An alternative historic YA novel

The Shadow of Black Wings

by

James Calbraith

A dragon rider on his first overseas adventure. A girl warrior in search of her destiny. A shrine apprentice disturbed by portents of doom. Their fates entwine as an ancient empire stands on the brink of revolution in this steam-powered fantasy set in a mythical Japan.

  It is the sixteenth year of Queen Victoria's enlightened rule and the world trembles before the might of her ironclad navy and the dreaded Dragon Corps. The young dragon rider Bran finishes his secondary education and joins his father - a soldier and a spy - on a journey to the mysterious lands of Orient.  

An ancient empire stands on the brink of a civil war.
His arrival may push it over the edge.

In the empire of Yamato, sealed from the rest of the world for the last two centuries, a wizard's daughter Sato witnesses her father joining an anti-government conspiracy. 

Her friend Nagomi, training to be a priestess, is haunted by dark visions that she must keep secret. Neither of them is aware that a change is coming to Yamato... on the wings of a dragon.

A detailed and fast-paced historical fantasy based around the turbulent opening of Japan to the West in the middle of the 19th century, "The Shadow of the Black Wings" is the first volume in "The Year of the Dragon" saga. 

The second volume, "The Warrior's Soul", is expected in August.

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Play Books

About the author
James Calbraith is a 34 year old Poland-born writer, foodie and traveller, currently residing in South London.

Growing up in communist Poland on a diet of powdered milk, Lord of the Rings and soviet science-fiction, he had his first story published at the ripe age of eight. After years of bouncing around university faculties, he moved to London in 2007, found a decent IT job and started writing in English. His debut historical fantasy novel, "The Shadow of Black Wings", has reached ABNA semi-finals and was published in July 2012. Currently he's working on the second volume in the cycle, "The Warrior's Soul".

His volume of short stories, "Transmission", published on Amazon Kindle in June 2012, has reached the tops of Kindle bestseller lists in USA, UK, France, Germany and Italy.

Contact James Calbraith via the following social media sites:

Facebook

Twitter

Wordpress

Google+

Pinterest

      Unchanging the river flows, and yet the water is never the same.
      In the still pools the foam now gathers, now vanishes, never staying for long.      So in the world are men and their dwellings.                                                                                               Hōjōki

Click for more and read an excerpt of The Shadow of Black Wings:

The devil that is social media

You are my favourite waste of time. Yes, YOU, my cyber friends.

How many of you are logging on today with the idea to write? How many have checked and rechecked their emails, had a look on Twitter or posted something banal on Facebook and then waited for replies?

Hands up! Who’s guilty of procrastination?

What time was it when you sat down to write? Ten minutes ago? Thirty? An hour? Be honest now. Time has an annoying way of being there one moment, and vanishing the next so I wouldn’t be surprised if you said longer than even an hour!

Chick Lit
Latest release - June 2012

So why do we procrastinate? What’s so scary about opening the document of our novel and cracking on? It doesn’t necessarily mean your novel is rubbish, it’s just that deep down we know how much work there is involved in putting it all together.

Readers won’t know how much like a jigsaw typescripts are. Bits of scenes here, characterisation there, author notes, bits highlighted, bits underlined. It’s enough to make the water in your eyes dry up! Eeek!

So what can we do about it? It’s easy really. Unconnect from your server and don’t reconnect until your novel’s (at least) 20,000 words further in. Easier said than done though. That urge to check into Twitter, just for five minutes, won’t go away. And once you do “check in” that five minutes has soon turned to twenty!

I mean, look at me, I’m writing this rather than continuing with my novel! Somehow, writing an article on procrastination is easier than opening my book. Why? I’m in love with the idea for my book, my character is feisty, the setting brilliant and the plot is dynamite!  So what’s stopping me?

Me.

I’m stopping me.

There is nothing wrong with my typescript, and I expect it’s the same with yours.  I just LOVE social media so much it’s become an interference. I love the prettiness of Pinterest, the family that is Facebook, the links I can collect on Twitter and the opportunity of sharing  posts and articles on Triberr.

When I’m not part of it I feel I’m missing something.

Here are my three tips that I plan to use:

1. Make ‘playtimes’ on the Internet a reward for writing 10K or more words.
2. Get into a routine; write in the evenings (or mornings, afternoons, whatever suits best) and make this an absolute writing time. Not playtime (or marketing or whatever it’s called!). Writing is just that – writing.
3. If rewards don’t work, I will try a punishment! If I don’t manage my quota for the week then there WON’T be a special treat at the end of the week.

Romance/Sci-fi

Chick Lit

Louise Wise is the author of Eden, A Proper Charlie and her newest release The Fall of the Misanthrope: I bitch, therefore I am. She has also written a non-fiction book based on articles from this blog: So You Want an Author Platform?

Non-fiction

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A supernatural romance

The couple first meet as children, but were predestined to suffer a supernatural romance as a consequence of a curse cast in days gone by. 


Aided by a beautiful and dangerous ally who herself has mystic gifts he has to ward off paranormal forces as he seeks to unshackle the restraints of the curse. The two lovers are constantly at the mercy of a ruthless family whose interests would be threatened if the the curse were lifted.

A spooky ghost story

Vivian Mayne takes paranormal romance into the midst of life as we know it today. The result, a spine-tingling, spooky ghost story that makes you question what lies behind every door. A love story very much for our times. First of the series. 

Links and Contacts

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Wise Words review

An interview with Vivian Mayne coming soon...

Social Media - What’s Your Flavor?

Buy Now!

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by

Jean Mckie-Sutton

Social Media has proven to be an effective and useful way to meet people who share your interests, develop relationships with potential customers and ultimately increase book sales. The pool of social media options has expanded rapidly during the past few years. Some have become household names, like Facebook, Twitter and Linkedin. Less talked about, but still extremely viable networks, are Google+, MySpace and Pinterest. Then there are those whose names sound more like childhood board games than social media options - Tagged, Orkut, Badoo, Ning, Triberr and more.

Facebook is still my favorite. It provides a versatility that is still unrivaled, especially with the addition of its Fan Page. The Fan Page provides free links for your website and blog, thus providing traffic to your sites which can potentially lead to increased sales. The Applications on the Fan Page further enhance the site’s usefulness and practicality. An application for reviews -my personal favorite - allows readers to star your book and share comments. An events Application lets fans know when you are making appearances, interviews, etc., and a video Application allows you to upload YouTube videos.

While not my all time favorite, LinkedIn still impresses me with its span of reach. This site is unique for its access to groups. Authors, publishers, agents and readers can join groups who comprise their primary audience or share common interests. A group can contain anywhere from a handful to over 100,000 members. The key here is to join the larger groups, so that each time a member comments, or provides a tip or a link, the member profile visits increase exponentially and web traffic surges.

Twitter is the social networking site I am most fond of. Twitter is short and sweet - think instant messaging. Automation is its most effective feature. You can pre-set tweets to go to your Facebook Fan Page and LinkedIn - an asset when you’re pressed for time. If developing followers presents a challenge, try typing a keyword that has something to do with what your book is about. For instance, if you type in science fiction you will have access to hundreds of contacts. Select those you’d like to follow, and some will undoubtedly follow you back.

While Pinterest is quickly gaining popularity, this is the social media network I understand the least. The site describes Pinterest as a ‘virtual pinboard’, and on the home page are photos of pineapples, an outdoor pallet table, Iguazu Falls, frosted cupcakes and other oddities. I’m not sure how this relates to networking or book marketing, but since Pinterest is my next social media hurdle, I guess I’ll find out soon enough.