Woke up this morning to a pile of emails and PMs about The Blacksmith's Apprentice, so I thought I would answer some of the questions here and clear up some confusion.
- No, there are no shifters. There is no mpreg. It is not an a/b/o story.
The characters in The Blacksmith's Apprentice are something called Kat'hoondemen and they are divided into different breed castes. There's a page at the beginning of the book outlining the basics of these breeds - if you're curious, you can see the list in the "Look Inside" link at Amazon. The story does not take place on earth. - Yes, there will be a paperback.
Amazon approved the ebook in a ridiculously short amount of time - less than twenty minutes after hitting "publish" it started going live. The paperback is done and submitted, don't worry, it's just taking longer to get approved (ebooks and paperbacks are approved by different teams at Amazon). I will definitely let everyone know once the paperback goes live. - Yes, the book is classified as fantasy, but there are no dragons or magic or elves, etc.
It's sort of hard to explain exactly what the book is about without giving away important plot points. If you're someone who doesn't enjoy fantasy (because of dragons, magic, or elves, etc.) this is not that. You might enjoy it. You might not. :) - No, I don't know if there will be an audiobook.
One of the two MCs is mute and uses sign language to communicate. I'll have to consult with Michael Ferraiuolo (because he would be the one to do it... I really want to hear the voice he'll use for Eyck) to see how that would translate into audio. But, it won't be until halfway next year at the earliest. - So... what is the book about?
Heh - this is the top question I'm being asked. Bottom line, is it's about finding someone when you weren't looking for them. Add to that some abuse and angst, a society on the cusp of revolution, some xenophobia, a bunch of priests being varying degrees of awful, ancient lore, a futile war, pirate brothers who enjoy a good hard romp, a dickish best friend, a very respectable member of the community, and an ex-slave who thinks love is a four-letter word, and you have The Blacksmith's Apprentice.