[As usual, two weeks lag here, if you aren’t reading this on my Patreon (https://www.patreon.com/blazeward). If you’d like your news fresher, and the monthly Anti-Stodgy/Redneck Chef newsletter, all I ask is a buck to help keep the lights on around here.]
Oh, hey, it’s Monday. Reminder just went off to do something for Patreon.
My day’s all off. Fabulous Publisher Babe™ wanted steak and eggs this morning, so we drove into Covington to eat at Nikki’s. Nice breakfast. Not my favorite place, obviously. Didn’t shoot, but did go shooting Thursday and didn’t do bad. Might go again this Thursday. See what the week’s like.
Since last we talked, that Epic Space Fantasy thing has kinda taken over. I have now written six stories in six writing days. All about 4500 words on average, I think. Or, about 28k worth of two storylines that are only just starting to wind up into a bigger novel. But Epic Fantasy tends to doorstops between 100 and 250k words each. Big.
I’ve got that much story. Worse, I’ve got seven-volume series worth, here. I’ll blame Sally. She started it.
Worse, I’ve been deep-diving and rabbit-holing various places, including tvtropes.org. If it is one of those weird fantasy/manga tropes (and there are a lot of them on tvtropes), normally, I try to stay away from them. This time, I’m just including it in my notes and trying to figure out how to add it.
Sword and Sorcery Fantasy. On starships. Because of course you do.
Y’all will get the first Holden story in June. Visitors. Sets things up. Then I have been going even/odd between Holden and Rafferty. Way complicated, but I’ve been pulling in Joseph Campbell, Arthurian Mythos, Magic Academy, Space Opera, Vikings, and everything else I could think of. Worse, The Babe has looked at my magic system, added a few tweaks and suggestions, and pronounced it solid.
High praise from that woman, because she LOVES creating new magic systems from scratch.
Had an interesting conversation with Mark last week. One of the outcomes was that we are going to start making my novels available on the website on the first each month starting in July, instead of the 10th, so you’ll get it a week earlier if you buy direct. (and I’ll make an extra buck or three along the way.)
He’s also considering something like a (Patreon-ish) Subscription service, where folks sign up for a set amount each month, and get the latest novel early. Like a month before it goes up for sale. Early supporters advantage, as it were.
How would you folks feel if we did something like that? You’re paying the bills around here, so you should have opinions.
If I went down that path, I might stop writing short fiction on a schedule for Patreon release, and shift folks around. Or maybe both. $5 for the short story. $10 for both short story and latest novel.
Opinions? Rejections? Enthusiastic embrace and here’s more money?
Amazon broke something. Several times. They screwed up the advertising system in April. Then screwed it up on the fix. Removed buy buttons from the app unless you are in KU (no, thank you). Etc.
I don’t know any author (and I’ve asked) who is doing even as well as last year on Amazon, let alone better. That includes me. Personally, I live in terror that I’ll have to go get a part-time job somewhere because I stop making enough to support things as inflation bites. Or the economy crashes because of fuck-wits in DC.
Y’all need to tell your friends to buy books. I’m too feral for real people and a job.
Past that, not a lot new. Keeping at the Darkened Phoenix Academy Chronicles this week. Maybe until I just give up and call it a novel, but I’m having fun with 4500 word short stories threaded sequentially in two paths that won’t meet until maybe the end of Book One. Whenever that happens.
Good news: All of Season One of Last Stand is up for preorder everywhere. The shop will have the rest this week. Wherever you get your books.
And I’m starting to build up to have the second Corsac Fox Kickstarter Campaign in July, with Book One coming out next month.
Past that, more writing. More game design. Occasional guitar. Tai Chi Sword and Polearm. More music soon.
Staying busy. Hope your monday isn’t sucking too bad.
Shade and sweet water,
b
West of the Mountains, WA
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