Everyone remembers the great fantasy books by Rival Gates? No? Well, check out the Sapphire Chronicles, because there's already a 3rd book published, and it's amazing! I also asked Mr. Gates to talk a bit about how to be a writer, so scroll down, to read his thoughts about it!
And don't forget to check out his books!
I loved them!
Title: Mandrean Revenge
Author: Rival Gates
Publication
Date:
Publisher: Sarah Book Publishing
Goodreads
– Amazon – Barnes & Noble
Summary:
It has been more than two years since Linvin Grithinshield returned from his life-altering quest for the Red Sapphire. Now, apart from surviving the regular assassination attempts, he thinks life has returned to normal. In the Mandrean Empire to the north, however, trouble is festering. In spite of his best efforts, Lord Mandrean the 13th has survived their confrontation and, with his empire on the verge of revolt, he needs a show of force to display his dominance and gain his revenge. With the help of his evil Necromancer, Mandrean kidnaps Linvin’s elderly uncle; the closest family member Linvin has remaining. Lord Mandrean promises to release the uncle only after Linvin has surrendered himself for execution. Linvin has a terrible decision to make, but left little choice he sets out for the empire. He cannot delay, as his uncle’s life will end with the first frost of fall. Will the obstacles he faces along the way be too much to overcome, or will he arrive in time to meet his own fate?
Other Books in the series:
Book 1 : Quest for the Red Sapphire
The book centers around Linvin Grithinshield, a half-elf general called home from the goblin wars to
run the lucrative family trading business after his father's disappearance. Only after his mother's murder does he discover his destiny is to be the Master of the Red Sapphire, the most powerful magic any mortal can possess. Together with his wise but mysterious Uncle Anvar and his infuriating cousins Bander and Rander, Linvin must flee the would-be assassins and find the gem before the sinister forces from whom he flees find the stone and take it for a dark purpose.
Goodreads | Amazon
Book 2 : Quest for the Red Sapphire
Captured! In ”Sapphire Crucible” (Book 2 of the Sapphire Chronicles) Linvin Grithinshield and his party find themselves prisoners on the maniacal Lord Mandrean and his Necromancer. The Emperor has a surprise for Linvin. He knows where the Red Sapphire is! In order to attain it he needs Linvin's help. With his family as hostages he has no choice but to help. Now they must find a way to escape, find the Red Sapphire and make it home alive. Along the way they must fight ever-growing odds of survival.
Dealing With Writer’s Block
I have given speeches
at schools and talked to groups about my writing and am asked a litany of
questions. One that always comes up is,
“How do you deal with writer’s block?” It’s
probably the hardest question to answer because the answer is different for
every person. In a way it’s like asking
how you get rid of a cold or bad headache.
There are things you can do but it really has to go away on its own. These are not the answers my fans want to
hear. I don’t blame them. If I had a migraine headache I would want the
doctor to give me a pill to make it go away instead of telling me to just give
it time. The worst part about writer’s
block is it seems the more you try to make it go away, the more it clouds your
thoughts. Relaxing is the hardest but most
necessary thing to do to overcome the problem.
I don’t have writer’s block much but I do have issues at times. All I can do is tell you what I do. If I’m in the middle of a book or paper I
read what I have so far to get the flow going.
I often refer to Hemmingway who said he always stopped writing for the
day while he still had more to write.
That gave him a starting point for the next day. If it’s a new project like writing a guest
blog, I sit and ponder what’s been on my mind lately. Often times I settle more on what has been
bugging me lately. Nothing feeds a
writer like a good rant. Then you have
to go through and make sure everything you wrote was relatively politically
correct. (That was my other choice for topics to write about.) Phil Collins once said that the reason he
would keep going back to Genesis was because he would have bits and pieces of
songs and the other members of the band would help form them into completed songs. Sometimes you have a bit of this and a bit of
that. Find a level-headed friend you can
bounce ideas off. Sometimes just saying
them out loud helps you put the story together.
Other times it takes another person asking questions or making
suggestions to help. I often have these
little bits or missing bridges between events in a story. This is just me, personally, but I go church
when the lights are out and no one is around and think it through. For me you could call it faith or luck or
just plain lack of interference but I always work out my problem there. Usually I already have all the pieces of the
answer. I just need the silence to pull
it together. Hopefully one of these
methods works for you. Just remember to
sit back and appreciate your own writing.
Faith in yourself can overcome just about anything.
About the author:
I was born in the USA and moved to Canada when I was 5. My mother was American and my father was originally Canadian before trading his citizenship. I lived in Canada until I graduated highschool. I returned to the United States where I graduated from Michigan State University. While I was there I met the most wonderful woman on this earth and amazingly she agreed to be my wife. We have been married well over 20 years and have three beautiful children.
I began work on my series of books at age thirteen during a difficult time in my family's and my life. Instead of wollowing in self-pitty, I decided to escape to another world...one of my own creation where I could create the characters. What started as a short story turned into a novel and then a series.
I sat on my work for years, sharing it only with my immediate family. Then my mother was diagnosed with terminal cancer. The longest supporter of my writing made me promiss to publish my work and finish the series. This is my attempt to keep that pledge. Enjoy the ride!
Rival Gates
