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From: A Daughter of These Lands I like the word "dent" but somehow, I didn't find it on its own in my WIP. Most of the dents had acci, inci, or confi ahead of them. Picking one of those let me share this section where Raoul finds Toini after she's lain under a tree for 48+ hours. #WIPSnips

A screenshot of a few paragraphs from A Daugher of These Lands. The text reads:

"Thank you, chronicler." Toini winced internally. She shouldn't call him that anymore. "What's our situation?"
She was running on autopilot, falling back on familiar routine without even thinking. Same old questions as always.
"Your holiness made international news after the incident at the full moon ritual, and I require your account of what happened there.
Toini grimaced. Of course he'd want to hear her side of the story. She hadn't much thought about it in the days since. Didn't want to think about it, if she were to be honest with herself, which she was not. She'd just walked, and then she'd found a place to lie down, and that was that.
"Presently," Raoul continued. "The Viller army has been mobilised in the search effort, and they're focusing on Gotecan Hills and the Got region forests."

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Nils O @nils.readindiefantasy.com · 01/10/2026

From: A Daughter of These Lands Only one mention of a form of this word in the entire WIP, so easy choice today. Also, I get to show off the obnoxiously cheerful hiker's expression I came up with. :P #WIPSnips

A few paragraphs from A Daughter of These Lands. The text reads:
Toini stepped back from the wall and paused. This would be one of those times where it would be a really good idea to take a break and think things over, but the urge to keep going pulled at her. The ever present need do. Explore, progress, achieve.
She closed her eyes and pushed all those thoughts away. For the moment, there was no urgent need to do anything. She'd gotten out of the rain, her outer layer had kept her dry, and she wasn't injured or bleeding. Sure, she'd like a roaring fire, a pint, and a steadfast dog, but there was only so much you could ask for.
Socks dry, spirits high, right?

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Nils O @nils.readindiefantasy.com · 29/09/2026

From: A Daughter of These Lands Well well well... I didn't check, but I'm sure I can't be the only one who did that. :P Anyway, here's one of the more playful snippets of this book, which includes more words said by Raoul in one go than in the entire previous book in total. #WIPSnips Text in alt

A snippet of text from A Daughter of These Lands. The text reads:
"Oh..."
Heat rose to her cheeks, and she was glad the darkness hid it. There wasn't much else to say about it, was there. She'd acted rashly, and without thinking, and, well, that was that.
Raoul however, wasn't done. "By my count, that was less than forty five seconds into the mission, if we consider it a mission, which I do, and that means it's a new world record for the fastest time for a paladin to lose their gear. I was the only one present, so it can't be officially ratified, but I will still submit it as an unofficial entry for the Chroniclers' Society of Silly Statistics."

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Nils O @nils.readindiefantasy.com · 27/09/2026

I used to think werewolves were cooler than vampires (still do), and I wanted to write about them. Little did I know that werewolf books are supposed to have alpha males, hot knobly sex, toxic pack dynamics, and feral violence. So I wrote Last Fight of the Old Hound: mybook.to/LostDogs1

Cover image for Last Fight of the Old Hound. It's intended to evoke feelings of introspection and internal conflict.

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Nils O @nils.readindiefantasy.com · 27/09/2026

From: A Daughter of These Lands In this paragraph, I pay my respects to the inimitable Tove Jansson, one of the world's greatest authors, and the wisdoms shared in her stories. #WIPSnips Full text in alt text

A paragraph from A Daughter of These Lands. It reads:
All good journeys should start at dusk. She'd heard that said by someone, somewhere, but she couldn't remember where. Raoul might know, but she didn't feel like asking. Not right now, and she wasn't sure she agreed anyway. It didn't make sense to start when it was about to go dark and you wouldn't be able to travel far, unless, you just wanted to get started, so you wouldn't get stuck with last minute preparations that delayed a morning departure.

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Nils O @nils.readindiefantasy.com · 26/09/2026

From: A Daughter of These Lands I've picked a snippet from the scene just before the big showdown of the book, where Toini's reflecting of what's to come. #WIPSnips

A few paragraphs from A Daughter of These Lands. The text reads:
Raoul tensed, and for a moment he stopped, but only for a moment. Then, he, too, was running.
He didn't have her sense for the land, and Toini knew she would leave him behind, but it still felt good to have him behind her. Someone who had her back. Covering fire. Moral support.
Someone who knew what they were up against, and who burned with the same fire she did.
He'd been her impartial chronicler and the observer of her work as a paladin, but when it came to fighting abominations, no one stood idly by. He'd helped, and he knew what was what.
He was good enough with firearms she trusted him not to blow her head off, and he wouldn't panic.

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Nils O @nils.readindiefantasy.com · 23/09/2026

From: A Daughter Of These Lands Every occurrence of the word tumble had an S in front of it, so I'm going with that instead. #WIPSnips

A few lines from A Daughter Of These Lands. The text reads:
Had to keep going.
"Have to keep going," she muttered to herself.
Toini stumbled and nearly fell as her own words woke her mind up.
"I never talk to myself," she said.
She clamped her mouth shut and stopped dead in her tracks. She'd really just said that, to herself, like a proper idiot.

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Nils O @nils.readindiefantasy.com · 22/09/2026

From: A Daughter Of These Lands I don't have today's word "meltdown" or anything close in my WIP, so I'm going back to yesterday. I do have "stream" in several spot, but I like this paragraph with a variation of the word more, so I'm going with that. #WIPSnips

A screenshot of a paragraph from At the Road's End. It reads:
Her belly rumbled, and Toini sipped her blueberry soup. It should have been warm, and it should have been winter and snow, and she should have been on skis, but the taste warmed her heart with nostalgia all the same. Going cross country skiing and drinking hot blueberry soup from Oakstream Kitchens was a Viller tradition so deeply rooted in the national identity that the old king had declared the second Restday after the winter solstice each year to be National Blueberry Soup day.

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Nils O @nils.readindiefantasy.com · 22/09/2026

I've heard some authors add recipes at the end of their books, so that readers can enjoy the same foods as the characters in the story. Well, I'm taking it one step further and adding recipe and instructions directly into the story, so there. Here's how to make coffee according to Päivi.

A screenshot of a paragraph of text that reads:
Paivi had been fine until Ash showed up and started talking about unbleached coffee filters and whatever. As if anyone cared. Just add more coffee. If you add a horseshoe to the pot and it doesn't float, you add more coffee.

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Nils O @nils.readindiefantasy.com · 21/09/2026

I may be 50 years old and living with my mom, which isn't exactly Life Goals™, but at least I've got books to be proud of. :D

Photo of three piles of books on a table two of the piles contain At The Road's End, and one pile contains Emma's Story.

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Nils O @nils.readindiefantasy.com · 19/09/2026

And we're live! Submit your novellas!

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Nils O @nils.readindiefantasy.com · 18/09/2026

From: A Daughter of These Lands I don't have the word payment, so I searched for "pay" and found a few scenes where it's included. This one's a rumination on how the spirit of the mountain don't pay attention to Toini. Full text in Alt Text:

A few paragraphs from A Daughter of These Lands. The text reads:

She took a deep breath, slowly let it out again, and tried to open herself up completely.
Nothing.
Sure, there were things there. Scattered pockets of life and half-formed ideas, but nothing like an actual spirit of the land. Even the falling rain paid more attention to her than the spirit of the land.
Indignation rose within her as a suspicion took root. It wasn't that there was no spirit here, it just ignored her. That's what the nightmare had been about. That terrifying sense of being an unseen insect among giants must have been her subconscious reacting to the spirit of the land ignoring her.
Like she wasn't worth paying attention to.

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Nils O @nils.readindiefantasy.com · 16/09/2026

From: A Daughter of These Lands I've somehow gotten my WIP past the 50k mark, and perhaps now I have enough words to take part regularly here. As a bonus, today's snip includes a reference to the book's title. #WIPSnips Full text in Alt Text

Wall of text that reads:
Göte made a motion like he took a deep breath, or maybe sighed, as if he were composing himself or shaking off the mirth. Trying to be serious perhaps. Toini hadn't seen his chest move or heard him breathe even once before now.
"Your light," he said. "It's too pure and burns too bright. It shines with the essence of the daughter of these lands, and it will call the darkness to it like gold calls to humans.
"The way you burn, you're a beacon for the blight. I've seen it before, but never quite like this." He paused for a moment as if contemplating something. "You won't live long. I'm sorry."

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Nils O @nils.readindiefantasy.com · 16/09/2026

Bookmail! Trollcon is coming up, so I ordered a few author copies. Maybe I'll meet someone who likes books. It'll be nice to have something to show instead of just telling people my books are on the zon.

Photo of a cluttered desk. The important parts are two stacks of books. One stack is Last Fight of the Old Hound, and the other is Emma's Story.

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Nils O @nils.readindiefantasy.com · 13/09/2026

Talking about my books: At the Road's End I once came across a post that put "I will die for you" against "I will live for you," and compared the two sentiments. I keep returning to the idea, and I explore it in At the Road's End. mybook.to/GoneHome1

Promo banner for At The Road's End. The banner shows the cover of the book and the quote "I won't die to save my sister. She'd never forgive me."

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Nils O @nils.readindiefantasy.com · 13/09/2026

I still haven't made it home so I don't have the option yet. I'll probably find some website that shows the numbers and check that while gaming. Also, have some dark cows:

Cows in a dark field with a bit of light from a road in the far distance. You can barely see the cows.

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Nils O @nils.readindiefantasy.com · 13/09/2026

At least I've got a decent sunset.

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Nils O @nils.readindiefantasy.com · 13/09/2026

Election day in Sweden today, and I can't help but think of this quote.

Pretty photograph with a witty quote written over it. The quote is: "For every complex problem there is a solution that is clear, simple, and wrong."
The quote is attributed to H.L. Mencken.

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Nils O @nils.readindiefantasy.com · 11/09/2026

Talking about my books: Lost Dogs series. One of the things I'm proud of when it comes to this series is how good the covers look side by side like this. I'm obviously biased, since I wrote the books and made the covers myself, but, still, I'm not ashamed to show them off. :D #BookSky

The covers of all ten books in the Lost Dogs series.

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Nils O @nils.readindiefantasy.com · 10/09/2026

This one's well worth reading. I reviewed it here: www.readindiefantasy.com/book-review-...

Banner image for the Read Indie Fantasy review of Grave Cold. It includes the cover of the book over a composite of ice and black feathers.

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Nils O @nils.readindiefantasy.com · 10/09/2026

Maybe I'm overthinking things, but I read the article, got the idea, and then I couldn't let it go. It can't be that I have too much time on my hands?

A trope map, but with placeholder names for the tropes, and with the tropes crossed over.
Also includes the words ideas, emotions, and characters (but not crossed over).

It's an attempt at a joke. I'm trying to be funny, but maybe I'm just being annoying?

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Nils O @nils.readindiefantasy.com · 09/09/2026

Now that I've moved to Sweden, I wanted to go to a concert, so I found a name I recognised, bought a ticket, and listened to a few songs. Great decision. Turns out Devin Townsend is absolutely amazing live.

Photo of Devin Townsend playing guitar and singing at Pustervik in Göteborg.

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Nils O @nils.readindiefantasy.com · 08/09/2026

Authors, to get some positives on our feeds, share an excerpt from a review of your book that you're proud of! Book: At the Road's End mybook.to/GoneHome1 I find this very flattering, and I'm definitely patting myself on the back here. This comment validates my ambitions for my books.

A snippet from a review of At The Road's End. It reads as follows:
I was hooked from the very beginning. If you expect shallow popcorn action theater, this might not be your book. But if you are interested in characters, in people, their thoughts and feelings, then you might really enjoy At the Road’s End – I know I did.

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Nils O @nils.readindiefantasy.com · 07/09/2026

Talking about my books: A Daughter of These Lands I finished the first draft of the main PoV for the book, and I feel a little bit adrift. I'm trying to figure out what to do with Päivi and Jarmo. They're good viewpoints for supporting Toini's story, but... ( Art by: @nushdeco.bsky.social )

A drawing of Toini and Raoul sitting in the mountains gazing into their campfire. Raoul has a big beard, and Toini has flowers in her hair.
Art by Nush

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Nils O @nils.readindiefantasy.com · 06/09/2026

When you're trying to write a nature-y story but don't actually know that much about nature:

Another paragraph from A Daughter of these Lands. It reads:

An open field, with large trees here and there. Beech, perhaps. She had no idea. Massive trunks with thick bendy branches and giant leaves. The kind you'd build a magical tree house in and live with your cats.

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Nils O @nils.readindiefantasy.com · 06/09/2026

I may have to add some sitting-in-gazebos-all-alone goth rock to the playlist. I just need to figure out what that actually sounds like. Sisters? The Cure?

Another snippet from that early draft of A Daughter Of These Lands. The text reads:

So she went for a stupid little walk to clear her stupid head and get some fresh bloody air. Much good it was doing her anyway. She was probably lost. She couldn't see the castle from where she stood, or the mansion. There was a little gazebo on a hill she'd passed a while back, but she hadn't stopped.
Sitting in gazebos on your own was just sad. This wasn't some goth rock video, and she wasn't wearing crushed velvet anyway. Better just keep going. There was some kind of fancy magical shrubbery running around the entire place, and if she walked in a straight line, she'd find it, eventually.

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Nils O @nils.readindiefantasy.com · 06/09/2026

I finished the first draft of the main PoV for my current WIP. Now, I need to switch gears and write the other two PoVs - Päivi's and Jarmo's. This will be my first fully multi PoV book and I need to figure out what I'm doing. But, going through an earlier attempt this is the energy I want.

Two paragraphs of text from an early draft of "A Daughter of these Lands". The text reads:
Less than a week ago, everything had been normal.
Then, Toini had come back from the dead, told her she was an internationally wanted terrorist, and asked for a beer. Paivi hadn't really believed it – any of it – but of course she'd give her sister a beer. She hadn't even been sure it was really Toini at first. She'd wanted to believe, but really, who wouldn't have questioned something like that.

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Nils O @nils.readindiefantasy.com · 04/09/2026

For my favourite monster, I'm going to pick The Groke, from the Moomin books. From Wikipedia: The Groke is a melancholic and lonely character.[2] She appears as a big dark sheet ghost with a big nose, who passively freezes everything around her. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Groke

Drawing of the Groke and Moomintroll on a beach at night. Art by Tove Jansson from the book Moominpappa And The Sea.

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Nils O @nils.readindiefantasy.com · 04/09/2026

Hello #SFFChat Here's a snippet from At The Road's End (full text added in Alt Text). In this scene we see Toini contemplating the chances someone will recognise her face and rat her out to the police or the inquisition.

A screenshot of two paragraphs from At the Road's End. The text reads:

The risk someone would recognise her was low, but it wasn’t zero. People here read the news, and they talked about it, but they didn’t keep up in the same way someone like Neta did. It was idle interest, not a career requirement. More likely that someone with a fascination for fallen paladins picked out her face in the crowd. It was a niche interest, and Toini had forgotten, but that didn’t mean those people didn’t exist.
Just like there were people who knew all there was to know about serial killers, there were those who devoured every scrap of information about fallen paladins. And sure, she hadn’t been desacralised, so she wasn’t officially fallen, but that probably just meant she was a topic of heated discussion on some special interest forum online.

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Nils O @nils.readindiefantasy.com · 04/09/2026

Well, since you're twisting my arm... Here's the book: mybook.to/LostDogs1 ...and a picture of the cover (I think it's the latest version). It's technically a "werewolf story" but it's more about the struggle against the inner beast than what most people will expect from that term. ;)

Cover for the first book in the Lost Dogs series: Last Fight of the Old Hound, by Nils Ödlund.

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Nils O @nils.readindiefantasy.com · 02/09/2026

Talking about my books: Emma's Story Emma's Story is a novella, and it's my first book. I wrote the first draft one chapter a week across four months, and then I spent the next three years tweaking and editing it. That was not time well spent, and the final result isn't all that different from the

Book cover for the novella Emma's Story, by Nils Ödlund.

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Nils O @nils.readindiefantasy.com · 29/08/2026

If you like books that have charaters and stuff that happens to them, At the Road's End might be right up your alley. Why not give it a go? It's part of the Narratess Indie Book Sale at indiebook.sale #Narratess (Thanks to @authorjmac.bsky.social for help with the description)

Promo image for At The Road's End. It includes the cover of the book, the Narratess banner, and the tag line: "She's the villain of everyone else's story."

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Nils O @nils.readindiefantasy.com · 29/08/2026

The train is heading into rain and night.

Photo from a train window. On one side the sky is bright with reflected sunlight, on the other it's dark with heavy clouds.

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Nils O @nils.readindiefantasy.com · 29/08/2026

It's time for the #NarratessSale and my latest book is part of it. At The Road's End is about: Two estranged sisters trying to reconnect. or... A fallen paladin on the run from the inquisition. or... Thinking you know what you're doing and finding out you're really not. indiebook.sale

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Nils O @nils.readindiefantasy.com · 28/08/2026

It's close now. The @narratess.com Indie Book Sale begins tomorrow.

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Nils O @nils.readindiefantasy.com · 27/08/2026

Your daily reminder that the Narratess Indie Book Sale is this weekend.

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Nils O @nils.readindiefantasy.com · 26/08/2026

More experiments with videos and reels. Also, a silly reminder that the @narratess.com Indie Book Sale is this weekend.

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Nils O @nils.readindiefantasy.com · 25/08/2026

The Narratess Indie Book Sale is coming.

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Nils O @nils.readindiefantasy.com · 21/08/2026

Hello #SFFChat I got the question wrong and took a picture of a section where I'm overusing my crutch word instead of where I use my favourite word. Even so, I'll share it, and maybe it'll be comforting for someone to see they're not the only one who just puts in just everywhere.

A photo of a screen showing a wall of text with the word "just" highlighted in multiple places.

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Nils O @nils.readindiefantasy.com · 15/08/2026

Saturday evening walk. Taking a short break to share the scenery.

Photo of a meadow/glade in Brätte, Sweden.

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Nils O @nils.readindiefantasy.com · 08/08/2026

Happy Soupturday! I still haven't found a cafe that serves soup on Saturday morning, so I ended up making chicken soup myself. It's not bad, but I may have to try a few more times before I get it right. :) #SoupNotSlop

Photo of a bowl of soup, a cup of coffee, and a glass of water.

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Nils O @nils.readindiefantasy.com · 25/07/2026

Happy Soupturday! This is the last time I have soup here before I move back to Sweden. I even got a little message from the staff to wish me well for the future. The soup is mildly spiced pea soup.

Photo of a bowl of soup next to a writing tablet.
There's also a note saying "Have a nice new time back - Native team"

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Nils O @nils.readindiefantasy.com · 18/07/2026

Happy Soupturday! Today's soup is "mexican." It's chunky and delicious, and it's probably the second to last time I'm having soup here before I move back to Sweden. Feeling slightly melancholic.

Photo of a bowl of soup, a cup of coffee and a writing tablet.

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Nils O @nils.readindiefantasy.com · 04/07/2026

...and I almost forgot. Since I'm celebrating my books today, I want to share the art I commissioned for the Gone Home series. Both pieces are by @nushdeco.bsky.social and both feature the (allegedly) fallen paladin Toini and her chronicler Raoul. mybook.to/GoneHome1 (On sale this weekend)

Drawing of Toini and Raoul in a forest just as the sunlight breaks through the rain.
Att by Nush.

Drawing of Toini and Raoul in the mountains gazing into a campfire.
Art by Nush.

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Nils O @nils.readindiefantasy.com · 04/07/2026

I always wanted to make a book trailer. It seemed like a cool thing to do, and a fun thing to show off, and in the end, I finally managed to get this thing together. I'm very proud of it! :D This weekend, for my birthday, the book is on sale. Please have a look. :) mybook.to/GoneHome1

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Nils O @nils.readindiefantasy.com · 04/07/2026

I still haven't come up with a really good tag line for the Gone Home series, but until I do, this one works. Toni tried to change the world for the better, but she went too far, and now she's the monster. Book #1 is currently on sale at a third(-ish) of the regular price. mybook.to/GoneHome1

Promo image for my birthday sale. Includes the text "What if you're the villain in everyone else's story?"

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Nils O @nils.readindiefantasy.com · 04/07/2026

Marketing comes hard to me, but it's my birthday and I'll take any excuse to share the tag line in the image. The struggle against the inner best is a central theme throughout the entire Lost Dogs series. I didn't plan for it to be, but that's what the story grew into. mybook.to/LostDogs

Promo image with the text "Who are you, without your demons?"

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Nils O @nils.readindiefantasy.com · 04/07/2026

The second book I have on sale is At The Road's End. This is my latest release, and the first book in the Gone Home series. It's the tale of a former hero turned villain in the eyes of the world, trying to reunite with her sister before it's all over. Find it here: mybook.to/GoneHome1

Promo banner for the birthday sale of At The Road's End. Contains an image of the book's cover and the following list:
- Middle-aged, ace main character
- Personal stakes, personal problems
- A fantasy world in modern times

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Nils O @nils.readindiefantasy.com · 04/07/2026

I am, as of today, no longer in my forties, so I'm putting on a little sale to celebrate. The collection of the entire Lost Dogs series is currently available at a third of its regular price, and I'd be delighted if you'd consider giving it a chance. mybook.to/LostDogs

Promo image for my birthday sale. Includes the cover for the Lost Dogs collection and the following list:
- All 10 books in one volume
- Personal stakes, personal problems
- Not a "werewolf story"
- Strong characters, bad decisions

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Nils O @nils.readindiefantasy.com · 28/06/2026

window in the door. I rang every button, but the bell wasn't working. Eventually, I went home, got pen and paper and wrote a note with an explanation and contact info. This morning, I got a text saying to stop by at lunch, and now I have my books. It's a small and simple thing, but it feels great.

Photo of an opened box containing a few copies of my book At The Road's End.

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