Salve Assaph!

When you write a scene and name it "road trip" because you just made life impossible for your characters and they're supposed to do a tactical repositioning to the rear (read: leave town till the heat dies down), BUT one of them flatly refuses and then convinces all the others why staying is a good idea and even comes up with a better way to deal with the issues and you're just sitting there thinking what just happened and now I need to re-plot this thing -- well, that's how you know you're a discovery author, aka a pantser ;-)

On the plus side, the draft for In Victrix is almost finished (I swear). Felix has already been to the sewers, has managed to find an excuse to gate-crash a private club (thankfully not a brothel this time), and despite all my complaints that he's not following the script he has solved the issue practically on the way out with a well-placed knee to the groin.

All that remains is for me to write the bloodbath of a grand finale and kill someone who's been there from the start... But don't worry, I got Scotch and chocolate to deal with it.

Anyway, you're receiving this email because you got on one of the giveaways, have participated in The Protagonist Speaks, contacted Purple Toga or me directly, or generally just enjoy good books and brilliant emails. You can scroll straight down the the unsubscribe link at the bottom, but you'll be missing out on fun stuff.

We've been sending these newsletters once a month this past summer, as opposed to the usual quarterly updates. Did you enjoy the excerpts and news? Did we provide you with entertainment value? Or would you rather we went back to quarterly (or less) "still alive" major-news-only emails?

One click is all we ask - let us know if you'd like us to bring you monthly news, excerpts, highlights, and promotions, or not:

Seems like end of summer is when everyone's desperate to hang on to that warm feelin' and just keep reading. Consequently, there about a bagzillion promotions going on right now for Fantasy and other books. Not to fall behind, both Murder In Absentia and In Numina are on a $0.99 Kindle special on Amazon for this week. 

So, if you:

• just haven't gotten around to reading either of them, or
• got the Aquae et Ignis free novella during a giveaway, loved it, and was just waiting for the price promo, or
• are just a book-hoarder,

then:

Why did I chose this particular mid-August-ish week for a promo? I've submitted In Numina to SPFBO this year (the Self-Published Fantasy Blog-Off - a ridiculously prestigious contest of new indie fantasy fiction, which the same ground rules as Thermopylae: 300 entrants and only one winner).

You might have noticed all the extra mid-week special indie-fantasy interviews we've been posting on The Protagonist Speaks (all in an effort to promote our fellow contestants). But many authors have also signed up for a joint price promo, so here's your chance to grab some of the best indie fantasy from the past year on the cheap. It formally starts on the 19th, but you might be able to score some already (mine included). Click the banner to see the full list!

But, as they say on TV, that's not all!

Nope, no siree! We've got a tonne* more of worthy promos for you this month...

Just click on any of the banners, and you'll get taken to a magical place full of awesome books, for free or discounted!

* Yes, I know the British spelling doesn't go with the previous "no siree" Americanism. Just roll with it. God save the Queen.

That's it for now. Hope you won't go into a book-coma from all those giveaways and specials (or, well, do go into a book-coma -- it's a good thing...)

If you're looking for lighter reads in between, our main posts were about Ancient Roman Trivia, a funny infographic on Why We Write, and the aforementioned SPFBO special character interviews.

Until the next newsletter (which should be towards the end of the year),

Videas Lumen,

Assaph Mehr