Tao Wong

Review Page

Been thinking of creating a review page on the main website. As Amazon frowns on Authors reviewing other books, I can't put my reviews up there. And because I've gotten flack from authors for giving less than 5 star reviews before, I won't likely put any stars on the review page. It'll basically be a list of books I'd recommend, maybe a short reason why and if necessary, something specific that ne...

A Squire's Wish - Cover Reveal

And here's the latest cover for A Squire's Wish!

Minor Updates

Hi everybody. Not much in terms of personal posts since, as mentioned, been on holiday. But got a few minor updates.

1) A Squire's Wish came back from editing already. It's got a bunch of edits that need fixing, but I should be able to release it mid-December I believe. I won't hold back release of this book since it's been a while since the Hidden Wishes series got a release.

O...

Updates & More

Both books are with the editors. So, not much going on in terms there for now. Release dates of (hopefully) early December for the Squire's Wish and Jan 1 for the System Apocalypse should hold true. If you're curious why, it's because Squire's Wish is only 60k words so it gets done a LOT faster on the editing side. But, it'll depend on final edits.

the Adventurer's Call released - 2018-11-16 02:39:03 +0000 UTC View Post

More art! Lana Pearson

Hi guys;

More art. This time it's Lana Pearson as the individual in play.

I actually like this author, so I'm considering giving him another commission. What'd you think?

Quick Update - Books Arrived

Won't have time to do signed copies. Maybe have a few more of the 'missing' copies show up, but currently have almost 10 copies of everything. Two copies are already asked spoken for by by relatives, so I have 8 copies (roughly) of everything to send out.

As patrons, you guys get first say. I need to sit down and work out pricing, so I'll let you all know but it'll likely be like $20 for a ...

Just sent World's Unbound to the Editor

Been a busy weekend. Didn't get a lot of work done, but I did finish the edits. Final word count on the document was just over 111k words, but minus the glossary / series bible, it's about 105k words. As I said, the longest book so far. About 12k more words than the preview chapters I believe.

Next step is to finish A Squire's Wish which is 95% done. Then edit that. Deadline for writing finish i...

Plans for November

So I've got 2 pieces of Fan Art commissioned. One is for a solo shot of John, the second is for Lana. If these artists work out (different fellows), I'll probably commission more. I'd like to do a little of everyone, so we'll see. I'm hoping to see these potraits done by the end of the month.

Sadly, books are NOT going to arrive before I leave. Which is another headache in itself. So signed copi...

Editing, November Short Story & Squire's Wish

So, I'm nearly done with A Squire's Wish. I've got a few scenes left, and I have a much better idea about the themes for all the characters so I expect there to be certain extensive edits needed. It's currently around Chapter 17, so across November, I'll update with the new chapters for everyone.

I also (hope) to get another short story written while I'm away. Those are easy to punch out while w...

Reviews, recommendations and personal taste

There was a recent post about reviews on one of the FB groups once again, where said poster was discussing his personal review rating. And how, on Amazon, it seemed that 4 & 5 stars were given out like candy.

There were a lot of great replies to his post, from which the replies from authors boiled down to - anything less than 4.5 stars for many books is bad for sales. As such, any review bel...

Considering dropping a series soon

Specifically, Hidden Wishes. Once I finish this damnable book, I think I might have to drop the series. It's taken 2 months to write, with numerous rewrites, brain cudgeling and 'forcing'. I don't know why, but the entire universe and characters just aren't flowing the way the other series does. 

Once A Squire's Wish is done, I'm going to put the entire series to bed I think. At some point,...

Books, collateral & holidays

As my family has insisted that I get them (hardcover) books, I gave in and ordered a bunch of copies up. I have no clue if it'll arrive before my holiday (in November), but once it arrives, I will have the ability to send out signed copies. I'll probably do a few as gifts, but am considering making it a possibility to sell signed copies. 

I might also drop one off in a mini library around h...

Holy crap, my apologies

I just started editing book 6 and going through chapters one by one. And I've realised how bad that first draft was. So many run-on sentences or sentences that just aren't good. So many missed opportunities for world-building.

Anyway, Chapter 1 is done. 19 more to go. With epilogue. And another... however many scenes to add.

Thanks again for everyone who read the book in it's raw fo...

First Character Art - EVER!

So I contacted a couple of artists and I'll probably go bug a few more (if there's anyone who you think is good and decently cheap(ish), let me know) who have created character art for me. Since I wanted John & Ali together, the cost is a bit higher to do them. Heee. 

Let me know what you think. I think Ali in particular really came out great. 

World's Unbound - Discussion

So, what did you think? Were there any major inconsistencies? Pacing issues?

Was there a scene / series of scenes that you think need to be added? 

Was there a character you really enjoyed seeing introduced? Did you want more screen time for someone else? Or less? Did any the relationships // character developments surprise you? 

Any other comments? Questions?

2018-10-17 17:00:16 +0000 UTC View Post

Thoughts on systems in LitRPGs

It's interesting, in a way, for me to keep writing in this genre. As I've written and grown as a writer, I've come to realise that there are certain things that I really want to remove / keep out of any new 'system' that I make up. Here's a few things that I think either need to be removed, or become a huge part of the game.

- Charisma & other social skills

Let me be clear - this is in...

Squire's Wish - writing update

So, didn't get much actual writing done. I got about 1,500 words in, then started writing the second scene of Chapter 9. Got stuck repeatedly, and then decided to write out a plot outline, thinking that was the issue. Did that, started writing again and still got stuck.

Ended up taking a little time off to reading book 2 of Joshua Anderles Animus series (fun, snarky book which is 90% dialogue an...

Writing Update & Thoughts

Just finished typing 'The End' on World's Unbound. There are 20 Chapters plus an Epilogue. 92.5k words (not including glossary, etc at back).

As it stands, I've already started editing a few of the earlier chapters of things I needed to foreshadow a bit more. Now that I've got the story arc down, I need to go back and foreshadow, add more scenes with particular people to flesh them out and of co...

Hi to all the new patrons!

Just thought I'd post this since I noticed there's a bunch of new people here. Lots of older posts, let me know if you have any questions! 

While not an AMA, I'm happy to answer most questions.

Merchandise and Character Artwork

Been requested to get some merchandise made and the basic stuff (posters, etc) is simple enough. I have the cover designer who I worked with busy editing the files so that they're workable.

If anyone knows a good company to create a print-on-demand merchandise account on, I'd be grateful for that information. I have a few names already, but will go looking into it in more detail soon.

Char...

Vote on what's next

So, I've got 2 more works that are worth showing. Both actually had some work done on them before I stopped. Both have the potential to be turned into a full series.

They both were meant to focus on the settlement building aspects of LitRPGs. The first skims around the issue of logistics by using hand-wavey nanomachines. The second is more traditional portal fantasy.

You're voting to see w...

Writing update & naming help

So, working on Book 6 right now. I'm 5 chapters in, roughly 15k words already. The book was flowing well for the basic introductions / etc and then I got into the meat of the story and hit a roadblock. Now I'm back to world-building on the backend so that the plot for book 6 makes sense. This is one time pantsing is a bad idea. 

The good news is that once I get this down (basically, breakin...

Criticisms, reviews and writing

So, been having an interesting discussion over on reddit (yes, yes, hive of villainy and scum and all) about the latest series. There have been some interesting criticisms about the book, mostly about the pacing. I was also introduced to a new concept (scene-sequel). Since I'm not a 'trained' writer, it was a nice way to categorise some writing that I hadn't thought of before. Looking it over, I'm...

Book Launched

So, since I sent out (put out) the non-proofread version for you guys, do you still want the PDF of the proofread version? If so, let me know and I'll put it up here. 

On another note, I've had some people ask about signed copies.

Is this a perk that people want / are interested in? Or worth setting up? 

Realise that because I live in the Yukon Territory in Canada, shi...

NAG (Another VR Story)

I guess I lied. I did write a second VR based story. Sort of.  I wrote this one I think before I started publishing on Royal Road. It never felt right while writing it, and looking at the details now, some of the things that annoy me about some of the tropes (high levels of pain, paralyzed hero) show up here.

This is one of those mini written bits that will never be finished, so figured I'd...

Adventures on Brad Books 1 - 3 Audiobook Released

So, Adventures on Brad Books 1 - 3 Audiobook is out (https://www.audible.com/pd/B07GT97HW8/?source_code=AUDFPWS0223189MWT-BK-ACX0-126056&ref=acx_bty_BK_ACX0_126056_rh_us).

Most of you probably know, just figured it'd be good to upd...

Coast on Fire Discussion (Spoiler Zone!)

Come on everyone, let's chat about Book 5 of the System Apocalypse. What did you like? What did you hate?  How evil am I for setting up a cliffhanger that won't be resolved for at least a few months.

Writing updates

So, A Squire's Wish continues to kick my ass. I'm struggling through it, so rather than struggle too much, I started writing book 6 of the System Apocalypse. I'm working on Chapter 1 right now, we'll see how much gets done.

However! I just got back the edit on Book 5 of the Coast on Fire. So I'll be going through that this weekend / however long it takes and then post the PDF for those patrons w...

A Squire's Wish (writing update)

So... you might have noticed I started posting teaser chapters of Book 2 of the Hidden Wishes series.

I am technically about 19k words in.

And I just decided this morning to dump 17k words of that (basically everything but the first 2 chapters). I started writing based off a plot that I thought was interesting and realised, 19k words in that it's:

- boring

- repetitive

- ...

the Arena's Call (discussion)

So, that's it. I initially planned to write the entrance to Artos, the exploration of the dungeon but I realised that it just didn't fit at the end of this book. It would feel a bit lumped on, so I decided to cut it and add that for the next book.

The good news for those in favor of this series is that I now have a pretty good direction for book 5 of the AoB series. 

Feel free to disc...