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.

Writing update

I'm still deep in the weeds on my thriller revision for What Grows From the Dead, but I've got feedback now from all of my early readers (six of them) and am compiling and tweaking and rewriting based on those helpful folks. Some of their suggestions are easy (e.g. commas, wrong names, a guy putting his cell phone on mute twice in one scene, etc.) while others take more effort (e.g. this conversation sounds awkward, why would he do this here). The easy ones I do right away, while the others I add as comments in the Word version of my manuscript, and then I'll go through the whole thing, reread, and process all of it as I go in one big effort. Then, it's off to my copy editor, implement any changes she suggests (usually very minor), do a final readthrough on my iPad in the Kindle app to make sure everything looks OK, and then publish! I hope to get it out later this month. Here's the cover again to whet your appetite!

A boost from another author

I got a surprise in my Amazon stats earlier this month - a big bump in sales on January 15th, nearly all for my Frosthelm series. There was nothing I was doing that day to promote, so it was a mystery for a few days.

The mystery was solved when a new reader wrote me to say that she'd enjoyed reading my books and had found them based on the recommendation of Nathan Lowell in his newsletter. Nathan's a sci fi and fantasy author, and he's a good deal more successful than I am, having done this for quite a while, so it was really nice of him to mention Flames Over Frosthelm, and I was very grateful for the boost.

The lesson here I think is that when you share things you like with other folks, it really helps out those who made what you like, so it's all positive all around. I've bought Quarter Share, the first book in Nathan's space opera series and am eager to start reading once I get What Grows finished up. If you'd like to check that book out, it's here:

Nathan's full author site with all his books, including his fantasy series, is here.

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, I have Blood and Loyalty by Luna Fox and F. Lowberry. This is the first of their Dracomancer series, a YA epic fantasy series with dragons, academies, magic, and swords. Neat stuff! Only $0.99 on Amazon at the moment.

Next, I have Warrior Prince by Paul J. Bennett, the just-released sixth book in his Power Ascending series. This has rebel barons, medieval combat, sneak attacks, and all kinds of good stuff like that. All six books of the series have hundreds of reviews with high averages on Amazon, so if this sounds like your kind of thing, it would definitely be worth checking out.

Next, I have A Poor Day to Die by Dylan McFadyen, described as "a gritty arcanepunk war story." We've got an imperial army fighting across multiple worlds, with names like Zhan and Rozhon and Kyűszai in the mix, along with some medieval knight armor, a flintlock rifle, and a Roman legion helmet, and a whole bunch of mounted spearmen with banners flowing in the breeze during a rainbow-hued orbital bombardment. Great stuff! This is a 100% free prequel story to what I think is an upcoming series.

Finally, I have Jake's Story by Paige Clendenin, a post-apocalyptic sci-fi story about a war-torn future Earth, one where at least humanity has not lost black tank top technology. This is a prequel to Clendenin's Fighting Freedom series. It's only $0.99 on Amazon.

Thanks

Thanks so much for signing up for my newsletter. Please let me know if you have any questions or suggestions for upcoming books! I love hearing from people. If you've read one of my books and wouldn't mind leaving a review anywhere (Amazon, Goodreads, Bookbub, LibraryThing) I'd really appreciate it! Each review helps me reach more readers. 

I hope you and your friends and family are having a safe and rewarding 2024!

May the Bloodmother watch over you - 

Dave