Announcement

Announcing Archer’s Aim Press Store

Hi everyone! PH with you today with a special announcement. Archer’s Aim is expanding in a special way. There is now a merchandise store available. I’ve been using the store link for the last week, but today is the official announcement that the store is live. I’m still adding items to the catalog but when I’m finished, a wide selection will be displayed.

I think it’s a fun addition for Archer’s Aim and all the items will feature cover art from all the books currently published. In the future, when new books are published, matching merchandise will also be available.

Here’s a sample of what you can find at the store:

Archer's Aim Press Store

The store is a nice addition to Archer’s Aim and is just one way things are expanding. There are several more announcements coming soon which will reveal further growth, all of which are very exciting. Stay tuned for more to come in the near future!

Thanks for dropping by for the announcement. Please leave your thoughts in the comments and I’ll reply as soon as I can.

Looking for more about The Bow of Hart Saga?

Visit the Archer’s Aim Press Online Store

Discover the World of Denaria

Read the series FAQ

View the series maps and read how they were created

The Bow of Hart Saga Sequel Publication Updates

Happy Monday, everyone. With my recent return to more active work, specific updates to my writing schedule are in order. Here’s what’s next for The Bow of Hart Saga & The Cursed Mage Case Files.

The Cursed Mage Case Files

The Unseen Hand is still moving slowly. Artwork has not yet arrived. I’m digging out of the pile of unfinished work that needs my attention, like the site and blog posts. What is outstanding is a lot of work to push into a short amount of time. I remain committed to publication of the book this year. But a launch early this month is very unlikely. I’ll report more about this progress later this week. 

Publication Schedule & The Bow of Hart Saga Sequels

Writing UpdatesMy publication schedule has already been announced covering the next year. Here’s a change in that schedule.

For quite a while now I’ve been receiving requests through reviews, email and a few comments on the site requesting more of The Bow of Hart Saga. To confirm my intentions, yes, there will be sequel books to this series. The original series is already completed and Podium Audio published all three of the books under contract. For this reason, the planned sequel must be published separately.

The Bow of Hart Saga PrintIn order to accommodate the increasing requests for more of Athson and Limbreth, I now have to change my schedule . I already have several books planned for publication this year and next. Due to my health issues, I have not begun any work on new books covering the world of Denaria. I do have material partially drafted for a parallel series that sets up what’s to come regarding Athson and Limbreth.

The plan is to publish this parallel series since it sets up what is to come in the sequel for the main characters. Likewise, I’ve already begun an outline of the sequel series and intend beginning a rough draft as soon as possible.

However I do have much of the upcoming year covered with work on The Cursed Mage Case Files and the first book of the Black Glove series. The updated schedule includes publication of Denaria-related books during the last half of next year at the earliest (unless something changes). That’s as fast as I can publish anything for that series since it will require editing and work for cover art.

Conclusion

The Order of the Dark Rose is already releasedI do encourage anyone interested in my writing to delve into The Cursed Mage Case Files in the meantime as that series will continue to grow and is quite a lot of fun. I will update more of my writing schedule regarding The Bow of Hart as I begin work on it during the next few months, so stay tuned here for news or join my email list and text list to receive additional information as it develops.

Thanks to everyone interested in more from Athson and Limbreth. The interest really lets me know that I wrote something many people like and want more of. If you are a fan of that series, one thing you can do for it is to share it with as many people as you can over social media or anywhere else you can think of as well as talk it up. I will be sharing printable bookmarks for that series as soon as I can and you are welcome to print them and share them with friends. I do have an announcements coming soon about additional ways to share with other people.

That’s all for today. Thanks for stopping by to read the update. Please leave your thoughts in the comments section and I’ll reply as soon as possible. Here are some updated links (there are some official announcements to come soon about one of these).

Looking for more about the series?

Visit the Archer’s Aim Press Online Store

Discover the World of Denaria

Read the series FAQ

View the series maps and read how they were created

The Premise of The Cursed Mage Case Files

Hey everyone!

Well, I’m trying to get back into a groove with my blogging so here goes my first one post-release of The Order of the Dark Rose.

As mentioned last week in the release post, the series began with a premise in 2016 during a writer’s conference. It was literally during a seminar session about something unrelated when the notion hit me. Since I use my computer even at conferences, I immediately typed in the kernel idea and some additional thoughts about it.

The premise? What if Sherlock Holmes was in a fantasy world where magic is very common. Hmm….

That was interesting.

At the time, I was in the middle of some other writing projects and only gave this a bit of time, created a developmental project in Scrivener and moved back to the tasks at hand. But it was there, waiting to be written.

During early 2017, I found myself out of work and turned to frantically completing both An Arrow Against the Wind and The White Arrow in the same year. Around all that, an agent seemed interested in the premise of what would become The Order of the Dark Rose. Another idea was included from my pending Black Glove project and I was asked to write some initial pages for each. I let the agent know that these were in their infancy and lacked world-building and much more. However, I wrote both opening concept pieces around completing An Arrow Against the Wind. Nothing ever came of the representation, but both of those projects were completed in following couple of years.

At the time of that initial writing, my daughter read the opening pages of the manuscript, then promptly found me in the house and announced, “I love Manny!” That stoked the fire to work on this project and, as soon as I finished work on The White Arrow and published it, I dove into work on what was then termed “Reformed Mage.”

Over 200k words later, I finished the draft with some trepidation at the length, but keen to do something with it. My editor took a look and encouraged me to split the manuscript into three books. Easy enough to do in Scrivener, yet there were creative constraints as well. I dutifully set about to split the manuscript, then needed to add more to it but the editor liked it.

The kernel, that premise, is still central to the entire series. It takes Sherlock Holmes and expands that venerated character in a different direction. He’s got a curse. He’s magical (Sherlock Holmes didn’t like mediums, so this is a departure). His name is Mandlefred Mandeheim. The world in which the story is set is driven by new magical innovations that harness this force of nature into technology. And yet, there’s opportunity for a villain.

That original idea went in many directions in the creation of technology, magic, culture, politics and much more in an alternate fantasy world where almost anything can happen – within bounds. But more on that another time from Manny’s brother who is a spell-checker (meaning he checks spell – you get the picture).

What would it be like to have a character like Sherlock Holmes in a fantasy world? Here’s my take on the idea presented in The Order of the Dark Rose, Volume 1 of The Cursed Mage Case Files. I hope many people will pick it up and enjoy this fun, different story of an all too familiar character and setting mashed up into a different genre. It’s been a lot of fun getting this series launched and I’m soon beginning serious revision of the next book to release as soon as possible. Have a look and share it with friends – the more the merrier!

Here are the links where you can find The Order of the Dark Rose: