Good afternoon, everyone!
I've added the first Jonas & Rime chapter to the campaign site officially after some feedback from readers, and it's the featured segment for new readers to check out. I've also sent it to you all again if you want to share it around.
I'm on VACAY [woop woop] this week, but that only means from my actual day job. I just stumbled up from the beach half-drunk and three-quarters sunburnt to work on AMOD. Next up in the queue is the chapter where Jonas and Rime fight half-ghost pirates, followed shortly by the chapter where Sideways sips daiquiris on an airship in between abductions.
I'm trying to remain calm, cool and collected about the Sword & Laser Contest and not flog you guys about it - we're in a good position going into the last leg of the competition, but be forewarned - if there's a need for some 11th hour campaigning and hustling you will see a new level of shamelessness from me.
Thank you all!
We've grabbed 9th place! Only have to make it to 5th to guarantee publication. If any of you are sitting of Inkshares credit, please, please, login and consider using them on another pre-order of my book; after all, it is free. Help me close the gap.
Tootles.
Secret #2
A few of the Squires have asked me about the overall continuity of AMOD - where it fits in with my first two books, do they need to read the first two books beforehand, and why are you laughing quietly in the corner? Are you crying?-- they ask.
The short answer is NO! I write episodic fiction - each adventure is designed to be enjoyed on its own merits, the reader is supplied with the information and equipment they need. To me, feeling the strange history of characters extending off into the ether only adds to the enjoyment - and you don't really need to know much about what happened last week, when Rime is frying half-ghost pirates with lightning bolts, now do you?
But - and of course there is a quibble - there is a longer answer. And a longer story, one quietly being told in the shadows of each adventure du jour. I wrote a blog post about it a few months ago - thought I'd share it here for all the new followers who are just now realizing the strange and absurd predicament they have inserted themselves into.
Continuity - spell-sword.com - 11/19/14
I get asked this question a lot: How many books are there in the Spell/Sword series?
Well, not a lot. Eleven times, tops.
People ask because they want to know what they’re getting into, I suppose. Or just figure out how many years they have to deal with me explaining my fiction with wild-eyed elan. On the site so far I have three titles listed: Spell/Sword, The Riddle Box [PREORDER IT OH MY GOD PLEASE IT COMES OUT ON THE 26th], and Asteroid Made of Dragons. These are reasonably set in stone – first one is out, second one next week, and I reference the title of the third book IN the second book so those are visible within the Narrative Fog of War. But, as I’ve always said – this is not epic fantasy, I’m not writing a trilogy. The story doesn’t end in the next book ( though you can safely consider AMOD as the end of an arc, or more correctly, the end of Disc One).
So, how many books will there be?
I should really only ask rhetorical questions that I know the answer to.
More than three, obviously? Seven seems like too many, but five might not be enough. BUT who writes a six book series?!? Is that a hexology? Wait, that kind of sounds badass, maybe it will be six books.
See, you would think I’m in charge of these things. But I’m kind of not. I know the tale I’m telling, I know the end. But the path to get there — there’s still plenty of shadows and fog, which is the way I like it. I’m a ‘pantser’, a ‘discovery writer’. I ‘don’t know what I’m doing’. I don’t know what I’m doing. Is there anything more wonderful or grand than that statement? I just point my antenna towards Aufero and pick up the broadcast and try to type fast enough to keep up with it — at least for the rough draft. Part of me wants there to be 10 books, because the last one is so sad.
Let’s pretend. Let’s pretend there are going to be ten books. Here’s what they will/could be.
* There will be a year ‘in-world’ gap between the events of AMOD and Paper-Thin Harry Potter Parody
** I think this is the one where they get Bird!
Shit, maybe I will write 10 books. I need to hurry up and become famous so I can write these faster and stop wasting time ‘feeding and clothing’ myself.
[Hope that obfuscated the matter completely! Thanks for the support as always. Squires, you have kitchen duty tonight - Wild Mages please stop making it rain jelly beans inside the men's lavatory, I slipped on a pile of Green Apple and sprained my ankle.]
The Milestone of May, or Where Projects May Fail
I set out at the start of 2015 to plan and write a book, so when I heard of the Sword & Laser Contest, it seemed to be the perfect opportunity. Preparation of the story elements was already underway, but writing was not projected to start until May 1st. I needed to do something. The contest stared me in the face, and the chance was too good to disregard.
Feverishly, I took the material I had, assembled a project page, and produced a plan for the campaign. I would accelerate the first few chapters and develop them concurrently with the summaries. I would advertise through social media, seek out local help, attempt to generate publicity, and build word of mouth.
Since then, I have dedicated my life to the project. If you are reading this, you likely know. When I'm not at work or with my son, I'm either writing or campaigning, and my wife, who has supported me all the way, rarely sees my face. I have pushed myself, listened to feedback, and revised my work over and over. I am confident in the product and overwhelmingly proud every follower and every pre-order, but despite the incredible support shown to me, at this moment, I don't believe it will be enough.
I hoped by diversifying the campaign into multiple channels, one would catch. Advertising generated likes and mentions but did not convert. Local support fell through. I failed to find sources of publicity. And the word of mouth, though minimally successful, was not enough to keep the project in the top five. The flames were stoked, but the fire would not burn brightly.
What does it mean?
I am unable to muster any publicity in May while I maintain my writing schedule. It falls to you, the reader to spread the word. Read chapters one and two. Do you like them? Would you like to see more? Could you get a friend or family member to pre-order? Don't like what you see? Have questions or thoughts? Send me feedback at joe.terzieva@gmail.com. I require your input to ensure the final product is of the highest quality. It is still possible that we can build a groundswell and earn a position in the top five, but I need your strong involvement to make it possible. Trust me when I say, I've explored and exploited every lead I know and I need your help to extend to a wider audience.
What happens if we miss the first milestone?
If we don't end in the top five at the end of May, the goal shifts to the final milestone for funding July 15th. We will need one-thousand total pre-orders by that date. This goal will require some serious public chatter, so if milestone one looks beyond reach, I will dedicate all campaign effort to find blogs, podcasts, anything that can spread the word. If the word gets out, and the work is high enough quality, it will catch, and we'll get our numbers.
What happens if we fail?
We don't fail. The project was a success the day it started. The incredible support, the lessons learned, it is all indisputably the greatest reward I could receive. The writing schedule remains unchanged. The book will be written, but it will be edited and finalized out of pocket, rather than with the support of Inkshares. The final product, from a production and a distribution standpoint, will suffer, but the story will not change. I will determine the platform and method of delivery and you will read a tale you will not forget.
Please, check out the chapters and spread the word. Only with your help will this succeed.
All I want to tell you is that Xenon now has a bratty younger sister named Mercury and she is awesome.
“Can we go?” a pea-pod green voice slid through the spokes of her brain and flung Xenon away from the scroll to flop in an ungainly heap on the rocky shores of Now.
“No, Mercury, no! No, going is not what we can be doing. We are nowhere in the vicinity of going, ‘Go’ is a subset of values that we have not yet encountered,” the goblin moaned, rubbing both of her eyes. “I told you when we got here that I was staying until the Library closed.”
Mercury blew out her green cheeks in disgust. “But I’m really, really stillwater. The Children’s Section closed hours ago.”
Xenon swiveled her neck to look out one of the stone windows at the angle of the sun. A quick calculation told her that even with the most generous of head-math, the Children’s Section of the Archivus Eldracon had only closed thirty minutes prior. She snapped her head back to consider her younger sister. Mercury was nine years old, feet swinging and not touching the stone floors of the Library. Her dark hair was twisted into a sensible clump, fiercely warded by her mother’s red bone-clips. The younger goblin kicked back in her chair, freeing her belt-dagger and set to sharpening it on a small whetstone. The rasp made Xenon wince against her will.
“Look,” Xenon pleaded, hands covering her face “I only brought you along because Mom made me bring you along. And because you promised that you would wait patiently for me to finish my work today. I know this room must seem very boring compared to the Children’s Section --”
“Children’s Room’s got tunnels. And a tree that sings songs. And marmalade cookies and fresh milk,” Mercury continued to sharpen her dagger.
Xenon spoke from between her fingers, “Maybe a book or two?”
The younger goblin paused her work to deliver a blistering look of Complete Disdain. Xenon recognized it as being one of her mother’s signature attacks. Her sister had been learning from the master.
I should be exhorting you all to PUSH PUSH PUSH the Inkshares campaign, but I'd rather just share a poem with you I just wrote. This will appear in a Jonas/Rime chapter of Asteroid Made of Dragons.
“Last light of the sun against gravestone sky,
dream of the shadows all come to die.
White sand, gray stone, green field all bear the scar,
of heroes’ blood and silver star.
They walk in steel, they die in stone,
Children of Gilead sing alone.
Black sea, white sand, the lives they fall,
from broken horns still sound the call.
Where Night and Beast dare wear the crown,
Knights of Gilead will throw them down.
Last light of the sun shine across the waves,
bones of valor down in their graves.
Songs of blood and journey’s end,
the price of heroes for shadow’s end.
Sundown comes and Gilead stands,
sundown comes and Darkness plans.”
Eh, probably needs a revision or two -but I hope you enjoy it anyway!
Derek