Blog Post No. 507
Back when Adventure Worlds was just a blog for some want-to-be writers to post stories as we practiced our writing, the original group was about on the same footing. Christian probably written the most up to that point on a separate blog, but none of us had anything published, self pub or otherwise. That was back in 2013, nearly a decade ago. Continue reading “The Longer Path”
Blog Post No. 506
It’s been about a year since I was first called back to the day job. I was off for over a year from mid March 2020 to August of 2021. I feel like I did alright in that time off. I released the third and fourth novellas in The Synthetic Albatross series, I wrote the majority of the Invasion Novel, and I did a lot of sitting around watching anime. When I first got the call, I was hesitant to go back. Unlike many folks, the time off had been good to me. I knew that it was only a matter of time before everything opened again, but it was still a surprise when it happened. I came back before the official return to work order was released. The new supervisor of my facility asked me to go to another facility she ran to start opening it back up for rentals.
Blog Post No. 495
It’s been about a decade since I really started to get into writing. It’s something I knew I wanted to do when I was rather young, but it took a long time for me to get over the first big hump and actually learn how to write. I’ve had the occasion to talk to a lot of folks about writing over the years (usually, happily). Some of them mention wanting to write but are intimidated with the process. I always tell them that writing is actually not that hard. It takes getting used to criticism and some work to learn the proper structure, but I honestly believe that almost anyone can do it. Continue reading “Moving On”
Blog Post No. 494
Sometimes stories just don’t turn out how you thought they would. Not that it’s necessarily a bad thing. Stories are a mutable thing when they live in your head. They can be anything and everything until they aren’t. When you write them, you solidify the story and eliminate possibilities. To get way too pompous, they’re a lot like a person’s life in that way. We can choose a million different paths, but once we make a decision, the possibilities shrink. Continue reading “Anything and Everything”
Blog post No. 492
Snow from a Distant Sky is done. Barring any major screw-ups that have made their way trough all the drafts, beta reads, and reviews, all that’s left is waiting for the copies I’ve ordered to come in, bringing some to Biblioasis to sell, and distributing the ones out to the people who have requested to buy it from me. Since the book is officially release, I no longer have any excuse to not be editing the Invasion Novel. Continue reading “Failure.”
Blog post No. 491
I may be milking it a little by now, but this is a short post to announce the official release of Snow from a Distant Sky. In case you don’t already know, it’s the fifth book in The Synthetic Albatross Novella Series that started with The Thinking Machine in 2018. As I’ve mentioned a number of times, the series is now on hold for the foreseeable future. One of the main reasons I wrote the series was to have new books each year for the annual events I was attending. Now that I have Broadcast Wasteland, Break/Interrupt, and Snow in my pocket for when I do go back to events (you can read last week’s post to know why I’m not taking part, yet) I think my time is better spent working on some novels. Continue reading “Snow from a Distant Sky is now Available”
Blog Post No. 487
The making of the new novella, Snow from a Different Sky, took longer than the last couple. It was written very quickly, but the editing process was slow. There were some long gaps between beta reads and I struggled to keep productive while I waited. I’m sure I’ll figure out juggling two projects at once one of these days.
Either way, after getting my final reviews, I did my out-loud read last week and with frequent check-ins with the Writing Wrecking Crew for their opinions, I did the layout, cover template, back cover copy, and acknowledgements this weekend. Since that was the last of it, I submitted the book to the printer and ordered a sample copy. That means, I can officially share the amazing cover by Glen Hawkes.
If there are no issues with the sample copy, I’ll order a small run to spread around the city and the book will be available online or to order from your local bookstore. The printing can take a couple of weeks, so while the book is technically done, it may not be “released” for a little while.
This marks the end of this phase of The Synthetic Albatross Novella Series. I hope to get back to it, but I have some novels to work on for now. Thanks to all the amazing readers who’ve come along with me on the journey so far. You’ll get some questions answered in this one finally. Keep an eye open for news about the novels I’ll be working on for the rest of the year!
Blog Post No. 485
I’m racing to the finish line with the Snow from a Distant Sky, the fifth and potentially final novella in my Synthetic Albatross Series (at least for now). There is still a lot to do in order to get it out in April. As it’s currently looking, it may be released closer to the middle or end of the month instead of at the start like I’d planned. Right now, I have a couple last edits to do (including reading it out loud to myself which takes time and isn’t very fun). Then, I have to do the layout, which is pretty quick, but takes a dedicated couple days. Continue reading “The Folly of Predictions”
Blog Post No. 476
I’m not alone in thinking that 2020 was a strange year (it totally was) but 2021 was something else entirely. I’ve tried to limit the amount that I write about the pandemic (especially as a main topic of a blog post) but it’s crept into my posts more and more. The reality is that we’re still in the middle of a deadly disease sweeping the globe and in August, I had to go back to the Day Job. As you can imagine, I wasn’t super stoked about going back (most due to the risks). I did have half the year to keep acting like a full time author, though. Continue reading “Nine Years of Posts – 2021 in Review”
Blog Post No. 470
Most of the artists I know don’t have a ton of extra scratch to pay for things. Sometimes when you’re making, say, a book, you need things like good looking covers. How does an artist pay for a good looking cover when they don’t have enough money to get a kindergartner to finger paint for them? That’s right, they trade for it. I was lucky enough to find someone to trade with in Glen Hawkes. He did the covers for Broadcast Wasteland, Break/Interrupt, and is working on the cover for the upcoming Snow From a Distant Sky. He’s not only a talented painter, he’s a skilled graphic designer, so he knows how to make a cover.
Ben Van Dongen 