The Games We Play!   Authors and the SCA

This weekend I had the fortune of traveling to one of my favorite hobbies up in Northern Washington.   The Society for Creative Anachronism is a group that aspires to recreate the middle ages in all its varieties.   In this particular instance, it was an armed and armored combat tournament called Ursalmas.   This esteemed competition is considered one of the higher level tournaments in the Kingdom of Antir.   I've attached a video of one of the matches for your enjoyment. 

Enjoy!  

Squeaky Clean Writing

My current series, The Glimmer Steel Saga, is designed to be readable by a wide audience.  I wanted to appeal to adults, and I wanted to also appeal to that young reader that I was growing up.   That's a delicate balance.   I have nothing against swear words or harsh scenes in writing.  I think they absolutely have their place, but it is a conscious choice like so many other elements in telling a story now days. 

So yeah, I chose to go squeaky clean on writing.  My curses are all made up or low level fantasy.   By the Gods.  by the Seven.  Blast it!   Yes, I went there.  There's a bit of teen love and romance too, but its kept on a sweet level.   So far, I think I succeed fairly well.  

How do I manage it, you ask?   Just like every writer everywhere manages to try to make what they write with an easy, sensible flow.  Its all about how you work it into your sentences so that you don't break the fourth wall.   Does it seem natural or does it seem fabricated?  Is it jarring?   Does it pull you out of the story?   That's what I fight against while I write and to tell you the truth, if I made the most foul mouthed, dirty story I would be working against the exact same forces.  

The best real-world example I can describe is movies.  We've all seen those movies where the special effects are the star, and the director wants to make sure you see his super special effect because he's so proud of it.  This versus the cinematic masterpiece where the spaceship flying through space is virtually un-noticable and indistinguishable the characters eating a sandwich.  If it all goes toward building the story, than you are on the right track.     

Woohoo, 0.99 cent sale of some REALLY great clean YA series. Besides my excellent books, there are several other great authors here as well.  Check out the selection that will be available on January 26th and 27th (this Thursday and Friday). You won't be disappointed!
http://jlhendricksauthor.com/ya-clean-99c-sale/

Snippet #6 - The Duke of Brun and the Golden Bands.   (unedited)

They waited until it was well past dark before the Skywitch rose impossibly high into the sky and then turned off all of its exterior lights. They also made several course corrections before finally coming to rest high above the valley. It wasn’t a few moments more until they’d settled to the desert floor.

“Tomorrow morning, I’m going to take the Skywitch in several different directions and make it look as if we are landing. I figure if I can get Count Stavix’s and General Rhendu’s soldiers to go off on several false trails, it’s the least I can do,” Valeran said, watching as several dancers were led off of the Skywitch. They were smaller beasts than the dancers that were commonly ridden in the city. They also had thicker scales and large crests that when displayed could cover the beast’s eyes. Lord Mendor had provided the dancers and said this breed was much better for the deeper desert. Besides the saddle each lizard was heavily laden with supplies though they did not seem to be affected by the burden.

“These dancers are good animals,” Ellian said, caressing the hard scales on the nose of the dancer she’d chosen to ride. “They are expensive, as well.” Nilesh had already mounted his dancer and had the large book opened in front of him. He had been engrossed in the book since they’d received it and hardly put it down. The little man continued to make odd sounds every once in a while as he read though the disgruntled sounds still outnumbered the ones of triumph. Ashrak and Chari were also climbing aboard their dancers as well.

“I wanted to give you every advantage I could,” Valeran answered as he stood with his hands on his hips before reaching out and grasping Ashrak’s arm.

“You have,” Ashrak answered. “There’s no telling what will find out there but if we succeed it will be because of you. Thank you.”

“You just keep your communicators handy. If you run into something you can’t handle then call me. It won’t take long for us to get to you no matter where you are in this blasted desert.”

Ashrak nodded and patted his belt pouch before looking at his sister. “How long will it take us to get to your men?”

Ellian grinned and launched into her own saddle before taking up the lead of their small group. “Not long, perhaps an hour or so,” she said, squinting into the distance. “I know they’re in the Valley, but not where. However, they will have seen us land and will be watching. They’ll find us. Just ride normally and if you hear or see anything, don’t draw your weapons.”

Ashrak nodded and they all lapsed into silence as they rode into the night. They were able to see fairly well due to one of the moons being almost full. The smallest moon was only a sliver but the larger was about three quarters full and let them see well enough to travel without fear. Nilesh had a large oil lamp balanced so that he could continue to page through the book. Ashrak figured it would keep anyone from thinking they were trying to sneak up on them, which was a good thing when you are trying to find bandits. He did not relish the thought of arrows being fired at him from the darkness.

They traveled slowly for perhaps an hour and a half before Ellian’s friends finally revealed themselves. A voice, deep and gravelly from the darkness, spoke. 

“Ellian,” the man said loudly enough for them to hear. It sounded like it was coming from a large series of boulders and rough terrain just to the right of their current path. “Is that you? Strange company you are keeping these days.”

Ellian immediately stopped her dancer and signaled for the rest of them to come to a halt. She spoke over her shoulder in a low voice. “Don’t make any sudden moves or you’ll have an arrow in you before you know it.” Looking back out into the darkness she raised her own voice. “Daka, I’m here with my brother and some friends. They are not a threat.”

“Aye, so they won’t have any trouble throwing their weapons to the sand then will they?”

Ellian looked back at them and nodded before taking out her own swords and daggers and throwing them to the sand. Ashrak, Chari, and Nilesh exchanged looks but followed suit, letting their own weapons join Ellian’s.   

After a few cautious moments, they could see several figures moving out of the darkness and towards them. Chief amongst those was perhaps the largest man Ashrak had ever seen. He towered almost a foot above his fellow bandits and was just as wide. When he stepped into the flickering light of Nilesh’s lamp, the man’s arms were stick around as a normal man’s thigh. A large scar ran from his four head, across his eye and almost all the way down to his chin though luckily, it seemed to have left his eye contact. Despite his menacing countenance, his grin glinted up at Ellian as he stepped toward her.

“It’s been two weeks,” Daka said in his deep base rumble. “We were worried that with all the trouble in the capital, you’d be dead by now. It’s good to see that we were wrong though now I owe Fallon a gold piece.”

As he spoke another figure stepped around him. She had a long and dark braid and was dressed in tight hunting leathers with a menacing-looking bow held in her hands.  She was a tall woman, and used every bit of her height to reach up and pull Ellian’s head down into a long kiss.

Proposed cover for A Glimmer of WAr, Book 3 of the Glimmer Steel Saga.  

Narrowing down on the upgrade to the 3rd book in my series.  Whew.  Almost done.  Took me a few tries to get this as I kept trying to do a blue background and it just wasn't working.   Great fact!   The guy in the armor is a personal friend of mine.  He is a medieval re creationist so actually goes out in that armor and gets hit. Very fun!  He represents the MC getting all warlike and bad a**.  

The blonde is a good representation of Duchess Ahnarad from Terek.   All super smart and awesome.   Valeran is the loud, brassy one but she is the one that gets things done.  

Behind all of that is "The Eater".  One of the Mourning Lords who causes quite a few problems in this book.  Also, she likes to eat.... anything.   Don't go near her.   

I'll probably be publishing this in the next day or so.   Whew!  

So far so good.  My cover skills have improved (still working on things) and I think the brand is doing well.   All three covers look similar in good ways.   

Virtual Discussion Panel "Turning Disability into Ability, Writing Handicapped Characters"

Just got off of this panel and it was fantastic.   We discussed how to write characters with disabilities either physical, mental, or emotional.   One of the over-riding themes of this panel was work this in as a trait of the character in as realistic a way as possible, do not use it as a "plot development".  Much like bad Sci-Fi movies use special effects as "the big flashy thing" rather than part of the story, so too can disabilities be included.  

If you've read my series (what?  you haven't read the series?  are you mad!?) you know that I have several characters with various disabilities.  Jessop has Down Syndrom, Professor Reivus struggles with a form of Alzheimer, and Stitch gets his hand cut off.   I don't think I did a perfect job of writing about these people, but I tried my best to make them seem real in their struggle for normal lives.  Very important.  

And also enlightening. 

In Book 3, one of the defining discoveries that Aiden encounters is that traveling to this 2nd realm reveals strange healing.  There has been little opportunity to explore this, but it is there and during a meeting where they are discussing this, I was caught by surprise by something my characters did.   Yes, this does happen quite often, which to me means the Characters are speaking to me.  

Aiden was left thinking if the healing would heal Jessop of his mental issues.   OOooOOo you say!   Yes, and I was thinking the same thing.  Is it right to do?  Would he be a different person?  would he want to?  would it be right to refuse even if it did change him?   I don't have the answer to those questions but I will have to tackle that soon.   I'd love to hear your thoughts on this.  What should Aiden do?  What would Jessop want?

Gah!   It's killing me!

The panel discussion will be posted onto Youtube and I will let you know when it is live.  In the mean time, take care!

Spencer Pierson 

Snippet #5 - The Duke of Brun and the Golden Bands.   (unedited)

They had just made it to the thoroughfare where Nilesh said the book merchant lived when they saw a group of six armed men walking down the street toward them.   They had already turned down it, so suddenly stopping and revering direction would look suspicious.  Worse, the soldiers were pulling the hoods down and looking into everyone’s faces. 

“Dammit,” Nilesh hissed.  “Maybe Kaler got a message out after all. 

“Or they just saw us leave camp,” Ashrak said.  “I know you thought we got away unseen, but that’s not a given.”  He felt his hand clench, wanting to reach up and grab his sword handle.  It was currently wrapped in rags to make it look like a much less elegant weapon, but he knew they could probably take the soldiers by surprise if they needed to.   Still, he didn’t want to attract attention.  They would get some sort of warning off, at the very least, and it would ruin their chances of getting what they were after if they had to flee the city. 

They were still about thirty meters from the guards when Nilesh began to walk toward another group of people moving in the same direction.  They were a small group of mid-level merchants with a guard following along with a bored look on his face.   Ashrak watched as Nilesh put his hand into his robe and pocketed something white which he began to crush in his grip.   When he got close to the group of men, he tripped and seemed to blunder directly into the guardsmen, a cloud of white dust flying into the man’s face as he spun.

“Oh sorry, sir, my apologies,” Nilesh said, his voice suddenly reedy and weak as he bowed and held his hands up. 

The guard snarled, half drawing his weapon as he took a step toward Nilesh.  “Why, you piece of filth!  Watch where you’re going!”   He was a brute of a man but Nilesh dodged quickly out of his way while making it look like he stumbled backwards.  The man would have pursued, but the lead merchant called back to him. 

“Guard, what are you doing?  I don’t pay you to play with the rabble!” The guard stopped and grunted, giving Nilesh one more glare before he turned back.  Nilesh just kept his head down and his hands up, not looking back until the guard had resumed his place behind the merchants.

“What did you do that for?” Ashrak whispered when he had caught up to Nilesh who had turned and pulled out a water skin, quickly washing his hands.  

“Stay back for a moment,” Nilesh hissed, letting the water quickly dissolve the white substance from his hand and drop into the sand.   After he had finished, he quickly kicked dirt over the wet area and then ground his foot into the spot.  “Sorry,” He said, still facing away from the direction the soldiers were approaching.  “I had to get that stuff off of my hands.  I’ve built up an immunity, but it wouldn’t do for you three to be affected.”

“Affected by what?” Chari said, looking curiously at the ground. 

“My guess, would be from whatever is making the guard act like that,” Ellian said, nodding her head discreetly toward the group of merchants.  The heavyset guard had stopped in his tracks, suddenly looking up into the sky.   He was beginning to shake and mumble just loud enough for the merchants to begin to notice.   The soldiers were also just about to pass him as well and were looking at him with concern.  Suddenly, screaming incoherently, he lurched and threw himself at one of the soldiers.  Before the man could react, he’d been lifted up above the guard’s head and thrown into the rest of them, knocking them about like a pile of sticks.

“Come on,” Nilesh said, turning and beginning to move down the street though keeping a distance from the suddenly violent confrontation.  “He won’t last long against six soldiers.”

The three followed quickly, watching in awe as the gibbering, foaming-at-the-mouth guard descended on one of the fallen men and began trying to eat him.  His fingers dug into the soldier’s face, making him scream in agonizing pain which redoubled as the crazed man’s teeth sunk into his cheek.  It was horrifying, and only two of the soldiers reacted, leaping up and trying to pull him off.  The other three soldiers could only watch in horror.

Candidates for cover update for A Glimmer of Fear, Book 2 of the Glimmer Steel Saga.  


Hello folks!   Two ideas above.  I like the upper menacing figure and the man, but the girl I'm working on.   I think I like #1 because they are all looking forward.   What do you think?  As soon as I'm done with this, I'll be working on updating #3 in the series.   woohoo.  

Snippet #4 - The Duke of Brun and the Golden Bands.   (unedited)

“What in the seven hells is this Chocolate Round thingy?” Valeran growled, slamming his hand on the table.  “I swear, people make up words around me on purpose?”

“It’s called the Occulate Raun, Your Grace,” Lord Mendor said patiently.  “If I remember correctly, the trial has not been performed in over five hundred years though it could be longer.  I would have to find the relevant tomes in the Brunish library.  I think that is where I remember reading about it.”

Valeran didn’t answer but glared at Lord Mendor, though they all knew it was just him being angry at the situation, not the ambassador.  “Well, whatever it’s called, it’s now a problem as if we needed more of them.” Valeran put his hands on his temples and closed his eyes, rubbing them gently.  “Okay, Occulate Raun.   So what does that mean for making Ashrak the new Duke?  Does it just throw it out the window as a free-for-all?  Should I just have the Skywitch blast anyone making a run for the desert?”

Lord Mendor shook his head but looked over to Ashrak and Ellian.  “I honestly don’t know.  The books I read didn’t really speak too much about the trials.   Do either of you know anything about it?  Or you, Nilesh?”

The small man shook his head but Ashrak and Ellian both looked at each other.  Finally, Ashrak spoke.  “Not everything, I am sure, but we do know some of it and the tales told about it.”  Ashrak paused, then took a breath before continuing.  “Basically, the stories say that the Golden Bands were given to the rulers of Brun as a symbol of their power.  More than that, they were a way to communicate with the ancestors and for the Duke to gain acceptance by those same ancestors, or so they say.”

“So what, we have to go digging around in some old ruins or broken pottery to find them?” Valeran asked, askance.  

“No,” Ellian said, speaking hesitantly as if expecting to be ignored, and already half mad.  Her angry clipped tones came out at first, but when everyone just listened, they began to fade.  “The stories say it’s never been that easy. Not even close.   Finding the entrance to the hall of trials is the first problem.  No one ever knows which ruin it will be found in.  Then the seekers always have to solve or survive terrible tests and guardians, whatever those might be.  It’s never the same.”

“So how many people can go looking for these things?” Valeran asked as he quirked an eyebrow at both of the Brunish nobles.  “What’s to stop the entire city of Brun from just trekking off into the desert, finding these bands, and then becoming Duke?”

Ashrak and Ellian exchanged a look before Ashrak answered.  “Well, the same thing that stopped most of my brothers and sisters from breathing.  Brunish nobility thinks nothing of killing to get ahead.   It’s why they are all so cruel and angry, because assassination is our very favorite game.  Anyone who becomes a seeker agrees that any of the other seekers or their representatives has the right to try to kill them, and vice versa.   It’s terribly barbaric, but it prevents most people from being remotely interested in trying.   Also, if someone does return with the Bands, then all of the other seekers and their companions are automatically put to death.”

New updated cover for BOOK 1 of the Glimmer Steel Saga.   

Here it is.  After 3 drafts and lots of input, I've uploaded this new cover photo for book 1.   I will be working on book 2 and 3 this week and weekend. 

Good stuff right?  All my covers I've done myself so this is me stepping up my game.  The cover above is composed of 5 pictures from deposit photos with a lot of blending and shading (yay I figured that out in gimp this week).   I'm still learning, but so far I'm liking these a lot better.  For those of you who detest CGI characters, I do this for YOU!   Thanks folks!   Duke of Brun will be the next book out.   I've got a kick butt cover for that too!   Just waiting.   

Book Cover for Phoenix Prime group.   

Here is another cover that is a work in progress.   I'm going to maket he spaceship more clear, and update the fonts / colors.  Right now this is a rough.   Thoughts?

New Covers in Process

Working on updating my book covers.  Since I have little money to spend, I am learning how to do this myself!   This is version 2 but I am going to make some changes.  Very interesting taking a variety of pictures and blending them together.  It has been a while since I've done this.   That being said, I think these are going to be TONS better than my current covers.    Comment's appreciated!

Hello Folks!   After much hashing and clawing, I think I've managed to find a winner for my next book cover.  Let me know if you have any comments!   I would love to hear them. 

Published on Dec 26, 2016

No training, no inside knowledge, no reading kBoards. Just a lifelong reader paying attention to what he liked to read and WHY, then applying his business and marketing knowledge to help him hack the path to success.

I want to share this because I SEE this so often on other writing boards and advice given to learn how to write.   Too many people take things as gospel that just aren't.   You can WRITE and you can also PUBLISH your book, and it doesn't have to take a decade to do so.

As Michael likes to say, there are many paths up tot he mountain top.   


Michael Anderle speaks on publishing and writing

Snippet #1 - The Duke of Brun and the Golden Bands.   (unedited)

Count Stavix stood and quietly watched his double shadow stretch over the broken ground around him.  It was night, but well lit by the two moons Hagri and Tulugri.  Despite the late hour, the two moons lit surrounding area well and coupled with the many guards he’d brought with him to these cold ruins; he was not concerned about anything actually hiding in the shadows themselves.   It would be a desperate fool who tried to attack him here.  

Still, he had been summoned here at this hour for a reason.  The message delivered to him by a source he respected, but the request was so unusual that he would normally have ignored it.  Meeting out the middle of nowhere was folly for any great lord such as himself, especially in these dire times.  The Duke was supposedly dead, and Terek Naval ships were off of their coast.  

No, it had to be an ambush by a rival.  Maybe even that lout General Paven had finally worked up the nerve to challenge him directly.   The message hadn’t said anything about not bringing troops, so he’d brought plenty of them.  Several companies of his best men surrounded him along with outriders for several miles so he would be aware of any threats.  If anyone could muster a force large enough to attack him here, he also had several escape routes planned.  

No, he was not worried, and the pale sheet-white face of Lord Manten who had delivered the message had intrigued him.  Lord Manten’s interests were deeply entwined with his own, but the man was almost foolishly brave.   He’d been known to dive into a dune grabber’s lair just in a dare which was stupid beyond belief, but no one could question the man’s bravery.

Still, his minion had ridden for a full day to deliver the message and was still shaking when he’d arrived.  Yes, Count Stavix thought to himself, very intriguing. Despite himself, the intriguing element was waning as the cold and boredom elements began to mount.  He turned, lifting his hand for one of his men to approach. 

“Bring the dancers around,” Count Stavix said, sneering out at the darkness.   For whatever reason, the promised person had not appeared.  Most likely they were apprehended out in the desert sands by one of his patrols.  There were enough of his men combing the dunes around the small ruin that it was far more likely they would capture someone trying to get to him so most likely would have the pleasure of interrogating whomever it was in the morning.

Instead of nodding and retreating, however, the guard continued to stand by his side.  When Count Stavix turned, he realized he wasn’t looking at one of his men but at a robe wrapped figure with a steel band where his eyes should be.  There was a dark slit horizontally cut into the metal, but it was dark, and he couldn’t see the man’s eyes.  

Stepping back, he looked and saw that all of the other men that had been standing with him, a good dozen of his chosen guard, were gone.  All of them replaced with replicas of this dark, faceless figure standing next to him.  Stavix froze, his mind reeling.   Were they assassins?  Could he scream out in time for this guard to hear?  He could see some of his men moving around further back and around the ruins, but none were close.   Had these strange figures been with him as he walked in and he just hadn’t noticed or somehow replaced them as he stood contemplating the foreign, dark landscape?

Did it matter?  No.  No, it didn’t.  If these men were here to kill him, he was already dead.   There were twelve of them and even the clumsiest hand holding a knife would find him many times before his men could save him and these men hardly looked like clumsy amateurs.  There were only two choices, and he decided to go with the one that let him live. 

“So, you are the ones I am supposed to meet, then?” Count Stavix said calmly.  He knew his eyes had widened when he’d turned, but it was impossible to erase that fact, so he gathered the robes of both confidence and power he was used to and wrapped them around himself tightly.  “I am here, so speak.  I do not have all evening to dawdle on fool’s errands.”

The figure closest to him shifted slightly.  He could not see any features on the face, but he imagined the same amused smile that would have graced his own face if he were in the other’s position.   The voice, however, was anything but amused.  Cold would be a better word to describe it.  Cold and rasping. 

“Fœri,” the figure said.