Matthew J. Barbeler

Why Kindle Unlimited is a Game Changer for Book Lovers

As an avid reader, it can be difficult to keep up with the latest titles and find new books to enjoy. With so many books available, it can be overwhelming to decide what to read next, and the cost of buying books can add up quickly.

This is where Kindle Unlimited comes in – it’s a game changer for book lovers, offering access to a massive library of books for a low monthly fee. It’s one that I personally use, and I very rarely deactivate my subscription.

Bleeding Edge launch

Whew, what a couple of weeks it’s been.

Bleeding Edge was released on the 21^st of October – just under a month ago – and it’s done much better than I ever hoped it would. I knew the book was good and the cover art by Eric Summers was killer, but to see it have such an amazing reception has been lovely.

Bleeding Edge audio preview

Hello friends! I put together a little live reading of the first chapter of Bleeding Edge for anyone interested 😉

Editing on a budget

This post is for all the new authors who are still trying to figure out how the heck they’re ever going to afford professional editing with no money behind them at the start of their career.

I’ve broken up the rest of this post into my top tips.

The Dice Gods demand blood

I’m plotting out my next book at the moment, really fleshing things out. I have always known the overarching shape of the story and where we were going to end up, but all the bits in between are hazy. I like discovering them as I go.

I reached a juncture today where things are getting dicey.

A character is going to die, but I never really knew which one.

I had a hierarchy of which ones I’d be okay with dying, and which one I really DID NOT want to die. So I left it up to my d20 to decide.

I gave the character that I want to live between 1 and 7. If the die chose them, that would not be great.

The second character, I assigned 8 – 13. This character, I don’t really want to die, but could work around their death.

The third character, I assigned 14 – 20. This one I could totally live without and would be fine with them dying.

Once the values were set, I picked up the D20, shook it, then cast it.

It landed on a Nat 1.

You just wouldn’t fuckin’ believe it, would you?

I bargained with the Dice Gods. Oh, let’s do best two out of three, okay? Yeah, we can get another outcome that way, right???

Second roll, a 4.

Sigh. Okay, so that’s how it’s going to be?

Third roll, a 7.

Defeated sigh.

Okay, Dice Gods.

Message received loud and clear.

This was originally posted over on my Patreon, which is the best way to support me and my writing.

Blowin’ a Thylogale

Where: Thylogale Walking Track
Hiked: 29^th June 2021

One of my favourite things about living in South East Queensland is that there are so many great hiking spots within a few hours of home.

Earlier this week, Abbie and I decided to check out a track on Mount Nebo called the Thylogale Walking Track. I’d spotted the hike on a friend’s Instagram page and thought it looked like a nice place to get a decent walk in.

I was right.

May 2021 Update

Hello dear friends.

I figured it was timely to give you all a bit of an update on how everything’s going. I haven’t really made an update like this since February, and just wanted to keep you all in the loop.

Kindle Unlimited versus Publishing Wide – the LitRPG perspective

One thing new authors often wonder about is whether or not enrolling in Kindle Unlimited is the right choice for their books.

So I’m going to give you a little rundown on this from the LitRPG perspective, because this genre of ours tends to be a little different than others.

Crunchy or creamy? How do you like it?

And no, I’m not talking about peanut butter.

I’m talking about LitRPG.

2021

Well thank fuck we survived 2020, hey?

Honestly, sometimes you have to celebrate the little things.

I wanted to let you all know what I’m up to in 2021, and give you a bit of an update on how things are going.

If you haven’t been able to tell from the whole *waves hands at last year* thing, it wasn’t a good year for me. I put out one book, and while it was the best one I’ve done yet, it didn’t perform anywhere near as well as I’d hoped, so my confidence, motivation and direction was just kind of *waves hands around again in a generally vague fashion*.

I’m going into 2021 with a mission, and that mission’s name is EDGE Force.