Donnie Light

The Ripper Trilogy – 3 books in 1 volume

The Ripper Trilogy

The Ripper Trilogy

For the many thousands of readers who have read Ripper’s Row for free and would  like to continue reading the story of Jack the Ripper as he battles the vampires who have killed his true love, you can now get all 3 books in one volume – The Ripper Trilogy – on Amazon, in Kindle and paperback editions.

The Ripper Trilogy contains the complete texts of Ripper’s Row, Ripper’s Revenge and Ripper’s Wrath.

Many thanks to all of you who have made this series of books so successful. Both Shawn Weaver and I appreciate all of the comments regarding the books, and will be working to create other books that you will enjoy.

Thanks again for reading!

~Donnie

 

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Ripper’s Wrath – the final book in The Ripper Trilogy

Wrath Cover

Ripper’s Wrath

Ripper’s Wrath, the final book in The Ripper Trilogy is now available at Amazon for the Kindle platform, Barnes & Noble for the Nook, and at Kobo Books for the Kobo readers.  It will also be available at the iBookstore, Sony and other eBook  retailers in the coming weeks.

The paperback version will be available on Amazon by the end of January, 2013.

The description for Ripper’s Wrath is below, but before you read it, I’d like to give you my take on it first.

What started out as a short story written by myself and Shawn Weaver turned into The Ripper TrilogyRipper’s Row was the first book, followed by Ripper’s Revenge, and now the trilogy wraps up with Ripper’s Wrath. These books have been great fun to write, and I fell in love with the characters early on.

About halfway through Ripper’s Row we decided that we would make a trilogy out of this story line. Early on, we focused on the action and slowly began to build the characters. We intentionally did not fully develop the characters as the intention was to let them develop through their actions – and I think we did that. In the final book, readers will learn much more about Jack and what drives him. Helena – the White Witch plays a much bigger part in book 3, and Dr. Watson shows why Holmes puts so much trust in the man.

Ripper’s Wrath completes the story line that started back in book 1, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that Jack and Helena – perhaps others – will not continue their war against vampires and other Shadow Beings who prey on innocent humans. It is my hope that there will be more books featuring these characters. I know that I will come to miss them, and I have a good story in mind where Jack and Helena will face an evil so powerful that Jack’s blades alone cannot stop it.

Stay tuned to this website for updates on future books, and I would like to personally thank everyone who has been reading The Ripper books. I hope you enjoy Ripper’s Wrath. Early readers report it’s the best book so far.

Here’s the description for Ripper’s Wrath:

After destroying William Carpenter, the Master Vampire he followed from London to America, Jack Morrow, also known as Jack the Ripper, finds that his foe had powerful allies in New Orleans who mean to avenge their fallen leader. He soon finds himself tangled in a dangerous web of vampires and Vodou cultists who will stop at nothing to kill Jack the Ripper and end the wrath he has brought upon them.
Among the Ripper’s new enemies is a powerful vampire who appears as a nine-year-old southern girl, determined to avenge her fallen Sire. She calls upon Victor, a Vampire Elder and his devious clan to assist in killing Jack the Ripper, but Victor’s plan changes when he decides that the Ripper would make a powerful addition to his clan, and is determined to turn him from vampire hunter to deadly vampire slave.
The vampires align themselves with the powerful Vodou Queen of New Orleans, who has plans of her own for Jack the Ripper, who has burned her mansion and disrupted her comfortable lifestyle in his attack on the vampires she harbors.
Along with his mentor Helena, a powerful White Witch, and Dr. Watson, associate of the famous Sherlock Holmes, the trio must fight their way from New Orleans to Memphis. They are hounded every step along the way as Jack battles the growing army of vampires, while Helena challenges the Vodou Queen in a psychic battle that rattles the physical world.
Can Jack survive the onslaught before him? Can he save the soul of his beloved Sarah and her sister Samantha as she unknowingly steps into the hands of Vodou Queen, Marie Laveau?
Join the harrowing journey of Jack the Ripper as he cuts a swath through America, searching for salvation from the blood sucking hoards that hunt him and the mystical forces of Vodou that trap the souls of those he loves.

 

 

Posted by Donnie Light in Ebooks, Reading, 2 comments

Live Events versus Online Events

Public speaking

The past two weekends I have attended two live writer’s meetings. Yes, live, breathing humanoids -not avatars – shaking hands and dispensing wisdom.

Most of us writers maintain some kind of online presence in social media, blogs, online meetups and the like, but it was very refreshing to attend these live events.

I have learned a lot from my online activities, but being in the room with a great speaker brings it to another level. You can hear actual passion – not denoted by an inadequate emoticon. A genuine smile conveys so much more about a person than a yellow smiley-face – even if it is animated. Shaking hands and handing out business cards was for that time much more satisfying than exchanging links in an email.

At one of these events – The Green Pen Writer’s Conference in beautiful Frankenmuth, Michigan, I was also a speaker. I got to do a session on Print-On-Demand book printing and another session on eBooks – two of my passions. I have worked hard to develop my methods of creating eBooks and Print Books, and I love to be able to share what I have learned with others in a meaningful way. I hope that the sessions that I spoke at prompted those in the audience to do something with that knowledge, and perhaps share it with others. The best part about a live event, is that I didn’t have to type out everything I had to say, as I would in an email or other online form. I could speak freely without a limiting word count, and recount experiences that I have learned from to others.

Writing can be a tough business to break into, so I urge all my fellow writers to look for live events and speakers – then actually go there and partake in the wisdom being dispensed. Listen to the questions, and ask some of your own. Then, shake someone’s hand, or pat them on the back before you hurry home to blog about it.

Posted by Donnie Light in Miscellaneous, Writing, 0 comments

If you liked Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter…

I recently saw the movie, “Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter” and was impressed with about every aspect of the movie.

The movie is based on a novel by the same title, written by Seth Grahame-Smith, who also wrote the screenplay for the movie version. 

The premise of the movie is that early in young Abe’s life, he has an encounter with a vampire that leads to the death of a loved one. From that day forward, Abe is determined to destroy the vampire responsible for the death which leads him to encounter a number of vampires along the way.

As I watched the movie, I could not help to draw some parallels between Grahme-Smith’s story and the “Jack the Ripper” series that I co-wrote with author Shawn Weaver.

 Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter was first published early in 2010, and our “Ripper’s Row” was first published in October of the same year with the sequel, “Ripper’s Revenge” published in 2011.

Of course Grahame-Smith took one of America’s most beloved historical figures and showed us all a dark side of Abe, where the 16th President of the United States secretely hunts vampires. Weaver and I took one of the most infamous characters of all time – Jack the Ripper – and told a story that shows the good side of Jack and why the famous murders took place.Ripper's Row

Like Abe, our Jack is bent on vengeance for the death of a loved one killed by vampires. The two stories take place the late 1800’s, so much of the background settings are similar as related to transportation and the state of technology.

In AL:VH, Abe had grown up with an axe in his hands, and the axe becomes his weapon of choice for vampire hunting, and he weilds it with the grace of a dancer and the skills of a ninja. Our Jack is good with blades – knives and razors – and uses them just as effectively. In fact, Abe has a specially-modified axe with a hidden gun barrel in the handle. Our Jack has specially designed blades that are hidden up his sleeves abd can be deployed at will.

Of Course AL:VH takes place in America. Ripper’s Row takes place in London, and the sequel, Ripper’s Revenge moves Jack to America in pursuit of his adversary.  Both Abe and Jack have mentors who taught them about vampires, and are with them throughout the story. Both Abe and Jack are absolutely determined to fulfill their missions, although each would rather have never known about vampires in the first place.

One of my favorite scenes in AL:VH is a battle with vampires aboard a moving steam train – close quarters vampire fighting at it’s best. In book three of our Jack the Ripper series, (in the final draft) Jack also encounters multiple vampires aboard a moving steam train, and has a tremendous battle both on top and inside the moving traincars.

Ripper's RevengeSo while there are many similarities in the stories in AL:VH and our Jack the Ripper series, they are an equal number of differences between them. I look forward to reading AL:VH now that I’ve seen the movie, and I believe that any fans of AL:VH would also find “Ripper’s Row” and “Ripper’s Revenge” an interesting read.

The story started in Ripper’s Row will be finished in Book Three (as of yet untitled), and Ripper’s Row is currently FREE as an eBook on Amazon and other eBook retailers. “Ripper’s Revenge” is currently priced at $2.99 and available at Amazon, B&N.com and numerous other eBook retailers.

I hope all of you “Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter” fans will take a look at Ripper’s Row and Ripper’s Revenge – you may be happy that you did.

~Donnie

 

Posted by Donnie Light, 0 comments