The Perils of Prauge

Brand Me

by Doc Coleman on September 18, 2013 · 7 comments

in Asides

When I was re-listening to the audio for The Business of being an Author from Balticon 47, I was reminded of an issue that I had started to address a while ago, but then I got sidetracked and let it slide by the wayside. And that issue is branding. No, not the kind of branding made popular by cowboys marking cattle as part of their herds… Or maybe I do mean that kind of branding, just not as applied with hot irons on tender, living flesh. At least not mine. [click to continue…]

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Ninety-Nine

by Doc Coleman on September 4, 2013 · 6 comments

in Writing

Yes, this is a #WriterWednesday post, but as I am writing it, it is Tuesday, September 3rd. This posts marks the 99th consecutive day that I have written something as tracked by The Magic Spreadsheet. So why am I writing about Day 99 when the post goes live on day 100? Well, for one thing, there is a long-standing tradition that you never talk about something you are about to do, because if you do, the forces of the universe realign to create situations where you cannot achieve the very thing you just told the world that you are about to do. And that would be very bad. [click to continue…]

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A moment of joy…

by Doc Coleman on August 7, 2013 · 0 comments

in Novels

The Alpha Read for The Perils of Prague continues. The pace is a bit slow so far, but I have two readers who have given me good, consistent feedback. Once they’ve gotten about half-way through the book, I’ll begin working on the third draft and shortly after that the Beta Read should begin. I have to admit that I have been tickled with some of the comments I’ve got from the Alpha Readers… [click to continue…]

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A lot can change in a year, and yet, a year can speed by you so fast, leaving so much undone.

This time last year, I was looking back at what I had done since my last birthday, and making plans for how I was going to move forward over the next year. Looking at it now, it sure seems like a lot of the things I had planned out last year didn’t end up happening. At least, the way things developed certainly was not what I originally planned. Whether that will turn out to be for good or for ill, time will tell. Perhaps I’ll know next year. [click to continue…]

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Welcome back to the eighth episode of the Balticon 47 Wrap up, proudly brought to you by Swimming Cat Studios. This week features the first to two readings that I was able to take part in at Balticon 47. Unlike last year, we’ve decided to publish the full reading and release it as a single episode. This year I was joined at the microphone by two excellent writers, PJ Schnyder, and Grig “Punkie” Larsen. This reading had been billed as a steampunk reading in the Balticon program, but didn’t exactly turn out that way. While each of us has written Steampunk at some time in the past, the reading itself ended up being a mixture of different genres.  [click to continue…]

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On Wednesday I hinted that there was likely to be another update on my writing this week, and I was right! Last Sunday I was looking at milestones for my progress, and realized that based on the rate of progress I had made on the second draft of The Perils of Prague, I was right on track to complete the draft this week. Then I had several days in a row when I had to spend my daily writing time working on other projects. I got my daily writing in, I just didn’t make any progress on editing Perils. At the time I published Wednesday’s update, I figured I should still be able to finish by the end of the day on Sunday, provided I could edit at least 3000 words a day… [click to continue…]

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This is a late #WriterWednesday post, and it is also going to be a short one. Hopefully I’ll be able to add in a longer post later in the week. As you can tell from the title of this little missive, work has dominated my life of late. I had a good, long Fourth of July weekend, in which I was able to go to a couple of parties at friend’s houses, see some fantastic fireworks, play some Cards Against Humanity, and watch the cook consistently give my burger to someone else. It was a good time, but it came to an end all too soon. And then, the dayjob attacked! [click to continue…]

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Wow. Will you look at that. It’s July now. July. 2013 is half over. Halfway done. I’ve set some ambitious goals for the latter half of the year. Perhaps I should also take some time to take stock of what I’ve done so far. Let’s see how it breaks down… [click to continue…]

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After only a week, I’d like to thank everyone who has offered their help towards getting The Perils of Prague ready for publication, especially considering the contact form I used last week didn’t work as expected. I’ve been contacted by eight different people so far who have voiced their willingness lend my project a hand. Some are fellow authors, who are willing to Beta read for me in exchange for having me Beta read their work. A couple are editors who are willing to offer their services if we can come to a compensation agreement that fits their available time and needs. This is exciting for me, but I still have to realize that things can fall through, and I still need a lot of help. I’ve been trying to organize the responses I’ve gotten,  and get in contact with each of them. If you’d like to help out, it still isn’t too late! Just drop me an e-mail, and let me know how you’re willing to help, and what kind of compensation you’d like to have for your services. [click to continue…]

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When I started Swimming Cat Studios, I named it because I was having to do a lot on my own, teaching myself as I went. I had some resources to steer me in the right direction, and a few friends who could give me suggestions, but I pretty much had to do it on my own. It is the only way to learn new skills. Over the years I’ve tried a lot of new things, had some success, and some failures, and learned a few things.

One of the things I’ve learned is that there are some things you can’t do for yourself.

And that is why I’m asking you if you’d be willing to help me out. [click to continue…]

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