Wednesday, February 6, 2013

Apple's iBookstore: Breakout Books features The Queen’s Blade and Slave Empire


I have just received the most fabulous news and have to share it with everyone. The Queen’s Blade and Slave Empire – Prophecy, have been selected for Apple’s iBookstore promotion, Breakout Books, a major feature that has just been launched in the US that highlights several dozen titles.


They're both free!
 
I’m over the moon about this! I’m also gobsmacked! Thank you to Mark Coker and Apple, and, of course, all my fans who wrote great reviews and made positive comments about the books; it’s all thanks to you, and I love you so much for it! Thank you!

This is now going way beyond my wildest hopes and dreams; it’s actually hard to take it all in. I keep pinching myself so much I’m getting bruises! Yet, I can’t seem to wake up from this happy dream, and I certainly don’t want to. The emails I’ve received, about The Queen’s Blade, in particular, have been overwhelming, and I love them all.

Thank you to everyone who took the time to write to tell me how much they enjoyed the books. I love hearing that! It’s so encouraging, and it makes me want to write more books, which I intend to do soon!  So for all of you who are waiting for new books, one will be in the works in the not to distant future!

 

Interview with T C Southwell


Q. If you weren’t writing, what would your perfect career choice be?

A. I don’t know, really, since I don’t like working. It would have to be something else I enjoy, like art, or perhaps a fighter pilot, since I’m a speed freak. Of course, I’d love to be a space explorer, but that will have to wait for another lifetime.

Q.Has your motivation for writing changed throughout your career, and if so, how?

A. No, not at all. I still write because I love the stories in my head and want to enjoy them again.

Q. What is the most rewarding experience you have had and what made it so?

A. It was probably when Demon Lord was first published in SA in 2006, although that turned into something of a nightmare. The first time I held an actual copy of the book, though, was truly special. Since then, receiving my first paperback copy of The Queen’s Bladehas been even more rewarding. There’s something amazingly gratifying about seeing my book in print and showing it to my friends and family.

Q.Who are your top two favourite authors and why? Do you feel they have influenced your own writing in any way?

A. Steven R. Donaldson and C. S. Lewis are my all-time favourites, the former because his Thomas Covenant, Unbeliever series gripped me totally and transported me into his world, and the latter because he introduced me to fantasy when I was a child.

Q. When you were in school, did any of your teachers say anything negative (or positive) about your writing that stuck in your head, and how did that affect you?

A. A teacher accused me of plagiarism once because, apparently, she couldn’t believe I had written the essay she marked. I was never able to convince her otherwise, either; in those days, fifteen-year-olds didn’t argue with their teachers. So I got an ‘F’ for it, but I knew it was original, so it didn’t faze me too much. I also won a school prize for English that year, which made up for it somewhat.

Q. Do you sometimes get the impression that reviewers have written reviews on your books without actually reading the book first?

A. Yes, I’m convinced the one review I got for Demon Lord was based purely on the blurb on the back cover, since the reviewer only commented on what was in that. More often, I feel that some reviewers don’t understand the book, or see what they want in it.
Q. If you had to pick between all your characters, who would you rather have as a friend, and why?

A. I think that would have to be Sabre, because he’s got such a great personality with a fabulous sense of humour and fun-loving, helpful nature; a perfect friend. With his abilities, he’d also be mighty useful if I ever needed help! So would Bane, probably more so, but he’d be less inclined to be helpful.

Q. What’s your worst bad habit?

A. Probably smoking, but I also have oddball sleeping habits, which tend to be nocturnal.

Q. What advice would you give to any budding novelist?

A. Write books that you love to read over and over again, without getting bored with any part of them. Cut out any boring bits. Always write for your own enjoyment, and never allow anyone to influence you in a way that detracts from your stories, in your opinion. Polish your writing until it's as good as you can make it, and, of course, self-publish!

Q. What drives you/makes you tick?

A. I honestly have no idea, although I’d guess the wish to enjoy my life makes me do the things I do in order to have fun, like writing books.

Q. When do you expect your next book, (the eighth book in the Demon Lordseries), to be completed, and what adventures do you take the reader on in this book?

A. Demon Lord Book eight is coming along slowly, and I can’t say for sure when it will be finished. Bane is separated from the rest of his group when he goes to the Underworld to rescue an archangel and falls into a black trap. They end up in a strange realm where some of Bane’s powers don’t work, and all he has for backup is the crippled Majelin. Bane also discovers that archangels are even more irritating than angels.

Q. Do you foresee Mirra and Bane ever leading a normal life together?

A. Yes, although perhaps not totally normal, given his nature, but certainly a close approximation of normality, for a time, at least. Being what he is, he can make that happen quite easily, by opting out of his role as a god.

Q. Where can readers purchase your books?

A. All the e-books are available at Smashwords.com, Barnes & Noble, Apple, Sony, Kobo, Diesel, Scrollmotion, Amazon.com and Amazon.uk. They will also soon be converted into apps for cell phones. In addition, I’m in the process of converting the books to print-on-demand paperbacks, which will be available at Createspace.com.

Amazon Best of Genre: Current Epics


You may have seen this on my Demon Lord blog, but if not, I’m happy to tell everyone that two of my books are now listed on Amazon’s Best of Genre: Current Epics list. The Queen’s Blade is #23 on the list, with The Broken World sitting at #33.

This is all thanks to the dedication of my fans, the great reviews and many positive comments you've all made on the various retailers that market the books. Thank you so much! None of this would have been possible without you; you've made all my hopes and dreams come true, and I appreciate that more than I can ever say.

I’m also pleased to add that all my books are now available from Lulu.com. I’ll be listing my books with other new distributors during the course of the next few weeks, so if you have a favourite distributor I’m not already listed with, please feel free to send me your requests and I’ll see what I can do.

The Queen's Blade and other series have gained popularity in leaps and bounds, and I hope that by making them available at more retailers, more people will be able to download and enjoy them. I've made the books as affordable as possible, and the first book of each series is free, but please note, for those of you who only download free books, the rest of the series is not free. Sorry!

T C Southwell Books Now Available in Paperback

Due to popular demand, I'm making all my series available in Print on Demand (PoD) paperbacks, and I've started with my most popular series, The Queen's Blade. The first books of this series are now available to order on CreateSpace. The books will take anything from few days to several weeks to be delivered to you, depending on where in the world you live.

The paperback versions are of course more expensive than e-books, because of the production costs to involved in a printed book, but I've kept the costs to a miminum. The paperback books will suit readers who want a real book and don't enjoy reading on a PC or any of the e-book reading devices. I will eventually make all the series available in paperback.

You can purchase the books on CreateSpace here:

Book I: The Queen's Blade
Book II: Sacrifice
Book III: The Invisible Assassin
Book IV: Sacred Knight of the Veil
Book V: Master of the Dance
Book VI: Lord Protector
Prequel I: Conash: Dead Son
Prequel II: God Touched

Or on Amazon:

Book I: The Queen's Blade
Book II: Sacrifice
Book III: The Invisible Assassin
Book IV: Master of the Dance
Book V: Sacred Knight of the Veil
Book VI: Lord Protector
The Prequel I: Conash: Dead Son
The Prequel II: God Touched.