Phew: sorry this took so long, guys! I've been dealing with some pretty awful writer's block since making the huge 5000-words-a-day push on Kingdom Come.
You're the first to see this wholly unedited, but largely final alpha draft of Ch 1. Let me know what you think in the comments :)
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The Bashar Desert, Dakhdir.
We were almost at th...
2019-09-23 05:49:42 +0000 UTC View Post
Things have been a bit quiet on the posting front because the team at Soundbooth Theatre and I have been working long hours on this baby right here: the Trial by Fire audiobook!
We're uploading this puppy today, which means it will be available in stores within 3-10 days. Unfortunately, Audible's processing and review system makes it impossible to give a specific release day.
All $...
2019-09-04 22:31:21 +0000 UTC View Post
Woo! I've been quiet because I've been busy working with Justin, Laurie and Jeff on this puppy. You guys are the first to hear any of the audiobook other than me - so enjoy!
2019-08-23 03:27:17 +0000 UTC View PostSome of you (those on Discord) have probably seen me post snippets of this project. It's basically a fun diversion from Archemi Online - I felt like writing a more pulpy sort of LitRPG.
The goal is to write about 1000 words of this a day while I work on Warsinger and Blaze of Glory (working title), the next books in ArchOn. I won't be serializing/publishing Brute Force until all three boo...
2019-08-03 06:04:13 +0000 UTC View Post
My artist and I have been working intensively on this cover since April. Phew!
Karalti is canonically bigger than this, but we decided she should be small enough to have on the cover alongside the Warsinger.
It begins! The artist was hugely patient in the development of this cover.
2019-07-05 21:41:41 +0000 UTC View PostWe suddenly have a Discord channel! Yay!
I think it automatically added all you guys once I integrated it. I uh... hadn't actually intended for that to happen. So by all means, if Discord isn't your thing, feel free to leave - I won't be offended.
If you weren't invited and want to join, the link is here: https://discord...
2019-06-27 23:28:18 +0000 UTC View PostHi all, and thanks so much for your patience and support. Kingdom Come was released today, and you all get a free copy :)
Amazon has been making it a bit difficult for authors to share their ebooks easily. To download this puppy to your Kindle app or device, you'll have to follow a couple of steps.
1) Using your computer or a ZIP-enabled phone, download the ZIP from Google Drive (us...
2019-06-22 21:12:04 +0000 UTC View PostIf you have read Kingdom Come and would like to help a brother out, the paperback version of the book is live on Amazon now, which means that you can leave a review. Reviews left on the paperback will also show on the ebook page.
The official launch is on the 22nd, but having some reviews already pre-loaded before it goes live would be a massive help. If you would like to leave a review, ...
2019-06-20 18:47:23 +0000 UTC View PostFinally, after what was easily the worst year of my adult life, Kingdom Come is finished with only days to spare - and it's a whopper of a book, coming in at a princely 167,000 words. Dragon Seed was 120K and Trial by Fire was 130K, to put that in some kind of perspective.
The complete ARC will be made available to all $10+ Patrons tomorrow evening. If you're not in those tiers, don't des...
2019-06-15 06:38:41 +0000 UTC View PostThe days and nights are blurring into one another. I fell asleep at my keys last night.
But KC is almost done!
All you $5+ patrons will be getting a copy before the release day of 22nd June, probably within the next 3 days.
2019-06-11 05:11:14 +0000 UTC View PostThe ARC of Kingdom Come will be available soon - once it's ready, I will be posting a link here. The final book will be about 150K - there is a section still being edited.
This is, in fact, the first chapter which resolves the issue I ranted about in my previous post.
We split up at the door to the Officer's Mess. Rin meekly farewelled us on the way to her own quarters in the Weaponeer's Hall, where she planned to get the details for the caravan quest for us. Suri split to go and make sure Cutthroat hadn't killed anyone. Tha...
2019-05-15 01:23:11 +0000 UTC View PostEverything has kind of come crashing down around my ears again. We are putting down our beloved horse on the 21st and moving in the first week of June, and I am desperately trying to get this book done in time.
Some earlier chapters must be reworked to make it more apparent that this isn't a harem novel. Because there is sexual tension of any kind between Hector and Karalti, this wasn't c...
2019-05-15 01:09:32 +0000 UTC View Post
At Soma’s request, the debrief was held in the Officer’s Mess. Compared to the War Room, it was clean, warm and dry, with brass candelabras and rich wooden furniture. There was real food here, miles above what the rank and file had to eat. Roast chicken, bread, vegetables, even fruit. The floors were not covered in reeds, but carpet. Everything about it pissed me off.
"Th...
2019-05-08 21:28:10 +0000 UTC View Post
“We need to hit those guns. As soon as the cannons appear, I want you to split. Get behind the artillery and get ready to flame.” I hopped up into a crouch, holding onto the saddle with one hand. “If I die, don’t worry. I’ll respawn at the Fort and catch up. If I fall, don’t try and pick me up unless you’re absolutely sure you can. Okay?”
I don't really have time to paint much any more, so when I need reference art, I turn to modeling.
I just use the Black Desert character maker and photoshop for these. You can probably tell. Unfortunately, the outfits are sort of filler outfits I pick to visualize the faces.
Hector! He has ...
2019-05-04 15:09:10 +0000 UTC View Post
It took the better part of the night to reach Korona. The sun was just coming up over the horizon when we sighted the Prezyemi Line from the air. That was made easier by the fact a good part of it was on fire.
“Oh jeez.” I winced at the sounds of artillery pounding the wall to the west of Korona. Magical barriers sprung to life over the archers and riflemen who fired down...
2019-05-04 06:38:36 +0000 UTC View Post
The crystallized slime plug that sealed the Broodmother’s inner sanctum was wedged in tighter than a three-day old booger. It took all five of us wailing on it for about ten minutes to break it up.
“Does this place ever stop being gross?” I stepped gingerly into the blue glowing cavern beyond. “Oh. Just look at that. The answer is apparently ‘fuck no’.” 2019-04-28 13:30:26 +0000 UTC View Post
I fumed all the way from the Officer's Mess to our quarters. Rin meekly farewelled us on the way to her own quarters in the Weaponeer's Hall, while Suri split to go and make sure Cutthroat hadn't killed anyone. That left Karalti and I alone together, with me wound as tight as a watchspring and her radiating concern.
"This fucking quest!" I snarled at no one in particula...
2019-04-24 03:53:29 +0000 UTC View PostA day in the life of the artist.
This morning, our cellphones blurted a chorus of horrible loud sounds: an Amber alert. It scared the cat, who leaped off the bed and ran away across my face. One back claw opened up my face from the upper corner of my eye to the tip of my nose. I look like I've been glassed and am probably going to end up with a wicked scar. She got me down to the cartilag...
2019-04-23 22:21:49 +0000 UTC View PostHi all - sorry for the lack of updates, but Norwescon kind of ate my life .__.
I need to revise the next section after the last posted chapter, just to make sure it lines up with the rest of the story. As soon as I've refined that and made any corrections/fixed plot holes, I will resume posting here well ahead of Royal Road.
We had a great show at Norwescon: sold a lot of Blood Houn...
2019-04-23 09:30:34 +0000 UTC View Post
“SCREEEEEE!” Cutthroat’s bird-like screech echoed off the walls, and then her keel nearly drove me into the ground as she flung herself on top of me. The blow landed squarely across the hookwing’s back instead of my head. Bones crunched and one hind leg gave way. She huffed with pain, falling to rest on her wrist joints.
[Cutthroat uses Pack Protector!] 2019-04-13 23:18:42 +0000 UTC View Post
As we advanced through the cave, there was less ice and more slime. A lot more slime. More slime than I ever needed to see or experience. It was white, thick, and the jokes were so obvious I couldn’t bring myself to make them. I would be lowering myself to make those jokes. The apple was hanging so low that it brushed the suggestively sticky floor.
“I feel like we...
2019-04-12 23:19:15 +0000 UTC View Post
It was like this the entire day. Encounter after encounter, mob after mob. Every mudhole seemed to contain something dangerous, poisonous, hungry, or any combination of the three. They all had shit EXP and either no loot or low-grade loot, so there wasn’t even that to look forward to. My only consolation was herbs, because the Endlar had herbs for days.
I was...
2019-04-08 02:50:15 +0000 UTC View Post
3 hours later.
The Endlar Swamp was humid. Very humid. A croaking, humming, brackish, dreary thousand-acre morass that stood between us and a sizable number of zombies. A faint methane perfume hung over the still brown waters. Foxfires bloomed among the whispering reeds. Weeping willows hung down over the river, motionless in the unnaturally warm air. Sweat cra...
2019-04-06 01:22:47 +0000 UTC View PostPhew - we're at about the 55K mark now with Kingdom Come, and given that you guys are the first people besides my wife to read any of it, I would be very interested in your feedback. I am tragically awful at assessing my own writing.
Is KC hitting the spot for you - and if not, why not? What moments made you laugh? Which ones tried, but fell short? Anything you say can and will be used t...
I spent a good twenty minutes milking Zlazlo for information on the Endlar, then left him to sleep. After telling the medic what I’d done to treat him, I headed back to the bedroom to wait for Suri and Karalti. And while I was doing that, I had a look over what I’d unlocked.
Firstly, I’d unlocked Lazar as a recruitable ally, though I still had to meet his...
2019-04-02 18:30:56 +0000 UTC View Post
In my sober moments, I told myself I’d picked up the Healing skill tree because it was fun and interesting. But if I was being honest with myself, a big part of my hunger to learn was because it made me feel like I could conquer disease, which was the only thing that had ever kicked my ass and gotten away with it. Healing skills also had the side benefit of making me popula...
2019-04-01 20:15:37 +0000 UTC View Post