News
June 13, 2015 Gryphon's Heir is now available! Hard copies and eBooks can be had at FriesenPress here, or check out the bookstore tab of this site. This past week, iBooks and Nook were made available to eBook users. The last one to load is Kobo, and that should be happening soon!
July 25, 2015 Gryphon's Heir is available on all five eBook platforms if that's your thing. And as of a couple of days ago, we are now on Twitter (@DRRanshaw) as well as Facebook (DRRanshaw). Boy, this social media thing is addictive...
July 30, 2015 I have added a link in the bookstore to Chapters Indigo online. They have Gryphon's Heir on sale for a very reasonable price, especially when you take into consideration that shipping is free on orders over $25, or that they will still do free shipping to any of their stores for orders under that.
August 4, 2015 I have established a presence on Goodreads... you can find me there under (you guessed it) DRRanshaw
August 19, 2015 Gryphon's Heir is now available in physical copies at three independent booksellers in Calgary: Pages, Shelf Life, and Owl's Nest. Support your local independent booksellers! (And me, too, while you're at it.)
September 10, 2015 Mark the date on your calendars! Gryphon's Heir book launch will take place on Tuesday, September 22 at 7 pm at Owl's Nest Books 815A 49th Avenue SW, Calgary in the Britannia Shopping Plaza! Readings from Book1 and the upcoming Book 2, Q&A, book signings, refreshments!
October 19. 2015 The Kirkus Indie Review for Gryphon's Heir is now available! Check out the full text under the 'Reviews' tab!
May 12, 2016 It's been pointed out to me that, until I have news like I've won the Nobel Prize for literature, I could use this section to post updates on the progress of book 2 in the Annals of Arrinor series, Gryphon's Awakening. Book 2 was begun before Book 1 was published, then went through a fairly lengthy hiatus while Book 1 was being shepherded through the publishing process. Since then, work has resumed... and currently, there are more than 89,000 words of Book 2 written. How long will the finished book be? That's hard to answer; Book 1 was 180,000 words plus change. I'm not aiming specifically for any word-count target for Book 2... it'll be done when it 'feels' done. I do have a tentative endpoint in mind for Book 2... but that's not written in stone. And that's not taking into account any unexpected actions by characters, who frequently seem to do things that surprise the hell out of me and lead to all kinds of unanticipated events.
June 4, 2016 Despite the fact that my day job is as a secondary school teacher, and despite the fact that it's June and I have a bad case of June-it is, progress continues to be made on book 2. We are now past the 91,000 work mark, so... dare we say that book 2 is more than halfway finished?
July 2, 2016 Despite the aforementioned bad case of June-it is, school is now out for the summer and restorative efforts to reverse the physical and psychological stress of working with adolescents ;) are well underway. June was in any event a pretty productive month writing-wise in spite of everything --- just working at the moment on some fairly intense dialogue between a couple of characters, dialogue that is coming along really well and revealing some rather surprising things, even to me, which is always fun. The creative urge, reduced to a flicker as school wound down, is flaring up again and I'm enthusiastic for the upcoming summer.
July 26, 2016 You know, I'm kind of mystified by all the people on social media who proclaim how much they hate editing. I happen to think it's a good thing to do every now and then even while you're still writing a draft. I just went back and did a quick edit --- found I cut just shy of 1500 words in a 98,000 word document, so that's good... it's not a definitive edit or anything like that, but still... it's useful, and keeps you grounded in your story.
March 4, 2017 Oops. A very long time since I've added anything to this. But readers of my blog will know that I've had a rather turbulent time of things in the last six months. My father passed away just as last summer ended, and it's made it rather difficult to write. But I have resumed, and the writing of book 2 is proceeding again. Just to let you know.
July 2, 2017 Another longish pause. I was editing again... cut another 7 or 8 thousand words, and have now resumed adding new storyline. It's coming along very well!
October 28, 2017
Book signing from 11 AM - 2 PM at Owl's Nest Books 815A 49th Avenue SW, Calgary in the Britannia Shopping Plaza. Come meet the author and purchase your own signed copy of Gryphon's Heir!
June 23, 2018 For the three of you actually reading this... my apologies for not adding anything, lo, these past six months. My wife has been extremely ill, and truth be told, writing has been very much on the back burner. But things are looking up now... she is much improved, and school is close to letting out for the summer... and I have started writing on book 2 again. Thanks be to the One.
July 20, 2018 Okay, my stats are telling me there's more than three of you reading this... so now I feel obligated to try and provide something more often than every six months. July has been an enormously creative month thus far, with about 12,000 words added to the MS in the last month or so. Amazing what a little holiday time will do to restoring creative energy.
November 25, 2018 I'm feeling guilty more than obligated now, as yes, my website stats continue to tell me that people actually do look at this part of the website. The summer was enormously productive in terms of writing (well, and several other things, too) but as a senior high school English teacher, productivity has (predictably) fallen off as the fall semester got underway. Perhaps it's time to think retirement... (from teaching, not writing!)
August 26, 2019 Okay, here's the news readers have been waiting for... after retiring in June and a restful summer during which I largely took a break from writing, it's time to start ramping up the writing process for the fall!
April 17,2020 In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic quarantine... I have been writing. In fact, today, at over 175,000 words in Book 2, I wrote the major reveal: Who Is The Traitor At Pencairn House?!
January 2, 2021 Well, in the long period since the last update... Rhiss has been hijacked by a 19-year-old girl named Areellan. She surfaced from my subconscious in May last year, demanding her tale be told, and so Rhiss has obligingly stepped to one side for the moment. I've not abandoned him, certainly not when the word count for his book 2 stands at 178,400 words. But Areellan's Tale now sits just shy of 100,000 words, so I have not been idle...
January 18, 2021 Who is Areellan, and why has she elbowed Rhiss aside? See the June 15, 2020 blog post to find out.
February 1, 2021 New blog post this morning... starring Tom Bombadil!
February 22, 2021 Why are Understandably Unpleasant Characters the way they are? Check out today's blog post! 
March 15, 2021 On the Ides of March... what are the two Deadly Character Ayes? Check today's blog post!
April 12, 2021 What impacts do our childhood choices have on our lives? Check out today's new blog post!
April 26, 2021 What's a task you may have just done for the last time --- at least in your current home? See today's blog post.
May 30, 2021 Check out my first author interview with guest Lucy McLaren in the Blog tab! 
June 7, 2021 New Blog post today... why are we fascinated with literary villains?
July 5, 2021 Just in time for summer... new blog post on using conspiracies in writing!
August 30, 2021 After a summer of blog posts from the archive... a new post today!
September 27 More on YA in the Dark Ages (i.e. my youth) in this morning's blog post!
October 25, 2021 Do you think peoples' behaviours are predictable, or otherwise? Check out my thoughts in today's blog post!
November 22, 2021 Chef wants to know how you'd like your story... rare or well done? Check today's new blog post for my thoughts!
December 13, 2022 Just how long should a novel be? Check today's new blog post for deep musings!
January 17,2022 Darlings, what are you doing writing in bedlam? Ditch the decibels in today's blog post!
February 21, 2022 Should authors kill off their literary characters? Read today's blog post to see!
March 28, 2022 What happens when literary characters betray their loved ones? Check today's blog post!
May 30, 2022 For your inspection... a catalogue of villainous female literary betrayers in today's blog post!
June 27, 2022 Just how important is world-building in fiction, anyway? Check today's blog post to find out!
July 25, 2022 What comes first, plot or character? Read today's new blog post to see!
September 26, 2022 Why do so many readers and writers love worldbuilding? See today's blog post to read my thoughts!
October 31, 2022 What happens when characters --- or people --- make extraordinary decisions? Check today's blog post to see!
November 28, 2022 Should literary villains reign triumphant by story's end? See today's blog post for my thoughts!
December 19, 2022 What relationship does literary misery have to real life? Read today's blog post to find out!
January 30, 2023 Ever wonder about character day jobs? Read today's blog post to hear my thoughts!