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The Mason of New Orleans and The Angel of Ecbatana • TWO novels of medieval mystery and action with a touch of horror and the supernatural

Created by Charles M. Ryan

Did you miss the campaign? You can make a late pledge here to get a great deal and help bring these novels to life! Two hefty novels take you into the 12th Century. Filled with action, mystery, astonishing plot twists, and characters you'll love spending hours with. Print, audiobook, and ebook!

Latest Updates from Our Project:

TMNO in Print, Revised eBook, and Other Physical Rewards!
4 months ago – Sun, Nov 02, 2025 at 07:07:58 PM

Hi, all—

Thank you so much for your support and patience, backers. I’m months behind where I’d intended to be in delivering your rewards, but I have loads of good news for you. First, a couple of important messages:

Patron-level backers! I need some information from you. Your physical copy of The Mason of New Orleans includes a custom dedication as well as an autograph—but when we set up the pledge manager, we forgot to ask you what you’d like it to say! After you read this update, please jump over to this quick survey and let me know what you’d like me to write to you in your book. I need your answer by 10 November—but it's a very short form and will only take you a minute or two.

Everyone else: I’ll start shipping physical rewards soon. Please check your mailing address in BackerKit right now and make sure it’s up to date!

And now let’s jump into some news about your rewards:

Revised Ebook

The revised version of The Mason of New Orleans, which includes a few minor tweaks to the text, striking new typography, and several all-new maps, is fulfilling to you now. You should already have received an email with instructions on downloading the file and opening the ebook on your Kindle, iPad, or similar device. (You may have received two emails. Sorry! The first was sent in error; please ignore it.) I’ll append those instructions to the bottom of this update, too, just for easy reference.

Print Book

Have a look at this!


That’s the test copy of the print version of The Mason of New Orleans! Upon receiving it last week I gave it a careful review, made a few tweaks to the files, and submitted it for the full print run. I expect to receive those books in about two weeks—which is when we’ll send out all the physical rewards (except, of course, the print version of The Angel of Ecbatana; more on that title below). Speaking of those rewards:

Other Physical Rewards

The art prints (for all pledge levels) and the foil bookmark with timeline (for early backers) are also in production now. I’ll have them at about the same time as The Mason of New Orleans books, and they’ll ship then too.

Other Digital Rewards

There are a couple of digital rewards for backers who supported my collaboration partner and/or were members of the Cypher Unlimited discord community. Those are in the works now!

The Angel of Ecbatana

As I’ve worked my way through a very challenging 2026, my focus has been largely on getting these versions of The Mason of New Orleans out to you—the audiobook, the revisions to the ebook, and the print edition. But I’ve also managed some nice progress on The Angel of Ecbatana, the next step in Martin’s travails. Once we get through this fulfillment I’ll be free to double down on the writing, and be ready to start sharing some of it with you!

If you haven’t yet joined The Commanderie (my discord server for writing-related stuff), please do—it’s where I’ll talk first and most often about the work as it progresses.

Thanks again!
—Charles

For your convenience, here’s an overview on how to read The Mason of New Orlean ebook on your device:

Using a Kindle or the Kindle app on your phone or tablet:

  1. Go here: https://www.amazon.com/sendtokindle (you’ll have to be logged into Amazon).
  2. Drag the file into the big gray square. Make sure the "Add to your library” toggle is on (by default it should be).
  3. Click Send. If all goes well, it should be accessible from your library on your Kindle or Kindle app.

Using Apple Books:

On your Mac, iPad, or iPhone, simply open the file! That should add it to your library, which (depending on your settings) may make it appear in your library on other devices. (So, for example, if you open it on you Mac laptop, it should then appear in your library on your iPad.) If your settings don’t allow that, you can transfer the file to your other device (email or text it to yourself) and open it there.

Using other common ebook readers or apps:

The EPUB format is industry standard, so it will open on most devices and applications. You’ll have to dig out the instructions yourself, though.

TMNO Audiobook Is Delivering Now
11 months ago – Mon, Mar 17, 2025 at 02:11:48 PM

Hi, all—

I have great news: Today I delivered the audiobook for The Mason of New Orleans. If you’ve followed along with the earlier updates, you know it’s been quite a process—but I’m really happy with the results. If the audiobooks are among your rewards, download it now. I hope you really enjoy it!

Now here’s some less good news. I’d hoped to provide you with clear, detailed instructions on how to conveniently access and enjoy this audiobook. Alas, it was not to be. I have found the process to be confusing and inconsistent, and the advice I have to offer is limited. I hate to throw you a file and say “you’re on your own!” but the issue has defeated me. I’ve already delayed this delivery by a couple of weeks trying to solve it, and it seemed better to just get you the files rather than continue the delay.

Here's what limited advice I can give you. There are two versions of the file (M4B and MP3)—they’re both the complete book, just different formats for different apps.

On a Mac:

  • Do you prefer to listen via the Apple Books app? You want the M4B file.
  • Or would you rather use the Apple Music app? You want the MP4 file.
  • In either case, download the file, then double-click it. It should open in the appropriate app.

On an iOS device:

  • Hypothetically, if you follow the instructions above and add it to your Books or Music library, it should automatically sync to those apps on your other devices. That never worked for me, unfortunately.

On PC or Andriod devices:

  • Your guess is as good as mine. Probably better, actually.

Again, sorry to throw you to the wolves, but I’ve been spinning my wheels on this for well over a week, and I just didn’t want to keep delaying the release of the file. If I can come up with more helpful instructions, I’ll shoot out another update and pass them on.

In the meantime, if any of you have any insight, or find a way to easily install this on a phone or iPad, pass on your advice on The Commandarie Discord server!

Thanks again!
—Charles

TMNO eBook and Other Updates
about 1 year ago – Wed, Jan 29, 2025 at 08:45:04 PM

Hi, all—

We closed the pledge manager last week, and this evening I sent out the ebook of the original edition of The Mason of New Orleans. You should already have received an email with instructions on downloading the file. (If you didn't, just log into BackerKit and you should be able to download it.)

The email should also include instructions on opening the ebook on your Kindle, iPad, or similar device. Here’s the overview:

Using a Kindle or the Kindle app on your phone or tablet:

  1. Go here: https://www.amazon.com/sendtokindle (you’ll have to be logged into Amazon).
  2. Drag the file into the big gray square. Make sure the "Add to your library” toggle is on (by default it should be).
  3. Click Send. If all goes well, it should be accessible from your library on your Kindle or Kindle app.

Using Apple Books:

On your Mac, iPad, or iPhone, simply open the file! That should add it to your library, which (depending on your settings) may make it appear in your library on other devices. (So, for example, if you open it on you Mac laptop, it should then appear in your library on your iPad.) If your settings don’t allow that, you can transfer the file to your other device (email or text it to yourself) and open it there.

Using other common ebook readers or apps:

The EPUB format is industry standard, so it will open on most devices and applications. You’ll have to dig out the instructions yourself, though.

Audiobook News

The audiobook for The Mason of New Orleans has been my primary focus for the past couple of months. It’s an interesting process! As I mentioned back in November, I auditioned over 60 potential narrators—at about 10 minutes per audition, that alone was quite a lot of listening! After settling on my choice, I put together a detailed pronunciation guide for the nearly 200 names and terms that might not be familiar to modern readers or listeners.

Then he got to work! He’d deliver chapters, I’d listen and give feedback, and so on. Early chapters sometimes needed two or three rounds, but as feedback was incorporated the process became smoother and smoother. Later chapters often only needed a few revisions.

The audiobook ended up running over 19 hours—a lot of time listening and relistening. I’m very happy with the result, though, and I think you’ll be too!

We wrapped it up about two weeks ago. It’s been in approvals at ACX (the platform that delivers it to Audible and other audiobook apps) since then. It supposedly takes 10 business days to complete. That’s tomorrow. The status currently shows three out of four steps complete—so maybe it’ll be done tomorrow, or maybe it’ll take a bit longer. We’ll see.

As soon as it’s approved on ACX, I’ll download the complete file and get it backers!

What’s Next?

I’m closing in on completion of the revised/improved version of The Mason of New Orleans—just a few bits left on the maps. As soon as it’s done I’ll generate the ebook and send it out to you.

At that time I’ll also send the book to press, along with the character art prints and bookmark. It’ll take a month or so for all of those physical items to get made. Then I’ll start sending them out.

And Then It’s Heads-Down on The Angel of Ecbatana

The Angel of Ecbatana is maybe 40% written. Once the above-discussed rewards are out the door, it will be my main focus. I’m shooting to have it done mid-year, should all go to plan.

Thanks again!
—Charles

Pledge Manager and Progress Notes
over 1 year ago – Fri, Nov 01, 2024 at 02:33:19 PM

Hi, all—

I have lots of cool news to share with you. But first:

The pledge manager is now open. This is where you provide me with the information I need to deliver rewards to you, including such things as:

  • Your email address and physical address, so I can send you digital and physical rewards
  • Your choice of art prints
  • For Patron backers, your discord handle, so I can let you into the secret Patron-only chat!
  • And so on.

And if you feel so inclined, it’s a chance to upgrade your pledge level, or get extra copies of print books as add-ons. So please check your email, follow the link, and fill it out. It only takes a couple of minutes.

Late Pledges!

If you know anyone who might enjoy my books but who missed the campaign, please let them know that late pledges are now open! That’s right: it’s still possible to jump in and grab the great deals offered through the campaign.

Here’s the link: https://the-mason-of-new-orleans.backerkit.com/hosted_preorders/673460

There have been nearly 30 late pledges since the campaign concluded, and these are very welcome—truthfully, the campaign didn’t quiiiite cover all the costs I’m incurring bringing these books to you, but late pledges are bridging the gap.

Oh, Those Sweet, Sweet Reviews

One of the great things about this crowdfunding campaign is that it drove a lot of interest in The Mason of New Orleans even among people who didn’t back the campaign. In the last couple of months TMNO has received nearly 200 new ratings, and 50 new reviews, on Goodreads—for an average of 4.89 stars!

Sales have also been pretty brisk, with more ebooks sold in the past two months than the previous couple of years.

If you’ve already read The Mason of New Orleans, please take a moment (if you haven’t done so already) to give it a quick review on Goodreads or especially Amazon. (The latter really helps Amazon’s algorithm recommend it to more readers.)

So How Are Things Coming, You Ask?

In addition to getting the pledge manager up and running (honestly, most of the work was done by Tammie Ryan, love of my life, who has extensive experience with crowdfunding reward management), here’s what I’ve been working on over the past month or so:

  • TMNO revisions: I made a handful of small revisions to The Mason of New Orleans. These included a rewrite of the opening paragraphs (I hadn’t really found Martin’s voice when I wrote the original opening), updating another short passage in the middle, making a couple of small timeline corrections, and fixing some typos. With the possible exception of the opening paragraphs, these are things most readers probably won’t even notice—but I did, and they bugged me!
  • Book layout and typography: I have the full book laid out, and all my typographical decisions made. It just needs the new maps. It’s pretty spiffy, if I say so myself!
  • Audiobook: This is what I’ve spent the most time on:
    • I finalized the decision on a narrator after reviewing roughly 60 auditions!
    • I put together a pronunciation guide for him, with guidance on 150+ names and terms from the book.
    • He’s submitted two chapters so far, which I’ve reviewed carefully and sent notes on.
    • And as part of that process I’ve started writing up character bios so he has better context when deciding how to voice these characters.
  • Community hub: I set up a Discord server, which you’re invited to (see the pledge manager). This is of particular interest to Patron backers!

Next steps include:

  • Audiobook: I’m continuing to work with the producer to move this along. It’s a fascinating process! I’m very happy with it so far, and want to ensure the final product is something we will all love.
  • Graphics and the TMNO revised edition: I’m starting work on maps and other graphic items for The Mason of New Orleans revised edition. Once they’re in place I can get the ebook out!
  • Print book to press: Once the revised ebook is complete, I’ll move on to print book. Most of the layout work was already done for the ebook—that is, I only have to make small tweaks to the layout file to make it print-ready.
  • All the other stuff: Once the book is in production, I’ll get the art prints and book marks off to press too. And work on other items such as the alternate opening chapter and Cypher Unlimited incentive.

Then I’ll have the time and energy to dig into writing The Angel of Ecbatana. But don’t worry—I find that I can’t really type out words until they’ve stewed in my head for some time. All the bandwidth I’m putting into this project is keeping Martin’s adventures active in my noggin, and I’ve make a lot of creative decisions for TAOE. I’ll be able to hit the ground running, inspired and full of ideas, when my schedule clears up to start writing.

Thanks again!
—Charles

We Did It!
over 1 year ago – Fri, Sep 27, 2024 at 09:53:29 AM

Hi, all—

Thank you, thank you, thank you for your support! The campaign came to a wonderful close yesterday afternoon. (If you didn't make it in time, see below.) We didn’t quite make it to the hardcovers, but it was an amazing success even so. I’m so excited to make, for you:

  • The revised, upgraded edition of The Mason of New Orleans ebook, with new graphics, maps, and typography.
  • A print version, with all those upgrades.
  • An audiobook.
  • And I’m going to finish The Angel of Ecbatana, and deliver it in all those formats.
  • Oh, and let’s not forget the fabulous art prints!

The earliest of those rewards will fulfill later this year, with the last of them (specifically the print version of The Angel of Ecbatana) delivering next summer.

In the meantime, here’s what to expect:

  • BackerKit will take a couple of weeks to collect all pledges and provide me with backer data and funds.
  • Then I’ll open the pledge manager. That helps me gather critical data to provide you with your rewards. It’s where you’ll pay for shipping—and where you can make upgrades to your pledge, if you so desire.
  • When the pledge manager closes (about a month from now) I’ll start delivering the early rewards.

If you backed at the Patron level, sometime in the next couple of weeks I’ll set up a community hub and invite you to it. It’ll be a place where we can chat, I can show off work in progress, and I’ll ask your thoughts when I could use a little creative input for a name or other detail.

Remember, to get any of your rewards, you have to complete the pledge manager. So please look out for an email invitation in about two weeks!

And if you know anyone who missed the campaign but might love these books, tell them they can still make a late pledge. Here’s the link: https://the-mason-of-new-orleans.backerkit.com/hosted_preorders/673460

Thanks again!
—Charles