Andrew Seiple's Blog: Transmissions From the Teslaverse, page 6
September 5, 2017
New Mailing List Update
Finally!
Over a year ago, I started work on a serial story for my mailing list. However, as I found out, I'm not the best at regular serial updates. Real life and higher priority projects kept interfering until I said "screw it" and finished the story. Sucker ended up being longer than I expected.
And then I had an epiphany.
Instead of releasing it bit by bit, I could just offer the whole thing up as a free download, to anyone who signed up for the list. And notify all existing members, so they could grab it as well.
And that's just what I did! Clocking in at novella size, "Life in the Fastlane" is the story of Freeway, a hero introduced in Dire:Seed.
But it won't be there forever. Eventually I'll finish up a different piece of short fiction, and then I'll swap Life in the Fastlane out for something new. Someday it'll be reprinted in a Teslaverse anthology, but until that day it'll be gone, baby, gone.
We'll see how often the mailing list fiction freebie updates. Can't promise any sort of schedule, I'm still kind of new to managing this whole career... thing...
But I'm having fun with it, and I hope you are too. At the very least, we'll see some rocking books out of it. And in the future, who knows?
Ciao, folks. Catch you later!
Over a year ago, I started work on a serial story for my mailing list. However, as I found out, I'm not the best at regular serial updates. Real life and higher priority projects kept interfering until I said "screw it" and finished the story. Sucker ended up being longer than I expected.
And then I had an epiphany.
Instead of releasing it bit by bit, I could just offer the whole thing up as a free download, to anyone who signed up for the list. And notify all existing members, so they could grab it as well.
And that's just what I did! Clocking in at novella size, "Life in the Fastlane" is the story of Freeway, a hero introduced in Dire:Seed.
But it won't be there forever. Eventually I'll finish up a different piece of short fiction, and then I'll swap Life in the Fastlane out for something new. Someday it'll be reprinted in a Teslaverse anthology, but until that day it'll be gone, baby, gone.
We'll see how often the mailing list fiction freebie updates. Can't promise any sort of schedule, I'm still kind of new to managing this whole career... thing...
But I'm having fun with it, and I hope you are too. At the very least, we'll see some rocking books out of it. And in the future, who knows?
Ciao, folks. Catch you later!
August 26, 2017
Back!
Back from Gencon. Would've checked in earlier, but it's been a hectic week.
Long story short? It was glorious.
Ah well, back to writing. Got some goodies for my mailing list that I have to finish, before I can move on to the heavy stuff.
Long story short? It was glorious.
Ah well, back to writing. Got some goodies for my mailing list that I have to finish, before I can move on to the heavy stuff.
August 14, 2017
Gencon Memories, Part III
Geeze, time got away from me...
That's fine. Packing's done, and we're prepped for tomorrow. Through an unlikely series of events I secured a room for the Tuesday before Gencon this year, and I'm spending the day with my family in Indy, taking my daughter to the Children's museum, and treating them to a Brazilian steakhouse dinner.
Now where was I?
Indianapolis was a good fit for Gencon. The downtown core around the convention center was packed full of hotels, restaurants, and bars, and as I went back again and again over the years I watched the numbers grow.
I laughed to see things the second year around, because the local businesses realized "Hey waitaminute, these weirdos have money!" Soon restaurants started having theme menus, calling Reubens things like "The Dark Wizard," or showing scifi movies on the nearby TV screens. Various companies donated banners to hang over their favorite eateries... to this day, Privateer Press is pretty much an unofficial sponsor of the Ram brewery while Gencon's going on.
The cops love us. We come to game and don't cause trouble. Eventually the other events in Indy in August started scheduling around Gencon, either avoiding it because of the lack of space, or catering to it, with concerts, art shows, even plays. We boost the local economy by millions, whenever we go.
It's been good there... not all fun times, mind. The last few years' bouts of political stupidity caused a lot of ire. And Gencon, thankfully, stood up for its diverse attendees. That show of solidarity secured my loyalty. I may not know how long the con will remain in Indiana, but I will not hesitate to attend whenever I can.
And now here we are, at Gencon's fiftieth anniversary. Badges are sold out, and so are the city's hotels. I have no schedule, I have no plan, I just have a few ambitions and minor goals.
And yeah, I'm bringing my laptop. Got lots of writing to do. No idea if I'll have time to use it, but we'll see.
Be well, friends. I'll let you know how awesome it was when I return.
That's fine. Packing's done, and we're prepped for tomorrow. Through an unlikely series of events I secured a room for the Tuesday before Gencon this year, and I'm spending the day with my family in Indy, taking my daughter to the Children's museum, and treating them to a Brazilian steakhouse dinner.
Now where was I?
Indianapolis was a good fit for Gencon. The downtown core around the convention center was packed full of hotels, restaurants, and bars, and as I went back again and again over the years I watched the numbers grow.
I laughed to see things the second year around, because the local businesses realized "Hey waitaminute, these weirdos have money!" Soon restaurants started having theme menus, calling Reubens things like "The Dark Wizard," or showing scifi movies on the nearby TV screens. Various companies donated banners to hang over their favorite eateries... to this day, Privateer Press is pretty much an unofficial sponsor of the Ram brewery while Gencon's going on.
The cops love us. We come to game and don't cause trouble. Eventually the other events in Indy in August started scheduling around Gencon, either avoiding it because of the lack of space, or catering to it, with concerts, art shows, even plays. We boost the local economy by millions, whenever we go.
It's been good there... not all fun times, mind. The last few years' bouts of political stupidity caused a lot of ire. And Gencon, thankfully, stood up for its diverse attendees. That show of solidarity secured my loyalty. I may not know how long the con will remain in Indiana, but I will not hesitate to attend whenever I can.
And now here we are, at Gencon's fiftieth anniversary. Badges are sold out, and so are the city's hotels. I have no schedule, I have no plan, I just have a few ambitions and minor goals.
And yeah, I'm bringing my laptop. Got lots of writing to do. No idea if I'll have time to use it, but we'll see.
Be well, friends. I'll let you know how awesome it was when I return.
August 12, 2017
Gencon Memories, Part II
Cardhalla. That was the name of the thing. Just some random thing that con staff had come up with.
It was pretty much a roped off area, five foot by ten or so. And there were stacks upon stacks of old collectible card game cards lying around, donations from people who didn't want them, factory excess stock, or games long dead and of no use to anyone.
The instructions were simple. Come in and build. And build the Gencon attendees DID. They folded, stacked, and crimped cards, making towers and castles and buildings and dragons and all sorts of structures, from cards that would never see play.
They called it Cardhalla.
And it had a further purpose, than just being awesome.
On Saturday night, we came with change in our pockets. The rules here were simple.
You threw change, and knocked down the towers, and at the end of it all coins inside the area went to charity.
And as fascinating and awesome as it had been to see those towers rise, it was satisfying as hell to pitch quarters or handfuls of dimes and blow them away, watch them crumble under the bombardment.
Cardhalla's still around today. It's about four times the original size. And the crowd on ending night is usually big enough that I don't attend anymore. But oh, it's still a sight, and one any first-time Gencon goer should experience in its entirety.
It's rare that you get an event that satisfies both creators and destroyers. Cardhalla manages.
It was pretty much a roped off area, five foot by ten or so. And there were stacks upon stacks of old collectible card game cards lying around, donations from people who didn't want them, factory excess stock, or games long dead and of no use to anyone.
The instructions were simple. Come in and build. And build the Gencon attendees DID. They folded, stacked, and crimped cards, making towers and castles and buildings and dragons and all sorts of structures, from cards that would never see play.
They called it Cardhalla.
And it had a further purpose, than just being awesome.
On Saturday night, we came with change in our pockets. The rules here were simple.
You threw change, and knocked down the towers, and at the end of it all coins inside the area went to charity.
And as fascinating and awesome as it had been to see those towers rise, it was satisfying as hell to pitch quarters or handfuls of dimes and blow them away, watch them crumble under the bombardment.
Cardhalla's still around today. It's about four times the original size. And the crowd on ending night is usually big enough that I don't attend anymore. But oh, it's still a sight, and one any first-time Gencon goer should experience in its entirety.
It's rare that you get an event that satisfies both creators and destroyers. Cardhalla manages.
August 11, 2017
Gencon Memories, Part I
Gencon Memories, Part I
I remember it pretty well. Summer of 2003, a hot August in Indianapolis. First time I'd been in the city, and I was here for one reason and one reason alone; Gencon had moved to Indianapolis, and I wanted to see it for myself.
They called it the Mecca of RPG conventions... not least because back in Wisconsin, it used to be held in a place called the Mecca convention center. The acronym didn't mean the same thing but the saying stuck; it was something you had to see at least once in your life.
Hitherto, Milwaukee had always been out of my reach. Never had the money before, or the time to trek halfway across the country. Not at the same time. But here? Two hours from Dayton? Yeah, I could do that.
The Indianapolis convention center was huge. It put the one in Columbus to shame, and positively dwarfed the one in Dayton. It's only expanded since then, but at the time it had ample room for the events. And the dealer's hall was a decent size, comparable to the one at my old favorite gaming con, Origins. Again, this is something that expanded over the years, the dealer hall now could probably engulf the entire gaming area of the first Indy Gencon and have room left over for a few anime rooms. But at the time it seemed impressive.
That first year? Lots of good gaming, lots of shopping. I didn't know many locals yet, and most of my gaming friends had declined to join me for the trip, so I was on my own and felt it. Stranger in a Strange Land, with apologies to Heinlein.
I wasn't the only stranger. There was a football game going on at the same time, and we had face-painted fans staring at us, with that wrinkled eye look that said their 'weirdo radar' had been triggered. But whatever, we didn't care about stares from randos. Our cosplayers cosplayed, the rest of us slung dice or shuffled cards, and life was good.
Indy really didn't know what to make of us. They'd learn. Oh yeah, they'd learn.
I went home satisfied, resolving to return next year. Seemed like a good supplement to my summer cons, a season that started with Origins and would now end with Gencon.
I had no idea just how much Gencon would grow, shed of its old Milwaukee shell and transplanted to spacious Indy...
I remember it pretty well. Summer of 2003, a hot August in Indianapolis. First time I'd been in the city, and I was here for one reason and one reason alone; Gencon had moved to Indianapolis, and I wanted to see it for myself.
They called it the Mecca of RPG conventions... not least because back in Wisconsin, it used to be held in a place called the Mecca convention center. The acronym didn't mean the same thing but the saying stuck; it was something you had to see at least once in your life.
Hitherto, Milwaukee had always been out of my reach. Never had the money before, or the time to trek halfway across the country. Not at the same time. But here? Two hours from Dayton? Yeah, I could do that.
The Indianapolis convention center was huge. It put the one in Columbus to shame, and positively dwarfed the one in Dayton. It's only expanded since then, but at the time it had ample room for the events. And the dealer's hall was a decent size, comparable to the one at my old favorite gaming con, Origins. Again, this is something that expanded over the years, the dealer hall now could probably engulf the entire gaming area of the first Indy Gencon and have room left over for a few anime rooms. But at the time it seemed impressive.
That first year? Lots of good gaming, lots of shopping. I didn't know many locals yet, and most of my gaming friends had declined to join me for the trip, so I was on my own and felt it. Stranger in a Strange Land, with apologies to Heinlein.
I wasn't the only stranger. There was a football game going on at the same time, and we had face-painted fans staring at us, with that wrinkled eye look that said their 'weirdo radar' had been triggered. But whatever, we didn't care about stares from randos. Our cosplayers cosplayed, the rest of us slung dice or shuffled cards, and life was good.
Indy really didn't know what to make of us. They'd learn. Oh yeah, they'd learn.
I went home satisfied, resolving to return next year. Seemed like a good supplement to my summer cons, a season that started with Origins and would now end with Gencon.
I had no idea just how much Gencon would grow, shed of its old Milwaukee shell and transplanted to spacious Indy...
August 3, 2017
Quiet time...
...that point right between when I've finished a book, and just before I start on a new one. Using it to catch up on errands and other work.
Still, I've not forgotten you. Dire:Sins is making the rounds right now, and Dire:Hell is tentatively planned for November. After that, Hidden Haven, the next of the Dragons ROAR trilogy.
And after that... well, things are gonna get epic. That's all I'll say right now.
Still, I've not forgotten you. Dire:Sins is making the rounds right now, and Dire:Hell is tentatively planned for November. After that, Hidden Haven, the next of the Dragons ROAR trilogy.
And after that... well, things are gonna get epic. That's all I'll say right now.
July 24, 2017
DIRE:SINS is out!
...probably a bit redundant right now, because the announcement is two days late. Sorry about that, got sidetracked. Won't happen again!
Anyway, here's hoping you enjoy it! I'm buckling down for the next book.
What's the title? Well, you know where your sins take you, in the end...
Anyway, here's hoping you enjoy it! I'm buckling down for the next book.
What's the title? Well, you know where your sins take you, in the end...
July 9, 2017
Next Dire on the way!
Whew! Just finished the manuscript for Dire:Sins this weekend, and shopped it out to my editor and the beta circle.
This is the shortest Dire book yet, clocking in at around 85 thousand words... but I don't feel it suffers, compared to the others. I could have padded it, but I didn't. The story ends where it ends, and stretching it out would have been silly.
At least, that's what I think. We'll see what my first-stage readers have to say, and I'll have a long talk with my editor.
Anyway, barring mishap, you guys should have this one available to you by the end of July.
This is the shortest Dire book yet, clocking in at around 85 thousand words... but I don't feel it suffers, compared to the others. I could have padded it, but I didn't. The story ends where it ends, and stretching it out would have been silly.
At least, that's what I think. We'll see what my first-stage readers have to say, and I'll have a long talk with my editor.
Anyway, barring mishap, you guys should have this one available to you by the end of July.
June 30, 2017
Good June
It's been a good month. Started with a laid-back and enjoyable convention, and moved into a decent month of writing. Final Frost got its launch, and while it didn't exactly explode into the charts, it got enough interest that I know I'll be working on the rest of the series sooner, rather than later. A bit saddened that it hasn't received any Amazon reviews yet, but I have faith those will come in time.
If nothing else comes of this, it is good to have a book that I can read to my daughter without having to massively censor violence and language.
Ah well, back to Dire. Might be able to swing a late July launch for book five, if I hustle...
If nothing else comes of this, it is good to have a book that I can read to my daughter without having to massively censor violence and language.
Ah well, back to Dire. Might be able to swing a late July launch for book five, if I hustle...
June 20, 2017
Final Frost is available!
...and ah my friends and oh my foes, it's lookin' fine. I couldn't be happier!
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B072WL4XF5
(Do note that depending on your country, the link will vary. Might have to do some searching if you're outside of the US.)
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B072WL4XF5
(Do note that depending on your country, the link will vary. Might have to do some searching if you're outside of the US.)
Transmissions From the Teslaverse
This is a small blog by Andrew Seiple. It updates once every couple of months, usually.
If you wish, you can sign up for his mailing list at
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If you wish, you can sign up for his mailing list at
http://eepurl.com/bMPrY1 ...more
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