Gearing up for the launch of my debut novel “The Dragon Run” on November 1st!
I had the privilege to be invited to write a guest post for the blog of fellow author Susan Shiney. You should check out her website, it’s full of wonderful stories as well as helpful tips and techniques about writing and promoting your work. Thank you Susan for having me on your platform!
Link: https://bit.ly/35EJEqc
While reading about Midway (cf. yesterday’s post), I found out that the IJN aircraft carrier Sōryū was actually at Hainan Island in 1940 to provide support for the Japanese invasion of French Indochina. So… it’s a bit of a stretch, but I might just go and squeeze a cameo in “The Kerguelen Cat”…
I will check the timelines!
D-50 before “The Dragon Run” launches! Throwback to when I got a ride in a genuine 1944 DH.89 Dragon Rapide at Flying Legends 2015. A gorgeous day in one of the finest-looking biplanes ever!
Work on the paperback formatting and cover design is almost ready for beta print!
“The Dragon Run” protagonist Yann Vatel was born in Boulogne sur Mer. Located right across the channel from England, the town was once a staging area for Julius Caesar’s armies and, centuries later, Napoleon’s. It was also the point of departure of the first attempt to cross the Channel by flight, in 1785. Sadly, it ended in tragedy when the hot-air balloon crashed, killing its creator, pioneer Jean-François Pilâtre de Rozier.
Like many of the locations in “The Dragon Run”, this is a place I actually visited: This is where I did the last year of my Master’s, back in 2002-2003. It’s a charming little town, and although I haven’t been back since I graduated, I would love to go again and see the old center, its beffroi (the medieval guard tower) and its massive domed church.
Bob Morane is one of the big inspirations behind The Dragon Run‘s protagonist Yann Vatel. In this 1950/1960’s series of pulpy adventures for kids and teens, ex-RAF pilot Bob Morane roamed the world, one exotic location after another, fighting spies, pirates and mad scientists…
Reading it in 2020, let’s face it, it hasn’t aged too well (among other things, women are often little more than potted plants, and some racial stereotypes are cringy, to put it generously) but it’s easy to see how these fun, exciting tales captured the imagination of kids and adults alike… And if I can stir the same emotions with my stories, then my job is done.
The German auxiliary cruiser Atlantis delivered a decisive blow to British intelligence in 1940, then stopped at Kerguelen in December that year. These real events inspired “The Kerguelen Cat”, part 2 of the Ascalon Circle. It’s currently in development, as I gear up for the launch of “The Dragon Run” November 1st!
Time for some exciting announcements!
First, I’m overjoyed to announce that The Dragon Run finally got a release date! The Kindle edition is now available for pre-order on Amazon, with a paperback version to follow very soon.
Links:
Amazon.com: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08BLHDJQV/
Amazon.co.uk: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B08BLHDJQV/
Amazon.fr: https://www.amazon.fr/gp/product/B08BLHDJQV/
Amazon.es: https://www.amazon.es/gp/product/B08BLHDJQV/
When will it be ready? Well, I’m glad you asked! The book will be released November 1st, 2020!
Secondly, a book would be nothing without… a cover! And it is my immense pleasure to share with you the TDR cover below:
The bold yet minimalist style is meant to call back to the golden age of pulp spy/adventure stories. What do you think? Does it work?
Finally, as part of the redesign that I mentioned in my previous post, I’m sharing today the launch of my dedicated author website, www.rachelrelat.net:
This new site will become the main hub for writing-related news, release dates and updates on the Ascalon Circle series and other works. Hope to see you there!
Well, that’s all I got for you today. Hope the post-lockdown is going well for everyone and until next time!
So since I’m never still and always start shit before finishing something else, I need to unload a new idea that’s been on my mind for a while so that I can continue with the rest. The tentatively called Terra Nostrum is a techno-thriller starring an Interpol Task Force that faces an unprecedented terrorist threat in the Mediterranean.
I could summarize the plot as “Speed 2 meets Rainbow Six”, and I’m very definitely going for a Tom Clancy-kind of vibe with a few twists and plot items that will hopefully, if published, put it a notch above the competition. Time will tell. I’ll keep these under wrap for now, of course.
Current word count: 1,956 words
That’s a better start than last year, for sure.
For a multitude of reasons, the summer of 2019 was a pretty intense one for me, and one of the things I did to try and cope with it was getting back to writing. I set to write at least one micro-story or poem every single day, based on a one-word prompt posted on Twitter by #vss365. I called them my “ink therapy”.
Here are a few; I hope you like these little children of mine. Some are silly, some are grotesque, some chew the scenery with dramatic gusto… It was a lot of fun and it helped me get back on my feet.
And that’s pretty swell, if you ask me.
Here’s the link:
Enjoy!