from 2020 to 2021

2020.12.28

It feels funny to be talking about plans for 2021 after the chaos that was 2020, but to be honest things are looking great.

The 2020 retrospective

1. Well, the obvious big news of 2020 was undoubtedly the release of “The Dragon Run”! I’m very happy that I was finally able to finish, edit and deliver this on time for the release date that I had set, and I’m looking forward to the next one! Speaking of which…

2. The first draft of “The Kerguelen Cat” is DONE.

3. The pandemic lockdown caused a certain number of things to be delayed, chief among them the boat project, of course. However, I have good hopes of putting it back on track soon, because..

4. I got a new job! The offer came just before the Christmas break and I will be starting in January. I won’t go into specifics here, but the details will be in my LinkedIn bio when that happens if anyone’s interested in checking it out.

And coming in 2021…

1. Well, the new job is an awesome opportunity so I’ll definitely be looking forward to that.

2. “The Kerguelen Cat” is scheduled to come out on May 1st. I will be starting the editing process when I’m back from the holiday break, and it will then go to my editor in February. While it’s there, I’ll finalize the design of the cover, before putting the final touches.

3. The next WIP will not be an Ascalon Circle book! I will be working on the rewrites, edits and completion of my science fiction epic “The Uncertain War”, a work that’s been in progress since 1994 in various forms. It started off as a time travel thing inspired by Jurassic Park, and evolved into something completely different. If anything I’ve done so far can be called a magnum opus, it’s this bad boy. I don’t have a release date yet, but I’m aiming roughly at a rolling 2022 release schedule for the three volumes. Yeah, it’s a big one!

4. I will also order and supervise the translation of TDR to French for a release in Q4 2021.

5. Lastly, conditional on favorable post-covid conditions… I will finally get my hands on my dream boat, if it’s still waiting for me where I left it last March.

I might have other news, but these are things I’m not ready to share on this platform quite yet.

I feel fortunate and grateful that 2020 was not a bad for me as it was for others, and I realize how privileged I am to be able to say this, and that 2021 is looking brighter as the last days of the year pass by us. I am also grateful to everyone who bought my book or downloaded some of my free material, your support means a lot. A heartfelt thank you to all of you! I wish everyone a happy new year celebration, and a magnificent 2021!

The future is ours to take!

Blog refresh!

2020.11.18

Apologies if you’ve seen things moving around lately, I was busy working on refreshing the looks of this journal to better match it to the latest freylia.net / rachelrelat.net iterations.

The old look served me well but was becoming dated, being the last remnant of what freylia.net looked like back in… 2016 I think! Overall I didn’t change much of the structure though, it is mostly simply a cosmetic refresh with updated links.

I took the opportunity to rename the blog too. Yes, I like puns. :p

Anyway, this is done, for the time being. Back to writing, passed 32K on my 2020 NaNoWriMo effort, bringing “The Kerguelen Cat” along towards what I think will be a very satisfying conclusion. But I can’t say more for now!

Stay shiny!

Launch Day! Dragon Run and Kerguelen Cat updates

2020.11.01

Calling all passengers for boarding, your flight to the 1930s is ready for take off!

“The Dragon Run” is now LIVE on Amazon, for Kindle, on Kindle Unlimited, and on paperback. Grab it while it’s hot: https://amzn.to/34Ko42l!

There’s more! If you want to know more about the Dragon Rapide and other featured planes, TDR comes with “Planes of Ascalon”, a free companion booklet to satisfy your curiosity. Download it here!

“The Kerguelen Cat” announcement

Today’s other goodie is the unveiling of the cover for “The Kerguelen Cat”, scheduled for release on May 1st, 2021. Part II of the Ascalon Circle series is bound to amp up the stakes so keep your seatbelts on!

Happy reading! 💜

D-3

2020.10.29

D-3 before “The Dragon Run” arrives in your Kindle, barely more to wait for you paperback lovers…! I’m so excited that it’s finally getting in your hands, because it means the next one is also around the corner! Stay tuned for the cover reveal of book #2 of the Ascalon circle series, “The Kerguelen Cat”, next Sunday!!

That feeling when…

2020.10.15

That feeling when you hold your book in print form for the first time..! (proof sticker notwithstanding)

Last stretch!

2020.10.13

19 days to the launch of “The Dragon Run” and things are going very well. The ebook and paperback formatting are completed, I only have to sign off on the proof copy when it arrives later this week, or make minor adjustments.

This is the e-book cover on my iPad’s Kindle app. Looking shiny!

Don’t forget to grab your sample and of course, until the big day comes, you can always pre-order “The Dragon Run” on Amazon! Links below:
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/

D-30 giveaway!

2020.10.01

It’s D-30 before the big day! But what if you just CAN’T wait to take a look? Well, worry not, I got you covered!

Click the image above to download an exclusive preview of the first pages of my historical fiction debut novel, “The Dragon Run”. Simply save it and send it to the e-reader of your choice!

And of course, you can still pre-order “The Dragon Run” on Amazon! Links below:
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/

New guest post!

2020.09.15

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

Drum roll please…!

2020.06.24

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!

Spring cleaning

2020.05.01

51st day of lockdown here. If you’re reading this, I hope you’re safe wherever you are!

I am going to be refreshing the website over the next week or so to bring it up to date and such, so this is a heads up in case you see anything not working or missing on the main site, it should be temporary.

However, I have end-of-lifed several subdomains and other folders that previously contained downloads and other gaming-related content. This was deliberate as I move the site towards other priorities.

Cheers!