Percival Constantine's Blog, page 16

Yes, I am writing

Damn, those Avengers are pretty judgmental, aren’t they?

Well far be it for me to disagree with the combined might of Cap, Thor, Iron Man, and the Hulk. So yes, I have been writing. And the Avengers meme is an appropriate one, because what I am working on does indeed involve superheroes.

I’ve discussed this project a little bit in the past, but haven’t gone into too much detail. And I won’t go into any more detail today. Mainly because I hate talking something up and then failing to deliver on...

Another Project Finished!

Today, I sent off the final short story I had agreed to write. I banged out quite a few of these since around July or so. I agreed to write three stories for Pro Se Productions, although I can’t say much more about them than that until they’ve gone ahead and made an official announcement. The fourth story I agreed to write is the one I just finished, and that’s a Myth Hunter story featuring Asami that will be appearing in the PulpWork Christmas Special 2013.

In addition to those stories and my...

Marvel Unlimited

As I’ve mentioned before, I’m a big proponent of digital media and especially of digital comics. But also as I’ve said before, the DRM restrictions that many publishers place on their comics have turned me off. I won’t be making a return to Marvel and DC until they stop treating their customers like criminals. The logic behind it is senseless, as a simple search over at the Pirate Bay would show that DRM has done absolutely nothing to curb comic book piracy, just like it hasn’t curbed piracy...

The Magic Spreadsheet

As I mentioned recently, my new job has a much longer commute, which gives me more time in the car and more time to listen to podcasts. Mostly I focus on comic book and film podcasts (special mention goes to my buddy Derrick Ferguson, co-host of Better in the Dark and of course, Tommy Hancock and his podcasts, Pro Se Presents: The Podcast and Pulped!), with a few political stuff thrown in for good measure (especially The Bugle).

I also listen to a few writing ones, and one of them I found that...

Sentinels: Apocalypse Rising

This is the third book in Van Allen Plexico’s excellentSentinelsseries of superhero novels, and the conclusion to The Grand Design trilogy. As a writer moves further and further into a series, some of the magic that was present at the beginning can begin to fade. The characters become overly familiar, the surprises grow less surprising, and there’s a sort of “sameness” that develops.

Although I enjoyed the second book in this series,A Distant Star, there was a sense that it was more set-up for...

SoulQuest Cover Coming Along!

Today I’ve got something special for you. Brad Hortonis hard at work on the cover. If you follow me on Twitter, you probably saw I posted a small headshot from Brad recently. Well, I woke up this morning to find the image you see to your left waiting for me in my inbox!

The hooded guy in the cape and wielding a sword is Zarim, the hero ofSoulQuest and captain of the pirate airship, the Excalibur. By his side, as always, is Ekala, his first mate, a rough-and-tumble thief who doesn’t take crap o...

Writing Frustrations

I’m about halfway into the last of the short stories I’m presently committed to write for Pro Se. It’s coming along a bit slowly as I reach into the middle. But it got off to a rocky start. When it comes to these assignments I do for other people, and especially in a genre I’m not really familiar with, I go through a few different stages of progress.

First off, there’s the planning stage. At this point, I’m really excited about the project, and my hand can’t stop scribbling notes in my trusty...

Buy in print, get a free digital copy!

Amazon has just unveiled Kindle MatchBook. With this program, if you buy a print book from Amazon and a digital version is also available, you get the digital version at a discounted price!

I’ve gone ahead and enrolled all my ebooks into this program. That meansChasing the Dragon, Love & Bullets, Outlaw Blues, The Myth Hunter andDragon Kings of the Orient are all now part of Kindle Matchbook. The normal price for these ebooks is $2.99.

But, if you’ve bought any of these books in print form from...

Back to School

September has brought about a return to school on two fronts for me. At the beginning of this month, I began my new day job. I’m still teaching English in public schools here in southern Kyushu, but now I’m working for a private company instead of the JET Program (which imposes a limit of five years). The other major difference is that before, I taught at elementary and junior high schools, whereas now I’m teaching at only elementary schools. I’ve also got a much longer commute, around forty...

Japan Writers Conference 2013

As some of you know, I submitted a proposal to the Japan Writers Conference for their upcoming event this November in Okinawa. About a month ago, I was contacted by them and told that my presentation was accepted! For those of you in Japan, try to come on out to the Okinawa Christian University on November 2nd from 10 am until 5 pm and then again on November 3rd from 10 am until 3 pm. My presentation on self-publishing will be on November 3rd from 2-2:50 in Room #3! I’m really looking forward...