Brechalon: Nils Chapman & Karl Drury

Spoiler Alert

Nils Chapman and Karl Drury are characters in Brechalon, Book 0 of the Senta and the Steel Dragon Series.  They were both created for specifically for this book.

They are both guards in Schwarztogrube, the ancient fortress in which the Kingdom of Greater Brechalon imprisons wizards and sorcerors who either break the law or defy the govenment.  Chapmabn is a fairly innocouos fellow and Drury is vile and evil.  Both have the misfortune of being on Schwarztogrube while Prisoner 89 (Zurfina) is there.

When I was writing this I was thinking specifically of one particular detail.  Zurfina calls Chapman "my pet," a name she later reserves for Senta.  When we find out Chapman's fate, it adds a whole new level to the Zurfina/Senta relationship.

Both Chapman and Drury were names that have been floating around in my head for years.  Nils and Karl were chosen to reflect their ethnicity and personality. 

The "His Robot Wife" Brand

I've been reading a book on marketing, and one thing I've learned from it is that each of my book series is a brand.  I have one brand that is particularly popular-- His Robot Wife.  When taken in that light, it is stupid of me not to have more products available under this brand-- in other words, books.

I've always said that I would write another Robot book if I had a story.  Well, I'm thinking up stories all the time.  What I didn't really have was an approach.  After thinking about this for a week, I think I have an approach.  So what does this mean?

It means that there will be more Robot Patience stories coming in 2012-- at least one, maybe more, and eventually a whole series.  I'm not giving up writing everything else, so the three books I am completing will come first, but they should all be done by late March.  Then it's on to Robot Book 3.

That being said, I have a number of other brands in need of a second or third product-- Amathar, Tesla, and Eaglethorpe Buxton.  I'll get to them as soon as I can.

6,000th Book Sale

Sometime in the last week or so, I sold my 6,000th book.  This does not include free downloads like His Robot Girlfriend.  I don't know which book it was.  As I added up my sales this evening, they sat at 6,098.  That means I've sold more than 5,500 books during 2011, because my sales at the end of 2010 had reached just 504.  Or in other words, I sold ten times as many books this year as I sold in all previous years combined.  It would be great if my numbers at the end of 2012 increased at the same rate.  Here's hoping.

The Lizzies

Spoiler Alert

In Book 0: Brechalon, we get our first look at the aboriginal people of Birmisia.  The lizardmen, or lizzies as the humans call them, are cold-blooded reptilians who stand between six and seven feet tall and have long tales which follow them as they walk.  They come in various shades of green and have an iguana-like dewlap below their chin.  Many lizzies live in relatively primative villages scattered through the great forests of Birmisia, though several large, important, and advanced City-States exist in the south.

Four lizzies appear in book 0, and all of them appear or are referenced later.

Ssissiatok is a young female.  She has a fascination with the strange humans.  She won't appear again until Book 2: The Dark and Forbidding Land.

Ssterrost is the leader of Tserich, one of the northern villages.

Tattasserott is a very large and powerful lizzie.  He is Ssterrost's enforcer.  We see him too in book 2.

Finally there is Toss.  He makes his only appearance in this book, but is referenced later on.

The lizzies are fun to write because they give me a chance to look at the humans from the outside.  Many of the lizzies hate the humans.  Some like Ssterrost see them as a means of acquiring more wealth or power.  A few, like Sissiatok, find them superior to their own kind.

Yuah Korlann

Spoiler Alert

Yuah Korlann is one of the most important characters in the Senta and the Steel Dragon series.  She has probably the most important arc for any of the characters and it is one of the most tragic in some ways.  It is a story of rise and then fall.

When we meet Yuah in Book 0: Brechalon, she is Iolanthe Dechantagne's dressing maid, a position for which there is no up side.  She has grown up in the Dechantagne household and even attended lessons with Terrence, Iolanthe, and Augie when they were children.  She loves Augie like a brother, hopelessly pines for Terrence and her relationship with Iolanthe is complicated to say the least.  Iolanthe seems to enjoy putting Yuah in her place.

Yuah is a Zaeri, the minority religion, and this poses problems for her, especially considering there seem to be few Zaeri of marrying age aroud.

When I wrote the first draft of The Voyage of the Minotaur, Yuah was named Ewa.  I changed it to match her father's name and because I kept mispronouncing it in my head.  I like the name though, so someday I'm going to have a character named Ewa.

Saba and Yadira Colbshallow

Spoiler Alert

Saba Colbshallow and his mother Yadira Colbshallow are characters in the Senta and the Steel Dragon series, beginning with Book 0: Brechalon.

Yadira Colbshallow is the Dechantagne cook and has served since she was quite young.  She is a widow, with one son upon whom she dotes-- Saba.  In book 0 and book 1, Mrs. Colbshallow is a minor character who pops up to offer advice or information.

Saba Colbshallow is one of the major characters in the series, though he occupies a very minor role in Book 0: Brechalon.  When we meet him here, he has just turned 14 and is being given his first assignments in the household.  Part of what I like so much about Saba is that he changes so much.  He grows and changes and so he occupies a different role in each of the books.

Merry Christmas

Zeah Korlann

Spoiler Alert

Zeah Korlann is one of the main characters in the Senta and the Steel Dragon story, and plays a prominent part in Book 0: Brechalon.  When we first meet Zeah, he is the head butler for the Dechantagne family, having served in that position since he was a young man.  His father and grandfather also worked for the Dechantagnes, as does his daughter Yuah.

Zeah is a member of the minority Zaeri religion and this defines him.  He also, at least in the early books, has a pronounced stammer.  This speech impediment is exacerbated by proximity to his employer Iolanthe Dechantagne.  Zeah is one of the few genuinely decent and nice people in the story and he makes a great foil to play off many of the others-- Iolanthe, Terrence, and even his own daughter.

Astrid Maxxim and her Amazing Hoverbike - Chapter One

Chapter One: The Hoverdisk Failure

“Help!  Help!  We’re all going to die!”

“Stop it, Dad,” said Astrid Maxxim as she steered her father’s car.

“Somebody save me!  For the love of Mergatroid, save me!”

“Stop it, Dad.”

“Oh, the horror!  Oh, the humanity!”

“I’ve already stopped, Dad.  The car is parked.  It’s right between the yellow lines.”

“It’s really over?” asked Dr. Roger Maxxim, peering out the car windshield at the massive Research and Development Department building in front of them.  “I’m still alive?”

“You are so very funny,” said Astrid.  “You should have been a comedian instead of a mad scientist.”

“I’m an inventor,” said her father, as they both climbed out of the car.  “I am an inventor just like your grandfather and your great-grandfather and your great-great-grandfather.  And you will be too.”

“I already am.”

“Yes you are.”

They were parked in Dr. Maxxim’s personal parking space next to the R&D building, a half mile wide, fourteen story structure that dominated the northwest corner of the Maxxim Industries campus.  The campus, sprawling across 180,000 acres of the American southwest, featured machine shops, office buildings, factories, power plants, and its own airport.  It was here, where for the past forty-two years, thousands of Maxxim products had been developed and produced, making the Maxxim family very wealthy and making the world a better place in which to live.

Dr. Roger Maxxim was a tall man whose brown hair was only just beginning to show a touch of grey at his temples.  He wore a pair of sturdy glasses, behind which were creases that could more honestly be called laugh lines than wrinkles.

Dr. Maxxim’s daughter Astrid was startlingly cute, with shoulder length strawberry blonde hair and very large blue eyes.  At five foot five, she was exactly in the middle of her class when they arranged themselves by height for their class picture, which still made her four inches shorter than her mother.  Like her father, she wore a white lab coat over her street clothes.

“You see,” said Astrid.  “Look at that parking job.  That’s just about as good as a person could get.”

“It’s pretty good,” her father agreed.

“It’s good enough that I should be able to drive all the time.”

“I let you drive as much as possible, Astrid.”

“I could drive a lot more, if I had my own car.”

“Astrid, the minimum driving age in this state is eighteen,” replied her father.  “You know this.  You also know that you have only just turned fourteen.”

“But Dad, I could just drive here at Maxxim Industries.  It takes forever to get around here.  I wouldn’t drive anywhere else.  Honest.”

“No,” her father said.  “In the first place, Astrid, it’s against the rules.  In the second place, what would I say to all the other people who work here and are parents of fourteen year-olds?  And in the third place, your mother would kill me, so that’s really all the places that I need.”

The two Maxxims stepped through the revolving door and into the steel and glass lobby of the building, stopped at the security desk to have their ID badges scanned, and then took the glass elevator up to the fourteenth floor.  Directly across from the elevator was the desk of office manager Flora Purcell.  As Astrid and her father walked by, she jumped to her feet.

“Before you go into your lab, Dr. Maxxim, there’s something you need to know,” she said.

“Yes, Flora?”

“The boss is in there and she doesn’t seem like she’s in a good mood.”

“Well, we can’t put it off, can we?” he replied.  “We might just as well face the music now as later.”

Astrid followed her father through the door into his private lab.  The twenty thousand square foot workspace was divided into chemical, biological, robotics, and engineering work areas.  Just inside the door, in a small lounge that had been created by forming several plush chairs and couches into a semicircle waited a tall blond woman in a sharp black business suit.  She held a clipboard to her chest and tapped her foot impatiently.

“Good afternoon, Boss” said Dr. Maxxim.  “Astrid and I just went out for lunch.”

“Your hover disc was a huge waste of time and resources,” the woman said without preamble.

“Nonsense.  It’s twice as efficient as my father’s original design from 1956.”

“It only lifts seventy pounds and it uses up a J46 lithium battery in less than five minutes.”

“Exactly,” replied Dr. Maxxim with a satisfied smile.  “And the original could only lift thirty pounds and had to use all thirty pounds for wet cell car batteries.”

“I was hoping that six or eight of them could be harnessed to lift an army tank, or at least a Hum-vee,” she said.

“Oh my.  I never promised anything like that, Boss.”

“What am I supposed to do with a hoverdisk that only lifts seventy pounds and only flies for five minutes?”

“Perhaps we could sell it as a toy?” suggested Dr. Maxxim.

“The Maxxim Toy Division brought in $764 million last quarter.”

“That’s a lot of money.”

“Your research and development costs for the same period were $822 million,” she said.

“My new battery might make Dad’s hoverdisk more valuable,” said Astrid.  “It’s going to be ten times as efficient as any battery currently available.”

“And you,” said the woman, turning to look at the girl.  “I knew it was a mistake to let your father build you your own lab next to his.  Your playing with batteries has already cost us $357,000 and now I have almost $200,000 in invoices for something called…” she looked at her clipboard.  “Project RG-7?”

“I can’t tell you anything about that yet,” said Astrid.  “It’s still top secret.”

“Top Secret!  I’m the Chairman and CEO of Maxxim Industries!”

“Sorry,” said Astrid, with a shrug.

“There you go, Boss,” said Dr. Maxxim.  “Now, run along.  We have to get back to work.  We only have one day in the lab this weekend.”

“Fine, I’m going, but you haven’t heard the last of this.”  She stepped very close to Dr. Maxxim and looked him in the eyes.  “And if you don’t stop calling me ‘Boss,’ you’ll be sleeping on the couch.”

“Yes Boss.”

“Astrid, see that both you and your father are on time for dinner.  I’m tired of eating by myself.”

“Okay, Mom.  We’ll be on time.”

“Wait till she sees my next project,” Dr. Maxxim told his daughter when his wife had left.  “It’s going to be amazing.”

“What is it?”

“Can’t tell you.  It’s top secret.”

“Very funny,” said Astrid.  “Seriously.”

“Seriously.”

“Seriously what?”

“Seriously, it’s top secret,” said her father.  “It’s a little something I’m whipping up for DARPA.”

“The Defense Advanced Research Projects Administration?  Well, she’ll be happy about that,” said Astrid.  “The government always pays its R&D costs up front.”

Astrid left her father and walked down the corridor to her own lab.  It was exactly half the size of her father’s but was set up in the same configuration with most of the same equipment.  She went right over to the battery test, where her new invention was powering a small motor beneath a series of heat lamps.  She pressed her face against the safety class and read the gauges.  Two hundred degrees Celsius, far hotter than any place a battery would be used, at least on earth, and her little power cell was still going strong.

“Hey, mad scientist!” called a voice behind her.

Four kids her age, two boys and two girls, had just entered the lab.  Valerie Diaz and Denise Brown were Astrid’s best friends.  Denise had long blond hair and green eyes, and was a little on the skinny side, while Valerie was a few inches shorter with beautiful dark hair and brown eyes.  Toby Bundersmith had lived next door to Astrid since she was born and was, at least in Astrid’s opinion, everything that could be good about a boy, with a tall muscular body, brown bangs just above his hazel eyes, and a broad smile.  Christopher Harris was Toby’s best friend.  He was tall, with chocolate brown skin and black hair.  He was quiet but had the highest grades of anyone at school, with the exception of Astrid.  All four kids had a parent who worked for Maxxim Industries—in Christopher’s case, two parents.

“Why are you wasting your time watching that test?” asked Denise.  “I thought you said it was going to keep going until at least Tuesday.”

“I hope it does.  I was just checking.”

“We’re going over to my house to go swimming,” said Toby.  “Are you coming?”

“I’m supposed to remind Dad to be on time for dinner…”

“Mrs. Purcell can remind him,” said Denise.  “And you can call him just to make sure.  Come on.”

“Alright,” said Astrid, and followed her friends out the lab door.

Just before she passed through the portal, she cast a single quick glance at the crate in the far corner—the crate labeled “Top Secret.  Project RG-7.”

Rendric of the North

This is the beginning of a story that I may never get to.  The idea was to create my own Conan-like character and set him thousands of years before the events in The Voyage of the Minotaur, but in the world of Senta and the Steel Dragon.  I might write it someday, but it won't be for a long time, if at all.  So I thought I would post it here.

Rendric of the North

By Wesley Allison

Foreword

The battleship H.M.S. Minotaur cut through the mighty waves seemingly without effort.  Behind it trailed a great black plume of smoke, like the ship itself, a testament to the mighty power of modern civilization.  Zurfina the Magnificent stood by the railing and let the wind whip through her wild blond hair.  Senta, her nine year old apprentice, dressed all in black, just like her mistress, sat nearby.  Curled up at the girl’s feet was the small lithe form of a baby dragon.  Its scales reflected the sun like shiny new steel, but its wings were tucked in and its eyes were covered by the tip of its tail.  It slept.

“It’s time for lessons,” said Senta.

“Yes.  What did we learn yesterday, Geography?”

“When am I going to learn about Magnus the Great and Kafira?”

“Plenty of time for that, Pet,” replied Zurfina.  “Today I’m going to tell you the story that takes place almost two thousand years before either King Magnus or Kafira Kristos.  Today I’m going to tell you the story of Rendric of the North.”

“What’s so great about him then?”

Rendric of the North

The great chamber was half a mile long and nearly a quarter of a mile wide.  Carved out of the inside of Mount Pintar, its ceiling was five hundred feet above the floor.  Even with dozens of large pyres burning here and there, hundreds of torches all aflame mounted on the walls, and hundreds of free-standing candelabras shining brightly, shadows were everywhere.  Hidden in these shadows were men and women; the kinds of men and women who preferred shadows.  In those areas brightly lit, it was easy to see the collected wealth of an empire—jewels, artworks, tapestries—opulence everywhere.  The goddess-queen Xynjanphanae sat on her throne, high atop the multi-level dais.  Her long red fingernails clicked against the stone arm as she watched the swordsman enter through the distant archway and walk steadily toward her.

He was a huge man, with rippling muscles like cords of braided iron beneath tanned skin.  His bright intelligent eyes looked this way and that from beneath a shock of black hair.  He was dressed in animal skins, cut and roughly sewn into pants and boots.  His chest was bare of clothing, but he wore gold about his wrists and neck.  He had long knives in his belt, and across his back was slung a great sword.

“I know who you are.”  Xynjanphanae’s voice was loud and clear throughout the massive chamber, though she spoke in a normal tone.  It sounded to anyone listening as though she was standing right beside them.  “I have been waiting for you Rendric.”

The man didn’t stop, but continued on toward her at the same pace.  He was so far away that he could barely make out her form, but the light and the focus of the entire room was toward that one spot and he knew that it would be she who awaited him there.  Neither spoke as he made his long way across the room, though many figures along the edges of the chamber shifted their positions from one shadow to another.  Finally the man reached the lowest step before the grand throne.  He could see the goddess-queen now as well as she had seen him from half a mile away.  She was statuesque but voluptuous.  Her long arms were virtually covered in jewels and the long sleeveless dress that touched the floor was made of the finest silk.  Fiery red hair framed a face dominated by a long thin nose and eyes that flashed the same red as her hair.

“I have come a long way,” he said.

Senta's Family

Spoiler Alert

Senta's immediate family appears in Book 0: Brechalon and Book 1: The Voyage of the Minotaur.  Some of them make appearances later in the series.

Granny (Admeta Mae Goose): I didn't use Granny's name until book 5.  I just liked that her name was Granny Goose.  Granny loves kids and has cobbled together a family of her own grandchildren and the children of a couple of neices and nephews.  All the kids in the household are related, but not necessarily siblings.

Bertice Haver is the oldest and is already working in Brechalon. 

Geert McCoort is closest in age to Senta, and has to go to work in Book 0.  His last name is a nod to author Frank McCourt, though I changed the spelling.  His older brother is Maro McCoort.

Didrika Goose is a toddler who joins the family in Book 0 when her parents die.  Her baby sister is Ernst Goose, and is still in a crib in Book 1.

Iolanthe Dechantagne

Spoiler Alert

Iolanthe Dechantagne (pronounced Yo-lon-thee Day-shan-tane) is one of my favorite characters in the series.  She is a strong woman and can be a real bitch.  I hinted that there was something in her past that drove her to be what she was, and in Brechalon, we see in flashback what that was. This is also something that is resolved in Book 5: The Two Dragons.  Iolanthe really is the main character in Book 0: Brechalon and Book 1: The Voyage of the Minotaur.  She drives the action and events, and in book 1, we see the beginnings of her growth as a person.  This continues in Book 2: The Dark and Forbidding Land.  She can be ruthless and mean, and at least in Book 0, cares nothing for anyone except her older brother Terrence.

Senta Bly

Spoiler Alert

In Brechalon, Senta is only seven years old.  Had she not been the title character of the series, I would have left her out, since the story takes place before she does anything of importance.  I'm glad that I put her in, because it gives me a chance to show a little of her world.  Senta lives with her Granny and five of her cousins in a tenenment apartment.  We see that even though she had no magical capabilities, she does have an affinity for magic and can sense it even at a distance.

Senta is described as an orphan in all the other books, but in Brechalon we get the hint that she may not be one in actuality.  It is possible that her parents simply abandoned her.  We find out the ultimate truth of this in Book 5: The Two Dragons.

Characters Outside of the Story

Spoiler Alert



There are quite a few characters who do not appear in the story of Senta and the Steel Dragon, but are only referenced.  Here are three big ones:

Magnus the Great: Magnus was king of the Zur two thousand years before the events in the story.  He was a conqueror who carried on his father's conquest of the continent of Sumir, more or less unifying the culture of mankind.  He occupies a place in history much like our own Julius Caesar or Alexander the Great.  At the end of his reign, his empire fell apart, partially due to the antics of his daughter Zurfina, though no one has described the exact details.  Zurfina the sorceress is the namesake of Magnus's daughter.

Kafira Kristos: Probably the most important minor character in the book is Kafira Kristos.  She occupies the place in the world of Senta and the Steel Dragon that Jesus Christ does in ours.  Her life and martydom just after the time of Magnus the Great creates the divide between the two religions in the story--Kafirites and Zaeri.

The idea for Kafira came from a theological paper I once read.  It wondered, assuming that life existed on countless planets of the universe, would Jesus have lived and died on each one of them, or would they have had their own savior.  I decided that for the story, this world similar but not quite our own, would have its own, and further decided that she would be female.

Kafira is also the basis for a great deal of blasphemous cussing in the story.  Kafira!  Kafira Kriston! Kafira's Cross!  Kafira's Tits!  Kafira in a Hand Basket! and worst of all, Kafira's Bloody Twat!

Kazia Garstone:  There are many books and writers referenced in the story, because several characters are either writers, devoted readers, or book collectors.  I have a whole list of authors and their works, some of whom I never used.  Kazia Garstone is referenced more than any of them.  She was a muck-raker as well as an author and is considered quite scandelous in polite society.  Many consider her a socialist, but her books are widely read and early editions are very valuable.

Terrence Dechantagne

Spoiler Alert

I think all my character discussions for Senta and the Steel Dragon will have to carry a spoiler alert.  So much happens to all of them over the course of the series that, though I try not to, I might inadvertantly spill some secrets about one or two of them.  So, read this at your own risk.

Brechalon is a prequel.  I wrote it long after I had written books 1, 3, and 5, so it provides a look at some of the events of the past that are only hinted at in the other books.  I don't know whether to recommend that you read it first or last.

Terrence Dechantagne is one of the major characters of the series.  As he appears in Brechalon, he is in the army, serving in the cavalry.  During the course of the story, he takes a furlough to spend time at home.  Terrence is a drug addict, addicted to the "See Spice," white opthalium, a magical drug that transports him to a world where his troubles are all soothed away.  The ultimate cause of this addiction is his eyewitnessing the murder of his mother by his father when he was twelve.  Add to this, the generally unpleasant life that he has led since.

Terrence is a thoughtful man, a collector of rare books, but has been thrust into the position of a man of action and violence by the expectations of others.  His general self-loathing extends to anyone who cares about him.  In book 0, he is at his low point, spending most of his time under the influence.

Senta and the Steel Dragon - Characters

I've covered the characters in Blood Trade, Women of Power, Astrid Maxxim, His Robot Girlfriend, and His Robot Wife.  Now it's time to look at the Senta and the Steel Dragon series.  This will be fun, because there are literally hundreds of characters in the six books.  I'll give a full entry to the main characters and group minor characters into a single post, but I'm going to present them in the order they appear in each of the books. 

I'm looking forward to this because I get to read the books again.  I really feel like Senta and the Steel Dragon is my best writing, my best story, and my best characters.  Stay tuned tomorrow as we start with Book 0: Brechalon.

His Robot Girlfriend -- Politics

People accuse me of having all kinds of hidden agendas in the robot books, both political and otherwise.  Some have suggested that I'm a radical environmentalist because of the prominance of the Green Party in the story.  I do care about the environment, but the reason that the Green Party plays a part is that I thought it would be more fun to have three parties vying for the presidency than two. 

Others have said the story is a thinly veiled treatis on same-sex marriage.  There is a reference to the fact that same-sex marriage is more common in the future of the story.  That is not an endorsement by me.  I don't have really strong feelings about it one way or the other.  I do think the institution of marriage is being damaged less by same sex couples than by people (either gay or straight) who practice serial monogamy-- getting married and divorced over and over again.  I've been married to the same woman for 26 years. 

One area that few people get is the parallel of Apple Computers.  I tried to parody and reference Apple in a number of ways.  I find Apple and Apple fandom both interesting and humorous.  On the other hand, though I wasn't part of it when I wrote the books, I wouldn't give up either my iPad or my iPhone 4S for anything now.

Harriet Smith

Harriet Smith is a character in His Robot Girlfriend and His Robot Wife.  She is the daughter of the main character-- Mike Smith.  Harriet is very loosely based on my own daughter, but as my daughter has happily pointed out, she would never put up with such a jerk of a husband as Harriet has, and quite honestly, unlike Mike, if my daughter did, I'd put him in the ground myself.

There are a few little inside stories that are taken from my own life with my daughter, such as her ability to talk a subject to death until my eyes glaze over, and the remembrance that they have of the time that Mike threatened to kill a kid who was bullying Harriet and almost lost his job because of it.

On the other hand, Harriet is a dental hygienist, and is fascinated with teeth, something my daughter has never shown any interest in.

Lucas Smith

Lucas Smith is a character in His Robot Girlfriend.  He is the son of Mike Smith and his deceased wife.  While I was writing His Robot Girlfriend, my son was participating in Jr. ROTC at his high school.  Because of this, I made Lucas a soldier.  Other than that, he bares no real resemblance to my son at all.  In fact, Lucas has a relatively small part to play in the story, so his character isn't really all that fleshed out.  He doesn't appear in His Robot Wife at all.

Amazon's New Deal

Amazon has just opened up its Amazon Prime Lending Program to indie authors, providing they go exclusive with Amazon for at least 90 days.  Amazon Prime members will be able to borrow the book for an unlimited amount of time.  In return, the authors split a pool of money ($500,000 per month) for every qualified borrow of their book.  This is tempting to indy authors for a couple of reasons.  If the pool of borrowers is small, having your book part of the program could be lucrative.  Alternately, if many people use the borrowing program, there is a chance for great exposure.

I won't be enrolling in this new program for the foreseeable future.  I would not remove a book already published from another retailer so that it could be available exclusively at Amazon.  All of the books I have coming out soon are parts of series that have already been published.  I wouldn't feel right making them unavailable to readers at B&N or iBooks who have been waiting for sequels.  In addition, there are a lot of caveats in the publishing agreement at Amazon, and I can't see slogging through it.

So, the long and the short of it is, you will continue to find my books availble wherever fine ebooks are sold.

I'm Over the Cloud

I am over cloud computing.  This was supposed to be the wave of the future, helping us keep organized.  Now I have media spread out over at least seven different clouds and I can't find anything I want to find.  I'm also done with the vaguaries of having something I'm supposed to own, in the hands of someone else who can cancel my access any time they want, and only let me know this somewhere in their 500 page user agreement.  I'm done with it.  Having it available for download is fine, but from now on, if I can't back it up on my own hardware and play it on at least two different players, I'm not spending my money on it.

Update: The Young Sorceress

I got the following message on the blog, but I can't seem to find it now.  "Is either the Young Sorceress or The Two Dragons part of the Senta and the Steel Dragon series, perhaps?"

Yes.  The Young Sorceress is part 4 and The Two Dragons is part 5 (the conclusion) of Senta and the Steel Dragon.

Chapter 7 of The Young Sorceress is now done and it's on to chapter 8.  I expect 15-16 chapters total.  I'll keep you up to date. In the meantime, I've been thinking of the blurb for the book back.  It might go along something like this.

The young sorceress Senta Bly can get into all kinds of trouble.  Imagine the trouble when there are four of her, one extremely secretive and cunning, one giddily happy, one paranoid and frightened, and one apparently intent on murdering her boyfriend Graham and the new girl he's been seen around town with.  Which if any, is the real Senta?

Astrid Maxxim is Coming to Paperback

I've been vascilating over which if any of my books should go to paperback.  I don't really sell any, though I do give some away.  On the other hand, my ebooks are starting to sell.  Still, I thought of all my books, Astrid Maxxim deserved a paper treatment, as it is aimed at young readers, who might not have access to an ereading device.  I chose an unusual format-- 8 1/2 x 11 inches, 98 pages.  I did this for a couple of reasons- 1) it just works better with the cover illustration, and 2) I wanted it to be different than my other books, since this one is aimed at children.  As I write this, the proofs have already shipped and I should have them by the time you read this.

November Book Sales

November book sales numbers are in.  I sold 424 books in November.  It's down from the 732 I sold in October, but it's up from the 7 I sold last November.  Here's the breakdown of the numbers.

Princess of Amather   12
The Voyage of the Minotaur 11
Tesla's Stepdaughters  10
The Dark and Forbidding Land 8
The Drache Girl  11
His Robot Wife  331
Brechalon 7
Women of Power 13
Blood Trade  11
Astrid Maxxim and her Amazing Hoverbike 10

I'll be shaking up the lineup soon, when I finish The Young Sorceress and The Two Dragsons.  One of my other books will be going free, two books are going together in a single volume, and I'm planning another free book.

A Place to do my Writing

I've been hard at work converting my daughter's bedroom back into the den it once was, now that she's moved on to her own place.  I'm really looking forward to having a quiet place to work.  As you can see, it's a work in progress.

Get Astrid Maxxim and her Amazing Hoverbike on your Nook!

You can now pick up Astrid Maxxim and her Amazing Hoverbike for your Nook by following the link below.  Just as at Amazon, Kobo, and iBooks, it is just 99 cents.

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/books/1107759360?ean=2940032863465&itm=1&usri=astrid+maxxim

Astrid Maxxim and her Amazing Hoverbike now at Kobo Books

Astrid Maxxim and her Amazing Hoverbike is now availabe at Kobo books for 99 cents.  Follow this link right to it: http://www.kobobooks.com/ebook/Astrid-Maxxim-her-Amazing-Hoverbike/book-dHww_7RCZ0eAeEurAyXCNg/page1.html

Patience

Patience is the Robot in "His Robot Girlfriend". Just as you might expect, she's perfect.  What I find interesting is that so many people tell me they love Patience-- both male and femal readers.  I guess she's so pleasant that she's just hard not to like.

Though her hair was covered with a clear plastic cap, he could see it was jet black. It matched two dark, carefully arched eyebrows and a set of long eyelashes.        She had no other body hair.  Her face could best be described as cute, with large blue eyes, a button nose, and thick voluptuous lips.  She had the kind of slender and yet curvy body that was just not possible on a real woman.   Breasts the size of apples just kind of floated there above a perfectly flat stomach.  Mike tilted his head down.  She looked anatomically complete.

Of all my characters, none went through as much of a change between first draft and published work as did Patience Smith in His Robot Girlfriend. Originally she was a rather Amazonian figure, physically very imposing, but much more submissive. Some might argue that Patience is still submissive, but I think we find out in His Robot Wife that she really isn't. When I rewrote a series of short pieces into a long story, she needed to have much more force of personality so that she could advance the storyline of forcing Mike to change. A college professor once told me the main character is the one in the story who changes the most-- and that would be Mike.

When I started rewriting, I just wasn't happy with her physical description, so I started completely from scratch, using some of the actresses that fit that body type: Christina Ricci, Natalie Portman, Alyson Hannigan, as well as a young woman I knew as a model-- so yes, there really is a Patience out there. I observed her as carefully as possible (without seeming too creepy) so that I could describe her movements and gestures-- like when Patience bounces on her tip-toes or incorporates dance moves into everyday movement. Since then, I've tried to find a human being to at least think about when I write most of my characters. 

Her personality couldn't be base on a real person or even a person that I though up.  She's a robot.  Her personality couldn't be readily apparent.  It had to be very subdued.  It had to sneak up on the reader as it sneaks up on Mike.  For that reason I think, quite a few readers find her a dull automoton-- Image finding a robot as such.  I think this is a failure for me as a writer.  Still of all the fan letters I've ever gotten, I would say that easily 40% (written about any book) tell me how much they love Patience.

I mentioned before that the robot books are not my favorite Wesley Allison books.  That being said, they are my most popular, so I may well write another.  Oddly, I have the hardest time thinking up plots for Mike and Patience, when plots just seem to pop up for my other books.  If a new one ever does pop up though, I will write it.  I have two titles in mind that I think are appropriate, but I'm not giving them up just yet.

The Next Astrid Maxxim Cover Reveal

The next Astrid Maxxim will be Astrid Maxxim and her Undersea Dome.  Expect it before the end of February.  I am really pleased to present the cover.  As with the first Astrid Maxxim book, the cover was created by Matthew Riggenbach at Shaed Studios.  Working with him was wonderful.  In fact, there wasn't much work at all.  I told him what I had in mind and he made it happen.  His first draft was almost perfect.  We made a few tweaks and it was done.  I am so excited.  Just looking at it makes me want to write.

As to the story.  As you can see, this second tale places Astrid in adventures under the sea.  I think there's more action in this story than the first one.  Some of the characters that played small parts in the first story get a little more attention this time too.  Plus more Astrid and Toby.  I'm looking forward to penning more of Astrid's adventures, though I only have ideas for the first ten or so right now.

New Reviews of Eaglethorpe Buxton and the Elven Princess

These two reviews were recently posted at Smashwords.

Review by: Nick Angelis :
Finally! I was starting to get worried after I published an ebook with the tag "comedy" and couldn't find many books in that category worth a chuckle. It was starting to inflate my ego about the ridiculousness I had written until Mr. Allison gently deflated it with this hilarious tale. I chortled, chuckled, and even cackled a few times while reading this book and recommend it unreservedly. That said, I'm off to procure some delicious pies of my own...

Review by: Alan Face :
What a delightful tale! Wesley Allison, author of "His Robot Girlfriend" and the sequel, "His Robot Wife," has done it again. His characters and style of writing about them in this story reminds me a bit of Mark Twain. He caught and kept my attention from beginning to end and had me chuckling constantly.
Two thumbs up for this one!

Thanks to both of you gentlemen for your kind words.  For those interested, I do have big plans in the works for Eaglethorpe.  There will be a new tale by the great storyteller (liar) or THREE coming soon-- hopefully this summer.

Free Book First

It's the first day of the month, so time for a free book.  Today's book is my best selling book: His Robot Wife.  Pick it up by following the link below.  Be sure to use coupon code NN64B at checkout to get it free.

http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/42192