I am now officially a full-time writer!

Today is the first day of my new career as a full-time writer. After working in IT for almost 30 years, I have decided that my future lies in sharing the worlds I dream about.

To that end, I am going to try and chronicle my first year as a full-time author through social media. I am not one for taking selfies, so it will be a challenge to find interesting pictures, but it will be worth it to be able to reflect back a year from now.

Please join me on this journey by following on your favourite social media!

And the winner is...

Medieval Musings

Daisy and Tilly are dancing with excitement! They want to congratulate Jane G. for her great suggestion for the name of the Newsletter.

The reason Medieval Musings was chosen is it encompasses present and future stories, along with the randomness of what is included in the newsletter.

The following suggestions came in a close second, and will receive an ebook of their choice from the Heir to the Crown Series:

The Crown Dispatch - Keven H.
The Gryphon - Dale L.
Chronicles of the Crown - Cassandra H.

Didn't win? There is a new contest, so don't despair! 

This week's featured race is...

The Orcs of Merceria

The Orcs of Merceria are nomadic tribes with a rich history, shared verbally from generation to generation. They have lived in this area for millennia, long before the coming of man. There are tales of large Orc cities in the past, but the details have been lost over the centuries.

Orc society is remarkably equal. Both males and females can be hunters or shamans and share equally in their society and the raising of their young. Magic practiced by their shamans includes primarily Life and Fire magic, though other types may be found occasionally.

Orcs do not use the terms fighters or warriors, instead they call themselves hunters, as their primary function is to feed the tribe members. They are generally armed with bows and spears, but the more affluent will use swords on occasion.

When an Orc leader dies, the tribe elects a new leader. A leader can be removed from his position if the tribe disagrees with his leadership, or if his or her health deteriorates. They often will voluntarily resign to allow the tribe to remain strong.

Most Humans look down upon Orcs as little more than savages. The tribes trade with select Humans, but do not mingle with the general population, nor do any Orcs live in Human cities or towns.

At the time of Sword of the Crown, the Orcs of the Artisan Hills fear for their safety as Humans have been encroaching upon their lands to the point that there is nowhere left for them to retreat to. This fear leads to their involvement in the uprising.

May I present...

Cover reveal of the upcoming Audiobooks!

You are the first ones to see the new covers for the Audiobooks in the Heir to the Crown series.

They will be released starting with Book One & Two in April, and Book Three in May. We, here, in the Bennett household are pretty darn excited!

The new Schedule of Medieval Musings!

The results are in, and Saturdays won by landslide. The next closest was Tuesday. Interestingly enough, Thursday, the day the newsletter was most often sent out was the clear loser, with no votes!

But, the time of day to receive the newsletter was pretty evenly spread over morning/afternoon, with evening not really a contender.

And the biggest surprise of the survey was the frequency. Almost half the respondents chose once a week, with the next closest result once a month.

So from all this great data, Medieval Musings will be in your inbox bi-weekly on Saturday morning/early afternoons, depending on your time zone.

And there may be the occasional extra bonus newsletter if I have something interesting to share between regularly scheduled broadcasts!

Share your favorite book of the series to enter

Choose your favourite book in the Heir to the Crown Series, and you will be entered to win a signed book!

There are two signed books being given away this time:
Winner 1*: A random winner will be chosen from those that voted for the most popular book.
Winner 2*: A random winner will be chosen from all entries.

Contest Rules

1. Contest runs from March 8 to March 22, 2019
2. Can only enter 1 time
3. Can complete the survey without an email address, but will not be included in the contest.

*Must include email address & name to win. Email address only used to contact the winner.

Saurian Temple Floorplan

As you read the books, you may notice that the Saurian Temples all have the same layout. And, interestingly enough, this comes directly from the role-playing game. Except, of course, this map is prettied up for you, as the one from the game was just dungeon tiles cut and paste together, then printed out.

For those you regularly play D & D, this will be a very familiar format. The grid squares on the map are each five feet, making most rooms 20' by 20'. 

The temple at Uxley is in the side of a well, while others are found beneath hills and even on top of a pyramid!

So excited to start writing every day!

The past two years of writing have been wonderful, but quite frankly, a bit stressful. The toughest part was writing for five hours and then having to leave it alone for days until there was time to write again.

My style is to write a chapter at a time, which is hampered when it is 5,000 words that have to be broken up into 3 sessions after work. The flow gets broken up, and the resulting work ends up needing a lot of editing.

With writing now my new full-time occupation, it is as if the doors to possibilities have swung open. There are so many ideas floating around in my head that I have only been able to jot down a short description about.

I intend on spending mornings continuing the Heir to the Crown Series, including Albreda's story, which will be the first of the Mercerian Tales: Origins stories in Novella format, to be released in late Spring.

Afternoons, however, are when I will let my creativity run wild, discovering what other stories lie waiting for me to share with you. I am truly excited with all that is about to be written, and I hope you enjoy reading it as much I do writing it!

~~~~~

Now, back to Fate of the Crown. I want to share this snippet with you from when the group finally meets up with Lady Aubrey Brandon. Poor Revi!

"I trust you’ve kept up with your magic?” her mentor asked.

“Of course,” she smiled, “and, you might say, I’ve made a monumental discovery.”

“Which is?” asked Revi, his interest obvious to all.

“I’ll tell you about it later,” was all she said.

New Feature: Author Spotlight!

Each newsletter up to four authors will be featured in this section. Some books will be free while others will be on special. These authors are returning the favour by sharing Servant of the Crown with their readers. Thank you in advance for checking out their books!

Book Giveaways

, glad to see you made it to the end of my newsletter. I only email those who have given permission by signing up to receive my newsletter. As always, if you have changed your mind or are no longer interested in receiving these, please click the unsubscribe link below.

Happy reading from Paul J Bennett, 

Author of Epic Fantasy in the Land of Merceria and beyond!