 Skate the Seeker Proofreads have been sent back to the publisher. I think we'll be ready after one more round, with plenty of time before the September 12 release. The nuts and bolts are done, for the most part. Nothing else to report here, yet. If you haven't read book 1, I guess now's the time before the sequel hits you. Media There's been so much, all of it good. The Super Mario movie was fun. It was pretty much what a movie about Mario ought to be, really. Is there some deep message to it? Not particularly, but there doesn't need to be. Sometimes a movie can just be flashy, silly, and colorful, and that's okay. I also watched most of the second season of Star Wars: Visions, and "Screecher's Reach" may be the single best slice of Star Wars I have ever seen. I will spoil nothing. I will only say that the mood of this episode is phenomenal and the plot made me feel more than any Star Wars media has in at least a decade. When I think of great episodes of a series, this one will rank the top of the list for a while. Absolutely phenomenal work. The thing that has eaten up most of my free time by far has been Zelda: Breath of the Wild. Since the day it came out, I've managed to log about fifty hours, and I feel I've barel scratched the surface of what I can do and see. The scope of this game is insane, and the new enemies and abilities make for a very different experience than its predecessor. I love this game, and it's another example of something that's made me feel things for media that I haven't in years. I like digital skydiving, but I have no desire for the real thing. Weird.  Copyright Nintendo, Inc. Miscellany There's not more to report on my side project yet. Skate's been front and center since I got it back from the publisher. Now that summer is upon us, I don't know when I'll be able to reliably get back to the daily work the Rainbow invites. Skate has a TV Tropes page now. I've got loads to get ready for next year's teaching schedule. I finally get to teach creative writing! How great is that! This wonderful opportunity does mean a lot of planning required on my part. There's also Quiz Bowl and Chess Club to consider. Keep an eye out for the occasional bonus post like the one I shot out a week ago. Busy, busy. That's all from me, for now. Tell your story! -J. E. Ayers 
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 I have made no secret of my love of public libraries; I don’t know anyone who does any amount of recreational reading who doesn’t have some story of finding a book on a chance perusal of library shelves that affected their taste in years to come, or who needed some service offered by their local library in a time of need. These thoughts are a defense of sorts, an apologia general in favor of these institutions that benefit us all – even if you’ve never set foot in one yourself (you need to fix that, by the way – go to your library). Public libraries are one of the single best ideas humanity has ever produced and successfully implemented. To have a public warehouse full of every printed media imaginable, with access granted freely to every person regardless of status or education, is an unambiguous boon to our collective lives, an uncomplicated and straightforward benefit to every single citizen. You can access – free of charge – a catalog of newspapers and magazines, nonfiction, fiction of every stripe, reference materials, maps, histories, movies, music, and more at your convenience. When I consider how much we collectively gain, how much is available to me personally, through these institutions, I genuinely marvel at the fact that something so wonderful, so powerful, is available to us all without costing anything to any individual beyond a small tax (a small tax, by the way, that I guarantee you don’t even notice). And let us imagine that you are an unfortunate soul who doesn’t enjoy your library. Perhaps it is underfunded, perhaps you don’t like books (!!!), perhaps you live too far away from one to justify a trip – whatever the cause, let ‘s assume you don’t like your library, or at least that you don’t ever plan to make use of your library. It’s still a benefit to you to have it open so that others can use it. Maybe your doctor used a library for a quiet study location when she was in school, or maybe your mechanic used his library as a resource as a child and got interested in cars. Anyone who has to learn anything – that is to say, everyone – benefits from the existence of these places. Some scoff at libraries as old fashioned or obsolete. “We have the internet,” they say. “Why would we still need these spaces?” To this skeptic, I offer three rebuttals.
There will always be a place for libraries, and there always should be. Any system or development that ends up without free public libraries is a bad system, and would be unacceptable to ever implement. I walked into my local library yesterday because I needed a DVD of a film I planned to show in class. The library, of course, had the movie. While I was there, I passed by a display of books on beekeeping. Why was it there? Was it merely seasonal? Did one of our librarians have an interest in apiarian pursuits? I don't know, and it doesn't matter. It was good to see the book about bees and how to tend them. I passed by a manga version of Macbeth. I pulled it from the shelf, and flipped through it. It was great! I put it into the "return if you're not checking out" bin. Nobody hassled me at any point during any of this. No one tried to make me pay money for anything, no one tried to sell me anything, no one told me to leave my seat. I was able to be at peace in public enjoying a wonderful adaptation of one of my favorite stories, and this is available to me every day. I love my library. I hope you do too. That's all from me, for now. Tell your story! -J. E. Ayers  Skate the Seeker Work continues with the good people at Thinklings on book 2 of the Rag & Bone Chronicles. Once I get the final copy back, it’s another read through for me and then off to the printers for final formatting. Keep an eye out; we’ll likely have a preview chapter out before the release day: September 12, 2023. Media With school trying its best to wind down, I’m neck deep in Gatsby. We’re finally through the book, and now it’s on to Baz Luhrmann’s kaleidoscopic retelling for a series of comparisons between film and novel. This movie never gives you a chance to stop and think, a ceaseless whirlwind of spectacle and drama. I love it, and look forward to it each year. I’ve got a foot in Westeros as well, in Storm of Swords for the fourth read-through. I think if I read the books enough, GRRM may finally finish book six. Probably not helping, but I’m gonna do my part to try. I also picked up a copy of Estranged from my local bookstore, and it’s a fun graphic fairytale for middle-grade readers. I recommend it for anyone who’s a fan of fantasy. Miscellany I’ve finished the first draft of my side project, and I’m nearly done with my first read-through. This pass is mostly to take note of what needs fixing the most – inconsistencies, flagrant narrative cheating, plot troubles – though I do take the time to tighten up the prose with this pass, just as I do for each of them. Plenty of work to do yet. I doubt I’ll have a finished manuscript before it’s time to work on R&B 3, but I plan to get as far as I can in the process.  Image belongs to Nintendo, Inc. I’m looking forward to taking my son to see the Mario movie; I’ve heard it’s great fun, the exact sort of thing I’d like to watch with him in preparation for his birthday this month. I’m also greatly anticipating the sequel to Breath of the Wild on the Switch. Tears of the Kingdom looks awesome, and I am doing my best to avoid too many spoilers in the meantime. I’ve started playing Minecraft, and it’s fun in survival and creative modes, providing another distraction for as long as I care to enjoy it. That’s all from me, for now. Tell your story! –J. E. Ayers  Skate the Seeker As announced recently, I can finally share the cover art for Skate the Seeker! Keep an eye out for further updates and previews; September 12 cannot get here soon enough. Special thanks to Nada Orlić for her work on the cover. I was excited to get the same designer for book 1 working on book 2, and am very happy with the results. Media I picked up a middle-grade graphic novel called Estranged from my local book resale shop, Once Upon a Time Books. It was a quick read, and very fun. Fans of the Amulet series will find a lot to like here. I’ve continued into season 2 of His Dark Materials, and I’m loving that. Tense and emotional, exciting and magical, all at the right moments, with just the lightest touch of humor to ease you forward through the story, I look forward to carving time out each week to watch on the couch. With House of the Dragon still months (years? I don’t remember) away from more episodes, it’s a strong contender for best new fantasy show on a streaming service right now.  Image copyright belongs to Joy Pictures, Inc. I also watched the animated The Legend of Hei from Joy Pictures. This was easily my favorite random find as far as shows go from the last few years. Fans of Wuxia, magic martial arts, and clean entertainment should definitely give this a watch. Elemental magic à la the Avatar universe plays a part, and I’m a sucker for that sort of thing. Miscellany Work on side project Rainbow continues; I took a break from it for almost two months waiting on Skate news, but now I’m a couple chapters away from a finished first – and VERY rough – first draft. As soon as I put finishing touches on Seeker, I’ll set Rainbow aside and begin work on Rag & Bone 3. Until then, it’s giving me something to work on without spinning my wheels in frustration. I introduced my eldest to Minecraft yesterday, and he was engrossed. In creative mode, nothing can hurt you, so he enjoyed meeting zombies and creepers, squids and pigs. It was fun to watch him explore, too. It’s a wonderful world we live in, where these imaginary places can grow for infinite exploration at the click of a button. That’s all from me for now. Tell your story! -J. E. Ayers   The cover for the book is out! Grab a copy on September 12! That's all. -J. E. Ayers  Skate the Seeker I am happy to announce a release date for book II of the Rag & Bone Chronicles for later this year: Skate the Seeker will be out on September 12, 2023! Work is still being done to get it publish-ready, and I thank the hardworking people of Thinklings for making this happen. As soon as I’ve checked on final touches for Seeker, it will be on to working on book III. Media I finally finished Dune, and I really liked it. Herbert’s world-building is incredible, and the political intrigues were gripping. I can very easily understand why the book became such a cornerstone of science fiction. I’ve been warned that the later books get increasingly weird, so that’ll be fun. Watched “Gotham By Gaslight” on Netflix, an elseworlds story of Batman in the late 1800s, and I was deeply disappointed toward the end. The world was interesting, the variation on Batman and various other characters was engaging, the animation and voice acting were wonderful and rich, but the villain reveal in the third act was such a misstep that I didn't even bother finishing the movie. What a waste, what a world. I've also gotten through season 1 of His Dark Materials, and I can't wait to start season two. Back in Westeros, on Clash of Kings. I’m trying to get a sense for how Martin’s prose reflects the world he created while also getting the reader to care about some deeply unpleasant characters. My biggest gripe with A Song of Ice and Fire is that its insistence on using sexual violence as a backdrop of setting makes it unpleasant on multiple read-throughs, and inaccessible to a wide swath of readers who simply do not want to read about such things. Much of said violence is only incidental to the plot, and should have been scrapped. After reading threads on Reddit’s writing communities, I can also say with some confidence that the deplorable and casual violence in ASoIaF has … “inspired” some very dodgy fiction from aspiring authors. I wish that aspect of these books had been different. I plan to move onto the hedge knight stories for the first time. Miscellany I’ve noticed some more traffic to the site lately than usual, which is nice. If you’re reading this as your introduction to the blog, welcome, and thanks for reading. I guess that last part extends to the rest of you people who have been a while, too 😉. Work has stalled on the side project (code name: “Rainbow”). I’m about ¾ done with it, but I’m having trouble getting in the writing each day to finish it properly. I still want to try to get a draft done before starting III. Still looking for a place to drop a short epistolary fic; I may just post it here somewhere eventually. There’s a Skate chatbot that a friend made; it’s a lot of fun to play around with. As always, if you want to see my silly posts (as well as the occasional important update), head over to my Facebook page, and be sure to follow it for all the latest news in stolen internet memes. That’s all from me, for now. Tell your story! -J. E. Ayers  All rights belong to Disney, Inc. Skate the Seeker Still waiting. We’ve worked on blurbs, getting them ready for the back cover, but no further word so far. Keep looking for book 2 of Rag & Bone in September. Media There have been snow days, which means a lot of Disney and Netflix for the kids between bouts of snowfights and mattress jumps and digital school and art and reading. I’ve rewatched the second Incredibles movie, and I still really like it. The visuals, the characters, the twist – very fun, and always entertaining. This and the original have always been my favorite Pixar flicks, so it's been fun to watch them with my boys, too. Miscellany I’ve got a weird little epistolary short story written, and I’m not sure where to put it. If I can't find a better location for it, I may just put it somewhere on here. I still haven’t finished the side project, even though I’ve only got about 20,000 words to go on it. Perhaps in February, who knows. A friend went off and made a chatbot based on Skate that you can interact with, if you want. It’s very fun and silly. Skate is on sale until this Saturday on Kindle, so if you’re reading this before the 4th, go grab it for yourself or someone else. If you’re reading this after the 4th … sorry. If you’ve got Kindle Unlimited, you can still go read it without paying extra money! That’s all from me, for now. Tell your story! -J. E. Ayers   Image belongs to Amazon. Skate the Seeker As I await news from my publisher about the manuscript, we’ve worked on the back-cover summary – ever important, ever exciting. No further news on that, other than to keep an eye out for further updates here until release in September. Media Finally started watching Amazon’s Rings of Power, and I like it a lot. I had heard some grumbling on the internet (the absolute last place you’d ever expect to find grumbling of any sort, obviously) about the production value of the thing, but I must have the eyes of a dullard, because it looks great to me. I’ve also rewatched the Jackson films in the meantime while doing dishes, and there’s something impressive about a movie series I’ve seen at least five complete times still having the ability to stir my emotions. The scene with Aragorn closing Frodo’s hand around the ring in Fellowship, Sam’s speech of stories in Towers, Aragorn, again, charging the Black Gate in Return. So good! My eldest son has also been interested in Sonic shows recently, and Netflix’s Sonic Prime has been surprisingly engaging for me, so much so that I asked my boy not to watch episodes without me. We’ve also had a blast playing his Christmas present on the Switch, a compilation of old Mario Party minigames released under the banner of Mario Party Superstar. I wonder which of his two loving parents had the idea to get him that for Christmas?  Image belongs to Bay12Games Productivity has hit an all-time low in general for me as Dwarf Fortress had a release before the holidays, complete not only with an official graphics suite, but an overhaul of the arcane user interface and brand new features to explore. Haven’t been able to get a single thing done since, really. Miscellany I did not get around to finishing my side-project before the end of the year, given the aforementioned distractions. I’ll probably get to it in the next month or two. The problem is that I’m writing a murder-mystery, and I don’t know whodunnit yet. That’ll all come out in the revision process, but for now I’m even more stumped than a reader would be. I’ll figure out the resolution to the mystery soon enough, I suppose, but it’s a weird point to be stuck on. Ah well. By the way, keep an eye here and on my social media near the end of the month; I’ll have an announcement that might interest you, or perhaps someone you know that hasn’t met Skate yet. Speaking of social media, I’ve taken a break from Twitter altogether until some changes happen at the company; most of my tomfoolery is now occurring at my account on Post. If you’re looking for stupid crap from me on the daily, that’s your best bet. You can still find me on Facebook as well. That’s all from me, for now. Tell your story! -J. E. Ayers   Skate the Seeker
Waiting on word for book 2, I look forward to the publication month: September 2023. I can’t start on book 3 until Seeker is finalized – the final plot set down, details all cleaned up, and so on. Once I get to the “just fixing typos and misspellings” stage, I’ll feel comfortable beginning to work on 3. Doing the math and in my WILDEST dreams, I may be able to have a draft of the book up and running by the end of the summer, before book 2 even releases. All phantasia, right now, of course. No more real news here on my end. Media Andor is very good, as promised. It’s gritty, flashy, and emotionally gripping in a way that the last few movies haven’t managed to do. I know I’m not the first to suggest this, but the future of Star Wars under Disney might find a better fit in serials rather than feature films. Rhythm of War is still out of reach, so I’ve gone back to Martin’s Game of Thrones. This will be my third reread of the book, and I don’t know if I’ll be able to pull myself out of Westeros when Rhythm does fall into my lap. We’ll see how that goes. Events I was interviewed recently by my local NPR station, KUAF! I made a post about it, but it was really fun, so I wanted to mention it again. Miscellany I hope to have the rough draft of this side project done before the end of the year. It’ll be pretty short for me, around 80,000 before edits and revisions. It will need a LOT of revisions. The dogs are staying with my parents, and I miss them. On a diet right now, and it’s going well so far. I’ll see how I’m feeling next month. That’s all from me, for now. Tell your story! -J. E. Ayers  Here is the interview I did with Kyle Kellams at KUAF in Fayetteville. Special thanks to Kyle for inviting me in; it was a great talk!
Nothing else much to report, other than I can give you a release month for book 2: September 2023. -Jeff |
AuthorJeff Ayers writes books that are pretty good. Archives
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