It's hard to believe 2021 is almost over.
This year saw the launch of my first Kickstarter campaign, the fulfillment of said campaign, the launch of my online store, and the launch of this newsletter. My goal this year was to set a solid foundation for my author career going forward and in that respect, I think I succeeded.
What’s on tap for next year?
The release of book 2 in the NYC Questing Guild series, Guild of Magic, for starters.
The book will launch on Kickstarter in the spring, with the ebook being delivered to backers at the close of the campaign, followed by retail launch in the summer.
Paid subscribers have been receiving chapters of Guild of Magic every Wednesday. If you upgrade to a paid membership, you’ll get an ebook of Guild of Tokens for free so you can catch up on the action. Plus, subscribe before the end of 2021 and save 10% off the price of an annual plan. That’s the equivalent of getting 3 months free!
And if you’re already a paid subscriber, you’ll be receiving a bonus month added to the end of your existing subscription, as a thank you for being an early adopter.
And now, on to the links!
Teh Internet
Ignore the clickbait headline about a TikToker selling six figures worth of Excel courses and read this interesting interview about how to seize your moment and build a business.
Let’s buy the U.S. Constitution! Whatever you think about cryptocurrency and blockchain, it’s hard to imagine a similar effort coming together so quickly to raise that much money.
My thoughts exactly:
Artists at work
When I was in law school, I used to unwind by drawing in a sketch pad. Once I ran out of pages, I started drawing on the back of scrap pages I took from the law school printer. Unfortunately that habit died when I graduated and when I look back at my pile of sketches, I wonder how good I could have gotten if I had continued. This is all a long way of saying that I really appreciate the skill of today’s digital and traditional artists.
A behind-the-scenes look at Michael Whelan’s cover creation process for Rhythm of War
Mattia De Iulis is redefining what is possible for art in a comic book. You need to check out his work in The Mighty Valkyries (see below). He’s also the co-creator of The Cull, which is being released on Substack next year. You can watch his color process here.
The counterpart of 2006 me who didn’t stop drawing:
I’m selling these fine leather jackets!
Did you know they made a fourth Indiana Jones movie and it was actually a video game? I think everyone in Indy fandom agrees that Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis is officially the fourth movie and we’re all going to contribute Ethereum to purchase $FATE tokens to buy distribution rights for the game from Disney. Assuming that plan doesn’t work, here are 2 interviews and an excellent Jimmy Maher retrospective about the game. Next month, I’ll select a different video game series and bring you an assortment of interviews and features.
Interview with Noah Falstein, co-designer of Fate
Interview with Hal Barwood, project leader of Fate
This Month on ARC Worlds
Guild of Tokens, Chapters 9-13, Interlude
Guild of Magic, Chapter 5
Weekly Guild of Magic chapters are available for paid Guild members, but I will be unlocking one free chapter each month for everyone and including the link in this section so you won’t have to go hunting through the archive
The Guilds-giving giveaway is still live until the end of the month. Subscribe to ARC Worlds to enter and earn extra entries by helping to spread the word!
Stop by the Guild open forum to introduce yourself and let us know what you’re reading!
ARC Worlds Recommends
I wrote about my favorite indie books over at Armed with a Book.
One of my favorite indie comic creators Curtis Clow is back on Kickstarter with his new fantasy graphic novel Majestic.
Looking for more stuff to read?
The Worlds of Wonder Bookfunnel promo is now live through January 15. Over 150 sci-fi and fantasy stories for your perusal:
The Sample is a newsletter recommendation engine that will send you a sampling of newsletters customized to your interests (and some random ones to boot).
That’s a wrap for this month’s ARC Worlds! Let me know in the comments which links you enjoyed, which video game series you want to see featured in the future, and drop your own best reads of the month!