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It’s been a while. #amwriting again!

by thea 1 Comment

I’ve risen from the ashes, having dealt with a very severe mental health issue for the past two years. I’m finally putting my life back together and have been plotting my re-emergence onto the writing scene.

Late last year, I completed work on a story called Worshipers of the Black Hole. It’s a story that came out of my darkest hour, where I believed the best parts of myself died on that hospital bed. It’s the darkest fiction I’ve written, and I used to write zombie horror stories. No ETA on release as it’s in alpha-reading limbo. I wrote the early chapters in the hospital, thus a lot of revision is necessary. I’m hoping to release it sometime this year, when I can scrape together some change for a good cover.

Presently, I’m working on part three of The ABACUS Protocol, also hopefully to be released this year. It’s about 50% completed. Vivian, Alec, and quIRK are at it again, going after the dastardly Dynamo Quantronics and seeking out the source of the sentient computer bug. It’s fun and head and shoulders above anything I’ve written before. It’s a touch dark, but still light enough to be fun.

I had my blog redone by a friend and I’m working on getting my mailing list resuscitated. I have a long road ahead of me but I am not going to ask for permission to succeed. I have a few other fun projects up my sleeve and I will share them when the time is right.

For now, I need to get my life back in order. Adieu!

A flurry of activity, and two new short stories

by thea 1 Comment

I’ve been busy, it’s as though an engine is driving me to create. Here’s what I’ve been up to:

  • Singular Truth: final beta read is incoming tonight.
  • Demi-Human (The ABACUS Protocol): I’m 17.5 thousand words in. I’m going to go for another thousand words today and each day over the long weekend. I’m worried it’s going to be shorter than ABACUS and Pandora, but there’s always room to edit.
  • New project: Technocracy. It’s a new short story that I’m hoping to submit to an anthology. If it’s not accepted, I’ll just find a way to get it to you, my readers, another way.

I removed my books from KDP Select (Kindle Unlimited) because I don’t feel I was getting much increase in value giving Amazon exclusivity. June 19 is the day I can upload The ABACUS Protocol to other retailers.

I’ve been studying podcasting, and I’m moving in June. I’ll probably begin my podcast in July, once I have the chance to record a few episodes to get myself started. (I’ll also have somewhat of a studio/hobby room, which will help the sound quality.) For now, I’m practicing my announcer voice and learning the software.

One thing that’s worrying me about the podcast is that my chapter length. I seem to have about 8 minutes of talk-time per chapter, not including the intro and outro. This seems a bit short. My other option is to record two chapters at a time, which would give me an episode length of closer to 16 minutes.(I’m somewhat worried I’ll run out of content before Demi-Human is out if I double up, but I can make the podcast have  seasons.)

What do you think? One chapter per episode, or two?

Singular Truth is completed, time for edits! #amwriting #amediting

by thea 0 Comments

I’ve done it, I’ve completed Singular Truth. Weighing in at 6200 words, it’s a short story. However, part of it was to prove to myself that I can still do it and I’ve still got it.

The story is about a young man who gets sucked into a cult that worships a singularity. He joins them on a pilgrimage to a nearby black hole. As his depression worsens, will he make the ultimate sacrifice based on blind faith?

It’s in edits right now, so I’ll probably improve the description with time. The important thing is that I finished something, and I’ll be starting work on Demi-Human tomorrow.

In other interesting news, I have acquired a good microphone. I’m going to work on practicing my podcasting voice, so I can  begin a serialized podcast of The ABACUS Protocol this summer. Isn’t that exciting?

I’m back from the dead. New Projects, The ABACUS Protocol News. #amwriting

by thea 0 Comments

It’s been over two years since I’ve even visited my blog. I’ll tell you why: for a time, I was in a very dark place, and I gave up. I was so depressed I couldn’t concentrate well enough to even read, let alone write a coherent sentence.I thought I couldn’t make it, and that I had nothing to offer.

Fast forward to a few weeks ago. I’m able to work again, I’m doing well at my job but something is missing from my life. That thing is writing. It’s being able to be in control of my own destiny, and having no boss other than my beloved readers. (I missed you good people.)

Thus, I dug out my old writing folder, and started re-reading The ABACUS Protocol and The Pandora Machine. It’s amazing how far my writing style advanced between those two books. I’m preparing to finish ABACUS-3, Demi-Human. It’s already half-complete, but I wouldn’t be very diligent if I allowed continuity errors into my work.

In addition to this, I’ve started a short science fiction story called Singular Truth.It’s the story of a depressed young man who is drawn into a cult that worships black holes. That’s all I’m going to tell you so far, but if you want to receive Singular Truth for free once it’s completed, please join my mailing list. (The link is on your right). I will never spam you or let anyone else use your email, because I hate spammers and people who send too much mail.

Now, onto the good stuff. What’s coming up for me? Here’s a short list:

  • Singular Truth, the short story I just talked about
  • Demi-Human, aka ABACUS-3 (I’m not giving a date until the first draft is done.)
  • A podcast! I’ve removed The ABACUS Protocol and The Pandora Machine from KDP Select, and I’ll be narrating the series in the form of a podcast. Would you listen?
  • After the podcast is complete, audiobooks! Audiobooks for everyone!
  • I’m going to be setting up a Patreon, mostly for podcast listeners but with good incentives for everyone.
  • And, finally, I’m going to use this blog to document progress. What I try, what works, and what doesn’t. From zero to full time author. It’s going to be me!

Okay, that’s enough out of me. Your turn now. What do you think? Would you listen to a podcast narrated by me? Are you still excited for the rest of the ABACUS series, despite the fact that it’s been so long between books? What advice do you have for a new-ish author with just two books in a series and a collection of zombie stories?

New Release: The Pandora Machine

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After four years in the making, The Pandora Machine is now available on Amazon.

Work on the sequel, Demi-Human, has already begun. I’m almost 20% finished the first draft, and I’m hoping for an early 2017 release (Note: As of March 2018 Demi-Human is half done. Life happened, sorry guys). I’m pushing myself to work on my art daily, to keep a steady stream of relelases to push into the new year.

Update: The Pandora Machine is coming!

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I started The Pandora Machine in 2012, soon after I’d submitted The ABACUS Protocol (then titled Sanity Vacuum) to my former publisher. The less said about that particular misadventure, the better.

I’ve spent the past four years refining the result, taking long breaks to get The ABACUS Protocol where it needed to be. I’m still not 100% happy with ABACUS, but I likely never will be. Time moves on, and my readership seemed to love ABACUS despite (or because of) its flaws.

Now, I’m excited to share, I will upload The Pandora Machine to Kindle on Monday. All that’s left to do is the formatting, which is simple enough.

Stay tuned to this frequency for more updates!

A new dawn: planetThea is here!

by thea 0 Comments

It’s been a long time. Too long.

I’ve decided it’s high time I relaunched my writing career, with a renewed focus on my readers.

Here’s what I’m up to:

  • Making print copies of The ABACUS Protocol, and a collected edition of the Zombie Bedtime Stories.
  • Editing part two of The ABACUS Protocol (The Pandora Machine)
  • Creating new ways to entertain and interact with you, the reader (Return of the vlog, live-streaming writing and drawing sessions, and more!)
  • Starting a world building blog series. (Want to guest post? Leave a comment below!)
  • Starting a new, super-secret webcomic. Details to be posted in the upcoming months!

I missed you guys. It’s time to get to work.