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Author David Wiley

~ Author of science fiction and fantasy stories, choosing to write the stories that he would love to read.

Author David Wiley

Category Archives: Monster Huntress

Release Day for Monster Huntress!

21 Saturday Apr 2018

Posted by David Wiley in Books and Reading, Monster Huntress

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

Book Release, Fantasy, Monster Huntress, YA, YA Fantasy

Holy smokes, people. Today is release day and what an exciting and eventful day it has already been! We’ve been having a Facebook party going on since last night, and you should definitely hop on over there and take some quizzes, share your Dragon name, talk about your favorite underrated authors, and more.

https://www.facebook.com/events/2052224081714312/

And thanks to you, my readers, I am already creeping up on smashing the real sales goal that my publishers had for release day. But that doesn’t mean we can’t aim higher. Be sure to snag a copy today. It is available in a whole host of places, but here’s the Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Smashwords links for your convenience.

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/monster-huntress-david-wiley/1128332229?ean=9781946382276

https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/810426

 

And if you read the book, be sure to let me know what you thought by either leaving a review or by emailing me!

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Monster Huntress Blog Tour Update

13 Friday Apr 2018

Posted by David Wiley in Books and Reading, Monster Huntress

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Blog Tour, Book Release, Monster Huntress

We are nearly a week into the Blog Tour for the upcoming release of Monster Huntress. I wanted to give an overview of what’s been going on, as well as a link to all of the stops that have shared (and links to those still to come!).

First of all, information about a giveaway contest!

If you follow me on Social Media, you may have already heard that I have a book releasing on 4/21/2018. My publisher, when she realized that I am big into board gaming, decided to throw in a fun contest/giveaway where up to 3 board games will be given away based on how Day One sales conclude for the book (all preorder sales count toward this). Because I know I like winning board games, I thought you might be interested as well. So here are the games that could potentially be given away:

  1. Dungeon Roll (if we reach 100 sales by the end of 4/21/18)
  2. Castle Panic (if we reach 400 sales by the end of 4/21/18)
  3. Lords of Waterdeep (if we reach 900 sales by the end of 4/21/18)

Entering the contest is simple, and is outlined below:

  1. Go to the Facebook event for the Monster Huntress release. (Link: https://www.facebook.com/events/2052224081714312/) and select that you are “Going”.
  2. Invite your friends to join the event.
  3. For every person who selects you as the person who invited them in the poll (pinned at the top of the event under the discussion tab), you will get an entry to win the board games.
  4. While no purchase is necessary, preordering a copy of Monster Huntress on Amazon (special prerelease price of only $2.99, which you can get here…link: https://www.amazon.com/Monster-Huntress-Young-Book-ebook/dp/B07BW9T1LP/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1523474497&sr=8-1&keywords=monster+huntress+david+wiley) will help push us toward more games being given away. If you’d consider buying me a coffee if we met in person, then equate this as a way of buying said coffee.

 

Curious to know more about the book? You can read the first three chapters over at my author website: https://authordavidwiley.wordpress.com/books-stories/monster-huntress/first-3-chapters-of-monster-huntress/

If you have any questions, don’t hestitate to leave a comment or send me a message. Thank you, in advance, for any who help me to completely obliterate these sales goals!

Tour Stops

Our Write Side and OWS Ink Tour Announcement  Date April 7th

Phoebe Darqueling interview April 8th

Teaser Announcement https://cloemichaelsreads.wordpress.com/ April 9th

Book release announcement The Write Read Blog April 10th

Guest post with Naomi Rawle: World Building, The Promise of Something Greater April 11th

Book review An Angell’s Life of Bookish Goodness April 12th

Why I Wrote a Female Main Character, Guest Post by David Wiley on  Stephanie Ayers blog Friday April 13th

Stacy Overy guest post Character Interview April 14th.

Character interview with Ava’s Father April 15th.

Guest post https://anglorumbooks.wordpress.com/ April 16th

Book review https://thebooknookuk.wordpress.com/ April 17th

Release announcement April 18th

Facebook Event April 20th-21st celebrating the release date!

David’s Release Announcement April 21st

Teaser Release announcement April 24th

Teaser Announcement AF Stewart April 26th

Book Review on Stephanie Ayers Author blog April 27th

Our Write Side and OWS Ink Tour Wrap Up April 27th

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Review: Mystic Signals, Volume 26

25 Tuesday Aug 2015

Posted by David Wiley in Book Review, Fantasy, Monster Huntress, My Writings

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Ava

mystic signals

Mystic Signals, Volume 26

Featuring stories and poems by: Jeffrey Scott Sims, David Wiley, Rebecca McFarland-Kyle, Marge Simon and 13 others.

Published by Wolfsinger Press

Let me get bias out of the way and tell you that you definitely need to get a copy in order to read my short story, “Doppelganger Danger”, because it can’t be found anywhere else. So when you are done reading the five-part “Ogre Hunt” on Eat Sleep Write and you are yearning for more tales about Ava, this is your source. The story has some humor, a badass heroine, and some intrigue woven into the tale as Ava tries to track down a monster that can literally assume any identity.

Apart from my own short story, there are some in this volume that really shine. Rather than reviewing each story I am just going to briefly mention the stories that I believe stood above the rest. “Legacy” by Damien Keith follows a princess who is born but ignored and treated as an invisible servant simply because she was not born a son. No one even notices when she leaves the castle. . . at least not until her brothers all begin dying one by one.

“A Mother’s Work” by Kathleen McClure didn’t seem like anything special as I was first reading through it. But the twist at the end makes it all come together into one fun short, short story. I won’t even spoil the surprises, just know that this one is worth reading through to the end.

“Oaths to the Winds” by Lynn Rushlau follows a Wind Master who is aboard a ship. This one reminded me a bit of Avatar: The Last Airbender because it also has a Water Witch as one of the central figures in the plot. That is a good thing to be reminded of because I loved that cartoon. So it is no surprise that I loved this story as well.

And last to mention is “On the Way Through the Woods” by Emily Martha Sorensen. This isn’t your typical witch-and-princess-best-friends-forever story trope. This one has the ability to make you laugh and to make you smile as you read it. The humor is delightfully woven into a fun tale that will leave you wishing there was more.

So once again I will recommend picking up a copy of this. These are simply the four that stood out when I read through the entire volume but this is, overall, a very good collection of short stories that will be enjoyed every time you read them.

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August is Publishing Month

06 Thursday Aug 2015

Posted by David Wiley in Book Release, King of Ages, Monster Huntress, My Writings

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Eat Sleep Write, King of Ages, Mystic Signals

We are a handful of days into August yet a lot has happened this month. At least as far as published writings are concerned. So for those who are interested in keeping up, here are what has been published so far (and where you can read/buy them) and what is still to come out this month.

King of Ages: A King Arthur Anthology by Uffda Press was released on 8/1/2015. This collection of 13 short stories includes one of my own, “The Saga of Artur Uthersson” among them all. My story imagines King Arthur during the settlement age of Iceland and he encounters dark magic, prophecy, and some familiar friends and foes. It is available in both Kindle and in Paperback.

Kindle Version.    Paperback Version on Amazon.     Paperback on Createspace.

Mystic Signals: Volume 26 was released on 8/5/2015. This magazine contains a short story, “Doppelganger Danger”, that I wrote as a sequel to “Ogre Hunt”. She picks up the trail of a Doppelganger, a dangerous monster that can shed its identity with ease, and she is forced to team up with an old friend in order to finally track it down. This story is one of two print-only stories contained in the pages (all the other stories can be read for free online)

Buy it on Amazon.      Buy it on Createspace.

“Ogre Hunt” is a short story about Ava, a monster hunter, who pursues an ogre into a cave for its bounty. What she encounters along this hunt causes more danger and excitement than she had expected. This is the story that started it all for stories of Ava and monster hunters and shouldn’t be missed. This story is being released in five parts with a new part released every Tuesday on Eat Sleep Write. The first two parts are already out and can be read by following the links below.

Read Part One       Read Part Two

“Fear of the Unwritten” is a sonnet I wrote a while ago about the fear of having all my stories unwritten and untold. As a writer I have far more story ideas than I could every possible write. At the time of its composition, I was still struggling to not only write stories but also to find places to publish what I had already written. The poem will be released on 8/7 on Eat Sleep Write.

Finally, “The Best Birthday” is a short story about a young girl who gets the best birthday present ever. It is a short and fun tale that I hope you’ll enjoy. This goes live on Eat Sleep Write on 8/21.

So this is the update of August happenings. It has been a busy and eventful month so far and I hope to continue to be able to break news of upcoming publications all month long.

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Part 1 of Ogre Hunt is now live!

29 Wednesday Jul 2015

Posted by David Wiley in Monster Huntress, My Writings

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Ava, Eat Sleep Write, Ogre Hunt, short story

This post will be brief and to the point: “Ogre Hunt”, a short story about a monster hunter named Ava, is being published in five parts on Eat Sleep Write. The first part of this story went live late yesterday and each of the remaining four parts will be released every Tuesday in August. So go check out how this story begins and check back every week for another installment.

Check out Part One by following this link.

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A Writer’s Favorite Word to Write

19 Friday Jul 2013

Posted by David Wiley in Monster Huntress, My Writings

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Ava, end, finished, monster hunter, publication, short story, word, writer, Writing

There are a lot of words that a writer has at their disposal. In the English language alone there is a dictionary full of them, not to mention hundreds of other languages in the world. Some authors are even crazy enough to create their own languages, particularly in the Science Fiction and Fantasy genres. Yet no matter how many words a writer uses, it is safe to say there is one they prefer to write above all others. It is the holy grail of words, signifying achievement.

That word is, simply, “END”.

Last night I reached that achievement. There is a big difference between completing a 1,000 word flash fiction story on this blog and a 10,000 word story. My serial blog series, Curse of Fierabras, was a longer achievement in terms of length but the satisfaction of concluding that was nowhere near the satisfaction from finishing my latest writing project because it wasn’t broken into fifteen posts.

That one word is the beginning of a transition, moving the project from an incomplete first draft into a work that is under revision. The easy task of writing the story is done, and now it falls on the writer and their beta readers to polish the rough patches of inconsistency and choppy dialogue.

But amidst the incoming waves of rejection (3 so far this month, including one just last night) there is a cause for celebration. It is a rejuvenating sensation that trickles through every fiber of my being, delighting in completion. The task of revision will come soon enough, but it can wait until I am done basking in this elation.

There are more stories to tell. Beta readers to recruit to read the story with a critical eye and offer honest input (a rare thing to find! Interested?). Smaller stories to revise and submit. And books to read. Always books to read.

But for now I shall share another sample from the completed story while I  revel in the joy that comes from writing one little word.

END

*   *   *   *

Ava squatted low to the ground, observing the prints from a distance. Edgar had been right in his description of the tracks, but something didn’t seem right to Ava. She crept closer, skirting along the edge of some thick mud near the prints. She strained, leaning in as far as she could, staring at the tracks for a missing sign. When she realized what it was, she sat up with a scowl on her face.

“These are fresh enough,” she said slowly, “but something isn’t right about them. Edgar, what do you see that is missing?”

Edgar crept closer, hesitating to get too close as he peered at the tracks in the mud. “I see two prints there before it disappears into the grass and bushes beyond. Nothing is unusual about there not being more prints.”

“True, but how could it make these prints along that edge without leaving more in this mud down here? It would have passed right through this, and left an obvious trail behind.”

“Maybe it jumped?” Edgar offered.

“Maybe you forged these tracks to get me down here,” Ava said. She stared at Edgar, a cold glimmer in her eyes. Edgar looked away, fidgeting under her stare. He looked up to confess when a deep grumble in the distance made them both pause. Ava raised a hand, signaling for silence as she turned toward the noise. The grumble repeated a few moments later, answered by a higher-pitched whistling noise. Ava slipped a knife from her belt, handing it to Edgar before unsheathing her sword. She motioned for him to follow, stealthily moving toward the noises.

They ducked behind a large rock when they were close, listening for a change in the sounds. Hearing nothing, Ava peeked around the edge. “Goblins,” she whispered to Edgar when she pulled back, “three of them are asleep in the clearing. They must be a scouting party.”

“Scouting what?”

“I bet they are checking out the village, to see if we’re undefended now that father is gone. We can’t let them report back or we’ll have the whole horde swarming down on us.”

“But there are three of them and only two of us.”

“There is one on the left, just around the rock. You take him, and I will get the other two.”

“I’ve never killed a monster before,” Edgar whispered back, concerned. “What if I miss and it claws my eyes out or rips my heart from my chest?”

“It is sleeping. It’ll be dead before it knows we’re attacking. My father will be surprised when he gets home and sees three goblin heads.”

Ava motioned for Edgar to circle around the rock. She clutched her knife in her hand, creeping toward the sleeping goblins. They were as hideous and disfigured as she had always imagined, having heard her father describe them in a dozen tales. Their skin was a pale green and looked like rough, bumpy leather. Their joints were knobby, sticking out at angles that looked painful. Thick, pointy ears stretched above the crown of their heads and a long, crooked nose jutted from their face. She watched one snoring, seeing the rows of small, sharp teeth that could tear the flesh off a man with ease. Small patches of wispy yellow hair were matted down atop their heads, making them all look as though they were going bald.

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More Monster Hunter

28 Friday Jun 2013

Posted by David Wiley in Monster Huntress, My Writings

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Ava, david wiley, Edgar, father, monster hunter, preview, recap, Seraphina

For those who have been following along for a while, you’ll know that the Monster Hunter series came about in the second half of last year. It was my second attempt at a serialized story and has received incredible support from my readers. It is difficult to get my brain out of Monster Hunter mode, now that things have really begun to pick up and take off. So I thought I’d summarize what we have so far, as well as what to look for in the future (both on this blog and off of it).

Ogre Hunt was where it all began, posted in four parts. The completed story currently stands at 4,101 words and will be under revision shortly.

A screenshot of my Monster Hunter project in Scrivener.

A screenshot of my Monster Hunter project in Scrivener.

The Doppelganger series just concluded last week and spanned across seventeen posts and weighs in at 8,518 words. There will be a lot of work to do in the revision stage to smooth the transition between some of the posts, since many of the early ones were written to fit into a particular prompt.

I’ve written three poems, sharing two of them on here throughout four posts, and that project comes in at 2,871 words in length. Look for a future post to hold the sonnet titled Remembrance.

Finally, I have started work on a story involving Ava at an early age. This comes prior to her father’s death and shows the friendship between her and Edgar, her spitfire personality, and her deep love for her father. In writing the 2,320 words I have so far, I have gained deeper clarity and understanding for these characters and the world they are in. This past week I’ve mapped out how this story will progress to its conclusion and I can’t wait to get it all down. Although this story is being held back for attempts at publication, I will still post an occasional snippet of this work-in-progress (one is included in this post, too, at the end!)

The next few Monster Hunter posts will be from Edgar’s perspective, taking place shortly after Ava departs from Talesin. Look for more detail in the Museum of Monster History, a deeper understanding of Edgar and his motives, and a preview of the upcoming plot for the next series of Monster Hunter in those posts.

Finally, be sure to check out the Facebook page for Scholarly Scribe. I’ll be making an effort to be more active with that, sharing little Monster Hunter quotes and information. And now, here is a short sample from my Origins story about Ava.

*  *  *  *  *

She reached for the bundle, biting her lip. The silky cloth contained something hard and heavy inside, a shape and weight that seemed somehow familiar. Ava peeled away the layers of fabric, squealing in delight at the new treasure in her possession. She grasped the hilt, the symbols engraved in the leather painfully pressing into her skin. The sheath was made of the same tanned leather as the hilt, making it appear to be one seamless piece. She pulled it free, a soft ringing sound filling the air as the weapon slid along the leather. She recognized some of the ancient glyphs that ran along the length of one side of the steel; her father had the same symbols of strength, victory, and protection on his own sword. The other side contained a single glyph, naming the blade so that the foes might know the means of their demise, but she didn’t recognize the symbol.

“This blade belongs to you now, Avalina,” her father said, brushing a strand of her red hair aside with a calloused hand. “Do you remember what I taught you about the tenets of a swordsman?”

“Yes, father,” she replied with a heavy sigh.

“Let’s hear them.”

“A swordsman is a weapon unto himself, the sword is merely a tool. A swordsman uses his sword to ward evil, never to cause injustice. A swordsman keeps…but father, I’m not a swordsman. I’m a swordswoman!”

His hearty laugh in response warmed Ava more than any fire in a hearth, and soon they were both laughing without control. Her father wiped tears from his eyes, trying to regain a serious demeanor. “Do not torment that boy with your sword, Avalina. Remember all that I have taught you, because while I am gone you will be the protector for this village.” He took the sword from her, tracing his finger along the name of the sword. “The sword is named Seraphina, which means ‘burning fire’. Let it be the torch that guides your path and keeps our home safe.”

He handed the sword back to her and she stared at the glyph, marveling over the intricate design that contained the name. Seraphina, she thought as a smile crept onto her face. She said a prayer for the sword to be blessed, to grant her the ability to serve and protect the ones she loves and cares about. Her father watched her in silence, his slate eyes filled with a warmth she had rarely seen since her mother died. He pulled her into an embrace after she finished the prayer, the bare metal of Seraphina cool against her midriff. Ava didn’t want to see him go, but she staved off the urge to tell him so. She needed to be strong for him.

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