Posted By David Shepherd on January 19, 2012
After a very pleasurable break from writing, I’ve set to once more with work on the world of Rhoderica. I am having a break from the main narrative of Song of the Elves while my dear friend Col finishes the final edit of Sins of the Father. Rest assured, you won’t be short of action from Rhoderica this year. Not only will book 3 of SOTE emerge before the summer, but you will also be able to experience all the blood and thunder of the Wolves of Winter.
If you’ve not already discovered the Wolves, check out the short stories on this website. Currently I am penning Wolves III, entitled Kill the King. The original idea for the story came to me a few years ago, inspired by the Rainbow song of the same title. You will not find any clues to my tale in the lyrics of Ronnie James Dio, it was merely the title that sparked off a train of thought.
Subsequently, since the Wolves emerged, this tale has now morphed into an adventure for Rulnik, Torbad, Yanuk and Beddor. Set before the elves invaded Rhoderica, the Wolves of Winter stories will give you an insight into the Western lands of the humans.
More soon…
Until then, up the elves!
Category: Short Stories, Song of the Elves, Wolves of Winter |
No Comments »
Tags: col, dio, kill the king, rainbow, wolves of winter
Posted By David Shepherd on January 7, 2012
The wind certainly did blow wild, to paraphrase Julia Donaldson (having a three year old I now know the script of ‘The Gruffalo’s Child’ line by line). The fallen tree in our back garden is testimony to the gusts and gales that buffeted Cheshire over the course of the last week.
The wind of change is also sweeping through SOTE HQ. While my dear friend Col lends his expert eye to the final edit of Sins of the Father, I am polishing off a job long overdue. I’m currently writing Wolves of Winter III, revisiting the characters familiar to some of you from the first two escapades – Rulnik, Torbad and Yanuk to name but a few. Once this third installment is complete – sometime in the summer – the intention is to release the three tales as a single e-book on kindle and as a collectible paperback through lulu.com.
For those of you who have not met the Wolves, their story is set in the days before the elves came to Rhoderica. I will label the book as a Tale of Rhoderica, leaving the way open for more stories from the back history to the land in which Song of the Elves takes place. Rulnik and his men have battled ice wyrms, the fearsome ice men – the Nordakin, tackled changelings and villainous entrepreneurs. In this latest installment, the life of the King is at stake as the monarch prepares for a controversial marriage Rulnik and his men must locate the hidden assassins lurking within the royal city.
More to follow next week…
Until then, up the elves!
Category: Short Stories, Sins of the Father, Song of the Elves, Wolves of Winter |
No Comments »
Tags:
Posted By David Shepherd on December 30, 2011
On behalf of everyone involved in Song of the Elves, I would like to thank you for your support throughout 2011. I hope that 2012 is happy and prosperous year for you all. Here at SOTE HQ we are gearing up for the release of Book 3 in the fantasy saga, Sins of the Father. If you have been following my blog, you will know that I had promise to deliver the volume by Christmas Day. This ambitous deadline has obviously slipped by, but I am glad that I have held back on the release to get the novel exactly right.
Sins of the Father is a pivotal link on the Song of the Elves saga, wrapping up many of the plot lines introduced in A Shadow Falls and The King’s Blades, but introducing many teasers for forthcoming volumes. The manuscript is tantalisingly close to being finished; another edit of the script will bring it up to the standard that I am looking for. I am not going to shoot myself in the foot by announcing another publication date just yet – I’ll leave that for when I have a clear idea of what time is needed to finish it.
After Sins, I have a mind to complete the Wolves of Winter trilogy, though having said that, the temptation to dive straight in to Book 4 of SOTE – The Lost, The Lonely and the Damned – is also great.
So, thank you again for your support and your patience.
Up the Elves in 2012.
Category: Sins of the Father, Song of the Elves |
No Comments »
Tags: book 3, book 4, deadline, sins, sins of the father, the lost the lonely and the damned, wolves of winter
Posted By David Shepherd on December 24, 2011
I had a wish for Christmas, that Sins of the Father, Book Three of the Song of the Elves saga, would be ready for a Yuletide release. Yet again I’ve dug myself in to a hole with promising something I cannot deliver (something similar happened with The King’s Blades). I’m going to move the relase of the novel back by a few weeks, to allow myself the time to do a final edit of the book. It will definitely be in your hands by Easter…
Sins of the Father is a large manuscript, almost as long as Books 1 & 2 put together, and as such there is quiet a lot of tidying up to be done. I had hoped that my last edit would be it, but on reading the paperback proof there are several elements that I’m not happy with. I will never release anything for purchase that is less than professional – you, my readers, deserve the best.
So, following a seasonal sojourn, I wil be launching back into the manuscript to iron out a few kinks. Rest assured, the wait will be worth it!
I would like to finish by wishing all my readers a very merry Christmas. You have made 2011 an exciting and rewarding time for all at SOTE HQ.
Until next time, up the elves!
Category: Song of the Elves |
No Comments »
Tags:
Posted By David Shepherd on December 14, 2011
With bated breath I await the arrival of the first paperback version of Sins of the Father. After a final page by page check for errors, we will be pushing ahead with the publication of the third volume of Song of the Elves. At SOTE HQ we are still hopeful of a Christmas release – at the latest Book 3 will creep out sometime between Christmas and the New Year (fingers crossed).
Started to get into the Christmas spirit this weekend. Brought a smile to the face of my three year old with a flower broach from RachelCreates, a great designer local to Cheshire, who works with textiles, ceramics and many other media to produce a range of lovely goods. I’m currently steeling myself for the annual visit to Manchester for the Christmas shopping; it will be a trip to rival the journey of Agatha and Eidur in The King’s Blades, no doubt!
I’ve had a few queries since the last posting about the Sisters of Mercy reference with regard to the wonderful cover designs of the series. The Sisters were renowned for using black covers for their E.P.s and albums, against which iconic images vibrantly sat. The cover for A Shadow Falls was created with this inspiration from my youth in mind. I wanted the potential reader to feel drawn to the oak tree as a potential safe haven, moonlight puddled around it’s boughs, a stout and reliable reference against the foreboding, encroaching darkness. My particular favourite in Sisters’ cover art was for their second full length album, Floodland. One cannot escape ones gothic roots so it seems! Keep those embarassing 80s photos in your cupboard mum!
Until next time, up the elves!
Category: Song of the Elves |
No Comments »
Tags:
Posted By David Shepherd on December 4, 2011
Imagine, a tumble-down castle, broken walls spilling from the rocky outcrop where it perches above the plains; beyond, a might mountain range broods, lit by the full moon; the vale in between is shrouded in mist. If you can picture this, you will be getting somewhere close to the majesty of the new cover for Sins of the Father. The design is now complete, subtleties of shade and tone capturing the mystery of Majora, lost capital of the elves.
Once again, the visual inspiration is somewhere between Tolkien’s landscapes and a Sisters of Mercy album cover (Floodland anyone?). the end result is a quite beautiful and poignant scene, fitting for the series but most importantly capturing the pathos of this third installment of Song of the Elves.
Anyway, enough eulogising. I’m off to put up the Christmas tree now as my three year old daughter has just crawled up on my knee to remind me of the more important duties of the day.
Until next time, up the elves!
Category: Sins of the Father |
No Comments »
Tags:
Posted By David Shepherd on November 27, 2011
At the end of a physically and mentally exhausting fortnight, I was able to click send on the manuscript of Sins of the Father. Book three is now in the hands of the SOTE technical team, being prepared for release on kindle and on lulu.com. Suffice to say, its the most suspenseful and heart-wrenching installment yet. I’m hoping it will leave you panting for Book Four, which I will begin scripting after a much needed winter break.
I will be finalising the cover art this week, which takes the images of the first two novels a stage further in subtlety, without losing the iconic midnight feel of the first two. Again, its been produced by the team at Design Office in Crewe, who have once more done a marvelous job in capturing the epic feel of the story and the mood of the characters in their plight against the burgeoning forces of darkness.
News on publication dates next week.
Until then, up the elves!
Category: Sins of the Father |
No Comments »
Tags:
Posted By David Shepherd on November 15, 2011
I’m half way through the final proof read of Sins of the Father, so should have that boxed off and ready for final formatting by the end of this week. I’m also waiting with baited breath to get to see the cover to book three. Like the first two, its been put together by the wonderful team at Design Office in Crewe. We plan for it to be along the same goth, Sisters of Mercy type broodiness as the first two. More on this next week.
Plot lines are already shooting through my head for Book 4 – there’s such a lot to tell in the next installment, set five elf years after the end of Book 3. I’ll give you a taste of the opening scene for Book 4 when you buy Sins of the Father.
On another note, I’m very excited to hear that Ozzy is finally going to join Tony, Geezer and Bill for the long anticipated Black Sabbath reunion – new studio album and tour next eyar, according to Planet Rock. Let’s hope they do the late, great Ronnie James Dio proud and create something of a legacy for the Sabbath canon. The timing couldn’t be better as I’m actually sporting a dodgy Iommi style ‘tache as part of Movember – raising money for prostate cancer – very Derek Smalls!
Until next time, up the elves!
Category: Sins of the Father |
Comments Off
Tags: black sabbath, book three, ozzy osbourne, sins of the father
Posted By David Shepherd on November 7, 2011
Emotionally exhausted, I sagged against my keyboard, Sins of the Father completed…
After eight long years, the third chunk of the Song of the Elves saga is complete. In 2005, whilst writing what will now become Book 4 of SOTE, I realised that I needed to fill in a bit of background in the life of my exiled character. The result was a thousand page manuscript with a working title of The Summerlands, which is now emerging onto kindle and lulu as Song of the Elves Books One to Three.
There was joy and sorrow in penning the last lines of Sins of the Father; the scene produces the biggest cliff hanger yet and I can’t wait to get to telling you what happened next when the scripting of Book 4 gets underway next year.
Now begins the final proof read and word level check – we are definitely on schedule to be bothering your Santa’s wish list.
Up the Elves!
Category: Sins of the Father |
Comments Off
Tags: sins of the father
Posted By David Shepherd on October 31, 2011
Sorry for the delay in transmission – coming from the red half of Manchester it’s taken me more than a week to get over the thrashing administered by our ‘noisy neighbours’. However, normal business is now resumed…
One chapter to go on the final edit of Sins of the Father, and I’m getting a major sense of a chapter coming to a close. As Kirik picks up the sword to carry the fight against the cancer eating at the heart of the Summerlands, I am reminded that I will soon be writing installment 4, The Lost, The Lonely and the Damned, where I first began to piece together the Song of the Elves saga a decade ago.
Suffice to say, its going to be the mother of all cliff-hangers as the first phase of the saga draws to a close.
Also this week – great news! We’ve released Book One, A Shadow Falls as a trade paperback so that the collectors amongst you can own a copy that matches in every way the sparkling presentation of Book Two, The King’s Blades.
Until next time, up the elves!
P.S. If you’ve read the acknowledgements at the end of Book Two, you will know I am a big Dio fan, trying to fill the Dio void. White Wizzard anyone? They’ve got definite nods to Judas Priest, Maiden and the 80s LA scene…
Category: Sins of the Father |
Comments Off
Tags: iron maiden, metal, rock, sins of the father
