I’m really psyched for this novel, I think it’s easily the best I’ve written. And I’m hard at work on HotA 3, so the next volume is already coming down the pike. As for Blood of the Demonheart, Leonel Anglian now is on a path to find out the truth his father was exiled and died for, and alongside him as a companion is the last person he’d ever expect to see. Every writer knows writing blurbs is a painstaking science, and here’s my initial blurb for Blood of the Demonheart:
Leo Anglian and his companions never in a lifetime thought they’d end up here. Having discovered priceless relics, a long-forgotten truth of their past and the true history of Demarest, they are faced with an impossible task: sell these ancient relics without being killed by Awakened cult of demons, the Cantry Church that have branded them heretics, and the Twelve Divines of the Ancients that have returned to the world. Oh, and try and save the world from the encroaching tides of darkness, if they can get around to it. All while a war for the crown of Ellaria and the oncoming threat of the orcs returning to Demarest ferments around them. No big deal.
I can’t wait to hear from the readers. Happy reading y’all!
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 😀
Voiced by the incomparable Mike Jameson, I’m really proud to finally have the whole trilogy on audiobook (took me long enough to get around to doing it, lol) and I’m very pleased with his performance. Mike is an awesome guy and a pleasure to work with, it’s been so much fun watching him bring the characters to life.
I have some grand designs to try and voice my own audiobooks for some of my newer works–I’d love to give it a shot, provided I can voice-act well enough to live up to my standards. Anyway, I’ll keep you posted on future audiobook releases. Y’all are the best.
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.
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!
Man, it’s so beautiful. I LOVE MAPS.
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.
So I’ve been somewhat quiet ever since I launched Death in the Wastelandsand 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.
Art: Atec concept art. I do not own rights to this work.
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.
Art: Marc Sominetti “the Crown Conspiracy.” I do not own rights to this work.
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.
I’ve been working with Jeff Brown on the cover for Death in the Wastelands, American Rebirth Origins and I’m really psyched to say it’s completed.
Hell Yeah.
He’s a pretty special artist. If you want you can check him out here at Jeff Brown Graphics. It’s been fun seeing it come to life, but most exciting of it all is that it’s another milemarker closer to getting the book out there.
Getting the cover made is a big part of the story feeling like it’s coming to life. I’m editing it right now, and hopefully it’ll be ready by early Summer.
Man, I can’t wait. I think y’all are gonna like it.
I’m really excited to tell you that I’ve completed the first draft of Death in the Wastelands: American Rebirth Origins.
This book was so much fun to write. It’s something of a prequel/origin story for my trilogy. It can be read as a stand-alone, or for my fans it can be read simply as an unfolding of how Rob Huntington became “Hood”.
I still have tons of editing to do, but if I can bust my ass and get all this done I’m hoping to have it done by the early summer.
I can’t wait to get it out and published and into your hands. I think you guys are really gonna love this one.
First off, to those readers who took a second to write a review for my new American Rebirth Trilogy Box Set, thank you from the bottom of my heart. It is because of you, that this awesome news has happened:
I GOT A NEW BOOKBUB DEAL!!!!
I submitted the very Box Set Trilogy in question for a bookbub featured deal, figured it was worth a shot. I got my first bookbub deal last year for HOOD and it was incredible. I sold thousands of books in a day.
That’s how badass a Bookbub deal is.
AND I GOT ANOTHER ONE!
Thanks to those people who wrote the reviews. If I didn’t have reviews, I don’t get no deal. So thank you kindly.
The featured deal for the boxset will be on Nov. 29th-Dec 2nd. It’ll be on sale during that time.
It’s pretty baller. I’m psyched to get the box set rolling, it’s something I’m really proud of. Looking at all three books together just kinda made something click and I felt pretty happy while I was formatting it for release.
I’m trying not to flip out, but it’s pretty freaking awesome.
I know what you’re thinking… What’s different? Why do this? Do I have to pay for it?
You do not have to pay for it if you already own the HOOD eBook. Simply go into your Amazon, go to “Manage your Content and Devices”, and scroll until you see HOOD and press the UPDATE AVAILABLE button. Also, your kindle might already AUTO-update all books, if not you can set your kindle to auto-update under the SETTINGS tab once you’re in “Manage your Content and Devices”. If you’re using any of the other booksellers… I’m not sure how it works yet I will be updating it on other retailers shortly.
Why do this? In short, I merely wanted to take the time to improve the writing, make small changes, and just bring the overall quality of the book up. It’s not that I was unhappy with it, but it is my baby, and giving it some TLC was something I’ve wanted to do for awhile.
What’s New? So by in large the book is the same…I am not overhauling the story or anything. This is mostly just to make some small content changes but the overall story remains the same. Features:
About 1.5 New Chapters worth of content in the beginning of the book/Clearwater era! This is mostly just to set the stage more before the first plot point. I’m really excited about it though, I think it really beefs up the story.
Cleaned up the prose/diction and some of the internal/external dialogue throughout the book. Mostly little things, I wanted to trim down a little bit, replace a few others, just tighten up the prose and make it more readable. I think with a light touch of changing things, the book is vastly improved.
For those of you wondering, The ending remains the same, but I changed a few little elements throughout the book that I think make it a bit more powerful and give the reader some foreshadowing to the larger story at work throughout the series.
So yeah, I’m blessed that I have the luxury to be able to do this as a self-pub. One of the awesome perks. I love this book, and I wanted to really make sure it was as powerful and as meaningful to both myself and the readers as it possibly could be. Giving it a little love was well worth the time.
NOTE: If you look in the front matter of your eBook, and it does not read “Second Edition” in the title page, you do not yet have the updated version!
I’m really glad I did this. If you decide to go back and give it a re-read, please let me know what you think! The new content is in chapters 3 and 4.
Alright, now its back to all the thousand other things that require my attention.
I will be updating it on other retailers shortly.
Evan Pickering - Author 