Tag: Ashes of Empire (Page 1 of 6)

It’s Almost Here!

2022-07-02 / Eric Thomson / 5 Comments

Good news! Ashes of Empire: Imperial Ghosts is done, was blessed by my editor, and has gone through the pre-production process. We’ve followed a more rigorous release plan this time around — as some of you may have noticed, I announced a July 5, 2022 release date last week. Well, that release date still holds, but the book is now available for pre-order pretty much everywhere ebooks are sold and will be released in a few days. Here’s the link:

https://books2read.com/imperialghosts

The Amazon paperback version can be ordered from Amazon right now as well, although the other print versions (paperback from other than Amazon retailers, hardcover and large print) won’t be made available for order from your favorite book merchants until later this coming week.

And in other good news, I’m past the one-third mark writing the next Siobhan Dunmoore adventure, On Stormy Seas. So that’s something you can look forward to in late summer or early autumn.

Stay safe and healthy, fellow humans.

And It’s Off

2022-06-13 / Eric Thomson / 0 Comments

Ashes of Empire: Imperial Ghosts is off to my editor. Provided she doesn’t raise major issues, a mid to late July release is almost certain. I’m contemplating putting it on pre-order with Amazon, Kobo, and Google Play (the three retailers where I can do so without major problems), so stay tuned. And with that, it’s on to the eighth Siobhan Dunmoore adventure, which I know many of you are eagerly anticipating.

Stay safe and healthy, fellow humans.

It’s A Wrap

2022-05-27 / Eric Thomson / 0 Comments

I finished writing Ashes of Empire: Imperial Ghosts earlier this afternoon, and I’m quite satisfied with the story — it comes out to around 400 print pages and there’s a lot going on. Of course, now comes the hard part: revising and cleaning it up for my editor. I figure we’re looking at a mid to late July release date. Below is what I figure will be the final cover. There may be a few tweaks, but I quite like the image.

In other news, all three Constabulary Casefiles are now available in audiobook format from Google Play and will be available in audiobook from Kobo within the next week or so. I’m rather satisfied with the results. And for those who are waiting for the next Dunmoore, I’ll be starting when Imperial Ghosts is off to my editor. I already have the high level outline ready to go, but no title as yet, let alone a book cover design.

Stay safe and healthy, fellow humans.

April is the Cruelest Month

2022-04-27 / Eric Thomson / 0 Comments

As I sit here writing this blog post, snow is coming down in big fat flakes outside. The white stuff on the ground melted a few weeks back, but this is the Great White North. None of the rules say it can’t snow whenever nature feels like blessing us with the stuff. And wouldn’t you know it, the ground is still cold enough that it’s not melting right away, probably because it’s been a colder April than average. Let’s hope May isn’t a rerun of April, as sometimes happens. But enough of the favorite conversation topic among Canadians.

Progress on Ashes of Empire: Imperial Ghosts is steady, if slow. Publication will likely not happen until July at the earliest. The story is becoming a tad more complex than I first envisaged, with several threads covering both the Hegemony and Lyonesse a little under three years after events in Imperial Echoes, as the race to become the dominant force starts in earnest. I’m also beginning to outline the eighth Siobhan Dunmoore adventure, which picks up approximately two years after events in A Dark and Dirty War. I don’t have a title yet, but expect more political shenanigans from the Kathryn Kowalski and Ezekiel Holt viewpoint as this series moves towards what we know happened from reading Decker’s War, Ghost Squadron and Constabulary Casefiles.

If you haven’t notice, I’ve started experimenting with short videos called book trailers, both here (look to the right at the top of the sidebar), on Facebook, and on my official website. I also rediscovered a YouTube channel set up under my publisher’s name. If you want to check it out, here’s the link: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCSeUMZbenabjV1UdxTosXkw

I’ll probably be doing further videos of this sort, if only because there was a time I was heavily into producing scuba diving videos as you can see from the example on the YouTube channel. I even sold a few DVDs of my work.

And that, fellow humans, is all the news that’s fit to post. Stay safe and healthy.

Seasons

2022-03-27 / Eric Thomson / 2 Comments

According to the calendar, it’s Spring in the Great White North, but Old Man Winter never gives up without a fight. After a week or so of balmy weather, we’re back into the freeze with light snow drifting down on this Sunday. Tomorrow will be equally chilly, but looking at the long range forecast, this is very likely winter’s last gasp in these parts until the end of the year. But when you’re immersed in other realities, such as the Ashes of Empire saga, does the passing of the seasons truly matter? And I’ve been living in that universe daily. Progress has been steady if not always rapid, but I’m past the one-third mark and closing in on halfway there. A June publication date seems reasonably realistic.

Other things are moving along as well. All of Decker’s War, Ashes of Empire, Constabulary Casefiles, and Ghost Squadron, have been published in Large Print Editions (available through your favorite book seller), and the Siobhan Dunmoore books are well on their way — in the next few days, the first four will come out in Large Print with the rest to follow in the first week of April. Speaking of Dunmoore, in my idle moments, I’ve begun kicking around story ideas, since she’s next on my work plan, once I’ve completed Imperial Ghosts. I have a particular goal in mind for the culmination of that series, and it just remains to be determined how I’ll get there, but that culmination will set the scene for Decker, Caelin Morrow, and Ghost Squadron.

Happy Spring to those in the northern hemisphere, happy Autumn to those in the southern. Stay safe, stay healthy, and stay at peace, fellow humans.

Marching Along

2022-03-05 / Eric Thomson / 1 Comment

I don’t know whether time passes more rapidly as you get older, or your perception of time shifts into higher gear, but my – it’s already been three weeks since my latest book came out and we’re just over two weeks away from the official start of spring. As I got up this morning, I was reflecting that it seemed only yesterday when we last heard the honking of the geese headed south. And before we know it, they’ll be headed north again. Not that you can tell looking outside. It’s still snowy, icy, and cold around here, but the weather channel says daytime temperatures are about to head above freezing as early as tomorrow and pretty much stay there (with the occasional dip). The sun, however, is visibly higher, warmer, brighter, and sticks around longer, signaling the equinox is only two weeks away.

I’m making steady, if unspectacular progress on my next novel, Ashes of Empire: Imperial Ghosts, which now sits roughly between the one-fifth and one-quarter completion mark. I’d say you can expect it late May or early June at this rate. After that, I’m planning on the next Siobhan Dunmoore for a fall publication date. Hopefully, the world will look a lot better by then. And that, as they once said, is all the news that’s fit to print.

Stay safe and healthy, fellow humans. Peace.

Another Audiobook

2022-01-26 / Eric Thomson / 0 Comments

The fourth installment of the Ashes of Empire series, Imperial Echoes, came out in audiobook format yesterday. You can get it from your favorite retailer:

https://books2read.com/imperialechoes?format=audiobook

And in other news, the entire Ashes of Empire, Ghost Squadron, and Constabulary Casefiles series are now available in large print hardcover version. The Dunmoore series will be next. Meanwhile, my editor is still working on the third installment of Constabulary Casefiles while I’m developing the detailed outline of Imperial Ghosts.

Stay safe and healthy, fellow humans.

Moving Right Along

2022-01-20 / Eric Thomson / 0 Comments

I sent The Dirty and the Dead (Constabulary Casefiles #3) to my editor yesterday afternoon. And that means I’m going to start working on Ashes of Empire: Imperial Ghosts. Speaking of Ashes of Empire, the audiobook of Imperial Echoes will come out next Tuesday, January 25th. It’s already available for pre-order from your favorite retailer.

When do I expect The Dirty and the Dead to hit the bookshelves? Hopefully by mid-February, barring any unforeseen events or my editor finding major issues.

Around here, winter’s bite is making itself felt in earnest. Our days are bone-chillingly cold, just like the planet on which Caelin Morrow is conducting her latest investigation, as you’ll see next month. From Sunday night to yesterday, we got almost half a meter of snow (about eighteen inches), which made up for the paltry snowfalls since early December. At least the sun is now out for a few days after almost a month of dreary, cloudy, gray days.

Here in the writer’s den, things are also cheerier with a new nine gallon freshwater aquarium replacing a tired old bookcase filled with books that haven’t been opened in decades. Yesterday afternoon, it received its first tenants, a school of neon tetras and four small, delicate and fun to watch golden shrimp. All seem in fine fettle this morning, and it’s fun watching them variously swim and scamper around the plants, rocks and driftwood. We’ve had aquariums before, but got rid of our last one more than a decade ago, when we shared our home with three dogs. Now that we no longer have any dogs, I figured since I spend most of my day in the writer’s den, I might as well add some undemanding life I can watch while my brain dredges up the next plot twist.

And that’s all the news I have. Stay safe and healthy, fellow humans.

Happy Solstice

2021-12-21 / Eric Thomson / 1 Comment

Time has flown by at hyperspeed once again since my last post. In my defense, I’ve been busy writing The Dirty and the Dead (Constabulary Casefiles #3) and as of today, I’m at the 85% completion mark. Barring unforeseen events, I’ll be done before New Year’s Eve. Whenever I reach this place in a story, I tend to get the words out faster and faster (and more importantly, in the right order!)

Here in the Great White North, it’s winter, not just by the calendar but by the weather. We had a few snowfalls already, but the last one the other day seems likely to have laid down this winter’s base coat of snow and ice. Unless the weather forecasters are completely out to lunch, it’ll be a White Christmas in these parts, which is always nicer than a slushy or green one. It’ll be time to moan and groan about winter come January. And we will. It’s a Canadian thing.

What will 2022 look like for this writer? First on the menu, after publishing The Dirty and the Dead, will be the fifth Ashes of Empire story, Imperial Ghosts. Then, another Siobhan Dunmoore adventure, perhaps? And, of course, a fourth Ghost Squadron novel. No slowing down here!

That being said, since this is likely my last post of 2021, I wish you all a Happy Solstice, a Merry Christmas, and a Happy New Year. May you and yours be blessed with peace and joy.

Stay safe, fellow humans.

Imperial Night in Audiobook

2021-11-23 / Eric Thomson / 0 Comments

As promised, Ashes of Empire: Imperial Night came out in audiobook format today. Get it from your favorite retailer:

In other news, I passed the halfway mark on the third Constabulary Casefile, The Dirty and the Dead. It’s going well and I’m enjoying my time with Caelin Morrow and her crack team of anti-corruption investigators.

Stay safe and healthy, fellow humans.