This is a transitional chapter, so I didn't want to share this without the follow up.
The next chapter should be up in an hour or less. Hopefully.
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Has it really been over ten months? Wondered Jake. Swampland never changed and there was no day or night, but his internal clock didn’t lie. He briefly wondered how that actually worked for him, though. Orthodox cultivators had unbreakable ties to natural energy, and could feel time p...
Apocalypse Cultivation is heating up!
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As usual, there wasn’t much air movement, but today there was a hint of a breeze. Maybe it was a good sign. Jake had decided to name this trial world, “Swampland.” It seemed to fit, even if it wasn’t very creative.
He was currently standing on a ridge of the rocky hills that divided the swamps. This location was near the vampire burrows he’d almost face-planted into what felt like f...
2021-07-19 18:45:31 +0000 UTC View Post
Hey everyone! I asked a friend of mine and fellow author on Royal Road, Krazekode, to draw Jake for me. This was the result. I think it's pretty cool. :P
This art has been shared on social media and Royal Road, but I have some more art coming to Patreon, too. Even though I know most of you all don't really care about Patreon rewards, I'd feel bad if I didn't do something special for you all so some future art will be exclusive to here.
The first book of J...
Apocalypse Cultivation! Yay!
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While he was meditating, Jake reflected on where his cultivation level actually was now. His teacher had refused to explain the entire potential of cultivation to him in the past, only telling him what he judged would be the extent of his abilities. Actually beyond that.
Things had obviously changed since then.
Orthodox cultivation started at the Initiate level, when a wannabe immortal would start on...
2021-07-15 16:53:02 +0000 UTC View Post
I just posted this in the GameLit Society on FB, but I know for a fact that some of ya'all don't have FB (probably wise), and I really should have posted it here first to begin with. lol
So...I have something super cool to share. Kedoco, a reader and a Patreon patron here has surprised me with an amazing piece of art based on my Delvers LLC series.
As you all know, this is a map of Tolstey, the country that Henry and Jason are first transported to on Ludus. :) ...
After the transition, Jake experienced a moment of confusion and disorientation before his senses cleared. He was standing on a level area on top of a rocky outcropping. The sky was overcast, and the only light came from the horizon, with a dim, reddish hue.
The air smelled. In fact, Jake was beginning to feel a definite sense of similarity in some ways between this place and the hell world he’d existed on before dying.
Suddenly, one of the distant hills moved,...
2021-07-11 21:23:56 +0000 UTC View Post
Hey everyone!
I'm finally telling everyone what the series title of Jake's Story will be:
Apocalypse Cultivation.
This was what I had in mind from the beginning, I just didn't want to share until I was almost done with the story. Now that we're only about a month out, I figured now was the time.
What do you think?
-BC
This was going to be another 2 chapter post, but the next chapter is kind of long and I didn't want to make you all wait.
This chapter is kind of short.
I love writing about the Faceted, though. lol
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Once Jake found the portal area he took a look around. Everything looked okay, or at least there was no imminent danger nearby. This far out in the woods, there weren’t even any monsters around and he could almost pretend it was a regu...
Hey friends!
Some of you won't care about this at all, so...yeah. You've been warned. BTW, it's okay if you don't care. The nuts and bolts of being a professional author aren't always glamorous or even interesting to everyone.
2021 has been my year or reconsolidation. 2020 was really tough for a variety of reasons. Amazon has fundamentally changed their store. I used to be able to be much more lazy because I could assume that if a book did oka...
Based on your suggestions, I've decided to keep chapter 19.5 and make it chapter 20.
Thank you for all of your feedback!
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Well, I guess that question is answered now, thought Jake. His flared his nostrils and observed the school-turned-gang base before him.
Part of him felt sad that he wasn’t more emotionally broken up. His head was cool. He’d been through a lot even since just seeing his parents’ corpses an hour ago, b...
2021-07-03 05:40:23 +0000 UTC View PostThis chapter comes between 19 and 20, and it'll be Patreon-only. I will not be adding this to the book, and I will not be sharing it anywhere else.
Thank you for being here. :)
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Jose lowered himself down, hands first, and let loose a breath he hadn’t been aware he’d been holding. From her position on the floor, Gloria met his eyes. She was trembling.
Christopher and David were quiet for a few seconds, but then David...
2021-06-30 01:46:21 +0000 UTC View PostHey everyone!
I was looking at my analytics today and noticed that I have a surprising number (to me) of European patrons.
So here's my question for the non-Americans (not just Europeans, either):
Would you all like special notes in chapters that explain Americana in a chapter, or culturally American things to explain them? These notes could even include information on any firearms that come up chapters, if you'd like.
This is something I'd only do for Patreo...
It's not fun to eat crow, but sometimes we all should. This is one of those times for me.
I failed, haven't delivered what I promised I would, so I have to explain why.
Sorry for the delay! I had to run errands today and I'm still working on Delvers LLC 5.
This scene needed to be born, though.
So fair warning, this chapter is pretty intense. It's also really important for Jake's journey.
You'll see. :)
Also, just for Patreon patrons, I'm going to write a short chapter between 19 and 20 from a different POV that won't be in the book, and I won't be putting on Royal Road.
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Jake bri...
2021-06-24 02:43:04 +0000 UTC View PostThe next chapter will be up in an hour or two, I'm just editing. It's longer than this one.
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Jake had to decide who to attack first, and the obvious choice was the Warhounds, the group that his sister said had actually killed his family. He didn’t know for sure where they were located, but he figured that starting where their base had been in his first life was a good start--a private school to the north.
Th...
2021-06-24 00:37:49 +0000 UTC View Post
Yay! I'll have a post with a link for the folks entitled to the ebook up before the end of the day.
This is Steven Keiler's first book. If you are interested, please check it out and give him some love. :)
US: www.amazon.com/dp/B097BDYC83
Hi everyone!
I'm currently working on Delvers LLC 5. I got some feedback about the story that it's missing something, and I agree, so I need to add a chapter somewhere and I'll be figuring out there over the next week. I might get another chapter out before I do, just know it's coming.
I might also be able to sneak in a chapter of Jake's Story/Trojan Nightmare sometimes soon, too. This story was something I do in my limited free time for fun, anyway, so it won'...
Sorry for the wait everyone! I'm getting back into the saddle, so to speak.
At least the return is explosive, right?
:)
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Uluula stepped onto one of Henry’s new personnel descent platforms and felt glad she was wearing the Wing. Most of the inventions that Henry had created actually did work, but there was something about stepping on a little floating platform with a tiny rail in mid air that created doubt.
The small descent...
2021-06-12 21:16:46 +0000 UTC View PostHi everyone!
I've decided to head back to Royal Road as an experiment. I've begun posting Jake's Story there.
https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/43686/jakes-story
However, I don't want anyone here to think that I don't appreciate you.
Advanced chapters will still be on Patreon. To be honest, I take your input most seriously, and this experiment is more about wheth...
Hi folks!
The last couple of days have been a little crazy.
Three days ago I went to the emergency room because of a heart attack scare. I'd never experienced pain in the left side of my chest before. As it turns out, I got a clean bill of health...which was nice. Unfortunately, it took like 5 hours to do my labs, so I had a wasted day with no productivity.
And what do we readers do when we can't do anything else? We read. lol
So now I'm back t...
2021-06-01 12:57:25 +0000 UTC View Post
EL will be launching in about 2 weeks.
This is the final cover.
The last few chapters will be posted in the next few days.
Yay!
Hey everyone!
Early this morning I sighted in my double barrel crossbow to get focused before starting an epic work day.
Engineering Ludus is finished. I just need to get the last few chapters edited.
After that, I'll be getting back to Delvers LLC 5 full time.
I hope everyone is having a good day today! If you're reading something good, or have just read something good, let everyone know about it in the comments. :)
-BC
Hey everyone!
We're getting close to being done with Engineering Ludus. After that I will be posting Delvers LLC chapters again. I'm also working on SOO2 to start writing after that book is done.
In other news, I wanted to thank everyone for being here. I just took a look at some exit surveys, and a lot of people in the country/world are still experiencing financial hardships right now. I know that some folks have been pretty lucky to weather all the stor...
In my opinion and based on my experience:
Avoid the temptation to do follow trades etc on social media with other writers just to inflate your numbers.
One reader is worth 100 author followers. Most of us commisserate and empathize with each other, but rarely actually read each other's stuff.
Not only that, organic growth is only possible if the people who follow you actually like your stuff. This is also why it's a terrible idea to ask family members to buy your...
2021-05-14 11:26:33 +0000 UTC View PostI am not happy with the other 2 chapters I have done after this one. The original plan was to release multiple chapters. I kind of still want to, but I've decided to share this chapter anyway. :)
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Jason frowned and said, “Don’t even think about doing anything, Henry.” His friend’s expression wasn’t difficult to read. They’d known each other for a long time, and Ludus had changed things...
Hey everyone!
I have been chipping away at Delvers LLC 5, and it's fun when I'm working, but I've been dragging at times. I was talking to Melli today about it and I definitely have some kind of depression. In some ways, it feels like my seasonal depression from Winter just never actually ended.
Of course, all of this is potentially complicated by the fact that I'm a professional creative and that 2020 kind of tied me into a pretzel. In some ways I still haven'...
Hey everyone!
Melli is getting her wisdom teeth out today. I'll be working on my phone, but I'm so close to having another chapter done, I'll still likely finish it in the office.
My plan is to release 2 or 3 chapters together really soon.
In other news, I have family visiting me soon, including my niece. She drew a picture for me before and I wrote a short story about it (the one about the bat monster warrior) a couple of years ago. If you guy would like...
Hey everyone! I'm super excited to share this.
This chapter took a while. I'm very proud of it and it's loooong. Sometimes it just happens this way.
To put this into perspective, Secret of the Old Ones was 50k words. This chapter is 7,200 words, which is approaching 20% of the entire book of SOO. During the editing process, I actually pared it down by over 1,000 words.
This is the end of this small plot arc. Next chapter we'll be back w...
Hey everyone!
This is my experiment for including Patreon-only videos on here.
Let me know what you think--about Metazoo, and about me doing more videos like this in general. And if you want more videos, what kind fo content? Just anything interesting?
I'd really prefer to put more stuff on Patreon vs. Facebook going forward. Ya'all are my MVPs.
-BC
(Please try to ignore Melli's finger at the beginning of the video. Neither of us prep...
Here is ch. 8!
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I probably should have called him to me. Oh well. “Thato Jacobs.” Aodh had approached Thato and the woman sitting next to him. The wind on the sky ship’s open deck was pleasant, not too loud or harsh to be heard over.
Thato stood. “King Aodh O’Breen.” The man gave a rueful grin. “I don’t know what the protocol is anymore for greeting royals, but I’ve been in the pal...
2021-03-30 19:39:05 +0000 UTC View Post