NaNo 2015 Winner and Progress Update

So in October I had just finished my 3rd novel, Element of Sight and its first edits. Then along came November, where I remembered it was National Novel Writing Month.

In my determination to finally participate, I immediately began my 4th novel to the Shattered Soul series, Elements of Light. On the 28th, I completed NaNo’s 50k word goal and my 4th novel. *applause* *cheers*

So now at the beginning of December, I’m back to the final edits of Elements of Sight. Hoping my 3rd fantasy novel will be out by the end of the year. The edits to Elements of Light will soon follow, and hopefully I will have that out by the end of January or February at least.

Seeing that it is possible to write a novel in a month’s time, I have never felt more like a writer. I have several more books planned for 2016, including a possible second series in the same universe as the Shattered Soul series, with brand new Elements and characters.

As a self published author and a college student (working a day job), I feel I need to use my free time to bump out more than just 1 or two books a year, like I have been doing. Elements of Lightning came out January of 2014 and Elements of Blood came out in December that same year. My 3rd book took until October because I was still unsure if I should continue my series as a self published writer and try to write something that I could send to agents/publishers. Maybe I’m impatient or read too many articles that are “pro-selfpublishing,” but I decided against it and began to finish EoS.

So now I have completed a book series. Not originally as planned (I was maybe aiming for 6 or 7 books), but it needed to be finished. It feels good to have more than just one or two now. Hoping the more I write, the more chance I’ll finally get the readers I dream for.

H.P. Lovecraft Games

My first H.P. Lovecraft game that I played for PlayingWithWords was an indie game made on GameJolt, by Cloak and Dagger Games, called The Terrible Old Man. Of course it was based on the short story by Lovecraft himself.

Watch the video here.

The first interaction with H.P. Lovecraft was probably the huge geeky icon that is Cthulhu. More specifically, my cousin was explaining the entire concept of the tabletop game Call of Cthulhu. It blew my mind that there was so much behind another short story.

I’ve got several Lovecraftian games in line up for PlayingWithWords, so I hope fans of his readings will stick around to see them!

Remember to keep writing, keep reading, and keep gaming!

PlayingWithWords

What is PlayingWithWords? It’s a YouTube channel based on bringing together the common ground between gaming and writing. There are dozens, if not hundreds, games that are based on writing, writers, authors, books, short stories, poems, etc. My goal is to bring entertainment for gamers, writers, and readers.

You can watch my introduction here.

As an author of two books, I not only draw my inspiration from the obvious (reading), I also gather it from video games. I’ve played video games for as long as I can remember. Even before I started writing short stories in kindergarten, I was playing my N64.

I never really hear about authors playing video games, at least mainstream ones. I know writing is always number one priority for writers, but you can’t really get inspiration if you are always writing, can you? If there are others out there, I want to show them that video games are a great way of getting inspired and be entertained, outside of books.

I know gaming takes time, as does writing. Personally, gaming can easily take over most of my free time. So with PlayingWithWords gives me short bursts of gaming and commentary that give me the inspiration to write more.

I love being a writer, and I will always be a gamer.

Remember to keep writing, keep reading, and keep gaming!