Super Quick Update

Staying away from the net and writing an okay-ish amount, though I still haven't engaged Mad Scientist mode as of yet.  Hope everyone else is enjoying the cooler temperatures as much as I am!

Focusing on the main story at the moment.  Some catch up for all the horrible no good, evil readers who didn't read the last two side novels and are going to be so very confused of course, but also a very fun opening scene!

So many fun scenes I get to write in this one!

Usual September Malaise

Just a quick update to tell you I haven't got much done this month, as is usual for September.

Some family stuff, birthday blues, and some really horrible allergies have been the cause this year.  So...I'm a bit cranky about it all.

Sales for GBGH have been really good for a novella and reviews have been great, so no complaints there.  My advertising run is continuing to bring in new fans to the series as well, so business wise, I suppose I'm happy.  If my eyes would just stop twitching and watering long enough for me to sit in front of a computer screen for longer than half a hour, everything would be peachy!

Did manage to reformat and upload all my novels to my kindle and I'm planning to reread the whole series for the first time in 3 or 4 years.  I have a really good memory for small details, but even I need refreshers!  Might do a "ReRead With RR" if any of you are interested in following along with me, not sure yet.  Like, discussion on a few chapters at a time.  Knowing me I'll get sidetracked with writing and put it on hold as I play with the newest sparkly scene I need to imagine.

Also, as I've mentioned before, there's an illness in my family that's been very stressful and has taken up a lot my emotional energy over the last couple years.  I've known it was terminal for about a year now...which was why LAST September was extra shitty...but we're now talking months until they pass, maybe not even until the end of the year, so...things could get really rough very soon and I hope you all continue to be very understanding of the situation.  Well, at least I can blame those tears on the allergies...

Other than that, I'm just muddling along, thinking about how FM7 should go together, and doing my usual.

Need a haircut...got the full Einstein afro going at the moment...

Do like the first sentence for FM7 that I came up with.

No, I'm not going to tell you yet!

Okay, okay.  Fine.  But you're just torturing yourselves.

FM7 first sentence:  "Congratulations, you have Anima Madness."

GBGH Spoiler Discussion

 A safe space to air all those naughty spoiler thoughts you just have to get out into the open.

The Glassbreaker Goes Home *Release* Thread

Button will be pressed 6PM my time, then it's in Amazon's hands.

Talk, chat, whine, get hyped here!

Blurb:

King Henry Price returns to his childhood home for a family dinner following the events of "The Foul Mouth and the Pit of No Return."   Yup, that's it.  Nothing else going on.  

No girlfriend meeting his father for the first time.  No recused sister back in his life after having been missing for a decade.  No other sister married to a werecoyote gangster with a freshly born grandchild to show off. 

Especially no vampires.  

I promise.

Choice Beta Reader Reactions:

"Fantastic writing, as per usual. I found myself having to stop plowing through the reading and actively thinking about looking for issues more so than trying to see what happened next. My body is so ready for the next book(s)." 

"I genuinely laughed out loud at a few places during my readthrough. In bed. At 5AM. You shit ;P" 

"You hit me in the feels when ***** asshole! Reading at Longhorns with wet eyes was Awesome!" 

"I feel dumb saying that I loved it, because I love virtually anything KH related. But I did. I loved the stuff with Val, pretty much all of it."

Beta read caught only 75 typos/mistakes this time, so either I'm getting better or it was just a fluke of the universe.  Do want to note that I did listen to the complaint about their being no chapters with the last novella, so this one does have them.  Other than that, I wasn't sick this go around so the edit went a lot smoother and was more in depth.  I think it's a fun piece of King Henry content, hopefully you do too.  There's a couple scenes I laughed at every time I read it and a couple I always teared up over so...enjoy!

In a few hours...

I'm on to the next one, whatever it may be ;)

Update:  Submitted!

Update #2:  That was quick!  Linkage = The Glassbreaker Goes Home

"The Glassbreaker Goes Home" Sample Chapter

To tell you the truth...wasn't nearly enough begging, was there?  But I'm a softie...

A few of the beta readers have already gotten back to me, so we'll assume this isn't a typo filled mess, although it still likely is not the finished product.  Copyrighted by me, Richard Raley.  All rights are reserved.  Please do not copy and paste it to the four corners of the Internet, but instead please link back here to the blog.

Enjoy!

Post Eureka Blues

Being he was King Henry Price, he wouldn’t get to drive to his own funeral.

Means he surely didn’t get to drive now either.

So, what you’re thinking is:  who gets to drive to their own funeral?  They’re fucking dead, dumbass!

You, sir or madam or blood tentacle beast, are lucky enough to not know any necromancers, ain’t ya?

Also . . . seriously, one fucking hobo gets his knee bruised and suddenly King Henry’s banned from the steering wheel for a month?  Did he ask the hobo to dive out of the way like that?  No!

Plus, he didn’t give a shit if they have photographic proof otherwise or not, that Asylum-issued Borg Fleet car already had all them scratches when he rented it out!

Being he was King Henry Price . . . Glassbreaker, Maximus of the Earth, Learning Council Member Assuming He Ever Passed Orientation, the Hero of Eureka, Slayer of the Curator, Wielder of the Only Fully Functioning World-Breaker On This Here Planet Earth, Honorary Member of the Guild of Artificers, the Foul Mouth, the Curse Word Dude, Lord of the Fucktards, that Guy Who Everyone Says Burned Down the Mound, and worst of all:  Vamp Enemy Number One . . . being all that, he was told in no uncertain terms, by the fucking Lady of the Lake herself, that this would be his last bit of freedom for the foreseeable future.

One night to say goodbye, he thought from his place in the passenger seat.  One night for ‘see ya later.’  One night to go home again, place you supposedly ain’t able to return to.

Shithole Price.

Those still standing giving one last college try to fix the unfixable.

Last time they tried . . . well, was quite a bit of screaming between Old Man Price and not so ol’ Jordan Josephine.

Would be tonight too, King Henry imagined.

Inevitable between those two.  Had been since JoJo hit puberty, maybe even before, so why stop now even after she popped out a grandkid?

Inevitable.   Might even be worse.  Lot more spectators to cheer on the death match this go around.  Can’t believe she’s bringing Vega.  Vega meeting Dad.  What the fuck she thinking?  Thinking the only way Vega would let his new pride and joy out of the Coyote Compound is if he came with, that’s what.  Of course, Vega didn’t go anywhere alone . . .

Bunch of mancers in a house surrounded by a bigger bunch of werecoyotes.  What could possibly go wrong?

Couldn’t guess JoJo’s mind—King Henry gave up after the first time she duct-taped him to a chair and forced him to join her tea party—but he knew his own.  Thinking he wanted Old Man Price to finally meet Valentine Ward.

The Girlfriend upgraded to The Woman I Love.

Yup, still a little sappy.

Two weeks had passed since him and Val had gotten back together.  Try Number Only as they called it.  Still going strong.  Still going sappy too.  If not as bad as it had been at the Guild . . . or the Geo Realm . . . or the few days they spent locked in her apartment.

It was Val in the driver’s seat.  Of course.  Asylum trusted her just fine.  It was only one hobo, really!  It wasn’t even like a war veteran hobo you feel bad for either, more like a crack-fiend hobo you caught jerking off in the bushes!

King Henry couldn’t blame the Powers That Be much, being how much he trusted Val too, but the woman could do with driving a little faster.  Maybe not King Henry Price Hide-Your-Children-and-Pets Style, but at least I-Got-Four-Meetings-Today-in-Three-States Ceinwyn Dale Style.  Time spent traveling just seemed like such a waste these days.

That trip most of all.

The Asylum to the Central Valley.

Same trip.

Over and over.

His whole life.

Over and over.

Not a fan of repetition, King Henry Price.  Can’t you tell?

Here’s hoping that when we drive back tomorrow I’m too psychologically damaged to be conscious.

Odds were he would be.

Even with Val around to bring the best out in his pugnacious self.  Makes me into a . . . well, not a decent one, but at least a human being.

Couldn’t help but glance at her then.

He’d done a whole lot of it during the trip.

Did a whole lot of it any time he could really, but Val was about the only thing making the trip bearable.  Wasn’t like there was much in the Central Valley that could compete with her.

Seen one cow fart, seen all the cows fart.  Seen one beige building filled with Chinese knock-offs, seen all the beige buildings filled with Chinese knock-offs.  Seen one cracked-out whore walk down G Street with semen dripping from her overused coot coot to the pavement below . . . even I considered celibacy after that shit, so hopefully you would too.

He didn’t consider celibacy while glancing at Val, that’s for sure.

She’d chosen her ‘young lawyer ensemble’ as King Henry liked to call it.  Maybe not reserved-table-at-a-fancy-restaurant, or even full on dinner-party-with-polite-society, but still quite a bit of style.  Quite a bit of style and a red dress.  Red dress showing some leg and shoulder and neck and . . .

Them things should be illegal!  Not fair, not fair at all.

Was designed to impress, not to entice, but damn if the thing didn’t make King Henry have some very naughty thoughts every time he saw her wearing it.  Gold earrings, a single large ruby hanging around her neck, dipping down to brush a hint of cleavage.  Had on the SDR ring King Henry made for her a year or so back too, the one that screamed ‘Firestarter’ to anyone in the know, what with the topaz and rubies arranged as eternal flames.

Joke’s on him.  She wasn’t a Firestarter, she was the Purifier.  Hell, never was a Firestarter, just like King Henry had never been an Artificer.  Born to this shit.  Fated to it and with how well he knew the Bitch-Queen, he didn’t think it was about to simplify their lives.  Especially with all that Chosen One prophecy bullshit getting flung about.  But as long as they were together, he supposed he’d bear it.

Just like I’m bearing this long ass boring trip without getting all worked up about how I want to strangle the Lady and it’s not like Ceinwyn’s been any help either.  I should—

“You promised,” Valentine teased him with some singsong, better than anyone else on the planet at picking up King Henry’s descent into a sour mood.

“Yeah, yeah,” he grunted out an apology, trying not to brood on where his victory had landed him.  Out of the shithole and right up the dragon’s anus, that’s his life for you.  Watch out for the yellow circles, cuz those ain’t gold coins!

“This is the turn off!” the second passenger in the Asylum-issued car prompted abruptly.

Thought they were alone?  Nope.  They were alone and King Henry would be doing a whole lot more than just looking at Val . . .

Nah, three people in that car.  “I haven’t seen it since . . . has it really been that long?”  Had herself a voice like butter mixed with cognac, all smooth and sultry.  Voice just like their mom.  “Oh, King Henry, we’re so close!”

Unlike all the attention Val got, King Henry had been trying to ignore Susan.  Susanna Belle Price as the full name went, his eldest sister.  Preferable to JoJo since Susan didn’t yell or threaten to kick him in the shin, but just barely.

His barely sane sister.

Nothing he could do for her at the moment, nothing he could say or act upon to make today a ‘Good Day’ or a ‘Bad Day.’  All he’d learned of the Mancy, all the artifacts he’d crafted, all the people he’d killed and still . . . still it was out of his power.

Need to fix that, need to fix her.

Susan wasn’t . . . right.  Anima Mad they called it.  Not all the way consumed, but . . . enough.  Enough for it to be noticeable.  Didn’t manifest quite like his mom’s Madness had either.  Different.  Very different.  At least for the Good and the Bad . . . thankfully, he had yet to meet the Ugly.

His mother’s Bad Days had been overwhelming, one after another, especially near the end.  With Susan it was more a sudden spike out of nowhere.  A sudden spike of complete insanity where Susan wasn’t the one in control of her own mind or body no more.  Since King Henry had saved her from Obadiah Paine she’d only had the one, lone Bad Day.

That one lone day was enough to make him fear them more than he ever did his Mom’s.

His mom had been mostly normal during those Good Days, maybe a bit too cheerful and flirty, but outside of that . . . normal.  A human fit nice and snugly among all the other humans.  Susan would never be that.  Being she was a necromancer, Susan spoke to the dead.  Or the necro-anima that was left over or . . . it was fucked up, okay?

According to Heinrich Welf, massive douchebag that he was, some of what Susan said and reported to those around her wasn’t even Madness, just some freak innate ability of the Mancy manifesting itself.  And some of it was Madness.  So who knows if she’s really talking to your granny passed last Christmas or if her mind just made it up on the spot?

No one.

Not Susan.

Not Miss Strange.

Not Heinrich von Welf.

No one!

Best to just pretend they were all fake, King Henry had decided, especially . . . especially when Susan talked about one of her favorites.

Mom’s dead and burned, Ceinwyn told me so.  She wouldn’t lie about that.  Susan’s just imagining . . . has to be.

So that was the Good Day Susan, catching up with nice, dead people, real or imagined.

Bad Days with Susan, them delusions took over.

Or maybe it’s the necro-shades actually taking over, Miss Strange wasn’t quite sure.

Fucked up.  Very fucked up.

That one lone Bad Day . . .

They ended up sedating her eventually.  All through the night.  Before that they’d tried tying her to the bed Exorcist style.  No green peas, but they sat with her as she yelled and screamed and even threatened.  The pleading had been the worst.  Val stayed with him.  Helped.  Helped so much.  He wouldn’t let himself cry around Val, masculine bullshit and all that, but for once emotions almost overwhelmed pride.

Finally, they knocked her out and then the next morning Susan had been . . . well, as normal as Susanna Belle Price got these days.

King Henry had been dreading another Bad Day the very moment he witnessed the first.  So far . . . nothing.  But it would come.  How he hoped it didn’t.  At least not today of all days.  Or tomorrow.  Troubling enough that King Henry had to keep reminding Susan to not . . . not talk about certain things once they were around Dad.  If she forgot, if she said half the weird ass things that came out her mouth these last couple weeks . . .

Susan reached across the car seat separating them just so she could pat the top of King Henry’s head.  Same way she had when he was in elementary school.  “I know, Little Bro.  Relax!  This will be fun.  You don’t even have to worry about hugging Dad, I call dibs all night, okay?  Have years of hugs to catch up on after all, so it’s only fair.  You can be all manly and stoic in the corner.  I’m King Henry, I don’t feel anything!  I’m a BAMF, yes I am!  Look at these muscles and see how I glare at you!”

Val chuckled, the traitor.

King Henry did force himself to relax a little.  Odds were with Susan and Val and especially Vega around, he wouldn’t even have to talk tonight.  Not like the last time where he had to chat up Marge just to keep the conversation going.  What the fuck I know about crochet or gardening?  Only garden he ever took care of had a bunch of sand and some stone statues for fairies to live in, and he sucked at that too!

King Henry Price:  master gardener, he ain’t.

King Henry Price:  master of small talk, he ain’t either.

Long as the house is still standing at the end of this and no one is too bloody or bruised, I suppose we’ll call that good enough.

Win condition:  set.

* * *

Off the highway they went.

Down into Visalia proper, such that it was.  Visalia wasn’t even directly on the highway.  Instead it grew off to the side of the artery . . . like a tumor.  Or a pimple.  Me, I’d go with a stanky ballsack.  But you go ahead and pick your favorite biological analogy, cuz us meatbags are full of ‘em.

Susan did some picking too, of sights from her childhood.  Was odd to see her so excited over it.  She was the first one to run away after all.  King Henry supposed that being locked up in a cell for a few years makes you appreciate what you once dreaded most in your life.  Shit, give me a couple years in the Pit and I might even relish a conversation with Welf about proper manners in polite society.

Ran away and yet there was Susan smiling over familiar street signs.  Maybe it was an unfair thought, at least with Susan.  Letting his memories override hers.  She had six years where he wasn’t around, plus she escaped before the worst of it, didn’t she?  Susan had a full and normal childhood in this place and was barreling through puberty before the Bad Days started piling up.

Can’t see what you see, Suze.  Made him a little jealous, he had to admit.  Could do without hearing the dead people and all that, but the golden hue of nostalgia?  King Henry had never felt that for Visalia.  Look at your face, Big Sis, part of you loves this place, doesn’t it?

Wasn’t just that she missed out on the worst, Susan had a full eighteen years of it too.  Lot more than the other Prices.  King Henry got sucked up by the Asylum after a week of high school and JoJo disappeared somewhere in the middle of it.  Susan did a whole four years and graduated like a normal cog of humanity.  Square hat and a paper degree ain’t worth shit, yeah, but . . . friends and boyfriends and plays and sporting events.  Normal memories.  Good memories.  Hanging out with her friends at the mall, not beating on some kid in an alleyway cuz he called you a midget.

Not just good memories but life too.

Studying when she could find the time.  Borrowing the car.  Taking care of King Henry, trying to take care of JoJo too.  Hell, she even took care of their Dad and Mom in certain ways.  Did the wash, cleaned the house, cooked if Dad was too busy with overtime to feed them before 8PM.  Started watching kids for extra cash by the time she was eleven, had a part time job by the time she was fifteen.  Never had time to go for perfect grades, but always managed pretty well.  No dreams of college sadly, since who would pay for it?

None of that struggle filtered into Susan’s descriptions however, making Val smile along with her as she reminisced over one story after another.  Being Val drives so damn slow, Suze has plenty of time to chain them along.  Yes, he was still salty!  How was he supposed to know it was a one-way street?  What good is a sign if you’re going too fast to read it, huh?

“You don’t have any memories to share?” Val tried to tease him out of his continued funk.  Same funk every person on the planet got when they started thinking about all the shit choices they made in their lives.

Still, was a nice, friendly smile aimed his way, one he was quite fond of, so King Henry made an effort.  “Stole cigs and girly magazines from that there ShopsMart for the better part of two years.  Almost got caught once, but I kinda knocked out the cashier.  Well, more like the Mancy knocked him out than my little ass, but I didn’t know about it at the time.  Shit . . . that was like the day before Ceinwyn showed up too.”

Val’s knowing smirk should’ve been a warning sign.  “Actually, it was the exact day she arrived.”

“Nah, day before.”

Val shook her head.

King Henry frowned, pretty sure he was right.  “Had detention the next day, don’t remember what for exactly—probably called a teacher a ‘fucktard’ if I had to guess—then afterwards I head home and there’s a weird car in the driveway.  Day after that I went shopping with Mom, got off the high school rolls and then I—” he barely managed to shut his mouth in time.

But Val pushed, eyes-without-irises squinting in suspicion.  “Then you got into one last fight?”

“Nothing important really,” King Henry tried to ignore the memory.  A memory that included a pair of gigantic fourteen-year-old ta-tas that he’d been quite fond of squeezing at the time.

“I’m a very understanding girlfriend, you’ll remember.  As an example:  you slept with Isabel during our break and I still haven’t killed you for it.”

“Please don’t bring that up,” Susan complained from the backseat.  “It grosses me out just to think about it!  She used to wear my body all the time too.  Really, Little Bro . . . eww!”

“There was a mystery to solve,” King Henry tried to maintain a small amount of dignity.  “It was the only way to be sure it was her.”

“Double eww!” Susan rebutted.  “Furious Big Sister Disappoint aimed right at you!”

Big sister disappointment did nothing, but Val’s calm, expectant regard sure did the trick after about five seconds.  “Okay, yes, you’re the best girlfriend ever,” King Henry finally relented.

“This is true!” Val’s face broke out in flamboyant satisfaction. “The best girlfriend . . . with a horrid, no good, unworthy boyfriend who won’t entertain her with old stories about his mysterious past.”

“Only cuz you were around for all the important bits,” he reminded her.

Her smile twitched in pleasure for some reason.  “Not this one apparently.”

Well, she’s wasn’t, was she?  He didn’t know her name yet.  He didn’t even know Val existed.  And I mean, compared to the Isabel thing or the Annie B thing, it ain’t even nearly as bad, right?

With a sigh of defeat, King Henry let his mouth run at its usual pace, “Day after I met Ceinwyn, last day before the Asylum, wasn’t no fighting, but I did give Sally Hendrickson an epic goodbye present.”

“Sally Hendrickson?” Susan was far more astonished by the name than Val turned out to be.  “I babysat for her at least a dozen times.  You barely even paid any attention to her.”

“Yeah, well . . . she was eight.  After you left she went through puberty, got some huge knockers and I was quite fond of huge knockers back then.” King Henry said ‘fuck it’ and kept going, “Actually, I still like huge knockers.  Any kind of knockers really, although ‘knockers’ ain’t a very accurate description once they get tiny, is it?  Like the only way Hope Hunting is gonna knock you out with one of her itty bittys is if her frozen nipple pierces your skull and gives you brain damage.”

Val gave him that look of hers that said, I think you’re funny, but you should probably stop before you get either yourself, or worse, the both of us into trouble.

But a mouth locked and then released was even worse than a mouth always free, “Yours are somewhere in the middle.  Perfectly in the middle.  Like . . . knockers that my hand was crafted to hold.  I . . . I like ‘em.  A whole lot.  Great pair of knockers.  They are the Ones Who Knock, yes they are.”

After such a deluge, Val couldn’t help but lay on some sarcasm of her own, “Given the attention you show that area any time my shirt happens to be off, I’ve never really worried about how much you like them.  Still, it is nice to be told, I suppose.”

“Not a zero sum game, is it?  I try to pay attention to all your areas . . . as much as possible, as often as possible,” he corrected.

“Not zero sum,” Val agreed as a twinkle of mischief came alive in her dark eyes, “but there is opportunity cost, isn’t there?  You only have two hands after all.”

“Only two hands and so much of you to touch . . .”

“Not while I’m right here,” Susan complained, “and not while I have to listen to Mom comment on stuff like that.  She’s worse than you are, Little Bro!  ‘The boy has a tongue, doesn’t he?’  Who wants to hear their mother say that?”

.

.

.

Silence reigned following that pronouncement.

Well, that’s one way to kill a conversation.  King Henry considered himself an expert on killing a conversation, but Suze might be even better.

Killing a conversation or starting one.

Comment like that do a good job starting one at the dinner table tonight.

JoJo doesn’t want to hear about what a tough pregnancy she was, Mom!  And no, we are not having the grandchild talk again, give it a rest!

Please, please, please let her just remember for one night.

“Ceinwyn was there,” Val tactfully ignored Susan’s slip after a minute or so.  The flirting seemed to have also disappeared, but King Henry supposed it was a worthy sacrifice.

“Ceinwyn was where?” he asked, happy for the save.

“Before extolling Sally Hendrickson’s charms, you mentioned the ShopsMart.  Ceinwyn was there, watching you steal with the Mancy.  I’ve heard her version a dozen or so times . . . it still hasn’t lost a bit of its entertainment value.  Each time I almost stop breathing from laughing so hard.  Her impression of you at that age is shockingly good.  She even does this cute little strut if you get her going.”

 “Bullshit,” he called.  On all of it, but especially that Ceinwyn was there that day.

“Really.  The clerk’s the one who called about you, he’s a corpusmancer.”

“Gimpy ain’t a fucking corpusmancer!”

“Please tell me you weren’t stealing from a handicapped person?” Susan groaned.  From the look on her face she couldn’t decide if she was more mortified about that or how he’d called the guy Gimpy.

“He’s just a cog that worked at the ShopsMart,” King Henry tried to explain . . . somehow, “Technically I was stealing from the owner.  Also, Ceinwyn or Val’s full of shit, don’t know which one.  Ain’t no way he was a corpusmancer being I knocked him out.”

“You knocked out a handicapped person and that’s better?” Susan smacked him on the head from behind.

“Well . . . I mean . . . when you put it like that . . . he did put a hand on me, does that help?”

“No, Little Bro, it does not!”

“Point is,” King Henry decided, “yes, I was an asshole at fourteen.  Still am, mostly.  But back then there’s no way I was knocking out any corpusmancer, one leg or not.  What kind of corpusmancer would be working in a ShopsMart anyway?  Nope, ain’t buying it.”

“The kind that lost his leg in war and needed time off from being a corpusmancer,” Val kept throwing out facts, burying his doubts under evidence.  “His real name is Truman Martin.  He’s in ESLED now.  You’ve even met him.”

“Bullshit,” King Henry kept with his less complicated reality.

“He was with Estefan when Christmas was kidnapped!” Val got just a little exasperated for once.  “You walked right by him like four or five times while he was dealing with my parents.  How are you so perceptive about every detail in everyone else’s lives and this oblivious about your own?”

It was like she’d sent King Henry down a warp pipe.  Or a hash pipe.  Definitely involved pipes and psyche-altering mushrooms either way.  On one side he saw Gimpy clearly in his memory with that ShopsMart uniform and nametag, on the other he saw a hazy ESLED agent Truman Martin, who he had barely paid any attention to, trying to keep Peter and Ronnie Ward calm.

“I feel . . . weird,” was all he could manage.

“Really?!?”

“What?”

Val had reached full exasperation mode.  “Blood gods and dragons are fine, but this?  Knowing Ceinwyn watched you for an extra day throws you off?”

“Gimpy’s a corpusmancer, Val!  My life is a lie!  This is horrible . . . I mean, not as bad as if Sally Hendrickson got a boob reduction or you dyed your hair red or something like that, but it’s up there!  Don’t ever do that, by the way . . . especially your pubes.  Them natural blond pubes might be better than your knockers.”

The Best Girlfriend Ever somehow didn’t smash her face into the steering wheel.

Only a taste, I know!  Full release looks good for August 20th, $2.99 just like the last novella, about 150 pages this time.  Lots more laughs though!  One beta reader has already claimed physical harm, so...here's hoping I get a few of you to pee your pants.  Kind of my goal in life really...

"The Glassbreaker Goes Home" Novella Release Date: August 20th

Almost there!  I'm 1/3 of the way through my final copy edit.  Beta readers should be getting the goods Saturday or Sunday.  Promised them two weeks instead of making them rush this go around, so that means we're looking at August 20th as the most likely release date, given no emergencies, with August 24th and August 27th as backup dates.

I'm pretty happy with this one.  Happier than I was with the last one.  Granted I haven't caught the flu 3 times in a row while editing this go around, so that helps a little bit!  Still just a novella (150 pages-ish), still just a slice of life, but its very much King Henry being King Henry.  The smaller scale was actually really refreshing.  Even the last school story in FM6 was pretty weighty, so this was a nice change of pace.  As I've said before:  it's a dinner party at Shithole Price.  Sound fun?  Cool!  Buy it!  

King Henry is the POV, Val tags along.  Old Man Price, JoJo, Susan, and Vega are guests.  Marge is there.  Couple other characters show up who you might not expect ;)

Next week I'm 100% into writing FM7 finally.  Or at least the school story half.  Still have those 40 handwritten pages to type into the laptop so I'll probably start there.  We're still under the assumption we're going with the Plan A straight split, but we'll see how things develop.

FM7, man...scary book to write.  Something happens in this book that's...just...something happens!  There's basically two ways I can go with it.  One is awesome, heart pumping like crazy badassdom and the other is just...blow your mind insanity and throw your Kindle across the room kind of shit.  I suppose there are levels within each choice too.  I've known this fork in the road was there for years now and coming up on it I still don't know which way I'm going to jump.  I wish I could do both, really do.  I've gone back and forth a bunch of times.  There's just all these angles and possibilities within each choice...it's going to be so much fun!  Scary, but fun!

I might put up a sample chapter for Glassbreaker if you beg enough...

Blarg Notes

1,  Few days back I spent 6 hours on about 2k worth of material.  Had a couple good jokes, very nice character moment for Val, but it had some counteracting character motivations in it that needed fixed.  I cut it up, switched paragraphs around, wrote in new, switched THAT around, wrote more new material, cut old material, etc.  Just...an exhausting amount of editing.  Got it to a point where I thought it worked, finally moved on and then...about a page later in the novella...realized that you know what would work EVEN FUCKING BETTER?  If I cut out all that work I just did and connected two OTHER moments together, would really keep up the pace.

So...that happened.

2.  It's never the chapters you expect that really smack you around.  It's the ones you ignore.  Never would have thought I'd need to use that much brain power on what is basically the made-for-tv Hallmark movie novella of the Mancyverse, but it happened!

3.  So what's left?  I have the last chapter to edit.  Formatting it for ebook.  I have my kindle copyedit.  Probably two to three weeks of beta reading after that.  Meaning that The Glassbreaker Goes Home will release at the end of August.  17th or the 20th maybe?

4.  I just want to repeat again that this novella is LITERALLY a dinner party.  That's it.  Granted a dinner party with many of your favorite characters... ;-)

5.  So HOT.  SO FUCKING HOT!  I think Fresno hasn't had an under 100 degrees high for about two weeks now.  Also according to the supposed weather experts, it's not likely to drop from that for the next month.  So... *cries*.

6.  I started running some advertising directly through Amazon and--shockingly--I'm actually seeing some decent results with it this time.  Do still think that Amazon, The King of Metrics, can't tell me if someone is picking my book up on Kindle Unlimited or not is weird however.

7.  Editing Mode just destroys my media consumption.  I just can't turn my brain off and I get super critical of everything, especially other authors.  Extra especially myself.  Even the format.  Like...why isn't there just a dream-sucking machine already, world?  If I could just put that good RR juice into other people's heads directly instead of having to work in this flawed system of words and punctuation!?!?

8.  As such watching lots of gaming youtube channels.  Can't wait for TI8, are we really at TI8?  How did that happen?  Getting older and older these days!

9.  New release next month, Foul Mouth fans!

King Henry Tapes Reading Order

I suppose the series has gotten complicated enough now for me to do one of these up as a point of reference.

Author's Suggested Reading Order

The Foul Mouth and the Fanged Lady

Little King Henry, Short Story

The Foul Mouth and the Cat Killing Coyotes

Conquering Hero, Short Story

Friendship is Madness, Short Story (T-Bone)

Second Take, Novelette (Welf)

The Foul Mouth and the Troubled Boomworm

Griefing, Novella

The Foul Mouth and the Headless Hunny

Meet the Bonnies, Novelette (T-Bone)

The Foul Mouth and the Mancy Martial Artist

King Henry and the Three Little Trips, Novella (T-Bone/Eva/KH)

The Foul Mouth and the Pit of No Return

Assault on Dread Fortress Paine, Novella (T-Bone/Eva)

The Glassbreaker Goes Home, Novella (SOON!)

The Foul Mouth and the Runaway Rumble (forthcoming)

Whirlwind Writing Notes

1.  My AC broke for like 5 days...incredibly not fun.  Pretty much living in a hot cave with all the lights and electronics possible turned off, still sweltering but survivable.  Not exactly premier writing conditions however.

2.  Also had to babysit 2 dogs and 4 cats for a week, one of which was my cat who decided that in addition to all this she should get sick all over the house with every fluid and solid available to her so...so much fun!

3.  Back to work now.  I'm just kind of floating around between all my projects at the moment, if one seizes my fancy for the day then I stick with it and then I'll flirt over to something else tomorrow.  Not exactly the most structured or efficient I suppose, but I'm enjoying the novelty.

4.  Gave up on handwriting again...for now.  Something I enjoyed while doing, but after having to spend a week typing/editing 80 pages into my laptop while getting nothing "new" done, I remembered why I only write by hand as a last resort.  Plus my wrist was dead for half of June...

5.  Edit on Glassbreaker is going good, even if I'm obviously not rushing this one out like I did the last one.  When it gets done it will get done.  And you'll enjoy it, I hope :)

6.  Outlined the SUPER SECRET PROJECT.  Well...one of them ;)  Even wrote the first 500 words or so!

7.  One chapter down on FM7's school story, 7 to go, partway into the next already.  King Henry being King Henry!

8.  Renamed the Vicky Welf POV sections from Glassbreaker to "Vicky Welf and the Mancy Masquerade" which I really love as a title...do kind of want to use it as a story, but unsure if I have time to work on it before FM7.  Also don't know if ANOTHER novella/side novel would be fair to you fans.  Know you're already pushed to the limit as it is :)  But...there's a lot of good stuff I can do with it.  It will take place just prior to FM7 during the Old Mancy winter party scene and I think you can imagine how crazy rumors and gossip is spreading through the supernatural community during the intervening months from Eureka.

9.  Gush?  What's Gush?  Actually I opened the file up the other day, how 'bout that?  I looked at the first page, oh yes I did!

10.  Westworld S2...wow, umm...again I don't like being negative towards other artists, but, man, WAY too smart for its own good this go around.  When you're getting Neo talking to the Architect Matrix 2 vibes then something has gone seriously wrong!

11.  With the whole AC and animal babysitting thing I did have TONS of time to catch up on television.  Watched season 2 of Versailles, great show if you're into historical stuff.  Flew through season 2 of GLOW also, still love the 80s nostalgia that show blasts you with.  It's just off the charts!  Halfway through season 1 of Ozark.  Pretty dark.  Also, since about 25% of my genetic pool comes from that area, a little terrifying!

12.  Dived back in anime again too.  My Hero Academia Season 3...this show just does hype and OMG moments about as well as any media ever has.  Megalobox...only part way through it, love the 80s/90s-esque art style, a bit annoyed they dropped the mecha-boxer-rig angle to have the main character seem like even more of an underdog.  Bit too much.  Saiki K season 1...hilarious stuff, loved it.  Tried Re:Creators, didn't dig it.  Lot more I need to catch up on and try!  Plus, Attack on Titan Season 3 coming up!

13.  No movies really...

14.  Books.  Reading "The Great Game" by Patrick Hopkirk.  It's about Russia and Great Britain fighting over Central Asia during the 19th century.  Lots of intrigue, political backstabbing, traveling adventurers...great non-fiction read if political history is your thing.  Finally picked up "Silent Falling" by Patricia Briggs.  She's one of the authors I kind of read just to keep up on Urban Fantasy and what's going on in the genre.  Also halfway through "An Echo in the Bone" by Diana Gabaldon (started reading the Outlander series because I liked the Outlander tv show, because I like the exec producer Ron Moore who made the 2005 Battlestar series, so...the Cylons made me do it) and that is one thick book.  Makes FM6 look slim in comparison.  Like, my kindle winced when I downloaded it.

15.  Anyway, hope you're all having a fun summer.  Stay cool, read, watch, and enjoy life.

16.  Oh, yeah...World Cup semis tomorrow!  I think Belgium probably deserves it the most, but I just really want to see a France vs. England finals for the hype of it all.

Super Quick Notes

1.  It's Hot.  Fresno Summer Hot.

2.  Writing and editing really well!

3.  I'm two episodes behind on Westworld.  Damn you, World Cup!

4.  Check the status updates for my occasional change to still know I'm alive, other than that...gonna go back to writing now =P

Hot N Cold Notes

1.  Fresno can't decide what weather it wants to have.

2.  I now remember why I don't do this whole handwritten thing unless I'm extremely desperate.  Having to enter almost 90 pages into the laptop is MELTING MY MIND.  It would be one thing if I could just sit there and mindlessly transfer, but no, it's basically some weird mini-edit where I'm adding, deleting, and changing half of what I wrote on the page.

3.  Val is my MVP for FM6.75.  Girl really brings the humor this time around.

4.  Writing FM7 also of course, by hand...cuz I hate myself.  I will say that my handwriting has gotten shocking good.  Or at least...I can understand it.  So...progress?

5.  Halfway through the first chapter...so...basically just starting the marathon, but I already love a couple scenes I've worked on.  It's also got quite a lot of catch up, but I think it's okay.  Since I'm not actually spending two books on sixth year, I suppose some extra explanation is required, even if it's not that much more in detail that what you've already heard about it in the mainline, aka Eva stuff.

6.  It's very emotional writing this last school story.  Just thinking how when we started six books ago King Henry was this little 14 year old kid...

7.  E3 this weekend!  Love watching the conference streams.  I'm a hype guy, really am.  Why I like watching wrestling on occasion too.  Why I loved Infinity War.  OMG moments are just the best.  I remember being a 15yo teenager and reading Robert Jordan's Dumai's Wells chapter for the first time and oh shit, that was the good stuff.    Feels good to deliver on them too, so here's to more of them in the future! ;)

8.  Hey EA, can I have a Star Wars game that doesn't suck?  Been awhile...Force Unleashed 1 maybe?  Even that was iffy.  Republic Commando?  There was a fun game.  Or maybe Lego Star Wars I suppose...man that was forever ago.

9.  Also want God of War 5 now...plz plz plz...if you like video games even a little bit, just go and give it a whirl.  Really amazing storytelling and world-building.  Also, speaking of OMG moments...

10.  Babylon 5 is free on Amazon Prime at the moment (in the US).  My goal is to watch the entire series in the next couple months.  So far ahead of its time, this was a television space opera begging to be devoured over a streaming service.  Yes, the computer graphics are horribly ugly and dated, but its still so good!  Season 1 isn't nearly as up to par, but once you get to the Shadow War and all the Earth Rebellion stuff, it's just...yes!

If you haven't watched it and you're into the Expanse or Game of Thrones, give it a go, you should really like it.  If you're a fan of this author you might even notice that the Psi Corps call all the normal people mundanes, how 'bout that...

11.  Any World Cup predictions non-USA located fans?

12.  You're allowed to make comments on these ones too, not just the posts where I make a big announcement ;-P

Cool Notes

1.  It's almost June and we had an under 70 degree high the other day.  In FRESNO.  Weird, weird, weird...yes it's shooting up to 100 in a couple days, but...I'll take what I can get!

2.  Sticking with the handwriting for now even though I've moved to work on FM7's school story.  Just really nice not having to sweat under a laptop during the summer.  Bit more difficult with FM7 since the tape recorder, first person POV is much stronger and I really want to be able to go full stream of consciousness at times and my poor, poor fingers can only write so quick compared to typing, but...we're going to try it.

3.  Traditionally summer months are my lowest production months so hopefully this combats that.  September being the worst since...it's not only hot but also my birthday time and what's a birthday without a little bit of depression and malaise?

4.  I don't know who posted or tweeted or what you did, but thanks to whoever went around spreading the gospel of King Henry last week.  I got a sudden influx of new buys on FM1 totally out of nowhere, even shot up to the TOP 5k on the ranked list.  More proof that if you fans want to grow the series yourselves, the power is very much in your hands, maybe even more so than this marketing adverse author.

5.  I'm watching anime again...send help...

6.  Got the covers for FM7 done.  Runaway Rumble and Most Obvious Trap on the plate!

7.  My cat turned 15 a few days ago and she is currently running around the house spreading terror...I don't think she's gotten the memo about old age yet.

8.  Likely will be staying away from the net and just writing over the next month so at least wait until July to start the "are you alive" comments, okay?

The Glassbreaker Goes Home is Done

Done.

Done.  Done.  Done.

Editing and all that to do, so...maybe it will come out in June?  Or July, probably July.  No huge rush.  I mean...I know, I know, you want it NOW, but...I'm going to take the time to do the extra edit this time around, cut some stuff, all that jazz.

I know I can be excessive in some areas or I could probably kill more of my babies, I can admit I love the talk before a fight a whole lot more than the fight itself, and, yes, I was lazy and sick while editing FM6.5 so some of the Tyson parts were a bit much, but I like being excessive, so there!  Also...as a person with anxiety problems...that's how it feels sometimes, people!  Like you can't do anything but think!  ...Now you know.  Where was I?  Oh, have I mentioned how much I've grown to hate the term "filler"?  Every novel I've written except the first I've had someone accuse me of writing filler.

Rant on:  filler is an anime term.  It's about how studios FILLED in original manga stories with their own much crappier side stories that affected nothing.  Being I'm an author of my own original work, I CAN'T WRITE FILLER.  THEY'RE CALLED CHARACTER MOMENTS OR WORLD-BUILDING, JACKASS.  IF YOU DON'T LIKE IT AND ONLY WANT TO READ ABOUT EXPLOSIONS OR PEOPLE PUNCHING EACH OTHER THEN FUCKING SAY SO AND STAND ON YOUR OWN PREFERENCES, STOP USING BUZZWORDS.  DON'T YOU DARE START TYPING "DEUS EX MACHINA", STOP IT RIGHT NOW!

/rant off

Too far?  It's a little much...

So I really enjoyed writing this one.  The last year and a half has been a struggle.  Well...more like total complete bullshit.  Dead dog.  Dying grandfather.  Really sick father.  Actual jury duty.  The Last Jedi...

Oh yeah.  It's equal to all that shit.  I've read over a hundred Star Wars novels in my lifetime and even the one with the weird ass bug commune shit was more coherent than that disaster.  And the opportunity cost, my god, how much storytelling possibility they just...jerked away.  But I'm breaking my negative rule so...we'll stop.

LUKE SKYWALKER DRANK FROM A SPACE COW TITTY!

Back on track:  this story, especially in the last month, has reminded me what I love about being an author.  Just...character stuff and conversations and reactions to reactions.  It's a story that doesn't start with much of a plot and manages to find a small one by the time it's over.  I laughed a ton writing it, teared up a couple times too.  Tiny Not-So-Spoiler:  There's this moment between Susan and Val that I couldn't even see the page through the tears because I could just imagine Ceinwyn giving this same speech to this 14 year old Valentine who's terrified of what she is and man did it hit me hard.  It's just one moment in a hundred.  There's another scene where Val and KH are in his childhood bedroom joking around for ten pages that I completely love too.  That's it.  Ten pages of jokes.  Doesn't need to be more.

Of course I've been up for 24 hours, wrote 30+ handwritten pages today, and...well, I really feel my wrist right now...so what do I know?  Kinda regretting that rant a little bit...

A SPACE COW TITTY!

But...I feel this is a fan's fan kind of work.  If you're the type of person who read FM6 and thought all that bit in the middle needed to be thrown out and PLOT PLOT PLOT, then...go ahead and skip it.  If you really dug the fact that there was a reaction scene to KH spilling about Paine to Val and then ANOTHER to Ceinwyn and you got to see how they're similar and how they're different and how it all effects the story going forward, then I think you'll love this.  It's not on that HUGE REVEAL level, but...

I'm going to sleep now.

More updates in a couple weeks, maybe?

Fuck me I have to type all those pages into the computer...

Maybe I'll just procrastinate it and write some FM7 instead?

Sleep!  We wants it!

FYI: On the Status Update Changes

Just wanted to let you know the reason some numbers changed above is that I've made the hard decision to strip the Vicky Welf half of the story from "The Glassbreaker Goes Home".  Both stories revolved around the theme of family, but I felt it would be better served (and quicker) if I just focused on King Henry's emotional family reunion instead.

No solid idea what I'm going to do with the 17k worth of Vicky material, if anything.  Another novella possibly, re-purposed in the timeline to be much closer to FM7's start date (possibly during the Winter break Old Mancy party season, with the idea of the Welf's throwing a gala to debut Vicky's Eureka-themed spectromancer art + Tyson meeting the in-laws + Heinrich Welf dating woes, etc.).  Or maybe even a post FM7 novella...for those that, ya know...survive ;)

Or...maybe it will just stay in lala land.  Which is sad, since I quite liked how the POV was shaping up and the Moira/Vicky conversation is one of the favorite I've written since Ceinwyn/KH at the end of FM4.

But...I'm grooving with KH at the moment, in a way I haven't grooved in over a year now.  Finally feel like I'm recovered, in a good mental place to focus on the massive task that is FM7, and back at the Crazy.  So...instead of taking a month or two with Vicky, I'd much rather finish up FM6.75 and immediately start kicking FM7's ass.

Cuz that's some dragon-sized ass...

It's Heating Up Notes

1.  Hit 90 yesterday.  That lovely Fresno summer is right around the corner!

2.  The reason it seems like the status bars haven't moved is because the weather has been so nice I've been doing a bit of hand writing away from the laptop.  Every other year I get the fancy and pump out some pages this way.  Of course now I have 20+ handwritten pages to type into the computer eventually...

3.  Down to two and a half scenes left to write for the KH half and like 4 for Vicky's.  As expected, lots of conversations and funny moments, not a whole lot of earth shattering plot.

4.  Avengers comes out this week, yay!

5.  Loving the crap out of the new God of War.  A sizable chunk of the worldbuilding for the King Henry Tapes comes from Norse mythology so leading Kratos around killing the shit out of some dark elves in Alfhiem and chatting up the World Serpent is pretty awesome.

6.  Finally watched Altered Carbon.  Was overall very good and would recommend.  Although some of the changes they made to the plot were quite odd, I have to admit, and the last few episodes got super melodramatic.  At the very least, it's just awesome that there's a TV series for Altered Carbon of all novels, that's the world we live in now.

7.  Trying to stay away from the net and focus on writing mostly.  Especially from reviews.  If I could just completely ignore them my mental health would be so much better.  Am quite a lot more cynical about them than when I started with all that naivety years and years ago.  So, if you email me and I take a week to respond, that's probably why.

8.  Seems like you're vastly picking Option A for FM7, so may the cliffhanger be on your own heads!

Real Talk on FM7

As some know, I considered splitting FM6 in two due to its size.  The reality of the marketplace is that more releases = better, and bigger books = largely punished.  If you study which authors dominate the sales charts, it's the ones who put out a 200-300 page book every other month, even every month.  Push that product, make sure you're constantly on the new release lists, etc.

I'm not saying I'd ever go that far or even could, but splitting FM6 into two was probably the smartest economic move, even if the mid story cliffhanger would have been annoying for some.  (It would have split when KH grabbed Ceinwyn and teleported to the Geo Realm so...yeah, just a little cliffhanger...)  In the end, I decided not to and instead just raised the price by a dollar.

In retrospect, probably a huge mistake.  Not only did I lose out on the multiple new release bumps, I also still undervalued my work.  The only way Amazon actually rewards large novels is that they changed Amazon Unlimited payouts to be per page.  As such you can get an idea on how Amazon values output.  I priced FM6 at $4.99, earning a 70% royalty around $3.40.  Conversely, Amazon paid me a whole $7 each time someone borrowed and read the book.  According to Amazon, I should have split the book in two AND charged a dollar extra for each, or split it into three parts at my original price.

Now, the be fair, sometimes that goes into my favor.  FM6.5, I get $2 for each sale, while borrow-wise I don't even make $1.50 on it, so as Amazon sees it, I'm slightly overcharging.  Of course if I was only after the money I wouldn't be a man writing a male character in a genre dominated by women writing female characters, or have a rated-r character VERY not fit for broadcast television at that.  But, as much as I hate that it can't all be about the story, business is part of it and these are the facts.

There's also the smaller point of print on demand to consider.  Anyone who has picked up a print copy of FM6 knows it is stretching the laws of pyshics and that it can be used as a blunt weapon to kill skeleton warriors.  Splitting in two would save you lot on arm injuries.

So, all of these are reasons why FM7 likely will be split into two.  It sucks, it does, but...my bad for wanting to write epic stories that really dig into character motivations and who knew two timelines could get so difficult...right?

To me, the most important aspect is the new release list problem.  New releases mean new fans and I want as many people enjoying King Henry as possible.  Money is nice and all, but that's what's most important to me.  FM6 struggled massively on that front, I'd like to correct that.

The question I'm working through is:  how should FM7 be split?  There are two options.

Option A:  Straight down the middle.  The books would release as The Runaway Rumble and the Most Obvious Trap.  Each would contain 4 chapters of school story and about 12 chapters of mainline.  There's a natural cut off point in the story.  Plenty happens in each haf although I admit part 2 will be one of the craziest books I've ever written.  You would hopefully get the first part around a year from now and part 2 later in 2019.

Option B:  Split school and mainline.  School would come first, released as The War to End All Wars.  Maybe even this year.  Next year, The Runaway Rumble would release as the first school story-less FM book.  My biggest fear with this option is that those who don't visit the blog or keep up to date with whats going on will see that FM7 tag, buy it, and be extremely pissed to only be getting a school focused book.

So that's where we stand.  As always I try to be completely open about my process, both ups and downs.  I feel authors hiding progress or roadblocks from fans leads to resentment and VERY UGLY situations.  In addition to keeping you informed, please go ahead and give your thoughts if you'd like.

Just don't riot, okay?

Foul Mouth Fan Question 2018 Edition

Q:  What was the first Foul Mouth novel you had to wait for?

Quick Notes: the Aftermath

1.  So I sold more copies on April 2nd than I did on release day.  Were you fans broke, waiting for the kids to get lost, or did reading a KH book on Easter weekend just seem too sacrilegious for you?  Answers, please!

2.  General reaction to FM6.5 is about where I thought it would be.  Few people don't like Tyson's whinging (you think it's bad reading it, you should try writing it!  So polite!  So many qualifers!  ACK!), most are digging Eva, and the majority are happy enough that it was at worst worth the $2.99.  Not the best KH book ever, but...a nice taste to hold you off to the FM7 feast, I hope.  And come on, that ending kicked your ass!

3.  Just a reminder:  FM6 was insane, topping it will likely take a miracle.  I'm going to try with FM7 but...well, hold on to your butts.

4.  Speaking of FM7, I started working on it finally, yay!  Working on the school story, 5k of work in the bag.  We skipped a whole year from Pent to just a couple days before the start of the last year, so there's some catch up in there on what probably would have been some of the most boring school stories if I'd actually written them.  Namely the relationship with Eva (pretty sure we've covered this just a little bit) and KH stealing and barting for the materials to make his first artifact.  Which if you are a good fan you should know is...?

5.  Also working on an edit of Glassbreaker Goes Home.  When I started these I much more gravitated to it over Assault, so the 25k I had was all written before I figured everything out with FM6.5.  For one, the original version of FM6.5 had no Isabel in it.  Crazy thought reading it now, right?  That was all added in the second rewrite.  Before that it was meant to be Teresa Garcia who stuck around out of vengeance and well...  Let that be a lesson to aspiring writers:  anything can and will change from draft to draft.  So don't be afraid if the first one sucks, it's kind of supposed to!

So, yeah, having to solidify some of the thoughts on the assault in FM6.75 now, and other stuff...like I expect there might be a KH rant about babies coming up...

6.  I like FM6.75 so much better than 6.5...oh, I'm horrible father playing favorites, yes I am.  It's all character stuff!  So good!  No yucky action scenes!  Just KH and Val and Susan and...there's like a 40 page conversation between Vicky and Moira Welf and I love it so much!  Probably not a surprise since one of my favorite scenes I've ever written is the Ceinwyn vs KH argument at the end of FM4.

7.  Oh, more FM7 news I forgot about!  I took the time to come up with the entire list for all of Ultra Class 2015 this go around.  Bit of a spoiler, but Student-Advisor Price has lots of work to do.  30 new characters!  Well, 28, you should know two of them already if you read FM5.5.  I'll try to post the list soonish, although you still have months of waiting, you poor babies...

8.  You will surely recognize some of the last names...

9.  This month is looking great.  Avengers!  God of War!  Hearthstone expansion!  Tons of writing from RR?  I hope so!

10.  Generally my goal at this point in a release is to disappear, even lock the WiFi in a drawer if I have to.  Thanks to everyone who writes reviews, but man those things tear me up, even the good ones.  Never have a job that can be rated by the general public, so stressful!

11.  So...writing...I'm gonna get back at it!

FM 6.5 Discussion Thread

Last time you fans seemed to enjoy this, so I guess I'll put another one up this go around too.  Granted the book is smaller...but I'm sure you have some thoughts on the events that took place...especially, ya know, maybe the last few pages...

Spoilers...duh.

Assault on Dread Fortress Paine (FM6.5) is OUT!!!

Coverage:

Return of the Quick Self Made Covers!

Blurbage:

The Battle of Eureka is won! The Curator is vanquished, his Wilder army is shattered, and his apostles have fled for their lives.

But even in victory, the legacy of Obadiah Paine is not so easily washed away. His hidden lair yet remains, Dread Fortress Paine yet stands! Within it . . . none can be sure what monstrous acts are waiting to be uncovered or guess the number of Paine loyalists who linger.

It falls on the shoulders of ESLED Strike Alpha to answer these questions and to seize Paine's hideout for the Elemental Learning Council. Led by spectromancer Ramses Lamprey, joined by civilian observer Tyson Bonnie, and aided by Council fixer Eva Reti, failure is not an option.

This volume is a can't miss for Foul Mouth fans, acting as an action packed epilogue for "The Foul Mouth and the Pit of No Return" while priming many plot points for the next main volume and even those well beyond.

Dread Fortress Paine must fall!

Linkage:  Assault on Dread Fortress Paine by Richard Raley on Amazon Kindle

Price: $2.99

Kindle Select/Unlimited:  Of course.

Have fun reading, don't inhale too quickly or you'll get a tummy ache!

Pre FM6.5 Quick Notes

1.  So about 24 hours until I hit the button and then everything is in Amazon's hands.

2.  The beta readers have saved you from a little over 100 typos this go around.  I'm sure some remain.  Feel free to email me after release and I'll get to them eventually.

3.  Only slight change to the book is its about 500 words lighter, the cuts coming at the very beginning to make the first scene quicker.  That first scene also now ends on a bit of a mouth dropping moment that should make Tyson's anxieties and equivocations EXTRA unbearable :)

4.  Beta readers are liking the "final" fight quite a lot, so...yay!

5.  Other news, I'm having to come up with a whole new ultra class since FM7's school story deals with King Henry as a student-advisor.  Those poor children.  Of course if you read King Henry and the Three Little Trips then you know who two of them are and some of what will be going down.  Last school story, no more, yay!

6.  Big storm tonight :(

7.  Have 14 more WWE PVPS to catch up on before Wrestlemania.  Last year I went through 2011 to halfway through 2015, last couple months has been 2015 to 2018.  I'm hearing the entrance music in my sleep at this point.  And not the good ones either.  Like a week ago I has Carmella's entrance stuck in my head on a loop for like 48 hours.  It was horrible!

8.  You fans ready?

9.  Feels good to be publishing again!  Last year was rough.  Here's hoping I keep kicking some ass!

==Update==

10.  Button has been pressed.  As usual, it can take either 1 hour (like FM6) or 3 days (FM5 took about 24 hours if I remember right) for it to go through, so, start refreshing I guess?

11.  And now I'm going to go distract myself by blowing up rebel scum in Battlefront 2.  Which is only 20 bucks now and the progression system isn't evil any longer, so...it's kind of okay-ish.

Assault on Dread Fortress Paine is Done

Done.  Done.  Done.

Beta read in progress.

Ended up being 74k words long or about 200 pages.

So yeah, that's a fucking book!  How'd that happen?

Release window is March 23rd to March 26th.  Probably going to charge the same as Three Little Trips, which is $2.99.  As I've said before, there's no King Henry at all.  It's T-Bone and Eva's stories being told.  There are six?seven? new characters in the book.  Most of them belong to ESLED's Strike Alpha, including Captain Ramses Lamprey who is a spectromancer known as the Walking Flash-bang.  Some familiar faces will also very much pop up.  It probably has the most action-per-page of any book I've written.  At this point, if you read a Richard Raley novel then you know what you're getting:  lots of conversations between two to three people in a room somewhere!

Not this time.

For good and ill.  Lots of action.  The next one, not so much.  But this one, yes.  FM7?  We'll see ;P

Anything else?  Oh yeah.  I know I said you could skip FM5.5, but not a good idea this time around.  There's a LOT of setup for FM7 you won't want to miss.  And beyond FM7 even...

So...that's over.  Guess I'll take a couple days off and then dive into finishing the last half of The Glassbreaker Goes Home.  Or start FM7's school story.  The last one I'll ever have to write!  Yay!

Gush?  What's Gush?

Post? Plague Notes

1.  Back at it!

2.  Obviously The Plague knocked my schedule back a bit (not that I'm very good at keeping them lately!) so everything I talked about last time, add a week or two.

3.  Assault on Dread Fortress Paine is getting closer and closer to being done.  The final edit is winding down, have the last couple scenes left to finish.  Then after that I have like 2k-4k of original writing to wrap up, cuz I'm weird and do stuff out of order for some reason.  I do it for almost every book actually.  Another good one I always seem to manage is writing the last chapter before writing the second to last chapter.  Using FM6 as an example I wrote all the Eureka stuff, then the Post Eureka stuff, and only THEN wrote the Geo Realm chapter.

4.  After said final edit is over, I'll do my Kindle edit.  Unless I make some HUGE mistake everything will be locked down before hand and it's mostly typo hunting, playing with paragraphs and with the FM books actually the first time I get to read them with both the timelines and figuring out where each one should flip back and forth.  After THAT we have the beta read and then release.

5.  So...March!

6.  Curse the Plague!  Without it, new Richard Raley writing would be in your hands by now!

7.  Richard Raley writing and not a King Henry book because there's actually no King Henry in this one...outside of T-Bone's imagination at least...

8.  Then we're on to the next one, cuz it never ends!  The Glassbreaker Goes Home.  Stolen from The Thin Man Goes Home.  Which is a movie series everyone should watch.

9.  Speaking of movies...I have Thor Ragnarok, Justice League, Coco, and Blade Runner 2049 all sitting unwatched, so I should get to that.  Also Altered Carbon.  Which is a book all of you should read.  In my top 50 for sure.

10.  Confession Time:  I've never seen the first Blade Runner!  Can you believe that?!?!?   Also haven't seen Shawshank Redemption...or the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly.  I know...

11.  Here's hoping the next post is a release date!

Plague Notes

1.  Pre-Plague Asthma Weirdness.

2.  Nope, It's the Plague!  Begone allergy pills, hello Nitequil!

3.  Sneeze, cough, hack, sneeze, cough, hack.

4.  Plague, Yes, But Not as Plague-ish as Advertised...

5.  Feeling Better.

6.  One Good Day of Editing.

7.  Super Bowl!  Great Game.

8.  Wait...it can't be!

9.  Plague 2:  The Sequel.  Just Enough Plague to Be Annoying Edition.

10.  Nope, it's a Tide Ad.

Quick Notes New Year Edition

1.  I'm not writing as many quick note posts lately because my tablet's battery is on life support and my writer laptop isn't connected to the internet.  Most obvious truth ever:  the internet is very bad for productivity.  So a few years ago I bought the tablet to help segment my devices.  Tablet = net, laptop = writing, PS4 = gaming.  It worked great.  But it's been a year since my last novel and I don't have spare cash for a new tablet atm, so you'll just have to deal with less blathering from me, okay? ;)  And no, you can't easily buy a new battery for a tablet, have tried twice and the knockoffs are off the charts.

2.  Currently working on what I hope is my final edit for Dread Fortress.  About 1/3 done with it.  So far, so good.  Might change some of the order of the scenes around yet, not sure.  Beginning is kind of slow as is.  (Not that I've ever been one to have fast beginnings!)  It's another case of me trying to write a novella and instead ending up writing a small novel.  Should end up about 200 pages long.  Maybe a little shorter.  The action scene to character moment ratio is turned way up for one of my works.  That was kind of the idea with these two 'novellas', Dread Fortress = action, Goes Home = character.  Also, Dread Fortress is kind of the epilogue for FM6 directly, while Goes Home is an epilogue for the entire first half of the series.

3.  FM5.5 was arguably skipable...if you know, you didn't want a really enjoyable slice-of-life diversion for three of our characters, but there's a couple events that happen in Dread Fortress that you probably really want to learn about...

4.  Still at the halfway mark with Goes Home.  Still really enjoy all the ins and outs of it.  HOPING to finish it quickly and have it out 2-3 months after Dread Fortress, but I've been about as much of Fate's bitch as King Henry lately, so we'll see.

5.  FM7...will start on it as soon as both of those are done.  Although it's not like I haven't been thinking about the scenes this whole last year, over and over and over.  The writing part of authorship is a shockingly small amount of the time you spend working on a novel.

6.  So...Dread Fortress = Late Feb/Early March.  Goes Home = May/June/July.  Gush = what's Gush?  FM7 = TBD.

7.  I finally started reading Lois McMaster Bujold's Vor Saga, loving it so far, about halfway through it I think.  Been reading tons because of it.  One of those series where I'm not sure why I never bothered with it, since I enjoy her Five Gods work so much.

8.  As a personal rule if I don't have something good to say about another artist/writer/creator then I take the high ground and just shut my mouth so...I won't be giving my opinion on The Last Jedi. :)

9.  Football today!  Winter Olympics...World Cup...two Raley novels, maybe three?  Let's hope for a good year!