Storms of Magic Boxed Set: Books 1-4
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Right now, P.T.’s second first book (Storm Raiders) has sold over 1,600 copies, has over 1,000,000 pages read and is still a very low ranking #5,604 in the whole Amazon store. The best selling book in Amazon is ranked #1, so only 5,603 ranks to go! All of these numbers and the kick-ass 72 reviews were accomplished in only 40 days.
Pretty damned good.
None of it is possible without you, the fans getting behind his book and so from the bottom of my heart, thank you!
I hope we are doing you proud.
If we aren’t, just reach out to us on our Facebook page and let us know. Mind you, I’d rather hear about the awesome things we are doing, but the other is…Ok. I won’t jump from the top of my house or anything (mainly because I’m scared of heights. There is no fucking way I can even go up the ladder high enough to get on the roof without freezing, fingers grasping the 7th rung tight.)
High Anxiety is my middle name.
Actually, Todd is my middle name but I digress.
So, height shenanigans aside, I have an update that we are now 64 books strong in the Kurtherian Universe included in that number is six to seven omnibuses, and three short stories. This is going to expand to 65 this Friday, with Craig Martelle’s version of Moby Dick. (The size of the book, not the story.)
I think Craig is going for the title of, “Longest fucking book in the Kurtherian Gambit Universe.”
I’m sure he has put a stake in the ground at 118,000 words or so last time I heard. It’s a beast.
For those who didn’t see my update in Ell Leigh Clarke’s REBIRTH book a couple of days ago, I’ll add it to the bottom of this Author Note on “Where the Hell is #18, Michael?” It seems I played a dirty trick on Ellie, only to have it backfire on myself.
Dammit. ;-)
No bad deed goes unpunished…fuck my life.
Two more things to chat about, and then I’ll go. The first is I am releasing my sophomore Universe effort with Martha Carr on July 31st (Monday). I’m pretty excited, but scared as hell at the same time.
It will be the FIRST of the five series already in production. The only reason we don’t have more series planned in the Oriceran Universe, is we need to get our collaborators books off the ground (not for lack of other authors asking at this time, which is COMPLETELY due to the Kurtherian Fans being so damned cool.)
So, if you would like to be the first fans in an ENTIRELY new universe - would you check out what I’m doing with Martha and the others? You can find us on Facebook at http://www.Facebook.com/Oriceran.
We don’t bite…Well, I don’t bite. I can’t speak for Martha.
The second item to discuss is…well…fucking shit. The Author’s wife came in a couple of minutes ago and asked for some help. Now, I’m back from doing a fax thing (using a program on my phone to create a PDF…We still call that faxing for some odd reason.) Anyway, at the moment I’m completely stumped trying to remember what the other item I was going to talk about.
I realize I’m just typing almost random shit, but I’m hoping that if I type long enough, it will jog my old-ass useless memory.
C’mon brain dump, get a move on!
…fuck.
I forgot.
Well, I’m going to make up what it might have been. If you listen to the pundits in the Author community, you will eventually hear that you should maybe not release in the Summer, and for fuck’s sake, don’t release in July.
Because, it sucks.
To a (small) point, they are right. July is HARD. Not because people stop reading all of the time, but I found out the Traditional Publishers apparently sell like a bitch this time of year. So, the competition is FIERCE!
Now, we go into August, and those bastards (AKA as the Mighty Men and Women of Fiction…AKA - The books that schools require reading…Like Asimov, or Pride and Prejudice, etc.) will start selling like hot-cakes and there is nothing that can be done to compete with that. Our ranks will go down (which hurts our sales because of marketing reasons) and we scrap and claw to beat those that the schools use for teaching.
It’s not like I EVER expect a Bethany Anne (or other Kurtherian Gambit) book to be taught in high school. But, wouldn’t that be some shit if it was?
No…no… I imagine I don’t ever want to hear the parent’s gnashing of teeth on some of the stuff she does, or the guys for that matter.
Hell, most of our characters are just too free and loose with the vocabulary.
Oh well, so much for ever attaining ‘master of science fiction’-hood as an author title.
So, before I went on that small rant, I was going to say that we are publishing, in this very hard month, NINE books.
Why? Because our fucking fans don’t give a SHIT about what month it is… And we listen to our fans.
Not the pundits. ;-)
I wish you the BEST week you have ever had, and somewhere, know that I’m raising a Coke in your direction.
Why? Because I’m blessed by my fans to be able to do it, and I wish you and …OH SHIT I REMEMBERED!
Sonofabitch. I really just remembered ‘that one more thing.’
I’m officially, unofficially announcing that we are going to do an Anthology of fan fiction in the Kurtherian Universe.
I spoke w/ Lynne Stiegler … (ok, I messaged her in Slack) and she said ‘sounds like fun’ to corral a bunch of fans and their short stories (many who haven’t ever written anything in twenty years) and try to do something fan-fucking-tastic.
I’m not sure she knows the meaning of the word ‘fun’, but that’s on her.
Anyway, I’m thinking of HOW to make it happen, so stay tuned to the Kurtherian Gambit fan page and here is the bare-assed bones of the idea I have so far.
For fans that write fanfiction about a Kurtherian Gambit story (about 8,000 words or so) and publish it on http://www.fanfiction.net, you will have a chance to get your fiction into a “Fans write for Fans” book I will publish.
The stories will not be canon, let’s make sure that is up front. (That means that it isn’t in the real timeline, but rather is a fun story.)
I will expect solid writing, and the JIT teams (or others I get help from) will read ANY FanFiction.net published Kurtherian Gambit short stories where we are notified on the Facebook page with a link to the story.
Once the JIT team gives a thumbs-up (or not - because not all stories will be selected) we will contact you back on Facebook.
You will be asked to work that story w/ Lynne (world-class editor) to get the story into shape. You WILL have to have YOUR version of Author Notes included with your short story. You don’t have to write those until you know your story is selected.
We will have about 8-12 stories (depending on the amount of those willing to do this) and I’ll pay to have a cool cover made.
EVERY short story included in the book will net the author-fan $250.00 for the rights to the story. (There is no way I can handle the long term aspect of paying, so it’s a one-time payment.)
In short:
1) Write a short story in the Kurtherian Gambit Universe - pay attention to the stories, so it feels like a real Kurtherian Gambit story. No making TOM (for example) an evil Kurtherian, it just won’t work. The JIT team doesn’t like shit that isn’t real to the canon, just warning you. (They bust my ass, so you don’t get any slack, either.)
2) Put it up on http://www.fanfiction.net - Label it Kurtherian Gambit. YOU CAN USE A PEN NAME ON THE WEBSITE! No one has to know your real name.
3) On Facebook, post to us on the Page that your story is there, and that you want to be reviewed for consideration in the book.
4) If the JIT team (or other team if they are busy) select it, then you will be notified and included in a special SLACK group to help get your story in shape for the book.
5) When the book is published, you will be paid via Paypal $250.00 for all rights. If you can’t do Paypal, I’ll try to pay another way, but I can’t promise that we HAVE other options. So, assume it is Paypa
l.
6) I’ll pay all editing, cover, advertising, etc. fees.
7) This is for FUN, so - please support those fan’s who try!
Best Regards,
Michael
— BELOW IS FROM THE AUTHOR NOTES in Ell Leigh Clarke’s REBIRTH —
I can ALREADY hear those fans of mine saying “Well, what the hell is up with your next book (#18), Michael?”
I’m glad you asked ;-)
I released Forever Defend on July 1st, 2017. Since then, four books have been released with collaborators including:
#2) Sanctioned (July 5th – Ell Leigh Clarke)
#3) Born Into Flames (July 7th – Justin Sloan)
#4) Shades of Dark (July 10th – Justin Sloan)
#5) The Arcadian Druid (July 19th – Candy Crum)
There are 4 more books due this month, including:
#6) Rebirth (July 24th – Ell Leigh Clarke)
#7) Storm Callers (July 26th – PT Hylton) WOOHOO THIS ONE!
#8) Nomad’s Force (July 28th – Craig Martelle)
AND – One more book, but in fact this is a whole NEW UNIVERSE.
#9) Quest For Magic – (July 31st – Martha Carr)
Before I explain MORE about what is going on, I want to say “I get it.” I get that for many of you, it isn’t about the other story lines. Many of you would rather I get the next book for Bethany Anne out sooner. However, I chose to bring more authors into the fold (such as Ell and PT) and frankly, I have to take time from Peter to pay Paul.
Here are my personal desires, and how they play out for the future of The Kurtherian Gambit, my own stories, and the collaborations with other authors.
BETHANY ANNE
She is the one that ALL of the Kurtherian Gambit revolves around (for better, or worse.) Right now, we have the following authors writing stories in the Kurtherian Gambit (In order of appearance):
Michael Anderle
Paul C. Middleton
Justin Sloan
Craig Martell
Natalie Grey
CM Raymond / LE Barbant
Ell Leigh Clarke
PT Hylton
Candy Crum
Here are the authors we are shepherding through to bring new series to you:
Amy Hopkins (AOM)
Brandon Barr (AOM)
Amy DuBoff (AOE)
JN Chaney (AOE)
Holly Dodd (Etheric Empire)
Hayley Lawson (Age of Madness)
Tommy Donbonvand (AOE)
ORICERAN
Now, let’s add the Oriceran Universe (more on this later):
Martha Carr
SM Boyce
Abby-Lynn Knorr
Flint Maxwell
Sarah Noffke
AUDIO
We are producing audio for EVERY Kurtherian Gambit / Oriceran series we have in production. So, that is a large overhead of effort.
AUDIO for Other Authors
We have four authors running through LMBPN Publishing which we only do Audio for.
COVERS
I’m involved in every cover setup (I allow the collaborators to project manage, but I’m part of the discussions. This includes models, costumes, concepts etc.
BILLS
I have to make sure everyone gets paid.
NEW AUTHORS
We (Craig, CM Raymond & LE Barbant, Martha Carr and myself) are working to bring the authors on board (new, support, etc.)
SOCIAL
I try to stay up to date on our Facebook efforts and whoever reaches out to me.
TRANSLATIONS
We are working to bring about German Translations if possible (test going well so far).
EMAIL
I do all of the emails announcing new books.
Plus, all of the support for some other authors that I do ad hoc. Now, I don’t do all of this myself as Stephen Campbell is a big part of doing a LOT with this and I haven’t even started to say thank you to the JIT readers, other service providers we use for website / layout / art / editing etc. we work with, communicate with and everything else that goes on to make producing these stories and getting them out to your wonderful reading hands every month..
So, I’m not personally surprised that my book dates are slipping a little. It is going to happen, unfortunately.
I just promise that I WILL complete Bethany Anne’s story (21 books), Michael’s story (4 books) either by the end of this year (2017) or early 2018 barring something unforeseen.
Then, I will plot out Bethany Anne’s next series.
Storm Breakers
Chapter One
Abbey slammed Dahlia down into the chair and leaned in close. “Tell me everything you know about Syd’s brother.”
Dahlia grimaced, but the slight smile stayed on her face.
It had only been ten minutes since they’d halted Dahlia’s execution. Abbey had been in attendance to watch the event, but Dahlia had saved her own life by revealing she had information on Elliot, the long-lost stormship sailor who’d once served aboard Thunderclap. Syd had been looking for her older brother for years, and she kept her head shaved as an outward display of her ongoing mission.
They’d hauled Dahlia to a small room in Liv’s nearby home. Dustin, Abbey, Liv, and Fannar hovered over the seated Storm Caller, who sat with her hands bound in front of her, an uncannily serene expression on her face.
Abbey clenched her fists, trying to keep from shaking with anger. After everything she’d been through—they’d been through—at Dahlia’s hands, again the woman had avoided death.
This was a woman who had helped Storm Raiders sack dozens of towns up and down the Kaldfell coast and beyond. She’d orchestrated the Barskall secret invasion of the Kaldfell Peninsula. She’d compelled the Barskall king to force his people into military service and addict them to seiderdrek, the potion that gave them enhanced speed and strength at the cost of increased rage and lack of control.
And again, the woman was avoiding her rightful fate.
Not forever, Abbey promised herself. She’d let Dahlia live a little longer out of respect for Syd, but the woman’s lifespan would be measured in days.
“Like I said before,” Dahlia reminded them, “I’m not going to tell you. But I will show you.”
“That so?” Abbey asked. “I am not going to tell you what I’m going to do to you with my sword, either. That way we’ll both have a nice surprise.”
Dustin crossed his arm and sighed. “Look, we can’t sail somewhere if you don’t tell us where we’re going.”
“And we’ve spared your life,” Fannar added. He held the seax, the dagger-like weapon that he’d intended to use to execute Dahlia, tightly in his hand. “That is a big show of trust. You need to give us something in return.”
Dahlia stared back at the Barskall for a long moment, then nodded.
Abbey crossed her arms and waited.
“This was fifteen years ago,” Dahlia began. “Perhaps a bit more—I lose track. Tor and I were Storm Raiding, but only far away from Kaldfell. We’d struck the Lost Isles a number of times, and we’d also raided in the area the Arcadians foolishly call the Frozen North. As if the mountains and the sea north of their lands were the edge of the world.”
She shook her head in disgust.
“Try to keep your revulsion at the Arcadians in check,” Abbey interjected. “What’s any of this have to do with Elliot?”
Dahlia continued. “It was around that time we first made our way to Barskall. The land was in the midst of a conflict between two warlords. We thought to raid the coastal villages, but we quickly discovered there was little worth taking—most were living in poverty—so I came up with another plan. I approached one of the warlords, a man named Ragnar, and made him an offer. We would help him defeat his rival in return for his promise to send Barskall warriors to Kaldfell in the coming years to help us defeat our enemies.”
“Did he accept your offer?” Dustin asked.
Dahlia shook her head. “Afraid not.”
“I wouldn’t take it personally,” Abbey told her. “He was probably just turned off by your face. Or possibly your personality. Or maybe your weird voice. Who’s to say?”
Dahlia ignored the comment. “But his enemy Elias did. So, with the help of Undertow and Summer Wind, we harassed Ragnar’s coastal strongholds, burned any villages that supported him, and helped transport Elias’ warriors quickly by sea. It was enough to turn the tide of the war.”
Fannar grimaced. “And so King Elias was crowned.”
Dahlia nodded. “The warlord became King. But before that could happen, he had to negotiate a surrender with Ragnar. The man still had his supporters, especially in the villages on the western coast, so Elias wanted to avoid killing him, if possible. It only made sense to build goodwill with those villages if he was going to rule them. Tor and I went with Elias to negotiate the terms of Ragnar’s surrender.”
“Ragnar ended up leaving Barskall, did he not?” Fannar asked.
“Yes,” Dahlia confirmed. “He agreed to exile. He would go west to a place called Gren, a land of ice and forests. A place he could begin a new conquest.”
Abbey and Dustin exchanged a glance. Abbey had heard tales of Gren, but she hadn’t been sure the place really existed. The storytellers in Holdgate told the children of the giants of Gren, jovial but stupid creatures who were quick to anger. In the stories, stormship sailors always outsmarted them.
One story in particular stuck in Abbey’s mind. A stormship was trapped in a Gren harbor with an enormous boulder blocking its only path to escape. A giant was on the verge of destroying the ship, but the hero of the story tricked the giant into eating the boulder. The ship sailed to safety as the giant laid on the shore suffering from a stomach ache, moaning.
Dustin had heard those same stories, and Abbey could see he was wrestling with the same thoughts, wondering if Gren was even real.
Dahlia continued, “Ragnar had a strange request. He was intrigued with the way we sailed and fought. He demanded that Tor and I give him a few of our stormship sailors so he might use them to train his people.”