The Red Poet is Here!
July 1, 2022 Leave a comment
Tikking and Tokking
June 20, 2022 Leave a comment
So, in the build up to the release of The Red Poet, I’ve been looking into the many marketing opportunities I’ve missed over the last few years, and one of the things I’ve stumbled across is BookTok. Now, I’m sure I’m doing this completely wrong at the moment, but I’m posting videos of things that I think are cool there. Everything so far is about The Age of Magic series and the upcoming release of The Red Poet.
Here are some examples
I’m hoping to find time to post at least one new video a week on TikTok about the Age of Magic series until the release of The Red Poet on July 1, 2022. So, if you want to stay tuned, check me out on TikTok.
Audiobook Giveaways
May 20, 2022 Leave a comment
In celebration of the release of The Red Poet (Book 4 in the Age of Magic series), I’m giving away 10 audiobooks each of the first three books in the series. So, if you haven’t tuned in to Adam Gold’s amazing narration of The People’s Necromancer, The Dark Paladin, or The Dragon Prince, be sure to click on one of the following and sign up. I plan to check the lists on Monday, use a random number generator, and pick the 10 lucky winners from each list.
Did you miss The Red Poet Preorder (Comes out July 1st)?
How’s the Queen’s Consort (Book 5) Coming?
Very well. The major outlining is complete, and drafting has started. Three chapters in. I plan to post an article soon (likely after The Red Poet releases) to discuss who The Queen’s Consort is, what the book is about, and what you can expect over the remaining three books in the series.
The Red Poet Preorder
May 1, 2022 Leave a comment
The Red Poet is nearing completion. There is one more beta reader left before the story is sent to the formatter. From there, it will be uploaded to Amazon and other major ebook distributors. Shortly after, you’ll have paperbacks available. I’m going to work to make both formats available on July 1, 2022.
Amazon Preorder (Goes live on July 1, 2022)
Audiobooks for The Red Poet and The Queen’s Consort
I’ve spoken with Adam Gold, the narrator of the first 3 books, and he’s currently already booked solid until October of 2023. This means the audiobooks for Book 4 and Book 5 will not arrive until very late 2023 or early 2024, depending on how long it takes Adam to get through the production/execution process. I will do everything in my power to get both books out in electronic, paperback, and audiobook versions as soon as possible.
The Extra Good News: The Queen’s Consort is Coming This Year
I have the core story outlined. For me, outlines are very detailed. I believe this particular outline is the longest yet, at 40 chapters and 21,000 words. I have included enough detail to not only carry the story through the twists and turns of The Queen’s Consort but also into and through the final two books in the series. I expect The Queen’s Consort to be released by the holiday season in 2022.
Audiobook Giveaways Coming
I haven’t emailed the mailing list in a long time (3 years). It’s time I changed that. I’ll be giving away audiobook copies of each Age of Magic book (The People’s Necromancer, The Dark Paladin, and The Dragon Prince) in the next email. So, if you haven’t signed up yet for the mailing list, and you still don’t have one of the audiobooks, get that remedied soon!
When, where, and why?
April 16, 2022 Leave a comment
To those who have persevered in their requests for more information on the Age of Magic series and the lull in updates and new novels, I wanted to provide an update. These past few years have been a stressful period of my life. I’ve taken time away from writing and especially publishing, but the Age of Magic is still a finished story (or at least a complex chain of connected major and minor events) in my head that needs to be committed to paper. If not for you all, then for me. So, why haven’t I finished this yet? Why haven’t you gotten what you have been asking for?
About me and where I’m at
When I started the series, I was in a somewhat comfortable position. I was working in academia as a senior scientist, and I had retirement, medical care, and various amenities to distract me. Though my job and the responsibilities of that job were demanding, I had plenty of time to think, and I had a job that was challenging in some ways but not in ways that demanded all of my faculties–especially those related to distributed, complex systems. And that interest in emergent systems and ordered chaos with thousands of interleaving story lines is something that writing books like those in The Primal Patterns series and The Age of Magic helped satiate.
I am a risk taking person. I was presented with some opportunities that would challenge me in ways that my positions in academia did not, and at the time, and really in multiple new opportunities since, I took a chance on people and ideas and business ventures that did and did not work out in ways that I expected. Some of those were failures. Some, especially more recent ones, were successes. The stress of some of these was so all-encompassing, and my empathy for the people I led and the pain of growth and change was such that I was totally distracted and committed to pushing further along those lines.
And as I set about pursuing these opportunities with full gusto, my focus on publishing and serving those of you with interest in these series waned. I’ve changed cities, multiple times. I’ve changed jobs and titles. I now find myself in a new city, Sin City–Las Vegas, with a new mandate and responsibilities which I have pursued like I pursue most things. And I think it’s time, if I can allow myself to retool and refocus on publishing, that I finish this series–the Age of Magic–and the stories of The Red Poet, the Queen’s Consort, The Blood Chief, and the Holy One.
Progress and Anti-Progress
The Red Poet, Book 4, has had more edits from myself than it probably should, and stretched so far out across so many years, that every time I move through it, it feels like I’m further from finishing than I was at the start of the last edit. This is an illusion and one that every writer has experience with. If publishing were my sole source of income or indeed if it had ever been a large part of my income, then I’m sure I would have pushed past it. However, there are other stories in my head, and these compete with my completionist and flawed perfectionist nature, as well as those same tendencies in programming, building, and engineering products and leading dozens of people whose incomes and family well being have relied upon me (for better or worse).
My need to plan out all of the intertwining story lines, morals, and even fables within my series causes hyper focus on edits and details that lengthen the process of publishing. As a hobby and not full time focus, this can be poisonous to progress. I’ve decided to take inspiration from other fantasy authors, much more accomplished and varied in talents than I am, in hopes to move things forward. Namely, I’m going to plan to work through the series, focus less on perfection, and get this series out of my head and into completion, rather than trying to wait for life to calm down or a host of excuses that have completely stopped the editing process at times.
Timeline on getting readers what they want
The Red Poet needs to be done this year. My only question is will I stick to finishing book 5 (The Queen’s Consort) this year. There are things you can do to help. First, you can bug me in email (rexjameson @ gmail) or comments here to make sure that you’re on my mind, and that you want this series done. Second, you can offer to beta read. The latter requires constructive criticism when it’s necessary, so if you offer to do this, you’d have to agree to be blunt when hard truths need to be said about the text. The best beta readers can honestly tell me “this doesn’t seem like something the character would do”. I may disagree with you, but on more than one occasion, beta readers have been right, and I’ve changed the story for them. There are certain decisions, e.g., removing the gruesome death of Clayton from the first book as it seemed unnecessary to the plot and was… well gruesome, that I have gone with and disagree with to this day. However, I listen to beta readers, and everyone benefits from their willingness to disagree with and constructively give feedback to authors like me. I will be reaching out to one or two who have helped in the past, but they may no longer be interested in reading the series. That happens. Perhaps you can help me complete the series in a way that will best serve you all, the readers.
Audiobook Milestone (1000 sales)
May 4, 2019 4 Comments
I have two events to celebrate in terms of Audiobooks with the Age of Magic series. First, the Dragon Prince audiobook production has finished and is in the QA process at ACX, which is out of Adam Gold’s and my hands. The Dragon Prince Audiobook should be available soon (likely within next 5-10 days). Second, I’m happy to announce that as of today, over 1,000 audiobook copies of The People’s Necromancer and The Dark Paladin paladin have been downloaded. Additionally, The People’s Necromancer has a 4.3 rating with 107 reviews and The Dark Paladin has a 4.8 rating with 32 ratings. These are the first two audiobooks I’ve produced, and I couldn’t be happier with the results (and it seems like fans are happy too!!)
In celebration of both of these events, I will be giving away 20 audiobook codes in my newsletter. The email will go out sometime after The Dragon Prince is available in audiobook form on Amazon. I don’t know when that will be, but expect the email soon. If you haven’t signed up for the newsletter yet, you can sign up here.
And if you haven’t received a newsletter from me, make sure your email provider isn’t marking messages from rex@rex-jameson.com as spam or putting it in your Promotions tabs on Gmail (or just make sure you check that Promotions tab).
Looking for the audiobooks for the first two books on Audible? Here are some links:
I’ll let you guys know when The Dragon Prince becomes available!
The Nations of Nirendia So Far (Book 3)
March 30, 2019 Leave a comment
The Age of Magic focuses on events on a world called Nirendia, but really, we’ve only seen the innerworkings of two of the 27 active kingdoms that I’m aware of so far. Let’s go over the various sovereign nations that you’ll see by the end of Book 3, The Dragon Prince, which finally releases at the end of this month.
What Nations are in the Surdel Region?
The main sovereign people here are of course the humans of the Kingdom of Surdel, but within the map we see here are four nations north of the Small Sea (and I’m lumping the orc groups into one nation because when you leave orcs to their own devices they fracture into their own groups all the time until Bloodhand comes back to reclaim his territory). The oldest nation here is the Etyria Empire, home of the dark elves and Prince Jayden’s royal family. It’s at least 50,000 years old, but because of the demon invasion below Surdel, only one city remains: Uxmal. The area covered by the Nomintaur Forest is the domain of the wood elves under King Calenanna and defended by the fierce Captain Liritmear. Technically, the paladins at Mount Godun are an autonomous nation that has been denied its citizenship to the Kingdom of Surdel due to events at the dark elven city of Xhonia some 500 years ago.
What Nations are in the Visanth Region?
The Visanth Region is dominated by The Visanth Empire. Two thousand years ago, it was actually called the Visanth Kingdom, but the Rasalased family renamed its holdings the Visanth Empire after it conquered several neighboring kingdoms along the west coast of the Great Ocean and made them into vassal states. You haven’t seen these states yet, but the Visanth Empire has long been interested in expanding its holdings, including ambitions on Surdel, with raids into the Surdel mainland with increasing frequency over the past few hundred years.
Up until 1,000 years ago, a dark elven nation also existed within the confines of the region now dominated by the Visanth Empire. Whereas the northern dark elven empire was decimated by demons, the dark elven nation of Harenyadae (“Southern Shadow” in the Elven Tongue) was destroyed by the Visanth Empire in a surprise attack west of Scythica. According to the histories in Visanth, the dark elves attacked the Visanthi people. However, several tomes in the Kingarth Library mention that homed pigeons had been sent to the south from the Etyria Empire repeatedly requesting aid after the fall of Shamat 2,000 years ago and the disappearance of Selenor the Seer, who was presumed to have died at Shamat.
The Eytria Empire condemned the action and claimed the massacred people were a relief force of men, women, and children to help with the fight against the demons in the north. The Visanth Empire didn’t believe in demons and instead sensed weakness. They slaughtered the inhabitants of Suwenga and Kristil within five months of the battle. The pikemen then assaulted Halispata and Zeligawna before moving north to take out Velenztu and Vaerua. During the siege of Zeligawna, a group of human sympathizers from Corellin protested the actions, claiming the dark elves were good neighbors and traders. The army broke up the protests and sent the sympathizers into the southern desert, where they were labeled rebels and separatists by the Visanth Empire under the name “Crelloni”, itself a jumbling of the name of the Corellin protestors. Because of its remoteness, Gelzvani didn’t fall until 2 years after the battle of Scythica. The last embassy of the Etyria Empire closed in Scythica shortly after the fall of Gelzvani, and no dark elf has been seen in the Visanth Empire since (over 1,000 years).
Anyway, I thought it would be fun to lay out some of the history of the series so far and the people who populate it. Maybe I’ll follow this up with some recaps of the histories that you can read about so far in the series. In truth, the history that will be told in this series goes back to the creation of the fantasy universe, back when Mekadesh was born, many billions of years ago. But we’ll also dive into the time of Sven (10,000-15,000 years ago), and the first contact between Selenor the Seer and Mekadesh (20,000 years ago). The majority of the series will concentrate on this more recent period (20,000 years ago until now), but several important artifacts (e.g., The Eye of Maddox and the Arm of Maddox) arrived on Nirendia several million years ago, forming the craters you can see in Surdel just north of the Small Sea and forming the valley where all of the nations of Surdel thrive.
All part of the arc of the series! More to come. Stay tuned!
The Dragon Prince Preorder
February 8, 2019 Leave a comment
The Dragon Prince is up on most outlets for preorder in eBook. Paperbacks and audiobooks are expected to be released by March 31st, release day for the third novel in The Age of Magic series.
Outlining is mostly complete for The Red Poet, the Fourth Book. Initial drafting should start this month.
Get ready for a wild ride!
Catch up on the series:
The People’s Necromancer | The Dark Paladin
About the Dragon Prince
A father murdered. An empire imperiled. A son coming for vengeance.
King Jofka Rasalased of the Visanth Empire is a man who grabs life by the horns. No woman is safe from his allure. No kingdom can intimidate him. The empire prospers in his shadow… until an assassin’s blade ends the reign of the ambitious, charismatic king.
Prince Jandhar finds his dying father and the same deadly knife at his own throat. The killer utters a warning that the prince will never heed. As the assassin leaves, the Kingdom of Surdel cheers at an empire retreating, but Visanth is not a nation in decline. It is a snake recoiling.
The prince looks for a weapon to strike back at the kingdom across the sea. He finds inspiration in the volatile, winged beasts of the Dragongrounds. If he can reverse a god’s curse, the dragon riders of old may return.
Years later, Surdel burns. Undead roam the southern lands and feed on the living. A lord protector is made fiendish by the Demon Lord Orcus. Together, the master and his apprentice decimate the besieged citizens of the Croft protectorate. In the north, the Necromancer Ashton Jeraldson searches for an artifact that might turn the tide of the demon invasion. Around him, the forces of the Holy One ready themselves for the arrival of the Prince of Demons. Elves and orcs come to Croft Keep to crush the ghoulish invaders and fight a demon lord, just as a strange man from a foreign land steps onto the northern shores of the Small Sea.
The murder of King Jofka has gone unanswered for long enough. The response is finally coming, and the world will tremble at the war cry of the Dragon Prince and the might of the Visanth Empire!
Update: Dragon Prince
February 1, 2019 Leave a comment
I’m still in the process of editing the story of Prince Jandhar of the Visanth Empire. Lots of intense action in this one, and because of how many characters that are involved in the core battles, it can potentially be confusing, so lots of time is being spent in rereads/rewrites to make things clear. Still, things are looking good. I’ll be passing this off to an editor at the end of this week. He’s ready and waiting, and I just need to deliver.
There’s a lot I can say about this book, but it’s best to let the contents surprise you. However, I’ll give you a bit of a tease.
If you want a bigger glimpse of the wood elves and orcs, you’re going to get that. You’ll get even more of a view into the wood elves in the next book The Red Poet. If you want to experience a demon lord who can raise the undead in a knock-down, drag-out fight with creatures that can fly above him and incinerate his minions as fast as he can create them, you’ll definitely get that too. If you think anyone in this series is invincible, though, think again. It’s only going to get more chaotic as the Age of Magic proceeds.
The Dragon Prince is expected to hit in late March. I’ll put up a preorder once I hear back from initial editor and betas about whether or not it’s ready.
Audiobook Winners
August 15, 2018 Leave a comment
So, the entries are in, and three winners have been selected for an Audible Code for a free audiobook copy of The People’s Necromancer. Big congratulations go out to Em, Jen, and Penny! I’ll be emailing you with your codes later today.
Thanks to everyone for entering, and if you don’t know what I’m talking about, then you probably haven’t joined my newsletter. If you thought you did but didn’t see the giveaway notification on Sunday/Monday, check your spam filters/box for rex@rexjameson.com. You’ll need to unspamify me to get messages on contests, giveaways, new releases, etc.!
For those who signed up to be ARC readers for The Dragon Prince, things are moving along. I’m hoping to get drafting wrapped up in the next couple of weeks–depending on my workload. The robots aren’t going to create and program themselves… at least… not yet! As soon as I get the drafting done and a few editing passes, I’ll let you know. If you are as surprised about the ARC reader mention as the giveaway, well… you’re not on the mailing list then! Get to it! How else are you going to get contest and insider scoop stuff?!
The Dark Paladin audiobook recording is moving along. We’re hoping to release in September. Fingers crossed! Here’s Chapter 1.