The Northern Cycle Published!

Hello Everyone! I know it’s been quite a long time since I last posted on the blog. I’ve been busy with school work and finishing the third novel taking place in the world of Yennen. The Northern Cycle follows the adventures of Vilsind Laymund, a chieftain of the Suevi tribe in Hirdland called into a foreign war. The Kaiser of Falkland, Darador, leads his forces against the Skegan League in an attempt to subdue the entirety of the northern provinces. Vilsind must carefully navigate a world of political subterfuge as factions vie for control and freedom. A black dragon rises over Hirdland and the endless cycle of war and death resumes.

All coats of arms were created by and credited to Anna Vasyuk

laysonfalklandanuithurgeniskegan

What’s Next? Author Blog Update

Hello everyone,

 

After the successful launch and sales behind The Cripple and the King, I’m finally ready to announce my next two projects, which I’m hoping to finish a majority of the work on over this school year. I’ve just started Sophomore year so progress might be a bit slow, but I think I’ll have plenty of time to work on both. The first, is the next installment in the fantasy series, The Northern Cycle, which follows a tribe of Hirdlanders, who some of you may remember as some of the antagonists in The Sword to Unite, and their forced recruitment into a foreign war whose outcome could decide the fate of their nation and the entirety of the northern realms. Following the main character Vilsind Layson and his tribe’s interactions with Kaiser Darador, a young king driven by ambition and an unconquerable intellect for politics and war. Vilsind must carefully navigate an intricate web of lies and outrun the past of his father’s cursed name. This is the cover art for the book, created by artist Reza Afshar.

Another project, which I will reveal in a little bit, will be in a new genre and is heavily inspired by the works of Lovecraft and the art of H.R. Giger, and I’m very excited about it!

Thanks for reading!

Peter

The Cripple and the King reaches top 10 in Historical Fantasy and top 1,000 in Kindle Store!

Just wanted to share the great news about my most recent book, The Cripple and the King, which was ranked as #10 in Historical Fantasy on the Kindle Store this week! It’s been great to see the reception of the book and if you haven’t already picked up a copy be sure to check the link below!

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-Peter

Link: https://www.amazon.com/Cripple-King-Peter-Hopkins-ebook/dp/B07BWH8R8X

The Cripple and the King Published on Amazon KDP!

The Cripple and the King has just been published through Amazon KDP! Be sure to pick up your Kindle or physical copy, and if you do, be sure to leave a review!

Kindle Link:https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07BWH8R8X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1522780982&sr=8-1&keywords=the+cripple+and+the+king

Physical Link:https://www.amazon.com/dp/1980686076/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1522781006&sr=8-2&keywords=the+cripple+and+the+king

Thanks so much,

Peter

Flash Poetry: The Yellowtail Hound

Yelp and kick

The gadfly pokes and prods the hound

Beast of bellowing booming cry

Left whimpering by a speck

Descendent of wolf

Turned his yellowtail and ran

Bark left useless

Against his opponent’s bite

 

Just a little poetry to break up the week guys, I’m going to try getting a few more of these out when I can. As always, thanks for reading

-Peter

The Sword to Unite…Published with an Actual Publisher!

Hello everyone! Exciting news, The Sword to Unite has been republished by Digital Fiction Publishing, featuring the exciting new ability to read the book for free through Kindle Unlimited or for the low regular price of 2.99. If you haven’t picked up a copy yet, now is a perfect time. Check it out here!

Blog Update: The Second Book

Hello everyone! I just wanted to give a quick post regarding progress on the second book, a project roughly as long in development as The Sword to Unite. The Cripple and King, is currently in the final stages of the manuscript before I move on to editing and querying to agents. I can’t wait to show more of the book to you all, but for now here’s a coat of arms done for the second book by Anna Vasyuk. It depicts the Lion of Nacia, an ancient symbol used by various dynasties who have ruled the Nacian Empire. It is also the heraldry of the main character, Lucan, king of the new Nacian Kingdom and member of the Lavinian Dynasty. I’ve just started a new semester at college, so the blog posts may be a bit more few and far between than usual but I’m hoping to keep everyone’s interest in the second book. Be sure that you’ve checked out The Sword to Unite on Amazon and be sure to like, comment, and subscribe for more content!

-Peter

The Song of Hadrian

Commissioned by Imperator Horace, composed by the poet Quintus in the year 67 2E to commemorate his late father and ruler, Hadrian I, who had died just a year before.

A Lion born across the sea

Upon his mother’s shoulder he did flee

From burning flame and dying kin

From the palace of endless sin

He fought with sword

He fought with word

Bravest of all from

Last of his father’s mighty line

O Blood of Eln and Erastrius

Together now for all time

Like a fountain

A source of mercy for all

Like a bard at the string

He composed our country

The Lion of Nacia!

The Dream of Being A Published Author

This is a bit of a different article today, much more personal. It’s not the typical post history of a certain house or kingdom in the world of Yennen, Morthwyl and Erastrius, no this post is about my dream to make that world known to as many readers as possible.

Over the past year, I’ve begun my quest to write novels, at least as a passion for as long as I can. I’m still fairly new to the game and there’s plenty left to learn. I was so ecstatic when I clicked to confirm my order through BookBaby, the publishing service I used for The Sword to Unite, but now it feels almost like a bitter sweet moment. For all the work I put into the book, I felt I had almost wasted my time on it. Advice to anyone considering writing; you will feel like that at some point, but you have to push through it.

Like writing, the process of publishing is long and arduous, filled with typos and minutes spent pacing around your room trying to ignore the complete lack of logic in your last paragraph. It’s still my dream that one day I might get an agent, that one day that agent might find a publishing house willing to take a chance with one of my stories, and one day someone will pick up a copy of a book with my name on it and read it. Just that thought is so exciting, it really makes the process worth all the effort, the thought that someone genuinely enjoys something I spent the time to craft, minus a few typos of course.

Thanks for reading,

Peter

Dorea, The Masters of the Western Gulf

The Duxy of Dorea stands on two small isles of Nacia, known as Old Pelaga and New Pelaga. With the sigil of a golden seahorse upon a blue shield, they rule through strength and trade. Confined to the sea, their food comes from the ocean, with an impressive fleet of fishing ships able to supply the islands with a steady and wide variety of maritime delicacies. Their power resides in their massive navy, the largest on the eastern half of the world, and their economic connections with the Joint-Kingdom of Menidon across the Gulf of Gilmire, as well as the Merchant Princes of Krivich to the north. Even when Cato, previous King of Nacia, declared war against Krivich, Dorea maintained their trade relations.

In their first years, House Oleri, the lords of Dorea, were a noble family in the original lands of Nacia, on the western side of the continent of Yennen. Their ancestor, Boves the Brave, aided in the taking of the isle where Nacia now stands. Boves snuck into Old Pelaga, which was a thriving trade hub at the time. Disguised as merchants, he and a band of thirty knights, their order is alive today known as The Pelagean Thirty, took control of the city by morning, and handed the keys to Imperator Felix. In exchange, Boves was granted Pelaga as a personal holding, while the Imperator took the rest of the lands and titles.

When the Nacian Empire collapsed, House Oleri saved the royal family and many people of Nacia who had journeyed to the eastern coast. The Imperator’s host was closely followed by an army of barbaric invaders, and it seemed they would be cut down on the beaches. Using their navy at Pelaga, they ran a rescue operation which took only one day, saving nearly two thousand lives. For choosing to save their liege rather than let him die on the coast, they have been considered the most loyal of any vassals to the Kingdom of Nacia.

The current lord, Dux Festus, is an incredibly old man; a renowned warrior in his youth both strong and tall, he is now confined with a cane and cannot wear full armor without the weight overcoming him.