Christmas is coming....

Greetings, fellow Bearers!

Yes, it's almost that time, when Yours Truly gets as pathetic acting as any young child in that I absolutely LOVE to open Christmas presents!  You should see me around the house; my wife has to be very careful about where she puts my stuff, and swears my children to secrecy.  Yeah, I'm that bad. :D

The downloads for Fraidy-Cat keep coming in, and it's great to see the interest in it.  As stated before, if you liked Fraidy-Cat, but have not yet read The Summoning of Clade Josso, I encourage you to take a look at it.  I hope to have another free short story for you to examine after New Year's, and will of course continue work on The Summoning of Old Velt.

In the meantime, I hope you get as good an assortment of presents as I usually get! Of course, we'll just forget about that outfit my mom got me a few years back... beyond that, no problems ;)

See you in the Vein!

J. Dean

More open doors!

Greetings, fellow Bearers!

First, for the many downloads of "Fraidy-Cat" which have continued since last week, a big thank you needs to be repeated!  I've been getting great feeback from people on the story, which has been a great confidence builder for me.  If you've liked the story, feel free to pass the word on to others, by Internet and by word of mouth.  It's free to download, so you'll definitely get your money's worth :D  And also feel free to put up a review of what you've read so far on Smashwords.  Let the world know what you thought!

I've come today to tell you about a couple of doors which have opened and have given me an opportunity to expand the audience.  The first is a site called "Author's Den,"  which is a centralized Internet spot for writers to showcase their talent.  I joined up with them yesterday.  The other is a "mobile reader" website, similar to the Kindle Board website, which involves those who prefer their text to be laid out digitally-you know, all those hi-tech gizmo type people :D

Come check out these sites, and enjoy my work, as well as the work of others.  Soon OLD VELT will be joining CLADE JOSSO in availability, and we will go further in to the Meridian, taking one step closer to our ultimate goal.

Until then, See you in the Vein!

J. Dean

Wow!!!! Thank you so much!!!

t.Greetings, fellow Bearers (and short story enthusiasts)!

What a great response I've gotten over the weekend! "Fraidy-Cat" was downloaded over thirty times in three days (That's a lot for an indie author!). Those of you willing to take a look at the story, thank you so much! Feel free to post a review of the story on the smashwords.com website, and if you liked it, spread the word about it!  Also, I invite you newcomers, if you've not done so already, to consider looking at The Summoning of Clade Josso as well, and whet your appetite for a new kind of fantasy epic

While I'm still working on the Vein novels, I've also been setting aside a little time every few days to work on short stories as well. The nice thing about doing this is that it keeps my writing fresh, so that I'm not burning myself out on just the Vein books. While writing is fun, it's like anything else: you need to diversify your time and focus, so that you don't end up with burnout.  The  short stories are a chance for me to change gears and pace, and that's good for a writer... well, good for me at least; I can't speak for everybody on that one.

So thank you all once again.  Hopefully, I'll have another omnibus entry to put in before Christmas, so that a little bit more of the Vein can be revealed to all, and Old Velt will be that much closer to being finished!

See you in the Vein!

J. Dean

And now, a nice side dish for you to enjoy...

Greetings, fellow Bearers!

While you are patiently waiting for THE SUMMONING OF OLD VELT to be finished, I have a little treat for you. As I've said before, I don't consider myself to be a horror writer, per se, but I did put out another short story, available for your free perusal, on Smashwords. Below is a link for you to check it out. If the link doesn't work directly, cut and paste it into your browser's address bar, and it'll take you there.

Okay, I've had long enough to breathe. Back to the grind with the novel!

See you in the Vein!

J. Dean

Free short story: http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/7144

Omnibus Entry: The Meridian

Greetings, fellow Bearers!

Below is the information about the Meridian, the central location in which the events of THE SUMMONING OF CLADE JOSSO take place.  I was hoping to attach it as a file, but unfortunately the formatting of this site does not permit me to do so.  So until then... Enjoy!

See you in the Vein!

J. Dean

The Meridian

The Meridian is an expanse which serves as a connection point for Seven different Worlds which exist in seven different universes. Made up of a diverse conglomeration of climates and terrains, the Meridian is not a planet per se, but a flat region that undergoes a planet-like cycle, with a white sun that occupies the sky during the daylight hours, and a starless purple night during the evening.

Prior to the great schism between the Heretics (also called the Blindmen) and the members of the Sect of the Awakened, who were loyal adherents to the deity Balys-Crahly, the Seven Gates which corresponded to their respective worlds were easily and freely accessed by the Seven Races. Anyone could travel to and from the different worlds; and the Meridian was appraised as an important central point of commerce and community, as well as a mystical place full of unfathomable wonders and mysteries. Although not originally intended to be a place for permanent residence, the Meridian had several settlements spring up throughout its regions, mostly near areas which provided for agricultural and commercial business. The wildlife of the Meridian had a benign relationship with the beings of the Seven Worlds, in addition to an already harmonious community of the multitudes who interacted with each other in their business and travels.

But when the schism occurred, all of this changed. The harmony and unity degraded into a terrible war, during which a series of dark changes overtook the Meridian and its inhabitants, and eventually spilled into the Seven Worlds. Although the exact history of the events that happened is sketchy (as many of the historical records were lost after the schism), what is generally known is that, during the war, the Meridian became a shadowy, forlorn world; its wonders and wildlife transforming into dangerous and nightmarish terrors. Great monuments and cities of a united civilization became desolate ruins, falling victim to the unbridled lusts and hate of the Meridian citizens, corrupted by the dark evil that spread over the land; or becoming empty shells of their former glory, changed by things more mysterious and hideous.

The war between the Sect and the Blindmen came to a head at the center of the Meridian, where the Sect initially seemed to be successful in defeating their foes during a fierce battle. But the Blindmen were not finished; before being banished from the Meridian, the Blindmen, through means unknown to the Sect, were able to successfully capture and imprison Balys-Crahly in the Vein, a little known “para-world” which is accessed from a portal located in the heart of a thick Wood in the central region of the Meridian. Though ultimately beaten in the end, the Blindmen had inflicted their damage. A great, impassible, cloud-like barrier, referred to as the Edge, filled the Meridian perimeter, sealing off the gateways to the Seven Worlds. What followed was mass panic among the remaining beings in the Meridian, resulting in a bloody, chaotic struggle, carried out by those motivated either by fear of what had happened, or by lust for power. Due to the sudden harshness and hostility of the Meridian creatures, those beings who survived the Sect-Blindmen war and the following lawless massacre took refuge in the cities, setting up improvised governmental structures, most of which were eventually taken over either brazenly or covertly by the Orders, which began to form shortly afterward. The arrival of the hostile Orders forced the remaining Sect members in some of the cities to go into hiding, as the Orders viewed the Sect as a potential threat to their power base.

Now, centuries after the great schism, the original inhabitants of the Vein have vanished. The once conventional access to the Meridian from the Seven Worlds through the original gateways is impossible; the gates on each world are shut fast (and in some cases, hidden). Nor can any within the Meridian leave, as the thick, cloudy Edge engulfs those who try to find the gates. Inhabiting the cities are “pact-makers”, those who lived in the Seven worlds, who have agreed to an accord which brings them to the Meridian upon their death in a type of afterlife. The only other beings permitted entrance to the Meridian are the Bearers, and it is prophesied that Seven Bearers will come, one from each of the Seven Worlds, and travel through the Meridian to the Vein, where they will release Balys-Crahly and restore the Meridian to its former state of peace and paradise.

Out with the Turkey, in with the tree....

Greetings, fellow Bearers!

And here it is, the most festive time of year. Got your Christmas shopping done yet? Nope-neither do I. I'm not quite a "last-minute" shopper, but I don't get the gifts in August, either (No foolin' on that; I know people like that who do their Christmas shopping before leaves change!).

I think that part of it is because I really don't believe the Christmas season starts until after Thanksgiving is done. One of my big pet peeves is walking into a store after Halloween and seeing Christmas stuff up. For crying out loud, can't you WAIT ANOTHER MONTH!? It's not like there's some sort of shopping ban between Thanksgiving and Christmas! Put up THANKSGIVING stuff for Thanksgiving, and CHRISTMAS stuff for Christmas! Keep the holidays in their respective seasons, and let us in the consumer world keep our sanity! (Only YOU can prevent Christmas burnout! Only YOU!)

Well, I'm happy to report that I've been able to get a decent amount of time to work on OLD VELT, the second novel in the Vein series.  I'm also happy to see that people are purchasing CLADE JOSSO as a Christmas gift for others, and have sold some signed copies to that end.  Also, I understand that the VIRTUAL IMAGININGS short story collection has also been doing well, which of course benefits breast cancer research.  See?  Authors make Christmas shopping easy! :D

Well, back to work for me.  I'm continuing the Vein omnibus, and will have some entries ready soon to post.  Until then, continue to enjoy preparing for Christmas!

See you in the Vein!

J. Dean.