Happy Birthday To Me!

Yup. 36 years old as of today.

If it were any other day this month, I'd be trying to save my writing productivity for my NaGaDeMon project. But since it's my birthday, I'll be taking the day off from that. So I've got a few words to spare for the blog. And there are some things to share with you.

First of all, Adventures in Oz: Fantasy Roleplaying Beyond the Yellow Brick Road will soon be available from Indie Press Revolution. The main delay at this moment is waiting for them to receive books that I'm having manufactured and shipped to them. If all goes well, everything should be ready to go by Black Friday/Cyber Monday.

Secondly, The Wizard's Magic Bag is almost ready for release. Writing, interior art, and layout are complete. I'm just waiting on cover art right now.

And what is my NaGaDeMon project? Well, it's not Beyond the Deadly Desert, as it's been the last few years. There's only so much I want to say about it right now, because A) It's actually not for me and B) I've made too many overly enthusiastic announcements via this blog and I'd rather wait until it's much closer to completion to make any kind of announcement.

And This Is Why I'll Never Win NaNoWriMo

Because today is the first day this month I've gotten to sit down and write anything. Between work and other scheduled activities (including a little gaming), I have been run ragged over the last few days. Last night, I finally got to bed at a human hour with no chance of anything else happening first thing in the morning. We'll see how long this lasts.

I still love NaNoWriMo (and NaGaDeMon for those who participate in it). Don't get me wrong. Because it's a good excuse, a kick in the butt to do the thing that you really want to do. And sometimes, that's what I need.

The day job and real life have left me pretty stressed and depressed recently, so I haven't been putting as much attention into some things. Like this blog, for example, or the thing that this blog is supposedly about. I've still got all the work I've done on Beyond the Deadly Desert, but it's been lying fallow for far too long. I think I'll take advantage of the excuse to blow the dust off of it and finish it.

I don't think it will be finished this month, but hopefully I can use NaGaDeMon to build up some steam and momentum and see how far that takes me.

A Swift Kick In The Pants!

A lot of people know November as NaNoWriMo, or National Novel Writing Month. While I may indeed have a novel in me, there's something else that I know you want more: Adventures in Oz: Beyond the Deadly Desert.

But publishing an RPG book isn't just a matter of writing it. Art, editing, layout and a number of other things are important as well. But all of those things cost money, and I don't have a whole heck of a lot of that. Sales aren't terribly strong in my little niche of a niche, so my motivation to complete the project has somewhat wavered.

Then I discovered Kickstarter. Rather than having to take out loans or owe my soul to family members, I can simply plead for the money I need in front of the entire Internet. My goal is to raise $3000 over the next 30 days. (Link Here: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/575175333/adventures-in-oz-beyond-the-deadly-desert)

There are a couple of particularly nifty things about Kickstarter. For one, if I don't make my entire amount, nobody pays anything. For another, creators are encouraged to offer prizes to their contributors. And I am. Smaller contributions will receive digital copies, while larger contributions will receive print copies. Some contributors can even receive a special thank-you in the book itself!

Hopefully, with these two powerful motivators, NaNoWriMo and Kickstarter, I can get Beyond the Deadly Desert into the hot little hands of my voracious fans.