Today, I finally completed my first draft of my first novel. This is a big milestone, but the work is far from over. The draft clocked in at 77,759 words, but I have to admit that there are a few notes stuck in there for things to be fleshed out, and a few sections I’m pretty sure that I’m going to cut. And given that I’m at least two editing passes from a submittable draft, the final version could be considerably longer or shorter.
Still, I think it is pretty respectable for my first time out of the blocks.
Of course, this is no time to sit backup upon my laurels. This is still a lot of work to be done, and I’m already planning out the next steps. [click to continue…]
Tagged as:
Crackle & Bang,
Novels,
Steampunk,
Swimming Cat Studios,
The Perils of Prauge,
WIP,
Writing
Fastens your seat belts, folks, this one is one hell of a ride.
If you read last year’s review of Phoenix Rising, you probably either already know what I’m about to say, or you’re already nose deep into the book and not reading this review. For those of you who are coming late into the game, or just enjoy reading my reviews, Pip Ballantine and Tee Morris are at it again! On May 29th, 2012, Harper Voyager released their second Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences Novel, The Janus Affair. Once again, Wellington Thornhill Books, and Eliza D. Braun have emerged from the Archives of the Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences to uncover a dastardly plot that endangers Queen Victoria’s England, and possibly the rest of the world.
[click to continue…]
Tagged as:
Books,
MoPO,
Philippa Ballantine,
Pimp Your Friends,
Tee Morris
Balticon 46 was a BLAST! I had a very good time, saw a lot of old friends, made some new ones, and managed to survive all my panels! In addition to a lot of good memories, I came home with a lot of recorded audio. It is going to take me a while to sift through everything, so I’m going to be releasing it in pieces.
In fact, I’m going to be starting a new feed for content coming out of Balticon. This post is going to be the first part of that feed. If you’re actually subscribed to the Master Feed, you’ll still be getting this content there, but if you just want to pick up the Balticon Goodies, you’ll want to subscribe to the Balticon feed. Once the feed is set up, I’ll edit this post and it will go here: feed://swimmingcatstudios.com/category/balticon/feed/
This feed won’t be advertised in iTunes, you’ll need to come here to find it and subscribe. It’s just our little secret. I’ll also be starting another new feed, but there will be more about that, after the cut. [click to continue…]
Tagged as:
Audio Drama,
Balticon 46,
Master Feed,
Panels,
Podcast,
Steampunk,
Swimming Cat Studios
Oh, wait, I think that is supposed to be “What I’m doing at Balticon 46!”
No, on second thought, I think I may have gotten it right the first time.
Bit by bit, my schedule for Balticon 46 has come together, and now I am finally ready to share it in all of its titanic glory! And this year really is titanic. Somehow, when I said that I was willing to do up to 3 panels a day, it got interpreted as 3 panels for each day. Yes, I’m doing twelve panels this year! Plus a reading! The worst part? When I looked over the panels to see what I could back out of… I couldn’t find anything. All of my panels are either things I’d already agreed to do, cool subjects, or a chance to branch out into new areas and break out of the “comfort zone”. So, if you want to see where I’ll be at this year’s Balticon, just click the link and get ready to make some notes. There’s a LOT!
[click to continue…]
Tagged as:
Audio Drama,
Balticon 46,
Beer,
Books,
Galley Table,
Homebrewing,
Panels,
Podcast,
Reading,
Steampunk,
The Shrinking Man Project,
Voice Work
Today we have another trip on the Wayback Machine! We’re going back just a little over a year from now, to April 20th, 2011. This was right when I first hit the plateau that I’m still struggling with. It also happens to be right before I discovered that I had a blood clot in my right arm. I’m surprised that it took until now for me to begin to wonder if the two are related. I shall have to do some research.
For now, enjoy the show, and a glimpse into the past.
Show notes included below.
[click to continue…]
Tagged as:
Master Feed,
Podcast,
The Shrinking Man Project,
The Wayback Machine
And, in what seems like a blink of an eye, another week is gone.
But it has been productive. Northern Mist went through editing in what seems like a blink of an eye. I must admit that the editing process was vaguely disappointing. I was expecting more feedback. For once I’m experiencing the desire to continue hammering at a story to polish it further. It has been a new experience. That nagging feeling that says, “I can do better.”
But production schedules will not wait for me. So I have to move forward. [click to continue…]
Tagged as:
Books,
Galley Table,
MoPO,
Nifty Tech Blog,
Philippa Ballantine,
Pimp Your Friends,
Podcast,
Reading,
Short Stories,
Steampunk,
Tee Morris,
The Cross of Columba,
The Wayback Machine,
WIP,
Writing
Before I get into the review, I have a confession to make. This review is way, way, WAY over due. Last summer I had written a few reviews of books that I had read and enjoyed immensely. This led to my being approached by several people and asked to do reviews on their books. I quickly went from having no reviews to do to having several to do. At the same time, my voice work exploded. I quickly became overloaded. At the time, I decided that the best way for me to clear the backlog was to focus on one thing, batter at that, and keep at it until it was done. Well, some things went easier than others. And then Life happened. The result is that this review is finally being written some four plus months after it was originally intended to be written.
Free Will (and other compulsions) is the second book in J. Daniel Sawyer’s Antithesis Progression series, which manages to combine science fiction and noir elements into a fascinating future setting. The first book in the series is Predestination (and other games of chance). If you’ve read Predestination and enjoyed it, you’re sure to want to pick up Free Will, and no doubt look forward to the next time J. Daniel Sawyer publishes a book with a short title (and a long and contradictory subtitle). At the time of this writing, Free Will is only available in electronic formats, but is available for Kindle
, Nook, and a variety of other formats via Smashwords.
[click to continue…]
Tagged as:
Books,
Goodreads,
Reading
For those of you, yes, both of you, who have wondered about the mysterious project code-named “Northern Mist” that I’ve been working on, I can now reveal a little more about it. I’ve kept quiet pending word from the author who invited me to write in his world that I can begin talking about the story. Well, I haven’t officially gotten that word, but my author has talked about things on his own site, and I don’t see any reason I can’t echo what he has said.
[click to continue…]
Tagged as:
MoPO,
Philippa Ballantine,
Podcast,
Short Stories,
Steampunk,
Tee Morris,
The Cross of Columba,
WIP,
Writing
, and the place that various fantasy tropes take in the book.
