The Failed Technomancer

I am still waiting on hearing from my editor and audio mixer on progress for the ebook, pdfs-to-print, and audiobook. So, not a lot going on there. That said, I have every reason to believe that I will have proofs for the ebook/pdfs-to-print this week.

I am no longer certain that I will provide a pre-order link prior to publication. While that might be a good idea, I’ve never self-published anything on Kindle Direct Publishing before and keep getting nervous that I’m going to mess it up in an irreversible way. At least, some of the tutorial videos I’ve watched had suggested that certain decisions, once made, are irreversible, and as a result I’d rather just have the final product in my hands when I get everything set up for the very first time.

Other Projects

I’m going to be level with you, I feel myself at a bit of a crossroads and keep changing my mind on which direction I want to go.

I do want to finish the Robot Cannibal Apocalypse trilogy following my original timeline—publish The Failed Technomancer, then an unrelated book (Inner Demons, set in the Third Realm fantasy universe), then book two of RCA (loosely titled The Betrayed Technomancer), then another Third Realm book (Magnificent Odyssey, working title), then finish RCA with book three (loosely titled The God Technomancer). That desire is warring with a lot of other desires, however. I’m in an embryonic stage as a self-published author, without even one book out yet (although that will soon be rectified), and I’m asking myself a lot of questions about what I want to be known for, what direction I want to focus on in my books. And while I won’t go into detail on most of the personal revelations I’ve had, I do know that I want to go against current market trends of always being broody, dark, depressing, and pessimistic. I think the world needs some humor and optimism right now, and, despite its other good qualities, RCA does not provide that. But finishing a book that begins a trilogy is a commitment, in my mind, and I do have a story there that I want to tell—it would be a willing process, not a forced one.

So I’m going to avoid making more promises until I’m better figured out—I’ll also probably speak a little less on long-term future projects (beyond one other mentioned later) until I’m better figured-out. What I do know for certain is I’m not stopping! I’m going to actively work toward at least one thick, great read each year, and we’re on track for that. That’s a SMART goal, I think.

(Additional Note: Reading through and editing this post before publication, I want to make it clear that I have no plans to abandon RCA. I’m just wondering whether or not I’m going to push forward and finish the trilogy soon or have more time between releases.)

Taking Lessons

I’ve finally found a self-publishing class that I trusted enough to enroll in! I’m confident in my ability to write and craft stories, so that wasn’t what I was seeking out—although it’s a craft I plan on honing over a lifetime, so I’m not going to stop learning how to write—but rather, I wanted help with the business side of things. I don’t understand marketing or advertisement, I want to be smart with taxes and finances, I want to pick the best covers to attract attention for my books, I want to be a responsible steward of a fanbase, that sort of thing. Basically, all the stuff I neglected to learn about for years and years because I thought I’d have a publisher do it for me. Well… now I’m doing it all myself!

I don’t know if I’ll speak much more about this class as time goes on, but if I have particular insights that I feel are worth sharing then you can guarantee that they will end up here. And if I start making changes—hopefully for the better—on this site and with regards to my communications, you can probably blame inspiration from that class. Hopefully it’s a good sort of blame.

Page Chewing with Steve Talks Books and Maed Between the Pages

I joined in another interview! (Link here. About 2 hours.)

Well, sort of. Page Chewing is a discussion/podcast-style forum where several reviewers and authors get together to just have a conversation for an hour to an hour and a half. Since I was the new guy there I was asked lots of questions about myself, my book, and my writing goals, but topics ranged all over the place, including (but not limited to) elderly relatives who enjoy collecting rocks. Page Chewing is hosted by Steve Talks Books and Maed Between the Pages, both of whom are great BookTubers and could introduce you to your next great read.

If you enjoy rambly discussions, you may enjoy checking out that Page Chewing video.

TTRPG Stuff

This is a project that I predict will take several years before it gets published (for a variety of good reasons), but I’m pretty deep into writing a combined TTRPG rulebook and campaign sourcebook for the Third Realm universe right now. I have loved playing tabletop role-playing games since I first tried Dungeons and Dragons around the age of 12, and whenever I write a world I try to give it the depth and flexibility necessary to create good novels in and good adventures. In fact, I first conceived the Third Realm universe as a TTRPG setting, then evolved it toward books as I increasingly fell in love with it.

Anyway, I originally tried to craft my own system and rules mechanics from the ground up, loosely inspired by the d100 system and mechanics in 8th edition Call of Cthulhu (published by Chaosium)—”loosely” because I wanted to include the option for a lot more combat and high-adventure fantasy than the base rules for Call of Cthulhu provide for, and there was a lot of refining that I wanted for my system. I spent at least four years working on that book, never happy with the outcome and not quite able to determine why, and went through eight or nine revisions and rewrites. To tell you the truth, after putting in a lot of time and effort, I was frustrated and ready to shelve the project.

Then I discovered EZD6. (I mentioned EZD6 for the first time last week at the end of my brief discussion on Wizards of the Coast’s war on its own fans—thankfully that debacle is over, and on very favorable terms for WotC’s customers.)

I love the EZD6 game and its engine. EZD6, in my opinion, perfectly walks the line of being so rules-light that I’m confident I could teach the game to nearly anyone in five to ten minutes, but with enough depth and rules smarts that as a player I can happily build any character I want and feel uniquely distinct from other characters, and as the guy running the game have some real tools to work with to make unique, exciting adventures. I would happily recommend this TTRPG to anyone. I played a game, recently, with my wife, brother, and future sister-in-law, and I was able to help them all build their characters, learn the rules, and go on an adventure that had them ranging from laughing their heads off to jaws falling open in utter shock in about an hour and a half. That was an experience that simply would have never happened with a TTRPG featuring rules that were much more or much less complicated—with more complicated rules it would have taken way more time to teach and play the game, with even more streamlined rules I believe everything would have felt a little bland.

Anyway, I so thoroughly fell in love with the EZD6 engine, and I so thoroughly felt it met my goals for the Third Realm RPG that I was developing, that I immediately jumped ship and haven’t looked back. I’ve been taking my old material, adapting it over, and am extremely pleased with the results.

So what’s stopping me from publishing a fat Third Realm RPG book even before I publish a regular Third Realm Universe novel?

First of all, my first focus is novels. I’m investing the majority of my time in self-publishing books, so most of my writing time for Third Realm RPG is limited.

Second of all, the EZD6 engine does not yet have an open game license of any form. Game mechanics are not copywritable, but I would like to be able to support the base came (and its community) while producing my own content. With the creator of the game promising an open license for third-party publishing on the near horizon, I see no reason to act too hastily.

Third of all, I want to personally playtest the new content that I am introducing to the EZD6 engine before I formally publish anything, which means getting some friends together and playing some games. (I know, I suffer so much.) While this will be fun, it also serves a practical purpose of making sure my ideas work, are fun, and don’t overcomplicate anything in practice.

In short, this is something that will come on the horizon, and hopefully I can make playtest material available sooner rather than later, but it’s a much longer-term project than anything else I’m working on right now, in part because it’s not my highest priority. (I am just as excited about it as my other projects, though!)

Conclusion

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