David H. Millar's Blog: Conall - The Place of Blood on NetGalley

A BIG THANKS to all who said "Hi" to Author
David H. Millar at the Galveston Island Book Festival & a special THANKS to those who purchased signed copies of the epic, Celtic historical fiction Conall series. Happy reading. See y'all in Festival 2020.

Congratulations to the twenty winners of a signed copy of Conall IV: A Brace of Eagles.

Copies will be mailed week commencing September 29.

David H. Millar

Enter and win a signed copy of the newly released Conall IV: A Brace of Eagles: Snaidhm Iolar

“Butter-gold and cruelly hooked, the beak ripped a ragged gash across the newborn’s throat.”
Son of a blacksmith, Conall Mac Gabhann’s only desire was to follow in his father’s footsteps and enjoy a long life with his childhood love, Mórrígan. The slaughter of their parents dashed those dreams. Fueled by vengeance, both embark on the dark path of retribution.
From the ancient forest, two great eagles take wing. With amber-gold eyes, Fate and the Goddess watch, ready to guide and meddle in human lives. Conall, now Clann Ui Flaithimh’s ‘king over kings’, must complete his geis—at any cost.
Conall takes another stride closer to Rome and a reckoning with Marcus Fabius Ambustus. Flat-bottomed biremes carry Conall’s army cross the Muir nIocht to crash on the shingle beaches of North-western Gaul. New enemies and uneasy alliances flourish. Assassins, treason, and treachery thrive. Above all, Conall values loyalty. Thus, treason within the tribe sours his belly. Mercy will have no part in his response.
The fourth novel in the Conall series, Conall IV: A Brace of Eagles is a rousing epic of Celtic heroes and villains, bloody battles, political intrigue, honour, treachery, and forbidden love.

If you're not in, you can't win!
Cheers
David

I sometimes cringe at my unrealistic, if well-intentioned, optimism forecasts of when my latest novel will be available. Too often, for an indie author life and the need to earn dollars to pay the bills has to take precedence over the ambitions to be a New York Times bestselling author.
That said, Conall IV: A Brace of Eagles—Snaidhm Iolar is with all main retail and online outlets and should be generally available in print and eBook formats in the next 2-3 days.

“Butter-gold and cruelly hooked, the beak ripped a ragged gash across the newborn’s throat.”

Son of a blacksmith, Conall Mac Gabhann’s only desire was to follow in his father’s footsteps and enjoy a long life with his childhood love, Mórrígan. The slaughter of their parents dashed those dreams. Fuelled by vengeance, both embark on the dark path of retribution.

From the ancient forest, two great eagles take wing. With amber-gold eyes, Fate and the Goddess watch, ready to guide and meddle in human lives. Conall, now Clann Ui Flaithimh’s ‘king over kings’, must complete his geis—at any cost.

Conall takes another stride closer to Rome and a reckoning with Marcus Fabius Ambustus. Flat-bottomed biremes carry Conall’s army cross the Muir nIocht to crash on the shingle beaches of North-western Gaul. New enemies and uneasy alliances flourish. Assassins, treason, and treachery thrive. Above all, Conall values loyalty. Thus, treason within the tribe sours his belly. Mercy will have no part in his response.

The fourth novel in the Conall series, Conall IV: A Brace of Eagles is a rousing epic of Celtic heroes and villains, bloody battles, political intrigue, honour, treachery, and forbidden love.

Enjoy the saga of Conall and the Celts. Buy Conall IV: A Brace of Eagles
David H. Millar

The forth novel in the Celtic historical fiction series by Author David H. Milla r -- Conall IV: A Brace of Eagles is mid-way to completion of the manuscript. Author and publishing company have targeted a pre-Christmas 2017 launch for the novel. Exciting cover artwork, by Ida Jansson of Amygdala Book Cover and Design  should be available in the Autumn 2017.A rousing adventure in the spirit of Ireland's ancient legends, the Conall series focuses on Conall Mac Gabhann, the blacksmith's apprentice turned warrior-king. Set around 400 years before the birth of Christ, the story of Conall is one of bloody battles, political intrigue, tragedy, love, and lust. Cloaked in a rich tapestry of tattoos or wearing armor inlaid with iron scales, the Gaels stand as one, taunting their enemies with fierce battle-cries and insults.



The Conall series are available in both print and EPUB formats from Amazon and Amazon Kindle and through other web and bookstores via IngramSpark.

"Editing can be a long and frustrating process," says Author David H. Millar . Conall III: The Sisters -- the third book in the epic Celtic historical fiction series set in 400 B.C. is edging closer to the final, edited manuscript -- and publication. A Wee Publishing Company is aiming for a summer 2017 launch. 

"The driving beat of bodhráns echoes off mountain slopes. In dense forests, the mournful wail of war-horns reverberates. Red and gold banners of king and tribe flap in gusting winds.
An epic tale of vengeance and tragedy, of courage and the frailty of body and spirit, Conall III: The Sisters is the story of the women that surround Conall."

Read the great review of Celtic historical fiction novel Conall: The Place of Blood by Author David H. Millar on the Redheaded Booklover Blog .


"Our novel is a bloody, detailed, graphic affair with many heart-stopping descriptions of epic battles. Our author David H. Millar has painted a very vivid picture of the life and death struggles faced by warriors in the archaic period and that was beautiful to read. This story is ambitious and focuses on much more than fighting and revenge alone. It is an intimate look into a time we have not experienced and is very telling of what it was like to live in that time period.


Millar is a fantastic writer and his work is extremely well-written and entertaining. Not only is the story line intriguing with an interesting premise but it also gives the reader a great glimpse into another time period which makes this novel a gripping, unforgettable tale."


The Conall series is available on Amazon and Amazon Kindle and is distributed to other web and book store retail outlets through IngramSpark.

Covers by Ida Jansson, Amygdala Book Design What better way to while away the hours this weekend, sipping on a glass of Guinness or Bushmills whiskey, while reading a great Celtic novel by Belfast-born Author David H. Millar?

The Kindle versions of Conall: The Place of Blood and Conall II: The Raven’s Flight are on offer from March 16 to March 21 at $0.99 and $1.99 respectively. 

From their underground halls in Ériu the mysterious Aes Sidhe seduce brave warriors, turning some into heroes, others villains. The Conall series focuses on Conall Mac Gabhann, the blacksmith's apprentice turned warrior-king. It is a story of bloody battles, honor, treachery, tragedy, love, and high passions. Heroes and villains from myth, legend, and history converge in this saga set in the land of the Gaels.

“The narrative used is authentic, the battle scenes satisfyingly vivid, and the antics of the sidhe will both terrify and delight you. If you like Games of Thrones — you will love Conall.” (5* Review)

I spent much of my childhood (and young adulthood) in libraries. Ticket in hand I marched through the swinging doors of the library in Templemore Avenue, Belfast (Northern Ireland) in search of the next series to devour. Enid Blyton’s Famous Five or Secret Seven, Frank Richards’ Greyfriars School, W. E. Johns’ Biggles and, of course, C.S. Forester’s Horatio Hornblower. The scent of books, wood and wood polish will forever aid my recall of those days.
 
With age brought the need to research topics for school or university work. In my opinion, research was much more fun—and productive—when aided by a slightly intimidating, but very knowledgeable librarian and his/her backup database—hundreds of neatly typed cards filed in a wooden cabinet filled with long, narrow drawers. It seemed librarians were born with an innate talent for pointing to the precise reference I required.

Nowadays, I do as much research—probably more, but on the internet. Still, have we simply exchanged quality for volume? Most research, in many disciplines, comes down to a select list of key papers or publications. The rest is dross or chaff. Whereas a skillful librarian will signpost the core references, the internet fills our laptops and tablets with pages of useless links that do little more than waste time and increase frustration.

I have not crossed the threshold of a library in recent times. Perhaps a visit is long overdue?

I have been reading two books as part of my background research for Book 4 of the Conall series, which has already 13,000 words written. The books are Europe Before Rome by T.Douglas Price and The Ancient Celts by Barry Cunliffe. Both are highly recommended--very readable with lots of great photos, maps and illustrations.

However, as I perused the pages and reflected on similar books on other ancient civilizations, I came to the conclusion that civilization has been regressing for the past two or three thousand years. The art, architecture and major projects of the Ancient World were accomplished without modern technology. 


It is so sad that modern man cannot rise to the same or greater level of achievement as his ancient ancestors.


We are the barbarians.