Briefs
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New 2023 Roadmap
Stuck to my wall with big, bold black letters is an index card that says, “No Dates!” To those who don’t know me, you may think I’m anti-romance. Not true! Okay… a little true. But this is about public deadlines, not finding soulmates.
I’ve written up a long article, linked below, that you should check out. But if you’re like 99% of humans and goats, you’ll want a summary.
This is that summary.
“Thou shalt not give ANY dates, vague or specific, even when such dates are guaranteed.” —Gameus
All deadlines have been wiped. Instead, I promise to work hard to bring my projects to light. They’ll launch when they are ready.
Dungeon Runner is my focus. I’ll work on it until the series is completed with six books, then return to Arachnomancer, which I’m planning to be three books. I’m doing a lot to “save” the series (new covers, updates, audio, and ads), so my plans may change.
To get all the juicy details, check out the article.
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Good morning!
I’m working hard on the new Dungeon Runner book and thought it’d be fun to share a sneak peek of Dungeon Runner 4.1, the free side quest for my newsletter subscribers.
I’ve decided the Dungeon Runner: Eizel episodes don’t make for a great newsletter offering. Her story—though it lacks a dungeon—intertwines with the main story to the point that when I soft relaunch the series, I’m going to include it in the main books.
I want to provide readers with a good user experience and value. I don’t think having a bonus story upsell at the end of every book is a good experience. As such, I’ll have one! Dungeon Runner 4.1: Sugar & Sweet explores a super fun bonus dungeon that’s unlike any we’ve seen so far.
Try not to eat it when it’s here. ;)
Click the image icon below to see it!
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Sunday Thoughts
I got out of the shower and noticed half my toenails were clipped while the other half were not. They are still like that because I’m working up the motivation to get down there and do a good job. But this left me thinking, “Is this a writer thing or a Dustin thing?”
In other Sunday thoughts, it turns out I’m a very active sitter. My Apple Watch alerted me late last night that I had achieved my 30 minutes of exercise somehow. This is impressive since I didn’t do any excise. But I’m not going to fight it. We all need more achievements in life.
Last week, my sister and I beat the “new” (to us) Destiny 2 campaign on Legendary. Unfortunately, something glitched halfway through, so only I got the rewards. I think the game is secretly saying I’m the better player… I mean, that sucks!
Have a relaxing Sunday and a wonderful week! :)
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“What’s on your mind?”
That’s what Facebook is asking me. I’m drawing a blank. It’s empty in there, hollow, full of cobwebs (and hopefully not spiders)…
It’s funny to me how many people think I love spiders because of Arachnomancer. Let me tell you, spiders and I have had a rough history. In fact, one ran me off the freeway once.
I was driving back to college, listening to a comedian, and staying in my lane. Normal stuff. But then the world’s smallest spider dropped down on its tiny strand of silk to say hello.
(I didn’t say spiders weren’t friendly.)
Since I’m a loving and caring person, I gently pinched the strand of silk and moved the spider to my custom-built PC sitting in the front seat, wearing a seatbelt. Safety first.
The road got all bumpy. When I looked up, I was racing along dirt and tall yellow plants at 80 miles per hour. My immediate reaction was the wrong thing to do, which was to rip the steering wheel back toward the road.
The back of my car spun out. I was perpendicular to the road, still going 80 miles an hour. If you’ve seen the awesome anime called Initial D, you’ll be proud to know that, at that time, I became a world-famous drifter.
But that only lasted until the car turned onto its side and eventually upside down.
The worst part of this was my cup of water. It spilled all over my lap. The paramedics totally thought I wet myself.
So no, I don’t like spiders…
(Oh, and seatbelts save lives. My PC still worked!)
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I’m currently listening to Bunker Core, a Dungeon Core book set in a post-apocalypse. I’m ten chapters in, and I’m enjoying it. :)
The reason I bring it up today is to show you part of my writing process. I’m sure other writers do this, too. When I get an idea for something I want to write, I start listening to books that explore similar ideas. This helps me experience the idea as a reader/listener so I can identify what I like/dislike.
I’m always getting more ideas, which—as Chris Fox says in his Plot Gardening book—go into my compost. You need good ideas in order to grow a garden worth reading. Is this making any sense? Haha.
Another fun book was Dinosaur Dungeon. I enjoyed the game mechanics and ideas Alex Raizman explored. And who doesn’t like dinosaurs!?
Hit me up with any Dungeon Core recommendations you might have. What do you like/dislike about Dungeon Core books?
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Two years ago (minus 11 days), I published Arachnomancer after a friend talked me off the cliff of doing something crazy—that doesn’t sound like me!—and challenged me to actually write and publish something for NaNoWriMo.
That friend’s name was Dhane Taylor, and today is his birthday.
It was from his challenge that my publishing career got its start. I’ve been a writer for a very long time and was quite serious about it for a good five years before publishing. But it took his challenge to just write something, have fun, and publish it under a pen name—if I must—that I finally took that leap of faith.
I’ve now published three novels, six novellas, and three short stories, and I have a lot more to come. 🙂
For those who haven’t noticed, this is where Dhane (in Arachnomancer) got his name. That was my one condition. “If I do this, I’m naming the protagonist Dhane!”
Happy birthday, Dhane! 🎂🥳
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Do you speed up audiobooks?
The last book I listened to wasn’t that great, but I only had two hours left. For the first time in all my audiobook listening life—thousands of hours—I bumped the speed up to 1.2x.
I’m now listening to Bunker Core (getting ready to write my own Dungeon Core book) and didn’t realize the 1.2x speed was applied there, too.
It’s glorious!
The experience is still great. If anything, the increased speed helps me stay focused on the story (my mind wanders a lot), and it drastically reduces how long it takes to get through a book, which means I can experience more awesome stories.
Who else is doing this?
(The picture on Facebook/Twitter is what I look like listening to audiobooks. So happy!)
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I’m excited to announce that Arachnomancer is FINALLY getting its audiobook adaptation by the amazing, supremely talented, and hilarious Joel Simler!
I’ve listened to A LOT of narrators, and I’m confident I have picked the right gent for the job. Joel handles the comedy perfectly, getting me to laugh every time I listen to him.
You’ll also notice from the attached graphic that things look a bit different. I will be rebranding Wrong Divinity: Oh Sh*t! I F*cking Hate Spiders! (Arachnomancer, Book 1) to…
Arachnomancer: A LitRPG Adventure
This will come with an awesome new cover (still in the works). And for those of you sad about the books losing their fun taglines, don’t despair! Those taglines will exist as the first line in their blurbs.
Like/follow my FB page for more announcements. :)