This was an old audio log I created for a planned Kickstarter campaign that I never launched. I ended up funding the book myself and it is now available in most major marketplaces. You can find it as a DRM-free digital download or print on demand HERE.
I suppose this post is a little bit of the “video killed the radio star” but I’ve definitely noticed something about the reactions to my latest works. The last two or three years of my life have been spent juggling game development and writing a novel. The video game universe and the novel are one in the same, and they briefly cross paths at one fateful moment. A single event is witnessed by two strangers who never meet but they shared that moment from different perspectives, one within the novel and the other within the game. » Read more..
Sit back ladies and gentlemen, this story is going to take a while to explain. It was a strange way to live this past year of my life, but I am here to tell you have life has a funny way of making you do things, things you never thought possible.
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Yes, I said 101 which might be a slight exaggeration but not by much. This high level breakdown assumes that you either have used these tools, or can figure it out quickly enough. This is not meant as a comprehensive tutorial, just a checklist for everything you need to do to make sure your file is sanitized for publishing on Amazon, B&N Online, iBookstore, and other digital outlets.
Well… This has been an eye-opening experience to say the least. After a few dozen tweets, blogs, and over 100 individual emails the response has been cold as ice; dead on arrival some might say. There could be many reasons for the inevitable failure of this Kickstarter campaign, some that I may not want to admit. Some times things fall onto the losing track from the start, and there is only so much that duct tape can do to guide it in the right direction. » Read more..
It’s amazing to think that 10 days have gone by so quickly. I am starting to think that perhaps Thanksgiving week was not the best time to launch a 30 day campaign, but I am still hopeful. I do plan to post an excerpt from the book soon and I hope that it will be enough to entice readers to want more. If this is what has been holding you back, please keep checking in. It is coming.
If you haven’t had a chance to see what I’ve been up to, feel free to stop by. http://kck.st/vfQofp
If you have no clue what Kickstarter is, you should check out this link too. I’ve uploaded a quick video that explains the basic idea. http://kck.st/uqTt1w
As I read through some of the early chapters and see the clues that fall into the place, it does excite me at how well the puzzle has fit together. I would not say that the book is a mystery but more of an elaborate explanation of the events that lead to the way that Seizonrenda appears in the game. The funny thing about the book is that I found myself struggling with what to hold back throughout the story. For me, the challenge of writing an origin story was to allow major facts to exist in this book but only as a subplot. I could not make assumptions about the things that the reader may already know.
I did not want to assume that the reader has seen or played the original game, but at the same time I did not want to bore anyone who has played the game. In this way, it allowed me to ration bits of knowledge throughout the story and create an intriguing plot for old and new readers of this fiction. It also lets the reader follow the journey of discovery with the character in the book instead of the reader discovering it for themselves. The interesting thing about letting the reader know before the character is that it can create some marginally funny moments. I hope that it will raise at least a chuckle from the crowd who understands the plight of this geeky and somewhat awkward person in the book. I hope that it is the kind of book that you will read twice to fully understand everything that unfolded. It has been an interesting exercise to explain the threat on humanity while attempting to humanize an entire planet.
I haven’t been this excited over a project in a long time and the more I read and refine the chapters, the more involved I am with the story. I am happy to say that the daunting task is coming together quite nicely and I hope you get the chance to read it.
[UPDATE] A sample of the book is available HERE.
I am a little upset with myself right now. I haven’t written in the book for over two weeks and that gap is getting bigger each day. I try, diligently, to sit and write, but the words just don’t come to me. It’s upsetting because a part of me really wants to do this; to write this book. I have this gritty and torturous fantasy story to tell and I can’t seem to take the effort to write it down. I think that the other half of me knows that I am writing because it is the only thing that I can do without the help of others. Completing this book is something that I’ve wanted to do, but a lot of my creative spirit seems to have run it’s course over these past few years. I don’t know if it has to do with the changes in my life, or the job I am at, or any number of other factors. It could very well be a little of all those things, but I look at the book right now and I don’t feel inspired to write more. I have a story in my head, and something is fighting me, keeping me from putting it down on paper. My will, my motivation; they have been siphoned from me.
Wow.. So my writing has been going really slow. At the moment, I’ve been averaging only about 3k words per month. Yeah… I said month… I’ve been very fortunate to have a preexisting story that I continue to revisit every few years, and it is now totaling somewhere around 25k words (~70 pages). Nearly all of those pages make up the first act of the book. I had to re-factor some parts of the story that I felt were not adding to the plot and it inevitable shaved off a few chapters. Still, I am happy that I was able to turn an old short story of mine into something much greater.
I know I’ve been slacking on my blogs lately. I’ve been trying to save my typing fingers for the book. I’ve actually had a small stint of inspiration today and got down a few good words. I’ve discovered that it’s tough to write a book if you want to do it right. I’m a very picky person, and I tend to tear movies and other story mediums apart. This includes my own writing. It doesn’t help that I generally only get about 4 hours a week to write. Any amateur writer out there knows that it’s a spit in the ocean to get 4 hours a week to sit and write something creative… =(
With each passing year I try my best to do something new, unique, and challenging. My ultimate goal is to better myself, become a stronger individual, and potentially find a new avenue for revenue in my life. Any steps I can take that may prove fruitful are steps that I will consider in my path. One step I’ve taken this year is to attempt my hand at writing a novel. » Read more..