About Our Cats – Ophelia
Ophelia Poses Reluctantly
Creating a Writing Environment
Yeah, we’ve been bad about posting again. It’s kind of been a stressful week despite the holiday. I (Heather) had to take a day of furlough. Many librarians are having to take similar actions as opposed to dealing with a layoff. However, it’s still stressful to think about a lost day of income.
I think part of this blog entry came to mind because of how difficult it’s been to write lately. Stress is always a factor for most writers. Yet sometimes there is a method to getting in the zone. Sometimes…
Writing Session Blog: Prequel to Dark Alliance
Heather and I thought it would be fun to occasionally include little bits of our writing sessions, which we do from time to time, usually when we eat out. We don’t have lofty goals of 1,000 words a day like some writers (more power to them if they can keep that up), in fact on average our writing volume is probably less than a third of that. However, keep in mind that including Morrigan’s Brood: Dark Alliance, we have three fully-written novels in queue for publishing, and each of those will average around 370 pages. We have also written a novella, which we just sent to our editor Sally, half of a manuscript for a non-Morrigan’s Brood book that takes place in the same universe, and of course books six and seven (and perhaps 8 ) of the Morrigan’s Brood Series.
Events for the first half of 2011
Just like last year, we plan to be at several book and genre events this year. I don’t have a complete list of confirmed events, that is confirmations that we have been accepted as authors or vendors through Triscelle Publishing, but be looking for us at these events for the first half of 2011:
Chuck…I mean Karl…No That’s Charles
Someone brought up a question for me a few days ago. Why do the next few books move on to the early days of the Holy Roman Empire, and specifically why use Emperor Karl I (Charlemagne) as a character in the series. I don’t know why I started to find this emperor fascinating. Maybe it’s that he’s sort of an intriguing figure in that era.
Oopses Need a Home – Yours
Last year / last month / a few weeks ago, we had announced that we had a few oopses from our printer, that is books which have cover blemishes, rendering them unable to be sold; of course the paper inside is in good condition. Previously, we had offered those books for free if you paid for shipping. We had a few interested parties, so we have shipped out some of those books, but we still have two sets of Morrigan’s Brood and Morrigan’s Brood: Crone of War with cover blemishes, and all four books are just resting on my (Christopher) bookshelf behind me, waiting for new homes.
Locations of Morrigan’s Brood: Dark Alliance
Have you ever wondered where historical (or fantastical, for that matter) events in a novel took place? Usually, you don’t have to wonder too much, because the author or publisher places a convenient map or maps in a fantasy or historical fiction novel. If you have read prior books of the Morrigan’s Brood Series, you have come to appreciate, based on many of the reviews I (Christopher) have read, the maps showing where events in our stories took place. Morrigan’s Brood: Dark Alliance will be no different. In fact, I wanted to give our friends and fans a sneak peak at how we come up with our maps, and to even show a preliminary map from our third book. Even though this is a Dark Fantasy / Historical Fiction / Fantasy Adventure novel, we strive for accuracy in our depiction of the times when and locations where our stories take place.
Happy New Year! Also, About Book Three…
Let me ask you a question: When you finished reading Morrigan’s Brood and Morrigan’s Brood: Crone of War, did you want to find out what Marcus, Maire, Mandubratius, Mac Alpin, Claudius, and the others have been up to since the end of Book Two? If the answer is “yes”, then I have a treat for you… Morrigan’s Brood: Dark Alliance is back from the editor, and we are in the process of getting it ready for publication.
A Good Deal for Our Fans
Sometimes the printer sends us uh-oh’s. However, these uh-oh’s are uh-oh’s on the cover. Most of the time the text is off on the spine. However, everything between the covers is perfect! So in honor of these uh-oh’s… we’re giving away the uh-oh’s. Okay, they’re not absolutely free, you have to pay for the shipping.
The Goodreads Contest Winners Are…!
Our latest Goodreads giveaway contest is over, and we have three winners. All three winners will each receive a copy of Morrigan’s Brood and a copy of Morrigan’s Brood: Crone of War, both signed by the authors, as well as some bookmarks. Winners are encouraged, though not required, to rate these books after reading them and to write reviews on Goodreads. The contest was open to readers in the US, Ireland, the UK, Canada, and the Isle of Man. 692 Goodreaders registered for the contest. Now for the winners…