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An Ember in the Wind (Where I've Been Lately)
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Author:  merrak [ Wed Jun 11, 2014 4:33 pm ]
Post subject:  An Ember in the Wind (Where I've Been Lately)
Hi everyone~

I thought I'd share where I've been lately. I've finally finished the book An Ember in the Wind, which is the story from which much of the artwork I've posted here over the years is from.

And the Barnes and Noble in Jacksonville, NC agreed to help me launch it on Saturday! If anyone's in the area and looking for something to do, I'll be there after noonish along with a few other local authors.

Image

Anyway, I thought a few people here may be interested, since Mara has made quite a few appearances on GC. Here's the synopsis if you're curious what it's about:

Ideas are like embers; they spark from some great fire, fly free, and glow for a while on their own. Some flicker out before they land. Others, though, ignite a new fire, which will cast a great light upon the world.

Mara is a young girl living in the height of the Italian Renaissance. When she runs away from home to join a group of scholars, she is ushered into an unseen world of fantasies-where the forests, flowers, and fields all have words to say. They clue her into the existence of the "sequence," an intangible medium that governs the world like the gears of a clock, and instruct her to uncover it.

Just as she is about to unravel the riddle, she is forced from her home by an unknown assailant. Her grief causes her to lose her grasp of the magical world she once knew. Desperate to not completely let go, she travels to the city of Locana and employs the help of "the Ori," a mysterious tutor who promises to help her see the world with the clarity she once had.

Meanwhile, her activities in the city draw the attention of a powerful and rising cult. They know that knowledge of the "sequence" bears implications of powers beyond even Mara's own wild imagination, and seek to stop her. Mara realizes that in order to unravel the inner clockwork of the world, she must be able to see it with unadulterated eyes. But this means turning a blind eye to the impending perils of the cult and a brewing war. She must choose between dealing with the realities of a cruel world, or attempting to regain the innocence she lost. http://www.anemberinthewind.com

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Author:  molly [ Wed Jun 11, 2014 4:49 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: An Ember in the Wind (Where I've Been Lately)
Congratulations Merrak on the launching of your new book.
I hope you have great success with this novel about Mara and her fantasy experiences.
The cover is also very beautiful and your artistic talents show through.
kUDOS
Author:  Akros [ Wed Jun 11, 2014 5:04 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: An Ember in the Wind (Where I've Been Lately)
molly wrote:
Congratulations Merrak on the launching of your new book.
I hope you have great success with this novel about Mara and her fantasy experiences.
The cover is also very beautiful and your artistic talents show through.
kUDOS

Same here! :bigthup

I liked the synopsis, and hopefully can be translated into Portuguese!
Good luck!
Author:  Akros [ Wed Jun 11, 2014 5:13 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: An Ember in the Wind (Where I've Been Lately)
The "Share" link is not working.Image
Author:  GnuTux [ Wed Jun 11, 2014 6:21 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: An Ember in the Wind (Where I've Been Lately)
Congrats, merrak. :coolthup

Sounds interesting and it's nice to see you online again.
Author:  Dalia [ Wed Jun 11, 2014 8:33 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: An Ember in the Wind (Where I've Been Lately)
It sounds amazing - good luck to you on the launching of your book. I know I'd love to read it just from reading your synopsis.


P.S.: Just downloaded from Amazon
Author:  Erisian [ Thu Jun 12, 2014 7:04 am ]
Post subject:  Re: An Ember in the Wind (Where I've Been Lately)
Nice one Merrak! Will it be available mail order?
Author:  Issabella [ Thu Jun 12, 2014 10:08 am ]
Post subject:  Re: An Ember in the Wind (Where I've Been Lately)
Good Luck Merrak! You deserve the best! could it be in Spanish version any day? I wish it! Congratulations Merrak wholeheartedly. :bigthup
Author:  sallyanne [ Thu Jun 12, 2014 10:42 am ]
Post subject:  Re: An Ember in the Wind (Where I've Been Lately)
Best of luck Merrak. Lots of hard work there. You deserve it.
Author:  2-ton [ Thu Jun 12, 2014 12:30 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: An Ember in the Wind (Where I've Been Lately)
Wonderful artwork! I cannot believe how your painting skills have matured over the last few years! And the book sounds really fascinating! So much so that I just bought the Kindle version from Amazon, lol. But it's called book two. Is there a book one???
Author:  merrak [ Thu Jun 12, 2014 5:28 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: An Ember in the Wind (Where I've Been Lately)
Thanks everyone! :mrgreen:

Akros wrote:
The "Share" link is not working.Image


It should work now ;) I noticed it earlier -- some permission setting on the file was set incorrectly.

Erisian wrote:
Nice one Merrak! Will it be available mail order?


I think it just showed up on BN.com and Amazon.com. They're listed on the book's website under "where to find".

@2-ton: Thanks for your support ;) There is a first book, actually. I didn't do much to promote it, since I immediately started working on book 2. Book 1 came out in April 2013.

Book 1 is more of a prequel to the series (there's 4 books total), than the start of it. It's very short -- more of a novella than a novel. It's about the same length as The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. Some of the artwork I posted when I first joined GC was related to it. I wasn't planning to make it a novel back then. That development came a year later.

Image

It's downloadable for free from the anemberinthewind.com website (under "Extras"), although print copies can still be found on Amazon, BN.com, etc. Because of licensing rules, I can't offer it for free on Kindle -- but you should be able to download the .mobi or .epub file and load it that way.


~

I don't know how wide the circulation needs to be before I can get someone to translate it. My guess would be between 10,000 and 100,000. Of course, I could translate it myself. I just need to learn new languages. :)

Dalia wrote:
It sounds amazing - good luck to you on the launching of your book. I know I'd love to read it just from reading your synopsis.


P.S.: Just downloaded from Amazon


Thank you :)

I'm happier with this synopsis than the one for book 1. Condensing an entire novel into a 4,000 character blurb is very difficult. My editor suggested the first line, which was pulled from one of the later chapters.


The cover is one of the better digital paintings I've done. It was featured on the MyPaint website for a while (although it was tweaked with GIMP). I haven't drawn anything in a while, so I hope I'm not rusty.
Author:  Mokonafan [ Thu Jun 12, 2014 7:54 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: An Ember in the Wind (Where I've Been Lately)
FRAMMIT you're kinda close to me but still too far. :(
I'd totally go if I could but with money situation I can't. :\
If I manage to get a job eventually and some kinda bank card I might buy the book it sounds like it would keep my attention, from me that's high praise because I normally hate to read. :D

I hope it goes well! :>
Author:  2-ton [ Thu Jun 12, 2014 9:18 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: An Ember in the Wind (Where I've Been Lately)
Oh, Miss Moko, reading is FUNdamental, lol. I love to read, always have, but to be honest, using the computer and playing with Gimp has pretty much knocked out most of my reading time.
Thanks Merrak, for the info, I just grabbed the epub of the "prequel". I am gonna make myself take time to read, even if only 5 minutes a night on the tablet before lights out.
Author:  Griatch [ Thu Jun 12, 2014 11:40 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: An Ember in the Wind (Where I've Been Lately)
I actually came upon your website from another direction just yesterday, thinking 'hey - I know this artwork...'. :)
Congrats of getting your (second, right?) book ready! And getting it into print and in a real bookstore to boot, impressive! :D
.
Griatch
Author:  merrak [ Mon Jun 16, 2014 2:27 am ]
Post subject:  Re: An Ember in the Wind (Where I've Been Lately)
Mokonafan wrote:
FRAMMIT you're kinda close to me but still too far. :(
I'd totally go if I could but with money situation I can't. :\
If I manage to get a job eventually and some kinda bank card I might buy the book it sounds like it would keep my attention, from me that's high praise because I normally hate to read. :D

I hope it goes well! :>


Jacksonville is an hour from me, but I get good gas mileage and I'm used to driving a lot.

It went pretty well, though :) I was invited back for another signing in November, and I got some attention from the newspapers.

2-ton wrote:
Oh, Miss Moko, reading is FUNdamental, lol. I love to read, always have, but to be honest, using the computer and playing with Gimp has pretty much knocked out most of my reading time.
Thanks Merrak, for the info, I just grabbed the epub of the "prequel". I am gonna make myself take time to read, even if only 5 minutes a night on the tablet before lights out.


Hope you enjoy it :D Stage I is more of a novella than a novel. My editor cut about 20,000 words from the first draft of the "prequel"... which was a full third of the book. On Ember, she had me add about 10,000 words.

So far, everyone who's read both has said they liked Ember better.

Griatch wrote:
I actually came upon your website from another direction just yesterday, thinking 'hey - I know this artwork...'. :)
Congrats of getting your (second, right?) book ready! And getting it into print and in a real bookstore to boot, impressive! :D
.
Griatch


Thanks! :) Ember is #2 of four.

I didn't think my artwork was all that distinctive. I haven't completed a full-size painting in a while. I'm looking forward to having an opportunity to work on one.
Author:  Oregonian [ Sat Jun 28, 2014 8:00 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: An Ember in the Wind (Where I've Been Lately)
Hey merrak! I ordered your book from Amazon and am about half way through it. So far I really like it. I'm a very big fantasy fan so it's right down my alley. I'm going to have to get the first book of the series now that I'm hooked.

Congratulations on getting it published and I hope ya make a zillion dollars from it. :yes Image
Author:  merrak [ Wed Jul 02, 2014 12:23 am ]
Post subject:  Re: An Ember in the Wind (Where I've Been Lately)
Oregonian wrote:
Hey merrak! I ordered your book from Amazon and am about half way through it. So far I really like it. I'm a very big fantasy fan so it's right down my alley. I'm going to have to get the first book of the series now that I'm hooked.

Congratulations on getting it published and I hope ya make a zillion dollars from it. :yes [ Image ]


Glad you're enjoying it so far :mrgreen: You've probably encountered most of the scenes I've posted artwork from. They're almost all from the first half.

Image
Author:  2-ton [ Mon Nov 23, 2020 10:57 am ]
Post subject:  Re: An Ember in the Wind (Where I've Been Lately)
Resurrecting this thread because after all these years I finally read this book! I remember seeing the art progression for Mara, and it was interesting to have a minds eye image of Mara as I read the book. I enjoyed it even if I was kinda shocked and sad at the ending. Now I can’t get the concept of the sequence out of my mind, lolol.
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