R.J. Blain's Blog, page 27

A State of the Blain Address: General Updates, etc.

This will be cross-posted to the newsletter as well, so please don’t be surprised if you get something twice. (I’m tired, quite lazy, and so on.)

It’s been a while since I’ve done a general update, so let’s get down to business. I’ve linked to Amazon, but I think everything is available at all major retailers.

1: Upcoming Anthology, Pets in Space 7, Releases in early October. It costs $4.99, and you can preorder it at Amazon. Some of the profits go to an animal charity. My contribution is ...

A Note Re: EU Titles and a new EU Directive for Consumer Protections. (Apple Books users, please read!)

Greetings, folks.

Today, Apple sent this lovely little message:

Currently, Apple is the only vendor implementing this change, with the general hope that aggregators, like Draft2Digital, will be able to protect author anonymity.

Currently, only one of my titles is directly through Apple with the new directive in implementation, which is Catnapped.

Catnapped is being unpublished from Apple Books and being republished through Draft2Digital, as I currently have zero desire to list my pho...

Public Reveal: Dead Weight: Magic, Mayhem, and the Law in Precinct #153… a mystical detective drama with a twist. (G.P. Robbins.)

As y’all have been really, really good about not bugging me about the series I’ll be working on to replace the Magical Romantic Comedy (with a body count) series as it comes to its end, you get to find out officially what’s going on. (Please note the Mag Rom Com series is not ending because of anything anyone did… it’s ending because the series has come to its natural conclusion.)

I know a lot of you love the Mag Rom Com series, but I’m not extending it beyond the major overlying arc. It’s ti...

Mark Your Calendars: October 6, 2022, Whatever for Hire (eBook) Sale.

The title says it all. Whatever for Hire will be discounted to $0.99 on the week of October 6, 2022. Want a reminder of the sale? Follow R.J. Blain on Bookbub. The official sale is for US stores, but some international stores will also be available at a reduced price.

The post-sale price will be $6.99.

Have a great day, y’all!

P.S.: Saharah the Unicorn judges from her cube. (She needs her mane combed…)

A General Update: Finally Digging out from Beneath Shit Mountain…

This is a candid post regarding the consequences and challenges of chronic pain and illness. As I’ve had some issues with petty little children who think others aren’t allowed to also have mental illness or chronic pain if it isn’t as severe as theirs or someone they know, I’m going to be blunt:

Mental illness and chronic pain isn’t a competition. If your thought process at all involves, “Well, $this_person has it worse,” that makes you a dick.

We clear?

Good. It wasn’t up for discussio...

Fun & Games: Playing with my Sony a7ii!

Let’s just say my anxiety has been tripping for the past few weeks, life is hard, so I have been working on a hobby… one that I’m not all that good with and have a huge amount to learn. Photography! With a fun camera!

I do love my Sony a7ii… I don’t know wtaf I’m doing with it, but that’s fiiiiinnne. Here are some of my favorites from the past few days. Enjoy!

I have a love affair with the pink plant above. This is one of the first times I’ve gotten a decent picture of it. Something ab...

I went on an adventure!

It was roadtrip time in the Blain household. We left on Friday to go to Paso Robles to see a show. We saw Jim Gaffigan, and he was amazing. There were no cameras/pictures allowed at the venue, but we were pretty close. Our truck is longer than the distance from where we were seated and he was doing his routine. It was pretty badass.

I pick the best vacations.

While the folks on the short story patreon got a sneak peek at these pictures, I wanted to share some of the photos from the hotel w...

A Royal States Map

Presented without labels or further explanation. Enjoy.

Short Story Specific (Per creation) Patreon

I have done a thing today. Well, yesterday, but it launches today. It was reaalllyyyyy bothering me how the per novel patreons couldn’t have access to the short stories, esp how I’ve basically opened access to the short stories to everyone doing monthly just because.

So, I came up with a solution. $1 short stories. Stories will be 2,500 to 10,000 words as a general rule, they will be $1 ea (or more if you feel like adding more. $5 and $10 will get very short micro/flash fiction sent to their inbo...

Shattering the Glass Slipper has released!

Greetings, folks!

Today, I’m pleased to let you know that my Jack & the Bean Stalk (twisted) retelling is now out in the wilds in the Shattering the Glass Slipper anthology! It’s $6.99, and it’s available at most retailers.

My contribution is a short story versus a novella or short novel or novel, just so you are aware. I won’t have rights to publish or distribute this story for quite a while, so if you want a copy, this is the way to go.

There is also a print edition available. Hooray!...