Read Ebook {PDF EPUB} Fate's Needle by Jerry Autieri Jerry Autieri. I’ve been quite busy recently, using all my free time to work on my writing rather than dredging up interesting blog topics. The ever-so-witty post title really explains what I’ve been doing, at least in part. For starters I completed the first draft of my follow-up to Fate’s Needle . The working title is Islands in the Fog . I’ve let it “cool off” for about a month, and am now just going back in to tighten up the story and prose. I’ll be sending it to a beta reader for feedback after that’s done. The plan right now is to have the book out in Jan/Feb 2013. So what did I do during that cooling off period? So glad you asked! I plotted two more novels, both high fantasy stories. When I say plot, I don’t just mean something like: “The Dork-Lords of Grond have stolen the Magic Dixie Cup of Clarity and only the Fair Prince can retrieve it. So he does some questing and stuff to get it back and make a girlfriend. The End.” Nope, I go all out. I’ve got two books planned plot-point by plot- point, scene by scene. I just need to sit down and write the darn things! But my Ulfrik stories take a front seat. I’ve already got third book for Ulfrik on training wheels right now. In addition to the above, I wrote a short story as well. It’s a horror story, which I will probably publish under a pen name. No sense confusing my audience. I’ll need a good name. How about Dirk LeRouge. Too “Twilight?” How about Stan McSmashfist? That’s probably for action stories. I’ll think of something. All frivolity aside, I also ensured that Fate’s Needle is now available in paperback! Through the magic of CreateSpace, I am able to have this as a print-on-demand book. The process was a little tricky, but I did it. I was quite pleased with the results. The proof copy looks awesome. If you don’t like reading books on e-readers, phones, or computers you can enjoy my story as a traditional book. Now that I know how easy it is provide paperback options I’ll be offering all my future works in both electronic and paper formats. Wrangling Through Smashwords Formatting. Well, I’m learning about eBook formatting by leaps and bounds this week. I’m am happy to announce to my reader(s) that the tour de force that is Fate’s Needle is now available on Smashwords. The whole process was fairly painless, much like banging your funny bone. That’s not really the normal pain you feel when you slam an appendage into a hard surface. It’s numbing and paralyzing, unpleasant and long-lasting. But it’s not painful, like being stabbed. You do have to follow the Smashwords style guide. As you scroll through the endless white spaces of that PDF, you begin to suspect what your final product is going to look like. But overall, now that it’s all over, I think my final product looks good in the formats that I’ve reviewed. I’ve learned that so much time can be saved in the process if I had just written my manuscripts in the format they want. You are basically advised to use formatting styles to manage your document. If you do that, most of what you have to do for Smashwords prep work will be minimal. Also, do yourself a favor and don’t do minimalist chapter headings like “Fourteen” or whatnot. Stick the word “chapter” on each heading and you will be a happier person. Once you’ve got the document set up like the style guide wants, the actual uploading was fast. It converted to all major eBook formats and gave me the results of its “auto vetter” for inclusion in premium services. Premium services, despite the name, are free and basically allows you to sell via all major online book sellers besides Amazon. Pretty slick! I got one error,which was a vestigial paragraph tab that I had not deleted. It was just one that knocked me out. However, this did not mean I wasn’t published. I was. I was just not ready for premium services. Once I fixed that little error I reloaded via my dashboard, repeated the same process, and was good to go. I had to assign an ISBN, which Smashwords gives you for free and is only needed for premium services. The whole process took me three hours to complete. That’s because I had so much to fix. Now that I know what to do and how to prepare, next time will be faster. I was even able to pick off another typo (how many will I continue to find, even after a million reads!) before uploading. So this is a massively improved version! Go get it! (I deleted an extraneous “the”; I think the whole book is a lot clearer for now.) Jerry's Big Picture. Here's a close up look at his face. I tried to go for the slobbering look and I think it came across nicely. It just enhances the "mean and stupid" feel. The biggest problem I had with this model is the mold lines. I tried to melt them with plastic glue, but that didn't work. So I put green stuff in the lines, and that just worsened it. So I tried to minimize the lines with the paint job. That worked somewhat, but not all that well. It's too bad, as this guy is a set-piece for my army and will get a lot of attention. Well, at least I tried! Fate's Needle. Ulfrik stood in the front rank, on his father’s shield side. He pushed up his leather cap, which constantly slid over his eyes. Once I’m a blooded warrior, I’ll have my own helmet. On Ulfrik’s shield side stood his father’s hirdmen. Behind them, a crowd of about thirty men—all from the nearby farms or standing troops—formed ranks. Looking over at his eldest son, Orm reached out, removed the ill-fitting leather cap, and tossed it away. He said nothing. Ulfrik could feel his heart hammering in his chest, even though no enemy was in sight. “Grim, go back to the hall,” Orm ordered, pointing at his youngest son. Grim, wearing one of Ulfrik’s tunics that hung loosely on his young frame, had been fluttering about the front rank, brandishing a small knife and boasting about killing the enemy. His face crumpled at his father’s command. “If Ulfrik can fight in the shield wall, so can I!” “Fool child, nothing but trouble from the day you were born. Your brother is fifteen, and smarter than you’ll ever be. Now go, before I crack your head.” Grim appeared about to speak, but kept silent. He dared to glower at his father, then faced Ulfrik and spat at his feet before running back across the dew-laden grass toward the hall. “Better keep your brother in check,” Orm said, peering over Ulfrik’s head to the tree line beyond. “I’ve no patience for his complaints.” Ulfrik nodded, wondering when his father had ever had patience for Grim. He watched his brother’s form dissolve into the gray and green background. Ever since they had received news of the raiding ships, Grim had not stopped trying to join the defense. Ulfrik had told him to stay away, if only to keep their father from beating him senseless, but his brother never took his advice. The chill morning was quiet but for wind rushing over the cleared fields around his uncle Auden’s hall. When the wind lulled, the rasp of weapons and hushed talk of the warriors could be heard. Ulfrik continued scanning the distance. He felt his pulse throb in his neck, and was self-conscious for it. The older warriors seemed unconcerned about facing savage Vestfold raiders. Eventually, two figures approached from the woods: scouts, now returning. “The raiders have pulled up their ship as far as the inlets could take them. They’re on foot now, moving with purpose,” the older scout reported. Orm grunted and smiled. Ulfrik swallowed hard at the news. His father nodded to Auden, who commanded one of his men to raise Grenner’s standard, a green flag with elk antlers in black. Orm cheered as his standard fluttered, and the others joined in. “Cheer with us, lad.” The hirdman at Ulfrik’s shield side, Snorri, elbowed him. “Let those whoreson raiders know the land is protected.” Smiling, Ulfrik joined in the hollering; it felt like a celebration. These fierce men would drive back the scum from Vestfold. The invaders had no chance. Then, the enemy emerged—at first just muted smudges in the distance with sporadic white flashes as the thin sun glanced off their weapons. Orm and the men bellowed in challenge. “Form up the line to prevent flanking. Make them come to us.” Orm gestured toward the center of the field, and the men formed two straight lines as Orm had commanded. Undaunted by the challenge, the enemy marched toward them. “The line’s too thin.” Auden worried. “What it if breaks? They’ll split us up.” Orm didn’t seem concerned, which Ulfrik admired. He had never seen his father command men in battle, but he knew by heart the stories of his father’s bravery and cunning.