A Broken Horse is a Podcast Serial! COST OF LIVING 15th Anniversary Limited Edition Release is Coming!

The Amaliad

You came for Thor, now read on for more!

October 2023

The Amaliad is Back!! I'll keep it simple -- when I have something exciting to share or a promotion I think you'd like to know about, I'll send it out in a newsletter no more than once monthly. I'll try to include a fun behind-the-scenes tidbit at the bottom for your entertainment, and I'll do my best not to waste your time or clutter your inbox unnecessarily!

Happy Spring! (Redux)

Yes, we are still buried under snow. I extremely don't want to talk about it.

In better news, my ultra hot retelling of Aethra's affair with Poseidon is out now! More info belowww! Plus! A little bread-baking, in DID YOU KNOW, and did I even remember to tell you about WIELDING FATE?? Welp! Read on, and now you'll know!

Listen to A BROKEN HORSE: The Podcast!

Remember when I said I would never write the Trojan War and then I did it anyway, retelling the story from the perspective of Paris of Troy, and my favorite favorite son of Pirithous, Polypoetes?

Yeah, I decided to make my life harder and turn it into a podcast--it's now serialized and narrated by yours truly, and you can listen to the first half or so on Audioboom, Spotify, Amazon, and Apple for FREE, or ALL OF IT RIGHT NOW over on Patreon for as little as a dollar!

This book acts as a companion to my HELEN OF SPARTA duology, taking place after the events of BY HELEN'S HAND, and I'm not going to lie, I'm kind of in love with it.

As hero after hero falls before the walls of Troy, Achaean and Trojan alike, two reluctant warriors--neither remembered as a hero--must sacrifice themselves for the sake of the people they love.

Prince Paris has all the fame he ever wanted, anointed by the gods, honored as a youth for both his bravery and judgment, and gifted the most beautiful woman in the world by Aphrodite. If his theft of Helen results in a war, surely he is not meant to stop it. Let all the world burn to ash; so long as Paris has Helen, he is content to leave the destinies of kings and nations in the gods’ hands. But to keep Helen, they must survive. Paris must survive.

Even as a grandson of Zeus, Polypoetes is a king of little consequence—his kingdom beyond the long-armed reach of Mycenae in ordinary times, yet forced still by oath and duty into a war he doesn’t want to fight. Desperate to save his lover Leonteus and protect the rest of his people, left behind in Thessaly, Polypoetes struggles to keep his forces out of harm’s way, even if it means making himself an enemy of Achilles.

(Very very grateful shout out to Libbie Hawker/Grant for producing this pod for me! Go read her books!!! Her latest is OCTOBER IN THE EARTH!)

Image reads: Winter Games: A Playing to Win Holiday Special, followed by an excerpt: “Uno!” Nic yelled, stabbing a finger at Kate’s hand. And sure enough—there was only one card left between her fingers. He hadn’t noticed, the way she kept her cards so tight. Little minx! Her provocation had been total misdirection so she could steal the win right out from under his nose. “Ha! Draw two!” “Damn,” Kate grumbled, drawing her cards. “So close.” “Really, Sully?” Violet said, disgust dripping from every syllable. “All those cards in your hand and you couldn’t keep Kate from playing all of hers? You know there’s only one rule in Uno.” “Wait,” Nic said. “What’s the only rule?” “Make sure the players next to you aren’t winning,” Sully sighed. “But in my defense, Katelet over there was obviously distracting me.” “A little flirting and your game falls to pieces,” Abe tsked, shaking his head. “Pathetic.” “Yeah, and what’s Will’s excuse?” Sully demanded. “He’s the one who gave her that reverse.” “Sorry.” He shrugged. “It was the only blue in my hand.”

COST OF LIVING in ULTRA LIMITED EDITION!

Hi, Hello! I have been authoring for 15 years (!!!!!!!!!!!!) now and COST OF LIVING was the book that started it all, during NANOWRIMO in 2008!

THIS ONE IS FOR THE SUPER FAN COMPLETIONISTS!

So here's the deal:

I have printed EXACTLY 15 dust-jacketed hardcovers. One of them is going on my own shelf. A couple of others are spoken for because I owe some people a very great debt for their support over the years. So that leaves TEN EXCLUSIVE HARDCOVERS for Patreon Patrons to stake a claim on. You must be a Patreon patron at the 25 dollar level for TWO MONTHS to get a copy of this book, and there are only 8 more available slots (for 10 total.)

THE NEXT 8 PEOPLE who become Patrons at that level either this month, or next month and remain patrons at that level for two months (either October and November or November and December) will get a SIGNED, HAND-NUMBERED (x of 15), EXCLUSIVE hardcover shipped to them after their second successful pledge goes through!

I will also be printing EXACTLY 35 trade paperback editions. One of them is going on my own shelf. The rest will ONLY be available through me. (Probably they will be available for purchase for people who come see me in person, for the most part. Maybe I will find a bookstore willing to sell a couple signed copies locally.) These will also be signed and numbered! (x of 35.)

ONCE THESE 50 PRINT COPIES ARE SOLD, THAT'S IT. IT'S OVER. The only way you will be able to read this book thereafter will be by becoming a patron at the $5 level, at which point you will have access to the patreon exclusive downloadable ebook, which will replace the serialized volume downloads currently available (with two fewer rounds of editing.) I'll also be pulling down the individual serialized chapters of the book available to $1 patrons at the end of this year.

Just to make sure I am clear here: I WILL NEVER BE RELEASING THIS BOOK WIDE. It was my first! Yes, I revised it extensively, but it's messy (genre-wise.) The Ebook will remain PATREON PATRON EXCLUSIVE.

You don't have to stay a patron beyond your second successful pledge for the hardcover or beyond your first successful pledge for the ebook (going up in November). Go live your best life afterward! No one will judge you!

You can also read a sample of the first couple of chapters of COST OF LIVING for free on Patreon, too, if you're unsure about committing yourself!

PATRON UP to get a COST OF LIVING Hardcover!

BRAVING FATE: A Fate of the Gods Novella

While I was revising FORGED BY FATE for its 10th Anniversary release, Thor kind of took over my brain--and the result is a novella revealing his perspective on the events of the contemporary timeline of FORGED! Spoiler: It is extremely Angsty! Including a special guest appearance from the Archangel Michael, even!

Cover reveal for Patrons is this coming THOR'S DAY and as always, you can read it by the chapter for a dollar a month, or become a $5 patron and get the full novella as a downloadable epub ebook in mid-November!

Read Along for just $1 a month

FREE BOOKS!

After Adam fell, God made Eve to protect the world.

Fans of the mythic world-building and romance of Jacqueline Carey's Kushiel's Dart alongside the drama of ageless history-spanning relationships of Marvel's The Eternals will want to dive into this series, following Thor, Eve, and Adam through history from Creation into the present day. (ish.)

Grab your copy FREE from Nook, Kobo, Apple, Scribd, or Kindle!

Playing to Win is FREE Everywhere!!!

When dating is a lottery, you have to play to win--and it doesn't hurt to have someone to compete with, either. But who will triumph? Kate, who believes personality trumps all, or Sully, who trusts only in pure chemistry? When sparks begin to fly at home, these roomies will have to decide if finding The One is worth risking a friendship they both love.

Fans of Christina Lauren's WILD NIGHTS series won't want to miss PLAYING TO WIN!

Get Playing to Win for FREE

Did You Know:

Okay! Phew! That was a lot of info!

2023 has been a wild ride with a lot going on and a lot of experimentation and adventures in authoring. And while I haven't really talked about this much publicly, I'm planning to take a sabbatical from the PUBLISHING side of the equation in 2024 so I can focus on just writing and generally being creative again--something I've sorely missed being able to lose myself in during the last ten years of intensity.

What does this mean?

-->The stories/novellas that I released exclusively to Patreon this year will stay Patreon Exclusive until 2025!
I wasn't 100% sure what I was doing with King of the Lapiths yet anyway but the forthcoming Braving Fate will enjoy its exclusivity a little longer than I had initially intended, for sure. (Wielding Fate was always staying put.)

-->The 10th Anniversary Editions of FATE FORGOTTEN and BEYOND FATE might end up being 11th or 15th Anniversary editions.
Basically, they're on pause.
While I loved doing FORGED BY FATE's 10th Anniversary edition REVISIONS, it was A LOT OF WORK to put that book together, and almost all of it was on the production/publishing side (my least favorite things to do!)

-->I'm going to make stuff that isn't just books!
Crochet! Custom PLAYING TO WIN character dolls! Knitting! Yay! I might also be doing some zoom classes--which I'll probably hopefully remember to email you about this time! (I just did a Mythic Retelling class for the MetroWest Writers' Guild, and you might want to keep an eye out for other events in the future over there!)

-->PROBABLY I will be restructuring my Patreon!
One of the things I love that Patreon lets me do is offer signed copies of my books internationally (also the reason for the two month/two successful pledge minimum bc that shipping is WILD, and even on domestic patrons, I'm paying for shipping twice to make it happen!) I also love being able to get books out to patrons a little bit earlier than everyone else. But what I don't love is the grind of constantly needing to provide CONTENT. So--when I figure that out, you'll likely get a newsletter.

Ultimately, I will be finding PLENTY* of ways to keep myself busy,** but I'll be doing it without the added pressure of the content mill grind. We all need that break once in a while!

*The sequel to Son of Zeus has been half done for years. Same with Orc3. We've already talked about Wielding Fate with Ra and Athena! And then I have TWO Playing to Win series novels fighting for my attention, along with another FotG novella, a full length biographical novel for Aethra that covers the WHOLE of her life, and a Heracles book I've been poking at. AND THAT IS NOT EVEN EVERYTHING I WANT TO WRITE. THERE IS NO SHORTAGE OF IDEAS OVER HERE, ONLY TIME!

**I don't want to jinx anything but I MAY have had an Orc3 Epiphany this week, so fingers crossed that having this time off allows me to unravel that knot and finally get this monkey off my back. (On the downside, it means I have to finish writing this other Cinderella retelling book first, because LOL APPARENTLY it is actually a prequel setting up a key character I need for Orc3! THANKS, BRAIN.)

Privacy Policy

I promise not to use your information for any reason other than sending you these newsletter emails occasionally and you can always unsubscribe via the link below for any reason or request that I "forget" your information/history of newsletter data entirely!

When you enter to win a giveaway by replying to these emails or reply just to chat, I additionally promise not to share or collect any of that data for any use beyond what you've explicitly granted me (like mailing you a book you've won.)

Amalia Dillin

P.O. Box #277
Bismarck, ND 58502

www.amaliadillin.com
www.amaliacarosella.com