Dane Barrett's Blog, page 2

Sad trends on Facebook

It’s disappointing to see a disturbing trend on the social media platform Facebook lately as new fans come on board the existing gamebook groups there. What was once a place to celebrate gamebook history and new writers has now become a haven for haters to attack authors and illustrators alike. I myself have left three facebook groups, Fighting Fantasy (and Other Gamebooks), the Gamebooks Australia and NZ group and even the Gamebook Author’s guild due to personal attacks and harassment by people belonging to those groups, some of whom could be considered senior members. I have also witnessed hate directed at another new author who will be the newest representative for Scholastic’s Fighting Fantasy label as the recent cover reveal for her upcoming book did not fit the expectations of traditionalists. Also, a well respected artist and illustrator was recently targeted as members basically accused him of tracing a movie image without any kind of evidence to back it up. The whole thing makes me sad that these groups, once a safe place for gamebooks fans all over the world, are steadily becoming more hostile towards those that are attempting to keep the hobby alive. I am seriously thinking of giving up writing gamebooks after my next book is released (within the next month) if this is the trend we authors and illustrators can expect from so-called ‘fans’. Such a pity.

Reducing social media reach

I have always felt as an author that the use of social media in building a base of like-minded friends and other authors would be a good thing, allowing to share new ideas, new releases and help support other authors and readers. It also can help putting myself out there, and as an extreme introvert this can be important. Instead, however, especially of late with people being stuck in various kinds of lockdown, it would appear being an author on certain social media groups can make you a focus for targeted abuse, especially if you chose to share an opinion which may not follow the general feeling about a product or topic. It is because of this that I have now departed two Facebook gamebook groups, which will remain nameless due to some good people still being associated with them, but who I can no longer be part of which such hate-mongers present in their numbers. I will still be active on social media in some other groups, but may pull back on offering my opinions in future posts. I can only hope that as the virus eventually disappears and the world slowly returns to normal that these people find some kind of way out of their hate drive and return to some semblance of kindness and acceptance to others. Thank you to those who have supported me and my writing (over the last two years especially), and I hope I can keep providing content which you enjoy.

General updates

* The Ballad of Lonely Scar is going through its final proofing and playtest stage so I hope to have that book out within the next month sometime (though I think I remember saying the same thing about Voyage Across the Galaxy, and we know how many times that was delayed!).
* Then I have a bit of a problem; I haven't plotted out a new book after the current one (I envy Jonathan Green who has apparently already plotted his next 6 books!). I had plans for an investigative undercover story based around a futuristic sport and another where you play the part of a Necromancer accompanying a group on a treasure hunt, but those are very much work-in-progress, storyline-wise. I've also got a small pet project which is more like the old CYOA books which I intend to be about 120 sections/pages long, but that won't be as chunky as the books people have come to expect from me. Unfortunately, unlike my previous titles, I don't have any of these pre-plotted. What I had hoped to have as my next project was a two-player two-book thing where the readers were competing against one another using a book each, but a lack of source material to reverse engineer so that I can come up with my own workable design has prevented that project from coming to light. So I'm not really sure what to do next (it's not writers block, because I'm still splurging ideas down onto paper on a daily basis). I can only hope I can come up with something else for you guys before I'm forced back into the workforce! :P

Voyage Across the Galaxy released on Amazon

My new book, Voyage Across the Galaxy, is now available exclusively on Amazon. This gamebook is a sequel to Children of the Painted Apple, though set decades afterwards after humans have taken to exploring and colonising space. It can either be read as a standard adventure without dice, or played with dice using a skill system similar to that used in The Defenders of Dusk, and combat systems similar to those employed in the FF book Starship Traveller (though still using Dusk's skill system). Here's the blurb:

When Human beings finally sought out new destinations within the stars, discovering worlds and starting new colonies to make homes away from the planet Earth, they sadly brought with them the same ambition and greed which brings about crime and the exploitation of others. To combat such threats, the IFA (Intergalactic Federal Authority) was created, dispatching frigates to patrol the known galaxy, tasked with keeping the peace. You are one of many lone salvage operators working throughout Earth's own Sol System. You live a quiet, solitary existence in the galaxy, though with an unsettling presence stirring at the edge of IFA-controlled space, your fate is about to bring about unexpected changes.

Voyage Across the Galaxy delayed again due to customs issues.

My proofs have been held up in customs, so there will be another delay in the release of 'Voyage Across the Galaxy'. Hopefully only by a few days.

Lonely Scar over 500 sections and counting.

My latest 'shorter' book, the Ballad of Lonely Scar, just passed 500 sections. Its a shorter book, honestly! Oddly enough even though it may end up with passages totalling up to around 550 the book itself may end up being shorter page-wise than the Defenders of Dusk, as there are a tonne of sections in there used for keeping track of reader decisions, hence why so many. :)

First draft of The Ballad of Lonely Scar nearing completion.

It looks like I'm going to complete the first draft of 'The Ballad of Lonely Scar' before I've even managed to get 'Voyage Across the Galaxy' to market! Well, at least I know when it comes time to order a proof for 'Scar' it should take just as long to arrive which will stretch out the release between the two books. I've already started planning my next one; hoping to get the same amount of releases done this year as the last, if possible

The Ballad of Lonely Scar

So let's try to get something positive back on the horizon. While the release of 'Voyage Across the Galaxy' is still pending (apologies again for the delay in that release) I am currently about three quarters through writing a smaller gamebook named 'The Ballad of Lonely Scar'. This book is set in the same fantasy universe as 'The Defenders of Dusk', though it isn't any kind of sword or sorcery story (though there is a little bit of magic). The setting is actually around a campfire with a group of town guardsmen transporting their families to the City of Dusk after they were rewarded lands after the city's great defence previously. As the group pauses for the night, a Bard named Elrey (played by the reader) is asked by the group's children if he could sing a song. As a response, and because the camp is under the shadow of a mountain called Lonely Scar, he chooses to sing a tale of a young peasant girl named Annabelle who experienced a fight for her very survival when her village (built upon the mountain) was overrun by beasts. To spice up the story, the flamboyant Elrey chooses to let the children choose what Annabelle will do at certain stages of the tale.There won't be a dice system this time, but there will be a 'health' system where Elrey confiscates pebbles from the children each time they make a choice which leads Annabelle to harm or fear. Yes, it all sounds very weird, but let me assure you its even harder to write!

Voyage Across the Galaxy release time window

Estimated release time frame for Voyage Across the Galaxy is now early June. I know it was meant to be out in April, but unfortunately Lulu made a mess of things and I've had to redo everything through KDP. Receiving proofs from Amazon takes a long time for my country, hence the delay. Hope to have it out soon, though!

Project updates (mostly cancellation)

Project updates (due to reader feedback and genre demand - all of these were past 50% complete):

Voyage Across the Galaxy - Adventure gamebook (and sequel to Children of the Painted Apple which takes place decades later) where you take the part of a lone salvager who, upon stumbling across a decimated fighter squadron, is pulled into a galaxy of intrigue, aliens and the unknown. - Proofing and playtesting finished. Finishing FINAL DESIGN changes.

Galaxy Vigil - Star Trek-style replayable space exploration gamebook in which you use crew and several starships from across the fleet to gain control of the galaxy. - CANCELLED.

Paraninsula - Horror/Paranormal gamebook set upon the Coromandel peninsula of New Zealand. - CANCELLED and retooled for another project.

Skies of Szkarłat - Gamebook following the escapades of (fictional) New Zealand pilot Ray Serling in WWII as he is shifted from the decimated RNZAF squadron 141 of Boulton Paul Defiants to become a flight leader in a newly-formed RAF squadron of Polish pilots flying Hurricanes due to his ability to speak the language. This move is to help prepare for the inevitable Battle of Britain. Fights were determined using a dogfighting system which played out in first person cockpit views (this part of the book design was completed) while ground-based adventures took place as pilots waiting for action got up to no good. - CANCELLED, though might be retooled for something else in the near future.