New Covers for Slave Empire and The Broken World

Below are the new covers for these two series, either completely new or totally revamped with some previous elements. Some of these went through several versions before I settled on a final cover design that I like. As I got better at using the software, I was able to improve the quality and be more adventurous. I love art, and enjoyed making these, although there’s always room for improvement. I think these are much better than the old ones.

What to read after The Cyber Chronicles

If you’ve read The Cyber Chronicles and are looking for another series to lose yourself in, I recommend my space opera series, Slave Empire.

The protagonist, Rayne, shares Sabre’s struggle for freedom… she is the golden child who many wish to slay, prophesised to save a galactic empire.

As with all my series, Book 1 is free!

Alien hunters invade a dying Earth in search of a saviour, and an ancient prophecy predicts a golden child who will save a galactic empire. A mysterious black ship is Rayne’s guide and a masked outlaw known as the Shrike her guardian. Others want to slay her and prevent the prophecy from coming true. In the midst of two great empires’ strife, the Shrike holds the power to save or destroy her.

Virtual Book Tour Itinerary

1 – 14 August 2013

For all of you who would like to visit the various blogs partaking in my virtual book tour and read the interviews and articles being posted, below is a complete list of the dates and blogs taking part. I hope you all enjoy the tour!

Thursday, 1 August
Tour kick-off: author showcase, hosted by Glynis Smy and Fireblade Publishers

Friday, 2 August
How to Create Good Characters, hosted by Rebekah Grow

Saturday, 3 August
Author & character interview, hosted by Nicole Hill

Sunday, 4 August
Showcasing The Queen’s Blade fantasy series, hosted by Chris Graham

Monday, 5 August
World Building, hosted by Pippa Jay, and showcasing The Queen’s Blade on Glynis Smy’s Virtual Bookcase

Tuesday, 6 August
Familiar’s Relationships with Humans in The Queen’s Blade, hosted by James L. Wilber, and author showcases, hosted by Mathew Reuther and Louise Blankenship

Wednesday, 7 August
Creating Original Fantasy Creatures, hosted by Michelle Louring

Thursday, 8 August
How to Write a Good Fight Scene, hosted by Fireblade Publishers

Friday, 9 August
Why Reading is Important, hosted by Cinta Garcia de la Rosa

Saturday, 10 August
Inside the Mind of an Author, hosted by Tracy Falbe

Sunday, 11 August
How to Deal with Book Pirates & author interview, hosted by the Indie Author Network

Monday, 12 August
Literary Characters TC Southwell would Date, Dump or Marry, hosted by Nicole Hill

Tuesday, 13 August
Tips for New Writers, hosted by The Independent Bookworm

Wednesday, 14 August
Extract from The Broken World fantasy series, hosted by the Indie Author Network, and The Magic Systems in Southwell’s Books, hosted by Marsha A. Moore

For daily tour updates and a tour overview on Thursday, 15 August, visit this blog.

Final Edit Of All The Series

Editing seems to be a never-ending task, but it has to end sometime, or I'll never write anything new. When The Queen’s Blade was selected as ‘Book of the Week’ by Apple iBookstore at the end of March, I decided to go through it again and try to improve it further, since its popularity has grown so much. Of course, I found plenty to fix, and tried to make it more concise, editing out some overly flowery prose that bugged me, and some repetition, too. My trusty editor also went through the books, and found plenty of typos and mistakes. So, those are all re-edited and uploaded again, and then I had to do the other series. I’m currently working on Demon Lord, and still have the last two books of The Broken World to do. Then I’m finished at last, and this is definitely the final edit, which is why it’s also the most thorough and, I hope, will eliminate 99% of the errors.

After this, I’m going to write some new books. I almost continued Slave Empire, but then I edited Demon Lord and got sucked into that, so I’ll probably continue that one next instead. I find that whichever series I read gains me a ‘hook’ into that particular channel. To all those readers who ask whether or not I’ll be continuing a series, the answer is a resounding yes, most definitely; all of them. It’s so encouraging that readers want more of all the series, and the emails I receive are amazing! Thank you to everyone who’s written to me, and keep them coming! I always reply.

Many people have expressed a wish for The Queen’s Blade to be made into a series of films or a TV series, and I echo it. If there are any producers or directors out there who are looking for a fantasy series to make into a series of films, I hope they contact me. I would love to see the story brought to life, and solve the riddle of who would play the role of Blade, which will be hard to do well; a challenge for any actor.

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.

Read The New York Times coverage of this story.
 

Mark Coker (founder of Smashwords) blogged about the feature and mentioned my books. Learn more about Breakout Books 

Check out the books on the iBookstore!

Download Slave Empire

Download The Queen's Blade
 

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!