This is a guest post by an author friend of mine by the name of Jason Halstead. He has been writing Science Fiction and Fantasy as long as I have and about three times faster than I do. (dramatic sigh) I'm currently reading his first book Voidhawk, an sci-fi take on fantasy style characters and adventure.
Jason is here to introduce you to his next audiobook, (Something I really need to do with mine) Child of Fate
You take it from here, Jason
My Baby Grew Up
In later 2012 Jason Halstead (that's me) wrote and published
a fantasy book called Child of Fate. Since I am Jason Halstead, I'll stop talking about myself in third
person – it's creepy. Child of Fate came out of nowhere for me and was honestly
little more than an experiment at first. An experiment I hoped would do well
because I had a lot of ideas of where to go with it.
By March I was selling hundreds of copies in a month. Yes,
hundreds. It was amazing. I quickly wrote book 2, Victim of Fate, and then followed it up with Silver Dragon to cap off the Blades of Leander trilogy. People wanted more though, so I began a second series
called the Order of the Dragon and it grew to four books (all available now).
What's it about? A group of young adults, kids still by
modern standards, that are forced to grow up fast by their environments.
Marauding monsters, international plots and intrigue, and behind it all a
menacing threat with an agenda that goes far beyond the dreams of farm boys and
princesses.
Child of Fate is still flying off the virtual shelves these
days, but what has me really excited is that after almost a year of working on
it, the audiobook version is complete and available!
Now I've done audiobooks before. In fact I think I have five
others out and more that are being worked on presently. Child of Fate isn't
like any of those. It's not that it has some special sentimental place in my
heart or anything, it's just a game changing book. I have to credit the
narrator for that, Sean Wybrant. Sean did things with his voice for each
character that made me laugh or gasp in amazement. Then when that wasn't enough
(there are some talking fantasy monsters involved), he turned on the special
effects and made them even more amazing. He blew me away, and his performance
forced me to offer him the second book in the series.
So if you're in the mood to listen to an epic fantasy story
told with such variety and skill that you can close your eyes and feel like
you're there, please check it out. Just don't try that if you're listening to
it while driving (the closing your eyes bit). I promise you won't be
disappointed!
Description
About the Author
Early winters and distant cities make the northern reaches fit only for adventurous homesteaders. Alto is on the verge of becoming such a man when his father is ambushed by monstrous raiders from the mountains.
Determined to find help for his father Alto leaves his home behind and sets out with a group of adventurers tasked with learning the true nature of the raids. Help for his family grows more and more distant as the boy is swept up into a budding war with a neighboring nation and the threats of evil forces from the mountains.
A fiery-tempered princess from the eastern kingdom falls into Alto's hands by twist of fate. The fate of two nations rests in their hands, provided they can keep them off of each other's throats.
Short version: Jason Halstead is a science fiction and fantasy author who spends his free time with his wife and two children, writing, and powerlifting.
Long version: Jason's always wanted to write, but making a living at it seemed unobtainable. So instead of writing fiction, he turned to writing code. That paid the rent and let him dabble in fiction.
The common theme shared by almost every great writer is perseverance. Refusing to accept denial by traditional publishing and agents, Jason was finally accepted at a publisher that was harnessing the cresting wave of ebooks. That ride, although bumpy, gave him the experience and knowledge necessary to strike out and improve his craft.
Jason now has multiple books out and regularly helps out other budding authors struggling to makes sense of the industry. He's a stickler on editing and professionalism, but also believes wholeheartedly that his readers aren't just customers, they're his friends. He wants to know them and encourages them to visit his website http://booksbyjason.com, his blog http://booksbyjason.wordpress.com, and even more to email him jason@booksbyjason.com so he can interact with them. His books come from his imagination and from his heart, and more than one of his friends has inspired him and shown up for at least a cameo appearance in one of his titles.
