Why I blog

Why do I blog?

A number of people haven't asked me this question  Actually, no one has.  But I've decided to answer the question as though they had.

The answer is . . . . actually, I'm not going to tell you until the end of this post.  That way, you have to read everything until you get to the bottom . . . or you could just scroll down and get the answer . . . Never mind.  I'll just tell you now and you can read from that point on or not.  Up to you.

I do it because the emo bunnies make me blog like a puppetmaster makes his puppets dance.

That's right.  The emo bunnies are in control.  You are surprised, I know.

Evolution of a blog.

I started this blog because I was told that it was an important tool to market books.  Actually, I was told that I should start my own website for my books.  That sounded like a lot more work.  I really should start my own website still.  However, I've done more research since that time and discovered it really is a lot of work.  My time is limited and I'd rather spend it writing books, so I settled for a blog.

I named it "The World of Ryallon" because that's where my fantasy novels take place.

Speaking of marketing, feel free to try out my books, if you haven't already. :)  The emo bunnies recommend my Stories for Demented Children.

              

The blog has developed over time though.  I don't use it to market near as much as I should.  Instead, I use it to talk about stuff on the rare occasion that I actually feel like talking about anything.  A lot of my posts are random musings about life and things I think about.  Most of them are probably a good indication that I lack sanity.

I also write tutorials for other writers.  These include details on how to write, edit, market and various other details involved in self-publishing.  Much of these tutorials are part of my journey and sharing the things I've learned along the way.  Hopefully the advice is helpful to those who follow.

I still use it as a marketing tool.  Most of the posts are updates as to what I'm writing and how things are going overall.  I post sneak peak chapters every now and then, which my fans really like.

How the blog is doing.

It's actually doing pretty well.  I don't post often enough, but it gets a lot of views.  The details of my books interest my fans.  I occasionally get new readers who discover my work after reading my posts.  And the emo bunnies are . . . well, they're still miserable, but that's just how they roll.

My first post was may 13th, 2011.  Since then, I've published 124 posts and had over 200,000 views.  My most popular post is "How to make a clickable table of contents in Microsoft Word" with over 100,000 views.  Yeah, that's right.  Over half of my views have been for a tutorial on Word.

In Conclusion

I've been doing this for 4 years now and intend to continue for as long as I'm writing.  I'm sure things will evolve more over time.  We shall see where the journey takes us.

All my best,

John H. Carroll
and the emo bunnies.

New releases by John H. Carroll

Hi!

I wanted to let you know about some new releases I have.  The first is "Liselle" the highly anticipated first book of the "Crazed Trilogy".  It continues the story of Liselle and Vevin in their adventures as they learn more about who, or what, Liselle truly is.  And of course, they'll hopefully find a little treasure along the way.

"Zachary Zombie and the Wicked Worm" is a new release that I've made free in all stores.

I've added two other children's stories, "Phairyphant" and "Naughty Nanoworms"

"The Storage Room in the Grey Void" is a new story about a video game extra who's existence didn't turn out the way she would have liked.

Enjoy!!!

Liselle

Print

Smashwords

Amazon

Kobo

Apple

Barnes & Noble

Sony

Liselle has spent the last few years living the life of adventure she always wanted. Yet she struggles with the suffering she has seen along the way. As her powers grow, the question of who she really is, or what she really is becomes a greater mystery. Join Liselle, Vevin and their new friends as they try to discover the meaning of life, and perhaps find a little treasure along the way.

Steampunk Roo

Smashwords

Amazon

Kobo

Apple

Barnes & Noble

Print

It is a little known fact that Steampunk animals roam the wild Outback of Australia. They live a rugged, but good life. Steampunk City is the center of their civilization, run by Governor Kevin Koala.

Outside of Steampunk City are vast stretches of arid lands. The Steampunk Animal Alliance has built a series of water stops with tanks of water supplied by windmills that pump water from deep in the ground. From them, Steampunk animals can refill their water tanks to keep their gears running.

Horrible news has come that someone is destroying those water stops. It’s up to Steampunk Roo, an agent of the Steampunk Animal Alliance to investigate and hopefully bring a stop to the terrible destruction!

Zachary Zombie and the Wicked Worm

Smashwords

Amazon

Kobo

Apple

Barnes & Noble

FREE!!!

Zachary Zombie has been sent by Gert the Wicked Witch to find the magical Dagger of Gik from the ruins of an old wizard’s mansion. He is accompanied by Al, Gus, and Carl, three fellow zombies. Will they discover the lost Dagger of Gik? What dangers await the rotting zombies? Who will lose the most body parts? And who, what, or where in the world is Gik?

Phairyphant

Smashwords

Amazon

Kobo

Apple

Barnes & Noble

Mystical phairyphants have existed since the days of wooly mammoths and mastodons. Phairydust allows them to fly on powerful, gossamer wings while they use their trunks to sniff the air for opportunities to make the world a better place for elephants. This is the story of Elly, one such phairyphant.

Naughty Nanoworms

Smashwords

Amazon

Kobo

Apple

Barnes & Noble

Life on the streets is generally peaceful for Albert, but the streets are not without their hazards. While avoiding one type of trouble, Albert walks his way into even worse trouble. Will he keep his shopping cart? Will Meezer the cat come up with a plan to destroy the world? Can a shopping cart and a skateboard ever get along? The seventh entry in the Stories for Demented Children Series.

The Storage Room in the Grey Void

Smashwords

Amazon

Kobo

Apple

Barnes & Noble

Video games bring entertainment and excitement to the lives of those who play them. But what of those characters created for those games? Perhaps they are a bit more real than we might think. Perhaps they have feelings and desires, much as we who play the games do. And what of the characters who don’t get included in the game? This is the story of one such character.

The Emo Bunny that Should - Illustrated Edition

Why an illustrated edition?

Why?  Because illustrations are awesome! 

Plus, it's a children's book, albeit for demented children.  All children's books should be illustrated.  All children should be illustrated.  That's why they draw on themselves all the time, right?

Why illustrate "The Emo Bunny that Should"?

Why?  Because emo bunnies are awesome! 

This is also my most popular story and the first of the Demented Children series.  It lends itself well to illustrations and the ones that have been included are absolutely beautiful.  They capture the emotions of Emo and all the other woodland creatures perfectly.

Evil duck wagon and beaten deer

Why choose Arlene Rose to illustrate and who the heck is Arlene Rose anyway?

Hey!  One question at a time.  Sheesh! 

Arlene Rose is a childhood friend of my wife's.  She's a wonderful person and has crazy talent that appears to have been hidden away from the rest of us.  Here is a little more info about her:

Arlene Rose is a freelance artist out of Houston. She is a stay at home mom to three and a fairly decent housewife to one. To her everything is art and art is everything. Nothing you can see, hear, taste or touch exist without some form of artistic expression and she loves to work and play in every medium life and the world has to offer  because she believes art isn't a learned thing, it is practical and yet wildly eccentric, it's a way of being...it's a matter of being born.

Pretty flowers

What is "The Emo Bunny that Should" about?

If I had known that there was going to be a quiz today, I would have stayed in bed.  Egads!


The story is about an emo bunny that . . . should.  Umm . . . Emo is a sad bunny that lives in a coffin and enjoys . . . ummm . . . prefers rainy days.  (He doesn't really enjoy anything)  Anyway, one day he gets involved, which, if you've ever gotten involved in anything, you know is a terrible idea.  So there's this Easter Bunny guy, and a factory and lots of little oppressed woodland creature and a cute girl bunny named Haylo.


That's what the story is about.

Easter Bunny, rabbits, squirrels, fox, robins, racoons, mice, chipmunks

What in the world is wrong with you, Mr. Carroll?


Hey!  Be nice.

Will there be other illustrated Stories for Demented Children?

Duh!  Of course.  

Arlene Rose is currently working on "Zachary Zombie and the Lost Boy".  I believe she is a natural artist who has a desire . . . no, a need to find an outlet for that art. :)  (don't tell her I said that! (Ignore the fact that she'll read this blog))  It is my hope that we are able to create many more children's books together and possibly even find prosperity by doing so.  (Prosperity is a sneaky little ninja that likes to hide)

Seriously, what's wrong with you, Mr. Carroll?

That's it!  I'm done.  Goodbye!

Angry duck

March 2012 update on current projects

Hello all,

I've been rather quiet lately, so I decided it would be nice to let you know what I'm doing and what to expect this year.

At the moment I'm doing a community play with my wife and son.  It's a good way to spend time with them and something I kinda enjoy doing, although it interferes with my writing time.  *sigh*  I do love performing the play in front of an audience though.

Novels

As far as my fantasy novels set in the world of Ryallon go, I've finished the fifth book, "Ebudae".  It's currently undergoing edits and I plan to publish it in late May/Early June.  My three beta readers have given it rave reviews and tell me it's my best work yet.  The character Ebudae is a young wizardess with ability beyond her years and a natural toughness.  She's the sort of person who will save herself before ever letting a knight in shining armor do so.

I haven't started the next book, "Pelya", but I know how it's going to go.  Memorizing lines takes up the same parts of my mind as writing does, so I can't begin until after the play.  I'm guessing I'll have the first draft finished in July and publish it in December or January.

I also have the next trilogy (books 7-9) plotted out.  I know the overall plot as well as the basic plots for each of the books.  I can't wait to write them. :)  I'm hoping to publish all of them in 2013.

Short stories

I have ideas for my Demented Children series, but no plans to write one at the moment.  Currently, I have 8 short stories I give away for free and only 6 books I sell, so I'd like to reach balance on them.  However, the Demented Children series is very popular and I intend to write many more in the years to come.  In addition, I have other stories kicking about in the back of my mind that I may put on paper if inspired.

The best news is that illustrations for "The Emo Bunny that Should" are nearly done.  I also plan to go through and do another edit to the story to make certain it's perfect and easy to read.  We're hoping for an Easter release.  The artwork is beautiful and I can't wait for you to see it.  Here's a sample of the latest:

Copyright 2012 Arlene Rose

I'm going to sell the illustrated version for $5.99  I believe it's a good value for an illustrated children's book.  I'll keep the text-only version free.

Editing

At the moment, I'm going through and re-editing the Willden Trilogy.  A few reviews have mentioned that I over-describe things and that the books are too wordy.  I began looking at "Kethril", my third book, and found it to be true.

When I began editing it this time, I discovered that I had way too many descriptions of details that didn't advance the story and, in fact, distracted from the story.  I'm halfway through this edit and I've deleted 10,000 words from the total 123,000 original length.

I have to tell you that I'm appalled by this and I apologize to all of you who've read it so far.  What's extraordinary is that the story is still exactly the same even without those words.  They added nothing to the story.

I ask that you forgive me for them though.  The reviews have also mentioned that the books are enjoyable to read and the characters wonderful.  With these new edits, it should speed the reading experience and improve the enjoyment of the characters.  I'm doing "Anilyia" and "Rojuun" next.

I'm also learning a great deal in this process.  My fourth and fifth books are much leaner and faster reads.  I'll apply my new knowledge to the upcoming books to make them even better. :)

In Conclusion

I promise that I'm doing my best to provide you with the highest quality writing I can provide.  I'm constantly working to improve and learning how to master all the tools of my trade.  Thank you for taking the time to read my stories and I hope that they provide you with great enjoyment.  There will be many more to come. :)

All my best,

John H. Carroll

Emo bunnies attack!

Me and the emo bunnies have already conquered the world.  We kept it a secret and no one knew anything about it.  After a week or so, running the world depressed us, so we gave it back with no hard feelings.

Now we're just kicking back in our sad little world where we write about the adventures of people who are at least slightly crazy.  Thank you for joining us in our little journey.  Be sure to give the emo bunnies lots of carrots and hugs and may your days not totally suck.

Sincerely,

John H. Carroll