Disney Infinity: Better Than Candles

So, in all the excitement surrounding the recent first anniversary of the Monkey Queen, I may have forgotten to mention that it was also...my birthday. And since it was, I may have decided to gift myself a few things.

Barbossa looks just as awesome as I expected; Jack Sparrow should be ticked that he came in second-best. Violet and Mrs. Incredible got there in one piece, and I'm grateful for that; those figures look quite fragile. I've never even seen Wreck-It Ralph (I know, I know), but Vanellope came with the others, so. And the Rapunzel is adorable, even if she may be getting on Merida's nerves.

Yeah, I'll probably need to expand to a second shelf soon. And the flash on my smartphone does make Sabine look rather orange. But I'm quite pleased with the way my collection is shaping up! I just need half a dozen figures to fill out my Disney Infinity 1.0 and 2.0 wants. And then just Minnie to finish...

[checks calendar]

Aw, crap. I would write this on new release day. And Chewie and Han look so good, and I need all the Rebels figures now, and I don't have to go to Best Buy for Mulan...

Which is why I'll mention again that I have a Disney Infinity wish list on Amazon. Belated birthday presents will not be looked down upon!

Willow Wednesdays: Charmed, I'm Sure

Welcome to Willow Wednesdays! We're featuring art by Willow, the cover artist for the Monkey Queen series, with her kind permission! Read on after the cut!

Willow is gearing up for the fall convention season, with appearances at Quai des Bulles in Saint Malo October 23-25, and Art to Play in Nantes November 21-22. She'll have copies of The Journey Of Earth, and she'll also have these adorable charms for sale!

She's also accepting preorders for these charms, and she's shipping them worldwide! Check here for information. And next time, she may, just may, be doing a flaming penguin-cosplaying hedgedog charm...

(Don't ask. Just have fun!)

Art © 2015 by Willow. All rights reserved; used by permission. You can view Willow's extensive gallery on DeviantArt, see her works in progress by liking her Facebook page, follow her on Twitter, and buy prints and much more at her Society6 webstore, including exclusive Monkey Queen items!

all these things you blogged, you blogged sincerely

First, I realized that I forgot to include a link to KBoards in my last post, so consider that rectified. I usually hang out in the Writer's Cafe forum, using the cunningly conceived forum name "Robert Dahlen", but there are also forums there for discussing Kindles, other e-readers, books and other subjects. Come on by and say hi! More after the cut.

Redblade news: We still can't set the date for when the next Monkey Queen book will be coming out, but Willow has started work on the cover! We've worked out the design for Abby, and it looks great! (And if you're asking, "Who's Abby?"...soon, all will be revealed. Or, you could just read the blurb...)

My awesome pal Shei Darksbane has just released a new Dakota Shepherd adventure! Driven, a spooky novella out just in time for Halloween, features ghosts, action, revenge, driving lessons and an important purchase from Walmart. Scoot over to Amazon and grab your copy today!

So I did get to watch both parts of the Doctor Who season opener, and wow. There may have been a bit of padding - I suspect this would have made a really great 90-minute episode - but it's still a vast improvement over last season, and maybe the best episode since "Day of the Doctor." I am getting a bit tired of Missy, though; maybe it's time to put her back in the toybox for a while. Favorite moment: The Doctor taking Davros' chair for a spin.

Finally, you may have seen the web site that allows you to turn yourself into a Peanuts character. Well, it didn't work too well for me (no options for beards or nice hats), and it didn't work too well for Michiko...

But it did a decent job for Beth.

Thank you, Harvey.

I began writing the Monkey Queen books after I realized that you could self-publish e-books through Amazon. As I wrote, I started looking for information and advice - not on the actual writing, but the formatting, the cover design, the publishing process, all that. And I got lucky - thanks to a blog post by the amazing Kate Danley, I found a forum that had all that and more, KBoards.

I lurked for months before finally taking the plunge. Quickly, through KBoards, I found people who could handle the formatting for me, and who could design a cover over art I provided, when I realized I had no skill at doing either. I got tips on how and where to market the book, and advice on writing, and encouragement at times when I needed the support. Giveaways, interviews, reviewers, promo sites, KBoards helped me find them all, and some you may have discovered my books because of that.

More importantly...suggestions made by two other members led me to DeviantArt, where I found Willow. And when a blue-haired new member took a liking to me, I became awesome pals with Shei Darksbane. Two of my favorite people in the world...and I might never have met them if it weren't for KBoards.

The founder of KBoards, Harvey Chute, passed away today after a lengthy battle with cancer. I joined too late to really interact with him, but by every indication, he was a gentleman and a loving husband and father. I'm sorry I didn't get to know him better.

And I will always, always be grateful for what KBoards has brought me, and to Harvey for starting it.

Thank you, Harvey.

Willow Wednesdays: Marking the Journey

Welcome to Willow Wednesdays! We're featuring art by Willow, the cover artist for the Monkey Queen series, with her kind permission! Read on after the cut!

Everyone in town blogged Mr. Webster

We're kicking off this Sunday catchup, and wrapping up our anniversary week, with big news: We're pleased to announce that Willow, who has done such wonderful covers for the Monkey Queen series, will be returning to do the cover for the upcoming fifth book, Redblade! We still can't set a publication date yet, but if you were to say "mid-November", we wouldn't argue with you. More after the cut!

Anniversary sale extended until Monday 9/21

We'll have our regular Sunday catchup post shortly (with some exciting news!), but we do have an important announcement: Due to Amazon having site-wide issues, we're extending the Monkey Queen anniversary sale, with all four books for 99 cents US each, through Monday night 9/21 at 9:00 PM Pacific time. (If the US price jumps to $2.99 at any point, try back in a bit.) Click here for the sale links, and thanks for stopping by.