'Malaria 9' - The Ten Week Wonder!

Well, my experiment to complete a full-length book in no more than 10 weeks for the Amazon Kindle shop succeeded - just! I finished the final edit and uploaded the thing yesterday, which made exactly 10 weeks to the day to conceive, write, and edit the text, as well as come up with a decent cover (to be exact: 3rd September - 17th November, with 6 hours to spare). Most of the donkey work was done during weekday teabreaks and lunch hours in the office - one of the benefits of having a small, easily portable netbook.

The book's now fully available for fans of the cyberpunk, horror and paranormal genres, right here.

The cover art also went through several complete transitions and these alternative illustrations are provided as extra illustrations in the text.

The 'Black Flag' Keeps Flying...

Somehow, Chaz's first (and, to date, only completed) graphic novel 'The Black Flag' continues to be FWB's best-selling book on Amazon UK - currently sitting at #2 and #3 respectively in the charts for Fantasy and Sci-Fi in the Graphic Novels Kindle chart.



Ironically, it's also the one book in the whole FWB catalogue Chaz has actively promoted the least, since it's a) over 10 years old and b) Chaz is still a bit scared how well graphite pencil art and small comic-book lettering will actually show up on a Kindle reader. It's also the most expensive in our Kindle portfolio (but it did take five and a half years to complete). But going on the basis that no news is good news, and that nobody has complained loudly at him yet, long may it continue ;-)

For UK readers, the Kindle book is available here.

For US readers, the Kindle book is available here.

Wish and the Will: Episode 3 Now Available!

Chaz published the text-only Amazon Kindle version of Episode 3 over the weekend. Somehow we've also managed to bring the price down, too.

The fully-illustrated version will be available in due course via Lulu.com, once the interior artwork is completed - this will take a little while due to current client commitments.

Here's the blurb:

Back in the City of Old Mid, outlaws Jeth Sundancer, Renzo K. Castello and Claudia get their 'biggest ever bank job' off to a shaky start when a bank manager confuses a vault with cask-conditioned whisky. Once underway, however, unexpected spanners are thrown into the works and Claudia is once again reminded that being a natural redhead has lethal disadvantages.

Therein they encounter a Droxen lavatory repair man, who may secretly be the legendary saviour of the Grotmongers, a race of repulsive sewer-dwelling creatures who believe he will deliver them into a promised land of light and wonder (as foretold by the quatrains of Justin the Pustulant).

Desperation and misunderstandings combine to push Claudia and Jeth into an impromptu music-hall appearance in front of the Daemonlord Prince Marbas, and a highly excitable audience of Sli'ix aristocracy. But Marbas and his lords have eyes only for one beautiful performer – and it isn't Claudia.

However, events soon take a turn for the sinister as the forces of law muzzle the growing cries from the people of Old Mid for political representation and an end to tyranny at the hands of the Daemonlords. And as Duke Barbatos, Lord of Justice, begins to pursue his own agenda, a new and terrifying threat is unleashed from the secret cellars beneath the Headquarters of the Gang, the Duke's elite secret police...

(That is, in fact, Mr. S on the front cover...in one of the weirder scenes to grace this quirky series so far.)

Here's the link for UK readers.

Here's the link for US readers.

Labels, Genres, and Pigeonholes...

Chaz recently contributed an article on the use and value of labels, genres and pigeonholes in promoting and publicising fiction to a friend's blog. The post addresses general issues of promotion, and also deals with his current progress in determining exactly how to promote the 'Wish & the Will' fantasy series - specifically, how far one should go in making use of sub-genres and categories to reach one's target audience.

Read the full article here and show Julieanne some support on her page while you're there!

The Wish and the Will Episode 2: Promo Trailer

A new promo trailer for Episode 2 of the 'Wish & the Will: Sundancer's Regret', again featuring the further voice talents of Mr Dave Allison. With his help and collaboration, we may end up even extending these into small animations (rather than glorified slideshows), as he is proving particularly adept at producing individual character voices for many of the cast!



I feel the first effort was a bit too epic and ambitious for its own good, so I'll be making shorter, snappier clips in future. In any case, it's great to have somebody else on board the Fenriswulf boat who's enthusiastic about the projects and getting involved.

(If any browsing reader is interested in Mr. Allison's voice talents, he's readily available for all occasions, including weddings, birthdays, and bar mitzvahs.)

'The Black Flag' Flies on Amazon Kindle

Chaz originally submitted his first full-length graphic novel to Amazon's Kindle program back in December, then promptly forgot all about it during that period of the lousiest weather ever, becoming officially self-employed, and doing lots and lots of commission works while stuck in the house.

In the meantime, 'The Black Flag' has shifted a respectable number of copies both on the UK and the US Amazon sites - something Chaz was very pleased and surprised to discover tonight. Now that the Kindle project appears to be bearing some fruit, this is definitely a medium into which Fenriswulf Books will be planning more releases in the future (despite some of Chaz's earlier dismissive comments regarding the future of the e-book reader...well, times do change!)

Channeling the likes of 2000 AD's Slaine through the mythical Irish background of the Morrigan and the Battle of Magh Tuireadh, 'The Black Flag' pushes the notion of a Celtic revolutionary underground through a darkly futuristic vision of the British Isles. Anti-heroine Georgina Buadach Macdubhgaill invokes the myths of the good gods of ancient Ireland to bring blood and battle to the streets of London...and in the process, draws another cycle of history to a brutal conclusion.

Here's the link for UK Kindle shoppers.

And for US Kindle shoppers.

'Surfeit of Mandrake' Reviewed...on Amazon, and Elsewhere

While 'Maranatha' has been notching up some good press in recent months, that other stalwart of the original Fenriswulf catalogue, 'A Surfeit of Mandrake', hasn't been so lucky in finding reviewers of late. Possibly because anthologies are so difficult to review and sum up, especially ones as eclectic as this which features poetry, drama in blank verse, short stories, artwork, comic strips and a mini sci-fi saga as the centre piece.

However, that's all changed now thanks to the extremely generous and helpful Trevor, over at Bookophile Reviews. True to his every word, he's written a damn fine review and shared it not only at Amazon and his own blog pages, but at Goodreads also (where Chaz and Fenriswulf have a growing presence).

The new 'Mandrake' review is online at Amazon, here. While you're at it, pop across to Trevor's pages and show him some support too! If you have a book you'd like reviewed, drop him a line - he's a great guy to chat with, as well.

The Wish & the Will: Episode 1 Now Available!

THE CARDS ARE STACKED...

The world is in turmoil!

In the solitary city of Middengarth, the strange and sinister Daemonlords rule the inhabitants with ever-increasing firmness. The great City Clock stands still at one stroke before midnight, and the whispers on the street are that soon the Clock shall strike - to signify an event of literally world-shaking proportions that none could ever foresee.

In the Outside, the untamed lands far beyond the City, a cruel warlord known only as the Moderator kills or enslaves all those who wish a new society free of the Daemonlords and to exist in peace.

But one insignificant human is worrying only about his own skin. That is, until Fate decides to lend a hand.

When down-on-his-luck gambler Jeth Sundancer reluctantly teams up again with old partner Renzo K. Castello to perpetrate the 'biggest-ever bank job', the brainchild of the appealing but mysterious Claudia, he soon wishes he had stayed among the anonymous outcasts in Middengarth's Warrens...

For Jeth Sundancer; sardonic, weary and distrusting of his only friends; the cards do indeed seem to be stacked.

You can download the e-Book version of Sundancer's Regret: Episode 1 right here. 77 Pages, illustrated in full colour. Price: 0.99 GBP.

Read more about the Wish & the Will series here.