The End Of The Third Age

  Just after midnight last night I finished work on the third Meep Sheep book. It took a little longer than the month I had planned on but I hadn’t anticipated the walls I would hit at the end. I can say that I wrote a novella now. One single story that is 83 single spaced pages. Something I never intended to do or thought I could do. As I had gotten to the end I realized I needed to make some big decisions on things that I hadn’t thought about when the fancy notion of a last book popped into my head.

Oops.

  Well, it’s done. And…it’s not what I thought it’d be. Not that this is a bad thing at all but when I first was sketching the book out in my mind it definitely was different. Even ended in a different place geographically in that world but the logic of the story forced me to change how I was putting it together and writing it.

  And am I happy?

Yes. Though I am much too close to really have a feel for how well the book works. I need to give it a month and go back and edit it and look at it then. Then I will know. But I like a lot of moments in the book and am happy how it comes together. 

And I am sad because this is the end of a journey. These three books were different than anything I wrote and even as the series got darker it was still a fantasy series with characters I am very fond of but I am glad it’s done. I wanted to get the projects off of my plate that had been started but never finished and I have done that. There’s editing to be done but in the end I got done what I need to do. 

The book/s are done. 

Wow. 

I have been talking about this book for a while now and it’s crazy to believe it’s over. But it is. As is a piece of who I was for the past several years. There’s still edits to do, still promotion to do, but really, the course of the ship began to change last night and where it leads, well, even I don’t know that. 

http://www.meepsheep.com

 

A Glimpse Of The Shadow

   This is one of the many pictures I took today for the cover of A Shadow Over Ever. You get a feel for what I am aiming for, the general idea I was going for, without seeing the for real-real image I have chosen. I wanted something that evoked Pete Anders, the main character of the book. I wanted references to him because he is the heart of the book. He is the drive of it. I have really struggled for a long time on what to do with the cover – drawing, painting, photo – and whether I should have someone else do this or whether I should do it myself.

This is one of about thirty images I took but I have a rough idea which one I want to use. Some work to do on it but I think it’s a pretty solid image.

And yes, yes that is a cardboard tombstone.

1. Innovative baby. And cheap. That’s me, innovative and cheap.

Also…

2. Pete’s headstone was made of Styrofoam so I figure this is a nice tribute to that, as well as just looking weird.

So there you go…a brief peek before the book hits this Summer. The thought is to release in August with a Flint release party to launch it.

For now…

Looking for Agents and Publishers In All the Wrong Places

I, like about a ma-JILLION writers out there, am looking to generate some interest in a book. The book in question is my novel A Shadow Over Ever. I love the heck out of this book, and I am not saying that just because I began working on it eighteen years ago. Ok, that’s a reason to love it, let’s not be ridiculous here. I truly do love this book. It is something I never would have imagined I’d be capable of when I began writing it as a short story back in 1994. Since that time it has grown, matured, and if you look close, it has a couple whiskers.

Awww!

Well, I have not had the easiest time finding someone to either publish or represent the book so I figured I would post some info about the book here in case someone happened by and was interested in it. Can’t hurt, right?

Right?

I believe in this book. Completely. And I will self publish it if I have to but I’d rather not. I want this to have a chance to make it into more hands than self publishing can lead to.

So, for your consideration, dear reader -

A Shadow Over Ever

Approximately 180,000 words

A Shadow Over Ever is the story of Pete Anders, a man who had wanted nothing in the world but to remain anonymous but who is pulled into the heart of the greatest conflict to ever face Mankind and forced to become a hero for a world he no longer believes in.

After the death of his beloved his mind turns to vengeance and he turns his rage towards the town that has always treated him as an exile. His revenge is short lived though when his conscience gets the better of him but his brother, watching as Pete goes mad, isn’t ready for the blood to stop and continues the killing and creates the legend of Pete. When Pete finds he’s been framed it’s too late and death is the only thing to comfort him.

Even in death though there is no comfort for Pete, as he is awakened in his grave by the sounds of teenagers having sex on his grave. This time he decides that his vengeance is best served going after the people responsible for the death of his beloved and so he hunts them down one, by one, until he is left to face his brother at his very own grave. By this point though Pete’s need for blood has been satisfied and all he wants is to be done with everything and so he allows his brother to finish him in the hopes to find peace.

There is no peace for Pete Anders though and after his earthly death his journey begins in earnest. He awakens in Hell and is to be escorted to a private audience before the Creator, who is engaged in a war with its last remaining sibling. This sibling is the utter opposite of the Creator, and is a Destroyer and seeks to end all things in existence. Humanity is the last remaining thing standing between this destroyer and its goal. Life will not end without a fight though and, for reasons Pete will struggle to understand, he has been chosen as the man to lead the forces of the Creator against this enemy and against the First Children of Eden, who have taken sides with the darkness.

In a war that will engulf Mankind and will push a man to find the greatness in himself and to conquer the darkness that has always plagued him in order to defeat a true Darkness, everything is at risk as the last days for existence play out.

Pete Anders never asked for forgiveness but in order to become whole he must find forgiveness in himself and save a world he’s never felt a part of and trust in a god he’s never believed in.

About author Chris Ringler and his book -

A Shadow Over Ever is an epic fantasy/horror story about one man’s quest to save a world he doesn’t believe in any more and who must not only find belief in Mankind, but in himself as well. This is a story that deals with a war between the forces of heaven and the first children of Eden, in a fight that could mean the end of all existence. The idea behind the book is to examine ideas of redemption, faith, and to make a hero of a character many may initially see as a villain. This is a dark novel with touches of horror and fantasy and could be best classified as horror. I have completed work on the book and it is approximately 180,000 words.

In my career I have published six books from horror to fairy tale and have had several stories published. In 2011 I won Best In Blood for the website Horroraddicts and have had stories on their podcast and was published in Bare Bone #s 6, 7, and 9 as well as having had a story published in the November, 2005 issue of Cthulhu Sex Magazine. I have also received honorable mention in The Year’s Best Fantasy and Horror #19s and 20. I am very active in the promotion of my books and do several art shows and conventions each year to promote my work.

Curious?

grimringler@gmail.com

Presenting THE KREEP SHEEP – a grim fairy tale

In every land, to every story, there is a beginning and even in a world of magic and hope there is a past, there is a shadow, and there is a story as to how the world came to be. Welcome back to the Kingdom of Man in a time before there were Meep Sheep, before there were Bumble Kitties, and when there was much darkness in the world. These are the stories of the lands, the people, and the places of legend and song. These are the tales of how the world came to be, what made the Great Thicket such a dangerous place, how the Lady Hush first spread her evil and so much more. Here are stories of great darkness but at the heart of all darkness is light and there is much light here as well, such as the light of the love between mother and daughter, husband and wife, and two sisters pitted against a grim foe. If you yearn for a return to the lands of magic where the sky is filled with flying sheep, the hills alive with magical creatures, and where Love is still stronger than all that it opposes then friend, welcome back, welcome back to the Kingdom of Man. This is but a door. You are the key. Welcome, welcome home.

The Kreep Sheep is available for $10.

Also available as an e-book.

The Kreep Sheep – 146 pages.

The Kreep Sheep approaches

Finished the writing for The Kreep Sheep and am on to the editing, sometimes the most fun and arduous part of the whole process. Editing is always interesting because you get to refine the story and re-discover it and make sure it woks. With this book it’s a matter of making sure the facts match up with the already established mythology I set up with The Meep Sheep and making sure this has its own life to it. This is more of a history of the world, it’s people, places, things, but also has some of the other stories of this place and what makes it what it is. The fun, and weirdness of this book is that while the stories stand on their own this is truly a follow up to The Meep Sheep and works better in tandem with it. I can’t say I would ever do a book series outside of this but this is definitely fun. It’s really interesting to be able to re-examine this place and to tell new stories here. Having said that…this is the end of the line of this stuff for the foreseeable future. A day may come when more stories are told having to do with this place and these people but after The Kreep Sheep I am moving on to the novel and will begin working on getting that ready for publication next year. And after that…who can say?

 

For now I am simply happy to spend this time in the Kingdom of Man with the Pandas, the Kreep Sheep, the Queen, the Bumble Kitties, and all the rest and hope you’ll come along for the journey this Spring.

c