RPG Apocalypse

  Its been a crazy year since I published book 1 (probably for most of us).  Since the launch I've been hard at work with work, life, and more writing.  It was ironic that my first book described a world where everyone wore masks just before the occurrence of a global pandemic.  My protagonist escaped to another world as many now seek new avenues of entertainment while stuck in their homes during social lockdowns.  I have turned to my own VR system as a way to connect to friends an family.  My fantastical plot, no longer seems quite so far fetched.   In book 2 Radley continues his search for answers while navigating his perilous new world.  My writing progresses slowly but feels alive and I am really enjoying the direction the book is taking.  I've received numerous request for a timeline to publish which I can't give.  I can say that except for the climactic finally of book 2 most of it is written.  The last book took about a ...

The best part of writing is the writing but when you self publish there is a lot more to writing than words on paper.  Its hard to list all the little things that get in the way, from designing and updating websites to editing and reformatting.  Book 2 is coming along but slower than book 1.  I tell myself that as long as I'm writing and like where its going I should be happy.  This usually convinces me to keep going. I like to write stories in parts.  It starts with a basic outline that includes all important major events.  The I pick a part and write that story.  Its not linear.  When all the parts of the outline are written, then I write the real story, making it all sequential and sensible.  When the story is finished I read it through as if it wasn't my story.  I take notes and write questions and make changes.  I read book one probably 20 times before I published it.  I could read it in about 3 days.  It got rea...

There are a few ways I could have written a book about living in video games.  I knew that was the story I wanted to write but I wasn't sure how to make that happen.  Of course, I've read other LitRPG books.  I love them.  But I didn't want to just write another one.  I wanted to add a fresh spin onto the story.  Instead of letting Radley get stuck in a game I brought the game to the real world.  I wrote the prologue first.  Then I rewrote it about a hundred times until I loved it.   I wanted to read the story the prologue was setting up.  Then I just had to write the story.  I liked the the possibilities a world like that created and that made the story easy to write. To be honest, the hardest part of writing this book was keeping track of all the stats.  I eventually turned to math for the answer.  As a scientist in real life it made the problem easy.  I made equations for everything, from HP to Damage r...

Book 1 was pretty devoid of characters.  In fact, Radley is alone for about half of Book 1.  Solitude was intentional but kind of hard to make work since ones thoughts can be a little boring.  Book 2 is meant to focus less on the environment and more on character development.  In truth, my favorite character had to be cut from Book 1.  He was actually an NPC that Radley met in-game before the apocalypse.  The scene dragged a little and I felt like the book needed to get past the game into the adventure.  I had to cut the character, but I'm bringing him back with a vengeance in Book 2.  He's hilarious.

I just went for it.  Carpe Diem The book is live.

Spent some time today on prepping the book.  Downloaded the Kindle app and began the final format to launch.  Importing the doc didn't seem to have any problems but I want to do a final read through before publishing.  Maybe I just pull the trigger and see what happens...

Book 2 Begins! With Book 1 almost out the door, I forced myself to sit down and begin serious work on Book 2.  Of course, I've already dabbled with some ideas, but today was about getting some serious typing in, be it good or bad. When my writing eventually failed me, I spent some time doodling in Photoshop.  I really love to draw but truthfully prefer a pencil and sketchpad.  Sometimes when I write, it inspires my drawings.  Sometimes when I draw, it inspires my writing.  Its fun to flip-flop between the two.  I feel like it makes both my pictures and writing better.