Karl Trilogy - Special Offer This Week

 

This week we'll be offering you the chance to download the Kindle editions of each book for just 99p each from amazon.co.uk or 99c each from amazon.com , This is a 66% discount on books 1 & 2 and a 75% discount on book 3. 

Karl's story began as a back story for a RPG character I played back in the late 1980s. 80,000 words later and I had only just scratched the surface of Karl's origin. This original story became the ground work for book one when a whole new original world was created to set the adventure in. From that point onwards a whole new adventure was born.

Paperback copies still exist and hopefully we'll be able to offer the last few sets online shortly.

Happy Christmas

It's been a tough year. So I'm going to wish you all the best Christmas possible. 

Once again, over the next few days, Dec 24th - 27th we are going to make book 1 of Karl's adventures FREE to download from Amazon Kindle, and between Christmas Day and New Year's Eve, you can get a countdown discount on the downloads for books 2 & 3 as well.

Amazon.co.uk  Amazon.com

Don't forget to take a second look at those interesting items of packaging you find at this time of year, and let's see what we can make of them in the New Year.

Happy Birthday Karl

I know I haven't posted in a while, but as it's a special night...

Tonight would be our equivalent of Karl's birthday, their Witching Night when the folk of Miltonburg hide from what lurks in the shadows, and like today with our full moon, this is the night both moons are full...

It was one of only two nights of the year when both moons were full together.

Ulmar continued its natural progression through the sky having reached the period of its cycle where it was both full and beautiful.

Mauor, as well as being full, had a red haze cast around it. It shimmered in the sky over the town circled by what appeared to be a ring of blood red light. The face of the moon shone with a pale green glow and cast its shadows over the streets of Miltonburg, making the dark alleyways seem cold and threatening.

Miltonburg was quiet on this night; the streets were silent and empty. No one walked down Dock Road or around Salve Gardens. The inns and taverns were closed to visitors. No one, not even those that at other times of the year laughed at the thought of evil forces, dared to venture upon the streets on such as night as this. This was the night that the month of Panisslorn was named after, the night on which, legend said meant the death of a child. It celebrated the death of a Titan, one of the children of the gods. It was a night for sombre reflection and macabre fears.

Charmed I'm Sure

Not quite finished my post Christmas ideas collection of blog posts, but this one isn't so much about those Christmas leftovers(*)  but more about my ongoing frustration at not being able to get on and make stuff at the moment.

If anyone has read book one of the Karl adventures, you will know about The Alleys, the street where Karl's father has his small business, Axilion Trade. It has always been my intention to model this cobbled street one day, and I can see the hanging shop signs in my head. Not only shop signs, but also some of the many pubs and inns that feature in the adventures, and the things that may appear in some of those shop windows.

I've been spotting a number of quite cheap charms and 'embellishments' on sale that have been crying out to me. Quite a large number of these I've bought and squirrelled away for later use from The Works and a few other places.

Take this set for example, the mask could hang outside a theatre, buy four packs and you could build a clock tower using the clock one. The crown will work for either a pub or maybe a jewellers. I'll leave the others to your imagination.





There are several other sets I've got but have already been put into storage.

More thoughts to follow...


(*) Other celebrations can also generate exciting modelling materials too.

Another chance to catch Karl for FREE

This weekend there will be another chance to download the first book of Karl's adventures for FREE on Amazon Kindle.

The Kindle edition will be free to download between
Friday 7th October and Tuesday 11th October 2016

Amazon.co.uk

Amazon.com

Sorry this offer has now expired.

A big thank you to everyone that took the trouble to download book one over this weekend. I hope you enjoy the adventure.

So join the good folk of Miltonburg in this exciting adventure...

Karl Gets Kindle Preview Tool

The pages on the blog dedicated to the trilogy that tell the story of Karl Axilion, the boy who should never have been born, now have Kindle style previews courtesy of Amazon.

This allows you to view, Kindle style, the beginning of each adventure as if you were previewing it on Amazon.

Book1 Book2 Book 3

Happy New Year

More boxes from America

Before the sun sets on 2015 and the year is shoved off into the archives of history, I thought I’d give a quick update on progress for the latest models in the coffee stick ghost town. 

To avoid making this post too picture heavy I have set up another page with some more photos which can be accessed here.

Just before I finished work for the Christmas holiday a couple more boxes were added to my collection by work colleagues, you’ll notice alongside the Twinkies are now Ho Hos and Ding Dongs. 

Christmas boxes added

Christmas itself gave a couple of interesting boxes which I’ll be using in the New Year on new models.

This pate box will be used for a roof piece of some kind.

I got a little time to work on the three models in progress, these have now reached a finished state as far as the shape and applying the sticks are concerned. 

WIP: boxes being turned inside out

They need to be rubbed down with sandpaper then painted; I think I’ll save this for the spring when it will be more comfortable working outside to sand the models. In the meantime I’ll add a couple more to the collection.

WIP: adding tube supports
before closing up

I would also like to thank everyone who downloaded a copy of 

Karl – Birth of Mystery during the period we set the book free on Amazon’s Kindle bookshop. I hope you enjoy it and if so please leave a review to help others find the adventure.

That only leaves me to wish all readers of the blog a Happy New Year.

Extra Photos

And some early shots of the basic boxes joined for the next couple of models. 

Still need to add extra shaping to the roof areas.

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas

Don't forget to download a free copy of

Karl - Birth of Mystery

on Kindle

25th December - 29th December 2015

Amazon.com or Amazon.co.uk

Merry Christmas from DJK & Karl

Tis the season to be jolly and for giving, or so I'm told. It also seems to be that the shopping centres are full of idiots, travel is horrendous and as I write this the weather doesn't want to join the celebrations either. But I'm not doing a bah humbug post. 

I want to say that whilst getting excited for those gifts take a few moments out to look at all that exciting packaging coming your way and remember to keep hold of it for those scratch builds you plan to do in the new year.

Sweet wrappers that are like coloured filters, plastic packing around some of the Christmas cards makes excellent windows. The cardboard tubes inside wrapping paper and tinfoil - can't go wrong with them. Remember just like the turkey dinner you can go on enjoying Christmas well into the New Year.

I did say it was the season for giving, here's my gift to my readers.

If you've got a Kindle or getting one for Christmas then download the first book of the Karl Axilion Trilogy for free, on us, between December 25th and the 29th on Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk

And remember you don't even need a Kindle to read Kindle books because there is a free app that allows you to read Kindle books on any ipad, iphone, other tablets and computers.

The Karl Axilion Trilogy Update

Back in September it was announced that the book arm of Berforts, Berforts Information Press, was put into administration. There are more details in the article on PrintWeek. Berforts were the publishers of the paperback edition of the Karl Axilion Trilogy. 

At the moment I hold the remaining stock of the books, but once these have been sold there will not be another print run unless the books are republished by another publisher.

I shall continue to offer them for sale via the blogsite and at various conventions I attend while stock remains.

Once again, when they are gone, they may be gone forever. I can make no promises to future paperback editions being made available.

The Kindle editions are not affected and will continue to be offered via the various Amazon websites.

Karl Bank Holiday Offer

SORRY THIS DEAL IS NOW OVER, BUT NEW OFFERS ON KARL'S TRILOGY COMING SOON...

The Kindle edition of the first volume of Karl’s trilogy is now available as part of the Amazon Countdown Deals promotion starting today 28^th August. This will run until Thursday 3^rd September. So why not give the adventure a try this Bank Holiday. With Countdown Deals the biggest discount is applied at the start of the deal and over the week the discount is reduced so that the price steps up eventually returning to its original price at the end of the run. The steps will vary from product to product depending on the exact length of time the deals run for, and the original price.

For more information on the trilogy click the links on the right hand rail.

For Amazon.co.uk the original price is £2.99. For the first half of the week the price will be just 99p, it will rise to £1.99 before returning to £2.99 on the 3^rd September.

For Amazon.com the original price is $2.99. For the first half of the week the price will be just 99c, it will rise to $1.99 before returning to $2.99 on the 3^rd September.

As far as I know these deals only run on these two Amazon markets.

See the following for more details on Amazon Kindle Countdown Deals.

Moss on the Roof

The standalone haunted house model is almost complete. I’ve finished the white dry-brush/dusting around the woodwork and turned my attention back onto the roof. I felt it needed a little something, and that was a greenish tint for moss. I got the idea after missing my train on Saturday and whilst stood on the platform at Romford, I found myself looking out onto a roof that was tinted in such a way. So using a deep moss green paint, which I also picked up from a pound store as part of that shopping trip, I mixed with it some PVA glue and a sprinkle of dark green flock and proceeded to tint the roof in patches. In most cases it was a fast flick of the wrist in downward strokes using the paint in the same dry-brushing approach, and on occasions picking up a little of the thicker mix just to add that little extra depth where the moss has actually taken.

I also gave the front tower a light brush with the green as well just to age the tower up and make that feel slightly more decayed than the rest. Something more sinister about the tower, maybe?

I’ll take some more photos in outdoor light before and after I varnish.

Finally I’ve glued the stone pillar in place on the bottom corner, and now I’m leaving that to dry before making a final check prior to varnishing. My next stage will be to build a baseboard to set the model off in its grounds, maybe a crumbling outer wall and an old gate, an over grown path leading up to the front door.  Who knows?

For anyone who might be interested in the first volume of my trilogy, a heads up, the first volume will be available at a discounted price for a week starting this Friday, 28^th August. It will be part of the Kindle Countdown Deals which will have the greatest discount at the start of the offer but then the discount is reduced as the week goes on. That will be on Amazon.com & Amazon.co.uk from Friday morning.

Previous post in the Haunted House series: Woodwork Painting

Next post: Coming soon

A Quick Update

A quick update on what I've been up to in case you thought I've been kidnapped by aliens.

I confess I have still not gone anywhere near the old haunted house model I was building last year, but during a frantic search for something a few weeks ago I came upon the missing plans for the building.  

I have however been giving some love and attention to the Doctor Who Tapestry which has also been suffering from the time I spent last year working on the final part of Karl’s adventures.

I’ve gone back to listening to Big Finish albums and sticking the needle in and out of the canvas in the evenings to create a Draconian and a few Jelly Babies on the picture. I’m working on a Voc Class Robot at the moment. 

That’s not to say that Karl is finished 100%. 

The countdown to the official launch is underway. The Kindle edition goes live on the 23rd February, and pre-orders are already open. The final manuscript has been sent over, so why not pre-order and have them load it onto your machine on the day of release? Click here for more details.

I am now in the process of reformatting all three books ready for launch onto the other eBook platforms, so watch this space and Karl’s Facebook page for further announcements. 

We have now added ‘Buy Now’ buttons to the pages on this blog dedicated to each book. You can order a copy direct from me, whilst my stock lasts, and I will sign and dedicate the book for you. Just follow the links on the right hand side of the blog for more details.

And finally congratulations to the two winners of the Goodreads Giveaway promotion for book one of the trilogy. Your books are in the post to you.

That’s my quick update for now, hopefully I will be back with some model work soon.

All the best

Derek

Goodreads Giveaway Book 1

Sorry this event has now finished - but watch out for further promotions coming soon

Quick heads up folks. For UK users of Goodreads there is currently a chance to win one of two copies of the first book just before we release the final adventure.

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Karl - Birth of a Mystery

by D.J. Kettlety

Giveaway ends February 13, 2015.
See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

Enter to win

Countdown Continues

Well the countdown deal  on Karl’s first two volumes is now in full swing, the first book remains at 99p/$1.66 until Saturday night when it returns to its full price, the second has just stepped up to the mid price range £1.99/$3.34 where it will remain until Saturday night. 

 

Quite a few people have taken advantage of the offer even though the Countdown deals do not seem to be widely publicised by Amazon.  Don't miss out on this chance as these deals don't come round very often. Also Amazon Prime customers can still borrow the books for free on their Kindles.

Just go to Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com and search for "Karl Axilion" or follow the links in the previous post.

Latest news on book 3 – the original handwritten draft, yes somewhere in the region of 344,000 words all scribbled out in longhand have been typed up, reviewed and is now undergoing proof reading and review with the read through team. There have already been some interesting developments which I’ll talk about in a later post.

Some people do ask why I don't just type up the work instead. For me the creative flow comes from putting pencil to paper. If I’m typing like I’m doing now for this blog and I mystipe something up pops the red underline or whatever colour Word throws up for grammar and punctuation and I feel compelled to go back and correct. 

This breaks the creative part of my brain which is trying to get the story out, by handwriting I can get it to paper and then step back and tidy up and make corrections during the transcription process. I can also write anywhere using a note book providing I have my pencil and a sharpener. They are much lighter than the laptop and the battery capacity on the old thing is not up to much these days. I know there are new super fangled gadgets out there now but hey I’ve just stopped using a quill give me a break.

Greetings from Miltonburg.
For more postcards from Miltonburg why not LIKE Karl's page on Facebook.
https://www.facebook.com/KarlAxilionTrilogy

Karl’s Clock is Ticking

As the third and final part of the Karl Trilogy goes into its second draft now is a good time to join the adventure, especially since this week both volumes are available in the Kindle store on the Kindle CountdownDeals.

Kindle countdown deals start low then the price slowly rises back up to the original price during the run of the deal.  So why not try something new for summer.

Book 1 will run for 99p on Amazon UK and for $1.66 on Amazon.com for the whole week, you have until Saturday night.

Book 1 Amazon.co.uk

Book 1 Amazon.com

Book 2 starts at the same price as book 1 but only for a couple of days before it rises to £1.99 ($2.65 approx*) on Tuesday night, then remains at that price until the end of the deal next Saturday night.

Book 2 Amazon.co.uk

Book 2 Amazon.com

(*) I don’t  have the exact US price step available to me since I am UK based.

A postcard from Miltonburg

PS I’ll be posting an update to the mystery model quite soon.

Karl Birthday Offer

Since January 6th is according to the Christmas story the day the wise men actually arrived at the manger, the end of the 12 days of Christmas, and the birth date of Joan of Arc I thought I'd celebrate. 

Okay there is another reason - it's my birthday also.

So on 6th Jan for one day only there is a 24 hour special offer on both installments of the Karl trilogy published so far on the Kindle.





Jan 6th prices

Book 1 Birth of Mystery & Book 2  The Lost Adventurer
 $1.63 on Amazon.com  & 99p on Amazon.co.uk

Sorry but these are the only markets we can set up special offers on.

Charity Night

It’s the second of December already where has the year gone? Sorry I’ve been a bit quiet on the blog, but I’ve been so consumed with getting the last part of the Karl trilogy written all model building and other activities have gone on a back burner. The first draft is not yet ready and it’s already longer than the first two put together. 

Kelly Wilde & Tom Kohler
© Marc Major

I’ve not spent all the time locked away in a dungeon typing; I got out Saturday night to the Victoria in Walthamstow for their charity night in aid of Positive East. Along with the obvious flow of alcohol there was a charity raffle, an auction and other fundraising activities. 

Auction in progress.

© Marc Major

Yours truly even found themselves buying purchasing a James Bond Goldeneye jacket in the auction. Kelly Wilde and Tom Kohler were in great voice and entertained the crowd.  I believe the final count of money raised is yet to be announced.

Leon the winner of Karl book 1

© Marc Major

There were a large number of donated prizes and one of the lucky winners, Leon, won a signed copy of “Karl – Birth of Mystery”. I do hope he enjoys it.

I will present the book reviews for the last few months shortly and I’m going to be handing the blog over to a guest blogger to provide a review of two very unique and very different protections we’ve seen recently.

But more on that later.

Karl - The Lost Adventurer (Paperback Edition)

It gives me great pleasure to announce that the second volume of Karl’s adventure has finally made it into a physical book. 

This has been quite a worrying period and I had started to believe it might never happen, and Karl’s future would have been reserved solely for the Kindle market.

The Short story... Book 2 now available as I've found a new publisher.

The Long story... Book 1 was originally expected back in September 2010 from Hundred Publishing. It never made a physical print until about April 2012 – by this time the future of Hirst Publishing which owned Hundred was already on the cards. By the time book one was a reality the chances of two and three coming from the same publisher were minimal, I’ll not go into further details but it left me looking around for a new avenue for the remainder of the story. Towards the end of last year I took the decision to get book 1 on to the Kindle, a lot of people saying they were now switching to ebooks rather than physical printed books. Real books as I like to call them. 

Last year's writing retreat in Cornwall where
Book 2 was completed and Book 3 planned

Once it was agreed that I could carry the original cover, I had the book re-proofed and this became the second edition of book 1 which went to Kindle, the story is the same but some errors that had previously escaped correction were put right.

So what about book 2? It was written and waiting but how was it going to get there? I approached Rob who created the original cover for book 1 to keep the style the same, and he was delighted to be asked to provide covers for two and three. Very quickly the cover for number two found its way to my in box – we were in progress. The first and obvious step was back to the Kindle – where book 1 had been slow to reach the ebook market book 2 would get there first. The irony – this time having published to Kindle first there came the cries from a number of people who prefer real books rather than the download version. So the hunt was on.

Last year at a book festival I heard of Berforts who among their many activities support self publishing authors. I would have to follow this route if I wanted to get the book two out in a timely fashion, any attempt to find agents and a publisher willing to gamble today would take forever and the momentum would be lost. It did not take long for Berforts to come on board and a new printed edition of book one has been produced matching the Kindle edition along with number two.

Working late into the evening in the garden on book 3

The new edition of book one has received a tweak to the layout of the cover to match book two, and so here we are finally, a delivery of both has just arrived. Even this has had me on tender hooks, as the delivery was originally scheduled for last week but due to the hot weather that hit the UK just before the printing and binding machines decided they needed to have issues with the heat. But all’s well that ends well, and here they are... You should be able to order these very soon, I will be offering signed copied via Amazon Marketplace also both will be available from the Tenth Planet Events Website. 

Links to both are available in the right rail of this blog..

So I would like to say a big thank you for the support from Marc, Debbie and Bryony my read through team, to Rob for the fast work on the wonderfully atmospheric covers and to Bob and Dale over at Berforts.