chronicler

109. Highland Hospitality

Highland Hospitality

Southern Heohlond

In the following days, the travellers marched swiftly. There were no markers denoting the border between Adalrik and Heohlond, but eventually, the group entered a village to barter for food; not having to hunt or forage would speed them on their journey. While buying provisions with the silver they could scrape together, the villagers confirmed that they had reached Clan Cameron’s territory; they were in the highlands. 

Some ...

108. The Price of Bread

The Price of Bread

Theodstan

Seven men walked east in the shadow of the Weolcan Mountains. A young swordsman set the course, followed by two warriors with equal arms. Behind followed two archers with longbows of Hæthian make. A bard and a sergeant of the Order, too young that he should ever have been conscripted, brought up the rear. Conversation was sparse; each man had a haggard look in his eyes, only occasionally replaced by hunger. Every time they came across a small broo...

107. Adeline

Adeline

Fontaine

While the execution of Duke Belvoir caused upheaval in Fontaine, routine quickly returned. Several weeks later, the city seemed the same as ever, and the arrival of a carriage with ten protectors aroused little attention. Only those few who recognised the surcoats of the guards stared in wonder; it was an ashen tree on black, signalling the Temple in Middanhal and marking the wearer as a Templar knight.

As the carriage and riders entered the yard of the ...

106. Hraban

Hraban  

Fontaine

“Master Guilbert is here, Your Majesty.”

The king nodded. “Show him in.” 

Guilbert entered the king’s study and gave a flourishing bow. “Your Majesty.”

“What did Belvoir decide?”

“I am happy to inform Your Majesty that the duke has accepted your magnanimous offer,” Guilbert replied with a satisfied expression.

Rainier stroked the thin beard on his chin. “I did not think he would, given his excess...

105. Blood, Water, and Wine

Blood, Water, and Wine

Fontaine

The following day, a messenger from the king summoned Belvoir to be received in audience. The messenger found the camp partly deserted, as most of the soldiers had filtered into the city already, but the duke was present to receive the summons with a smile. Commanding his retinue to saddle up, Gaspard rode ahead of the column. Surrounded by his most trusted attendants, the duke led the cortege towards Fontaine.

With his banners proclaiming...

104. The Brevity of Fate

The Brevity of Fate

Fontaine

“It will be another few days before the trial,” Ghislain informed Clarisse. “Sister Rosalie, the youngest member of the tribunal, asked for time.”

“What for?”

“She wanted to understand the old heresy better, I believe.”

“So she can better accuse my brother.” Even through the door, Clarisse’s scowl could be felt.

“Michel will receive a fair hearing,” Ghislain claimed.

“Better if you had never...

Update and sneak peek

I'm going to enter second round of edits on The Raven's Cry. This should be a relatively simple affair, with the first, heavy round already done. After that, it's time to do formatting, layout etc. and commission a cover, and then we're ready for publication.

In the meantime, to show you guys what I have been working on, I've made the first chapter of my latest manuscript available for download. If you fancy reading a Norse saga about a viking seeking vengeance, check it out.

The City of Middanhal

Well ahead of schedule, the city cartographer has delivered her work. This map of Middanhal will go into The Raven's Cry as the artwork/map for that book. You'll find a lot of detail related to Adalrik on this map, and I can't wait to see it in the hardcover book myself.

Update on TRC

I've hired the talented artist Francesca Baerald to create the map that will go into The Raven's Cry. It'll be a map of Middanhal with various illustrations. You can see her work here: http://www.francescabaerald.com/maps/

One issue is that her schedule is full, so I can't expect the map until November. I do think her work is worth waiting for, though, and have accepted this. Everything else related to the boo...

Update time

Couple of things from me! First off, welcome to the new patrons. If you have any wishes for rewards or stretch goals, let me know! There's room for more of both.

Secondly, the switch to monthly is complete. I'll be keeping tabs on all payments made and begin sending out hardcovers of The Eagle's Flight as it becomes relevant.

Thirdly, last week I published the standalone novel, The Prince of Cats! It's available as eboo...

Switch to monthly completed

I have switched the Patreon to monthly subscription. I've done it just after a new month, so there's plenty of time to adjust your tier before the next cycle. I've also messaged those patrons I don't think I have adjusted their tier yet. But should any of you be accidentally charged the wrong amount, just let me know - it shouldn't be an issue to reverse the charge, one way or the other.

With the rework done, it's time to focus on writing again. I'm close to finishing the first draft of the th...

Changes

As we've discussed, I'll be changing the Patreon to monthly subscription. I'll be reworking the tiers soon, and I'd ask everyone to check and make sure they're on the right tier, once reworks are done. I'll hold off on the actual shift, and give you guys time to choose your tier.

Just to reiterate how it'll work in terms of getting hardcovers. From tier $5 and up, patrons earn towards getting a book sent to them. Once they've banked $60 on their tier, they get one book; they can stay on the ti...

The City of Coin

Final reminder: I'll make a decision about the model of this Patreon some time next week, so please let me know any thoughts you have before then.

Besides that, next month I'll be publishing a short standalone novel set in Alcázar, titled The Prince of Cats. It'll be available as paperback from amazon and as ebook from pretty much any major online retailer. I'll be posting more about it as the time approaches, but first, I wanted to give you guys first peek of this map/illustrati...

Holgast and the Duke's Dinner

First: A reminder to check out the message and poll in the previous post from me. I'd like to hear from more of you.

Secondly as mentioned, here's a short story set in the world of Adal. It's part of a collection that my writers' guild Sigil is doing for October, but I thought you guys should have first look.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/7ndk1q9wk6qw2qj/Holgast%20an...

Update and a poll

Update first: I've finished the first round of edits on The Raven's Cry (with feedback from alpha readers). Soon going to send it out to beta readers. Tangentially, I also wrote "Holgast and the Duke's Dinner" (mentioned in chapter 36 of TEF) as a short story - I'll make it available for you guys to read soon.

Poll/Question: A few people have suggested I change my Patreon from per book payment to monthly payment, bringing it more in line with webserials and similar formats. I'm un...

Bit of sci-fi

Quick update: first alpha reader has finished TRC, and two others have sent back partial edits. Regardless of when the remainder finish, I expect to move to beta reading in 2-3 months. I'm also on the 13th chapter of the third book, writing the draft while waiting for editing to finish on the second.

In the meantime, here's a sci-fi short story I wrote about 10 years ago. It's rough as a result; I wrote a bunch of these as ways to practise my writing, and my inexperience probably shows in seve...

The Chronicles podcast

Hey gang, I just wanted to share with you that the entire book series will be produced as a podcast. One chapter will be uploaded per week, but we're starting with a few quick ones, so the two first chapters are already up, and one more will follow tomorrow. Since it isn't really feasible to produce an audiobook, this is the alternative. Check out www.webcereal.net or search for The Chronicles of Adalmearc on iTunes if you want to give a listen.

Other than that, I hope you're all well; I've ju...

Solstice greetings

Since it has just been winter solstice, a new year has begun (and it's my birthday), I've uploaded a short story that I wrote last year. Just a small thanks to you guys for your continued support, I hope you enjoy it. I just quickly uploaded it as a Word doc, but if that format gives anyone trouble, let me know, and I'll upload in another version.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/cpeqjlvr3tsrvc2/Hunter.docx...

What the Future Holds

Chapter 68 is done, and that concludes the seventh chronicle, which in turn means the first draft of The Raven's Cry is done.

Because of this, my updates in here will probably be sparse. I'll let you guys know whenever we hit a benchmark in the editing process though, to keep you in the loop, and on occasion, I'll share anything I think is worthwhile.

The process for the next book looks like this:

Writing the draft: done

Alpha reader edits: in process

Beta reader edits:...

Kingmaker

And that's chapter 67. One left.

Home

Execute order 66 - I mean, chapter 66 is done. Two left to go, and we got ourselves a draft.

Allies

Chapter 65, short but important, is done.

Promises

Now I'm reminded of the Cranberries song... anyways, chapter 64, locked in.

Negotiations at Night

Chapter 63 is done.

Broken Quills

Chapter 62 is done.

Northern Men, Northern Steel

Chapter 61 is done, a short one. On to the next!

People of the Stone

Chapter 60 is done. We leave Theodstan to go to Isarn next.

Flash Fiction Submission

I participated in a flash fiction contest (where you write a brief text, in this case 300 words max, based on a prompt). I don't imagine much will come of it, but I figured I'd share the text here with you guys, in case any of you got a kick out of reading it.

Betrayed

Corpses littered the battlefield. With no victor, none were left to bury the dead. But one man’s death is another man’s breath; while the lack of burial would make the dead suffer a gruesome existen...

Two reasons

Chapter 59 is done, and we return to Adalrik. By my outline, we have 8 chapters to go. This might change, but in any case, getting closer and closer.

Hand, Head, and Heart

Chapter 58 is up. One more chapter, and our sojourn into Heohlond is done, and the story returns to Adalrik for its final stretch before the book is complete.