Blind_Justice: Blog

...Mud and Magic IX, that is. I have just finished the last paragraph in what has turned out to be a nearly 70,000 word epic of a "chapter".

Now, all it needs is a serious edit pass or five and then I'll release it upon the world. Since it is such a monster, I'm going to split it in three separate chapters which will then be released in a staggered format. The first will go up as soon as I have it back from my editor, so you all have something to read for the holidays. (Not that there's a shortage of that around SoL, but you know what I mean.)

Chapter X will go up in January and chapter XI in February. This staggered release will give me a less cramped work flow.

Impatient readers can find the whole chapter as soon as I'm done with the first edit pass (turning it from gibberish into a coherent text) on my Patreon. The address can be found on my SoL homepage.

For those not following my Patreon, here's a little update on what happened in the weeks since I posted Mud & Magic 7 and 8.

I've been out with a fierce cold/influenza which had me totally clogged up and unable to do anything. The past five or so days I've tried to catch up with my self-appointed schedule.

So far, my creative juices have held up and I've managed to grow what will probably be chapters 9 and 10 from 5,000 words to over 30,000 words, describing the events taking place after Rhys and company thrashed Carver's supply depot. We have a Lishaka and Chassari arc, a Rhys and Borna arc and a Celeste arc which all will hopefully tie together in the end.

Here's the thing - the chapter is extremely "dense" with story threads and character development. I'm afraid the pace has turned from "leisurely" to "extremely sluggish" and since many of my regular beta readers are MIA, I'm looking for a pair of eyes or five to give what I have a whirl, maybe with hints on what (if anything) needs to be tightened or cut entirely.

If anyone feels generous enough to dedicate a few hours to me, I'd be eternally grateful. Get in touch and include both some kind of contact info and what file format you want the story in.

Thanks in advance!

Mud and Magic 8 has been posted to the queue ahead of schedule. I've tried and planned to release the current chapter simultaneously here and on Literotica and for once, Lit's vetting editor has surpassed my turnaround estimates by a freaking country mile. So expect M&M8 to go live later today. Have fun and don't forget to shoot me a note if you hated it.

Quick update:

I've just submitted Mud & Magic chapters 7 and 8. To allow more time for the proper polishing of #9, chapter 8 will release in two weeks from now, on the second of November.

One of the biggest hurdles for me as an aspiring indie author with almost zero eyesight is promotion and outreach. I've read dozens of helpful tutorials, blog posts and articles by well-paid experts which agree on one thing - the louder you shout and the more channels you flood, the better your chances of being heard.

Well, shit, Sherlock. Leaving aside the very obvious usability problems (many social media sites simply are hell to read with a text-to-speech screen reader), spending time pimping my stuff on Facebook, Twitter, Reddit and where else eats into my quality writing time. I also haven't found that one superfan willing to take promotion off my hands and paying an agent or PR person is out of the question, not with the peanuts I'm making.

Heck, even providing regular updates in this space is quite a bit of work. No diss against SOL - their interface works better than most. What I'm aiming at is this:

Up to the minute updates on my writing can usually be found at my Patreon page.

https://www.patreon.com/Blind_Justice

Yes, the page has some paywalled content like extra world information exclusively written for Patrons, but my progress updates are visible to all, as are all my stories. I even like to toss in the occasional extra for visitors, like today's post titled "A flame is lit", which includes a sneak peek at Mud & Magic Chapter VII. The full story will be posted here (and on that other site) as usual, but I thought I'd offer a glance at what I've been cooking the last few nights.

Thanks for your time and I hope I'm not breaking a ton of submission guidelines posting this.