The reviews are in, and Defender of the Crown is a hit! View in browser

April 4, 2020

"I thoroughly enjoyed this well written and exciting novel. Fans of the genre will definitely want to read this original story."- Ray T

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On the Homefront

With the current situation around the world still progressing, it’s been hard to concentrate on working. It’s strange to think that I usually spend my days at home working and rarely go out, but now that I can’t go out, it can, at times, feel stifling. That being said, we must endure this and do our part.

To keep my mind busy and on more pleasant thoughts, I’ve been playing Minecraft online with some friends, using discord to chat as we play. It’s not quite the same thing as being in the same room, but it’s better than the alternative. I even managed to convince Carol to play, though we had to figure out how to set up the game so she doesn’t get motion sickness.

Now she’s tunnelling like mad, hunting for diamonds beneath our tower. Meanwhile, our dogs are sitting in the living room, wondering what we are up to. They do, however, get bones to chew, so they’re quite happy!

I know that for myself and many others, the past few weeks have been a very trying time.

I hope that by sharing another of my books with you today, I can help out, even for a little bit, in bringing you some joy and comfort as we all do our best to flatten the curve of this pandemic.

Simply click on the button below and you will receive a FREE copy of The Frozen Flame Prequels.
Read The Frozen Flame Prequels for FREE!
Empowering Magic Items

(Warning: Possible spoilers ahead)

After reading my books, you will realize that magic plays an important role in both the day to day living and the many battles that occur. But there is more to magic than just casting spells, for, in the later books, there are magical items, such as weapons, mirrors, or even armour. So how does that work?

Magic in the world is defined as an innate power, usually passed down through the bloodline. It is a finite resource that is consumed and then slowly regenerated over time, often taking about ten hours to recover fully. Each mage has a limited amount of this magical energy, but through constant study and practice, they can enhance or grow this power, allowing more spells to be cast in a given amount of time.

The act of placing magic into an item is referred to as empowering. In Heir to the Crown, the druid, Albreda, empowers the warhammer, Nature's Fury, and later on, Aubrey empowers a magic circle in Wincaster, making it available for others to use.

The act of empowering takes a portion of the mage's power and places it within a separate object. This energy cannot be recovered by the mage, for once spent, it is permanently used up. Also, in order to accept the magic, the item must be constructed of a material that can contain the energy. In the books, this is either silver, gold, or sky metal, and the forged item must be crafted with great skill, else the magic will quickly dissipate. These are referred to as masterwork items.

Will there be more empowered objects in future books? You shall just have to wait and see.
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Work in Progress Update

After a couple of weeks of downtime, I am finally back to work on Temple Knight. The word count is now reaching 56,000 words, almost the halfway point! When I reread what I had written, I realized I had managed to accidentally introduce a plot point earlier than expected, necessitating a change to my later outline. Thankfully, my characters have taken on a life of their own and led the story towards an exciting plot that will enhance the latter parts of the story. I’ve had this happen before, and the outcome was excellent!

My outlines, while useful to steer the storyline, often get modified in this manner. On quite a few of my past books, I’ve rewritten the last half after I’ve written the first batch of chapters, and the result has always felt more satisfying.

Temple Knight has one main character, with quite a few secondary ones. These additional people are developing their own personalities, and new background information comes to light even as I write them.

With any luck, I’ll be back on schedule, as my word count has now risen significantly, once again at my pre-lockdown numbers.

Hopefully, this week I shall pass the halfway point.

Until next time, Happy reading!
Author Spotlight!

Check out these featured books that are free, discounted, or new releases.
These authors are returning the favour by sharing my books with their readers.

War Bringer: Centuries ago, the world fell. From the ashes rose a terrible new species—the Tangata. Now they wage war against the kingdoms of man. And humanity is losing. 

Recruited straight from his academy, twenty-year-old Lukys hopes the frontier will make a soldier out of him. Determined to survive, Lukys seeks aid from the only man who seems to care.

Meanwhile, the Queen’s Archivist leads an expedition deep beneath the earth. But salvation is not all that waits beneath the surface. Something else slumbers in the darkness. Something old. Something evil.

The Temple of Arrival: Betrayed. Hunted. The Liberators defiant stand at the city of Asta has sparked the fires of resistance in the downtrodden people. Slaves, serfs and even members of the aristocracy have risen against the regime and flock to the Liberator banner.

As conflict spreads across the world, the Supreme's gaze is fixated on Elian more than ever. Reeling from his mentor’s betrayal and battle with the First Fear he is hunted relentlessly by Hollowed and Venerable Chamber Seekers. Terrible secrets await. Secrets about himself. Secrets that could herald the end of all things.

The Warrior of Magick: There is a war coming. And it will change everything. For Sienna Faremin, staying alive has been merely a byproduct of the torture she received for over a decade. Running one mission after another for the Magick council, she is nothing more than their personal assassin. 

​When she's tasked with killing a man, Sienna accepts, only to discover the man is one of only two survivors she saved the night the Guardian academy burned to the ground. 

As she dives deeper into the truth behind the attack, Sienna discovers a web of lies and deceit that would change the realm...forever.

Rush Delivery: It’s been a month since Alecia met Iverog and embarked on a magical journey. Now she is called on to make her first solo delivery and everything seems to be going wrong.

On top of that, everyone seems to think she has stolen something important, something people are willing to kill for.  

Can she survive long enough to figure out what has happened and complete her delivery?
Book Deals & Giveaways

While you wait for the release of my next book, here are some great stories for your TBR pile!
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Magic & Adventure
Fantasy & Magical Reads Giveaway

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Paul J Bennett

Paul@pauljbennettauthor.com

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