The Lucius Chronicles – Released Today

The Lucius Chronicles – Released Today

The Lucius Chronicles – Released Today!

All three titles in the DATS Trilogy, available in one place, at last!

Howdy folks!

Today, March 8 2019, saw The Lucius Chronicles released on Amazon, Smashwords and all other good ebook retailers, including Barnes & Noble and Apple iBooks.

Comprising the three books that make up the DATS Trilogy; Death and the Schoolboy, Death and the Atomb Bomb, and, Death and the End, The Lucius Chronicles was first mentioned almost seven months ago, when James Stevens, author of Fern Majestic and the Fall of a Dragon, completed the first draft of the cover art for book, which was what we ultimately ended up going with.

Since then, it has been blessed with the addition of cartoons by New Zealand cartoonist extraordinaire, Eugene Georgiades, plus undergone a minor text revision, in order to improve clarity and consistency between the books, all of which were written at different times in my life. As I mentioned in a previous blog, this is most definitely the premium version of the DATS Trilogy, so if you haven’t yet had the opportunity to dive into the wondrously charming and exciting world of Johnny, Eddie and the Deaths of Deathville, then now’s your chance and for only $6.99 USD too!

The Lucius Chronicles. A book by Rob Gregory Author

 

THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT!

 

The Lucius Chronicles… IT’S ALIVE!

The Lucius Chronicles… IT’S ALIVE!

The Lucius Chronicles… IT’S ALIVE!

… The complete DATS Trilogy in one volume is now available for pre-order…

IT LIVES!

Finally, many moons after I first alerted you to its existence, The Lucius Chronicles is alive!!!

Igor, fetch me a clean shirt! This one is sodden with too much excitement!

“Yeth, marthter.” (Igor shuffles off stage left, accompanied by flashes of lightning and an ominous rumbling sound.)

Don’t worry about Igor, by the way. That’s only his stomach. It’s been a while since he last ate anything. Come to think of it, I can’t remember the last time I had a meal, either… I’ve been so busy of late. Now, where was I?

The Lucius Chronicles. A book by R.A. Gregory Author

Final front cover for The Lucius Chronicles.

Oh, yes, that’s right. The Lucius Chronicles. The illegitimate love child of the DATS Trilogy and the creative genius that is James Stevens and Eugene Georgiades, has finally been compiled, edited, proofread, edited again, cast out, taken back, amended and cast out yet again into the electronic wasteland that is known as Amazon, to find fame and fortune among its ebook brethren.

Just think, all three books in the glorious DATS Trilogy, bound together in one place for the first time ever. And with lots of lovely illustrations, like the one below, gracing its glossy, virtual pages.

The Lucius Chronicles - Early composite of the characters - Rob Gregory Author

Early character sketches for The Lucius Chronicles.

That’s why I’m so excited. It’s like having your own little Roald Dahl book running around your feet, nibbling at your toes, before running off into the garden to play with the grandkids.

If you haven’t read it already, then I’m sure that you are going to love it. And, if you have, well this one’s the premium version, brought to your Kindle, or other proprietary ebook reader, using only the finest electrons, sourced exclusively from a cyclotron buried deep within the Swiss Alps, so why wouldn’t you want to grace your internal storage drive with another copy of it?

Set on Earth and in the mysterious land known only as Deathville, The Lucius Chronicles tells the story of Johnny Jenkinson and his best friend, Eddie, the Death of Children, as they battle Uncle Lucius, the eponymous villain of the book, who is hell-bent on destroying everything, including the entire universe, because he didn’t get enough love when he was a child. No, that’s not the reason… far from it. You’ll have to read the book if you want to find out, won’t you?

Oh, all right. I will give you something to go on…. It’s got mallets in it. Is that enough? No? Okay, well there’s a ghost train, unlike anything you’ve seen before. Oh, and the train station where the recently deceased go to, does something a bit unusual. Did I mention bogeymen? They’re in there too, but they don’t have a very big part. Well, I think that’s enough in the way of teasers for the time being and like I said, buy the book if you want to find out more!

The Lucius Chronicles - Early sketch of Eddie's dad - Rob Gregory Author

Early sketch of Mr Death, Eddie’s father.

As for price and availability, The Lucius Chronicles is available on Amazon and Smashwords as a pre-order. This means that until March 8, you’ll be able to buy it for an almost 20% saving off the normal price. Surely that alone is incentive enough for what promises to be one of the best things that you’ll read all year long.

And before you ask, no, it isn’t available from Trotter’s Independent Traders!

So, that’s The Lucius Chronicles, out as an ebook on March 8, but available beforehand for only $5.99 USD. A bargain, I’m sure you’ll agree!

“Marthter, I’m back!”

Oh, Igor! You know that Vermillion makes me look chubby. Still, it will have to do, I guess. And, at least it won’t show the blood!

Oh… Are you still here? I thought you’d gone. Blood? Did I say blood out loud? No. Nothing for you to worry about. Just my idea of a little joke. Now, be off with you and go buy my book. Yes, just a joke, that’s all. A ha ha ha ha ha ha! (maniacal laugh fades into the distance, as the doors close behind the author).

****

Please do check out The Lucius Chronicles at one of the links below and spread the word. And remember, for every copy that is sold, I will do a little dance, make a little love and get down tonight (but, rest assured, I won’t put it on YouTube)!

AMAZON – The Lucius Chronicles

SMASHWORDS – The Lucius Chronicles

THANK YOU!

The Lucius Chronicles – A Peek Inside the Pages

The Lucius Chronicles – A Peek Inside the Pages

The Lucius Chronicles – A Peek Inside the Pages

Last month, I had the pleasure of being able to share the conceptual cover art for my forthcoming book, The Lucius Chronicles with you, done by American author and illustrator, James Stevens. His first novel, ‘Fern Majestic and the Fall of a Dragon’ has just been released by Mascot Books and so far, is doing really well.

Lucius Chronicles - Eddie takes Johnny to the Station in the sky. Rob Gregory Author

Eddie takes Johnny to the Station in the Sky

This month, I am equally delighted to be able to give you a sneak preview of some of the cartoons that could well be gracing the interior of the book. They were done by New Zealand cartoonist, Eugene Georgiades, who has what I think is an absolutely wonderful style that both contrasts with and compliments James’ intriguing cover image.

Lucius Chronicles - Eddie's Dad (Mister Death). Rob Gregory Author

Eddie’s Dad (Mister Death)

When I originally discussed the brief with Eugene, I asked him if he could try and come up with perhaps ten or eleven images, depicting key events from the three books that make up The Lucius Chronicles, that I could choose from. Apparently, he enjoyed reading the individual books so much that he was inspired to produce over thirty images, which was a wonderful surprise for me, but has made the final selection incredibly difficult because they are all so fantastic!

Lucius Chronicles -Eddie meets an ancient knight in the void. Rob Gregory Author

Eddie meets an ancient Knight in the void

I’m still planning on releasing The Lucius Chronicles before the end of the year on Amazon and Smashwords, with a possible paperback release sometime during 2019. Watch this space for details.

Lucius Chronicles - Malthus Devryn shows off his art collection. Rob Gregory Author

Malthus Devryn shows off his art collection

In the meantime, I’m currently in the process of editing my second novel, ‘Yogol’s Gold’, which is a revenge thriller that parodies events spanning seventy years of the last century. Currently sitting at just under one hundred thousand words, it’s turning out to be a bit of an epic, which I also hope will hit the shelves later next year. I’ve also just finished a couple of short stories, which were originally intended for my occasional newsletter ‘The Rockall Literary Supplement’. However, after a number of conversations with various different people, I’ve decided to shelve that particular project for the time being, so if anyone knows of any magazines (online or print) that might be interested in publishing a couple of ‘Tales of the Unexpected’ style pieces, then please drop me a line at info@rob-gregory.com

Lucius Chronicles - Johnny's dad in a spot of bother. Rob Gregory Author

Johnny’s dad in a spot of bother

Finally, I hope that you enjoy the cartoons as much as I do and thank you once again to both James Stevens and Eugene Georgiades for their beautiful contributions, which I hope will make The Lucius Chronicles the grand success it deserves to be!

Lucius Chronicles - Uncle Lucius gets his revenge. Rob Gregory Author

Uncle Lucius gets his revenge

NB. Check out the original DATS Trilogy here, if you want to know what all the fuss is about.

The Lucius Chronicles… IT’S ALIVE!

First glimpse: Cover art for The Lucius Chronicles

First Glimpse

… Cover art for ‘The Lucius Chronicles’…

Hi Everyone! I wanted to share with you, the first sneak preview of the cover artwork for my latest book, ‘The Lucius Chronicles’. This is only a rough mock-up of the proposed cover, but I liked it so much that I couldn’t wait until the finished version was available to share it with you.

‘The Lucius Chronicles’ is a compilation of the three books that comprise the DATS Trilogy: ‘Death and the Schoolboy’, ‘Death and the Atom Bomb’ and ‘Death and the End’, which tell the story of Johnny the schoolboy and his adventures with Eddie, the Death of Children, as they battle the supremely evil Uncle Lucius, the original Death and eponymous villain of the book.

Lucius Chronicles - Draft Cover. Rob Gregory Author

First glimpse of the draft cover for ‘The Lucius Chronicles’.

All of the books are currently available separately on Amazon and Smashwords, but I’ve wanted to bring them together in one place for a long time now, to give readers a more meaty experience and to allow them to devour all of the stories in one go. Hopefully, ‘The Lucius Chronicles’ will be out as an ebook just in time for Christmas and all going well, will also be released in paperback format in 2019. Pre-orders will, as always, be discounted, so watch this space for more details and get your orders in fast!

Anyway, back to the cover. The artwork, which I hope you’ll agree is amazing, was done by American author and illustrator, James Stevens, who has a book of his own entitled, ‘Fern Majestic and The Fall of a Dragon’, coming out in a couple of months’ time. You can find out more by clicking here. He’s on Twitter as well (@FernMajestic) and is a really nice guy, so feel free to look him up, follow him and drop him a line.

Lucius Chronicles - The Original Cover Sketch. Rob Gregory Author

The original cover sketch.

It’s only been a couple of weeks since I first approached James about doing the cover for ‘The Lucius Chronicles’ and based on the results so far, I’m really glad that I did. I’d seen some of his art on Twitter and was really impressed by his style. When he agreed to give it a go, he read the entire DATS Trilogy in two days flat and fired up with bags of inspiration, quickly came up with an initial concept sketch that pretty much became the final version. In fact, the only thing that we ended up changing were the characters in the foreground, just to make Johnny and Eddie a little younger and that was only because I was being pedantic!

Lucius Chronicles - Revised Cover Sketch. Rob Gregory Author

The revised cover sketch.

With a bit of luck, in a week or so’s time, I’ll be able to share the final draft of the cover for ‘The Lucius Chronicles’ before it goes to the graphic designer for finishing. I can’t wait to see what the final imagery looks like and I hope that you’ll be impressed too.

Oh, and one last thing. When finished, ‘The Lucius Chronicles’ will also contain a selection of line drawings depicting various scenes from the three books, done by my good friend and excellent cartoonist, Eugene Georgiades. I will share some of them with you a bit nearer the time, but for now, you’re just going have to make do with James’ fantastic cover art. Enjoy!