Ever wonder what it’d be like to be bonded to a dragon?

Shawnahur hadn’t even thought it was possible, but then it happened! Suddenly he’s gaining attention.

First the chief’s mage shows up declaring Shawnahur dragon king of a nonexistent kingdom. Then he receives a summons from the chief’s household to be the chief’s personal musician, which shows him a side of the warrior he’d never expected.

With the clans united against a common enemy, Shawnahur’s brothers march to war. When Shawn takes supplies to his brothers, he unwittingly walks into a battlefield, and with his dragon’s help, defeats the champion.

As Shawnahur’s successes mount, the chief’s approval turns to jealousy. Shawn soon finds himself on the wrong end of a glaive more times than he can count. Now he only longs to stay alive; pleasing his brothers and herding would be a life of ease.

If this sounds up your alley or you know someone who’d like it, please share it. The ebook is on pre-order for 99-cents this week only. Then it’ll be back up to normal price.

Last year, I heard about a Kickstarter that had funded in two hours! That in and of itself is a big deal. So, I took a look. The concept behind the book sounded intriguing–a guy searching for a young girl he’d been assigned to protect when they were young, barriers between worlds, and magic–both forbidden and honored. Since I hadn’t really seen how Kickstarter worked, I decided to pledge at a level that enabled me to get the physical stretch goals–a paperback.

But as The Blood of the Stars took off, the stretch goals kept mounting until Karyne Norton offered a unique stretch goal. If we reached a specific number, she’d offer embossed, shiny hardbacks, and anyone who pledged the hardback before we reached that goal would receive that special hardback. I bit, and oh, boy! I’m so happy I did! I show the hardback to anyone who loves books. It’s beautiful.

Each chapter has black and white art that goes with the character point of view, so three different art pieces.

What’s an epic fantasy without a map? Well, The Blood of the Stars has two full-color maps and a colored map of the magic system! If that wasn’t enough, there’s a vellum pullout colored map as well.

Now, I wouldn’t be teasing you with the epicness of this book without a reason. Book 2 is available on Kickstarter!

It funded in 2 minutes and became a Kickstarter Project We Love! That means it’s a trusted project… and… you get stretch goals!

Stretch Goals

Stretch goals enable a project to go farther and have more bells and whistles. The project manager decides how they work, and Karyne Norton has chosen to give her readers and backers the choice! I love it. It’s been so fun to see if my vote is what everyone else wants.

So far we have:

• Extra map
• Another novella
• Artwork
• Character cards
• Vellum insert
• Stickers

And the vote’s still out whether we add more character cards or get more artwork! (So, if I’m honest, I’m sharing because I want more of both!)

Salt in the Seas

She must reverse a curse to save her mother. He must sacrifice himself to save his sister. But old enemies and new prophecies threaten everything they fight for.

Salt in the Seas, book two in The Half-Light Chronicles, has 600+ pages filled with adventures at sea, prophecies, curses, no-spice slow burn romance, and the hunt for ancient relics. If you like epic fantasy with vast worlds, clear magic systems, and a variety of characters to root for, I think you’ll love this series.

If that wasn’t enough, she also has matching books for The Blood of the Stars, so you can get both books with all the epicness of the Kickstarter versions. And before they’re available in stores anywhere! She’s even added sprayed edges as an add-on.

So if I’ve not teased you enough, go take a look at Salt in the Seas.

There are ten days left to see what all we can do to bring this epic fantasy to life!

How Kickstarter Works

Kickstarter works off the idea that you like projects and want to see those projects reach their potential. So, indie authors, game developers, and other creatives present their ideas to the world, and you get to help back them in exchange for a piece of the project.

Your reward is based off the amount of support you give! It’s that easy. For example, you may only want an ebook, so you select that tier, but maybe you want the deluxe hardback edition. Each tier price is set in relationship to what you receive.

Unlike GoFundMe, Kickstarter projects are all or nothing. If they only reach 99% of their goal, then no one receives their rewards, and the project creator doesn’t get any money! But what happens if the goal is reached early?

I watched as Karyn Norton funded in under an hour! She then still had 21 days to go. The excitement built as her backers shared the word and eventually, when it was all said and done, I held the most beautiful hardback book in my hands–Embossed, jacket cover, chapter art, vellum map, colored map of world and the magic system!

How was that possible? Through stretch goals. As a backer, I was able to vote on what extras I wanted.

The Opportunity for You

My next book, Bonded Crowns, is releasing via Kickstarter next month. It won’t be available in this form anywhere else. Come March of 2025, I’ll release half of it as Appointed, and in July, the next half as Ascended. A special edition of Bonded Crowns will eventually be available on my website, but it won’t have all the bells and whistles that the Kickstarter version will have.

Bonded Crowns

What is this book? And why is it different than what will be available on other outlets?

Bonded Crowns is the duology of the first dragon king of Muintir. For Kickstarter, I decided to give the completed story first before it comes out as two books in the series. And since it’s new characters set earlier in the world, it works as its own standalone edition.

Survive.
Claim the crown.
Become the dragon king.

That should be easy for an eighteen-year-old, but Shawnahur’s easy days of being a puckling drover end moment he helps a baby dragon. Instead, he inadvertently ends up on a battlefield and defeats the enemy champion.

With his innocence stripped away and his victories mounting, Shawnahur is on the wrong side of the new king’s jealousy which knows no limits. He’ll need all his wits to stay alive as he’s threatened not only by the enemy on the battlefield—but also by his king!

Even so, he dares to dream that the prophecy of a dragon king could apply to him, but that’s only if he can survive long enough to claim the crown.

How to Be Envolved

You can get early notification in two ways:

This enables you to have an email in your inbox when the project goes live and another just before the project ends.

This is a special group who want personal notification of the project, want to be part of the conversation ahead of time, and are willing to pledge $1 right now to add a bookmark, the Dragon Journal and a pen to their tier.

I can’t wait to see how special this edition gets, but it’s all up to you and your friends. Bring them along.