Readers Helping Authors: Unfettered Auction to benefit Grim Oak Shield

As some of you may know, Shawn Speakman recently dug himself out of a huge (more than $200,000) medical debt that he amassed during his second fight with cancer.  It was due to an incredible anthology called Unfettered that a bunch of authors (including yours truly) donated stories to.

Well, Shawn Speakman is paying it forward by starting Grim Oak Shield, a non-profit foundation similar to Stephen King's Haven Foundation. It works a safety net for authors who find themselves in dire straights due to high medical bills.

500 copies of a truly special edition were created and signed by all the contributing authors. They holdout almost immediately, but Shawn kept a few back so he could auction them off from time to time to benefit Grim Oak Shield.  The first action is running now. And if you want to get your hands on one of these amazing books, you can bid on it here. But you better hurry - there are only 5 days left! Can't afford to beat the bid price?  No problem, consider buying an ebook copy of Unfettered. It's only $7.99 and all proceeds from it go to Grim Oak Shield as well, so you'll be helping authors with medical debt even if you can't get your hands on the special limited edition copy.

As for the book itself, let me tell you a bit about it. There are twenty-three tales in this incredible collection (and a few bonus stories in the limited edition copy). Ss the title suggests, the writers were free to contribute whatever they wished. Here is the table of contents:

• Foreword by Patrick Rothfuss
• Introduction: On Becoming Unfettered
• Imaginary Friends by Terry Brooks
• How Old Holly Came To Be by Patrick Rothfuss
• The Old Scale Game by Tad Williams
• Game of Chance by Carrie Vaughn
• The Martyr of the Roses by Jacqueline Carey
• Mudboy by Peter V. Brett
• The Sound of Broken Absolutes by Peter Orullian
• The Coach with Big Teeth by R.A. Salvatore
• Keeper of Memory by Todd Lockwood
• Heaven in a Wild Flower by Blake Charlton
• Dogs by Daniel Abraham
• The Chapel Perilous by Kevin Hearne
• Select Mode by Mark Lawrence
• All the Girls Love Michael Stein by David Anthony Durham
• Strange Rain by Jennifer Bosworth
• Nocturne by Robert V.S. Redick
• Unbowed by Eldon Thompson
• In Favour with Their Stars by Naomi Novik
• River of Souls by Robert Jordan & Brandon Sanderson
• The Jester by Michael J. Sullivan
• The Duel by Lev Grossman
• Walker and the Shade of Allanon by Terry Brooks
• The Unfettered Knight by Shawn Speakman

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As for the piece I contributed, it is indeed a Royce and Hadrian short story and I'm very proud of  how it came out. Here is the introduction to it:

The characters of Royce and Hadrian came to me during my self-imposed ten-year hiatus from writing. After crafting twelve novels and spending a decade getting nowhere, I had determined that publication was hopeless, and I had vowed never to write creatively again. But they kept invading my mind, and as hard as I tried to silence them, I finally gave in, on one condition: that I would write a book that I wanted to read and forgo any thoughts of publication. What a fun time I had bringing these two rogues to life. My wife decided to circumvent my plans and got the books published, and hence Riyria was born.

The six books of The Riyria Revelations were released by Orbit in three two-book omnibus volumes, and while I thought that would be the end of Royce and Hadrian, readers clamored for more. Because I didn’t want to “tack on” to a carefully choreographed ending, The Riyria Chronicles were born to explore adventures that occurred during the twelve years the pair were together before Revelations began.
The short story I’ve provided is a Chronicles tale. It takes place after the events of The Rose and the Thorn and before those of Theft of Swords. Even so, it’s a stand-alone story and no prior experience with any of my books is required to enjoy it to its fullest.

Crafting a work for Unfettered was quite a daunting experience. I wanted to help Shawn and his cause, but how could I not be intimidated by the esteem of the authors I’d be sharing the pages with? Like Riyria, I hope that I rose to the challenge, and that you’ll be entertained by “The Jester,” a story of adventure, bonds of friendship, and a recognition that the choices we make dictates the future we find.

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If you're a fan of Riyria, or any of the amazing authors I encourage you to go get an ebook copy. If you have some money in your pocket and want to get a truly special book, then by all means place a bid.  You'll get a great read and Shawn's charity will get some additional cash to do good works with. Seems like a win-win for all involved!

Theft of Swords Audiobook just $5.95 for 3 days!

Audible has put a few hundred of their best-selling, top-rated books on sale including 35 Sci-fi and fantasy titles. I'm pleased that the sale includes Theft of Swords.

The sale is available to current Audible customers and all books in the sale are just $5.95.  Plus, since Theft of Swords is actually an omnibus edition containing two full-length novels (The Crown Conspiracy and Avempartha),  that's and even better deal. In total you'll get more than 22 hours of listening bliss.

I say listening bliss because the books are expertly narrated by Tim Gerard Reynolds.  And if you've not heard Tim, you're in for a real treat. He's become "the voice" of Riyria and not only does he do the voice for the eight Riyria novels, but he also has recorded three short stories, two of which are available for free on Audible right now.  So if you're not sure if you'd like Theft of Swords  checkout The Jester or Professional Integrity. They are both under one hour and absolutely free. Just click on the covers below to get your own copy.

If you are looking for even more savings, here's a complete list of the titles in the Science Fiction and Fantasy Category. I listed them based on number of reviews and you can see their ratings and regular prices. I hope you find something that's a perfect fit for you.

Book	Series	#	Author	Narrator	Length	Rating	Reviews	Reg Price
Theft of Swords	Riyria Revelations	1 & 2	Michael J. Sullivan	Tim Gerard Reynolds	22 hrs and 37 mins	4.5	8,698	$41.99
Lock In	N/A	N/A	John Scalzi	Wil Wheaton	10 hrs 0 mins	4.3	5,240	$19.95
Spider's Bite	Elemental Assassin	1	Jennifer Estep	Lauren Fortgang	11 hrs and 59 mins	3.9	3,339	$24.95
Ark Royal	Ark Royal	1	Christopher G. Nuttall	Ralph Lister	13 hrs and 55 mins	3.9	3,067	$24.95
Rendezvous with Rama	N/A	N/A	Arthur C. Clarke	Peter Ganim , Robert J. Sawyer	9 hrs and 4 mins	4.2	3,011	$24.29
On Basilisk Station	Honor Harrington	1	David Weber	Allyson Johnson	15 hrs and 40 mins	4.1	3,007	$24.95
Into the Storm	Destroyermen	1	Taylor Anderson	William Dufris	16 hrs and 16 mins	4.1	2,840	$29.99
Son of the Black Sword	Saga of the Forgotten Warrior	1	Larry Correia	Tim Gerard Reynolds	16 hrs and 26 mins	4.6	2,574	$29.95
The Second Ship	The Rho Agenda	1	Richard Phillips	MacLeod Andrews	11 hrs and 39 mins	4.1	2,512	$13.99
Death World	Undying Mercenaries	5	B. V. Larson	Mark Boyett	12 hrs and 58 mins	4.6	2,172	$24.95
Jumper	Jumper	1	Steven Gould	MacLeod Andrews	10 hrs and 49 mins	4.2	1,697	$24.95
A Canticle for Leibowitz	N/A	N/A	Walter M. Miller	Tom Weiner	10 hrs and 59 mins	3.9	1,604	$23.07
Rise of the Werewolf	Lycan Fallout	1	Mark Tufo	Sean Runnette	11 hrs and 23 mins	4.4	1,566	$24.95
Wormhole	The Rho Agenda	3	Richard Phillips	MacLeod Andrews	13 hrs and 11 mins	4.4	1,516	$13.99
The Dragon's Path	Dagger and Coin	1	Daniel Abraham	Pete Bradbury	17 hrs and 22 mins	3.9	1,468	34.99
Three	Legends of the Duskwalker	1	Jay Posey	Luke Daniels	13 hrs and 1 min	4.2	1,436	$13.99
The End of All Things	Old Man's War	6	John Scalzi	Multiple	11 hrs and 24 mins	4.2	1,268	$24.95
A Wizard of Earthsea	The Earthsea Cycle	1	Ursula K. Le Guin	Rob Inglis	7 hrs and 16 mins	4.0	1,198	$25.87
Necronomicon	N/A	N/A	H. P. Lovecraft	Multiple	21 hrs and 1 min	4.3	1,176	$45.47
Gatefather	The Mithermages	3	Orson Scott Card	Emily Rankin , Stefan Rudnicki	11 hrs and 26 mins	4.0	1,165	$24.47
Circle of Reign	The Dying Lands Chronicle	1	Jacob Cooper	Michael Kramer	20 hrs and 13 mins	4.3	1,129	$29.95
Mark of the Demon	Kara Gillian	1	Diana Rowland	Liv Anderson	12 hrs and 26 mins	4.1	1,126	$21.95
Bloodfire	Blood Destiny	1	Helen Harper	Saskia Maarleveld	9 hrs and 6 mins	4.1	1,123	$27.99
Nexus	Nexus(Naam),	1	Ramez Naam	Luke Daniels	13 hrs and 12 mins	4.1	1,102	$13.99
Under a Graveyard Sky	Black Tide Rising	1	John Ringo	Tristan Morris	13 hrs and 49 mins	4.3	990	$24.95
War Crimes	World of Warcraft	Unk	Christie Golden	Scott Brick	13 hrs and 31 mins	4.5	947	$22.67
Dead Spots	Scarlett Bernard	1	Melissa F. Olson	Amy McFadden	9 hrs 0 min	4.1	903	$13.99
Aurora	N/A	N/A	Kim Stanley Robinson	Ali Ahn	16 hrs and 55 mins	3.9	876	$28.33
Destroyermen	Straits of Hell	10	Taylor Anderson	William Dufris	17 hrs and 34 mins	4.5	688	$27.99
The Last American Vampire	N/A	N/A	Seth Grahame-Smith	MacLeod Andrews	14 hrs and 17 mins	4.4	663	$24.50
Have Space Suit - Will Travel	N/A	N/A	Robert A. Heinlein	Mark Turetsky	8 hrs and 53 mins	4.0	634	$20.97
The Fifth Season	The Broken Earth	1	N. K. Jemisin	Robin Miles	15 hrs and 31 mins	4.2	529	$23.60
The Mechanical	The Alchemy Wars	1	Ian Tregillis	Chris Kayser	15 hrs and 45 mins	4.2	431	$24.55
The Grace of Kings	The Dandelion Dynasty	1	Ken Liu	Michael Kramer	21 hrs and 37 mins	4.0	241	$28.34
Cast in Honor	The Chronicles of Elantra	11	Michelle Sagara	Khristine Hvam	16 hrs and 43 mins	4.4	241	$33.07

The Jester hits a new milestone.

Audible.com tells me that 100,000 copies of my free short story, The Jester, have been downloaded.  That's incredible news.

You know, long, long ago Robin asked me to tell her how many people had to read my stories before I would consider myself a success. I replied, "Fifty...but...they have to be people who I don't know."

Robin thought she could beat that number, and I guess she was right.

I really enjoyed writing this story for The Unfettered anthology, something that I also did for free. So even though I've not made any money on The Jester, I still think it was a good thing to do.  I can't begin to count the number of people who mentioned finding this short story either in that anthology, or through the free audible version and then went on to read my full-length novels. I know that was one of the things Shawn Speakman hoped would occur for people in the anthology (it was created to raise money to get him out of a huge medical debt).  Not only is Shawn now debt free, but he's also started a fund to help pay for other author's medical bills.

If you haven't read (or listened to) the short, I'll be more than happy to send you an ebook - just drop me an email and I'll send out and ebook version. Better yet, listen to the short - Tim Gerard Reynold's narration really shouldn't be missed.

Thanks all for the amazing support.  I'm glad people are enjoying the tale and have told their friends and family as well.

Royce and Hadrian Go Graphic

I'm pleased to announce that a Riyria graphic novel is in the works!  The announcement went public a few days ago on Newsrama, so sorry about the late posting. Robin and I were on the road (went to do some presentations at a college up north) and as such we are really behind on posting a whole bunch of good news -this being one of them.

The artist will be Nigel Raynor who has worked for  Marvel, Dynamite, 2000AD, and Dark Horse. The publisher for this project will be Dabel Brothers Publishing who is also working with Kevin Hearnes for his Iron Druid Chronicles and Sherrilyn Kenyon’s Dark Hunter series. Here's some concept art of Limited Edition print which will be available soon.

Anyone recognize the scene it depicts?  I'll give you a hint it's from one of the Revelation books. As I said, a lot more news about this in the near future. But as I'm already behind on posting the news I at least wanted to get something out right away.

Ten 2016 SF/F Releases with Killer Elevator Pitches

Looking for some interesting books coming out in 2016?  Barnes an Noble just published their list of 10 books they thought had intriguing premises. I'm glad to see Age of Myth made the list. Here's the full list so you can check them out for your self. Hopefully you'll find something that piques your interest as well.

1. A Criminal Magic, by Lee Kelly
2. Runtime, by S.B. Divya
3. Infomocracy, by Malka Ann Older
4. The Impostor Queen, by Sarah Fine
5. The Raft, by Fred Strydom
6. The Forbidden Wish, by Jessica Khoury
7. Age of Myth, by Michael J. Sullivan
8. United States of Japan, by Peter Tieryas
9. Worlds of Ink and Shadow, by Lena Coakley
10. We Are the Ants, by Shaun David Hutchinson

An Update on The Legends of the First Empire

Hey all, Robin and I have been so busy working that I realize I've not said much about the new series that is coming out in June. So, here's what's going on.

Age of Myth

As most probably already know, Marc Simonetti has created a great illustration to grace the cover. It depicts Magda (an ancient tree in the Crescent Forest).  Del Rey's artistic director (Dave Stevenson) has been working with us to come up with the other aspects of the cover (font, title name, author name).  After several attempts, we finally have it nailed down.  So here is the cover that will be released.

I LOVE the way it looks, and it was no small task finding a font that myself, Robin, Tricia (our editor), and Steve (the art director) liked. Del Rey's team was so accommodating and really went above and beyond with all the options they went through.

Robin, whose mind is constantly working, has come up with a way that you can get signed copies if you pre-order.  More on that in a future post. For now, we are going to limit how many of these signed copies we are committing to and if you want to be notified once they are available, here is a sign-up list.

Also, the proof for the book has come in and both Robin and I are busy reading it. It looks great and marks yet another milestone toward the release.  There should be ARC (Advanced Reading Copies) in hand shortly, and I'll do some drawing for people who want to read them ahead of time.

Last update on this...the recording of the audio book will start March 14th. And yes, the amazing Tim Gerard Reynolds is don the narration.  We are going to New York on the 13th, will go out to dinner with Tim and then sit in on the first few days' recordings. If you are as excited as we are about the audio version of this book, please pre-order it now, or the next time you have audible credits available!

Age of Swords

I finished by second edit of this book back in November. It's been sitting, waiting for Robin to read and provide commentary to. She's already been through this process once before, and the book was in really good shape, so this shouldn't take too terribly long. Robin just needs to GET to it.  Three things are in front of her.

1. Finish shipping The Death of Dulgath Kickstarter rewards.  She is close on this.  So far we have all the books and t-shirts out.  Now it's just down to Bags, Mugs, Posters, and maps.  That sounds like a lot but compared to the books and shirts it's not nearly as time-consuming.
2. Finish editing The Making of The Death of Dulgath ebook.
3. Finish proofing of Age of Myth.

Once she gets through it, and assuming she doesn't haven't anything major for me to edit (which neither of us suspect will happen), the beta read will start.  The beta readers will fall into a few categories.

• Those that beta-read Age of Myth
• Those that didn't beta-read Age of Myth but will get a copy of it before the beta
• Those that haven't read Age of Myth

If you are interested in beta reading, you can sign up here.

Age of War

I finished up the second edit of this book in December. It is also sitting waiting for Robin. What a slacker!  (Okay, don't throw rocks at me we all know I'm kidding with that comment. Robin is the hardest working person I know). I don't see the beta read starting for this anytime soon. And Robin will be more than busy with the beta read for Age of Swords.  Again, this book had very few changes from Robin's original alpha read, so I don't expect much additional work on this.

Age of Legends

This is what I'm working on now, and have been for the last several weeks. Unlike Book #2 and Book #3, this one did require MAJOR work based on Robin's first alpha read.  That's the bad news.  The good news is I have (a) figured out all the changes, created a new outline, and figured out all the problems introduced by the changes (b) have been writing it for several weeks now.  The original deadline I set for this was end of February, and that's not going to happen. I got started late because I was helping Robin ship Kickstarter stuff. But I do think it'll be done sometime in March, which isn't that much of a delay.

Age of Empire

This also will need some major work based on Robin's alpha read. The good news is (a) it's not nearly as extensive as the work to book #4, and (b) getting book #4 straightened out will make book #5 go much more quickly.  At this point I still think April or May (which was my original deadline for myself) still seems doable.

Wow, that's a lot.  See, I knew it was a long time since I've updated people on this. The Death of Dulgath has been the focus of most of my posting as of late, but with it finally "out and about" it's time to start looking at the project. I'm very excited to hear what people think of it.

Riyria Hardcover Editions

Since the publication of The Death of Dulgath in hardcover, I've received a lot of emails from people who would like to have the other books of the series match. Unfortunately, Orbit never released their books (Theft of Swords, Rise of Empire, Heir of Novron, The Crown Tower, The Rose and the Thorn) in hardcover format.

They did sell book club rights to the Science Fiction and Fantasy Book Club, but the Revelations versions sold out years ago. Today, people can only find them on the used book markets, and usually at a premium cost.

For several months now, I've been trying to negotiate the right for a limited edition hardcover run of the earlier books, and now Orbit has agreed!  While we still have to nail down some details, the hard part is over -- getting permission. So Robin and I spent yesterday's lunch brainstorming the project and how to roll it out.

We most likely will utilize a Kickstarter campaign, and since the number of books is limited, we are likely to sell out (especially the rare editions) rather quickly.  To make sure ardent fans don't miss out, we've started a wait list. People on this list will receive the Kickstarter URL before it goes live and will know the date and time of its launch. That way people on the waitlist will have the best chances of getting their copies.  If you would like to sign up, here is the link to do so.

We hope you are as excited as we are about this opportunity. I love the way the hardcover editions of The Death of Dulgath look on my desk and shelf, and I can't wait until the entire Riyria saga sits beside it.  I hope you are equally excited.