Abby came to a skidding stop, kicking up a spray of sand and gravel as she reached the circle of illumination around the campsite. Carlos emerged from a shadow next to her, twisting around to watch for the zombie horde. All around them, the refugees sprang to attention, briefly brandishing their low-quality weapons until hey recognized their pair of protectors. Geraldine and Alex rushed around the flickering flame of the campfire, their faces troubled.
“What’s wrong?” Geraldine de...
2022-11-25 14:00:08 +0000 UTC
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From atop a sizable hill, Abby watched the horde’s progress. The zombies and other assorted undead looked like a dark patch on the horizon, but with the increased visual acuity that came with her racial evolution, she could just make out enough details that the scene all but set itself. The undead were on the move, and at least part of the horde had begun the long trek from the more temperate regions of the Radiant Isles to the desert. And presumably, to Jariq.
It made something of a ...
2022-11-24 14:00:08 +0000 UTC
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Some people need goals. A destination that keeps them trudging toward the horizon. For me, that goal has always wavered between revenge, survival, and, in the end, giving Mirabelle the means to escape the Earth’s inevitable destiny.
Jeremiah Braddock III
The next morning, I awoke to see rays of sunlight peeking between the curtains that guarded Erica’s windows. Dust motes danced in the light, giving the atmosphere an...
2022-11-23 14:00:12 +0000 UTC
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Talia jogged through the desert, her course parallel to the group of refugees Abby and Carlos were leading back to Jariq. As she did, her normally placid mind roiled with frustration. She felt forgotten. Discarded. Tossed aside because she didn’t fit in. The refugees, she understood. They’d lost so much at the hands of the undead army, and in their traumatized minds, Talia was no different from the creatures who’d killed their friends and families. However, she had expected more from he...
2022-11-22 14:00:08 +0000 UTC
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The going was a lot rougher than Zeke had expected, but in his defense, he’d never really paddled a boat before, much less a giant turtle shell that felt like it was going to tip over every time he moved. However, as he slowly but surely guided his makeshift raft through the burning and acidic lake, he started to get the hang of it. Still, progress was glacial, and it took him hours to make it any considerable distance.
All around him, fins cut through the water as monsters circled th...
2022-11-21 14:01:01 +0000 UTC
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The bare necessities – food, shelter, medical care – should be the last things we have to worry about. Even before the Initialization, humanity had the capability to provide the basics to each and every person in the world. The only excuse for not doing so is abject greed, laziness, and a misguided belief that we should all make our way alone. It’s only gotten worse in the intervening years.
Jeremiah Braddock III
B...
2022-11-20 14:00:07 +0000 UTC
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Before the Initialization, there were means to keep the power-hungry in check. Most people were content to survive, to ensure that their loved ones were taken care of. However, there will always be those who see what someone else has and decide that it would be better off in their hands. After the Initialization gave these people the means to take what they wanted, warlords and despots became commonplace. At times, I’ve found myself counted among their number.<...
2022-11-19 14:00:07 +0000 UTC
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Not really much to talk about today. The release date for Volume One of Death: Genesis is approaching very quickly, and I hope everybody will give the audiobook or the edited Kindle version a shot on the 29th.
As to the story's current progress, I'm excited about the coming mini-arc, and I think you'll all really enjoy it.
In Mistrunner news, I'm still plugging away. The story's been very popular over on Royal Road (remember that if you're liking it to he...
2022-11-19 13:00:05 +0000 UTC
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Patreon doesn't let me convert this to a GIF (like Reddit does), so just hit play. I admit that I wasn't quite as happy with this as I'd hoped to be, but I think it still turned out well enough. Remember, the first book of Death: Genesis is coming out on 11/29!
2022-11-19 00:19:25 +0000 UTC
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Zeke awoke to a world of pain, fatigue, and regret. Groaning, he tried to sit up, but even that minor movement took a monumental effort. Still, he persisted, and when he finally managed to drag himself upright, he looked around. His head was pounding, he was starving, and it felt like he hadn’t had anything to drink in a week. All of this told him that more than a single night of unconsciousness had passed. He sat with his head cradled in his hands for some time before he heard the door ope...
2022-11-18 14:00:09 +0000 UTC
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I meant to announce this when the change went through, but it kind of slipped my mind. I've been super busy lately, what with the upcoming release of the first book in Death: Genesis and the new release of Mistrunner (as well as my day job).
Anyway, a month (or so) ago, Patreon gave us (as creators) the option of altering the billing cycle for our Patrons. The old way billed everyone at the same time (at the beginning of the month), which always seemed a bit unfair, a...
2022-11-17 21:25:24 +0000 UTC
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Zeke trudged back to the tower, pointedly avoiding the area surrounding the hermit’s hovel. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to see Fiona – or rather, it wasn’t just that. Rather, it was that he didn’t want to go back to her empty-handed. Now that he had a quest, he had every intention of discovering her sister’s fate, and the next time he saw the woman, he wanted to go back with answers.
Of course, despite Fiona’s hopes, he knew that the news wouldn’t be good. Whether it...
2022-11-17 14:00:09 +0000 UTC
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I recently got access to an audio sample for Volume One of Death: Genesis, and I thought I'd pass it on to you all! It sounds really great, and I hope you all like it, too.
2022-11-16 21:29:47 +0000 UTC
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There are more skills out there than you can imagine. Some are specialized. Others are broad. Learning to counter each and every one of them is folly. Instead, we must lean into our own strengths, lest we get lost in the weeds.
Jeremiah Braddock III
For all that it was outwardly silent, the incessant beeping of my alarm was like a horn blaring in my mind. With a flick of thought, I turned it off, and for a moment, I cons...
2022-11-16 14:00:12 +0000 UTC
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Zeke endured another gout of flame as he sprinted toward the turtle’s beak. His footsteps thundered into the blackened turf, leaving small craters behind. Taking a two-handed grip, he reared back, and with a move that he’d practiced millions of times, took a baseball swing at his foe. The mace whistled through the air, and just before it connected, Zeke activated [Unleash Momentum].
The mace crashed into the monster’s beak with the momentum of a thousand swings, all directed into ...
2022-11-15 14:00:10 +0000 UTC
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Zeke’s chest heaved, and his shoulders slumped in exhaustion, but he’d finally finished his task. All around him, there were salamander corpses, each sporting various fatal wounds. Some had crushed skulls, others looked like four-legged bags of rubbery skin, distorted by crushed bones and liquified entrails, and still others had obviously been killed by Pudge. Those last were the most grisly, their flesh reduced to ribbons by the bear’s teeth or claws. At Zeke’s insistence, Pudge hadn...
2022-11-14 14:00:13 +0000 UTC
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Every problem can’t be solved at the end of a gun. Sometimes, solutions require finesse. I have never been very good at those kinds of things.
Jeremiah Braddock III
The family resumed gathering mushrooms and other edibles, leaving me mostly to my own devices. The youngest member, whose name I learned was Ethan, kept sneaking glances at me, but I pretended not to notice. At first, I thought he was just intrigued by the prospect of meeting a stranger, but it didn’t take...
2022-11-13 14:00:09 +0000 UTC
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Another week in the books, and things are looking great! We're just getting into the fun stuff with Death: Genesis, and Mistrunner is taking off as well (it's been really well-received over on Royal Road, too, so that's gratifying). I also decided to go ahead and implement a new release schedule for Mistrunner (by adding an extra chapter each week). I hope you'll all enjoy the extra content!
As I've said in previous check-ins, remember that Volume One of Death: Genesis...
2022-11-12 14:00:08 +0000 UTC
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The term “survival of the fittest” is often misinterpreted. It doesn’t mean that the strongest will inevitably emerge victorious. Rather, it favors the cunning. The adaptable. The intuitive. That is the spirit which humanity must embody if we wish to survive what’s coming.
Jeremiah Braddock III
I looked in the mirror, hating the reflection staring back at me. Reaching up, I fingered the thick, messy braids. As much as I loathed dealing with my hair, there was a pa...
2022-11-12 13:55:01 +0000 UTC
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I've had this for a bit, but I didn't want to take away from the upcoming release of the first Death: Genesis book too much. I can't keep it locked away any longer, though, so here's the rough sketch of the cover for book two. I hope you all like it!
I think it looks pretty awesome (especially Pudge), but I'll let you all be the judge of that.
2022-11-12 00:21:41 +0000 UTC
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“That is not a turtle,” Zeke muttered, gaping in awe at the creature cutting a path through the fiery lake. “It’s a freaking dinosaur.”
Half a mile away, the monster was at the edge of his range, but Zeke could still inspect it. The results made his heart pound a bit faster.
Fireback Turtle – Level 25 (M)
A monarch-tier creature. The pinnacle of power in the Radiant Isles. Zeke had only fought a handful of elite- and boss-tier monsters, but even ...
2022-11-11 14:00:11 +0000 UTC
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The burning lake loomed in Zeke’s peripheral vision as he studied the small hovel a quarter of a mile away. It was far enough from the Flaming Lake itself that its owner wouldn’t be constantly inundated by the heat, toxic atmosphere, and monsters that characterized the body of water, but close enough that it was still easily accessible for the hermit.
Zeke had been on watch for two days, and in that time, he’d learned a few things. First, the atmosphere of the Flaming Lake was ver...
2022-11-10 14:00:11 +0000 UTC
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Our world, even before the Initialization, had a long history of slavery. Whether it was the African slave trade, the Jewish people being enslaved by the Egyptians, or the more modern example of slavery-via-incarceration, it has been a part of humanity since the very beginning. However, the wider universe’s version of enslavement is far more insidious. It is the tyranny of the strong, where the sin of weakness is punished with virtual slavery. I will die before it happens to me.
2022-11-09 14:12:29 +0000 UTC
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Putting his feet up on the table, Zeke leaned back in his chair and said, “This is so much better now. It actually feels like a home.”
And it was true. He and the rest of his companions were sitting in what they’d dubbed the conference room of the tower. Located on the second floor, which ostensibly belonged to Talia, the sizable room was furnished with a half-dozen cushy chairs and a table, and they even had refreshments. It wasn’t exactly luxurious, but it was a good deal more...
2022-11-08 14:00:11 +0000 UTC
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“Do you think it’s weird that there are no horses in the Radiant Isles?” asked Abby, walking beside Zeke. “Like, we have other animals from Earth, but for some reason, the line was drawn at horses?”
Zeke glanced at her. He was wearing his full armor, save for the horned helmet, which he’d left off because he claimed it was hot. Abby knew he could don it in a matter of seconds, though. “Does it really matter?” he asked. “I’ve never ridden a horse in my life, and I’m...
2022-11-07 14:01:01 +0000 UTC
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Death is a natural part of survival. Resources are finite. Everyone can’t win. Sacrifices must be made at the altar of self-interest.
Jeremiah Braddock III
I didn’t sleep for long. Just a couple of hours before I jerked awake to a banging at the bunker’s front door. I rolled out of bed, ignoring the pain of my many wounds as I summoned my rifle. Opening the door to the room I’d taken as my own, I peeked around the corner. Outside, the hall was straight and narrow....
2022-11-06 14:00:07 +0000 UTC
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Alright - big week. We're just getting finished with the set-up/recovery for the fourth book on Death: Genesis, and I'm eager to see how you'll all like the coming bits. I should note that this book will probably be a tad longer than the others (closer to 200k words than 160k) because there's a lot that needs to get done with the conclusion of this major arc.
In Mistrunner news, I just dropped the first fifteen chapters on Royal Road this week, and you all got ten more chapt...
2022-11-05 13:00:08 +0000 UTC
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Zeke strode through the street, armored and carrying his mace. After his previous battle – if it could even be called that – he’d only taken a few minutes to recover from his usage of [Heart of the Berserker]. So, he was at full-strength. More, he was furious, as angry as he’d been in quite some time.
Behind him, Abby followed. Armed with her bow and armored in brand-new leather armor, her eyes darted from one building to the next, looking for threats. Meanwhile, Pudge brought o...
2022-11-04 13:00:08 +0000 UTC
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Zeke hefted the armor, inspecting it with his eyes as well as the metaphysical senses that had come with his artisan path. If his plans didn’t work, the worst that could happen was that the armor would fall apart. But if it did work, it could be a turning point for him.
Ever since being reborn in the troll caves, Zeke’s life had been one of conflict, and his equipment had been forced to bear a significant degree of punishment. His body had suffered worse, but it had always been far ...
2022-11-03 13:00:06 +0000 UTC
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Please don't forget - if you've enjoyed my work (either Death: Genesis or Mistrunner, but mostly the latter, because it's a fresh release), it would help me out a lot if you'd head over to Royal Road and throw a review down. You can click the following links to be redirected to the appropriate page:
MISTRUNNER
2022-11-03 07:10:02 +0000 UTC
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