Desert War eBook Short Story Now Available!

As if the new short story collections, Chronicles of Ave, Volume 1, and Hellscapes, Volume 1, were not enough for a release week, I also had a new short story addition for the Annals of the Rising Dawn Collection!  Been quite busy this past week with these releases, but wanting to make up for some lost time this summer.

This particular story is a stand-alone, but readers familiar with the Rising Dawn Saga and the short story "Temples Rising" will discover some very interesting things within it!  It also has a very eerie relevance to world events happening today, especially with regard to my take, represented in fantastical fashion, of elite interests who foment wars in foreign lands under the banners of things like "nation-building" and "regime change". Below is the cover and official synopsis.  Really hope you enjoy it! It is just 99 cents and is now available on Kindle, Nook, and iBookstore (with Kobo at any time, just waiting for that version to go live)  

Kindle Link: http://www.amazon.com/Desert-Annals-Rising-Dawn-ebook/dp/B00F26IOSW

 Nook Link: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/desert-war-stephen-zimmer/1116861462?ean=2940148369455

iBookstore Link: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/desert-war/id703024646?mt=11

available shortly on Kobo


Synopsis:  “Desert War” tells the story of Saif, a man from the Order tasked with getting an ancient, powerful artifact out of Libu before those serving the Convergence can take it themselves. The nation of Libu is crumbling fast around him, as militant religious zealots backed by the political elite of the Convergence carry out the overthrow of the current regime. The insurgency is just one part of a much wider design, one that has been advancing over millennia, and the artifact must not fall into the wrong hands. With the streets of the capital filled with murderous, brutal insurgents, and being hunted by powerful enemies wielding supernatural arts, Saif has to find a way to get the priceless artifact to safe harbor. “Desert War” is a stand-alone short story that is part of the Annals of the Rising Dawn, a growing collection of tales set in the same history and world as the Rising Dawn Saga novels from Stephen Zimmer.    

Contest and Some Writing Updates

Getting ready for another week of adventures, involving things with me and with the rest of my SSP family.  RJ Sullivan's new book Haunted Obsession gets announced Monday, so I'll be heavily involved with the outreach on that one, including the announcement of his blog tour, reveals of the cover art, his limited hardcover offer and more.  I always love the energy of book launches, and I think it is really cool that SSP has a a paranormal thriller in the catalog too.  RJ's a really excellent writer, so give this one a look for sure.

As for me, watch out for my very first contest.  Yes, that's right, a big giveaway, with a very nice grand prize.     I will be using a system where you can get extra entries for liking/adding some authors who are participating along with me, so you'll have a chance to accumulate a few more entries.  

I'm continuing work on the new SSP site as well as my own, and expect those to get fully shored up in the next several days.  In the meantime, if you wanted to pick up some books, or posters and t-shirts featuring some of the artwork, head on over to: http://www.seventhstarpress.com/ssp-store/

I've been writing a lot this past week, making more good progress on the 4th Rising Dawn Saga book.  Was working on a Gregory section, one for Dagian, and another for Jovan earlier today, in fact.  Going to be some big surprises in this one for sure.  

Short-story wise, I'm polishing some of the stories in the new horror series I've mentioned before, as well as a few intended for the Chronicles of Ave and the Annals of the Rising Dawn.  I think we are very, very close to seeing a number of these ready.    Beyond that, I've been fleshing out some ideas for a new YA urban fantasy/paranormal series that I've been envisioning.  I'll keep everyone posted on that front.

Also would like to thank everyone for the kind notes and words of encouragement about my mother, who is making progress following the surgery she had two weeks ago.  She's largely back to her usual self, though her vision will take awhile to improve due to the nature of the surgery.  

So that's it for the moment!   I'll be sure to let everyone know the details about the contest when it is ready early in the week!

Onward and Upward!

Fandom Fest finished up last week, and I've got about a week to go on the Spirit of Fire Blog Tour, so I'm wrapping up a couple of major endeavors that have kept me extremely busy in the early part of the summer.

Fandom Fest as a whole was well over 10,000 in attendance, a big success by any measure.  I was very proud of the Literary Track group that was assembled, as we had some incredible guests like Timothy Zahn, Robin Hobb, Julie Kagawa, and Angie Fox.  I got to meet a few of the film guests like Sean Astin and James Marsters, but for the most part the weekend was insanely busy and I'm definitely glad things are done.

The Spirit of Blog Tour on the other hand has been a great deal of fun, with a nice mix of videos, interviews, giveaways, guests posts and more.  I really hope everyone has enjoyed the character posts and character interviews, and that those activities have helped give some further insight into the ensemble of the Fires in Eden series.  Some of the videos have been absolutely crazy, such as the bacon making one I did for The Cabin Goddess and another video I did for I Smell Sheep which required the help of my sister with puppeteering so that the site's mascot Baaart could make an appearance on the video.

July is going to be a very writing heavy month.  I've got several short stories close to completion, including new ones for the Chronicles of Ave and the Annals of the Rising Dawn, and the first of a batch for a new series that will be horror genre in nature.  Of course, I'm underway on book 4 of the Rising Dawn Saga, and it is going to be high-octane! If you thought The Seventh Throne was full of action and revelations, wait until you dive into this one!

So onward and upward it is as the July heat continues here in Central KY!  :)