The Bull is close

I am about 90% through the first pass of the Slaying of the Bull. I haven’t read the story in more than a decade, so I had to get back into it, get used to the characters, and make sure the plot is sound. I know I will need to add a bit to the end to have a smooth transition to future works in the series. I already have these parts in mind (another long night laying away and another idea), so it shouldn’t take long. All in all, the story should be done by the end of this weekend. But the work doesn’t stop there. I will then go through and edit for language, then format the book and get it ready for publishing. It is quite a long book for me. Usually, I average just around the 100,000-word mark, but with this one crossing a bit into the historical fiction genre, it is a bit beefier at 110,000. I will then need some time for my Launch Squad (join here) to go through and give me feedback. My goal is to publish it about one month after Island of Stone’s release date, so early May.

I am very proud of this story. The idea came from a very brief mention of the Mongolian invasion of Europe during a world history course in college. I had never heard of such a thing, and it stimulated my curiosity. I even went so far as to earn a history minor primarily because of this one event. When I wrote the book, it took a lot of research. I don’t remember how long it took to write, but it was a long time. I had to become an expert on church architecture, vestments, rituals, history, and words. I had to learn about medieval warfare and weapons. I needed to obtain details on the history of the Dominican Order, Manicheanism, the struggle between the Holy Roman Empire and the Papacy, the Crusades, history of the Kingdom of Hungary, and the Mongolians and I peppered real people, places, and events throughout the book. I will heavily format this work for Amazon X-ray, so there will be a lot of links to external sites so people can see how deep this story goes. Clicking on the links is not required to understand and enjoy the story, but I hope that it will stimulate everyone’s curiosity. Those that buy the paperback won’t have that luxury, but a quick google search is all it takes. I even traveled to some of the locations in the book, including Budapest, to get a feel for Hungary. At the time, this book was my world, and I am very sorry that I let it fall out of the limelight. At this point, I actually can’t believe that wrote it, but I am delighted I did.

The Slaying of the Bull is more than just a work of fiction. There is a lot of history there, and this history is something profound, making every aspect of the story very plausible. The main events are just footnotes in history, but if the Mongolians were successful in their aim, European history and culture would have looked very different. Not to mention, millions of lives were lost in the struggle, something that shouldn’t be forgotten. Future books in the series will pull the arching story a bit more into the fantastical, but the root is very much a credible and vital story to tell. It is more significant than me, and I hope that people read it, gain enjoyment (and enlightenment), and spread its story.

Island of Stone is a good book, but it is very much fiction. The Slaying of the Bull is fiction and more. Its message is important during these dark times, and they are dark times indeed- disease runs rampant, the economy trembles, and moral darkness threatens the land. I am not going to go so far as to say that all the answers are in this book, but there is undoubtedly a bit of divine inspiration and a message that we all can grasp onto.

As mentioned above, Slaying of the Bull, the first book in the Tocharian Gospels Series will be coming soon.

Cheers!