Aaron A. Reed's Blog, page 6

Win a unique advance copy of Subcutanean!

As of Friday there are 13 days until Halloween, so to celebrate, I’ve launched a Goodreads Giveaway for one of 13 unique copies of Subcutanean, my creepy new horror novel whose text changes with every copy. While no one is looking. Spooky!

Autumn book mock-up template courtesy covervault.com.

Each of these copies, like the final versions, will contain a unique version of the story. For the very first round of Advance Reader Copies I sent out a few weeks ago, the code and prose...covervault.com.

Each/>Autumnlooking. Spooky![image error]

Thanks! I’m hoping to release it around the same time the book comes out in early 2020. Stay tuned…

Thanks! I’m hoping to release it around the same time the book comes out in early 2020. Stay tuned…

The Trouble with Transitions

The Trouble With Transitions

In my last post I described the .quant format, a minimalist syntax I created for writing Subcutanean (a novel that changes each time it’s printed). For example:

The DEFINE command sets the variable verbose to either true or false at random, producing one of two possible outputs when the text is rendered:

I’m having a really quite wonderful day, actually, thank you for asking.
I’m having a great day.

I actually use variables like this a lot in Subcutanean to ensure that...

Subcutanean Cover Art Reveal!

I’m excited to reveal the final cover art for Subcutanean, my upcoming novel where no two copies are the same. Without further ado:

Do you like it? I’m pretty pleased with how it turned out. Here’s the full cover spread for the Advance Reader Copy edition (details of the back cover text might be tweaked for the final printing):

And here it is again in a nice free book mockup from covervault.com:

In case you’re wondering, after the Advance Reader Copies the cover will most likely remain the same...

A Minimal Syntax For Quantum Text

Subcutanean, my upcoming novel that changes each time it’s printed, works like this: there’s a master text with the whole story, occasionally splitting into alternate versions and variants at the level of words, sentences, or even whole scenes. Each time the book is “rendered” for a new reader, a single option from each set of variants is randomly chosen, resulting in one particular version of the story. I wrote earlier about the aesthetics of why you’d do this, but the how is interesting too...

Twisty Little Novels, All Different

My upcoming novel Subcutanean is built from procedural text, but it’s not interactive. Each time someone orders a copy, they get a print (or digital) book containing a full-length novel, with nothing in the text itself suggesting it’s anything other than definitive. But no two copies are exactly the same: key scenes, moments, and words will be altered from one to the next.

Excerpt from two different renderings of the same scene in Subcutanean; sometimes, the whole scene would be different.

Writ...

Subcutanean: Advance Reader Copies are Available!

Earlier this week I announced my new project Subcutanean: a novel that’s different for each person who reads it (you can read the plot summary on Goodreads). I’m happy to add that I now have a limited number of advance print copies of Subcutanean available, and I’d love to send one to you!

Despite the project’s tagline, these ARCs (Advance Reader Copies) are in fact all the same version — Seed #01893, if you’re interested. I’m still finalizing both the software and prose for the final “quantum...

Subcutanean: A Novel Where No Two Copies are the Same

I teased it a few weeks ago, but today I’m pleased to officially announce my next project: Subcutanean, a novel coming to print-on-demand and ebook formats that changes for each new reader.

Sign up to be notified when preorders go live.

How does it work? The master manuscript contains hundreds of moments of variation on the same core story. Sometimes these are whole scenes that might appear in some versions but not others: sometimes they’re single words that change the way you might feel about...

Some Book Recommendations

In between making roleplaying games, making tools for conversational characters at Spirit AI, and prepping a secret crowdfunding campaign (shh!) for a new book, I’ve been doing a lot of reading, and wanted to highlight three recent books in particular that stuck with me.

If you’re a writer, you’ve probably done this: you start voraciously reading about a certain topic for research, and then long after that project’s over find yourself still buying research books on that topic because, apparent...

Character Engine 1.0 Release Candidate

Character Engine 1.0 Release Candidate Now Available

We’re pleased to announce a new stable release of Character Engine that we’re confident enough in to label version 1.0! After more than a year of iterative improvements, our release this month includes a number of updates and fixes to the tool, engine, and infrastructure, representing the most advanced version yet of Character Engine. We’re releasing this version on our developer portal a bit early to give beta users time to experiment befor...