Tag: Jake and the Dynamo

Self-Publishing: The Legend Continues

I am planning to re-release Jake and the Dynamo in the near future and to release its sequel soon afterwards. To that end, I recently purchased the cheapest refurbished MacBook I could get so I could download and buy Vellum, the software generally agreed to be about the only program for formatting self-published books for all platforms, and also the only eBook editing software that isn’t aggravating to use.

It’s darn expensive, though. I’m thinking I might offer to format others’ self-published books for them to make back some of the cost. I offer reasonable rates.

Anyway, I still need to get new cover art, so there is still no projected release date. I am also revising the text, and though this might seem like excessive editing, I want people to get the best, and a somewhat different, product from what was released previously. Interior illustrations will be the same as in the previous version.

Back in Action

Sorry I’ve been so quiet of late. I do not have a lot of content at the moment simply because I’ve been busy with other things. I’m in the midst of a time-consuming project, but I hope that, once I’m done with it, I will have some definite updates on the release of both volume 1 and volume 2 of Jake and the Dynamo. Basically, I’m working on the getting these books back to market after my publisher had to close its doors.

I’ve also managed to find a little time to start watching My-HiME again. I planned to make that my next review, but then other things intervened and my watching of it went on hiatus. I should, however, be able to talk about that and a few other titles in the near future.

‘Jake and the Dynamo’ 2 Preview

Jake and the Dynamo (remember that book?) is still unavailable as of this writing since the unfortunate out-of-businessing of my publisher. I have no known date for a re-release, but I am seriously considering self-publishing within the next few months and also releasing volume 2 the same way. Volume 3 is also underway, though I’ve set it aside for the moment for another writing project. In any case, here is a preview.

It had been a Sunday afternoon in early spring. The weather was at last warming up, so Marionette’s drafty attic was comfortable again after a terrible winter. Although her joints didn’t stiffen up in cold as readily as a human’s did, and though she couldn’t suffer frostbite or pneumonia, she could still feel miserable. She had spent much of the winter warming her fingers over a small cast-iron stove and painting a few strokes at a time before needing to warm her fingers again.

Now down to shirtsleeves and green boyshorts, she spent a lazy Sunday lying in her cot. The paint-flecked bedclothes were in a tangled mess, partly over her and partly under.

Kasumi Sugihara, down to a sports bra and boxers, lay beside her and smoked a cigarette. In her magical form, she was Card Collector Kasumi, but for the moment, she was merely an ordinary fifteen-year-old girl. She and Marionette had wiled away the late morning and much of the afternoon reading magazines, talking about TV dramas, discussing battle tactics, and gossiping about which boys they hated.

Marionette held, balanced on her stomach, a crystal Pontarlier glass of milky absinthe louche. She gazed at it for half a minute, raised her head, and took a sip. A faintly bitter scent of blended herbs met her olfactory sensors, and then the drink slipped smoothly down her synthetic throat.

Continue reading “‘Jake and the Dynamo’ 2 Preview”

Update on My Projects

I won’t deny that I’ve been struggling with the third volume of Jake and the Dynamo. For this volume, I had a lot of clear vignettes in my mind but no idea how they related to one another. So I’ve been writing disconnected scenes without really knowing what I was doing.

Fortunately, I finally had a breakthrough: I had a single plot point come to me that tied everything together, so I’m working on the book tonight and it’s flowing reasonably well.

On that note, I have no update on publishing. I haven’t heard back from any publishers to which I’ve submitted, so I will probably, in the next few months, give them up and submit to other places.

Sneak Peek: ‘Jake and the Dynamo,’ Volume 3

I finished the essays I was working on for a side project, so now I’m back to working on the third volume of Jake and the Dynamo, currently under the working title of  The Shadow of His Shadow. Here’s a foretaste. As always, there is no guarantee that this will be in the final product.

On an added note, I am still waiting to hear back from some publishers to whom I’ve submitted, so I have no updates on possible releases of the previously published volume or its sequel.

At last, these treatments were apparently at an end. The bespectacled goblin sniffed once, made another mark in his ledger, and threw a loose silk robe over Jake’s shoulders. Then the trolls dragged him through yet another dank hallway, finally depositing him in the Bedchamber of Darkness, where he fell to the floor in a heap.

The trolls bowed respectfully before turning, leaving, and shutting the door behind themselves.

Jake raised himself to his knees and blinked against the gloom. He saw a large, four-poster bed atop a pedestal reached by steep stairs. On the walls hung an array of bizarre devices, most of which were unfamiliar to him—but the collection of coiled whips and handcuffs had an obvious purpose, as did the bloodstained rack standing in one corner. Ropes and chains dangled under the canopy above the bed.

He swallowed loudly.

On the bed lay the coldly beautiful woman he had earlier seen in the inner sanctum of the Temple of the Moon Princess. In a filmy dress of glossy black, she had one broad hip exposed, like an imposing hill in the middle of a plain. Her full, blood-red lips were slightly parted, and her round breasts rose and fell with her breath. Her raven-dark hair splayed across an embroidered samite pillow.

Frowning against bruises and stiff muscles, Jake carefully pulled himself to his feet.

Am I … am I about to score with the Dark Queen?

The Queen said not a word. She merely reached out with one shapely yet bone-white hand tipped with sharp nails as red as her lips. She patted the comforter once, twice. At the same time, she raised an arched eyebrow.

Continue reading “Sneak Peek: ‘Jake and the Dynamo,’ Volume 3”

Working Away

I’ve been out of communication partly because our internet has been wonky, but everything seems to be working again, at least for the time being.

I am admittedly having trouble with Son of Hel, my novel about Krampus and Santa Claus, so for the time being I’m working on the third volume of Jake and the Dynamo, which is under the working title of The Shadow of His Shadow.

I still have manuscripts out but haven’t heard back from publishers. I’m also working on an essay I’m going to submit to an upcoming collection; I’ll tell you more about that when the time comes.

The Latest on the State of the Books

Featured image: “Art Challenge” by Sonya Fung

So, as I earlier reported, my publisher has gone out of business. I disappeared after that for a few different reasons, mostly because I immediately dived into the next steps for my books.

I have, just today, sent both Jake and the Dynamo and Rag & Muffin out the door. I sent Jake and the Dynamo to another indie publisher that is interested in the orphans of Superversive Press, but after consulting with my editor, I’ve decided to shop Rag & Muffin with larger publishing houses.

It would be imprudent to name names. All I can say is, the books are out of the house, and I’m working on my rejection slip collection.

This means a couple of things for my current projects: First, Dead to Rites, the sequel to Jake and the Dynamo, is in limbo until further notice. It will get picked up when (if) Jake and the Dynamo does.

Second, I have no idea of release dates anymore because my submissions could get rejected. Rag & Muffin probably will be, since I’m aiming higher with it.

Third, I’m right back where I started a few weeks ago, working on Son of Hel, which I will submit somewhere when I’m done with it.

Fourth, I’m getting married in April, so I disappeared partly because I was working on arrangements for that. In a couple of weeks, I’ll travel back to Memphis to help the magical girl move, as she’s starting a new job soon in my current town of residence. Then we’ll get married a couple of months after that, and then I’ll have to move again because I’ll be moving in with her.

So that’s what’s up. I’m afraid I’m way behind on watching, reading, and reviewing stuff because my own projects and personal life have taken precedence.

Update on ‘Jake and the Dynamo: Dead to Rites’

I’ve received some images indicating the progress on the cover art for Dead to Rites, the next volume in the Jake and the Dynamo series.

I don’t think it would be any of my business to give details, but the talented artist doing the work has encountered a lot of problems in the process, almost as if some unseen power doesn’t want the book published. (I say that because I ran into strange trouble of my own while writing it.)

Anyway, things are moving along even if more slowly than I would have preferred. I have received a few images of the art, but post only the one here, as I figure I shouldn’t spoil it.

Anyway, Pretty Dynamo is still looking good. I absolutely love this interpretation of her outfit.

‘Jake and the Dynamo’ Nominated for an Award

I confess I’ve never before heard of Happy Frogs, but it is apparently a fledgling organization with some interest in promoting science fiction and fantasy.

The Frogs’ recently created Ribbit Award has this year been renamed the John W. Campbell Literary Prize because WorldCon recently relinquished the name of the famed sf editor for its award for new fiction. I had caught wind of that name change a few months ago and didn’t quite believe it, but it is apparently real.

In any case, Jon Del Arroz recently announced the nominees for the newly minted Campbell award, and Jake and the Dynamo is a nominee for Best Fantasy Novel. I am just arrogant enough to say that, if nothing else, I am confident it is the funniest book on the nomination list.

I am of course honored and humbled. This couldn’t come at a better time, either, since the sequel is due for a release in the near future.

In any case, remember to vote early and vote often if you think magical girls deserve a larger place at the table in the world of speculative fiction.

I certainly think they deserve a larger place. I mean, have you seen the way they eat?

 

Brief Update on ‘Dead to Rites’

Just got word from my editor about progress on Dead to Rites, the next volume in Jake and the Dynamo.

My publisher is currently rushing some things to get ready in time for Dragon Con (August 29 to September 2), which has pushed my book release back a bit. I’m crossing my fingers for September, but we’ll see.

Speaking of which, I had a sort-of chance to make it to Dragon Con this year, but couldn’t take the time from work or excuse the expense on the plane ticket, but I am hoping to make it in future years, so at some point I may show up there with other members of the Superversive stable.