Tag Archives: 2018

Reading, Writing

Kal’s Farewell to 2018

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Hey everyone!  As the year winds to a close, I thought I’d write a bit about what I’ve done and the obvious follow up to that is where I’m going next.  In 2018 I had five published novels, which is what I also managed in 2017.  My goal was higher, but I had a few things happen earlier this year, so I think getting those five out was good.  Two of those novels were in my Children of Valor series, with the third one being the start of the spin-off Forsaken Valor series.  The other two, Dead Train: All Aboard and The Colchis Job were both the starts of new series.

Writing-wise, I completed five novels, for a total of four hundred and fifty thousand words written.  Which is a lot of writing.  As the year winds to a close, I’m close to finishing another book, too, and prepping to start the next one.

I’ve also just approved the audiobook version of Valor’s Child and signed the contract to start the next one.

The year 2018 has brought some difficulties for my family, with multiple surgeries, the passing away of family, and a lot of stress and strain.  I’m very grateful to my readers and I want to thank all of you for reading and enjoying my books.  I’ve got a lot more of them planned, so as long as you keep reading, I’ll keep writing.

Thanks everyone for reading!  2019, here we come!

Reading, Writing

Kal’s November 2018 Forecast

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It’s November already, jeez, where’d the month go?  October is come and gone and it’s been a busy month, with not just one, but two book releases.

I’m currently putting the final touches on Lost Valor, the first book of my spin-off YA series, Forsaken Valor, which ties directly into the Children of Valor series.  I’m also finishing off the last chapters on Jormungandr’s Venom, the third Rising Wolf book (The stories of Fenris, the AI controlled warship).  I plan to have those out this month, but I want to see what my beta readers have to say.

I’ve started on the sequel to The Colchis Job, which I’ve titled “A Cold Day in Hades.”  If things go well, I should have it done soon and off to the beta readers (man, they’re busy).

Last month I started my Patreon page and I’m adding more content.  I just added the full-length novel, The Eden Insurrection, which is remaining exclusive to Patrons.  As a reminder, if you want to have a character named for you, I pull names from Patrons first, so this is a good opportunity, plus it’s a way to help me focus on writing and producing more.  The link to my patreon page:  https://www.patreon.com/kalspriggs

What have I got planned for the rest of the month?  I’m writing the fifth and final Children of Valor book, Valor’s Stand.  I’m also back to closing out the seventh Shadow Space Chronicles book, The Star Engine (it was The Lost Heir).  I hope to have that one out by Christmas, but I’ve got a lot of work to do to get there.

So, I’m hoping that November is a two-book publishing month.  If I can pull it off, you can expect Lost Valor mid-November and Jormungandr’s Venom sometime after that (though that’s up to the publisher).  If I can meet my writing goals this month, it’ll make December a two book month, too.

That’s all for now, thanks for reading!

 

 

Conventions, Entertainment

Helloween Masquerade

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Hey everyone.  I celebrated my birthday this weekend by visiting the Helloween Masquerade here in Denver.  The big draw of it for me was Cruxshadows, one of my favorite bands, and since they rarely (if ever) tour in the US and it happened to fall on my birthday weekend, everything worked out perfectly.

If you’re a fan of their music, I shouldn’ t have to tell you how awesome it is to see them live.  They have a ton of energy, their songs resonate with me, and overall, it was a great experience.  If you’re not a fan of their music, I’ll link some of their stuff and feel free to watch.  It’s not for everyone, but I find it’s great writing music for me.

Oh, and to top things off, they started playing this song right around midnight (and the start of my birthday).

All in all, it was a great weekend, the perfect way to get me charged up to tackle all these books I need to write.

Here’s a couple of their songs that I enjoy:

Conventions, Reading

Kal’s Libertycon 31 AAR

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Liberty Con 31 is come and gone.  Much of it passed in a blur for me.  It was full of good times, great people, and a whole lot of running around to get to where I had to be next.

Panels and signings were a whole lot of fun.  My first panel of the weekend was on YA Science Fiction, moderated by Jason Cordova who did a fantastic job.  David Weber was on the panel and he had some absolutely fantastic things to say about the genre, about putting hope and wonder in the hearts and minds of young adults about the future.  He managed to articulate in a few words what I try to explain in a rambling, incoherent mess, half the time.  The other panelists had some great things to say as well and it was a terrific way to open the weekend.

I had my first signing session in the dealers room on Friday.  I got the pleasure of being there with John Ringo, Chris Kennedy, and Larry Correia.  As I told Larry, it was like the 300 Spartans at Thermopolyae: Their fans would blot out the sun and I would sign books in the shade.  It was a fun time and I actually had a couple people come by to see me, so I’ll call it a win.

Saturday I was at the Four Horsemen mass signing event.  That was an experience in and of itself with twenty plus authors and a whole lot of fans.  Working with Chris Kennedy and the others from that universe is always a pleasure and the enthusiasm and fun that everyone brought is contagious.

Saturday I also had a panel with Larry Correia, Quincy Allen, John Harness, and Lydia Sherrer on building a new monster.  Poor Larry had no idea that he had been made moderator.  Lydia was the one who’d had the idea for the panel and she stepped in well to get us started and back on track.  It was a tremendously fun panel topic and the audience was great.

Saturday I also had a panel on Space Opera versus Space Western with Julie Cocrane, Doug Dandridge, Laura Montgomery, and Mark Wandrey.  We spent a fair bit of time discussing definitions and talking examples, but then we sort of rambled into discussing market and publishing.  The audience had a lot of good questions, though and I think everyone (including panelists) got a lot out of it.

I also had my reading and a couple hours of signing on Saturday.  I read a section from my upcoming zombie novel.  Hopefully those of you who were there enjoyed it.  The signing was fun and I got to meet and see lots of great people.  The location of the Authors Alley was perfect in that there was a lot of traffic flow and plenty of opportunities to meet people.

I attended the Mad Scientist Roundtable on Saturday night for a bit, but the room was far too crowded and hot, combined with the long day, I slipped out early and went to bed.

Sunday was the Kaffeeklatch, and that was a bit of a mixed bag.  It was held in the same room as the Mad Scientist Roundtable, which means it wasn’t big enough and it got hot quick.  I wish there had been a bigger room available and I am excited to see what comes up at the new venue next year.   I do feel that the crowded nature of the room caused many people (including authors) to seek other places and it also encouraged some people to monopolize spots near some of the guests.  In all, it didn’t have the friendly, relaxed vibe like most of the rest of the convention.

Sunday I had my last signing session and then another panel in the Four Horsemen Universe.  I got to announce my upcoming book with them, The Colchis Job.  Which, I am happy to say, I sent in as a final draft to Chris Kennedy right after I got back from Liberty Con.  Also on the panel was Chris Woods, whose book Legendary is fantastic and he’s working on he sequel.

All in all, it was a fantastic convention.  Its taken me almost all week to recover from, but that is part and parcel with a fun time plus travel.  Liberty Con 32 for next year is already sold out.  If you haven’t got tickets and want to go, then get on the wait list.  I bought mine in the first thirty minutes and I am looking forward to it a lot.   I might also recommend LTUE in Provo Utah, it has a lot of the same feel as Liberty Con and is a lot closer for those of us who live out west (plus they aren’t sold out).

 

Reading, Science Fiction, Writing

Kal’s May 2018 Forecast

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Here’s an update on what I’ve got going on for the rest of May.

First off, Valor’s Duty, the third Children of Valor book, will be out on the 18th!  I love writing these books and the feedback from my readers tells me you like them, too.

I’m working on a submission for a publisher, one of the first I’ve actually pitched a concept and gone forward with instead of writing and submitting.  It brings an interesting set of challenges and I may write a blog post about that, if there’s interest.

I’ve yet to see Avengers: Infinity War.  Mostly because I was in Germany for work and I didn’t want to see it without my wife.  I’ll have a review post up soon(ish), once I get a chance to see it.  I’ve also got a stack of books I want to read and review.

If you’re a writer and you want to see how a slush submission works for real, I’ve volunteered one of my manuscripts for the Baen Live Slush reading, happening on 16 May, it should feature at either their 10 AM or 2 PM session and  I’ll post a link after it’s completed.  Here is a link to their channel:  (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCjV7Nn4-bkB48wDjtobIuPQ)

Next month I plan to release another book.   Stay tuned for snippets and other updates, and thanks everyone for reading!

 

Conventions

Kal’s (updated) 2018 Convention Schedule

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Here’s my updated convention schedule for the year, with events I’ve already attended in italics and a new one added in bold.

LTUE February 15-17, UT

Whimsycon March 2-4, CO

Liberty Con June 29-July 1, TN

Dragon Con August 30-September 3, GA

Mile Hi Con October 19-21, CO

Yes, I’m excited to be going to Dragon Con this year as an Attending Professional.  I have no idea what my panels will look like, yet, but I’m really looking forward to the event!

Writing

Kal’s (Slightly Overdue) March Forecast

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Hey everyone!  March is… well, mostly here and gone, actually.  The good news is that I think I’ll have two books finished up this month.  Jormungandr’s Venom (Fenris Unchained Book 3) and Valor’s Duty (Children of Valor #3) are both nearly done and I feel confident that I’ll have them out soon.

Next on my schedule is finishing off the seventh book of the Shadow Space Chronicles.   I’ve got three more books queued up to work on after that, so the rest of spring and all through summer, you should see a number of my books getting ready to come out or coming out.

As you may have seen, I’ve redone the covers of my Shadow Space Chronicles books.  Thanks to the hard work of David C. Simon as the cover artist and to Robert Brockman for the layout/formatting expert, The Fallen Race, The Shattered Empire, The Prodigal Emperor, and The Sacred Stars all have new covers.

Stay tuned and I hope to have some more posts, (including some book reviews, snippets of new books, and cover art peeks) coming out in the next few weeks.  Thanks for reading!

Writing

Kal’s Feb 2018 Forecast

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Hey Everyone!  Happy Valentines Day, and also welcome to 2018!  (Yeah, I know, where was I six weeks ago?  Well, 2017 was holding on tight and didn’t want to let go)

I’m plugging away on Valor’s Duty, the third book of the Children of Valor series.  I had hoped to have it done, but real life, alas, has intruded.  My priority is to finish that this month and get it out to my alpha readers.  Ideally I will get it published some time in March.

My next couple of projects after that are on new series, one for a publisher and the other I plan to shop around.  I plan to return to the Shadow Space Chronicles after that, and hopefully back to the Eoriel Saga and then maybe the Renegades after that.

Additionally, I’ll be attending the LTUE convention in Provo, Utah, starting on 15 February and running through the 17th.

Coming up early in March, I’ll be at Whimsycon in Denver, and I plan to talk a bit about a steampunk-related project that I’m working.  Whimsycon is a new Steampunk based convention in Denver, run by the same group that hosts Myths and Legends Con and this year they will also be hosting Westercon.  I highly recommend it, they’re great at organizing conventions and it is sure to be a good time.

In addition, I’ve had several of my older covers redone by the fantastic David Simon.  I’ll be uploading those over the next couple of weeks.

That’s all for now, thanks for reading!

Conventions

Kal’s LTUE Schedule

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Hi, everyone.  I’ll be at the LTUE convention in Provo, Utah this week.  Below is my schedule.  If you are in the area, feel free to swing by.  LTUE is a really great writing convention and for those of you who are aspiring authors, I can’t recommend it enough.  Even for those of you who are published, there are some great panels on everything from producing audiobooks to networking with authors to improving your craft.  Besides that, it’s fun and there are a lot of great people.

Thursday 10:00:00 How to Feed an Army (M) Arches

Saturday 09:00:00 Powered Armor: Design and Tactics (M) Amphitheater

Saturday 14:00:00 Building Seaworthy Ships (P) Elm

Saturday 17:00:00 Writing Battle Scenes (M) Amphitheater

Writing

Stayin’ Alive

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Hey everyone, I’m still here, sorry for the long absence.  These past couple of months have been busy and stressful, but I’m hoping to get back to something like a normal writing/posting schedule.

For those of you curious to know what’s happening, my wife has gone through two surgeries in the past couple of months and we’ve had several visits to the ER, various doctors, and lots of appointments and such.

Combined with some other events, my priority has been managing all of that and I’ve fallen behind on writing and blogging.  But things are improving and so I’m back.

I’ve got a bunch of things planned around here, so check back for updates on my writing schedule as well as my appearances at conventions.  Thanks for reading!