“If we keep meeting like this, I’m going to want a name,” Arthur said, clutching his side. The bleeding wasn’t stopping and he needed to fix that soon. Though maybe making sure Budo didn’t wake up was more important. Or perhaps the girls in front of him.
Damn. Blood loss really was kicking his ass.
“A name… how about I kick your-” the Northern Chinese girl fell silen...
2022-07-23 13:01:01 +0000 UTC View PostTravel through the deep wilds was both intimately familiar to Wu Ying and a new adventure every day. Trekking further west with each step, he traversed the longitudinally elongated kingdom of Jin, lush forests slowly giving way to drier, more temperate climates.
Even as the climate changed, so did the herbs he found. More than once, he would return to civilization to purchase books of her...
2022-07-22 13:01:02 +0000 UTC View PostBeen thinking a bit lately about the networking / interpersonal side of the business. There have been some recent incidents that have made this ever more apparent for me that this business is made up tiny cliques, of which being recommended to join them can make a difference in an author's careers.
So, I wanted to give a quick glimpse (from what I've seen - and again, this might not be th...
2022-07-21 01:16:04 +0000 UTC View PostThere were things that immortals, demons and humans alike were not meant to experience. Such experiences were why Grandmother Meng served her Soup on the Bridge of Forgetfulness, driving away nightmares that would plague an individual if allowed to fester. The consumption of the Twice Cooked Dog Kidney and Wolf Liver Pill was one such experience.
It was not just the taste on the tongue wh...
2022-07-19 13:00:06 +0000 UTC View PostThe pair crashed into one another, Arthur throwing Budo’s planned trajectory off course entirely. The pain slammed into the ground moments later, Arthur’s initial impact comforted by his opponent’s body. Bouncing off body and ground, they rolled around till he managed to stagger to his feet, his arms and wrist throbbing.
Good news. His hands had managed to free themselves. Bad news,...
2022-07-16 13:01:02 +0000 UTC View PostHappy Friday!!
Here's a new short story based in the System Apocalypse world, it was released last month to the System Finale audiobook Kickstarter supporters.
Growing Up-Apocalypse Style
Twenty years after the advent of the apocalypse, a new breed of Earth children appear. Hardened by the Dungeon World, trained by jaded parents, they're everything their parents...
The smell in the apothecarist’s room was familiar, pulling shards of memory from Wu Ying’s past. How many hours had he practiced, under the watchful eyes of Senior Li? She had been a patient, kind teacher, who was more likely to show him the proper way of doing things than beat him with a stick till he achieved the right position.
The apothecarist whose room they stood within smelled ...
2022-07-15 13:00:08 +0000 UTC View PostA day and a night later, Wu Ying left the remnants of the sounder behind. His lips were upraised in distaste as he flitted away, piles of bones, innards, flesh and hair left behind. Poisoned and twisted was the flesh of the majority, such that the meat was of little use to Wu Ying to bolster his stores.
Other animals – those immune to the toxins within the creatures flesh – were left ...
2022-07-12 13:00:08 +0000 UTC View Post“Seriously, boss, I’m not with them.” Arthur gulped, even as the other man finished tying his hands up in front of him. Not that Budo was listening to him. His one major protest had seen him struck across the head, leaving him with a nagging headache and blood spilling down an open scalp wound.
Budo ignored him further, shoving him backwards so that he was propped further b...
2022-07-09 13:01:02 +0000 UTC View PostFor all his preparations, his leaving was pre-empted by the flow of life and politics. Chief Pan found him working in the fields, finishing up the planting of the rice that they village required. They did not have extensive fields, not like his own village. The tea leaves that covered the hills took up most of their time, but still – no village would be without rice.
Stretching his back...
2022-07-08 13:01:03 +0000 UTC View PostThis is going to be a very LitRPG focused debate, though if you write in progression fantasy or just have a genre that is particularly heavy in KU; this might be helpful.
There's an on-going debate whether you should stick to KU or go wide. Now, here's some facts, especially in LitRPG and prog fantasy.
- 90% of the market is on Amazon.
- 2/3 of your sales (perhaps more for som...
2022-07-06 15:00:07 +0000 UTC View PostHi all!
Jenn here - this message is slightly different than our usual audible promo code one so instead of sending out a private message to all Master Class patrons and higher, I'm posting here.
We've got Audible promo codes for some of our German audiobooks - the codes are for either US or UK. If you are interested please message or comment below, and I'll get you some promo code...
The formation flags died off late in the day as evening set in the mystic realm. Rather than move onward and to allow Pan Chen to recuperate, the team set-up more stable – if less powerful – formations to guard the camp. The village personnel took turns guarding the recuperating Pan Chen, the child alternating between sleeping and cultivating to process the numerous healing tonics and pills...
2022-07-05 13:00:07 +0000 UTC View PostArthur hesitated only for a few seconds more before he chose to stand up. He waved a little to the quartet, still holding onto his staff as he offered them the most disarming grin he had on hand. It was a good one too – he’d been told it was a little rogueish and charming. A hint of little boy mischief in it.
It also bounced off the glaring women who gestured for him to enter the clea...
2022-07-02 13:00:05 +0000 UTC View PostFormation flags in the shape of spears, embedded in the body of the creature. Drawing energy and intent from the very body it was embedded within, empowered by the snake’s own chi. Pan Shui, clutching a broken arm, infused the last of her chi into the token. Beneath her feet, the broken body of the third village elder, his breathing raspy and twisted from having been crushed.
Triggered ...
2022-07-01 13:00:09 +0000 UTC View PostAs many of you might have seen now, I've written a giant post about System Apocalypse and it's results. Unlike many of my business blog posts, this one actually was added to 20booksto50k and the LitRPG Author Guild (some minor modifications for the Author Guild since I can talk about specifics there which 20books doesn't do).
Morning mists, something that rarely happened in the outer world was more common in here. From the absent conversations he overheard, it was a new phenomena in the mystic realm, a change that had happened in the last few decades. Muttered grumbling about disrupted control formations and over-abundance of water chi was overheard, but Wu Ying found himself soon lost.
As much as he struggled...
2022-06-28 13:00:09 +0000 UTC View PostDays later, Arthur finally chose to break away from his cultivation. He had completely used up the majority of his cores and progressed his cultivation a little, enough that he now felt comfortable leaving his hidden residence. Twice, he had to step out to kill a monster that had come a little too close to locating him, once late at night and another time whilst he was in the middle of cultivat...
2022-06-25 13:00:05 +0000 UTC View PostDoors swung close in the wake of Wu Ying stepping across the threshold, slamming shut behind the group. He was the last to enter, having been caught in the process of understanding and memorizing that moment, of stepping between.
His soul – that tiny, newborn soul trapped and sheltered within his core – trembled at the smell, at the process of progressing from one realm to another. It...
2022-06-24 13:00:08 +0000 UTC View PostHi all!
Jenn here with a short story audiobook for your listening enjoyment. This is for The Light Collector short story (some might remember it was called Mirror Mirror).
Here's the download link: https://BookHip.com/BJBCVFV
FYI - there is a glitch with bookf...
2022-06-23 20:27:45 +0000 UTC View PostInformation to give context:
- This is for System Apocalypse.
- this is for the main series (12 books - ignore where it says 16).
- As some of you might know, the protagonist is a bisexual POC. We start out apocalyptic, end up space opera really.
- I write in 3 book arcs, so every 3 books, we switch to a new...
2022-06-22 12:00:06 +0000 UTC View PostSnow on the ground. Rare, in these hills. Even if they were further north, it was not that much that snow would appear on the regular. Not like the tales of the northern countries, where the snow lay on the ground for months on end and feed was hard to come by. Still, the wind spoke of colder weather to arrive, a frost and churning, frozen clouds that would stay for days on end. Even the south ...
2022-06-21 13:00:11 +0000 UTC View PostWaking was pain, waking was discomfort. A branch stuck deep into one side of his stomach, making Arthur roll over with a groan and whimper. The impediment hurt, his body ached all over and worse of all, he could feel how his body was reacting to the numerous injuries. Too hot, he was too hot.
“I’m running a fever, it’ll be pretty severe…” Arthur pulled at his pouch, extracting a...
2022-06-18 13:00:04 +0000 UTC View PostThe next day, much to Wu Ying’s and Pan Chen’s disappointment, was dedicated not to further exploration of the jian but an introduction for Wu Ying to the village’s archives on bloodlines. The building, to his surprise, was not located within the village itself, but a short distance away in a cave hidden behind a powerful illusion formation.
It took them nearly an hour to bypass the...
2022-06-17 13:01:03 +0000 UTC View PostThe child prodigy was truly a child. Standing four and a half feet tall at most, barely under Wu Ying’s armpit, he was a well proportioned kid with his hair tucked into a high hat. He had been chattering away, excitedly, with another girl child till Wu Ying and his escort of the Fourth Uncle arrived into the empty training courtyard. Set aside and a distance from the rest of the village, it w...
2022-06-14 13:01:02 +0000 UTC View PostHe woke up a second later, still hurting. He pushed himself upwards, struggling to rise as he gripped the sword in his hand. Ribs were cracked, his hip twisted and his leg bruised form where he had impacted ground and eventually the tree. To his surprise, the monster was dead; but the problem was – there were still other babi ngepit.
Three left. Not the largest, in fact one was...
2022-06-11 13:00:04 +0000 UTC View PostMorning the next day, and Wu Ying was summoned before the Chief and the council elders. He was not surprised to see that the Chief was the Pan sister’s father. Such minor revelations had long ago been completed on their journey.
After the customary introductions and a period of small talk involving Wu Ying’s day before in the village, the group – which consisted of Chief Pan, Pan Yi...
2022-06-10 13:01:03 +0000 UTC View PostJust a quick update for you all. I'm not going to go into too much detail, but as mentioned by Jen, we had a team holiday / retreat in Barcelona just before 20booksto50k Madrid writing conference.
It was a great retreat, met a bunch of people I've corresponded with for ages but never met in person including Sarah my cover designer and Evan my editor. Also a bunch of my co-authors turned u...
2022-06-09 06:49:20 +0000 UTC View PostI figured I should write a post about translations since I have done a few.
This post is purely for translations you do yourself direct. While you can use some of this for things like Babelcube and Tektime, editing/proofing is actually a bit of an overkill there (especially as any good market (i.e. German you should be doing direct). Other markets with less $ equity involved will N...
2022-06-08 14:00:06 +0000 UTC View PostMorning the next day saw Wu Ying wandering the city, a new child attendant by his side to translate when required. Mostly though, in the middle of winter, there was less to do in the village. Upkeep of lands, repair of buildings and fences, the shoring up of drainage ditches and the care of the tea plants as they hibernated.
He wandered the surroundings, listening to the unintelligible co...
2022-06-07 13:55:05 +0000 UTC View Post