# A Dance of Cloaks: A War Between Thieves and the Wealthy (#11 in Epic Fantasy!)



## David &#039;Half-Orc&#039; Dalglish (Feb 1, 2010)

*A Dance of Cloaks* by David Dalglish.

Here spins a tale of retribution, darkness, and an underworld reaching for ultimate power&#8230;












*A Dance of Cloaks*​
Thren Felhorn is the greatest assassin of his time. Marshalling the thieves' guilds under his control, he declares war against the Trifect, an allegiance of wealthy and powerful nobles.

Aaron Felhorn has been groomed since birth to be Thren's heir. Sent to kill the daughter of a priest, Aaron instead risks his own life to protect her from the wrath of his guild. In doing so, he glimpses a world beyond poison, daggers, and the iron control of his father.

Guilds twist and turn, trading allegiances for survival. The Trifect weakens, its reputation broken, its money dwindling. The players take sides as the war nears its end, and Thren puts in motion a plan to execute hundreds.

Only Aaron can stop the massacre and protect those he loves&#8230;

A DANCE OF CLOAKS by David Dalglish
Assassin or protector; every choice has its consequences.






Consider this book a bastard child of Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire, and Brent Week's The Night Angel Trilogy. Assassins, thieves' guilds, priests both good and evil, and an alliance of wealthy merchants, all warring for control of the city of Veldaren. Those who have read the Half-Orc Series will see some familiar names, but the novel easily stands on its own.

Praise for the Dance:


> "Ok, I'm not really one to leave a long, overtly gushy review, but I can't help myself when I say this book was incredible! I do not consider myself to be a hard-core 'fantasy' reader, and probably won't always read everything in this genre, but I WILL read Mr. Dalglish's other books solely because reading this one book was just that good."
> -- J. A. Titus, author of The Kindness of Strangers
> 
> "This is a real coming of age novel for fantasy writer David Dalglish. He abandons his trademark Orcs and dark magic for a gritty tale of human struggle, a story rife with emotional conflict and centring on the enmeshment of a father and son."
> -- Derek Prior, author of Thanatos Rising


I hope you give me a chance to thrill you with an entertaining story. Please, take a load off. I welcome you to my world, and with a steady hand, I promise to guide you through the shadows...

David Dalglish

All cover art done by Peter Ortiz. You can view his website here: http://standalone-complex.deviantart.com/


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## RonnellDPorter (Apr 20, 2010)

Oh! The official thread! I was wondering when I'd see this!


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## David &#039;Half-Orc&#039; Dalglish (Feb 1, 2010)

RonnellDPorter said:


> Oh! The official thread! I was wondering when I'd see this!


Just giving it some time, and wanting to make sure the product description was up and ready at Amazon. Got to have it perfect and all.


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

Congratulations on your book, David!

(If you've gotten this welcome before, it's just as a matter of housekeeping. We like to put a copy of the "welcome letter" in each book thread. It doesn't mean you've done anything wrong, it just helps us know that you know the rules.)

A brief recap of our rules follows:

--We invite you to use your book cover as your avatar and have links to your book and website in your signature.

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--While you may respond to member posts to your thread at any time, you may only bump your thread (back-to-back posts by you) once every seven days. Once you've responded to a member, that resets the clock to zero and you must wait seven days to post, unless another member posts before then.

--We ask that Amazon reviews not be repeated here as they are easy to find at your book link. Also, full reviews from other sites should not be posted here, but you may post a short blurb and a link to the full review instead.

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## David &#039;Half-Orc&#039; Dalglish (Feb 1, 2010)

Thanks, Ann. My thread didn't feel complete without my automated greeting  .


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

Hey!  It's not automated!  I personalized it with your name and didn't bother to say "Welcome to KindleBoards" 'cause it didn't seem to make a lot of sense to 'welcome' someone with nearly 3000 posts. . . .

(But I admit that copy/paste is my friend.  )


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## David &#039;Half-Orc&#039; Dalglish (Feb 1, 2010)

Just kidding with ya, Ann. You know I love you all.


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## telracs (Jul 12, 2009)

Ann in Arlington said:


> Hey! It's not automated! I personalized it with your name and didn't bother to say "Welcome to KindleBoards" 'cause it didn't seem to make a lot of sense to 'welcome' someone with nearly 3000 posts. . . .
> 
> (But I admit that copy/paste is my friend.  )


See, I've TOLD you you should do the post in a different language! Then he'd know it was personalized.


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## Gordon Ryan (Aug 20, 2010)

My congratulations also, David.  I am not a reader of Fantasy, but I wanted to pop in to this forum to tell your readers that not only are you a prolific author, but a gracious gentleman, giving of your time and assistance to someone full of questions for the KB.  Hopefully this new release will take new heights.  Thanks again, David, for your considerate time today, pulling away from your tasks at hand to help me out.

Cheers,


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## Betsy the Quilter (Oct 27, 2008)

Half-Orc said:


> Thanks, Ann. My thread didn't feel complete without my automated greeting .


There is no truth to the rumor that Ann is an automotron...but she IS the Queen of Mean... 

Betsy


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

Betsy the Quilter said:


> There is no truth to the rumor that Ann is an automotron...but she IS the Queen of Mean...
> 
> Betsy


Um. . . ._No_. . . . .I don't think I'm winning that poll. . . . .

(at least, I wasn't last time I looked. . . . . . )


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## Betsy the Quilter (Oct 27, 2008)

Just trying to sway the votes  

Betsy


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## David &#039;Half-Orc&#039; Dalglish (Feb 1, 2010)

So quickly derailed, I'm not sure my thread can see the tracks anymore...



David Dalglish


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

For the record, David. . . .I did go to Amazon to check it out. . . . .it's not my thing. . . .BUT, as you may have read, I just gave my K1 to my son and it is definitely his kind of thing. . . .so I will send him the link. . . . . .


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## David &#039;Half-Orc&#039; Dalglish (Feb 1, 2010)

Ann in Arlington said:


> For the record, David. . . .I did go to Amazon to check it out. . . . .it's not my thing. . . .BUT, as you may have read, I just gave my K1 to my son and it is definitely his kind of thing. . . .so I will send him the link. . . . . .


I'd say 'I forgive you then, Ann' but I was never upset in the first place.


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## Michael Crane (Jul 22, 2010)

It certainly does feel a little more official now!  And I know what you mean by waiting, I also like to have my product description up so it looks more finalized.

Good luck with the book!  Got my copy and look forward to reading it in the very near future.


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## R. M. Reed (Nov 11, 2009)

It's about Thren...so it's a prequel. Cool. I will get to it eventually.


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## David &#039;Half-Orc&#039; Dalglish (Feb 1, 2010)

R. Reed said:


> It's about Thren...so it's a prequel. Cool. I will get to it eventually.


Aye, Thren and his son...who hopefully you remember who that is


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## telracs (Jul 12, 2009)

Prequel to what?


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## David &#039;Half-Orc&#039; Dalglish (Feb 1, 2010)

scarlet said:


> Prequel to what?


Well, I touched on this in the original post, but I'll try again. The book is a standalone novel, but set in the same world as my Half-Orc Series. The book itself takes place about 6 years before Weight of Blood (which is why it may seem like a prequel). Many minor characters, especially those in book 2 and some from book 3, make an appearance. The bulk of the story revolves around a main character, Haern, who I also introduced in book 2. I do want to emphasize, reading any of the Half-Orc books is absolutely not required, nor will it make following things at all difficult. If any repeat character is introduced, I treat it as if the reader will have no clue who they are, and if the reader does, then it's like a bonus.

David Dalglish


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## R. M. Reed (Nov 11, 2009)

Half-Orc said:


> Aye, Thren and his son...who hopefully you remember who that is


Yes, it's


Spoiler



I'm not telling!


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## luvmy4brats (Nov 9, 2008)

Half-Orc said:


> Well, I touched on this in the original post, but I'll try again. The book is a standalone novel, but set in the same world as my Half-Orc Series. The book itself takes place about 6 years before Weight of Blood (which is why it may seem like a prequel). Many minor characters, especially those in book 2 and some from book 3, make an appearance. The bulk of the story revolves around a main character, Haern, who I also introduced in book 2. I do want to emphasize, reading any of the Half-Orc books is absolutely not required, nor will it make following things at all difficult. If any repeat character is introduced, I treat it as if the reader will have no clue who they are, and if the reader does, then it's like a bonus.
> 
> David Dalglish


That is very good to know. There are some people <cough, me> that cannot read a series out of order.


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## David &#039;Half-Orc&#039; Dalglish (Feb 1, 2010)

luvmy4brats said:


> That is very good to know. There are some people <cough, me> that cannot read a series out of order.


Then don't fear: the book is self-contained, and without any hooks or cliffhangers or any desperate attempts to win over a sale for a second or third book. I had done plenty of editing since publishing on the Kindle, but hadn't truly written a new book from scratch. After being exposed to some wonderful authors (Martin, Brent Weeks) I wanted to see if I could apply what I learned from them. This is that book.

David Dalglish


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## telracs (Jul 12, 2009)

Sorry, your original post was too long for me to read the whole thing....


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## David &#039;Half-Orc&#039; Dalglish (Feb 1, 2010)

scarlet said:


> Sorry, your original post was too long for me to read the whole thing....


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## telracs (Jul 12, 2009)

scarlet said:


> Sorry, your original post was too long for me to read the whole thing....


Especially since I'd been following the other thread about this book....


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## David &#039;Half-Orc&#039; Dalglish (Feb 1, 2010)

scarlet said:


> Especially since I'd been following the other thread about this book....


The "" was given in jest, I promise. We all know you're my Bond girl, and I'd hate to ruin that with a silly emoticon.


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## telracs (Jul 12, 2009)

Half-Orc said:


> The "" was given in jest, I promise. We all know you're my Bond girl, and I'd hate to ruin that with a silly emoticon.


You're gonna have to up the chocolate pay out!


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## Archer (Apr 25, 2009)

David, me lad, I'm nearly through! But no feedback until I get there.  

Oh, okay...it's the one I like the best so far!


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## David &#039;Half-Orc&#039; Dalglish (Feb 1, 2010)

archer said:


> Oh, okay...it's the one I like the best so far!


Wooooooo!

*ahem*

That's nice to know, Archer.


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## Vyrl (Jun 7, 2010)

Huge congrats David! Love the theme!


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## pdallen (Aug 3, 2010)

I've got to tell you, that subtitle drew me in. But the book description sustained my interest. Once I get a kindle, I will have to take a look at this.


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## David &#039;Half-Orc&#039; Dalglish (Feb 1, 2010)

pdallen said:


> I've got to tell you, that subtitle drew me in. But the book description sustained my interest. Once I get a kindle, I will have to take a look at this.


That's great! I'd love to have you as a reader. Technically there's a print version, but it's like $16.99, so not exactly pocket change...


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## M.S. Verish (Feb 26, 2010)

Congrats, David! Like the cover. Same artist as the trilogy before it?


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## David &#039;Half-Orc&#039; Dalglish (Feb 1, 2010)

Matthew + Stefanie Verish said:


> Congrats, David! Like the cover. Same artist as the trilogy before it?


Aye, same artist. Made a few tweaks to try and make it look a little different (since it is) and I couldn't be happier with the results.

David Dalglish


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## Michael Crane (Jul 22, 2010)

Half-Orc said:


> Aye, same artist. Made a few tweaks to try and make it look a little different (since it is) and I couldn't be happier with the results.
> 
> David Dalglish


A job well done on that! I do love your covers. Lucky to have such a good artist for your work!


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## Imogen Rose (Mar 22, 2010)

Adore the cover!


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## pdallen (Aug 3, 2010)

Yeah, it'll have to wait until I get a kindle. But it's definitely on my list. I look forward to reading it.



Half-Orc said:


> That's great! I'd love to have you as a reader. Technically there's a print version, but it's like $16.99, so not exactly pocket change...


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## David &#039;Half-Orc&#039; Dalglish (Feb 1, 2010)

Imogen Rose said:


> Adore the cover!


Thanks Imogen!


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## Debra L Martin (Apr 8, 2010)

Hi All,

I've posted both a review of David's newest book and also a one-on-one chat with him. If you want to find out some interesting background stuff, you can check it out here:
http://twoendsofthepen.blogspot.com/2010/08/review-dance-of-cloaks-by-david.html

The book earned a 5 star review!

Deb


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## David &#039;Half-Orc&#039; Dalglish (Feb 1, 2010)

Just got a new trailer up for the book, adding it here (as well as the initial post):

Enjoy, and make sure you have your audio turned up!


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## Guest (Sep 16, 2010)

Wow.  Thats pretty cool David!


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## Michael Crane (Jul 22, 2010)

Awesome trailer!


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## Anne Victory (Jul 29, 2010)

Just finished   It was a much slower read than the Half-Orc books.  I don't mean that in a bad way, but literally - I think I started on it around Wednesday last week, seems like.  And that's a good thing   It means I was slowing down to smell the roses.  Or was the book longer?  It's hard to tell with Kindles 

Anyway, I loved the book.  Absolutely awesome!


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## David &#039;Half-Orc&#039; Dalglish (Feb 1, 2010)

Thanks Arkali .

_Dance_ is 120k words, same length as _Cost_ and _Death._ The plotline, however, is far more complicated, and the writing style is a bit more...literary? I'm just glad you liked it, though. Got an email alert to a new post and kinda hopped in my seat.

"Arkali? Arkali? Arkali!"

David Dalglish


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## Anne Victory (Jul 29, 2010)

'tis I!    I have to say, Madlyn - that is Laurie's wife, right?  REEEAAAALLLYYY ticked me off.  What a dummy...

But, yeah.  I really, really liked it.  That's why I gave you the 1/2 star review


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## David &#039;Half-Orc&#039; Dalglish (Feb 1, 2010)

Saw your review after posting. Thanks so much for it. I'm glad I finally pushed you over the edge and into 5-star territory  .

David Dalglish


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## R. M. Reed (Nov 11, 2009)

Reading, like.

My first reaction to the premise of a war between thieves and the wealthy aristocracy is that, in most societies, (including ours) the wealthy are the biggest thieves of all. I think the book shows that too.

I'm having a math problem. This is only six years before Harruq and Qurrah meet the Eschaton? That makes Haern only 19 and Delysia 16 in the later books. That doesn't seem right.


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## Anne Victory (Jul 29, 2010)

Pretty sure he said 6 years before the Half-Orc series starts, and then a couple more years until they meet Eschaton.  That's still 21 and 18, though.  Hrrrm.  Or maybe the series ends 6 years before the next series starts, which could add a couple more years.

PS:  You're welcome, David.  I'd have given it 100% had it been on a percent curve


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## David &#039;Half-Orc&#039; Dalglish (Feb 1, 2010)

R. Reed said:


> Reading, like.
> 
> My first reaction to the premise of a war between thieves and the wealthy aristocracy is that, in most societies, (including ours) the wealthy are the biggest thieves of all. I think the book shows that too.
> 
> I'm having a math problem. This is only six years before Harruq and Qurrah meet the Eschaton? That makes Haern only 19 and Delysia 16 in the later books. That doesn't seem right.


Yeeah...there's a second 5-year jump I forgot about. Basically it goes Dance of Cloaks - Dance of Daggers (obviously not written yet) - Weight of Blood timeline-wise, which puts Haern about 24 and Delysia 21, far closer to what I imagined when first writing Cost of Betrayal.

Ugh. Math. It takes place before Weight, good ways back. Let's just work with that for now, eh? 

David Dalglish


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## R. M. Reed (Nov 11, 2009)

Ah ha! Though 24 still seems pretty young to me, but I'm an old fart. Or old fart-ess.


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## David &#039;Half-Orc&#039; Dalglish (Feb 1, 2010)

Heh. I used to be a little worried, but at the same time, Game of Thrones has main characters fighting wars and whatnot at like, 16. In some ways, I have too much modern times in ages and how people are treated.

David Dalglish


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## Anne Victory (Jul 29, 2010)

Yepper.  I was just thinking the same thing.  24 in our time is young - I feel like kids (myself included) are finally over the stupid at 24.  But back in the day, people were getting married and out on their own at 13-16.  And being out on your own will grow you up pretty fast.


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## David &#039;Half-Orc&#039; Dalglish (Feb 1, 2010)

Harruq/Qurrah are supposed to only be about 18 in Weight of Blood. They're just teenagers, really. That's my excuse for when they do something that a reader doesn't understand or thinks makes no sense.

"Well yeah, but you see, they're just stupid teenagers. Who knows why they do anything?"



David Dalglish


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## Anne Victory (Jul 29, 2010)

Works for me    Though, really, by book 3 Qurrah ought to know better


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## bluefrog (Apr 6, 2010)

I think I excused a lot more of their stupidity because I felt like they had no support but each other than because of their age.


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## David &#039;Half-Orc&#039; Dalglish (Feb 1, 2010)

bluefrog said:


> I think I excused a lot more of their stupidity because I felt like they had no support but each other than because of their age.


Well, that would be the serious, intended reason for many of their mistakes...

Now I feel dumb and embarrassed for some reason. 

David Dalglish


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## bluefrog (Apr 6, 2010)

I'm sorry. I wasn't trying to make you feel dumb. Part of how things can be easily misinterpreted without expression or body language. Maybe you were just being silly and I was answering seriously.


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## R. M. Reed (Nov 11, 2009)

30 was pretty old in the middle ages, and 40 ancient. At 53, I'm dead.


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## David &#039;Half-Orc&#039; Dalglish (Feb 1, 2010)

bluefrog said:


> I'm sorry. I wasn't trying to make you feel dumb. Part of how things can be easily misinterpreted without expression or body language. Maybe you were just being silly and I was answering seriously.


I was trying to be silly about the teenager comment, so don't worry about it. Just trying to prepare myself for my little Morgan hitting that age. Methinks half my sanity will be long gone by the time she hits 20.

And Reed, thank goodness we're in modern times, eh? Would hate to not have you around cranking out stories .

David Dalglish


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## Anne Victory (Jul 29, 2010)

Nah, you'll just have gray hair


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## KBoards Admin (Nov 27, 2007)

Just wanted to be the first to post here to welcome A Dance of Cloaks as our next KB Book of the Day!

Looks like we have our work cut out for us, as this book is already well-placed in Amazon's bestseller rankings, at #3,560. If you haven't bought or sampled this book yet, check out its Amazon page and its 5-star reviews.


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## telracs (Jul 12, 2009)

Thought I'd already bought this, but nope, so chalk up another sale to the banner ad....

When the frick am I going to actually be able to READ all my books?


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## KBoards Admin (Nov 27, 2007)

Thanks to you and probably others, the book just moved up to #2,723 on Amazon's Kindle bestseller list.


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## Betsy the Quilter (Oct 27, 2008)

Congrats on the great KB BOTD run, David!

Betsy


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## David &#039;Half-Orc&#039; Dalglish (Feb 1, 2010)

Betsy the Quilter said:


> Congrats on the great KB BOTD run, David!
> 
> Betsy


Thanks Betsy, Harvey. .


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## robertduperre (Jun 13, 2010)

Eh, live and learn.

Don't know if it belongs here, but the review for "A Dance of Cloaks" is up:

http://journalofalways.blogspot.com/2010/10/review-dance-of-cloaks-by-david.html


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## David &#039;Half-Orc&#039; Dalglish (Feb 1, 2010)

First off, Dance of Cloaks is currently sitting at #678 in the Kindle store. Very exciting! It's sales continue to grow, and I couldn't be happier for all the readers here who have helped that.

As for a bit of news, Tracey Falbe has chosen Dance of Cloaks to be her giveaway reward for the month of December from her website. You can view it here: http://www.falbepublishing.com/braveluck/monthly-giveaway-details.html. (Right now she's giving away the excellent Jade Owl by our own Ed Patterson).

David Dalglish


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## ScottLCollins (Dec 7, 2009)

Just started it and I've got to say WOW, that was unexpected.


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## David &#039;Half-Orc&#039; Dalglish (Feb 1, 2010)

ScottLCollins said:


> Just started it and I've got to say WOW, that was unexpected.


The end of the prologue? Yeah. That was sort of the point


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## ScottLCollins (Dec 7, 2009)

It certainly worked. Now I've got to figure out a way to move stuff around in my schedule for the week so I can get more reading time. With an opening like that, I'm hooked.


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## ScottLCollins (Dec 7, 2009)

Can't put it down. Great writing.


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## David &#039;Half-Orc&#039; Dalglish (Feb 1, 2010)

ScottLCollins said:


> Can't put it down. Great writing.


Awesome, Scott. Glad you're enjoying it


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## ScottLCollins (Dec 7, 2009)

Just finished. SWEET book. Looking forward to the Half-Orc Series.


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## David &#039;Half-Orc&#039; Dalglish (Feb 1, 2010)

ScottLCollins said:


> Just finished. SWEET book. Looking forward to the Half-Orc Series.


That's awesome Scott! Thanks for the review as well!


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## ScottLCollins (Dec 7, 2009)

Put it on Amazon, Amazon.uk, B&N, goodreads, librarything and smashwords. Anywhere else I can put it? I can do shelfari, but have to wait until I get home as I can't access it from work.


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## David &#039;Half-Orc&#039; Dalglish (Feb 1, 2010)

ScottLCollins said:


> Put it on Amazon, Amazon.uk, B&N, goodreads, librarything and smashwords. Anywhere else I can put it? I can do shelfari, but have to wait until I get home as I can't access it from work.


Rofl. Nah, that's all right. I think you've done your duty .


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## ScottLCollins (Dec 7, 2009)

I'll post to shelfari when I get home and mention it on my Facebook page. Hope it helps. Great book!


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