E.M. Thomas's Blog

Well, it's been a long time coming but my Ancient Greek epic Fortress of the Sun is nearing release. I had designs on putting it out this time last year, but suddenly felt the energy to give it one last top-to-bottom edit. Who knows how many edits that puts it up to. In any event, preorders should go live in the next month, with a target release by the end of the year. More updates to come on that, but I'm happy to announce that the first 30 pages or so are available for free download (PDF or Kindle) by moseying over to my sign-up page, available by clicking here (or just click on the "Contact and Free Books" button in the navigation bar at the top of the screen). Enjoy! Side note: the book's cover--I'd say a 99% probability, anyway--is the image accompanying this post. Thoughts?As I've mentioned a few times previously, historical fiction writing is in many respects a different animal than fantasy writing, and while enjoyable, I found it to be far more labor intensive than my published and unpublished fantasy works. I have follow-ups in the works for both genres, but it's more likely than not that that the first one or two will be in the fantasy genre. Non-writing non sequitur #1: I'm liking Fargo the TV series. The word is that it really gets good in season 2, but season 1 has been terrific, IMO.Non-writing non sequitur #2: Ken Burns' The Vietnam War documentary was incredible. I was late to the game in catching that, but it's every bit as amazing as his Civil War series.

As promised and as hoped, The Bulls of War is now in the midst of only its second ever Kindle Countdown sale - $0.99, available here.  Christmas in July?  Kind of.  Exciting to do this so close to the one-year release anniversary and - perhaps more importantly - on the eve of Game of Thrones Season 7, a story with which Bullsshares many similarities (not to mention the show is absolutely amazing and I may or may not have been binging recently in preparation).  Frankly, the biggest compliments I've taken from the reviews of Bulls to date have been those comparing it favorably to GoT.  In any event, enjoy!

Well, some would say I'm rather overdue for an update, so without further ado, here it is: things are continuing to truck along nicely on the Bullsfront, even if they took a backseat for a bit while Fortress of the Sun matters progressed.  I hope to announce good news on both ends in the near future, although the more immediate target is the release of the first short story in the Andervold world.  For fans of Bulls, I think it will provide some neat context for a character or two that surely deserves it.  I'm looking forward to sharing it; targeting July - perhaps a nice release for the one-year anniversary of its parent novel!Speaking of July, Bulls will be going on sale again in the middle weeks of the month, first one since last fall.  Be sure to check back for the specifics.Non-SequitursLatest TV interest is The Handmaid's Tale on Hulu.  Never read the book, but the show is excellent.  Great atmosphere, acting, you name it.  Seems terrifyingly realistic at time.  Highly recommended. Latest read is The Battle Cry of Freedom by James McPherson.  It's a staple of any Civil War buff's library, yet I'd somehow never taken the time to wade through its 900 pages.  After about 400, however, I'm realizing what a disservice that was to myself.  It's a good 300+ pages just to get to the start of the war, which surprised me somewhat, but the context is equally fascinating.

No, there isn't a typo in the headline.  There are actually three blog stops for you to check in with regarding the epicThe Bulls of WarBlog Tour.  Get excited and check them out:here... [scroll down a bit for this one, as it went up on 11/15] here...andmost recently,here.Different stuff at each stop, and each one you get a chance to win a gift card, so stop by and say hello!As an aside, we're approaching the final week of the tour, so I hope you've enjoyed it thus far!  Appreciate each and every piece of feedback you've provided.

Well, we've all heard the news by now, and we're all still trying to wrap our heads around it - yes, the largestSupermoonin decades will be in our skies last night and tonight.  In preparation and/or celebration, take a look at my latest stops onThe Bulls of WarBlog Tour by clickinghereandhere.

Good morning - yes, it's time to get caught up on the Bulls of War Blog Tour.  Today's post can be reached here,Kit 'N Kabookle, and in case you missed yesterday's, take a lookhere.  Visit and leave me a note!

You're forgiven if you are in the US and were so caught up wondering about nextBulls of WarBlog Tour stop that you forgot it was Election Day.  Hopefully it's not too late for you to get to the polls.  Once you've done that, stop on byStraight from the Library, where you can catch an exclusive interview with one of the book's main characters...

Good morning!  Yesterday's stop onThe Bulls of WarBlog Tour experienced some technical glitches, so we'll breeze past Day 4 in favor of Day 5.  My guest post onThe Silver Dagger Scriptoriumdiscusses "one of the most interesting things" to ever happen to me, so stop by and have a read.  The picture above may or may not be a hint.Happy Friday!

The Bulls of War Blog Tour rolled on today with a stop atEdgar's Books.  Take a look for some more original content!

Just a quick note and plug for Day 2 ofThe Bulls of WarBlog Tour!  Today's stop can be found here:The Avid Reader.  Take a look and leave me a note!