Saturday, December 17, 2011

Breaking news and tips for independent authors


     This is going to be another short post. I just wanted to share the good news that The Sword Of Magna is one of 8 featured books this week on the Free-eBooks home page. In just under 24 hours, the free .pdf version of my ebook has already been downloaded 142 times.

     I would highly recommend them as a valuable resource to any independent authors looking to gain exposure for their works. Besides posting the free downloadable .pdf version of your book on their site, for a very minimal fee you can also create an author profile for yourself, upload your author photo, book cover image, bio, a brief synopsis of your book, and any links you care to add (to sites where your real Kindle or eBook versions are available for purchase). They also have additional optional services, like emailing the .pdf version of your book to a mailing list of over 900,000 avid readers (also for a comfortably affordable fee…). Here’s the link – check them out for yourself:


     I must also recommend another site which I think is a great resource for independent authors. The site is called BookDaily. The only difference between the BookDaily site and the Free–eBooks site is that with the BookDaily site you can’t submit a .pdf version of your entire book, but it's completely free to add your own author profile. They let you upload the first chapter, along with a brief synopsis, author photo, book cover image, bio and links to any sites where your book is available for purchase…all for free. And it does feel good to have your book listed right alongside books by J. R. R. Tolkien, Steven King, Ayn Rand, C. S. Lewis, Kurt Vonnegut and J. K. Rowling (to name but a few…). Here’s the link:



The inhabitants of Axphalia (Part 2)

   
 In this post I would like to introduce you to some of the other peoples and creatures who make their homes on Axphalia.

The dagons:
Although the dagons are from Timneria, they are listed here due to their invasion of Axphalia and the way this invasion impacts the unfolding history of Axphalia (and all of Magnatus). The dagons are a bloodthirsty and warlike race. They are bred for warfare and show no fear or mercy. The typical dagon is broad chested and muscular and stands head and shoulders above most of the other inhabitants of Axphalia. The dagon fighter is usually well armored with iron chain mail, an iron breastplate and an iron helmet. His weapon of choice is the giant axe. These grotesque-looking creatures are not unlike Tolkien’s orcs…..a single armed dagon is an intimidating enough sight, but the sight of a massive dagon army advancing would strike terror into the boldest heart.

The mirror people:
The mirror people are the messengers and servants of Magna. No one knows for certain how many of them there are, but they seem to be scattered throughout all Magnatus. The mirror people are imbued with some special gifts…not unlike the powers that earthlings would attribute to angels. One of these powers is the ability to materialize and dematerialize at will, allowing them the opportunity to travel vast distances instantaneously. The mirror people are invisible unless you happen to be looking exactly in their direction. If this is the case, all you would see is your own reflection (hence the name “mirror people”). They can speak in any language and dialect to be found on Magnatus, and in special circumstances they can physically intervene in the affairs of the other inhabitants with the blessing and direction of Magna himself.

The felonians:
The felonians of the Western Outlands are an ancient race of living trees who once engaged in an epic war with the ancient sylvanians. The great war ended when the sylvanians used some kind of magic power to put the felonians to sleep. Reports have it that the felonians have recently awoken from their centuries-long sleep, and have joined forces with the dagons. The felonian diet is strictly blood. They seize their victims in their thorny limbs and slowly suck the blood out of them. A felonian can outrun a treadling at full gallop.

The sylvanians:
Ironically enough, the ancient sylvanians, now long extinct, met their demise at the hands of the very foes they had just vanquished. Just days before the sylvanians won the war by putting the felonians into an enchanted sleep, the felonians had poisoned the sylvanian’s water supply, and the entire sylvanian race died within a week of their short-lived victory. The ancient sylvanians once lived in a vast network of underground caverns far beneath the Ancient Forest. They were renowned metal workers – a race of extremely gifted gold- and silversmiths whose intricate works in all types of metals are legendary throughout Axphalia. At the time our story begins, the few surviving sylvanian-wrought metal objects are very precious and highly treasured….

Friday, December 16, 2011

Third review


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4.0 out of 5 stars Liked the story, descriptions, and the action., November 29, 2011
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This review is from: The Sword Of Magna (Kindle Edition)
The story started out with some good descriptions of the characters and their environment. Got really into it when the action picked up. Wow, didn't expect that ending. The story was very exciting. Get it. Read it. You'll like it.
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The inhabitants of Axphalia (Part 1)

    
   The planet of Magnatus has three large continents - Axphalia, Timneria and Numeria. In this post I would like to introduce you to some of the peoples and creatures who make their homes on Axphalia.

The dwelflings:

     The dwelflings are a placid, contented folk who typically marry young, settle down early, and seldom move away from the village they grow up in. It is not uncommon to find dwelfling families living in the same village that their great, great grandparents had once lived in, and even sometimes in the same treetop. They are fearful of the Eternal Lake due to the proliferation of folk tales and rumors about the fearsome sea serpents who are said to inhabit it. They are generally a cheerful people, mostly crop growers, woodworkers and builders, who have very little appetite for excitement or adventure. They live in elaborate treehouses in the treetops of the giant oak forests of the southern counties.

The orchnids:
     The orchnids are a refined race, with their silvery skin tone and bell-like voices. They are well known for their speed, grace and agility. These are largely facilitated by the winglets on their wrists and ankles. They are also renowned as poets, artists, metal workers and floral arrangers. The orchnids typically live in caves on the steep hillsides of Meade County, and take great pride in their landscaping and flower gardens. All of the cave mouths are usually framed in dazzling arrangements of wildflowers.

The edelites:
     Generations ago the edelites lived in the northern counties, while the dwelflings and orchnids inhabited the south. One day the edelites amassed a huge army and marched on the south, pillaging and burning the villages in their path. The dwelflings and orchnids joined forces, and defeated the edelites after a bloody three-year war. The edelite survivors were taken as slaves and the four counties were then divided amongst the dwelflings and orchnids. The orchnids chose Meade County because of its high mountains and abundance of precious metals, and in exchange they agreed to let the dwelflings keep the other three counties and all of the edelite slaves. Today most dwelfling families own edelite slaves, although they are treated nothing like slaves, and instead have formed very strong bonds with their "masters", becoming more like an extension of the family.

The swamp folk:
     The enigmatic swamp folk live among the mangroves in the mysterious Misty Swamp on the southern tip of Axphalia. At the time of the beginning of our tale, no swamp folk has ever been seen by dwelfling eyes, but on the stillest of nights their mournful song can be heard from the treetops of Oakfield. Every so often the residents of Oakfield might even hear the ominous clacking sound of the swamp folk shaking their bristles.

The forest nymphs:
     These nocturnal treetop dwellers live in the heart of the Ancient Forest, where they spin their hammocks between the highest tree limbs. The diminutive, large eyed, half-transparent forest nymphs are the keepers of the ancient lore books, due to the fact that they are the only creatures on Axphalia to have mastered the art of reading and writing. They usually have very little to do with the other inhabitants of Axphalia. They live on a diet consisting entirely of dewdrops. At night they emit a pale blue glow, and at night they are easy to spot - you just look for the blue glow. The entire community moves daily. They spin their hammocks in a different part of the forest every night, and every morning their hammocks dissolve with the rising sun. On still nights you can hear their beautiful voices singing while they spin.