You know the deal, guys! It’s a news post. And there’s a lot of it this week, but I have categorized it, so skim through and see what the updates are!

Hardware Horrors

You might have noticed I’ve been quiet this week.

Like, quieter than normal. And it’s not just here. I’ve been almost 100% silent across all my usual online hangouts. And the reason for that is actually pretty simple. Right now, I’m writing this post through a tethered connection with my cell phone.

No, Google Fiber didn’t go down. My phone’s buzzing through them. The ethernet port on my desktop shorted out. Thankfully, without taking the rest of my motherboard with it.

Yeah, I’m still nervous about that one.

For those who aren’t computer literate, however, the ethernet port is what you plug the internet into if you’re not using wi-fi. Desktops don’t usually come with wi-fi, and I prefer the speeds and latency that a cable offers over a wireless connection (it’s a bit more reliable).

In any case, I’ve ordered an ethernet card for my desktop, but it won’t even ship until the 30th. So … I’m a little disconnected at the moment. Which leads me into my next point here—

No Being a Better Writer Post Monday

With Halloween, the lack of internet, and multiple, long work shifts surrounding my Monday, I’m going to skip this coming Monday’s BaBW post. It’s not ideal … but it’s really my only option unless I want to delay the October Patreon reward (which I don’t). I know, I don’t like it—as much work as Being a Better Writer is, I know a lot of you look forward to it each week (just as I look forward to reading your comments), but … sometimes there just isn’t time. And right now, I unfortunately really do need the shift hours at work if I don’t want to be homeless.

That. and I really am trying to spend as much time possible working on Jungle. Speaking of which …

Jungle Progress

Jungle is almost done with its first draft. I know. At last. It’s in the middle of the final climax, which I’ll be getting back to as soon as I’m done here, and before long, that’ll be over and done with, and then it’ll just be the wind-down and close, and Jungle‘s first draft will be done.

It’s a beast too, coming in at 375,000 words right now. It’ll probably be close to 400,000 by the time it’s done.

If that sounds a little large … you’re right. It’s a bit bloated. When editing time comes, and the Alpha begins, I expect that I’m going to cut and tuck a lot. One of the drawbacks of my way of discovery writing, unfortunately. But I’d like to cut around 50,000 words if possible. Blend some chapters together, cut other elements entirely, and in turn make sure that some other elements are fleshed out a bit more … you know, the usual early-edit and Alpha edit stuff. And while I can say I won’t be done by the end of October … I could see myself being done by the first week of November.

Finally, right? My writing’s been slow this year, sadly, thanks to all the extra hours I’ve had to work part-time to keep afloat. Finishing one 400,000 word draft isn’t exactly up to my prior standards of output, even if adding in BaBW ends up putting me somewhere around half-a-million words this year.

But with Jungle nearing first draft completion …

The Shadow of an Empire Looms!

That’s right! The moment I put the closing touches on Jungle‘s first draft, it’ll be time to switch gears over to Shadow of an Empire‘s alpha!

Shadow, if you don’t recall, is the fantasy-western I drafted last year that took place in the world of Indrim—the same world the short story Ripper from Unusual Events took place in! At long last, I’ll get to start putting this one together.

When will it come out? Well, it depends on how much work there is to do. I’ve definitely got some changes to make, and then I’ll need to contact Alpha readers about it … but if I can work my butt off, I’d really like to have it out by Christmas.

That’s a narrow window, I know, but it would be the best time to release it.

Anyway, expect more on this in the coming weeks! And those of you who have been Alphas and Betas in the past, start thinking about it and whether or not you’d like to pitch in again. I’m excited for this one, and I think you all will be too!

Halloween Sale!

And now, one last little bit of news. As one might expect, there’s a Halloween sale kicking off for all of my books this weekend. The actual start dates vary based on where  you are, but the gist of it is as follows:

One Drink—Totally free

Dead Silver—Totally free

Unusual Events: A “Short” Story Collection (Which, by the way, received an excellent summary review from reviewer Paul Asaran last week)—50% off

Colony—25% off

You can get any and all of these through this weekend and Halloween itself! And if you’re new and not sure what to expect, check out all of them—along with some free reading samples—at my Books page!

Minor Stuff

Also, if you’ve been on my Patreon page lately, you might notice some minor changes to the way reward tiers are handled. This one was pretty obvious once it hit me. As I said, nothing big, but a nice minor change that should smooth things a little and differentiate the different reward tiers a bit more. There have been some updates here around the site too—just small things that should make things a little easier for newcomers.

On that note, if there are any changes that some of you would like to see—design, clarity, etc—let me know in the comments!

That’s all for now! See you soon, and I’ve got a battle to write!