The one where something tells me it is time to move on.

I am supposed to be telling you about Gencon.

I am supposed to direct you to my books at the Winter Wold Publications booth. I mean the whole con is sold out and the books are flying off the shelves, but I cannot, just cannot focus on that right now.

Instead, I stand here grieving.

I just came home and found that my new kitten had knocked the wedding photo off the table. The glass is shattered, the beautiful frame broken – three of four joints severed. It is gone.

I stared at it for a long time as my kitten mewed pitifully at my feet as if giving apology.

I… I have talked to friends about this picture before. Nobody could understand why I ever kept it. It is the wedding photo to a wedding that ended in divorce. Not one person I spoke with had any clue why I wanted it, and I could not rightly say myself. All I know is that I could not, would not give it up.

Now that it is gone, I think I have a better idea.

We bought a frame for the photo special, before the wedding. I had found markers so people could sign the glass, then it could be baked to make the ink permenant, storing the photo and the guestbook in plain sight so we would remember the wedding party, but also the people that wished us well in our future together. That future ended a long time ago now, and it is somehow fitting that all those hopes and dreams written on glass are finally gone, too.

I am despondant, for I believed in the dreams now cracked and fragmented on my floor.

There are words captured from my children before they were even teenagers, an old family friend that saw me in diapers who has passed, and family I loved that are no longer any relation and I no longer see or speak to because we have different last names.

I have that feeling again. That feeling that it is over. It is over and will never be again. I am crying on my kitchen floor because it is over and the memory is now gone. It cannot be saved. It has left me for even it has moved on.

I know my ex-wife was dissatisfied because of the rain, but I was happy the rain clouds parted in time. The heat was bothersome, but the shining sun gave a pure, honest light to the photos. She was nervous and at times frazzled at her wedding, but I was honestly happy.

And now it feels the last bit of happy I had left in my marriage is broken on my kitchen floor.

And I’m crying because it is time to move on.

 

 

 

the one that was pretty much done for me…

..and I am greatfull, (crap) Gratefill.. (ugh) grateful.

Well, I have finally announced what I have been doing the last few months. Firstly, THE Guys… ThE GiYS...

ugh… sinus infection.

OK… the good people at Knight Errant Games  were kind enough to include an interview of yours sickly, discussing the upcoming novel they commissioned: Dwarf Wars (working title). These guys have a unique game world worthy of playtime at any RPG table. If you have a few bucks to spare, you could do much worse than improve the quality of games floating out there. Find the kickstarter HERE

Also excciting exciting

We are about a week away from launch of my first independent title.

The Echoes of Those Before.

It is a novel that harkens back to classical, high fantasy questing and the anthropomorphic heroes I grew up with watching Disney movies. So, yes, it is a furry novel. before you let that simple sentence set your opinion, please understand, this is not an adult themed novel. It is high fantasy. It is meticulously written. I think the time is here for a this novel, and I’ve gone on a bit of a limb to see if I am right. All I ask is a chance. It will be available on Amazon.com

List Price: $11.99

6″ x 9″ (15.24 x 22.86 cm)
Black & White on White paper
262 pages

Copper Fox Books
ISBN-13: 978-0692436639 (Custom Universal)
ISBN-10: 0692436634
BISAC: Fiction / Fantasy / Epic

Hungry. Feral. Remorseless.
Demonic creatures have crawled from their hives for the first time in thousands of years. They seek their prey relentlessly, seemingly invincible. Swarming across the world to blot out whole nations.
Two young men, an orphan and a maverick, will pick up one of the most powerful weapons ever forged by Those Before and stand against the rising tide of darkness. They shall bet their bodies, their spirits and their immortal souls in a bout that shall break the wave of sharp, black chitin, or fail and doom the whole world and all that dwell in it.
It is in this world that a dark shadow has been cast. It will fall across all people in time unless these two can rally the Folk to stop it. Step into a new world with this pair as they venture from the safety of the Fox Vale, into the cold embrace of the wide world.
They will face danger, adversity, and treachery, all as they strain to listen, to hear any clue in THE ECHOES OF THOSE BEFORE

Enjoy a new fantasy setting good for ages teen and above. Delve into the secrets of a dangerous world, and discover the secrets of the doom hanging over them all.

This new fantasy series has the magical fantasy elements of Tolkien, with the flavor of a Disney epic. Sure to be fun for any member of the family, it is especially good for any reader of fantasy or furry fiction.

The one… where I admit I’m a slacker… kinda.

I just moderated a comment from a new fan and I realized I have not posted to this blog in forever. I’m getting questions about what I am up to and what is coming. I can only say I am very sorry. I guess it is time for some confessions and an update.

Last year I lost my day job. Since then it has been a financial struggle to keep my home and so forth. Trying to find another job is difficult since my experience knocks me out of opening positions, and equal positions are often jealously guarded. It has, however, allowed me to work on more novels than I thought possible.

I am working on a contract for Heroes’ Tears. The novel is a Fantasy, set in a war torn historical era of this RPG. It should be out next year.

I finished the sequel to I Know Not, the Legacy of Fox Crow. This one, The Opus Discordia, deals with Crow after leaving (running) from his recent successes and gets saddled with an apprentice, gets involved in a three hundred year old plot to overthrow a kingdom, and is haunted by a ghostly composer as well as a new crop of assassins. It is in the hands of the Publisher, who has it out for editing, and is awaiting the cover still.

That being said, I have not been resting on my laurels (such as they are). I am working on a sequel to Whispering of Dragons called The Clash of Souls. It is in progress, and I hope to have the manuscript in the hands of the publisher soon

Next I finished a new fantasy novel, a whole new story in a new fantasy series. This one is a departure from my standard fantasy work, and I hope to have it ready by April 1st. I say departure and I mean it: It is epic fantasy instead of dark fantasy, it is going to be self published (mostly due to my desperate need for cash, pretty fast), and it has… other qualities that set it apart. More will be announced soon, but for more updates keep an eye on THIS PAGE.

So I’m working pretty hard, and a lot of stuff is falling by the wayside. This blog amongst them. I want to do another Radiation Angels Novel. I want to finish another Fox Crow. There’s a lot to do, and now it is all very important.

See, every purchase used to be an important acknowledgement of my work. Now it is my life blood. I eat, my lights stay on, depending on my wife going to work, and the work I put out to give everyone a few minutes respite and entertainment. You are all keeping me alive, and for that I want to say thank you. I am truly humbled.
Now, if I can ask, please leave a review on goodreads or amazon. Please blog about what of my books you have read, recommend them to friends. I feel like I am imposing on friends and family, but I have to ask. I’m just starting to climb and air getting thin out here already.

Always remember you can keep up with my work on my Amazon Author Page.

You can like James Daniel Ross if you facebook.

But, overall if you have bought books, I thank you.
Now it is my mission to write faster than any of you can read.
And do it so well you curse me for it.