D.J. Butler's Blog

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Butler Writes /*! elementor - v3.21.0 - 30-04-2024 */.elementor-widget-image{text-align:center}.elementor-widget-image a{display:inline-block}.elementor-widget-image a img[src$=".svg"]{width:48px}.elementor-widget-image img{vertical-align:middle;display:inline-block} /* widget: Swipe Carousel */#uc_swipe_css_carousel_elementor_9e6987c,#uc_swipe_css_carousel_elementor_9e6987c .uc-items-wrapper{ padding: 0px; display: flex; overflow: scroll; width: 100%; height: unset; }#uc_swipe_css_carousel_elementor_9e6987c .galleryItem { background-position:center; flex-shrink: 0; position:relative; background-repeat:no-repeat; display: flex; flex: none; }#uc_swipe_css_carousel_elementor_9e6987c .swipe_css_carousel-content{ position: absolute; left: 0;}#uc_swipe_css_carousel_elementor_9e6987c::-webkit-scrollbar,#uc_swipe_css_carousel_elementor_9e6987c .uc-items-wrapper::-webkit-scrollbar { width: 0px !important; height: 0px !important; background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);}#uc_swipe_css_carousel_elementor_9e6987c::-webkit-scrollbar-thumb,#uc_swipe_css_carousel_elementor_9e6987c .uc-items-wrapper::-webkit-scrollbar-thumb { background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);}#uc_swipe_css_carousel_elementor_9e6987c::-webkit-scrollbar-track,#uc_swipe_css_carousel_elementor_9e6987c .uc-items-wrapper::-webkit-scrollbar-track { background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.0);}#uc_swipe_css_carousel_elementor_9e6987c .galleryItemLink{ display:block; position:absolute; top:0; bottom:0; left:0; right:0;}#uc_swipe_css_carousel_elementor_9e6987c .swipe_css_carousel-content-titles{ display: flex;} All Dave’s Books /*! elementor - v3.21.0 - 30-04-2024 */.elementor-widget-text-editor.elementor-drop-cap-view-stacked .elementor-drop-cap{background-color:#69727d;color:#fff}.elementor-widget-text-editor.elementor-drop-cap-view-framed .elementor-drop-cap{color:#69727d;border:3px solid;background-color:transparent}.elementor-widget-text-editor:not(.elementor-drop-cap-view-default) .elementor-drop-cap{margin-top:8px}.elementor-widget-text-editor:not(.elementor-drop-cap-view-default) .elementor-drop-cap-letter{width:1em;height:1em}.elementor-widget-text-editor .elementor-drop-cap{float:left;text-align:center;line-height:1;font-size:50px}.elementor-widget-text-editor .elementor-drop-cap-letter{display:inline-block}

Links to purchase all books can be found in the right-hand column of this website.  

As Dave Butler The Kidnap Plot I write fantastic adventure stories for kids and other readers. My big press debut, out in June 2016, is The Kidnap Plot. Charlie Pondicherry isn’t allowed outside the house, until one day his father is kidnapped by trolls and Charlie has to organize the rescue party.Kirkus Reviews says “Reminiscent of both Pinocchio and The Great Mouse Detective, this novel is tailor-made for young readers who love adventure narratives and steampunk fiction.”School Library Journal says “VERDICT A page-turning adventure for ambitious readers who don’t mind a bit of a learning curve.” The Giant’s Seat, book two, follows Charlie into the wide world of adventure, The Library Machine, in 2018! As D.J. Butler /* widget: Unlimited Carousel */#uc_image_card_carousel_elementor_1b9285ea{ min-height:1px;}#uc_image_card_carousel_elementor_1b9285ea-wrapper{ min-height:1px;}#uc_image_card_carousel_elementor_1b9285ea .owl-dots {overflow:hidden;display:none !important;text-align:center;}#uc_image_card_carousel_elementor_1b9285ea .owl-dot {border-radius:50%;display:inline-block;}#uc_image_card_carousel_elementor_1b9285ea .owl-nav .owl-prev{ position:absolute; display:inline-block; text-align:center; }#uc_image_card_carousel_elementor_1b9285ea .owl-nav .owl-next{ position:absolute; display:inline-block; text-align:center; }.uc_dark_carousel *{ margin:0; padding:0; -webkit-box-sizing: border-box; -moz-box-sizing: border-box; box-sizing: border-box;}.uc_dark_carousel .uc_dark_carousel_box{ margin:0 auto;}#uc_image_card_carousel_elementor_1b9285ea .uc_dark_carousel_container_holder{ display: flex; font-size:14px; overflow:hidden; position:relative; width:100%;}.ue-title{ font-size:21px;}#uc_image_card_carousel_elementor_1b9285ea .uc_dark_carousel_content{ display:flex; flex-direction:column;}#uc_image_card_carousel_elementor_1b9285ea .ue-content-bottom{ margin-top:auto;}#uc_image_card_carousel_elementor_1b9285ea .uc_dark_carousel_placeholder{ position:relative; overflow:hidden;}#uc_image_card_carousel_elementor_1b9285ea .ue-btn-inner-wrapper{ display:flex; align-items:center;}#uc_image_card_carousel_elementor_1b9285ea .ue-btn-inner-wrapper svg{ height:1em; width:1em;}#uc_image_card_carousel_elementor_1b9285ea .uc_dark_carousel_placeholder img{ width:100%; transition:0.3s;}#uc_image_card_carousel_elementor_1b9285ea .uc_dark_carousel_content .uc_more_btn { display:inline-block;}#uc_image_card_carousel_elementor_1b9285ea .centered .ue-item{ border: 3px solid yellow;} #uc_image_card_carousel_elementor_1b9285ea .ue-item { opacity: ; transform: scale3d(0.8, 0.8, 1); transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out;}#uc_image_card_carousel_elementor_1b9285ea .active.center .ue-item { opacity: 1; transform: scale3d(1, 1, 1); transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out;}.ue-item-badge{ font-size:11px;}#uc_image_card_carousel_elementor_1b9285ea .ue-item-badge{ position:absolute; right:10px; top:10px;}#uc_image_card_carousel_elementor_1b9285ea .ue-item:hover .uc_dark_carousel_placeholder img{ transform:scale(1.1);} Witchy Eye I write fantastic adventure stories for kids and other readers. My big press debut, out in June 2016, is The Kidnap Plot. Charlie Pondicherry isn’t allowed outside the house, until one day his father is kidnapped by trolls and Charlie has to organize the rescue party.Kirkus Reviews says “Reminiscent of both Pinocchio and The Great Mouse Detective, this novel is tailor-made for young readers who love adventure narratives and steampunk fiction.”School Library Journal says “VERDICT A page-turning adventure for ambitious readers who don’t mind a bit of a learning curve.” Books by D.J. Butler Valcoria /*! elementor - v3.21.0 - 30-04-2024 */.elementor-widget-rating{--e-rating-gap:0px;--e-rating-icon-font-size:16px;--e-rating-icon-color:#ccd6df;--e-rating-icon-marked-color:#f0ad4e;--e-rating-icon-marked-width:100%;--e-rating-justify-content:flex-start}.elementor-widget-rating .e-rating{display:flex;justify-content:var(--e-rating-justify-content)}.elementor-widget-rating .e-rating-wrapper{display:flex;justify-content:inherit;flex-direction:row;flex-wrap:wrap;width:-moz-fit-content;width:fit-content;margin-block-end:calc(0px - var(--e-rating-gap));margin-inline-end:calc(0px - var(--e-rating-gap))}.elementor-widget-rating .e-rating .e-icon{position:relative;margin-block-end:var(--e-rating-gap);margin-inline-end:var(--e-rating-gap)}.elementor-widget-rating .e-rating .e-icon-wrapper.e-icon-marked{--e-rating-icon-color:var(--e-rating-icon-marked-color);width:var(--e-rating-icon-marked-width);position:absolute;z-index:1;height:100%;left:0;top:0;overflow:hidden}.elementor-widget-rating .e-rating .e-icon-wrapper :is(i,svg){display:flex;flex-shrink:0}.elementor-widget-rating .e-rating .e-icon-wrapper i{font-size:var(--e-rating-icon-font-size);color:var(--e-rating-icon-color)}.elementor-widget-rating .e-rating .e-icon-wrapper svg{width:auto;height:var(--e-rating-icon-font-size);fill:var(--e-rating-icon-color)} Buy Now Shapers of World Buy Now In the Palace Buy Now Worlds Buy Now Actuator Buy Now Windows Hell Buy Now [image error] Serpent Daughter Buy Now [image error] Mirages and Speculations Buy Now [image error] Crow Jane Buy Now [image error] States of Deseret Buy Now See All Get Space Balrogs Updates!

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Phoenix Book Company Blog | The Extraordinary Journeys of Clockwork Charlie: The Kidnap Plot

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Review of Dave Butler’s Witchy Eye • Fiction Vortex

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Napoleon’s Tallest Teamster published! – Joe Monson

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Story Squad with Dave Butler – Brainstorming your Next Story • Frank Morin

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I did these fellows in a quick and dirty way. I primed them with a black primer and then painted up to highlights. That means their shading is not as nuanced as it could be, but they’ll look great on the table, anyway. At 28mm scale, these guys are all 3-4″ tall.

The last week or so, I’ve been hammering out short stories like a madman (working on a new Hiram Woolley story this morning for inclusion in my collection next year). But that doesn’t stop me from moving forward with other kinds of WIP. Here are some beetle-mounted trolls and pack beetles from Mad Knight Miniatures that I finished painting yesterday.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Finished painting the last of my Sea Peoples / Sherden miniatures today. I need to get my gaming group back to Glorantha so they can face these fellas.

So, November is always National Novel Writing Month. The standing challenge to writers is to write a novel during November. With the best of intentions, I have never actually done it. That’s because I have contracts and editors now, as well as two “day-job” businesses, and the rhythms of those things determine when I write novels.

This year, though, is different. I am writing a book. It’s a kid’s novel, and I’m doing it for a publisher who has asked for it. I won’t be any more specific until we actually get the contract signed and I turn in the manuscript, but those things may happen very soon. I started this novel on Monday, and as of today, have written 26,000 words. That’s basically half the book.

Today is the first Saturday of the month, so it’s Sandwich Ministry time. This is a practice that my congregation started years ago, and which we joined enthusiastically when we discovered it. In 2020, due to social distancing, etc., the congregation has stopped doing it, but we, together with our neighbors the Rickses and the Averys, have carried on. Here are the kids making hoagies to go into the 30 lunches we delivered to the Food and Care Coalition this morning.

At Ring of Fire Con, I had a terrific interview with Christopher Ruocchio about world-building. Have a listen for explanation of some inside jokes in various books of mine, or as a craft thought piece, about using and reacting to real world history and culture in world-building.

Looking for something to do on election day other than watch returns? Hey, there’s this book out.

Today, Serpent Daughter hits the stands. This is book four of the Dragon Witchy War, and commences the second trilogy in that series (following Witchy Eye, Witchy Winter, and Witchy Kingdom–all three Dragon Award finalists, and Witchy Kingdom the 2020 Dragon Award winner.). Sarah is dying, and, with the help of the kings of the Ohio, her friends set out to save her … by transforming her into an angel.

Here’s the interview about the book with Paul Semel.

(The feds require me to tell you that the link above is an affiliate link, so if you click through and shop, I will earn a small referral fee.)

Book restorer, plastic artist, and ukulele virtuoso Chris McAfee turned a copy of City of the Saints into a piece of steampunk art a few years ago. That piece is currently on display in Springville, Utah. And also available for purchase.

(Link is an Amazon affiliate link, which means if you click through and shop with it, I will earn a small referral fee.)