3 Early Reviews of LOTB

Nate and I have gotten three real good reviews so far on Language of the Bear. Each one does a nice job of giving a good feel for the characters and plot without giving anything away. Two reviewers (without prodding from us, I swear!) were gracious enough to compare the book to its spiritual predecessor, Last of the Mohicans. That's quite a compliment so I want to send a big thank you to our early reviewers so far.

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I've made a habit in the past on my solo projects of offering free copies in exchange for honest reviews, a practice that has served both readers and myself well. People are more willing to try out a new author when the book is free, and the subsequent reviews help prospective readers make informed buying decisions.

So now I'd like to extend that offer on Language of the Bear.

If you'd like a free copy in exchange for writing an honest review of the book on Amazon, shoot me an email at ronaniswriting@gmail.com.

This is a limited time offer, however. First ten to email get a free copy. You really have nothing to lose: if historical fiction and old-school adventure are your thing, then this book is right up your alley. It will cost you nothing but a couple minutes of your time once you're finished the book to write up a review.

Language of the Bear Available Now!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It's here, folks.

This book is the start of the series Nate and I have planned out set around the time of the French & Indian War. It features not one, but TWO main characters who are brought together by circumstance to undertake a secret, dangerous mission on the frontier of Colonial Pennsylvania.

Fair warning, this book is not for the faint of heart. Murder, betrayal, scalping, hanging, and a blood-soaked finale caps it all off. This is James Fenimore Cooper on steroids.

Check out the free sample over on Amazon, and if you like the book, please leave us a review.

Can I get a "Hell, Yeah!"?

Language of the Bear will be available on Friday, May 8th! And here's the cover art which looks effing great.

All my books are labors of love, and this one is no exception. It's filled with action, danger, suspense, thrills, romance, and some "oh crap" reversals of fortune.

But what makes this book really special to me is I got to write it with one of my best friends, fellow author Nate Green. Collaborating on a story was such an enlightening process--with Nate's feedback I was able to see a few of my many artistic blind spots--and the end product is a perfect example of the whole being greater than the sum of the parts. I could not have written this good a book without Nate.

Look for it May 8th on Amazon. We're hard at work on the sequel, Through the Narrows, and will have that out soon as well.

Want to See Chapter 2 of Language of the Bear Before We Release It?

You can by signing up for my Newsletter before Thursday.

What's that you say? You also want to read Chapter 1 before the book is out?

Then go sign up for my buddy Nate Green's Newsletter. As fast as you can!

Wary about signing up for two different Newsletters? Don't be. We're not spamming asshats who email any time a random thought enters our minds. We email sparingly, only when it's important, like to impart information about new releases or special deals.

Still wary? That's okay. You can just buy the book when it comes out ;-)

Why did we do it this way?

Language of the Bear is told from two points of view. And I don't mean hero and villain. I mean two heroes. That's right. You get two protagonists for the price of one. The story alternates, chapter-by-chapter, from their points of view. In Chapter 1 we're introduced to Wolf Tongue, a brash Susquehannock warrior with a wicked sense of humor, and not-so-small chip on his shoulder out to prove himself. In Chapter 2, Lieutenant Hugh Pyke, a redcoat still new to the Pennsylvania Colony, takes the stage. In the short span of these intro chapters there are: double-crosses, blood challenges, a duel, a possible murder, romantic entanglements, backroom machinations...and other general awesomeness.

If that sounds like your bag, get in on the action early by signing up for our Newsletters. You won't be disappointed.

The New Book Is On Goodreads

Language of the Bear

I am super-freaking-excited. The latest book, the best book I've been a part of (so far), is up on Goodreads and out next month.

We're still working with our kick-ass designer on the cover, and we'll have a reveal of that soon. But for now, if you're interested in the book please add it to your TBR on Goodreads. It'll help us build interest leading up to the e-release next month on Amazon.

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Nate Green is a good friend and a gifted writer. We've both been chasing this crazy dream of writing fiction for a living for awhile. A few years back, we were in his truck, talking about stories and writing and how exciting and difficult and frustrating and interesting the process was and somewhere in that conversation we got the crazy idea to write a book together.

That book eventually became Language of the Bear.

A collaboration really appealed to me. I looked forward to doing something that for years had been a solitary, banging-your-head-against-the-wall pursuit. Working with Nate on a story he was totally invested in also gave me a great sounding board for ideas, character arcs, and story-telling. I hope I've been as helpful to him as he's been to me.

We settled on a historical novel, a good old-fashioned adventure that reminded us of the books we'd read growing up, with one notable qualification. We agreed early on we weren't going to whitewash history and we weren't going to give the characters modern sensibilities. The world would be as it was: increasingly short, often nasty, and sometimes brutish.

We shopped Language of the Bear to agents and editors and got this close several times, which was both encouraging and frustrating. But nobody bit. We passed it around to friends and family and they told us it was great, but of course you have to take the opinions of loved ones with a healthy dose of skepticism. The book, as much as we liked it, seemed doomed to live out its life on our computers.

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Meanwhile I'd made the decision to indie publish my solo projects, and in particular my paranormal thrillers. Readers slowly but surely found The Unearthed series and once I started to see (very modest) success with it, Nate and I discussed the possibility of indie pubbing Language of the Bear as well. Eventually we decided it was a good idea. As I've said with my own books, the best judge of the work is the reader and this way readers will let us know if it's any good. ;-)

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Nate and I had such a great time writing the book together, we decided to make it into a series and start another series as well. More to come on those books, but we're hard at work on them.