Reminder - Kindle Countdown Sale begins TODAY

Hello everyone,

     I just wanted to remind everyone that The Saga of Asa Oathkeeper is on Kindle Countdown sale from today until 10/17/17! If you do not yet have the book on Kindle, grab it now while it is on sale in honor of this week's International Day of the Girl!

Happy Reading! Skál!
~ Colin Anders Brodd

Celebrating International Day of the Girl with a Kindle Countdown Sale!

Hello everyone! Happy International Day of the Girl!

     In honor of International Day of the Girl, I am setting up a Kindle Countdown sale on The Saga of Asa Oathkeeper! Asa was only a little girl when the terrible events leading to her doom and her destiny began. In the fantasy world of the North where she was raised, there is a high degree of gender equality, and yet sexism does persist; many of her enemies mistreat and underestimate Asa because "she is only a girl." Part of the story the saga tells is of the power that a girl can have, and the kind of powerful woman a girl can become. So, between October 13th and 17th of 2017, The Saga of Asa Oathkeeper will be on countdown sale, starting at $0.99 and then going to $1.99 before reaching $2.99. If you have been waiting to try The Saga of Asa Oathkeeper, or have just been needing some epic Norse fantasy in your life, check it out while it's on sale!

Happy Reading! Skál!
~ Colin Anders Brodd

Word Count Wednesday: The Trade, Ormsbani edits, and a Commitment Among The Giants

Hello everyone,

     Once again it is Word Count Wednesday! I just started on a new piece for Tales From Midhgardhur on Channillo entitled "The Trade." The current word count on that project is just under 2000 words.

    I have also committed to beginning work on a sequel to The Saga of Asa Oathkeeper for Camp NaNoWriMo in July. The working title is Asa Oathkeeper Among the Giants. Word count will remain at 0 until July 1st, when the NaNoWriMo madness will begin!

     I just finished integrating the last edits suggested by the Armadillo Authors' Workshop for the manuscript of Ormsbani. The editing of Ormbani is such a weird process - I cut huge, unnecessary chunks from the text, but then I add a paragraph here and there, and I think the balance often comes out about even. The current word count is 71,730. I haven't been able to attend the workshop for a few weeks due to major car trouble - and the final verdict is that my car would cost more to repair than the car itself is worth. But I'm hoping to get down there again tomorrow night. If you're an author in the Phoenix, Arizona area, feel free to join us at the Armadillo Grill down on Camelback. We're a friendly group!

     I'm also tinkering with a first draft of Tyrfingur, but that is in very early stages. It is still at a word count of 1730 or so.

     The latest installment of my "Appendix N Revisited" project posted yesterday, with a look at Thongor and the Wizard of Lemuria by Lin Carter. Check it out!

     Don't forget to join me on the Ides of July for a look at L. Sprague de Camp's Lest Darkness Fall!

Happy Reading! Skál!
~ Colin Anders Brodd

Word Count Wednesday - The Gaeludyr, Tyrfingur, and the return of the Oathkeeper

Hello everyone,

     Well, as you know if you've been following my blog, I've had a busy time lately - I went to Phoenix Comicon 2017 and on behalf of Crit Hit and the Goodman Games World Tour 2017 Road Crew, I ran some games. I also got the chance to play some D&D (3.5), which I have not played in about 6 years (since I left the great State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations), so that was fun. But writing took a bit of a back seat while I was at the Con.

     Except that my brain never really takes a day off from writing. Especially when I get to attend the Phoenix Comicon panels for Tor (which is a corporate representative every year, sadly, rather than authors) and Del Ray (which is always well-attended by authors, several of whom I enjoy). I got lots of great inspiration there, doodled down in my vade mecum and journal, and came home reinvigorated.

     So I sat down and finally finished hammering at "The Gaeludyr" (which is to be the latest in the Tales from Midhgardhur series on Channillo). I ran it past Tanya, who pointed me to a similar story by Ursula K. LeGuin with which I was not familiar. I can honestly say we ended up with similar stories independently, but anyway, my story is specific to my world and is part of a larger chain of stories yet to be told. I took a long time with this one because I feel that it's a bit tricky, and I'm still not satisfied that I have it perfectly the way I would like it, but I think it's close enough. I've scheduled it to post on Channillo on 6/5/17, barring any further revisions and editing on my part. Word Count: 2283 (It is a very compact story by design).

     Speaking of Tales and Channillo, don't forget that I am running a contest through 6/4/17 for a chance to win a free code for a 3-month Bronze membership to Channillo. All you have to do to enter is comment on my blog in a way that I can identify you between now and the end of the day on 6/4/17 - the winner will be announced on 6/5/17!

     I've started planning to keep myself disciplined with my writing through the normally chaotic summer months. In edition to getting Tales up to date and then keeping it so, and beginning to think about a second published volume of Tales, some of my projects include the following. I am still working on Tyrfingur, the tale of the accursed blade. I have recently formulated an outline for the long-awaited sequel to The Saga of Asa Oathkeeper. And I have an idea for writing author blog annotations for the existing Tales. So I am going to keep myself very busy writing this summer!

Happy Reading! Skál!
~ Colin Anders Brodd

Word Count Wednesday - International Women's Day, Speaking Protagonists, and More!

Hello everyone, and Happy International Women's Day!

     Once again it is Word Count Wednesday. My current project for Tales From Midhgardhur on Channillo is called "Angels of Death" and it is coming along slowly (2 year old has been very sick and 4 year old had a bout of illness, plus life in general, have conspired to keep me away from my work). It currently weighs in at about 2090 words, which I figure is about halfway done, but it remains to be seen whether or not I shall actually make my goal of publishing it online by the Ides of March (the 15th). I'm really kind of excited, though, because the evil Queen Gydha will be in this one, and I have not had a chance to visit her in the Tales for a long time!

     In other news, today is International Women's Day. I decided to celebrate by making The Saga of Asa Oathkeeper free on Amazon Kindle (the reason why this is related will be obvious if you've read The Saga of Asa Oathkeeper, I think!). From March 9th to March 13th, 2017, you can get it FREE on Kindle!

     On March 10th, 2017, Asa Ragnvaldardottir herself is scheduled to be interviewed for The Protagonist Speaks. Check out the interview! I'll try to post a direct link when it becomes available!

     My next "Appendix N Revisited" article goes live on this blog on the Ides of March (March 15th, 2017). In this one I shall be talking about Leigh Brackett's Black Amazon of Mars. The next one after that (due on the Ides of April - April 13th, 2017) is a look at the short stories of Fredric Brown. Check it out!

     Finally, I am continuing what I hope will be my final revision of Ormsbani with the Armadillo Authors' Workshop. I'm hoping I can post a little about the process on this blog in the near future. The Armadillo Authors' Workshop meets at the Armadillo Grill on Camelback Rd. in Phoenix, Arizona every Thursday night from 7-9 PM. Come join us if you're a writer in the area! It's a really great and talented group of authors!


Happy Reading! Skál!
~ Colin Anders Brodd


   

Word Count Wednesday: Crown and Prequel

Hello everyone!

     It is time once again for Word Count Wednesday! This will be my last one for a while, since I plan to be offline for the next couple of weeks! So what have we got, hmmm?
     Well, my latest offering for Tales From Midhgardhur on Channillo posted today, entitled "Ingjaldur's Crown" - it weighs in at about 5890 words!

     Also, after much tinkering, I have the outline complete for a prequel to The Saga of Asa Oathkeeper, to be titled "The Tale of Halfdanur the Black" - the revised outline weighs in around 5180 words! I am signing up for Camp NaNoWriMo this July, and I intend to make "The Tale of Halfdanur the Black" my special project for "summer camp"!

Happy Reading! Skál!
~ Colin Anders Brodd

Prequel News: "The Tale of Halfdanur the Black"

Cover Art - Queen Ragnhildur's Dreams

Hello everyone,

     So, I know I have mentioned recently that I am working on a prequel to The Saga of Asa Oathkeeper: A Midhgardhur Fantasy, but I've been pretty short on details so far. I can now tell you that it will be a very short prequel (like a short story), and it will be called "The Tale of Halfdanur the Black". It will mostly concern the father of Haraldur Halfdansson, who is ultimately one of the great antagonists of The Saga of Asa Oathkeeper. I put together some cover art (the scene is from "Queen Ragnhildur's Dreams," a chapter in the story). I'm not yet hazarding a guess as to when it will be ready, but once it is, my intention is to make it available for free on Kindle.

     I'll post more updates as they become available!

Happy Reading! Skál!
~ Colin Anders Brodd

"Ingjaldur's Crown" to be released on schedule!

Good news, everyone!

     I finished writing "Ingjaldur's Crown" (I felt like I was never going to finish it at times!), and it will be posting to Tales From Midhgardhur on Channillo on schedule (6/1/16)! "Ingjaldur's Crown" is set soon after the events of The Saga of Asa Oathkeeper: A Midhgardhur Fantasy, and returns to Asa, Hrefna, and Hrafn for the first time, really ("Hrafn's Ninth Night" was a sort of prequel for Hrafn, but this is the first time I have returned to all the main protagonists!). So this was fun and exciting for me!

      Of course, I am still working on the thus-far untitled prequel to The Saga of Asa Oathkeeper, which is going to be a much longer project than any of my short Tales From Midhgardhur. Not sure what the July project will be yet, but it might involve Asa and her companions as well! All of this is working me up to the point where I might actually write that sequel that so many people have asked me to write!

Happy Reading! Skál!
~ Colin Anders Brodd

Word Count Wednesday - A Prequel and a Crown - More Asa Oathkeeper!

Queen Ragnhildur's Dream

Hello everyone!

     Well, it is Word Count Wednesday, so here are the updates:

     For everyone who loved The Saga of Asa Oathkeeper: A Midhgardhur Fantasy and asked for more of Asa, I'm actually working on TWO stories related to that novel at this time! One is a so-far-untitled prequel that I intend to offer for free on Kindle when its finished; Asa is not actually in the prequel (she is only five years old at the time the end of the prequel is set), but it is a return to that novel, in the sense that it sets up the background of the antagonist, Haraldur, telling the story of his father (Halfdanur Svarti) and mother (Ragnhildur Sigurdhardottir). Anyway, I finished the outline for this story yesterday, and the outline sits at 4373 words. I hope to make it a little longer than the typical story on Tales From Midhgardhur, perhaps a very short novella, by the time I finish it.

     The other piece is a short story for Tales From Midhgardhur on Channillo titled "Ingjaldur's Crown" - this story does feature Asa, Hrefna, and Hrafn, and is set at a time not long after the end of The Saga of Asa Oathkeeper. I haven't really started hacking away at this story yet; right now it sits at 1910 words. I had planned to release this one on 6/1/16, but I may not quite make it in time. The latest I want to push it would be 6/4/16, since I'm planning on doing some camping up in canyon country (northern Arizona and southern Utah), and I shan't have access to the Internet much there!

      I've been getting some great feedback on Twitter recently; if you're a fan and don't follow me there yet, I'm @Valerianus on Twitter. You can also follow my author page on Facebook and my author profile on Goodreads if you would like to help support my work!

Happy Reading! Skál!
~ Colin Anders Brodd

Word Count Wednesday - Double Trouble!

Hello everyone!

     It's time for Word Count Wednesday and I've got double trouble since I'm trying to meet two (self-imposed) deadlines, here - my Tales From Midhgardhur offerings for both May and June on Channillo! For May, I've got "Old Blood, Bright Fire" scheduled for released on 5/21/16 - it is complete, sitting at about 7018 words! For June, I've got "Ingjaldur's Crown" scheduled for 6/1/16 - I've started that one over, and I'm linking it to The Saga of Asa Oathkeeper: A Midhgardhur Fantasy, so I'll be bringing in Asa, Hrafn, and Hrefna. That one's just getting started, really, at about 383 words!

     If you missed it earlier, I'm also working on a short prequel to The Saga of Asa Oathkeeper as well, and beginning to get into serious research for this year's NaNoWriMo. I'm still editing my 2nd novel, and working on all sorts of projects! Keeps me off the streets and out of trouble, as they say!

Happy Reading! Skál!
~ Colin Anders Brodd