Progress report

My first week as a full-time novelist went well. My goal was to write 5000 words per day, Mon-Fri (25,000 words per week). This week, I wrote over 29,500 words, surpassing my goal by a good margin. Which means…

I'm slightly ahead of schedule for the first book in my Mindstream Chronicles series! It's looking like I could push the release date up a bit, if the rest of the writing goes as well. I'm just shy of halfway through the first draft. If all goes well. I should be able to release it sometime in mid- to late-April or early-May.

I'll announce the official title and release date to my newsletter subscribers first (as well as info about the release-day-only sale), so if you're not already a subscriber, now's the time to sign up!

Life changes

OK, here's my big news...

I quit my job this week. I'm going to write fiction full-time!

Actually, I merely turned in my resignation. I'll be employed until Feb 14, and then I'll be FREEEEE!

Hopefully what that means is that I'll establish a disciplined writing schedule, stick to it, stay off the internet when I should be writing, and put out books faster than I could otherwise. I released two books in 2013. I'm hoping I can write four in 2014. Four books! I've never had this much time to write before. The chance is slim that I'll run out of books to write anytime soon. I've got a list of ideas for books that'll take me at least halfway through 2015. 

Update: Here's my reddit post about this exciting life change!

First 500 words!

I got up this morning and wrote the first 500 words of my new fantasy novel. It's exciting to be "done" with the worldbuilding and plotting and onto the writing part. I say "done" instead of done because things will be tweaked as I go along, but I have made great use of OneNote to design the country, economy, population, religion, magic system, history of magic use, justice system, the colloquialisms people use, etc. And it's been fun, but...

Writing!

I'm going to go out on a limb here and say this book has a tentative completion date of June 1, 2014... assuming it takes me 3 months to write, 1 month to revise, and 2 weeks to edit. I'll post updates if it looks like I won't make this date. It'd be cool if I did, though, because then I could get book 2 out in the fall and start on my next sci-fi novel by the end of this year. What a great year it would be then.

Sole Sacrifice

I'm super happy to announce that my novella, Sole Sacrifice, has a new cover! Not only is the artwork of superior quality (and more relevant to the story), but the layout and typography match The Kinshield Saga novels, which take place in the same world. Many thanks to artist and author T.M. Roy for this much-needed facelift!

For comparison, here's the original cover:

All updates have been submitted to the various ebook retail stories, but as of right now, only the Kindle edition has gone live with the new cover. The others should get updated within the next week.

If you haven't read this novella yet, download a free copy! It tells the story of Sithral Tyr, a character in The Kinshield Saga. Though the events in the novella take place before the Saga begins, you can read and enjoy the Saga before (or without) reading Sole Sacrifice. This novella explains Tyr's circumstances and how the cat figurine came to be.

http://www.amazon.com/Sole-Sacrifice-a-novella-ebook/dp/B0040ZN166

Other download links can be found on my web site at www.kcmay.com/shorts.html.

An interview at SFF World

If you haven't checked out SFF World, I highly recommend it. It's The Go-To place for all books, movies, and games science fiction, fantasy, and horror. There's a lively forum to discuss all kinds of topics as well. And now... dun duh-nuh-nuuuuuuh... an interview with yours truly! If you swing by and leave a comment, that will make my day. :)

http://www.sffworld.com/2013/08/interview-with-k-c-may/

Release Day: Kinshield's Redemption

I'm so excited to announce the official release of my latest book, the conclusion of The Kinshield Saga, Kinshield's Redemption.

Sometimes redemption requires sacrifice...

Release day only: The book will be just 99c on release day (Aug 8)! Grab your copy today and save $3.

  Amazon US: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00EDR2ZX6
  Amazon UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00EDR2ZX6
  Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/342850
  B & N: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/kinshields-redemption-kc-may/1116357957?ean=2940148503002

Be sure to check out the blog review by IndieBookBlogger!

Special release-day pricing

Just a reminder so you don't miss out on this sale...

Buy Kinshield's Redemption on August 8th and get it for just 99¢/77p! The price will go up to $3.97 on August 9th. (The sale will be effective only at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Smashwords.)

Stay tuned for the buy links here and on my web site at www.kcmay.com/redemption.html

Amazon.com
Amazon.uk
Amazon.ca
Barnes&Noble
Smashwords

It's giveaway time!

The exclusive giveaway for my newsletter subscribers has ended (and notification emails are going out soon!), but you can still enter my Rafflecopter giveaway for a chance to win one of 5 copies of Kinshield's Redemption.

Get more chances to win if you use Twitter. Rafflecopter selects the 5 winners and lets me know who they are. Those folks will get a gifted ebook from Amazon, BN, or Smashwords when it becomes available in those stores, hopefully on August 8.

http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/69e88e1/

Good luck!

Gavin Kinshield's story concludes...

Kinshield's Redemption

Hi, y'all. Well, here we are -- the moment I've been waiting for (and hopefully most of you, too)! Announcing the finale of The Kinshield Saga quadrilogy:  Kinshield's Redemption! It'll be available to purchase at major ebook outlets on August 8, 2013, with a print edition to follow soon after. Here's the book description:

Dozens have been corrupted by tainted water from the Well of the Damned, including Gavin Kinshield's beloved wife. He's desperate to reverse the water's effects and restore Feanna to the kind and compassionate woman he married.

And what of his helpless heir growing in her toxic womb? To save his unborn son, Gavin must find a solution before the darkness that’s overtaken Feanna also stamps out the tiny spark within her.

Help seems to appear in the unlikely form of the Guardians, two ghostly figures tethered to the crystal that lies deep within the wellspring. Can Gavin trust them... or will their own agenda take the lives of his wife and son—and bring on the utter destruction of the seven realms?

The cover art is nearly finished. Visit my web site (www.kcmay.com) to see the full size.

Look for Kinshield's Redemption at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Smashwords on August 8, 2013! (iTunes and Kobo generally take longer to post.) Want handy links? Visit my web site on release day -- I'll add links there when the book goes live.

Special release-day pricing: Buy Kinshield's Redemption on August 8th and get it for just 99¢/77p! The price will go up to $3.97 on August 9th. (The sale will be effective only at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Smashwords.)

Stay tuned for news about the giveaway I'm planning for later this month!

An exciting new adventure!

The Lies Dragons Tell

I'm thrilled to announce that I'm co-writing a new epic fantasy novel with the incredibly talented India Drummond! If you haven't read India's books yet, you're in for a treat. She's a gifted storyteller with a polished, flowing style and a spicy flair. Her Caledonia Fae series is a masterful blend of urban and epic fantasy. We'll be working on the outline of our new project in the weeks to come, so I'll have more updates in my fall newsletter, but I'm excited about this venture, and you should be too!

The title is The Lies Dragons Tell, and it's about two brothers trying to save their sister. We plan to release it in Dec 2014 (both of us have our own books to write, after all), and it's going to be epic!

A mysterious illness sweeps the capital, starting with five highborn youths.  Two brothers, as helpless as the healers who say there's nothing more they can do, watch while their younger sister fades away. Determined to save her, they approach one of the dragonborn, a mage who promises to help but demands a terrible price. Hard choices divide the brothers when they uncover a dark and twisted plot, and their love and loyalty are tested. What price is too high to save someone you love?

India designed and created this cover. What do you think? She's multi-talented!

India lives in Scotland, and we struck up a friendship on Facebook and through email. We've enjoyed each other's books so much, we thought it would be fun to co-write a novel. Please allow me to introduce her.

India knew from age nine that writing would be her passion. Since then she's discovered many more, but none quite so fulfilling as creating a world, a character, or a moment and watching them evolve into something complex and compelling. She has lived in three countries and four American states, is a dual British and American citizen, and currently lives at the base of the Scottish Highlands in a village so small its main attraction is a red phone box. In other words: paradise.

The supernatural and paranormal have always fascinated India. In addition to being an avid sci-fi and fantasy reader, she also enjoys mysteries, thrillers, and romance. This probably explains why her novels have elements of adventure, ghosts (or elves, fairies, angels, aliens, and whatever else she can dream up), and spicy love stories.

See her Amazon author profile at:
http://www.amazon.com/India-Drummond/e/B004VKMP4E

You can find her at:

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/india.drummond.author
Twitter: http://twitter.com/IndiaDrummond
Blog: http://www.indiadrummond.com/

India is best known for the Caledonia Fae urban fantasy series. The modern tale begins in Perth, Scotland, where a police constable chases a serial killer, only to discover the crime has roots in the supernatural, a paranormal reality he never knew existed. During his murder investigation, contact with a mysterious woman stirs his dormant druidic powers, changing his life forever. She, and the killer, are fae.

In this bestselling urban and epic fantasy book series, humans are plucked from Scotland, England, The Netherlands, Germany, The United States, Australia, and elsewhere and transported into the faerie realm. They learn to build a new life, tame their magic, even find love, all while facing danger, murder, kidnapping, and chaos. Those who survive will usher a new era into the Otherworld.

Book 1, Blood Faerie, is FREE on Amazon, Apple, and Barnes and Noble.

Amazon link: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0050Q4YBK/

Progress report: Beta time!

I made it through a full revision of Kinshield's Redemption and sent the manuscript off to beta readers to get their impressions and complaints -- two weeks early! :) The book is currently just over 110,000 words long, so it's slightly shorter than book 1, but longer than books 2 and 3. As I continue to revise, that length will probably change, but not by a whole lot.

The book is still on target for an August (sometime) release. The exact release date will be announced in my newsletter, so sign up if you want to get the scoop.

Progress report - book 4

After stripping out about 2000 words last week because I decided to go in a different direction, I'm happy to say I've reached 90,000 words on the first draft of Kinshield's Redemption. For comparison, book 1 is 121,000 words long, and books 2 and 3 are about 90,000 words each, so book 4 will probably be somewhere in the middle, length wise.

I hope to have the first draft done in the next couple weeks, and then I get to start revisions. That's my favorite part -- filling in the fine detail, adjusting plot points here and there, messing with my characters (Gavin in particular), and making sure that if he sets his sword on the desk, it doesn't inexplicably appear on the dresser. hehehe. After that, a quick edit for spelling, and it's off to the beta readers!

I'm on target for an August 2013 release. :-)

FREE book! Heroic fantasy novel The Kinshield Legacy is now FREE!

I've decided to offer my heroic fantasy novel The Kinshield Legacy (book 1 of The Kinshield Saga) for free going forward. This is the longest of the three books that are currently available, but book 4 (coming soon!) might rival it in length. I'm only about 60% of the way through it, and it's already over 70,000 words long. To give you a yardstick to measure that by, books 2 and 3 of the series were both right around 90,000 words. My science fiction novel, The Venom of Vipers (aka Blood Pact) was also around 90,000 words.

Want to know where to download The Kinshield Legacy for free? I've got the updated list on my web site. While you're there, take a look around -- I've recently redesigned it, just for you. ;)

I admit, I'm not real good at updating my blog as often as I should, but I do have a newsletter that you can sign up for. Newsletter subscribers get new release info before everyone else, and I sometimes do giveaways *just* for them (gift certificates, Kindles -- who knows? Maybe one day I'll give away a pony! haha J/K). I'm not spammy -- I won't put out a newsletter more often than once a month, but usually it's once per quarter. Sign up -- you can unsubscribe later if you want, and no new spam will grace your mailbox because of me. I promise.

(If you didn't already know, I'm an anti-spam advocate. I even have another blog where I expose companies that let their customers' email addresses fall into the hands of Viagra peddlers.)

Guest post - character development

Author Rita Carla Francesca Monticelli invited me to write a guest post on her blog. I wrote about character development, one of my favorite writing-related topics. Head over and take a peek!

http://ladyanakina.blogspot.com/2013/03/three-dimensional-characters.html

Excerpt from a hidden journal

Sithral Tyr had sold one of Crigoth Sevae's old journals to the wizard Brodas Ravenkind, but there was one journal that Tyr kept hidden, waiting for the right time to sell it... or trade it for his life.

It was quite by accident that I overheard old King Dantrek on his deathbed confide to Prince Arek that there exists a wellspring high in the mountains that his father, King Ivam, had some interest in for its secret magical properties. According to legend — a legend that King Ivam had worked hard to discredit — drinking of the Wellspring had the potential to permanently raise a person's spirit to the purest form. Not only would this effect eliminate crime, it would also inspire a sense of community such as the world has never seen. There would be no more hunger, no more poverty. I have never heard of this wellspring, but the notion of it intrigues me. I will endeavor to learn more about it.

from Well of the Damned, book 3 of The Kinshield Saga.