I’m finally getting around to pointing this out: the new cover art for Bard Hard has been live for a while now… and I couldn’t be happier with how it turned out.
I held off on saying much because I was waiting for the audio book update to go through (which took longer than expected), but now that everything’s caught up, I wanted to give it the spotlight it deserves.
Huge thanks to the insanely talented artist Andrew Austin — check out his work here. He created something that’s not just a great fit for the story, but a genuinely beautiful piece of art in its own right.
A Second Series? Yep.
Bard Hard will absolutely continue (don’t worry), but let’s be real—those books take time. They’re full of layered worldbuilding, character arcs, and a complicated narrative structure that needs time to breathe. I want to get them right.
That said, I’ve been itching to stretch my legs creatively. So I’ve started writing a second series—something faster-paced, rough around the edges, and gloriously unhinged. A LITRPG that lets me put my own personal twist on the genre.
Introducing After/War (Definitely a Working Title)
Set in a surreal, game-like afterlife (yes, the title is a dumb pun), this series is for readers who like their stories gritty, foul-mouthed, and weird.
Think The Running Man — but set in Purgatory.
It’s been an absolute blast to write—something that doesn’t take itself too seriously, gives me full permission to be weird and reckless…
Okay… mostly weird.
And just so we’re all on the same page: After/War is 100% a working title at this time. I’ve only been at it for about a month! It was literally the name I gave the the Word doc when I had to save it the first time. The final title could absolutely change. Probably will. Almost definitely. Stay tuned.
Thanks as always for sticking with me, reading my stuff, and letting me keep writing! I literally couldn’t do this without you.
Stay awesome,
T. Ellery Hodges
P.S. My wife put up a new shelf in my office.
It had nothing to do with this post. I just really like it.
No. There is absolutely no order to those books yet… Its madness.
“Adventure unravels in unexpected ways with the same intentionality as the Tibbs books.” —Brian
“Picked by the gods—or picked on? Either way, it’s gloriously problematic!”—Laura Lee De Nio
“One of the best fantasy ensembles ever put to paper!”—Daigo Parry
“A masterpiece of worldbuilding, of fantastical storytelling, and for a character as snarky and irreverent as Renly Teurig can (sometimes) be, it’s surprisingly heartfelt, poignant, and tragic.”—PlasmatixUltra
“The characters are not classic archetypes but are flawed in their own ways, much like real-life people. This makes the story engaging and hard to put down.”—Jessie “A must-read for fans of Patrick Rothfuss and Brandon Sanderson!”—Patrick C.
“A worthy successor to The Name of the Wind.” —David Winter.
Thank you for being part of this adventure. Whether it’s demolition bars or lutes, it’s been an honor to have you along for the ride.
Hello Readers! I’m thrilled to share some exciting news about Bard Hard! With the finish line in sight, here’s what you can (probably) expect in the coming weeks as we approach the official release.
Bard Hard | Song of the Exiles | Book 1
Wisdom hides from adventure Panic doesn’t have a plan Never listen to the guy who brings a lute to a sword fight
All souls enter the afterlife screaming, but Renly Teurig’s didn’t make a sound. Intrigued, the goddess Neuillya came to hear the Bard’s tale.
Born of the Teurig, a renowned company of performers, a young musician unwittingly binds himself to the lute of a celestial muse. Tragedy, exile, and chaos follow. As Renly struggles to master the lute’s power and understand the mysterious forces that threaten his world, his days become a series of supernatural encounters, daring gambles, and near-death escapes.
Bard Hard is high-fantasy at its best, combining immersive world-building and magic systems with a humorous narrator. It takes readers on their first journey into the fantastical world of Kiir, following the life and times of one of its most enigmatic and conflicted inhabitants. With epic quests, thrilling battles, and unexpected twists and turns, it’s a tale of destiny, identity, truth, sacrifice, and the power of storytelling.
Amazon & Goodreads Reviewer, Laura Lee De Nio ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
Picked by the gods—or picked on? Either way, it’s gloriously problematic! Epic Humor, Epic Action, Epic Epic! Quests, good friends who have your back… or do they? Fabulous Action! Witty Banter (I love the wit!!) Heroes face insurmountable challenges. This is an immersive experience, the world draws you in and oh, yes! You’re gonna love it here! LOTR, GOT, watch out, the new epic is here! I can’t wait for the next book, the author is brilliant! The world is waiting for this, it just doesn’t know it yet…
Audiobook Recording News
The audiobook version of Bard Hard is in production, narrated by the incredibly talented Steven Barnett. He’s bringing the characters and story to life chapter by chapter, and it’s been amazing to hear! This means the audiobook will be available not long after the print and digital releases, so stay tuned for updates on the launch date!
Release Dates for Paperback, Hardback, and Kindle
Experience has taught me to expect at least one unforeseen, last-minute formatting issue from the printer. So, these dates may adjust slightly. Keep an eye out for updates!
Hardback
I haven’t fully committed to releasing a hardback yet. I have formatted one and ordered a physical copy to see how it looks. If I feel the quality is worth the price tag, it will be available by late November or early December.
Paperback
Starting November 11th, Bard Hard will be available in paperback.
Kindle Pre-Order/Release
The eBook should be available for pre-order on Amazon starting November 11th, with an official release on November 18th. Early reviews are incredibly valuable in supporting the book’s success! If you’re eager to share your thoughts, please don’t hesitate!
This journey has been amazing, and I can’t believe we’re almost there! I’m so excited for you all to meet Renly Teurig and follow him into the world of Kiir. Whether you choose the paperback, eBook, or audiobook version, your support in spreading the word and leaving reviews is immensely appreciated!
A few months ago, I posted about feeling nearly ready to publish the first installment of the new series. Clearly, that was overly optimistic. I’ve encountered several snags.
TL;DR version
I’ve completed extensive rewrites. These drafts are mostly finished, but now I must painstakingly review the entire manuscript to address the impacts of these changes.
Long Version:
The holidays contributed to the delays, but only slightly.
Alpha Reader Feedback
The major setbacks arose from Alpha reader feedback. As an author, discerning whether a detail that bothers me will even register with readers enjoying the story is challenging. In other words, it’s hard to know if an issue is real or just imagined, stemming from my closeness to the material. While most feedback was positive, the critical points confirmed my concerns.
Many issues related not to the story itself, but to the narrative structure. I often get enamored with complex storytelling structures, like nonlinear timelines. However, complexity can confuse or annoy readers. Ultimately, a well-told story is more important than one told in an interesting manner.
One major plot point presented a significant issue. Simplifying it wasn’t difficult–had to be done.
I’d wanted to make my original approach work, but it proved too complicated. I’m being deliberately vague to avoid spoilers. This small change might lead readers to figure things out earlier, but a simple, well-told story is preferable to a confusing one.
Side Note: The original idea would have been great in a movie, where clever camera work can convey nuances, but it didn’t translate well to the page. Misdirecting the reader’s attention in a book risks being deceptive. I take my plot planning seriously and would hate to be accused of retconning events from book one in book three. That thought makes me… well… angry.
The real challenge lies in the story’s unresolved plot points, which will extend into future books. It’s tricky business, subtly signaling to readers that, something that seems unlikely in book one will make perfect sense by book three.
World Building
Other issues were typical of world building. Every author creating a new fantasy world wants to share every detail immediately, but this risks overwhelming the story with info dumps. Finding the right balance is key, and some feedback suggested I didn’t always hit the mark. Thus, I’ve been removing details unless they’re immediately relevant.
I’m halfway through the final rewrite addressing these issues. It’s a struggle, especially with the distractions of the season, but I’m making progress, and the call for beta readers is drawing near.
Beta Reader Volunteers
If you’re interested in being a beta reader, email me at telleryhodges@theneverhero.com. There are requirements, so consider whether your schedule can handle reading a 450-page manuscript and providing feedback within two weeks.
I am excited to update you on the progress of my upcoming Fantasy Series as well as share Cover Art and Blurb for the first installment.
IMPORTANT UPDATES
As the manuscript had become too long, I made the decision to break book one into a trilogy (or possibly a tetralogy/pentalogy depending on how things go) I came to this decision about six months ago after weighing the pros and cons.
First, let’s get the most obvious out of the way. Releasing three to five books means more revenue. I won’t insult your intelligence by pretending there is no financial consideration to this decision. But I am being honest when I say the following factors had equal or more influence.
Second, conversion to a series will provide a better release schedule, which is something that I’ve never been known for. At the time of this writing, book one is almost ready for the editor, rough drafts for book 2 and most of book three are already written. This means I will hopefully be able to release the first three entries within 6 months to a year of each other. Obviously, that isn’t a promise—I won’t ever release a book I’m not yet satisfied with. That said, more releases published in more rapid succession does wonders for my ability to promote this series.
Third, I want to release hardbacks. In the past, page counts disqualified most the books in the Chronicles of Jonathan Tibbs. By breaking this series into three or more installments, I will be able to release hardbacks without leaving the readers who purchase them in a situation where they’ll be unable to complete their collection in the same format.
Last, and most important to me, breaking the books into a longer series will allow readers to absorb the world’s history/lore in smaller bites and give me much more room for character development. I believe that this will enable me to avoid massive info dumps, which can be tedious for readers.
Now, enough with the insight into my decision making, let’s get to the more exciting stuff.
CONNECTED UNIVERSE
This first series is intended to set up a larger connected universe, books that will fall under the umbrella of working title “A World of Kiir Novel.” I say ‘working title’ because I don’t have to decide what the Universe will be called until the first series is completed. I have A LOT of ideas for spin off novels and solo adventures concerning characters established in this first series.
COMPENDIUM
I should note that this next idea is something I’m excited about but don’t want to promise, as there might be unforeseen logistical issues. In concept, I really want to release an associated “free” product readers will be able to get access to with purchase of any book in the series. While working on the first books, I’ve been keeping extensive notes on the world and its lore. I hope to turn these notes into an appendix/compendium/encyclopedia (maybe a wiki) of sorts, with lots of associated artwork.
In practice, the idea is meant to go something like this:
Reader: “Shucks, book two mentioned something called ‘The Swaying Lands’, it wasn’t critical to the story yet, still I’d like to know a little more about it. BUT WAIT! Maybe there is an entry in the compendium! Golly, there it is, with maps and pictures no less! T. Ellery sure is my hero.”
What… Why are you looking at me like that? You don’t say golly or shucks?
LOGISTICAL CHALLENGES
Basically, the idea of a “complete” encyclopedia becomes a moving target with each release. Making this available runs the risk of dropping potential spoilers for future books or spin-off series.
To address this, it may need to be a free document download that comes with optional versions depending on where you are in the series at any given time, and a complete version for when you’ve finished the latest book release.
So, if you’re reading book one, and want more details on something, you’d be able to download a document for book one. I’ll make sure all the spoiler warning notifications are there to stop you, but if you decide to ignore them and download the complete compendium for the entire series, well… for this to work… you’ll have to exercise some self-restraint.
COVER REVEAL& BLURB
And now, for the moment you’ve all been waiting for – I am thrilled to reveal the cover art for book one. I love it, and I’ve been waiting a long time to share it with you! Stay tuned for more details on ebook, paperback, hardback, and audiobook release dates.
Bard Hard
The Lost Son of The Teurig | Book 1
“You’ll find, this is not the story of a wise man who went through life making wise decisions,” the Bard said.
All souls enter the afterlife screaming, but Renly Teurig’s didn’t make a sound. Intrigued, the goddess Neuillya came to hear the Bard’s story.
Born of the Teurig, a renowned company of performers, a young musician unwittingly buys a lute crafted by the gods and finds himself bound to a celestial muse. Exile, tragedy, and chaos follow. As Renly struggles to master the lute’s power and understand the mysterious forces that threaten his world, his days become a series of supernatural encounters, daring gambles, and near-death escapes.
Bard Hard is a high-fantasy epic that combines immersive world-building and magic systems with a humorous narrator. It takes readers on their first journey into the fantastical world of Kiir, following the life and times of one of its most enigmatic and conflicted inhabitants. With epic quests, thrilling battles, and unexpected twists and turns, it’s a story of destiny, identity, truth, and the power of storytelling.
I have been thinking of posting an update about the new series all week. This will essentially be the tl;dr version of that post.
I’ll be doing a cover reveal soon, and explaining where I am at with the new series in long form. The short version of the “where I am at with it.”
About 6 months ago, I decided to break the book into 3. What will now be book one is almost ready for the editor. (Days, perhaps weeks, unless something goes really wrong). Now, because I’ve broken the original book into 3. I have the rough draft of book 2 already written. I also have well over half of a rough draft for book 3. My hope with all this is to have a much faster release schedule then in the past.
Of course, all of what I’ve said above is kind a dependent on beta reader reception. If its not liked, It’ll need an overhaul.
(For now, here is a cool piece of AI generated art for one of the main characters)
Okay, so… most of this was a reply to a reader who’d found out I’d worked at a gym and wanted to know what I thought about being a personal trainer as a side hustle. I got long-winded, strolled down memory lane a bit. I don’t know, you might get a kick out of it.
Between the ages of 21 and 32, I was at the gym about 5 days a week. I worked at [Fake Gym Name] for a while, but I was a membership salesman. I spent a lot of time with personal trainers, worked out with them a lot, learned a ton from them… but I never was one myself.
That was over a decade ago. At the time, personal training as a side hustle would have been a tough gig. To make a living, it required a full-time commitment. You had to be filling 6-8 hours of your day with clients and spending the time you weren’t training them getting more clients.
It was a hard time for that sort of thing, the economy had just crapped its pants (which, you know… it’s probably about to do again) and a personal trainer was looking for a person who (1) was motivated about their fitness (2) had a lot of expendable income (3) was coachable.
The third one is more important than it seems. If they don’t listen to you on things like diet, they don’t get the results they want. If they spend a lot of money not getting the results they want, you don’t get referrals, and they don’t buy more training sessions.
All that said, I was the best at selling personal training packages to folks who’d come in to buy a gym membership. I’m bragging a bit, but I’m not being hyperbolic, [Fake Gym Name] actually awarded me a trophy for this. It’s this ridiculous (but also kinda awesome) glass pillar that says: “Life Changer”.
Back then, the secret to selling the personal training packages was…
Okay, you probably weren’t expecting a story but, whatever, buckle in, here we go…
[Fake Gym] kept trying to get me to teach other salesmen how to increase the number of personal training packages they were able to sell as add-ons when someone came in for a gym membership. I confess to playing dumb, pretending it wasn’t teachable, that I must have just had the right charisma. I don’t think they were fooled because… well… no one will ever accuse me of having ‘charisma’.
Occasionally, my managers would do a “training” exercise where they’d have me do a mock tour/pitch. Basically, show them around the facilities as though they were a customer. They’d tell me they just want to sharpen my craft. Course, the other salesmen didn’t seem to get these pop quiz tours as often … So… I generally left out any of my ‘how to sell personal training’ methodology when this happened.
Well, that and I wasn’t selling the personal training the way [Fake Gym Name] wanted it done, but I’ll get to that in a bit.
What you must understand–It was a terrible job if you actually had to “do it” the way they expected you to. Lots of cold calls, lead generation… that sort of thing. Not my wheelhouse. I got away with a lot of laziness because I’d found a way to make myself somewhat indispensable selling the personal training and I didn’t want to lose that by teaching everyone how to do it. I had just graduated from college. I had a degree in molecular biology, and I was looking for a job at a lab. The gym was keeping me employed until an opportunity came along… but you know how it goes with employers… One must maintain the illusion that gym sales was the career I was passionate about.
Actually, I eventually had to confess that I was looking for another job to one of my managers. He wanted to promote me and the only thing worse than the job I had was the next step up (more cold calls, more lead generation, more coaching of the other salesmen, more getting yelled at for not meeting corporate sales expectations… not much more money). I ended up turning the promotion down.
I’m going off on too many tangents…
The formula for selling Personal Training was three things:
(1) I worked out every day, so I “looked” like I knew what I was talking about.
(2) I’d always slip in a mention of my degree. Early on I picked up a change in customers if they realized I wasn’t some stereotypical gym d-bag from an 80’s movie. They also kind of flipped a switch in their thinking, started assuming that a molecular biology degree informed my physical fitness knowledge (which was like 7% true, mostly… BS)
Now, once establishing yourself as an intelligent authority on the topic, who ‘looked’ the part…
(3) Sell personal training as an educational decision.
Remember how I said I wasn’t pitching personal training the way [Fake Gym Name] wanted me to? Well, that’s because they wanted it to be pitched as something you keep coming back for again and again. It’s a terrible angle. “You can keep paying us for personal training indefinitely, sound great or what?”
People just saw a never-ending bill and personal training isn’t cheap. Remember 2008, economy bad… etc
I would sell it by saying that if they spent 5 sessions with a personal trainer, they would learn the things they needed to know about getting results that eluded them in the past. How to make a workout plan, how to build their diet around it, how to rotate their targeted muscle groups blah blah blah. The reason this is effective is because we’ve all had the experience of deciding it’s time to get in shape, not getting any traction, and quitting. I was basically telling them that a lack of education was what kept that cycle repeating itself.
I had a whole speech describing what it would look like if they came to the gym with no idea what they were doing… it was very accurate speech, because I spent 8 hours a day at a gym watching people who didn’t have a clue what they were doing.
Thing is, this worked for me because I “wasn’t” lying to them. [Fake Gym Name] was happy to have me lie to make sales at the time, but I’m transparent as hell when I try to lie. Basically, (1) it really does help to have a personal trainer build a personal training regimen for you (2) you do learn a ton from them.
See if you aren’t a sociopath, it’s hard to sell someone something you don’t believe in yourself, but I had no reservations about the paragraph above, so I could be persuasive about it.
Back to the point, I wasn’t supposed to sell PT as a thing the customer thought they weren’t going to need more of. See, that’s the other thing, I almost never tried to sell more than a 5-session package. Because I knew that just repeating the exercises you did with a Personal Trainer over 5 training sessions would be a launch pad for most people that would get them through the hardest part of getting started at the gym.
That said, lots of personal trainers were able to sell those clients additional training packages even after I did this, for the obvious reasons… a coach makes it easier…
I haven’t dropped an update in a while, so it is time to fix that situation.
I have a new WIP (work in progress). I don’t have a working title for it yet, but in my head I’ve been calling it: “Bard-Hard.”
THIS WILL PROBABLY NOT BE THE FINAL TITLE. Too gimmicky even if it makes me smile.
Still, I look forward to thinking of its sequels as Bard-Harder… Bard Hard with a Vengence…
For now, I’m just going to refer to this WIP as “Bard-Hard” for the remainder of this update.
I began writing “Bard-Hard” about mid-September when my kids started Kindergarten. Currently, I’m 145 pages (roughly 60k words) into the first draft.
Now, I had started another book between The Never Army and “Bard Hard” and I was about 300 pages in before I knew that it wasn’t going to come together. I only bring this up because I sent out some early project announcements about said previous WIP and I don’t want folks getting confused. Anyhow, I haven’t thrown that previous WIP in the trash. The main problem with that story: it was too ambitious to be the first book in a fantasy series. The world I needed it to exist in requires more time to be fleshed out before jumping into where that story takes place. “Bard-Hard” will likely be the first stepping stone that eventually leads to that grandeur ambition.
