Writing Wild with Verna McKinnon

  Fantasy Fiction & Lost Imagination? Fantasy has always been popular. It appeals to all age groups and genders. There are many forms of this genre. Old style pulp fantasy, to the gentler &more classic, (think Tolkien) to modern epic multi-book fantasy series (examples: Harry Potter & Brian Sanderson). Now this genre often does not get the respect it deserves. Some people think of fantasy or science fiction and automatically stigmatize it as bad writing. You know the type. As a happy nerdy girl, I gravitated toward fantasy and science fiction. Did I love the Bronte sisters and other forms of literature? Yes. I love good writing. I have a shrine to the Bronte sisters. I revel in Shakespeare & Dickens. I do not discriminate by genre. There have been many great tales of fantasy. When I was young, it was still in a creative heyday. The fantasy novels I discovered off the book racks were filled with bright imagination. But now, no matter how epic or exotic the tale, I fe...

  Writing Wild by Verna McKinnon New Novel Releases Greetings my friends! It has been quiet, but in my writing den it has been crazy busy. But my labors, fueled by lots of tea and chocolate have achieved some literary goodness. I have two new book lreases this March! Not one, but two, and there is a story behind that. More on that later. I am a very lucky author. I work with two small publishing housesm TANSTAAFL Press and Wolfsinger Publications. So I am a lucky girl to have new publishers release my books. First, let's review my happy new book news! War Poet Release Date March 15 Rogue Bardess Book #2 https://bit.ly/42QsAsI  My second novel in my rogue bardess series is War Poet from TANSTAAFL Press. The release date date is March 15th and I posted the easy link below the cover! I just adore this book cover. The tale of my bard heroine, Rose Greenleaf, continues as she is hunted by strange fey and demons on her first mission as an agent into dangerous territory to resiuce a...

  Happy New Year! Welcome to 2024! So much going on, but I had to survive the holidays first. My 2024 resolutions include doing more newsletters. Will this resolution become a reality and not a fantasy? Who knows, but I do write fantasy. But let's get started with some fun author updates today. Let's start with War Poet . War Poet Cover Reveal  Yes! I finished War Poet , the second "Rogue Bardess' novel about Rose Greenleaf, a Dwarven bard with a rare magical gift of the glam rhapsode. My publisher, TANSTAAFL Press, will release War Poet around April 2024. I am excited because I love this character and this cover looks the way I imagined Rose Greenleaf to look like. This cover is gorgeous. Plus, the bonus of the shadowy fey characters in the background. I would recommend you read the first book in the series, The Bardess of Rhulon.  FREE Ebook offer for The Bastard Sorceress on Amazon Yes, my publisher is offering a great free E-book offer for my novel, The Bastard S...

  Fantasy & Science Fiction: Past & Present When I was a teen and started buying my own books, fantasy and science fiction came in all sizes. The tradition now is for an average fantasy novel to be around a 100,000 words. Some fantasy novels out there are doubler or triple that size now. That is  the current mode and expectation. But when I first dove into reading science fiction and fantasy, many of these novels were much smaller, slim paperback volumes. But the tales within were epic! The small books from great authors now legendary:Tanith Lee, Ursula K. Le Quin, Robert E Howard, Ray Bradbury, and more. Everything is so complicated in the publishing world. This is why I love going into used bookstores, which is about the only place to find books these days outside of Amazon. There are some bookstores left, but few work with smaller publishers and carry their books. I understand there is an issue of profit and loss, but that hurts some genuine good authors who are loo...

Tree of Bones, A Familiar's Tale, Book 2 It's back! Am so happy Tree of Bones is back again, now published by Wolfsinger Publications. It was just released and am so glad to see it back in print and on kindle. As a reward, there are sweet deals for you! We decided to keep the original cover by artist, Mitch Bentley. Tree of Bones is the second book in my Familiar's Tale series.  Tree of Bones  is now available on Amazon, Smashwords, Barnes & Noble and the WolfSinger Publications website.  You can read the first chapter at Wolfsinger @  Tree of Bones | Fantasy | WolfSinger Publications (wolfsingerpubs.com)   Readers, you get a 15% discount by visiting the WolfSinger Publications website at: https://www.wolfsingerpubs.com/shop and using code NR2023.  You can also get a 15% discount at Smashwords https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/1422701 by using code PJ87Z.  Discounts will be available through 8/31/23. Enjoy the fantasy! There is also time to ...

A Familiar's Tale Reborn Great news! My Familiar's Tale series, which includes Gate of Souls and Tree of Bones , is now published by Wolfsinger Publications. Thanks to the publisher and editor Carol Hightshoe for rescuing my series. The final entry to the trilogy ( Fires of Rapveshta) should be out before the end of the year. To add to the happiness there are some discount codes listed available through Wolfsinger website for Gate of Souls & Tree of Bones.  Gate of Souls  is now up and available as of July 17 and can be found through these links: Wolfsinger Publications website: https://www.wolfsingerpubs.com/shop - they can use coupon code NR2023 to save 15% off the cover price. (Valid through 8/15) (Trade Paperback, .pdf and ePub are available on the WolfSinger website)   Also available on:  Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1944637230 Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/1415416 - they can use coupon code AH37L to save 15% off the cover...