Aaron Dennis's Blog

I've finished the 1st draft, it is edited, of Dragon Pact, the 3rd book in The Dragon of Time series, and I'm putting it up for free on Wattpad!

Dragons have posed as Gods, but the Dragon Slayer has come to Tiamhaal bearing retribution. Sarkany, avatar of Eternus, the Dragon of Time, known to his friends and enemies as Scar, has slain four Dragons; Kulshedra, the Dragon of Truth, Zmaj, the Dragon of Destruction, Gyo, the Dragon of the Sun, and Drac, the Dragon of fire, but there are yet many beasts left. Scheming and concocting, the capricious beasts grow in power as their brethren fall. Their goal; to once again walk Tiamhaal in the flesh. Scar must gather his friends to rebuild an old kingdom, thus alighting the Dragon Wars anew.

Follow the link if you'd like to read this new fantasy.

Dragon Pact on Wattpad

Is Smashwords Losing Steam?

Many indie writers have been publishing through Smashwords, and it's a great platform, but it isn't the only platform.

While Smashwords offers a wide range of distribution, they do not offer some of the services that other platforms offer.

Kobo Writing Life has received some great reviews from indie writers like yourself. You can click the link above to find out just how Kobo Writing Life works and why Smashwords might not be your best route.

For those of you who just have to read on Kindle, I am slowly moving books over to Amazon.

I've had many problems with Amazon in the past, and I'm having some issues now, but I know that many of you readers only buy from Amazon, so stay tuned.

For now, you can find Lokians 1, Sex Dolls, and Kink Erotica on Kindle, but The Dragon of Time should be added soon, so go ahead and follow me here or on Amazon.

Follow me on Amazon

I'll never know why people think that practice makes perfect. It doesn't.

If you're trying to be a dancer, and you keep bending your knee when you kick, you're not going to magically keep your leg straight when it's time to perform.

When you do something over and over, it gets ingrained. Practice makes permanent, not perfect.

If you're trying to improve your writing, you have to do much, much more than just write everyday. You need feedback from real readers. You can learn more about improving your writing by checking out this article

You can practice writing 'til you're blue in the face!

If you're a writer, you write. It sounds simple enough, but there are many kinds of writing; be they personal, like a journal; be they artistic, like a fiction novel; be they formal, like a medical article.

Different kinds of writing require different kinds of description, and various intensities of description.

While this is not something a writer need concern themselves with while writing their work, this is something to consider after proofing, and yes; there's a big difference between proofreading and editing; editing is the art of changing a sequential series of events into a story worth reading.

Read the full article at Vocal

or drop by StoriesbyDennis.com for more free resources.

StoriesbyDennis.com does more than just sell books. StoriesbyDennis also provides awesome advice to readers and writers.

How many readers here on Goodreads are actually writers? Most of 'em, right?

How many writers have tried to hire a book promotion company? A ton of 'em, right?

Here's the thing, most writers fail to follow up on the company they're hiring. How can a book promoter promote your book when they have fewer followers than you on social media?

How can a book promotion company do your book any good if that company is one guy?

Read more about promoting at Vocal

Is Medium Worth Using?

Medium has tons of writers, and the social writing platform does offer pay for curated posts, but writers are only paid if curators promote that post.

The idea of social writing is to get people to view your writing, but only your followers will see your posts if they're not curated.

You can advertise your posts by providing people a link to that post, but will anyone click your link if they aren't already following you?

You can read more about the massive drawbacks of Medium in the link above...but you're not going to click that link, are you?

No, which is why a social writing platform should provide you with organic views. Sites like Reddit and Quora are much better.

Posts from Quora and Reddit also show up as search engine results, but you'll never see a Medium post show up.

You can find more writing advice at StoriesbyDennis.com.

The title says it all. 25.6 million dollars go out for the month of July to 1.8 million writers. That's an average of 14 dollars per writer, and most earn zero while the top 1,000 only earn about 2,000 dollars.

Read more about publishing to KDP and Amazon in general.

KDP Select Doesn't Pay

You can find more articles about reading, writing, editing, publishing, and marketing on my website

StoriesbyDennis.com

A wicked daemon bestows great power on evil men in exchange for worship. An unlikely duo find friendship amidst war and chaos. Godly forces collide. Larson and Garrett are two simple, young men, yet they both have their own daemons. In the face of danger, of strife, they join forces and find friends among the elves, the dwarves, and the orcs. They find knowledge and faith among the Gods. Though an evil air has permeated the once great country of Ruvonia, the band of wizards and warriors join the cause of Prince Roan, for the Magickal Prince wishes only to vanquish that evil daemon called Lagos, that vicious daemon trying to gain enough worshipers to ascend as the new God of Destruction.

The Adventures of Larson and Garrett, Epic, the First, is an ongoing compilation of adventures. The short stories have been combined and edited to read as chapters in a novel, and yet they retain their individuality. I am proud and very happy to bring them together in this first epic.
The Adventures of Larson and Garrett began long, long ago when I was a lad, myself; I used to spend one night a week rolling dice while our dungeon master, David, narrated the outstanding story. Eventually, those who lacked the sobriety required to survive the adventures died off, and Larson and Garrett were the only two heroes to remain, and yet the other members; those who died, those who wandered off, those who came and went are remembered.
Let it be said that The Adventures of Larson and Garrett is in no way plagiarized; these are not cut and pasted transcripts from sessions of Dungeons and Dragons, no. The Adventures of Larson and Garrett outgrew their own medium, and they took on a life of their own, a life that no longer adhered to the rules and regulations. They became an entity, a thing-in-itself, and after many, many years, they have been recreated.
The following compilation of 12 stories are very loosely based on just a handful of gaming sessions, and to be perfectly honest, little more than the characters themselves have been replicated, yet the spirit of the sessions has remained, and I want to pass them on to you, the reader.

If you are interested in high fantasy stories of epic proportions, try The Adventures of Larson and Garrett for free for a limited time. A price will be set soon, so don't miss out. The Adventures of Larson and Garrett

A man stands resolved. Dysart, clan Bloodhammer, has returned to the island of Volgunther to purge it of the evil called Salamandrus. He has given his tongue, so that he may speak no contracts. He has given his manhood, so that he may not know his power as a man. He has given his mind, so that no God may take pity upon him.
Wielding the forbidden power of Sang Daemanus, Dysart imbibes the blood of Daemons to cast his spells, to grow his strength, to fuel his powers, but will he be able to stave off the bloodlust before the evils upon the island claim him?

Check out this Kirkus review on Cayneian, A Man from Blood:

This series opener sees a warrior determined to free an island from a Daemon’s grasp.
Dysart of clan Bloodhammer has lost his sloop and is now washed ashore on the island of Volgunther. He’s immediately
set upon by savages, but thankfully a man named Talbot saves Dysart with his bow and arrows. At his nearby cabin,
Talbot learns that his guest has no tongue. Then Dysart draws a rune in hog’s blood on his throat, which allows him to
speak. He explains that his people, the Cayne, once inhabited the island. They also woke a Daemon called Salamandrus,
making a pact with the entity for power that involved the ritual of Sang Daemanus. Later, they sealed the Daemon away,
but “instead of ending their service to Salamandrus, they departed from this place, hoping to retain their power.” Dysart
has come to end his people’s accord and make Volgunther a hospitable island once more. After obtaining an axe and
other supplies from Talbot, he travels east toward a settlement. He saves a pyromancer named Randall from wolf men
and drinks their blood to receive heightened senses and healing abilities. But Dysart concludes that his rune for speech
will fade without the esper oil derived from a plant somewhere on the island. Randall joins him, and they head for Etmire
Abbey, where they encounter the Order of the Cross. Dysart will need every ally he can find as he battles through
monstrous hordes toward Salamandrus’ lair in Castle Golvundehr.
Dennis (War and Glory, 2017, etc.) squeezes all the gore he can from his muscular imagination to enhance his novel,
which recalls the viscera-strewn adventures of fantasy icons like Conan and Elric. Readers learn early on about Dysart’s
magic: “Animal blood is effective, if weak. Human blood is potent, if unsavory…but Daemon’s blood makes us
unstoppable.” This results in a marathon of grisly dispatches—encounters with frog men, murderous plants, zombies,
and worse—that propel the hero but also fuel his addiction to power. While the plot is somewhat linear, the gruesome
premise shines blackly throughout. Dysart not only needs blood, but he’s also traded his tongue, his testicles (“that we
might not realize our own power as humans”), and his mind as an initiate of Sang Daemanus. Fighting at his side are
characters like Pattius, a thief; Marcus, a knight; and Reman, a young orphan. The author often fleshes out these warriors
just enough to draw from readers a meaningful wince as he sacrifices them to Dysart’s cause. A dreadful ambience
hovers even in quieter moments, as in the line “Only darkened hills loomed in the distance. Everything else was flat
grassland molded by gusts of wind.” The dialogue during combat scenes is appropriately maniacal (“Blast you, croakers!
Fall to the wrath of Randall!”), yet Dysart is capable of speaking beautifully. In cautioning Talbot, whose family is dead,
he says: “Hold their memory dearly, and do not rush to see them.” Though the violence grows monotonous, a finale
bristling with invention redeems the work.
A bloodbath that should impress readers of the grimmest fantasy tales.

This review is attributed to “Kirkus Reviews”, and you can follow the link to my review on their site.

For now, the Cayneian audiobook is available through a couple of retailers. More retailers will be making the audiobook available over the next few weeks.

Buy Cayneian on Google Play

Buy Cayneian on Scribd

Buy Cayneian on Nook Audiobooks

You can still download the ebook for free until January 1st, 2019 via Smashwords

Finally, I have 30 giveaway codes for the new audiobook! If you already have an Authors Direct account, the book will simply appear instantly in your library, ready to play. If you don’t have an account, visit authors-direct.com/redeem to enter your giveaway Code and email address. They’ll automatically create an account and send a link to download the Authors Direct app, where the audiobook will be waiting in your library.

Since I only have 30 giveaway codes, I can only give them to the first 30 people who email me, asking for a code, so don’t be shy! Email me right now dennis@storiesbydennis.com and ask for a Cayneian giveaway code.