Princelings Revolution Launch Tour – starts today

The Princelings Revolution Launch Blog Tour starts today with the cover reveal on my blog.

I’ve had to be careful about not showing the cover publicly until now, because I didn’t want to spoil the surprise. I expect people have got used to the ‘holding’ cover which Dani did for me last October, soon after finishing the Chronicles one. I’ve had the general idea for some time, even before finishing the book, but Dani gave it wings! Literally, as it happened!

I love the way she wrecked the castle, although I had to get her to go further and rip off the banners flying from the turrets! I copied her changes to make the last picture of the castle for the chapter illustrations.

But now we’re all ready to launch. The ebook is loaded on most of the websites, and I hope the paperback gets onto the online store files before the launch too.

The Blog Tour

I’m very grateful for everyone who responded to my call for bloggers and tweeters and any other way they would like to get involved with the launch. Officially the tour lasts for the duration of the Giveaway: 15th September to 23rd October. The generic link is to this blog, and the banner on the front page here links to this post. So anyone wanting more information can check out the tour stops here, and enter the Giveaway here as well if they wish.

This is the current schedule (may be updated).

and one to look out for on November 18th, a party with Patricia Josephine on both our blogs!

The Giveaway

If you meant to enter the giveaway or lost track of it, you can enter or catch up with it here. Entries close 11.59pm New York time on 23rd October 2020.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Buy The Book

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Princelings Revolution is finished!

Princelings Revolution, book 10 in the Princelings of the East series, is now complete. The cover is finalised, the illustrations are finished, and the editing done (although there is always some more fiddling one could do with it).

Book 10 pre-draft

The Cover

The one I’ve been using as the draft cover is roughly the same colour, but the final version is so much better! There will be a cover reveal some time in September. I’m hoping a few more people might want to join in with the reveal, so you aren’t getting a sneak preview now!

The cover is dramatic and mysterious, I hope! Just like the book. So you can judge a book by its cover!

The illustrations

I always start the chapter illustrations thinking ‘why did I give myself all this extra work to do?’

Several times during the process I think that again, and think I’ll never be able to produce a half-=decent drawing to illustrate X happening.

The process, roughly, is that I list the chapter headings, and their subheadings (which are a real help in this process). Then I go through jotting down ideas for what might be suitable subjects. Some are self-evident – locations, castles. Others are difficult, especially where nothing much happens visually but a lot happens in terms of plot! I usually have to find some sort of motif for those.

This year I asked my beta readers what they thought about my recycling images that have appeared in previous books. I’ve reused several pictures, some maybe too many times without an update. Some of my early drawings really show their age–and I’ve redone most of those I’ve reused. It’s good to know that ten years experience has improved my skill level!

There are 22 chapter illustrations this time. 18 have been newly drawn, or severely updated, on my iPad. Four are being reused as they are: two from Willoughby’s book (7), one from Princelings of the North ( 8), and one from the very first book! And I have at last done a completely new version of the Inn of the Seventh Happiness. It was a hard, intricate drawing before, and that hasn’t changed. It’s very difficult not to let it look messy. But I’m pleased with the results.

Here are a few teasers for you. There are three more in Jemima’s project update (click here). I’ve used the bridge there too, because I like it!

So, now to put everything together and upload it to the various ebook publishers.

Help needed!

If you’d like to help with the launch by posting a cover reveal, or a launch post on your own blog, please let me know in the comments below. All helpers will get a space in the Rafflecopter Cover Reveal will be mid-September, and launch date is 1st October. I’m doing a guest post on 7th October as part of the launch. I can do interviews, too. Whatever you’d like, in fact!

Pre-Order the book

Book 10 of the Princelings of the East series – Princelings Revolution – the final book in the series, is on schedule for publication 1st October 2020.

The planes are crashing, the people are angry at the changes and shortages. King Fred puts democracy to the test and finds it’s not all it’s cracked up to be.  There’s an organised anti-monarchy group called the Causists, and they are spreading false information which the people seem to believe. Things are bad—but they are going to get worse…

Will he even keep his head, let alone the promise made to Lord Mariusz at the start of the whole shebang?

The ebook is now available for pre-order a very special price at iTunesB&N, and Kobo. This special launch price is only for a few weeks. It’s also on pre-order at Amazon! (who might price-match, but I have no control of that).

July news for the Princelings Series

three princelings audiobook covers

Yes it’s July already. Here’s your update on Princelings Revolution, its launch, and the audiobooks

I don’t feel that I’ve done much since the last update, but in fact things made significant progress… then stalled!

Princelings Revolution

Book 10 pre-draft

April saw me finish the beta version of Princelings Revolution, the last in the series. My beta readers pulled out all the stops and gave me their time and wonderful insights into what I’d written.

When you’re writing a book, there are times when you really can’t see the story in among the words. You don’t know whether it makes sense on paper, even though you think there’s some sort of sense going into the computer from your head.

I’m very grateful to my beta readers for great feedback, gently delivered (always important when giving a critique!). They also patiently answered some specific questions I had on nuts and bolts and passing details in the story. And they even added support and encouragement – and a sense of sadness at the saga’s end.

Is it really the end?

Every time I read the last few paragraphs I am really sad it’s the end.

There are some things a reader might wonder about. What happens to some of the peripheral characters? Does Fred ever…?

I was tempted to do a bigger finish, but in a way, I am minded of JRR Tolkien’s ending to the Lord of the Rings. Yes, it was good to add the last few chapters and get to the Grey Havens, but really, I wish it had stopped sooner. I can imagine them all living happily ever after. In fact, I sometimes think it would be great if everyone wrote their own version of what happened after ‘the end’.

But my decision is made, and it’s stopping there. Unless I do some short stories involving other characters!

It would be fun to have readers do their own versions of what happened to x&Y, though. Maybe I’ll run it as a competion one year.

So I have made all the amendments and rewritten some sections in response to my betas’ comments, and one of them has a ‘safety’ copy (in case I go down with coronavirus) and she likes the changes (I think that’s what she said!)

And Dani is working on the final cover , and I’m working on the chapter illustrations.

We may even get it out for 1st October, It’s already listed on Smashwords, iTunes, B&N, Kobo and Amazon! You can pre-order most places (not Smashwords), and except for Amazon, the price is definitely an introductory one!

If you are a really good geek, you’ll remember that ‘October the 1st is too late’ was the password Mariusz and Saku worked out when Mariusz first went down the time tunnel, and needed to prove who he was if he got stuck there (book 4). It’s also the title of a book by Fred Hoyle that I still love.

On the other hand, releasing it in late November would be nine years after the first one came out on Kindle. Well, if it had been ten, maybe it would have been worth celebrating!

Audiobooks

The audiobook of Princelings of the East is available on Audible, Amazon and iTunes, and has sold several copies! If you would like a free copy to review, let me know and I’ll send you a special code.

The audio files for the Princelings and the Pirates are complete. I just need to give them a final check against the kindle file and upload them. Then I’ll upload a new edition of Pirates so that Kindle’s whispersynch works with it. The changes are very small. Mainly a couple of words and a punctuation issue that should have been fixed years ago! The paperback book will stay the same, though.

And then… I need to give Chris Preece the tidied up/edited version of Princelings and the Lost City.

The main things I change in those edits are to do with style changes over the years. When I started, I used the old-fashioned ‘saif Fred’ most of the time. “Fred said’ is now the accepted norm. You should not notice either; it’s a tag when reading. There are also things that even now I realise I missed when I hear Chris’s production. Like using ‘use’ three times in three lines. Sometimes that can be deliberate, but other times it’s just boring – and you can tell which is which when you read it!

I’m interested to see how Chris solves the voice problem of Kira’s imposter. I’m going to suggest he uses Kira’s voice, but makes her always tenser, more worried – a style rather than an actual voice difference. There are a lot of girls in this one, but I’m sure he’ll cope. How he copes with the girls’ choir is another matter. I must find a recording of the song for him. I could have sung it for him a couple of years back, but my voice has cracked up completely during lockdown. And, of course, George is having trouble forming his words as he recovers from his head injury. I hope Chris is looking forward to the challenge!

Again, if you’d like a code for a free download of the audiobooks, as and when they’re published, let me know (and remind me when they come out).

I need some help!

I’m going to need help with the launch of Princelings Revolution. I’d love to do a blog tour again, so if you know of someone who organises good blog tours for these types of books, let me know.

If you know how to do trailers, and can teach me, or run up something simple… let me know!

Also, if you’d like to do a cover reveal or a launch page, let me know again. I can do special interviews as well.

Have a good summer (or winter if you’re in the southern hemisphere)!

PS: Watchout for a special Guinea Pig Appreciation Day Princelings offer/competition on Jemima’s blog 15-17 July.

Spring 2020 – Princelings update

princleings and the pirates audio

Is it really three months since my last bit of news? Apparently so.

It’s been a very busy period, and information has sometimes been hard to find, mainly from ACX/Audible about ‘live’ dates and locations.

So, this is what’s happened, in book order. It seems to make more sense than chronological.

The Princelings of the East (#1)

Princelings of the East audiobook

Princelings 1 is now available as an audiobook. It went on sale on Feb 19th, but that only became apparent in March! There is also an updated Kindle file available if you like to read along, or use Whispersynch. A file for iPad, Kobo & Nook will follow.

You can buy the audiobook at the following online retailers: Audible, Amazon, Apple (iTunes)

Princelings and the Pirates (#2)

Pirates is currently being developed as an audiobook. Chris Preece has narrated a dozen or more chapters, and I’ve reviewed the first ten in sequence. He’s doing a great job of it.

He’s had a bit of trouble settling on a pronunciation for the name Nerys, Kira’s sister. I wonder how important it is? I always pronounce it the same way as Nerys in Deep Space 9. I suppose it isn’t as common a name as it might have been when I was small.

As with the first book, I’ll be uploading a revised Kindle edition before the audiobook comes out.

Princelings and the Lost City (#3)

Dani has drafted a revised cover to fit the audiobook format, but I’ve yet to edit it for Chris to narrate. I hope we get started on this before the summer, though.

Princelings Revolution (#10)

Book 10 pre-draft

This is only a draft cover, but the good news is, I’m sending Dani the detailed brief this week.

I’ve now completed the beta version of the final book in the series, and it’s out for reading with several people.

I’ve already had feedback from Tori, who has not only made several useful comments, but she’s a whizz at finding typos, especially when I’ve typed the wrong word. Actually, it’s to do with accessibility software. I think my iPad, if not my Mac, has the capacity to read something to me. Maybe I should add that to the editing process.

Princelings Revolution is currently targeted for October 1st on Smashwords, but that’s a reference to a date in book 4. I expect it will be later, although I don’t want it to disappear in the Christmas rush.

It seems that many traditional publishers are postponing book launches till after the pandemic passes. That means there’ll be a huge rush of new books later in the year (hopefully this year). So I’ll keep my options open, as I have no wish to get caught in the Christmas market. Late January will be just as good.

Although the tenth anniversary of the publishing of the first book will be at the end of November next year. I must put a special celebration together for that.

eBooks on Sale

Smashwords has been running a sale since March, and I’ve had most of the Princelings books at special prices, including the Box Sets.

I think I’ll change them up a little for May. Check my Smashwords page here.

These offers are only available on Smashwords, but you can get them in mostly any format.

Keep safe, and keep reading!