As we were leaving to go into town today, the mail lady pulled up and dropped off a package. I tore it open and began to beam with excitement at the sight of a brand new copy of Shine Like Thunder!

The cover looked better than I could have imagined! I couldn’t help but giggle for hours afterwards. There is something very special about seeing a story you poured your heart and soul into in print.

I have approved the galley, and the book will show up in book store catalogues over the next 6 weeks, but if you want a copy, you can buy it now [here]. It is available as a digital download and as a printed paperback. I cannot wait to hear what you all think of the new book.

I feel that I should warn you though. This book is the darkest story I have written in years. It rides a fine line between planetary romance and dark fantasy. It takes place shortly after the events in Liquid Sky.

Alone in a remote garrison of his father’s empire, Saahdia Ghassan sits alone in his sanctum, watching as the darkness draws nearer.

Suddenly, the ground shakes. Invaders fill the sky. Ordered to find help they flee only to be struck down on a remote and desolate world.

Now the ship is lost and their attention turns to survival. With demons haunting the dark forest and their malevolent leader hungering only for power all the while a terrible thirst grows within Saahdia. Will he be able to discern who to trust before it is too late? Can they survive the struggle against the looming darkness? Join us as we delve into the murky underworld of Barrens End in the exciting first installment of The Tales of the Silver Fox.

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After what feels like ages of manipulating pixels to form the shapes and colors we were looking for, the cover for Shine Like Thunder is finally done.

I am the first to admit that I am not an artist, but I really enjoy working on these covers. It is a chance for me to explore the worlds and characters in more depth. I feel closer to a character after I draw them. If it didn’t take me so long to finish and image, I would love to make a portrait of every character but that would take me years.

Shine has been sitting around for a while. Unlike Liquid Sky, it is a much more personal story about a man struggling with loosing his very identity and soul. The plot mirrors dark night that I went through several years ago, and I wrote it in the deepest depths of depression. I was shocked when I read it how much it hope and fear embody the struggle of the characters.

I debated for a long time whether I wanted to even release it because of the personal reflections that fill the pages. Alternating between near diary-like passages and dark fantasy/planetary romance, Shine Like Thunder tells the story of a young prince who has lost his home and is fighting his inner demons not to loose himself. Love, honor, desire and power struggle against each other as Saadhia and his friends fight to survive the hostile world on which they are marooned.

What do you think about the cover? Let me know in the comments. Shine Like Thunder will be available soon.

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I have been chasing an interesting story around the net. Hillel Italie reports for the AP that “Brief Books are in Style.”

In the decade since James Atlas revived the form with his “Penguin Lives” series, at least 10 publishers have started their own lines of short, nonfiction books, on subjects ranging from scientists to presidents to mythology. Although the advances are low — and sales often to match — short books have attracted such best sellers and prize winners as novelists Jane Smiley and Larry McMurtry, essayists Christopher Hitchens and Bill Bryson, and historians Robert Dallek and Sean Wilentz (Boston.com).

The majority of the article is various authors bemoaning the restrictions of the brief format. I, on the other hand, have a very different point of view.

As a reader, I simple don’t have the time to sit down for 20-30 hours and enjoy a brilliantly elaborate tale of intrigue and daring do. If it weren’t for Audible, Podiobooks, and Narrator (software for the Mac that turns text into an audiobook/play), I would not have much time to read at all.

I hear it all the time from friends and family as well. Gas prices are going up, few and few movies are coming out that we want to go see, and our obligations are multiplying, nibbling away at what little free time we had in the first place. This is a problem.

As a writer, I am happy and scared by this trend to smaller books. I love serials, and pulp era fiction, and this push to smaller books lets me write more like my heroes. It is also a strong pressure on me.

I have been working on a fix up of my book Liquid Sky so that it will be more serial friendly. It will be released as four books, one for each part, and a collected volume, and Shine Like Thunder is a short book too.

I like the format. It is possible to do more with less. My only real fear is that if our free time keeps eroding, then we will have no recreation time at all.

For now, I have to say three cheers for the short form book! Maybe, just maybe, we will see a new golden age of fiction.

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For a while now I have been looking for a good way express the Steampunk aesthetic, but the words have failed me, which is a hard thing for me to admit. I am rarely at a loss for words, but this current wave of retro- and paleo-futurism has inspired me.

As I continue working on Fate’s Harrow and Phara-un, I have been trying to incorporate as much as can into the tales. I am happy to say that I have found a project that will allow me to explore the limits of steampunk and beyond.

As the images keep rolling in, my imagination becomes more inflamed by these bazaar cross pollination. I am hunting for the limits of cross genre fiction, and as yet, I don’t think I have found them.

Hopefully, you will enjoy the fruits of these experiments in baroque imagery. I cannot wait to share with you the new tales.

(for more on these images see Steam Fashion 1, 2, & 3)

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Brian’s Review of Fate’s Harrow – Part 2: Black Moon Rising

Wow! This is a great story! 5 stars (must own)

The story picks up from where we left off with Adir Radd in the hospital tortured by his visions of the future. I was caught up in Adir’s haunting vision. It is written so viscerally I could almost hear the screams and smell the stink coming off of the battle field. This heart felt tale took me through the events and choices that led Dov Lavan to become the famed villain I knew him to be from reading Liquid Sky: Legends of the Jade Moon. The choices and motivations of Dov were very compelling. Reading his tale turned him into a compassionate and sad character. I could empathize with his frustrations and found myself thinking that if I were caught up in the same situation I would probably make the same choices. The conclusion was extremely rewarding even though I knew how the story would end I still found myself shocked, surprised and brought to tears with a beautiful, rewarding ending. To be cliché for a minute I literally laughed, cringed and cried while reading this.

Dark Moon Rising is the second installment of C. E. Dorsett’s Fates Harrow series which covers three historical characters in the Barren’s End setting. Their tale was first told in the book Liquid Sky: Legends of the Jade Moon but from the Jade Moon’s perspective.

In this episode Dov Lavan fears loosing his friends and culture, longing to save the ones he cares about he takes on a new master who promises to help him lead his people into a safer future. Dov rises to power, forming a new group, encouraging others to join him and stand for freedom. But, his childhood friends Tien Shaa and Adir Radd are concerned with the fire in Dov’s rhetoric, so they set out to try and stop the coming war.

C. E. Dorsett’s other works

Liquid Sky: Legends of the Jade Moon	Deus ex Machina	Fate’s Harrow Part 1: Night Terror
Project: Shadow Informant Pod Cast	Project: Shadow Web Site	Project: Shadow HQ Project: Shadow Group

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We were both so stoked to read last night Mr. Crabowsky’s review of Liquid Sky on Downwarden.com (click here) to read the whole review. Mr. Crabowsky starts out with his initial impressions of the book and then gives the best compliment for Eric “What we have here is indeed science fiction ala Dune, though less detailed but just as vividly portrayed.” Eric Is a huge fan of Dune and used to dream of one day being compared to Frank Herberts masterpiece. The review continues but I wanted to also highlight the other line that left both of us just beaming “I enjoyed the damn thing. I think C.E. Dorsett is one powerhouse of imagination, inspired obviously by the greats of his craft. Liquid Sky is full of mysticism and spirituality, of themes centered on the search for one’s inner self and the meaning of the universe around him,”

I’m very excited to see that Eric is currently writing book two in the series “Sacred Ground.” This is just the fire we needed lit under our butts to get us moving on the errata project for the first book. Just wanted to share the review with all of you out there!

Thanks

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Chapters 2 and 3 have been uploaded to the work group at HQ.ProjectShadow.com. Chapter 4 will be up soon.

• Chapter 2: The Guardian
• Chapter 3: The War Maiden

I really like the way the Fix-up is coming along. I hope you all are enjoying it too.

(from my HQ Blog)

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I have started writing the next exciting chapter of Fate’s Harrow, and I must say, it has not been easy. This chapter is darker than the others. With everything going on in my life right now, dark is not exactly the best thing for me to be writing, but I am doing my best to turn it into an outlet for the worry and doubt that has filled me since my cousins wife got sick.

The anguish in the story is coming from a real place in me. I just hope I can hit the action beats as hard as I need to.

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Wow, the convention was amazing. Following that with the last Potter book, o, man, my head is so full of ideas that I feel like I could burst. I want to discuss the new Potter book either on Pownce or in the Forums, so when you have read it and want to talk, see you there.

I have begun work on a new series/website, that I will reveal later, muhaha, my secret for now. It is eating up a lot of my time, but rest assured, Fate’s Harrow is on schedule.

My head is just swimming with stories. I hope to see you on the network!

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I have completed the first stage in the revision of Project: Shadow. Every page has had something done to it, and there are many more changes and additions to come.
Updates:

• Home Page (completely redesigned)
• The Tumblog renamed.
• The Writer’s Resources Page => Writer’s Desktop
• Podcast Page (logos added)

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