Mallory Hearts book review blog has just featured HUNGRY GODS and had some very good things to say! (Click here to check it out.)
Tuesday, July 7, 2015
Mallory Heart Reviews Superheroes vs Zombies in Hungry Gods
Just a quick post amid the chaos that is my trans-national life right now:
Mallory Hearts book review blog has just featured HUNGRY GODS and had some very good things to say! (Click here to check it out.)
Mallory Hearts book review blog has just featured HUNGRY GODS and had some very good things to say! (Click here to check it out.)
Wednesday, July 1, 2015
Patriotic Pricing: Independence Day Ebook Sale
The Spirit of '76 featuring Minutemen of the Revolution
In honor of July 4th and my own military deployment to the Middle East this month, I have implemented what I call my Patriotic Pricing Model. (Like all my pricing models, this is a structured system based on word count.) For the most part, this will reduce nearly all of my ebooks by a dollar each.
How long will these lower prices last?
All summer? Independence Day through Veterans Day? The rest of 2015? Forever? I don't know yet, but take advantage while you can.
Minutemen from the Watchmen movie
Tuesday, June 16, 2015
Book Review: The Long Way Down
One of my New Years Resolutions was to read at least four novels this year and to review them (especially since I hope people will review my books). Today I gave up on this book, which I had nearly dropped a couple times before. My reading time is just so limited that unless a book really drives me to pick it up and keep reading, I eventually lose interest.
Below is the review I've posted to Amazon, B&N, and Goodreads.
I forgot to also mention in it that I didn't like the author's chapter breaks either; rather than ending a scene with a cliff hanger or interesting lead, he just broke the scene itself in half. An unclean gimmick instead of an artful break.
Below is the review I've posted to Amazon, B&N, and Goodreads.
I forgot to also mention in it that I didn't like the author's chapter breaks either; rather than ending a scene with a cliff hanger or interesting lead, he just broke the scene itself in half. An unclean gimmick instead of an artful break.
I didn’t make it all the way
down in The Long Way Down.
It’s not that it’s a *bad*
book, it’s actually a decent book, and a fun one. I made it just over halfway before finally
deciding I wasn’t interested enough to continue, and had almost given up a
couple times before that. I picked it up
because it sounded similar to a story I’d written a long time ago, the cover
was very alluring, and it just sounded like fun.
I’m not a big Urban Fantasy fan,
but this one makes a damn good fit for the genre: a former private eye and
modest sorcerer operating in the mystic underground of Las Vegas.
Unfortunately, it just wasn’t
a good fit for me.
Stuff I liked:
- The detective work he does
is well done and realistic, like going to the county clerk’s office for property
records.
- The world building is kinda
cool. The author obviously knows Vegas
and what a great place for this kind of story.
And I liked the underground community of odd magicians he gathered
together, as well as the corporate cult of bad guys.
- Though I didn’t get through
enough of the book to get all of the character development for the hero, it was
there. Flashbacks and hallucinations
make a scattered attempt at giving him some background, but it’s kind of few
and far between, and feels a little forced.
Stuff I didn’t like:
- It’s written with what I
can only call the Joss Whedon voice. A
lot of quick quips, sarcastic comments, and clever comebacks. Everyone’s a snarky hipster, which gets on my
nerves quickly. To me it sounds less
like how real people talk and more like a corny TV show. A lot of readers (and TV viewers) like that,
and if you do you’ll enjoy that voice here too.
But I don’t.
- Similarly, the book reads
kind of like a fun comic book and less noir as I’d like. (Though he certainly makes a lot of effort to
sound noir-ish by using—sometimes over using—old narration tropes and clichés.) This also made it kind of weird for me that
he’d dip into such dark places as snuff films and still handle it with that
corny Whedon voice.
- The second most important
character in the book is a stylish demonic hottie who dresses like an Anime
chick, drives a sports car, and has a crush on the loser magician. Again, too comic book/CW TV series for me,
and I just didn’t buy that a demon prince’s right hand would give a damn about
the hero. (Granted, as far as I had gotten
into it, she hadn’t gone all in for dating him yet, but she was heading that
way, and that didn’t work for me.)
Overall, I firmly believe
that a lot of readers will love this book.
And I certainly didn’t hate it, but…
It just wasn’t for me. 3 stars.
Monday, June 15, 2015
Love Hurts: Meerkat Press Anthology
Now that Meerkat has it up on their site and it's all official, I'm proud to announce that my short-short story "Green-Eyed Monster" is going to be included in their spec fic anthology Love Hurts. It's a collection of science fiction, fantasy, steampunk, slip stream, etc. stories from a wide range of authors. My story will share space between the covers with big names and award winners, including Hugh Howey, Charlie Jane Anders, Morgen Knight, and Steve Simpson, among others.
You can check out the preliminary info and my own related bio on their site by clicking here.
Love Hurts is scheduled to release in October.
Wednesday, June 10, 2015
Top Blogger's Fantasy Review of Tarnish
Some time ago I submitted Tarnish to a big book review blog-off, initiated by celebrated fantasy writer Mark Lawrence, author of the Broken Empire series. My book went in a big batch of others to Bob R Milne, who has a reputation as a big-time book reviewer. You can see his shining review of Tarnish and four more indie book here: Beauty in Ruins.
Here's what he had to say about Tarnish:
This is a very odd book to talk about - on the surface, it just shouldn’t work. We have multiple narrators, between whom we switch more for narrative effect than the needs of the story. We have a distinct coming-of-age story (which I’ve long since grown tired of), where the hero hides behind the persona of who he’d like to be. We have storytelling within the story, a kind of intrusive info-dumping that interferes with the forward progression of the plot. Finally, we have a plot that seems to wander without a clear direction for much of the book, before suddenly finding its direction and racing to a climax.
Despite all that, it worked. The narrative was strong – from the language, to the dialogue, to the imagery. Brink isn’t afraid to write lengthy paragraphs and scenes, to take his time setting things up, and to show us his world. That, to me, is engaging. It draws me in, makes me read a bit more closely, and gives the appearance of depth (which, it must be said, is not merely appearance). As for the characters, the hardest aspect of writing a novel is to encourage that immediate emotional connection, to draw readers in, and make them care - and Brink does that very well. I liked Billy from the first time we met. He interested me, intrigued me, and made me want to know more about him. There was this welcome duality to him that allowed him to play the hero very well, even as he grew into the role. It’s less a coming-of-age tale and more a story of self-discovery.
There’s a lot of imagination and fantasy flourishes here as well that really caught my attention. Even small, throw-away scenes like the dream of monsters inside the tavern are full of fantastic detail, allowing you to not just ‘see’ the danger but ‘feel’ it as well. That element of storytelling within the story really won me over. It allows for things to get a bit wild, a bit over-the-top, without dragging down the credibility of the entire story. We expect people to embellish their tales of heroism because we want to be entertained as much as we want to be informed, and Brink clearly understands that.
It’s not just mindless heroism and adventure, however. There’s also a heart to the novel, a very self-aware sort of appreciation for humanity and the horrors of war. Towards the end of the story, Billy stands before an advancing army of swamp monsters and asks himself, “How monstrous can they be if they mourn?” It’s a good question, and it leads into the final evolution of Wil (the hero) coming to terms with being Billy (the boy). Sure, I would have liked a little more world building, and I would have liked more of a sense of the wider world, but those are minor quibbles to be resolved in a second book. All-in-all, Tarnish is a solid tale, a classic sort of heroic adventure that’s really pulls all the elements together in a satisfying resolution.
Here's what he had to say about Tarnish:
This is a very odd book to talk about - on the surface, it just shouldn’t work. We have multiple narrators, between whom we switch more for narrative effect than the needs of the story. We have a distinct coming-of-age story (which I’ve long since grown tired of), where the hero hides behind the persona of who he’d like to be. We have storytelling within the story, a kind of intrusive info-dumping that interferes with the forward progression of the plot. Finally, we have a plot that seems to wander without a clear direction for much of the book, before suddenly finding its direction and racing to a climax.
Despite all that, it worked. The narrative was strong – from the language, to the dialogue, to the imagery. Brink isn’t afraid to write lengthy paragraphs and scenes, to take his time setting things up, and to show us his world. That, to me, is engaging. It draws me in, makes me read a bit more closely, and gives the appearance of depth (which, it must be said, is not merely appearance). As for the characters, the hardest aspect of writing a novel is to encourage that immediate emotional connection, to draw readers in, and make them care - and Brink does that very well. I liked Billy from the first time we met. He interested me, intrigued me, and made me want to know more about him. There was this welcome duality to him that allowed him to play the hero very well, even as he grew into the role. It’s less a coming-of-age tale and more a story of self-discovery.
There’s a lot of imagination and fantasy flourishes here as well that really caught my attention. Even small, throw-away scenes like the dream of monsters inside the tavern are full of fantastic detail, allowing you to not just ‘see’ the danger but ‘feel’ it as well. That element of storytelling within the story really won me over. It allows for things to get a bit wild, a bit over-the-top, without dragging down the credibility of the entire story. We expect people to embellish their tales of heroism because we want to be entertained as much as we want to be informed, and Brink clearly understands that.
It’s not just mindless heroism and adventure, however. There’s also a heart to the novel, a very self-aware sort of appreciation for humanity and the horrors of war. Towards the end of the story, Billy stands before an advancing army of swamp monsters and asks himself, “How monstrous can they be if they mourn?” It’s a good question, and it leads into the final evolution of Wil (the hero) coming to terms with being Billy (the boy). Sure, I would have liked a little more world building, and I would have liked more of a sense of the wider world, but those are minor quibbles to be resolved in a second book. All-in-all, Tarnish is a solid tale, a classic sort of heroic adventure that’s really pulls all the elements together in a satisfying resolution.
Saturday, June 6, 2015
Writing in 2015: May Recap - Dark Fantasy, Superheroes, and Sex with Aliens
I keep checking my email for news, but there's no news to be had. I'm checking my sales numbers every day, which are doing great and holding steady, but not on any dramatic upward rise. How can they be when I'm not writing anything new? I realized the other day that sitting idle and not creating new stuff is driving me crazy! That's why I'm antsy and doing the same pointless routine crap everyday with no new results. Because I'm stagnant. I need to be moving forward, onto the next book! But it's not for lack of material...
Unfortunately my creative endeavors are on hold for a little while. I have one month to accomplish two months worth of pre-deployment paperwork, planning, and training, and then I'll be in training for two to three more months before shipping out to Afghanistan. Real life is dropping a bomb on writing life (hopefully not literally). Once again, it's time to reassess and draw up new plans and expectations.
The month of May was far from a loss, however.
I had my most successful book signing/sales event to date. Each one I have turns out better than the last. This one was on-base here in Japan at a big semi-annual bazaar. I doubled the sales from my last one back in Texas, and am quite happy with that, though I still didn't get all the business I was expecting. I was hoping all the young guys and gals from the ships would come through looking for books to read before they set sail, but that didn't really happen.
The biggest draw for the bazaar is Asian furniture and knickknacks, which appeals more to married folks with housing; I don't think my potential readers who sleep on a 3" x 6" rack were expecting a SF/F author to be set-up in there. I also got a bit screwed because a big box of Hungry Gods didn't arrive in time for the event, and I sold out of what I had pretty quickly. Postal system from the States runs slow, especially for big heavy boxes.
I also, believe it or not, sold some ebooks from my table! I had some certificates printed up which I filled out with Smashwords coupon codes that the customers could use once they got home, paying a discounted rate at the sale. Worked out great!
I actually intended to write up a big post about my thoughts on the event and holding signings in general, but who's got the time?! Not me, unfortunately. Working 13-hour ER shifts, preparing for war, and spending time with the fam leaves little time for blogging.
This month I also got two more books into paperback editions: Dreams of Flying and The Prince and the Darkness. Both retail for $11.99, and they have a combined total of 360 pages, two novellas, six short stories, and two different sneak-peeks at Hungry Gods. Great fun in bite-sized packaging.
(The "sex with aliens" from the title of this post, by the way, refers to the short novel Invasion inside Dreams of Flying. The life of a superhero... *Sigh*)
As I posted and "tweeted" about previously, May also saw my heroic fantasy, coming-of-age novel Tarnish published in an audiobook edition. It's 15 hours of awesome storytelling narrated by Todd Menesses, who lives in New Orleans but sounds like he's from fantasy England.
What about my stats and word count recap? Well, just as I start getting into a good routine, some earthquake hits and screws up my nice trend. (We did, in fact, have two earthquakes here this month, too, but I'm referring to the deployment.) I will leave here in July and not return to my home and family until well into next year. So there goes my 12,000 words a month goal and the nice streak I had going.
Aside from the nice accomplishments above, I did get 5300 words written in May, some of it on the next story I intend to float around to magazines. But the blog series I started this year may be ending right here and now. I'll continue to track any work I get done, but I probably won't be spending any more precious time blogging about it. My writing efforts are about to get much more focused, and things like marketing, social media, etc. will be taking a seat even further to the rear than they already have been. Doing these things take time away from the most important aspect of writing: WRITING!
(In fact, it amazes me how much time and energy I see spent on Facebook and Twitter by people who say they are "writers" -- when do they write stories or books if they're always online gossiping?)
So that's my "writing recap" and probably the last of that series. But looking to the future:
I still hope to write Twilight of the Gods by the end of the year, which is the prequel to Hungry Gods and Identity Crisis: Book Two.
And I continue to simplify and focus my writing career goals looking forward. I think if I do these rather easy things for the foreseeable future, I'll be doing pretty damn well for myself:
1. Publish 2 to 3 books a year, every year.
Period. This year I've already gotten out Hungry Gods, The Prince and the Darkness, and Dreams of Flying, and it's just now June!
2. Double my overall sales from one year to the next.
This one I have less direct control over, but I think it's a realistic and ultimately successful expectation. I figure if this trend does continue--selling twice as many books this year as last year, and twice as many next year as now--then I could be making a decent living from writing in about five years, maybe even enough to ween myself off of a day job. Not a Hollywood, one-in-a-million instant best-seller story, but a realistic goal and certainly one I can live with.
Increasing the availability and media forms of my work help accomplish this. This means not being exclusive to one outlet (*cough*cough* Amazon *cough*) and diversifying with ebooks, paperbacks, and audiobook versions, as well as writing in multiple genres.
3. Continue to work both sides of the fence: indie publishing and getting stories into magazines and anthologies. My story "Green-Eyed Monster" has been picked up for Meerkat Press's "Love Hurts Anthology" and I have a couple more in circulation with high expectations.
4. Focus on the single most important aspect of writing: WRITING.
But what about marketing?! you might ask. In my opinion, over-rated. But if you want to make real money, start up your own indie book marketing outfit. I bet the marketing side of the indie author boom is making five-times what indie authors themselves are making. Every Tom, Dick, and Harry has their own "book marketing and tweeting service" that they're happy to let you pay them for. And I'm not convinced they help all that much. But that's just me.
When I get half a million words out there, I'll start marketing. Until then, what's the point?
Okay, that's it for me. This post has been two or three that I've had in mind combined to "save time," but I've sure been out here on the patio typing away for a long time. In fact, the sun is now cloaked behind some grey clouds and a nice, moist breeze. Looks like rain...
Unfortunately my creative endeavors are on hold for a little while. I have one month to accomplish two months worth of pre-deployment paperwork, planning, and training, and then I'll be in training for two to three more months before shipping out to Afghanistan. Real life is dropping a bomb on writing life (hopefully not literally). Once again, it's time to reassess and draw up new plans and expectations.
The month of May was far from a loss, however.
*Photo from a couple years--and books-- ago. Not this event.*
I had my most successful book signing/sales event to date. Each one I have turns out better than the last. This one was on-base here in Japan at a big semi-annual bazaar. I doubled the sales from my last one back in Texas, and am quite happy with that, though I still didn't get all the business I was expecting. I was hoping all the young guys and gals from the ships would come through looking for books to read before they set sail, but that didn't really happen.
The biggest draw for the bazaar is Asian furniture and knickknacks, which appeals more to married folks with housing; I don't think my potential readers who sleep on a 3" x 6" rack were expecting a SF/F author to be set-up in there. I also got a bit screwed because a big box of Hungry Gods didn't arrive in time for the event, and I sold out of what I had pretty quickly. Postal system from the States runs slow, especially for big heavy boxes.
I also, believe it or not, sold some ebooks from my table! I had some certificates printed up which I filled out with Smashwords coupon codes that the customers could use once they got home, paying a discounted rate at the sale. Worked out great!
I actually intended to write up a big post about my thoughts on the event and holding signings in general, but who's got the time?! Not me, unfortunately. Working 13-hour ER shifts, preparing for war, and spending time with the fam leaves little time for blogging.
This month I also got two more books into paperback editions: Dreams of Flying and The Prince and the Darkness. Both retail for $11.99, and they have a combined total of 360 pages, two novellas, six short stories, and two different sneak-peeks at Hungry Gods. Great fun in bite-sized packaging.
(The "sex with aliens" from the title of this post, by the way, refers to the short novel Invasion inside Dreams of Flying. The life of a superhero... *Sigh*)
As I posted and "tweeted" about previously, May also saw my heroic fantasy, coming-of-age novel Tarnish published in an audiobook edition. It's 15 hours of awesome storytelling narrated by Todd Menesses, who lives in New Orleans but sounds like he's from fantasy England.
What about my stats and word count recap? Well, just as I start getting into a good routine, some earthquake hits and screws up my nice trend. (We did, in fact, have two earthquakes here this month, too, but I'm referring to the deployment.) I will leave here in July and not return to my home and family until well into next year. So there goes my 12,000 words a month goal and the nice streak I had going.
Aside from the nice accomplishments above, I did get 5300 words written in May, some of it on the next story I intend to float around to magazines. But the blog series I started this year may be ending right here and now. I'll continue to track any work I get done, but I probably won't be spending any more precious time blogging about it. My writing efforts are about to get much more focused, and things like marketing, social media, etc. will be taking a seat even further to the rear than they already have been. Doing these things take time away from the most important aspect of writing: WRITING!
(In fact, it amazes me how much time and energy I see spent on Facebook and Twitter by people who say they are "writers" -- when do they write stories or books if they're always online gossiping?)
So that's my "writing recap" and probably the last of that series. But looking to the future:
I still hope to write Twilight of the Gods by the end of the year, which is the prequel to Hungry Gods and Identity Crisis: Book Two.
And I continue to simplify and focus my writing career goals looking forward. I think if I do these rather easy things for the foreseeable future, I'll be doing pretty damn well for myself:
1. Publish 2 to 3 books a year, every year.
Period. This year I've already gotten out Hungry Gods, The Prince and the Darkness, and Dreams of Flying, and it's just now June!
2. Double my overall sales from one year to the next.
This one I have less direct control over, but I think it's a realistic and ultimately successful expectation. I figure if this trend does continue--selling twice as many books this year as last year, and twice as many next year as now--then I could be making a decent living from writing in about five years, maybe even enough to ween myself off of a day job. Not a Hollywood, one-in-a-million instant best-seller story, but a realistic goal and certainly one I can live with.
Increasing the availability and media forms of my work help accomplish this. This means not being exclusive to one outlet (*cough*cough* Amazon *cough*) and diversifying with ebooks, paperbacks, and audiobook versions, as well as writing in multiple genres.
3. Continue to work both sides of the fence: indie publishing and getting stories into magazines and anthologies. My story "Green-Eyed Monster" has been picked up for Meerkat Press's "Love Hurts Anthology" and I have a couple more in circulation with high expectations.
4. Focus on the single most important aspect of writing: WRITING.
But what about marketing?! you might ask. In my opinion, over-rated. But if you want to make real money, start up your own indie book marketing outfit. I bet the marketing side of the indie author boom is making five-times what indie authors themselves are making. Every Tom, Dick, and Harry has their own "book marketing and tweeting service" that they're happy to let you pay them for. And I'm not convinced they help all that much. But that's just me.
When I get half a million words out there, I'll start marketing. Until then, what's the point?
Okay, that's it for me. This post has been two or three that I've had in mind combined to "save time," but I've sure been out here on the patio typing away for a long time. In fact, the sun is now cloaked behind some grey clouds and a nice, moist breeze. Looks like rain...
Thursday, May 28, 2015
Conspiracy Newsletter Sign-Ups and Free Audiobook Offer
image from aquarianradio.com
There's a lot happening on my side of the universe, and much of it I'm trying to get done before I get swallowed into a black hole. What the hell does that mean? For those who don't know, I'm on a countdown to a deployment into the Middle East and trying to tie up a lot of loose ends before I get there, and I'm nearly done. Obviously, this whole life-altering change of venue will have a big impact on my family and "real" life, which come well before my writing life, so... A lot of gear-changing going on right now and for the near future.
For today, I'm just here to post two things of many that have been happening lately:
1. My new "Conspiracy Newsletter" now exists, which you can sign up for in the left upper corner of this blog, and/or by clicking this link. I can safely promise not to bombard you with emails through this medium, as I will barely have time to write new material, much less mess around with cyberspace. But from time to time, I will use this as a means of keeping in touch with my readers and those interested in what book is coming next, when something new is out, and with occasional priority offers and deals.
2. Which also includes a first crack at a free download of the new TARNISH audiobook, narrated by the talented Todd Menesses. In the next few weeks I'll be sending out my first Conspiracy Newsletter and including a chance at a limited number of free downloads, so if you're not on the list yet, I suggest you sign up!
I've also produced a couple more paperback editions of ebooks recently, and also had my most successful book signing event to date just a couple weeks ago, but haven't had time to blog about them. I obviously have other pressing matters to attend to, which I should actually be working on right now. So, I better be signing off for now...
But don't you forget to sign up! Thanks for reading!
Tuesday, May 19, 2015
A Fantasy Epic Comes to Audiobooks
At long last, my 400-page coming-of-age fantasy adventure TARNISH comes to life as a 15-hour audiobook!
This book was contracted for a long time to a voice producer who was stricken with a bad case of Real Life and became too busy with his day job and family to complete the contract. But I hold him no ill will for not being able to finish and he and I were brothers by the end. And it all turned out great in the end anyway, for next I found Todd Menesses, who is a tremendous voice talent. He's done an amazing job with TARNISH and we're already talking about him doing HUNGRY GODS next.
So if you're into listening to your fantasy adventures, give this one your ears!
This book was contracted for a long time to a voice producer who was stricken with a bad case of Real Life and became too busy with his day job and family to complete the contract. But I hold him no ill will for not being able to finish and he and I were brothers by the end. And it all turned out great in the end anyway, for next I found Todd Menesses, who is a tremendous voice talent. He's done an amazing job with TARNISH and we're already talking about him doing HUNGRY GODS next.
So if you're into listening to your fantasy adventures, give this one your ears!
Wednesday, May 13, 2015
New Superhero Fiction: Dreams of Flying
I've been sitting on this for a few days (or has it been a week already?), waiting for the ebook to be up on more sites. Well, I'm tired of waiting, so here it is!
The Identity Crisis Universe is
filled with heroes, horrors, and hard won victories. Spandex, after all, isn’t just a fashion
statement, and it’s not for the faint of heart.
This first trio of IDCU stories both explores and defies the conventions
of the superhero genre.
“Invasion” – A swarm of biomechanical monsters attack the Volans Space Station
during a test of its artificial gravity system.
Two of the station’s engineers, however, are more than just astronauts... But repelling this invasion may not be
enough. In order to safeguard the Earth
and rescue a benevolent alien planet from oppression, Adam Smasher, Symian, and
Ballista volunteer to leave this world behind and venture into deep space,
where the void—and the mission—may be darker and colder than they ever expected.
“Puppet Theatre” – In Mesa City, there’s one hero you can count on to
defend justice. Okay, there’s two: the mysterious Shadow Puppet and that
show-off, Mr. Wonderful. After his last tragic encounter with the villainess
Kitty Kat, the Shadow Puppet is thought to be dead. And the man behind the mask
would almost prefer that, but he can’t let the Mr. Wonderfuls of the world get
the best of him. Tonight, he returns from the grave!
“Dreams of Flying” – Herb Collins doesn’t just dream about flying, he
takes to the skies. And as soon as this
self-conscious grocery store manager can figure out a proper secret identity,
he’ll be the biggest superhero Cleveland has ever seen! His first encounter with real thugs, however,
and a chance meeting with his idol teach him that his ambitious dreams may be
misplaced.
Superheroic adventure for adults.
This is the first book of my newest series. (Yes, I've started too many series.) This particular run of stories and novels will come from far and wide across the superhero universe that I started with Hungry Gods. That series (Identity Crisis) will focus on the Phenomenal Five, while the books of the Identity Crisis Universe will star different characters and even different timelines.
Where can you find this fun and exciting triple feature? Here's a couple links as of now, but look for it on your other favorite ebook sites as well:
I am working on the paperback edition and it will eventually be produced in audio as well. But all these things take time, which I have so little of (and less all the time).
Saturday, May 9, 2015
40K Chaos Cult Formations
Oops, I'm getting off topic...
Anyway, in an indirect way, the conversation made me miss my Chaos, and then I started thinking about different formations and rules that they could do for CSM. Each chapter/cult/warband could have special formation blocks that grant special rules appropiate to their fluff.
I did a similar post in November of 2013 when the last Space Marine codex came out with the new chapter tactics. So most of what's here is copied from that post and slightly added to below. I'm not putting much into this, just killing some time in the wee hours on a night shift and avoiding the work I should be doing...
These are just a few underdeveloped ideas that I thought up just for fun.
When I say "Block" it refers to the minimum core units needed to make the formation (I don't know what GW calls them in the books), such as 1 HQ, 2 CSM units, a dedicated transport, etc.
ALPHA LEGION: They are described as being "disciplined almost to a fault" and as insurrectionists who sow deceit and chaos by infiltrating societies.
Block: A block unit might include a minimum of 2 cultist squads to show they've been recruiting by "sowing deceit." This would grant them bonuses, such as:
Disciplined to a Fault: The core units are Stubborn.
Insurrectionists: Up to three of these units can deploy as Infiltrators/Outflank.
BLACK LEGION: These are the once proud warriors of the Warmaster Horus himself. Of course,the character Abbadon mostly has this covered if you field him.
Block: Units that resemble Space Marines, such as a lot of CSM units, maybe 1 or 2 Dreadnoughts from the olden days, and at least 1 Chosen squad.
Black Crusader: All these units get Hatred vs. Space Marines.
The Warmaster's Chosen: Veteran Chosen units and Dreadnoughts may pick a bonus trait from these: Infiltrators, Scouts, Tank Hunters, or Prefered Enemy.
IRON WARRIORS: Masters of the siege and builders of war machines.
Block: The block must contain 2-3 Warpsmiths. These don't count against any HQ requirements or limits. It also included Forge Fiends and/or Mauler Fiends, and it'd be nice to see some corrupted servitors.
Let the Seige Begin: All units get the Tank Hunter special rule and may reroll Penetration against buildings.
Masters of the Machine: All Warpsmith's get +1 bonus to their repair rolls.
NIGHT LORDS: Masters of terror and terrorist actions, they stalk the darkness as predators in search of prey.
Block: A Lord or Sorcerer with a jump pack, as well as having as many Raptors as CSMs.
Lord of Terror: Your HQ/Warlord has the Lord of Terror Trait, thus causes Fear. Raptors already cause Fear too.
The Hunt: Raptor units (along with the HQ if he's attached) may deploy as either Infiltrators or Scouts. They also start the game with Shrouded until they move, and have Stealth thereafter.
WORD BEARERS: The most fanatical of all Legions in their dedication to the worship of the Chaos Powers.
Block: The core block must include 2-3 Dark Apostles (that don't count against you for HQs) and an equal number of cultists.
Shepherds of the Faithful: The number of cultists that these Shepherds lead is never-ending. Every time a cultist unit is completely destroyed or routed off the board, place it in reserves. An identical replacement unit comes in on a normal reserve roll.
Dark Crusaders: All Word Bearers in the block unit have the Crusader special rule.
* * *
In my original post I didn't include the god-specific legions, such as the Thousand Sons, Death Guard, World Eaters, and Emperor's Children. I figured they had marks so they didn't need other chapter rules. But, brainstorming right now, a few possible Formations might be...
Thousand Sons: Obviously a Block would include Thousand Sons and be led by a Sorcerer HQ. Having this Formation might unlock some new bonus spells for any of them to use, like a big sand storm or something. And to go along with the Egyptian theme, I'd like to field some fantasy mummies as cultist/zombie-type units (but that's just me).
Death Guard: Would of course include Plague Marines, and I'd like to have access to zombies without having Typhus there all the time. I could see giving some units (say some ragged Spawn) a disease that they can infect the enemy with, like a Soul Fire effect that lasts after the fight until it burns itself out.
Emperor's Children: An HQ with the mark, along with Noise Marines minimum. Their persuit of perfection might give their dedicated CSM +1 to WS or BS (like the aspect warriors get in the new Eldar blocks).
World Eaters: Berzerkers required. Taking the whole formation might give them Fleet on their charges or Crusader, as well as Adamantium Will.
Red Corsairs: I'm a fan of the Red Corsairs and especially of Huron Blackheart. He would lead a Block, which would include some Fast Attack units, like Bikers. His Warlord Trait is to make Infiltrators. I'd also like to see some kind of sabotage rule or something, something "piratey", like causing a vehicle to fail on a roll of 1 the first time it moves or something. There's got to be a way to work in a pirate theme there somehow...
* * *
Okay, I guess I should get back to more constructive crap around here. If you have any other ideas, please comment!
Sunday, May 3, 2015
Writing 2015: April Recap - Spring Brings Changes!
This post, and others like it, are mostly for myself and any like-minded writers who might be interested. If that's not really your bag, you might check out the limited time sale on my superheroes vs zombies novel by clicking here. (Only good for a few more days...)
Or you can just read on anyway. Or, why not do both?
Major changed coming to the way I do business, set my goals, and how I count words. If you are a writer-type like me, you may have read my previous monthly recaps. This one will be a little different, as my modus operandi is a little different.
What changed and why?
1. I have received orders to deploy.
That's right, I'm being sent into a hot, sandy, and unfriendly region of the world. (But don't worry, I will be on one of the biggest, safest bases. I'm more concerned about missing my family than getting hurt.) But obviously, this is a big fucking deal. (Hence the appropriately large font.) Once I arrive and get settled in-country, I will actually probably have a lot more time to write (since there will be little else to do when I'm not working). But working my way up to that point over the next several months, I will obviously have more important things to do, like prepare myself, my family, and my home for this huge but temporary change of universe. I am not due to return to way things are now until about this time next year. So, that's a full year of monkey wrench. Must adapt.
My previous goal was 3,000 per week, translating to 12,000 words per month and a gross K for the year (144,000). Not happening anymore. My new goal is to hope to write a total of 100,000 words for the year (though I'll forgive myself if I don't quite make it). I'll continue to keep track, but once I finally get Dreams of Flying published, hopefully this week, writing and all things related take a back seat for quite a while.
2. Barnes and Noble woke up for me.
What I mean is, after selling almost nothing anywhere but Amazon, I have finally started selling on other channels. In fact, I sold more ebooks on B&N than on Amazon for the month of April! That's great! New doors opening, and I've only had my foot firmly planted in the jamb for three years now...
I have thus far been content to let Smashwords distribute to B&N for me, but now that I can see a future where I actually sell there, I am going to start publishing directly through their Nook Press system. This will improve my take of the B&N pie by 5 percent.
Is 5% worth the bother? Well, in small sales no, but in the future, yes.
The royalty I get via Smashwords is 60%, vice 65% if sold directly with Nook Press. Five percent of Hungry Gods (at $5.99) is $0.30. Thirty cents is not a lot of money. But what if I were to sell 1000 copies of HG there? That becomes $300 that I gave Smashwords instead of myself. What if I sold 10,000? That's $3000 I gave away, and I need it more than they do.
So that's another task to add to my busy schedule, which is why I haven't bothered until now. Dreams of Flying will be my first book published straight to Nook Press, and I'll get HG and Tarnish, at least, converted over very soon as well.
3. I am moving from a 3-draft writing system to a 2-draft writing system.
Not long ago, I decided that I would whittle my cumbersome writing process down to 3 drafts: 1st is obviously writing it, 2nd is revising it, then send it to my proofreader, and the the 3rd is fixing what the proofer/line editor has sent me (if I agree). Then, publish it.
For Tarnish, I probably had 4 or 5, maybe 6 drafts. Not kidding. I spent one year writing it, and years more being afraid it wasn't good enough. Such a severe lack of confidence is a huge waste of time. (And in the next point, we'll see that time is money!)
So I finished the 1st draft of Invasion this month and then started on the second. And you know what I found? It was pretty darn good the way it was! I mean, the beginning always needs work because I never know what the hell I'm doing for the first few chapters, and then I had some specific things I knew I had to fix throughout, but for the most part, I didn't need to spend another month or two revising what wasn't too shabby in the first place.
And wasn't that what I has hiring a proofreader for anyway? That's like spending your Saturday cleaning, and then hiring a maid to come over on Sunday. I'm paying the proofer to identify the mess. Why do their job first, then hire them to do it again? Especially when it wasn't that messy to begin with?
So now I'm moving my writing process forward into a 2-draft system: write it, send to proofreader, fix it. Done. Publish and move on to the next book.
I have several series in mind right now and I can't write fast enough to keep up with all the ideas my brain is churning out. Why waste any more time than needed?
4. I have decided to start tracking my time as a business expense.
I have been tracking my gains and losses of writing as a business for a few years now, and actually applied it to my taxes for two years. Up until now I have not, however, been counting my own time as an expense, and I should. Do I not invest a lot of time into writing, formatting, revising, making covers, marketing, etc? If I were an employee of a business, would I not be getting paid for that time? Would that business not be spending money on that time?
Of course. So it is only fair to my self and my future business that I start doing so right now. Even if it makes the numbers a bit more depressing to look at. (Costs will go up by a lot!)
These past few months I had been using a formula to track time spent revising, but now I'm scrapping that. Instead I'm going to use the following as a logical estimate of the expense of my time.
Assume that for every 1000 words I write, I spend 2.5 hour writing it, then later revising it, then formatting it (as a whole manuscript), searching for images, making book covers, marketing via this blog, social media, advertising systems, etc. This rough estimate of 2.5 hours per thousand words covers all that.
Then I pay myself $30 per hour. How did I come to this number? I started throwing different amounts into a 40 hour work week, times 50 weeks a year (figure 2 weeks unpaid vacation), to what I think would be a fair living wage for me as a writer supporting a family. Some people would say this is high, some would probably say too low, but right now if I could make $60,000 per year as a writer, I'd consider myself quite successful in making a living at making shit up.
($30/hr) x (40hrs/week) x (50weeks/year) = $60,000 per year, before taxes.
So now I take my monthly word totals and plug them into this formula:
(Total Word Count) divided by (1000) x 2.5 hours x $30/hour
I'll use K to represent the word count/1000, and 2.5 x 30 is 75, so:
K x $75 = monthly labor cost
For example, April's K = 13.1, so my time spent on all things writing this month was worth $798.75.
Okay, given that, I am spending way too much money writing about this topic! On to the numbers, and then on to revising! I have a book to publish this week!
NUMBERS and PROGRESS:
Numbers for the previous months may actually change a bit in my records, as I have removed credit for revised word count. On my blogs, including what I have copied and pasted below, it isn't worth the time required to change it all. (Honestly, it's not that big of a change anyway.)
April: - 13,100 words written
- 7900 of those were on Invasion, written in 3 days, and finishing the 1st draft of the book!
- My short story "Green-Eyed Monster" was accepted by Meerkat Press for their Love Hurts Anthology, where it will appear right next to stories by big names, like Hugh Howey. (Which I'm very excited about.) I'm sure I'll give that it's own blog post when the time is right.
- As above, a milestone: I sold more books on Barnes and Noble than Amazon this month.
***
March: - 11,500 words (5400 on Invasion, 5600 on Ghosts of Chaucer)
- (This is technically just below my monthly goal. But the week that I did no writing at all was the same that I logged about 65 hours in with the Navy and moved my family from one house to another on my days off, so I'm okay with this total.)
- 5400 of those words went into Invasion, and 5600 started a new novelette called Ghosts of Chaucer. This distraction I then put on hold so I could finish Invasion.
- republished Puppet Theatre as a free preview of both the IDC and IDCU series
February: - 15,400 words (9550 words on the novella Invasion)
- redesigned my blog
- submitted stories to magazines
- ebooks of Hungry Gods also sold very nearly every day during this month
January: - 12,650 words (8550 words on the novella Invasion)
- published The Prince and the Darkness
- published Hungry Gods
- Hungry Gods release sold well beyond my goal, had a nice halo effect that reached pretty much all my other books, and all the accumulated sales were spread across SIX different countries!
***
So there, I wrote 1500 new words for this blog post. I would be paying myself $112.50 for this. If I had any money...
Or you can just read on anyway. Or, why not do both?
Major changed coming to the way I do business, set my goals, and how I count words. If you are a writer-type like me, you may have read my previous monthly recaps. This one will be a little different, as my modus operandi is a little different.
What changed and why?
1. I have received orders to deploy.
That's right, I'm being sent into a hot, sandy, and unfriendly region of the world. (But don't worry, I will be on one of the biggest, safest bases. I'm more concerned about missing my family than getting hurt.) But obviously, this is a big fucking deal. (Hence the appropriately large font.) Once I arrive and get settled in-country, I will actually probably have a lot more time to write (since there will be little else to do when I'm not working). But working my way up to that point over the next several months, I will obviously have more important things to do, like prepare myself, my family, and my home for this huge but temporary change of universe. I am not due to return to way things are now until about this time next year. So, that's a full year of monkey wrench. Must adapt.
My previous goal was 3,000 per week, translating to 12,000 words per month and a gross K for the year (144,000). Not happening anymore. My new goal is to hope to write a total of 100,000 words for the year (though I'll forgive myself if I don't quite make it). I'll continue to keep track, but once I finally get Dreams of Flying published, hopefully this week, writing and all things related take a back seat for quite a while.
2. Barnes and Noble woke up for me.
What I mean is, after selling almost nothing anywhere but Amazon, I have finally started selling on other channels. In fact, I sold more ebooks on B&N than on Amazon for the month of April! That's great! New doors opening, and I've only had my foot firmly planted in the jamb for three years now...
I have thus far been content to let Smashwords distribute to B&N for me, but now that I can see a future where I actually sell there, I am going to start publishing directly through their Nook Press system. This will improve my take of the B&N pie by 5 percent.
Is 5% worth the bother? Well, in small sales no, but in the future, yes.
The royalty I get via Smashwords is 60%, vice 65% if sold directly with Nook Press. Five percent of Hungry Gods (at $5.99) is $0.30. Thirty cents is not a lot of money. But what if I were to sell 1000 copies of HG there? That becomes $300 that I gave Smashwords instead of myself. What if I sold 10,000? That's $3000 I gave away, and I need it more than they do.
So that's another task to add to my busy schedule, which is why I haven't bothered until now. Dreams of Flying will be my first book published straight to Nook Press, and I'll get HG and Tarnish, at least, converted over very soon as well.
3. I am moving from a 3-draft writing system to a 2-draft writing system.
Not long ago, I decided that I would whittle my cumbersome writing process down to 3 drafts: 1st is obviously writing it, 2nd is revising it, then send it to my proofreader, and the the 3rd is fixing what the proofer/line editor has sent me (if I agree). Then, publish it.
For Tarnish, I probably had 4 or 5, maybe 6 drafts. Not kidding. I spent one year writing it, and years more being afraid it wasn't good enough. Such a severe lack of confidence is a huge waste of time. (And in the next point, we'll see that time is money!)
So I finished the 1st draft of Invasion this month and then started on the second. And you know what I found? It was pretty darn good the way it was! I mean, the beginning always needs work because I never know what the hell I'm doing for the first few chapters, and then I had some specific things I knew I had to fix throughout, but for the most part, I didn't need to spend another month or two revising what wasn't too shabby in the first place.
And wasn't that what I has hiring a proofreader for anyway? That's like spending your Saturday cleaning, and then hiring a maid to come over on Sunday. I'm paying the proofer to identify the mess. Why do their job first, then hire them to do it again? Especially when it wasn't that messy to begin with?
So now I'm moving my writing process forward into a 2-draft system: write it, send to proofreader, fix it. Done. Publish and move on to the next book.
I have several series in mind right now and I can't write fast enough to keep up with all the ideas my brain is churning out. Why waste any more time than needed?
4. I have decided to start tracking my time as a business expense.
I have been tracking my gains and losses of writing as a business for a few years now, and actually applied it to my taxes for two years. Up until now I have not, however, been counting my own time as an expense, and I should. Do I not invest a lot of time into writing, formatting, revising, making covers, marketing, etc? If I were an employee of a business, would I not be getting paid for that time? Would that business not be spending money on that time?
Of course. So it is only fair to my self and my future business that I start doing so right now. Even if it makes the numbers a bit more depressing to look at. (Costs will go up by a lot!)
These past few months I had been using a formula to track time spent revising, but now I'm scrapping that. Instead I'm going to use the following as a logical estimate of the expense of my time.
Assume that for every 1000 words I write, I spend 2.5 hour writing it, then later revising it, then formatting it (as a whole manuscript), searching for images, making book covers, marketing via this blog, social media, advertising systems, etc. This rough estimate of 2.5 hours per thousand words covers all that.
Then I pay myself $30 per hour. How did I come to this number? I started throwing different amounts into a 40 hour work week, times 50 weeks a year (figure 2 weeks unpaid vacation), to what I think would be a fair living wage for me as a writer supporting a family. Some people would say this is high, some would probably say too low, but right now if I could make $60,000 per year as a writer, I'd consider myself quite successful in making a living at making shit up.
($30/hr) x (40hrs/week) x (50weeks/year) = $60,000 per year, before taxes.
So now I take my monthly word totals and plug them into this formula:
(Total Word Count) divided by (1000) x 2.5 hours x $30/hour
I'll use K to represent the word count/1000, and 2.5 x 30 is 75, so:
K x $75 = monthly labor cost
For example, April's K = 13.1, so my time spent on all things writing this month was worth $798.75.
Okay, given that, I am spending way too much money writing about this topic! On to the numbers, and then on to revising! I have a book to publish this week!
NUMBERS and PROGRESS:
Numbers for the previous months may actually change a bit in my records, as I have removed credit for revised word count. On my blogs, including what I have copied and pasted below, it isn't worth the time required to change it all. (Honestly, it's not that big of a change anyway.)
April: - 13,100 words written
- 7900 of those were on Invasion, written in 3 days, and finishing the 1st draft of the book!
- My short story "Green-Eyed Monster" was accepted by Meerkat Press for their Love Hurts Anthology, where it will appear right next to stories by big names, like Hugh Howey. (Which I'm very excited about.) I'm sure I'll give that it's own blog post when the time is right.
- As above, a milestone: I sold more books on Barnes and Noble than Amazon this month.
***
March: - 11,500 words (5400 on Invasion, 5600 on Ghosts of Chaucer)
- (This is technically just below my monthly goal. But the week that I did no writing at all was the same that I logged about 65 hours in with the Navy and moved my family from one house to another on my days off, so I'm okay with this total.)
- 5400 of those words went into Invasion, and 5600 started a new novelette called Ghosts of Chaucer. This distraction I then put on hold so I could finish Invasion.
- republished Puppet Theatre as a free preview of both the IDC and IDCU series
February: - 15,400 words (9550 words on the novella Invasion)
- redesigned my blog
- submitted stories to magazines
- ebooks of Hungry Gods also sold very nearly every day during this month
January: - 12,650 words (8550 words on the novella Invasion)
- published The Prince and the Darkness
- published Hungry Gods
- Hungry Gods release sold well beyond my goal, had a nice halo effect that reached pretty much all my other books, and all the accumulated sales were spread across SIX different countries!
***
So there, I wrote 1500 new words for this blog post. I would be paying myself $112.50 for this. If I had any money...
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