R.J. Blain's Blog, page 28

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!...

Reviving the Newsletter. (New signup, from scratch.)

I am restarting my mailing list from scratch. This list will have messages sent when one of the following happens:

A new book goes up for preorder on an announced pen name.

A book is releasing soon or has recently released.

A new audiobook has released.

A secret pen name has released a title. (Users on this mailing list will not find out about the secret pen names until after the book’s release; Patreon users will still get first crack at secret pen name books.) Note: this mailing li...

Pets in Space 7 (a Preorder featuring a short novel by yours truly) plus a Chip on Her Shoulder’s upcoming discount!

To start this show, I have written a short novel entitled Life-Debt, which is in the upcoming Pets in Space 7 anthology. This anthology is a charity drive for Hero Dogs.

This is my first published foray into science fiction/space opera, so I hope you enjoy the ride.

Viva’s story will be a foundation story for an entire world of hybrid space foxes and those wise enough to charm them! (And yes, while there is a man chest, my story does not have sex on the page as usual.)

Pets in Space...

A Quick Note Re: the Error Report Form (On my site)

Hey, folks.

I’ve been wading through the error report form, and wanted to just do a quick heads up. When reporting typos, please, please, please make certain you include the title of the book. I have written (and published) over 50 books now, and it becomes very interesting if you forget the title of the book. (So far, I’ve gotten lucky with minimal opening and closing, but part of that was only due to having reread one of those books recently.)

Also, while I know some of you can’t stand r...

Aphantasia can really suck sometimes.

What is aphantasia? Aphantasia is a wiring fault in the brain that limits or completely blocks off a person’s ability to envision, recall/remember, or otherwise visualize anything in their mind. There are various stages of aphantasia. Some people can ONLY recall, and have no visual imagination. Some people can’t recall but have some ability to ‘create pictures in their head.’ Some people can’t remember what something smells, tastes, or feels like.

I have complete aphantasia. This means I ...