Kalijor Daily

Only two weeks this time!!

noreply@blogger.com (Paul) — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 14:37:00 +0000

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!

noreply@blogger.com (Paul) — Sat, 04 Oct 2008 18:52:00 +0000

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

noreply@blogger.com (Paul) — Sat, 27 Sep 2008 12:32:00 +0000

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?!?!

noreply@blogger.com (Paul) — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 01:37:00 +0000

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!

noreply@blogger.com (Paul) — Wed, 21 May 2008 20:30:00 +0000

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

noreply@blogger.com (Paul) — Thu, 01 May 2008 12:18:00 +0000

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.....

noreply@blogger.com (Paul) — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 19:51:00 +0000

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

Signing! And more news...

noreply@blogger.com (Paul) — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 13:10:00 +0000

Ok all, I hope this message find you well.

As or myself, I am still looking for work. I am trying to break into something involving writing, preferably creatively, although I am not really about to complain if something else comes along. I am accepting writing commissions as well if you need anything done. Rates are as follows:

I am very open to feedback and negotiation so don't let these figures stop you from PMing me with questions!

Creative writing: $10 per typed page
Creative writing with 'world building' services: $15 per typed page

Technical writing (all information provided, outline, specs, etc...): $10 per typed page
Technical writing (including research): $30 per typed page

Editing (in the form of a 'marked-up' Word doc with comments/annotations): $15 per typed page
Rewriting/Editing (in the form of a 'marked-up' Word doc with comments/annotations and accompanied by a separate Word file with the altered text): $30 per typed page

The technical writing section will include reports, white papers, methods and procedures, instructional materials, job aids and the like.

All writing will be in the form of a Word document, 8 1/2 inches by 11 inches in a 12 point Times New Roman font with single line spacing. Rates are based on these numbers so any requested change may result in a cost adjustment (so writing in a novel size formate of 6x9 would cost less since the pages are smaller).

On another note, I have a book signing set up at an awesome little place in Yampa, Colorado called Leisure Mountain Studio. My wife has been accepted as the artist of the month there (she sold one piece before it was hung up on the wall, and several since) and the proprietor was gracious enough to put up a few copies of my book as well.

Anyway, the reception for the art show is on Saturday April 26th from 4pm to 7pm MDT and I have been invited to do a signing at the same time. So, if you want to come by and say hello, get a book signed, or see my wife's awesome art, the happening is in Yampa on the 26th. For those that don't know, Yampa is a nice little railroad town on Highway 131 about 20 minutes outside of Steamboat Springs. So come on up, make a weekend of it, I hear Steamboat has received more than 50 feet of fresh snow this season so the skiing is likely very good, and the weather is warm enough to really enjoy it.

Also, 'Jumah's World' is back from the editor and has been revised! I have passed it off to a couple people for review and as soon as I get it back and have a talk with them, I will make any final adjustments and get the cover art contest rolling. My plan is to have it in full swing by the end of next week!

Also in the works:
-My Palladium Books 'Rifter' subscription is about 80% done and should be getting much closer through next week, if not finished.
-My new business should be getting off the ground next week some time as well. Stay tuned for more on that, but if you are in to High Definition video, interval photography, or even trains, you may want to watch this space for that announcement.
-The Kalijor RPG book is being tightened up nicely, although I still want to add a lot of content yet. The test group has been on sabbatical for over a month now due to scheduling issues but we are on again as of this Saturday!
-It's Spring time!

Ok, I think that's about it for now. Sorry for the infrequent updates, but I have been swamped with stuff, and in the middle of looking for a job too...

Anyway, I hope this message finds you all well and I look forward to seeing you all in Yampa on the 26th!

Ciao

Paul

Still here!!!

noreply@blogger.com (Paul) — Sun, 02 Mar 2008 20:23:00 +0000

Just wanted to let everyone know that I am still about. I am pretty deep into looking for a new job as well as writing up a pile of submissions material for Palladium Books' quarterly publication called 'The Rifter'. I can't really discuss it much as I can't have the material showing up or being discussed online at all or it will greatly reduce my odds of publication. So, suffice to say that I AM here and I AM working on something pretty big.

Hopefully I can get 'Jumah's World' back from my editor soon so I can get it all set up and formatted for publication. Once that is done then I WILL be holding a contest for cover, and possibly interior, art for the book. When that is all said and done, the book will be available for purchase online and through local book stores for somewhere under $10US. Those individuals that get art in the book will receive free copies for their portfolios. Not a huge prize but at this point it is all I can really afford to do.

Also, I am still open for writing commissions, information here:

I am very open to feedback and negotiation so don't let these figures stop you from PMing me with questions!

Creative writing: $10 per typed page
Creative writing with 'world building' services: $15 per typed page

Technical writing (all information provided, outline, specs, etc...): $10 per typed page
Technical writing (including research): $30 per typed page

Editing (in the form of a 'marked-up' Word doc with comments/annotations): $15 per typed page
Rewriting/Editing (in the form of a 'marked-up' Word doc with comments/annotations and accompanied by a separate Word file with the altered text): $30 per typed page

The technical writing section will include reports, white papers, methods and procedures, instructional materials, job aids and the like.

All writing will be in the form of a Word document, 8 1/2 inches by 11 inches in a 12 point Times New Roman font with single line spacing. Rates are based on these numbers so any requested change may result in a cost adjustment (so writing in a novel size formate of 6x9 would cost less since the pages are smaller).

On that note, I am off to work on these submissions a bit more. I hope everyone is having a great day and I will speak at you all later!

Commissions!!!

noreply@blogger.com (Paul) — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 20:51:00 +0000

Hello there!!

Well in an interesting turn of events I find myself giving serious effort to reevaluating my career and goals. It may seem a little late in life but the fact of the matter is that until just recently, maybe as much as two years ago, I didn't really understand what it was that I wanted to be when I grew up. Now I make no claims to have actually grown up as yet, but I do know now that what I want to do is write. I want to pay the bills through my writing and the only way to do that is to get a body of work out there to support my skills when I go talk to employers about what it is exactly that I can bring to them.

As such, I am going to offer my services to you, the community at large. I will take commissions for writing whatever it is that you want, although I do reserve the right to decline a job at my own discretion and for my own reasons. At this point I have not ever been asked to write anything that I didn't like in some way so I can't imagine what would make me decline an offer, however I DO reserve the right to do so.

My usual method of writing for others is to have them give me a prompt. Something about what it is they want to see. The more detailed the better, although I am more than willing to 'world build' if that is your wish, although it may cost a bit more depending upon the complexity of what it is that you would like done. I am also perfectly willing to do fanfic, although that will cost a bit more as well since I will likely have to familiarize myself with the subject matter in question, characters, worlds, interactions and so forth (if I am going to turn work down it will likely be in this category since it is going to be by far the most labor/time intensive).

I do not limit myself to creative writing either. If you need/want a resume or technical document written up, I am more than happy to oblige. If all necessary information is provided then rates would be pretty low, but again, if I have to start doing research then I am going to have to ramp up the costs a little bit.

On the flip side of all of this, I will also offer editing services for works that are already written, and rewriting services as well. These will be handled case-by-case but rates will be generally similar to writing since there is still much to be done in the editing process.

Anyway, here is a quick rundown of rates, bearing in mind that this is the first time I have done this, so at this point everything is subject to change and I am very open to feedback and negotiation so don't let these figures stop you from emailing me with questions! :)

Creative writing: $10 per typed page
Creative writing with 'world building' services: $15 per typed page

Technical writing (all information provided, outline, specs, etc...): $10 per typed page
Technical writing (including research): $30 per typed page

Editing (in the form of a 'marked-up' Word doc with comments/annotations): $15 per typed page
Rewriting/Editing (in the form of a 'marked-up' Word doc with comments/annotations and accompanied by a separate Word file with the altered text): $30 per typed page

The technical writing section will include reports, white papers, methods and procedures, instructional materials, job aids and the like.

All writing will be in the form of a Word document, 8 1/2 inches by 11 inches in a 12 point Times New Roman font with single line spacing. Rates are based on these numbers so any requested change may result in a cost adjustment (so writing in a novel size formate of 6x9 would cost less since the pages are smaller).

I thank that's about it, so if you have any questions, please post them, and if you have any requests, please email me me! Oh and tell your friends, tell your family!!

Going on February...

noreply@blogger.com (Paul) — Thu, 31 Jan 2008 20:00:00 +0000

SO. All seems to be going along fairly well here. I just pushed a pretty big story update to the Kalijor main page. A bunch of new stories were added along with some final touches on a couple of the series I had going there.

I am still writing daily. Right now I am working on a submission for The Rifter, which is a quarterly publication from Palladium Books. Along with that short story I will be statting out some of the characters, classes, races, and a town from that story for use with the Palladium Books system. Hopefully they will be interested in picking it up for an issue or two *crosses fingers*.

As soon as I am done with that Then I am going to finish a book I began before Chrsitmas. It is a book concerning my own personal experiences in management. Sort of an autobiographical do's and don'ts of management if you will. I have no idea how well received it will be but it is something I feel I need to write, so I will!

In other news, I have applied with a couple of game developers her ein Denver for some content building positions! That would be the ultimate job for me!! I can't even tell you how exciting it would be to go to work every day and create stuff for other people to play with!! Simply amazing! I will keep you informed.

Did some basic work around the house today. Regrouted a bunch of tiles in my shower stall. Next up is the drain in the kid's bath tub. It's leaking so I need to get it all sealed up and squared away, then I can move on to patching up the cieling in the kitchen where the kid's tub leaked through! After that... I have no idea... but I am quite sure that something will present itself in due time.

Alright. I am off to get some more writing done. I will gab at you all later! Here's hoping you all have a great day, and a wonderful however many dayes it takes before I post again!

2008!

noreply@blogger.com (Paul) — Fri, 11 Jan 2008 19:47:00 +0000

That's pretty much all I have to say about that. By this stage the whole 'new year' thing has pretty much been done to death. So at this stage I will simply say that I hope each of you has an incredible new year that is filled with all of the things you bring about for yourselves!

For my part at least I have a lot going on. I have finished up my Novella about Jumah and it is in my lovely editor's hands. As soon as we get it cleaned up I will be hosting a competition on Deviant Art and the Kalijor web site. The contest will be asking for all interested artists/fans to compose a full color, cover image for the book. The finalists will be chosen by myself and then the winning piece will be selected via popular vote, most likely on dA just to keep things easily accessible and totally impartial on my part. Once the image is selected, I will composite the cover together (adding titles, text and so forth) and then assemble it for publication. I will also purchase an ISBN for the novella so that it can be purchased online and in local book stores the world around.

The winning artist will receive not just the by-line, but also a signed copy of the book.

At this point I am also kicking around the idea of taking submissions in black & white for interior art at the head of each chapter (which would be nine pieces I think). Judging would take place in a similar fashion and prizes would be the same for everyone since I am still not exactly rolling in the dough.

In other news, I have just begun work on a story submission for "The Rifter" Which is Palladium Books' quarterly gaming publication! I have outlined all of the characters and the plot and am now refreshing my knowledge of places, names and equipment (damns, it's been a long time since I was in the main Rifts book!!). The first page is written and immediately took on a life of its own, so I have high hopes that the project will move along pretty quickly. That having been said, if it does move as quickly as I think it will, then I will likely also pound out a new O.C.C. and two new alien races for submission as well. If that is well received then I may have a better shot at getting my source book into their hands as well. Here's hoping!

Anyway, I hope this finds you all well and I intend to keep better track of this blog during 2008. My goal is at least weekly posts. Shouldn't be too difficult..... should it?

The day after...

noreply@blogger.com (Paul) — Thu, 27 Dec 2007 04:38:00 +0000

Heyas all!

First off let me say that I realized about ten seconds after I sent out that news letter that I had typo'd 'meat' in place of 'meet'. My bad. I don't think that was a freudian slip or anything, just a case of being distracted whilst typing, that and I think I wrote that on my Windows machine instead of my Mac... My Mac does a much better job of keeping me in line when I start running on. Not that that ever really happens....

Anyway, I just wanted to say that I hope you all out there in reader-land had a wonderful holiday of choice and that I am still off for another week yet. I am about half way through a short story that I promised for my dA watchers a while back. Unfortunately I have had a ton of stuff going on at home and at work so I have not had a lot of time to devote to it recently. However, I have put on about four pages in the last three days (one of those being Christmas day, on which I did zero writing due to family visitation), and I hope to finish it out tomorrow.

That having been said, you never know what tomorrow will bring. Next up I have plans to finish out the Jumah's World story arc, and get it put together for editing so that I can start up a cover art contest on dA and the Kalijor site. After that I have another, non sci-fi/fantasy book that I am writing (shouldn't take too long really though so no worries) and then it is back to the Third Key of Kalijor. My editor is still working on the Second Key of Kalijor (thanks hon!!) and I will probably get on the first rewrite after I finish up the Third Key for her to dive into.

So, Lots to keep ME busy, how about all of you?

I hope the holidays find you all well and the new year is everything you hope that it will be. Personally I am looking forward to a great deal of fun and some serious pushes to get the book out there in front of people.

Have a great day and I will talk to you the next time!

Ciao

Paul

December book signing.

noreply@blogger.com (Paul) — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 01:26:00 +0000

Hello everyone!

I just wanted to say thank you to everyone who came out to see me at Black & Read last Saturday! I personally enjoyed the experience very much and was privileged to meat some very interesting people.

Please stay tuned to my web site at www.kalijor.com where I have a blog and community forums for everyone to partake in. Also there are a dozen or so short stories on the main page under the 'Writings' link on the main menu, with more to come soon as I move into a little vacation time from the regular job (one such story about Katrina and Riana is well into being written already).

When you finish the book please take a moment to stop by Amazon.com Or Barnes & Noble and add a quick review of the book so others can read your thoughts.

That having been said I am out of here, so a merry Christma-hanna-kwanza to you all!

Ciao!

Paul

Friday...

noreply@blogger.com (Paul) — Fri, 23 Nov 2007 12:02:00 +0000

Damns, wasn't it JUST Friday?

This is crazyness! Crazyness I say!!

Ok, well aside from the cruddy cold-like thing I have going on, things are pretty good now. I just sold four more books to some folks from out of town (more visibility in another state is avery very good thing! The signing is set up for the 12th and the books are ordered (along with some posters to spruce up the signing a bit), and all is well.

Work continues on the RP book. I have spent the last few days statting out the few major characters from the first novel so players will have an idea how I see them and how they look compared to one another in game terms. I have a couple more to do before I paste them into the book (which will push it up over 300 pages finally, for real), then I need to do a few more spells, some programming tricks and I would like to get a couple more robot vehicles in as well, since there is only one currently.

I am hoping to be more or less done with this book in the next couple of weeks so I can get back to some more story-driven writing soon. I need to finish the Jumah's World series so I can work on getting a cover art contest rolling, and get the text collected and edited for publishing.

Anyway, that's it for now. I am going to go try and get some more sleep. See you all later!!

Paul

And the battle wages onward!!

noreply@blogger.com (Paul) — Thu, 22 Nov 2007 15:39:00 +0000

Ok, so I set up The First Key of Kalijor to be purchased/read on the Amazon Kindle format. At this point I am just waiting for it to drop to their list of available books. However, is has thus far been nearly five days since I did my part of the work and their system said it was 'live' content, and it still has yet to appear in the lists.

I contacted Amazon's tech support through their only available means, which begins as a poorly posted series of FAQ's that are cut up into little categorized pieces, none of which are terribly descriptive as o what category might actually hold the single, tiny nugget of information you are in search of. So I finally posted to the forums asking the question and a very prompt reply told me that in the FAQ's it says to wait 72 hours for your material to 'drop' to the list.

I propose that a single page FAQ would be infinitely more useful as it would be searchable and they would get less of that sort of question. Either way, it has now been WAY more than 72 hours and the book still has not dropped to the lists, so I have posted for assistance yet again. We'll see what happens....

On a more 'holiday cheer' note, we have some company from out of town here for the holiday today and the kitchen and house are a-buzz with conversation and activity as the meal is cooked and stories are told. All-in-all it is very refreshing and fun, I look forward to the rest of our company arriving this afternoon.

The books are ordered and being printed for the signing on December 12th. For anyone that is interested that will be taking place at 'Black & Read' book store at 80th Ave, and Wadsworth Boulevard in Arvada, Colorado. I haven't settled on a time with them as yet but I am thinking it will run from around noon, until six or seven in the evening, or as long as the books last, whichever comes first.

Ok, I am off to enjoy the family experience. So until next time, enjoy the day, in whatever capacity you choose, and I will talk to you all later!

Ciao,

Paul

And the project continues

noreply@blogger.com (Paul) — Sat, 17 Nov 2007 14:51:00 +0000

Alrighty,

Life is moving forward at a very life-like pace and events are progressing as they are apt to do.

I went by one of the few remaining local book stores yesterday and asked about a signing and they seemed overwhelmingly excited about it. I need to call them back today and speak to a couple different people about when and what they think of the book. I think I will actually go there instead of calling them though. Keep things more personal. :)

I sent a communication to the owner/publisher of the RPG's that I am hoping to have publish the RP book. Still waiting on a reply from him. He is pretty busy and it will be a week tomorrow, so I am not wigging out about that just yet. The frustration at the moment is actually centered around a different local book store that has a bunch of hoops authors need to jump through to get a signing. Well I have jumped through the first couple of hoops and am waiting on a return phone call from someone, waiting for more than a week now for a call from a locally owned business..... I just don't understand that one at all....

Anyway. Gaming tonight! *cheers*

I added a new class to the RPG book and am working on a slew of additional material. It has just been slow going due to the work situation. But it is progressing.

Also, I got the RSS working for this blog so if you want to add it to your aggrigator the URL is: Kalijor Daily!

Ok, back to work on the material. See you all later!

Paul

Friday, Friday, Friday!!!

noreply@blogger.com (Paul) — Sat, 10 Nov 2007 15:51:00 +0000

Odd that it is Saturday.....

Ok, I have missed a couple of days here, but in my defense, I am working three full-time jobs right now so I have THAT going for me. :D

Alright, I have made my first attempt at contacting the publisher of the RPG's that I am hoping to work with on my RPG treatment of the Kalijor series. I have high hopes that they will be amenable to working together on this project since I am a HUGE fan of their work and have been for something like 20 years now.

On the writing front, I am working on a contest entry for a DeviantArt member. It was originally planned as a seven to ten page piece but I have been a bit carried away by the story and it is going on 22 pages now (double spaced, per contest entry rules, but still!). They said the longer and more in-depth the story is, the better odds it has of placing in the contest, so I figured what the heck!

I have plans to do some more work on the encyclopedia of Kalijor, lots of ideas rolling around in my head. Quoth the raven, "I suffer from an over-active imagination." Twenty bonus points toward a fabulous no-prize if you can tell me who said that one!

Ok, I have stuff to do and what-not, so I will get back at it. See you all next time!

Paul

The day before Sunday...

noreply@blogger.com (Paul) — Sat, 03 Nov 2007 19:49:00 +0000

So not a lot to say today really. The oldest boy just, somehow, managed to pass his belt test and advance to his low brown belt. They said they did it partially for motivational reasons, and partly because the majority of his stuff is actually not looking too bad, all things considered.

That's all well and good as I am sure it will sort itself out naturally. However, at home the youngest one has aparently gone insane while we were here at testing for five hours. I'm pretty sure be will need something more serious than grounding this evening.

At any rate, gaming is tonight so that is cool, more play testing of the new material. :)

I am about ready to pitch the book to the publisher I have in mind. I'm pretty sure tgey will jump at it, however i think there might be some issues concerning rights. I hope not since Ireally think this book can be of huge benefit to both myself and them. I suppose we'll find out soon!

In related news, I am working on a short story for a contest on Deviant Art. It's turned into a pretty significant piece really. Also, I should be getting more in place on my Jumah's World story. I think it will be drawing to a close in the next couple of installments sometime.

Anyway, I need to go as I am posting this from my phone at the belt test! :)

Ciao!

Life in general...

noreply@blogger.com (Paul) — Sun, 28 Oct 2007 18:21:00 +0000

Well, last week my kids would not stop fighting with one another. They would fight over toys, so we would take the toys away. Then they would fight over pens and paper, so we took that away. Then they would fight over pillows or blankets on the couch so we made them sit on the floor. Then they would fight over what was on TV so we turned the TV of. Not to be out done they then turned to fighting over whom was looking at whom the wrong way.

Suffice to say we got more than a little bit frustrated at this and I finally grounded them for the weekend. Unfortunately that didn't seem to stop it so we started adding days on to their grounding until now they are grounded solidly through next weekend. Here's the kicker though. Next Saturday they have their belt testing for Karate and one of the tenants over at the dojo is that people are behaving well both at school and at home. So I am torn between allowing them to test for their belts despite the fact that they are grounded, or holding them back for a few more months because of their behavior...

Now I am not a total jerk mind you. I did give them an out. Another item that comes from the dojo is what they call a 'self discipline sheet' which is a piece of paper with three sections on it, each section having ten lines. The idea is that every time the child does something around the house or school without being asked, such as picking up a mess, emptying the trash, and so forth, they can fill out one line with their good deed. I told the kids that for every ten lines they filled out they could discount one day from their grounding, which at the time did NOT include the Saturday of their testing.

Since then they have continued to be at one another's throats and the days have been adding up so that now, as I said previously, they are grounded clean through their belt tests. They have not even tried to fill out their self discipline sheets (One of them has about six lines filled out after eight days and the other is at three or four lines maybe).

Frankly I am at a loss for what to do. Nothing I say or do seems to make any impression upon them where their fighting is concerned, nor where the self discipline sheets are concerned. The older boy already missed his promotion last round because he didn't fill out any of his homework cards and he didn't seem too upset about the ordeal. I'm not sure that holding them back is something that means enough to them to actually qualify as punitive measures.

I've tried taking the toys out of their rooms, shutting down their computers, grounding them and everything else I can think of and nothing seems to make any sort of a lasting impression on them. I just don't know....

On another note, the press releases about the book should hit the news wires tomorrow, so hopefully we will see some activity from that. Also, progress is still being made on the RPG book, although it is slow due to work. I hope to pitch it to the company this week or next, we'll see how it plays out. I am still trying to work out a signing with the local Barnes & Nobel but I am not convinced it is going to happen considering their policies. We'll see.

Alright, I am going to try and get some work done on one of these stories so I am signing off. I will talk to you all next time so until then, keep fighting the good fight!

And so it begins...

noreply@blogger.com (Paul) — Sat, 27 Oct 2007 21:58:00 +0000

In truth it began a number of years ago, but Last month the publishing process was completed and now I am wading into the interesting world that is PR (public relations) and advertising.

Just this afternoon I submitted a press release to a couple of newswire services concerning the release of 'The First Key of Kalijor'. I have no idea how many, if any, publications will pick it up, but at the very least it will be listed on google news and yahoo news. We'll have to see what happens.

If you got here from an address you received from some sort of news article or RSS feed, please drop a comment letting me know so that I have some idea about how useful the last few hours have actually been. Then head over to the storefront and buy a book or two, everyone needs a couple copies. They make great gifts and the gifting season is just around the corner now. THey also make wonderful paper weights, jack stands, fly swatters, projectile weapons, kindling, door stops, and oh yeah, there's a story in them there pages too!!

Ok, so I am a little strange, but anyone who has known me for more than about 10 seconds would have been able to pass that little nugget on to you had you but asked for it! MUHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

Let's see, other news...... Nothing really races to mind....

I have been trying to arrange a couple more local book signings, but it seems as though most of the local book stores have been run out of the game. I'm not sure if it is the doing of the big-name stores or just some other economic factor, but it kind of sucks either way. I love Lulu.com and everything they have enabled me to achieve thus far but their one major flaw at this point is that they do not buy books back from stores. The unfortunate (for me) side effect of this is that I can not get in the door there to do a signing with my own stock of books, and they will not buy books that they can not return.

I am going to talk to some PR people about the possibility of me buying back unused stock personally, but I have extremely limited funding for that so it can't happen terribly often right now.

Oh! I would also like to put forward at this point that since I DO have stock in hand at this point, I am willing to send you a SIGNED copy of 'The First Key of Kalijor' for $23US. That's $18 for the book and $5 shipping (only to locations inside the United States, if you are outside the US, please contact me and I will get back to you with shipping costs elsewhere). I will of course sign your copy that you already have, but if you don't live in or around Westminster CO then I am afraid that you will be personally responsible for the cost of shipping the book to me for signing and then back to yourself again. That is not something I relish doing but right now I just don't have the funds to be absorbing such things right now. Although I am sure such a time will come along in the future. :)

Alright, I think I am about done now, so thanks for stopping by and I will see you all later!!

Looks as though it is working....

noreply@blogger.com (Paul) — Sat, 27 Oct 2007 01:43:00 +0000

SO it looks like this is functioning. Now my next task will be to get it looking more like a piece of my site... Time to brush up on the CSS skills I guess.

Of note, I have added a few more short stories to the Writings page, namely the seventh installment of the Jumah's World story, and the last bit of the Vincent Torres series, along with a little epilogue that may have a bit of a spoiler in it so consider yourselves warned!!!

Getting Started...

noreply@blogger.com (Paul) — Fri, 26 Oct 2007 23:58:00 +0000

This is the very first edition of Kalijor daily. It is mostly for the purpose of making sure it works and I am sure there will be a much more meaningful post added here in the very near future.

So keep checking back as I am just getting going!

Ciao!

Paul Lell