This year has largely sucked for me. I'm not a whiner, but...I could not catch a break. Was sick a ton, had two months lost into edit hell chasing after typos, faced down a huge writing block in September, had a family member move in with me for 3 months, Mom quit her job and had a cancer scare (she's fine), Dad retired and had a heart scare (he's fine too).
I even found my first gray hair a couple days ago. Merry fucking Christmas. Jury duty in a couple weeks. Shit in your champagne, New Years.
But that's all okay. 3 things that have happened this year make it okay.
One: the fans. You guys are pretty cool with the emails, tweets, and reviews. You've also gone from about 50 to over 500 strong in 2012. That's just...WOW. If THE KING HENRY TAPES sees the same growth in 2013...I could do this for a living and pump out a couple books a year for the rest of my life. That's been all I've wanted since I was twelve and...would be awesome.
Two: FM2 was finished six months ahead of schedule and despite all my fears that people might not realize it's a book about failure and instead call me a failure, nothing of the sort has manifested. Everyone seems to dig T-Bone, Vega, and the Coyotes. Huzzah.
Three: This December was my best writing month of the year and felt the best in years. It was...amazing. I felt an ease of writing and a joy I haven't felt since I came up with King Henry in the first place. I wrote 20k in 9 days, it's almost all I did. Before this December, with the block in September, I'd feared I'd lost something and would just have to plow through for the foreseeable future but...noooope. Raley still got it.
So recapping: Sucky Year, But Bright Future
Going forward where are we at?
According to the status updates FM3 is 63% finished. This is probably misleading. Not way misleading, but a little bit. When I first started writing it, I guessed it would be about 100k words long. Where I'm at now, with 10 chapters written and 7 left to go, I feel that's probably short. So if you see the status update hit 100% or even 101% that doesn't mean it's done, it will probably take 110k, maybe even 120k to finish this book.
Also where I'm at now, 10 chapters written and 7 left to go...FM3 is going to be awesome. I should probably downplay it but I'm just super excited about this one. This is the end of the First Act, where I can take the curtain and pull it back to give you a peek at what's really coming. If you only knew what I knew...
Release Date? Please? Raley? Please? If I'm a good boy or a good girl? Please with sugar on top!?!?!?
Not gonna do it...okay...sometime in 2013.
What else is going on?
I'm also working on KH Short 4, the Welf POV Short. This one is going to be a little thicker than the other shorts and will matter a bit more to the School Timeline than the usual slice-of-life type stuff I give you. The plan is for it to release a month before FM3 as a lead in, I might attach a sample chapter to it for FM3, not sure if the editing will be done or not by then.
KH Short 4 is going to be the last short story I put out for a few years. I'm very much a book focused author and limiting myself to 1/20th or 1/10th the pages really drives me crazy each time I do it.
Side projects?
"Foliage" has been shelved for now. I still think it's a really cool idea, a great secondary world, and a good IP, but maybe not made for the written word. Eventually if I ever have the pull it would make a good animated film, or even better a video game franchise. If you ever hear me talking about Trees, Chameleons, and Snails again you'll know it's made a comeback.
"Rockets" is still planned. I play with it, think about it, and do edits on what I've already written occasionally. I'll probably take a break from King Henry after FM3 and put a few more chapters into it. It's just a fun action-adventure, war story with lots of twist and turns. I call it Steam Opera because it's pretty much a mix between Steampunk and Space Opera. It and FM4 will probably be published around the same time period. Whether either of those books sneak their way into 2013, I can't be sure.
Conclusion
I hope you all are looking forward to this year as much as I am. I'm really excited about how these novels are working out and about how I'm starting to see real growth in the fanbase and in my sales. There will be plenty of King Henry Price to spice it up for you and maybe a little Boomworm too...
Pages
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Thursday, December 27, 2012
Thursday, December 6, 2012
Apple and Kobo for KH Short 3
FRIENDSHIP IS MADNESS has finally shown up on both Kobo and iTunes, still waiting on all the rest.
Linkage
Apple: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/friendship-is-madness/id581578865
Kobo: http://www.kobobooks.com/ebook/Friendship-is-Madness/book-igqyP9sFGEW-H6D8GGasmg/page1.html
Linkage
Apple: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/friendship-is-madness/id581578865
Kobo: http://www.kobobooks.com/ebook/Friendship-is-Madness/book-igqyP9sFGEW-H6D8GGasmg/page1.html
Monday, November 19, 2012
Friendship is Madness Released
Also known as KH Short 3, "Friendship is Madness" has been released on Amazon and Smashwords and will work it's way through all the Smashwords affiliates over the next couple weeks (Kobo, B&N, Sony, Apple, etc). I'll post links to it as available.
The cover is horribad, that's what makes it awesome. |
Together, King Henry Price, geomancer, and Tyson Bonnie, electromancer, have created artifacts of amazing magical power. They've watched each other's back while battling the Coyote Nation with flashy lightning bolts and . . . geomancer stuff. They might even admit . . . yeah, they're kind of friends now.
But not so long ago they met for the first time . . . and it's all Ceinwyn Dale's fault.Linkage:
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Friendship-Madness-Henry-Shorts-ebook/dp/B00A9QBFX6/
Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/256556
Hope you enjoy it, I'm still working hard on KH Short 4 and "Troubled Boomworm", they'll both come out some time next year.
Thursday, November 15, 2012
Sharing Is Good #2
From the Was-3-But-Now-4th-King-Henry-Short-Because-I-Finally-Corrected-The-Number-Scheme that I'm currently working on...I present to you the unbreakable logic of Victoria Welf:
“I understand the f-word, and I understand ball, but I don’t understand how they go together…unless he was talking about his testicles.”
Friday, November 2, 2012
Sharing is Good
Working on the 4th-but-going-to-be-published-3rd King Henry Short and I thought I'd share a line for a chuckle:
“This? This is very well behaved for King Henry. He hasn't even called anyone a fucktard yet.”
Monday, October 29, 2012
Amazon Japan
Now up in Amazon Japan: http://www.amazon.co.jp/dp/B005JX356O
Excuse me as I go watch some Naruto and play some Pokemon Black to celebrate the new foreign market for people to not buy my books in!
Excuse me as I go watch some Naruto and play some Pokemon Black to celebrate the new foreign market for people to not buy my books in!
Wednesday, October 17, 2012
Finally On Kobo
All my The King Henry Tapes books have finally been uploaded for sale on Kobo. Here's some direct links.
FANGED LADY (FREE): The Foul Mouth #1
CAT KILLING COYOTES: The Foul Mouth #2
LITTLE KING HENRY: King Henry Short #1
CONQUERING HERO: King Henry Short #2
Enjoy!
FANGED LADY (FREE): The Foul Mouth #1
CAT KILLING COYOTES: The Foul Mouth #2
LITTLE KING HENRY: King Henry Short #1
CONQUERING HERO: King Henry Short #2
Enjoy!
Friday, August 31, 2012
September Writing Update
There's not a whole lot to say about the last six or so months. After the publishing of FM2 and KH Short 2 by April I was completely worn out. 3 books, 3 shorts, and a fan fiction serial published within one year, totaling about 500k words of work in all...the tank was empty.
I've been resting up and taking a well deserved break through August. There's been some writing because I'm a writer and it's just what I do sometimes. Think 5k to 10k a month instead of the usual 15k-20k+. And none of the chaos or the crazy...no editing or formatting or all the extra it takes to be an Indie.
I've also spent that writing time away from King Henry for a bit, on a pair of writing experiments that might turn into stand alone novels. "Foliage" and "Rockets", codenames, not titles. "Foliage" is New Weird, no human characters...and it's crazy and violent and I promise I don't do LSD. Way crazy even for me. I'm really doubtful it will ever see the light of day given the weight of needed world-building exposition but...how are you going to know if a main character can be a Tree until you've tried it? "Rockets" I'm more hopeful for, it would be a fantasy novel set to WWI tech, a mix of Steampunk and Space Opera....so Steam Opera.
As for King Henry, I have written half of the School Story for FM3 so far and started one of the two shorts that will be releasing leading up to that book. One is from Tyson's POV about the first time he met King Henry in Fresno and the second is from Welf's POV the first day of second year. New teachers, new classes, etc.
So far, so good. I'm really excited about FM3, it's going to be longer, it's going to raise the stakes.
These are the five projects I plan to work on over the next year. Mostly King Henry, with some "Rockets", and maybe taking another crack at "Foliage" to see if I can fix the exposition problem. After that...don't make me think that long term please...
I've been resting up and taking a well deserved break through August. There's been some writing because I'm a writer and it's just what I do sometimes. Think 5k to 10k a month instead of the usual 15k-20k+. And none of the chaos or the crazy...no editing or formatting or all the extra it takes to be an Indie.
I've also spent that writing time away from King Henry for a bit, on a pair of writing experiments that might turn into stand alone novels. "Foliage" and "Rockets", codenames, not titles. "Foliage" is New Weird, no human characters...and it's crazy and violent and I promise I don't do LSD. Way crazy even for me. I'm really doubtful it will ever see the light of day given the weight of needed world-building exposition but...how are you going to know if a main character can be a Tree until you've tried it? "Rockets" I'm more hopeful for, it would be a fantasy novel set to WWI tech, a mix of Steampunk and Space Opera....so Steam Opera.
As for King Henry, I have written half of the School Story for FM3 so far and started one of the two shorts that will be releasing leading up to that book. One is from Tyson's POV about the first time he met King Henry in Fresno and the second is from Welf's POV the first day of second year. New teachers, new classes, etc.
So far, so good. I'm really excited about FM3, it's going to be longer, it's going to raise the stakes.
These are the five projects I plan to work on over the next year. Mostly King Henry, with some "Rockets", and maybe taking another crack at "Foliage" to see if I can fix the exposition problem. After that...don't make me think that long term please...
Sunday, August 19, 2012
Friday, July 27, 2012
Free the Foul Mouth
Just to say it one more time: FOUL MOUTH AND THE FANGED LADY IS FREE!
ehm...
Amazon.com: ON THE KINDLE
Apple: ON THE iPAD AND iPHONE AND iMANCYKNOWSWHATELSE
Barnes and Noble: ON THE NOOK
Smashwords: ON THE...WHATEVER IT IS THEY SELL TO, I'M NOT EXACTLY SURE...
Spread the word, yee disciples of the Foul Mouthed Price...
This is free...just FYI... |
Amazon.com: ON THE KINDLE
Apple: ON THE iPAD AND iPHONE AND iMANCYKNOWSWHATELSE
Barnes and Noble: ON THE NOOK
Smashwords: ON THE...WHATEVER IT IS THEY SELL TO, I'M NOT EXACTLY SURE...
Spread the word, yee disciples of the Foul Mouthed Price...
Friday, July 20, 2012
Back Up on Barnes and Noble!
Here's the links!
The Fanged Lady: Barnes and Noble Nook (FREE)
Cat Killing Coyotes: Barnes and Noble Nook (for the first time ever)
Little King Henry: Barnes and Noble Nook
Prime Pickings: Barnes and Noble Nook
The Betrothal: Barnes and Noble Nook
Try not to have too much fun.
The Fanged Lady: Barnes and Noble Nook (FREE)
Cat Killing Coyotes: Barnes and Noble Nook (for the first time ever)
Little King Henry: Barnes and Noble Nook
Prime Pickings: Barnes and Noble Nook
The Betrothal: Barnes and Noble Nook
Try not to have too much fun.
Tuesday, July 17, 2012
Back Up on Apple iTunes
Here's the links!
The Fanged Lady: Apple iTunes (FREE)
Cat Killing Coyotes: Apple iTunes (for the first time ever)
Little King Henry: Apple iTunes
Prime Pickings: Apple iTunes
The Betrothal: Apple iTunes
Still waiting on B&N, Kobo, and Sony, will let you lot know when they're all the way up.
The Fanged Lady: Apple iTunes (FREE)
Cat Killing Coyotes: Apple iTunes (for the first time ever)
Little King Henry: Apple iTunes
Prime Pickings: Apple iTunes
The Betrothal: Apple iTunes
Still waiting on B&N, Kobo, and Sony, will let you lot know when they're all the way up.
Thursday, June 28, 2012
Back Up on Smashwords
Here's the links!
The Fanged Lady: Smashwords (FREE)
Cat Killing Coyotes: Smashwords (for the first time ever)
Little King Henry: Smashwords
Prime Pickings: Smashwords
The Betrothal: Smashwords
Of course the big news is that THE FOUL MOUTH AND THE FANGED LADY is free and will be free at least for the rest of the year, maybe all the way through 2013 as well. I'm doing the whole "free sample and get them addicted" trick for the series. This isn't just a Smashwords thing and will also be true for their distribution network (Nook, iTunes, Sony, Kobo, etc). After it's up on those hopefully Amazon will price match and you King Henry fans that already exist can have some serious company.
Also, you might have noticed that the Conquering Hero short story is missing, it won't be cleared from Kindle Select until July 18, I'll post it then.
The Fanged Lady: Smashwords (FREE)
Cat Killing Coyotes: Smashwords (for the first time ever)
Little King Henry: Smashwords
Prime Pickings: Smashwords
The Betrothal: Smashwords
Of course the big news is that THE FOUL MOUTH AND THE FANGED LADY is free and will be free at least for the rest of the year, maybe all the way through 2013 as well. I'm doing the whole "free sample and get them addicted" trick for the series. This isn't just a Smashwords thing and will also be true for their distribution network (Nook, iTunes, Sony, Kobo, etc). After it's up on those hopefully Amazon will price match and you King Henry fans that already exist can have some serious company.
Also, you might have noticed that the Conquering Hero short story is missing, it won't be cleared from Kindle Select until July 18, I'll post it then.
Sunday, June 24, 2012
Transitions
Thought I'd let you lot know that I'll be moving away from Kindle Select and putting my books back out through Smashwords, Kobo, Nook, itunes, etc. over the next month or so. I've had some limited success with Select's free day system, but not nearly enough to keep myself tied to one source. Plus, not really fair to people with Kobos, Nooks, iPads, and the million other types of ereaders out there now. You all deserve to have King Henry Price curse at you too!
I'll throw up more posts as each site gets updated.
Oh, writing wise...still working on FM 3. Not so much with the typing as with the thinking. A lot of my process comes from me running scenes through my head over and over and the typing is a small part after the hard work is already done. This means I get to claim I'm "working" even if I'm playing Magic Duel of the Planeswalker 2013.
Now if they'd just release an update with a Blue/Black ultimate "you're a dick for discarding my hand and then my whole library" deck...
I'll throw up more posts as each site gets updated.
Oh, writing wise...still working on FM 3. Not so much with the typing as with the thinking. A lot of my process comes from me running scenes through my head over and over and the typing is a small part after the hard work is already done. This means I get to claim I'm "working" even if I'm playing Magic Duel of the Planeswalker 2013.
Now if they'd just release an update with a Blue/Black ultimate "you're a dick for discarding my hand and then my whole library" deck...
Monday, May 7, 2012
Montage Powers Activate!
Every once and a while I like to collect the reviews that have come out for my novels over the past few months and give the bloggers some credit.
THE FOUL MOUTH AND THE FANGED LADY
Bending the Spine (5 Stars)
Boekie's Book Reviews (5 Stars)
Offbeat Vagabond (5 Stars)
Paranormal Itch (4 Stars)
Books, Cats, Movies, and Coffee (4.5 Stars)
THE FOUL MOUTH AND THE CAT KILLING COYOTES
Offbeat Vagabond (5 Stars)
THE BETROTHAL
Gabbing About Books (5 Stars)
Cocktails and Books (3 Stars)
THE FOUL MOUTH AND THE FANGED LADY
Bending the Spine (5 Stars)
"Raley’s new world of mancer’s, who are people that have the ability to manipulate a certain element, is such a nice break from other paranormal and urban fantasy books I have read lately. I liked the rules Raley placed on his characters when it comes to the use of their powers. I also like that everything has a new twist, like vampires: they are not fangy, sparkly, or cloaked in black. No, vampires were all together new in The Foul Mouth and the Fanged Lady in a really cool but gross way."
Boekie's Book Reviews (5 Stars)
"If you’re looking for a FANSTATIC novel to read, look no further because The Foul Mouth and the Fanged Lady by Richard Raley is one that you will never be able to put down! Personally, I have never been a fan of vampire and fantasy books, but this one was far beyond any I have ever read. It wasn’t your average “Twilight, sparkly, romance” story, which, in my opinion was a good thing LOL"
Offbeat Vagabond (5 Stars)
"This book truly took me by surprise. It was so unique and hilarious. I laughed so hard, I had tears. I love the idea of King Henry recollecting all he knows through videotapes for the Asylum. This would make a very fun TV series. I would love that. It is action packed and surprisingly heartfelt at times."
Paranormal Itch (4 Stars)
"King Henry is bad ass and I would definitely love to read more about his world. Please go out and get this book...its awesome!"
Books, Cats, Movies, and Coffee (4.5 Stars)
"After a while the story really sucked me in and I read until 3AM to finish it. If you want to laugh until you cry (I did!) ...I can recommend this book to all Urban Fantasy fans out there."
THE FOUL MOUTH AND THE CAT KILLING COYOTES
Offbeat Vagabond (5 Stars)
"I am a huge fan of this series. It is so entertaining. Raley definitely has a way with words. I already have some quotes highlighted in this book I plan to live by. And again, the mancy idea is so fresh and cool. It is nice to have some fresh blood in the supernatural world. As I said with book 1, Raley's idea of vampires is so unique. And his take on Weres is just as original and fresh. I love it! So if you are looking for something truly unique and out of the box, start this series today. You won't regret it."
THE BETROTHAL
Gabbing About Books (5 Stars)
"OMG!!! Seriously this was a much needed read! I have never cracked up from a book so much! I was hooked from the first chapter and the rest of the book just continued to reel me in! I mean how can you not love footnotes, and FYI these footnotes are not your average foot notes which adds to the book!"
Cocktails and Books (3 Stars)
"This book is at times clever, witty and funny. However, there are a couple of literary devices the author employs that I found unnecessary. The use of footnotes is distracting but luckily seems to abate as the book goes on. The author also talks directly to the reader, something that could create a bond between writer and reader, or do just the opposite. 50% of the time I appreciate it, the other 50%, not so much. One of these literary devices would probably have been enough to give the novel a little originality but both were too much for me."
Thursday, April 26, 2012
The King Henry Tapes FAQ
Seeing as the second book in the series is now out, I figure you all have questions and instead of being barraged with emails, here's to expediency!
Q: What's with the Pulpanormal tag you gave to the series?
A: It's a catchy marketing gimmick but it also comes out of the Urban Fantasy and Paranormal genres being so beaten down by clones of clones of clones. My attempt to carve out my own niche in the nichey niche. The King Henry Tapes returns to the heart of Urban Fantasy and brings back some of that original spirit. It's pulp, it's got some New Weird blood running through it, but it doesn't go overboard. It's a healthy mix of the old creativity and the new vampire/were/fae/magic school stories that readers want. Hence Pulpanormal.
Q: So how many books are going to be in this series anyway?
A: If all goes to plan then there will be 12 books in the series. Actually this number is pretty concrete based on carrying "Session" numbering from book to book. If one did math--which I do not recommend--they'd find that at 8 sessions per...okay, I'm not doing math either.
Q: I did the math and it actually adds up to 13 books worth, so are you stupid or something?
A: Stupid or crafty, you'll have to decide when all this is over.
Q: Are you going to keep up the two storylines of "School" and "Shop" throughout the whole series?
A: Yes, however the "Shop" stories will gain prominence and complexity the further along we go.
Q: What's up with the mixed up mess of a prophecy at the end of "Fanged Lady"?
A: It's not a mess, it's just coded. Have fun.
Q: Where's my Annie B?
A: She'll return, keep reading.
Q: Are some of the classmates like Welf, Pocket, or Valentine going to pop up in the "Shop" story?
A: Yes!
Q: Where's Susan Price at?
A: Read and find out...
Q: How did you come up with King Henry?
A: There's a lot of influences for this series. Lost for narrative structure, any Tarantino film for absurdity, I went with a straight up Magic System that's Epic Fantasy in style, but the idea for King Henry actually came from a reread of Wheel of Time. Wait, what? Yeah, really. Wheel of Time has these magic items called ter'angreal that have all these weird uses and I thought...gee, a character that was using nothing but a bunch of ter'angreal would be interesting...
Q: But what about the obvious Harry Potter link?
A: Right, that was next. Over ten years and still America didn't have itself an American Wizard. We had Dresden but he has more in common with DnD than Potter. What really worked with Potter was that you begin young and he grows. That's what I wanted. Plus...that meant I got to write a School Story, which are the most absolutely addicting type of story in existence. (Just ask Buffy, Ender, Veronica Mars, Kvothe, Peter Parker, the X-Men, or Percy Jackson to name a few)
Also, outside of the wizard school aspect...Potter is such a classic Hero's Journey Goody Goody that I just had to mess it up with a tire-iron. No kid raised in a cupboard is going to turn out that nice. So I made the screwed-up version of how that character would have actually been. It helps that I live in a part of the United States with a high Redneck to Normal Person ratio and grew up with plenty of kids just like King Henry.
Q: So you're not like King Henry at all?
A: No, it's important for people to realize that just like Christian Bale isn't Batman (we think) no I'm not King Henry. He's a character I put on and kind of perform. We do have some similarities...um...um...well, I'm a 20-something white guy living in Fresno, there's that...
Q: Why name him "King Henry" of all things?
A: This starts with the vampires and the realization that I wanted the female vamp in the series to be a famous person from history. I thought about it for a few days... Cleopatra? Too old. Helen of Troy? Even older. Joan of Arc? No, but... Anne Boleyn? Bingo! Once Annie B was in then our hero had to be named King Henry.
Q: When does the next book come out?
A: When it comes out... My goal is one a year. But, I'm an Indie. So my writing time can hugely fluctuate. Cat Killing Coyotes was set for March 2012, then I got a huge respiratory infection and was in bed for four weeks so it got pushed back all the way to May. Then editing went insanely awesome (no rewrites) and we ended up back in March. I can't give you readers exact days, just guesses.
Plus, while King Henry is my current main focus I do have other ideas I like to pursue. I have SIX fully outlined stand-alone highly-awesome Fantasy novels that are just sitting in a queue waiting for me to write them. They deserve loving too.
So, best guess: one a year. Which means Book 3 = some time in 2013. Estimate. No promises. Don't chain me down!
If you're a King Henry fanatic your best bet to get more than one a year is spread the word and actually create more King Henry fanatics willing to buy the books and gnash their teeth along with you when I work on side projects.
If you have any other questions, post a comment already.
Q: What's with the Pulpanormal tag you gave to the series?
A: It's a catchy marketing gimmick but it also comes out of the Urban Fantasy and Paranormal genres being so beaten down by clones of clones of clones. My attempt to carve out my own niche in the nichey niche. The King Henry Tapes returns to the heart of Urban Fantasy and brings back some of that original spirit. It's pulp, it's got some New Weird blood running through it, but it doesn't go overboard. It's a healthy mix of the old creativity and the new vampire/were/fae/magic school stories that readers want. Hence Pulpanormal.
Q: So how many books are going to be in this series anyway?
A: If all goes to plan then there will be 12 books in the series. Actually this number is pretty concrete based on carrying "Session" numbering from book to book. If one did math--which I do not recommend--they'd find that at 8 sessions per...okay, I'm not doing math either.
Q: I did the math and it actually adds up to 13 books worth, so are you stupid or something?
A: Stupid or crafty, you'll have to decide when all this is over.
Q: Are you going to keep up the two storylines of "School" and "Shop" throughout the whole series?
A: Yes, however the "Shop" stories will gain prominence and complexity the further along we go.
Q: What's up with the mixed up mess of a prophecy at the end of "Fanged Lady"?
A: It's not a mess, it's just coded. Have fun.
Q: Where's my Annie B?
A: She'll return, keep reading.
Q: Are some of the classmates like Welf, Pocket, or Valentine going to pop up in the "Shop" story?
A: Yes!
Q: Where's Susan Price at?
A: Read and find out...
Q: How did you come up with King Henry?
A: There's a lot of influences for this series. Lost for narrative structure, any Tarantino film for absurdity, I went with a straight up Magic System that's Epic Fantasy in style, but the idea for King Henry actually came from a reread of Wheel of Time. Wait, what? Yeah, really. Wheel of Time has these magic items called ter'angreal that have all these weird uses and I thought...gee, a character that was using nothing but a bunch of ter'angreal would be interesting...
Q: But what about the obvious Harry Potter link?
A: Right, that was next. Over ten years and still America didn't have itself an American Wizard. We had Dresden but he has more in common with DnD than Potter. What really worked with Potter was that you begin young and he grows. That's what I wanted. Plus...that meant I got to write a School Story, which are the most absolutely addicting type of story in existence. (Just ask Buffy, Ender, Veronica Mars, Kvothe, Peter Parker, the X-Men, or Percy Jackson to name a few)
Also, outside of the wizard school aspect...Potter is such a classic Hero's Journey Goody Goody that I just had to mess it up with a tire-iron. No kid raised in a cupboard is going to turn out that nice. So I made the screwed-up version of how that character would have actually been. It helps that I live in a part of the United States with a high Redneck to Normal Person ratio and grew up with plenty of kids just like King Henry.
Q: So you're not like King Henry at all?
A: No, it's important for people to realize that just like Christian Bale isn't Batman (we think) no I'm not King Henry. He's a character I put on and kind of perform. We do have some similarities...um...um...well, I'm a 20-something white guy living in Fresno, there's that...
Q: Why name him "King Henry" of all things?
A: This starts with the vampires and the realization that I wanted the female vamp in the series to be a famous person from history. I thought about it for a few days... Cleopatra? Too old. Helen of Troy? Even older. Joan of Arc? No, but... Anne Boleyn? Bingo! Once Annie B was in then our hero had to be named King Henry.
Q: When does the next book come out?
A: When it comes out... My goal is one a year. But, I'm an Indie. So my writing time can hugely fluctuate. Cat Killing Coyotes was set for March 2012, then I got a huge respiratory infection and was in bed for four weeks so it got pushed back all the way to May. Then editing went insanely awesome (no rewrites) and we ended up back in March. I can't give you readers exact days, just guesses.
Plus, while King Henry is my current main focus I do have other ideas I like to pursue. I have SIX fully outlined stand-alone highly-awesome Fantasy novels that are just sitting in a queue waiting for me to write them. They deserve loving too.
So, best guess: one a year. Which means Book 3 = some time in 2013. Estimate. No promises. Don't chain me down!
If you're a King Henry fanatic your best bet to get more than one a year is spread the word and actually create more King Henry fanatics willing to buy the books and gnash their teeth along with you when I work on side projects.
If you have any other questions, post a comment already.
One Year and Three Books Later
It's almost been a full year since I officially joined the ranks of Indie-dom and began publishing digitally over Amazon's KDP. It's been tough, fun, terrifying, and sometimes even glorious. The BETROTHAL began it all for me on April 24, 2011, the first book I finished writing and one that probably would have never seen the light of day if KDP didn't come along.
The BETROTHAL ended up my experiment book for practically everything. Learning how to finish a project, editing a project, formatting a project, making a cover, putting it through the system, seeing it utterly bomb and not realizing for a few months that hey, you need to tell people about it and get people to review it, silly writer.
Doing promo work has been the largest task with the biggest learning curve over the year. It's not fun, it's not what I like. I'm a mad scientist in his lab, not a salesman. It's not in my personality. But still, for my pretties I do try. Book bloggers remain the bane of my existence. Nice ladies all (99% of book bloggers are female...probably because they kill the males after mating with them) but the entire system is chaotic...I felt my small bit of German DNA calling for codes, standardization, and order as I looked, searched, and hunted for review policies. It has a lot in common with trying to decipher forgotten languages, especially if the blogger in question has a thing for curly fonts.
The EATERS began in June 2011 and I must bashfully say hasn't moved much yet but I promise I will get to it eventually...
This is because of THE KING HENRY TAPES, the first book releasing in September 2011 and the second March 2012. My Urban Fantasy series is still struggling to get its name out in a crowded, if insanely popular, genre, but has received highly positive marks from everyone who has read it. I know eventually people will find it and they will buy it and they will devour every novel I put out with King Henry Price in it over the next decade...but waiting...knowing you're sitting on the next big thing...it can be agonizing.
Looking forward to the next year in my Indie career it's going to be different. Three novels in one year...that won't be happening for Year Two. I've got nothing sitting here to edit or ready for publication. The table I print and stack finished chapters on is completely bare. This year will be about writing. About starting and finishing my next round of novels and stories.
Because I'm still as hungry as when I started this...and I'm not stopping for nothing.
The BETROTHAL ended up my experiment book for practically everything. Learning how to finish a project, editing a project, formatting a project, making a cover, putting it through the system, seeing it utterly bomb and not realizing for a few months that hey, you need to tell people about it and get people to review it, silly writer.
Doing promo work has been the largest task with the biggest learning curve over the year. It's not fun, it's not what I like. I'm a mad scientist in his lab, not a salesman. It's not in my personality. But still, for my pretties I do try. Book bloggers remain the bane of my existence. Nice ladies all (99% of book bloggers are female...probably because they kill the males after mating with them) but the entire system is chaotic...I felt my small bit of German DNA calling for codes, standardization, and order as I looked, searched, and hunted for review policies. It has a lot in common with trying to decipher forgotten languages, especially if the blogger in question has a thing for curly fonts.
The EATERS began in June 2011 and I must bashfully say hasn't moved much yet but I promise I will get to it eventually...
This is because of THE KING HENRY TAPES, the first book releasing in September 2011 and the second March 2012. My Urban Fantasy series is still struggling to get its name out in a crowded, if insanely popular, genre, but has received highly positive marks from everyone who has read it. I know eventually people will find it and they will buy it and they will devour every novel I put out with King Henry Price in it over the next decade...but waiting...knowing you're sitting on the next big thing...it can be agonizing.
Looking forward to the next year in my Indie career it's going to be different. Three novels in one year...that won't be happening for Year Two. I've got nothing sitting here to edit or ready for publication. The table I print and stack finished chapters on is completely bare. This year will be about writing. About starting and finishing my next round of novels and stories.
Because I'm still as hungry as when I started this...and I'm not stopping for nothing.
Friday, April 20, 2012
Brought To You By the Letter "F" -- May 1st
Thursday, April 19, 2012
Conquering Hero Releases
"Conquering Hero" is a short story set in the King Henry Tapes world. It takes place after the School Story of "Cat Killing Coyotes" and revolves around December Evaluations. Nice little slice of life story, told in third-person, and using a couple of POVs we don't get to see in KHT.
If you love all things King Henry, you'll love this as well. If Welf is your favorite character...first of all, what is wrong with you? Second...your guy's pride might be getting stomped on a bit.
Conquering Hero by Richard Raley at Amazon
Monday, March 12, 2012
Tomorrow is the Day
King Henry Price, honored and learned graduate of the Institution of Elements, has settled back into his normal life, running his Artificer shop, creating new designs, selling old ones, and ignoring the occasional explosion when testing goes haywire. He's been minding his own business...only when he happens across a bunch of bullies picking on a woman, he can't resist the opportunity to smash faces, can he?The Foul Mouth and the Cat Killing Coyotes will be released officially tomorrow, March 13th (I spit on you, bad luck numbers), though you'll probably be able to grab it later today if you check for it, since who knows how long Amazon's KDP will have something "in review" or not. Probably not even the designers.
King Henry never expected the bullies would be part of the Coyote Nation, he never expected that he could be starting a war, and he surely never expected one of his lost sisters would be on the other side.
Jordan Josephine Price...found you at last.
There's also some price changes going about. The Foul Mouth and the Fanged Lady is going to be at 99 cents for awhile to try to attract every possible reader and...it will be having 4 free days from the 13th to the 16th!
Now I need to write the third one...
Wednesday, February 29, 2012
Cat Killing Coyotes: The First Sentence
Now that we're almost into March and the release of the book is fast approaching, I suppose it is time for me to start the promo, pump up, pimping posts again.
So here we go...first sentence of The Foul Mouth and the Cat Killing Coyotes:
Release date is still moving around, think early April at the latest!
So here we go...first sentence of The Foul Mouth and the Cat Killing Coyotes:
There are days when I wake up in the morning and I just want to kill someone.
Release date is still moving around, think early April at the latest!
Monday, February 20, 2012
New Covers for FOUL MOUTH...again
It took four versions for me to end up with a BETROTHAL cover I can tolerate until I'm making the big bucks and can pay for true awesomeness on the artist front, so I suppose it's not really a surprise that I'm now on attempt number four with the FOUL MOUTH books as well. This time, I actually like what I've done and I think they'll hold in there until the coming millions of readers actually find the series.
Fanged Lady:
Little King Henry:
We'll launch the Cat Killing Coyotes cover next month sometime in the pre-release build up.
Tuesday, February 14, 2012
Foul Mouth Second Drafts
All writers have different methods to get to the end of the road. For me, the second draft is all about readying the novel for the rest of the process. It's about coming back to the work with fresh eyes after a break, looking at it objectively, marking the parts where there can be additions, marking the parts that need rewrites, and removing the junk a first draft will always have.
- Reverse Readthrough - I don't write Foul Mouth books chapter to chapter. I write the "school" story first, then the "shop" story, and only mix them later. When I start editing I put the emphasis backwards, starting with "shop" then going through "school", to try to balance the focus. Usually this readthrough has some typos fixes, the occasional inspirational or clarifying sentence, but nothing large or earth-shattering.
- Passivity - probably the most important part of editing, this is a word by word search of certain phrases that hold back and create a flat boring read. I'm looking for "was", "wasn't", "weren't", "were".
- Words That Suck - also a word by word search but here it's just my personal pet peeves, the words that the writing mind uses as a crutch but the editing mind should nix. I don't like "thing", "obvious(ly)", "sudden(ly)", "because", "no doubt", "well", "stare", "smile", "mumble", etc.
- "That" Edit - one word. Often worthless and unneeded, get it out of there.
- Character Edit - For "Fanged Lady" this was focused on Annie B, only her scenes, trying to focus on her dialogue and focus on the scenes from her point of view. For "Cat Killing Coyotes" it will be T-Bone.
- Chapter-By-Chapter Edit - The first time I get to read the novel as the reader would, chapter to chapter, switching from "school" to "shop". Here's where I mark addition places and rewrites for the third draft, probably more typo fixes too.
Wednesday, February 1, 2012
Foul Mouth 2's First Draft is Done
Talk about a weight off my shoulders. Of course I had BETROTHAL even before I got around to FOUL MOUTH, so it's not strictly the sophomore jinx, but this was a tough one. Mostly because so much of what's going on is set up work for the later novels in the series and the contained plots keep blowing up in our hero's face. How does one write a novel about mistakes and failure without the novel itself becoming a failure? It's a conundrum, but one I think solved. There's a lot of great scenes in this one. Maybe thee outright funniest scene I've written so far in my writing career.
Next up will be three to four months of editing. Maybe one rewrite on a chapter. Nothing huge. Which means...May? I guess. Hard to have a firm release date as an Indie.
The Foul Mouth and the Cat Killing Coyotes, coming soon to a Kindle near you.
Next up will be three to four months of editing. Maybe one rewrite on a chapter. Nothing huge. Which means...May? I guess. Hard to have a firm release date as an Indie.
The Foul Mouth and the Cat Killing Coyotes, coming soon to a Kindle near you.