adventures in writing

Spring Newsletter

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Well, it’s time to get one of these out now that I’m just gonna be using my site as the newsletter. There were some new security measures put in place that means Mailierlite no longer allows free email hosts to send out newsletters and since I can’t afford my own domain email currently, we’re switchin here for the time being. I may end up trying to host my own site at some point too. I’ve been thinkin about a site update and, unfortunately, it seems all the current WordPress themes are restrictive garbage. I suppose I could migrate to a different hosting platform but honestly, if I’m gonna go through the effort to do that, I’d rather figure out hosting my own site that I can build how I want it.

Now then, what’s new? Well, I used to have a section in the Newsletter about Cool/Interesting things and while I want to keep something non-business related in the newsletters, I think I want to make that cool thing music. This is especially relevant considering how much music I listen to while writing so to some degree, these recommendations are going to be related to the book. And hey, you already know I like building soundtracks/playlists, so that’s hardly surprising. Sometimes it’ll just be a cool new album I’m excited about. And hey, it won’t even always be metal either! So how bout some sick music?

I recently found this album on youtube and I love a good synthwave album, especially the darker stuff. The artist is Neon Odin and is a side project of someone who’s primary focus is atmospheric black metal that is, unsurprisingly, also Norse-themed. “Allfather” is a slick darkwave album and I highly recommend giving it a listen.

Now for some news: Gruflek the Crimson #1 has hit 10,000 words and I have no signs of slowing down. That’s fucking rad. I also figured out the title for it recently while playing around with fonts for the future cover art. I’ve been blatant about this new character and series being heavily inspired by He-Man, Stargate/Stargate SG-1, John Carter of Mars, and even Thundercats, so I looked to those for inspiration along with a few other things that fit the vibes. I’m still toying with things but I did finally pick out a font for the title. I’m also building a series logo, one for Gruflek and Grimluk, as well. I figure it’s a nice bit of branding/marketing and will come in handy once I’ve actually got the book out. Help me keep the site organized a little more too.

So, title and 10,000 words, what does this mean currently? Mostly that I’ll start posting worldbuilding and snippets to Patreon. Patrons get first serve for everything, though snippets remain exclusive past the first couple of chapters. This book is comin along though. A little slower than I’d hoped but I’ve been making consistent progress, having some really good writing days lately. Nearly hit 1000 for the day on Thursday, which put me at 9997 for the total. I had to laugh at that. Friday saw me finish with something enough to hit an even 10,500, and now here we are. I’m really wondering if this one might end up closer to 100K than I’ve gotten before. Demons Within and By Demons Be Driven are both in the 78-79 range. I guess we’ll see how this one turns out!

That’s all the news that’s worth mentioning at the moment. Got some health stuff comin up but it’s mostly some hoop jumping for other things. Hope y’all are doin well. I know times are fuckin tough right now but take a little love with you and pass it along.

New Year Newness

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It’s been a…few months since I posted anything over here. Last year was kind of a lot. Like…a lot. My partner spent the first half of the year dealing with health problems but we didn’t know they were health problems until mid-July. I spent most of the fall trying to fix some health stuff that turned out to be medication side effects. As some of you may know, I’m diabetic. I’ve been trying to get a handle on my blood sugar again and part of that was being put on Ozempic. You might recognize that as the hot new fad weight loss drug. It is, in fact, a diabetes medication. It also fucking sucks. Do not recommend.

After that, my social life took an unexpected but very welcome shift. I’ll talk about that another time as the road getting to this shift is its own story. But it’s all good stuff.

And what else has happened? Well, I posted most of what I went through over on Patreon. I spent part of the summer being productive until the Ozempic fully knocked me on my ass and once I got off that I started dealing with some of my issues with my lack of writing and the giant fucking wall of suck I felt stuck behind. I wrote about those struggles here. After that, I basically spent November and December trying to think and enjoy the new people in my life and soak up all the time I could with them.

And early December, something finally shook loose. That wall of suck fell away. The size of it even shrunk. And a few things finally clicked into place for one of projects I’d been trying to get off the ground. You can read about all that here. I finished the year feeling good, feeling hopeful, and ready to go. And hey, wouldn’t ya fuckin’ know it, giving myself a little grace with my word count goals as I get back into the swing of things has been good and I’ve got the first 1500 words down for this new book. The He-Man/Stargate/John Carter mashup idea I’ve talked about previously. I’ve also got the next Grimluk book in preproduction. I’m hoping to get them both done this year but I’m more focused on the new character at the moment so we’ll see.

So that’s pretty much all the noise that’s worth sharing at the moment. At least without getting into lots of details and I don’t feel like digging into all that and you probably don’t want to read it. So here’s to a potentially great 2024. Despite everything that’s happening with the socio-political-economic climate…and the literal climate, I going to make this year a good one for me personally. Here’s hoping you can do the same.

Summer Updates

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What’s up, my lovelies. Hope you’re doing well. Hope you’re not roasting alive in the summer heat. It’s currently a big fat 100F here in Tulsa and I hate it.

So, some updates. Diabetes is gettin managed. Been doing rehab on my shoulder and making progress. Started rehab on my legs, slower progress but also only started two weeks ago and I’ve been trying to figure out my daily schedule. Sleep is mostly good, though I’m wondering if I’ll need to do another sleep study next year. Therapy is going well.

So, if you didn’t see on Twitter or even Tumblr, I’ve posted a few stories up on Patreon based on writing prompts from r/writingprompts. They’ve been fun and a nice, easy way to get back into the groove of things. I’m still struggling a bit with choosing a new novel project to start. Most of that struggle is the same as it has been but with less burnout and more just struggling to figure out what I want. It’s a bit frustrating.

Currently trying to decide between Grimluk 5, and the Orc John Carter Stargate He-Man thing. Though one of the Patreon stories could also be a thing pretty easily now but I would definitely want that one to be a comic book so I’d have to track down an artist and that seems like a lot of work right now. We’ll see where I land. Worst case, I’ll pick something for Nanowrimo and just run.

Oh and I also deleted my discord server. It mostly saw use while I was trying to be a streamer and had sat dead for a year. That’s fine.

Anywho, figured I should send one of these out about now. Take care of yourselves in this heat. Go watch My Adventures With Superman. And don’t forget to be excellent to each other and party on.

The Journey

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I have been trying to write this for two weeks now. I’m sure part of it is finally starting rehab on my shoulder. My daily schedule has shifted a lot since we moved. My blood sugar’s been bad, with my A1C having gone up a few points since my last visit. But here I am, finally making the words. Because I wanted to talk about where I’m going with writing right now. It’s a journey. I guess this is part of my process right now, so, why not share with y’all.

I’ve made it clear that I’ve been struggling since finishing By Demons Be Driven. Squeezed a few words out here and there last year, but always falling away again. Prepped two different books to write in ’21 and ’22 only to lose the drive again. I don’t lack ideas, at least. God, I’ve got a whole document full of ideas. Thought of a new one last night as I was falling asleep. I’ve currently got concepts for another 5 or 6 Grimluk books, the cyberpunk sword and sorcery book (trilogy? I think?), and the Stargate He-Man John Carter series. The latter two, if you’ve forgotten, would be set in Grimluk’s universe, with the former staying on Arkod, and the latter taking off for sword and planet adventures. Orcs at the forefront of both. I’ve also considered going ahead and doing Grimluk 5 like I’d originally planned before starting something new. I’ve got a big chunk of that book fleshed out in my head already and have for a long time now.

I’ve also been chewing on the idea of trying my hand at Romance. Whether an old idea or a new one, I don’t know. I’ve considered writing a romance series for Grimluk’s parents, Bakhor and Urgroz. Or maybe Emerald and Yara from Demons Within. And if I ever re-write “From Tusk ’til Dawn”, the orc lead and elf saloon girl could fit as very Buffy-style “urban” fantasy, helped along by the fact that I fully plan on bringing those two back for a Grimluk-fights-gender-swapped-Dracula book down the line (I told you I’ve got a lot of ideas for him).

And hell, I could easily finish some of the worldbuilding for the Battle of the Bands campaign and use that for a book setting too! I am absolutely fucking swimming in ideas and concepts for new books, even comics if I could find an artist who wanted to work together and get something rolling.

No, that is definitely not the problem, my friends. The problem is everything feels pointless to write. Frivolous, even. The old world is dying, straining with all its might to maintain power, one last gasp of hideous life to snuff out the new world before it can be born. We’re living in a system that demands blood, milk, and honey from a handful of gravel. The great irony being NOW needs stories most especially. So here I sit, struggling with executive dysfunction in one hand, and some unholy combination of ennui, existential overload, guilt, shame, and frustration in the other. It is incredibly difficult to pick a direction to go creatively when I feel so disconnected from life. Feeling pretty connected to myself thanks to a really good therapist and we’re starting to work on this, too.

I don’t know. I just thought maybe I’d share where I am. What I’m doing. Where I’m going. I hope life’s treating you well. May your struggles be few right now.

News

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Been a while. Have some news.

I thought maybe I’d announce this finally. I recently went looking through my story ideas file and saw one that creeps into my mind every so often. I got to thinkin about it again and decided it would make a great project for Patreon. So here’s what’s I’m gonna do…

Starting in September, I’ll be starting a new episodic story. A reverse portal fantasy about an orc from Arkod’s (that’s the name of Grimluk’s home planet in case you forgot) past gets sucked into modern day America. This will be a slice of life kind of thing. Going from flash fiction to short story length. Very rare on the action. I want to get writing again but my book projects seem too big still. And since I have been too quiet this year, this should be a win-win for my patrons. So far, the folks I’ve talked to about the idea really like it. I hope that continues. I just want something a bit softer and easier right now. And this will be a Patreon exclusive, too.

I don’t know if I’ll do much in the way of new D&D homebrew for the foreseeable future either. I may eventually do some more Battle of the Bands stuff but considering how precarious scheduling is for my gaming group right now, I’m not sure when or if my first foray into DMing is going to happen. But, ya know, worst case, I make it into its own book. Maybe do a kickstarter for it. Who knows.

I also had an ADHD eval on Monday and, for the third time, was told that while I have symptoms, it’s all depression, anxiety, and trauma. So I’m going to be trying a higher dosage of the drug I take as a sleep aid, since it’s actually an early psych med. Supposedly the bigger dose will help me sleep even more than the baby dose, which I desperately want right now. Here’s hoping things improve. The past few weeks have felt particularly bad for me being able to get stuff done.

So that’s where I’m at right now. Still trying to get my bodily and mental health taken care of. Gonna work on this new project for the time being. And yes, there will be a new book eventually. Who knows, if the increased medication works, my production schedule could actually become an actual, stable schedule. I’ve got The Once and Future Slayer ready to start and the Crimson Warrior (or whatever I end up calling it) is also ready to go. Grimluk 5 is like half-formed in my head already, I just need to actually set up an outline, do all the preproduction stuff I do.

And to reiterate, the new slice of life stories? Patreon exclusives, which you can keep up with for just $1 a month. Link in the sidebar.

Hope you’re doing well. I hope your summer treated you well, and if it didn’t, I hope the fall treats you better. Be safe, be kind, be excellent.

Life

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I have not put any updates here in a while. To be fair, I’ve had few updates to give to anyone anywhere. The past six months have been…a time. Sales (and reviews) for By Demons Be Driven have been sparse. I’ve got two new books ready to start, each with a new protagonist, but I have yet to do so. Patreon content has been very low.

Burn out is the name of the game right now. I’m just burnt out. Two years of pandemic life, combined with its effects on my writing career, and a bunch of health stuff (for me and my partner) have me feeling empty. Add to that all the news that keeps flooding our eyeballs, and yeah. I even took a twitter break last weekend, I felt so bad. Then there was a shooting here in Tulsa.

I’m just not getting to live enough life right now for a variety of reasons. Covid is surging again so the summer is going to be bad for that. I still wear my mask when I go out. I’m sure we’ll all need to get another booster too.

So that’s where I’m currently at. Struggling to create anything right now and feeling ashamed of it. Struggling to take care of myself and ashamed of it. I’m trying but I hit a level of empty I’ve not felt in a very, very long time. As I told everyone on Patreon, I’m trying to get better. Please be patient with me. Which is not a thing I would say anyone needs to say but the grip of capitalism runs deep.

Hope you’re doing well. Take care of yourselves.

An Ashe Update

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A few quick updates today.

  1. There’s a new post up on Patreon about my experience with a tweet I made going viral a few weeks back.
  2. I’ve started work on Grimluk 4 and the second draft of book 3, The Demons Within. Keeping my word goal lower on book 4 at the moment, shooting for a 500 minimum daily goal. For Demons Within, I’m basically shooting for a chapter a day but that all depends on how much work needs to be done when I get to it.
  3. If anyone has any requests for Orctober, now is the time to make them. This year’s theme is going to be D&D related.
  4. This is your friendly reminder that the Kickstarter for The Demons Within will launch on October first! Had to change some plans on a reward tier but the new plan works pretty well, I think.

That’s all for now!

Grimluk 3 News

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Who has 2 thumbs and finished the first draft of the next Grimluk book? This dude! At 65,885 it’ll need some fleshing out in spots but it’s done. Ultimate goal will be a 75,000 minimum and I’m certain the second draft will hit that easily. Took notes for that along the way. I’m happy with how everything turned out, even with the stuff I’ll be changing quite a bit.

That said, if you’re so interested, I’ve posted the title and a snippet over on Patreon. I’ll be sharing the title everywhere else come June if you’d rather wait.

News Things

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In the immediate, there’s a new post concerning some worldbuilding concepts for the Grimluk series over on Patreon today. Mostly it’s just a few things I thought were interesting enough to share but haven’t been used yet or are still forming. Check it out, only costs a buck to read everything.

As I mentioned in my healthcare post Monday, I started a fundraiser for medical costs and to help afford a new car. Between Nici and I, we need some heavy stuff taken care and I really need a newer car so I can have reliable transportation and not have to worry about major repairs for a few years. We are pretty desperate and anything you can afford will help. Along with the general state of the US, this is a pretty huge source of anxiety right now.

In more pleasant news, Grimluk 3 is chugging along, gaining momentum toward finishing the first draft. I’m nearing the 56,000 word mark as of last night. The final goal for release next year will be a 75,000 word minimum, like with Demon Haunted. The first draft goal is looking to be 65-70,000 as I know I’ll be able to fill out in the second draft. There’s plenty of stuff I’ll be rewriting and expanding as well as certain areas that I’ll just be flat out finishing (mostly just little transition sections and bits of dialogue that were bogging my progress down).

I’ll probably take a month off after that, aside from Patreon, take a week to bang out the Gwen short story I started after (and set after) Demon Haunted, get some Kickstarter planning for October, as well as some Orctober planning, and then start on Grimluk 4. If all goes to plan, and no major distractions happen, I’m hoping I can finish Grimluk 4’s draft by December.

Before I end this, just want to say that however bleak things are looking right now, find a loved one and hug them and remember that there’s still good in the world.

Stay weird, be kind.