- April review competition finished -

We did not have any contestants in March. None. It was most depressing and I thought about becoming a monk or a hermit high up in the mountains. I suppose it doesn't matter what one calls oneself up there while freezing ones ass off.

However, in April we did and I decided to abandon my plans of solitude.

There were several five star ones, many four stars and a three star review. There were praises and slaps on the wrists. Some on the cheeks. Most made me happy, some made me pull some books and fix the editing I had not realized was badly executed. I am most grateful to all.

All the names were handwritten on paper and placed in a recently cleaned fruit bowl. I shuffeled them vigorously. I closed my eyes tight, jumped around the bowl with wild leaps, invoking spirits and finally I pulled a slightly damp paper out of the bowl. There was a name on the paper and the winner of a 20 dollar Amazon Gift Card is:

Ruth Braca!

Congratulations and thank you for the reviews, you all!

If you DID not win, as the majority of you did not, remember there will be a new chance at the end of the June, with the BIG prize at a stake.

Can the winner give me an email at: alaric.longward at gmail dot com, please.

Tidings

Hello.

So, my books will be back online soon. Yay!

Due to some bad editing job, I found I had to pull the products from the market. It was personally a terribly harsh thing to do, for they had just begun to sell at normal price, but I do not wish to sell badly edited stories. That's not what my company is about. So, I shall start again. This got very, very costly for me, but I will not be one to push out errors. 

Seriously apologise for the lesson I am currently learning as it also affected the readers. Still happy that even those who disliked the editing, loved the stories. 

Speaking of which. 

I will be pushing out four books next six months. (Edited by professionals, I might add.)

There will Sword of Winter, the third book in the Hraban Chronicles. The book is in the first draft mode currently and will be going for editing in some weeks time. Hraban will deal with Lif's loss and the mad Odo. He is sure to meet Maroboodus. He will also find a new lord to serve. A lord that will change everything in his life.

There will be a series in the fantasy genre. This series is called the Ten Tears Chronicles and will tell the story of Shannon and Dana, two girls of very special powers and fates in the unkind mercies of Euryale, the gorgon of Gray Downs. This series will begin to create a brand of stories set in the Nine worlds and dips heavily in the old Germanic and Norse legends. We all know something of them thanks to Marvel and the Vikings series. We know, or think we know of Odin and Thor, but this will go further. Much further. Deeper and higher. Expect adventure and conflict. The Dark Levy and Eye of Hel are both written, are being fixed and sculpted and should be done in a month or so.

As a side show to this fantasy series, I also began Thief of Midgard series, featuring Maskan. He is quite a scoundrel, but he has a heart. Sometimes a black one. Other times not so black. A heart nonetheless. We will see. I'm not done with this one yet, but I almost feel this will be very, very good. It's intricately linked to Shannon as well.

First acts have been written for the Cantiniére Tales book three. Where Jeanette has survived the initial Reign of Terror and the Egyptian campaign under Napoleon, she is about to be thrust in the showdown between well tanned Bonaparte and the suspicious, corpulent, and corrupted Directory. Paul Barras is due a whipping. We know who wins that one, but what will it cost Jeanette?

Also, the review competition has been going well. There has been over a dozen so far and as I requested, most are honest. One is a three star thanks to the editing, rest four and five stars with well structured feedback. 

I thank you all.

At the end of the month I shall do April lottery for the Amazon Gift Card for those who have been part of this month's competition. There is still time and I am sorry some of my books are still down.

Some issues with my books

Hello,

been getting a lot of thanks and great reviews lately for my stories.

Yet, to my horror, I have also found the editing job, at least for some of the books have been downright terrible.

So, for the next two weeks, I will have them re-edited by a team of industry professionals. During this time they will not be available in Amazon.

I am not comfortable with lack of quality in any way or form and I wish to extend my apology to those who have suffered from some of these issues. Happily, even the people who have noted the editing issues have loved the stories themselves, so I will fix and get back on the saddle.

br

Alaric Longward

They sure look pretty

7 secrets of writing

I was tagged by author Carole Gill to share seven secrets about writing. 

1. People will expect this to be a profession for the retired, not something you might consider doing full time.
2. Your mother and siblings will ask you to find a real job, subtly and then bluntly.
3. Your family and friends expect you hold hundreds of your books as giveaways.
4. You will be surprised how few of the people you know read. Even the smart ones in your family. Life has grown too hectic.
5. Your wife and children will suffer from your many writer's insecurities. Guaranteed, or you are not of this world
6. You will have to fight the constant urge to check your reviews and sales data.
7. If you have the stories, you can learn the rest. All of it.