August 2019 Update

I’ve been historically pretty bad at updating my blog, but I’m going to make a concerted effort to at least do monthly updates.

Crematoria Online

Earlier in the month I released a standalone story set in the Crematoria Online universe – Thirty to Fifty Feral Hogs. It was a bit of an experiment for me. I wanted to see if I could write and edit a story, design a cover, and publish it in two days, and I did it. I’m happy with the result. It got a glowing review from the LitRPG Podcast, which gave me a warm fuzzy feeling like a feral hog waiting to burst out of my skin.

The sequel to Rise of the Crimson Order is almost done. I’ve written almost 120k words in two months, and I think that’s a testament to how much I love this story. It’s just poured out of me. The scope is bigger, the new characters are just wonderful, the monsters are crazier, and I just can’t wait to share it with you.

This is the fastest I’ve ever written a book. It’s the first time I’ve ever felt like I kind of know what I’m doing, and it’s really blowing my mind to think that this is the ninth book I’ve written.

Even writing those words blows my mind.

A note on the title of the Rise sequel; It’s gone through a couple of permutations. Initially it was Rage of the Lightless Depths, which I liked but didn’t love. Then, it was Wrath of the Sanguine Scourge, which I was hoping to keep up my sleeve for when a specific event takes place… Then, it was Legacy of the Blood Queen, which I also liked but didn’t love. Now, it’s Legacy of the Bloodreaver, which I love, and that’s the final title.

If you’d like to be a beta reader for Legacy of the Bloodreaver and think you could get through a 500-page novel in a month, please get in contact with me.

Other Fiction

Crematoria Online is my focus at the moment, but I’m also planning on what comes next for 2020. I don’t have much to announce right now, but low-key? There’s a new trilogy just begging to be written, and it’s going to be big.

Rise of the Crimson Order paperback fuck-up

Sometimes you have to lean into your fuck-ups.

My pal JoAnn messaged me early one morning this month and said “Hey Matt so I came across something a bit weird in your book… first page of chapter 26 seems like it’s actually from chapter 26 of Metropolis 7” with an accompanying screenshot.

Cue the absolute terror of having fucked up so bad.

I went and checked my own version of Rise of the Crimson Order and yep, sure enough, almost half a page of the wrong book was there.

What happened was that I’d used the Fallen Metropolis Omnibus paperback file to prepare the Rise of the Crimson Order paperback file. Paste & Match Style is a lifesaver when it comes to making sure you have consistent internal formatting.

But if you’re a dickhead like me you might forget to delete a section of another book that you should have deleted…

It’s been fixed now, and every paperback version of Crimson Order from here on won’t have a random snippet of Fallen Metropolis at the beginning of the chapter twenty-six.

Seven copies were printed and shipped by Amazon containing the print error. If you’re one of these people and you want a replacement copy, please let me know. I’ll send you an unfucked copy at my expense.

Real Life

I’ve got lots of stuff going on in real life at the moment. In a couple of months I’m going to have a newborn son arriving on the scene. So I’m trying to stock up on writing and sleeping time now. When he comes, it’s going to be all about him, and I can’t wait.

I’ve been miserable pretty miserable over the last couple of months. (Toxic workplaces are draining in the worst kind of way). I’ve put on weight when I should be losing it. I’ve been in a pretty dark place mentally, but I’ve been converting all that negative emotional energy into creative energy and using it to get the next book finished.

Everyone is afraid of the black dog. I know I was for years, but as I’ve gotten to know him, I’ve realised that he’s not so bad. The black dog wants you to run, and it’s up to you to choose whether you run away from your goals or towards them.

The Future

As I’m sure some of you have noticed, I launched nervousmonkeys.com earlier this year and you might be wondering just what the fuck that’s all about. TL;DR, there are heaps of plans, but not much I’m ready to talk about just yet.

One exception…

It’s my intention to start narrating audiobooks in the very near future, and Nervous Monkeys will be the vessel for that. I’ve got my fingers crossed that ACX will be opening its doors to Australians in 2020. If not, there are other avenues, and I’ll have more news on this front later.

Aside from that, my lips are sealed until things are more solid.

If you’ve got any questions, hit me up on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram or Goodreads, and I’ll answer those questions here in next month’s update!

Cheers,
Matthew