Blog Archive

View My Stats
Friday, June 17, 2011

THE INDIE DAY GIVEAWAY FOLLOWUP: M.R. Mathias Discusses the Titles included in the Indie Day Giveaway...

On Friday, June 3, 2011, Fantasy Book Critic started a giveaway HERE in promotion of M.R. Mathias’ upcoming novel, “Kings, Queens, Heroes & Fools”, the second installment in The Wardstone Trilogy. The prize? Why a brand new AMAZON KINDLE—dubbed the “Indie Kindy”—featuring FREE Smashwords Coupons for not only M.R. Mathias’s entire bibliography, but also several titles from some of M.R. Mathias’s favorite independent authors! Joining us now to talk more about those titles is M.R. Mathias himself:

Where do I start? I guess I’ll introduce myself first, that seems the logical thing to do. I am author M. R. Mathias. I wrote The Wardstone Trilogy in longhand while I was in prison in Texas. Book Two—Kings, Queens, Heroes & Fools is now available in ebook format everywhere...blah...blah...blah.

The reason for this post is because I am the one who picked the ebooks that go to the winner of the “Indie Kindy.” I am going to talk about some of them and why I chose them. I will also name some other indie/small-pub fantasy authors you might want to look out for.

First up on the Indie Kindy is my published work: Old short stories, YA sci-fi, The Dragoneers Saga, and of course The Sword and the Dragon and Kings, Queens, Heroes & Fools from The Wardstone Trilogy. There is also an anthology of poems about dragons written by brave souls who entered a contest. Dragon Poems for Smiletrain will happen again this holiday season, so start working on those dragon poems. Buy the anthology because all of the profit goes to Smiletrain.org.

Next is The Witchcraft Wars Trilogy by Australian author Tracey Alley. It’s hard to publish a single good book in this biz. Tracey has delivered three. She is a friend, and I identify with her main character so much that I am working extra hours to get my plate clean so I can read book three, Slade’s Destiny.

Ryne Douglas Pearson is next. His books are not fantasy, but you’ve seen a few of them at the movies starring folks like Bruce Willis and Nic Cage. Ryne writes solid, action packed, thriller-chillers, and he does it while wearing a poncho made of bacon. (If that doesn’t make sense that’s because you’re not following @rynedp & @Dahgmahn on twitter.)

Another Tracy, this one the author of the popular Rys Chronicles, is next. I doubt she knows it, but Her Ladyship’s web page, and the free fantasy ebook, Union of Renegades that I found there, inspired me to self publish. Tracy Falbe is awesome.

K.C. May’s The Kinshield Legacy, which was reviewed by Piers Anthony himself, was added to the list too. I have a lot of respect for K. C. We indies are our own advertisers/publishers, and like me, she takes that part of the job seriously.

Derek Prior is my friend, and my favorite editor. His well written works are deep and intriguing. His novella The Ant-Man of Malfen will take you back the days of armor class arguments, and trying “to hit” with the old 20 sider. Derek’s newest project and the maps he recently posted on Facebook have me very curious. The Resurrection of Deacon Shader & Thanatos Rising are two of Derek’s highly reviewed novels.

Michael R. Hicks comes highly recommended too. I have yet to read his fantasy/sci-fi saga In Her Name, but I hear it is pretty damn good. I’ve heard this from two dozen different people no less. The In Her Name omnibus is on the Indie Kindy, and nearing the top of my TBR pile too.

Last but not least is me again, well, the other me. I wrote a paranormal thriller called The Butcher’s Boy under the pen name Michael Robb. If you like Rottweilers, ghosts, slow building terror, and moments so intense that you want to scream at the top of your lungs, then this is the book for you. If you read one scary book this year read this one, but don’t read it while it’s storming outside or it might mess you up.

That’s it for the Indie Kindy, but I’m not done. Since this promotion is in the spirit if Indie-Pendence Day, I want to mention a few authors that have free ebooks available through Smashwords.com. First is David Dalglish. He and his half-orcs are here to stay.  T.C. Southwell has a handful of freebies, C.C. Cole, Jeff Hepple, B.V. Larson, Kevin Breaux, Cliff Ball, Moses Siregar, Megan Curd and J.C. Phelps also have free or .99 cents reads available. If you want the best of indie in all genres, and if you want a refreshing diversion from the cookie cutter norm, then try searching the books and authors at  The Independent Author Network or Smashwords.com.

The ereader/indie revolution is here. I’ll always love my hardback edition of Raymond E. Feist’s Magician, and my first paperback series, The Chronicles of Prydain by Lloyd Alexander, but I can take a ton of different books everywhere I go on my ereader.

Good luck fantasy fans. I hope YOU win the Indie Kindy. Oh yeah! Don’t forget to read Kings, Queens, Heroes, & FoolsThe Wardstone Trilogy, Book Two. The paperback should be available by Independence Day. The ebook versions are available now.

Happy 4th of July!  Freedom Rocks!

Sincerely,

       M. R. Mathias

NOTE: THE INDIE DAY GIVEAWAY ends on Monday, July 4, 2011 – 11:59AM PST and is open to Anyone. For information on how to enter and the rules, click HERE.

5 comments:

Antonakis said...

Great post and I will certainly check out those recommendations on smashwords.
A very good point about e-readers and the indy revolution. I understand that self-published authors have a hard time reaching a wider readership but with the growth of both e-books and e-readers, I'm sure they're bound to see a lot more well-deserved recognition. I personally can't wait until the day I own an e-reader myself so that I can start sampling and reading indy authors. But who knows... maybe that day is not much further from then end-date of this giveaway competition! ;)

Anonymous said...

Is this where I sign up to win that Inidan's Kidney?

Anonymous said...

Freedom does ROCK!

Tracy Falbe said...

Thanks for mentioning The Rys Chronicles. I'm shocked that I inspired you to publish your work. I had no idea that I ever inspired anyone to do anything.

On the subject of one of the other authors you mentioned, I can say that I super enjoyed the free novel Demon Lord by T.C. Southwell. See my review here: http://www.herladyshipsquest.com/2011/02/great-fantasy-read-demon-lord-by-tc.html

Marsha A. Moore said...

I've published traditionally and am embarking on self-pubbing a fantasy romance series, beginning in the fall. I see the lines blurring more with each passing month. I'm excited to have more control of the process as I go through the steps toward that first indie release.

Some great titles in his giveaway! I'll be reading some for sure. Thanks!

NOTEWORTHY RELEASES

Click Here To Order “Barnaby The Wanderer” by Raymond St. Elmo
Order HERE

NOTEWORTHY RELEASES

Click Here To Order “Barnaby The Wanderer” by Raymond St. Elmo
Order HERE

NOTEWORTHY RELEASES

Click Here To Order “Miss  Percy's” by Quenby Olson!!!
Order HERE

NOTEWORTHY RELEASES

Click Here To Order “The True Bastards” by Jonathan French!!!
Order HERE

NOTEWORTHY RELEASES

Click Here To Order “Rumble In Woodhollow” by Jonathan Pembroke!!!
Order HERE

NOTEWORTHY RELEASES

Click Here To Order “The Starless Crown” by James Rollins!!!
Order HERE