NobleDead.org - High/Dark Fantasy Fiction by Barb Hendee and J.C. Hendee

SC1: Puppy Love has finished its commitment in KDP Select. While we evaluate the impact (if any) in testing that exclusive program, we want to get it out there for those on other ereader platforms who may have been waiting for it.

You can find it in T·N·D·S: Tales from the world of the Noble Dead Saga at Noble­Dead­.org or simply use one of the links provided above.

This will likely be our one T·N·D·S release for this month. We are quite backed up on work for the 2015 volume of the Noble Dead Saga, and that must proceed. If you drop by for a direct look at Puppy Love, be sure to peek at past “tales” you may have missed. More news and/or special features forthcoming before the end of the month, so stay tuned.

We have not done a general update since before the first of the year for “Tales from the world of the Noble Dead Saga.” There are a few changes to come, though they will not affect our current readers.

One thing noticed is that though these privately published short stories and novellas are doing fairly well, their readership is pretty limited to fans of the Noble Dead Saga. We would like to see Tales reach a slightly broader audience. We do our best to make them accessible to anyone, including those who have never read any volume of the saga. And so, some changes will be made to Tales “packaging” where coming works are concerned…

It has been a while since we did an update on “Tales from the world of the Noble Dead Saga.” Time for a little catch-up on this and a few other Noble Dead related topics. As previously mentioned before S3B2: The Dog in the Dark hit the shelves, we told our publisher we would not release any “tale” during the month before (and after) the release date of a new book in the saga. As we near the end of that window, here is what is coming…

Now and again, we notice a stream of new readers have tuned into our social satellite pages or directly to news releases through NobleDead.org. So just a few catch up notices for those who might have missed them.

Barb and J.C. are engaged in more than writing the Noble Dead Saga. So whether you are catching up with the books so far, or awaiting S3B2: The Dog in the Dark, stop by the main site and have a peek at Tales from the world of the Noble Dead Saga.

The “Tales” project of short ebook only works currently contains two on-going  sequences: “Homeward” and “Bones of the Earth.” Short stories and novellas in the former are not sequential, per se; you can read them in any order. Those in the latter are sequential (so far), but we know of readers who started with either one first and did just fine. And yes, there will be new sequences debuting sometime in 2013 along with the continuation of “Bones of the Earth.”

We will not be releasing new “Tales” until something in February 2013 outside the release window of the S3B2: The Dog in the Dark and after we have a little break from finishing the draft version of next year’s volume. But there are more “Tales” to come, oh yes.

And of course, there is Barb’s coming new series, The Mist-Torn Witches, which debuts May 2013. It is set in the world of (but not linked to) the Noble Dead Saga.

And lastly… we know a lot of you expected the next news from ND.org would be about the new “Noble Dead Raffles.” Hang in there. That notice is coming late tomorrow, guaranteed!

Now, has everyone finished their list of holiday preparations? Cough, cough, ahem… we are probably in no position to talk! And we’ll be back tomorrow.

Well, let us be honest: we do not really have anything new to share, but…

It has been over a week since we lifted our bleary eyes from the keyboards… or took a break from chasing Cinders and Ashes out of the artificial holiday tree we put up but have not yet decorated.

We were waiting on the ornaments until we taught the “sisters” not to climb indoor trees since we do not let them climb the outdoor type. And they are getting big(!) at just past seven months. We took an hour last night to bend all of the artificial tree’s branches back into place. That should also tell you how successful we have been in cat training after trying every trick in the book. Oh, and that includes the old lemon trick and cat’s hating the scent of it sprayed on anything. J.C. repeatedly misted the whole tree in a 50/50 mix of lemon juice and filtered water… and the sisters did not even flinch as they hit that tree in a run and a leap the first time… the second time… the third time… sigh…

The only real thing going on around our office is grinding away on the draft for S2B3: The Wind in the Night [working title] while we wait for S3B2: The Dog in the Dark to hit the real and virtual shelves. The winter holiday season is upon us, so only another 5+ weeks to go… before both the new release and that new manuscript has to be in our editor’s hands.

With all of that and then some, there has been no time for other projects like more “Tales,” finishing changes on the websites, the Noble Dead “Codex” project, or even a quick boardgame or something. We should also remind all of you that, as planned, there will no new releases in Tales from the world of the Noble Dead Saga around the release of a new book in the Noble Dead Saga. So no new Tales until after January, but yes, there are more to come. Also, down the road, we may need to do the same thing when Barb’s new Mist-Torn Witches series debuts. And before anyone asks, changes to the websites will be finished once J.C. has time to breath… and the free ebook Codex of the Noble Dead World is still on his to-do list.

We will leave off here and hope all of you have had a good start to the holiday season. Please do not get trampled in the stores! We will back to you again when we have some actual news to share… or when we realize it has been too long yet again.

Listings at Barnes & Noble and iTunes / iBookStore have now been confirmed as complete. Unfortunately, it will still take time for internal data to filter through for searches by title at those sites. In the meantime, click the links above or visit Tales from the world of the Noble Dead Saga at NobleDead.org if you are a Nook or an iOS user wanting a preview of this new “tale.”

J.C. Hendee
$3.00 USD
Novella, Part 2 of 3, 40k+ words
Sequel to BE1: Karras the Kitten
ISBN-10: 0-9855616-6-1
ISBN-13: 978-0-9855616-6-6
ASIN: B00A03F12Y
English Only
Purchase outside the USA available at all international Amazon outlets, KoboBooks.com (associated vendors), and iTunes / iBookStore.

We are a little late and a little early with this release. Our writing schedule gets busier the closer we get to the end of the year, and a couple of our vendors are a little slow these days in processing submitted titles.

J.C. Hendee
$3.00 USD
Novella, Part 2 of 3, 40k+ words
Sequel to BE1: Karras the Kitten
ISBN-10: 0-9855616-6-1
ISBN-13: 978-0-9855616-6-6
ASIN: B00A03F12Y
English Only
Purchase outside the USA available at all international Amazon outlets, KoboBooks.com (associated vendors), and iTunes / iBookStore.

Yes, you read it right, all “Tales” are now available internationally (to some extent) through iTunes / iBookStore.

NOTICE: this release is now “on the shelves” at Amazon and KoboBooks. It has also been submitted to Barnes & Noble and iTunes / iBookstore, but it has yet to appear on their shelves. It will within another 24-48 hours.

For more information please visit the “Tales” page at NobleDead.org. While you are there, have a look at previous “Tales” releases in the “Homeward” and “Bones of the Earth” sequences.

Though set in the world of the Noble Dead Saga, “Tales” and their sequences do not require knowledge of the saga’s books/series. You can easily pick up and read one as your first venture into this world.

You Do NOT Need an eReader

Free Apps to purchase ebooks directly from your computer or other devices are available for multiple operating systems like Windows, OS X, Android, iOS and sometimes Linux. If you purchase an ebook on your computer and later buy a portable ereader device, all of your previously purchased books from the device's vendor will load to your new ereader automatically. And they will still be accessible in the application on your computer.

• Kindle Apps (AZW/Mobi)
• Nook Apps (EPUB)
• KoboBooks Apps (EPUB)

It has been over a week since we had anything new to share, but we thought we would touch base with all of you for an instant. We are heavily into working on the next book in the saga for 2013 while we all wait for the release of S3B2: The Dog in the Dark [Dec. 31, 2012].

But here is a little something coming by October 31, 2012 in “Tales from the world of the Noble Dead Saga”…

Bones of the Earth, II: Karras the Cat 
J.C. Hendee 
$3.00 USD 
Novella, Part 2 of 3, 40k+ words 
Sequel to BE1: Karras the Kitten 
English Only 

[ADDITIONAL DETAILS PENDING]

Time for a little update on what is going on around the home office, and what is coming up in the near to not-so-near future. Obviously there is another entry in The Noble Dead Saga that will be hitting the shelves (online and in stores) at the end of December. If you have not taken a peek at it as yet, drop by NobleDead.org.

For the Saga’s Future…

A little while back, we finally finished the outline for the next book to come, S3B3. We have chosen a working title but this is still subject to additional changes—The Wind in the Night. Our collaborative outlines go way beyond what is done for a solo author, so there was a lot of work involved for yet another three interwoven stories in one novel, like you will see in S3B2: The Dog in the Dark.

All appears stable after the release of Homeward, I: The Game Piece on iTunes. So it is time to expand offerings for Tales from the world of the Noble Dead Saga through our newest vendor.

Homeward, II: The Feral Path has been uploaded to the  iTunes store and should be available soon for all iOS devices. Keep in mind that any device using iOS can also load apps for our other vendors. If you used one of those on your iPod, iPad, or iPhone, you do not need to buy this title a second time. And at present, there are no apps for non-iOS devices… not even a Mac.

We hope that last part changes in the near future, as we are big advocates of people being able to purchase and read ebooks without having to buy yet another device… unless they want to. Freely testing out reading ebooks for the first time is just as important as sampling ebooks themselves.

Tales Update – Change of Schedule

J.C. has been overwhelmed with two Noble Dead books in overlapping phases, our online pursuits and problem solving, and managing the situation with vendors and their portals. He is still working on Bones of the Earth, II: Karras the Cat when spare moments allow as the sequel to BotE, I: Karras the Kitten. So the “Tales” release for September will be Homeward, V: The Reluctant Guardian by Barb.

This last tale (for now) in the Homeward sequence should be available at all of our standard vendors by next weekend after its listing is established on our own site. And yes, some new tales sequences are in the planning phase even now. Any such will likely not debut until early next year after the release of S3B2: The Dog in the Dark in the Noble Dead Saga.

HW5 will not be up at iTunes until J.C. catches up on placing previously released tales at that vendor. But, since he has completed the final version of its cover (another of his duties), here is a little peek just to tease you.

That is all for now, dear readers, but keep your eyes open for further news by this coming weekend. 

J.C. and Barb received the copyeditor’s notes for S3B2: The Dog in the Dark and are going over that whole manuscript now while working on the next one already in the planning process (S3B3, untitled as yet). Needless to say, the scramble is on, though that’s always the way of things this time of year. Mid-summer and over the year’s end holidays are always hectic. Still no finalized version for the cover of S3B2, but as soon as that is officially settled, we’ll share it with you.