Eye of the Wizard! "A great, fun little romp" -- Red Adept Reviews

[Daniel Arenson]

EYE OF THE WIZARD "A great, fun little romp. -- Red Adept Reviews "Wildly entertaining." -- KindleObsessed.com They're misfits... but they're the only heroes around. From the author of Song of Dragons comes Misfit Heroes -- a fantasy series about creepy monsters, underdog heroes, and epic adventure. For all ages. BOOK ONE: EYE OF THE WIZARD Shadows prowl the night. A dark warlock musters power. Evil lurks in every corner. The world needs heroes. What they get... is a few misfits. A couple failed squires. A jinxed wizard. A banished spirit of the forest. A childlike demon and her teddy bear. They are outcasts, failures, oddballs.  They might just save the world. Buy from Kindle US -- $2.99 Buy from Kindle UK -- £2.17 SILLY INTERVIEW!  Two characters from Eye of the Wizard--Neev (a wizard) and Romy (a goofy demon girl)--visited the blog From the Shadows recently.  They caused some major havoc.  Take a look.

[M.S. Verish]

Swords, Spells, and Skeletons!

These are a few of my favorite things.

Congratulations, Daniel! Looks great. 

[telracs]

where'd the cheetos go?

[Daniel Arenson]

where'd the cheetos go?

I know you like the puffy kind:

[Ann in Arlington]

Welcome to KindleBoards, Daniel, and congratulations on your book! 

(If you've gotten this welcome before, it's just as a matter of housekeeping. We like to put a copy of the "welcome letter" in each book thread.  It doesn't mean you've done anything wrong, it just helps us know that you know the rules.)

A brief recap of our rules follows:

--We invite you to use your book cover as your avatar and have links to your book and website in your signature. Instructions are posted here

--Please bookmark this thread (using your browser's bookmark/favorite function) so you can update it as we ask that authors have only one thread per book and add to it when there is more information.  You may start a separate thread for each book (or you may have one thread per series of books, or one thread for all of your books, it's your choice).

--While you may respond to member posts to your thread at any time, you may only bump your thread (back-to-back posts by you) once every seven days.  Once you've responded to a member, that resets the clock to zero and you must wait seven days to post, unless another member posts before then.

--We ask that Amazon reviews not be repeated here as they are easy to find at your book link.  Also, full reviews from other sites should not be posted here, but you may post a short blurb and a link to the full review instead.

--Although self-promotion is limited to the Book Bazaar, our most successful authors have found the best way to promote their books is to be as active throughout KindleBoards as time allows.  This is your target audience--book lovers with Kindles!  Please note that putting link information in the body of your posts constitutes self promotion; please leave your links for your profile signature that will automatically appear on each post.  For information on more ways to promote here on KindleBoards, be sure to check out this thread:
Authors: KindleBoards Tips & FAQ.

All this, and more, is included in our Forum Decorum.  Be sure to check it from time to time for the current guidelines and rules.

Oh, and one more thing:  be sure to check out the index threads at the top of the Book Bazaar. . . .there are details there about how you can be listed so that our readers can find you.

Thanks for being part of KindleBoards!  Feel free to send us a PM if you have any questions.

Betsy & Ann
Book Bazaar Moderators

[Bleekness]

Ohhhh

That is a beautiful cover.

Best of luck with it

[Daniel Arenson]

Thanks, Keith!

[Arkali]

So buying at lunch!  Good luck with it

[Daniel Arenson]

So buying at lunch!  Good luck with it

Thanks, Arkali!  You've read Firefly Island, right?  I hope you enjoy Eye of the Wizard, too.   

[Arkali]

Actually, have no... :blush:  Nor Flaming Dove.  For some reason the cover of FI just never grabbed me >.>  I DO have TGoD, (oooh... wild) and hopefully will read it soon.  I meant to read it this week, but my Daddy fell and broke his hip Tuesday so after finally getting back to town last night I'm horribly behind.  Bah!  But soon, soon, soon

[Daniel Arenson]

Actually, have no... :blush:  Nor Flaming Dove.  For some reason the cover of FI just never grabbed me >.>  I DO have TGoD, (oooh... wild) and hopefully will read it soon.  I meant to read it this week, but my Daddy fell and broke his hip Tuesday so after finally getting back to town last night I'm horribly behind.  Bah!  But soon, soon, soon

I hope your dad gets well soon!

No worries about Firefly Island.  I'm probably confused because often when people buy one of my new books, they tell me, "I've read Firefly Island, so I'll grab this one too."  I think either The Gods of Dream or Eye of the Wizard are good books to start with; the former is long and more serious, the latter is a light and quick read.

I've been thinking of asking my artist (the same one who created the covers for The Gods of Dream and Eye of the Wizard) to create a new Firefly Island cover.  If I do, it'll be the fourth cover Firefly Island has had!  I sold the book to a small press years ago; they commissioned artwork from a lovely artist named Stephanie Law.  Five Star Publishing printed the hardcover and gave it new artwork.  The current ebook version has the novel's third cover. 

[Arkali]

Hi, Daniel :-)
Thanks!  I actually just got off the phone with Daddy and he's sounding MUCH better today, like his old self.  He's 90, so I was pretty terrified Tuesday when mama called.

Anywho - the FI cover is nice looking, but it just does nothing for me and makes me think Sci-Fi, so, umm... yeah.  Never picked it up, even though I KNOW it's a fantasy book.  Go figure.  I'm really looking forward to reading TGoD, though.  Sadly, I'm so behind now with classwork, which has put me behind with editing stuff...  vicious cycle.  Grrrr.

[Daniel Arenson]

Hi, Daniel :-)
Thanks!  I actually just got off the phone with Daddy and he's sounding MUCH better today, like his old self.  He's 90, so I was pretty terrified Tuesday when mama called.

I can imagine.  Scary stuff.  I'm glad he's doing better!

Anywho - the FI cover is nice looking, but it just does nothing for me and makes me think Sci-Fi, so, umm... yeah.  Never picked it up, even though I KNOW it's a fantasy book.  Go figure.  I'm really looking forward to reading TGoD, though.  Sadly, I'm so behind now with classwork, which has put me behind with editing stuff...  vicious cycle.  Grrrr.

Here is the cover from the hardcover.  What do you think?

[monkeyluis]

Arenson = Buy

Loved Flaming Dove.  Firefly is on my TPB.  I've been really swamped with school, but I'm back to reading now.

Look forward too this Daniel.

[Joseph Robert Lewis]

Sweet cover art. Looks like a nice story too!

[Daniel Arenson]

Thanks guys!

And Eye of the Wizard just received its first Amazon review -- for five stars.  That was fast!

Here's a quote from the review:  "...if you are looking for a fun read with loveable characters and an entertaining story at a great price, this is a book worth looking at.  For me to give 5 stars is rare but in this case I felt that the entertainment to cost ratio made it 5 star worthy."

You can read the full review here.

[Arkali]

I can imagine.  Scary stuff.  I'm glad he's doing better!

Here is the cover from the hardcover.  What do you think?

Thanks!

Well, hrrrm.  In some respects, the older cover is better.  It communicates the genre better, for one thing.  BUT - it's dated looking.  The new cover at least looks new, but it gives a totally wrong impression of what you're getting.  Hope that makes sense?

Oooh!  Forgot to add - 'grats on the five-star!

[Daniel Arenson]

Well, hrrrm.  In some respects, the older cover is better.  It communicates the genre better, for one thing.  BUT - it's dated looking.  The new cover at least looks new, but it gives a totally wrong impression of what you're getting.  Hope that makes sense?

Makes sense to me.    The current Firefly Island cover was inspired by George R. R. Martin's fantasy covers.  For example:



While I love George R. R. Martin's work, I think my cover is better than his.  Shhh.

Oooh!  Forgot to add - 'grats on the five-star!

Thanks.   

[Arkali]

Makes sense to me.    The current Firefly Island cover was inspired by George R. R. Martin's fantasy covers.  For example:

While I love George R. R. Martin's work, I think my cover is better than his.  Shhh.

Thanks.   

I HATE that cover.  Truly.  I'd be willing to bet that's the later cover.  Let me go look...
Not sure which cover came first, but I definitely prefer this one:

[Daniel Arenson]

I HATE that cover.  Truly.  I'd be willing to bet that's the later cover.  Let me go look...
Not sure which cover came first, but I definitely prefer this one:

I think that one (with the illustration) came first.  Not sure why they changed it.  But one thing's for sure:  I can't wait to see the mini-series.

[Arkali]

I think you're right about the cover order.  And I don't know why they changed it, either.  I definitely think it was a step backwards.  Totally agree that the TV show is probably going to be awesome, though   Do you know when it's supposed to start?

[Daniel Arenson]

I think you're right about the cover order.  And I don't know why they changed it, either.  I definitely think it was a step backwards.  Totally agree that the TV show is probably going to be awesome, though   Do you know when it's supposed to start?

April 17!  Get your HBO ready!

http://www.hbo.com/game-of-thrones/index.html

I've seen some of the trailers and "behind the scenes" videos.  You can find them on youtube or the HBO website.  It looks very well made.

George R. R. Martin has definitely inspired my writing.  I first read A Game of Thrones in 1998, when I was 18 years old, and it changed the way I thought about fantasy literature.  It was dark, gritty, and un-romantic.  It hasn't inspired Eye of the Wizard, which is a lot lighter and more whimsical, but I do see GRRM influences in the current novel I'm writing.

By the way:  Two characters from Eye of the Wizard--Neev (a wizard) and Romy (a goofy demon girl)--will be visiting the blog From the Shadows on Tuesday.  They're going to wreak some major havoc.  Neev is going to (try to) interview Romy, and both characters will be answering questions from the blog's readers.  If you're on GoodReads, you can RSVP here:  http://www.goodreads.com/event/show/108256

[Joseph Robert Lewis]

Daniel, what do you think of Martin's style of rotating the POV around a large cast of characters? I really like it and have been using a similar style in my own books, but I know some readers prefer to stick with one character throughout an entire story.

[Daniel Arenson]

Daniel, what do you think of Martin's style of rotating the POV around a large cast of characters? I really like it and have been using a similar style in my own books, but I know some readers prefer to stick with one character throughout an entire story.

All my novels have strict, third-person POV, which rotates between the main characters.  Firefly Island follows this style, too, even though I wrote it before reading George R. R. Martin.  Head-hopping is a pet peeve of mine; I don't read books with head hopping, and I dislike the ominiscient narrator. 

In all my novels, I choose four or five character to be my POV characters.  Secondary characters don't get this status.  I choose the most important, interesting characters for POV rank, and make sure they're distinct -- by gender, age, personally, etc.  Between chapters, I alternate between these POV characters, and tell the story from their head.  Even though I write in third person, it's almost like a first person experience.  The reader sees the world through the POV character's eyes, hears through his ears, knows only what he knows, experiences his emotions, can read his thoughts... and is never allowed to leave his mind.  The reader can never hear/see/smell/sense anything the POV character isn't experiencing, or know anything the POV character doesn't know.  There is definitely no head hopping, whereby I suddenly show you what another character is thinking, or show you something that's not inputted via the POV character's eyeballs.  When I want to switch to another POV character, I end the scene or chapter, and can start with a new one.  I'm careful to use this style in all my novels.

Eye of the Wizard has six POV characters.

[Daniel Arenson]

New five star review for Eye of the Wizard on Amazon.com.

Here's a quote:

"Eye of the Wizard offers a delightful opportunty to get lost in an hilarious world where the reader's expectations of fantasy novels fade and are replaced with chuckles and giggles. Arenson displays consummate skills and timing from chapter to chapter, without fail. Five stars is a perfect rating for this work, and I was disappointed that my numerous clicks on the page failed to make a sixth star appear."

Have you read Eye of the Wizard yet?