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Writing

Coming to a 3D Printer Near You

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Tiny Wil

I’ve never been a table top gamer, ever. No particular reason. I did have miniatures. I’d often buy pre-painted ones from the local hobby store when I was a kid in Torrence.

So, yeah, I like miniatures. So when I stumbled upon Hero Forge, I knew I’d have to design the crew. Fair warning, Hero Forge can be a time suck, even if you’re not into miniatures! It’s so addictive!

Tiny Zephyr

Anyhow, I’ve created the crew in miniature (within the constraints of the system) and I’ve released Wil and Zephyr to start. Right now you have to print them yourself. Your purchase is license to print (but not modify) the characters as much as you like.

My goal is to offer pre-printed miniatures (You still gotta pain ’em), but that’s gonna be a bit, so for now, if you have a printer, go nuts :)

Ever Wonder what Fury Looked Like?

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Space Rogues 7 Cover Concept

I’m working with the awesome Greg Bahlman on the cover for Space Rogues 7: A Guy Walks Into a Bar and he sent over a quick sketch to show the blocking he’s thinking about.

I toyed with a landed Ghost for the cover of Space Rogues 5: So This is Earth? but it was a bit cartoony (Because I did myself with stock assets) and when I polled readers, they weren’t feelin’ it.

But for Book 7 it made sense for the cover to show the Ghost in one of her most frequent haunts, a spaceport on the planet Fury; dingy dirtball that it is. Book 7 actually gives us a glimpse of life on Fury beyond the spaceport, market and the space Friday’s the crew hangs out in.

I’m pretty stoked, to watch this cover come alive.

If you haven’t yet, you can pre-order book 7 now, it releases October 6th.

Meet Jace Caruso (WIP Friday…)

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I’ve hit the point in my writing where I’m comfortable in branching out. Not too far out as you’ll see, but outside the Space Rogues universe.

I’ve only written two scenes so far, but I have most of this story in my head, and the rest, like all my work, I’ll discover as I go.

Jace is our hero. He’s in a universe where humanity has expanded to the stars, settling planets, causing wars, doing all the stuff we’re good at here on Earth but on a cosmic scale.

I’m exploring his background as I go, but know already that he’s a loner. He’s long since gotten over having people in his life.

Excerpt from Chapter 1

…

Jace nodded, “Yeah, I had to lay low after that ass-kicking I gave to the Delphino brothers.”
Lucas grunted, “Uh, they kicked your ass. Your eye is still a little purple.” The bartender looked around, “They shipped out huh?”
Jace touched his left eye and frowned, “Yeah, Rudy told me their ship departed last night.” Lucas sighed and walked over to a woman who had sat down at the far end of the bar.
“Are you Jace Caruso?” A voice asked from behind him.
Jace didn’t look up, “No.”
He looked over his shoulder at a middle-aged man in what looked like an expensive suit. It took the man a few seconds before the man said, “Uh, your business manager said I’d find you here, and described you, in detail.”
Jace shrugged, “He’s a liar.”
“So, you are Jace Caruso?” The man pressed.
Jace exhaled and spun on his barstool, “What do you want? I have a lovely night of getting drunk and making questionable decisions ahead of me.”
The businessman cleared his throat, “Um yes, well I need your help. I’m Sylvester Kline, I represent ReliefCorp. We’d like to hire you.”
Jace looked around. He leaned over to look behind the businessman for the candid vidcast crew that surely was lurking nearby, “Uh what? Why would you want to me to be a relief worker? Nothing in my life would make anyone think that was a thing I’d excel at.”
From the other end of the bar, Lucas said, “Yeah he’s pretty selfish.” Jace looked down the length of the bar and flipped him off. Lucas added, “And lazy.” The bartender smirked.
The man cleared his throat, “I, no.” He shook his head, “We don’t want you as a relief worker. We need you to rescue them, actually.”
Jace turned back to the businessman, “I’m sorry, what? Rescue them? The aid workers?”
The man pushed Jace aside to set a data tablet on the bar. The screen came to life showing a data file for a planet, Mariposa.
“Mariposa?” Jace asked, “The bloody civil war in progress Mariposa?”
Kline looked from the tablet to Jace, “Well yes, currently. ReliefCorp has had an aid station set up in the lower highlands outside the capital for almost five years. The Imperial supported government has been making strides in solidifying their control over the planet. Our camp was helping those affected by the fighting.”

…

So that’s part of the opening of Jace Caruso: Space Loner (Very much not the title, but what I have now)

I’m still planning to keep (more or less) to my Space Rogues release schedule, and just mix in my new series and see how it goes.

WIP Thur–Friday 4/3 High Stakes

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The crew of the Ghost often finds themselves on the bad side of someone, whether it’s pirates, mega-corporations or powerful politicians. Sometimes it goes better than others.

The Ghost is standing where they left her. The two hover vans that brought the work crew are still parked near the starboard engine nacelle.
Wil is out of breath by the time they get close enough to the ship to see the first body. A quilant man is sprawled at the foot of the cargo ramp.
“Oh dren.” Cynthia swears as she kneels to check the being. She looks at her friend and shakes her head once. The three of them draw their sidearms and walk up the ramp slowly. Zephyr is in the lead. At the top of the ramp are two more of the work crew, a Quilant and a Trollack.
They find another body in the crew lounge, this one still alive, barely. The work crew team lead, the Trenbal woman. Orange blood is pooling around her. Her dinosaur-like face is twisted in pain.
Wil rushes over, dropping to his knees, “Don’t move, we’ll get help.” He looks up at Zephyr, “Check medbay!”
The Palorian woman darts past Wil and opens the hatch to the small medical compartment. She turns, “Empty.”
Wil scoops the wounded woman up and rushes her two the medbay. A bloody hand reaches up and grabs Wil’s shoulder, “It was… Crimson Sun.. Took your people.”

I’m sure things will work out though, right? I mean maybe they’ll just give Bennie back.

WIP Thursday 3/26 The importance of Physical Fitness

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We all know the importance of physical fitness (I’m typing this on a day I chose to sleep in vs. work out), President Reagan used to make us do sit ups in school for crying out loud.

It’s fun to have Wil be the punching bag sometimes. He’s cocky so it’s a little comeuppance.

Wil has changed out of his normal shipboard jumpsuit and into a tank top and shorts. Maxim is similarly dressed. The big Palorian looks at his Captain, a head shorter than him, “I’ll go easy on ya.”
“It hasn’t been that long.” Wil says defensively.
Maxim tilts his head, “Do you even remember the last time you trained?”
“Well no, I mean I don’t mark it in my calendar or anything.”
“Almost eight months.” Maxim points to Wil’s midsection, “You’ve also gotten fat.”
From the side of the training mat Bennie cackles until Cynthia smacks him on the back of the head.
Wil swings his bo staff in a wide arc attempting to get in a shot at Maxim before he expects it. The big Palorian dodges to the side, Wil’s staff missing him by inches. In the same move he brings his own bo staff around catching Wil in the ribs.
Wil takes a step back readying his staff just in time to deflect an overhead swing. He twists at his hip bringing his staff down, dragging Maxim’s with it. He opens his mouth to comment but clamps it shut just in time to twist further narrowly avoiding a blow to his head.
Maxim spins quickly bringing his staff low to take Wil’s feet out from under him. Wil jumps just in time, bringing his staff up to catch Maxim in the chin. The two of them separate a few paces.
Maxim tilts his head side to side cracking his neck, “It’s on.”
Wil swallows, “Oh shit.”
Bennie rubs his hands together.

I enjoy giving the crew time to train. I like the slice of life moments it provides (same with team meals). There’s no stress, they’re together being family.

Selling when things are shit

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I won’t lie, two weeks ago, we wrapped up Ignite Denver a few days before social distancing was the order the day (we were about two days before the venue decided to close up). I thought, “You know this sucks, but things will continue like normal, more or less. It’ll just be inconvenient for a while.”

I couldn’t have been more wrong. We’re now in week two of social isolation and self-quarantine. Everything is closed except grocery stores, pharmacies and (here in CO) dispensaries. 180,000 people in CO filed for unemployment last week. Things are shit.

People (rightfully so, I mean tomorrow is scary, four months might as well be four years from now) aren’t thinking about conferences. They’re not buying tickets, not signing up to speak. Sponsors are waiting to see what events are happening before they write checks. All perfectly understandable because things are shit, but not helpful.

And I can’t file for unemployment. Well, I could if I fired myself, which would be closing down 360|Conferences. So I’d prefer to not do that!

I sent an email to one community earlier this week, another went out today. Essentially begging folks to buy tickets. I hate sending emails like that. I hate asking my communities for charity. I’d rather support them than ask them to support me. I’d rather be the one to bring them together. Help them grow, meet new people, do awesome things. Not beg for their time. I did it because things are shit.

No ticket sales, no sponsorships means no payroll for me.

Mr. Brightside

Writing is a bright point right now. I’m hard at work on Space Rogues 7. Space Rogues 6 comes out next month. Pre-orders have surpassed book 5 numbers, so that’s awesome. I’ll have book 7 ready for pre-order when 6 launches, so that will be awesome.

The downside is that…

  1. Sales are slow. Makes sense, a lot of folks suddenly have far less disposable income. I certainly do, I’m not buying much of anything. I get it, things are shit.
  2. Next month, when book 6 launches and those pre-order process, I’ll get paid in June for that. Such is publishing.
  3. Amazon is giving away 2 months free Kindle Unlimited, which has blown the bottom out of the market. Why buy a book, when you can read thousands for “free”? Even if only for the next two months.

 

What can you do?

Well, if you’re so inclined, you can directly support me. Buy books (or merch) directly from my shop page. I get paid immediately for those purchases. If you’ve read all five books, tell people you know that might like them. Gift them copies, send them the URL with “Buy this book” all of it helps, because right now, writing income, will be supplementing conference income.

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