Thoughts on A SEPARATE LAW

So, my serialized novella, A SEPARATE LAW, has its final episode up at the Spectrum Dispatch site. I think it turned out well. There were certainly a lot of kind comments on each episode, and even more within moments of the posting of the tale's conclusion.

It was my first experience of such immediate feedback. It was an interesting experience. I used to think some authors were a bit obsessive about reading reviews of their work on Amazon, Goodreads, etc.  Now I know how hard it is to resist hitting that refresh button every five minutes. That in mind, I'll stop keeping my nose in the air like I'm somehow immune to the writer's urge to stand up in public and moan loudly, "LOVE ME!" while stroking our tender ego parts.

Nuts and bolts wise:

The writing of this story was fairly easy, as I found it flowed very quickly out onto the page. This is not my normal experience of writing. I agonize, normally. I fail to complete.

At about 19,ooo words, it was nice to stretch a bit without the massive obligation of a door-stop novel.

I don't normally work from an outline, but one was required for this, and it helped immensely. Beyond the immediate help with the story, I was also outlining 1636: THE MUGHAL MISSION, so the experience proved very useful. Needless to say, outlining has become my new fetish.

David Ladyman, the editor for the project, was aces, working with me when I needed assistance and, more importantly, telling me the whys and wheres of the things that did not work in the initial drafts (And there were multiple drafts for each episode: sometimes the game designers required a change, but more often it was just because the writing simply wasn't as smooth as it needed to be.).  David was extremely easy to work with, and was very enthusiastic about the story throughout.

All in all, a very good learning experience for me. One I am sure will be of use for the rest of my career.

Oh, and I got paid quite well and promptly, which is always to be desired, and seldom experienced with short fiction.

Getting The Goods

Getting the Goods, the third little book in the Everytown series, is out and has already been positively reviewed by a consumer I don't know.

Such positive and immediate gratification gets me all warm inside.

Now to finish Chasing Tail, the third scenario. Then I have to start laying the groud work for the fourth and think about the fifth.

And I still have to complete The Last Captain

The Score

Rats 2, Griffin 2. The trap got robbed of it's bait twice, and I have disposed of two of the daring little bastards. The war goes on. I believe I have enough birdseed and peanut butter to eventually vanquish the foe.

Griffin 2, Dicks 1:

Everytown got lit up on the forums of 93 Games Studio:

Re: Anyone alive?
Adam F wrote:
"Have the courage in your own work to say; 'okay here's a module on ... Kazakstan in 2013' (for example), and the confidence that people will then want to use it because you've done it as well and imaginatively as you can. This 'generic vagueness' is not a good way to go. It just means people will use the system as a rules system and not bother buying anything else from you. I'm guessing not something you want to happen?"

Keep in mind that this wasn't all of his post, and it's some guy who hadn't bought Everytown, hadn't bothered to read the description of it, and yet felt qualified to put his two cents in.

Even so, I was suprised at my first gut response, which was to administer a back-alley beating should I come across him. That reaction was far stronger than I'd have thought could be provoked in me by some stranger. I tamped that reaction down and gave this response:

"Some who purchased the product, read it, and chose to use it have said the Everytown setting is innovative. It is unfortunate that you did not enjoy it or, lacking the interest to purchase it, think it unworthy of your atttention.

Please do not question the courage of the 93 Games Studio staff and management. Writing, illustrating, editing and producing any book is a challenge that few have met, and fewer still have had any success with.

Now, I thought that a reasoned and healthy response.

His response:

"Innovative? I don't see it. It's a generic, non-specific, small town. At best it's something that's going to need work from GMs to get to useable levels for any length of play beyond the brief. The old school modules were useable just from reading.

I'm not having a go, I'm simply saying what I personally would like to buy in future from the T2013 line (ie books more in the style of the old T2K sourcebooks).

Feel free to continue producing books I don't want to buy. That's of course your perogative.

This is, in my opinion, typical hobbyist bullshit, "Don't do anything if you aren't doing what I like (And haven't even read)."

Also known as, "You can guide a man to wisdom, but he'll probably complain the whole fucking way, then complain again about how it tastes, and then finally, complain about how it felt when he pissed all over himself trying to void himself of it."

I feel better for the quality of my response and the writing of this post.

Now, to make more "generic vagueness" that sells well, fucker.

And My First Review from someone who doesn't know me...

Is here

I am still grinning. The reviewer picked up on exactly what I was putting down: The character and motivations of people make for good story, not just listing a series of locations, names, and descriptions.

The First Contact scenario should also be released this weekend, at a similar price. I hope it is well recieved. To work now, and later, more work.