R.J. Blain's Blog, page 33

On today’s episode of “Adventures with Armchair Editors…”

Dear humans,

We understand this kitty well. The sadness, the grief, the exasperation. All of these things we share as Supreme Feline Beings.

The female can’t come to the computer right now. In fact, she fled, leaving the keyboard completely unattended. Of course we needed to take over and get to work regaling you about the female’s Adventure with the Armchair Editors.

Buckle up, our not-furry friends. (And get ready to purr or bark your laughter, our furry companions!) You are in fo...

Some Serious Talk.

Initially, I posted this on my personal facebook page to get it out of my system. This has been bothering me for a while. The blogger who came onto my blog to complain at me because I dare to have a ‘to be continued’ in the middle of a series just helped hammer at things a bit.

This isn’t a pleasant talk. It’s not a pleasant post at all, really. It’s honest. There are spelling errors. (I do not care there are spelling errors. It was posted on my PERSONAL facebook page, so if you are the kind ...

State of the Blain Address: February 2022 Edition.

Hey, folks.

The cats are sleeping. Or playing. Possibly threatening to take over the world. As such, you get the general creator today. I’m going to start off with a warning that this includes a rant. Frankly, it’s starting with the rant.

Last night, someone decided to come onto the blog and lectured me about how I could “do better” about “cliffhangers” and that I am doing all of my readers a disservice through daring to use a plot mechanism type that all writers should forever ban fro...

Inquisitor is on sale for $0.99.

As the armchair editors successfully got Beginnings suppressed, I have decided to offer one book at $0.99 once a month for essentially the rest of eternity. The first book up for grabs is Inquisitor, the first Witch & Wolf novel. Some readers have noticed that the book is actually second in chronological order, but I highly recommend you read it first, as it was my introduction into the world and how the Witch & Wolf world came to be.

This is a semi-dark urban fantasy splashed with little bit...

Well, armchair editors pissed in the pool for everyone. No more collections. Sorry, but I’m really not sorry.

I woke up to this today. It is December 23, 2021. There was no warning, just suppression. All because of an armchair editor, AKA someone who decided to complain to amazon, unsolicited, and ‘edited’ the book.

There were examples of the current armchair editor rewriting things in their style rather than mine. They did catch some legitimate typos, but… nope. I’m done.

I was taking significant losses running those collections to give people an affordable way to catch up in a series. No mor...

Working on the new and improved (and easier on me) 2022 schedule…

Everything in this post is subject to change if I mention a book order or so on. Mostly, I want to talk about reader expectations versus writer obligations.

The only thing a reader ever owes a writer is the price tag of their novel. In my case, $5.99 for a full-length novel, $6.99 or $7.99 if the length is utterly ridiculous, $2.99-$4.99 if they’re shorter works, and $9.99 for collections.

I base the price on the word count, and the lowest I’ll go is typically around 20,000 words. I prefer...

Plaidypus has been delayed until May 17, 2022.

Dear humans,

We’re sorry. (But we’re not that sorry.) Let us explain: for the first time in five years, the female is taking off for the holidays. She deserves time with the male. This is the beginning and the ending of that story. Without moving Plaidypus, she couldn’t do that. Moving to May was the sensible time to move it, preventing a backlog of books and crunched deadlines.

That means there will be changes to the publication schedule. We’re also sorry but not sorry for this. (The fema...

Hoofin’ It is on Sale, plus some random thoughts regarding Vigilante Magical Librarians (that weren’t actually included because tired.)

Hey, folks.

Truth is, I (that RJ person) is too tired to get the cats, wrangle them, and make them earn their keep today. As such, they’re sleeping. (Their favorite hobby, y’all.)

Here is Zazzle having claimed ownership of my purse.

Here is Princess having claimed ownership of a potato. (Side note: the paper is from preparing for 20Books in Las Vegas. The potato… just don’t ask about the potato, okay? It’s been a rough week, and that potato is now HERS.)

All hail Princess’s P...

The Vigilante Magical Librarians and Royal States Series are *NOT* connected, y’all.

Dear humans,

Y’all are weird. Like, really weird. We of the Furred & Frond Management love y’all to pieces, but y’all are weird.

As the title of this post suggests, we have gotten an amusingly high number of people speculating that the Vigilante Magical Librarians series is a precursor to the Royal States series.

We don’t got a clue in hell where y’all are getting that idea, but we are amused. But, since we’re here, let’s talk about it!

This show is now being written by the female. E...

Booked for Kidnapping is now available! Hooray! Happy Book Birthday, Janette & Friends.

Following the assassination of Senator Maybelle, widespread rioting and unrest transform the presidential campaign into a lethal circus. With protests raging over the new bill, the government scrambles to restore peace and order.

Armed with a probationary private investigation license, Janette and her friends race against time to prevent the next murder. On the surface, the motive for the killings seems simple enough: the senate bill, if passed, would transform the United States into a mi...