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Stories Matter

The Man in the High Castle

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Hey! This is Bryce. I’m filling in for Ryan today. Partly because he is busy but mostly because of how impressed I am with Amazon’s The Man in the High Castle.

This is a quick review of both available seasons. There will be no spoilers, and I have not read the book by Phillip K. Dick… Yet. However, I have heard that the show doesn’t really follow the book.

The first season starts out with a simple premise that has massive implications: Japan and Germany won WWII. The good old US of A has been split in half. Japan took the west coast and Germany took the east. The show starts about 15 – 20 years after the war ended, but these are not the 60s we know and love. The details of how the USA lost are murky, but every time they gave me a little bit of insight – my mind was blown.

This show does so many things right. First, they introduce a single grain of fantasy in an ocean of mystery and politics. At first I thought it would overwhelm the already interesting, chuck-full plot. However, it is so subtle in the first season that you still care more about the characters than you do the mystical aspects. In season two, the fantasy/sci-fi aspects get a little more prominent, but they are put to good use.

Next, there are literally no bad guys in this show. Even the remaining American “patriots” are not clear cut good guys.  Most of the characters are fighting each other, but each character has their motivations. I enjoyed it, but at times I would find myself cheering for a complete ass. It isn’t every day that I find myself rooting for a guy with a swastika on his arm.

However, there were times in the show when I felt they followed minor plot lines a little too closely. At the time I didn’t know how they would come to a close. It made for a boring episode or two. It all paid off at the end, but a little transparency would have gone a long way.

All in all I think it is a great series. I highly recommend it. I will keep this short, but I could go on and on about the things that are awesome in The Man in the High Castle.

Bryce

Why I Went Indie

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So, last week I wrote a short post expressing some gratitude to Amazon for creating a place where independent fiction can thrive. Today I figured I’d talk a little bit about why I went independent in the first place.

A little bit of history to start:
I’ve been writing for as long as I’ve known how to. Someday, I’ll share with you some of the first stories I wrote in second grade. They are of course, beyond horrible, but they’re pretty funny.
But even though I’ve always written, I’d never, ever considered a career as an author. In hindsight, maybe I should have, but I focused on education and youth work, and worked in those fields for over a decade. Through it all though, I kept writing, just for myself.

I’d have to go back and check my files, but Nightblade was either the second or third full-length novel I wrote. However, it was the first one I liked. But even after writing it (in 2012), I didn’t even consider publishing it. It was just a good story. I wrote another novel afterwords, which was also horrible.
To make a long story of discovery short, I came upon the Self-publishing podcast. I read their first non-fiction work, Write, Publish, Repeat, and for the first time I thought to myself that perhaps there was something to this idea of independent publishing.

After a substantial amount of debate with myself, I made the decision to go independent. There were a few reasons for this.

First, I hadn’t really expected to make a career out of it. I was dissatisfied with my other work in life and was looking to figure out how to work from home, but I was focused much more on consulting and freelance writing. I figured if I could make an extra $50-$100 a month through Amazon, why not? Being as I wasn’t looking at making a career out of it, I figured there was no point going through the traditional publishing cycle of rejection. I’d just make something as nice as I could and put it out there.

Second, I liked the idea of control over your work and your success. With independent publishing, there’s no one else to blame but yourself. I got to pick the cover and decide how the story ended. Anything good or bad about the book is entirely in my hands – and I liked that idea.

Finally, I liked the idea of connecting with fans directly. With independent publishing, there’s no one between me and readers, and I thought that was great.
To say the story took some twists and turns is an understatement, but I’m glad I went independent!

Cheers,

Ryan

Why Indie?

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So, this October, Amazon is celebrating independent fiction, complete with its own hashtag: #poweredbyindie

As part of the celebration, Amazon is featuring independent works by a wide range of authors, and I was fortunate enough to be selected as one of the featured independent authors.

For some reason, the emails from Amazon put me into a reflective mood, and I was thinking about how crazy the journey has been. I quit my full time job just a little over a year ago, in August of 2015. My wife, bless her, told me I had one year to generate enough income to replace my old one. After years of working on Nightblade, I finally took the leap, hit publish, and waited to see what would happen.

Since then, I’ve published four stories on Amazon, and I have more ideas than I have time to write (even though I’m writing full-time). Every week I get to hear from people who have enjoyed the stories.

Next week I’ll write about why I went indie, but for today, I just wanted to express gratitude. I think that often, technology is a two-edged sword. But the advent of the kindle and digital reading has shaken up the industry, and it has given me a chance to tell stories for a living, and for that I’ll always be grateful.

There’s another aspect to independent publishing that doesn’t often get mentioned: a closer connection between authors and readers. Because of the nature of independent publishing, there aren’t so many layers between authors and readers. For the first time, we live in a world where its easy to say “Hi” to the person who wrote our new favorite book. As both an author and an avid reader, this has been fantastic.

So, to all of you who have made this journey possible, thank you.

Ryan

Release of Primal Dawn

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Top of the morning, everybody!

I know this has already gone out on all the channels, but I wanted to make sure it could be seen here, too. I’m really excited to announce the official release of my newest story, Primal Dawn.

Primal Dawn is a new endeavor for me, a short sci-fi story about first contact. It’s an idea I’ve had bouncing around in my head for quite a while, and after finishing the Nightblade trilogy, was looking for a bit of a change of pace.

The story comes in at about fifty thousand words, so a little less than half of a full Nightblade novel. This was a lot of fun to write, and I hope you all enjoy as well. If you’re interested in learning more, the link is below:

Primal Dawn

Take care all!

Ryan

Primal Dawn & Baby Kirk

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Hey Everybody!

First of all, a warm welcome to all the newcomers to this email list!  It’s been quite a while since I wrote (which I’ll explain below), and this list has grown substantially.  My sincere gratitude for allowing me into your email inboxes!

This email is going to be longer than most I send out, but it’s because I have both business and personal news to share.  I’ll do business first, so those of you who only want that can read it first and skip the rest of the email.

Primal Dawn!

I’ve hinted at this a little, but as of yesterday, my newest work, Primal Dawn, is available for pre-order on Amazon. Check it out here.  It officially releases on Sept. 26.  Primal Dawn is a shorter story, sitting somewhere between a novella and a short novel, depending on who you ask (about 50,000 words).  It’s a sci-fi story about first contact, with an advanced race coming into contact with a far more primitive one.  But, not everything is as it seems.

The cover and synopsis and link to the book are below:

Tev is a hunter, one of the best in his clan. Trained since birth in the art of tracking and killing, Tev has never met a challenge he couldn’t overcome. But when a mysterious fireball falls from the sky, Tev will question everything he has ever known. For the first time in his life, he isn’t the one doing the hunting.

He is the prey.

Primal Dawn is the first short novel of the Primal Series, spanning centuries of conflict following first contact. Each novel tells a complete story in the ongoing saga of two cultures learning to explore the vastness of space together.

Also, for those of you who are curious, I’m a little over halfway through the first draft of a new book set in the world of Nightblade.  I’ll have more on that later.

 

Welcoming the newest member of Waterstone!

The really big news in my life is that a few weeks ago, my wife and I welcomed our little baby girl into the world.  Baby Kirk came in at 7 lbs, 7 oz, and arrived exactly on her due date (I like to joke that my wife really is a rule-follower!).

There were some minor complications after she was born, but everyone is happy and healthy now, even if I’ve forgotten what a full night of sleep felt like.  But, because of her, I haven’t been as active writing and interacting as I’d like.  I expect that as I figure out this whole fatherhood thing, that will improve.

In any case, as always, I’m grateful for all of you.  Thank you for your support, and I hope you are all doing well as well!

 

With sincere gratitude,

Ryan

The Humbling Experience of Becoming a New Author

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Hello everyone, Bryce again.

As I mentioned in the last post, I finished my first fiction novel last week. The rough draft came in at about 125,000 words. I’m incredibly proud at the moment, but I’m sure a harsh dose of editing will bring me back down shortly.

I just wanted to share a few things I experienced during the writing process. These were things that I didn’t anticipate at all. I have written 10,000 – 20,000 non-fiction books before, but the process is so different that they hardly compare.

By far, the most frustrating aspect was maintaining the story line throughout the entire book. It took me roughly seven months to complete, and in that time I had a baby and started a new job. I was a completely different person when I started the book! I managed, but it was a struggle to make sure I was writing the same story at the end as I was at the beginning.

Another interesting thing happened to my writing mindset. I no longer thought I was going to finish the book, but I wrote with every bit of passion and interest I started with. I literally thought that I would be writing the book forever. Oddly enough, I was OK with it. I was invested so much in the characters that I didn’t mind visiting them every day. I don’t view this as a bad thing, but I had to remind myself that there was indeed an end goal.

Lastly, as I reached about 80% completion, I began splitting my time looking in to publishing ideas. I researched cover art, launch strategies, Pokemon Go, key words, Amazon algorithms, and a the list goes on. At first, I didn’t think anything of it. Then I realized that my progress halted completely. I refocused my energy on finishing the book. I had to fight my urge to look too far ahead.

In the end I finished the thing. I enjoyed myself the entire way. There is nothing quite like finishing something you have written for so long. I hope everyone can experience it at some point!

I’m sure the editing will be a different story… With me luck!

Thanks,

Bryce