It's been too long!

Alas, it has been a dog's age since I last updated my blog. Or my facebook page… Or my website… 

You get the idea.

That is not to say I’ve been idle. I’m nearly done an Ironshield novel and will have the cover ready to reveal shortly. The proper sequel to book 1, Iron Wrath, is also in the works, though it’s taking longer than I would like.

I’ve been just floored by the positivity Ironshield has received thus far. It might not seem like it, but your reviews and kind words are what keep writers like me going when the crippling self-doubt comes gnawing. Being an indie author who has to wedge my fiction in between a real job and the rest of life’s pesky distractions, I don’t know if I’d be able to keep publishing my books if I didn’t know that some of ya’ll like these weird stories of mine as much as I do.

And this brings me to what inspired today’s post. This year I entered Ironshield into Mark Lawrence’s Self-Published Fantasy Blog-Off. This is my second year as a contestant, having entered my debut novel, Bloodlight, in 2019’s competition. The event is a lot of fun and showcases so many books and authors we might otherwise not get the chance to hear about.

Ironshield, like most of the 300 novels entered each year, has been cut in round one. I have to say though, the review from Jennifer at Rockstarlit BookAsylum leaves me glad I entered. Would moving on to the semi-finals have been rad? Absolutely. But with a review like this, all I feel is gratitude and a sense of happy disbelief that not only do some readers really like my book, but that they can see in the story what I wanted to convey. When Jennifer brought up the Power Rangers while talking about one of Ironshield’s climactic battle scenes, it really hammered home to me the *ahem* power of books as a medium, and how far I’ve come on my journey.

While writing the particular bit mentioned, I cranked a particularly good cover of the Power Rangers theme, and felt that I was writing exactly the kind of story I knew I’d want to read, something that harkened to all of my best memories of beloved stories and gave me that sense of epic that I always craved in books and movies.

To quote the Hulk, I consider this an absolute win.

I don’t know where this strange journey of writing and self-publishing is going to take me. So early on, with only two books out, who’s to say whether this will be enough of a success to be sustainable five or ten years down the road? But right now I have to say, in spite of all the uncertainty in my life and the world in this crazy time, just knowing I’ve managed to entertain other readers like me -no matter how few of you there are- has made all the work and sacrifice worth it.

So thank you team Rockstarlit, thank you Mark Lawrence, thank you to every contestant and reader involved in SPFBO, and thank you to my readers past, present, and future.

And last but not least a huge congratulations to Scott Warren for making the semi-finals with The Dragon's Banker! The book looks fun and unique. I also only just realized he also wrote Vick's Vultures. Great stuff! 


Cheers to all,

Edward Nile

https://starlitbook.com/2020/07/23/spfbo-6-the-reaping-jen/