I’m thrilled to have P. H. Solomon over today. He’s been here before, but it’s been a long while. I thoroughly enjoyed The Bow of Destiny, and I’ll bet you would too. I’ll let P. H. tell you about his works and what offers he has this week.
Hello to everyone and thanks to Craig for hosting me today. I’m P. H. Solomon and I’m a fantasy author, living in greater Birmingham, AL. It’s great to be a part of Story Empire and be on the Roadshow this week. I hope you’ll enjoy all the stops and authors this week and look at our books. To see our schedule and information about our prizes, please click to our Roadshow page and see where we are making appearances each day. This week I’m giving away a $10 Amazon Gift Card to the most active commenter.
As I mentioned yesterday, The Bow of Hart Saga is the culmination of several decades of development through several different versions. One of the main points of that development was that the original book was named An Arrow Against the Wind which is now actually the second book due out later this month. When I rebooted this series several years ago, I decided several things about the original one needed heavy revision which meant that the book needed to be split into two books. That meant re-developing the book into two separate books that birthed The Bow of Destiny.
One of the other decisions I made meant facing the quality of my previous effort. It was at best out of date with current style for fantasy and, therefore, not very good writing. I faced this squarely and started learning better ways to develop and write the series. Because of that, I landed on using deep point-of-view and dialogue in context of character actions. But more than that, I had to learn to improve the characterization.
The result was The Bow of Destiny which was been pretty well-received to this point. It has sold in the thousands and was chosen as the 2016 Book of the Year by the fantasy review site, Fantasia Reviews. It’s also garnered some other attention that has started opening more doors for the series and other projects – but these are still in the works so I can’t detail them just yet.
However, as several of my recent commentary posts (commentary part 1 & part 2) have discussed, the book opens with a rather difficult character in a confusing situation. How I landed on this opening took a long time but ended up being rather daring because I’m asking the reader to get very close to Athson very quickly – so close that you get rather confused along with him. That’s something with which some readers have struggled but to which many others have responded very favorably. So I came up with a challenging character in a challenging situation and worked to get him moving into the adventure in ways that continually grind on him to the very end. It became a very deeply personal tale for Athson and I hope it’s one that takes readers down his path of struggle. The blurb states the premise of the book very well:
Haunted by his past. Hunted in the present. Uncertain what is real.
Athson has seen things that aren’t there and suffered fits since being tragically orphaned as a child at the hands of trolls and Corgren the wizard. When a strange will mentioning a mysterious bow comes into his possession, he’s not sure it’s real. But the trolls that soon pursue him are all too real and dangerous. And what’s worse, these raiders serve Corgren and his master, the hidden dragon, Magdronu, who are responsible for the destruction of his childhood home. Athson is drawn into a quest for the concealed Bow of Hart by the mystic Withling, Hastra, but Athson isn’t always sure what’s real and who his enemies are. With Corgren and Magdronu involved, Athson must face not only frequent danger but his grasp on reality and the reasons behind his tragic past.
The rest of the series twists along the opening theme toward an epic fantasy ending. Look for An Arrow Against the Wind to take Athson through even more personal challenges as he seeks to resolve the myriad situations in which he finds himself as he seek the Bow of Hart. But I’ll share some of that tomorrow.
Do you like discovering new indie authors? Do you like to wait to read an author until you see more reviews? Thanks for reading this post today and be sure to check out our schedule. While you’re here, feel free to have a look at my current book, The Bow of Destiny and the upcoming release of An Arrow Against the Wind.
You can click on my bio banner below to pay me a visit at my website and learn more about me and the rest of The Bow of Hart Saga. Please follow me all week as I share more about my writing each day.
Here are some of the places where you can catch up with me on social media:
Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads | Website | Pinterest | Google + Wattpad | Amazon Author
Here are some free novellas that relate to The Bow of Hart Saga:
Trading Knives – Kobo, iBooks & Barnes & Noble, Smashwords and on Amazon
What Is Needed – Barnes & Noble, Kobo, iBooks, Smashwords & Amazon
Reblogged this on Legends of Windemere.
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Much appreciated, Charles.
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You’re welcome. 🙂
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My thanks too. I’ve been busy with some personal business today so I’m just getting to the post this evening.
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No problem. Life comes first. 🙂
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It sure has this week, Charles! I hope your Windemere sales are going well. I want to dig into that series when I get a chance.
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Last week was life for me and next week is taking up the mantle. Windemere is going. Seems to be selling better in the UK and with KU page reads. I really need to get the next volume out.
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You’ll get there!
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And my TBR list grows! Enjoyed learning more about your work today, PH.
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Thanks for stopping by to support PH.
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I’m glad mine is mostly digital or I would be in trouble!
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For real. I can carry an entire library with me wherever I go.
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I’m glad you didn’t give up on this series, PH, and reworked it for publication. Having read The Bow of Destiny, I can state that it’s written in true epic fantasy tradition, something I love. I was glued from the beginning.Congrats on all the accolades this book has received and I look forward to the release of An Arrow Against the Wind!
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Thanks, Mae! There has been some serendipity to it after all these years. I hope to glue you to the next one!
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I have no doubt you will!
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Just got the manuscript back from the editor this afternoon – going to start hammering away at it ASAP!
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How exciting.
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Being an author is a kind of “job” where you never cease learning. From others or from own experience. I think I learned from PH that we must follow the dream and never give up. Thank you!
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Thanks for supporting PH today.
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It really is a job. I gave up on it several times and just came back to it eventually. That’s my best advice to all writers – just hang in there… Thanks for the comment today!
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Difficult characters are hard to write. (There’s some wisdom for you, LOL.) That you were successful in opening a novel that way speaks to your talent as an author. The Bow of Destiny is next on my TBR list. Looking forward to it!
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Actually, Staci, i’m not sure I’ll open a book that way again. it was really challenging and I think there are better ways. I had to get a little edgy with what I was doing just to get readers involved. I appreciate the compliment and your support today!
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The more I read of your posts the more I’m intrigued by your fantasy. It definitely goes on my to-read list.
Openings are often tricky. You have to accomplish so much in such a short time! I’m still unsure where to start with my current WIP. I always fear to explain too much. Or too little!
Great post!
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PH’s book is great. The more I write, the more I subscribe to the million words theory. My beginnings are better in recent works, but it’s because I’ve written so many.
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I agree, Craig. I’ve had to work on a few new projects in recent weeks and I think they were really good and fun as well!
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I’m finding that it’s best to show just what is necessary to the reader so they are intrigued with what’s going on with the character. Give them the major issues with the main character and the hook to the plot. Get that right and you have something. It’s always challenging and I walked a fine line with this book…, not sure just how well I truly did except from some of the responses I’ve gotten. Thanks for following along this week!
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That’s so true. We never completely know if we nailed it.
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Read Trading Knives and thoroughly enjoyed it. Need to get on to the rest. (I wish I had a thousand eyes.) Good job, PH. Thanks Craig.
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Thank you, John.
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Thanks, John. TK really captures Corgren well. He could take over if I let him. He could be a spokesman for villains!
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🙂
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I grew up on fantasy fiction, PH, and am so glad that you persevered with the series! Good luck with everything 😊
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Me too, Harmony! It was a struggle but I’m glad I stuck with it, got back to working on it and made it this far.
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Sounds intriguing, PH. Another add to my TBR list! Good luck!
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Thanks! I hope you enjoy it when you get a chance!
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This tour is really doing what we intended. So glad you’re coming along for the ride.
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I forgot to mention yesterday how much I love both of these book covers from P.H. Phenomenal! Thanks for hosting, Craig.
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My artist is Christopher Rawlins from the UK and he’s phenomenal to work with. I’ve gotten so many compliments about the covers and Chris’s excellent was just what I was looking for in fantasy artwork – which I think is very important in the genre. I appreciate you compliment!
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They really are fantastic covers.
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Great post! Thanks for sharing!
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Thanks for stopping by for the visit today!
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Reblogged this on Don Massenzio's Blog and commented:
Check out the Bow of Destiny Saga as featured on the Entertaining Stories blog today.
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Thank you, Don.
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Thanks for the reblog, Don.
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Reblogged this on Archer's Aim and commented:
This was my stop last Wednesday on the Story Empire Roadshow tour. As always, it was good to visit with Craig Boyack and it was a good day.
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Reblogging these is a fair idea. I have too much going on, but hope it draws some new attention for you.
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Thanks, I didn’t want to reblog last week and step on toes so now is a good time and I’ll keep sharing them out on social media over time…
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Hmm, maybe you’re onto something.
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