This was a very tough list to make this year as there were quite a few solid releases that were all roughly at the same level of quality. Not a huge gap between numbers 5 and 1. Also not a huge gap with the albums that didn’t make the top five.
5. Spiritual Beggars – Sunrise to Sundown
Such an underrated band. Hard Rock at its best.
4. Charred Walls of the Damned – Creatures Watching Over the Dead
Ripper once again strikes gold.
3. Killswitch Engage – Incarnate
Another solid release.
2. Necromancing the Stone – Jewel of the Vile
Just wanted to add that I originally checked these guys out because of their name. I thought it was a funny reference to the two 1980 movies (Romancing the Stone and Jewel of the Nile). I was pleasantly surprised to learn that these guys were way more than just a silly band name. Great musicianship.
1. Anthrax – For All Kings
Not quite as good as Worship Music, but still an unbelievable release. One of the few bands out there that seem to be getting better with age.
I have some great news that I wanted to share with everyone.
A few weeks ago, I was approached by Podium Publishing to bring The Tyrus Chronicles to audiobook.
Podium Publishing has made a strong name for themselves over the last several years as a producer of high-quality audiobooks. Most notably, they produced Andy Weir’s The Martian which won a ton of industry awards. The Martian is considered to be one of the best-selling audiobooks of all time and the first audiobook to receive over a hundred thousand ratings. Skimming through the reviews of other books in their catalog, it seems they select stories that resonate well with their target audience. You can find out more about them at their website, www.podiumpublishing.com.
Given the above, I was excited to have a discussion with them about The Tyrus Chronicles and glad we were able to reach contract terms that satisfied us both.
I don’t have a specific date on when the first audiobook will be released just yet, but based on what I know now, please keep a look out for them in 2017.
Forever Soldiers: The Tyrus Chronicle - Book Four is now available! Click here for your Kindle now. A paperback version will be available later next week.
Here's the description for Forever Soldiers.
Months have passed since Tyrus ended a decade of war between Turine and Genesha by destroying the Geneshan’s sorcerous artifact. He had hoped that taking his family south would grant him the peace he desired, but even in the Southern Kingdoms war welcomes him instead.
Ava strikes a deal with the Southern Kingdom leaders to protect her brother, taking his place in their fight to protect their lands from invading forces. Having spent her adult life entrenched in battle, Ava doesn’t hold any illusions as to what awaits her. A new land, a new language, and new obstacles reinforce what she already knows—nothing in life is easy. Her men, an entire nation, and most of all, her family depends on her success.
Without a call of war to answer, Tyrus leads his group of settlers to their new town, taking on the role of mayor with the skills he has honed for more than a decade—assess, prioritize, plan, execute. When memories of the past begin to cloud his judgement, he is forced into a new kind of war. One he doesn’t know he can or wants to fight.
Once a soldier, forever a soldier.
Forever Soldiers is the final volume in The Tyrus Chronicle.
For a free sample, click here.
If you enjoy the story or any of my other works, please consider leaving a rating or review at the site of purchase as well as other places such as Goodreads and Librarything. Like many other indie authors, I do not have a marketing team working for me and a positive review (even if only a couple of sentences long) can go a long way in enticing others to give my works a try.
Thanks for the continued support!
I’ve been pretty quiet on the blogging front for a while. It’s not because I’ve been slacking. I just haven’t had the time or energy to write anything for the blog outside of a couple Music Monday posts here and there. I've been really busy with writing, editing, outlining a new series, and my day job.
I'm taking a few minutes away today to let everyone know that I’m working on the last round of edits for Forever Soldiers: The Tyrus Chronicle - Book Four. The goal is get this last Tyrus book released during Labor Day week (the week of September 5th for those not in the States).
So stay tuned to the blog, keep up with my Facebook page, follow me on Twitter, or sign up for my newsletter for the official release!
This is such a grossly underrated album. Unbelievably well written songs with some of Slash’s best guitar work. Most of these songs sound like they belong on a follow-up to Appetite for Destruction. Though Eric Dover does a great job on vocals, I think if Axl had sung on this album, it could have been packaged as a GNR release. It would have been huge. Regardless, a supergroup that consists of 3 GNR members (Slash, Matt Sorum, and Gilby Clarke), Mike Inez from AIC, and Eric Drover from Jellyfish is a must own for any hard rock fan. Beggars and Hangers On What do you want to be (live) Back and Forth again (acoustic)
In light of all the crap going on in the world over the last few weeks, I’ve found myself listening to some of my more aggressive CDs. One positive, is that I’ve “rediscovered” a couple of bands I hadn’t checked out in some time. At the top of the list is Chimaira. They released several solid albums before calling it quits. Unfortunately, there was only one album with Kevin Talley on drums.
Check out two of my favorites below.
Nothing Remains (breakdown at the 4:00 minute mark is awesome)
Salvation
Here is the cover for the final book in The Tyrus Chronicle, Forever Soldiers.
The illustration is by Mario Teodosio. You can see his other work here. My talented wife designed the cover.
The manuscript has been sent to my editor. So the release date is forthcoming. I'm still working on the book description.
Let me know your thoughts on the cover!
Lacuna Coil is a cool band that I often forget about until I decide to bust out one of their older albums. Only after I listen to them do I realize that there is some repetitiveness to their sound which is probably why I don’t own more of their releases. Still, they’re worth checking out. Below is their biggest hit.
So last weekend, I introduced my kids to The Ramones. Based on the frequent changes of “Hey! Oh! Let’s go!” I’d say it was a success.
Blitzkrieg Bop
I Wanna Be Sedated
Beat on the Brat
The new Anthrax is awesome….almost as good as Worship Music (I still slightly prefer the latter). Regardless, these last two albums might be my favorites with Belladonna in the band.
\m/
Breathing Lightning
Blood Eagle Wings
Spiritual Beggars is such a grossly underrated band. Michael Amott is best known for Arch Enemy and Carcass, but his work on these albums is equally as awesome.
Title Track
Hard Road
No Man’s Land
After a couple of listens, I can say pretty confidently that the new Killswitch Engage album is as awesome as I had hoped it would be. So far, these are my top 2 tracks.
Hate by Design
The Great Deceit
I’ve wanted to write this blog post for over a month now. The fact that I’m only getting to it now should let you know how continually busy I’ve been. This is mostly due to a promotion at my day job which resulted in me working most of the old position and new position until my old role had been filled. That transition is finally under way. Unfortunately, work won’t completely ease up yet since there are quite a few projects I’m leading or co-leading.
With that being said, I wanted to share a few notables that I’ve recently reached in my writing career and then take a quick look at 2016 and beyond.
Milestones:
- On Christmas Eve 2015, I published Resurrected Soldiers: The Tyrus Chronicles - Book Three. This was my ninth full-length novel and my twelfth published work.
o With that book, I have now published over a million words (just a bit under 1.1 million). That’s a pretty awesome thing to type.
o So far the novel has been well-reviewed by my readers, and the series as a whole continues to be well-received by veterans or soldiers currently serving their country. The latter especially means a great deal to me.
o It has sold very well, and due to its release, I received a spike in sales across my full catalog resulting in my biggest month of sales in January 2016.
o During the early part of January, I even managed to crack the 50,000 mark in total book sales.
Updates:
- On the downside, I had hoped to release a third book in 2015 which for various reasons didn’t happen (partially due to work, partially as a business decision).
- Though I am making good progress on Forever Soldiers, the fourth and final book of the Tyrus Chronicles, it is taking a bit longer to get through the rough draft than I had expected. Therefore, it is very likely that it will be the only full-length novel I release in 2016 (at some point during summer).
- Once Forever Soldiers is finished, I’m hoping to spend the rest of the year hammering through one of several ideas I’m considering for my next series. My goal is to release two books for that new series in 2017, then shoot for a minimum of two releases a year thereafter. I’d like to release 3-4 books a year, but with work as it currently is and other my obligations, I think I’d struggle to meet that goal.
Hopefully your 2016 is a good one!
I'm a day late on my Music Monday post this week, but here are my Top Three Songs by Simon and Garfunkel.
As a side note, despite how awesome some of their music was/is, they also have a bunch of dudes (e.g. Feeling Groovy).
3. Cecilia
2. The Boxer
1. Sound of Silence
Man, this new Megadeth album is unbelievably good. Not a weak track on it.
The Threat is Real
Conquer or Die
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