athera’s dawn

Thanksgiving Day Surprise

24 Nov ’11 By Christopher Hopper 43 Comments

UPDATE 11.25: I’m letting my followers read every chapter of Athera’s Dawn right here on my blog.

- – -

The White Lion Chronicles

2004-2011

I can hardly believe I’m writing this. Athera’s Dawn is finished, and available. For the first time since the books were conceived, the Chronicles are now as a complete trilogy.

And what better day than Thanksgiving to announce this on. I woke up at 6am this morning to the email saying the books were ready to order.

I am so incredibly thankful to God for granting me the opportunity to pen these manuscripts, planting the ideas and the creativity deep with in my spirit to such an extent that they would not let go, even in the darkest of times.

I’m thankful to my wife and children for allowing giving me the freedom to write, even when it meant I had to spend long hours disconnected from them. Even now, Luik is sitting beside me on the couch, the first one up in the house.

I’m thankful for you, my faithful readers, many of whom have been waiting for this end as long as I have. I appreciate you. Long ago I decided that I was writing for your benefit, not mine, only to keep you bound in the doldrums and anticipation. For that I am sorry. But today, I have an answer:

Yes, book three is available!

So please enjoy it. Savor it. Buy copies for family, your friends, and help me spread the word. (If tweeting about it, please use the hashtag #TWLC). My hope is it’s the conclusion the story was asking for, and that brings you, my readers, a much needed end.

Lastly, I’m thankful to the people who helped me assembled, clean-up, and preset these books in the way they deserve to be. They are thanked at length in the completed editions, so you can read their names for yourself.

Without further ado, SpearheadBooks is pleased to present The White Lion Chronicles in their completion: Rise of the Dibor, The Lion Vrie, and Athera’s Dawn.

It is done. ch:

CLICK ON THE COVERS TO READ MORE AND BUY:

Filed Under: books, news, writing Tagged With: AD, athera's dawn, rise of the dibor, ROTD, spearhead books, thanksgiving, the lion vrie, the white lion chronicles, tlv, twlc

Athera’s Dawn Update

22 Nov ’11 By Christopher Hopper 21 Comments

My goal of having Athera’s Dawn ready for Black Friday is not going to happen. That’s the bad news.

The good news is it will most likely be the end of next week if all the proofs come back looking good.

Thought I’d at least tease you with a rough cover sample from the gifted Allan Miller.

I’m also working on a few surprises for the month of December. Some affect you, my wonderful readers, and some affect those living in Jefferson County, NY. Stay tuned! ch:

Filed Under: books, pictures, writing Tagged With: Allan Miller, art work, athera's dawn, covers, release dates, surprises

TWLC Update

23 Aug ’11 By Christopher Hopper 20 Comments

Here’s an excerpt of an email I sent to my Proofies yesterday:

Out of courtesy to you, I feel I should explain that my lack of communication, the impetus of which stemmed from three primary issues:

1.) A global switch from Microsoft Word to Adobe InDeisgn as primary layout application. Because InDesign is so much more elaborate, and I’ve never used it before, the learning curve alone set me back a few weeks. I must have gone over nearly every page of [ROTD] no less than 20 times. Working with the Miller brothers also meant that I had to cater to certain time limitations on their part.

2.) Three weeks ago I suffered a herniated disc (an old injury revisited) which literally knocked me off my feet, unable to sit in one position for more than a few minutes. The prescribed medication made me fuzzy, and far from able to keep track of the details needed for a 300+ page manuscript. (Please keep me in prayer as I’m not out of the woods yet).

3.) Summer kicked in. Frankly, many mornings and nights I did not want to even touch my computer to work on much of anything. As most of you know who follow my blog, my pace is pretty intense. So I allowed myself days off.

Needless to say, I’m back at it, feeling stronger physically, mentally, and with a better handle on InDesign.

I’ve finished my editor’s changes to TLV, and I’m beginning work on formatting it in InDesign; yes, hopefully it will be much faster now that I have a stronger handle on the application. I’m anticipating this to take about 2 weeks, [before it's ready for the Proofies' review]. While you’re busy going through TLV and searching for changes, I’ll be editing and formatting the long awaited AD.

In an effort to offer my loyal readers at least something date-wise, I’d say ROTD will be for sale in early September, TLV in late September, and AD in late October, though this is not concrete. Your sincere patience means the world to me. ch:

Filed Under: books, news, production Tagged With: athera's dawn, book 3, editing, progress, rise of the dibor, the lion vrie, the white lion chronicles

TWLC Update & Special Opp

22 Jun ’11 By Christopher Hopper 71 Comments

Hey Readers.

As I’ve been unusually quiet on my blog over the past four weeks, I felt you needed a little update on the release of The White Lion Chronicles – Signature Series. And a special opportunity for 10 of you. Read on!

First off, as I mentioned on FaceBook and Twitter a little while ago – since I’ve decided to use CreateSpace – print versions of the series will be available in addition to the previously-announced ebook versions. I know this makes a lot of you very happy. So rest assured, while the new cover of Athera’s Dawn won’t match the first editions stylistically, you will have a physical 6″x9″ book to fill the hole in your bookshelf.

All three works have been painstakingly re-edited by the brilliant Sue Kenney. I am indebted to her for her services far beyond what I’m paying her financially. She has kept true to the original heartbeat of the manuscripts while cleaning up my errors and asking all the right questions for needed changes to occur.

The covers are in the hands of my sister, Hillary Hopper (TinyCo), and designer Jason Clement. Needless to say my own hands are in the pot a little, too.

The lion share of my time at the moment (and on my flights to and from the West Coast this weekend) is being spent sifting through remaining edits, and formatting the books. Interior design is extremely tedious, but I can’t say that the control freak in me doesn’t love knowing exactly how it’s going to look.

All that being said, I’m hoping Rise of the Dibor is ready to roll out mid-July, followed by The Lion Vrie a week later, and the highly anticipated Athera’s Dawn after that.

Now, for the special opportunity. Because this is my first time formatting my own books for print, I need some extra eyes to read through the print-ready PDFs to make sure they are “clean.” This means checking for missed indents, spacing and page break issues, alignment, page indication mishaps, and any fleeting grammar issues we missed. You’re not critiquing the story, calling for re-writes, or killing off characters.

If you’re interested and have a savvy eye for such things, I’ll be sending the final PDF manuscripts of all three books for free to 10 randomly-selected people that indicate they’re interested in the comments section below. To give people enough time to enter, I will select winners at random over this coming weekend and announce them next week. After I contact you via email, the manuscripts will arrive as-they’re-ready with special instructions.

Thanks for all your support over the years; some of you have been waiting since 2007 for Athera’s Dawn. The fact that there hasn’t been an international uprising upon my home (or computer) astounds me. Hopefully the third installment will put all your longings for completion to rest. ch:

Filed Under: books, news Tagged With: athera's dawn, ebooks, the white lion chronciles

The White Lion Chronicles: eBook Editions

16 May ’11 By Christopher Hopper 68 Comments

2007. That is the year I left readers on the edge of a precipice. And I’m only surprised they don’t loathe me more.

So you can only imagine how good I feel saying this (almost as good as my readers must feel!):

I’m personally re-releasing The White Lion Chronicles Books I & II as second edition ebooks, and Book III as a first edition ebook.

When my contract with Tsaba House expired, the publishing rights reverted back to me. And just as I’ve replied to hundreds of emails and FaceBook message and tweets, I’ve been looking for a mutually beneficial traditional print contract. But over the course of the last year, the publishing market has changed so dramatically that self-publishing – once an insult – has become the smartest option, by far. In fact, I can’t imagine looking for a legacy publishing deal ever again.

Editing and proof reading are just about to start on all three books, and cover designs are already in the mock-up phase. My plan right now is to release Rise of the Dibor first, followed a few weeks later by The Lion Vrie, and ending with the long-awaited Athera’s Dawn. All three ebooks will be available via digital retailers with an anticipated price point of just $2.99. If I can lower the price even more, I will.

So to all my fans who have stayed so loyal over the years, c’symia. ch:

Filed Under: books, news, reading Tagged With: at, athera's dawn, books, ebooks, rise of the dibor, rtd, the lion vrie, the white lion chronicles, tlv, twlc

Book 3 Status

17 Jan ’09 By Christopher Hopper 16 Comments

Hey Gang: Just a quick note to let you know I finished my final pass on Book 3 Thursday morning at 12:30am. It’s off to my Bookies for a good once-over, and after those corrections are added, the final manuscript is off to Tsaba House for their edits and then printing. Thanks again for your patience; you guys are the best fans an author could ask for. ch:

Filed Under: news Tagged With: athera's dawn, book 3, bookies, editing