But here are my interviews for your enjoyment.

In no particular order.

Phantom and a Rose: a tranquil town theme you hear in the Kingdom of Pandora, pretty early on in the game. It’s the kind of song that makes you want to walk around the town, take your time, talk to all the citizens, and perhaps buy some candy. If you’ve played the game, you know about the candy.

Into the Thick of It: a song that makes you want to set out on your big adventure. This is one that plays in forest areas as you travel between cities and other worldly destinations. It’s not overly dramatic in tone, but still makes you want to pull out your weapon and lay the smack down on some Rabites and whoever else stands in your way to your ultimate end goal.

Prophecy: a track near the end of the game. The game has led you to the point of the final conflict that seems to be overwhelming both to you and to the characters you have taken this far. There’s thunder and lightning all around. There’s Flammie. There’s one last task to complete. This song is foreboding, mystic, and makes you almost want to turn around and fly the other way as far as you can. But at this point you can’t. You don’t want to. You have to fight ahead and lead them on to victory.

Fear of the Heavens: the title song of Secret of Mana, the one that sets the mood for the entire game. You see the Squaresoft logo appear on your screen and are greeted by the coolest sound of whales as the track begins. It starts out slow, then builds up as it goes. One of the best theme songs you will ever find in a game.  Every time you hear this song, wherever it may be, you will be drawn to take up a quest, wherever you can find one. Absolutely stunning piece of music.

Whisper and Mantra: okay, I might have said in no particular order, but this track is my favorite. Has some great piano as the main instrument and a mystic background, with some other pieces thrown in to make this fitting to the Water Palace. For my own writing, it serves well to get me started in that mindset to create something very unique and fresh in the fantasy genre. This is an entry song to get my creative ideas flowing, to help guide me on my own journey as a creator.

Very tough to decide which five tracks are my favorite. I could listen to the whole album on repeat all day. Maybe one of these days, I will and see how long I can last before I want a change in music. I commend Hiroki Kikuta for making such a masterpiece. If I were to make a video game of my works, this is the guy I would love to work with on it for music. Great work, Secret of Mana, and here’s to twenty more years. …now only if we could get more Mana games from Square.

Now I don’t listen to them when I am writing. I find that having lyrics being pumped into my ears mixes with my handwriting, and it is a little distracting. When I write, I have a few set playlists that I will listen to over and over again–and they never get old. Today, I will share the albums I listen to the most when I write. You might notice a theme, but these are the ones I am most fond of when it comes to music.

Secret of Mana

Legend of Mana

Chrono Trigger

Chrono Cross

There are other soundtracks I listen to. Another big chunk of my music I enjoy writing to is any of the Howard Shore Lord of the Ring or The Hobbit soundtracks. And I will sprinkle in some Final Fantasy, Halo, Metal Gear Solid, or some regular classical music on occasion. But for the most part, it is usually Mana, Chrono, or LOTR.

If you enjoy great soundtracks, you should give these I mentioned a listen. You can find them on iTunes, Amazon, YouTube, and more. One of these days, I will own that mega Mana CD collection. One day.

Books: Probably the biggest no-brainer on the list. But it is very important. If you know ahead of time on how many people you are expecting, make sure you have enough books to meet the demand. If you are expecting 10 or 15 family members and friends to show up and get your book, make sure you have more than that. Customers at the book store who have not heard of you might see the signing and come over to your table to talk to you and hopefully buy a book of their own. If you have any copies left over, it is also a good idea to see if the bookstore will let you leave 5 signed copies for their shelves once you leave. It could be embarrassing to set up a book signing and run out of product before your scheduled time is over.

Bookmarks: You can get some high-quality bookmarks made for cheap online at places like Zazzle. I tend to give them to the people who buy my book so they have something useful to mark their place in my story. But it also is a good tool to use for those who did not buy your book at the signing. Give them a bookmark to take with them. On one side of the bookmark, I put some artwork from the bookcover and on the other I put the name of the book and also my website address. The artwork is flash and the other side is informative. Make sure you put your name, your website or social media connections, and the name of your book on it. Though its the informative side of the bookmark, it still needs to look attractive. And don’t ever crowd the bookmark with too much information or make it hard to read.

Flyers: If you use bookmarks for the non-buyers, you can use these as well. Or if you want to reserve bookmarks for paying customers, you can use some inexpensive flyers. I make an image in my art program on my computer that is the size of normal piece of copier paper (8 inch x 11 inch). I make a flyer that takes up half the space. I put my book cover on it, the name of the book, my website, and a few words to describe what the book is about. I frame it with some thick lines. Then I copy the entire image and paste it on the other side of the page. Next thing you know, you got two flyers on one piece of paper. Save the flyer as a jpeg and print them out at home or at an office supply store. I take mine to the store, have them print out 20 copies and cut the paper in half. That gives me 40 flyers for super cheap. And black and white copies are clean and professional and cheaper. 40 flyers for a couple bucks can go a long way. So if you have potential buyers, give them a flyer to take home so they can remember the name of you and your books for a later date. And if you want to list other books you wrote on the flyer, this is also helpful for your marketing efforts.

Business Cards: These are for any fellow writers or those interested in writing you might meet at your book signing. They are also important for any employee or manager at the bookstore or event you are at. A flyer or bookmark is good, but for the professional contacts you make, a business card is always better. You might be a self-published writer, but you still need to present yourself and conduct as a professional. This is a business, after all.

Awards/Accolades: If you have won any awards for your books and have a trophy or some other sort of physical representation of the award, bring those with you to the book signing. Put them on your table to show others that your work has warranted the credits of others and is of quality. Awards will give you an edge in your signings. If you won some awards, then you must be on the right path.

Book Cover Display: I always have a book cover display that is larger than the book for my table at the store. You can get a nice poster size display made at your local office supply store or copy shop. Get it mounted on some thick backing for stability. Get something to prop it up with and now you have a nice image to draw people to your table. The $30 or so it costs to get it made can be used as many times as it is needed for your events and cons and will be worth the investment.

Other Displays: Sometimes the book signing tables will not have a table cloth or maybe one that isn’t too flashy. I get a long table runner style piece of colorful cloth and decorate it to match a theme or object from my book. I drape it on the table to give it that extra pop. Your outward presentation is just as important as the books you are trying to sell. You need to be able to make your event attractive and be able to draw people in to you and your table. A good display is key. Why do you think other businesses make attractive endcaps in stores and other places. Visuals, my friend. Other things you might consider are small objects that relate to your book. Maybe a small statue of something or a framed piece of artwork or some other type of object that will make people curious as to who you are and what you are selling. Another good item might be to use your iPad or tablet or a small portable dvd player that will loop a slideshow of images that relate to your books.

Pens/Sharpies: You got a book signing. You’ll need to sign your books with something. Make sure you have more than one pen on hand. You know how pens and markers can be unreliable at times. And you never want to sign someone’s book with a pen or marker that is not writing at its full strength. Nothing is worse than a half-colored signature.

It was about a year and a half ago I came to you through a Kickstarter to ask for your assistance in getting the book edited, formatted, its artwork done, and more. Without you, this book would not have been possible. To celebrate the One Year for OF THIEVES AND ELVES, I am temporarily dropping the price of the ebook on Amazon down to 99 cents. That’s 4 dollars off the normal price. So from today, Sunday April 7th to Sunday April 14th, you can get an award-winning ebook for less than a dollar. What are you waiting for? Get it now.

Click the book cover below to be taken to Amazon to buy it. And thank you for your continued support.

Contains some spoilers below, so if you have not read The Stolen Moon of Londor >>link here<<, please do not read any further.

If you have read the book, you know it begins with Gildan and Randor aiding the elves of Obinoth in their war against the evil gray elves of Rhingar. This battle still opens the Revised book, but I am greatly adding to the scene. I am giving more character development and also making some tweaks on how it plays out. In the original version, the entire battle and aftermath is one chapter. In the new version, I am making it three chapters. I think I will try and reduce the word counts on some chapters that might be real lengthy.

In the original, Chapter Two takes you to another kingdom, Dunane, where the main story begins. That is now being pushed back until about Chapter Eight. ….so if Chapter One to Three is the Obinoth battle, etc, why isn’t Chapter Four the one in Dunane? There are some events that occurred between the end of the battle and the beginning of the journey in Dunane. If you remember, Randor Miithra “died” after the moon disappeared. This ended Chapter One.

The Revised edition will include the Obinoth’s funeral scene for Randor. Then I will spend a couple chapters in the Obinoth Kingdom, to help build the story and just how bad things have become since the moon disappeared. Then the Revised will reconnect with the Original in Chapter Eight. There are also new chapters in other places of the book that cover areas that I passed over the first time around.

With no reason to be restricted by agent or publisher word counts, I feel these new scenes and chapters will greatly improve the reader’s experience. It will still be The Stolen Moon of Londor you have come to love, but it is given a whole new kick I hope you find most enjoyable. I am glad on the progress I have made on the new areas of the book. There’s plenty more where that came from. The White Shadow Saga’s beginning is getting amped up, my friends. Stay tuned for more progress soon.

Currently, I am setting out to redo my first book, THE STOLEN MOON OF LONDOR, the first book in THE WHITE SHADOW SAGA trilogy. It was first released in 2009 and has had some great successes. Book 2 in the Saga came out in 2010 with Book 3 not yet released. So why am I going back to the first rather than writing Book 3 first? I have some reasons.

When I wrote TSMoL, I was trying to get it traditionally published. I wrote it between 2001 and 2003. I tried the literary agent thing, didn’t get any bites. Then in 2004 I hired a professional editor and the book was tweaked and given an extra few coats of polish. I decided to give the literary agent thing one more try. I did get some responses that wanted to see more of the book (glad I got it edited), but it still did not pan out with me getting an agent. So I decided to self-publish. I threw myself into the industry, trying to do all the things I felt a big publisher would do with a new book, giving it a great cover, getting distribution, etc.

When I was trying to get an agent, I read that publishers really do not want any first book by a new author to be over 100,000 words, so I made sure TSMoL was under this final word count (clocked in at about 96,000 words). The second book in the series came in at about 140,000 words and gave me more room to develop more things about the story and do things i wanted to do without any restrictions. My writing style has improved since TSMoL and it shows in SHAMELESS WONDERS and also OF THIEVES AND ELVES.

I want to redo TSMoL because it will allow me to dig deeper into the first part of the story. It will allow me to develop the characters more, develop the world and fill it with more richness. I have a few new scenes I am adding in to flesh out both of these elements. I feel it is important that when Book 3 is released and more readers pick up the entire trilogy, the entire work will be as strong. If TSMoL, the first book is the weakest, then some readers might not continue on to Book 2 and Book 3. This is why I am going back into the first book and giving it new life. Better writing, more development, and more action.

The new version will be called: THE STOLEN MOON OF LONDOR: Revised and Extended

I believe it will make a great addition to the Saga, the lore of Londor, and give the readers an exciting story.

Currently, it is about 25% completed with the draft. Once it is done, it will move on to be edited, and then produced as a final product. I hope you will enjoy it as much as I do.

So what happened in 2012? It began with me writing OF THIEVES AND ELVES. I started writing it back in September or October 2011 and finished my draft in March 2012. After editing and proof reading and more editing, it was published in April. And I want to thank you to all of you who donated to my Kickstarter that made this book possible. Every bit of the production was covered by your support and donations. Was edited, formatted, and all artwork provided by your faith in me.

OF THIEVES AND ELVES was released as an ebook and a hardcover in April 2012. It has since been one of the more popular of my books and has gone on to be named a Finalist for the 2013 Epic Ebook Awards (Fantasy genre).

This book is also marked as the first ever “Supernovella”. A supernovella? What is that? It is a term I coined. I knew this book was only going to be a 60-80,000 word book. Too long to be called a novella. But too short, for me, to call it a novel. So I decided to come up with something new to call it. Anything I write that is between 45-80,000 words will be called a Supernovella. I think novels begin at 80. But that’s another story.

In May, I wanted to do an Add-on story for OTAE. The purpose was to give readers more insight to the world surrounding OF THIEVES AND ELVES, and these stories would be anywhere between 5,000 and 20,000 words. The first Add-on is called STEEL AND SNARE and is on the higher side of the word count range for my Add-ons. It was released in late August.

Also in August, I decided to look into producing an audiobook for OF THIEVES AND ELVES. I have heard of ACX and decided to give it a try. After listening to a few narrators on their site, I contacted Michael Roger Lane. We came together and started the process of getting the audio together. And after a couple of months, it was all said and done. OTAE came to be an 8 hour and 22 minute length audiobook. In December, it was released on Audible, iTunes, and Amazon.

So you can say 2012 was the Year of the Supernovella for me. A book, an Add-on, and an audiobook. In total, I published around 100,000 words (80k OTAE, 20k Add-on).

And what will 2013 hold for me and the world of Londor? I have an even greater ambition in mind. I just hope I can get it all in 12 months. I will do what I can to make it happen.

First…..

THE STOLEN MOON OF LONDOR (REVISED AND EXTENDED):

THE STOLEN MOON OF LONDOR is the first book in THE WHITE SHADOW SAGA series. Yes, it was first released in 2009. So why go back?

I think I have grown as a writer and publisher since then. I know more about how to work with an editor, how to format it, etc. The first book was chopped down to be under 100,000 words. This was back when I was trying to get an agent and a traditional publisher. But since going indie, I have decided not to hold myself down by word counts. So this is why I am going back into TSMoL and expanding it greatly.

I am adding brand new chapters to the story. There were areas that were skipped over and can be filled in nicely with all new chapters. This will give characters more development and the reader more to learn and love about them and their world. There will be a combination of some slower chapters for depth and some all new chapters that will back a punch with some new action. I would say where some of the new chapters are going, but that might spoil the story otherwise.

TSMoL was originally around 96,000 words. TSMoL RAE (Revised and Extended) is aimed to be around 140,000 words or so. Might run longer, knowing me.

Once the draft is complete, it will be off to the editor for polish and tightening. And you can expect a new book cover for it.

I debated on if I should change things in SHAMELESS WONDERS, Book 2 of THE WHITE SHADOW SAGA. But I think it will be fine as is. The only thing I will change about this book will be the book cover. I want to change the art slightly and the wording on the cover will need to be changed to reflect the word style of TSMoL RAE.

THE STOLEN MOON OF LONDOR REVISED AND EXTENDED is scheduled for a Summer 2013 release.

Then it is off to the anticipated release of…..

THE WHITE SHADOW SAGA: BOOK 3

I have a few of the chapters already written for this book. Many of you have asked me where it is. And I am here to tell you I am working on it. This is the final book in the series that started it all for me and I want to make sure it is the best it can be. It will be a heavy book with the word count, filled with action, revelations, loss, gain, and much more. If you think the ending of SHAMELESS WONDERS was a twist, you haven’t seen anything yet.

I keep calling it Book 3. I really do not like to release the name of the book until it is complete. Yes, I give a book its name when I first start writing it, but I have never been one to speak its name aloud until the end. While it won’t be done for a few more months, I will tell you the name before I finish it…..so stay tuned for that.

BOOK 3 is scheduled for a Winter 2013 release.

You can also look forward to having the entire Saga as an audiobook at the end of this year or the beginning of 2014.

This week, I want to share with you one song that helped give me the plot to my current series, THE WHITE SHADOW SAGA.

In 1996, Robert Miles came out with an album called Dreamland. A couple songs from this album were fairly popular on the radio, commercials, and in movies. While “Children” and “Fable” were great songs, the song that I found the most inspiration in was called “One and One”. In this song, there is a lyric that says, “One moon. One star.”

Before I heard this song, I had drawn elves that wore tunics depicting one eight-sided star and two moons. So once I heard that song, my mind instantly went to having one of the moons that I drew disappear. Not from the clothing….but from the actual sky. And so the premise for THE WHITE SHADOW SAGA was born. Here is a link to the song on Youtube. If you like that 90s techno/electronica music, I really think you should check out Robert Miles online or iTunes, etc. Great music.

One and One by Robert Miles

SPOILERS AHEAD.

Mystery Spot:

Season 3, Episode 11.

The brothers go to investigate the disappearance of an online reporter who debunks supernatural activities. But this small town is more than what they expected….especially for Sam. When Dean is killed, Sam is thrown into a time loop ala Groundhog Day. And everyday, the town is the same, including the death of Dean in dozens of ways. As hard as Sam tries to save his brother, he cannot. While the premise sounds grim, this is actually a funny episode for the most part. Seeing Dean being hit by a car, having a piano dropped on him, being electrocuted cartoon-style, eating bad tacos, etc are all pretty comical. Sam even gets to where he knows everything Dean is about to say. “Yeah right you’re a mind reader.”

We learn the Trickster is behind the whole mess. And any episode he is in is hilarious. But the Trickster always does what he does to teach them a lesson. Very good episode.

FAVORITE MOMENT: “Heat of the Moment” playing in the hotel room. “Rise and shine, Sammy!” and Dean doing his head nodding.

Bad Day at Black Rock:

Season 3, Episode 3.

When the brothers learn that someone broke into their dad’s storage unit, they go to find out what happened. ….wait, their dad had a storage unit? News to them, too. Then, with all the strange objects and personal items John Winchester kept hidden away, the brothers see that only one box is missing. After some handy work, they find out who took it. And what was it exactly? A weird, old rabbit’s foot. Can’t be bad, right? Well this rabbit’s foot gives the owner a streak of good luck like you won’t believe. Too good to be true, right? Lose the foot and you die. Plain and simple. And wouldn’t you know it….Sam touches the foot. At first, its all fine and dandy. Free dinners, winning lotto tickets….but he soon loses the foot. Bad news.

Once Sam loses the foot, much humor is had at his expense. Losing his shoe in a drain, falling and stumbling, things catching fire, etc. But in the end, all turns out well.

FAVORITE MOMENT: The foot is burned, Bella leaves, and Dean thinks they still have a pocket full of winning scratch offs. But come to find out, Bella took them when they weren’t looking. Then Dean screams, “Son of a bitch!” ….all the while Sam (Jared) couldn’t keep a straight face. Maybe it was a previous take that had him tickled about something.

Tall Tales:

Season 2, Episode 15.

There are some strange things going on at a university. A teacher jumps to his death out of a window, a student is abducted by aliens, and the Winchester brothers are at odds. Frozen laptops, air being let out of the Impala’s tires, etc. Even when Bobby is called in to sort through the strange case they are working, none can make much sense of what is going on. It is finally revealed that a Trickster is behind the whole ordeal, making people die via tabloid journal style. I enjoyed the one sided stories according to each brother and how it made the other look. Dean having Sam go blah blah blah in one scene, Sam having Dean with a mouthful of candy like a squirrel. Very funny episode.

FAVORITE MOMENT: The slow dancing alien bit. Lady in Red will never be the same to me now. Awesomeness.

Changing Channels:

Season 5, Episode 8.

More strange happenings for the Winchesters….but what else is new? We love it. This episode had a different opening theme done in the old 70s sitcom style. Perfect match for the cheap 70s looking set that looked like it came out of Three’s Company. And a cheesy sitcom isn’t all they have to endure as they are thrown into TV Land. There’s the typical hospital romance drama type show, a CSI (complete with the sunglasses at night and one-liners), a Knight Rider bit, and more. Another funny episode….and guess who is behind it all? You guessed it. The Trickster. But again, he comes bearing life lessons for the brothers. Play your roles.

FAVORITE MOMENT: Dean is worried about Cas. Sam isn’t around. When Dean gets into the Impala, it turns out the car has been transformed into KIT (in a sense) and Sam is the voice of the car. The Impala is eqipped with the red light bar in front, the control panel inside, and the Knight Rider theme even plays as Dean hauls ass down a leaf-ridden street. “Dean?” “What?!” “That feels uh uncomfortable. …Oww.”

No Rest for the Wicked:

Season 3, Episode 16

The season finale for #3 was one I will never forget. Yes, this was the season that was cut way short by the writers’ strike, but it was still very well-done. The Winchesters have their showdown with Lilith, a creepy little girl that kills the dog, her Grandpa, and anyone that looks at her wrong. This is also the episode where Dean’s time has come to an end as the deal he made with the demon has come up. At first, they thought of fighting back against the deal, but he accepts his fate. The hellhound is unleashed and it tears him to shreds. It was hard for me to watch my favorite character done this way. And if that wasn’t the worst part, the final scene shows Dean hung by chains and meat hooks in an endless sea of chains and hellish storms. Dean shouts for his brother and the camera pans back. Then it cuts to black. I have to tell you, this episode and what happened to Dean bothered me for weeks. I was literally sad for a long time because I had to wait months to find out what happened to him next. It is an ending that I will never forget.

FAVORITE MOMENT: Sam and Dean are driving in the Impala, towards Dean’s ultimate fate with death, when Dean rocks out to Bon Jovi’s “Wanted”. It was a funny, touching, and emotional scene all at once. Very powerful.

….so that does my first TOP FIVE. Hope you enjoyed it. Have a suggestion for a TOP FIVE I should do? Comment or shoot me an email: contact at apstephens dot com

I will cover many topics. Could be my Top 5 of a certain food, drink, music, games, etc. Send me some ideas. Thanks and come back soon.