Tag: update

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.

Update on Jake and the Dynamo: Dead to Rites

I just made progress on Jake and the Dynamo: Dead to Rites! So far I’m 15% complete on the Editing phase.

Jake and the Dynamo: Dead to Rites
Phase:Editing
14.9%

I don’t talk in specifics about my day job on my blog, but I’ll go so far as to say that I work at a university, and that the university was closed today on account of an ice storm. Thus, I am spending the day sipping bourbon and working on Jake and the Dynamo: Dead to Rites. I am now in the editing phase, making the first pass in preparation to send it to my illustrator.

I’ve mentioned before that my drafts expand as I edit, even though the convention is that a final should be considerably shorter than a rough. There are, however, good reasons for this. First, I tend to write dialogue in staccato fashion, often without attribution. As I make my second pass, I notice when a reader might not know who’s talking, and then I add in attribution along with description of what characters are doing.

Also, in action scenes, my first draft is usually technical description. Only in later drafts do I add things like what characters are thinking and feeling and so forth. My perceptive editor rightly noted, on receiving my submission draft of The Wattage of Justice, that Jake disappeared during action sequences, so I added in a lot more detail about his thoughts and behaviors, which naturally upped the word count. The most dramatic example of this is in Pretty Dynamo’s climactic battle with the demoniac: Originally, this was told as a single paragraph outlining her spear technique, but in the final version, the paragraph was broken into single-sentence paragraphs interspersed with Jake’s reactions, consisting mostly of his indignant ruminations on how little girls have to be humanity’s defenders.

So that’s why my word counts increase in later drafts. I do of course cut out rabbit trails and needless discursions, but those are usually smaller than the added material. Thus, the working draft currently stands at 140,016 words, and will probably be much larger when I’m done (I previously said it was 140,000, but that was rounded up).

Changing subjects—on the review side of things, I’m currently indulging in yet another free month of Netflix (a service I refuse to pay for), which is why I reviewed the second season of Miraculous Ladybug. For my next trick, I will most likely review Little Witch Academia, which I’ve been eager to see for some time. Then I will probably (finally!) get around to the two series of Glitter Force, the execrable localication/butchering of Pretty Cure. Aside from those, Netflix contains little or nothing I give a fig about—which is why I don’t pay for it.

Maintenance Time

Featured image: “Magical Girls: Chocoandvanilla” by hieihirai.

The end of the year is approaching. The second novel is coming along nicely, though I don’t think I’ll have the draft finished quite when I wanted. But I’m down to two major action sequences and the ending left to be drafted, so it’s drawing to a close. The draft of the second volume is considerably longer than the first book was.

Also, I’ve performed some of the much-needed blog maintenance. Hoping to make this blog a lot lighter, I’ve examined a lot of the scripts and such and determined that most of them are coming straight from WordPress. I lack the technical expertise to do much about it, though I did go through and delete various extraneous plugins while playing with the others to see if they were affecting content and load time. I managed to strip out some of the excess, but not as much as I’d like.

A few plugins I’d like to get rid of, but can’t; for example, I have a plugin for the “classic” editor because the new, much-touted Gutenberg editor is basically unusable. Whatever idiot thought it would be a good idea to remove the ability to insert special characters or indented text deserves a sound spanking.

Frankly, WordPress is going the wrong direction: it’s supposed to be the most powerful blogging platform, but it’s instead trying to be Blogging for Dummies. Their HTML editor even strips out most of the valid HTML I put into it—including microdata markup. It treats bloggers like idiots.

On the plus side, I test-drove some free plugins for structured data and found one I quite like. This means absolutely nothing on your end, since it’s invisible, but it (might) on my end mean more traffic and prettier results in search engines. One reason I’m writing this post is because I’m going to immediately turn around and run it through a validation service to make sure the markup is working properly.

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
Phase:Writing
Due:5 years ago
87.4%

‘StrikerS’ Incoming

I have a lot of things planned for tomorrow, including some aggressive advancement on the sequel to Jake and the Dynamo as well as some time spent on promotion, something I’m not good at and am woefully behind on.

I am also hoping—against hope, perhaps—to finish up Magical GIrl Lyrical Nanoha StrikerS, the third anime series in the popular and over-praised Lyrical Nanoha franchise. It’s curious to observe how this title has evolved from its humble roots as a clumsily written dating sim spinoff to a sprawling science-fantasy actioner afflicted with Star Trek: The Next Generation levels of technobabble. But more on that later.

Anyway, if you happen to have read my book, I’m asking that you take the time to post an honest review. I’ll try not to harp on that too much, but it’s very helpful to us newbie authors.

Current Status

Today is a writing day for me. I’m working on the second volume of Jake and the Dynamo, and it’s coming along. As with the first one, it always surprises me somehow how long the action sequences take. I attack the city with something on a whim, and several chapters later, I’m still trying to clear out all the bad guys.

On the occasions I take breaks, I’m continuing my way through the Lyrical Nanoha franchise. I’m in the midst of the third anime series, StrikerS, at the moment. I will of course discuss it when I’m through.

Crossing My Fingers

I just cranked out and submitted a short story all in one sitting, which was probably not smart, but it had to be done. I’m kinda proud of the story, so I’ll hunt for another venue if it comes back to me.

Also, happy Good Friday.

Slow-Rolling ‘Saint Tail’

I’m sorry there has been little in the way of meaningful content here, but I’m coming toward the end of my final term of a master’s program. On Star Wars Day, May the 4th, I’m free … sort of. Or at least I’m free of school. That might not mean more time for blogging, though, at least until I’m more gainfully employed and settled.

So, anyway, in case you’re wondering if I’m just over here binge-watching The Vision of Escaflowne, the answer is, “I wish.” Actually, I haven’t watched that much of it, eager though I am, because I haven’t had the time.

I’ve promised reviews of Saint Tail and Phantom Thief Jeanne, the two magical girl stories about religiously motivated cat burglars. The latter is readily available thanks to a re-translation and re-release from Viz in 2014, but the former is, alas, quite difficult to acquire: it’s one of those early post-Sailor Moon titles, like Corrector Yui or Wedding Peach or Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch, many of which subsequently became obscure. I’ve been defeated in my attempt to get DVDs of the Saint Tail anime, and the manga is coming to me slowly, piecemeal. I just got word of another volume that has arrived for me, so I should have it by the end of tomorrow.

Saint Tail a pleasant little title; reading it is like snuggling into a warm blanket. It’s not exactly deep or demanding, but it’s sweet without being cloying. The apparently sincere religious devotion of its Catholic protagonists is actually quite well handled even though the manga-ka wrote in complete ignorance (you’ll find this title listed under “Nuns are Mikos” on TVTropes).

I’ll probably have to move ahead with the discussion even without getting the whole series. As I understand it, Saint Tail hews closely to its formula and doesn’t offer any big surprises, so I’m probably safe giving it a review of sorts if I don’t go into too much detail.

I’ve already penned a draft of that review, but I was waiting for more material before I hit “publish.” It might be up in the next few days.

The Latest from My Editor

Featured image done got stoled from Kawaii Warrior Princess.

In another forum, my editor L. Jagi Lamplighter had this to say:

And do you know what else is hilarious? Your book! I was reading sections to John last night … when I could read over the tears of laughter … and we were both so amused!

The John here is Lamplighter’s husband John C. Wright, the prolific, Hugo-nominated and Dragon-winning author of such works as The Golden Age, Orphans of Chaos, Iron Chamber of Memory, and my favorite, Somewhither.

However Jake and the Dynamo fares when it goes to market, I know it has at least brought mirth to two people, and for that I am humbled and gratified. Producing tears of laughter is its only intended purpose.