The Diamond Age: or, A Young Lady’s Illustrated Primer by Neal Stephenson
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Nanotechnological mythmaking

Starting out as a “conventional” dystopian cyberpunk novel, the story began to acquire a mythic depth as the key characters of Nell, Miranda and Hackworth entered the stage. I was swept inexorably into the parallel story lines of Nell and Princess Nell, each of which illuminated and impelled the other. This is a fantastic story that repays careful attention. If you buy the Kindle edition, be sure to include the audio book, which is narrated beautifully.

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An explorer on an archaeological dig

About this time last year I was building toward the release of “The Soul Thief.” However, I was also working on its sequel, the just-published “The God of Battles,” and this year is no different, as I’m hard at work on the next story. It’s actually going to be a series of stories, acting as a “bridge” between Book Two and the final novel in the trilogy, tentatively entitled “The Lady of Light.”

I had started the stories as novellas, as I could not see how each one could fit within a shorter format. However, as work progressed, I realized that I did not want a long break between the Books. These “bridge” stories do not put Angela and her pals front-and center, after all, and they are ultimately the stars of this series. I’ve decided, therefore, to release the next stories as a short-story collection. I have considered publishing the stories in small groups, perhaps purely in e-book form as a serial. Once they’re all done, an omnibus in both e-book and print editions would complete the bridge.

The next story’s working title is “The Explorer.” I might wind up with a more imaginative title, but as the name suggests it is about an explorer. ‘Nuff said!

“The God of Battles” is available in paperback and Kindle editions worldwide! The second installment in the “Gypsy Dreamwalker” series, this continues the story of Angela and Cassandra begun in the first book, “The Soul Thief,” which garnered rave reviews on Amazon.com and Goodreads.

For those living in northern California, stop by Tammie’s Books in of “The God of Battles”of both novels, as well as “Poems de Terre,” the poetry collection I co-authored with my partner, Rachel Anderson. For everyone else, you can find my Amazon author page here:

Dave Menefee’s author page

My new novel, “The God of Battles,” will be available on April 14th! It will be available shortly for preorder on the Kindle bookstore at Amazon.com. I am planning a signing for the following Saturday, the 18th of April, at Tammie’s Books in Weaverville, and will have another signing at Northern Delights coffee shop soon afterward.

It’s been only a year since I started working on this book, but it feels longer! That’s how it often is with complex projects.

Look here for an update when the Amazon Kindle link goes live!

I finished (or should I say, abandoned) my new book trailer for “The Soul Thief” and have uploaded it to the YouTube channel connected to my G+ account here:

http://www.youtube.com/c/DavidMenefeeAuthor

And here’s the video itself!

This evening I begin the task of applying line edits to the manuscript for “The God of Battles.” My editor, as usual, went above and beyond the call of duty and gave me invaluable feedback regarding several key themes, so although I have relatively fewer line edits, I have some head-scratching and content adjusting to do to make up for it.

Once I send back this round, we go back and forth a bit more, and then it’s off to the proofreader (or more than one, depending on how empty my wallet feels), and then… well, Gentle Reader, I will announce a publication date soon.

In the meantime, other projects will get little or no attention, so the Book Trailer will have to wait, as will my novellas “The Explorer” and “The Artist.” But they will be done. Rest assured.

I’m teaching myself how to shoot and edit video. Because I learn by example, I’ve chosen to create a book trailer for “The Soul Thief,” using Final Cut Pro X and Logic Pro X (as well as Motion for some SFX). In common with most of the book trailers I’ve seen, I’m using minimal footage, relying primarily on effects, titling, and sound. That said, I have some clips I shot with two friends who are playing the parts of Angela and Cassandra; I am very grateful to them for their enthusiastic help!

Today, I spent a bit of time video editing, playing with basic effects, and experimenting. I bounced my sound track (yet to be mastered) and pulled that into the video project to see how it’s going. Right away I realized that I need to do something with the background, so I’m going to incorporate a still from the book cover, minus the shadowy figure (howdy, Mr. Soul Thief), scaling it up slowly as the trailer progresses. Everything should play on top of that; I’ll adjust opacity, brightness, etc to make sure things pop out as needed.

When it’s done, I’m publishing it to YouTube with suitable fanfare!

Time’s running out, though. Next Tuesday I will discuss my line edits for “The God of Battles,” after which I’m going to be heads-down to get that pushed toward completion.

I’m extremely pleased that “The Soul Thief” has been chosen as a Pitch Perfect Pick by Underground Book Reviews. The UBR, as their “About” page says, “puts a spotlight on the emerging world of independent, e-publishing and self-publishing.” Aside from my personal reasons, I appreciate their mission because they’re providing a crucial element in the ecosystem of New Publishing: thoughtful, critical reviews.

Whether or not “The Soul Thief” is chosen to be reviewed, I am satisfied that the book has received an element of recognition. As part of my preparation for the launch of “The God of Battles,” I’m going to keep pushing ST out there.