Trading Knives

Pre-Order Announcement: The White Arrow!

Today, I’m celebrating a little. Well, maybe a lot. It’s not release day yet for The White Arrow but it’s getting very close and there are a lot of details rounding into shape around the book.

As I mentioned a few days back, The White Arrow is now making its editing rounds. However, I’ve chosen to make good use of the time while it’s away and put it into pre-order everywhere. Since I had the cover and I have 90 days to finish up, I wanted to go ahead and begin pre-release activities.

For anyone who missed it, here’s a look at the cover as well as all the shiny new retail links along with the blurb (still working on that so there will be several changes). Also, I post a short excerpt from the rough draft that I’ve also shared at the end of the other book including the novellas. I almost forgot, I also got a short trailer for The White Arrow that’s posted on my main page, the book page and, of course, debuts below in this post. Have a look at everything and reserve your copy for release day in September because the price won’t stay where it is for long after that.

 

Blurb:

Haunted by his failure. Hunted for his inheritance. Seeking the fulfillment of prophecy.

Athson has found the Bow of Hart and is pursued by his enemies as well as haunted by both his past and his failures. But according to Hastra the Withling, the prophecy of the bow indicates Eloch will send an arrow for its use. Magdronu watches for the appearance of the arrow and plots to regain control of his magic and set his plans in motion. With his sights set on Auguron, the dragon sends his forces on the attack while waiting for his chance to steal both prophesied elements that stand in the way of his ultimate goal. But when the arrow arrives it is from a most unexpected source and lands in unforeseen hands so that events twist like an arrow in flight. Can Athson overcome his past and his failures to use the Bow of Hart as intended against Magdronu? The archer and the bow await the coming arrow…

Excerpt:

Apeth pushed himself to his feet, stepped around the fire and knelt before Athson. He touched Athson’s head and whispered a word Athson never heard clearly though it echoed across his mind in a moment that passed like hours.

Wellness covered Athson in an instant like a raincoat donned in a sudden downpour of rain. The cascade of sickness rolled from him and the fever fell away. His dizziness ceased and his vision snapped into clarity along with his thoughts. Weariness clattered from his limbs like loosened manacles from a prisoner. He gasped in delayed reaction to the Withling’s healing.

Apeth Stellin withdrew across the fire and rolled his bedding. “I was wondering why I was withheld from healing you immediately. And now it’s clear.”

Athson stood and inhaled deeply. “Thanks for that but I don’t follow your meaning.”

“We need to move.” Apeth pointed toward the cave entrance past the mule. “That wandering star is a sign. We aren’t the only ones to have seen it. You can bet Magdronu is seeking the arrow because of the sign. North is our way but choices lie ahead for you.”

Athson shoved the last of his venison in his mouth and chewed. In his mind, there was but one choice. “I see one way ahead.”

Apeth tugged at the brim of his hat and his blue-eyed gaze twinkled at Athson. “Oh, you have choices. What to do with the bow. Whether to finish this quest and find the arrow.”

With his arms spread wide, Athson lifted his gaze to the darkened cave roof rising above them. “Don’t you see? There’s no need for choices. Everyone’s dead that matters to me. My father. Limbreth. My companions. I can only see my way to one thing now and that’s bartering for my mother’s freedom.”

“That’s a choice to let the curse on you continue to grasp your life, Athson, continue to let Magdronu’s evil control you. You have a choice to stop it.” Apeth stepped close again, his gaze intense but not threatening. “As for Limbreth, by your dream, I wouldn’t assume anything about her fate. But there are choices ahead. Will you go as far as Marston’s Station with me before you make your final choice about the bow?”

Athson nodded. “I’ll go that far. I need supplies. But there’s no other choice for me.”

“Oh, but there is. Your dreams indicate something you must face.” Apeth gathered his things and paused in front of Athson.

Athson crossed his arms. “What must I face?”

“That you are gifted to be a Withling, asked to serve Eloch with everything you’ve been given.” The Withling strode toward the mule.

Athson’s head spun anew but not from fever. Light from the wandering star glimmered in the entrance of the cave and lit the Bow of Hart where he’d left it near the mule. His anger burst in a sudden bellow, “No!”

Find it in pre-order on:

Amazonibooksdownload        BarnesandNoble        Kobo        Smashwords

Trailer

On Your Mark! Get Set! Start Using Scrivener!

Scrivener is a powerful writing tool. I write about it weekly with tips and usage ideas. To read more of my posts click the Scrivener tag or category at the end of the page. Just as a note, I’ll be changing the schedule of my Scrivener posts to Friday in the near future to accommodate my novel’s release in September as well as several events that will occur on Mondays. Expect 2 posts next week and thereafter they will appear on Friday!

Archer’s Aim Digest mailing list

Starting LineIf you’ve ever run a race you know what happens. You get to the line, wait for the signal to start and your off! You don’t think what to do you just run – you just have to be aware of your starting pace.

However, when it comes to other tasks it may not be so obvious how to begin.  In fact, it’s often difficult to begin using something new like Scrivener when you don’t even know where to begin. You can easily just stare at the open screen and do nothing or even give up on using it altogether. I recently received just such a question and here’s my answer with more details.

I do suggest that anyone starting with Scrivener clear time to work through the tutorial. It’s a lot of information but it gives you some experience working with the software interface. The tutorial will give anyone starting out a sense of Scrivener’s flexible design power.

But what should you do after you’ve completed the tutorial? Well, start a project. It’s easy enough to begin – choose File and click on New Project. You’ll choose what project template to use, name your project and then browse to the location where you want to save it all.

Scriv New Project

After that, start using some of what you learned in the tutorial to organize and customize your project. Use the Binder to organize you folders and documents into an a working structure – don’t worry if you need to make changes with this later, it’s quite easy with Scrivener. Next use the editor to configure the format of your documents. This is much like using any other editor in that you need to choose the details of your font and spacing – just be aware that Scrivener doesn’t wrap pictures.

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Next week, I’ll dig a little deeper into beginning your Scrivener usage and other features you may want to use soon to take advantage of Scrivener’s development power. In the meantime, you may find some of my other posts and a few of these links from Literature and Latte helpful as well:

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To find out more about The Bow of Destiny, click over to one of these online retailers:

Amazon

  BarnesandNoble      Smashwords

ibooksdownload      Kobo

IMG_4154-EditAbout the Author

P. H. Solomon lives in the greater Birmingham, AL area where he strongly dislikes yard work and sanding the deck rail. However, he performs these duties to maintain a nice home for his loved ones as well as the family’s German Shepherds. In his spare time, P. H. rides herd as a Computer Whisperer on large computers called servers (harmonica not required). Additionally, he enjoys reading, running, most sports and fantasy football. Having a degree in Anthropology, he also has a wide array of more “serious” interests in addition to working regularly to hone his writing. The Bow of Destiny is his first novel-length title with more soon to come.

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Just as a note: I now have a marketing affiliation with Scrivener. For support questions, pricing, licensing and other concerns please contact the vendor. As such a buy ad for Scrivener appears on the sidebar. I’ve started this program　since I like the product so much and want to offer readers the chance to obtain this software. I’m not required to write about Scrivener to be an affiliate; I just like it that much. You can also find my FTC statement on this site’s sidebar.

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I’m Away Writing – Be Back Soon!

Hi, everyone! I’m off working on the rough draft of The White Arrow but I wanted to let everyone know I’m still around. I hope to complete the rough draft very soon and send it off to my editor. I’ll try to share some fantasy-related memes and posts over the next few days as well as what news I have on progress. I’ve gained a lot of writing momentum over the last couple of weeks so I’m running with it as long as it lasts. Thanks for your patience with this blog while I complete this book!

PHS