A simple and sweet plain-old news roundup for this week, folks. Feels like it’s been a while since one of those.
So, what’s happening? Well, first of all, I have some news that might lead to temporary disruption of the site schedule, or at least a few lighter Being a Better Writer posts: My rental contract is up at the end of this month, and I’m fairly certain my landlords are going to be jacking my rent up an obscene amount on the logic of “because we can and we need more money” because that’s exactly what they did last time. With, of course, no improvements to an already less-than-stellar setup.
In other words, I’m looking to relocate, which means time spent checking out new apartments, basements, condos, etc. Plus the actual move itself, which even if about a third of my belongings are still in boxes, is always a pain. The last week of this month might be a little stressful, basically. Just a heads up.
Now, onto happier news. I’m pleased to report that on Amazon, Axtara has brought her review-race with Colony nearly to a tie. As of posting, Colony holds 61 total rankings (and with an average of 4.3 out of 5 atop that). Axtara? Why, she’s just one rating behind, with a total of 60 rankings (and a higher average of 4.8 out of 5)!
Given her speedier progress, it’s very possible that she’ll overtake Colony any day now, but I wouldn’t count the first book in the UNSEC Space Trilogy out yet. See, while Axtara has nearly brought things to a tie on Amazon, over on Goodreads she’s still almost lapped by Colony, her meager 43 ratings nearly doubled by Colony‘s 83. So Axtara‘s winning one race, but the long-term victory still goes to Colony.
Since I’m speaking of reviews and ratings, it’s worth mentioning that a bunch of new ones have swept in across most of the library in the wake of LTUE, as new readers have found—and from the reviews left, greatly enjoyed—their new adventures and discoveries. Starforge in particular seems to have really hit the mark with a lot of readers, being touted as a fantastic ending to the trilogy and a real thrill-ride besides.
That fills me with joy, because I spent a lot of time working on it. If you’re one of those readers that hasn’t swung over to Amazon to pick up a copy yet, I wholeheartedly recommend that you give the series a shot, especially now that it’s complete. I know there are a lot of readers out there that won’t touch a series or trilogy until its complete with a ten-foot pole, and for good reason, considering how much waiting might be had and the risk that a series may never finish. But hey, that risk is gone now with Colony and its sequels, so you can read to your heart’s content!
And if you’re waiting for an audiobook, well … crud. Anyone know how good Kindle’s “Text to speech” routines are these days? Sorry folks, but that’s still on the back-burner. As for paperbacks … Well, how’s this. I promise I’ll take a look at the formatting sometime after my housing situation gets resolved, and see exactly how the whole trilogy might make it into a paperback format, or if it’s even possible with Starforge‘s titanic size.
In the meantime, if you haven’t yet, consider taking part in the race between Colony and Axtara and leave one or both of them a rating/review!
Last bit of news, about what I’m currently working on, past the jump.
Okay, so this might surprise some of you, but I’m still working on this Jacob Rocke novel draft. It’s almost done. In fact, I expect to hit the final reveal today. The draft is sitting just shy of 95,000 words, which means it’ll probably be somewhere around 110,000 when complete.
I honestly don’t expect the version that hits Alpha to be that long. I’m pretty sure there’s some fat on this story that I’m going to trim very aggressively before any Alpha Readers ever see it. However, that will be after I’ve let it sit for a few months and worked instead on Axtara – Magic and Mayhem, aka Axtara #2.
I’m smiling as I write this, because I’m really looking forward to returning to Axtara’s bank for another round of financial fun. Oh, and magical mayhem. It’s in the title, so it’s got to be there, right?
Now, I’ve also got two more short stories in mind, both flash fiction, both of which I’ll probably write before I start work on Axtara‘s sequel, and both of which Patreon Supporters will get to see the draft of. We’ll see what comes of them.
And after Axtara 2? Well, I’ve got a selection of projects in mind. All smaller, novel-sized works, and I’m actually thinking I’ll let the Patreon Supporters vote on which one I tackle. After all, they’re supporters, and I’m not feeling like I need to tackle one in particular, so …
There will be more news and description on what those are as that time nears, which will probably be this summer, while I start editing this Jacob Rocke book.
And that’s the news this weekend. Hope you’re having a great one and that you find plenty of time to read! I’ll see you all Monday for more Being a Better Writer! Until then, I’ve got a mystery to finish!
Unusual Things 