Hi everyone,
We are pleased to report that Revolution, the final volume of The War of the Democratic Coalition, is available now at all fine e-book retailers! For more information and a list of retailers, be sure to check out its book page here!
More news is on the way, so stay tuned!
Crosspost: ericmrozek.com.
As promised, it’s time to begin a series of writing diaries to show you the progress behind our upcoming novel, Revolution. While we don’t have a firm release date yet, we can tell you that it is the final chapter of The War of the Democratic Coalition series and will face a lot of changes as we move from the drafts to the final copy. However, that doesn’t mean that we can’t give you a few morsels of interesting information here and there!
Since we are entering the third act of a single story, it is important to consider the necessity of a good title. As with any piece of pop culture, we wanted it to have a special significance to the story while not giving too much away. To use our previous two stories, Destruction chronicles the outbreak of the war against Thrakoth and the struggle to hold everything together, whereas Illumination refers to both the age that the characters live in and their quest to uncover the truth behind the battles that rage around them.
So, what does Revolution mean in the grand scheme of things?
It refers to the world to come and the final battle to control and shape the future. Whoever wins the war will be the guardian of a new age, but will it be one where freedom expands or one under the iron-fisted rule of Thrakoth?
If you’ve read through Destruction and Illumination, you may have gotten the idea that the war in both novels is driven by ideology, rather than a looming, unnamed evil. We take great care in our production process to slowly build on these ideas with each passing installment. In Destruction, we introduced the concept of Thrakoth’s Grand Design. With the release of Illumination, we built on the ideology of an empire by introducing the danger of his vision to a free people.
With this in mind, the only way to continue would be to have Thrakoth reveal the why behind what he is doing.
While we don’t want to spoil it for you, we will say that the ultimate reveal follows in the grand tradition of what makes a good bad guy. In keeping with our promise to deliver fun entertainment for everyone, we also took great care in the production process to ensure that Thrakoth is not a reference to recent events or anyone that is currently living.
Why would we focus so much on this aspect of the story? It’s important to realize that people read, watch, and play to take their mind off of current worries. Therefore, it’s not a good idea to risk losing up to half of an audience by creating a thinly veiled reference to, say, the 2016 election cycle.
For now, we’ll leave you with that. Happy New Year to one and all!
Hello everyone,
We are announcing today that our work will be moving back to Kindle Unlimited as soon as possible for several important reasons. While it is a decision that was long and painful, we thought it would be a good way to take a look at certain aspects of the publishing industry. While we continued along on our production process for our next few e-books, we noticed a few very bothersome trends. As a learning experience for one and all, we shall account for them here.
1. The Nook Is On Life Support.
Over the past year, Barnes & Noble has dismantled the Nook by taking down most of what makes the experience of using an e-reader. By shutting down Nook Video, the App Store, and their UK Bookstore, they have deprived users of two of the four critical reasons for why someone would purchase a dedicated e-reader. While they have replaced some of these functions with Google Play, the loss of the British Bookstore has arguably sent traffic elsewhere permanently.
2. Kindle Unlimited Is A Great Opportunity.
We love our readers and we want to give them a means of subscribing to our content. Kindle Unlimited provides the means to do just that. If you have a subscription and want to borrow our work, do it. If you don’t have it and want to buy our work, there you go! Either way, we all win and the gospel of badass entertainment spreads even further.
3. Most Of Our Advertising Partners Have Abandoned Other Stores.
The major reason for this trend is because Amazon allows the deal sites out there to get a affiliate commission (much like we do via this site or ericmrozek.com). While we do not have their SEO metrics, it is not much of a stretch to imagine that they make more money by working with the juggernaut rather than making authors and publishers cough up a few more bucks.
That will allow us to reduce our costs and keep being competitive.
Other Than That…
We are going to have a bit more fun here with a behind the scenes look at our next projects in due time. For now, the holiday beckons!
Merry Christmas to one and all!
Crossposted to ericmrozek.com.
Free Eagle Studios, LLC is proud to announce the development of Revolution, the final novel in the War of the Democratic Coalition series. Set in the world of Maereath, Revolution chronicles the closing days of the war that began in Destruction and Illumination, leading up to a cataclysmic final battle that will determine the fate of our characters and the world at large.
About The Novel:
The final battle for the fate of Maereath begins. As Thrakoth launches bloody offensives throughout the world, Helisah, Aegras, and Fasti race home to plot the final battle. While Aegras begins the construction of a weapon that will change the world, Helisah and Fasti embark on a secret campaign to decimate the Telurian war machine and draw their newly crowned Emperor out into the open.
As the opposing forces of democracy and tyranny begin their final clash, both sides will stop at nothing to secure victory. In the west, an army from three continents gathers to hold the line and assist Helisah, Aegras, and Fasti at any cost. In the east, Thrakoth commands his soldiers and spies to gather their full strength and march behind him to glory. As the future of Maereath hangs in the balance, the brave and the dangerous shall fight and die to usher in an Age of Revolution.
Free Eagle Studios Website: freeeaglestudios.com.
Twitter: @FreeEagleStu & @EricMrozek.
Hi everyone,
We are pleased to announce that Illumination will be released on July 29th, 2016. The book is out for reviews right now, so be sure to check out the page on Goodreads. You can also preorder it at your local Amazon retailer by clicking here. The book currently stands at 289 pages and will cost you $3.99 (or its’ regional equivalent).
Enjoy!
Crossposted to ericmrozek.com.
Free Eagle Studios, LLC is pleased to announce the next chapter in the Maereath series, which is called Illumination. The sequel to Destruction chronicles the continuing adventures of Helisah and Aegras Almari as they press on against Thrakoth and the Telurian Empire. Only this time, their mission becomes much more of a personal struggle as they fight to keep the enemy from sowing chaos across the rest of the world.
As the second chapter of the trilogy, Illumination promises to deliver all of the things that you loved from Destruction, along with new surprises, badass new characters, and an expansion of the rich mythology of the world of Maereath.
The book is 289 pages long, so we are anticipating a price point of $3.99 in the United States. Regional equivalents will, of course, be differently priced depending on the market.
We will have more details in the coming days here and over in our Books page. For now, enjoy the synopsis!
The Lady of Knives Takes The Field.
Although Callistan and Fiean forces have won a stunning victory at the Battle of Arduth, the discovery of a Telurian superweapon program has shaken the Democratic Coalition to its’ core. In response to the threat of mass destruction, Helisah and Aegras Almari have volunteered for a covert search-and-destroy operation inside the Dalarian Republic. What they thought was just a difficult mission soon exposed a Telurian conspiracy led by Thrakoth’s deadliest servant: The Lady of Knives.
With Helisah’s new love, Fasti, at their side, the Almaris travel south to stop the Lady from spreading the will of her overlord across the continent of Arthan, but they may be too late. Although they are outgunned and under siege, Helisah, Aegras, and Fasti must fight on to end the threat of a second front and uncover the ancient secrets that can end the war, once and for all.
In case you are looking for that last minute gift or a great impulse buy, Destruction is back on sale until Christmas Day!
Stay tuned for more information in the coming weeks, especially since we are about to premiere a new short story and a possible comic book project!
We’ve decided to extend the deadline for our 99 cent sale until the end of the week (at least). This will give all of our advertising partners a good shot at getting through to any potential customers that we might have.
That is all.
Crosspost from ericmrozek.com.
Now that I’ve given you a sneak peek into the world of Maereath, it is time to announce where I am going to take you next as the adventure continues.
The Sequels
As I’ve mentioned in other areas of the Internet, I have outlined the full story of Helisah Almari from beginning to end and am currently working towards the completion of the project. Without spoiling too much, Destruction is an examination of the beginning of the war and the motives of our main cast, which is as fitting of a start as any for a new series of fantasy novels. That being said, the next stories will be a little bit different in nature.
We know our heroes and heroines. We know our main villain. Therefore, the sequels will take readers into a continuation of the war and an expansion of the mythology behind the world of Maereath.
The Anthology
I am also hard at work on a further expansion of the world through a series of shorter stories that show pivotal moments in the world of Maereath. Much like Destruction and its’ sequels, these works will usually follow a conflict within the world and the fallout from it. Unlike the war against Thrakoth, the stories may follow one or many different characters as they struggle through their own battles. Some of them will certainly be based around the battles of the time period, but others will be based around political intrigue and debate.
Due to their shorter length, these stories will be exclusively sold in digital format.
Do I Need To Read One Series To Understand The Other?
With a few exceptions, you will not have to worry about missing out on any content because the anthology and main series are related to, and not dependent upon one another. That being said, I want it to be rewarding for people to read both of them because you might see the ancestors of characters that you know or an explanation behind the ideas or sayings that are presented in passing in a particular story.
Release Schedule
I am intending to release these stories on an alternating basis between the anthology and sequels. At the moment, I am working on the first anthology story that will show the world of Maereath as it was about five hundred years before the events of Destruction. After that, the sequel to Destruction will move from its’ outline to the page.
Crosspost from ericmrozek.com.
Just as it is important to craft heroes that an audience can empathize with, it is crucial to construct a supporting cast of characters that are distinctive in their desires, motivations, and actions. Even if they are on the page for a few moments, a strong group of supporting characters can elevate a novel to the point where it feels like readers are taking a look into a different world. In Destruction, the many characters that Helisah and Aegras come across on their journey are tasked with a dual purpose, which can be explained in the following questions:
When I was writing this book, I wanted my supporting cast to answer both questions because it is a great way to make the world of Maereath feel big. While Helisah and Aegras are the most important characters to anyone that reads the book, the progress of invention, politics, and military strategy that is shown throughout the novel means that they are a crucial part of a larger story. Sometimes, they can set off into danger by themselves, but they usually find themselves in situations where they cannot walk alone. That is where a trio of characters matter the most.
Gialle, Duustan, and Fasti – Three Soldiers And A Very Messy War.
Gialle, Duustan, and Fasti are the most obvious examples of how the two questions that I referenced could be answered, especially since they effectively become main characters in the chapters that feature them. When Helisah first comes across them, the trio are largely business-oriented because of their military training and slightly differing attitudes towards outsiders. As the months pass, I made a larger point about their influence on the story because they open up and reveal themselves to be wise councilors, filthy-minded comedians, and strong warriors that are hell-bent on stopping Thrakoth. On top of that, these three characters introduce elements of specialization into the story in order to demonstrate the point that the world of Maereath is not a haven for superheroes. They know that Helisah and Aegras don’t know everything about the world, but even more importantly, they apply the same wisdom to themselves and let our main characters show their full potential when it is called for.
Helisah accepts that idea and look after them as well, revealing the humble and somewhat selfless side of their minds as the story presses onward. Even though she does not have a telepathic connection to them, our heroine develops a very strong reason to see them as a part of why she fights against the Telurian Empire, which allows her to become something more than she was at the start of her journey.
In the conclusion of this series on the novel, I will explore where the next steps for building out this universe.
To Be Concluded In Part Five.
