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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.

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.

WIP Thursday 3/19 – Deep Thoughts

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I have been, well lax would be generous, on WIP Thursday posts. Partly because it can be tough to pick a scene that doesn’t give anything away.

BUT

I wrote one last weekend that I liked and made me chuckle, so here we are.

Cynthia steps out of the small refresher compartment in the quarters she and Wil share. He’s sitting on the edge of the bed. She adjusts her towel and sits next to him placing an arm around his shoulders, “You ok?” She looks at his grime covered body and removes her arm, “Touching after showers.” She mumbles examining the fine hairs on her arm to see if she needs another shower.
Wil grins, “Just thinking.”
When he doesn’t immediately continue Cynthia pushes, “About what?”
Wil shrugs, “Well, Rey was palatines granddaughter. We know she had parents, but who was her grandmother? Or mom and dad for that matter? Palpatine had a son, what was he out there doing while his dad was emporering?”
Cynthia stands punching him in the arm, “You’re an idiot. Shower, now.” She moves to the dresser they share and removes a clean jumpsuit. “Emporering isn’t a thing.”
Wil stands and walks into the small compartment, “I mean, it’d have to have been a powerful Jedi, right? A female Sith? Did Palpatine have a harem? Was Rey’s mom force sensitive?” He ducks inside the refresher as a boot strikes the wall where his head had been.
After dressing Cynthia opens the hatch and shouts toward the refresher, “He almost certainly had a harem, evil drennogs always do.” She closes the hatch before he can answer.
In the hallway Maxim is exiting the quarters he and Zephyr share. He nods, “Who has a harem? We don’t have space for anyone to set up a harem on the Ghost.”
Cynthia starts to answer, then just waves a hand, “Nothing, Wil being Wil.”

Space Rogues 7 is coming along nicely. This scene is halfway(ish) in. I’m currently planning on it releasing around Christmas time.

In this time of forced work from home and social isolation, I hope you’re at least reading good things that make you happy.

Tell me what you’re reading.

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