by edward | Oct 31, 2018 | Patreon, Talents Universe
Patreon Content – Gabriel of the Internet is a new story in the Talents universe
Patreon Content – Gabriel of the Internet
The Archangel Gabriel has long been the patron of communication. I wish I could remember the name of this artist–she’s a fascinating woman I met through the Order of St. Michael. Her “future icons” speak to me. I wrote a story featuring Gabriel in this form.
Jacking in with the Talents
Lots of authors write about “jacking in”. So, they carry connecting with the Internet from a visual/touch experience to a neural one. The Talented connect online normally. Some, though, can get in without a headset or datajack.
The Story
“Thought you had given this up,” the woman said, looking across the table at her friend.
“I had,” the man replied, as he powered up his computer.
They sat at a coffee shop in New Orleans’ Mid City neighborhood. It was just after seven o’clock in the morning, and they were the only customers sitting inside.
“Just keep an eye out for me while I do this,” he requested.
“Gotcha, Nate. I remember the drill,” she said.
Nathaniel Haller was a high school math teacher who left the classroom years ago to do computer consulting. He did well in the early days of personal computing, and now, at 52, he was still on top of the tech that made the corporate world run. He smiled at Whitney Cordova, a friend and occasional partner when a consulting engagement required more than a solo effort. The forty-something blonde smiled back. She looked around the room as Nate’s fingers danced on the keyboard, connecting him first to an anonymous relay network, then to a corporate Virtual Private Network in a distant city.
More on Patreon
Gabriel of the Internet is a stand-alone story at the moment. So, Nate continues in the Talents universe, don’t worry. In the meantime, Dragon’s Defiance, the third book in the Blood-Bound series, debuts in November.
by edward | Oct 20, 2018 | NOSFF, Science Fiction, Uncategorized, Writing
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by edward | Oct 8, 2018 | Personal Log
Giving new thought to Patreon. I set up a Patreon page to see if I could monetize the writing a while back. It never took off. When I saw that Rude Pundit uses it, I thought it might be time to re-visit the concept. He regularly promotes “Patreon-only” blog posts and such on Twitter.
Thing about Patreon, what discouraged me about the platform was when I saw women on Instagram pointing people to Patreon as a way for men to pay for porn. Now, if that’s the approach they want to take for making a buck, OK. My concern when I saw this was that nobody would take what I’m doing seriously if I ask for money from a platform that channels money to porn.
So, I let some dust gather on my Patreon page. I’m not at the blogging level of Rude Pundit, so I doubt I could write stuff for Yatpundit that would attract people, even at a dollar a month. Perhaps a mix of things, though. For the history blog, possibly some “cornerstone” posts. Yoast SEO suggests cornerstone material be 900+ words. So, a thousand-word-a-month post would be worth a buck.
Then maybe add a short story as we go along. If you figure, I’m selling the novels for $12-$15 apiece. A 4K-5K story for a buck. Twelve chapters in, say, a dragons novel. That’s 60K words for $12.
Expand that notion with short stories from some of the other projects. The total mix of writing could appeal to folks. If I get stuck on something, like a chapter of dragons, I can turn to, say, a St. Patrick’s story that will find its way into that book. Or the dystopia idea. Or dragons stories outside of the Blood-Bound series, like Dame Jessica, or 1895. Or maybe experiment with some romance stories..
Muffuletta Fest today was OK. It was enough of an experience to rate a food blog. I was going to do a post on dinner, then didn’t take pics. Well, grilled chicken isn’t unique. One of the lists I need to make is for “test kitchen” to try new things.
More “Enterprise” will hopefully stimulate ideas!
by edward | Oct 7, 2018 | Personal Log
Some folks head to the garden when they want to get away from the world. Others work on their car, or maybe bake a pie (hi, Buzz!). Me, I write, or I re-do a website. That’s the thing for today. I’m working regularly on Pontchartrain Railroad, but I’ve been wanting to mess with WordPress Network. At a Self-Publishing workshop Chris at Jefferson Parish Library did last month, there was a presentation on Pressbooks, a cloud-based authoring system. I saw that Pressbooks was available as a WordPress plugin, but it needed multi-site. So, I backed off the single-install version of ebranley dot com and configured multi-site from scratch. I can also play with a few modules like community and forum stuff.
I’ve never messed with “projects” in WordPress. Since this is a more-or-less clean start, I’m going to give it a go. I’m a total project management/time management junkie. I got hooked on the Franklin-Covey process back in the late 1980s, when a client let me join their employees on a Franklin training. The whole ABC/123 system and Covey’s systems for doing what’s important rather than what’s next stuck with me. So, ever since, I look for good time management systems.
Looking at this Muffaletta Fest happening tomorrow. Might be something good to get out of the house a bit and #people. I’m not a big fan of street festivals, though. The food rarely meets expectations. Still, sometimes you just have to get out. For me, that means getting out further than the patio at PJs. I can return to the web stuff later.
Pizza (calzone for me) and wine at Mid-City Pizza, on Banks Street tonight. The fans on their patio blow the bugs away and the temperature wasn’t so bad. I didn’t know they use Terranova’s hot sausage, so that was a treat.
by edward | Oct 6, 2018 | Uncategorized
I’ve decided to use ebranley dot com as a base for WordPress Network (multi-site). I’ll be adding the stuff from the legacy site as we go along. Stay tuned.
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