Orison, at long last

Friends…Minions…Countrymen.

We have come to publish Daniel Swensen, not to praise him —

Oh, who are we kidding? Let’s do both!

Today marks the release day of Orison, the debut novel of Daniel Swensen.

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This is the second novel published by Nine Muse Press (the first being “Edgar Wilde and the Lost Grimoire” by Paul Ramey, available here)

I know you have all enjoyed reading the release week posts (viewable here). Thanks to our amazing Nine Muse Press affiliate bloggers: Ruth, Angela, Lisa, Tracy and Emmie! Your creative reflections on Daniel’s characters have been a joy to read.

Thanks to my tireless partners at Nine Muse Press, Paul Ramey and Tina Ramey. Without you, I assure you none of this could have happened. Look at us manifest!

And, finally, thanks to Daniel for creating a world that I could not rest until I shared with our world.

I’d like to present the world premiere of the book trailer for Orison.

 

And once you’ve watched it, you can buy it…

HERE! (Amazon link)

or HERE! (Nine Muse Press link, for those who can’t use the Amazon link or need .pub copies. You can also find amazing downloads for wallpaper, banners and so forth in our media kit)

And, last of all, be sure to enter in our fantabulous Rafflecopter and share and share and share till you cannot share anymore!
a Rafflecopter giveaway

 

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Orison: An Editor’s Perspective

As Nine Muse Press kicks off our Orison release week extravaganza, I thought I’d take a look back at the journey with this book.

The job of an editor is a strange one. After all, any decent word-processor can catch spelling or grammar errors.  My job is to cut away the excess verbiage, the clumsy sentences, the lazy cliche, drag away all that obfuscates the luminescence of the author’s vision. If a scene is in the wrong place, if the pacing is off, if a character is redundant, if the ending is weak, if the opening is slow…these are the places where I come forward with ideas to improve. They are only ever ideas; the author has the last word. But I see the potential in a manuscript. Once I get it, the work has just begun.

I do not sell my services. That is to say, I don’t work as an editor for an hourly rate (though it would doubtless be more lucrative). I only edit books that Nine Muse Press accepts for publication. If I’m doing my job right, the author may struggle with whether to strangle or hug me at any given moment.

Perhaps I should take a step back and relate why fantasy matters to me. When I started reading as a child, the fantasy genre was my first love: a common story with gawky, socially-awkward and shy girl. It swept me away to misty mountains, to faery bowers, to the Mines of Moria and the snowy woods of Narnia. I will read fantasy till I die.

It wasn’t until I got older that I realized that the protagonists were almost never like me: that is, a girl who was neither beautiful nor magical. Though there were a few notable exceptions, they were usually male: callow youths or hardened swordsmen.

When I first read Orison, I was intrigued. Calushain felt real to me, those who peopled it felt real too. There was one secondary character named Story that I fell hopelessly, irrevocably in love. Story was not beautiful nor magical. She was an ordinary girl who had been dealt a rough hand, then been given an extraordinary chance to change her life forever.

We decided Orison would be the second novel that Nine Muse Press released. And then Daniel and I started scrubbing away at the book to make it gleam. If we were content with just releasing a pretty good book, we could have published it three or four months ago. That is, a book with no errors or typos. But it would not be the book it is today.

Today, I am privileged to announce that on the last day of February in the year two thousand and fourteen, Daniel Swensen’s Orison will be a reality and you will be able to download it to your very own e-reader. Paperbacks are next, fear not, ye fellow Luddites of mine. We have so many wonderful things in store for you this week.

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Every day, there will be a brand new post from a Nine Muse Press Affiliate blogger that celebrates a different character in the book. Be sure to check them all out this week, as they will have a ton of exclusive, never-before-released content. I have them listed below for your reading pleasure this week.

Sunday, Feb. 23: Ruth Long and Wrynn at 6 pm EST

Monday, Feb. 24: Angela Goff and Dunnac at 2 pm EST

Tuesday, Feb. 25: Lisa V. Tomecek-Bias and Ashen at 2 pm EST

Wednesday, Feb. 26: Tracy McCusker and Camana at 2 pm EST

Thursday, Feb. 27: Emmie Mears and Story at 2 pm EST

Friday, Feb. 28: HAPPY RELEASE DAY!

This book represents a tremendous amount of work and love and I am terrifically proud to be a part of its inception. My most sincere gratitude to my NMP partners, Paul and Tina Ramey. And, to Daniel, for sharing your world with us.

 

Nine Muse Press: Edgar Wilde Giveaway WINNARS

So I have amended the below post to list the WINNARS of the Nine Muse Press Edgar Wilde Giveaway. I warn you, this post has many exclamation points.

Without further ado… *drumroll*

WINNARS of the Edgar Wilde & the Lost Grimoire ebook:

Sorcha O’Dowd!

Holly Kench!

Angie Richmond!

WINNAR of the Edgar Wilde & the Lost Grimoire signed hardcover:

Becky Fyfe!

WINNARS OF the Edgar Wilde Offical Tour Brochure (see picture below):

Lisa V. Tomecek-Bias!

Stephanie Fuller!

Mary Preston!

Lisa Snider Faber!

Tiffany DeOs!

Massive congratulations to the winners! We will be contacting you soon re: sending you your prizes!

Thank you to all who entered and shared!

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#Whozadarkfairyslacker

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This girl.

So, between a wedding and a family emergency, there has been no blog posting since the redesign. C’est tragique!

But you know I have to come back with a boom or, at least, a solid thud. With that in mind, I present to you the first ever Edgar Wilde Rafflecopter Giveaway.

TA – DA!
a Rafflecopter giveaway

AW YEAH – Filled with snazzy prizes such as ebooks, an autographed hardcover of Edgar Wilde,

AND the unveiling of the SOOPER DE-DOOPER cool official Edgar Wilde brochure.

So, enter once….twice….three times a laydeeee.

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Ahem.

You can click on the picture to go read a sample chapter!

Go ahead and enter. Lots of ways to do so and they all involve spending more fun time with us! Come back daily – you can tweet and enter every day to increase your chances of winning cool Edgar Wilde swag. (Prizes are transferable. If you already own the book, you can gift it to a deserving friend!)

Here’s a photo of the super cool brochure!

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Go on and comment…you know you missed me!