Legacy of the wolven

[Dark Sentinel]

Bumping for the sake of those interested. Thanks again for all the support!! t:

 

[Dark Sentinel]

After much deliberation (mostly with myself) I have made a very important decision regarding the online future of MATHION, and LEGACY OF THE WOLVEN as a whole.

Though my ultimate goal is to be published (i.e. "in print"), I wish nothing more than for people to be able to read my work. Therefore, at a time of my choosing, I am going to rerelease MATHION on both Kindle AND Nook for ONE WEEK ONLY, a special edition that I have been working on for publishers and prospective agents, containing within it both the Appendices to the book AND a special preview of Book Two in the trilogy, THE LAST ASCENSION.

I realize I've done this before, but this is a chance for those who have not yet read my work to do so, and for fans of fantasy in general to enjoy another addition to their personal libraries. This will be a rare opportunity to read the book BEFORE it gets published, so if you have any friends who are fans of fantasy, be it LOTR, ASOIAF, or even Harry Potter, be sure to let them know that this is indeed coming.

I appreciate you all for your support, and I hope you will enjoy reading MATHION as much as I have enjoyed writing (and rewriting) it.

 

[Dark Sentinel]

Queried Heide Lange, Dan (Da Vinci Code) Brown's agent.

Wish me luck!!

 

[JewishHobbit]

Best of luck, man.

 

[Dark Sentinel]

Wow. I was looking through some old things, and in a drawing book I found this, a drawing from 2004. I can't translate the letters unfortunately, the only thing I can say for certain is that the letters run right-to-left, but I believe that the man drawn is indeed Mathion as King of the Wolven. I personally think it's very interesting, and thus worthy to share with you all.

 

[Andreth]

Good news from Jeff! He asked me to share this with you all, hope this turns out well!

Originally Posted by Dark Sentinel
Sara Megibow, one of the most respected literary agents in the industry, asked for sample pages of MATHION. I am beyond excited for this opportunity, and pray that she enjoys them.

 

[DarkSentinel]

Well, unfortunately it turned out to be nothing more than another rejection I just don't get why they keep saying "I didn't love it enough" what kind of crap is that??

 

[DarkSentinel]

So since you're all my friends, I thought I'd give you all a little snippet of some NEW stuff appearing in the book when it returns to Kindle (barring me getting a literary agent )

So who wants to read it? t:

 

[DarkSentinel]

Alright then, I guess I'll just show you anyway t: I'm very proud of it, but nonetheless I want feedback! It's a rewrite/expansion of the first action scene in the book, in Degos Enath. Enjoy!

Spoiler

Roars and howls and the cries of men leapt from the field of battle as the two sides clashed in a deafening symphony of valor and death. Bone was shattered to splinters and flesh torn to shears, and both piled in bloody heaps upon the ground. Choirs of snarls conducted by the metallic shrings of silver blades rose in a melodic cacophony throughout the forest, even up to the Guardian Towers atop their silent precipices. The staccato of crackling flames swayed to and fro as the swords of the Wolven dug greedily into the werewolves’ hides, burning them alive from within as living pyres, bringing silvery light to the darkened valley as would a multitude of moons. Silver-tipped arrows sailed from the strong bows of the Wolven, thrumming like lethal harps, silver tongues of flame kindling the bones of the werewolves, extinguishing the reek that wafted from their hideous furs before blistering their skins until red blood seeped through their pores and cascaded from their mouths onto the forest floor, simmering and smoldering, soaking the soil beneath their wretched claws, and before long all was clouded as though by a fog of hell, and the mud stirred up by their trampling was a foul muck that clung like tar to both skin and fur.

But those of the werewolves that dodged the sting of the arrow or parried the bite of the sword leapt upon the Wolven, and laid their teeth into their flesh, and they screamed in unbearable agony, for the poison that secreted from those perilous fangs boiled their blood, eating away at their bones as acid corrodes even the strongest steel. The werewolves knew no fear, nor indeed did the Wolven who so valiantly set aside their pride for the honor of taking up sword and axe and bow against their ancient foes. What followed was a blurred memory of yellow fangs and black fur and red blood and silver fire, streaks of paint on the canvas of the thick shadows of night. The White Wolf slashed with his claws and bit with his teeth, and the werewolves died from that deadly bite, snarling and growling and slashing and biting, a whirlwind of black fur and white.

 

[DarkSentinel]

Would anyone like to offer their opinions on two new cover art possibilities? Please and thank you t:

1. Map

Spoiler

2. Script

Spoiler

 

[JewishHobbit]

I like the second cover better but think it'd be better if the writing wasn't on lined paper. Make it an older looking aged paper and it would help. Unless, of course, they use lined paper in your book, then ignore me. And I think the coloring for your name pops too much. It distracts from the rest of the image. I'd get a slightly darker shade like in the first image. Also, mind the shadows. The letters have shadows going to the bottom right while the paw print's shadow is direction behind it. Plus, the words' shadows are more pronounced than the paw's. Sorry to be nitpicky, but people will be so you should expect it before you present it. And I'm only speaking from experience. Fortunately, I have an awesome cover guy who is amazing at this stuff.

I feel like the top image is too colorful for the feel I get from your book. Granted, I've not read it, but I'm going off of the snippets you've posted.

Just my two cents, and it's all meant to be constructive.

 

[DarkSentinel]

Cool. Constructive criticism is always appreciated Unfortunately the calligraphy pen I used to write out the script was lost so I have to find a new one, and soon. Bear in mind that I'm using a "free" Sketchbook Express app on my iPad so it's very limited.

 

[DarkSentinel]

While I can't take the lines off the paper without seriously altering the source image, I did make a few minor tweaks to line up the shadows on the words better.

Spoiler

 

[JewishHobbit]

That's definitely an improvement.

 

[DarkSentinel]

Well I'll be damned. I actually did it.

Tonight I got a rejection from a literary agency based on Mathion's word count. According to this agency, there are customary "standards" for novel lengths, especially debut novels, and since I still want to publish this as a Young Adult series, I had to essentially split Mathion into two volumes. Well I did, and the result is actually not half bad, and ends with a nice cliffhanger setup leading into the next novel.

So as it stands now, the LEGACY OF THE WOLVEN series is as follows:

• Mathion
• Reclamation
• The Last Ascension
• Mavonduri

 

[JewishHobbit]

That's a hard choice to make. I'll tell you what's harder though...

When I first wrote the Christian Fantasy novel that I just released (From the Ruin of Extinction, found in my sig), it was absolutely freaking huge. Printed on regular 8.5x11 paper, it was at 800 pages when I stopped writing with 2 chapters left to go... and that was book 1 of 3. When I came back to it last year and decided to rewrite it after building years of experience, I had to consider the page count. I made the difficult decision to cut a lot of characters and stuff out so book 1 wouldn't be as long. I ended up cutting about 7 characters and almost 500 pages of material. That hurt something fierce, but now it's a fairly easy read and is so much better for it. I've gotten nothing but compliments from people who've read both.

 

[DarkSentinel]

That's a hard choice to make. I'll tell you what's harder though...

When I first wrote the Christian Fantasy novel that I just released (From the Ruin of Extinction, found in my sig), it was absolutely freaking huge. Printed on regular 8.5x11 paper, it was at 800 pages when I stopped writing with 2 chapters left to go... and that was book 1 of 3. When I came back to it last year and decided to rewrite it after building years of experience, I had to consider the page count. I made the difficult decision to cut a lot of characters and stuff out so book 1 wouldn't be as long. I ended up cutting about 7 characters and almost 500 pages of material. That hurt something fierce, but now it's a fairly easy read and is so much better for it. I've gotten nothing but compliments from people who've read both.

Yeah, it's pretty comparable to Solomon actually sawing that baby in half But I'm actually pretty pleased with the result, especially the cliffhanger. And I didn't need to cut any characters, which was the best part! t:

The way I see it, if this gives me a better chance at getting published, then great. And since now I technically have two books ready to go with a third on the way, by the time I get to publishing Book Three (The Last Ascension) I'll probably have built up a good enough representation that I'll be able to put out a longer book and eventually, after the series is completed, I'll be able to reunite the two halves of Mathion into the single epic novel it was originally conceived as, because I view the "trilogy" as the purest fashion of fantasy storytelling.

I'm just debating whether or not I should save the Appendices written for Mathion for Book Two or split them between Mathion and Reclamation.

Decisions, decisions....

 

[JewishHobbit]

I'd say split anything pertaining to Reclamation and put it with book 2.

Cool title by the way

 

[DarkSentinel]

I'd say split anything pertaining to Reclamation and put it with book 2.

Cool title by the way

Thanks t: and it actually fits with the arc of that book [BLACKOUT](rescuing, i.e. reclaiming Oharion and Mathion taking the two Wolfstones from Azgharáth's throne room in the final fight, again, reclaiming them)[/BLACKOUT]

 

[DarkSentinel]

I've decided to forgo trade publication, and as such, Mathion will be returning to Kindle soon. A true Revised & Expanded Edition.

 

[JewishHobbit]

If you can get a cover artist (or make your own) you can self-publish it as a paperback as well through createspace.com. That's what I use for the paperback editions of my books.

 

[DarkSentinel]

If you can get a cover artist (or make your own) you can self-publish it as a paperback as well through createspace.com. That's what I use for the paperback editions of my books.

I've thought about CreateSpace, but I'm just not sure. I want to build up Mathion's popularity on Kindle/Nook first, and hopefully its popularity will lead to a demand for paperbacks. But I'm gonna need a heck of a lot of help I'm completely strapped for cash to invest in advertising and whatnot, all of my advertising is done through Twitter and Tumblr. But hopefully I'm persistent enough to get enough readers. Fingers crossed!!

 

[JewishHobbit]

I get my sales through eBooks, no question. The paperbacks are mostly for me and those I know who'd like a physical copy of my book for their shelves. I like seeing them up there.

 

[DarkSentinel]

If anyone doesn't mind helping plug the heck out of Mathion on Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr, etc., it'd be much appreciated!

 

[DarkSentinel]

Guys! GUYYYYSS!! Did you hear?

Mathion is back on both Kindle AND Nook t: