I'm a little late to the game here - with the lack of power last week and all the overtime because of the hurricane, my internet usage was limited, at best - but I'm here to announce that the fine ladies of Kismet Book Touring kicked off the blog tour for Silas last week! Here is the list of hosts and links to the content they've provided so far:

Tour Dates:
Monday, August 29th - April, My Shelf Confessions
Tuesday, August 30th - Johnny, Pages of Forbidden Love
Wednesday, August 31st - Greta, Paranormal Wastelands
Thursday, September 1st - Lisa, A Casual Reader's Blog
Friday, September 2nd - Karen, The Slowest Bookworm
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Monday, September 5th - Melissa, Books and Things
Tuesday, September 6th - Heather and Pushy, Bewitched Bookworms
Wednesday, September 7th - Cindy, Oodles of Books
Thursday, September 8th - Theresa, Just One More Paragraph
Friday, September 9th - Gef, Wagging The Fox
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Monday, September 12th - Mandy, The Well-Read Wife
Tuesday, September 13th - aobibliophileô
Wednesday, September 14th - Aparajita, Le' Grande Codex
Thursday, September 15th - Farrah, The Book Faery Reviews
Friday, September 16th - Nevey, Le Vanity Victorienne

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So now that you have the list, whatever are you supposed to do with it? Well, as a part of this tour, along with the interviews and special stuff that abounds, we're giving away a Kindle 3 along with a brand-spanking-new Silas skin! All you have to do is go the the blogs, read through the posts, and enter into the contest forms. Each form has a rather simple question having to do with building the Silas playlist, and the correct answer will award you 3 points toward the grand prize! In other words, there are 15 chances to gain a total of 45 "entries". Can you get better than that?

So head over to the blogs, folks, and enter to win! Oh, and help support up-and-coming authors!

My good friend and fantastic author buddy Dan Arenson joined me in promoting our respective books on E.J. Steven's From the Shadows blog.  It's really quite entertaining, if I do say so myself.  Check it out by clicking the link below!

Ken from Silas meets Gloriae from Blood of Requiem

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Just wanted to drop by and let everyone know that The Fall, which has been on sale for 99¢ for a month, will be returning to its regular $2.99 selling point come Monday, June 13th.  That means you have two more days to pick up the fantastic first book of The Rift for its bargain-basement price.

Purchase The Fall for your kindle here.

Yes, folks, the new book is up and running - on Amazon and Amazon UK in ebook format, that is.  The paperback is still a few days away, but it'll get here, I promise. 

So, here's the cover and description:

"Ken Lowery is a man at odds with his life. He hates his job, is disappointed in his marriage, and feels resigned to leading a mundane existence.

That all changes when his wife brings home a rambunctious Black Labrador puppy named Silas, who forges a remarkable connection with Ken and begins to heal his inner turmoil. When some neighborhood children start to go missing, he takes it upon himself to protect those around him and is thrust into a surreal world where monsters roam.  Not everything is what it seems to be, he soon discovers, including his new best friend."

I really need to thank Dans Arenson and Pyle for their work beta-reading this manuscript.  And of course I need to thank Jesse for the fantastic cover, Mel Rico for the lettering, and my wife for putting up with me.  Last but not least, thank you Leo, my one-eyed yellow Lab, who was my true inspiration for writing this story.

You gentle readers can purchase the ebook at, as I mentioned earlier, Amazon and Amazon UK

Peace, folks, and we'll talk to you soon....

RJD

I just finished reading Burying Brian, the new release by perhaps my favorite author, Steven Pirie.  I read and reviewed his first book, Digging Up Donald, a couple years ago (read the review here), and that book remains firmly entrenched as the best I've read in the last 20 years.  Now, it has company.  Really, people, Burying Brian is a special book, Pirie is a special writer, and he needs to be huge.  I want his sense of humor and his biting social commentary out there for all to see.  It's that good.

I'll be reviewing Burying Brian for the July issue of Shock Totem Magazine, so keep an eye out for it.

Here's the book cover and blurb:

It's Judgement Day in Mudcaster.

The Mother likes a decent Judgement Day. It's an excuse to give existence a good telling off. But the Mother's hormones are turning Grandmotherly, and the Father thinks she might be entering the Change. It was when the Grandmother before her entered the Change that all the dinosaurs died. It's clear she can't fight for mankind when her hormones are on the march.

To the Mother's annoyance, it's son-in-law Brian who's chosen to answer for the world's sins. Brian's a bit of a damp lettuce, if the truth be told, so what business would he have in standing up to daft gods and barmy demons? If the Mother pictures Brian as a knight of old, it's always with a tarnished shield and a drooping lance.

When Brian goes missing, and the Mother learns the Grandmother is being held captive by demons, the Father offers to take the Mother to Hell and back-what husband wouldn't?-to rescue them. The family must be reunited, else how can they stand firm together at the Trials? And Brian, being Brian, will need all the help he can get if he's really to answer for everyone's sins and save mankind from oblivion.

Burying Brian is a gentle comedy.

No demons or lettuces were harmed in its writing.

Yes, folks, I'm a fanboy. 

So David Dalglish, whose books I absolutely adore, has just released his follow-up to the best-selling A Dance of Cloaks.  And I'm here right now to announce that it is so.  Go out and buy this book, people!  I for one can't wait to read it when it shows up in my mailbox, because Mr. Dalglish never fails to send me review copies of all his work.

Enough of me, now.  Read up on this book below:

A DANCE OF BLADES

“Veldaren aches for a purge, and I will be the one to deliver it. Cry out at me if you wish, but it will change nothing. The gold is spent, the orders are given. Let the blood flow.”

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It's been five years since Haern faked his death to escape the tyranny of his father. He has become the Watcher, a vicious killer who knows no limits, and whose hatred of the thief guilds is unrivaled. But when the son of Alyssa Gemcroft, one of the three leaders of the powerful Trifect, is believed murdered, the slaughter begins anew. Mercenaries flood the streets, with one goal in mind: find and kill the Watcher.

A DANCE OF BLADES by David Dalglish
Peace or destruction; every war must have its end.

Now available for the Kindle on Amazon.com.  Click here, or the cover image, to buy yourself a copy.  Trust me, it's worth it.

So who's in the mood for some music?

It's now April second, and I'm sure there are a few intrigued souls out there who are now wondering, "Where the hell is the singing?  The bongos?  The unabashed, falling-on-your-knees worship of the winner?

Honestly, it's going to take a little while for this to happen...or for a winner to be chosen.

The last 40 days have been quite interesting - which, if you ascribe the the old Chinese parable, isn't necessarily a good thing.  Mercedes and I have had massive sickness and personal trauma, suffered from exhaustion and walleye from staring at a glowing monitor for much too long.  Writing 2500 words a day for 40 days definitely seems doable when you start out, but when life intercedes, things can get dicey.  And not all of us are as prolific as Amanda Hocking.  Woe is us.

But before anyone goes and thinks I'm starting a pity party, I'm not.  All I'm trying to say is that because of these outside (and inside) stresses, the fine Mercedes and I have decided to push our Gauntlet deadline back to May 1st.  But that, my friends, is final.  There will be no more extensions after that.

Now, there will be one (self-imposed) revision to the rules, however.  Due to the extension, the fact that I've made some FANTASTIC progress, and the reality that I don't have to deal with the added stress of a child growing inside me and the complications that can arise from that, I now have to not only complete the full manuscript, but also a pair of edits.  In other words, if Silas isn't in the hands of my betas come May 1st, I lose.

As for Mercedes...I'm not holding her to anything but getting her novel and essays finished.  If she wants to add more stress to the mix, it's all up to her.  Personally, I think she has enough to deal with.  But in all honesty, she probably thinks the same thing about me.  Check up on her blog, A Broken Laptop, if you want to hear what she has to say about it.

So there you go, folks.  I know it's disappointing that you have to wait another 30 days for the satisfaction of observing out utter embarrassment, but hey, we gots to do what we gots to do.

Okay, here's the latest update.  I spent a good time of this week horribly sick, so it took some major cramming over the last two days to try and catch up at least a little bit.  So here's the progress:

Start: 1996 words.

2/27 - 22,137 words.

3/6 - 42,186 words.

Words written this week - 20,049

Words still to be written - 57,814

Still quite a haul, but the story's really rounding into shape now, and as long as I don't get sick again (fingers crossed), I should be able to make major headway this coming week.

Boo-ya, Mercedes!  I'm an unstoppable machine!  You should be vrey, vrey scared right now!

See you next week.

RJD

As I've said before, I count myself extremely lucky that I've been able to get to know and converse with a great many accomplished and upcoming authors.  These are my friends, advocates, and support system.  They help lift me up when I'm feeling down, and they also enrich my life by allowing me to get lost in the worlds they create.  So I'd like to take this opportunity to help give a few of them (and their recent news) the props they deserve.

AMANDA HOCKING

I consider myself quite lucky that I've gotten to know this wonderful, talented, and supportive woman.  She's a great author and an even better person.  If ever I need advice or simply to shoot an idea off of her, she's quick to reply and assist, even though she's busier than hell.

As for news, Amanda's Trylle Trilogy series has been optioned to be converted into screenplay by Terri Tatchell (she of the team that wrote District 9, quite possibly the best movie of 2010).  What, you say?  An independent author having an Oscar Nominated Screenwriter converting her work?  This is fantastic news, and I'm super-pumped about it.  Amanda deserves every iota of success she gets, and I hope she gets tons more.

To read this announcement in Amanda's own words, visit her blog.

DANIEL ARENSON

Recently I had the privilege of reading his book, The Gods of Dream.  Dan is an author I've come to know well over the last year.  I love all his work.  Even if it doesn't completely mesh with me, I can still see the natural ability he has as a writer.  He's another one of the most supportive folks I know, and his talent needs to be out there.

As for The Gods of Dream, I reviewed it on my blog, Journal of Always.  Go check it out, and then buy it.  It's a fantastic book, and I put my reputation as a reviewer on the line in saying I guarantee you'll get something out of this special work of fantasy that you might not have expected.

E.J. STEVENS

E.J. is another talented and compassionate writer.  She runs a very popular blog dedicated to everything paranormal, From the Shadows.  She is an ally to all writers, constantly filling her site with author interviews and book reviews - something very time-consuming, especially for one with their own books to write and promote.  She's also a super-sweet person, and yet another willing to take time out of her busy schedule to answer my questions or be an ear if I need one.

Her good news is this:  E.J.'s publisher recently discounted the ebook versions of first two books in her series, She Smells the Dead and Spirit Storm, to $2.99 and $3.99, respectively.  I can personally vouch for both books (I read SStD, and am almost finished with Storm).  They are beautiful bits of escapism and innocent, otherworldly charm.  And at that price, they're a bargain.  I suggest them to anyone with a soft spot for paranormal romance or young adult fiction.  Good work, written by a spectacular person...and one who needs our support.

Well, that's all for now.  Look out for more shout-outs on this blog next week, 'cause I'm thinking of making this a staple feature of the TRO blog.

Peace!

RJD