BC blog, 1/19/2019

*Please pardon me for typos.  I'm writing this off the cuff*

Hey all!

I'm taking a break from a late night of work right now, and I decided to try something new.  I'm going to start giving you guys a weekly update of what is going on with my creative process and my life every Saturday.

Not everyone will be interested in this, but some will be, and it's about 1000 times easier to take a break doing this than continuing my writing advice series (which I still intend to finish).

Anyway, I have a few main projects that I'm going to kind of break down here, grouping everything together:

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--GameLitRPG--

There is a separate Patreon for this, and I need to finish up a massive spreadsheet to get the new update live.  For those who don't know, I am creating a website that will partner with some other LitRPG/GameLit contributors like Ramon Mejia to help readers find more stories.

If anyone is interested in checking it out, the URL is here:
https://www.patreon.com/GameLitRPG/

Heads up that it's a labor of love, and results are slow.

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--The Society, and other Facebook groups--

This is a massive time sink, and one I need to keep putting time into this year, but I'm hoping to take a back seat in the day-to-day by June.

The mods and admins of GameLit Society are all dedicated and phenomenal.  It'll be in good hands.

We were able to do some good last year and the year before, giving thousands of dollars to Shriners Children's hospital, and I hope to keep that tradition alive for as long as I live.

***

--Evolution of a Ball of Light--

This is a story I'm publishing through Adom for a friend, AR Chen.  It's a great story, but since I am not rolling in money and to keep my editing costs lower, I need to get a story pretty close to go-to-market before I can submit it to editors.

It's taking me a while to edit this one, not least of which because I am doing developmental editing.  I promised my friend I would make this the very best story it could be before publishing, and I want to honor that commitment.

I need to put down some money soon for a cover, but it's hard to nail down what the cover should actually be.  The main character is a ball of light for most of the story, so figuring out some way to communicate what the...flavor...of the book is visually has proven challenging.

Hopefully I will be able to throw money at the problem in the next couple weeks.  I'm taking as long as a traditional publisher on this one and my friend is being patient, so it'd be nice to show him some cool are in the near future.

***
--Secret of the Old Ones--

It really makes me sad that I don't have the drive to really work on this series any time soon, but as I've communicated to a lot of you, it has several things against it.  It's hard to write, doesn't make a lot of money, and LitRPG bros (the type of readers who devour everything on KU all while talking shit about the author and demanding longer, crunchier books) harassed the hell out of me on RRL.

I love Luck Stat Strategy, and I'm very proud of it, but the experience of publishing it made me leave RRL for good and made me wonder about my intended career change.  Some of the emails I got about SOO were like, "IT PUTS THE LOTION ON ITS SKIN!!!!!"

Wacky stuff.

I do work on SOO from time to time, mainly to flesh out character classes, skills, etc.  That series is in-depth while being short because I put in a ton of work on the back end.  If 2019 works out perfectly, I will officially start work on Airship Privateers, book 2.

***

---Asgard Awakening--

Will Arand has been telling readers to harass me about Asgard Awakening whenever they ask about the VeilVerse because he's waiting on me.  That's fair, and it's made me start working on the series a little bit in self defense...lol.

I /might/ start writing Asgard Awakening sorta full time in tandem with Nora 3 starting next month.  The truth is I would like to get back to this series, but there are a lot of things going on this month that don't give me the headspace for it...so stay tuned.

***

---First Song---

First Song 2 is written and has been for a while.  I am excited about working on this book too, especially now that the cover is done.  I should start developmental editing past the first chapter or two that you guys have seen by early Feb.  Again, it's a headspace thing.

What I can say about First Song 2 is that I think people are going to be surprised again. It doesn't have the same crazy twist as the first one, but it does have a rather unexpected genre shift that I think everyone is going to enjoy.

***

---Nora Hazard---

Nora had been the most difficult thing I've ever written, and I'm very proud of it.  Nora has a vastly different voice than other characters, despite being quite a badass.  I watched more Xena and Buffy than I care to admit before writing the series. :P

Nora 3 is going to directly tie into Delvers.

I was planning on including the Nora series into Delvers LLC (the series on Amazon) after Delvers 4 came out, but now I'm thinking about putting it in the main series with Nora 3 since it will have the direct Delvers tie in.

I don't want readers to think they were tricked, but while Nora has not performed well, I know that part of it is a lot of readers still don't even know it exists.

What do you guys think?

***

---Delvers LLC--

I am /stoked/ to get back to this series.  You guys have no earthly idea how fun it's going to be.  I'm sorry everyone had to wait, but I /promise/ you that you will have a fun time with Henry and Jason again.

I will start work on Delvers 4 by mid 2019 at the latest and probably write Delvers 4 and 5 back to back.

Delvers Inc. will be the new series after Delvers LLC.  Now that I've experienced the problems with Amazon and readers finding stuff through Nora, I will probably just continue the Delvers LLC series, but with a new cover style.

With this in mind, writing Nora Hazard probably helped me avoid a really terrible mistake with Delvers Inc.

---Future writing projects---

After Delvers LLC is done, I will probably finish First Song, and I might start a new series.  With Nora Hazard and First Song finished, I will have room for a new IP.

There are 3 possibilities I could see myself working on, but nothing is set in stone yet.  For now, I kind of want to keep it close to the chest.

---Art--

I plan to commission some new art, maybe even a character sketch of Nora. :)  I might keep that in the Patreon so only you guys will ever see what she looks like.

Outspan Foster, my co-author for First Song has also told me he might start doing some art for the stuff of mine that he's read.  He's a wacky artist who is always pushing himself, and I happen to like his art, so this will be cool if it happens.

---Audio books---

As of the end of this month on the 30th, I will have audio books for every book I've published.  This is exciting, but was also expensive and a lot of work. :P


--My personal life--

There were a lot of changes in my life in 2018, some I have talked about, and some I will talk about later.  What some folks do know is that I had a cancer scare, and 2018 was the most expensive year of my life.

I spent more on writing expenses last year than I used to make in a year.  Being a full time author is definitely like owning your own business, and it can be expensive.  Rewarding, yes, but expensive.

Coupled with the relative failure of the Nora series, things weren't awesome.  Luckily, I had all you mad bastards to help me out, keep my chin up, and give advice.  I really appreciate and will never forget it.

This year I will be returning to Delvers LLC, and I'm super, super excited about that.  It means that I will hopefully be able to replenish my aching savings account too...lol. :)

Thank you for all of your support.  Some of you have been here from the beginning, and you guys sticking with me really helps keep me motivated.

-BC