Jason A. Cheek's Blog, page 10
August 16, 2019
THE RELEASE OF BOOK 5 OF THE WORLD, THE TRUE ENEMY REVEALED!
Here is the back cover description of the story:Landing in Darom, Startum Ironwolf is confronted by the devastation being wrought by the Chaos Storm alliance and is forced into a guild war of epic proportions. With the beginnings of a massive invasion from the northern tribes looming on the horizon, Star fights his way across the Kingdom of Kader to reach his friend. Along the way, the face of the true enemy is revealed with the deception of a close friend. Somehow, Star and his allies must survive the betrayal and the overwhelming odds stacked against them.
For those of you who are fans of the series, I ask for your help with positive reviews on Amazon. Well, at least if you like the story ;) This is my first public release of book five and I can use all of your help to fight the IAK guild. From their all out attack on the audible version of book 4, I'll definitely need your help to fight them with book five.
I did a silent release for those fans on Goodreads, Facebook, Patreon, and email that I could reach directly on July thirty-first, when the book first came out. So far the results have been incredible. First place in Fantasy Adventure and Dark Fantasy Horror. That wouldn't have been possible without your support.
I'm sure the ratings will change dramatically once the IAK guild get's wind of the book being out. Luckily, with your help, it won't too much of a concern as with the rest of the series.The good news is that book 6 is already in the pipe. I'd planned to have this be just one massive book, but once I hit 700 pages, I decided I had to split the week up into two books. Also, with how the audible books work out with splitting profits, having a book that's too large isn't worth the extra work as far as the voice actors are concerned. If I wanted to be able to get Jason Hill down with doing the new audible book then I had to make sure the book wasn't too big.
I hope you enjoy the story. The action really ramps up once Star hits Darom and starts making his way towards Dominic's fortress. There was a lot of PVP action at the beginning of this book, but, due to the nature of the situation with the PKers, it was inevitable. Luckily, there is a good PVE story to go with all of the action and a surprised betrayer and villain at the end. Also, make sure you check out the Post Credit Scene at the back of the book. In the future, this will be a cool way for me to sneak in extra cool elements for the series.
If you're interested in seeing some of the unique parts of the story that was either pulled and reworded, or the beginning chapter of book 6, you can find that on my Patreon page here: https://www.patreon.com/user?u=23281087
August 14, 2019
THE RELEASE OF THE AUDIOBOOK, HELPING A FRIEND, BOOK 4 OF THE WORLD
This is just a quick heads up for fans who were interested in knowing when the next audiobook of the series was being released. Book four of The World series is currently out and available on audible.com here https://www.audible.com/pd/Helping-a-Friend-Audiobook/B07VB62BL9?pf_rd_p=d4bd4ee1-b56e-4ffb-8f73-3fbb8d604669&pf_rd_r=31MGNSEA1M8N1ADGYM3Q&ref=a_author_Ja_c19_lProduct_1_5 The release date for the book was on July 18, 2019. You can find the audio sample for the book here:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nM52x... I know I’m a little late on broadcasting the official release date of the book by nearly a month on my blog and Facebook page, but that’s due to the constant attacks I still receive from the IAK guild, aka The Indie Author Killer guild. By now, you’d think that they’d have given up trying to bash my series and block sales, but that couldn’t be farther from the truth. It doesn’t matter if it’s The World series book 1, 2, 3, or 4. The IAK guild watches my blog continuously, they hit me on Goodreads, they smash me on Amazon, they bash me on Audible, they watch my Facebook account, they try to bash me on Facebook groups, and even try to hack my accounts. The IAK guild truly spends and incredible amount of time, effort, and money (especially on the audible book side) to block my series.
The only good thing, I guess, is that it takes away from their ability to write and create good stories. While I’m writing new books, they are bashing me and other Indie Authors as almost a full-time job. Who knows, maybe that’s how they make their money. I’ve gotten so accustomed to it that it’s just par for the course.
The IAK guild has been successful to a point. If not for their constant attacks, my series would be sitting at a solid 4.9 to 5.0 stars rating. If my books are left alone for a week or two, they immediately start rising up through the rating ranks. Still, even with all of the IAK guild love, my books are still “sitting good” in their overall ratings. Yes, they are rift with reviews saying some of the nastiest things about me and the series, but as with most controversy, that just seem to motivate new readers to check out the books even more. So, in some ways, I guess I owe the IAK a big thank you for making The World series stand out that much more in the sea of LitRPG and Gamelit titles.
In the end though, it’s you, the fans of the series, which have stopped these PKers from blocking my books. You have successfully nullified the worst of their attacks and kept the series alive. The initial reviews on the silent release of book four’s audible book built up to the point that the IAK guilds’ attacks fell flat once they realized the new book was out. After that, it was everyone’s reviews that keep the ratings up high enough to encourage new readers to continue seeking out the series. Without your staunch support, The World series would have faded away to obscurity long ago due to the activities of the IAK guild.
Please accept my heartfelt thank you and know that every new book in the series is only possible because of your continued support. This is also why I always encourage everyone to leave reviews for me and all of the authors that you like. Only in this way will you ensure that those authors will continue to write the stories that you love to read and stop the IAK guild from blocking everyone but their members. Otherwise, the genre we love will be full of carbon copy titles that read the same and only vary by different MC names and themes.
Lastly, I want to thank everyone for allowing me, as an author, to experiment with new storylines and ideas. I really went all out in Book four. The good thing is that the novel is nothing like I’ve ever read before. The bad, is that some of the topics can be somewhat uncomfortable at times. It is the nature of my writing to do my best to make the series as realistic, deep and well-written as I possible. My world is not a pretty, cutesy place. It is dark and gritty where the digital AIs that make up The World do their best to live and survive.
Star finds himself in a lot of unique situations. He is not a hero, nor would I say that he’s an anti-hero. He’s just a guy doing his best to play a game and have fun, while trying to help his friends hit the Pro Gamer status. At the same time, he does his best to treat people right, whether they’re digital people or a fellow players like him. As with anyone, he has baggage from his past. Whether it’s in the form of his abusive childhood or relationships with abusive women, it weighs down his soul and makes him who he is. He’s also a young, horny guy in his early twenties who definitely appreciates the physical beauty of women in the game world. That doesn’t mean he’s an overt lecher, but, as with everyone, he has his own internal dialog and thoughts. It has always been my belief that actions speak louder than words. If you’re going to judge Star, judge him for what he does and how he treats people.
While books 1 through 3 were more about Star exploring the world and the people in it, book 4 shows the beginning of his growth on the inside. The level of horror and suffering in The World really hits Star deeply and he begins to change by the end of the story. This change will grow in the proceeding books and I hope does a good job in representing how experiencing trauma and horror can alter a person in real life. I hope you enjoy the journey.
Jason Cheek, author of The World series.
PS: I will be starting a Patreon page soon!
The only good thing, I guess, is that it takes away from their ability to write and create good stories. While I’m writing new books, they are bashing me and other Indie Authors as almost a full-time job. Who knows, maybe that’s how they make their money. I’ve gotten so accustomed to it that it’s just par for the course.
The IAK guild has been successful to a point. If not for their constant attacks, my series would be sitting at a solid 4.9 to 5.0 stars rating. If my books are left alone for a week or two, they immediately start rising up through the rating ranks. Still, even with all of the IAK guild love, my books are still “sitting good” in their overall ratings. Yes, they are rift with reviews saying some of the nastiest things about me and the series, but as with most controversy, that just seem to motivate new readers to check out the books even more. So, in some ways, I guess I owe the IAK a big thank you for making The World series stand out that much more in the sea of LitRPG and Gamelit titles.
In the end though, it’s you, the fans of the series, which have stopped these PKers from blocking my books. You have successfully nullified the worst of their attacks and kept the series alive. The initial reviews on the silent release of book four’s audible book built up to the point that the IAK guilds’ attacks fell flat once they realized the new book was out. After that, it was everyone’s reviews that keep the ratings up high enough to encourage new readers to continue seeking out the series. Without your staunch support, The World series would have faded away to obscurity long ago due to the activities of the IAK guild.
Please accept my heartfelt thank you and know that every new book in the series is only possible because of your continued support. This is also why I always encourage everyone to leave reviews for me and all of the authors that you like. Only in this way will you ensure that those authors will continue to write the stories that you love to read and stop the IAK guild from blocking everyone but their members. Otherwise, the genre we love will be full of carbon copy titles that read the same and only vary by different MC names and themes.
Lastly, I want to thank everyone for allowing me, as an author, to experiment with new storylines and ideas. I really went all out in Book four. The good thing is that the novel is nothing like I’ve ever read before. The bad, is that some of the topics can be somewhat uncomfortable at times. It is the nature of my writing to do my best to make the series as realistic, deep and well-written as I possible. My world is not a pretty, cutesy place. It is dark and gritty where the digital AIs that make up The World do their best to live and survive.
Star finds himself in a lot of unique situations. He is not a hero, nor would I say that he’s an anti-hero. He’s just a guy doing his best to play a game and have fun, while trying to help his friends hit the Pro Gamer status. At the same time, he does his best to treat people right, whether they’re digital people or a fellow players like him. As with anyone, he has baggage from his past. Whether it’s in the form of his abusive childhood or relationships with abusive women, it weighs down his soul and makes him who he is. He’s also a young, horny guy in his early twenties who definitely appreciates the physical beauty of women in the game world. That doesn’t mean he’s an overt lecher, but, as with everyone, he has his own internal dialog and thoughts. It has always been my belief that actions speak louder than words. If you’re going to judge Star, judge him for what he does and how he treats people.
While books 1 through 3 were more about Star exploring the world and the people in it, book 4 shows the beginning of his growth on the inside. The level of horror and suffering in The World really hits Star deeply and he begins to change by the end of the story. This change will grow in the proceeding books and I hope does a good job in representing how experiencing trauma and horror can alter a person in real life. I hope you enjoy the journey.
Jason Cheek, author of The World series.
PS: I will be starting a Patreon page soon!
April 12, 2019
Pictures and Concept Art for the Characters of the World
For anyone who's interested in the pictures of the in real life friends that are the basis for the characters in the story and concept pictures I used to develop characters like Helgath, Hollysharp, and others, you can check out my Facebook page here: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100007596607095
I try to throw up little tidbits as I can on the Facebook page and will continue to do so. There's also pictures of our LAN parties like what was in the beginning of book four. People like Hefe, AJ, Jill, Mike, JellyDonutMan and LittleAsianGirl are all there, including myself. Yeah, my heavy gaming days and my extreme sports pictures after the break-up I had with Julie. Julie isn't my ex-gaming girlfriend's actual name. I split her up into her good side named Krystal and her bad side named Julie, leaving the real name out. I also mixed her strategy in with a few of the other 'bad guy' and 'gal' friends I played in the past, so she's a little bit of a conglomeration of all of these people combined.
Anyway, I thought I'd do a quick post for those of you who are interested. In so many ways I miss those LAN party days. We used to do a party like that every other weekend. If a new game had just come out, it would be every week for a few months straight, with easily 20 to 30 people at the party. This wasn't laptops and flat screen monitors, but the older CRT monstrosities and full gaming desktops.
Hope you enjoy the pictures and visuals of how I picture some of the characters.
I try to throw up little tidbits as I can on the Facebook page and will continue to do so. There's also pictures of our LAN parties like what was in the beginning of book four. People like Hefe, AJ, Jill, Mike, JellyDonutMan and LittleAsianGirl are all there, including myself. Yeah, my heavy gaming days and my extreme sports pictures after the break-up I had with Julie. Julie isn't my ex-gaming girlfriend's actual name. I split her up into her good side named Krystal and her bad side named Julie, leaving the real name out. I also mixed her strategy in with a few of the other 'bad guy' and 'gal' friends I played in the past, so she's a little bit of a conglomeration of all of these people combined.
Anyway, I thought I'd do a quick post for those of you who are interested. In so many ways I miss those LAN party days. We used to do a party like that every other weekend. If a new game had just come out, it would be every week for a few months straight, with easily 20 to 30 people at the party. This wasn't laptops and flat screen monitors, but the older CRT monstrosities and full gaming desktops.
Hope you enjoy the pictures and visuals of how I picture some of the characters.
March 25, 2019
AMAZON RETRACTS THE BLOCK AND DENIES THE ACCUSATIONS OF PLAGIARISM
The book is now officially copyrighted, which means it has gone through the United States Government's checks. Also, Amazon did there checks and confirmed that the book was not plagiarized either. Not to mention the apology email I received above.I want to thank all of the fans of my work for the positive reviews, Facebook comments and blog comments stating that they didn't see the plagiarism and that the similarities weren't anything other than writing in a specific genre.
I'm sure the hate coming from the LitRPGPodcast guy, his group of Indy Author Killers, and Luke Chmilenko won't stop, but by now that's par for the course. Simply reading book one will prove the accusations wrong. It still sucks that they can do something like that without evidence. Just a group of friends complaining against an new Indie Author that they want to shut down. Luckily, justice was served.
Thank you for all of those who addressed the issue directly and spoke the simple truth with eyes unclouded by hate or greed. I redid this post to add in information like my official copyright received and stuff.
March 19, 2019
A Quick Update on Book 5 and What’s Planned for the Proceeding Books in the Series.
The good news is that book five is well on the way. I missed about three weeks dealing with a bunch of corrections for book one through four. By the time I got that settled, I came down with a nasty case of bronchitis that completely took me down for a good three weeks. I was able to get a little bit of writing in, but spent most of the time collapsed in bed. It seemed like I couldn’t stay awake for more than three hours straight. Finally though, I’ve started to feel better and the story is flowing out of me.
The good news is that I’m over 40k words into the story, but already I can see this is going to be another immense novel. It will cover the whole ‘rescuing Domenic’ from the PVP Alliance of Chaos Storm. While there is a lot of PVP action in the story, there is also a huge PVE (Player vs Environment) story going on within the world itself. I’m excited because of what that will bring into the series adventure wise, since the world is changing due to the decisions players are making in the training area.
Oh yeah, the training area which is called the Norden Region for being a part of Earth’s Nordic region and the entire current map is only the game’s training area. My current plan is for the base leveling range to be up to fifty for this area and basically players shouldn’t even leave the area until they’ve reached near that level. Outside of the training areas will be monsterville. Some monsters will be just that, individual monsters. Others will be tribes. There will even be entire empires of monsters that are living and doing their own thing within the world.
There are other training areas in the world. Basically any location that is a peninsula or an area that is off on its own. A good example of this would be Florida. These will be the other game start areas as the game opens up to the entire world to play. There is not set area for Europe, Asia or the Americas. Everyone will join where they happen to join that hasn’t filled up yet. The game’s world is a reflection of the Earth. I haven’t decided yet but I might make it an earth with the same continent structure that is basically 50x as large as our world. That part I haven’t decided yet, but it explains the Norden region and why it’s being used.
Story wise I have a good twenty novels if not more waiting to be written without any second thought. Many of the empires and cultures have already been formulated with more that are coming. I already have many of the cultures for Germany, Russia, Italy and Africa. That part of the adventure and exploration will continue while our intrepid heroes deal with old and new enemies. I’m really excited about some of these areas. I’ve been working on creating some awesome civilizations and slowly building the storylines to go with them. Some added fun will be mounts around level 40 or 50. Flying mounts around level 80 to 100 which will lead to a whole new development of flying races and civilizations. So yeah, there is really no end in sight as long as you’ll like the stories. (This isn’t for the trolls that like to keep a close watch on my sight, you can hate and not understand my storyline as much as you like. Thankfully, I have more than enough fans who love the storyline and adventures that I write.)
Some people have wondered why the leveling is so slow, but the truth of the matter is that the story is in the adventure and the exploration. Rushing to an imaginary end level to actually start playing the game seems to be all the rage nowadays. Old Dungeons and Dragons, Anarchy Online, EverQuest and World of Warcraft was about exploring the world. You leveled extremely slow which gave you time to go out and have an adventure and see the world. That in itself was the goal of these games. The idea that you’re living in these world. Not just hurrying up to the end content before you run to the next game.
You can think of Startum Ironwolf a little bit as the old Captain Kirk of Star Trek or Han Solo of Star Wars. He likes the ladies and he really isn’t put off by fur, green skin, pointy ears, tentacle hair, scales or extra arms and legs if they’re pretty and interested in him and vice versa. There had been some confusion about this to some readers, but I think for most Dungeons and Dragons or MMORPG players, this is nothing new. These games have always been about other races and species. It didn’t matter what male or female people were, everyone loved their orc, troll, tauren, minotaur, goblin, elf, dwarf, gnome and etc etc. There have always been Wolfkin, Foxkin, Batkin, and more that people have relationships with in a fantasy storyline or virtual kind of way. Maybe my choice of a centaur for a love interest was somewhat shocking to non-gamers, but it will definitely be part of the storyline in my world in one way or another.
There has been some comments about how could someone fall in love so quickly. I just chuckle whenever I hear the story. Many of the times this is being asked by people in their 40s and 50s. Obviously, they forgot how it was when they were in their early 20s. Everyone I know has fallen for someone in a matter of days. Felt that desire to marry this new person in their lives because they believe them to be their soulmate, only to find out a week later that there were personality differences that didn’t mesh as well as they thought they did. For better or worse, it happens to everyone at one time or another and is why Las Vegas has so many White Wedding Chapels. Luckily, most of us don’t fall into this type of trap, albeit a large number of people do every year.
Anyway, now that I’m getting healthy the storyline is flowing and I’ll do my best to get book 5 out as quickly as possible. Figure a few months J
The good news is that I’m over 40k words into the story, but already I can see this is going to be another immense novel. It will cover the whole ‘rescuing Domenic’ from the PVP Alliance of Chaos Storm. While there is a lot of PVP action in the story, there is also a huge PVE (Player vs Environment) story going on within the world itself. I’m excited because of what that will bring into the series adventure wise, since the world is changing due to the decisions players are making in the training area.
Oh yeah, the training area which is called the Norden Region for being a part of Earth’s Nordic region and the entire current map is only the game’s training area. My current plan is for the base leveling range to be up to fifty for this area and basically players shouldn’t even leave the area until they’ve reached near that level. Outside of the training areas will be monsterville. Some monsters will be just that, individual monsters. Others will be tribes. There will even be entire empires of monsters that are living and doing their own thing within the world.
There are other training areas in the world. Basically any location that is a peninsula or an area that is off on its own. A good example of this would be Florida. These will be the other game start areas as the game opens up to the entire world to play. There is not set area for Europe, Asia or the Americas. Everyone will join where they happen to join that hasn’t filled up yet. The game’s world is a reflection of the Earth. I haven’t decided yet but I might make it an earth with the same continent structure that is basically 50x as large as our world. That part I haven’t decided yet, but it explains the Norden region and why it’s being used.
Story wise I have a good twenty novels if not more waiting to be written without any second thought. Many of the empires and cultures have already been formulated with more that are coming. I already have many of the cultures for Germany, Russia, Italy and Africa. That part of the adventure and exploration will continue while our intrepid heroes deal with old and new enemies. I’m really excited about some of these areas. I’ve been working on creating some awesome civilizations and slowly building the storylines to go with them. Some added fun will be mounts around level 40 or 50. Flying mounts around level 80 to 100 which will lead to a whole new development of flying races and civilizations. So yeah, there is really no end in sight as long as you’ll like the stories. (This isn’t for the trolls that like to keep a close watch on my sight, you can hate and not understand my storyline as much as you like. Thankfully, I have more than enough fans who love the storyline and adventures that I write.)
Some people have wondered why the leveling is so slow, but the truth of the matter is that the story is in the adventure and the exploration. Rushing to an imaginary end level to actually start playing the game seems to be all the rage nowadays. Old Dungeons and Dragons, Anarchy Online, EverQuest and World of Warcraft was about exploring the world. You leveled extremely slow which gave you time to go out and have an adventure and see the world. That in itself was the goal of these games. The idea that you’re living in these world. Not just hurrying up to the end content before you run to the next game.
You can think of Startum Ironwolf a little bit as the old Captain Kirk of Star Trek or Han Solo of Star Wars. He likes the ladies and he really isn’t put off by fur, green skin, pointy ears, tentacle hair, scales or extra arms and legs if they’re pretty and interested in him and vice versa. There had been some confusion about this to some readers, but I think for most Dungeons and Dragons or MMORPG players, this is nothing new. These games have always been about other races and species. It didn’t matter what male or female people were, everyone loved their orc, troll, tauren, minotaur, goblin, elf, dwarf, gnome and etc etc. There have always been Wolfkin, Foxkin, Batkin, and more that people have relationships with in a fantasy storyline or virtual kind of way. Maybe my choice of a centaur for a love interest was somewhat shocking to non-gamers, but it will definitely be part of the storyline in my world in one way or another.
There has been some comments about how could someone fall in love so quickly. I just chuckle whenever I hear the story. Many of the times this is being asked by people in their 40s and 50s. Obviously, they forgot how it was when they were in their early 20s. Everyone I know has fallen for someone in a matter of days. Felt that desire to marry this new person in their lives because they believe them to be their soulmate, only to find out a week later that there were personality differences that didn’t mesh as well as they thought they did. For better or worse, it happens to everyone at one time or another and is why Las Vegas has so many White Wedding Chapels. Luckily, most of us don’t fall into this type of trap, albeit a large number of people do every year.
Anyway, now that I’m getting healthy the storyline is flowing and I’ll do my best to get book 5 out as quickly as possible. Figure a few months J
February 15, 2019
The Trolls Are Back So I Could Use A Little Fan Support
Hey, looks like that small group of LitRPG writers and friends are still going after me with the hate. Check this guy out:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/customer-re...
https://www.amazon.com/gp/customer-re...
Oh, or this one https://www.amazon.com/gp/customer-re... where Startum is now an emasculate soyboy. What's funny, if you read the rest of the review it contradicts itself.
Who would have thought that they'd pull this against book 1 and book 4? There are a few others doing the hate. Book 1 got a few taps of troll luv too.
I guess an Indy Writer can't be successful without getting trolling attacks by other authors. It would be helpful to report these people in as the haters they are with that click of a button if you have a moment. The 'Report Abuse' is right under the review ;)
Some, like this one for book one 'Doesn't understand mmorpg's' https://www.amazon.com/gp/customer-re... are almost funny. At least it would be if it wasn't being used to bash me.
Anyway, this was their most recent attack has knocked book 1 back down to 4.2 from 4.3 and book 4 from 4.7 to 4.4 I guess people are liking both books just a little too much and they had to try to find a way to stop people from enjoying my series. This is why I'm always asking people to leave a good review whenever you can.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/customer-re...
https://www.amazon.com/gp/customer-re...
Oh, or this one https://www.amazon.com/gp/customer-re... where Startum is now an emasculate soyboy. What's funny, if you read the rest of the review it contradicts itself.
Who would have thought that they'd pull this against book 1 and book 4? There are a few others doing the hate. Book 1 got a few taps of troll luv too.
I guess an Indy Writer can't be successful without getting trolling attacks by other authors. It would be helpful to report these people in as the haters they are with that click of a button if you have a moment. The 'Report Abuse' is right under the review ;)
Some, like this one for book one 'Doesn't understand mmorpg's' https://www.amazon.com/gp/customer-re... are almost funny. At least it would be if it wasn't being used to bash me.
Anyway, this was their most recent attack has knocked book 1 back down to 4.2 from 4.3 and book 4 from 4.7 to 4.4 I guess people are liking both books just a little too much and they had to try to find a way to stop people from enjoying my series. This is why I'm always asking people to leave a good review whenever you can.
February 13, 2019
WOOT! Finished Up the Outline for Book Five, Plug for Eric and His Awesome Publishing with Contact Information, Thoughts on the Humane Treatment of NPCs and the Discord Chat Client
So yes, the outline for book five has been completed. What does that mean, it means I have everything generally laid out that’s going on in the story and can now start writing out the story. I’m not sure how everyone else does it. I’ve been asked what writing method or template I use to sketch out my story line and I’m always like, “What are you talking about?” I don’t use any templates or writing method nor have I ever researched them. Honestly I’m not interested in anything like that.
My perspective for the story comes from two places. First, I picture how the scenes would look from the perspective of watching a movie. If the action or scenes aren’t interesting to me if I were watching it as a film, then I need to change it around. Second, I’m playing a video game. No really, I’m mentally playing the best video game I’ve ever played. Sometimes I’m just as surprised about what happens as the reader. While a non-gamer wouldn’t understand that, you gamers do. The whole thing with Fylreh was a complete surprise. How things fell together once Helgath became my soulmate, all a freaking surprise. I was stunned and amazed at how that brought the entire story together. Cough … cough … kissing Fylreh and having a centaur girlfriend … Yeah that was a total surprise. When I wrote it, I just pictured what my friends would say to me the next day if they saw the stream and that’s how the whole chat came out. Would Hefe had really sent a pink shot? Yes, yes he would have and everyone else’s reaction would have been the same. Domenic and I laugh about our friends antics as we discuss the story. I just remembered that’s one I have to share with him since he hasn’t made it to book four yet.
Anyway, my outline is what keeps me focused and on track for the story. I had a little bit more of an issue this time getting into my mental ‘outline mode’ and kept trying to write the story. Finally, at midnight last night, I just said to myself. “Stop writing the story and write the god forsaken outline.” I got a good ways through and stopped at 2 AM and then woke up and finished this morning. Yeah, now that I have the outline finished, I’ll be going back to a 5 to 6 AM schedule to start writing and probably stop somewhere in-between midnight and 2 AM. I have no idea how long the story itself will be until the characters and scenes start building. Then, I’ll misjudge everything like usual. I like how the outline looks and think it’s going to be an excellent story. Not as creative in some ways as book four and it will be ugly in a different way than the last story.
While it might be somewhat upsetting to people, it’s a part of the story. PKers are not nice to real people which means they are even uglier to people they think of as ‘cardboard cutouts’ for their enjoyment. I’ve noticed and have heard that several writers in our genre have been treating NPCs in the game that have full thought process and feelings as nothing but tools to be used and thrown away. I find that quite unsettling to be honest. It’s not just a reflection of an ugly soul, it’s the same perspective a serial killer when they’re looking at their victims. The good thing, it shows just how ugly people can be and fits into the brutality of my world perfectly.
From my abusive childhood, my time in the service in various third world countries and even my trips now, I’ve seen a lot of the horror regular people can do to one another. I’ve also seen a lot of the beauty caring people bring into the world and how simple kindness can change someone’s life. Gaming tends to be a microcosm of the world. You see the good, the bad and the ugly sides of people in the micro-virtual universes we call MMORPGs. The whole Syndicate story is directly taken from my own in-game experiences in the past. Most of my situations are taken directly from our game play. So, to you griefing asshats and writers who uncaringly treat their NPCs like slaves and cardboard cutouts, thanks for making my world that much real and a reflection of reality.
Ugh, I meant to put Eric’s plug in before the NPC story. I had no idea how much editing cost and have never looked into purchasing professional editing for my series. I knew I simply didn’t have any money for the cost of paying for a professional editor. While getting attacked by jealous writers was somewhat unsurprising, what did surprise me was how many editors got nasty and basically gave me bad reviews as a way of promoting their services. Eric looked it up and found a good article: https://mirandamarquit.com/how-should-you-charge-for-freelance-editing/
Basically, just checking for misspelled words is a minimum of $7 per page. If you want grammar correction or straightening out the story you’re talking a starting price of $11 to $20 per page. Seriously, what Indy Writer could possibly afford that? That professional writers charging $16.99 for their books slam Indy Writers for grammar and spelling when they are selling their books for only $2.99 is pretty ridiculous. We all do the best we can and if not for the fans of The World series, the books wouldn’t be in the good shape they are in now. That’s because, no matter how hard I try, I suck at finding spelling errors. Luckily, I get visits from editors who like to point out glaring errors on levels or points which I gladly apply immediately. I’ll take a bad review to make the correction any day of the week. Anyway, Eric is quite affordable and he’s open to helping people if your story is interesting for an affordable price. Here is his email: totenliste@yahoo.com if you’re interested. While he’s not an expert, your get more for your money working with him, trust me on that. It’s the least I can do for all the volunteer work he’s done on my series.
Also, I picked up the Discord chat client. I’m suggest emailing me ahead of time if you want to drop me a line at jasonacheek@gmail.com because I’m somewhat careful about my contacts. For those of you who know my job, you also understand the reason. I’m pretty easy to talk with albeit not that I have a lot of time if I want to have any hope to get book five out in a decent time. Anyway, with that said, here is my Discord chat contact information: JasonACheek#7422
Lastly, thank you for all of the support. The last few days is the first time I’ve kept my 4.3 star rating on book one without it being pulled back down to 4.1 or 4.2 stars from trolls. I can’t thank everyone enough for the support and know that book four, five and six which are mostly already planned out would have never seen the light of day without your support.
My perspective for the story comes from two places. First, I picture how the scenes would look from the perspective of watching a movie. If the action or scenes aren’t interesting to me if I were watching it as a film, then I need to change it around. Second, I’m playing a video game. No really, I’m mentally playing the best video game I’ve ever played. Sometimes I’m just as surprised about what happens as the reader. While a non-gamer wouldn’t understand that, you gamers do. The whole thing with Fylreh was a complete surprise. How things fell together once Helgath became my soulmate, all a freaking surprise. I was stunned and amazed at how that brought the entire story together. Cough … cough … kissing Fylreh and having a centaur girlfriend … Yeah that was a total surprise. When I wrote it, I just pictured what my friends would say to me the next day if they saw the stream and that’s how the whole chat came out. Would Hefe had really sent a pink shot? Yes, yes he would have and everyone else’s reaction would have been the same. Domenic and I laugh about our friends antics as we discuss the story. I just remembered that’s one I have to share with him since he hasn’t made it to book four yet.
Anyway, my outline is what keeps me focused and on track for the story. I had a little bit more of an issue this time getting into my mental ‘outline mode’ and kept trying to write the story. Finally, at midnight last night, I just said to myself. “Stop writing the story and write the god forsaken outline.” I got a good ways through and stopped at 2 AM and then woke up and finished this morning. Yeah, now that I have the outline finished, I’ll be going back to a 5 to 6 AM schedule to start writing and probably stop somewhere in-between midnight and 2 AM. I have no idea how long the story itself will be until the characters and scenes start building. Then, I’ll misjudge everything like usual. I like how the outline looks and think it’s going to be an excellent story. Not as creative in some ways as book four and it will be ugly in a different way than the last story.
While it might be somewhat upsetting to people, it’s a part of the story. PKers are not nice to real people which means they are even uglier to people they think of as ‘cardboard cutouts’ for their enjoyment. I’ve noticed and have heard that several writers in our genre have been treating NPCs in the game that have full thought process and feelings as nothing but tools to be used and thrown away. I find that quite unsettling to be honest. It’s not just a reflection of an ugly soul, it’s the same perspective a serial killer when they’re looking at their victims. The good thing, it shows just how ugly people can be and fits into the brutality of my world perfectly.
From my abusive childhood, my time in the service in various third world countries and even my trips now, I’ve seen a lot of the horror regular people can do to one another. I’ve also seen a lot of the beauty caring people bring into the world and how simple kindness can change someone’s life. Gaming tends to be a microcosm of the world. You see the good, the bad and the ugly sides of people in the micro-virtual universes we call MMORPGs. The whole Syndicate story is directly taken from my own in-game experiences in the past. Most of my situations are taken directly from our game play. So, to you griefing asshats and writers who uncaringly treat their NPCs like slaves and cardboard cutouts, thanks for making my world that much real and a reflection of reality.
Ugh, I meant to put Eric’s plug in before the NPC story. I had no idea how much editing cost and have never looked into purchasing professional editing for my series. I knew I simply didn’t have any money for the cost of paying for a professional editor. While getting attacked by jealous writers was somewhat unsurprising, what did surprise me was how many editors got nasty and basically gave me bad reviews as a way of promoting their services. Eric looked it up and found a good article: https://mirandamarquit.com/how-should-you-charge-for-freelance-editing/
Basically, just checking for misspelled words is a minimum of $7 per page. If you want grammar correction or straightening out the story you’re talking a starting price of $11 to $20 per page. Seriously, what Indy Writer could possibly afford that? That professional writers charging $16.99 for their books slam Indy Writers for grammar and spelling when they are selling their books for only $2.99 is pretty ridiculous. We all do the best we can and if not for the fans of The World series, the books wouldn’t be in the good shape they are in now. That’s because, no matter how hard I try, I suck at finding spelling errors. Luckily, I get visits from editors who like to point out glaring errors on levels or points which I gladly apply immediately. I’ll take a bad review to make the correction any day of the week. Anyway, Eric is quite affordable and he’s open to helping people if your story is interesting for an affordable price. Here is his email: totenliste@yahoo.com if you’re interested. While he’s not an expert, your get more for your money working with him, trust me on that. It’s the least I can do for all the volunteer work he’s done on my series.
Also, I picked up the Discord chat client. I’m suggest emailing me ahead of time if you want to drop me a line at jasonacheek@gmail.com because I’m somewhat careful about my contacts. For those of you who know my job, you also understand the reason. I’m pretty easy to talk with albeit not that I have a lot of time if I want to have any hope to get book five out in a decent time. Anyway, with that said, here is my Discord chat contact information: JasonACheek#7422
Lastly, thank you for all of the support. The last few days is the first time I’ve kept my 4.3 star rating on book one without it being pulled back down to 4.1 or 4.2 stars from trolls. I can’t thank everyone enough for the support and know that book four, five and six which are mostly already planned out would have never seen the light of day without your support.
February 4, 2019
Thoughts on Book Four’s various relationships and some fans’ reactions, favorite characters and an update the trolling hate.
Finally I got Book Four out. What a great feeling to finally have it available for everyone to read. This was the first time I’d ever made a deadline for my writing and then completely blew it on making the date. Eric, who was beta reading and helping me with corrections, just laughed every time I told him I was nearly finished, since he knew where my story was ending at and didn’t see how I’d possibly make it in just a few weeks and then days. Every few days I’d send him thirty document-sized pages for him to correct and give me feedback on the story. Seriously, it was the first time I’d ever gotten regular feedback like that while writing. Steven, another fan, gave me a lot of help too on the beta reading and kept me cheered up whenever the jealous writers would decide to knock my book down whenever the ratings reached 4.3.
It’s almost like clockwork. This time it took a day and a half before it showed up, but whenever my book one reaches 4.3 stars, I get a few writers and/or editors that smack me with two or three one or two star reviews with some outlandish blah of hate. One of the last ones made a comment that was “If Mr. Cheek could stop jerking himself off long enough to learn how to write an interesting character” or my other favorite “Doesn't understand mmorpg's.” You’d think blatant nasty comments would go against Amazon’s guidelines (which it does) but unfortunately they’re not usually enforced? It’s also one of the reasons I usually ask people to leave some love for book one. I think they choose 4.3 as the magic number because that’s when the star’s pictures goes from looking like 4 stars to 4 ½ stars.
!!!POSSIBLE SPOILER ALERT FOR BOOK 4!!!
Some of the feedback I’ve received in reviews from book four have been somewhat different than what I expected for a few of the scenes. It’s almost like people think that Tavon and Star’s companions slept together or that Star and Fylreh slept together in the story but that never happened. The joke with Tavon getting drunk and horny and the women being shocked but in a funny way goes back to some of the old LAN party stuff that has happened to my friends and me. Where someone would pull up some porn and people would be like wtf or we’d be in the country at a farm of one of our friends when one of the farm animals start to go to town on their mate or at a party where someone’s dog start to get horny or hump each and the jokes and slight embarrassment sometimes that come up from such raw nature. I wanted to capture that reaction where people laugh it off as being just normal. I think some people’s imagination took a few of the scenes to the next level and one that wasn’t there by some of the comments.
The situation with Startum and Fylreh is another story altogether. Their drunken make-out session goes back to any party where you and the girl you were interested in were making out hot and heavy and then shocked the next morning when you’re faced with the reality of what you did. Or, in Star’s case, where he was trying to help Fylreh and she was blitzed out of her mind and getting all handsy with Startum. There was no one ‘taken advantage of’, although sometimes it seems like two people can’t make innocent mistakes in today’s day and age without one of them now getting in trouble. If your both young, your both innocent and you both get a little tipsy. Who’s at fault the next morning when you realize you were sucking face with someone you didn’t expect to? Now don’t make this innocent comment into a bigger issue than it was. We’re not discussing some of the bad stuff that can and do happen. This is really about that simple mistake that can sometimes occur between two people that respect and like each other. That was Fylreh’s and Startum’s first kiss.
Interesting enough, they both end up deciding to explore a relationship together from mutual respect. At the end of the book, a stupid fight pops up and they’re both left heartbroken. Another common thing that we’ve all been through. Some people think it’s because he’s naked with Helgath, but that is not the case. In the story, everyone was naked for the majority of the end part of the story that the nudity at that point is inconsequential due to the general horror of the situation. Besides, Fylreh doesn’t have an issue with nudity in general, specifically with Helgath or that they’re bathing together. Her issue with Helgath is that she has some Orc blood in her veins. This is because, in my story, the Centaur’s ‘Racial Enemies’ are Orcs. In Dungeons and Dragons, races sometimes simply hate other race that is their designated ‘racial enemy’ to the point where they blindly hate them and will even attack whether the person themselves are good or bad.
For Fylreh and Startum to continue having a relationship, Fylreh is going to have to learn to look at Helgath as an individual and not as an Orc. I brought this up to reflect some of what I see happening in our society today. It seems like more and more people are choosing to hate other people just because of their color, culture, age or race. Instead of using their own mind to judge the individual actions as just or unjust, they are simply hated due to no fault of a person’s birth. For me, this is something that is an atrocious concept and one I wanted to address in the story.
Lastly, Startum only actually has sexual relations once in the story and that is with Keela. It doesn’t quite work for either one of them and they part as friends and companions. Companions being a term used for NPCs that have attached themselves to a player in the game. That doesn’t mean Fylreh and he doesn’t get hot and heavy here and there but there is no other sex going on with our intrepid adventures in book four. From some people’s comments, they think the bathing scene where Fylreh and Startum fight over Helgath is about him messing around for easy sex. That was not the scene and is something that he even says that’s not even an option for him at this time. He’d never disrespect Fylreh like that even if Helgath would be more than willing. Even the end of the book where they all fall asleep together isn’t about sex or nudity. It is about commiserating the emotional pain that they’re sharing from Startum due to their soulbound connection and his heartbreak over Fylreh.
Another two characters that came out better than I’d initially thought they would were Hollysharp and Helgath. Both immediately took on a life of their own. Hollysharp, I got the motivation for her character when I saw this picture http://i.4pcdn.org/tg/1512248027780.jpg , just is so powerful of a personality that she literally took over parts of the story. Being in the Information Technology field and being a tech’s tech, I fit her character around many people I work with and a touch of my own personality. I’m usually the guy that focuses on getting the mission done and speaks directly about the issue without putting fault on people. Albeit, Hollysharp has no issues laughing at people who don’t know what she knows. Another thing that is common in the tech field and something that I’ve suffered through with my coworkers. Sometimes in the story, I wanted to punch her for being such a hard ass when I put myself into Startum’s shoes as I told the story but after a while you can’t help but love the feisty engineer.
Helgath was another surprising character. She really took on a life of her own and I loved the mating rune that I came up with for connecting her with Startum. It made so many parts of the story just work on so many levels. Also, there is this sweet innocence and cold blooded killer about her that is so endearing. Yeah, I know. It's a strange combination but one that really seems to work. I got some motivation for her character from here https://www.pinterest.de/pin/449093394088082015/ There is no sexual relations between them at this time but they have a solid connection after everything they went through together so far. Her painful life and what she finds with Startum also speaks to me from the things I have suffered through, so altogether she really speaks to me. More so then I thought she would when I created her.
It’s almost like clockwork. This time it took a day and a half before it showed up, but whenever my book one reaches 4.3 stars, I get a few writers and/or editors that smack me with two or three one or two star reviews with some outlandish blah of hate. One of the last ones made a comment that was “If Mr. Cheek could stop jerking himself off long enough to learn how to write an interesting character” or my other favorite “Doesn't understand mmorpg's.” You’d think blatant nasty comments would go against Amazon’s guidelines (which it does) but unfortunately they’re not usually enforced? It’s also one of the reasons I usually ask people to leave some love for book one. I think they choose 4.3 as the magic number because that’s when the star’s pictures goes from looking like 4 stars to 4 ½ stars.
!!!POSSIBLE SPOILER ALERT FOR BOOK 4!!!
Some of the feedback I’ve received in reviews from book four have been somewhat different than what I expected for a few of the scenes. It’s almost like people think that Tavon and Star’s companions slept together or that Star and Fylreh slept together in the story but that never happened. The joke with Tavon getting drunk and horny and the women being shocked but in a funny way goes back to some of the old LAN party stuff that has happened to my friends and me. Where someone would pull up some porn and people would be like wtf or we’d be in the country at a farm of one of our friends when one of the farm animals start to go to town on their mate or at a party where someone’s dog start to get horny or hump each and the jokes and slight embarrassment sometimes that come up from such raw nature. I wanted to capture that reaction where people laugh it off as being just normal. I think some people’s imagination took a few of the scenes to the next level and one that wasn’t there by some of the comments.
The situation with Startum and Fylreh is another story altogether. Their drunken make-out session goes back to any party where you and the girl you were interested in were making out hot and heavy and then shocked the next morning when you’re faced with the reality of what you did. Or, in Star’s case, where he was trying to help Fylreh and she was blitzed out of her mind and getting all handsy with Startum. There was no one ‘taken advantage of’, although sometimes it seems like two people can’t make innocent mistakes in today’s day and age without one of them now getting in trouble. If your both young, your both innocent and you both get a little tipsy. Who’s at fault the next morning when you realize you were sucking face with someone you didn’t expect to? Now don’t make this innocent comment into a bigger issue than it was. We’re not discussing some of the bad stuff that can and do happen. This is really about that simple mistake that can sometimes occur between two people that respect and like each other. That was Fylreh’s and Startum’s first kiss.
Interesting enough, they both end up deciding to explore a relationship together from mutual respect. At the end of the book, a stupid fight pops up and they’re both left heartbroken. Another common thing that we’ve all been through. Some people think it’s because he’s naked with Helgath, but that is not the case. In the story, everyone was naked for the majority of the end part of the story that the nudity at that point is inconsequential due to the general horror of the situation. Besides, Fylreh doesn’t have an issue with nudity in general, specifically with Helgath or that they’re bathing together. Her issue with Helgath is that she has some Orc blood in her veins. This is because, in my story, the Centaur’s ‘Racial Enemies’ are Orcs. In Dungeons and Dragons, races sometimes simply hate other race that is their designated ‘racial enemy’ to the point where they blindly hate them and will even attack whether the person themselves are good or bad.
For Fylreh and Startum to continue having a relationship, Fylreh is going to have to learn to look at Helgath as an individual and not as an Orc. I brought this up to reflect some of what I see happening in our society today. It seems like more and more people are choosing to hate other people just because of their color, culture, age or race. Instead of using their own mind to judge the individual actions as just or unjust, they are simply hated due to no fault of a person’s birth. For me, this is something that is an atrocious concept and one I wanted to address in the story.
Lastly, Startum only actually has sexual relations once in the story and that is with Keela. It doesn’t quite work for either one of them and they part as friends and companions. Companions being a term used for NPCs that have attached themselves to a player in the game. That doesn’t mean Fylreh and he doesn’t get hot and heavy here and there but there is no other sex going on with our intrepid adventures in book four. From some people’s comments, they think the bathing scene where Fylreh and Startum fight over Helgath is about him messing around for easy sex. That was not the scene and is something that he even says that’s not even an option for him at this time. He’d never disrespect Fylreh like that even if Helgath would be more than willing. Even the end of the book where they all fall asleep together isn’t about sex or nudity. It is about commiserating the emotional pain that they’re sharing from Startum due to their soulbound connection and his heartbreak over Fylreh.
Another two characters that came out better than I’d initially thought they would were Hollysharp and Helgath. Both immediately took on a life of their own. Hollysharp, I got the motivation for her character when I saw this picture http://i.4pcdn.org/tg/1512248027780.jpg , just is so powerful of a personality that she literally took over parts of the story. Being in the Information Technology field and being a tech’s tech, I fit her character around many people I work with and a touch of my own personality. I’m usually the guy that focuses on getting the mission done and speaks directly about the issue without putting fault on people. Albeit, Hollysharp has no issues laughing at people who don’t know what she knows. Another thing that is common in the tech field and something that I’ve suffered through with my coworkers. Sometimes in the story, I wanted to punch her for being such a hard ass when I put myself into Startum’s shoes as I told the story but after a while you can’t help but love the feisty engineer.
Helgath was another surprising character. She really took on a life of her own and I loved the mating rune that I came up with for connecting her with Startum. It made so many parts of the story just work on so many levels. Also, there is this sweet innocence and cold blooded killer about her that is so endearing. Yeah, I know. It's a strange combination but one that really seems to work. I got some motivation for her character from here https://www.pinterest.de/pin/449093394088082015/ There is no sexual relations between them at this time but they have a solid connection after everything they went through together so far. Her painful life and what she finds with Startum also speaks to me from the things I have suffered through, so altogether she really speaks to me. More so then I thought she would when I created her.
February 1, 2019
BOOK 4 SHOULD BE SHOWING UP ON AMAZON ANYTIME!
UPDATE: Book 4 is here: https://www.amazon.com/Helping-Friend...
Amazon for some reason didn't attach it to my author's page. I've sent an email in but will contact them as soon as they are open. This is the usual Amazon fun whenever I publish.
So, the ebook has been uploaded for book four, but Amazon says anywhere between now and 72 hours and it will be available for download.
The paper book is a whole nother story that I'm working to get uploaded now. I'm having a slight issue with the cover that I have to work through to get everything uploaded. Basically it is too big and the template is freaking out.
So last night I was going through all of the corrections Eric sent me and dozed off a few times in the process since it was after midnight. I think I fell asleep around 2 AM and then said, "Alrighty then, I guess I really need to just call it and hit the sack." I started off bright and early at 6 AM and got ended up having to go through about a 120 pages of corrections because I found a mistake where I dozed off and just pasted over a paragraph. Yeah, that sucked. I didn't see anything that stood out on my second look at those last 120 pages so hopefully it's alright.
It comes out to 769 pages on the paper book template, albeit 20 of those are Character sheets, Startum's gear, character lists for everyone in the story (there are a lot of people) and the glossary. Otherwise the story itself is about 749 (minus the map and authors note). I did go ahead an address some questions that have come up about AI fair treatment, Armor and Startum's perchance for looking at beautiful women.
Please understand, Startum is a guy in his early twenties. He likes women, he finds them beautiful and he enjoys seeing that beauty. There is nothing wrong with finding someone desirable, pretty or sexy. In my experience, women do this the same as men. Enjoying beauty is not judging the worth of a person or their capability. How you treat those people though is important. In Startum’s case, you have a first row seat to his every thought.
The one great thing about video games is that there are no differences between the sexes, age or races. Men and woman are absolutely equal on all levels. It is your choice of starts, your choice of class, how you distribute your stats and how you treat others in the game that is important.
Anyway, so while there are thank yous to those that have put in time helping to send me corrections in the 'A note from the author.' There are a couple thoughts on issues that have been brought up in some reviews that I wanted to address.
Anyway, I couldn't be more thrilled to have gotten the book out. I've been pushing myself to get the book out as quickly as I could while doing my best to keep the story something that I can be proud of and hopefully everyone likes. The World is a violent place with some pretty terrifying monsters.
A couple other thoughts is that anyone who has a Nightmare start will be dogged continuously by the game. The game will continually give Nightmare players harder monsters and situations then other players will face. Startum though is used to being hammered inside games and through a means of strategy, tactics and treating the NPCs he meets right, he finds innovate ways to get thought the many challenges he faces.
Anyway, while there is a lot of stuff I'd like to talk about in the story, I know I'm starting to ramble since it's once again past 2 AM and I'm still trying to get this paper back book uploaded. So, I'm going to call the rambling for now. Looking forward to hearing from everyone.
Amazon for some reason didn't attach it to my author's page. I've sent an email in but will contact them as soon as they are open. This is the usual Amazon fun whenever I publish.
So, the ebook has been uploaded for book four, but Amazon says anywhere between now and 72 hours and it will be available for download.
The paper book is a whole nother story that I'm working to get uploaded now. I'm having a slight issue with the cover that I have to work through to get everything uploaded. Basically it is too big and the template is freaking out.
So last night I was going through all of the corrections Eric sent me and dozed off a few times in the process since it was after midnight. I think I fell asleep around 2 AM and then said, "Alrighty then, I guess I really need to just call it and hit the sack." I started off bright and early at 6 AM and got ended up having to go through about a 120 pages of corrections because I found a mistake where I dozed off and just pasted over a paragraph. Yeah, that sucked. I didn't see anything that stood out on my second look at those last 120 pages so hopefully it's alright.
It comes out to 769 pages on the paper book template, albeit 20 of those are Character sheets, Startum's gear, character lists for everyone in the story (there are a lot of people) and the glossary. Otherwise the story itself is about 749 (minus the map and authors note). I did go ahead an address some questions that have come up about AI fair treatment, Armor and Startum's perchance for looking at beautiful women.
Please understand, Startum is a guy in his early twenties. He likes women, he finds them beautiful and he enjoys seeing that beauty. There is nothing wrong with finding someone desirable, pretty or sexy. In my experience, women do this the same as men. Enjoying beauty is not judging the worth of a person or their capability. How you treat those people though is important. In Startum’s case, you have a first row seat to his every thought.
The one great thing about video games is that there are no differences between the sexes, age or races. Men and woman are absolutely equal on all levels. It is your choice of starts, your choice of class, how you distribute your stats and how you treat others in the game that is important.
Anyway, so while there are thank yous to those that have put in time helping to send me corrections in the 'A note from the author.' There are a couple thoughts on issues that have been brought up in some reviews that I wanted to address.
Anyway, I couldn't be more thrilled to have gotten the book out. I've been pushing myself to get the book out as quickly as I could while doing my best to keep the story something that I can be proud of and hopefully everyone likes. The World is a violent place with some pretty terrifying monsters.
A couple other thoughts is that anyone who has a Nightmare start will be dogged continuously by the game. The game will continually give Nightmare players harder monsters and situations then other players will face. Startum though is used to being hammered inside games and through a means of strategy, tactics and treating the NPCs he meets right, he finds innovate ways to get thought the many challenges he faces.
Anyway, while there is a lot of stuff I'd like to talk about in the story, I know I'm starting to ramble since it's once again past 2 AM and I'm still trying to get this paper back book uploaded. So, I'm going to call the rambling for now. Looking forward to hearing from everyone.
January 28, 2019
WOOHOO BOOK FOUR is fiNIShed!
Okay, there is some work that needs to be done but the rough draft is finished. I have a day's worth of corrections to make that Eric has been sending me but I've left alone until I got to this point. I just sent him the final draft for him to correct and to let me now if I kept the ending good or not. Eric and Steven both get to let me know if I goofed up the enjoyment of the story too. So far I've been hitting it they both say, but there is so much that I have to bring together at the end between the fighting, crafting and world building that it's a lot. Once the book is out, I can start talking about some of the fun stuff coming down the line.
Honestly, I can't wait to get everyone's feed back on the story. My wife's friend has been telling me the last few times she's seen me that I look run down and tired. I have to truthfully say that doing a nine to five job forty hours a week and then writing until one or two o'clock in the morning and getting up at five thirty in the morning to get some more writing in takes its toll on you. But then, once I see the finished result of all that hard work and hear how much everyone loves the story, it makes all the work worth it.
Basically book four is almost two and a half books long. I'm just shy of that 210,000 word mark. So there is a LOT of story. I just added the first character sheet and equipment spam at the end which increased the word count by another three and a half thousand words. I'm so happy I didn't put that in throughout the story. I only added it to the end for those who were interested. It would have been annoying as hell otherwise. I think in the future I'll put one in at the beginning and one in at the end.
Tomorrow is one of my seventeen hour work days for my real IT job. So figure Wednesday I'll get the corrections in. I might or might not get the cover finished. I have to hunt down the area where I forgot to add three levels to every zombie I raised. That's going to be annoying as hell, but doable. I'm sure people will point out the mistake if they see any.
Once that is done, I should be able to upload it to Amazon and get it published. That can take anywhere from four to seventy-two hours.
Seriously, I apologize about completely blowing my guestimate for when the book would be out. I'd such high hopes on getting it out before Christmas, but now I realized that was never going to happen. Even today, I probably wrote out another thirty thousand words to make my own personal deadline for today. Every time I'd write something I discover there was a whole depth of the character interaction and story that just added to everything. I couldn't skip forward, I had to tell the story as it was. I hope everyone enjoys it.
I've been a little nervous about posting too much on my blog or facebook due to the group of writers who've been hounding me and trying to block my stories on Amazon and Audible. The one thing that has stopped them are the fans who have enjoyed the story and saw through their lives. Thank you. I'll start posting new updates online now.
Honestly, I can't wait to get everyone's feed back on the story. My wife's friend has been telling me the last few times she's seen me that I look run down and tired. I have to truthfully say that doing a nine to five job forty hours a week and then writing until one or two o'clock in the morning and getting up at five thirty in the morning to get some more writing in takes its toll on you. But then, once I see the finished result of all that hard work and hear how much everyone loves the story, it makes all the work worth it.
Basically book four is almost two and a half books long. I'm just shy of that 210,000 word mark. So there is a LOT of story. I just added the first character sheet and equipment spam at the end which increased the word count by another three and a half thousand words. I'm so happy I didn't put that in throughout the story. I only added it to the end for those who were interested. It would have been annoying as hell otherwise. I think in the future I'll put one in at the beginning and one in at the end.
Tomorrow is one of my seventeen hour work days for my real IT job. So figure Wednesday I'll get the corrections in. I might or might not get the cover finished. I have to hunt down the area where I forgot to add three levels to every zombie I raised. That's going to be annoying as hell, but doable. I'm sure people will point out the mistake if they see any.
Once that is done, I should be able to upload it to Amazon and get it published. That can take anywhere from four to seventy-two hours.
Seriously, I apologize about completely blowing my guestimate for when the book would be out. I'd such high hopes on getting it out before Christmas, but now I realized that was never going to happen. Even today, I probably wrote out another thirty thousand words to make my own personal deadline for today. Every time I'd write something I discover there was a whole depth of the character interaction and story that just added to everything. I couldn't skip forward, I had to tell the story as it was. I hope everyone enjoys it.
I've been a little nervous about posting too much on my blog or facebook due to the group of writers who've been hounding me and trying to block my stories on Amazon and Audible. The one thing that has stopped them are the fans who have enjoyed the story and saw through their lives. Thank you. I'll start posting new updates online now.
