News

Soon…

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Grimluk 2 is coming along. I finally finished the chapter 2 rewrite and started chapter 3. I had to do chapter 2 completely fresh, with only a few bits and pieces good for recycling into the second draft and it took me a bit longer to get it nailed down. Chapter 3 and onward will go much smoother once I get the beginning redone so it fits with chapter 2. I’m sure there’s stuff later on that I’ll have to scrap or rework but I doubt I’ll have to completely rewrite a chapter. I was pretty happy with the majority of what was in the first draft. We’ll see what happens as I get through it though.

Which brings me to the real news. I’ll be launching the Kickstarter campaign for Grimluk 2 on the 31st, which also includes revealing the title. This go round, I don’t have a cover yet, but I’ve tried to build a much more visually appealing campaign page and I feel pretty good about the reward tiers. I even made themes for them. So keep watch and stay sharp.

Beyond Nanowrimo

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It is December 1st, which means Nanowrimo has come to an end. The goal was 50,000 words in a month. On that metric, I failed. I hit 37,000 words. I also started November with 30,000. So, while I failed at the 50K, I definitely succeeded elsewhere. I proved that I’m more than capable of working far harder than I had originally guessed. Going forward, I’ll be able to bust out a first draft within three months, hitting roughly 30,000 words each month. That feels awesome and will make this career that much more obtainable. The harder part will be doing a kickstarter for a new book once a year until I can pay for editing and art out of my own pocket. We’ll see how that goes.

Now, speaking of Kickstarter, I’ll be starting the campaign for Grimluk 2 in February. Before it goes live, I’ll reveal the name of the book, the (tentative) blurb, and anything else that comes up. Unlike the first book, I won’t have a cover to help sell this campaign with but I’ll have some other things. And also unlike the first book, I’m going in with a completed first draft. Grimluk 2 is already bigger and better than its predecessor and my efforts on Kickstarter will be as well.

For anyone else who’s completed Nano, keep going. Start your next draft or finish the first one and keep kicking ass.

nano-day26
My final Nano count.

Nanowrimo Days 5-24

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I won’t bother posting through the screencaps of my word counter (via Scrivener’s wonderful project targets feature) for every day since the last time I posted. I will say that I have been kicking ass this month. I’m not as far as I could have been but that was from a conscious decision on day 12 that I needed my goddamn weekend. I usually take Fridays and Saturdays off. Run errands, clean, veg out, generally just do some of the things I don’t do during my work days. It’s helped me continue on, and last week, I finally had my first day where I hit 2000 words. A milestone for me.

After last night, my Nanowrimo word count is 34,237 with my project total sitting at 64,000 and just a touch over that last 237. I’m also nearly done with the first draft. Which may seem weird since my goal for Nanowrimo was to write 50,000 words in hopes of hitting an 80,000 word first draft. That hasn’t happened but that’s okay. I’ll be finishing up the final chapter this week and then beginning the second with a rewrite of the first four-ish chapters. Definitely the first two and probably the third as well. All of which will probably be condensed to one chapter. As I wrote on, the chapters started leveling out between 3400-4500 words.

Given I’m nearing 70,000, I’m confident that I’ll hit my 80,000 word goal in the second draft. On top of rewrites, I have a lot of additions and expansions to make, and lots of areas that need filling out (not to mention finishing out a whole section of the final battle). I’m pretty damn proud of how hard I’ve worked these past four months and it’s paid off big time. My plans for a February kickstarter look solid too and I hope that one succeeds as well as the previous book.

New Stories!

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Bit of an update to go with these new stories as well. I’ve shut down my Patreon. After the security breech, and the fact that I’ve only had one patron, I figured I should just put it on the back burner for now. In the meantime, I’ll be uploading everything I posted there and then occasionally adding new pieces as well. The most important two, however, are the ones I’ll be linking below, as the first was going to be a part of this month’s postings, and was a request from said patron, and the second is the short story I had submitted for publication and was so excited for over the summer. Happy reading, y’all.

“Sadie’s Kitchen”

“From Tusk Til Dawn”

Patreon and an Update

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While I haven’t gotten tons of writing done this week, I did get more plotting done for the second Grimluk book, which will help. The book’s coming along at near 15,000 words, almost a fifth of the 80K goal. And in only a month a half, that beats the hell out of my pace for the first book.

In other news though, it’s Friday and September so it’s time for a new story. “From Tusk Til Dawn” is now up on Patreon. Part of me kind of hates doing this because I really really want folks to read this story and realistically, putting it as backers only means few people will, buuuuut I’m also trying to be a professional here. So, for those who haven’t heard, this story is about a lady orc wanderer who ends up having a close encounter of the fanged kind.

https://www.patreon.com/ashearmstrong

Site Update + Book Review

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So, just a little update on the site. I added a Recommended Reads section. It’s mostly filled with authors right now, but there are a few specific books. I’ll add to it as I go along. I might add a section for Indie Books and one for big-name books as well, if anyone’s interested. For now, it’s all indie folks. And speaking of which…

I just finished Christopher Ruz’s Rust: Season One. It’s a horror serial series released in episodes and then collected into one volume once the season is finished. Ruz is currently working on the third season, with One and Two being out and available on Amazon. This is a spoiler-free review. And it’s pretty simple:

Rust Season One cover

It is amazing. It’s got this wicked Lovecraft feel, with a big ol’ side of the Yellow King, freaky disease and infestations, and disturbing, visceral, brutal violence. It’s weird and unsettling in all the right ways. You connect with the characters fairly easily. The shock and confusion Kimberly feels upon waking in Rustwood is quite palpable. And it’s so terribly, hideously clear that there is nothing natural or normal about the town. There are things hidden everywhere. Unseen horrors in every shadow and person. Ruz can go from creepy to squeamish in a heartbeat. The prose is great. The story is tight and beautiful. Absolutely amazing stuff. Must-read for any horror fan.

Minor Update + July Sale

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Update time: Still no idea when Book Depository will have my book up but I’m still betting it’ll be the end of July at the soonest. On top of that, there’s five reviews up on goodreads and a sixth on its way soon.

In other news, I’ve also dropped the Kindle price to $1 USD, with coupons for the paperback and the Smashwords version. For the month of July, you can get the paperback via Createspace for 50% off using the code G4S9JCAB. For Smashwords, use SB57E. I will also be posting a link for a goodreads giveaway as soon its approved (I was hoping that would be today). The giveaway will be US only, I’m afraid.

On July 22nd, I’ll be doing an r/Fantasy Writer of the Day, which is basically AMAs for indie folks. I’m planning on giving away copies of the ebook to celebrate! That’s all for now.

Back to the Grind

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By now, everyone should have their books, except for my one international backer who got a paperback. I’ll let you know when I have a delivery estimate. If you HAVE NOT gotten your book by tomorrow, please let me know immediately. I hope you all enjoy the book and that you’ll leave a rating and a review on Amazon and/or goodreads.

For the rest of the summer (at least through July), I’ll be working on shorts and promotion and getting the next Grimluk book ready. I’ve given thought to starting a Star Trek fanfic, mostly because it’s really hard to get into the official books from what I can tell. I have this idea I want to use that is based around an Orion woman. I’d really like to keep it Star Trek but I don’t know, maybe it would be a better idea to make it my own property instead. Maybe I’ll look around at options or maybe even try to use that as a starting point to looking for an agent.

In the immediate though, I restarted a short I’d begun in February but dropped out of to focus on A Demon in the Desert. It’s set in the same world as Demon but will be standalone. I really like the world and I can play around in it quite a lot. It stars an orc woman who’s good with a gun and has an issue with people routinely accusing her of cheating at cards. I think I’ll submit this one and earn some SFWA/HWA active member credit (it’s damn hard to do that with novels as an indie writer). So it might be a while before anyone gets to read it but I’ll post a snippet when it’s done. Just a small one.

I’m also still trying to figure out how to attract attention to my Patreon. I’m running a promotion right now for the first five level 1 patrons and the first two level 2/3 patrons. Level 1 patrons will get a flash story (1000 words or less) about anything they want. Level 2/3 patrons will get a short story (1000-5000 words) about anything they’d like.

Happy reading, everyone!

IT’S RELEASE DAY

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cover imageFEAR RELEASE DAY, MORTALS.

That’s right. A Demon in the Desert is done and up for release. For my kickstarter backers, you will be getting your digital copies within the next 24 hours, and the paperbacks will arrive next week. I’ll get to work signing them and shipping them as soon as I have them.

For everyone else, well, you have several choices. For paperbacks, there’s the Createspace store, which nets me the most royalties.  Then, there’s Amazon, which has the advantage of Kindle Matchbook, which means you can get the Kindle version for free to go with the paperback. Word of warning at the moment though, the formats are still in the process of merging so if you order as soon as you see this, it might take a day or two to claim the digital copy. I’ll try to make sure everything’s aligned this week.  Your final option for purchasing a digital copy is Smashwords and the avenues they distribute with. So, for instance, you could find the book on Apple, Kobo, Scribd, and (sometime after this posts) Barnes & Noble. Some places are still getting set up.

Hopefully, for my European and International readers, Book Depository will have it fairly soon. That will ultimately be the best option for anyone outside of Europe because of their free international shipping. It’s also one of the venues I don’t have any control over.

I’m proud and a nervous mess but hopefully I wrote a story you’ll enjoy. And I guaran-damn-tee the next Grimluk will be bigger and better. In the mean time, if you’re more interested in shorter stories, check out my Patreon. I’ll be running a promotion this month too. The first 5 patrons for level 1 can claim a request for a flash story (max of 1000 words) for any topic. The first 2 patrons for tier 2 or tier 3 can request anything they’d like for a longer story (max of 5000 words).

Happy reading everyone!