So yeah…I do this on-the-edge post about OSC, get the traffic, get the comments, and then…I disappear.
All right, let me explain…
No, is too much. Lemme sum up…
Shortly after that post, the Kickstarter for the Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences’ anthology and role playing game launched. Pretty much, that was my life. It was a new world of stress, of statistics, and of sensational results, the sum of it all that we made 152% of our goal. We did it! Yay us!
Oh crap, we did it — better get cracking on that anthology.
So I hunkered down with new steampunk from Delilah S. Dawson, Leanna Renee Hieber, Alex White, Jared Axelrod, Tiffany Trent, Peter Woodworth, Jack Mangan, JR Blackwell, Dan Rabarts, Lauren Harris, Karina Cooper, and Glenn Freund from The League of S.T.E.A.M.
How’s that for a line-up?
Ministry Protocol: Thrilling Tales from the Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences promises to take readers across the Empire and around the world, introducing new agents and delving deeper into the organization’s history. I’m not only thrilled with this collection, but I’m excited to present it to everyone.
So hold on, it’s coming. Soon.
Until then, allow me to tease you with its cover from the far-too-talented-for-his-own-good renaissance man, Alex White…
We’re so pleased with this cover and collection that we’re hosting a Rafflecopter giveaway where you can win some stuff from the Ministry. Feel free to jump in and enjoy some of the cool stuff we’re offering later this summer.
Now while the editing and layout was going on for the anthology, I got a nudge from Kindle Worlds. Yes, as in Amazon’s Kindle Worlds. I got invited to jump in and play in a couple of properties from Valiant Comics, namely Harbinger and Bloodshot. It’s been a while since I’ve indulged in comics, so jumping headlong into these Valiant properties was not only hellagood-fun but this breakneck deadline was a roller coaster ride of creativity. In the month of July, I put my head down and wrote, the end result being over 35,000 words between the two stories, and another 10,000 in reserve for two stories that had to be put on stand-by. All in all, a wild ride. Today, I was told the stories were heading to Editorial. Once again, I wait.
And while all this was going on in July, I got an email from an editor at Baen Books. Turns out the editor of their Christmas anthology A Cosmic Christmas is putting together a second Christmas anthology. It also turns out he had downloaded “In the Spirit of Christmas,” the first holiday special that Pip and I podcast on Tales from the Archives. He was so taken by the steampunk crossover between Wellington & Eliza and A Christmas Carol that he invited me to offer the story for A Cosmic Christmas 2 You, provided I can turn everything around within a week.
I not only turned it around, but I even added in new dialog and situations. So yeah, a week while in the middle of a deadline? I made the time.
I’m particularly proud of “In the Spirit of Christmas” as I got a chance to play homage to the Doctor Who-style Christmas special, a holiday classic, and a mash-up. I’m also proud that this is the first time this story will see print, and will be the only steampunk in this anthology. Baen Books will also be the third publishing house to bring Wellington and Eliza to readers.
Overall, I call this sale an accomplishment on a lot of levels.
Now, I face this month. We’ve got a weekend coming up at Authors After Dark, and my job hunt continues. The summer has flown by, and shows no sign of slowing.
It’s okay, though. I got this.