Stillbright Audio!

Hello folks! It's been a while. And for most of that while, the most common question I've been getting asked....on twitter, via this website...is when is the audiobook of Stillbright: Book 2 of The Paladin Trilogy coming out. And I promised an answer as soon as I knew. 

Well, I've got one. 

Tuesday, October 17! 

Let me tell you, I'm listening to Michael Kramer's narration as I write this, and if you enjoyed Ordination, you won't want to miss it. 

If you haven't nabbed the Audio versions yet, but you do have the Kindle version (or feel like spending a buck to get it) check out the kindle whispersync available from Amazon. Check it out here. 

Hopefully you'll hear some more in this space soon, or perhaps I'll see you at the upcoming Hockessin Art and Book Fair (November 4) or Thy Geekdom Con (November 5). More on those later. 

Hark, An Announcement!

Hello all. I hope this Boxing Day or Kwanzaa or Monday December 26 finds you well, and that this season has seen you enjoying exactly the Holiday celebrations you wish with the people you treasure. 

Folks who follow me on Twitter may have noted a few cryptic "I have cool news I can't announce yet" tweets in the past couple of months. I wasn't exactly under an NDA or anything, but I wanted to keep this under my hat until I knew it was truly happening, and now I do. 

I've signed an audiobook deal for The Paladin Trilogy with Podium Publishing. 

This happened several weeks ago and I've been keeping it fairly close except largely for family members and beta readers. The even more exciting news than that it's happening is that they are going to be narrated by none other than the amazing Michael Kramer, who has narrated the work of Robert Jordan, Brandon Sanderson, Ken Liu, and countless others. It's an honor and a pleasure to know that Ordination is in his hands and that he will be bringing Allystaire, Idgen Marte, Torvul, and Mol to life. 

I want to thank all my original readers and everyone else who has read Ordination, written reviews, foisted it on friends and family members, talked it up to other fantasy readers, left ratings on Goodreads or reviews on Amazon so far. I also especially want to thank Andrew Gifford and the entire team at SFWP for all the work they have put in as well, and for having had the belief in my work to put it in print in the first place. 

I don't yet know a release date, but as soon as I have one I'll be sharing it with everyone. 

Thank you, and Happy New Year. 

Stillbright Cover Reveal

Greetings! 

Well, the release of Ordination: Book I of The Paladin Trilogy is imminent. The official release date is June 1, but Amazon is going to be shipping pre-orders this coming week (so make sure to get yours in today and take advantage of the ebook sale if print is dead to you). 

With that being said, I'm going to be off selling and signing copies for the second time this spring, and since so many of you are going to be meeting Allystaire and Idgen Marte in the next few days, I thought I'd reveal the cover of Stillbright: Book II of The Paladin Trilogy. 

Largely, I'm happy to let Kerem Beyit's beautiful art speak for itself. What I love about this image the most, besides the simple fact that it features Idgen Marte, who I hope many of you will come to enjoy as much as I do, is how much of her character this image manages to showcase. Whatever is happening out of frame, she knows about it, has assessed it, and is readying herself to deal with it, while Allystaire has barely noticed anything. 

ARCs, Events, Promotion or I'll Even Mop the Floors

Dear readers,

Are you a bookseller? A librarian? A reviewer? A podcaster? If yes, are you interested in Fantasy fiction? I'm presuming you are or you wouldn't be here.

Even if you aren't one of those things, maybe you know someone who IS a bookseller, reviewer, blogger, podcaster, or librarian. Maybe you know some people who are attached to a Convention or a Book Festival, or work at a bookstore or a library. Maybe you run a book club (mom, your book club doesn't count) or know people who do, or are involved with a Sci-Fi or Fantasy Appreciation Club or Society and they might appreciate Ordination. 

If any of the above describes you or anyone you know, please, please get in touch with me; I have Advance reader Copies still looking for homes. 

When it comes to making appearances to do signings, give talks, or Q&As, I am willing to drive anywhere from Richmond to Philadelphia to the Jersey Shore and probably quite a lot farther than that on any reasonable amount of notice. Come the summer, I'm probably willing and able to go a lot farther than that. 

If you're wondering how I am with an audience, I talk to teenagers about World Literature and writing for a living, and I think I keep them interested. I can talk to your crowd about fantasy and about The Paladin Trilogy and, like I say in the title, I'm probably even willing to mop the floors. 

If you have any questions about any of this, don't hesitate to ask! There's a few weekends I'm already booked or unavailable (April 9, May 21, June 5 are all definitely out; May 7 may very well be). 

If you have any reasonable advice or suggestions, I'm all ears. Scoot on over here to scope out the prologue and the beautiful cover art if you haven't already. 

ARCs! Fresh hot ARCs!

Good evening folks. It's been a while since I've blogged here, I know. There were some technical difficulties that have recently been overcome (read: I bought a new computer) that should make posting here a more regular occurrence. In the next few weeks expect some thoughts on what I'm looking forward to reading in 2016, more on my writing music, possibly some scattered thoughts on the Orioles, perhaps some pictures of toys, and maybe a post introducing the editor cats. 

However, tonight's post is very simple; I still have Advance Reader Copies (ARCs) of Ordination: Book I of the Paladin Trilogy looking for good homes. If you're a blogger, review, podcaster, or general internet/literary gadabout who is interested in fantasy and would like one and is willing to review it/help spread the word, please let me know! Contact me via this website or get at me on Twitter (@soundingline). 

Amazing cover art from Kerem Beyit. Look him up and prepare to be wowed. 

Old Man Yells at Internet

Greetings! Welcome to my inaugural blog post here on the brand new, official Daniel M. Ford, author of The Paladin Trilogy website.

That's a mouthful. Let's try again.

Hi. I'm Dan. I write fantasy novels, and I'd love it if you'd read them.

In this space, I plan to write pretty regularly about the things that interest me. Right up front I'll let you know that there'll be some self-promotion; I do want folks to read Ordination and the books that will follow it. I'll occasionally link to reviews or spaces online where I'm talking about the book, or someone else is. I'll list any appearances I happen to be making.

More than that, I'm going to use this space to talk about the things I like and love. What are those things?

My oldest persistent love is fantasy and science fiction literature, with a heavy emphasis on the fantasy end of that. I live and breath baseball, especially the Baltimore Orioles. In the past few years I've learned to love football, particularly West Ham United. I love to cook, to drink good single malt Scotch, craft beer, and local wine. I read comics, play games, watch movies, collect toys, and generally try to stay connected to the geek zeitgeist.

Right here and now, I want to make one thing clear about the approach I'm planning to take on this blog. Though I may title it “Old Man Yells at Internet” I'm really not going to do a great deal of yelling, except about the things I'm excited about. I'll yell, happily, about the things I love, in the hopes that some of you love them as well and then we can yell in joyous unison. I'll tell you about the book I just read and can't stop talking about; I'll obsess over the Orioles and what West Ham is doing in the transfer market; I'll geek out over movies and share pictures and reviews of toys I buy; I'll talk about the RPG campaigns I'm running and playing in.

But what I'm not going to do is harp about the things I don't like. I won't come on here to complain about a book I hated. I won't link to bad reviews of work I didn't like, or angrily expound about a show or a comic I didn't enjoy. There's plenty of bile and negativity on the internet, and I don't mean to add to it. That doesn't mean I won't talk about important causes or things I believe in, but when it comes to the geek stuff, let's talk about what we love and why instead of cawing angrily about what we hate and wondering how anyone can read/watch/collect/enjoy it.

What do you say, internet? Let's share what we like with each other.