Welcome, new folks!

Hi, there. If you've joined the mailing list recently, I want to make sure you get your free Frosthelm book, Traitors Unseen. If you haven't gotten it, you can get it free here (the site will ask you to sign up for this newsletter, which you're already getting) or here from Smashwords. It's also on Apple Books, Kobo, and Barnes & Noble. Please, enjoy with my compliments.

Bargains bursting out all over!

I have three great bargains to let you know about today:

→ RIGHT NOW: Got Trouble is on sale for $0.99 or £0.99!

US link here, UK here. The sale lasts until December 19.

Got Trouble is one of my highest-rated books by readers, with a 4.6 average on Amazon over 110 reviews.

→ STARTING SUNDAY: Daros will be on sale worldwide for $0.99 (or a local equivalent bargain price) starting on December 17th through December 24th. The US link is here, or check your local Amazon if you're overseas.

→ DECEMBER 23-28: Late in the month, I'm taking part in a massive event called MegaSale 2023, which is a charity giveaway organized by members of the Reddit book community on r/Fantasy. I and a whole bunch of other authors will be donating to charity for every book of ours that's downloaded. This year, the event benefits the Mary Cariola Center.

Flames Over Frosthelm will be FREE for this event, so you can get a free book (actually a lot of them, because lots of the other authors are making theirs free too) plus support a worthy cause, all without spending a penny.

Dr. Esker Goes to Morocco

In another part of my life, I've completed the fourth of my puzzle card games in the Doctor Esker's Notebook series. This one, which has the ridiculous title of Doctor Esker's Notebook IV: The Moroccan Affair, is written by Dr. Esker's colleague and close friend, Abellona, who is alluded to in the previous two games.

I've sent the game images to my printer over in India, and I hope to have the games printed and available for sale by January or February 2024. If you're curious about the games, you can find more information at my Esker site here.

Writing Update

I've been focusing on getting the game finished since the beginning of December, although I did add a little on to my fantasy novel from November. I've also been getting a cover done for What Grows From the Dead, my new humorous thriller. I should be able to share that in January. Abby Blanchard has made a great piece of art for it, and I've got my designer doing the lettering. Here's a peek at the art:

For the next week or so, I'll be working on an editing pass on WGFtD (cool kids refer to it by its abbreviation, you see). I've got comments from Reader Number One (my wife), and when I get her comments worked in, I'll share it with a few more early readers for feedback, with the hope of releasing it in January.

Some stories to try

I'm part of several author collectives, and we share each other's work to try to help all of us reach more readers. In many cases, the books we share are are free or discounted. Sometimes, they ask that you sign up for a newsletter like this one. Here are some new books I have to share this month:

First up is Mythic by Adrian Santiago. Described as "a psychedelic sci-fi short story," this tells the story of Bella, a child who ends up mixed up with space drug dealers via a ne'erdowell relative. It's free, and it's the lead-in to Santiago's Mythic novel.

Next, I have Pegasus: A Journey To New Eden by James L. Hill. This is a mid-length novel set on a colony ship that's humanity's last hope, one that's also full of dysfunction and intrigue.

Next, I have Oceana by EJ Randolph, a YA sci-fi adventure novel complete with aliens, smugglers, greedy corporations, and conflict. Sounds like great stuff!

Finally, I have Midwinter Knots by Chuck Boeheim, which I think is a holiday story about a cat detective, which is a phrase I didn't think I'd be writing when I woke up this morning. It sounds very creative, and you can try it out for free. It ties in with Chuck's other books as well.

Thanks

Thanks so much for signing up for my newsletter. As I close out the year, I'm excited to have shared two new books with you in 2023 (Got Trouble and Kenai) plus a short story (Talon's Shadow in the From the Arcane anthology), and I look forward to at least two more in 2024. If you'd like to keep track of my writing beyond just this newsletter, you can follow me on Amazon as well.

I hope you and your friends and family have a safe and rewarding end of the year, with the chance to be together and take some well-deserved time off.

May the Bloodmother watch over you - 

Dave