Wonderful news: While Gods Sleep received a very favorable review from Publishers Weekly last week! I'm doing a little Snoopy dance and you can celebrate with me because the book is on sale right now for $0.99 at Amazon
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Well, here it is New Year's Eve again, and time to reflect on the memorable things that happened in my little sphere of existence during 2018. Professionally, it was a banner year. I had two new books released (or all three out of my three published novels if I squish in my Dec, 2017 re-release of my debut novel, A Borrowed Hell, by its new publisher). In March I learned that A Borrowed Hell was listed as a Colorado Humanities and Center for the Book finalist for the Colorado Book Awards. I also found out that month that I was accepted to the juried master writing class, Taos Toolbox. In April I was a faculty presenter at Pikes Peak Writers Conference, where I had a wonderful three days seeing friends, meeting new folks, teaching two workshops, and a co-moderating a short story roundtable. I believe it was sometime in May that I finally completed my final draft of my newest book and the hardest book I've written to date! In early June, A Borrowed Hell was chosen as the winner of the Colorado Book Award for the Science Fiction/Fantasy category for 2018. The last half of June was spent attending the Taos Toolbox 2-week residency workshop in beautiful Angel Fire, NM where I learned from instructors Walter Jon Williams and Nancy Kress, and guest instructors, George R. R. Martin(!), Carrie Vaughn, and Emily Mah Tippetts. Late July saw the release of my epic fantasy, The Halfblood War - the first book I ever wrote, and September was the release of a book I feel most represents where my writing is now and where it's going, While Gods Sleep. There were a few personal milestones over the year as well: my mother, a WWII veteran of the British Army, turned a very healthy 100-years-old in February (and she's still doing well as I write this). We made it through one of the worst Colorado droughts in recent history (where I learned there is a stage beyond extreme drought called "exceptional drought") and through one of the worst fires in Colorado recorded fire history that burned way too close to home and affected people we knew. Hubby and I didn't make our trip to WorldCon San Jose as planned, but he also survived - with no lasting injury - the chlorine gas inhalation that happened the day before we were supposed to leave. In Sept, I finally made the leap to a plant-based diet with very limited processed foods (plus backyard eggs and sometimes fish for now) and can feel the health effects and see the hoped-for weight loss well under way - yay. After losing two beloved animals in 2017 (our 20-year-old horse to founder and our 10-year-old dog to a fast-moving cancer), the search for a new dog is getting closer to fulfillment and the search for a gaited horse to be a companion to our Tennessee Walker came to an end. In December, just in time for Christmas, we got our paint Fox Trotter, Indigo, through a local horse rescue. All in all, a really great year with so much to be thankful for! On the reading front, I read 41 books this year according to Goodreads, plus a few beta and ARC books that didn't count as they're not yet released. Here's the summary, with my recommended, blew my mind, 5-star favorites highlighted below (though many more of these books were very enjoyable reads as well). Here's wishing everyone health, happiness, and good reading in 2019! Strange the Dreamer, Kraken (again), An Unkindness of Magicians, The Lamb Will Slaughter the Lion, Spoonbenders, Flashforward, The Fifth Doll, The Land of Laughs, Paradox Bound, The Black Tides of Heaven, The City of Lost Fortunes, From the Teeth of Angels, Space Unicorn Blues, Nova, Never Let Me Go, Welcome to the Monkey House, The Stars My Destination, Collected Fictions, Casino Royale, The Library at Mount Char, Good Omens, Level Five, Bigfoot Loose and Finn Fancy Free, The Golem and the Jinni, Sandman Slim, Finding Ultra, Voice of the Whirlwind, Circe, Walking Through Fire, Alternate Routes, The Quantum Magician, North, Ka: Dar Oakley in the Ruin of Ymr, The Changeling, Integration: Ghost Marines, Alice Payne Arrives, The Riddle Master of Hed, The Heir of Sea and Fire, Harpist in the Wind (again for the entire set).   I only just realized that this article ran on Oct 19th.
Many thanks to Colorado Humanities and Center for the Book and The Colorado Sun for this interview. A link to the full interview can be accessed HERE or in the image above.
 And now for something completely different. You're welcome. Black Friday Deal! While Gods Sleep ON SALE today through Sunday for $0.99 cents (regular price $3.99) Grab Your Copy Now "The pleasures of Greek mythology mixed with the dark undercurrents of contemporary fantasy.” Walter Jon Williams, New York Times bestselling author
Happy Thanksgiving to all who celebrate it, and please, share safe, appropriate foods with your critter friends this holiday! Dogs and cats are both susceptible to similar toxins and dangers: no cooked bones, raisins, grapes, chocolate, xylitol artificial sweetener, macadamia nuts, caffeine, only small amounts of garlic, and never any drugs or alcohol. Here's hoping everyone gets to enjoy their own species-appropriate favorites this holiday! Only about a week left and then this deal is gone forever. StoryBundle website: https://storybundle.com/fantasy Not convinced? Check out this video trailer on YouTube.   After a colorful late Sept/early Oct, our weather dropped down into the 20s (Fahrenheit) then went back up to the 70s, and this morning we woke up to this. If your Halloween looks like this too, I hope your costume is warm! And hey, if you want to start hibernating and stock up for winter reading (or summer beach reading if you're in a different hemisphere) I can help. My epic fantasy, The Halfblood War, has been included in the Truly Epic Fantasy StoryBundle where you can get as many as 13 books from different authors for as little as $15 (or you can set your own price!). The bundle has been curated by Kevin J. Anderson, publisher for WordFire Press and author of more than 50 bestselling novels. Go get your epic on!  This fall has kept me busy so far with a couple of recent book releases, the completion of a new novelette, and attending MileHiCon. Now it's time to settle in for the cold months and get my newest Perilous Gods book written. Each book in the Perilous Gods series is a stand-alone based on different mythologies from around the world. While Gods Sleep turns Greek mythology on it's head, book 2 (written but not yet published) deals with Maya and Aztec deities, and book 3 is likely to be steeped in the folklore of Slavic paganism. Stay tuned for more news on the series. Speaking of news, my October newsletter went out to subscribers a few days ago with the StoryBundle link, links to a free short story site and new releases from other authors, and my standard sign off - an animal video (this time, a mini horse "overthinking".) If you want to see what you're missing, sign up here anytime and your welcome email will arrive with my short story "The Last King" - a story that blends both my epic and contemporary fantasy writing in a tale about old fae in a present day forest. And finally, since I'm posting on Halloween, it seems appropriate to include a monster quiz. Think you know your monsters? Give it a try - this quiz is not for the beginner.
HERE BE DRAGONS   The other day a friend of mine posted that the aspens changed "between 2 & 5 yesterday, which is how it happens in the West." She's not exaggerating by much. It usually happens fast and the duration of the color is weather-dependent from there. We have nothing out our front windows except a nearby mountain range, so it's easy for us to see when it kicks off and head out to enjoy it. BOOK RELEASE WEEK!  Available now in Kindle, Kindle Unlimited, and Trade Paperback and for a very short time, it's on sale for $0.99 To celebrate the release, there's also an Amazon Giveaway going on. 5 Kindle ebooks up for grabs. Nothing to sign up for, just enter and see right away if you've won! Check out some of the fantastic early reviews it's getting: "The pleasures of Greek mythology mixed with the dark undercurrents of contemporary fantasy." -- Walter Jon Williams, New York Times bestselling author Colter crafts a nearly-flawless blend of action, description, dialogue, and internal monologue, suffusing each with vivid color... There are clever twists throughout the novel... Ty and Naia, in particular, both have moments of weakness, courage, fear, and determination against terrible odds, adding depth to the novel and making a solid climax more believable. --2018 BookLife Prize If you love suspense, fantasy, romance, and mythology, you will love this book! For a good read, you can't go wrong... -- Amazon reader "Perilous Gods, Book One," you say, "what is that about?" Okay, here's the scoop. (tl;dr version for those of you in a hurry: A set of stand-alone books built around the theme of mythologies from various countries) The longer version: I started writing this book some time ago out of my love for Greek mythology and when I finished, I got the idea to do a series of books about pantheons/mythologies from around the world. While Gods Sleep is book one in the way that China Mieville's Perdido Street Station is book one of his New Crobuzon series. In his case, a set of three books linked by the theme of place - New Crobuzon - and in my case, three (or so) books linked by the theme of mythology from various countries. Like the New Crobuzon series, each of mine will be stand-alones that can be read in any order, but if you like one, you're very likely to enjoy them all. "So what's next and when's it coming out?" I've already completed a near-final draft of book two - working title "A Stranger Path" - about the Mayan gods (and learned when I started writing it that the correct term is "Maya" for nearly all uses, and "Mayan" when referring to the language or sometimes to be more grammatically correct when using it as an adjective). Here's the wrinkle though - an agent in NY was interested enough to ask me for the full manuscript. If he takes the project on, then it goes on submission to editors, and if a large press editor takes it on, it might be awhile before that one sees daylight. If the agent decides my book doesn't fit his interests, then my plan is to make the book available as the follow-up to While Gods Sleep as soon as I can. "And book three?" Working on that now! Likely plot - Slavic gods but set in present day America. I'll keep you posted! And from L. Deni Colter?? Not to fear, a set of epic fantasy novels are planned and the 1st few chapters of book one are written. No timeline on them yet, though, until I see how other projects pan out.  Two days until book release! Available for pre-order for $0.99 I'll post more about this book and the planned series next week, after the official release, but it's exciting to see editorial and reader reviews starting to come in!
"The pleasures of Greek mythology mixed with the dark undercurrents of contemporary fantasy." -- Walter Jon Williams, New York Times bestselling author While Gods Sleep is dark, rich fantasy that treats ancient lore with a modern twist. --T. J. Berry, author of Space Unicorn Blues The mythological world is well-developed and enticing. I can't wait to read the next book in the series! -- Sherri Cook Woosley, author of Walking Through Fire "If you love suspense, fantasy, romance, and mythology, you will love this book!" --Amazon reader review I also placed the book in a contest run by BookLife, an arm of Publisher's Weekly. A review should be coming in at some point down the line (versus the evaluation below), but meanwhile here's the very favorable evaluation as posted on my BookLife page for While Gods Sleep. I'll know in just over a week if the score is high enough to advance to the quarter-finals of the contest. Plot/Idea: 8 out of 10 Originality: 8 out of 10 Prose: 9 out of 10 Character/Execution: 8 out of 10 Overall: 8.25 out of 10 Assessment: Plot: Familiar tropes throughout the book are either used with distinction or overturned. The webs of multiple alliances and enemies are complex enough to be interesting without becoming confusing to readers. Prose: Colter crafts a nearly-flawless blend of action, description, dialogue, and internal monologue, suffusing each with vivid color and not relying too heavily on any one form of composition. This writing style infuses reality and believability into the fantastic elements. Originality: There are clever twists throughout the novel. It’s also a welcome change that whatever element makes Ty, the lone mortal, special, it’s not immediately obvious to readers and he exhibits multiple flaws and failings, rather than him bringing a power or mortal technology into Erebus. Character Development: Every character in the novel possessed a realistic trajectory and backstory. Ty and Naia, in particular, both have moments of weakness, courage, fear, and determination against terrible odds, adding depth to the novel and making a solid climax more believable. If you're interested in seeing the high scoring books posted so far in the Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror category, that page is here.  Did you get a copy of The Halfblood War already? If so, I owe you a map. Shortly before going to press, it was decided, rightly, that my map was a bit too um... well let's just say my cover artist for While Gods Sleep made a far better one for the book. Feel free to contact me HERE and I'll send it to you. If you don't have the book yet, it should be added to the print and ebooks very soon.)  |
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Currently Reading: Too much. The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood Peasprout Chen, Future Legend... by Henry Lien Hugo and Nebula eligible short stories, novelettes, novellas and novels. Recently Watched: Bad Times at the El Royale Re-watching Being Human (American series and watched 1st 3 seasons of BBC series) Read so far this year: Every Heart a Doorway If you'd like to follow this blog, please click the RSS Feed below.
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