The Reason I Wrote The Book

I think it’s this artwork right here.

AC
Artist – Andrew – ~shu-no-kurohi.

 

I dropped a few copies of the book off at the high school I used to work at, with strict instructions that they be dispersed only to the truly devout nerds in attendance.

Today I got an email from one of my teacher friends, and my very first piece of true Spell/Sword fanart.  Also a sweet review:

Actually, I just finished the book right after I sent you the fanart. Overall, it was great. Maybe could’ve used a few runs of spell-check, but great overall. I’m a bit confused, though- you never really explained what Jonas did to earn the title of murderer. Is it going to be explained in the next book?
Also, your original cover is great. Really solid, yet open for ideas.
Dang, Andrew.  Why you gotta be like that about the Spell Checkery? That’s to be expected with Artisinal Fantasy. [COPYRIGHTED.]
My heart is glowing  in an embarrassing fashion. I’m so excited to put this on my internet refridgerator, and on my literal refrigerator after I print it out.
Thank you so much for the drawing and for reading the book, Andrew! I wrote the book for weird kids like you…and me.

Book Two Planning

The Riddle Box - Graph Paper Planning
The Riddle Box – Graph Paper Planning

 

Oh nothing. Just my first official notes for The Riddle Box.  I still need to decide on a lot of character names [probably won’t until I get into the first draft] and the timeline is wafer-thin — but here is the proto-skeletal structure of my second book.

So, for those of you finishing Spell/Sword and wondering where The Riddle Box is…whelp, this is what I have so far. And a lot of crazy ideas.

Ahhh…this is much more exciting than begging for reviews.

The True Lightning Rune

Image

Okay — time to stop fretting about promoting and selling Spell/Sword [BUY IT OH PLEASE WHY WON’T YOU BUY IT?].

It’s like a sore tooth, I just can’t stop fussing with it. It’s not making me or the tooth any happier, so it’s time to start focusing on something that’s actually productive.

  • Planning for The Riddle Box, the next book in the series. This one’s primarily a murder mystery, so I actually need to think through my cast of characters, the location, and some of the mechanics before I start hammering away at my keyboard again. Oh man, I already know the first scene — can’t wait to start writing it next week!
  • I seem to have developed a fixation with bulleted lists. This may become a problem.
  • Story on Demand — I dropped this feature from the blog a few months back, so I could focus on editing and some other creative projects. Any interest in seeing it return?
  • Nerd Planning! I still have two active campaigns running, I should probably figure out how the Cult of Zero is going to further manipulate the band of heroes they’ve psychically indoctrinated — and how the Face-Thief Oni plans to subvert the noble samurai of Kori Horudo.

Stop/Start the Presses

twilight-zone-paper

My very first interview about the book!

Fun Things to Do While You’re Waiting is a lifestyle blog specializing in clever recipes, life-hacks and general wit. It’s lovely, charming and useful — basically the polar opposite of my site. I adore that my first official interview is right next to a dynamite recipe for Avocado and Chicken Salad.

It’s also the first interview not conducted by the cat who lives with me, Aragorn.

Leigh asks some great questions, and actually manages to get me to give a description of the book that I’m satisfied with. In response to the question:

 

6. If you had to describe spell/sword as a meal, how would that go?

You take a sip of your cherry limeade. The condensation slides down the side of the Mason jar, drops falling unnoticed on your favorite pair of slacks.

You know the ones. The ones that make you look good. The ones that are always comfortable. The ones that you wear when you feel like the Main Character of your world.

An extremely attractive person brings you a sandwich. Not just any sandwich. The Sandwich. It glistens with all the promise that Dagwood ever salivated over in four color glory. It looks like a TV Sandwich, like a fever dream of a Sandwich, like a Sandwich crafted in the Kitchen of Hephaestus then stolen by Zeus to stuff in his brown paper bag for a big day of philandering.

You take a bite. It’s not what you expect. It doesn’t have your favorite condiment, it’s some weird European thing. You consider putting the Sandwich down, but the lettuce is so crisp, the cheese so tart. You take another nibble, and realize that the bottom slice of bread is a little burnt.

Another bite. There’s really too much meat in this sandwich. Unless you’re a vegetarian, then there’s too much avocado. And why is the tomato slice blue? Who ever heard of a blue tomato?

You set the Sandwich down. Wait, holy shit. There are hot peppers on the Sandwich, tart and alive. And someone put your favorite chips on the plate. You smile and cram them under the top slice of bread for some extra crunch. You take another bite, another, another.

One bite left. You are sweating. Not with exertion, with emotion. This Sandwich means something, it means something to you. To your life, to the mistakes, the that song you keep trying to remember the second verse to, to the combination on your bike lock. You take a long swallow of cherry limeade and try to collect yourself.

The attractive person returns. They want to hang out later. But you know, only if you’re not busy. They have an old VHS of the ‘Deadly Mantis’ episode of MST3K and they think they can get their player to work if they jiggle the cable just right.

You smile, and go to take the last bite.

But it’s gone. You ate it and don’t remember. It’s gone and you don’t remember finishing.

It’s gone. You eat the last chip and sprout wings. Feathered wings, dragon wings, wings of steel and guitar wire. The attractive person is really impressed and immediately begins to paint your portrait on the side of a 1978 Chevy Astro Van.

Here’s the link to the rest of the interview. Thanks so much to Leigh for the signal boost! Please wander over to their site, leave some comments, share their links — just generally make a mess. Please reward them attempting a serious discussion about a silly book.

Feel those Feels

Releasing a book is weird.

I feel this tremendous psychic weight taken off my shoulders. It’s done, for better and worse. This gigantic project that has consumed me for two years — and the feeling of having a ton of my system resources free up is electric.

But then there’s the new anxieties. People are reading it. Not many yet, but PEOPLE ARE READING IT. And I

The Earth-Pig Born
The Earth-Pig Born

need to figure out how to get more people to read it, need to market, promote, shill, all of that. Got to learn to stop checking my Amazon sales rankings, it’s like a new ant-bite, I just can’t stop scratching it.

Sprinkle a crazy busy work week plus final rehearsals for August:Osage County on top and I’m feeling more than a little rickety.

But I’m excited to get back to writing. I’m going to lay out my rough writing schedule for The Riddle Box next week, and hopefully get started before the end of the month. After the past year of editing, the thought of just throwing out some crazy ideas and poor grammar for Book Two is intoxicating.  I’ve already got the first scene rattling around in my head, several new characters, the overall arc of the story. It’s a murder mystery, y’all!

You’ll notice me continuing to flounder and poke around trying to promote Spell/Sword — but I’m hoping that it can start running in the background over the next few weeks to months, so I can focus more on The Riddle Box.

I’m also thinking about putting together a big post on self-publishing in general, my experiences with CreateSpace and KDP — any interest?

 

Free Books

In my Marketing/Floundering for the book, I’m trying one of these ding-dang Giveaways on Goodreads.

I’m giving away 3 copies of the book. You have to be a Goodreads member to apply, but who isn’t on Goodreads in this day and  age?

Click the Puppy to enter!
Click the Puppy to enter!

 

 

And That’s It, Right?

The book is out. Time to lean back and watch my inevitable rise to literary, internet and financial domination.

Picture of my Excitement Level, despite the Tawdry Real-World pitfalls of Self-Publishing
Picture of my Excitement Level, despite the Tawdry Real-World pitfalls of Self-Publishing

That’s how it works, right?

Right?

Only if this was a Disney Channel movie, unfortunately. And it if was I would hope that my animated sidekick was a talking Roomba.

After two years of work, stress, and toil — I’ve taken the first step. But only the first step. And now the long, grueling march to More Than a Blip. Shuck and jive, self-promote, sing and dance and drop my pants — whatever it takes, as long as it takes. The key is to not get frustrated or discouraged — ’cause it’s going to be SLOW.

And now for some Thankery.

  • The Alpha Readers, the Beta Readers, the people who dealt with my endless questions and ruminations as I floundered around.
  • Mike Groves / Poopbird for his amazing cover art.
  • Margaret Poplin, my designer, for her calm, efficient management of my insanity and quick, thorough, excellent work on the layout and design of the print cover.
  • My beloved for not strangling me during this entire process.
  • The Crew of the Lodestar for letting my try out lots of stupid stories and characters on them.
  • Joe Peacock for giving me the push at the right moment.
  • And you — whoever you are, reading all the way to the end. I’m going to need your help the most from here on out.

Spell/Sword Released.

Print Version
Kindle Version – 2.99

Spell/Sword is now available in print and e-book exclusively on Amazon.com.  Follow the image above to order. I’m linking the digital version first because:

  • Duh. Cheaper.
  • Amazon Prime members can borrow and read it for free.
  • Anyone can sample the first couple of chapters using the ‘Look Inside’ feature.
  • It’s the future!

If this is your first time visiting the site, please poke around. Plenty of my various ramblings in the archives, and several examples of my fiction through the Short Stories and Scenes/Microfiction links above.  I know you’re taking a chance on me — thank you for even considering it.

More information about Spell/Sword itself is available on the [Buy the Book] button above.

Paperback Version
Paperback Version – 9.99

Corners

Mobile Suite pilots are my core demographic.
Mobile Suite pilots are my core demographic.

And just like that — it’s done.

Spell/Sword is in final review with CreateSpace and Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing to be available in print and e-book. Just a few more days until I can announce the official release date.

It’s a weird sensation. I’ve been dreaming and working towards this day for two years, and now that I’ve turned the corner I just feel a vague unease.

Out of the frying pan into the fire. I’ve made it. Now I’ve got to push it.