D. Hunter Phillips's Blog, page 12

Swing Dancing Madness/Bonanza

The last week saw a huge change in my new normal weekly routine (which has mostly involved going over to various nerdy friends houses and playing any variety of board/card/miniatures games).

I threw a wrench in the works and went all in this last week with the swing dancing madness!  And when I say madness, I do mean madness extreme bonanza extraordinary fun time.

(I have no idea what this is from, but it is hilarious)

Cast photo for the Beginners and instructors

I hit up a swing DJ Dance on Tuesday.  I hit up a small concert on Wednesday.  I hit up Glen Echo for a big swing dancing night and finished the week with the last of my beginner classes.  Each and every experience was a fun time.  I think I have decided that there is no better way to meet new people.  Talk about a way to break down the barriers.  Having a reason to walk up to complete groups of strangers and ask one of them to dance… that’s like an invitation into the friend circle, as long as you are not creepy.

All of these events were easy enough to find.  gottaswing.com has a great selection of events in the DC area as well as Charlotte, NC, Hattiesburg, MS, and Williamsburg, VA.  I got to dance comfortably with dozens of people.  They were all very accepting of the fact that I was new.  They wouldn’t criticize me or make me feel like a screw up.  When I asked for pointers, I had a number of them that gave me valuable tips.  The #1 lesson that I learned from all of these different trips is that you should not constantly apologize if you mess up, just try to get back on beat and keep your feet moving.  I started by saying I was a beginner and just danced away.  People were so nice, including one of gottaswings organizers, Debra, who danced with me a couple of times and helped me with some techniques.

I’d like to say thanks to Lily Matini and Doug Van Sant, as well as Kevin Idon’tknowyourlastname, for the valuable lessons and friendliness at the Capitol Hill beginner dance classes.  Thanks to Gottaswing.com and living social for introducing me to a whole new way to enjoy life and learn some slick moves.

Rumors Buried Deep Volume II

Rumors Buried Deep

News from the North Road

Cut off

With the massive flooding and torrential downpours over the last few weeks, messages and supplies from the North have been completely cut off.  Even the fords and ferries, that once allowed for secondary routes that didn’t include the Brot-Hope’s Hold corridor, have been wiped out.  The situation in Guddereicht might seem bad now, but with no trade traveling through, it will get worse.  Reports are that half of Bogsville has flooded and that the only structures that remain in tact are the floating reed huts that are fairly common to that area.

The Horde expands

The barbarians spoken of in previous reports are expanding South along the west bank of the river separating the swamps from the Elfyn Wood.  Todrick Clifton, a wealthy fisher from the area reported that, “South Hope Bridge has been burned and that some of the horde have even spread into the forest east of the river.”  Local lords grow concerned, but most believe nothing will be done until the farmlands or the larger towns are threatened.

Local News

Dirk and Dagger Gang Ransacked!

A group of unknown avengers has murdered a number of Dirk and Dagger gang members in their sleep, stealing a number of their weapons and turning over the house.  One tiny local girl says, “They didn’t seem like bad people.  They were sweet to me.”  Another said they woke up to the sound of a slaughter, though they did not see the mercenaries that struck.

Khyrin’s entourage

The heroes have entered the town of Guddereicht, currently residing at the Angry Ogre Inn on the southern edge of town.  Rumors have spread that one of the entourage is a mortal demon, some sort of bastard mixture of man and otherworldly being.  The locals are both excited and spooked.

The News from Port Brot

As if the situation in the North did not make things hard enough for those of the Brot floodplain, many merchants have been steering their way around the Port without docking.  With the lack of additional supplies, tinctures, bandages, and other essential needs are not being met.  Keeping the disease in check has become a near impossibility.  Refugees have filled the rain soaked roads heading north into the farmlands.

Rumors Buried Deep Volume 2

Rumors Buried Deep

News from the North Road

Cut off

With the massive flooding and torrential downpours over the last few weeks, messages and supplies from the North have been completely cut off.  Even the fords and ferries, that once allowed for secondary routes that didn’t include the Brot-Hope’s Hold corridor, have been wiped out.  The situation in Guddereicht might seem bad now, but with no trade traveling through, it will get worse.  Reports are that half of Bogsville has flooded and that the only structures that remain in tact are the floating reed huts that are fairly common to that area.

The Horde expands

The barbarians spoken of in previous reports are expanding South along the west bank of the river separating the swamps from the Elfyn Wood.  Todrick Clifton, a wealthy fisher from the area reported that, “South Hope Bridge has been burned and that some of the horde have even spread into the forest east of the river.”  Local lords grow concerned, but most believe nothing will be done until the farmlands or the larger towns are threatened.

Local News

Dirk and Dagger Gang Ransacked!

A group of unknown avengers has murdered a number of Dirk and Dagger gang members in their sleep, stealing a number of their weapons and turning over the house.  One tiny local girl says, “They didn’t seem like bad people.  They were sweet to me.”  Another said they woke up to the sound of a slaughter, though they did not see the mercenaries that struck.

Khyrin’s entourage

The heroes have entered the town of Guddereicht, currently residing at the Angry Ogre Inn on the southern edge of town.  Rumors have spread that one of the entourage is a mortal demon, some sort of bastard mixture of man and otherworldly being.  The locals are both excited and spooked.

The News from Port Brot

As if the situation in the North did not make things hard enough for those of the Brot floodplain, many merchants have been steering their way around the Port without docking.  With the lack of additional supplies, tinctures, bandages, and other essential needs are not being met.  Keeping the disease in check has become a near impossibility.  Refugees have filled the rain soaked roads heading north into the farmlands.

Rumors Buried Deep, the Guddereicht News

Rumors Buried Deep

News from the North Road

Bandits are more than just brigands

The raids on convoys to and from Hope’s Hold are apparently becoming more than just a few highway robbers. First words reported that the highwaymen were just a few loose bands of gangs from Guddereicht armed with clubs and makeshift slings and bows. It has become apparent from recent reports that the highwaymen are organized and a reported “bandit king” leads the groups.

Raging barbarians

A village located in the swamps east of South Hope Bridge has reportedly been burned to the ground, with no structure left standing and only a handful of survivors spreading words of humans, wood elves, and orcs fighting together in the destruction of the village.

Local News

To Guddereicht, Come the spoils

A group of famed heroes led by Khyrin Laterbjorn have reached the village nearest Guddereicht on the Brot-Hope’s Hold corridor. Within days, their party and entourage will be arriving. The lords of Guddereicht plan the grandest festivities that the town has soon in many a cycle. Many peasants wander where the money comes from for such lavish festivities. Still others simply enjoy the fact that they will finally get a full meal with meat as well as bread and pasta.

Finally, even the untouched is broken

Beggar’s Corner, the last section of town that had resisted the gang violence has finally succumbed. It is believed that this, once the nicest remaining part of town has become a warzone. If none can unite these small groups or bring peace to them somehow, its likely that the shops, inns, and ancient residences will be lost to the ravages of the constant conflict.

The News from Port Brot

Disease has arrived from St. Sinclair, Trofar, and the UTC. Priests speak of doom or deliverance. Meanwhile, the apothecary and physicians guilds both seek out able individuals to work in studying the disease and preventing its spread inland from the coastal regions. The slums are overrun by dead bodies and many are fleeing inland, thus causing a great deal of problems in containing the sickness.

Foreign Influence Rumors

Agents of Orc Hold have been spotted scheming and dealing, some for mercenaries and others for supplies. The dwarves of the area have been seen harboring some of these agents. People worry about the agenda of these agents. Some are excited by a possible interest in the area by a newly formed major power. Could this stabilize the region.

The Town of Guddereicht

The Town of Guddereicht

History:

The city was established early, during the Age of Domination as a trading post with the nearby Wood elves and as a forward base for the Emperor, Darioon, to prepare for his assault against Port Brot.

After the invasion against Brot ended in astounding success, much of the strength of Guddereicht moved on, leaving only a remnant of camp followers, a lord with his retinue, and fortune seekers trading with the wood elves.

During the successful years of the unified world under the Sargovian Empire, Guddereicht began to prosper with trade between the dwarves, elves, and humans. Unfortunately, the War for Ascendancy ended all that when a rebel faction burned down a third of the town before the imperial forces could respond to stop them.

During the Age of the Worshiper Wars, elven worshipers of the Nobilis were hunted down, punished, and executed in a brutal series of years. Finally, most of the elven population evacuated the town under the watch of a strong force of wood elven soldiers.

Dwarves still maintain a strong presence in the town alongside the humans. Adopting worship of the shardborn and now truly embracing it with the addition of a new dwarven god, Rustybeard. Rustybeard, Roegar, and Darioon’s worshipers have allied in hopes of rebuilding the town and the local area.

In the final years of the time before the Age of Rebuilding, a brutal heat wave hit. The locals see this as ironic, compared to the current flooding and downpour that currently effects the area.

Government: A number of lords claim domain and feud over the lands around the town. The town was originally developed as a trading post by Darioon, in his age of conquest, as a place to trade with the wood elves. The lord with the greatest claim is the one who can draw a line back to the original families that were given rule of the land by the original Emperor.

Weather: In recent years, the weather has been rainy nearly all the time. The fields are failing and travel is almost impossible off of the main road that is an axis between Port Brot and Hope’s Hold. The rain did not used to be so extreme, at one point, the temperatures were hot and the rain come in short but intense bursts.

Defense: The cities main defense is the muddy ground. The city guard and the army have fallen apart. The gangs that roam the streets are the only defense the city might be able to muster if it fell victim to possible conquest.

Locations of note:

The Angry Ogre Inn This is one of the more boisterous inns still accepting traveler’s in the town. The serving wenches keeping the hooligans in line, mostly through the respect they have earned to force the other gangs into action.

Economy: The people have grown destitute and even the nobles don’t really make money anymore, they just happen to hold on to the wealth that their families have made over the centuries. Traders rarely stop for longer than a night in this mud pit of a town.

Population: 5,000 people call the town home, reluctantly.

Religion: Shardborn Ascendancy is the most common philosophy, but a few new cults of the Luminatus are rumored to have sprung up.

People of note:

Odric Ritter A shardborn ascendant high priest of Guddereicht. High priest hardly receives the prestige that it once did in the town. More often than not, people throw dung and heckled Holy Ritter.

Karl Backer Karl is a fanatic that blames all the current problems in town on the misplaced faith of the traditional people of Guddereicht. He preaches the faith of Luminatus, condemning the deities of darkness.

Luther Shroder leader of the dirk and dagger gang. This gang commands respect from all the other gangs and also, a number of smaller gangs take orders from this man.

Orlando Schwartz This old grizzled sargeant now spends his time deep into bottles of booze. The disbanded Guddereicht guard has left him with no spirit and low morale.

My Nerd Roots: Avalon LARP

It is time for me to show you my true nerd colors.

When I was a wee geeky lad back in middle school, I fit the stereotype well. I had few friends and had strange habits that all my peers just scratched their head at. I was awkward and looking for something to make life more exciting.

I found it in a LARP, specifically Avalon LARP (http://www.avalonlarp.com/index.htm). It took a few events, but eventually I found a slew of new friends and a great new escapism that let me be a frakking hero. I wasn’t just a dweeby kid with glasses trying to awkwardly talk to the popular cheerleader and crashing and burning, I was SVEN the mother frakking sword and shield wielding warrior.

I went month after month for years in a ever expanding world with plot layer on top of plot layer. I got to run around in the woods in the middle of the night and scare people and be scared. I got to be a part of a grand story that involved hundreds of different characters and people. Talk about your epic fantasy! In a world where Epic Fantasy tales such as George R.R. Martin’s Song of Ice and Fire and Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time series are getting more popular, I got to live out those stories back in the 90′s.

Looking back, I have made so many great friends, and I have so many fond memories.

If you are a nerd looking for a new outlet to meet friends, have a good time, and even maybe get some exercise, well, I have just the thing for you. There are chapters in Virginia and in North Carolina to aid you geographically. Go experience something dorky and something new.

Just so you all know

I have seen the Hobbit.  I just wanted to let you all know, you must go see it.  It was an awesome movie that brought me back to my childhood.  I used to lie down on the couch at home and listen to the records of the book.  The cracks and creeks of the imperfections really added to the wonder of the old, traditional story.

The NanoWrimo Experience

Before I get too carried away, let me first introduce you to Nanowrimo.  National Novel Writing Month (or Nanowrimo) takes place in the month of November every year.  It consists of a website at nanowrimo.org with a number of useful novel writing resources and local support groups of other prospective authors.  The goal towards an individual is for each person to write a 50,000 word novel in the span of November (which adds up to a daunting 1667 words a day to stay on pace).  The non-profit nanowrimo organization also supports educational efforts with the donations they get.

Last year (2011), I did Nanowrimo and I won.  I actually never made it to any in person events and I didn’t do much forum chat on the website either.  I essentially only used the sites word count to give myself a motivating factor to just keep trucking along.  I still haven’t gotten my 2011 novel published.  Though, all it needs are some editorial reviews.

This year (2012), I actually failed to meet the 50,000 word goal.  By Thanksgiving time, I was sitting at about 32,000 words and after not writing for a couple days, I just stopped through the end of the month.  Though I am saddened to say that I did not win, I am not all that worried actually.

This year, I actually made it to at least 1 write-in/support group function each week.  I met a lot of great new people and got to share personal experiences and hear many personal experiences with writing and publishing.  I feel like my future writing efforts outside of the month of November may have support and inspiration now.  Keep the writing going, that is the hardest part.

Secondly, though I did not hit my word count goal, I think that the words that I did put to computer file are a hell of a lot better than the words that I put together last year.  I did half the words, but I feel that the quality of those words and sentences is twice as good.  I also wrote out some actual outlines and summaries of ideas for the story direction and character developments.  So, once I finally get back to writing this book, I really have a great direction set up.

Lastly, my project this year will benefit leading up to publishing in that I wrote out a character bible of my main characters and a summary sheet of what my book is about and the themes I am pushing for.

So, though I didn’t win, I think I might actually get this book published.  People are really excited about the idea of cannibals and unicorns in a modern world!  Should be a blast.  And you’ll have to read the book to learn if there are cannibal unicorns.

A Quick Comment: The Generational Gap of Readers

I have been noticing a trend with my first published book.  There seems to actually be a generational gap in the readers that have enjoyed the book and those that have either disliked it or just not quite “gotten” it.

The readers that “get” the book and its purpose as more than just an action story are deep into the internet-tech culture.  We’ve had conversations about the future and how there might be two groups of people in the future, those that live their lives online and those that live in the real world.  More on that concept some other time.

The second group of readers are those that don’t use a lot of tech devices or spend much time getting involved with the internet subculture.  Essentially, it seems that the message that I attempt to portray (in as few words as possible) in the book is just not clear enough for those that are not into the culture.  I wonder if this is a problem of my writing or that this is a future trend of the next couple decades.

I do think that there will come a point in time where one can’t stay out of the internet “connected” subculture.  Hopefully, when that time comes, I will still be alive and a bunch of people will buy The Trivium Proportion.  Shameless… shameless and hopeful.

Cheers,

D. Hunter Phillips

Interviews ahoy! and other shameless tricks to try to sell your book

My first interview just got launched online since The Trivium Proportion was published.  I’m super excited to be talking to people about this project and my future projects.  There is some level of satisfaction just in the interviews themselves, but I am really excited to see if it will have any impact on exposure for my book.

If you want to see the most recent interview by fanboycomics.net, go check it here: http://www.fanboycomics.net/interview...

I’ve also attempted to contact all my Washington area newspapers up to the Washington Post and heard almost nothing from any of them.  The one that I did hear from, that I would suggest others try, is my College newspaper.  They sounded very excited and want to do a book review and an interview.  Start small and keep your expectations realistic.  I have no idea if this review and interview will help me, but we shall see.  It certainly can’t hurt.

Other than interviews, there are a few avenues I have tapped into for advertising.

I set up a Google Adwords account.  My first bill for that one (after about 15 days) was $20.  From what I can tell, I didn’t make a single sale off of that one.  It really seemed out of whack for what I was getting from Google on that one.  My landing page from Google is currently the Amazon page for The Trivium Proportion, Google suggests that this is weak and might be the problem.  It could be, but I don’t know that another landing page would be worth the price.

I created some Facebook advertising.  My fee for that one is based on exposure and not click throughs.  I spend about a $1 a week on that campaign.  Though I’m not sure if I am really getting much in sales out of that ad campaign, it is cheap enough that it feels like the exposure is worth it.

Finally, I set up advertising through Twitter.  Now, that is the one that I am still on the fence about and least sure of.  The one benefit with advertising on Twitter, is that if you use an American Express card to set up your ad account, you get $100 of free advertising.  Facebook has a similar deal to this, but I believe it was only $20 for free.

Something else that I read about online (and sorry to who posted it, I can’t remember where I read it), is to call individual book stores to get them to stock your book.  One of the reasons I went with Lightning Source was so that my book could be sold in any store, as the book is both returnable and has a wholesale discount.  Unfortunately, the book is listed as POD, so they won’t automatically order it or stock it.  If you call the book store though, there is a strong shot that you can convince them to stock a couple of copies and give it a go.  Doing this also unlocks the ability to do some book signings in these stores, though the lead time for that is pretty long (at least at B&N).

I hope everyone finds them self safe after the horrible devastation of Hurricane Sandy.  Until next time internest!