“What transpires is a story right out of The Twilight Zone or an old horror flick you might have watched in the 80’s or early 90’s.” - See more

So, if the weather’s grey and gloomy out, this just might be the creepy afternoon read your heart desires. Leave me a review if you like it and spread the word. You can pick it up on Kindle here.

Also, the first book in the series, Jack of Hearts is on sale today only.

Great time to pick up both books!

“Heartless.

Until Cassandra awakened the memory of his human emotions, Jack willingly hunted and killed the enemies of the Lady of Twilight, a witch who locked his beating heart away along with all his pain.

Now Jack has won a temporary reprieve from the Lady so that he and his giant friend, Minnow, can find the fabled city of Argent, where Cassandra languishes inside a dark tower.

With time running out, Jack must ally with Moribrand, a charlatan he once stalked. Their desperate search leads them into treacherous mountains where wind spirits control the skies and powerful wizards battle to locate Argent first.

In the quest to prove his heart to Cassandra, Jack may remember how easily it can be broken.”

I also got a glimpse of the cover and title, which I’ll be happy to show off in a few days.

And just for fun here is the music I listened to while writing Jack of Hearts 2. Like I mentioned in a previous post, I like to build playlists for writing projects. Sort of inspirational themes. It’s a fun mini-project for me. Eventually it’s just white noise so I can disappear into the world of the book.

Last time I had a lot of Smashing Pumpkins going on. This time it’s a little more all over the place. I’ve got some Battlestar Galactica, Lost, and the amazing sound track to the Fountain, by Clint Mansell. And yes, that’s a Modanna song. Not sure how that happened, but there it is.

Here: http://www.amazon.com/Jack-Of-Hearts-ebook/dp/B00BWTUF1W

“Dragon*Con is the largest multimedia, popular culture convention focusing on science fiction and fantasy, gaming, comics, literature, art, music, and film in the universe!  Held every Labor Day weekend in Atlanta, GA, Dragon*Con boasts close to 40 fan-based tracks, a film festival, Atlanta’s largest parade throughout downtown, an art show, comics and pop art exhibits and displays, nightly concerts and parties, bands and DJs, tons of costume contests, over a hundred dealers and exhibitors, and almost 4000 hours of panels, workshops, and gaming.” -www.DragonCon.com

If you are planning on being there, stop by and say “hi”.

I will be at the following:

Designing Awesome Videogames (panel) Time: Fri, 8/30/13 @ 02:30 pm Location: Grand Salon D – Hilton Description: An all-star lineup of videogame designers, behind Dishonored, Unreal, Saint’s Row, Wasteland, and more! Dishonored: Behind the Scenes (panel) Time: Sat, 8/31/13 @ 07:00 pm Location: Grand Salon D – Hilton Description: Learn the secrets of the dark city of Dunwall from the talented design team at Arkane Studios. Ricardo Bare – JACK OF HEARTS (book reading) Time: Sun, 9/01/13 @ 11:30 am Location: Roswell – Hyatt Writing for Videogames (panel) Time: Mon, 9/02/13 @ 01:00 pm Location: Grand Salon D – Hilton Description: A discussion of the dozens of endings and weeks of branching dialogue needed for this type of writing.

By Ricardo Bare

“Holy wisdom is not clear and thin like water, but thick and dark like blood.”

Every writer can probably point to a short list of authors or books that are their favorite influences… (read more)

“I’m going to make a bold, maybe snobbish, statement. If you’re a fan of Aslan, brace yourself. Narnia is a weak and thin broth compared to the nourishment you will find in Till We Have Faces. The Chronicles of Narnia is Turkish Delight, Till We Have Faces is meat, red and juicy on the bone.” – Ricardo Bare

[guest blog post for Bell Bridge Books - the publisher of Jack of Hearts]

“Now that Jack of Hearts is finally out – something which still feels utterly surreal to me – I’m right in the middle of writing the next book in the series.”
- Ricardo Bare

Thank you, Mick Fraser.

“When you play the game of thrones, you win or you die. There is no middle ground.”
- Cersei Lannister

Last week Amazon picked my book for the Kindle Daily Deal. This was incredibly exciting. The most fun part was looking at the fantasy list of books at one point and seeing Jack of Hearts in the number one spot, which it held for several days. Seeing my book on a list next to a ‘real’ author like George R.R. Martin was mind blowing for me. My first thought was, “Quick! Before it disappears! Take a screenshot!”