Strike Dog: Proof of Print

My printed copies have arrived.

Available to buy here:

Amazon US

Amazon UK

Amazon CA

Amazon AU

Amazon DE

Amazon FR

Strike Dog Hard Cover

The layout for the hardcover dustjacket.

As I said before, InDesign is one of those indispensable programs that is a bit of a bear to get to grips with. If I were a cover designer, then daily use would make things go a lot smoother. As it was, just getting my subscription re-enabled was a run-around to find the right link on Adobe's site.

It should be easier to renew than they make it. There again I suspect they don't get many people like me who only subscribe for the minimum period of a month and go without until the next time I need to make a cover.

After all that palaver, then it was down to figuring out all the correct metadata, to make sure that if you find Strike Dog you'll also find Bad Dog. Then converting the image from JPEG to PDF for Ingram Sparks. It all took a lot of time, time I didn't spend writing new words.

Good news is that the covers for Strike Dog were finished, files uploaded to Ingram Spark, and therefore the print versions should now be available.

Summary

Writing output has been reduced, in part because I had a steroid injection into my right wrist, which after the anesthetic wore off felt like someone had driven a nail through my hand. Still, I've managed to write 3,061 over the last two weeks.

Covers from Models

I make models, I just do. It's my thing.

I've also been known on occasion to play games with them. Above is the model reference picture I sent to the artist who drew my cover for Bad Dog. I have made up several models of my CASE-2X Dogs, each of them a representation of one of the characters combat armour suits in the story.

As I made the models, I found ways to make each a little more interesting through slight variants in the pose or choice of weapons. The Dog here is the second attempt of capturing Sergeant Tachikoma's ride in Bad Dog.

And this is the picture I sent my artist for the cover of Strike Dog.

Because Tachikoma is now a Lieutenant she gets to ride in a CASE-2XC command variant. As you can see, I added antennae to the back of the Dog, and changed the head of the suit too. I added the shoulder mounted missile pack to match the description in the book.

Things got changed for the cover, but I'd rather have a dynamic cover to sell the book than a precise representation of the model.

Below is one of the pictures I've sent to my artist as reference for making the cover of Ghost Dog. On the left is Master Sergeant Ferretti's Air Force security Buster CAS-C4P. It's a glorified mobile command-and-control center for running combat androids.

On the right is Captain Tachikoma's upgraded CASE-2XC-Mod-2, special forces command variant. Making this has given me ideas for CASE-2X-Mod-2 models I could make.

I can't wait to see what the cover will look like.

Summary

Last week was taken up with things other than writing stories. For example, I spent two days writing an article for the Galactic Journey blog. They always take time, because of the research I have to do, and finding suitable pictures.

I then drew up a brief for the Ghost Dog cover, and started talking my artist about what I wanted. Which is what inspired this blog.

Despite all that, I manage to produce 1,275 words in the spaces between doing all the other stuff. I didn't keep a precise record of the time, but about two hours typing, so an average of 633 words per hour. Mostly done in fifteen minute segments.

NB: For those of you who my be interested in my model making you can see more here.

Strike Dog – Available to Pre-Order

Strike Dog is available for pre-order.

Amazon US

Amazon UK

Amazon CA

Amazon AU

Amazon DE

Amazon FR

Writing Log 2018-01-05

Another awesome sketch by Elartwyne Estole for Strike Dog

At the end of week one I've managed to write 727 words.

This was down to me not being able to protect my writing time. I'm trying to be mindful of the WIBBOW: Would I Be Better Off Writing?

My attempt at getting Bad Dog into print was also a complete and utter shambles. To say, I made every newbie mistake I could, is to say that this was a rich learning outcome. Printed On Demand may look easy, but there's an awful lot that can go wrong.

The good news is that everything is now sorted or in the process of being sorted, and I won't be making those mistakes again.

I hope.

I've also spent a big chunk of my week reviewing the copy edits for Strike Dog, and commissioning the art for the cover. So it's all coming together.

As part of my schedule self discipline I logged my time last week. Over the four days I worked 44 hours, which is not a complaint, it's just the time it took me to do all the tasks I set myself; and when I say do all the tasks, I mean do some of them–others still remain to be done.

Mostly I enjoyed myself.

Mostly.

There were a lost of frustrating things that were a result of me not knowing what I was doing. And, I didn't sleep all that well, due to anxiety over what I had to do and, had I done it right? Still, Strike Dog cover commission done, and as you can see, it's going to be another awesome cover. So, I'm now laying out the text in Vellum and everything is good, so far.

But, I need to write more new words.

New stories don't write themselves, and I have some great stories I want to tell.

Projects in Progress

Strike Dog – Being readied for publication
Ghost Dog – Third book of the Gate Walker Trilogy, out later this year
The Bureau – Lovecraftian Urban Fantasy novel
New short story, sequel to Terror Tree, set in the World of Drei universe
Two Moons – A sidequel story about Mr Anderson from Bad Dog
Dead Dogs – First in a new trilogy