For Whom the Bell Trolls Free on Kindle

I’m back from Balticon, my favorite place to be over Memorial Day Weekend. I did a reading from Knight of the Broken Table and my novella Apocalypse Knot. I was on four panels and did a presentation which had people stopping by my table over the next few days. Of the panels. I moderated three of them, including with both Guests of Honors: John Scalzi on “Lessons Learned for SF and fantasy;”.and with author Adam Stemple on "Rewriting." Adam is both an author and musician and is the son of master storyteller Jane Yolen who was originally scheduled as a Guest of Honor, but had to cancel for health reasons.

My panels also included "Plotters versus Pantsers," "Holy Stuff," where we talked about use of religion in the genre and discussed pitfalls and concerns about that—or whether inventing a religion might be easier to deal with than having real religions depicted. My last panel was “Small Press or Self-Publish,” which featured Shahid Mahud, publisher of Arcmanor Press and was moderated by literary agent Joshua Bilmes (Founder and President of the Jabberwocky Agency). Joshue represents Brandon Sanderson and a long list of best-selling writers. Along with myself as the Indy authors on the panel were Doc Coleman, and Tris Lawrence. We presented our publishing process and Shahid shared what his press and the best of the small presses can offer.

What I like most about Balticon is talking with people — other authors and Sci Fi and fantasy fans. Also, I love catching up with people I haven’t seen in a while. I had wonderful conversations with people in the consuite, following up on conversations from the panels and sharing thoughts on publishing and stories. That helped make my weekend.

But networking there also has made me take a second look about something I've been considering.

I’v been thinking about doing my first Kickstarter and one author I have a lot of respect for expressed concern at whose model I intended to follow. So, he suggested I learn more by joining a Kickstarter Facebook Group. That’s something I now intend to do before going forward. I hadn’t realized that group existed. I’m finishing up the third book in the Knights Tower Series and the idea of kickstarting it has looked attractive—but not having run one before, learning lessons from those who are doing it—the advice of joining that FB group, was really good.

For the next few days, For Whom the Bell Trolls, Book 1 of the Hands of the Highmage Series (first of four books currently) is free on Kindle for the next few days. It’s the story of an unhappy princess, who mourning the loss of the father she’s never known, stumbles on the palace’s magical library. When a book jumps into her hands, not only is her fate sealed but her world may never be the same. You see, the book is about a pair of trolls on a quest—yes, really, on a quest. They’re seeking her father. She reads on…

Whether you are familiar with my Highmage’s Plight Series or not (or my Dare2Believe Series), For Whom the Bell Trolls is a bit like The Neverending Story, one of my favorite books and even movies. The making of the cover, set to music, is also linked to my website. I really love this book, so don’t miss this chance to get the book on Kindle for free!

For Whom the Bell Trolls is also being featured through June 5 in Free Fantasy Promo, directing those interested to the participating author websites, featuring all their free books along with my book.

Dragon’s Curse, a related novella — a prequel to For Whom the Bell Trolls is featured in Free Science Fiction and Fantasy eBooks this month.

Dare to Believe,

D.H.