The Dark and Forbidding Land: Bessemer

One of the main things about the series of Senta and the Steel Dragon, is the steel dragon himself.  He changes from book to book.  In book 1, he’s not much bigger than a house cat and is treated generally like a pet.  By book 3, he’s somewhat larger than a pony, speaks several languages fluently, and is a real part of the story.  By book 5, he is pretty close to the size of a steam train engine.

In the Dark and Forbidding Land, he is a bit bigger than the average family dog, and is starting to communicate in words.  He’s not really a character yet, like he is in book 3, but I had a lot of fun with him.  He’s perhaps a bit more mischievous and dangerous at this age than he is when he is older and can actually think about what he is doing.

The Dark and Forbidding Land: Graham Dokkins

As I mentioned the other day, Graham comes into his own in book 2.  Graham really is a hero, even as a kid.  How many ten year olds are willing to stand up to a pair of utahraptors.

Graham carefully aimed down the length of the barrel.  He squeezed the trigger, but nothing happened.  Lowering the weapon, he flipped the safety to the fire position, and then sighted again.  This time when he fired there was a satisfying crack.  The utahraptors stopped, startled, for a moment, but seemed uninjured.  Graham worked the action and fired again.  This time Senta saw the bullet strike the trunk of a massive redwood about twenty feet above the ground and quite a bit behind the predators.

“It’s not sited in right,” muttered Graham, as he pulled back the bolt.

This time, as with the first shot, they were unable to determine where the missile hit.

“Um, aim at their feet and a bit to the right of them,” advised Senta.

This time the bullet hit a tree just to the right of the foremost creature.

“The next one is in your head!” called Graham as if he had intended the previous shots as warnings. 

The utahraptor did not look at all impressed.  He and his cohort were not much more than fifty feet away.  When they charged they could clear that distance in the blink of an eye.  For the moment though they were still being wary of the strange little creatures which made loud booming noises and refused to run.

“You better stand behind me,” said Graham bravely.

The Dark and Forbidding Land: Senta

I screwed up.  I started talking about the characters in The Drache Girl and went right by The Dark and Forbidding Land– probably because I wrote The Drache Girl first.  So, I’ll switch gears and talk about book two of the series and then go back and finish book 3.

Senta is the first person to appear in book 2.  In fact, in both book 2 and book 3, the four friends– Senta, Graham, Hero, and Hertzal– are the first characters.  These two books, unlike the others, have a kind of Harry Potter feeling to them as the four friends are together throughout most of the story and play a key role in the plot.  In book 1 of course, the four of them meet for the first time, and although all appear in books 4 and 5, they aren’t together in the same way.

In The Dark and Forbidding Land, Senta is ten years old– she has her 11th birthday just after the story ends.  She’s precotious, but not as confident as she will be.  On the other hand, she’s not too afraid to stand up to Zurfina, not that she was even in book 1.  She’s learning all about magic and reveals that she has potential even beyond her guardian.

Also in this book, Senta comes into contact with the Reine Zauberei for the first time.  They are the Freedonian wizards whose racism has poisoned their country for the Zaeri.  The play a much bigger part in books 4 and 5.

Update: The Young Sorceress

I just finished the first draft for The Young Sorceress.  It clocks in at 65,000 words, which makes it the shortest book in the series (with the exception of book 0), but I think there are a few chapters I need to add to flesh out the story a bit.   I feel pretty good about it.  Chapters 11-14 really came together well.

This has been the most difficult of the series to write.  At times I felt like I was running out of steam for the series.  I love the characters and the setting, but after I finish book 5, I’m going to take a long break before I write any more. 

Watch this spot.  I’ll let you know when I finish the first revision.  In the meantime, here is the chapter list as it stands now.

1. Spring
2. The Blond Girl
3. Nellie Swenson
4. Birthday
5. Birthday Part II
6. The Real Senta
7. Predators
8. Gods
9. Sorceresses and Witch Doctors
10. The Two Sentas
11. Pirates and Princesses
12. The End
13. Mallontah and Hell
14. All Your Fault

The World of Senta and the Steel Dragon

I have a huge notebook filled with maps of Senta’s world.  Many of them are political maps of different times in the world’s history.  Others cover parts of the world which do not appear in the series (though they might in a subsequent series).  Here is the part of the world where our story takes place.

Sumir is a fully settled continent that I usually think of as my stand-in for Europe, though as you can see, geographically it is quite different.  Greater Brechalon, Mirsanna, and Freedonia are the most powerful kingdoms.  You can think of them as stand-ins for Britain, France, and Germany.  Zur was once the seat of an empire that covered the continent, but is now relatively insignificant.  Argrathia is an even older society, now surviving off its history.  They are akin to Italy and Egypt.  Arbrax and the northern islands are sparcely inhabited and quite cold.

The northern half of the map is temperate to arctic, though due to ocean currents and possibly magic, Enclep and the southern part of the Mullien Islands are tropical.

Mallon is a huge landmass.  When I imagine it, I think of Asia, with Birmisia being China and Mallontah being India, at least as far as climate goes.  As far as populations, they are more like North America and Central America at the time of European contact, if the Americans had been cold-blooded reptiles.  The aborigines of Birmisa are different than those of Mallontah, though they are both reptilian.  The lizzies of Birmisia are taller, stronger, and more alien to humans.  Those in Mallontah have been completely subjugated by man and fill the slums of crowded human-controlled cities.

The Drache Girl on Sale

As part of Read an Ebook Week, The Drache Girl is on sale at Smashwords for $2.24.  Be sure to use coupon code REW25 to get the sale price.  Follow this link: http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/19309 .  I hope everyone had a great Read an Ebook Week.

The Voyage of the Minotaur on Sale

I mentioned the other day that I am dropping the price of Senta and the Steel Dragon Book 1: The Voyage of the Minotaur to $1.99, but this week during Read and Ebook Week, you can pick up a copy at Smashwords for 99 cents.  Be sure to use coupon code REW50 to get the sale price.  Follow this link:
http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/11536

The Dark and Forbidding Land on Sale

As part of Read an Ebook Week, The Dark and Forbidding Land (Senta and the Steel Dragon Book 2) is on sale at Smashwords for $1.50.  Be sure to use coupon code REW50 to get the sale price.  Follow this link: http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/18903 .

The Voyage of the Minotaur is now $1.99

I am dropping the price of Senta and the Steel Dragon Book 1: The Voyage of the Minotaur to $1.99.  I have been struggling to decide a price point on this book and this series.  I want people to read it and I hope this will make it more attractive.

The book has been out almost exactly two years now, and as I write this, it has sold 259 copies.  I think that definitely warrents a price reduction.  By going below 2.99 at Amazon, I drop from a 70% royalty rate to a 30% royalty rate, and I don’t really expect the additional sales to make up for it.  But hopefully there will be an increase in the sales of the sequels, and that will make up the difference.

If you have read my other books, but haven’t yet gotten to Senta and the Steel Dragon, give them a try.  They are my favorite books of all those that I’ve written.

Happy Read an Ebook Week

Today marks the beginning of Read an Ebook Week.  In celebration of the week, I am changing the price of Senta and the Steel Dragon Book 0: Brechalon from 99 cents to $0.  This is not a limited time thing, but is a permanent change. 

I will have to remove Book 0 from Amazon, as they will not allow me to distribute free books, but I am uploading it to Feedbooks.com.  This along with the other stores which distribute it, should give everyone a chance to find it.

Book 0 was actually intended as Bonus material anyway, so this puts it right where it should have been all the time.  I’m going to provide links to the download in the other books of the series.  If you purchased Book 0, and paid 99 cents for it, send me an email or leave a post here, and when book 4 comes out (very soon) I will send you a coupon code for it.