Get Started with The Chronicles!

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Amazon.com Amazon.co.uk Smashwords (epub)		Amazon.com Amazon.co.uk Smashwords (epub)

The Underwood and Flinch Chronicles Launch Today!

One podcast becomes two ebooks

Happy Underwood and Flinch Day! Yes, Underwood and Flinch, the 45-episode podcast, becomes 2 separate ebooks as today I launch The Underwood and Flinch Chronicles. Volume One is called "Resurrection" and contains the text of the podcast episodes from Night Crossing to Episode 21. Then the story continues in Volume Two, "Bonded in Blood", which is episodes 22 to 45.
These books are on sale now from Amazon stores worldwide (DRM-free, so you can share them with friends and family) and if you use Nook, Kobo, or iBooks, you can get epubs from my page at Smashwords.

Why two books? Well, multiple reasons, actually. But most importantly, it's because they actually are two books; I'm made aware of thisevery time I try and write a plot synopsis. It's like two seasons of a TV show - describing the events of one doesn't cover the events of the other. Also, we're now in the age of the saga - the ongoing series of books. And since the sequel to U&F is, in fact, the first of three sequels (at least), I realized I was at the helm of just such a segmented century-spanning literary adventure (however, the word "saga" calls to mind "Twilight", and I don't feel comfy there, so I went with "Chronicles" instead).

The book I'm currently writing, the first sequel to the podcast story, is called Volume Three "Blood and Smoke". More than that, I cannot say, but I can say it's set in the Caribbean and Colonial America, and features Underwood and Matthias Flinch. The ebook will be out (hopefully) by the end of the year.

But for now, please help support The Underwood and Flinch Chronicles by buying a copy - or copies - of the ebooks and (if you'd be so kind) leaving a few positive words in your wake. My hope is that if enough people buy the books on Sunday they might propel them to a chart position where they'll be noticed by newbies in the ever-teeming marketplace that is the ebook-o-sphere.

There's a Facebook event today (Sunday), so if you're on the Book, please join us. You can also follow my tweets on the day by following me on Twitter @TheMikeBennett.
And so for now, all I can say is, Hip-Hip for Underwood and Flinch! May today be a cracker among days for the gentleman vampire and his trusty servant(s). Huzzah!

M.J. Hahn's fabulous covers

catch the mood of U&F perfectly!

No News Lately ...

... I've been busy with other stuff: visiting my parents, working the day job, etc. I did manage to get the full story outline of U&F 2 developed while I was at my parents' house. I now have a beginning (which is written), a middle (which is what I'm writing when I get the time) and an end (which is still to be written, but now at least is fully mapped out).

U&F 1 is almost ready for ebook release (in two parts). I also need to get my Parsec submission sorted out for The Shadow Over Innsmouth. And of course, there's Dracula, Part 3 to record. Parsec deadline is the 15th, so that has to take priority. Then U&F 1 ebooks. Then the next Dracula podcast episode / U&F 1 paperback / hardback releases.

And when I can, U&F 2.

Beyond that, as I say, there's no news. This is just an update in case you thought I was dead or something.

Birthday

It's my birthday! So far, I'm having a great time. My wife got me Bioshock Infinite, and a friend in the States mailed me a cool T-shirt and some baldy-head shave (thanks, Martin). It doesn't get any better than this ... oh, wait, yes it does, my wife is making me a fry-up! Cholesterol-tastic it may be, but it's my birthday, so I'll risk it.

 If you're not my Facebook pal, help me celebrate by adding yourself here

Dracula

Dracula by Bram Stoker is my latest adventure in podcasting. It's going to take a long time for me to read, record and produce it, but as soon as every episode is done, I'll release it into my main feed.

Click the pic to listen live / download

Expect at least one episode a month. When it's all done, I'll release it as one big audiobook, but that won't be for at least a year, probably more, so be sure and subscribe to my main feed in itunes here: Mike Bennett Reads Dracula.

Poacher's Cottage - FREE for 48 hours!

Brrrrrr! Did someone leave a (Microsoft / Mac) window open on a cold winter's night? No, it's just the door to Poacher's Cottage, which has swung open to allow you FREE access to itself and two other tales from the Hall of Mirrors for the next 48 hours!! Grab your ebook freebie now! Oh, and if you leave me five stars and a few kind words, I'll love you forever :-)

Poacher's Cottage and Other Tales at AMAZON.COM

Poacher's Cottage and Other Tales at AMAZON.CO.UK

Back to U&F 2

Back writing U&F 2. I have stop-start periods. I wrote a huge amount when I went down to visit my parents at the start of the month. Then I stopped when I was doing Innsmouth. Now I'm back at it again. I shouldn't stop, as even when the words come slowly, writing makes me happy. No matter what I might accomplish at work in my classroom, I always feel like I've really achieved something when I get 500 - 1000 words done.

I think the reason I stop is because I get into territory I'm unsure about. It's always easier to not write anything than to write badly. But badly written work can always be improved, whereas days without writing are completely beyond repair. I'm sticking to the course from now on: a minimum of 200 words a day. There are no excuses for not doing that much. Anyone can write 200 words a day. And it usually tends to end up being way more than that ... which is nice.