• About
  • Waypoint
    • AIN
    • Before the Sun Fades
    • Convergence
    • The Galactic Federation
      • Tsien: Chapter 1
    • The Fallen Empire
    • The Fused
      • Chapter 1: Mission
      • Chapter 2: Lindsi
      • Chapter 3: Fusion
      • Chapter 4: Morning
      • Chapter 5: Meridian Park
      • Chapter 6: Filtration
      • Chapter 7: Explanation
      • Chapter 8: New Destination
      • Chapter 9: Solar Strip
      • Chapter 10: Power Imbalance
      • Chapter 11: Lock and Key
      • Chapter 12: Self-Determination
      • Chapter 13: Engineering
      • Chapter 14: Radiation Leak
      • Chapter 15: Shielding Patch
      • Chapter 16: Doubt
      • Chapter 17: Reactor Control
      • Chapter 18: Silent Success
      • Chapter 19: Need to Know
      • Chapter 20: Maintenance Entry
      • Chapter 21: Shards of Sight
      • Chapter 22: Nothing For It
      • Chapter 23: In Case of Emergency
      • Chapter 24: Sightlines
      • Chapter 25: Into the Unseen
      • Chapter 26: Escape to Nowhere
      • Chapter 27: Consequences
      • Chapter 28: Hard Vacuum
      • Chapter 29: Spacewalk
      • Chapter 30: Unanswered Questions
      • Chapter 31: Captain on Bridge
      • Chapter 32: Horizon Mission
      • Chapter 33: Answers
    • Mysteries Unite
    • Oranges and Lemons
    • The Path of the Gods
    • The Bridged Divide
      • Grehstadt
        • Paralysis
  • Buy Books!

Distant Realms

~ A selection of tales from across the Multiverse! Travel via Waypoint to learn more…

Tag Archives: Before the Sun Fades

Coming Soon!

30 Fri Jun 2017

Posted by Metalwings in Writing

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Admin, Before the Sun Fades, Books, Erithenia, Fantasy, Publication, Sale, Sci-Fi

The exam period is just about over, and with it I am freed to go back to writing! (I’d have written an explanatory post, but I didn’t realise quite how busy I’d end up until it was already too late!) Which means… that I am now ready to promise you all a new book! Preorders are now open for Erithenia: Reclamation, the first in a new series that will bring us to the world of Thenia, a modern technological society built in part around a power — sharren — as fundamental to Thenians as gravity. Old tales of gods and monsters are a myth — until the day that a cruise liner runs aground, a seemingly reasonless event that heralds the return of the heroes and villains long since thought to be no more than fable.

Reclamation will be out on the 1st of December, but register your interest now to be sure you get it as soon as it’s released!

And in other writing news… there’s about to be a big sale at Smashwords, and for the whole month of July, the ebook of Before the Sun Fades will be absolutely free! So why not pick it up?

Meet the Characters: King Sariven

14 Thu Jul 2016

Posted by Metalwings in Writing

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Ask away!, Before the Sun Fades, Characters, Fantasy

A legendary figure in Before the Sun Fades, recalled almost reverentially by the remnants of his people, King Sariven faced the darkness consuming his valley to the last, until the palace fell with him still within it. But how much did he manage to learn about the oncoming disaster? What secrets did he take with him into the shadows? Despite his desperate struggle to save his people, was there something more he could have, should have done?

Warning: contains serious spoilers, to the point where if you haven’t already read the book I really suggest you don’t read any further! After all, the tale of Rakariel’s attempt to restore the valley depends inextricably on the tale of how it came to be engulfed in darkness in the first place.


Continue reading →

Holy Catbiscuits!

13 Wed Jul 2016

Posted by Metalwings in Authorial Gubbins, Book Statistics

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Admin, Before the Sun Fades, Books, Fantasy, Publication, Sales

I was going to be good and not constantly post about how BtSF was doing in the sale (where it’s currently free), because that’s really annoying, but it’s now almost at the top of page 5 of the free-in-sale fantasy bestsellers and climbing!!! They default to 20 books per page, which means it stands at sales rank #83! I’ve hit double digits in my category!!!

Thank you! You wonderful crazy people who read random fantasy novels by someone on the internet, thank you all!

How’s Rakariel Doing?

18 Fri Mar 2016

Posted by Metalwings in Authorial Gubbins

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Admin, Before the Sun Fades, Books, Fantasy, Publication

I’ve been meaning to catch up on my sales statistics for a while now, and since I’m not feeling so great, today seems like the ideal time to do all those minor chores that involve sitting in front of a computer. So, how are we doing?

Well, Before the Sun Fades has shifted 15 physical copies! Not counting the box of author copies I have, which I’ve mostly handed out to libraries and friends/relations. As for its e-sales, I’ve sold 11 e-copies, and handed out a few more. Hopefully, copies of these will be in circulation among a wider circle of people, some of whom will pop by sometime and ‘buy’ a copy to support my work, and some of whom can’t right now – which is a-okay with me.

All this means that I’ve sold 26 books, plus some extra that I’ve handed out in various places, since the 23rd of May last year. That’s only ten months ago, and two and a half books a month doesn’t feel bad at all for a starting out nobody author!

So I’m feeling pretty good about myself and about my writing life right now! And as a celebration, I’m handing out discount codes like candy again! Sadly, I can’t discount the physical book – Amazon controls the special offers there – but I can certainly discount the electronic edition!

To grab a copy of Before the Sun Fades in your favourite e-format for what should be about £1 (Smashwords insist on doing everything in dollars), head on over to its Smashwords page and enter the code UL78V on purchase. It’s valid up until BtSF reaches its first birthday, that is, the 23rd of May! And share the code with your friends – it’s good for an infinite number of uses until time runs out!

Coming to a Library Near You

02 Thu Jul 2015

Posted by Metalwings in Authorial Gubbins

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Admin, Before the Sun Fades

The other day, I went down to the local library and dropped off my very first physical library copy of Before the Sun Fades! That’s right — it’s now in the library chain! (The ebook is also set to be free to libraries if they request it, but I don’t know who, if anyone, has. If you want to try an e-copy rather than the standard 20% sample, why not see if your local library has access to one!) I’ll be seeding more around the place as I travel, so if you have any requests for a region you’d particularly like to have a physical library copy in, pop a comment over here and I’ll see what I can do the next time I’m passing by!

Meet the Characters: Tei

25 Thu Jun 2015

Posted by Metalwings in Behind the Scenes

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Tags

Ask away!, Before the Sun Fades, Characters, Fantasy, Tei

Considering the book’s been out for a month now, it’s past time for another “Meet the Characters” post! Today, let’s introduce Tei, a young survivor with an unexpected talent who accompanies Rakariel through Before the Sun Fades.

Click to reveal spoilers: Continue reading →

And In Other News…

23 Tue Jun 2015

Posted by Metalwings in Authorial Gubbins

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Before the Sun Fades, Books, Fantasy, News

Before the Sun Fades has now been published for a full month! During that time I have thus far made almost equal digital sales and physical sales that I know about, which is doing pretty darn well, I reckon! I’ve had pageviews every day, I’ve had only three days in which at least one person didn’t download the 20% sample, and I was until recently #7 on the Smashwords Fantasy Bestsellers list even with adult content turned on! (I think I made it to #4 or #5 without it, so not quite into the top three, but very close!) I’m now sliding slowly down as other people’s recent sales take over, but that was quite something!

To check out the 20% sample, go to the Smashwords buy page – there’s a sample button for most formats, so it should have what you need! You can also read a review of the book. Or, if you want a full copy (electronic or physical) and want to choose your favourite shop, I’ve listed everywhere I currently know you can get it under the “Buy Books!” tab at the top of the page.

If you’re on the fence about buying and have questions, why not leave me a comment? Or, check out the various posts with the Before the Sun Fades tag — there’s a bunch of miscellaneous worldbuilding information if you don’t mind a few spoilers. And finally, if you know somewhere that’s stocking my book that I haven’t got listed, please let me know and I’ll update the page accordingly!

Gods and Demons in Before the Sun Fades

16 Tue Jun 2015

Posted by Metalwings in Writing

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Background, Before the Sun Fades, Canon, Fantasy

The world of Before the Sun Fades is a complicated place, filled with strange beings of all sorts. In one country, one religion may be followed; in another, something completely different — and yet, as Rakariel is all too aware, all are true. The key is belief: belief grants power; worship feeds a continual influx of power that might have been the worshipper’s, had they not gifted it to those they worshipped. Humans, individually, may be spiritually relatively weak in terms of the power they can exert unaided — but in concert, the power they can grant is great indeed.

The more who believe in any given god, the greater that god’s power becomes. Indeed, in the end, it can alter almost anything. Lower-rank gods often take imposing physical forms to intervene in world events, channelling their spiritual power through a piece of the material realm. Where belief is strong, these avatars are strong, but where it is weak, they quickly fade away.

In a religious war, the gods may do battle, either on their own plane of being or joining forces with their followers on the material plane. However, most of the time they prefer to posture, attempting to force one another to back down through manipulation rather than outright violence. The death of a god is a rare event that sends ripples through the surrounding pantheons: the domain of the god must be claimed swiftly, much of its power likely already absorbed by the enemy that slew it. Any afterlife depending on such a god, if not absorbed by the killer, begins to fade and weaken.

Afterlives, where present, depend on the god and pantheon. A god may devote part of its energy to maintaining a spiritual realm that its followers may inhabit after their physical death. These realms are entirely dependent on the whim of the god or gods creating them, as is the state of the spirits residing within. Gods may even consume their afterlives’ resident spirits for a boost in power, although this practice is little-known and less spoken of.

If freed from an afterlife, or never permitted to enter one, a human spirit will grow weaker over time until it fades away to nothing. Some enter the cycle of reincarnation, divesting themselves of the majority of their conscious identity in order to live again in the physical realm. This is a somewhat dangerous task if not aided by a god or other being of spiritual power, as a developing body without a fully-fledged spirit is a tempting target, and is likely to be protected by the deities of the parents. Other spirits remain as wraiths: some benevolent and often granted enough strength to continue their existence by those who know of them; others as mad, dangerous beings that suck the life from any unfortunate enough to enter their domain. Any spirit may become a god; any god may become a spirit, depending on the amount of strength they are able to obtain.

Demons, despite the difference in perception, are actually entirely identical to gods. Some demons, such as that fought by Rakariel in her past, are in fact fallen gods whose people were conquered and whose belief system was subdued. These angry, dangerous remnants are made even worse by the fact that many then continue to believe in the new religion’s propaganda of their negative forms, warping their justifiable anger at their usurpation into something truly evil. Some gods have not only created their own nemeses this way, but even on rare occasion been struck down by them. While it is possible to redeem any “fallen” god, it is not an easy task, for either an entire populace must be convinced to believe better of them while they are yet beings of horror, or else their nature must be altered swiftly using a massive focus of power.

Writing BtSF

06 Sat Jun 2015

Posted by Metalwings in Writing

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Before the Sun Fades, Music, NaNoWriMo, Writing process

Now that it’s out (which I’m still not entirely sure I believe, even though I’ve seen a photo of the hard copy!), I’m kinda thinking back over the process of writing Before the Sun Fades, and how it all went. Or didn’t go, for a lot of the time.

Continue reading →

Print and Links!

03 Wed Jun 2015

Posted by Metalwings in Authorial Gubbins

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

Admin, Before the Sun Fades, Books, Fantasy, Publication

Looks like someone’s catalogued the existence of my book! http://booksreadr.org/ebook/before-the-sun-fades How awesome is that?!

The CreateSpace submission process was unexpectedly painless, and apart from time taken to filter through the various catalogues, Before the Sun Fades should now be available in print! It’s somewhat more expensive than I would have liked, but I suppose that’s the penalty for making it print-on-demand.

The different outlet channels (Createspace itself, Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk or other EU Amazon sites, etc.) each have somewhat different returns for me. If you buy direct from CreateSpace, I get almost $7 out of it, which I think comes to a bit over £4.50 at present; if you buy from Amazon (free postage in the UK, don’t know about other countries) I get something more along the lines of £1.50; and in their extended distribution list (which enables booksellers to buy bulk orders, etc.) I get only a few cents – this is basically what’s set the floor price. I don’t have the fine-grained control to do much about that (other than setting the UK/EU prices much cheaper than the American one, which seems a little unfair, although it does slightly also feel like revenge for the price difference that usually goes the other way), so Before the Sun Fades is going to be around £10 to buy in print for the immediately foreseeable future. (Not including postage, which varies depending on where you live.)

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Book News

Before the Sun Fades is FREE (ebook only) for the month of July!

Current Project: completing Reclamation; ebook preorders now open.

NaNoWriMo 2016: Instability.

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