heartwarming story demonstrating great morals for young adults. Written in a similar method to A Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket, The Mysterious St. Benedict Society is a New York Times Bestseller, and author Trenton Lee Stewart has done an admirable job creating a believable world in which some quite unbelievable things happen. Definitely a must read for those children who loved the Lemony Snicket books, Society, is a bit more mature in some ways, with more interesting, and less obvious, methods of evil infiltrating the story and plot. Continue reading “Four Children vs an Evil Mastermind: Round 1”

The Lost Hero – Review


The anticipation surrounding Rick Riordan’s latest novel The Lost Hero was so strong, we could have built a temple atop it! What’s not to love? A whole new batch of demigod heroes sent to rescue the world again. Riordan’s novel gratefully returns us from his brief Egyptian venture (personally, that was a poor choice of a new series, but I’ll cover that later) and returns us to the god fearing, monster battling world of camp Half-Blood. This time, we follow a whole new set of demigods as they race to uncover who, or more precisely, what, has stolen a member of the Olympic counsel.

Continue reading “The Lost Hero – Review”

Review: Good Omens


  • Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman

Good Omens is the bastard child of the literary masters Mr. Terry Prachett and Mr. Neil Gaiman. Never read anything by either author? Well here is a good place to start.

Armageddon is coming. On a Saturday to be precise. But to be honest,  Aziraphale  (Angel) and Crowley (Demon) have grown to quite like Earth. It would be a shame really, to let it all be consumed in fire and fury. So the pair team up in an unholy alliance to intercept the Antichrist. The plan is to give him just enough good and evil to balance him out and thus prevent the end of the world. Continue reading “Review: Good Omens”

Review – The Gathering Storm


At the End of Time,

when many become one,

the last storm shall gather its angry winds

to destroy a dying land…

Sounds somewhat prophetic doesn’t it? By any means, the latest novel by Robert Jordan (since deceased), and Wheel of Time newcomer author Brandon Sanderson, fits the claim. (Warning: the following review does contain some spoilers, especially if you have NOT read the previous titles) Whereas previous Wheel of Time novels have been long, drawn out affairs where absolutely nothing happens (See Evidence: Book Ten – Crossroads of Twilight), Sanderson has managed to continue the best of Robert Jordan’s writing in The Gathering Storm.

Continue reading “Review – The Gathering Storm”