Managed to squeeze in some slight advancement on the book in between other things tonight.
So far I’m 88% complete on the Writing phase. 11 Weeks remain until the deadline.
Jake and the Dynamo: Dead to Rites
Month: September 2018
Art by Damian DarkBane
Featured image: “Nanoha” by DamianDarkbane
And you have no idea what I went through to find wholesome Nanoha fan art. Seriously. I think this is a great image, but it’s also the one I’ve chosen to post because it’s just about the only one that’s safe for work.
I’m still making my way through StrikerS. I’m watching it slowly because, well, I’m kind of busy. I hope to have a review up this weekend.
‘Jake and the Dynamo’ Now in Paperback!
THE UNIVERSE IS OUT TO GET HIM … BUT THE UNIVERSE DIDN’T COUNT ON HER!
Have you wanted to hold Jake and the Dynamo: The Wattage of Justice
Well, now you can!
… Except that’s kind of weird.
But in any case, Jake and the Dynamo
Jake Blatowski can’t wait for high school: basketball, calculus, and a cafeteria that isn’t under investigation by the health department.
Well, he’s going to have to wait: a computer malfunction has assigned him to the fifth grade.
It’s bad enough that he bangs his knees on the desks or that Miss Percy is going over long division … again … but Jake’s sitting next to Dana Volt. She’s a perpetually surly troublemaker who doesn’t even have to exert herself to make his life a living hell.
But no, it gets better: Dana secretly belongs to a coalition of girls protecting humanity from the horde of deadly monsters that plagues the city. But Jake’s no hero; he just wants to get to varsity tryouts!
When the monsters choose a new target, Jake’s not at all surprised that the target is him. Sure, why not? That’s the kind of week he’s having.
Now the impulsive and moody Dana is the only one who can save Jake from certain death—but Jake is the only one who can save Dana from herself.
Goodreads Review: ‘Perfectly Yourself’
I’m running an experiment here: I’m planning to be more consistent about reviewing books on Goodreads, which gives the option to duplicate reviews on a blog (such as this one). Since I do in fact read things other than magical girl manga, this will mean some expansion of the blog’s content, but I’ll try to keep this relatively painless.
Let’s see how it goes.
Perfectly Yourself: New and Revised Edition by Matthew Kelly
Matthew Kelly is gifted as a motivational writer and speaker. Whether he has great religious insights is more debatable.
If treated as a motivational work with a hint of Catholicism for flavor, this is a book with plenty of practical advice about getting off your duff, getting things done, forming good habits, and avoiding pitfalls and discouragement. For that reason, I would recommend it. It should not, however, be mistaken for a spiritual work.
If I were to offer a criticism, I would say there is a little too much of Kelly himself in it. He seems to enjoy tooting his own horn and talking about his fantastic life. I’m happy for him, but it’s a little much.
Micro-Update: Tumblr
Our Tumblr page is, admittedly, mostly a mirror of the WordPress blog, though there will probably be at least a little more activity there in the near future. If you’d like to see it, take a gander, and if you prefer it to WordPress, remember it’s an option.
Micro-Update: Facebook
The Facebook Page for Jake and the Dynamo has gone through an overhaul. You can follow us there if you haven’t already, where I’ll be announcing promotions, milestones, and so forth. There’s also a book preview just recently added.
‘Jake and the Dynamo: Dead to Rites’ Progress Update
I just made progress on Jake and the Dynamo: Dead to Rites! So far I’m 87% complete on the Writing phase. 11 Weeks remain until the deadline.
Jake and the Dynamo: Dead to Rites
Micro-Update: Patreon
I’m in the process of revamping things over here. My Patreon account was previously all but dead, mostly because I had made the transition from writing a web novel to writing a for-real novel.
I’m not going beg my readers for handouts, but it seems kind of dumb for creators not to have Patreon and PayPal accounts these days, since they’re so easy to set up. Links to mine are both in the sidebar.
Since I’m no longer producing a web serial, I have changed my setup on Patreon from per-product to per-month donations. When I did that, I noticed that it automatically switched existing patrons to the new plan, which is kind of a jackass thing to do, so I sent a message off letting subscribers know about the change. I was just going to drop existing patrons—well, patron, in my case—and start over, but I couldn’t figure out how to do that.
‘Jake and the Dynamo: Dead to Rites’ Progress Update
I have this new book progress widget in the sidebar, and it allows me to generate progress posts automatically.
I have arbitrarily set the novel’s “goal” length at 90,000 words, with a deadline in three months. There’s actually no hard deadline from my publisher, and I have freedom on the book’s length.
But in any case, the novel now stands at 77,385 words, which is where I’m stopping for the day, because I have other things to get done. I managed, at last, to unite together some chapters I had written separately, so everything currently in the draft is continuous from one end to the next. I’ve little doubt that everything I wrote today requires substantial editing, but such is life.
I just made progress on Jake and the Dynamo: Dead to Rites! So far I’m 84% complete on the Writing phase. 11 Weeks remain until the deadline.
Jake and the Dynamo: Dead to Rites
New Features
I’ve added a couple of features to the blog; it remains to be seen if I keep them, as this blog is already heavy with add-ons.
You’ll notice a new option in the menu at the top, one for “books.” This will take you to a book table that hosts individual pages for all my books including laudatory quotes, links to online stores, cover art, sample chapters, and so forth. There’s only one book in it right now, of course, but that will change.
There’s also a new widget in the sidebar to track my writing progress on the sequel. I’m hoping it will serve as a motivator.