A First Page Sneak Peek at The Scorched Hunter

 A

First Page

Sneak Peek

at

The Scorched Hunter

Chapter 1
The mountain’s narrow path always felt like a balancing act. Cole pressed himself close to the mountain side, his mass leaving a foot from the path’s edge. It slowed their progress, but Anna would rather her friend use caution. The day had been long. Longer for Anna after the time it took to drag her kill through a mile of undergrowth. She groaned, lifting her arms, the reins loose in her hands. Her muscles felt like jelly after heaving the deer onto the storm bison’s back. It hung end to end over his thickly muscled shoulders and dark silver hump.
Grass hissed across Cole’s hooves once they reached the mountain’s bottom. There was a sudden slowing once the ground leveled off. Anna leaned past her kill, to find her friend panting. Her lips curled into a frown. Cole let out a low groan, his nostrils manifesting sprits of rain and thinning clouds.
“Come on, old friend,” she said, rubbing his side. “You’re too brave and swift to stop now.” 
She urged Cole to the trail they used before. His pace increased, and his clouds thickened from her encouragement. Lightning clapped in the distance, jarring her from her bent position before she could draw in the scent of wet grass. Rain drops from Cole’s clouds tapped the ground as the lightning faded from sound. The heat from the waning sunlight pressed against Anna’s cheeks. Her hometown of Williamton was a good distance away, hidden by the forest.
Trees not yet ready for winter clung to their leaves, giving some shade. Scurrying rabbits broke the near quiet, wind shifted the branches. A light, almost relaxed feeling resonated when she’d return from a hunt. One akin to rolling in snow. Anna wished she could bring the wood’s sounds home.
Anna smiled, running her fingers over the thick winter fur of her kill. She hoped if the servants cooked it well, her lord grandfather may join her on a hunt. She licked her lips, already tasting the tenderness of deer meat. She pictured her grandfather upon his esant, in riding cloak, flying low with the wind. His words would be about the present and not about what troubled Lampara. Sharing time with him in the woods mattered more to her than who governed. No lecture on a prime’s ten-year governance or them proving worthy of being in charge for so long.
The main path was in sight, all the snow of last night gone, leaving behind damp smells and darkened leaves. She was still at a good distance from Williamton. The town had renamed itself to honor her grandfather after he saved her from the dragon. I had wanted it for more than just a mount. Anna grimaced and then reflected on Cole’s silver hooked horns. Storm bison held near boundless energy in their youth, but when she purchased Cole, he already had been ancient in her eyes. A smile crossed her lips. A dragon wasn’t kind like a storm bison anyway. Dropping her hand to Cole’s reins, she gripped them fiercely then snapped them. They made it to a good speed as the wind bathed her cheeks and carried Cole’s clouds into the—

 Flames tore through Williamton’s rooftops. Anna yanked at Cole’s reins, dirt churning, slowing them until they came to a stop. Fear gripped her throat to see the towering smoke grow thicker and higher with each second. 

40 Indie Authors and their Book Titles

 

1. City of Shards, Steve Rodgers

2. Elementals of Mythicos Book 1: Forged in Fire, Lillian Brinker

3. Blood on the Sand, Brian J. Smith

4. Spire City Season 1: Infected, Daniel Ausema

5. Allison Tears, Thomas Stewart

6. Secret After Sunset, Jessica Lynn Sorensen

7. A Twist of Fate, Becky Lee Whitehouse

8. Wrathburn, Hayley Bernard Ryan

9. Gcod, Sandra Bassett

10. Somewhere Quiet Fall of Light, Henry Corrigan

11. A Perfect Blindness, Lance Hunt

12. Valley of the Dire Wolf, JP Ward

13. Symbiote Wars, Chris Kennedy

14. Rules of Supervillainy, CT Phillips

15. Pangea Online, SL Roward

16. Demon Squad Series, Tim Marquitz

17. Final Reverie, Essel Pratt

18. Blessed with a Curse, Katie Cherry

19. Tales of the Orisha, Jiba Molei Anderson

20. Ahzna Maidn Voyage, Jiralax Azon

21. One Groovy Summer: Adventure from 1968, Rocky Gregory

22. Isolation, Jared Grace

23. Not a hero, Rick Christianson

24. Biter Honey, Sharon Rose Mierke

25. A Monster Named Jane, Steve Kachovec

26. The Chaos Gate, Jeff Pantanella

27. Survived the Lion’s Den, Matt Scott

28. Citadel of Seven Sword, Erik Waag

29. Janitor 51, Richard Griffith

30. Stone Warrior (The Wander), Avery Christy

31. Illusions of Paradise, Pat McKanic

32. The Splitting Edge: Sid’s Story, Jaydee Dinan

33. Fingers in the Fan, Judge Santiago Burdon

34. The Halloween Realm, Parrish Hall

35. Dragon Slayer, Kevin Wright

36. Exiled on Unium, James Michael Moody

37. Quest for the Hope Box, John Gorman

38. Rise of the Ancients, T.H. McEvoy

39. The Blood of the Dragon, Jack Adkins

40. The Scorched Hunter, Andrew Johnston

A Fresh Review on Fellowship of the Ring, By J.R.R. Tolkien

 A Fresh Review

on

Fellowship of the Ring

By

J.R.R. Tolkien

5 Stars

This book will forever speak to the adventurer in us all. It's the one book I will always call my favorite. It takes the most unlikely of hero and launches him into a journey. One possessing no shortage of dangers. Fellowship of the Ring is out of the whole trilogy the best. This review comes from my fifth reading of the book. It most certainly won't be the last.

IT WENT SOUTH: What Went Wrong With Books

 IT WENT SOUTH

What Went Wrong With Books

The biggest factor by far is instant gratification. It has made authors rush what would otherwise be a fantastic book. It has convinced authors to focus more on the wow factor, than the quality of prose, character development, and powerful themes. Thus, the person writing the books eagerly launches them in quick succession.

I believe all of this has pulled the author away from their craft. It has created unnecessary pressure and an obligation to remain relevant. Your relevance as an author should depend on the quality of your books. The obligation to be relevant has lead to an immense distraction. Social media. I can say from experience that I spend more time on my phone than at the keyboard. It has influenced me to include subject matter in my books that isn't who I am as a person. None of it appeals to my actual interests. These two factors may affect other authors as well, especially those starting out.

Authors ultimately need to focus more on the craft and what's in their heart. We can't allow rapid launch dates and what is popular to interfere. I know we live in a different world than forty years ago, but the mission remains the same. Write a good story. And with that an understanding of grammar, spelling, punctuation, and how we want to tell the story must be considered. This here isn't my best sentence, but my excuse is one of passion.

Passion is what fueled the legends of the past. From Ursula K. Le Guin to J.R.R. Tolkien. These legends wrote with passion and devoted their efforts to the craft. They allowed their writing to speak for them. I can't imagine my life as an author without the influence of Tolkien.

All of this leads to another problem that has affected readers on a global scale. The ability to read and comprehend. Our education system is the largest factor. The second is how we go about writing books. There is too much reliance on computer programs to fix our mistakes. An author needs to have a strong familiarity with sentence structure and word use. They need to stop overexplaining parts of their story such as a magic systems. I will admit my familiarity with sentence structure, grammar, and word use is lacking. I'm pulling from lessons in high school that are over twenty years old at this point. This leaves room for improvement. We all want to improve, and if we do, perhaps in time it will help our readers.