Would you be willing to help?

June 18, 2018June 18, 2018 by dmcain84, posted in amwriting, authors, awethors, bookrelease, books, fantasy, fiction, novels, release, Sword and sorcery, The Light and Shadow Chronicles, writing

Book release – help request

Today I have a HUGE favour to ask you…

In the next few months I will be releasing a novella in my fantasy series entitled ‘Genesis of Light‘. I really need some help with the release. It could be sharing posts, hosting me on your blog, reading an advanced copy, or just giving me your opinions on the cover.

If you are willing to help a girl out, please visit this link and fill out the form. (It only involves a few tick boxes so it won’t take more than a minute or two). Thank you so much, wonderful people!

To say thank you, here are some freebies!

A new book from the amazing Karen J. Mossman

June 11, 2018June 11, 2018 by dmcain84, posted in Amazon, authors, bookrelease, books

Joanna’s Destiny – Available for pre-order now!

Struggling with the past, Joanna can’t forget the love she lost and the man who broke her heart. During the summer at a rock festival, Joanna meets him again. Niko is now an international rock star. Can they put the past behind them and rekindle the love they once had?

Mike stood by her when no one else did, but Niko still wants her. Joanna becomes entangled in a web of lies and deceit. Niko is the love of her life, but she cannot leave Mike in confusion and betrayal.

In Joanna’s Destiny, she has some fun times in France and mingles with the stars in Montreux. With a backdrop of music and fashion, emotions and friendships are tested. But her love for Niko never falters, showing that love can conquer all, but at what cost?

Pre-order from Amazon now!

While you’re here, you can pick up a whole range of other awesome books for FREE! Click on the banners below to select your new free books:

Inspiration for The Phoenix Project

April 9, 2018May 21, 2018 by dmcain84, posted in Amazon, amwriting, authors, awethors, books, dystopian, fiction, novels, psychological fiction, self-harm fiction, thriller, writing

Inspiration for The Phoenix Project

The Phoenix Project is a story that is very close to my heart. I had the original idea in 2002 and it has slowly grown with the input of a variety of influences and inspiration.

Inspiration #1: Raven Kennedy:

Raven began as the villain, Vincent, in my first novel “Dead End” (an idea which never came to fruition). The plot didn’t work, but I adored his character so I kept him and developed him as the antagonist in the fantasy world of ‘The Light and Shadow Chronicles’ (You may have met him in A Chronicle of Chaos or The Shield of Soren).

I loved the character so much that I took the idea of him and developed it in another direction—into the dark and depressed Raven in my next novel, The Phoenix Project.

Having worked with Raven for so long, I am very emotionally attached to him. Even though he is fictional, I feel that he is a part of my heart and soul. Hence this tattoo:

Raven also features as a major character in The Light and Shadow Chronicles. I don’t think I will ever write a book that doesn’t have Raven in it in some way. He is my muse and my access to my creativity.

Continue reading “Inspiration for The Phoenix Project” →

Enough about me – tell me about YOU!

March 31, 2018May 9, 2018 by dmcain84, posted in amwriting, Blog, writing

Hello fans of D.M. Cain

Tell me about YOU! I’m writing to you today to ask you a few questions. I don’t want this to be a blog where I just talk at you – I want a two-way dialogue! So, tell me a bit about yourself.

Who are you? What are you interested in? What are your favourite books, movies, TV shows? (This isn’t a trick or a ploy of some sort – I genuinely want to get to know you!)

Is there anything I can do to help you? Would you like recommendations of other books similar to mine? Want to know how I got my books published? Would you like writing or editing tips? Want to discuss worldbuilding and extended universes? Or maybe you just want to know who I think would win in a fight between Deadpool and Black Panther.

Whatever it is, no matter how big or small, drop me a line. Ask a question, tell me a fact, let me know about you, ask for help – anything!

I look forward to hearing from you! (simply reply to this post, fill in a contact form, or drop me a message on Facebook or Twitter)

My editing process

March 25, 2018May 21, 2018 by dmcain84, posted in amwriting, authors, books, fiction, novels, The Light and Shadow Chronicles, writing, writing craft

My editing process by D.M. Cain

My editing process is a long and tiring one, but strangely I wholeheartedly enjoy parts of it (especially the early stages.)

I initially write my books using two methods. I spend a few hours a week sitting in cafes or restaurants with my trusty notebook, where I will hand-write sections of my story. It’s a bit old-school, I know, but there’s something special about cutting off from technology and getting back to basics with good old pen and paper. I often find that this is when my creativity truly blossoms.

Continue reading “My editing process” →

#Kindle Book Review, #NaNoWriMo and more projects than I know what to do with!

October 31, 2016October 29, 2016 by dmcain84, posted in amwriting, authors, awethors, books, fiction, Kindle, NaNoWriMo, novels, writing

So, I’ve been pretty quiet lately. Why, you ask? Well, I’ve been super busy. Here’s what has been happening with me lately:

My first novel, ‘The Phoenix Project’, got through to the final round of the Sci-Fi/Fantasy category of the Kindle Book Review! I am incredibly proud of this achievement, and even if I don’t win, it is such an honour to have come this far. I will find out the result on November 1^st. Eeek!

November 1^st is going to be an important date for me, because not only will I find out the winner of the Kindle Book Review, but it is also the first day of NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month). I have never taken part in the proper NaNo before (although I did complete Camp NaNo – the mini version – this year.) So, for the month of November, I will be attempting to write a complete new project of 50,000+ words from scratch. Though I am mid-way through another book at the moment, I’ve decided to start a new story from my fantasy series – The Light and Shadow Chronicles.

I have so many projects in the pipeline at the moment that it’s difficult to keep up with it all! I’ve created a spreadsheet of my books and the progress I’m making. My next book to be released will be The Shield of Soren (the adult version of ‘Soren’). Following that will be ‘Genesis of Light’.

Exciting times for D.M. Cain!

August 22, 2016August 20, 2016 by dmcain84, posted in Amazon, amwriting, authors, awethors, books, fiction, NaNoWriMo, novels, release, writing, writing craft

Well, summer 2016 has been a busy one. As a primary school teacher I have six weeks summer vacation in which to catch up with all the writing and editing I can’t do in the school term.

So, what have I been up to in these six weeks?

Aside from looking after my hyperactive, cheeky little 5 year old son, I’ve been away on two holidays – Snowdonia in Wales, and a cruise to the Norwegian fjords. Both had beautiful, mountain scenery – just what I need to get my writer’s inspiration flowing.

These two breaks, as well as a significant amount of time at home have allowed me to achieve the following:

Camp NaNoWriMo

My editor (and awesome friend) Pam Elise Harris asked me this July to take part in Camp NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) I was terrified of the concept of only having one month to complete a writing project, but I decided to go for it. As it was my first challenge, I set myself a manageable target of 20,000 words and started a brand new novella entitled ‘Origin of Shadow’.

I am delighted to announce that I managed to completed my target! I now have a shiny Camp NaNo winner’s certificate to be proud of!

This story was written to complement Genesis of Light – a similar sized novella. Each of these novellas tells the story of the origin of one of the armies in my Light and Shadow Chronicles series. Origin of Shadow lets readers in on the secrets of how the Brotherhood of Shadow were formed.The two novellas will need to go through editing but I hoping to release them sometime next year (My cover designer, Irina French, is due to start work on the covers shortly!)

Author talk at Newbold Verdon library

On Wednesday 10th August I gave my first ever author talk at my local library. I did this 2.5 hour presentation/interactive Q&A with a fellow author named Stewart Bint (we live 500 yards from each other!). It was so much fun and the engagement from our audience was wonderful! I am pleased to say I even managed to sell a few copies! I can’t wait to do more events like this in the future.

#Writestorm marathon day

July 31st was our first #writestorm marathon. Facebook group ‘The #Awethors’ (of which I am co-creator) joined in with a 24 hour writing marathon. People were not required to write all day (that would have been crazy!) but they were asked to select certain hour long periods entirely dedicated to adding words to their current Work-In-Progress. The #writestorm methodology is a concept developed by talented author Andy Mengel, which involves short, intense periods of writing which are timed and structured. This method allows authors the chance to blast out a high word count without distractions, and helps to feed motivation in the next writing session.

The event was a huge success! Between us we managed to write 41,000 words! No small feat of accomplishment for 24 hours. We’ll be sure to run more events like this in the future.

For more about the #writestorm process – check out the official handbook:

GRAB YOUR COPY HERE!

I’ve finally finished the first rounds of edits for The Shield of Soren!

The next novel in my Light and Shadow Chronicles series is ‘The Shield of Soren’. The books in this epic fantasy series are not chronological so this new installment could be read before or after the first release ‘A Chronicle of Chaos’ (available to buy here – just saying…) There are some characters who will appear in The Shield of Soren whom you might know from A Chronicle of Chaos: Raven, Deacon, Callista, Vincent, the mysterious tattooed man in black…

Now I’ve finished first round of edits, the book will be heading back to my editor for round 2 and I am hoping to be finished editing by the end of 2016, with a view to release in 2017.

What writing advancements has this summer brought for you?

Scars and Souvenirs by Rocky Rochford

August 20, 2016 by dmcain84, posted in Amazon, amwriting, authors, awethors, blog tour, bookrelease, books, extract, fiction, release, writing

Rocky Rochford is a close friend of mine and a very talented multi-genre author. His highly anticipated newest release ‘Scars and Souvenirs’ is a collection of 10 short stories.

Releasing August 26th

Author: Rocky Rochford

Title: Scars & Souvenirs

Series: None

Genre: Emotional Thriller

Book Content Rating: Adult!!! Contains swearing, scenes of death, depression and suicide.

Tag-line: “Darkness has many forms and Mares is its playground.”

Blurb:

Every scar tells a story, a tale of loss, or a tale of regret. The scars on my arms an echo of when times were hard. The scars on my eyes of the dreaded horrors I can never unsee. The scars on my soul a lasting memory of the sins that tore my soul apart. The scars on my heart from a love forever lost. The scars on my wrists, the end result of a failed attempt to end a life of brokenness. Each scar is a story. A story begging to be told.

The following is an extract from the Devil Came to Drag Me to Hell

“You will bleed. You will cry. You will love and you will say goodbye to all those you hold dear. Life is repulsed by shadow and you reek of it. I look forwards to watching the show.”

His words made perfect sense.

Of course they would—they were my own.

Words I would tell myself when I was all alone.

The Devil knows all.

Especially the one that sits on your shoulder.

In the depths of your soul.

“Your wound isn’t deep and the knife didn’t hit anything vital. You will go on to live, knowing this is what you do to people. The poison that flows through your veins always finds a way to push those you hold dear away, no matter how hard you try to cling to them. You are the villain, John, and the villain is destined to fail.”

He reached out and grabbed me. His hands on my throat squeezed and then he began to drag me. The world I had left returned.

As did the sound of my heart beating.

And the air in my lungs.

My eyes opened.

I gasped.

The Devil had come to drag me to Hell, but like he said for the likes of me. There is only one kind of Hell, the life of an endless nightmare I live on a daily basis.

He dragged me back to my old life.

A life of scars.

****Here concludes today’s extract, for more check out the full collection when it releases next month. ****

Rocky Rochford Biography

Rocky Rochford is your standard guy, if your standard guy scuba dives, partakes in underwater photographer and is a wake-boarding, adventure seeking, sword collecting, marine conservation supporter. After living life on the road and the places between, he finally settled down but not without benefiting from all the lessons life had to teach him.

Self-professed “Student of Everything, and Master of Nothing,” Rochford does not choose what he writes, but writes what chooses him, be it fantasy, crime, poetry, philosophy or even adventure. Life is a journey we all get to experience, just like a good book.

Every read into another of his typed works is another trip into the imagination of his mixed up, crazed and deranged mind and this year along those works include the likes of full novels and novellas such as:

London Calling – a Deep Water Novel (Spy Thriller)

Don’t Even Blink – Part of the Don’t Turn Around Trilogy (Horror)

Wait and Bleed – The Don’t Turn Around Collection (Horror collection of the entire Don’t Trilogy)

And now The Eye of Mares – Book 2 of the Rise of the Elohim Chronicles (Illustrated YA fantasy adventure)

Other works released by him, are a number of short stories pertaining to horror, paranormal and romance, as well as other works released as part of an anthology:

The Devil You Know (Paranormal short)

Salt in the Wound – Part of the Entwined Saga (Paranormal short)

The Food of Love (featuring Him & Her) – An Anthology by Solstice Publishing (Romance filled Anthology)

Him & Her (Romance Standalone release)

Don’t Say A Word (Horror)

Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep Volume II (featuring The Devil Before) – An Anthology by the Solstice Shadows (Paranormal themed Anthology)

Awethology Dark (featuring Ghosts) – An Anthology by the #Awethors (Adult stories pertaining to a darker theme)

The December Awethology Dark Volume (featuring Seven Years Bad Luck) – An Anthology by the #Awethors (Adult stories pertaining to a darker theme, set around December)

Welcome to the World of Rochford

Social Media Links:

Rocky Rochford’s website: rockyrochford.wordpress.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/IamRockyRochford/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/RockyRochford

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7310280.Rocky_Rochford

Amazon page: http://www.amazon.com/Rocky-Rochford/e/B00O3AA3KU/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1?qid=1449272442&sr=8-1

Rochford writes a little something for everyone, so if Scars & Souvenirs isn’t your cup of tea, you can guarantee one of his many other works will be!

In desperate need of Thunderclap help!

July 10, 2016 by dmcain84, posted in amwriting, authors, awethors, books, dystopian, epic, fiction, giveaway, novels, psychological fiction, science fiction, self-harm fiction, thriller, Thunderclap

With just 2 days left until my Thunderclap campaign ends, I am still in need of 22 supporters! From July 11th – 17th The Phoenix Project will be on sale for just $0.99 / £0.99 and in order to get this news to as many people as possible, I need Thunderclap’s help.

This means I need as much support as possible. I will gladly return support for anybody else’s campaigns, or if you need shares or tweets etc.

Here is my campaign:

https://www.thunderclap.it/projects/43726-the-phoenix-project-for-0-99

#IndiePrideDay!

July 1, 2016 by dmcain84, posted in Amazon, amwriting, authors, awethors, books, children's books, fantasy, fiction, free, giveaway, writing

Today is #IndiePrideDay – a day when independent artists come together and celebrate their success and creativity. Indies don’t have teams of marketing agents behind them, and if they don’t get their own work out there, nobody else will. Each and every Indie has worked so hard to get themselves to where they are today.

So today I am standing beside my fellow Indies and feeling proud of our achievements!

Book release – help request

Today I have a HUGE favour to ask you…

To say thank you, here are some freebies!

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Joanna’s Destiny – Available for pre-order now!

While you’re here, you can pick up a whole range of other awesome books for FREE! Click on the banners below to select your new free books:

RELATED LINKS:

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Inspiration for The Phoenix Project

Inspiration #1: Raven Kennedy:

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Hello fans of D.M. Cain

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My editing process by D.M. Cain

My editing process is a long and tiring one, but strangely I wholeheartedly enjoy parts of it (especially the early stages.)

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Camp NaNoWriMo

Author talk at Newbold Verdon library

#Writestorm marathon day

I’ve finally finished the first rounds of edits for The Shield of Soren!

What writing advancements has this summer brought for you?

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Releasing August 26th

****Welcome to the World of Rochford****

Rochford writes a little something for everyone, so if Scars & Souvenirs isn’t your cup of tea, you can guarantee one of his many other works will be!

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To celebrate this day, my children’s book ‘Soren’ is FREE on Amazon for the next few days! Grab a copy here:

Amazon US: www.amazon.com/dp/B0198QGMMG/

Amazon UK: www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0198QGMMG/

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Welcome to the World of Rochford