David T. List's Blog

September 2025 News

Happy Labor Day to my fellow USians. Labor Day never made sense to me because labor is the one thing most everyone’s not doing today. The holiday naming convention dropped the ball.

Also wife and I were born this month so here’s a pic we totally didn’t pose for. I’m serious, we thought the stranger standing 3 feet away with a camera was focused on that tree back there.

This is the face she makes every time I talk in great detail about the inconsistency in numbering conventions of early Final Fantasy games in the US versus Japan, particularly for Final Fantasy IV and VI.

Happy early birthday! How can I show my love and appreciation?

Buy my book, VIOLENCE & VIGILANCE from Amason.com and give it an honest 5-star review today whether or not you read it.

Speaking of,

Writing - V&V2

Two months ago I reported that writing stopped due to the day job being its busiest in the height of summer. Well we’re back at it and progress has resumed. There’s still no end in sight because I doubt there’s a single chapter out of about 50 that I’m content with. They all need more love. Luckily I have infinite love, contrary to what my dirty, lying enemies will tell you. They’re all just jealous. Of my love.

I mentioned the Silexare Compendium last time as well. I’m still into the idea, but I want some recent V&V art before I venture down that road and art costs money.

Not if you get AI to make it.

That’s not art.

Lake Hartwell Kayak (day job)

Ain’t nothin new here. Just slinging yaks on the greatest lake in the southeast.

Special thanks to Reed Oliver for this photo session. Look at his Instagram. He’s a wizard.

Podcast - Beardsmen of the Bookpocalypse

"And my axe," AC Cross

It’s always a good time kicking it with the boys of varying beardiness and our guests and it does not happen often enough! Streams / uploads since last time include:

Aug 29th with Ren Hutchings - This talk got liminal! Ren has two books releasing in September and THE LEGEND LIMINAL, found-family road trip that goes interdimensional, totally has my attention.

Aug 1st with AC Cross - this was an RPG session featuring a post-apocalytpic demolition derby. It was just as chaotic as you might expect and then some. 🐎💥

Jul 19th with Douglas Lumsden - He’s the author of the Alex Southerland P.I. fantasy noir books, which opens with A TROLL WALKS INTO A BAR. This was a long and fun talk!

Jul 5th with Nick Snape - 20th EPISODE STREAM! Nick has written a ton of books including a complete, 8-book sci-fi series called WEAPONS OF CHOICE.

Subscribe to our channel so you don’t miss future posts!

Piano Tuning

I’m going to start tuning pianos for winter money, I decided. It’s a dying art apparently and dragging things back from the edge of death and resuscitating them with my mouth is one of my favorite pastimes. As of this moment I’ve tuned three pianos, which is roughly 15 hours of experience in my case. I foresee that ratio improving with time and experience.

Stay (in) tuned for more riveting updates about this endeavor.

The phone I use as a tuner took this picture so while yes, it’s entirely staged, I did then tune the piano.

Next, next Month

Still haven’t amended that closing tag I see. Color me surprised.

No. I haven’t, smart ass. Thanks for pointing it out. By all means, stick around and point out more things for me. I seem to have misplaced my eyes. And my brain.

I’d never have guessed it. Seems you also haven’t figured out how to end these posts unless “arguing with my imagination” is your new sales strategy.

Keep it up. One day I’m going to get some pills from a doc and you’ll be toast. We’ll see who’s laughing then, figment.

Joke’s on you. I’m the real one. You’re the figment.

Then I’ll take them all at once and see you in hell.

dtl

July 2025 News

Happy Summer to all my fellow northern hemispherians. All seasons have their uses as far as I’m concerned. I dig summer because I feel most active and alive, just like all the other plants and bugs and reptiles I guess. Something about working or exercising or just existing in 100 degree temperatures (Fahrenheit mind you) with nearly 100% humidity makes me happy and slippery in equal measures.

Quick Shout Out!

I have a take a moment for a fellow author Michael Michel. His latest book - A GRAVEYARD FOR HEROES, book 2 of 3 in the Dreams of Dust and Steel trilogy - dropped on June 11th and is making big waves.

"Loss. Redemption. Grief...and the dangers of belief."

Oh my! That looks pristine and clean and beautiful. What’s it about?

I’m just tickled that you asked.

Treachery looms across the land.

With scores to settle, the lowborn shake rust from their knives and trade allegiances for a promise of blood while the highborn rally their armies.

Namarr’s future rests on a blade’s edge, and the heroes who might save it can no longer hide.

Meanwhile, across the sea, Scothea has already succumbed to revolution.

Fanatics led by the Arrow of Light wrest the throne from an ancient line of kings. Now, their sights are set on a Third Crusade against Namarr. For most, it will be their last.

The pieces are set. The gameboard is chosen.

For those unwilling to play, there’s only one peaceful place left…

The inside of a grave.

that studdly muffin Michael Michel gazing longingly at his gorgeous books

A GRAVEYARD FOR HEROES, the second installment in the Dreams of Dust and Steel series, continues where THE PRICE OF POWER left off, with the plight of characters both loved and hated. Perfect for fans of A Game of Thrones, The Age of Madness, The Five Warrior Angels, The Broken Empire, and Ash and Sand.

Check it out here!

Something Once Sacred

We’ve had a couple shows since last I posted and the pictures I’ve just found are nice enough to warrant their own space here. I’ll let you guess from whence this image was collected.

Brandon, Marshall, Me, Rusty in the back

Presently I play bass guitar in a rock band and on a church stage (don’t worry they cancel each other out) but I make myself unavailable for both during July so I can devote time and energy to the day job’s busiest month.

this photographer turned me into Hellboy and I’m here for it

The Four Beardsmen of the Bookpocalypse

DB, Tom, Charlie and I have had some great talks with some great guests recently!

Yes, we had Janny on. It was awesome and you’re never going to hear the end of it.

Here’s a quick list if you need catching up:

May 16th, guest - Livia J Elliot, author of DANCE WITH ME

May 30th, guest - Gregory Kontaxis, author of the DANCE OF LIGHT series

June 13th, guest - Janny Wurts, author of the WARS OF LIGHT AND SHADOW series

June 28th, guest - AJ Calvin, author of (most recently) WRAITH AND REVOLUTION

We love talking books and writing, but we strive to delve into subjects with our guests that maybe they’ve never had a chance to discuss. I strongly recommend checking out any of our previous podcasts. I have loved them all. There are more planned so make sure you subscribe to our channel to stay up on these chats!

Writing

Writing V&V2 ain’t exactly chuggin’ along right now, fam. I’m sorry. One downside of summertime is that the majority of my attention and energy goes toward my day job, making it hard to focus on writing. A redeeming factor is that V&V2 is currently between late-stage drafts, which means all the scenes are written and just need to be fleshed out, spiced up, or otherwise fine-tuned. Those improvements are the type that come to me while driving, working, or pacing, rather than sitting here at a screen. Therefore I am still getting work done and the book is improving.

But if I have time to sit and write about Pappu the Falconer meeting real orcanes for the first time and realizing his true potential out from under the oppressive nature of his father Grimmet the Beastmaster, then I have time to tweak the kayak website, or make a post, or go outside and clean/organize kayaks, or work on the kayak rack or the yard, or etc etc etc * infinity.

Kayaks?

Yes, snarky ethereal voice. Sometimes I forget you don’t have a permanent memory.

Lake Hartwell Kayak

Spring was a little slow around Lake Hartwell but now we’re popping off.

Eleven kayaks and two paddleboards delivered for a company’s employee appreciation event.

Expansion is always on our mind, in some size or shape. These days that comes in the form of offering merchandise to renters and so I’m trying to integrate that into the booking software. So far the process has been perfectly intuitive and gone very very smoothly.

I don’t believe you.

As well you shouldn’t. It’s been a total f%*king s#1tshow. But we’ll get it done. After all, what’s a better addition to a day of paddling on the lake than a dry bag for your keys and phone and a couple of quick-drying towels?

Beer

Ok fair. Elsewhere,

Silexare Compendium

A billion years ago I had an online resource that acted like a wiki for the characters, beasts, locations, races, terms, for my published works.

Silexare Compendium entry “Abandon Road”, from A Sawmill’s Hope.

I want to reinstate it. It would be a hub for terms and art from books I’ve published and I doubt it would much resemble its archaic prototype (above) which died around 2021. Presently the published works the compendium would pull from include VIOLENCE & VIGILANCE and A SAWMILL’S HOPE.

But you unpublished A Sawmill’s Hope.

That doesn’t make the lore uncanonical. There are physical ASH books still out in the wild and in my personal collection. Also, I have the loose goal of re-publishing ASH, just not before finishing Turesia Untamed.

Unsure when I’ll get this live, assuming I do. Commissioning art would help motivate me to get it done and that would require my coffers be more densely stocked with silver and gold.

Next Month

…is not a thing I can say anymore on these posts. They’re now bi-monthly. Maybe I’ll figure out the new outro tag by September.

See you then

dtl

May 2025 News

Lately writing has me neglecting things left and right, including preparing and writing this monthly news report. That’s the way it should be and we should rejoice in productivity I suppose, but these posts must go on. That said, I am considering cutting news post frequency from monthly to something less than that. Consider this your heads up if June comes and goes with nary a post.

On the 16th of May, I’m going to see Mr. Joe Abercrombie in ATL. I will ask him to sign my copy of his his new release - The Devils - and I’ll invite him to join me and the boys on

The Four Beardsmen of the Bookpocalypse

Worst he can say is no, right?

No. He could brutally insult your mother.

He’d never.

In April we interviewed/interrogated Baptiste Pinson Wu, who kept going off on tangents about the Han Dynasty for some reason. He’s a unique person and it was a very inspiring talk. Here’s a link to it.

We also had a fun Beardly DnD session with Dave Lawson, who is hilarious but he trolled Ozzy Rob so hard I got worried Charlie would buy an airplane ride to the states just to challenge Dave to a duel. That one’s here.

I believe our only podcast of May is on the 16th, and features special guest - Livia J. Elliot.

Subscribe to our channel to support us and make us feel speeeecial!

Writing

I’ve busted my ass since November and smashed out a draft in record time, for me at least. Despite averaging only 1,500 words a day, and only writing 5 days a week, the current draft of V&V2 is complete at 150,000 words.

But David, that’s only half the size of V&V.

I know. That’s partly because it isn’t finished, and partly because V&V was meant to be two books. The temptation to split V&V and release V and V before V&V2 drops is strong. More products, more …. opportunities!

Sounds like the shameless urges of a vulturine capitalist.

Yeah well f**k you too.

So what’s next for V&V2?

I have roughly 60,000 words of notes to parse and either ignore or apply.

Now that the story is finished and the scene order is determined, as are point of views, character fates, set pieces, etc. etc. it’s time to polish this turd. Priorities will shift from overall narrative flow to: Character voices, character arcs, setting arc, scene/chapter vibe, scene progressions, and of course PROSE, which I’ve neglected so hard up until this point you’d think I’m writing in the Cosmere. As usual I have no idea how long this will take but I’ll maintain my frenetic pace as long as I can before the earth tilts further, the lake warms up, and all focus shifts to

Lake Hartwell Kayak

April was NOT a record month for our homely biz and you should know by now that annoys me. It was a bit cooler and rainy though. As I noted last month, there’s no telling from one month to the next how business is going to be.

I gather that there is general concern here in the states over shriveling 401ks due to economic something or anothers. If it recovers, so shall we. If it doesn’t, let’s roast marshmallows while the world burns.

I suppose you think you’re cool for that edgy line.

No. If there’s anything that makes me cool it’s

Something Once Sacred

picture source: Webster’s definition of cool

In April we had a show on Hartwell’s biggest stage - The Station. We’ll return to the Boathouse on the 10th of this month. Both venues are in Hartwell, GA. Come see us if you’re nearby. Bring hearing protection.

Next Month

You may not see me. As I mentioned, these posts step on writing time.

I’ll see you then, or I won’t.

dtl

April 2025 News

I’ve gotten the chance to shout-out a fellow author and so I’m doing it here!

Michael Michel is relaunching his epic fantasy novel PRICE OF POWER, book 1 of Dreams of Dust and Steel. It should be live at the time of this post (which is why this post came out on April 2nd instead of the 1st!)

This book is available on Kindle, Paperback, and Hardback: Link to Amazon

Dreams of Dust and Steel has the gritty feel of a western,
the sweeping scope of the fantasy classics,
and brings a fresh new voice to the genre.

Michael is good people, and I’ve only heard good things about this series. Give it a look.

I’d not really considered relaunching a shelved book but since I’ve observed Michael and a few other authors do it lately I’m strongly considering it as well with A Sawmill’s Hope. Which brings us to:

Writing

I want to revive ASH.

Vodnik aka Old Man Hastr, illustrated by Tracy E Flynn

In 2013 I ran a successful Kickstarter and published what I called a “mature young adult fantasy novel” A Sawmill’s Hope. Reception was good I suppose considering I had no marketing budget and knew nobody and nothing. But I grew to loathe aspects of the book enough to eventually unpublish it late 2017.

But Silexare - the world of my stories - needs published, canonized works in order to live. And there is enough quality story and world building in ASH to warrant the labor of giving it a second life. Besides, I’m too damn slow a writer to let entire books go to waste. All that said, I hope to relaunch an updated ASH. Time (and available funds) will tell if and when that happens.

But what about V&V2 ? I’m waiting on it!

Still making daily progress on that. I’m not sure the order of publication but it seems like if ASH relaunches, it will happen before V&V2 launches. Call it an intermission. Interestingly, the two books reference one another.

Regarding V&V2, I’ve not reported numbers in a while so let’s do that. With a spreadsheet, because everyone loves spreadsheets.

For this current draft (started in November) I’m averaging around 1500 words a day, 5 days a week. That number seems low to me but I’m fairly satisfied with the monthly sum. I suppose little things add up. At this rate, this draft should be done within three months. I’m hoping for sooner.

Then you’ll edit and set a release date??

No. Then I’ll start on the next draft which tightens every plot element and defines character voices. Between you and me, I hope to never write books this big or wide again. The next book I write will be a third of this size and have ONE point of view.

Kayaks

Delivered and stacked yaks at Lake Hartwell State Park

Lake Hartwell Kayak had a record March as far as sales go. Y’all know I love reporting that.

What does a record March indicate?

Nothing really because existence is chaos. But hopefully it means we’ll be slammed for the next seven months.

Podcast

The Four Beardsmen of the Bookpocalypse has a couple of shows lined up for this month, starting with a banger on the 11th! Go subscribe to our channel to support us, and catch up on the previous interviews and RPG sessions.

Here’s a YouTube link

renegade shot of behind-the-scenes pontificating podcasters

Something Once Sacred

We have a show on April 19th at the Station in Hartwell, Ga. Brand new music venue here in town and it’s been putting on some awesome shows. Here’s their FB page, and here’s where you can buy tickets.

and here’s a pretty little picture of our youthful faces

Next month

I’ll need to find a new normal. Kayaks will pickup and steal time from writing. But writing will be a more dynamic endeavor because I have to figure out where to fit in ASH rewrites while prioritizing drafting V&V2. I look forward to the challenge.

see you then

dtl

March 2025 News

Writing

I wrote 29,346 words in February, making it the most productive month in the history of V&V2 and bringing my monthly wordcount average to 23,220.

Great! When will you finish the book?

No clue. But I believe I can improve wordcounts further. Ever since watching Matt, aka beard of darkness, interview Andy Peloquin, aka chronic overachiever, (check out that interview, I highly recommend it) I’ve been trying to figure out how to squeeze two writing sessions out of each day. I believe it’s possible.

Also look at this recent, shining review for V&V.

The Four Beardsmen of the Bookpocalypse

We have another apocalyptic TTRPG episode coming up March 8th with special guest Jeffrey Speight, author of the Archives of Evelium series. Here’s a link to where it’ll go down. Save it and join us for shenanigans.

Then we have an interview episode on March 14th with special guest PL Stewart, the author of the Drowned Kingdom saga. I don’t have a link for it yet, but it’s happening on the same YT channel.

Something Once Sacred

We’re scheduled to rock at the Boathouse in Hartwell, GA March 15th. If you’re local, come out.

Lake Hartwell Kayak

Here comes warm weather, finally!

Historically March is not slammed, where kayak rental & deliveries are concerned, but business is guaranteed. Word count may be affected. This is why it’s all the more important I secure a second writing session, and it might have to be evening, despite my brain being mush by then.

Next Month

Next month I’ll report another record word count and record sales for LHKRAD.

see you then

dtl

February 2025 News

It snowed in Georgia twice in January, which is fairly rare.

Pls forgive out enthusiasm. We don’t get much snow down here.

I hate cold weather and am usually glad to see winter go but I sure have been getting a lot of words written while sheltering inside from the cold.

Kayaks

We had rentals this year in December and January. That’s rare but welcome. Looking forward to spending some time with my new plastic welder and improving some birth defects on some of our new boats once it warms up.

Writing

I’ve been averaging over twenty-thousand words a month since November. Since drafting V&V, I hadn’t been sure I could return to such a pace (for no other reason than self-doubt, surely). It’s nice to rediscover the joys of drafting. Way nicer than if I’d discovered I hate it now. Speaking of hate, the majority of the words I’m writing are garbage. To paraphrase a sentiment of Kailee Pederson, who I met during TBR Con, “I’m a dung beetle, and this is my ball of dung.”

It’s in rewrites and edits that this huge pile of triceratops shit is transformed into the timeless art it will become.

What is TBR Con ?

I’m glad you asked.

TBR Con

is a yearly virtual conference for fiction writers and readers, by fiction writers and readers. There were a ton of great panels and they’re all now available on YouTube (here’s a landing page).

I was in two panels, Religion in Fiction and The Debut Experience. I met awesome people in both of them and was inspired by all their different journeys. I linked the vids in their title up there, and here are a couple of pics.

In The Debut Author Experience we discussed all sorts of things, from how we’ve continued writing after publishing “book 1”, to how our debut met our expectations (or failed to!), to the accomplishments we’ve experienced since publishing. Great talk that honestly made me feel less alone in some of these writerly struggles.

Religion in Fantasy is not nearly as light-hearted as The Debut Author Exp but was perhaps deeper in theme. The above screenshot is right after Sarah said “I’ve always liked the tragedy of religion” which intrigued us all. It was an insightful talk (and my very first, so I probably rambled and lost the question more often than not!)

Podcast

The Four Beardsmen of the Bookpocalypse streamed but one podcast during January. It featured special guest JCM Berne, author of the Hybrid Helix series. Here the link be.

We have more streams in February so subscribe to our channel to not miss ‘em!

Next Month

Possibly renting some kayaks. We had some business in the Februarys of 2022 and 2023. None in 2024 because it was a colder one. In fact all of spring was cold last year. Here’s hoping for a warmer one this year.

dtl

January 2025 News

Happy new year.

Row chasing birds
Daytona Beach. December 26, 2024

I always have high hopes for these monthly updates. I plan to share pictures and talk about all that has happened, particularly on this year-end/beginning post. Then I procrastinate and beat myself up about sharing anything at all. 

All that to say we’re not getting anything fancy this year, kids. A lot of cool things did happen, but I don’t care to share them and upon further introspection I believe it’s because I don’t find what I write worthy of reading at this moment.

Here’s an update though.

Writing

V&V2 is still coming along nicely. Total word count across drafts is roughly 140,000. Final count should be in the neighborhood of 200,000. I’m still optimistic about a 2025 release but no promises.

Podcast

The Four Beardsmen of the Bookpocalypse has a lot planned for 2025. Click this link to our new home for the streams we have scheduled: https://www.youtube.com/@Fourbeardsmen/streams

We’ve got more guests and TTRPG sessions on the way so be sure to follow us.

There’s another potential podcast brewing between myself and a friend. I don’t know any details about it, but I’ll share them when I do.

Next Month

I really do aspire to show you more pictures and tell you more stories about what I’m up to, be it world-building, kayak renting, music playing, podcasting, or media consumption. But for now, as long as word-count for book 2 is king, you may only get writing updates.

The day, month, year will come when my attention zooms out again but it’s not today, despite that this is the prestigious first second day of the final year of the first quarter of the 21st century of the current era aka AD.

see you then

dtl

December 2024 News

Happy December. Quick update for ya.

Writing

I mentioned last month I’d finished draft 0 of V&V2 at about 100k words. Once that was smashed I further ironed out the master plot (without which I’d be lost). With master plot in hand, I began draft P (for Penultimate) on November 19th.

I’m not daft enough to think I’ve perfected my writing method but by Imala it’s going really well. I’m writing at a faster pace than I ever have. Since the 19th I’ve written 20,000 words, or about 1/10th of the estimated final book. This rate should have draft P finished early 2025, after which the final draft will happen. The only problem with averaging over 3k words a day (all in about 4 hours) is that it was destroying my wrist. I had to modify the desk and make some wrist/arm space. What I’ve come up with is more like the desk I used while writing V&V. 

Like most things I build, aesthetics weren’t a factor. This is made of spare trim, piano keys, and random screws.

Now I have arm-space for days.

Between me and you, I’m a bit nervous about the final draft. That’s the one where each character’s voice emerges and every bland, lifeless, sentence is meticulated into something more. But what if I’ve lost it? I wrote some clever shit in V&V. If you don’t believe me, go look. What if I can’t turn a phrase any more?

Luckily these are not today’s concerns. Today I write Tivali’s scenes.

I’ll tell you this for free: I’d forgotten the emotional toll of drafting. I knew I get ill if I’m not progressing a story. I’d forgotten that immersing myself in an emotional scene can leave me drained. I’d also forgotten that writing this much can result in me having a hard time pulling my mind out of that world. It probably makes me weirder than I already am. Oh well. Tis the price I suppose.

Podcast

Changes are afoot in the beard territory. New channel. Slight changes to the hosts (- Matt, + Charlie). The benefit is a considerably more regular schedule. We had a D&D sesh on Friday with a guest - HL Tinsley - who was an absolute natural and had possibly the best character right out of the gate. She’s an author as well, and a gamer. Here’s a pic and here’s a link to YouTube if you want some post-apocalyptic role-playing.

Next month

Next month is 2025. I hope your holiday season is great or at least tolerable. I’ll see you next year.

dtl

November 2024 News

This post will be about the details of my writing process, because right now that’s all I know. Not sure who might find this entertaining or useful. Apologies if no one.

First, though, here’s an unrelated pic of me and the boys from Hartoberfest because posts require pics. 🤘

Writing

I mentioned this already on Twitter but draft 0 of V&V2 is complete at ~100k words.

Roaring approval

Thank you, thank you. A lot of scenes are written but many aren’t. I tentatively estimate the final word count to be 200k.

Frothing rabid standing ovation

Thank you again. Now please calm down.

Draft 0 included finalizing the scene order. I developed a tool that helped and for the sake of this post I’ll call it the progression rubric. Maybe it can help you too, especially if you’re writing a book where the best scene order isn’t immediately obvious because of overlapping plot lines, a large cast of characters, or special reveals. To be honest it may help any book. It helps me with overall flow, pace, and themes. Those aren’t always easy to measure while you’re in the thick of it.

The progression rubric

I slap this at the top of every chapter and answer as much as possible. Definitions of each field are in [square brackets]

Name: [chapter name if you have one, or a placeholder]
Summary: [what happens?]
setting & theme
      description: [physical setting]
      vibe: [scary? tense? happy transitioning to sad?]
characters and stakes/tension
      possible POV: [helpful if you, like me, love hopping to different points of view every… freaking… chapter]
            start: [for when a character changes throughout a chapter]
            end: [if so, mark that here]
      other: [significant characters whose POV we won’t enter in this scene]
            start: [they can change too!]
            end:
Why this scene and what does it progress? [each scene needs to include two of the following if not all three]
      why: [Why is the scene in the book? This question is vital for every scene/chapter]
      Character Arc: [does a character change, progress, regress in this scene?]
      World Building: [what will we learn about the world?]
      Plot Advance: [specify the above “Why”]
What's next for character? [Asking this helps smooth character arc progression]
Previous Scene? [I find this useful because I jump around a lot. Analyzing the story this way can …]
Next scene? [… help with cohesion and clarity, even when scenes make significant jumps through time or distance]

I never know when a tool I rely on is actually an alien language to other humans and today is no different. But I’m going to share a filled-out one and maybe it’ll clarify further.

The following is from the third scene in V&V2. It’s probably spoilerish. I can never tell.

Name: Monks??
Summary: Key members of New Vim travel through the forest of Redemier to spy on the monks. Kraus incites a soldier into violence.
setting & theme
      description: forest of Redemier (not unlike scenes from V&V, and Ruins South)
      vibe: tense, nervous 
characters and stakes/tension
      possible POV: Irdessa, Kraus
                  start: Kraus is horsing around with a soldier and eventually talks him into shooting the monks with arrows.
            K, “The key to an ambush is to take out the one no one’s watching. Then do the next. With each one you drop the rest get easier.”
            S, “I don’t know about this. Irdessa said not to engage.”
            K, “Listen kid, whenever I notice I’m acting like spineless sprake shit I have a drink. Take this flask.”
                  end: Everybody running down that hill
      other: Maudie, Magpie, soldiers, Kale, Culver, Haik, monks
                  start:
                  end:
Why this scene and what does it progress?
      Why: This scene complements the Epilogue from V&V and shows the Heathens’ side
      Character Arc: Irdessa won’t trust Kraus after this
      World Building: *complementary scene
      Plot Advance: First encounter between Monks and Heathens
What’s next for character? basically a big ass fight for everyone
Previous Scene? New Vim, which ended with “We’re not alone here!”
Next scene? East Meets West, a battle initiated by Kraus activating the soldier then Leeroy Jenkinsings the monks.

You might observe that I don’t use some fields, misuse some fields, and there is some redundancy. That’s okay. It gets the job done. Could I tinker with this tool and make it perfecter? Maybe, but that’s procrastination. In its imperfection, this is exactly what I need.

Next Month

Draft 1 (which may be the final) will be well underway. I may even have an idea of finish date, which will help me schedule edits and cover image.

Great, so finances are in place for those things?

Not by any stretch. I’ll probably need to sell a kidney OR run a successful Kickstarter that will also produce deluxe hardback editions of both books, a map, more art, shwag, etc etc etc.

Cool. Really original. Beg for money and reward generous donors with polished turds.

I’ve never claimed to be original.

See you then

dtl

October 2024 News

Hello my darlings.
The first draft of these posts is always a ridiculosity to behold, especially this part. What if, just for once, I don’t edit it?

Writing

I had my first author panel recently at a local author event. I spoke about adapting a novel to an audiobook. Us authors were given tables to display our spreads, which was cool. I sold some books and met a ton of new friends.
If you were wondering why you heard nothing about this, it’s because I failed to post about the event and here’s the ONE picture I took while there. Promoting isn’t my strength.

I’m so excited about V&V2, aka The Heathen Tide. Every weekday I improve the wordcount and general quality of this story. The fact that I’m this excited for it despite its age is really encouraging.

V&V2 will conclude the story which started with Violence & Vigilance. The condensed synopsis is: A war that’s been promised for 300 years finally occurs. A more detailed synopsis might mention that V&V2 concludes the journeys of twenty-something named characters, new and old. That aspect was always tricky because every last one of them has their own motive and values and driving force and only rarely do even two of them overlap.

If there’s anything I’ve learned (or any lesson that’s been reinforced) it’s that Cool Moments take priority over everything else. When in doubt, make something cool happen.

What if the escaped uergatas end up befriending and riding wild orcanes?

practical me: “Not likely because [boring technical reasons].”

smart me: “I will make that happen at all costs.”

Next month

Wait, that’s it? No talk of kayaks or Hurricane Helene or simulations or paludariums or films or games or even your camping trip?

Correct. Gotta write.

see you then

dtl