French and Indian War

Historical Fiction Research and Chapter One for Language of the Bear

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Language of the Bear is THIS close to publication! We had some back and forth with our editor for a bit, and are now finalizing edits and cover art.

And because publication is so close, I want you to start reading it.

I’ll be sending out the first chapter free to you lovely people on my mailing list. If you’re already on my it (thank you!), you’ll get an email in the next few days. But if you’re not,

click here to get on my list before the book comes out and I’ll send you chapter one of Language of the Bear.

And don’t worry about getting hammered with emails—I don’t send newsletters often or bombard you with nonsense. I’ll generally only email you when there’s actual news, special announcements or deals.

LOTB is getting so close I can smell the campfires, but the writing goes on for other projects. And everything that goes along with the writing, like the research so key in historical fiction.

Here comes the summer reading.

Here comes the summer reading.

LOTB is the first novel in the Tomahawk & Saber series and it takes place in the days just before the French and Indian War. And then the second book, Through the Narrows, brings our heroes even closer to the actual war. (It’s sometimes called the Seven Years War, which is odd because it’s generally marked as 1754 – 1763. You do the math).

Then the untitled THIRD book … well, I won’t tell you exactly. But suffice to say, I’m redoubling my efforts at research for the French and Indian War and all the goings-on around it.

Of course, I’ve been reading books about Colonial history, Native American tribes of the eastern woodlands, and all that goes along with that era for a long time. Especially during the writing of LOTB, there was a lot of digging for historical details again.

But that book largely takes place on the frontier, away from much of what makes it into history books. Now, though, as Evan Ronan and I are finishing the plotting for the third book, we’re both refreshing our history and getting some additional research in to really make this era and story come alive.

I’ve got a stack of books to start with. Some I’ve read before, others not. And the research begins in earnest as soon as LOTB is published.

(I say that as if it’s an onerous task. Really, I get to sit and read about exciting history and people. … Good work, if you can get it.)

My Book’s Coming Out Next Month! Wanna Know What it’s About?

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You guys! Guess what! I have a book coming out!

(You can tell I’m excited because I almost never use exclamation points.)

To make a long story short, I wrote a historical adventure with my friend Evan Ronan, and after a few near misses at traditional publishing and lots of good, personal feedback, we decided to publish it ourselves.

Right now, we’re doing the final polish of the manuscript after receiving comments from our editor, and our very talented designer is working up cover art—I’m sure I’ll show that off quite soon.

That means we’re on the final leg of producing the novel, and …

Language of the Bear will be available through Amazon in ebook in April, and print in May.

The genesis of the book and our decision to publish it ourselves is a long story that I’ll get into another day.

But for now, here’s what our book’s about:

In the hostile wilderness of Colonial America, a young Native American warrior and a British officer are forced into a secret assassination mission. But when they learn their prey is more dangerous than they feared, can they complete their mission, protect a dying tribe, confront a madman, and still survive?

With war rumbling on the horizon, Lieutenant Hugh Pyke arrives in the Pennsylvania Colony hoping to prove himself against the French. Instead, he finds himself blackmailed into a dishonorable mission to assassinate the cousin of the woman he loves.

Wolf Tongue, a brash warrior of a dying tribe, volunteers to guide Pyke through the dangers of both the landscape and its indigenous nations. Even as he fights to protect his people from European and Native invaders, he struggles to earn the respect of those he would save.

An action-filled, old-fashioned adventure, Language of the Bear is the first novel in the Tomahawk and Saber series.

And yes, this is the first novel in the series. In addition to working with final edits on Language of the Bear, we’re also wrapping up the second book (tentatively titled Through the Narrows), which is slated for release in May.

If you’re on Goodreads and this sounds like something you might dig, please add it to your to-be-read list, because it’ll certainly make these two guys smile.