Hello people. Here’s an interesting piece of information that you should read. About a week back, I got a phone call from my project team, telling me that they were forced to change the interior setup for my upcoming, second book in the series, The Broken. Namely, the book was too thick. It runs some 800 pages, and with high-quality cream paper, it is simply not possible to create a proper paperback binding. The alternative? White paper.
Normally, I am quite agnostic when it comes to vendor support on anything. And what I mean by that is, I let them be, and they let me be, and our paths do not cross. Most of the time, I prefer to resolve things on my own, and other times, you simply do not wish to contact the support, because you know you will be losing precious life cycles that cannot be restored. Not so with Amazon, I am pleased to announce, without bias or asslicking.
Even though my English is fairly awesome, I would not dare publish a book without submitting it to a rigorous, professional proofing service. Indeed, approx. three weeks ago, I got the book back from my editor, with all the little fixes, changes, suggestions, and whatnot added therein. Mostly, they were consistency fixes, to align with a certain writing style, but also some grammar and spelling touches. Yesterday evening, I uploaded the proofed manuscript to the publisher’s website, with all the little changes added. This means I ought to receive the first print draft soon. This means Book Two, named The Broken, ought to be released in the coming weeks.
Several days ago, I came up with a wicked idea. As you know, I make my living out of Linux, and I’m trying to promote Linux-based technologies that I think can benefit computer users worldwide. Then, I also want to promote my own work. So what’s the best thing? Roast two birds in one oven! Promote both at the same time.
To cut the long story short, I’ve organized a book read-review lottery contest for the readers of my other website, dedoimedo.com, and want to extend it here. Namely, read my book, The Betrayed, or the upcoming sequel, The Broken (coming soon), post an HONEST (good or bad) review on Amazon and get a chance to win an Ubuntu smartphone.
This sounds like a post-trauma group therapy slogan, but iI assure you, it is not. We’re here to discuss a rather interesting topic, namely, does one improve in whatever they are doing after doing it for a long while? There’s the so called 10,000-hour threshold of excellence and a few other metrics, all of which tell us that you will get better, no matter how bad or good you are, just by doing it. Well, I wanted to see if this was true, so I put myself to a test.
Well, in the last year, I was quite busy finishing Book Two of the series, and then cranking up Book Three in a record time of about three months. The effort gave me a very good opportunity to observe and evaluate my own writing habits and see whether I was improving, so to speak, using my own yard stick as the measurement tape. And I think there might be some truth in old proverbs.
Survival is a mean, cold bastard. You think you’ve got it all figured out, then the world ends, and you realize, well, not quite. At least, that’s what the twelve stories in The End, a short story apocalyptic anthology featuring speculative fiction written by the SFFWorld.com forum members, tell us. And so you learn that the end can be faced in many different ways, by being nice to your floor cleaner, by ingesting bacteria, through introspection, with celestial physics making its naughty things.
Anyhow, some of us agreed to do a tour. Each week, someone else would blog shortly about their experience with the anthology, and give a short blurb on a story that impressed them, an angle they liked best, a message they would like to focus on. This week is my turn, and so let me tell you what I had in mind.
A few weeks ago, I gave you a nicely decorated Tolkien-like version of the map depicting the Realms, the fictional world setting where the action and fun in The Betrayed takes place. While aesthetically pleasing and possibly intriguing, the new map did not add any details or reveal any new places. We shall remedy that in a jiffy.
Here’s something rather neat for you. As you know, my fantasy universe of the Realms has a map. It’s in the book, right there at the beginning. In the true spirit of olden times, I kept the map rather simple and vague, depicting only the major border lines and the bigger cities, so you get the feel where you are, but not the exact coordinates. No GPS in The Lost Words, I’m afraid. Still, due to semi-popular demand, I decided to create a special version of the map. Available in HD, or at least a big size with lots of pixels, you get the map in lovely colors, antique fonts and runic symbols. Oppan Tolkien style!
Hullo, friends. The End: Visions of Apocalypse is an anthology presented by SFFWorld.com members, and it includes twelve stories that detail various depictions of the end of the world. The anthology features the work of Michael J. Sullivan, Hugh Howey, Tristis Ward, and nine other writers, myself among the bunch, all with their own apocalyptic visions. From grim destruction to tragic suffering, and even humor, no version of the Earth is safe. Well, the world did not end when it supposed to, and now, the book is also available on Amazon.
All right, we have boldly marched into a new year. As a present for you reading my stuff, I gave the first book in my epic fantasy series for free, for three days, on Amazon.com, in its Kindle format. Pretty much the same thing we did to celebrate Dedoimedo’s sixth birthday. So no that we’re done with the partying, let’s take a look at the results.
