Of Bone And Thunder hits another milestone on the way to publication

May 01, 2014

Woot Woot! Just sent the revised manuscript back to my editor! And I actually hit the deadline (we’re all surprised I have to say this was the most enjoyable revising experience I’ve had to date. Every cut I made felt right and every addition flowed smoothly into place. I just might be getting the hang of this.

For those interested in some of the specs, the book now clocks in at around 165,000 words so it’s still a brick, but a leaner and meaner one. I estimate that I cut around 25,000 words and added 15,000 new ones. There was a lot of discussion about race and terms in the book and the use of a particularly derogatory word. In the end, raw and ugly won out because that best reflected the truth of things.

Big thanks to my editor, Ed Schlesinger, my agent, Don Maass, and my first readers Mike Evans, Deb Christerson, Robert Evans and Shelly Shapiro with additional input from Barbara Evans, Chris Schluep and Bill Takes. They made the novel better, and I am better for it.

Cheers!

Chris

First little teaser about Of Bone And Thunder

March 31, 2014

Amazon now have some copy up on their site on Of Bone And Thunder. I have to say, they summarized the book nicely:

Apocalypse Now meets The Lord of the Rings in a bold new fantasy from the acclaimed author of the Iron Elves trilogy, filled with “heroic action that keeps fans coming back” (Publishers Weekly).

Channeling the turbulent period of the Vietnam War and its ruthless pitting of ideologies, cultures, generations, and races against each other, military historian and acclaimed fantasy writer Chris Evans takes a daring new approach to the traditional world of sword and sorcery by thrusting it into a maelstrom of racial animus, drug use, rebellion, and a growing war that seems at once unwinnable and with no end in sight. In this thrilling epic, right and wrong, country and honor, freedom and sacrifice are all put to the ultimate test in the heart of a dark, bloody, otherworldly jungle.

In this strange, new world deep among the shadows under a triple-canopy jungle and plagued by dangers real and imagined, soldiers strive to fulfill a mission they don’t understand and are ill-equipped to carry out. And high above them, the heavy rush of wings slashing through the humid air herald a coming wave of death and destruction, and just possibly, salvation.

Spring Cleaning

March 29, 2014

I’m currently upending my apartment and cleaning it to within an inch of its life…mine, too. I spent one afternoon rounding up herds of dust bunnies. I went through my closets and donated a ton of clothes I no longer wear. I finally got rid of my old desk chair which had been sitting around for a couple of months after I bought a new one. And I got a new bookcase which meant stacks of books on the floor could finally move into a proper home.

I haven’t done this level of cleaning and organizing in a long time so it was definitely overdue. What’s really interesting to me is how much I am enjoying it. Who knew?

Not much to report on Of Bone And Thunder at the moment. When last I heard it was on track for an October 14 release date. I’ve been working on an idea for the next book and so far I’m happy with it although I’ve yet to settle on some pretty fundamental things like the race of the main character.

Cheers!

Chris

Title and release date for my next novel

March 17, 2014

My forthcoming novel will be called OF BONE AND THUNDER. It’s a fantasy set in a world with a medieval-like time frame, but with the mores, cultural upheaval, racial tensions, and drug use of the Vietnam War. Oh, and it has dragons, lots of dragons, which is something new for me. The release date is October 14, 2014, which is just under seven months away. I’ll be updating a lot as we get closer to publication including a big reveal of the cover.

Cheers!

Chris