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Again With This?

5/6/2017

Every few months I pop in here and say I’m going to pop in more regularly, and then I don’t. I say it because I mean it, but then stuff happens and I don’t get around to it. It’s only when I notice that there are a bunch of emails in my inbox asking if I survived the trip to China that I realise I’ve done it again.

Promising to write something here means I tend not to come here at all, because unless I have something to say I feel guilty about even darkening the doorstep of the site. I haven’t been updating the new releases and the release date information just because I didn’t have time to write anything new here.

I’ve been gallivanting around the world, playing games, and writing books. I’ve finished writing the entire Halfway Dead series (edits are happening on the last one right now), and I’ve watched some good movies and some terrible ones. I’ve spent far too much time watching my Summoned series on Amazon, but not as much as I spent on Merikh, so at least I’m heading in the right direction.

So, for those of you who check in here every day and wonder if I got stuck in China after the last blog post: No, I’m just a dick who makes promises he doesn’t keep (like a politician, or a dentist who says “this won’t hurt a bit”).

For those of you stopping by for the first time after reading one of my books: Dude, welcome, I hope you like what you’ve read and be sure to come back regularly. I post here constantly.

For the bots at google: I was going to post a bunch of SEO friendly words for them to scrape, but then I’d be the type of asshole who does that kind of thing, and then I’d have to punch myself in the face.

Some quick reviews:

Dishonored 2 – Good, but I didn’t enjoy it as much as the first one. Which is pretty normal for a sequel.

John Wick 2 – See above. I just didn’t get as connected with the story, and the pacing felt a little off in places. Still good, though.

Dead Rising 2 – I’m in Australia, so buying Dead Rising 4 costs as much as a small car, so I decided to play 2 instead. Fun, in a sandbox kinda way. Once you get over level 15 or so, the game gets a little samey.

12 Monkeys (TV) – The new Battlestar Galactica, and one of my favourite things to grace TV. Binge the shit out of it if you get the chance.

China – Cool country. Would visit again.

Hong Kong – Still love the city. Still one of my favourite places on the planet.

DJI Mavic Pro – That’s the little drone I told you about in the last post. It’s amazing, and might be my current favourite way to waste my life. I’ve got all kinds of accessories now and I’ve learned a little about video editing to make things look as nice as they can be. I bought some ND filters (sunglasses for the drone) from Polar Pro, and they’re supposed to allow you to go through the gimbal calibration with the filter on, and they don’t (not that this string of words means anything to anybody). I am more annoyed about that than I have any reason to be.

I’ll post some pictures from my travels. At some point. When I get around to it. I might even pop one of the Mavic videos on YouTube, if I can be bothered figuring out how that works.

I’m off to the Daintree rainforest next week, and then we’re going to hang out on an island for a few days. I’m going to try and finish up the last structural things on Death Lord (Halfway Dead 3), at which point it’s off to get my spelling and grammar fixed, and then it’s off to the presses. Hopefully Death Magic (Book 1) will be out this month.

If you’ve made it to here in the post, then thank you for reading my rambling. If you haven’t then you’re not reading this, and I can talk shit about you if I want to. I won’t, but I could.

Colin

A Cabin in the Woods and a Flying Robot

16/3/2017

Summoned to Defend comes out on Monday. First book in a new series. Excitement abounds.

So I'm going to skip all that and go hang out in a cabin in the woods. My wife and I are going to spend the weekend not worrying about pre-order numbers (you can pre-order Summoned to Defend here, if you like) or upcoming marketing, or any of that crap. We're just going to spend some time communing with nature (or some hippy bullshit).

Late last year I bought myself a DJI Mavic, a little camera drone that is the bestest toy a person can own (besides erectile-dysfunction-compensators like sports cars). I've flown a bunch in and around the area I live, taking aerial photos and videos. This thing is seriously awesome, and so easy to fly even I can do it without crashing (much).

So this trip is going to allow me to use it properly for the first time, way out in the middle of nowhere. There will still be flying for simple fun, but I'm hoping to get some great shots I otherwise wouldn't be able to get. If I do I might even post them here.

Next week (launch week for my shiny new book) I'm heading to Shanghai. So I'll be skipping all the hoopla and hanging out in China. I'm sure there will be pictures from that as well.

The week after (the first week the book goes up to full price with no overt advertising, and we see if it sinks or swims on its own) I'll be in Hong Kong. Because Hong Kong is amazing and I'm in the area anyway. I've already got a bunch of pictures of the awesome that is this city, but I'll snap a few more and try to remember to post them.

So, basically, releasing a new book is stressful. What with constantly checking your rankings on Amazon and worrying if people like what you'd done (like me, please!), to hoping some reviews turn up at some point, the whole week is a massive pain in the ass.

So I'm just not doing it. Everything is set up to run as close to automatically as I can manage. It'll work, or it won't. Either way, the book is good and was fun to write. Buy it, don't buy it, I'll survive.

(Though you should buy it. Seriously. Go pre-order it now.)

(Why are you still reading and not pre-ordering the new book? You're wasting time)

(Really gonna make me beg, aren't you? Fine, pretty please, buy the book)

(OK, I'm done, but you should also go check out the new Release Schedule bit of the site)

(Buy the book)

The Plan

6/3/2017

Last year I had a grand plan. I was going to release a book a month, every month. I started with Merikh and that went well. It went very well, in fact, and I made a bunch of top tens and sold a bunch of copies. People liked it and they told their friends, and things were going well.

And then I couldn't get a cover for the fourth book in time for the deadline, and I had another series I felt like writing, and I spent time looking at all the marketing I should have been doing. And and and.

Look, my excuses are terrible. What it boils down to, at the end of the day, was that I'm a slacker, and when faced with the mountain of advertising and stuff I thought I had to do, I just decided not to. I planned on writing a book a month, something I can do in my sleep, and instead I played the new Doom and watched Netflix.

So what have I got planned for this year, I here you ask? Well, see, the reason the book a month thing didn't work isn't because I couldn't do it, it's because I didn't. So I'm going to prove that to myself and try again. I'm going to ignore all the marketing crap and just write a book I think will be entertaining, and then go write another one. And then another one, etc.

I know, I know, what a dumbass. What a colossal moron.

Shut up, voice in my head. I can too do it. In fact, I've been doing it since January.

I've got a new series coming out in a couple of weeks. The first book, Summoned to Defend, will tell the story of an immortal, formerly all-powerful man cursed to do the bidding of whoever summons him from his prison. It's violent, nasty, and the lead character (Agmundr) isn't a nice man on his best day. But he gets the job done.

The prequel novella, covering the first time he's summoned into the modern world, should be live on Amazon now (or maybe tomorrow, depending on whether they like me or not). If you've signed up for the newsletter you'll get it free, because I want you to like it and give it a try. If you haven't signed up it'll cost 99c, so it won't break the bank.

It's a four book series (plus the novella) and they are already written. There will be pre-orders and stuff, if that's how you swing. It's a lot fun and has heavens and hells colliding, dead gods, vampires and witches a-plenty, and a stubborn, angry, ancient dude who doesn't take any shit from anyone.

After that comes Olivia's story (those of you who read End of Days, Merikh book 3, should know who that is), and what happens to her after she comes back from the dead. It is also full of vampires and witches and magic, but she's nicer. She smells better, anyway.

And after that, more stuff. I haven't decided yet. I'm going to do a release date page on this here website, and I'll add new titles to it as they slot into the schedule.

Point is, if you've been waiting for something like Merikh then you're about to get. In fact, Merikh is in the first book (out March 20th).

Stick with me, sign up for the newsletter, and let me show you how strange my little world can get.

I've Been Bad

19/2/2017

Last year I did this whole post about how I was going to be here more regularly, how I was going to try and post more often. Then I immediately disappeared, as though uttering the words somehow invoked a curse and turned me into a frog. But that only happens to princes, I believe, so I don’t have an excuse.

I do have reasons, though. I’ve been travelling the world a bit and writing a lot. I’ve put together a plan for this year that I think you’ll like (oh, please like it, please like it), which I’ll share with you in another post. It’s kind of ambitious and I’m excited to see how it goes.

For now, though, let me tell you what I was up to at the end of 2016. It's image heavy, so I'll see you after the jump:

Writing Advice: How I Edit Stuff

12/8/2016

I had someone ask me what my editing process is like a little while ago. My response was something along the lines of "um...well...you see...read it aloud, I guess?"

So here is my actual, no bullshit, totally serious editing process. Following this is the only way to do this, and anyone who tells you different is a lying liar.

First, fly to Bali.

You might think you can skip this bit because you are very far away from Bali and there is an island nation closer to home that fits the profile pretty well.

You would be wrong. I wouldn't have said fly to Bali if I meant fly to some other Bali-esque place. This is why the number of wanna-be writers in Bali far outnumbers the local population. Facts would lead you to believe that this statement is false, but facts have mislead us to believe the Earth is round. So screw facts.

You need to pic the right spot in Bali for your editing. It's a beautiful place and there are lots of options, but as any writer will tell you there are a few criteria that are absolutely essential to proper editing. You need an ancient structure of some kind. There should be crashing waves but also poolside service. I'm sure you know the list.

Here is where I ended up while editing First Target:

Make sure you're comfortable and well rested. Get a drink from the bar. Get another one, because editing is hard and annoying and you need to take the edge off before attempting it. Hemingway would agree (editor's note: No he wouldn't).

You'll sleep for a bit before you get to the actual work, and that's fine. It lets your creativity run around for a while. When you add alcohol to that it is a safe bet that when you start attacking your beautiful prose you can be sure that greatness will result.

You'll wake up in the late afternoon (if you're doing it right), just in time for a meal. Go have that meal, safe in the knowledge that you've laid all the groundwork for great editing. You can do the rest tomorrow.

Or the next day, if necessary, as there are loads of cool things to see in Bali. Like this ray:

Or the release of this baby turtle:

Or this other, unrelated temple:

You'll be feeling really creative when you get back. You're here to edit, but you should allow yourself to write new stuff for a while instead. Editing can always wait but when the muse strikes you need run with it.

It'll take you 90% of your holiday to deal with the muse and all the holiday stuff, leaving you a glorious few hours to get your editing done near the end. You know, however, that you've got a long flight back. This means you can put aside the editing if you need to and enjoy the last scrap of holiday. There's nothing wrong with this decision, and it can only lend your editing more power.

You'll discover that it's really difficult to edit on a plane. Luckily you'll be refreshed when you get home, so you deal with it then.

When you get home, hire someone to do your editing for you. It's what Hemingway would have done (editor: Still no).

Have a good weekend

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Again With This?

A Cabin in the Woods and a Flying Robot

The Plan

I've Been Bad

Writing Advice: How I Edit Stuff

C.L. Walker

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