C L Walker
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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

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.
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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:


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Long Time No See

9/8/2016

 
Long time no see.

I haven't had much to say here lately. Life has been busy and I have been lazy. Let's see if we can fix that.

I went to see the new Star Trek recently and I really liked it. It had a very Star Trek feel to it (unlike the first two). It was big and looked like a video game most of the time, but it was fun and kept me engaged to the end.

I fell asleep during Into Darkness, so I missed the end of it. I don't think I missed much. I go back and rewatch films all the time and I still haven't bothered doing that with Into Darkness, even though I haven't seen some of it. But with Beyond I'm looking forward to seeing it again.

People talk shit about the first two new Star Trek films all the time (myself included), but they did something really important: they made Star Trek cool.

Let me tell you a story

I had settled into my seat and was watching the previews. I was cautiously optimistic that I was about to be entertained for 2 hours, and that I probably wouldn't pass out again.

Suddenly, out of nowhere, a chattering, giggling group of teenage girls appeared, like a plague descending on the theater. The skipped happily toward me and took their seats directly behind me. I am an old man (and have been since birth), so I got a sinking feeling at the thought of having them talk through the movie because it wasn't what they were interested in and they shouldn't have been there.

God, I'm such an asshole.

They loved it! I wanted to join in when they spoke over the movie (I didn't, of course, because they are teenage girls and I don't want to be arrested). They spotted all the cool easter eggs and were excited at all the right moments. They were engaged to the end and even made a comment about how little lens-flare there was.

It's possible that these girls have always been into Star Trek because they were raised on it or something. But I think it's more probable that the lens flare-heavy, dumb reference making, boring action-fest first two films made them interested. They then went and became Fans, enough that they got a bunch of obscure references my wife didn't get, and she grew up watching the TV shows.

Now we're getting a Star Trek film that's a little closer to what I think of as the Trek feel, and the new fans are coming along for the ride and enjoying it. We're getting a new TV show and they'll watch the hell out of that too.

We're getting a million new Star Wars films over the next few years, but they were always going to be huge. Knowing that Star Trek still has a place on the field after fifty years makes me happy.

Of course it's looking like the movie is going to be certified as a bomb, so what do I know?


Shiny, or A Funny Thing Happened On My Way to the Computer

5/1/2016

 
So a funny thing happened on the way to my computer.

Unbeknownst to me a goblin had taken up residence in my attic. We will call this goblin Shiny, though his name is unknowable and hardwired into the universe. Scientists in Alpine labs have begun teasing out the specifics of creatures like Shiny but we're not there yet. Philosophers all through the ages have explored the shape of the beast without managing to truly see it. We don't have the beginning of a picture.

Shiny has an interest in my productivity, but it isn't his main focus. That's all emotional; his bread and butter are my obsession and angst. His fine wine is the juxtaposition of my love and loathing for this thing I do, and it is a heady bouquet for the little pest.

Anyway, off I went to continue preparations for the release of book 4 of Isaac's Story (and still no Isaac in sight), sure of my contention that I do this for the lulz and confident that simply having the paperback on my shelf would be enough, no matter if anyone else bothered to spend their precious time on it. I had a plan, with steps and checks and communiques to send.

Shiny saw an opportunity to season his meal and pounced. Check this out, he said, whispering from above. This is the coolest thing.

It was, in that moment. Fallout 4 is a very cool game and one enjoyed a lot, to the exclusion of all else. It's a giant world packed with things to do. New icons appear with the exact regularity needed to keep me hitting the digital road and exploring, sacrificing sleep and productivity for bottle caps (the in game currency).

My time with Fallout 4 came to an end and I made a move back to dealing with The Line. I had a plan, with steps and checks and communiques to send.

You need to think about the marketing on this title a little more, Shiny said as he scampered carelessly around my attic. You haven't managed to do enough in the past, and this book is so very good. Spend a bit more time.

Well that just made sense. The Line is a very good book (he says with no bias), and I'd hate to see it disappear without a trace. Perhaps I need to find new levers to pull in order to really get this thing off the ground.

You're doing what's best for the work. Spend a little time thinking about it. Oh, and while you're thinking, check this out.

I started a new world in Minecraft. For anyone who hasn't played this ludicrous game just know that it has limitless possibilities. I've played it off and on for years but stopped cold when I started publishing, and for good reason. It is the ultimate time suck for me, more so even than Sim City (the old ones, not the atrocious new one). I can happily explore my randomly generated world for days, searching for diamond in all the wrong places, fleeing the creatures of the night, and building magnificent structures atop the subjugated lands of my fallen foes.

You should start thinking about the next project, Shiny says when he sees me winding down my time in the game. Stand alone near-future science fiction thrillers aren't really paying off, you know. He points at my ideas folder. There's a straight thriller about corporate espionage that looks intriguing, and that urban fantasy is the shit.

He had a point, and it wouldn't take long to write up an outline and see if the thing would fly. I put aside The Line and knocked some ideas out, rubbing this bad guy against that world element to see if there were sparks. For me the generation of a world is as random as Minecraft at first, jagged cliffs and mysterious ocean depths breaking up the monotony of the plains, all of it a beautiful road to nowhere. But if I stick with it I can usually carve out some piece of civilization in the mess, some place to call my own.

Now write it, just a little. The Line isn't going anywhere, and besides; it isn't like anyone is going to read it. That's just for you, and this new thing will be so good. So sellable.

Well that just makes sense, so off I go. The reality that all I have left to do on The Line is follow the plan, complete the checks, and send out the communiques, escapes me. Or, rather, I escape the reality, because Shiny has a point, doesn't he: Nobody is going to read it anyway, and I really would like to create something that takes off. Who wouldn't?

The project I pick, after all the long thinking sessions, is the urban fantasy. It goes well and I have so much fun with it, the kind of fun I never get from the business side of this business. It's like starting a new relationship (to use a tired cliche), all excitement and discovery with none of the boring day to day. No taking out the trash, all dirty sex in weird places.

I know I should send out follow-up emails to people who've expressed an interest in The Line, and I will, at some point. It's just so tedious compared to all this lovely new fiction. Shiny has it right, nobody wants The Line but me, and if all I'm doing is pleasing myself then the urban fantasy is doing that just fine.

Shiny the goblin is an asshole. The Line is great and it needs to be out there. I know these things, but for a time it doesn't seem to matter. I'm wrapped up in a new world, exploring new possibilities divorced from the reality of my flagging sales and tiresome marketing. I am, I think to myself as another month goes by, doing what I should be doing.

You should start looking at how to market the new work, Shiny says at the perfect time. He knows how to prepare his cuisine, when to allow it time to marinate and when to turn up the heat. You don't want to mess this up by only focusing on the writing, do you?

In the moment (the stupid stupid moment), he's right. I should put some thought toward covers and editing, discoverability and reach. I break off the writing I've been so enjoying and get distracted with putting together the plans, checks and communiques for the new work. The Line is a tickle in the back of my head, nothing more. Over the next month the urban fantasy takes up residence there as well, sliding away from the center of my world.

Star Wars, is all Shiny has to say to drag me away from what I'm doing. I watch the movie and think about it and speculate and now it's Christmas and I realize I haven't done anything productive in weeks. And Shiny feeds on that realization for days.

Family and noise and colored lights and food. Presents given and received with smiles. All good stuff, and it's fair to be distracted from productivity by this time of year. It's something you're meant to do. Leave all the things you were working on and dedicate time to being a normal person.

Then I let that drag on for a bit too, and now Shiny doesn't have to speak to me anymore because I'm doing it myself. I've internalized the goblin's words and I'm not doing anything except watching funny videos on YouTube and killing time until...

Until what, you dumbass?

Shiny rises from his fat torpor. Until...something something. You know, you get inspiration and stuff.

I'm very susceptible to Shiny's tactics, comfortable with leaving things as they are. I have a comfortable life, I don't NEED to do this. That's why I say I do this for the lulz, because if I have to come up with a legit, adult reason to do it I won't be able to. I'd make more money selling burgers. Hell, I'd make more money begging outside the burger place.

I get an email from someone who has read an advance copy of The Line and wants to know when it'll be out. They are confused because they know it was finished an age ago. I start coming up with an excuse, some sequence of words that'll get me out of having to deal with it for now. I almost go with the flow, go back to my funny videos and games and pottering around with things that I'll regret the next day. I almost keep the supply of negative emotion and lost time flowing to the little goblin that lives in my attic. Almost.

I reply to the email and say it'll be up in a week. I offer that person a signed copy of the paperback when it comes out, but until this post I don't tell them why.

I'm not apologizing for missing my deadline, or for delaying the next entry of my stunning prose from setting the world on fire. I'm thanking this person for giving me the smallest of pushes in the right direction.

I don't do this for the money (though that would be nice), or for the lulz (though if that could be true my life would be easier). No, I do this because I've always wanted to see my creations on the shelf. I've always wanted to share the worlds in my head with others, not because I want fame and fortune but because I can't think of anything cooler than simply having these stories out in the world. I want them to be read and enjoyed. Shiny can play on my insecurities and feed on the angst that floods me when I don't see something take off, but he can't kill the dream itself. It's the source of his power and (hopefully) his Achilles heel.

Shiny is well fed and his arguments aren't what they were, back when he was lean and hungry. The web he weaves over my aspirations and dreams is thin and intangible, if only for now.

I can fight him and his attractive words, at least until his stomach begins to grumble.

--------------------------

I have plans to execute, checks to complete, and communiques to send. You should go read a book.


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    C.L. Walker

    Author. Nerd. Long-Haired Slacker

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