I’m excited to announce that I’ve launched the Hymn of the Ancients Vol. 2 Kickstarter this past week, and it’s already 50% funded!
The novel is already near completion, just in the final editing stages at this point, and if you join the Kickstarter you’ll get a chance to get Blood of the Demonheart two months before amazon release!
I’m thrilled to be continuing the saga of Leo Anglian and his companions. If you want to more, click the link or check it out below!
Much love,
-Evan
It’s alive, It’s ALIVE!!!
(Oh and by the way… It’s my birthday! Wooooooooooo yeaaaaaaaa)
After a lot of prep and legwork, I’m so excited to share the launch of my first Kickstarter campaign as an author. Behold, feast thine eyes:
Hymn of the Ancients: Hardcover Kickstarter!
I’m really excited about this, hoping it blows up, but we’ll see how far it goes! I’m excited for Kickstarter as a publishing platform, and hoping my first foray will be a smashing success.
So if you’re interested, please sign up and back the campaign! You get an awesome epic fantasy story, I get a birthday present 😀
Much love all,
Evan
I’m really excited to share with you the cover of Book 2 of Hymn of the Ancients: Blood of the Demonheart! Feast your eyes on all its glory, courtesy of cover artist Jeff Brown. It took some time and workshopping but he had great ideas on where to go with it, and I’m really happy with how it came out. What do y’all think?
WRITING UPDATE: I’m glad to say I’m most of the way done with the first draft of Blood of the Demonheart. It’s taken a bit longer than I’d normally like with this novel, but I’d rather do it right than rush it out. I’m hoping to have it released by Spring of 2022.
In other news, I have been continuing to workshop and write both a new Post-Apocalyptic novel, and a piece of contemporary fiction as well. Those are still in the early stages, but I’ve written a number of chapters for both. I’m looking forward to continuing to work on those, because I’m a crazy person and I have too many ideas and not enough time to write them.
Much love,
-Evan
So I’ve been working on my next projects (Book 2 of HotA and a few others), but nonetheless I’ve been continuing to tinker with Hymn of the Ancients, mostly just correcting grammatical errors missed in the edits. But also I UPDATED THE NEW MAP OF DEMAREST!
I’ve been using this super fun mapmaking software called Wonderdraft, it took a little while to learn but it’s so much fun. Certainly gives me something fun/productive to do when I’m procrastinating writing anything.
I decided to go with the classing “paper” version of the map rather than the color one. I think it just looks classic and cleaner, and the other version came out a little dark in the paperback, so I updated that as well.
Anyway, I wanted to take a minute and thank everyone who’s been reading Hymn of the Ancients, and everyone who left a review or gave me feedback I really appreciate it! I know there were a few grammar errors that were missed in editing but I believed I’ve cleaned just about all of them up at this point. I’m really proud of this book, and it’s fun jumping into a new genre and seeing how it flies on its own like a bird leaping out of the nest.
I’ve got some more projects percolating, both fantasy and post-apoc, so stay tuned.
Much love y’all.
-Evan
So I’ve been somewhat quiet ever since I launched Death in the Wastelands and that hasn’t been on accident. I’ve been brainstorming, storyboarding, and eventually beginning a draft of my next project, one I’ve been wanting to do for a long, long time.
So I won’t bury the lede any deeper. I’m currently writing a fantasy novel entitled Hymn of the Ancients. And I am so, so incredibly excited about it.
Fantasy has long been my favorite genre ever since I was a kid. I grew up reading long fantasy series and playing fantasy video games, and frolicking in those imaginary worlds gave me untold joy. Now, finally, I’m writing in one. And it feels borderline euphoric. So without further adieu, a teaser:
Leonel Anglian is a treasure hunter. At least, that’s what he likes to call himself.
Trained as a warrior by his father, Leo’s is a noble and revered house in his home country of Ellaria. His grandfather was the most revered man in the nation outside of royalty, as he was a brilliant general who led the Rolanse Liberation war to defeat the orcish tribes and exile them from the continent.
But Leo did not want to follow in his family’s tradition of war and politics. He chose to be an excavator, one of many people who travel from bustling cities to long-forgotten landscapes in search of buried relics of the Ancients–items revered by church and common folk alike–so they can sell them to the highest bidder. Unfortunately though, his companions in the Stonewright Excavation Company are neither rich nor famous, and don’t get many chances to find real artifacts of value. So they pick over cleaned sites and sell what they can to barely scrape by, spending too much of what they earn on booze. But none of this bothers Leo. This is the life he wanted.
But Leo’s fortunes are about to change, and with it the peaceful life he enjoys. One day he discovers a completely untouched church of the ancients hidden underground near the border town of River Harrow. And within it, a relic worth more than most of the fortunes of the world: a magical tome written in the first age in a language seemingly no one can read.
A relic, he is about to realize, that is sought after by many who are willing to do anything to get it. His quiet life is about to change forever.
Meanwhile, across the sea, an exiled orc chieftain by the name of Kaejic has captured Leo’s father, Daleon Anglian, in his quest to restore honor to his own father, his tribe and his people. He has one goal left in mind: to cross the sea and hunt down the last member of the Anglian family. Daleon’s son, Leo. Because his death will pave the way for his people’s return to glory and their rightful place in their homeland.
Kaejic has seen it in his visions. And he will let nothing stop him.
So it is foretold. So it shall be.
Hymn of the Ancients, coming Summer 2020!
And for all you wondering about my post-apoc exploits, don’t sweat, I have more projects in the works in the American Rebirth universe as well! I have plenty more to write in that world! But this is a passion project of mine I’ve had for a long time, and I really cannot wait to get it out there. I’m just incredibly excited about it.
Much love, y’all.
–Evan Pickering
Evan Pickering - Author 