Evolving Universal Warrior

A Promise Is A Promise…

Sorry it took me a minute to get this out!
I gave my word that when Universal Warrior: Uprising reached 1100 hits, I would officially begin production on the audio podcasts. We actually hit 1100 last week, and the story is closing in on 1200 now.

So, in keeping my word, Universal Warrior: Uprising will officially begin life as a podcast on May 1, 2009. The first two chapters are currently in production, I hope to have at least four by the time we go live.

The podcast is read by Dianne DL Owens and features the music of Adam Fielding. I’m using the freeware program Audacity to put the entire production together.

Oh, the podcasts will be free, just in case you needed to hear that

What Happens Now
Universal Warrior: Uprising will continue to be available every Monday at 1pm, Central Standard Time. Chapter Fourteen will be the final post uploaded to the current site. Chapter Fifteen (and all subsequent chapters), will appear on www.universal-warrior.com. The site is currently under construction, but you can grab a sneak peek if you like.

Next week will also introduce “The Known Universe”, a weekly newsletter that revolves around the world of Universal Warrior! Each issue will be available to download at www.universal-warrior.com, and will focus on behind-the-scenes information of the story, release dates, and one profile of a supporting character! If there’s anyone in the story you’d like to know more about, drop me a line at admin@youarenowplaying or hit me @IronMan1176 on twitter!

And finally, I will take this opportunity to formally announce the preproduction of Universal Warrior Uprising as an animated series. The story of the series will stay on par with the serial novel, but expect a slew of new material that isn’t in the prose! It wouldn’t be much fun if I followed the novel EXACTLY, would it?

Thank you for following along thus far! I’ll do my best to keep you guessing!
-Avery K. Tingle
Author

What I’ve Learned So Far (Writing)

I started Universal Warrior: Uprising (Book One) when Chris Tejeda (@ChrisTejeda on Twitter) introduced me to the world of Web Fiction. I was fresh off of Nanowrimo, having completed the 50k words in one month. I had at last found my calling, and was eager to begin work on something else.

Three months, sixteen posts, and sixty-two comments later, Universal Warrior: Uprising celebrated hitting the 1000 mark. At the time of this writing, the site had garnered 1,005 hits, and more people are picking up the story at its beginning every day.

I don’t consider the story a success; rather, I see this as laying the groundwork for my future. I most certainly never expected the story to take off the way it did, and it always makes me grin to see people tuning in every Monday before the story goes live. I enjoy the fact that people enjoy my work.

I will consider the story a success when I am paid to do it. I’ve had people ask me lately how I get paid to blog (which I don’t) and what methods I use to get the story out to the public. So I thought I’d take this time to illustrate the methods of my madness, most of which were loaned to me by someone far more experienced.
Enjoy.

1). Know Your Story.
Universal Warrior has been in my head, in one form or another, for the past twenty years. I know each of the 500+ characters that inhabit this world, I know where they’re going, and I know where everything ends up. Even so, I outline each chapter long before I type the first word. I recommend everyone do this, unless you’re extraordinarily talented. Planning your work in advance is a great way to avoid writer’s block. If you get stuck, refer to your notes. It’s okay if you end up with something far outside of what you planned, but at least you have your plan to fall back on.

2). Get Into Social Networking.
You don’t go cliff jumping without a parachute. You don’t launch your epic without having someone know about it. These days, you should spend almost as much time networking as much as you do writing. What good is it to put all this effort into your hyper-mega epic if absolutely no one was aware of its release?
Never, ever dismiss any social networking site. You never know who’s there, and who might promote your work. If you’re not using twitter, you should be. You should be using Twitter if you’re in any creative field. You should be using Twitter if you get out of bed in the morning. If you’re not on Twitter, stop reading this right now and go sign up. Then check out this site that lists people you might want to start following.
I release Universal Warrior through Twitter, MySpace, Friendfeed, Facebook, and I’m starting to post announcements through Web Fiction Guide, and next week I’ll do the same on Muse’s Success. Get your work out there. It’s better to be hated than unknown; you can always improve.
Okay, now, the flip side to this coin is this; don’t get on these sites and speak only of your work, rambling on aimlessly about how great your stuff is without interacting with anyone else. This is the quickest way to get blocked.
Network. Meet people. Establish genuine connections. Then talk about how great your work is.

3). Keep your Word
Universal Warrior comes out each Monday by 1pm CST, no matter what. I have only missed the 1pm deadline once, and I have never once missed a Monday deadline. I sincerely believe that this is why I’ll have up to ten hits every Monday before the story is released.
Before you even have a story, you have your reputation. Build it and they will come.

In conclusion, I have to say that I spend anywhere from one to three hours churning out words on various projects. You have to be dedicated or your lack of it will show up in your work. I haven’t had a day in weeks where I didn’t put out at least a thousand words (of course, this is because I have no job).

I also have to say that you probably have to be a little lucky. There isn’t a week that goes by that I wonder whether or not I will do irreparable damage to my fledgling fan base. Is it too long? Is this in character? Is this too much backstory? Is this enough action? Not enough action? Is this explained well enough? Am I revealing too much? Is this the story I should be telling?

Welcome to my world.

There are other methods I use, which include:

*Keeping a Thesaurus and two Dictionaries at my desk at all times

*Having a window to stare out of during ADD moments

*Taking a break every hour to read, play, do pushups, or anything not related to the task at hand

*Having appropriate music on at all times

All of this is just what works for me. There is no miracle cure. There is no magic formula that will turn you into the next Stephen King. In the end, you have to find what works for you, and then stick with it. Even more importantly, if you’re finding that your methods don’t work, you need to be open-minded enough to realize that something needs to change.

Ultimately, you decide your own fate.

Thanks for reading, and good luck.

Special thanks to Molly (@bookwormm21) my unflaggingly detail-oriented editor (and girlfriend), MeiLin Miranda (@MeiLinMiranda) for the tutelage, Chris Tejeda (@ChrisTejeda) for introducing me to this world, and Dianne (@keikomushi) for her work advancing in advancing Universal Warrior (and introducing me to podcasting!)

WOOF Contest Top Picks 3-6-09

Woof Winners: Writers Offering Our Finest for March 6

WOOF Contest – Top Picks

About Writing / Prose
Annetta Ribken – “The Writer’s Bane” – Shoot the hamsters of self-doubt regarding your writing and WRITE!

Fiction
Annetta Ribken – “Friday Flash Fiction – Learning The Hard Way” – A story of what happens when children don’t listen to their mamas.

Poetry
Robert – “Still Water” – A poem of questions.
Jennifer M Scott – “Jitterbugging Dragons” – People call me nuts, read this poem and you be the judge.
Dragon Blogger – “In A Dream” – A dream about a fantasy romance.

Brought to you by PlotDog Press with the Serial Suspense Screenplay “Intervention“

Other WOOF Contestants for 03/06/09

About Writing / Prose
Floreta Cui – “Part II: Goodbye, Puppy” – A final goodbye to my favorite dog.

Fiction
Avery K. Tingle – “Chapter 10: The Regent Returns” – This is Chapter Ten of the ongoing web fiction “Universal Warrior Book One: Uprising”.

Poetry
Catherine – “Untitled Sonnet” – A sonnet about Yeats’ grave in Ireland.
Robert Bourne – “Change” – Poem of the change as recovery from setback and heart break continues.
Jennifer M Scott – “Awakening” – A poem on how winter should step aside and let spring do her thing.
Jennifer M Scott – “Order Up” – From a overnight diner waitress POV about diners and patrons there.
Jennifer M Scott – “Friendship” – A poem about friendship.
Jennifer M Scott – “Alphabet Haiku Q-T” – A haiku for each letter, each word in the letter haiku begins with that letter.
Dragon Blogger – “The Traveler” – A poem about someone flowing from place to place leaving a legacy behind.

For The Fans of Universal Warrior: Uprising

Okay, here’s the deal.
As of March 9, 2009, Universal Warrior: Uprising has accrued 985 hits over 12 Chapters.

Recently, a friend of mine volunteered to use her considerable vocal talents to turn the story into a podcast. I’ve since thrown myself into audio editing to figure out how to add sound effects and the like. However, I can’t devote as much time as I’d like to it due to freelancing and the other activities I have going on.

So here’s what I’ll do.
When the site reaches 1100 hits, I’ll put the audio podcasts into production. These will feature the music of Adam Fielding and be available for free directly from the website. I’ll also begin the newsletter I keep talking about. If you want to be added to the mailing list, please drop me a line at admin@youarenowplaying.com.

In addition to the podcasts, I’ve also begun working on screenplay to adapt the story into a machinima-based series using the Moviestorm engine. So there’s a lot happening here.

1100 hits, things go to the next level.

Thank you for reading so far and making the series a success.

Avery K. Tingle
Author

Previously on Universal Warrior: Uprising

In a ceaseless war between Angels and Demons, Yang, ruler of the Kingdom of Heaven, plans to shatter the Nexus Stone. Doing so will imbue a select invited few Angels with enough power to bring Yin queen of the lands of Hell, to her knees. The Angels are given three days to trek thousands of miles and complete a treacherous mountain climb to reach Asgard, where the plan will be put into motion.

Michael, a resourceful young man living in exile with his mother, receives one of these invitations. After surviving an attempt on his life, he happens across a straggler named Anders. Following the boy back to his native town, Michael discovers the town to be under demonic control and seeks to free the populace.

Gabriel, who commands the Thanatonian legion, receives another invitation. Having no desire to return to war, Gabriel passes the invitation to his best operative, Azrael. The crossling reluctantly returns to Heaven. A feud with his twin brother is reignited, and in the course of trying to save lives, Azrael crosses paths with Michael. The two now work together to liberate a small town, jeopardizing their chances of making it to Asgard on time.

Uriel, of Heaven’s army and now one of Heaven’s most wanted fugitives, receives an invitation and promise of immunity if he can complete the journey. Doggedly pursued by the super-powered Angelic police force known as the Seraphim, Uriel accidentally discovers the organization importing demons into Heaven. He has chosen to hunt his pursuers in one last bid to serve the Kingdom faithfully.

Raphael, a veteran of the war since it began, is hand-picked by Yang to lead the new group of Angels. After surviving an assault on the capitol building, Raphael and Yang are relocated to Asgard, where Raphael is reunited with his former mentor, Odin. The two now depart a residential hall high above Asgard to begin preparing for what will occur within the next two days…

The following takes place in Asgard during Day One. It is the middle of the day.

del.icio.us Tags: Universal Warrior,Chapter 12,Michael,Gabriel,Uriel,Asgard,Yin,Yang,Odin,Azrael,Anders

Announcing “The Road”

Four years ago, I was staying in an unlisted shelter in Saginaw, Michigan. Located in one of the city’s most dangerous neighborhoods, one would walk through a crime scene at least once per week, and Busterwolf had to be at his prime.

At the time, I was trying to raise enough money to leave Saginaw behind and head for Grand Rapids—where there were more jobs, more opportunities, and what I believed was the rest of my life. I wasn’t concerned about how I raised the money—I just wanted out.

And no one could outfight me.

The adventures in Saginaw were many, including a fight outside of a nightclub with two friends, one of whom was an adventurous, married woman, and a tournament that had been arranged just to see if Busterwolf was everything the legends said. Those invested in this tournament were so serious about seeing me fight that when I tried to back out, they conveyed their seriousness by firing a bullet at me.

Eventually, I was able to leave Saginaw, convincing myself that Busterwolf’s days were indeed behind him. When I arrived in Grand Rapids, I caved to the legend once again, and the real adventures began. They included two students (my first since my son) and the only man who put the fear of God in me, so much so that I could not beat him…

I realized a little back that I compiled all of these adventures into my very first blog, which goes all the way back to the days in Saginaw. Sometime this year, I’m going to compile and edit them, and then, if I can, self-publish them. I think they make a good read, and I changed most of the names…

The book will be entitled “The Road”. I’ll keep everyone posted as I put it together.

del.icio.us Tags: Road,Saginaw,Grand Rapids,Fight,Fighting,Martial Arts,Past