C. Gockel's Blog, page 141

kboards: Free and bargain Kindle books! (Satuday Dec 28):

ibringthefireodin:

And today I’m advertising my free giveaway of I Bring the Fire on KBoards!

(I’m trying all the ebook advertisers, so you don’t have to!)

 

UPDATE: When I first ran the promo I was underwhelmed by the number of downloads. However, the Kboards audience seems to be very engaged. Sales have picked up, and I Bring the Fire just hit 120 reviews. At least for the moment all of the books are in the Norse and Viking top 20.

I am almost done with the rough draft. Maybe one more week? Then I have to reread, then send to the beta-readers.

Anyway, in celebration, a small excerpt. This bit of magic happens on Chicago’s far west side. Steve and his friend Dale are at Steve’s folks’ house. Dale’s family are Klan members. This is based on a real thing. One of my friends in the Marines had a Marine friend whose family was in the KKK. The Marine wasn’t—obviously—and they were buds (my friend isn’t white). I’m afraid some of my readers won’t find it believable, but yeah, based on a real “thing”.

Anyway, picture a big white guy for Dale.

…………………

Henry walks out of the foyer grumbling, “Skinny white kid at the door. Probably a drug addict if he’s in this neighborhood. I’m calling the police before someone shoots him…”

Dale is up a moment later walking to the door very businesslike. Which in Dale’s case could be dangerous.

“I’ve got to go,” Steve says. “I’ll get back to you.”

“Think about it,” is the last thing Steve hears before he disconnects. He almost runs into the foyer. Dale is standing in the open door, staring down at a thin white “kid” with blonde hair. 

“Yeah?” says Dale, “What do you want?”

“This isn’t Steve Rogers residence?” says the “kid”, breath hanging in the frosty air.

The last time Steve saw the “kid” he had pointy ears. His name is Liddell. He is a “dark” elf, the same ones who were trading with the Russians.

eskelde:

Odin

cgockel:

hel-to-valhalla:

I forgot to upload this here yesterday! 

sir-hattington suggested Loki would be a cute child so I decided to try drawing him as a little kid (again)

Here’s my version of Loki as a little boy. I used this as an opportunity to demonstrate the changes to his design.

Enjoy!

All characters, content and designs are © 2013 hel-to-valhalla
All rights reserved. No characters, content or designs may be used, reproduced, copied, edited, transmitted, duplicated, printed, claimed or uploaded in any way shape or form without my written permission.

Baby!Loki for the new year!

kboards: Free and bargain Kindle books! (Satuday Dec 28):

And today I’m advertising my free giveaway of I Bring the Fire on KBoards!

(I’m trying all the ebook advertisers, so you don’t have to!)

 

I took advantage of Cheap E Book FaceBook Flash this month. It was a really good deal. You buy FaceBook Flashes in bundles of 3 and they space each “Flash” 10 days apart. The total cost for the bundle is only $15.

I advertised I Bring the Fire, which will be free at least through March. I got about 130 extra downloads yesterday—the first “Flash” I got more—and I made up the cost of advertising on sales of books 2, 3, and 3.5 within hours.

Cheap E Book doesn’t have a huge FB following, but they must be emphasizing quality because it definitely worked for me.

I went ahead and added to the “master list of advertisers”

ReadCheaply:

FREE & Discount Bestseller eBooks for Kindle, Nook, iPad, and more.

ReadCheaply is one of the few bookrec services whose daily emails I actually enjoy. Their emails are attractive and not cluttered with junk, they only promote a book once every 120 days, and they do vet them for quality.

A great site for readers AND writers.

Elf lobby blocks Iceland road project:

Supreme court to rule on case brought by Friends of Lava, who cite environmental impact of highway and effect on elf culture

This tidbit stood out for me:

Andri Snaer Magnason, a well-known environmentalist, said his major concern was that the road would cut the lava field in two and destroy nesting sites.

"Some feel that the elf thing is a bit annoying," said Magnason, adding that he was not sure they existed. However, he said: "I got married in a church with a god just as invisible as the elves, so what might seem irrational is actually quite common [with Icelanders]."

“The Norse gods are reginn, “organizing powers,” and by themselves cannot bring that world to life; they need the touch of disorder and vulnerability that Loki brings, a point we see by its reverse: when Loki is suppressed, the world collapses; when he—and disorder—returns, the world is reborn.”

- Trickster Makes This World: Mischief, Myth, and Art
by Lewis Hyde

FIC REC: Something there is that doesn’t love a wall :

cgockel:

Title: Something there is that doesn’t love a wall
Author: Pomegranate seeds
Rating: PG
Length: 6500 Words
Relationships: Myth!Loki/Myth!Sigyn, Sleipnir, and his “mom”
Summary: “I have little love for walls,” Loki says. “They’re meant only to keep what’s interesting out, or worse, to…

I liked this take on myth!Loki & myth!Sigyn. Even though it is very different than my own—at least as far as Loki’s ability to shapeshift, and Sigyn’s innocence. I write “BAMF!Experienced!SlightlyJaded!Cunning!Sigyn”, but respect other interpretations.

Free to read on Live Journal.