THE FANTASTICAL WORLDS OF H. LEIGHTON DICKSON
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      • To Journey in the Year of the Tiger
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Life, the Universe and Everything...

Reviews in Space

5/30/2013

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"Space is big. You just won't believe how vastly, hugely, mind- bogglingly big it is. I mean, you may think it's a long way down the road to the chemist's, but that's just peanuts to space." Douglas Adams

Space is big. So is Amazon. In fact, I didn't really know how big until I went to the Writers Digest Conference this April in New York and sat in on Jon Fine of Amazon talk about authors, about self-publishing, about so many ins and outs of the steamroller that is Amazon that I went away thinking two things. One was 'Um wow, big', and the other was 'What do you mean it doesn't all connect???' To that, I was referring to the variations of Amazon through which we sell our books, dot.com being the biggest but not the only.


Each of those domains, the dot.ca, the dot.co.uk, the dot.de, etc all have different sites for our books. They do not cross pollinate. They don't really like to talk to each other either and I see that as a bit problematic. For example, if someone chooses to drop in on Amazon.ca and look for TO JOURNEY IN THE YEAR OF THE TIGER, he or she will find a small limited site with no Author Central page and hugely different rankings based on the one five star review. (http://ow.ly/lyWdl.) If he or she goes to Amazon.com, he or she will find a larger site with Author Central page and many more five star reviews, making the book more desirable for purchase.  (http://ow.ly/lyWjb) It's the same with the other domains, causing the splintering of reviews, likes and rankings, which should ideally work together for the marketability of the product. That said, I was pleasantly surprised to find reviews that I never knew existed, and I'll share two of them with you below! So, pros and cons right? Still, unity is good (just ask Spock), splinter cells are bad, and in the BIG picture, I do tend to like good better...=)  

Customer Reviews
To Journey in the Year of the Tiger

5.0 out of 5 stars A Fun Romp!, Jan 20 2013
By 
Northern David (Canada) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: To Journey in the Year of the Tiger (Paperback)
This book is a delightful romp. It has excellent characters and character development as well as excellent character interplay. It starts a bit slowly, rather like a roller coaster, but is worth hanging in there for the wild ride that ensues :-) The back cover compares it to Roger Zelazney, but I found it more akin to Robert Jordan both in content and character development/interaction.
If you like Fantasy/Sci-Fi with a solid story plot, characters you can love and hate, and finding yourself questioning whether you'd chop the wicked witch's head off, give her a shot at redemption, or use her to further the cause until you do cut her head off you'll love, "To Journey in the Year of the Tiger". I'm off to order the next book in the series :-)


and 

To Walk in the Way of Lions
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent!, Feb 8 2013
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: To Walk in the Way of Lions (Tails from the Upper Kingdom) (Kindle Edition)
Fun, fresh and enjoyable. Take yourself away from the everyday humdrum of weapons, war, and disaster to a world of everyday giant cats trying to make their way in a world they didn't create. Lots of humour and well written. Thanks!
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Interview with a Lion

5/16/2013

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There is some buzz a-generating once again with TIGER and LION, with a recommendation for publication from PYR books and LION topping the charts at #1 in its category. I am stunned and excited as yet another request for an interview crossed my screen from Free eBooks Daily, a site run by authors for authors. You can click to the site here or take your time and scroll down here: Either way, make sure you have a cuppa tea or a glass of port, pull up a chair and get cozy.

TO WALK IN THE WAY OF LIONS is the second in the powerful Original Series by H. Leighton Dickson and picks up where TO JOURNEY IN THE YEAR OF THE TIGER leaves off. This is a sweeping post-apocalyptic tale of genetically altered lions and tigers, wolves and dragons in a world that has evolved in the wake of the fall of human civilization. Half feline, half human, their culture blends those of Dynastic China, Ancient India and Feudal Japan where humans are legend and kingdoms have risen in their stead. Fans of Tolkien, GAME OF THRONES, REDWALL or Japanese anime will be entertained in these intelligent and beautifully written pages in a blend of science, fantasy and zoological speculation. 

Author Q&A 

Why do you think readers are going to enjoy your book?
TO WALK IN THE WAY OF LIONS is the second in a series for intelligent readers who love scifi/fantasy stories with grand world building and deep characterization. It is surprisingly funny in some parts, nerve-wracking in others and it shows how sometimes the most human of characters aren't entirely human.

How did you come up with the idea for your book?
I've had the idea for almost 30 years and predates the time I was penciling for DC Comics. It's just morphed from graphic novel format to novel and gotten better along the way.

Who is your favorite character in your book and why?
Kirin Wynegarde-Grey is my favourite character. He is also the main character. He is outwardly perfect, in physical appearance, in social status, in profession. But ultimately he is the most deeply flawed of the six and his journey is a painful but brilliant one.

What was your favorite chapter (or part) to write and why?
I think the chapter entitled "The Dry Provinces" was my favourite. It is very complex and sets events into motion that lead to disastrous consequences. You are also 'inside' each character's head at some point (shifting POVs) for most of the chapter and you see their motivations and reasons for doing even the most surprising things. There's great action and deep emotion in that chapter. 

Is there a message in your novel you want readers to discover?
It sounds cliched but this is a novel about self-discovery. Each of the six characters discovers strengths they didn't know they had and weaknesses they wished they didn't. Even though it is a fantasy, it's about prejudice and racism, class structure and freedom - things society has been struggling with for thousands of years. And, on a personal level, that perhaps people are more perfect when they are not perfect at all... 

Character Interview - Captain Kirin Wynegarde-Grey

Tell us a little about yourself, C. How would you describe your appearance?
I am a lion. That should be enough description, I suppose, but I understand you wish to know more. I am tall for a lion and my eyes are blue, like my father's. My mane has grown to my waist and is as gold as a field of wheat in summer. I wear armour of Imperial gold as well and bear both long and short swords as proof of my Shatyriah class. I am a lion among lions, a warrior by blood and by choice. I follow the Bushido, a code of honour among warriors and I take it seriously.

Where do you fit into the story? What should we know about you?
I take the first step in the first story, TO JOURNEY IN THE YEAR OF THE TIGER, and it is a high one, to the very top of the One Hundred Steps. I love my Empire, I love my Empress, I love my job as Captain of her personal guard. There is nothing I will not do for her, including travel across our Kingdom to find an Ancestor, a human who has managed to awaken after they have long gone. I may have to kill him.

What time period do you live in?
Not yours. Very far in your future, I am led to believe. Perhaps five thousand years.

Where are you from? Do you live in the same place now?
I grew up in the House Wynegarde-Grey in the mountains outside DharamShallah and I work in the Palace of Pol'Lhasa. My story is still unfolding, so yes, I am currently back in Pol'Lhasa, although I am not sure what fate awaits me there.

Tell us about your past. Can you share one really good experience and/or one really bad experience?
I have served the Empire since I drew my first breath, 24 summers ago. A very good memory for me was when I first met the Empress. I had four summers, she two. She was accompanied by peacocks and she pushed me down and sat on me. I have loved her ever since. A very bad memory is of the time Kerris killed our father by calling lightning out of the sky. I will never forget that day.

How do you feel about life now. What, if anything, would you like to change?
I am sad, now. I have only 24 summers, but after everything that has happened in the Year of the Tiger, I am sad. Changed. Not perfect anymore. If I could change anything, I would not have tried to kill my brother. I would have thrown the sword on the ground and left him. Then, I would not have fled and as a result, lost everything.

What special skills or abilities do you have? How do they affect your part in the story?
As I said, I am a lion and of the Shahtyriah caste. That is saying much. I carry the two swords, katanah and kodaichi and I know how to use them. I am skilled in fighting, in diplomacy, in the leading of men. This is all I know. They shape how I think and how I act. It is the Way of Things.

Who is the most important person in your life? Tell us about them.
The Empress is the most important person in my life, but truth be told, she is the most important person in any cat's life. She is iron and steel, silk and song. She is the colour of night with eyes as golden as the sun at midday. She is my life and she knows it.

How does that person impact you and your life?
I will do anything for the Empress, including travel to the very edges of our Kingdom, which spans from your China to your Middle East. I will sacrifice everything that I stand for to protect the Kingdom and, over the course of one terrible year, I do.

What do you see in your future?
Duty. Only duty. If the future continues to play out as it seems, there will be huge changes for our Kingdom and that will be bad for all of us. But I do hope and I trust in the Bushido to guide me onto the correct path.

Will you encourage your author to write a sequel?
Her fans have encouraged her to do so, and she is already 3/4s of the way to completing the third in the series, SONGS IN THE YEAR OF THE CAT. I must admit I was rather pleased at the turn of events. 

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Thanks to the gang at Free eBooks Daily for that great interview! Kerris will bring them back a pearl and some shark teeth from his next adventure!



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Giver of Grand Advice

5/13/2013

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Believe it or not, I've been asked twice in the last week for advice from young novelists who are just beginning to wrap their heads around the notion that they might actually have this addiction/disease called writing. Oddly enough, they have both asked me the same question. It's a question I never asked anyone, partially because I think I am such a solitary soul that I just wrote, never bothering to validate my work with anyone along the way. I salute these two young writers for having the guts and the presence to do what I did not, and I sincerely hope that I can give them some advice that encourages them along their curse/addiction/gifting/path/guilty pleasure. Maybe I will be in one of their acknowledgement sections one day. I hope so. Story-telling is a beautiful thing.

Here is the first one, from Jon T, a brilliant song writer and musician in his own right, now forming a world of words of a different sort. Here's a snippet of our first conversation:

        Jon T:
  • Hi Heather!
    I've been rolling a story around in my mind for a couple of years and I have most of it worked out. I'd like to ask you a million questions about writing, but I think I'll restrain myself to this one: I'm fairly sure the writing will take a lot of time if I want to do a good job, so how did you make sure you had time to do it?

  • Heather Dickson
  • Hey cool! Go for it! Writing is something that is very hard to escape if it's been on your heart. For the longest time, I 'stole' time - at night, during weekends, on days off, but now, with it actually becoming something that I am doing as a sideline occupation and soon-to-be actually published novels, it is becoming more and more legit, time-wise.

    There are two pieces of advice that I've heard over and over, and have seen proven true in my own life. 1) Dedicate 20 minutes a day. If you can do more, great, but like exercising, it is a discipline and is best to start slowly and build as your strength improves, and 2) make sure your spouse is on board. If Kathleen doesn't get it, it will be hard. If she is supportive, then carving that 20 minutes will be a blessing for both of you.

    I'd be happy to answer more questions! This has been a brilliant journey for me, and I'm still at the start, but encouragement is my gift so I'm eager to help out a fellow writer!!!


    And the second came just tonight from a young woman I've know since birth, Hannah Leila. Here's how this has started:

  • Hannah Leila T.
  • Hey! 
    First of all I would like to say that I finally have time to read your novels and I am already hooked!! I have not forgotten my promise to review them on Amazon. I was wondering if you could give me a bit of advice about writing? What are your tips for a first time novelist who is slaving over their computer, equal parts loving every minute and trying to keep her head off the desk? 
    Any help you can offer would be SO appreciated. 
    Hannah

  • H. Leighton Dickson - AuthorI think the best advice would be discipline. Try to write 20 mins a day. Think of it like exercise. 20 mins to start. Soon, you will be building your writing muscle and writing more each day, until you will need to schedule days when you do not write, so your brain can rebuild!

    Also, be okay with revising and editing. After you write a chapter, leave it for a few days and then reread and edit as you go. After a few months, reread the entire thing from start to finish and edit as you go through that as well. be okay with changing things. Have an idea of where you want to go but be okay with getting there by a completely unexpected route than previously imagined. Your novel will start telling you what, when, where and ultimately why. Be okay with that. Let your characters become independent of you. They will write their own story and sometimes, you will read something you've written and go, wow, did I write that? That is genius at work.
Interesting, isn't it? The storytelling is a part of us all, but the writer's craft isn't. That is something we need to learn and sharing that process is one unexpected and amazing part of this literary journey that make me so happy. Maybe it's my age, maybe it's my personality. Either way, I love to talk writing. The world needs more story-tellers. If you have questions, comments, criticisms or anything else that starts with a 'k' sound, shoot it my way and we'll engage. I'm game. It's all about the journey. Let's get 
talking!
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    H. Leighton Dickson

    Author. Zoologist. Imaginary Genius. Engineer of Fantastical Worlds. Master of None.

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  • Home
  • Books
    • Reading Order
    • The Dragons of Solunas >
      • Dragon of Sand & Storm
      • Dragon of Ash & Stars
    • The Empire of Steam/Cold Stone & Ivy >
      • Cold Stone & Ivy: The Ghost Club
      • Cold Stone & Ivy 2: The Crown Prince
      • Cold Stone & Ivy 3: The Seventh House
    • The Rise of the Upper Kingdom >
      • To Journey in the Year of the Tiger
      • To Walk in the Way of Lions
      • Songs in the Year of the Cat
      • Snow in the Year of the Dragon
      • Swallowtail & Sword: The Scholar's Book of Story & Song
  • Shop
  • About the Author
  • Contact