author site is hacked

My author's page has been hacked by something called Crazy Hacker. I know whoever does such things is getting a big kick out of it, and I know he/she/they could care less whether someone like me is upset about it. But I, for one, am clueless as to how this person or people benefits from doing things like this. It reminds me of people who purposely squish chameleons with their boots or purposely run over squirrels on the street. It is so senseless and ignorant and ugly. Anyway, I'm working on getting my site back online. 

Whew, what a month!

November has been eventful for my series, to say the least. Forged In Death's November promotion on Amazon turned out to be a big success, with Book 1 going as low as 500 or so and staying beneath 2,000 for the entire month. My short story, Torg's First Death (a tale from The Death Wizard Chronicles), also went well below 1,000. And book 2 titled Chained By Fear, which was released on Nov. 28, is also selling well. Plus, reviews -- mostly positive -- are starting to roll in. Overall, the momentum is building, and I'm confident it will continue to build in the months to come.

I do see one potential problem-spot. I think that a lot of today's fantasy readers, more so than in year's past, really like the gritty stuff with heroes that are half good/half bad, as opposed to the loftier, more black/white tone that I've taken, which is more like Tolkien and less like, say, Martin. A few have said that my hero is too strong and that he's not realistic.

Well, here's my argument against that. Let's say you've got three kind of sassy/dirty heroes running through a cave to escape some bad guys. And they find a troll blocking the entrance. It ends up taking the three of them about an hour to finally find a way around the troll, which is fine and fun. But in the meantime, the bad guy's army has about a thousand of these trolls in it. So, how in the world will the good guys stand any chance at all if the toughest of them can't even take on one of the trolls? That to me is as unrealistic to me as a loftier story is to others.

Still, it's a matter of taste, and when a person spends hard-earned time and money on a book, he or she has every right to say whatever they feel about it. It's an honor to the writer, regardless.

Top 100 for November! And purchased nationally by Barnes and Noble

Forged in Death is one of Amazon’s top 100 books for November and will be heavily discounted, so now’s a great time to buy it. Click HERE! for a great deal. Book 1 has also been purchased nationally by Barnes and Noble and will be available in national stores! Forged in Death is also in numerous venues. E-book and/or paperback editions can be purchased at Bellebooks, Amazon, Barnes&Noble, Alibris, KoboBooks, TowerBooks, GoogleBooks, NetGalley, iBookStore, Redroom, BetterWorldBooks, WHSmith, BookByte, Overdrive, AbeBooks, BetterWorldBooks, IndieBound, Powell’s and SonyBooks, among others. 

Book 2 (Chained by Fear) will debut in late November. Check back for details.

Updates galore!

It has been an eventful past few weeks for both me personally and my fantasy series professionally. This past weekend, I went to St. Petersburg and appeared on Saturday (Oct. 20) at the Times Festival of Reading, where I gave a talk/reading/signing which by all accounts went really well.

Just about 10 minutes before I appeared, I met -- for the first time -- my first grandchild, Jaxson Smith, son of Fred and Jill (my second-oldest daughter) Smith. It was a wonderful time, and Jaxson was awesome! So much fun in so many ways. Can't wait to see him again.

Much is happening with The Death Wizard Chronicles. Book 2, titled Chained By Fear, is set to come out in late November, and Book 1, Forged In Death, will be featured in November as one of Amazon's top 100 books. This should really spur sales and get the series going. In addition, a short story titled Torg's First Death will also be coming out soon (before Book 2). This story is a prequel to book 1 and will be one of three short stories I've written that will be interspersed between the releases of books 1-6 to aid in the promotion and to increase reader interest.

If you've read book 1 and still haven't put a review on my Amazon page, please do! These are huge for new authors and they attract more attention than you might think. I know it's a little bit of a pain to do (I've done plenty myself for other authors), but it means a ton to the author and is just a nice thing to do, especially if you're the type who also writes and/or loves to read. Also, sharing this on Facebook is huge too. Thanks to everyone who's supported me thus far. I know that these constant updates can be annoying, but it's part of today's game in terms of promoting the work.   

Ebooks to the rescue

One of the great things about the ebook explosion is that it has revived hope for thousands of authors who until recently could not attain much success unless they were able to sign with one of the mega-giant publishing houses. Ebooks have evened the playing field and made it possible for new authors to sell lots of books and make lots of money. One of the main reasons for this is the plethora of ebook venues that are available to publishers and authors. For instance, Forged in Death is listed for sale on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Alibris, Kobo, Tower Books, Google Books, Net Gally, the iBookstore, Better World Books, WH Smith, Book Byte, Overdrive, Abe Books, Indie Bound, Powell's and Sony Books, to name just some. That's a lot of bookstores, even if they aren't brick and mortar. Imagine the opportunities for someone like me. Catch fire with just one of these venues, and it'll be off to the races on all the rest.

My publisher Bell Bridge Books was one of the first of the mid-sized/smaller houses to catch on to this potential, and now BBB is downright brilliant at these kinds of sales and marketing techniques. Though I'm like many who prefer to hold a real-life book in my hands, pretty much all of us will one day have to succumb to the lure of Nook and Kindle and various other devices.

As they say, the future is now.  

Fun time at DragonCon

I had a wonderful time at DragonCon on Sunday. Met the great staff of Bell Bridge Books (both Debs, Brittany and Pam) and several of BBB's top authors, including Parker Blue, Anthony Francis, John Hartness, Buzz Bernard, Trish Milburn and Kalayna Price. We met first at noon for an editors/writers luncheon at the Ellis Hotel. Had a fun time there. Then we gathered at the Hyatt for a Meet the Writers event, where we all introduced ourselves to a large audience and then answered questions. It concluded with a cocktail party at the Hyatt. All in all, a fabulous day for me. I even brought home this giant poster and a bunch of autographed books. Should last me till the end of the year! Everyone was amazingly nice, humble and friendly. I'm so glad to be with Bell Bridge Books. Things will only get better from here.

See you at DragonCon!

I'll be at DragonCon in Atlanta most of Sunday to attend several events being held by Bell Bridge Books. "Meet the Authors" will be at 2:30 p.m. at Hyatt Regency. If anyone's going to be around, please look me up!