Along my reading journey, I’ve made a conscious decision to include self-published, indie, and small press works in my reading schedule.  But it is difficult to know where to start: So many new authors and books to examine to find the perfect fit for my tastes.  And to help others with this same problem, I’ve decided to turn my Indie Wednesday feature into a day where writers can introduce themselves and their work to everyone.

With this in mind, I’m turn over the blog to Chris Turner, author of the Beastslayer: Rise of the Rgnadon.

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SWORD AND SORCERY MEETS SYNCED AUDIO

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Three years ago, I was invited by Chazz Hill-Hayr from Booktrack to sequence original sff to audio. I did so, used the booktrack free studio tool, and it offered up a new experience.
I was amazed at how the placement of some well-crafted audio could make a story come alive—syncing text with ambient tracks, special effects or theme-tracked music—in the same way a soundtrack makes a movie come alive.

Beastslayer : Rise of the Rgnadon is my most recent project—a story of chieftain heroes struggling to survive in a primal world—where Jurassic park-like creatures roam the landscapes amidst a backdrop of bronze-age tribal warfare.

The underground world-building was challenging, and chilling at times, an odyssey through bestial civilizations in a legendary mountain, insular and eerie. It took on a life of its own, while the rivalry between the two protagonists brewed and became something more real and sinister than expected. I wanted to explore the question: could sworn enemies become allies under the hardest conditions? That, and explore the primordial struggle between man and beast for supremacy, and the inevitable mixing of races and species over time through degenerate sorcery, as hideous as that might play itself out. So, this story evolved into more of a fantasy horror than strait-laced adventure, more in the tradition of RE Howard.

The audio component was especially challenging to sequence. After a period of compiling audio snippets and classifying each piece according to how each piece might affect a reader, I ended up choosing specific dark orchestral passages, drum beats and rhythms, mixed with sword blades clashing, warriors stampeding, creatures lowing, horses galloping and other effects to create the ambience of a lost and haunted world. From a layering point of view, Beastslayer is one of the more ambitious projects I have attempted. I hope you take the time to check it out.

The novel and booktrack are free on the sites listed below. I recommend reading the first two chapters on booktrack with headphones, then fill in the gaps on amazon and other booksellers.

As for the cover art, that’s an interesting story. Last summer I was in the process of fleshing out the rough draft and by a strange fluke, witnessed a water snake stalk and devour a frog on a lakeshore. Horrific yes, and I still shiver at the memory. Perhaps one of nature’s more horrifying displays. Yet the uncanny thing was that it mirrored a scene in the novel that I had already written—replace frog with man or lizardman, and water snake with more Jurassic-like hunter, and you get the cover art. Well, on that happy note, enjoy the story…

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Saeth. A word barely kept lingering on the tongue of even the bravest warrior. The name of an age darkest to humankind. An age of sorcerers and far-flung magic.

But a time no better for the making of heroes…

Two chieftain brothers lock swords in battle. Attacked by winged foes from the sky, the two sworn enemies are forced with a few surviving warriors, to take refuge in a beast-haunted mountain.

Yet in the shadowy land of Darfala, refuge is scarce, terrors many. Can the warriors work together to survive the chilling secrets of the mountain…and the ultimate menace, far darker…an old terror brewed by the lizard-men of lost Xatu?

Buy Links:
Goodreads
Booktrack
Amazon
Barnes & Noble
ITunes
Smashwords
Kobo

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Chris Turner
Website
Twitter

Author Info: Chris is the author of several books: The Relic Retriever, The Rogues of Bindar series, Future Destinies, Fantastic Realms and Denibus Ar.

When he is not being a complete jokester, he masquerades as a reclusive monk, engaging in long periods of creative projects. He is a prolific visual artist and has been an avid backpacker on treks all over the world. He has been involved in extensive studio recording, game design and software development over the years.

He currently resides in the Ottawa-Gatineau region of Ontario and Quebec.