Jonathan Moeller's Blog, page 133
July 7, 2020
Finished BLOODSTAINED: RITUAL OF THE NIGHT!
It took me four months, but I finally beat BLOODSTAINED: RITUAL OF THE NIGHT!
Great game. Though I totally beat it through exploiting the rules. During the battle with the Final Boss (who, in grand Castlevania/Metroid tradition, transformed into a new and monstrous form halfway through) I kept running out of hit points, and you can only carry so many potions in the game. But! There are no limits to the number of food items you can carry, and prepared food items restore hit points as well.
So I used my entire game’s accumulation of gold to buy like 40 Pork Cutlets, and every time I ran low on hit points during the battle with the Final Boss, I ate a couple of them, got my hit points back up, and pounded on the Final Boss with a magical super-katana and the maxed-out Welcome Company shard until I won.
That said, it would be an extraordinarily difficult game to beat without a guide. For just one example, you need an item called the Aegis Plate to continue the game, and it’s almost impossible to find it without a guide. I used the guide at NintendoLife.com, which was really helpful.
But if you enjoyed the Castlevania and Metroid games back in the 90s, then you’ll definitely enjoy BLOODSTAINED.
I haven’t decided what game I will play next. Maybe it’s time to finally, finally finish the main plot of SKYRIM. I’ve been playing SKYRIM on and off for nine years, and I still haven’t finished the main plot. Perhaps the time has come at last.
-JM
The Pulp Writer Show, Episode 35: How To Write A Really Long Series
In this week’s episode of the Pulp Writer Show, I share some tips and tricks for how to write a really long series. The show also has a short preview of the forthcoming audiobook of GHOST EXILE OMNIBUS ONE.
-JM
July 4, 2020
DRAGONTIARNA and fire
I only wrote 3500 words of DRAGONTIARNA: DEFENDERS today, but I did set a fire for purposes of food preparation. 
DRAGONTIARNA: DEFENDERS at 100k words
Passed the 100k word mark for DRAGONTIARNA: DEFENDERS! Still not done.
Way back in March when I was planning things, I was hoping to release DEFENDERS in the first week of July, but it didn’t work out that way.
Still, maybe it’s for the best. The American market doesn’t buy books in the first week of July. No, during the first week of July, the American market gets drunk and shoots off fireworks at 2 in the morning. But it’s possible I’m extrapolating incorrectly from my neighbors.
July 3, 2020
Kindle Unlimited June 2020
It looks like June 2020 was my best month ever for Kindle Unlimited page reads, and KU will be about 12.6% of my pre-tax writing revenue in June. Thanks everyone!
My best KU title in June was THE GHOSTS OMNIBUS ONE, which had 12.3% of the total page reads. But that’s an omnibus version. The best individual title was WRAITHSHARD: MAGE & KNIGHT, which came out in June and got 8.17% percent of the total. Overall, the three WRAITHSHARD books got 19.8% of the total pagereads in June.
So I’d say my experiment of having some stuff in KU but definitely not everything, is working out pretty well so far.
My three bestselling non-KU books have been DRAGONTIARNA: WRAITHS, DRAGONTIARNA: GATES, and GHOST IN THE COUNCIL.
-JM
July 1, 2020
DRAGONTIARNA: DEFENDERS halfway point!
I keep reworking the outline of DRAGONTIARNA: DEFENDERS as I write it. Originally it was going to be 30 chapters, then 25, then 28, and then 29.
But! One final rework, and the outline is now on 27 chapters. I decided to shift some subplots to the next book, because otherwise they will break up the flow of DEFENDERS’ climax, and this book is going to have a very tense climax.
June 30, 2020
DRAGONTIARNA: DEFENDERS end of June update
We’re just about to the end of June, so let’s have a progress update on DRAGONTIARNA: DEFENDERS!
I’m on Chapter 13 of 28, and 71,600 words into the rough draft.
Still hoping to get it out in July, but August is looking more likely.
-JM
The Pulp Writer Show, Episode 34: Seven Tips For Dealing With Failure & Frustration In Self-Publishing
It’s time for another episode of The Pulp Writer Show!
In this week’s episode, I discuss 7 ways to learn from failures and avoid frustration while self-publishing.
-JM
June 29, 2020
GHOST IN THE HUNT free today 6/29/2020!
To celebrate the release of GHOST IN THE HUNT in audiobook (as narrated by Hollis McCarthy, available on Audible, iTunes, Amazon US, Amazon UK, and Amazon AU) the ebook of GHOST IN THE HUNT is free today 6/29/2020!
It’s the first time Caina faces her archnemesis (well, one of them) Kalgri the Red Huntress, so if you haven’t read it before you’ll definitely want to do it now.
You can get it at Amazon US, Amazon UK, Amazon Canada, Amazon Germany, and Amazon Australia!
-JM
June 24, 2020
DRAGONTIARNA: DEFENDERS progress update
6 chapters of DRAGONTIARNA: DEFENDERS down, 22 to go!
Just finished a chapter with Niall and Moriah dealing with some of the problems introduced in LEGIONS.
