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!
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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!
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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!
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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…
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Tags: iron maiden, metal, rock, sins of the father
Posted By David Shepherd on October 17, 2011
Terry Pratchett once wrote that if you are attempting to write fantasy, one of the most important things to do is to make sure that you do not just read fantasy as your literary diet.
The theory goes that no matter how fantastical your world, the laws that govern all elements of that world and the characters within it need to be believable. I couldn’t agree more. You will find moments from the war reporting of the Afghan conflict popping up in A Shadow Falls, and some of the political concepts in the series have been transposed from my studies of Medieval History.
Yet I also struggle to stay away from the genre as a source of relaxation. Although I enjoy crime fiction, it is to fantasy that as a reader I am continually drawn. I’m getting my fix at the moment rather belatedly from George RR Martin’s Game of Thrones. Having resisted the urge to dive into this story during the recent TV broadcast, I wanted to find out what all the fuss was about. Now I know – what a stunning narrative. As always, settling down with the book is infinitely more rewarding than following a TV script, though I have to say the series had me gripped too!
As for SOTE, this week I’m doing a final check on the trade paperback version of A Shadow Falls – looks lovely by the way and will be ready for you to purchase during October half term. I’m also editing the final three chapters of Sins of the Father. More to follow on the progress of Book Three next week.
Until next time, up the elves
Category: A Shadow Falls, Sins of the Father |
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Tags: a shadow falls, book three, game of thrones, literature, sins of the father, terry pratchett, trade paperback
Posted By David Shepherd on October 10, 2011
Like the unfortunate objects that have strayed too close to a dying star, the protagonists of Sins of the Father find themselves inexorably pulled to the black hole that is the arrow. Book One of Song of the Elves took you to a scene in the Horseshoe pass – a soldier lying wounded in the snow. Each book has since begun by drawing the reader back to the aftermath of the arrow. As book three reaches its climax, I am reminded of the power of that arrow’s lure. There is no escaping the end destination as the first cycle draws to a close.
As a reader of books one and two of SOTE, you probably have a good idea of who the arrow is intended for. Important questions remain: who fired the arrow? and why?
Nature abhors a vacuum. As one star implodes another is born. The earth shattering impact of the end of book three will have far reaching results. I will give you a taste of Book Four, The Lost, The Lonely and the Damned at the end of Book Three when it is published. The end is just the beginning. Thank you for joining me for the ride!
Up the elves!
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Tags: arrow, book four, book three, sins of the father
Posted By David Shepherd on October 4, 2011
As the climax to book three, Sins of the Father builds, I am reminded of how central to the plot are the relationships between fathers and sons. Kirik will find his faith in his father tested to the limit; Prince Nemar and Prince Warseratt are so divided in their view of their father’s style of kingship that civil war beckons for the Summerlands.
Above all, Book Three of Song of the Elves deals with the long shadow cast on the kingdom of the elves by an earlier generation. Some amongst the forefathers of the Summerlands are guilty of transgressions fuelled by greed and a desire for power. The future of the Summerlands will be fractured by the reality forced upon the current generation as the plot unfolds in this third tense instalment.
Until next time, up the elves
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Tags: father, sins of the father, son
Posted By David Shepherd on September 25, 2011
Kirik’s dream visitations to a white walled castle are becoming more vivid as Sins of the Father heads towards its dramatic conclusion. I’ve got about another month’s worth of editing to do before I do a final word level check on the book. I’m still aiming for Christmas as a release date for the book – hopefully in all formats. Its been a satisfying journey for me, finalising the manuscript for book three, which I originally finished in 2007. Some plots have been tweaked and moved forward since then, but the raw energy remains and I hope you will enjoy the mad gallop to the finale of this, the first verse of the Song of the Elves.
It is fair to say that the end of Book Three signifies a true beginnig to the world that I first imagined, ten years ago when Rhoderica first came into existence. I can’t wait to start work on Book Four, The Lost, The Lonely and the Damned, which is where my first scribbles of this world began.
Until next time, up the elves!
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Tags: book four, christmas, dreams, sins of the father, the lost the lonely and the damned
Posted By Nick Peirson on September 19, 2011
For those of you who haven’t ordered your copy of The King’s Blades in the four days it’s been available, we’ve got our hands on a discount code that will save you 15% off all your Song of the Elves paperback purchases.
To take advantage of this, all you need to do is enter the below code during the checkout:
OKTOBERFESTUK305
To buy your copy now, click below:
The King’s Blades trade paperback
And, if you haven’t bought it already (What are you doing?!) This voucher will also get you 15% off a paperback copy of A Shadow Falls. Why not buy both together and save on postage and packaging!
Category: Song of the Elves, The King's Blades |
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Tags: king's blades, lulu
Posted By David Shepherd on September 15, 2011
It’s official – you can now get your hands on a swish, high-quality trade paperback of The King’s Blades. For those of you without a Kindle, who’ve just read the first instalment and are eagerly awaiting the next, the book is available now from lulu.com.
For the collectors amongst you who enjoyed it as an e-book, this is a great opportunity to get a physical copy – give it pride of place on your shelves!
We will retro-actively be updating A Shadow Falls to trade sized paperback to fit in with the new style of the series, although the priority is getting Sins of the Father to our eager readers.
Next week I return to the job of editing Sins of the Father, book three of Song of the Elves. I can’t wait to bring you this heart wrenching conclusion to the first cycle of SOTE. We are still on course for a Christmas kindle release for Sins, with trade paperback to follow in the New Year.
Until next time, up the elves!
Category: The King's Blades |
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Tags: king's blades, lulu, trade, trade paperback
