Dennis Spielman

Unbound Updated

On September 2, 2013

Lessa’s Unbound Dilemmas at the Library has been updated universally. The Kindle, Nook, iBookstore versions are all the same version with formatting fixes and updated parts. The story is now a single short story with multiple paths for $0.99. Unbound is an interactive urban fantasy adventure that follows librarian, Lessa, in a typical night of closing the library. As usual, the characters have come unbound from their books to roam the library at night. But this time one of the characters wants to be free of the library and will do anything to guarantee his freedom.

I plan to take the Unbound concept and flesh it out into a non-interactive novel in the future.

On another note, the price on Uncovering Oklahoma’s 2013 Date Idea Book has been cut since we are getting close to the end of the year. Work has been underway for the 2014 edition. I’ve been gathering information and taking pictures.

Uncovering Oklahoma: Ludivine

By Dennis

On August 30, 2013

In Real

Today I published a video interview on the Oklahoma City restaurant, Ludivine, for Uncovering Oklahoma. This is the first video this year for my travel site. For this one, I did something new where I edited the video to feature five key points about the place. I’m proud of how the video turned out.

Ludivine is a farm-to-table, open kitchen restaurant in Oklahoma City’s Midtown district. Offering a daily changing menu that is guided by what is available from local farms and ranches in a modern environment, Ludivine features food not seen at common restaurants. They are ideal for nice dates and showing out-of-towners Oklahoma isn’t all fried food and gravy.

In my video interview, Co-Owner / Chef, Russ Johnson, shares five facts about Ludivine. Russ has been cooking most of his life, starting professionally at age 16. While he grew up in Oklahoma City and has moved around, Russ came back starting out doing private chef work. He later met up with Jonathon Stranger, working him on One Table, a reservation only place with only one table. They had wanted to flesh out One Table as more of an full restaurant, which became Ludivine.

Watch the video and be sure to visit Ludivine for delicious food and tasty drinks.

Ludivine will be listed in Uncovering Oklahoma’s 2014 Date Idea, which work is already under way.

Free Promotion Results: The Crashing of Heaven and Hell

By Dennis

On August 19, 2013

In Real

On Monday, August 20, 2013, I ran a free promotion for my sci-fi/fantasy novel, The Crashing of Heaven and Hell, allowing people to download the novel for free for the Kindle.

In total, The Crashing of Heaven and Hell was downloaded 96 times! Thank you! In the evening, it managed to reach #97 in the free Sci-fi section and #2,370 overall. To those that got it, I hope you enjoy it and recommend it to people. If you missed the promotion, those that have a prime membership and an actual Kindle can check it out for free (and I do get some money for this way).

Stick around as I have more great things to share.

My sci-fi/fantasy novel, The Crashing of Heaven and Hell, is currently free today for the Kindle. Enjoy this free gift for those visiting today. If you enjoyed the book, leave a review on Amazon or Goodreads and tell your friends about it.

Released: The Crashing of Heaven and Hell

By Dennis

On July 30, 2013

In Real

I am incredibly excited to announce the release of my first novel, The Crashing of Heaven and Hell. It’s a quick and adventurous read into this colorful and imaginative world where there are aliens, monsters, and mystical creatures and everyone is cool with it. To compare it, it’s like a cross between American Gods and The Hitchers Guide to the Galaxy. You can buy the book in Paperback via Amazon, Hardback via Lulu, and as an exclusive eBook for Kindle. If you don’t own a physical Kindle, there are Kindle reading apps for the iPhone and Android. If you do own a kindle and an Amazon Prime membership, the ebook is available to borrow for free. Go buy your copy and like the book on Facebook. I’ll post announcements if the book goes on sale or when I’ll be doing book signings.

Now that all of that information has been said, I’m going to share a bit of the book’s development history. The story started out as a short story, which I first started writing back on October 19, 2006 (according to when I created the Word document). The story was inspired by the song, “Something of an End” by My Brightest Diamond. I discovered this band and song when I was listening to NRP back in college. I was really hooked on it. The lyrics about heaven and hell crashing down created this powerful picture to me and so I wrote a rather literal story, while the song was more symbolical, about Heaven and Hell crashing down on the planet. I created this Spotify playlist of the songs that helped inspire the novel.

Over time, the short story grew into a novel, going through several major rewrites along the way. Each revision had its own story, motivation, and sparks of ideas. The first few versions, the narrator was all over the place and disorganized. Based on feedback, the story straightened out and on the final versions, became deep with fleshed out characters and motivations.

I am so proud of the book. To finally release it, it feels natural. I was disappointed in myself it took me this long after high school to release a novel. I didn’t go to my ten-year high school reunion because I wasn’t as accomplished as I thought I would be after high school. Reality is hard, but I grew so much in that time and if I would’ve released anything earlier, it would not have been great. It’s best to give projects time to mature instead of releasing them when they’re raw.

The book is dedicated to My Brightest Diamond. Thank you.

I hope you enjoy the book and tell all of your friends about it. I will be doing my best now to spread the word while working on my next big project. I love creating things. Please help spread the word about the time Heaven and Hell came crashing down.

Recommendation: The Ocean at the End of the Lane

By Dennis

On July 25, 2013

In Real

Neil Gaiman is one of my favorite writers, so of course, this recommendation is for his newest book, The Ocean at the End of the Lane. A novel – although short but still technically a novel – The Ocean at the End of the Lane is a modern fairy-tale fantasy that touches on memory, the way we see the world as a child and as adults, and how we remember things compared to others. The story starts out with the narrator visiting a former neighbor’s house from his childhood. When he sees the pond that his friend, Lettie Hempstock, called the ocean, he remembers the time he stubbled upon the Hempstock family’s supernatural secret and the multiple layers of reality. I enjoyed the subtle introduction of the Hempstock’s supernaturalness. I had to stop and re-read the scene because it was interesting and well played. After that point, the book took off and I had to keep reading to know more about the Hempstocks. It’s a short book, making for a quick and enjoyable afternoon read.

I had pre-ordered my copy from Porter Square Books, where Neil Gaiman signed a bunch of copies, and I received it on the release date. I am happy to have it in my collection and therefor The Ocean at the End of the Lane gets my recommendation.

If you’re interested in my other recommendations, read them here.