December 9th, 2016
As 2016 begins to wrap up, we here at Gold & Steel are taking the time to reflect on everything this year has been.
It all started at Sci-Fi on the Rock 10 at the Sheraton Hotel in St. John’s where As Fierce as Steel first went on sale. Before the event, Walsh appeared on Jon Mallard’s Odd To Newfoundland podcast in preparation and the two had a fantastic chat. At the show, As Fierce as Steel made its big premiere, beginning its life in hardcover form. Despite a price ($35) that made it the most expensive book in Author’s Alley, it sold very well with new friends and fans being made all weekend long.
That weekend also saw the release of Engen Books’ Sci-Fi From the Rock, which featured the short Gold & Steel prequel story, Stealing Back Freedom. It was at this event that Gold & Steel added editor Erin Vance to the team, who also works with Engen Books. Walsh got to spend time with other authors like Matthew LeDrew (Engen Books founder and author of the Black Womb series), Ellen Curtis (Engen Books editor and author of the Infinity series), Jay Paulin and Ariel Marsh (Ink’d Well Comics), Kenneth Tam (His Majesty’s New World series), Scott Bartlett (Out of Dodge trilogy), Sam Bauer and Nicholas Morine (Kowloon Walled City, 1984) and cover artist Christina Hamlyn appeared at the event with her own table complete with her wonderful artwork. All in all, a better debut in the literary world couldn’t have been asked for and it was a great way to kick off the year and the series.
One proud owner of As Fierce as Steel, S.S. Yasumi of Simple Pleasures, even took to her YouTube channel to review the first installment of the series! [View Here]
From there things kept rolling for Gold & Steel and the summer months brought more appearances around the St. John’s area of author Christopher Walsh; those being the Newfoundland Gaming Expo, Avalon Expo and a special book signing appearance at Chapters on Kenmount Road and more fun times were had.
Kurt Sasso of Two Geeks Talking got in contact with Walsh around this time and the two of them sat down for an interview on his podcast, which was a wonderfully fun time.
All of that led into Gold & Steel’s 2016 Autumn Tour. Starting in Corner Brook with Atlanti-Con in September, Christopher Walsh embarked on a convention tour that took him across the island and eventually out of the province. It was at Altanti-Con that Walsh met yet another local author by the name of Paul Carberry (Zombies on the Rock) and met the enthusiastic supporters and staff behind the west coast of the island’s premier convention.
In October, Gold & Steel appeared at Windsor ComiCon at the Caesars Casino in Windsor, Ontario, a former home of Christopher Walsh. Along with the love of his life Kyra, Walsh spent time with old friends and new faces and As Fierce as Steel, in paperback form for the first time, was met by convention goers with enthusiasm. It was also during this time in Windsor that As Fierce as Steel made its first ever appearance on store shelves, when a deal was reached with the wonderful folks at Juniper Books on Ottawa Street.
Between conventions, Walsh sat down with reporter Alissa Brothers of the Irish Loop Post for an excellent interview, which made the front page of the paper in November.
The month was rounded out with a return to Newfoundland in a new setting: the Calvert Fall Fair. Walsh got the chance to set up shop right in his proverbial backyard and the residents of the Southern Shore proved to be tremendous supporters of one of their own.
On the road we went again in November, this time to Halifax and the Hal-Con convention. Artist Christina Hamlyn joined Walsh for the weekend and the two signed books all weekend long for the fantastic attendees of the biggest convention Gold & Steel had appeared at to date. Walsh was once again joined by other authors, such as Ali House, whose debut novel, Six Elemental, made an appearance at the Gold & Steel table.
The tour was not yet over, though and Walsh appeared in St. John’s area again, this time at Merry Geekmas in Mount Pearl, spending the day with the Engen Books crew and authors Heather Reilly of Reilly Books and Patrick Gear (Apotheosis: The Age of Awakening).
One more appearance rounded out the touring year and that was once again at Walsh’s home region of the Southern Shore in Calvert, for the Christmas Fair and a better place could not have been asked to bring the 2016 schedule to a close.
There is one last piece of news for 2016: New pricing! As Fierce as Steel is going to a new, lower price for the eBook and paperback versions.
Effective December 11th, the eBook version of As Fierce as Steel will now be:
$4.99 Canadian
$3.99 U.S.
$4.99 AUS
£3.99 (British Pounds)
€ 3.99 (Euros)
Effective January 1st, the paperback prices will now be:
$24.99 Canadian
$19.99 U.S.
$24.99 AUS
£16.99 (British Pounds)
€ 21.99 (Euros)
2016 proved to be a wild first year for Gold & Steel. New friends and fans alike were made, new sights were seen and memories to last a lifetime were made. It wouldn’t have been possible without a dedicated team of supporters across all corners of the country. In that spirit, Christopher Walsh extends thanks to:
– Aylward’s Designs Plus of Witless Bay for all their tireless work in printing the many postcards, canvas prints, banners and other printed goods associated with Gold & Steel. I can’t wait to work with Kay and David in 2017.
– Engen Books, who continue to work with and promote Gold & Steel to the masses at seemingly every turn. Matthew LeDrew, Ellen Curtis and Erin Vance have become good friends of mine and brought me into the fold of the Newfoundland independent author’s community. For that, I can’t thank them enough.
– Jon Mallard and Kurtis Sasso for having me on their shows, (Odd to Newfoundland and Two Geeks Talking respectively) it was a pleasure spending time with the both of you and I would be glad to do it again.
– The Irish Loop Artisans Cooperative for putting together the Calvert fairs, extending support and including me in the cooperative. I look forward to working with you into 2017 and beyond.
– Ingram Spark, who print and distribute Gold & Steel. You have a great team in place, thanks for your patience in helping a first time author. You are class acts all the way.
– Stacey Smith, it is because of you that Gold & Steel became a reality in the first place. You inspired the confidence that led to me fleshing out Gold & Steel into a series and helped guide it to fruition.
– The Irish Loop Post, particularly Alissa Brothers, for taking the time to speak with me and share my story.
– The staff and organisers of all the conventions attended, including Sci-Fi on the Rock (and Merry Geekmas), Newfoundland Gaming Expo (and Sandbox Gaming), Avalon Expo, Atlanti-Con, WindsorCon and Hal-Con for their efforts in promoting and running the conventions that made it possible for Gold & Steel to be sold.
– To all the authors and writers I have met throughout the year, I say thank you for all the encouragement, support and advice given. I wish all the best to each and every one of you and best wishes in the year ahead. That includes, but is not limited to: Scott Bartlett, Sam Bauer, Paul Carberry, Melanie Collins, Ellen Curtis, Matthew Daniels, Peter Foote, Patrick Gear, Ali House, Matthew LeDrew, Ariel Marsh, Nicholas Morine, Stacey Oakley, Jay Paulin, Heather Reilly, Stephanie Spurrell and Kenneth Tam.
– To all the family and friends who have shown me support along the way, I say thank you. Whether it was a place to stay during a convention, a like and a share on Facebook, promoting it by word of mouth, taking the time to read As Fierce as Steel and everything else, you have been nothing short of tremendous and I thank you from the bottom of my heart for everything.
– To all the new readers of Gold & Steel, thank you so very much for giving As Fierce as Steel a try. You took a chance on an unknown author and his new series and I thank you so much for that. You make it all possible and your enthusiasm keeps me working away at my keyboard producing The Worth of Gold and more short stories. I hope you all have enjoyed As Fierce as Steel (and Stealing Back Freedom, if you bought Sci-Fi From the Rock) and I wish you all the happiest of holiday seasons and a wonderful New Year.
– Erin Vance, editor of Gold & Steel, thank you so much for your hard work in making As Fierce as Steel better than ever. It’s a pleasure having you on the Gold & Steel team.
– Christina Hamlyn, cover artist of Gold & Steel, thank you for the beautiful artwork and for being a dear friend. Let’s bring more of my characters to life in 2017.
– That brings me to Kyra, the love of my life. Thank you for being my everything. I love you more than words can say. Here’s to you and me and whatever 2017 may have in store for us.
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