S.L. Dunn's Blog

I'm excited to announce a new story set in the Anthem's Fall universe! About a year ago I was contacted by the acquisitions editors of Curiosity Quills Press to pen a novella set in the world of Anthem. The novella, An Incident On Orion, is now available for purchase as one part of a (huge) anthology from many talented, bestselling writers called The Indomitable Ten.

An Incident on Orion is an origin story of sorts for one of the main characters from Anthem's Fall, and I know you'll like it. The Indomitable Ten can be purchased on Amazon here. The novel is so colossal that it currently can only be purchased in Kindle format.

Book two, Eve of the Gods, is almost complete! As much as I have lost my patience with George R.R. Martin's snail-like writing pace, so too must you be losing your patience with me. But don't worry, Eve of the Gods is coming soon. Anthem's Fall just broke 300,000 reads on Wattpad, and those kind of numbers keep me focused on the sequel's release date (hope for summer)!

Big news in the Anthem universe!

I’ve officially titled the second book in the series Eve of the Gods.
 
When you sign up for my newsletter, I'll send along the first chapter! If for some reason you don't get it, just email me. I’m currently writing the second half of the novel, and hope to release it later this winter. Eve of the Gods will start right where Anthem’s Fall left off, and will bring you back to familiar characters as well as introduce some new ones.

Some questions you might have...

Book two release date? Not set yet. Hopefully later this winter or early spring latest.

Are we going to see Felixes? Y

Are there Sejero fight scenes? Y

Is Kristen a POV character? Y

Are there any new POV characters? Y

More stuff about Anthem? Y

More stuff in NYC? Y

More ethical dilemmas? Y

More apocalyptic prose? Y

Will all the book titles in the series be plays on words? Y

Movie rights? Hah! I wish!

I've contracted an artist for the Eve of the Gods cover illustration. You can see some of Rhys Griffiths’ past work at http://rhysgriffiths.deviantart.com/gallery/.

Also, reader Tom Ruhland has graciously created an Anthem series fan page at http://anthemsfall.tumblr.com/ Thanks Tom!

Cinder House is live! And it's free for a few days! Check it out.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00MRML6L6

What starts as a lighthearted Maine vacation takes a strange turn when Steve Lowell discovers there might be a reason no one has visited the Ashford guesthouse on the east end of Oldharbor in decades. He ventures north to escape the stresses of his life, but soon finds that his life might be something he will have to fight for amid a shop of horrors.

Cinder House tells the tale of a wealthy family with a dark history and the guileless young man who uncovers something that has remained hidden for a long time.

It’s a modern take on the classic horror narrative that brings it back to the understated ghost stories of Sir Walter Scott, Bram Stoker and L.P. Hartley. Cinder House is a quick read that delivers a definable plot, a sense of terror, and a clear resolution. But at Cinder House’s heart are noticeable literary influences along with themes that elevate the “horror”.

There are also undertones of Vonnegut’s work in the story. Cinder House makes some subtle and some not-so-subtle references to Slaughter House Five and the burning of Dresden at the hands of the fictional Roger Ashford’s grand creation. Had I taken it a step further and brought the narrative to Tralfamadore, I would contemplate submitting Cinder House into Vonnegut Kindle Worlds. But in its current state, I think it stands on its own foundation. I'm hoping it will be the first of an anthology, as I'm already halfway through a somewhat related follow up short.

And it’s free for a bit, so check it out!

 

It’s been about a week since I released Anthem’s Fall, and I just want to reach out and thank everyone who has purchased a copy over the past seven days. A few hundred sales are under the belt, and it’s a great feeling knowing that my book is in front of all those eyes. Friends, family, strangers (dare I say budding fans?), thank you!

Liz and I took Lucy to the North Cascade mountains yesterday to celebrate. Truly epic place, and it provided me with lots of inspiration. Gravitas would approve. There are actually mountains called Mt. Terror and Mt. Despair. The trip also potentially totaled our 2001 Taurus, but that’s another story.

In the next few weeks I plan on releasing Cinder House, a short story totally unrelated to the Anthem universe. AND in the near future I’ll be making available a draft of the first chapter of Herculaneum (the sequel to Anthem’s Fall). The novel is currently a little over halfway done. Now that the ole' debut release is behind me, I can devote all my time to writing again. Thank god.

Thanks again all!

Anthem's Fall was released today! For $2.99! Get yourself a copy before Amazon sells out of the e-book!

http://amzn.com/B00M7NPD28

Anthem’s Fall broke 10,000 reads on Wattpad today, and that’s something to celebrate as my debut novel now has only 20 days until release. I’ve been busy these past few weeks writing blog posts for several blog tours and chipping away at book two. Writing such a sheer volume of blog content has sapped any ideas for a fresh post on my own blog, but I thought I’d still check in with an update. This is the latest batch of galley copies headed out for review, glossy personalized b ookplates and all. Mostly Librarything and Goodreads early readers.

Get excited winners, you have a debut novel coming your way at the mysterious, inexplicably erratic pace of media mail shipping! Enjoy!

 

 

Updates on the Anthem’s Fall warpath:

Excerpts read: (Wattpad, Scribd, my website, some others): 10,600

ARCs distributed to reviewers: Somewhere around 250

Goodreads: 2,637 requested giveaways, added by 770 as “to-read”, 25 reviews (3.92/5.0*)

Librarything: 638 requested giveaways

Today the cover came together for my upcoming short story, Cinder House.

I have to admit, it's been quite liberating to step outside the Anthem's Fall universe and write something totally unrelated. I can't imagine how trapped writers feel by the time they're on book five or six. Cinder House has been a fun side project, and I'll likely throw it up on Amazon at some point over the next few months. Free or damn near to it. It's a horror short that takes place on the coast of Maine. Dare I say it's the first of an anthology?

My goal was to write it in the same vein as a 19th century ghost story, though I may end up going through and modernizing the prose before I hit the publish button. There are some self-evident Vonnegut references along with a good dose of simple spookiness. More details to come!

When I searched for a cover illustrator for Anthem's Fall, I stumbled upon a ton of super talented artists. In particular I was floored by the work of Marko Manev. He does a lot of minimalist interpretations of pop culture icons, and in that field I think he's in a league of his own. I still often find myself going back to his website and flipping through his portfolio. I never get tired of his work.

I'll admit I still have my fingers crossed that one day our paths will align and he can bring to life a character from Anthem's Fall. Oh man what I would give to see his take on certain scenes! Here are some of my favorite pictures from his portfolio. I have a print of one of these framed above my desk. Can you guess which?

His website is http://markomanev.com/ if you want to see more of his epic work. Lots of other cool works.

Click on the image below to see more.

Updates on the Anthem’s Fall warpath:

Excerpts read: (Wattpad, Scribd, my website, some others): 4,700

Anthem's Fall currently ranked #20 in sci-fi//#20 in fantasy on Wattpad

ARCs distributed to reviewers: 90

Goodreads: 1,400 requesting giveaways, added by 519 as “to-read”,  18 reviews (4.06*)

Librarything: 638 requesting giveaways

 

The other afternoon found me recreating this scene with an alarming likeness outside my apartment. The similarities penetrated several levels.

After fifteen minutes or so of feverishly throwing a tennis ball against my apartment building, I realized I was eerily reminiscent of Jack Torrance (askew cardigan and all) so I called it quits and went back inside to hit refresh on all my social media pages for the fiftieth time of the day. Or was it the hundredth time?

Such is the debut author facing his first book launch.

Terror, dread, exuberance, wooziness, ad nauseum. They’re all represented. To put it simply, I’m a shitstorm these days. You’d have to be rendered insane by ego or stupidity (or some transcendent state of zen-peace with the world) not to live in constant terror of your debut book launch. Sadly, I’m not the zen-peace kind of guy. But it’s what I signed up for. Means to an end, means to an end, means to an end. That’s pretty much the sole mantra I’m living by as I struggle for the first time with public praise, critique, self-promotion and self-doubt.

I decided that night—amid my Torrance-esque throes—that right now is the perfect time to discuss my hopes and fears as a debut writer.

As of this moment, I rest on no laurels and carry no jaded chip on my shoulder. I’m smack dab in the middle of the crucible. The gauntlet is not before me or behind me, but all around me. I’m entirely at the mercy of the esoteric forces and whims known simply as the industry.

The facts:

1) “Making it” is really hard (or so I’ve heard).

My debut novel stands to be one novel out of what will likely be over a million novels published in 2014. The average novel disappears in the blink of an eye, never to be seen again (a somewhat dramatic snapshot, perhaps). A sparse few of these million novels published in 2014 will receive a vastly disproportionate degree of readers’ praise, while the countless others—some excellent, some terrible—will never see a sliver of admiration.

I mentioned a moment ago that I am living by the motto, “means to an end”, but in truth I can’t define what that “end” really is. Victory or failure is immensely hard to define in any creative field, and ultimately it comes down to what you want as an individual. Sure, I want the proverbial Iron Throne. But at this stage, my task boils down to a much simpler goal: connecting with readers.

That’s the truth, the goal of today. And tomorrow. Connecting with readers. This is because . . .

2) As much as I want it, it’s not up to me.

The adoration, indifference or abhorrence of Anthem’s Fall is no longer within my power. When I clicked “save” on my final draft and changed its name from “Penultimate White Whale” to “Anthem’s Fall”, I washed my hands of the novel. In a large sense, the fate of Anthem’s Fall is no longer in my control. I can promote it as best I can, which I’ll get to in a moment. But from the moment a writer declares his or her novel “finished”, it then has to fight its own battle with every individual reader.

In that battle, only the words on the page matter.

The precarious nature of the tiny little flame that my indie novel represents is that it can be snuffed out, or—more accurately—disregarded, so easily. No marketing team, no perfunctory reviews from big media outlets, no contractually obligated blurbs from mega-authors, etc, etc. (Yes, that was a shot). But there’s power in my flame too, because a novel is one of the most viral products imaginable. Think about some of the best books you’ve ever read. You didn’t just finish it and quietly add it to your shelf. You told everyone about that novel. You shouldered the job of salesman and chatted about that novel to anyone willing to listen.

This isn’t to say that I think my novel will ever be one of the best novels someone has read. It simply means that I have faith in the viability of the novel itself. People are passionate about reading. If readers like something they read, they will tell other readers about it, and so it will spread.

In short, it doesn’t matter what I think about Anthem’s Fall. It matters what readers think. The only thing I can do is to carry on the story by continuing to write, and not allowing myself to implode in a supernova of nerves.

Not yet, at least.

3) F**K LUCK.

 If the odds of success are as low as getting bitten by a shark, I’ll chum the damn waters and accept my own “success” or “failure”.

I’ve attended a couple big writing conferences and read enough books and blog posts on writing/publishing to numb the mind. A particular vein of advice that people often insinuate is that “It’s up to luck”. I cannot and will not as a (somewhat) rational person give in to that logic. If at the end of the day it comes down to luck, that means every writer (or ultimately every creator) who has ever been successful has been a maniac or a fool. It implies that every creative field is an assemblage of wild, talentless gamblers. Though perhaps I’ll change my tune later, today—amid the debut shitstorm—I cannot allow myself to think about luck.

Of course luck is a very real and powerful thing—but it is only one variable in the equation. It is a single variable to be mitigated as much as possible. Nothing more. The less I leave up to “luck”, the less I expose myself to the vicissitudes of chaos.

No luck. No lottery tickets. Just readers.

4) Victory isn’t definable. Defeat is.

I’ve established that victory is hard to define. Defeat isn’t. Defeat is the day I stop. That makes things easy to consider, and takes the pressure off my debut launch. I’m already halfway through book two. When that’s done I’ll start book three. Then four. You get the idea.

“You fail only if you stop writing” –Ray Bradbury

That’s all. Just thought I’d throw some genuine thoughts out there amid all this pseudo alienating self-promotion!

 

Updates on the Anthem’s Fall warpath:

Excerpts read: (Wattpad, Scribd, my website, some others): 1,870 (http://www.wattpad.com/user/SLDunn ---great website. Anthem's Fall currently ranked #34 in sci-fi on Wattpad)

ARCs distributed to reviewers: 83

Goodreads: 757 requesting giveaways, added by 340 as “to-read”, 11 reviews (4.09*)

Librarything: 386 requesting giveaways

Farthest geographical reach: India! (evidently I could beat New Zealand...errr which one's farther?)

 

 

I'm launching my first giveaway! Yes! 20 copies of Anthem's Fall, paper and e-book versions, are up for grabs. Sign up and get your hands on a copy months before the book gets published!

a Rafflecopter giveaway