In case anyone is wondering, "Hey, where's book 6 at already?" well, it's done. It's just not with the editor yet. Funds have been the leading issue. However, that should change soon, I'll keep you posted.
If you're asking yourself where all this other work is at? That stuff is done, at least on my end. The deadlines for the two anthologies are something like Jan 12th and Feb 1st. I don't know exactly because I'm not one to put something off until the very end. However, being anthologies there are several other hands involved in this, and everyone needs time to create their parts. That all being said, I believe the hopeful dates those will be available to the public should be around March (I think). I'll keep you posted, and give you more details as time approaches. The comic I did the "art" for is in proof ordering mode. What does this mean? The images, the text, all of it is done, but we are getting drafts of the printed copy and correcting the lighting here, tightening up a word bubble there, etc. Some things just print darker than what you see digitally.That comic is called "Incontinence Man" and all I can say is that it'll be out soon. Also, by "art" I mean I took some photographs and hit them with Photoshop to make them look more cartoony. All the writing, lettering (word bubbles and action words) and story are from the mind of KS Brooks. Again, more info will come as I can give it to you. One of the short stories is getting expanded into a full comic, and hopefully into a series. The plan is to get this to pitch it to publishers as soon as it's ready. At the moment the artist, Kristophor Harris (if you were following STD you'll recognize the name) is working on the short story version of that, along with a number of other projects. So, there's no real timetable on this one as well. Sorry, I'm full of adventures these days, but with no destinations in sight. Oh, yes, STD. Well, the 4 artists and I have all gotten stupid busy with all these different projects, so none of us have had the time to keep it up. As soon as it slows down, and I start seeing daily sketches that aren't meant for a project I'll start posting again. Sorry, that's what happens with free content. The most I can give you right here, right now is the ad I made for my friend. He's selling Roller Derby panties. Either you're a derby player/fan and you know what that is, or you think that sounds perverted. Either way, here's the ad. If you're into derby, then go check out his shop. It's listed across all the borders of this. The only part I didn't do was take the photographs.
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At the moment, I am working on the edits of Book 6 "The Purge". So far, so good. I'm not going to give a specific time as to when this book is coming out, which is saying that my earlier prediction may be wrong. There are a couple reason for this, namely that this book took longer to finish because it IS a longer book. Right not it's sitting at 64k words and after editing it will go up. I haven't had a session of edits where it didn't.
Another thing that changes the game plan is finances. Moving across country really took a toll on our bank account, and then the from-home position I've taken has had us, essentially, laid off for the past month and a half. With the holidays around the corner, plus the movie, it's been more than a little rough. As I refuse to put a book out that hasn't had a proper editor take a look at it, I have 2 choices: wait until I have the money, or try Kickstarter. So, Kickstarter will be happening sometime soon. Another thing that's been taking my time is some side gigs that might interest you. They are all still in early development, but I see no reason I can't say what they are, yet stress they may fall apart before publication. A friend of mine is writing a comic-book spoof, and doing the initial photography. I am taking those photos and giving it more of a comic-style feel to them. It's a different sort of project for me, with a whole lot of toilet humor. Another project I am involved in is a bestiary. If you are unfamiliar with this simply think big book of mythological monsters. This one I am writing, and all the art is being handled by another chap. I'll leave names out for the time being, in case something comes up. We are hoping to be done with this by Christmas, and may try to do a Kickstarter for startup funds, but we're hoping it'll get picked up by a publisher instead. I'll keep you posted. There's also a coloring book in the works. Another oddball that I'm helping someone with by taking real photos and manipulating them into outlines. We're waiting for the draft copy of that to show up in the mail to see how it looks on paper - in case it looks different than on my PC. I'm also making an advertisement for my friend's hand-made, roller derby gear. I'll post that just as soon as everything is completed. I also MIGHT start working on an adult activity book centered around office life. So, it's an activity book about the hell of cubicle life, done at your cubical, while hating life. Oh, I am also working on a book cover for someone. I almost forgot to mention that. It sounds like a lot, but I'm at home with my job on hiatus. I could play video games and mess around, or I can try to do something creative. My short story is up on Gumroad, and on Smashwords now. It's posted under a "pay what you want" model. So, if you'd like it for free, you can, or you can pay what you think it's worth. It's entirely up to you. It's in pdf, mobi (amazon), epub formats. If you would like it in something else, let me know and I'll get that added to the list.
You'll also find CoM - Book 1 on Smashwords under the same model. You can still get it from Amazon for 99 cents and it's also in paperback. I will probably add Book 1 to Gumroad later on. Now that life isn't complete chaos, I'm getting around to finishing a lot of projects I've been putting off. Don't worry, book 6 is still coming along, I'd like to see it done by the end of this month, edited in November, and out in the world by December. With it being a good stopping point in the series (for now), I'm going to press on with a new project that will be entirely unrelated to the CoM series. I'll give more details when the project grows nearer. I will say that I'm super excited to do it, and I hope it turns out the way I want it to. For now, I'd like to discuss the side project I'm hopefully finishing up tonight - I'm being very picky about it.
It's a short story, one that I've been wanting to do for quite some time, and one that I started shortly after I moved. I don't want to say much on it, because it'll spoil the goofiness, but I'll say it's called "Catch and Release", and it's based around a fishing show. Right now, I've done a couple rounds of editing, and plan to do one, or two more. The length is only about 10,000 words, so it's very short and very on point at all times. Because of it's length, I am not putting this on Amazon like everything else. I don't like the idea of charging someone 99 cents for something so short. Instead, I'm going to do a "pay what you want" model through Gumroad.com If you'd like to purchase it, by all means. If you'd like to take it for free, then do so. Eventually, once I write enough of these shorts, I'll put them all in a book and distribute it that way. Until then, enjoy them, and pay for them if you'd like. I'll post a link as soon as I have one. Technically, the weekend is only part of it. Starting today, CoM: Book 1 is free until Monday. Rather than give you a link on here, look to the right margin. There you'll see a book cover for it that will take you where you need to go. Remember, this book is on Amazon only, and the freebie pertains only to the e-book version. Do me a favor and spread the word, even if you already have the book.
Thanks in advance. :) Some friends, and I started up a little website. During a given day, each of them will do a sketch as a warm up for their day. For the fun of it, I am adding some silly text to them (think one panel newspaper comic) and posting them on a website. Sort of a way to get their work more notice. Go check it out.
At the bottom of each sketch is a link to the creators. So, if you like someone's work, go see their good stuff. Remember, these are just sketches, not full blown pieces. You can also pop on facebook and find us. I've been used #STD as a hashtag as well. At the moment, I am a little over 50k into this book. Normally, I would start wrapping things up, and getting ready for a round, or two of editing. This time, I'm not. Something struck me a couple days ago that I'm mentally exploring which will probably expand the series further. It's not an entirely new idea, mind you, but the way it's being presented to the reader is. It's one of those "Holy sh*t, this is a great idea, but will it work?" sort of moments.
The issue here is that with all the layers of plot, and character development going on at any given time, I have to be very careful how, or what I add along the way. I understand that sometimes an idea will get away from a writer and we, as readers will go hey, that's not what you said before.. These things happen, but if I can prevent it, I will. Don't worry, no matter what happens (unless life gets in the way) I'll get this out in December at the latest. Oh, if you somehow hadn't noticed, I changed the overall look of the website. No real reason. It just seemed like it was time for a change. Let me know what you think. This was the first big show I've done where I was a guest, selling my wares, and not an attendee. As this was KCCC's first year. I think my timing couldn't have been better. The atmosphere was fun and pleasant all the way through, the crowd was amazingly diverse. Sunday, for example, was made up mostly of grandparents, parents and small children. I've been to several of the local cons, and had never seen this many children, let alone all the cosplay going on. Sure, there's always people in costumes, looking awesome and doing their thing, but the amount of them was off the scale at this event. The samples I have below are only the pics I had time to take between waves of people passing by my table. The hardest part, for me, was remembering I was there to sell my books, and not take photos! I've seen a lot of articles lately of the Pros and Cons to this convention, and I have to tell you there really wasn't any negatives to this show. The walkways were wide and easy to navigate, the guests and I had plenty of space for ourselves, parking was easy to find, there were plenty of volunteers (happily named Henchmen) running about to aid in anyway they could. I really have nothing to complain about beyond wishing I had known how blurry my camera lens was on day 1, but at least it's only a couple of these photos. I'm told there were somewhere around ten thousand people in attendance for the three days of KCCC. Considering this was the first year for the con, that is amazing. Usually, these cons start very small and then go from there. We have a couple smaller cons that, although very good in their own right, have barely seen a tenth of this amount of people in the years they've been around, let alone even half of what KCCC saw this year. Despite the cross-country move I'm making tomorrow, I will back to do this con. As soon as I have dates for next year, I'll let you know. Enjoy the pictures! I know it's been a while, but hear me out! Looks like I'm moving across the country (KC to Baltimore, ~1100 miles) so I've been in the middle of dealing with that. I also just finished doing the first year of the Kansas City Comic Con this past weekend and that, of course, had a ton of prepwork to it as well. So, it's been busy as all get out.
Book 6, the last of the 2nd trilogy, is getting near the end of the first draft. I have a few more chapters I need to write up before the editing begins, so once this move is behind me I'll have ample time to fly though this. So far, it's exactly what I had envisioned and hopefully it'll be just as badass as the previous books. I'm not one to sit here and tell you IT'S THE BEST THING I'VE EVER WRITTEN like so many celebs do with their movies. I think my fans are smarter than that and can smell a shite advertsing gimick when it's presented to them. Once this book is off to the editor, I'll take the time to put #5 out there in paperback. Otherwise, I'll write up a post later about my experience at KCCC this year and throw in a bunch of pictures for your enjoyment. Thanks for reading. I wouldn't be sitting here planning books 7-9 without you. Oh, and I plan to do a standalone/crossover for Thomas and his loooong life. It's been a couple months since I did an update, but with good reason....I'm writing!
I honestly don't know how long this book is going to go. It's the end of the second trilogy and there's a lot of ground to cover. I've also been trying to decide how I want to end the series. Next book may/may not be the last of the CoM books, at least for this story path. If I continue these, it'll probably go off in a different direction that will make sense with what's happened, but completely flip the script of what I've been doing thus far. We shall see. For the time being, I know what I want to do with this book and the next, so I have some time to ponder. As to book 6, everything is going smoothly, you'll see a lot more play on the UHD idea and of course all the usual suspects will make an appearance somewhere in the book, mostly in major roles. This book is, much like 5, written mostly from M's perspective. There's good reason for it that will make sense by the end of book 6. In case you missed it, or I forgot to mention it in the previous post, this book is called "The Purge". So, here we are coming full circle with many of the ideas brought up by book 1, 2 and 3. It's going to be a fun ride, you aren't going to want to miss it. Who doesn't love a good end of the world scenario? |
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