Only two weeks this time!!

Heyas everybody!

It's been almost two weeks since I posted an update here so I just wanted to touch base and let everyone know what is going on.

I am still thinking through my NaNoWriMo project, trying to make sure that I have a good idea of the characters involved and what, generally, I would like the plot to look like. I have decided that it will definitely be set in the world of the future in which Kalijor resides. There may be a few cameos from some major characters, however the focus will be on a new person with some interactions with/from Daray. If you are interested, there is some bio information concerning Daray in the encyclopedia at Kalijor.com although I still haven't posted any of that novel to the site. I should be able to get to that this week, although it won't be much more than the first couple of chapters!

Next up, I think I have finished all of the major additions to the Kalijor RPG manuscript and have spent the last couple of days going through and adding metric equivalents for measurements, looking for spelling and grammatical issues and formatting. My next pass will address some of the ordering of the book's sections to get that into a better/more user friendly arrangement and then it should b down to whatever mechanical tweaks we continue to uncover through play-testing! Now, I just need that call from the publisher and it will be golden!

Other news? Um.... Oh, I beat Crysis Saturday! Very cool game! Although I must admit that the T.A.C. Hammer is the most annoying weapon I have ever used before. The damn thing is useless unless you are pointing it at the one, single, eligible (according to the game engine) target. I died like, ten times before shutting the game off and taking a twenty minute break before I threw something at my new computer. Then I looked up an online level walk-through just to see if there were any notes on how to use the damn gun and realized that it was more of a plot device than a weapon. Once I knew that it was pretty easy to figure out, but I still think it was a bull-shit game mechanic!

Other than that however, the game was amazing. Very well written, amazing game-play, loads of different styles of play, some unique mechanics that I've never seen done before, and generally very fun to work through. Plus, it had customizable weapons, which always scores points with me. I love playing with the options/functions o weapons in my games!

Coming along!

OK, so Kalijor.com is basically up and running well enough that I am alright with saying I am done tweaking it for the time being.

I hope to get some more content going in now. Most of it to the encyclopedia area as I continue to flesh out the universe. Bear in mind that most of the stuff there is already in use in one form or another, much of it in the RPG book I am building and play-testing with the help of my amazing group of friends.

So don't expect a lot of cosmetic changes to the site, or even functionality changes. But there will be some content additions/updates coming in here and there. I still need to get the meta tags running, but that is a short job that will probably be done before anyone actually reads this blog! :D

In other news, I finished the Darren/Daray story and am now giving a name for the book some thought. It ended up being 410 6X9 pages in a 12pt Garamond font (smaller size but same font as the Harry Potter books). Which is WAY more than I was ever planning to write on the thing. As it happens I think I have more to add, so my NaNoWriMo project will likely be a companion book, detailing a parallel story that fills in a few gaps and then carries the story on a little further beyond where it left off.

It will be a while before the Darren/Daray book(s) see print however as I want to focus my print efforts on the 'Keys' books as that is the primary story arc. Fear not however, as there will be print copies coming, down the road a ways. In the mean time, I will post the first couple of chapters at kalijor.com here in the next couple of days.

I am still awaiting publisher approval on Jumah's World, but it hasn't been kicked back in a couple weeks so I hold out high hopes that it will be hitting book store websites very soon. Expect an announcement, followed by a flurry of press activity once that happens as I will be trying to get a signing put together at the Denver Children's Hospital!

OK, I think that's about it for this round. Trying to keep up this blog now that things are moving along so hopefully more will be coming along soon!

Have a great weekend and I'll see you next time! :D

Catching up

OK, so the largest portion of the Kalijor.com update is finished. Everything is transitioned into the new look/style and for the most part, is functioning. I am trying to figure out the web-ring code to A) Make it work properly and B) Make it look a little less gaudy. We'll see what happens there. I may just end up putting a links page back in and put that there.

Next up, I need to sweep through and pick up the minor things, such as the links to the books not working on the front page and so forth, should be just a little while to get that sorted out. I also have a bunch of character art that I have commissioned for the site and am trying to figure out where/how to best place it so stay tuned for those tweaks in the very near future as well!

In other news, the Darren/Daray story is coming together, possibly winding down to a climax/finale, but you never know. I'd just like to be able to check it off before NaNoWriMo comes around so I can stay focused on that.

All-in-all I think that's about it for updates. Thanks for stopping by and I look forward to seeing you back again soon!

Have a great weekend! :)

Three MONTHS?!?!

Um. Ok....

Wow. I didn't realize that I had been SO busy as to have neglected this blog for three months. My bad...

Alrighty then. No drivel about not doing that any more or how sorry I am. Just to the point!

The Jumah's World charity book project is well under way. I have received the first proof and had to make a couple changes so we are still a couple of weeks out on that project, but I may have been able to sneak a few rare copies out before the changes went up. If so, I will have 26 extremely rare copies with unique covers that will never be printed again!

Here's hoping they got out the door before the changes were made.

In other news, I have piled up a pretty substantial pile of prose about a new character in the Kalijor universe. His name is Darren, or was rather, but that's all explained in the text. I plan to get it up onto the Kalijor Writings page in the next few days, although work and a trip up to Yampa, CO may put that off for a couple of days. Soon though!

Also, I have been able to finagle a few commissioned drawings of some of the cast of the books/stories! They are coming together and should be done in the next few weeks (art takes time folks! Be patient, I am just as excited as you are!). With my next update to the site, again, in the next few days barring any life intrusions, I will put up the one or two completed pieces I have and some of the rough sketches I have for the others that are still very much in the works.

The RPG book continues to be refined as play-testing progresses, and there has even been a little work done on the first two supplements. Here's hoping that the folks at my favorite RPG publishing house are up to the challenge of making Kalijor a little more alive than it is today! As Kevin Siembieda is often heard saying, I think I suffer from an overactive imagination. Not that it hurts these projects any, but damn if some stuff doesn't just get lost in the sauce from time to time!

Ok,I think that's about it for now. See below for a list of what the heck I am working on around my job, family, and whatever else is going on these days!

_________Project List__________

-The Second Key of Kalijor (First major edit/revision)
-The Third Key of Kalijor (about 150 pages into writing)
-Jumah's World (Proof reordered)
-Darren (Still writing. Also, I need a name for this book...)
-The Kalijor RPG Book (Play-testing/revising and still adding a few odds and ends here and there)
-Kalijor RPG Suppliments (Very early stages, but starting to ramp up)
-Requiem (Comic with a friend)
-AI (Comic with a friend)
-Short Film (Screenplay for a short, CGI piece my brother intends to make)
-Feature Film (Screenplay for a pretty amazing movie idea, can't really say any more than that at this point)
-Mysterious Ghost Writing novel project (Still simmering)

Contest deadling extended!

In order to accommodate more people getting their entries in order around the rest of their lives, the deadline for the contest has been pushed out to the end of June. Everything else is still the same with the exception that the events described as following the contest's judging will, of course, be pushed out as well.

Contest rules/specifics can be found here.

Sorry for the lack of updates. This whole looking for work thing tends to take up some time. Hopefully soon things will be back to a more normal schedule.

Book Art Contest, proceeds to benefit children's hospital

May 1st 2008!
I know I have been promising this for a long time now, but a great many things have happened in the interim to slow this project down a bit. However, I am now ready to proceed and the text is entering its final stages of revising for publication. So now, I want to pass on a couple of details and get this contest rolling!

To begin with, I want to share with you the intent of this contest. Here in Denver there is a local radio station that does an annual fundraiser for the Children’s Hospital and I am always so tight on my budget that I am never able to contribute anything. However, I always force myself to listen to the telethon for its entire 36 hours because I know that facility has been there for me when I was young, and more recently for my own children as well.

So, I would like to start off this contest by saying that ALL proceeds (that’s 100% of the profit from all books sold) will be donated to the Denver, Colorado Children’s Hospital. It may amount to $25, or it could be $1,000,000 (wouldn’t THAT be cool?), but either way, all proceeds from the sale of this book will be donated to the hospital, so please, participate with the knowledge that we are helping kids and their families through some potentially trying times.

Alright, that having been said, here’s the deal. Beginning today, May 1st 2008, I am accepting art submissions for one full color cover and nine (9) black and white chapter header images for the Jumah’s World: A Tale From Kalijor novella. Submissions will be accepted through the month of May with the final submission deadline being 11:59:59pm MDT, May 31st, 2008.

I am afraid that, unless any interested parties wish to sign on as prize contributors, the best I am offering in the way of prizes is a free copy of the finished book, and the knowledge that your artwork is not only in a published book, but going to help children in need!

Judging will be performed in two rounds beginning on June 1st. The first round will be myself and a panel of others that know my writing and will be able to identify which pieces are in keeping with the theme/spirit of each chapter or the whole work. Together we will select the five (5) pieces that best represent the chapter they are submitted for, or the book as a whole. After that, the selected finalists will be displayed here and on my website at WWW.KALIJOR.COM where you, the community will vote for the winning pieces. The first round of judging will be finished, and the finalists posted by Wednesday, June 4th. Community judging of finalists will be closed at 11:59:59pm MDT, Saturday, June 14th. Winners will be notified on Sunday, June 15th.

After winners are selected and notified, the art will be laid out, added to the book and submitted for publishing at my expense. The process typically takes 2 to 4 weeks for proofs to be made, sent out, approved and then accepted as final so the publishing date should be around mid July somewhere.

Submit as often as you like and in as many areas as you like, but in order to involve the entire community I must insist that any single individual can only be featured in one place in (or on) the book, so keep your submissions to the area you most want to see your work appear. All work must be rated PG-13 in order to stand any chance of being published with this piece. All submissions shall be submitted to me via posting in your own deviantArt gallery and sending me a note so that I can add a link to the contest update page (If you do not have a dA gallery/account then email the image to me and I will post it there for community voting). Finalists will need to forward high-resolution digital files to me via email so that they can be compiled and displayed in my gallery and on my web page at WWW.KALIJOR.COM for final community voting.

Ok, that’s the basic run-down of the rules. Please see the bottom of this post for more detailed information on sizes/specifications for submitted images. Here you will find links to the individual chapters of the story (bear in mind that these are not the final, edited, copies, but the story is complete and cohesive enough that we can proceed without fear of any severe changes). I have intentionally been vague with details about settings, people, and things in order to allow you, the community, to express the world as you see it in your mind’s eye. This is a community project so I want it to be reflective of the community more than my own personal vision.

Jumah’s World Volume I
Jumah’s World Volume II
Jumah’s World Volume III
Jumah’s World Volume IV
Jumah’s World Volume V
Jumah’s World Volume VI
Jumah’s World Volume VII
Jumah’s World Volume VIII
Jumah’s World Epilogue

Cover Image:
The final cover image size is 12.4” X 9.25” (31.47cm X 23.49cm) and the focus of the image (the cover of the book) will be on the RIGHTMOST 6.125” X 9.25” (15.6cm X 23.49cm). The background or ancillary image area will wrap around the spine and the back cover of the book. This image will be in full, high-gloss color and you should allow for an area approximately 3” X 3” (7.62cm X 7.62cm) to be partially covered by the book’s title within the cover area. The cover art should be in keeping with the spirit of the story and characters within and must be rated PG-13 in order to be considered for publication.

Interior/Chapter Heading Images:
Interior art shall be black and white and shall not exceed 4” X 4” (10.16cm X 10.16cm) in area (or can be submitted in any square size above that with the understanding that it will be reduced to approximately 4X4 which may result in the loss of detail). Each piece must be in keeping with the spirit of the contents of the individual chapter for which it is submitted, and must be rated PG-13 in order to be considered for publication.

Legal stuff. By submitting art to this contest you are affirming that A) the art is your original work and not legally spoken for by any other party or entity and that it is legally available for publication and B) that you are forfeiting your own right to any form of compensation, monetary or otherwise, for this piece of art as it relates to the publication of this piece of written fiction. You the artist still retain the full, legal copyright to the piece of art but are hereby releasing myself (Paul Lell) and my organization (Kalijor Press) from any legal responsibility to compensate you monetarily, or in any other way, for any sales of this book or any other media (whether printed, digital, or in any other form heretofore known or unknown) related to or derived from this book or its sales. I the author am hereby bound to release all profits generated directly through sales of this work to the Children’s Hospital in Aurora, Colorado on a quarterly basis, in perpetuity. I the author also reserve the right to use this book and all associated works of art in the promotion of my other books and am not legally obligated to compensate any of the participating artists in any way for any monetary or other gains that result from said promotions.

And then.....

Hello again!

Well, the signing/reception up in Yampa went smashingly! We had a packed house for over three hours and met a lot of great folks. I sold a bunch of books and my wife sold a ton of art to boot! We really enjoyed ourselves and owe a debt of gratitude to all of the people who made it happen, my mom, Debbie at Leisure Mountain studio, and all the folks in attendance from Yampa, Steamboat Springs and everywhere in between.

Also a special thanks to the folks at the Steamboat Pilot & Today for an amazing article (and follow-up articles) that, I am sure, brought in a bunch of folks.

Now on to other matters. My new business venture is now up and running! So if you or anyone you know needs any footage of trains, or any high definition interval clips to use as stock in any projects, broadcasts, or what have you, please come check out our new site!

The major revision on Jumah's World is done and it is in the hands of a reader now. As soon as I get it back and make any final adjustments I will be announcing a contest to have cover and interior art made for the book. My hope is to get that going on or very close to May 1st so I can get the publishing process rolling by early June.

That's about it for now. Thanks for stopping by and I hope to see you again in the near future.

Have a great day!

Paul