D. T. Kane reads chapter 32, the final chapter of his epic fantasy fiction novel, The Acktus Trials. D. T. also discusses chapters 30-32, previews Part II of The Spoken Books Uprising, Declaimer’s Discovery, and shares his fantasy quote of the week.
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Follow this link to leave a review: https://www.amazon.com/review/create-review?&asin=B09QZ8MQ38
The Acktus Trials, an epic fantasy novel, available now:
https://dtkane.com/books/the-acktus-trials/
https://books2read.com/theacktustrials
Parts II and III of The Spoken Books Uprising also now available!
Part II, Declaimer’s Discovery: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B09R18NZ5G/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i1
Other Retailers- https://books2read.com/declaimersdiscovery
Part III, Declaimer’s Flight (out now!):
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B09XKGDYFM/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i2
Other Retailers- https://books2read.com/declaimersflight
Map of Oration: https://dtkane.com/resources/map-of-oration/
Characters in this Chapter:
Baztian (Baz): Our main character
Leanna: Torchsire’s Librarian
Tax: Baz’s brother
Below are my notes/script for the episode, not a verbatim transcription:
PERSONAL UPDATE
Welcome back to D. T. Kane’s Epic Fantasy Book Club. Today is July 17, 2022 as I record this, episode 27, and the final episode of The Acktus Trials. We made it through Part I. Woo! Lots more on that soon.
As for my personal update, I continue to work through my edits to Part IV, Declaimer’s Stand. I anticipate having that ready to go to my editor and advance readers at the beginning of August. I was getting a bit bogged down for a couple weeks with (fun) personal events that were limiting my editing time. Those also occurred at sort of the 30-45% point through the book, which is often where I need to do the most editing because that’s where I need to add setup for ideas I had in the latter half of the book, which I tend not to do while I’m drafting. But I’m back chugging away now and really getting excited once again about the story and sharing it with all my readers.
Pre-Order Part IV, Declaimer’s Stand (out September 16, 2022): https://books2read.com/declaimersstand
On the non-writing front, as I noted in my newsletter this week (www.dtkane.com/email-signup), I’ve started training for my next half marathon. As regular listeners will recall, I ran one back in May and finished just under 2:10. This time, I’ll be aiming for 2:04.
And for those of you listening who think running that far sounds ridiculous, perhaps I can give you just a bit of inspiration by saying that about 4 years ago I weighed about 60 more pounds than I do now and would have had trouble running down the driveway to the mailbox. If you start in small chunks and don’t let your pride get in the way of frequent walk breaks, you could run a half marathon too! I was an overweight kid all through my school years and really most of my life. Now, to be clear, there’s nothing wrong with that so long as you’re happy. But in my case, I felt unhealthy and needed a change, and running was one thing that helped me out.
*Mandatory disclaimer: I am not a doctor and this is not medical advice. Consult a healthcare professional before starting any sort of exercise regimen or diet.
Finally, as you’ve also seen if you subscribe to the newsletter, I’ve been getting into photography lately and sharing some of my photos each week. I recently watched a YouTube video that compared photos to short fiction, and I love that. Telling stories with a single image. So, while we’re obviously not a photography-centered show here, I’ll keep sharing photos that I think tell interesting stories, since I figure all of you listening are into stories. I’d love to hear what you think of the photos I share: email me dtkane@dtkane.com.
ANALYSIS CH. 30-32
OK, so it’s been a few weeks since I recorded an analysis section–I just didn’t think I had enough to say about Ch 30 for it to have its own analysis section, and then Chapter 31 was a long one and I didn’t have time to record the narration and analysis, so here we are, finished with the book!
Listen to the show to hear D. T. Kane’s take on the following:
- The Small Spoken Book Ehma gives Baz, and the tension between them.
- Rox keeps Baz’s hat
- Del betrays Baz; Rox reluctantly goes along with Del
- The Book Baz got from Tessa
- What did Baz ask Eromer to do?
- Reunion with Leanna and then Tax
- “Read it to me.”
Declaimer’s Discovery Preview
Loose ends at the end of Book 1:
- Will Baz reconcile with Del and Rox, or are they back to being enemies?
- Baz’s secret–will Del actually keep it safe?
- Is Leanna going to grow suspicious over what really happened at the Trials? Just how much did Eromer reveal to her?
- The Declaimer’s Transcendence? How is Baz going to get to Fortune, on the other side of Oration, to fulfill his promise to Tessa?
Listen to the episode to hear D. T. Kane read the blurb for Part II of The Spoken Books Uprising, Declaimer’s Discovery, which we’ll start reading together on the podcast next week!
Are there any other questions you have that you hope are answered in Part II? Let me know: dtkane@dtkane.com.
A final note, I’m going to tweak the episode format for when we read Part II. I’m thinking maybe only one or two analysis episodes/month. I’m doing this for a couple reasons:
- Some weeks, I’ve felt that there hasn’t been that much to talk about, but I nonetheless put out an analysis section just for the sake of it. I think we can have some more meaningful discussion if I don’t feel the need to dissect every little bit of each chapter just for the sake of content.
- Just to be totally honest, the podcast takes up a lot of time for me. Which is totally fine, because I love how it gives me a more personal connection with all of you out there. That said, my top priority remains writing new books, so I need to make sure I have enough time each week to do that, and there have been weeks where I’ve found it to be a bit of a struggle to balance all the podcast recording and writing I want to do, so something needs to give, and it can’t be the writing, because without the writing, there is no D. T. Kane!
CONCLUSION
Patreon Announcement!
With the conclusion of reading Part I, I have an announcement: I’m starting a Patreon page! Now, before we talk about that, let me be clear: This podcast will remain 100% free. One of the reasons I started this show was to get my stories into the ears of folks who maybe aren’t in a position right now to spend money on my books. If that’s you, don’t worry: I’ll still be coming to you each week free of charge.
That said, there are upfront costs to both my writing and podcasting. To be completely transparent with all of you: Cover designs costs me around $500/book; editing is around 2 cents/word, which when you consider my novels are between 90,000 and 130,000 words, that adds up quick; and hosting for the podcast is a few hundred bucks a year.
Now, don’t misunderstand, I’m not complaining. All these costs are well worth it so that I can get quality and interesting content out to all of you. That said, I have had a few folks ask if there was a way they could support me beyond just buying my books, so I thought perhaps now was the time to start a Patreon.
What is Patreon? For those who don’t know, it’s a website that exists to give an artist’s fans a way to support them on a monthly basis. Essentially, you “subscribe” to me, and in exchange you get some special Patron perks. What are those perks, I hear you ask? Well, there are three tiers*:
- Keeper: $2.99/month
- Receive free copies of every eBook I’ve released to date upon signing up (files will be sent to you one month after signing up)
- Receive a free copy of each new eBook I release after you sign up for as long as you’re a Patron
- Your name displayed in the “Keepers” section of my weekly email newsletter
- Access to an exclusive Patrons-only monthly podcast episode (coming end of 2022)
- Knowledge that you are helping ensure that I can continue to produce the content you love for a long time to come!
- Orator $9.99/month
- All the perks of the “Keeper” tier, plus:
- Free autographed copies of all the physical books I have released as of the date you sign up (one book will ship as soon as you sign up, with the others shipping 90 days after you sign up)*
- A free autographed copy of each physical book I release after the date you sign up for as long as you’re a Patron
- Your name in the “Orators” section of my weekly email newsletter
- Your name in the Acknowledgements section of each book I release after the date you sign up
- *Non-U.S. residents: Due to the cost of shipping, I reserve the right to instead ship you a non-autographed copy that instead has a personalized typed page added to the binding. If you have any questions, please contact me before signing up.
- Declaimer $14.99/month
- All the perks of the “Keeper” and “Orator” tiers, plus:
- A unique opportunity to participate in my drafting process: Get live access to drafts of my new works through a shared (read only) Google doc. This is a unique opportunity for “super fans” to watch me publicly write new material and share feedback and suggestions in (almost) real time.
- One free plug or message in my newsletter or podcast per quarter: This could be anything from asking me to wish you or a friend happy birthday on the show/in the newsletter, to sharing a personal story with my listeners, to advertising a piece of your writing to my audience. Whatever you want, within reason. (I, of course, reserve the right to deny requests if I deem them inappropriate).
- Your name in the “Declaimers” section of my weekly email newsletter
- Your name read aloud at the end of each podcast episode after the date you sign up.
If you have the means and are interested in doing something extra to support my work, or just looking for a way to let me know you appreciate all the content I’ve created thus far, please consider signing up. Visit www.patreon.com/dtkane. If not, or you don’t have the means to do so, no problem! We’ll continue meeting here each week free of charge!
*Caveat: As of recording this, I’m still in the process of finalizing my Patreon page, so these tiers are subject to change. I’ll try to add an update to this episode if things change at a later date, but please review the Patreon page’s description of the membership tiers before signing up, as that will be the definitive source, not what I’ve said here.
Homework: Read the prologue to Declaimer’s Discovery. Who the heck is this Stephan character? Where is he? And who are the visitors he reluctantly greets?
Listener Questions:
Listen to the show to hear about D. T. Kane’s:
- Day job
- How he created the map of Oration
Quote:
“Wise words are like arrows flung at your forehead. What do you do? Why, you duck of course.”
-Steven Erikson, House of Chains
Advice. Everyone seems to have some. It’s not bad in and of itself, but too often we forget that what may work well for someone else might not be right for us.
Only a fool doesn’t consider what one more experienced than him or herself has to say. But it is equally foolish to blindly take a course just because it worked in another time and place for an individual’s own particular circumstances. Accept advice, but use it as a tool to forge your own path, rather than a rigid track from which you never stray.
Until next time, this has been D. T. Kane’s Epic Fantasy Book Club.
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