Happy Thanksgiving!

I just wanted to tell all of you that I am supremely grateful for your support of my blog, my writing, and my career as a writer. I am a very blessed man to have fans, and even more blessed to have such a great cloud of friends and family who support my God-given calling as a writer. I hope each and every one of you have a great day today! Great things are coming in 2014, so stay tuned to keep tabs on my upcoming projects.

VRKA Delay

VRKA (the virtual real-time knowledge assistant), a mock computer database on my website, was originally scheduled to go live this month, but I have quickly realized that I still have a ton of work to do on some of the profiles I am trying to put together right now. I really want this to be a quality addition to my website, and in that regard, the release will be moved to January, at which time the very first character profile will be released - David Corbin.

NaNoWriMo Victory!

I just crossed the 50,000 word count finish line in my NaNoWriMo novel, The LZR Project! This was my ninth year participating in NaNoWriMo, and this was my ninth year winning it. But even though NaNo is over for me this November, it doesn't mean the manuscript I was drafting is anywhere near done. I cranked out a ton of episodes in the short story series, and a  lot of the story arcs are coming together nicely. Some of the story lines that were started in the Black Earth series are popping up to offer answers to questions many of my readers asked after ending the series, which is a great thing. This series seems to be turning into a bridge of some sort between the Black Earth series and the Expired Reality series, so it will be a perfect introduction for those who haven't had a chance to check out my Expired Reality series yet.

The LZR Project - Cover Peek

Here is the cover design I have been working on for The LZR Project. I was originally going to do a different color scheme for each episode, but I've decided to keep this same design for all covers and just change the episode number on them.

And in case you missed my blog post yesterday, here's a little tentative info about The LZR Project...

The first episode (Episode #0) will be released Tuesday, March 4th as a digital download. I am considering using Gumroad for the release of each of my episodes, but I'm not certain about that yet. I'd imagine the price for each episode will be around $1, and episodes will probably be released on a weekly basis, possibly every Tuesday. Once all episodes have been released, I'll turn around and publish the entire series in paperback format. Also, originally I wanted to take episodes down after they were up for a couple weeks to force people to purchase the paperback at the end if they wanted to catch up, and I think I'm going to scratch that idea and keep the previous episodes up as new ones are released so anyone can catch up at anytime.

NaNoWriMo Update #5 - 42,000 Words. Almost there!

42,000 is the current word count in my NaNoWriMo novel, The LZR Project. I have a multitude of episodes written out, with quite a few more that still need to be started, giving me plenty of material to work with to reach the 50,000 word goal in no time. In fact, my plan is to finish NaNoWriMo by this coming Thursday night.

So, here are my ideas for the execution of The LZR Project. The first episode (Episode #0) will be released Tuesday, March 4th as a digital download. I am considering using Gumroad for the release of each of my episodes, but I'm not certain about that yet. I'd imagine the price for each episode will be around $1, and episodes will probably be released on a weekly basis, possibly every Tuesday. Once all episodes have been released, I'll turn around and publish the entire series in paperback format. Also, originally I wanted to take episodes down after they were up for a couple weeks to force people to purchase the paperback at the end if they wanted to catch up, and I think I'm going to scratch that idea and keep the previous episodes up as new ones are released so anyone can catch up at anytime.

Anyway, those are just my initial thoughts on what I want to do with this thing once it's finally finished. I already have the cover template finished, and I'll be releasing a sneak peek at that next week. First things first though - I need to finish NaNoWriMo!

NaNoWriMo Update #4 - 35,000 Down, 15,000 To Go!

I am now 35,000 words into my NaNoWriMo novel, The LZR Project. I think I have about thirteen episodes done, which is really great progress since I have ideas written out for about thirty-four episodes. My characters are starting to get a little bit out of hand, but that's expected. As a writer, you expect your characters to do all sorts of surprising things - like cause other characters to get into car accidents when there was no intention on my part for that to happen. Oh well. You live, you learn, you write.

On Tuesday, I will be announcing a tentative release date for the series itself, along with details regarding the release frequency and cost of the episodes. Stay tuned!

NaNoWriMo Update #3 - Over 28,000 Words And Counting!

Yesterday I passed up 28,000 words on my NaNoWriMo novel! Considering this is the start of the second week of NaNo, I'm pretty excited about my progress so far. With the 28,000 words comes eleven episodes of The LZR Project already written out, with more than twenty episodes to go. For the most part, each episode is still based around its own plot while contributing to the overall story arcs that flow through the entire series. There are also a few episode two-parters which are just really big episodes that need to be cut in half to keep the flow of the episode lengths equal.

 Also, in the next few days, I will be announcing a tentative release date for the first episode of The LZR Project and details surrounding each episode's price, means of downloading, and subsequent episode release schedule.

Zazzle Stores Now Open!

I am happy to announce the opening of the two Zazzle stores I've been working on. Each store is still a little rough around the edges, but I'll be working on them in the next few weeks to get them to 100%.

The first store is called Defiance Goods, and features products created around my Black Earth novel series. The second store is called Nokei Curiosities, and features products created around my Expired Reality novel series. Right now, I have a few basic items in each shop - like watches, medallions, keychains, and even an exclusive 2013 Christmas ornament, but my plan is to add new items and designs to each store each week.

Check out what I have going in both shops and order something for yourself or for someone you know who is a fan of my writing! All of it just in time for the holidays.

NaNoWriMo Update #2 - Over 22,000 Words So Far

This afternoon, I crossed the 22,000 word count line in my NaNoWriMo novel, The LZR Project. Out of the thirty-four episodes (short stories) I plan to write, I have at least nine full episodes sketched out. The amazing thing that I am encountering while I blow through this NaNo goodness is that my Black Earth series is pushing itself into my storylines, connecting the dots between both of my novel series (Black Earth and Expired Reality) and even answering some questions that readers of my Black Earth series may have had after reading the entire series - such as what happened to Ryn at the end of the series? And as always happens in my novels, certain surprise characters are begging (or forcing) their way into cameos or important roles in some of the stories.

Writing these episodes is so much fun, I almost don't want NaNo to end. But even when it does end, even after I do reach the 50,000 word count goal, I will continue writing because I would like to start releasing these episodes near the beginning of next year, and to do that, I want to have the entire series written out, edited, and with cover designs.

My goal now is to reach 25,000 words by the end of this weekend, and end next week with my ninth year of NaNo under my belt.

NaNoWriMo Update #1 - Over 10,000 Words So Far

As of this morning, my word count is over 10,000 in my NaNo manuscript. That 10,000 words makes up a little over four episodes of my short story series, The LZR Project. I still have over twenty-five more episodes to sketch out, but I think I'm on the right track so far, both to finish NaNo early (hopefully by the end of next week) and blow out the drafts of all of these episodes before the end of the month.

On a related note, I have been working on a rough cover template I'll be using for all of the episodes of The LZR Project when they are released on a scheduled basis after the new year. I'll post what I have in the next week so you can all have a peek.

NaNoWriMo Has Begun...

Yes. We are now within the boundaries of November, meaning I am caught in the grasp of the greatest writing challenge known to man - NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month). Each year, thousands of people from around the world participate in the month-long challenge to write 50,000 words. 50,000 words in thirty days. This will be my ninth year competing in and completing the challenge.

My goal this year is to write out thirty-four episodes of a short story mini-series called The LZR Project. These thirty-four episodes will then be polished and released in timed intervals on my website. When all episodes have been released, I'll release The LZR Project into paperback and digital format. This project has me almost more excited than any other NaNoWriMo event from years past, so I may end up finishing NaNo early, albeit with a massive case of carpal tunnel syndrome.

So, for the rest of the month, this is what you can expect from me -
1.) An unhealthy intake of caffeine
2.) High levels of hyperactivity due to a massive outpouring of fictional goodness and the aforementioned caffeine abuse
3.) Questionable hygiene
4.) Sudden mood swings due to frequent interaction with highly emotional and volatile fictional characters
5.) Month-end aversion to sunlight and anything related to the outdoors
6.) Inability to separate real-life from fictional world

Well, wish me luck! If you want to connect with me in NaNo world, here's a link to my profile - http://nanowrimo.org/participants/davidcorbin