Within a day of going up for pre-orders on Kindle, this anthology hit #1 in Science Fiction Anthologies (Kindle Store), Science Fiction Adventure, and Fantasy Anthologies & Short Stories (Kindle Store) and broke into the top 100 on the Kindle Store. And that’s just the e-book. Print pre-orders aren’t available yet!
Needless to say, I am excited to be a part of this. If at least a couple of the names on the cover don’t jump out at you, you probably haven’t been reading much fantasy in the last few years. I may be a bit biased as, over the last ten years, I have met nearly everyone on that list. But that makes me all the more excited! It is an honor and a privilege to be sharing a table of contents with these incredible writers.
Not to mention, “purchasing this book saves a puppy’s life! Book sale profits are donated to: Lifeline Puppy Rescue.” The authors agreed in advance that 50% of all profits would be donated. Yes, really. It was in the contract. On top of that, many of the authors donated some or all of their shares as well.
LJ Hachmeister posted on her FB page on Oct 15th, “Sold 1000 copies of “Instinct” so far. I figure we need to sell 10,000 to save 1,000 puppies. I hope we can do it!”
I hope we can, too. (I bet if we ask her, she’ll keep a running tally…. So, go ask! https://www.facebook.com/LJHachmeisterAuthor)
Immediately after putting the anthology up for pre-sale, LJ got hit with a ton of requests about which “universe” the authors’ stories take place in, so she added it to the anthology description. (You can scroll down to see the list.) I want to address the “universe” my story takes place in, as it doesn’t officially exist anywhere—yet. Kind of an apt situation for a place called The Abandoned Lands, I guess.
From a Facebook Post I put up on October 6th, 2022:
I have a novel I’ve been actually working on for *checks file dates* 5 years. I really like it. I really like the idea. But things get in the way.
Not just other *paying* writing projects, and life, but other things that maybe only other writers will understand. Things like every single idea I had for the cause of the situation of the world in the novel (kind-of, sort-of, not really dystopian, post-apocalyptical) came to pass within months of changing the manuscript to reflect the new idea. I mean, seriously. WTAF world? I went through about 7 ideas.
Then, of course, there was the movie that stole my central idea. I mean, yeah, they couldn’t know I’d been working on that idea for 3 years, so they didn’t really steal it, but guess what everyone else in the world will think now when I release my book?
Oh! And then the movie that came out this year that actually took about 50% of my idea for the whole story, not just the central idea played out in a different direction. Now I really will look like I “stole” the idea.
Sigh. At what point do you give up a story and characters that you really love because everyone will say you copied someone else?
I’ll tell you: NEVER. Yeah, it hurts. Yeah, it’s gonna be rough when others make the comparisons and say the nasty things. But then, the whole reason I was writing it was because it was the kind of story I love and wanted to see more of.
Just because I got lucky enough that a couple of stories like it came out, and I got to see them, doesn’t mean I was so unlucky that I shouldn’t finish it. I mean, it would seem like the creators of those other stories would like to see more stories like that, too. Right?
So. I’m not going to quit it. I’m going to finish it. I don’t know when, because, as it always seems to be, something else has come up. And just to make sure I don’t, I’m tossing it out there for you guys to see, to hold me accountable for it.
So, first spark conceived of at Myths and Legends Con 2015, shortly after I met a young woman who went by the name “Xan,” whom I assured I loved her name so much it would be used in a book someday. As I have mentioned before, I like to use making art as inspiration for my writing
My first stab at creating my new world in art came in August 2016. First draft was started on in Nov 2017, and the first time I pitched it to an agent was at Pikes Peak Writer’s conference in 2018.
Now… after sharing all of that, I expect you guys to be accepting that I didn’t steal these ideas, and I also expect you to hold me accountable to make sure these two very special characters actually make it out into the world for everyone to enjoy.
Allow me to introduce Xan and Booger. A Girl and Her Velociraptor.
You won’t see them, but you will be able to get your first peek into their world next year (March 2023) with a “prequal” story that will be in the animal charity anthology “Instinct” edited by
L. J. Hachmeister – Author and myself.
As I said in the Facebook post, Xan and Booger won’t be in the Instinct Anthology, but they are where The Abandon Lands started. And when I told LJ I would give her a story of The Abandoned Lands, I expected A Girl and Her Velociraptor to be finished and maybe even published. But then things happened. One of them was COVID, which delayed the Instinct anthology for so long, it was almost a sure things that A Girl and Her Velociraptor would be out by the time Instinct was released. But, that didn’t happen.
If you read my story in Instinct, Junkyard Rex, and you enjoy it, rest assured you will get the chance to visit The Abandoned Lands again. Send me an email and goad me into finishing it. If I get a virtual metric ton of requests, maybe I can goad a publisher into publishing it!
Meanwhile, here is part of the pitch I used on an agent in 2018:
A Girl and Her Velociraptor
Since her father went missing, Xan has taken care of both the farm and her mother, defending them both from the deadliest predators this planet has ever known: Men.
Occasionally she has to deal with those pesky dinosaurs, too. With her best friend, Booger, a proto-velociraptor, she’s got it all under control.
Sort of…
“Junkyard Rex” is a prequel of sorts, taking place about 30 years before Xan and Booger set out to change the world.
Well…that’s not exactly what they set out to do, but, you know how these things go. Even the best plan doesn’t survive first contact with The Abandoned Lands.
Live for pre-orders on Kindle now, releasing on March 7th, 2023
Danger. Evil. Death. Heroes can face it all, but they cannot do it alone.
Throughout history, creatures both big and small have stood alongside heroes and helped them through trying times, whether on the battlefield or in their laps. In these brand-new stories, sixteen bestselling authors regale us with adventures of animal companions and how they often are the ones rescuing the rescuer.
New stories by / in the world of
Jim Butcher – from The Dresden Files
Faith Hunter – from Jane Yellowrock
Patricia Briggs – from Mercy Thompson
Seanan McGuire
L. E. Modesitt – from Archform: Beauty and Flash
Kelley Armstrong – from Cainsville
L. J. Hachmeister – from the Triorion Universe
Sam Knight – from The Abandoned Lands
Eliza Eveland
Hailey Edwards – from The Beginner’s Guide to Necromancy
D. J. Butler – from Abbott in Darkness
Lucienne Diver – from The Latter-Day Olympians
A. J. Hartley
Alex Erickson – from Furever Pets
John Hartness – from Quincy Harker, Demon Hunter
R.R. Virdi – from Tales of Tremaine
Purchasing this book saves a puppy’s life! Book sale profits are donated to: Lifeline Puppy Rescue.
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