Category: Reader Group Archive

James McGowan Reader Group- Question Time

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Hey, folks!

I’m doing a prototype podcast with some author friends this month.  Not sure when/if we’ll release it, and I’ll give a link to it whenever it’s available.

But in the meantime, here’s a preview of my responses to three of the questions.

Enjoy!

Question: 

What’s your most expensive mistake?

Answer: 

Adding my first three books to the ad page of Doctor Who Online.

Amid the 2020 lockdown, I was busy doing a cover refresh of my first three novels in the POTG series. As with everyone, my head was in a weird place. And when I re-released Repenter with its new cover, an admin from Doctor Who Online reached out to me and asked if I wanted to sponsor the fan website. He said he liked the cover, so I found that delightful, as I needed more praise for my books.

More I say!

The site had giant blocks of sponsors all shoved together. All vying for attention. And almost certainly not getting it. But I thought to myself, “This is thinking outside the box. It’ll totally work.”

It did not. 

I paid a bunch of money and got zero sales from it. The Doctor Who Online guys were friendly enough, but it was sadly not a good channel for me.

The lesson, which I will steal from Joanna Penn, who has also attributed it to someone else: Random acts of marketing do not work. Sadly, I’m a random kinda guy, so much of my attempts at marketing have had similar, albeit less costly, results.

Question: 

What part of indie publishing surprised you the most once you were actually in it?

Answer:

The astounding number of people who have also written multiple books and indie-published them.

This is, of course, increasingly becoming a quaint observation with the rise of AI rapid releases. But I had always thought I was a rarer bird based on the folks I’d encountered personally. 

Then I remembered there are a lot of people in America and in other English-speaking countries. And if a few million of us all write books and indie publish books, that is a whole lotta product. 

A glut, if you will. 

And it’s also still a fraction of the US population. Probably just one or two percent. So yes, there are a lot of indie authors, and we are also elusive. Probably because lots of us are introverts and we hide.

Also related to the glut of numbers of authors and books, if you don’t advertise or market, your books will not move. 

Discoverability is pay to play in the 2020s, sadly. 

Organic reach is less assured online, but I have had decent success moving books at in-person events by selling them at a deep discount. I think the emails I collect from in-person interactions are more likely to engage with my newsletters. 

That said, I still have miles to go in standing out from the gargantuan but also hidden crowd. And then there are the AI creation directors. It’s tough out there. 

But I love writing my novels, so I’m cool with it.

Question:

What’s the most boring habit that made the biggest difference?

Answer:

Tracking and momentum.

I had a period of several years in the aughts and teens where I could not get more than a few pages written in any given week. I would edit it as I wrote it, wanting to make sure I polished all the descriptions of character appearances and settings. 

And this. Slowed. Me. Down. 

I remember feeling like I had all these story beats and character moments I wanted to get to, but having to describe some weird fantasy mindscape or a jagged mountain range’s climate or the giant undead giants suspended on chains. 

It was a quagmire for my productivity.

Things turned around when I was at an NWG conference in the mid-teens. A guy said he made a web-based tracker for logging your productivity. And I used it for a bit. But going onto a website and entering the info was not something I ultimately felt like doing. I think because it was basically hidden if I wasn’t looking at it. 

So I switched to a low-tech solution. 

I started using sticky notes where I set my goal for the week of ten pages, and tracked if I made it or not. If you write a page a day, you’ll have a book in a year. Or part of a book if you’re a fantasy writer like me. So 10 pages a week is a little more than that. 

If I do better, great! If I do worse, there’s always next week.

That really unlocked things for me. 

The goal tracking made me realize I needed to plow through to the cool beats that I want to write with the character interactions and big plot moments. I often write little shorthand notes to myself with YY prefixes because no words have a double Y, so it’s easy to search and it stands out. 

My first drafts overflow with notes like “YY More setting and description” and “YY describe this character’s armor”. It makes it easy to get the words out for the first draft. All the later drafts are much easier to work with because I have words on the page. 

And a whole lot of descriptions to fill in, since first draft Jim skipped them. 

But that’s okay, because the second, third, and fourth draft Jims don’t have to come up with the words from scratch. 

All the Jims have their part to play in the writing process.

Feel free to email me or ping me on social media with any of your own questions or recommendations.

As always, I’m happy to answer any questions you have for me on all things Players of the Game.  And I love to hear any book, movie, video game, and comic book recommendations you have as well.
Players of the Game Works in Progress
I’m making pretty good progress in Secret Fronts’ second draft.  I’m on page 377 with 89 pages for the month. So that’s better than the 79 pages of last month.

I’m certainly happy with this tally.  Though, I predict that my output will be less in the next few months.  I’ve reached a spot in my second draft that requires a few newly crafted scenes.  Nothing unexpected, but it does slow me down with the second draft.

All part of the process.  And above all things.  We must trust the process.  We simply must.

I’ll have some updates next month regarding the Constellation 15 Convention in Lincoln, Nebraska.  I’m helping run the Nebraska Writers’ Guild table for a few hours on Saturday, March 7th.  Swing out to visit if you’re in the area.  I’ll have pics of it next month.

I’m also still in the middle of a new cover refresh.  Plus, I’ll be adding hard covers as an offering.  Audiobooks are also on the agenda.  Lots up in the air with that right now.  I’ll talk more about that as I get a better idea of where I’m heading with all things audio.

And Jagged Pieces is still on the dance card for later this year.  More as it gets closer.

Players of the Game Out of Context Quote of the Month:

“Yeah, that’s us,” Gath said. “Two idiots who trusted too many bad people.”

“Two good idiots,” Nadia said with gentle steel in her correction’s tone.
Recommendation Corner
The Fifth Season by NK Jemison

I usually don’t really care for stories written in the second person.  “You walk into a kitchen and see a dead body.”  It usually feels like you’re reading an old AD&D player module.

But it works with this book.  It helps identify one particular character from two others who are in traditional third person.

I mention this because this book really transcends the POV switches for its fantasy world where volcanism and seismic activity are BIG problems.

A fifth season results from a super volcano going off and plunging the world into an ash-laden winter that lasts decades.

And orogenes, like the three POV characters, can manipulate the earth’s power. But not without extracting the heat from the surrounding area.  And people.  

These orogenes are either enslaved or murdered as children by most of the societies. There are other things toying with this world.  Crystal obelisks that hang in the sky as remnants of a long-dead civilization.  Stone Eaters, animated humanoid statues that can move through stone like standing air.

All the POV characters are driven to survive this world’s ire.

Because a new Fifth Season is coming and it will be worse than anything before it.

Good stuff.  Give it a try.

Essays Out of Left Field by Scott Johnson

Full disclosure: Scott’s a writer friend of mine.

Other disclosure: This book of humor missives covers way more than sports.

What other topics, you ask?

Campers named Skamantha taken on misadventures.  

Turtles vs ducks.  Just the regular kind.  Not the Teenage Mutant Ninja and the Howard or the Daffy kind.  But no less titanic of a conflagration.

A horrendously bad and hilarious series of decisions concerning dog excrement storage.

And so many other sagas.

If you enjoyed the old Dave Barry columns, definitely give this a read.

Funny stuff.
Check Out the Players of the Game Series on eBook and Paperback
That’s all for this time.

Stay smart.  Stay safe.

Jim

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James McGowan Reader Group- Twas The Season

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Yope!

There’s something you should know about me.  Not a dark secret.  More of a twinkly affectation.  One that’s contained, but gloriously garish.

I love Christmas decorations.  

Especially the tree ornaments.  But even more especially the colored lights.

Each year, my wife and I hang the hooks and string the cords throughout the tree’s fake branches.  But that’s not enough for me.  I string even more Christmas lights about the interior of the house.  MORE, I say!  It makes for fantastic TV watching and video game playing with all the other overhead illumination turned off.  Simply glorious.

I anticipate that you have two, and only two, questions regarding my post-yuletide admission.  

Question the first: What about outside the house?  

I’m not an exterior decoration guy.  Heights ain’t for me.  Not my Santa bag, baby.

And question the glaring: Jim, we just slogged through the 4038 days pretending to be 31 days of January.  Why are you talking about Christmas stuff?

Because I’m one of those people.

The people who keep the decorations up, because those 4038 days need something cheerful amid the cold nights and grey mornings.

Take a look for yourself and BASK in it:
As you can see, my wife and I have a multitude of interests with superheroes, NES controllers, ketchup bottles, Doritos bags, gnomes, ice-skating cows, marshmallow snowmen, and pool balls.  And that’s just a slice of its unabashed goodness.

Why just a portion of the tree?

It would overload your mind with its wonder.  And totally not because my work area near the tree is a cluttered array of comic book piles and a snake farm of power cords for my army of devices.

But I learned a lesson years ago when I kept the decorations up until May.  They lose their luster for the next season if you keep them up too long.

So down they must come.

I reckon I’m not the only person who keeps holiday paraphernalia up for 1/6th of the year.  Or do you have other things that you hold on to past a different kind of season?  

I still have a few pairs of jean shorts that I haven’t worn in years in the era of calling people who wear them as “jorks”.  Someday, they’ll be back in style.  

Right?

Let me know what things you just can’t put away, be it Christmasy or anything else.  Freak flags gotta fly.
Players of the Game Works in Progress
The second draft of the combined bonus novels is coming along well.  I finished Unseen Scars and moved into Secret Fronts.

I’m on page 288 with 79 pages for the month.  So that’s less than the 115 pages of last month.  But I’ve reached a spot where I’ve had to rewrite or just plain write new scenes in Secret Fronts.  So that’s a bit slower going.  Progress is progress.

Plus, I’ve had some other initiatives going on.

I’m doing a cover refresh with an outfit called 100 Covers.  I really like my existing covers, but they aren’t really selling a whole lot of books.  So, I’ll see if this moves the needle or not.  I’ll share the new stuff down the road once I’m farther along in that process.  I’m liking what they’re producing for me so far.

A process that will include hardcover editions using Ingram Spark.

I still plan to release Book 4.5, Jagged Pieces, in late summer or early fall of 2026.

I’ll also keep you posted as more develops on all those fronts.

Players of the Game Out of Context Quote of the Month:

“I want those days, Gath. Every last moment.” Nadia squeezed his knee a little tighter. “Even if it’s reliving disaster, loss, and violation. As long as it’s with a friend, I’ll guzzle every last drop.”
Recommendation Corner
Pluribus

Or is it Plur1bus?  Either way, it’s the latest show from Vince Gilligan of Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul fame.

It has a similar premise to an old Rick and Morty episode where they encounter an old flame of Rick’s on an alien world that’s supplanted the local civilization.  A hive mind named Unity.  And it turns out that jerky individuals can be worse than involuntary conformity.

Pluribus diverges from that episode with a lot more loneliness.  The logline for the show is “The most miserable person in the world must save humanity from happiness.”

That’s sort of it.  But it’s more than that.  An alien signal results in bio engineering of a virus that breaks free and soon gets spread throughout the world through atmospheric contrails.  This converts everyone into parts of a very polite and non-violent hive mind.

Except about 10 ish people.  Including Carol, played by Rhea Seehorn.  And the hive mind of humanity will do ANYTHING to make her happy.  And also stop at nothing to figure out why she and the others did not convert over so they can “fix” her.

It’s a strangely small cast, with one of them having several billion faces.  The John Cena cameo in particular was hilarious with their PR campaign following Carol’s discovery of something just unpleasant.

It’s a thought-provoking show with a thoroughly flawed protagonist.  Highly recommended.

Also.  I gotta wonder.  If humanity became such doormats as a result of this, with the inversion of loving the “other” rather than fearing the “other”, what happens if that’s by design, rather than an unintended side effect of having singular minds outside the connected consciousness?  

What happens if whatever sent the signal to Earth shows up? And then says, “Hello.  Please give us all your resources.  Please and thank you.”

Not sure if that’s where the series is going, but food for thought.

Puppet’s Shadow by Emersyn Park

Full disclosure: I’m friends with Emersyn.  We’ve attended a few book events with our other friends, and we virtually meet as part of a monthly authors’ group.

With my bias duly noted, I still really liked her teenage, mean girl thriller with one of the most evil of evil twins I’ve ever encountered.

Piper’s a pleasant rule follower.  Maddy is a dark-hearted, popular girl.  And they will switch identities for fun and higher stakes.  Maddy calls Piper her Puppet as part of this switching.  

The inciting incident at the beginning of the book leaves you wondering who survived a fatal house fire.  And the extended flashback paints a dark picture.  In particular, an event Maddy orchestrates that is shocking in the best way.  

Something reprehensible.  Something she doesn’t even consider as crossing a line she can’t step back over.

It’s not usually the kind of book I read, but it’s definitely a page-turner.  Give it a read if you want a story like Gone Girl, where you’re not sure which girl is gone.
Check Out the Players of the Game Series on eBook and Paperback
That’s all for this time.

Stay smart.  Stay safe.

Jim

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James McGowan Reader Group- A Season of Plateau Hopping

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Happy New Year!

January, the Monday of Months is upon us.  And the only way out is through.  So stock up on your favorite caffeinated beverage, and jump into the breach with me.

I often use December and January to mentally calibrate a quasi-annual season for myself.  Something without a fail state like a specific goal to make some amount of widgets by a specific date.  And this year, I’m doing something a little different.

I’m refining last season’s theme of intentionality and continuing it with a new flavor.  I’m on a plateau as an author.  I’m doing a decent job on the creativity side of things, but less so with the business/marketing/promotion portion.  So I’m again going to be intentional and see what I can do to hop off the plateau.

I signed up for an author business webinar from Joanna Penn later in January.  I’ll possibly be giving my novel covers a refresh.  I’ll keep an eye on Eleven Labs voice reader and explore releasing audiobooks if the quality gets where I want it.  I’ll also continue to explore in-person events.

And I started on the “face-to-face meeting readers” part already.  Check out these pics of me at BookFest Omaha back on December 13, 2025.
I met and also reconnected with a bunch of interesting authors and other cool book-adjacent folks.  And I enjoyed the world’s best burrito from Cilantro’s food truck.

BookFest was the best in-person 2025 event I attended by a mile. 

But that’s totally last year now.  So, I’ll look to make it to at least 2 or 3 in-person events in 2026.  And I hope BookFest Omaha 2026 will be among them. 

PLUS: I have a middle-sized stack of creative output goals for this season as well.  Yes, this is technically applying a fail state to have output widgets completed by year’s end, but only for a portion of my efforts.  What can I say?  I contain multitudes.

Either way, read all about it in the WIP section.
Players of the Game Works in Progress
I’m up to page 209 on Unseen Scars’ second draft.  That’s 115 pages for the month, contrasted with 94 pages for last month.  I’ll take it!

And as promised above, here are the creative productivity goals for this season, complete with extra-corporatey bullet points:

* I’ll aim to release the Book 4.5: Jagged Pieces bonus novel in the late summer or fall. 
* Finish up the second and third drafts of Book 5.5: Unseen Scars and Book 5.6: Hidden Fronts bonus novels. 
* And complete the outline and start the first draft of Book 6: Back to the Dark.

All realistic based on my past output.  We shall see if I can check all of them off zee multitudinous list.

Players of the Game Out of Context Quote of the Month:

Xax: “It’ll be unfiltered, and you’ll feel a little hinky and rung out. Like you hiked up a mountain huffing on funky fumes.”
Recommendation Corner
Dispatch

I made use of the 2-terabyte SSD upgrade I gave my PlayStation 5 for Christmas by loading it with yet another Christmas present.  An interactive cartoon dramedy taking place in a corporation that contracts superheroes with a steady paycheck.

And rife with so many HR violations.

Robert Robertson is a third-generation superhero named Mecha Man.  Basically, a mix of Iron Man and an anime mech suit.  But the suit gets wrecked beyond repair in a fight with the super villains of the Red Ring in the opening minutes.  And Robert no longer has the resources to fix it.

He soon gets hired by the Superhero Dispatch Network (SDN) in exchange for them helping to restore his suit.  He will serve as the dispatcher for a group of supposedly reformed villains that ultimately refer to themselves as the Z-Team.  The game portion involves a bunch of puzzle games involving prioritization of dispatching the heroes and hacking challenges.  Fun little elements to keep you engaged.

The writing and voice acting are fantastic.  Aaron Paul stands out as Robert, but the rest of the Critical Role crew also do a great job with the other characters.

The romance options are both compelling, but I’m apparently in the minority based on the stats it shows at the end of the game.  Team Blonde Blazer 4EVA for me.  Invisigal was too much of a hot mess in my opinion.

The animation is top-notch with incredibly emotive characters.

It gets demerits for not letting you skip cut scenes and for only having one save slot.

But it’s still one of the best superhero stories I’ve consumed this year in any medium. Even if you aren’t a gamer, watch it on YouTube at least to check out parts of the story.

Great stuff.

Galactic by Curt Pries and Amilcar Pinna

This DSTLRY comic starts off as a blatant Star Wars analogue with a Han Solo-esque bounty-hunter character.  His furry alien buddy, who’s a short dog humanoid instead of a big Wookie.  And a princess who’s even more feisty than Leia.

But it has a lot of originality with a concert of nations-style space opera setting rather than a monolithic Republic or Empire.

And when galactic war breaks out, it starts very close to home for one character.

The writing is snappy, and the art is up my alley.  I predict I’ll be reading this comic for a while.

It pushes many of my geek buttons.
Check Out the Players of the Game Series on eBook and Paperback
That’s all for this time.

Stay smart.  Stay safe.

Jim

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James McGowan Reader Group- Grateful Travels

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Yo yo!

I sometimes recall my utter deflated feeling during the Covid lockdown and social distancing a few years back.  Coupled with the enduring hope that I’d be so thankful when I could get back in the world, see people again, and just enjoy.  

Enjoy everything.

I’ll admit I don’t always clock that in my day-to-day comings and goings.  But I definitely noticed it over the past couple of weeks when I went to the biggest city in South Dakota and days later the biggest city in Illinois.

My wife and I went out to Sioux Falls to crash an author fair at the downtown public library.  I wasn’t able to participate in it due to a late submission on my part. But I was able to see my author friends, Emersyn Park, Chris Poore, and Scott Johnson.  We had a fun dinner the night before with our significant others.  

At the fair, I met Randy Faustino, a comic book writer who had a cool fantasy-horror comic, Kosmotrope, which I’ll discuss more in Recommendation Corner.

But a recommendation you don’t have to wait for is Pizano’s in Chicago.  I went out to the Windy City for a work trip and was on the hunt for some local cuisine.  As my Chicagoan coworkers told me: Deep dish is for tourists.  If you want actual Chicago-style pizza, get the tavern-style thin-crust pizza.  Much more crusty/crackery than New York-style thin crust.  Good stuff!

And goodness abounds in my gratitude to experience all the new places and familiar haunts.  I’m writing this missive the day before Thanksgiving in the US.  And even though you’re reading this in a post-gobble-gobble, full-on holiday time o’ year, take a little time to be thankful for the positive things in your life.  Big and small.

Things like meeting up with friends at an out-of-town destination.  Or seeing a big @$$ building that the locals still call the Sears Tower, complete with a misty diffraction effect with its top lights.

And especially returning to a loving home.
Bookfest Omaha 2025- Saturday 12/13/25
Chris Poore and I will be selling our books at Bookfest Omaha 2025.  It’s free to the public.  Come out and visit us!

WHEN: Saturday, December 13, 2025, 9:00 am-3:00 pm​

WHERE: IBEW Hall, 13306 Stevens St #101, Omaha, NE 68137 (near Millard Avenue and 133rd) Tap on the image above to find out more details on their website.
Players of the Game Works in Progress
One drawback of all my travels was a bit of a dip in my productivity on the second draft of Unseen Scars.

I’m up to page 94, which is definitely not nothing.  It’s much easier to add setting and character descriptions, edit dialogue, and basically clean up all the metaphorical scaffolding with words that are already on the page.

The rewriting part of writing is just mentally smoother.  Though the charge of creating something completely new, as frictional as it can be, always beckons to me.  I’ll be glad to get outlining Book 6: Back to the Dark, hopefully inside of a year.

In 2026, I’m going to explore what’s needed to get a table at a regional comic con, or some other sci-fi fantasy con.  I might also partner up with Junkstock, an Omaha-area craft show.

More as it develops.

Players of the Game Out Of Context Quote of the Month:

“Cienne. Been a few.” Frulgrath kept his body language casual, as he always did in her presence. Casual, but ready for trouble. Usually of the verbal variety, but not always.

“More than a few.” Cienne grinned at him, but it came nowhere near her eyes. “Hatchet Man, eh?”

“Picked up the nickname in Sufrinzon. It stuck.”
Recommendation Corner
Kosmotrope by Randy Faustino and Ashley Mortensen

This comic book from the Sioux Falls-based Bamboo Panel Studios would probably get categorized as an urban fantasy, even though half of it takes place in a forest park.

With a park ranger who is secretly a wearbear.  

He’s called in by his colleagues to investigate the latest in a series of murders that have left the victims mutilated and twisted.

Meanwhile, a psychic doctor who can see ghostly images of his patients’ ailments also encounters other horribly transformed victims.

I anticipate that the ranger and the doctor’s paths will cross in future issues.

Randy told me that Kosmotrope and Bamboo Panel Studios are on Instagram, so check them out there if you’re interested in some fantasy-horroresque comics.

The Witcher Season 4

Is Liam Hemsworth a better Geralt than Henry Cavill?  No.  Is he worse?  Also no.

I’m sure my opinion is not universally held, but I think Hemsworth has done a good job in the unenviable task of taking over the lead role.

This season takes place during the events of the Time of Contempt novel.  Geralt, Siri, and Yennifer (love the character, hate the name) are all separated on their own adventures.

I’ll admit that I find Siri’s storyline with the Rats less engaging with her attempting to lie low as a brigand/bandit.  It’s true to the plot line in the novel, and I wasn’t in love with that either.  Yennifer’s assembly of the surviving magic users is more of a slow burn, but the interpersonal drama keeps her part of the story from dragging.

However, Geralt’s new friends: a sort-of Dryad, a group of Dwarves, a former Nilfgardian enemy knight, and a mysterious herbalist healer are the most engaging part of this season.  And Jaskier/Dandelion is always fun.

Lawrence Fishburne is the standout this season as Regis.  I liked the character in the book as well.  Fishburne does a great job of capturing the character’s disquieting kindness and benevolent but unsettling assistance.

I like all things Witcher.  Books, shows, comics, video games.  And this season scratches the itch.
Check Out the Players of the Game Series on eBook and Paperback
That’s all for this time.

Stay smart.  Stay safe.

Jim

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James McGowan Reader Group- Ends of Eras

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Hey hey!

A few years back I wrote about returning to a couple of social activities following all the lockdown terribleness.  An Ultimate Frisbee pickup group and a bar trivia team.

Things have ended and evolved, respectively.

The Frisbee group is still playing with a bunch of younger and/or more industrious acquaintances, but I decided it wasn’t worth the risk of injury and greater frequency of aches and pains.  All of my good friends have also stopped playing.  Bottom line: We got old.  

I even updated my author bio earlier this year and redacted the mention of playing Ultimate Frisbee.  The season of disc-tossing seasons has passed for me.  

And that’s fine.  

I still exercise with various weights and body-weight repetitions along with a high-intensity workout video on YouTube that I’m reasonably sure I’ve watched/followed greater than 1500 times.  My wife and I also go for walks, though that’s tougher when it gets cold and dark as we get further into fall and winter.

The bar trivia isn’t necessarily tougher, but it also recently changed.  Our taproom venue went out of business due to some decisions involving debt that didn’t work out for them.  It also didn’t help that their beer was so-so at best, which is why I’m respectfully not naming the defunct company.  I seldom partook of their products, though I was in the minority there.

Our trivia league still has a lot of other locations in the city, but it’s not quite the same without our usual table, our friendly bartender who often gave me free lemonade, and our misanthropic, prickly, troll-jokey, but also begrudgingly endearing host.

We might end up at another taproom with the same host, but that remains a hazy prospect.  So for now, Team Beerpaw is slumming it at other bar and grill locations.  It’s all fine, but not the same atmosphere.  And the new venues remain good spots to hang out with friends and chat about all manner of inane and fun topics between the questions.

We shall adapt.  And we shall prevail.

Luckily, none of this has affected my author endeavors.  And I’ll talk about a few such fun items right now.
The Council Bluffs Library Book Fair
Here are some pics of me at the Council Bluffs Library Book Fair from October 19th, 2025. 

One photo of me at my table. And two more of me on a panel with my author friend, Chris Poore, and another author named Tim (I missed his last name, but a real fascinating guy). 

The pictures were courtesy of my wife and our other author friend, Emersyn Park. 

I sold a bunch of books with my in-person 7-books-for-$20 bargain bundle that I sell for marketing purposes.  Including five sets to a couple who wanted to use them with a start-up indie bookstore.  I haven’t heard back from them about it yet, but either way, the books are out there.  

And hello to all the new subscribers who signed up for my author group newsletters at the book fair!  I hope you enjoy.

Getting out and seeing readers is quite fun.  I’ll be doing it again in December.

Read on!
Bookfest Omaha 2025- Saturday 12/13/25
Chris Poore and I will also be selling our books at Bookfest Omaha 2025.  It’s free to the public.  Come out and visit us!

WHEN: Saturday, December 13, 2025, 9:00 am-3:00 pm​
WHERE: IBEW Hall, 13306 Stevens St #101, Omaha, NE 68137 (near Millard Avenue and 133rd)

Tap on the image above to find out more details on their website.
Players of the Game Works in Progress
The ends and beginnings theme for this month’s missive continues for my writing as well.

All of it good.

I finished going through the edits of The Game War and then ran it through ProWritingAid.  So Players of the Game Book 5 is in the hopper along with Book 4.5.  I’ll release the bonus novel sometime in 2026.  And the main novel in 2027.  As long as I can keep far enough ahead on the writing, I hope to release a main novel or bonus novel each year.

A few other items of note this month.

I tried out ElevenLabs.  And I largely liked it, though it has a little ways to go before I’ll devote time to loading my series on audio books.  The version 3 alpha doesn’t yet allow for inserted pauses.  Which you wouldn’t think is a big deal, but totally is.  Paragraphs run together if you can’t craft them with pauses.  

However, version 3 is what I want because it allows you to give more direction to the digital narrators.  I picked out a male and female digital narrator that I’ll plan to use for male and female POV scenes respectively.  I’ll share more on all of that as things develop.

And I’ve just started the second draft of The Game War: Unseen Scars bonus novel.  I use “YY” notes for myself as I’m writing the first draft to track down all the spots that need attention.  And they’re everywhere.  Which is typical.  As I’ve said before, a first draft is always a drooling, sloppy mess.

Now it’s cleanup time.

Players of the Game Out of Context Quote of the Month:

Hekati then clasped his wrist with her mad gaze fixed on Corsis. “All the Burnhelts. Celsis Kri. Tamona of Muné. Everyone they love. I want their heads on jagged lances.”
Recommendation Corner
Peacemaker Season 2

John Cena continues to provide evidence that he’s a national treasure.  I’m not really a wrestling guy, but I’ve liked everything I’ve seen him in.  He can pull off comedy and dramatic pathos with equal poise.

Peacemaker’s latest misadventures lean into a bunch of background tech from last season that now takes the forefront.  Chris Smith and the rest of the 11th Street Kids engage in dimension hopping where things turned out differently for Peacemaker’s family and the world.

And Chris isn’t so sure his world is the one he wants to live in.  Especially after he accidentally kills his alternate self.

Fun fact I didn’t know until recently.  Comedian from Watchmen is an homage to Peacemaker.  Chris Smith was originally a Charlton character from the 60s before DC bought the company in the late 70s.  Alan Moore switched to analogues early in the crafting of the Watchmen story.  Blue Beetle with Nite Owl and Question with Rorschach had always been the higher profile characters to me.  No longer.  I think it’s safe to say that Peacemaker with Comedian has now surpassed them.  

Interesting factoid.  To me at least.

Tim Meadows’s character was also most amusing with his “bird blindness” disability.  His reference to Eagley as a parrot was comic gold.

Violent and over the top.  But also earnest and genuine.  I enjoyed it.

Shroud by Adrian Tchaikovsky

This sci-fi yarn focuses on two women of a far-future, space-faring civilization’s “special projects team.”  Both are highly motivated to not be put back on ice in cryogenic storage and prove their continued worth.

This all goes horribly wrong when an accident forces them to crash-land a rover pod on Shroud, an Earth-sized moon of a gas giant.  Its incredibly thick atmosphere possesses the pressure of Venus and the global temperature of Antarctica.

They have to figure out a way off the moon and endure lethal misunderstandings of the shell-covered, slow-moving alien life that has no visual senses.  But all have an acute sense of sound and radio waves.

These aliens are kind of similar to Rocky from Project Hail Mary, except they’re more ant-like with a collective intelligence that fades the farther they get from their communities.

I’m about halfway through and I’ll be interested to discover if and how the humans and the aliens ever figure out a way to communicate.

Captivating stuff. 
Check Out the Players of the Game Series on eBook and Paperback
That’s all for this time.

Stay smart.  Stay safe.

Jim

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James McGowan Reader Group- Next!

  By

Yello!

There’s a sketch on Tenacious D’s first album called “One Note Song” where Jack Black impresses himself by coming up with a song with one note plus a “little bendy thing” with the guitar string.  And in self-deluded grandeur proclaims that he’s ready to move on.

“Next song!  Next song!  NEXT!”

Well, that’s where I’m at now.  The Breakers is out in the world.  I went to the Get Lit Conference a few weeks back and sold some bundles to folks.  Including Jeff Koterba, a local “Omaha-famous” cartoonist and DJ for an Omaha classical radio station.  He bought my books for his grandson, because he’s also into “Brando Sando” (Brandon Sanderson), which aligns very much with my audience.  Jeff’s presentation was by far the best part of the conference.

Here’s a pic of me at my Git Lit table with my books, including The Breakers, and my “on Jim McGowan brand” wild shirt with tropical AT-ATs.
Pretty rad, in my humble opinion.

But now, with hopefully less self-delusion, it’s time to move to the next thing. Next thing!

NEXT!

I’ll be going to the Local Author Fair in a few weeks at Council Bluffs. I’ll go into the details in its own section below.

I think I’ll also do a Bookfest event in Omaha in December too.

And there’s all the writing projects, also in their own section.

Plenty o’ fun for the near future.  And because we must obey the rule of threes, the following all-caps proclamation is inevitable:

NEXT!
Council Bluffs Public Library Local Author Fair
I’ll be at the Council Bluffs Public Library Local Author Fair on Sunday, October 19, 2025 from 2pm-4pm.

If you’re in the Omaha area, come and say hi.

Tap the link above for more info on the Council Bluffs Public Library’s website.
Players of the Game Works in Progress
I went through the edits to The Game War and agreed with most of them.  I plan to keep using this new editor, Lori with First Editing.  She’s quite good.

I’ll be doing another pass with ProWritingAid and maybe try out their AI Beta Reader to see if it has any valid feedback.

Following that, I’ve made the judgment call.  I’m going to try out ElevenLabs for digital narration.  If I like it, I’ll release Repenter through whatever outlets that allow it, and depending on how it goes, the other books too.  Sadly, Audible only allows their own inferior digital narration product, so it won’t be available there for now.

For those who aren’t fans of AI digital narration, or AI in general.  I totally get it.  Much of it was built on scraped training data.  

I just ask for your grace as I try this out.  

These products are not going away.  I can’t afford $5-10k for a professional human narrator.  If I don’t have my novels in audiobook format, I am missing half or more of the market.  My books have almost certainly been scraped as well.  And I’m frankly fine with it.

I’m leaning in to being human and dipping my toes in to being an AI artisan author, to steal Joanna Penn’s term.  I don’t use AI for the actual writing, because that’s not fulfilling to me, and AI-generated text will not replicate my authorial voice even if I did use it.  But my literal voice is not up to the task of reading hours upon hours of my stories.  I’m prone to laryngitis, and I’m not looking to strain my vocal chords with a whole lot of talking.

So I’m starting this ElevenLabs experiment.  We’ll see where it goes.

I also tried out Google’s Notebook LM again and reloaded the POTG novels as text files instead of PDFs, and that worked much better.  It’s now at an 85-90% accuracy rate, which is fine for what I need it for.

I actually used it for this newsletter.  I couldn’t remember if Thebes first called Frulgrath as Hatchet Man in Repenter or The Brigands.  Yes, I could have done a find-search in both books, but it was handy to just use Notebook LM to track down the info.

The faux podcast thing is still kinda spotty with its accuracy and more of a gimmick, but asking the text portion to tell me about characters and story events yields decent results.  I shall add this to my writer’s tool belt.

I’ll get back to Unseen Scars and start on its second draft after I do the audiobook thing.

ABC: Always be creating.

Players of the Game Out of Context Quote of the Month:

Vurg to Vick: “Yes, I fortified our defenses. But they failed. That’s the hard lesson of the Weird War’s aftermath, lad. Sometimes, to protect, you must attack.”
Recommendation Corner
Blood Squad Seven by Joe Casey and Paul Fry

This is a very “inside baseball, except it’s comics” recommendation.  So I realize this might not be for everyone.

This series is based on analogue characters from a team of superhero celebrities who were big in the 90s.  And now some of the original characters are back to try it again with other younger characters who are either their kids or some other legacy aspect.  

In real life, the team from the 90s was called Youngblood originally published by Image, but lots of legal madness over the ensuing decades has made that basically impossible to publish it with the original characters and that name.  So we have a retconned team called Blood Squad Seven with analogues.  Kind of similar to what Watchmen did with the old Charlton characters.

The hook of the series is that it’s both a modern look at how superheroes would absolutely be celebrities in the modern era.  And they have a legacy to older characters from the 90s, not unlike how some of the JLA (Justice League of America) members in the 60s were legacy characters to the original versions in the JSA (Justice Society of America) from the 40s.

I like the tense dialogue, and I like the art style as well.  Very esoteric and not for everyone, but I dig it.

One Battle After Another

And it’s another recommendation on which I’m guessing others’ opinions might diverge.

It’s a Paul Thomas Anderson movie set over a 16-year span of time with a Weather Underground-esque group that’s doing revolutionary/terrorist attacks and liberation missions of immigrant detention centers.

Not diving into the culture war aspect of this stuff, but honestly, that’s more of the background to the movie.

Without spoiling too much.  It’s more about a family that’s dealing with the fallout of a lot of violently unwise or lustfully unwise decisions that were made in the past, and come back to haunt them when a certain child reaches her 16th year.

Leonardo DiCaprio does a great job of conveying a former revolutionary who flames out and is doing a so-so job of raising his daughter.  A daughter who Sean Penn’s relentless, unhinged, and also pathetic army colonel will stop at nothing to capture.  It also has a lot of cool long-take action shots amid riots and desolate car chases.  The score was noticeably well done too.

I run hot and cold on PTA movies.  I despised Magnolia.  But I enjoyed Punch Drunk Love and There Will Be Blood.  This is a movie that’s still sticking with me after I saw it.  So it must have done something right.  For me at least.

Give it a try if you’re feeling like something challenging and unique.

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James McGowan Reader Group- Get The Breakers Today!

  By ,

Hey, Hey!

It’s that time.

The Breakers: Players of the Game Book 4 is available on ebook and paperback.

The stakes have risen. Ashe Stelfire and Avril Enzali have come out of the events of Repenter (Book 1) and The Brigands (Book 2) in one piece. But the cost of their struggles lingers on their spirits. The loss of those who died still weighs on them.

But they navigate that emotional damage as best they can. They are at last in Trojis. Ready to liberate Avril’s goddess, Celsis Kri, from an extra-dimensional prison of unbreakable ice. Their hard experiences also taught them something else.

They will need help.

Which is fortunate, because others also have business in the ice dungeon. Emerging from the events of The New Players (Book 3), Ed Burnhelt and his friends have only just fended off the threat of Corsis’s mind-warped, body-twisted horrors in the frontier city of Findenton.

Celsis Kri is not the only one trapped in the ice dungeon. The Titan hero from another age. The Skin Bot spy. The Taurus Man mercenary. The secretive Keeper Captain. And the corpse of another goddess who might one day rise again. All of them yearn for freedom.

And Ed’s cohort must liberate them.

Lending help goes both ways.

And it will start where it recently ended. In Findenton. Where the flashpoint of war reignites.

Find out more in The Breakers.

Get The Breakers Today!
Advanced Praise for The Breakers
“An electrifying blend of high fantasy and futuristic warfare… Ambitious, gritty, and emotionally charged.” The Prairies Book Review

 “Wielding sharp, varied battle scenes, political plots that fit together with intent, and characters whose choices resist simple labels of right and wrong, James McGowan has created a layered war where every alliance comes with a cost and every victory changes the game board.” IndependentBookReview.com
I’ll be at the Get Lit Conference September 12th and 13th
I’ll have a table at the Get Lit Conference with copies of all my Players of the Game books.  Including The Breakers.

If you’re in the Omaha area, check out the Get Lit Conference site below and buy yourself a ticket for September 12th and 13th.

Swing by my table and say hi.  I’ll have some fun stuff to give away too.
Get Lit Conference
Starting with The Breakers or Need a Refresher? I Have You Covered.
Want to know the score fast? Select Quick Recap, and Corsis will detail all his jerky skullduggery in just a few minutes.

Want to know the nitty gritty? Select Detailed Recaps to jump in with both feet and learn all the big events and character moments of the Players of the Game saga.
Recaps Tab on Stelfire.com
Want a Closer Look at the World Maps? I Can Hook That Up Too.
I’ve just added the map of Subterranean Jeea to the Stelfire.com.

Check it out, along with maps of Jeea and Sufrinzon on stelfire.com/atlas. 

All can be viewed in magnified detail. Mobile users can tap on the map image and select “Download image” to zoom in on a map.
Maps on Stelfire.com
Players of the Game Works in Progress
So, on top of all The Breakers excitement, I finished the first draft of The Game War’s combined bonus novels of Unseen Scars and Secret Fronts.  

Huzzah and exultations!

The book that became two books’ first draft final numbers came in at 499 pages with 144,400 words.

Next, I’ll be going over the editor’s draft of The Game War.  I’ll either jump into the second drafts of Unseen Scars and Secret Fronts from there.  Or I might kick the tires on directing an AI-narrated audiobook version of Repenter.  That subject is very squishy on multiple fronts, so we’ll see where that goes.

And since this month has both the launch of The Breakers and the completion of the double bonus books, I’m going to supply a reading order of the POTG series existing books and upcoming books, rather than a WIP out-of-context quote.
Players of the Game Saga Reading Order
Book 1: Repenter

Book 1.5: Repenter: The Hidden Chapters

Book 2: The Brigands

Book 2.5: The Brigands: The Favor

Book 3: The New Players

Book 3.5: The New Players: Origins

Book 4: The Breakers

Book 4.5: The Breakers: Jagged Pieces – Coming Soon

Book 5: The Game War – Coming Later

Book 5.5: The Game War: Unseen Scars – Coming Later

Book 5.7: The Game War: Secret Fronts – Coming Later

Book 6: Back to the Dark – Coming Later

I plan on writing ten main novels and ten to twelve bonus books.  So I’m about 40% there with the published books, and about 55% there with the various WIP drafts.

I have a high-level outline for Back to the Dark, but that one is still baking in my mind.  It will undoubtedly take years to complete.  And then there’s the rest of the series, on which I have even rougher outlines and thoughts.  It will emerge from the ether in time.

I’m in it for the long haul, folks.

Marathons, not sprints.
Recommendation Corner
Triangle Strategy

A tactics video game.  Recommended by me.  Shocking, I know.

This one is a slow-burn gem with very strong Final Fantasy Tactics vibes.  Which makes sense, as Square Enix is the publisher.

It is not perfect.  I nearly stopped playing it with the literal first hour of world-building cut scenes.  But I gave it another chance, and the gameplay and characters ultimately engaged me.  The geopolitics of salt are interesting in a pre-industrial world where the compound is rare.  And the voice acting for the characters is pretty decent as well, especially for Benedict, the pragmatic and cold-blooded strategist and advisor to Serenoa, the young lord main character.

The characters are locked into their jobs, so you can’t customize that aspect of them.  But you can focus on what powers and abilities they use, and also customize your deployment of units for any given battle.

I don’t often replay games, but I did so with this one because there’s a lot of diverging story paths that lead to entirely different battles and character interactions.

Either skip the cut scenes at the beginning or just grab some popcorn.  It’s a stellar tactics game for gamers like me who love the niche.

Lucky Devils by Charles Soule and Ryan Browne

The guys who made the Curse Words and Eight Billion Genies comic book series are back with another absurdist comedy with dark undertones.

A nurse and a schoolteacher are stuck in terrible careers and life situations.  They keep doing the ethical thing, and get nowhere for it.

They have a pair of unseen devils on their shoulders, Collar and Rake, who both decide to reveal themselves to the hapless humans.

Silly good intentions paving ensues.

And the two devils think the whole hell underworld where they live when they’re off shift needs to be upended too.  They have ambitions.  And they’ll likely run afoul of many worse denizens as the series progresses.

It’s on hold for right now because the artist, Ryan Browne, recently suffered a minor stroke, so he’s focusing on recovery.

I wish him the best.  And hope they’re able to finish the story at some point.

It’s fun and compelling.
Check Out the Players of the Game Series on eBook and Paperback
That’s all for this time.

Stay smart.  Stay safe.

Jim

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James McGowan Reader Group- Countdown to The Breakers

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Hey, all!

LOTS of news this month, so I’m going to jump right in with the style of a 90s-era Marvel Bullpen Bulletin that they’d use as in-house newsletters.

I loved seeing the all-caps ITEM subheadings in the middle of a random Spider-Man or New Warriors comic, so I shall shamelessly copy that format now.
ITEM: The Breakers is Available for Pre Order on Kindle Now!
That’s right!

The Breakers is releasing on Thursday, September 4, 2025.  And if you’re so inclined, you can pre-order it on Kindle now with the button below.

Do you prefer paperbacks or another ebook service besides Amazon?

Fear not!

The Breakers will be available for paperback purchase on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Bookshop.org.  And other ebook versions will be available on Apple, BN, Kobo, and many others.  They will go live on the actual 9/4/2025 date.

But if you are a Kindle reader, go right ahead and use the button below to get in line.
Pre-Order The Breakers on Kindle!
ITEM: The Breakers Paperback Proof
Here’s a proof copy of The Breakers.  It clocks in at 586 pages.  

It.  Is.  Epic.

You should totally grab a copy of your own in a month. All the Players of the Game goodness!  None of the “Not for Resale” stripes.
ITEM: Advanced Praise of The Breakers
“An electrifying blend of high fantasy and futuristic warfare…”

-The Prairies Book Review

I hope to have more editorial reviews to share with you in the coming months.

In the meantime, check out the full review with the button below:
The Praries Book Review – The Breakers
ITEM: I’ve Embraced Goodreads
In the past, I had a paltry presence on Goodreads, as I found its user interface too annoying.

I’ve changed my stance.  Its UI is… fine.  

And more importantly, it’s one of the best places to learn what actual readers think about their favorite books.

I’ve also linked my blog from Stelfire.com to it, so it already has a robust selection of entries.  Many of which will be familiar to long-time reader group members.

So, if Goodreads is your bag, please follow me on that platform with the link below.
Follow Me on Goodreads
ITEM: Check out the Stelfire.com Recaps Tab
New to the Players of the Game Saga or need a refresh before you jump into The Breakers?  I’ve got you covered!

Check out the Recaps tab on Stelfire.com with the link below or the tab above.

Want to know the score fast?  Select Quick Recap, and Corsis will detail all his jerky skullduggery in just a few minutes.

Want to know the nitty gritty?  Select Detailed Recaps to jump in with both feet and learn all the big events and character moments of the Players of the Game saga.
Recaps
ITEM: I’m All Out of Items
Well, that’s not true at all, as the rest of the post below will confirm.

But we shall now return to the typical topics I cover in these reader group emails.  

Translation: I gots ta share my usual artwork, WIP status reports, and geeky things I like. Starting with an image of Ashe Stelfire above that many of you have seen, but I wanted to share anew.
Players of the Game Works in Progress
I can’t remember if I’ve mentioned this earlier.  But The Breakers is available on September 4th, 2025.  I could have sworn I had talked about that topic somewhere.

Kidding aside, I’m excited to get it out in the world.  But I shan’t be resting on my laurels.

I’m creeping toward the end of the first drafts for Book 5.5: Unseen Scars and Book 5.7: Secret Fronts.  The initial combined draft sits at 137,600 words with 482 pages.  That’s 14,000 words with 46 pages this time around.  It didn’t feel like I did better this month, but that’s double last month’s so-so output, so I take the W.

Once I’m done with the combined draft, I’ll take a look at The Game War’s edits from my editor, and run it through ProWritingAid again.  Then on to slicing and dicing books 5.5 and 5.7.

And maybe make use of Eleven Labs to see how AI narration sounds.  I’ve been kicking around using that where I’d direct the performance of a virtual voice.  Sadly, I cannot afford a voice actor for an audio book.  So it’s either AI-narrated audio or no audio.  I’m still determining what I want to do there.

A quandary for a later time.

Players of the Game Out of Context Quote of the Month

Corsis and Frulgrath:

Corsis considered Frulgrath, maybe with an eyebrow raised from behind his mask, maybe not. Finally, he said, “Self-delusion sneaks up on the best of us.”

Frulgrath stood away from the wall, still unsure if Corsis leveraged only intuition or something more invasive. He supposed it didn’t matter either way. “Hrh. You gotta be you. And I gotta be me.”
Recommendation Corner
Superman (2025)

I adored this movie.  

Superman is so easy to get wrong.  But this felt like picking up a random issue and jumping in with both feet.  Some folks won’t like the “toss into the deep end” approach to reintroducing him.

I am not among them.

It’s the best comic book movie I’ve seen in years.  

The pacing is fantastic. There was no part of this movie that felt slow. Luckily I had an empty bladder, as there were no slow-pace expository/transitional scenes where it felt like a good time to step out.  I’ve seen it twice, and I remained impressed by its story structure.

Mr. Terrific, Lex, Lois, and of course, Krypto, were the other standouts. I teared up at the father-son scene between Clark and Pa Kent. 

Its take on the original John Williams score was very hummable, which is job one of any movie score in my reckoning.

A very positive and earnest movie.  Highest possible recommendation.

Fantastic Four: First Steps

The best cinematic adaptation of Fantastic Four.  Not as good as Superman.  But the more I pondered the movie, the more I liked it.

I was initially on the fence with whether I’d be on board (pun partially intended) with the Silver Surfer swap from Norrin Radd to Shalla Bal.  But the angle they took with it worked for me.  This interpretation of the Surfer made her and Johnny Storm sort of love interests.  They sort of flirted with tentative curiosity about each other.  It turned tragic as Johnny figured out a cipher for her language while Reed, Sue, and Ben were busy with figuring out a way to beat Galactus.

Speaking of which, I love how they leveraged Reed’s brains and Sue and Ben’s hearts as part of their drive to not sacrifice Franklin to Galactus’s designs.  Dare I say it?  I thought it worked better than the comics’ Ultimate Nullifier macguffin in the original story.

Sue’s drive to keep Franklin safe was very relatable.  Vanessa Kirby really excelled in showing her strength when she confronted a crowd of haters.  The Invisible Woman is rightly up there with Storm and Wonder Woman as an exemplar of a female super hero.

And Pedro Pascal did a good portrayal of Reed Richards, but (nerd quibble alert) he wasn’t stretchy enough. All the others’ powers were spot on.

Some people had an issue with Ben Grimm not having a gravelly voice. But I liked his soft-spoken, understated, pensive demeanor. I also like that they dialed into his Jewish background.

Herbie and the Fantasticar were also spot on with the retro-future aesthetic.

And this score is up there with Superman and the Avengers.  Especially the verbal part.  I’ve been singing “FANTASTIC FOUR!!!!” to my wife for days. It’s a fun earworm and I get to tease her. A true double threat.

Also recommended.  Like I said earlier, Superman is better.  But FF: FS is totally worth seeing in the theater too.
Check Out the Players of the Game Series on eBook and Paperback
That’s all for this time.

Stay smart.  Stay safe.

Jim

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James McGowan Reader Group- The Backlog Dilemma

  By

Yo, yo!

I do believe most readers have a backlog. A stack of reading material that you intend to get to at some point. But if you’re like me, you end up stacking more on top of it. Not just books, but a manner of reading material like magazines. Or if you’re even more like me, comic books.

Months upon months of them.

I need to move them to the frontlog. Reduce the piles. Retake sanity. Okay, maybe not that last part. But catch up on things.

Honestly, part of why I’m writing about this is to force a little accountability for myself. I waste a decent chunk of time looking at YouTube videos about educational topics and tactics role-playing video games. None of it awful, but also none of it fantastic either. I know I’ll feel better about the stuff I put in my mind if I’m more deliberate about it.

And the stuff I put in other folks’ minds.

I’m also making the publication of Breakers part of my frontlog. Sometime in the first two weeks of August, likely on a Thursday. I don’t quite have a specific release date narrowed down, but it’s getting closer.

Fun stuff to add to your own aspirational reading pile.
Players of the Game Works in Progress
I had a few life curve balls and bouts of slogging through mental molasses this month. So my productivity is lower than I would have liked. I reached page 436 of Secret Fronts with 123,600 words. That’s 28 pages with 7600 words for this round. Better than last month, but I’ll strive to do more as the summer weeks tick away.

Also, as mentioned last time, I’ll be splitting this bonus novel in two. Book 5.5, which focuses on the fallout of the events of Book 5, will be called Unseen Scars. And Book 5.7, which focuses on other realms affected by the Game, will be called Secret Fronts.

I’m liking where the story is going, despite the manuscript mitosis. Plus there’s the above referenced August release of The Breakers, so that’s exciting too.

I shall keep walking the path.

Players of the Game Out of Context Quote of the Month:

“Brunch.” Ed shook his head. “This is what maturity feels like.”

Fernallus turned his attention away from his friend. “Simply horrifying, isn’t it?”
Recommendation Corner
The Devils by Joe Abercrombie

I always enjoy the dark humor of Abercrombie’s grim-dark worlds. And this dark setting is brand new.

A lost princess who grew up as a scumbag con artist finds herself in the middle of a succession crisis as events conspire to murder her horribly as the politics of nations and the church also conspire to put her on the throne of a Constantinople analogue.

And she can’t stop being a conniving, opportunistic coward.

Luckily, or more accurately unluckily, she’s protected by a suicide squad team called the Chapel of the Holy Expediency, led by a very weary knight, a rogue with far too much experience, a weathered vampire, an arrogant necromancer, a low-key elf. And a filth-minded werewolf who can’t tell friend from foe in her wolf form. Only that she has to eat the “good meat.”

I’m only part way through it so far, but I’m enjoying it a bunch. Steven Pacey’s performance is top-notch with his wry delivery.

Good stuff.

Murderbot on Apple TV

If you’ve been reading my newsletters for any length of time, you’ll know that I love the Martha Wells’s Murderbot Diaries novella and novel series.

The Apple series does a fantastic job of bringing the violent and absurd world to life. The banal evil of the various intergalactic corporations. The inane researchers who are way too touchy feely in their interactions with each other. All of it seen through the eyes of an android who would much rather sit by itself and watch its TV shows. Especially the ludicrous Sanctuary Moon.

Alexander Skarsgard does a great job of portraying the introverted Sec Unit with the secret name of Murderbot in all the android’s awkward glory. And the writing is very similar to the novels’ not-quite-comedy action as the humans ignore Murderbot’s advice and it has to continuously save them.

I think I still like the books a little more. But this is still an A-tier adaptation.

Check it out.
Check Out the Players of the Game Series on eBook and Paperback
That’s all for this time.

Stay smart.  Stay safe.

Jim

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James McGowan Reader Group- Cover Girl… and Guy

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Howdy, all!

Halfway through the year, and after many updates with the incremental crafting of various works in progress, I am ready to share the Breakers’ cover.

Take a look at it above!
Players of the Game Works in Progress
As predicted last time, various personal matters, which have thankfully turned out well, ate into my productivity. I’m up to page 408 with 116,000 words on Secret Fronts. So that means I only wrote 16 pages with 4800 words. I don’t feel bad about this at all. The past month has driven home that there are more important things in life than productivity goals. I’ll ramp back up next time around.

And I’ve come to a realization with this bonus novel WIP. It’s actually two bonus novels.

One focusing on the fallout from the events of Game War, and one showing a previously unseen long siege with other characters who will meet Ashe, Avril, Ed, Harry, and the rest in the sixth main book in the series. I had outlined a briefer exploration of the long siege, but the story of Gathiner and especially Nadia’s struggles against Corsis’s cruelty took on a lot of life as I wrote it, and demanded more story real estate.

So much so that the aftermath story and the long siege story each need a separate book, rather than a single bonus novel.

Right now, I’m guessing I’ll be designating them with Book 5.5 and Book 5.7. I still need to figure out a new title for the split bonus novel, but Secret Fronts will probably be the name of the latter one.

Onwards!

Players of the Game Out of Context Quote of the Month:

Ashe and Crystala:

Crystala bent forward with one hand on her knee and the other raised with her forefinger extended upward. Pitch blackness danced at the edges of her vision. “Give me… give me a ten count.”

Ashe Stelfire crouched to meet her gaze. “Nuul Light is roiling around your eyes. You need more than a ten count.”

She huffed out a laugh. “You might be on to something there.”
Recommendation Corner
Dark Deity II on Steam

You thought you could escape mentions of tactics video games in my monthly missives, but you can’t. Grid-based game reviews are as inevitable as the passing of the seasons.

Dark Deity II has more of the same Shining Force/Fire Emblem-esque game play. Fun weapons, skill, and character class customizations. Too many characters, so you end up ignoring half of them. Though that’s better than ignoring 2/3 of them from the first game.

The voice acting is good. And the writing is mostly okay, though it gets a little wordy and melodramatic when they’re confronting the bad guy boss characters.

The tactical progression through the battle maps is the big selling point of the game. And it does that part quite well. So I’m happy with it.

The Lords of Uncreation by Adrian Tchaikovsky

The Final Architecture trilogy ups the stakes throughout this third installment. 

Idris discovers lots more about the nature of the universe. Specifically, the unspeakable thing in unspace that drives sentient minds insane and suicidal. And the masters pulling the strings of both it and the moon-sized, crystalline Architects. But he’s so mentally broken and twitchy that he has a hard time convincing the others of this bigger picture.

I don’t generally like whiny main characters, but Idris was compelling. And Solace, Kris, Havaer, and Olli were thankfully more assertive in each of their own ways.

But first the characters need to deal with Magda super thugs and their unexpected allies. And a weird empire that’s hung around the periphery that gets VERY pissed off with all the human factionalism and other more esoteric concerns, though their chosen means of multiple layers of interpreters gets in the way of communicating that.

One minor quibble. I wish more time had been spent with Idris and Solace’s quasi romance. It was mentioned in passing throughout the series, but never shown very much aside from a few interactions where they leaned on each other for strength. I didn’t really get a sense of actual intimacy between them.

But that’s not enough to hinder my enjoyment. I loved this book. And the whole series. Read it with your ears or eyes!
Check Out the Players of the Game Series on eBook and Paperback
That’s all for this time.

Stay smart.  Stay safe.

Jim

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