Author Appleton

Writing. Fantasy. Sci-fi. Mystery

The Sword of the Dragon

Paperbacks ready for Signing & Packaging!

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My favorite Christmas memories involve unwrapping new books, then lounging on the couch to read while Christmas music played and my family laughed. Christmas is almost here, and the best way I know to celebrate is with a new book!

Among Broken Gods (The Sword of the Dragon series Book 6) already has 5 ratings/reviews on Amazon… and all of them say 5-Stars!

Ready for Signing and to be Packaged for Shipment!

Today my shipment of ABG paperbacks arrived. They look sharp on the shelf😎 Tomorrow, I will be Signing these, and my lovely wife is going to help me package them to ship out to the Kickstarter backers.

God bless you and yours!

Cover reveal! The Sword of the Dragon Series (book 6) Among Broken Gods

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Today is the cover reveal for the sixth book in The Sword of the Dragon Series. As a reminder, In Search of Dragons will now be book seven in the series. Without further ado, here is the book cover!

As an added bonus for you, here is a free graphic for your computer background and social media. Thank you for being on this journey with me.

Among Broken Gods (The Sword of the Dragon Series book 6)

Available now! Shards in Belial on Kindle

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Over a thousand years before Ilfedo and Dantress were born, the Unholy Trinity of wizards seek scorched earth, and heroes rise to oppose them.

Curl on a couch with your Kindle

The abbot seeking to protect an orphaned boy, the young woman thrust into the role of High Priestess, and the Swordmaster forced to watch his loved ones die.

When the cockatrice appears, it may doom them all.

Reverend Ashinah promised to take care of the orphaned Xavion, but events are beyond his control. Ooletta never wanted to become High Priestess, but she’s stuck with the responsibility at the expense of her own dreams. Only Olympan the Swordmaster has a clear path, but it is a dangerous and bloody quest.

Rated PG-13 for violence and sensuality. Paperback edition will release next, then hardcover, and there will be an audiobook version as well.

Cover reveal! SHARDS IN BELIAL

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I am so excited to reveal (finally) the cover for the first full-novel release in The Sword of the Dragon origins series! Coming Summer 2022, this epic fantasy lands us in the midst of the ancient war, as the unholy trinity of wizards wreaks havoc upon the lands of Subterran.

When the unholy trinity of ancient wizards mysteriously arrived in Subterran, Olympan and the other swordmasters rose from the lands touched by the prophets to fight them at every opportunity. Now, the war has arrived at Olympan’s doorstep, and the most dreaded member of the wizard trinity is behind it. Meanwhile, Ooletta is struggling to accept the role thrust upon her by her people: the role of high priestess. If she cannot accept her fate, then what destiny will she choose?

Audiobook progress update and sample!

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The audiobook version of Swords of the Six is fully recorded now! This is a big project but feels very rewarding. Right now I am taking all of the rough files and putting them through postproduction in preparation for their publication on Audible, Hoopla, iTunes, and other audiobook vendors.

I think this is going to finish at about 16 hours of listening time. The audio quality turned out better than I had hoped and I have found that the key with the narration is to simply relax, be myself, and sink into the story.

I have been promising you guys a more substantial sample of this audiobook, so here it is at last! This is the excerpt where albino the dragon hatches his daughters from their eggs. I hope that you enjoy it! It is my intention to have the audiobook published by this Christmas.

Swords of the Six (audiobook) chapter 4: Shizar Palace

All books now published! And new distribution announcements

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The first four books in The Sword of the Dragon series are now officially available both on Kindle and in Paperback editions! And I am expanding distribution (as promised) to other retailers and platforms.

Now available in Paperback and on Kindle (Amazon.com):
Swords of the Six
Dragon Offspring
Key of Living Fire
The Phantom’s Blade

As of today, Swords of the Six and Dragon Offspring have also been submitted for publication on the international e-reader Kobo. I hope that this reaches new readers and reacquaints some who have lost track of my writing over the years.

Also, I am in the process of setting up distribution for all of the paperback editions. You will soon be able to purchase at any retailer, online or otherwise, and the titles will also be available to your libraries. I will update you when this takes effect.

May God’s blessings be with you all!

I need your input for Swords of the Six special edition

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As the details come together for the special edition release of Swords of the Six I would highly value some feedback at some options I am looking over! I thought of doing this as a poll, but for some reason I can’t find that function at this time. Yep, my technical know-how just went brain dead. So instead you can just comment with your preferences on these options:

  1. Hardcover or Paperback?
  2. 6 x 9-inches, or 5.5 x 8.5-inches?
  3. Author introduction, or not?
  4. Should I include a glossary of names and places with a pronunciation guide?
  5. Chapter titles, or simple numbering?
  6. Should I incorporate my map drawings (same look and style as in Neverqueen)?
  7. Audiobook: dramatized reading, or read by the author?
  8. Any additional ideas? I’d love to hear them!

Now writing: In Search of Dragons

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Recently I was commenting to my wife how I feel scatterbrained and have undertaken too many writing and publishing tasks. (That wasn’t the way I worded it, but you get the gist). I told her I was thinking about narrowing my focus to just my publishing company’s website because my efforts are split between Flaming Pen Press and my personal writing projects. She wisely responded something along the lines of, “But you are your brand. People want more from your books and that’s what you should focus on.” Again, I’m paraphrasing, yet the point is that she was right.

I remember back in 2009 when I self-published my first novel Swords of the Six. That thrill of accomplishment and the response from readers gave me energy to power through the first several years of traveling and writing. Now there is a boatload of experience under my publishing belt and yet, with each new writing project I still feel an initial inadequacy. These fantasy novels are like parts of my soul and with each one writing it is difficult, painful, and a joy.

It is time to delve into my next The Sword of the Dragon novel. In Search of Dragons picks up where The Phantom’s Blade left off. One of the most fun aspects to this project is that I get to pull from my old source material, a manuscript for the entire series which I wrote thirteen years ago. It’s hard to believe it has been that long. I am keen on writing these characters and their stories with the same fascination that I wrote them back then. Sometimes the pressure of knowing that many readers are already eagerly waiting for me to finish the book can put a damper on my story focus, but ultimately everything is an exercise in discipline. And I can never have enough discipline in my life!

This will be the seventh novel I have written in The Sword of the Dragon world, and the fifth for the primary series. Wow! It’s hard to believe the journey has come this far. The original manuscript was 130,000-words divided into chapters that are now the building blocks for The Sword of the Dragon world. So far we’re over 500,000-words into the novels and there’s lots more to cover!

Returning characters for In Search of Dragons include Ilfedo, Oganna, Ombre, Honer, Ganning, Vectra, Escentra, and the creature Ulion. Introduced will be (at long last) the dragon Venom-fier, who was first mentioned in Albino’s prophesy at the end of Swords of the Six.

“Dragon great, dragon fool
One wise, the other cruel
Venom-fier, to man a friend
The other may be his end.”

Q: Which character are you most excited to see again when In Search of Dragons is published?