So what's John been doing with his time?
Posted: Sun Oct 30, 2016 8:00 pm
No, not building a shrine to Jobu in hopes that it will help the Cleveland Indians win the World Series ...
Not dressing up as one of The Nice Guys for Halloween ...
Not even basking in Mr. Russell Crowe's approval of said costumes ...
(squee!)
No, what I've actually been doing is this:
Four years after stepping down as PEBA Commissioner and three years after beginning to write, The Ashen is Beta Gold. That means it's finally in a form that (hopefully) won't cause eyes to bleed when it's read. I owe a debt of thanks to each and every PEBA GM—current and past—for inspiring me to spend a portion of every day for 1,100 days honing my craft. The result is a 127,000-word, 462-page fantasy tale that I'm very proud of. It may not be about baseball, but its roots are very much in this league. I'm eternally grateful to you all for that.
An ending is often just another beginning. That's certainly the case here, as I'm now transitioning from revision to the final review process. And that provides one more opportunity for anyone interested to help me out.
I'm seeking a small number of beta readers for The Ashen. Beta reading is pretty straightforward. You receive an advance reading copy (ARC) of the book. You read it through (or at least as far through as you can stomach). Finally, you let me know your thoughts. Yes, it's that easy. You don't have to provide line-by-line notes or dig into nitty-gritty grammar checks (though if that's your cup of tea, by all means, go for it!). We're keeping this simple. I'd only ask three small things:
The Ashen tells the tale of young Nico Guerrero, one of the pale-skinned Ashens who toil as servants and field hands for the privileged citizens of the Mocama Empire. And few Mocamas are more privileged than Chiqua Talaca, the imperious industrialist whom Nico and his family serve.
Chiqua cares little for his Ashen laborers, but his daughter Amita has taken a shine to Nico. He fancies her, too—a dangerous state of affairs in a world where the punishment for an Ashen caught courting a Mocama is a short, sharp drop from the gallows.
Betrayed by Amita's jealous suitor, Nico is banished to the savage west to labor for a year at Isabali silver mine before facing his hanging. Once at Isabali, he finds himself embroiled in a brewing insurrection spearheaded by the Hope Trail, a secretive organization of Ashen sympathizers and runaways bent on freeing the Empire from the tyranny of slavery.
One boy would seem an unlikely aid to the cause, but Nico is no ordinary Ashen. Though forbidden by law to bear arms, he secretly learned the art of archery from his former master—none other than Anocolo Akena, famous frontiersman and greatest archer the Empire has known.
Now, armed with only a purloined bow and a rapier wit, Nico must make his way back to the civil east, back where sundered love languishes and debts await collecting.
What to do if you want to read?
Send me a PM with your email address and I'll mail you a pdf ARC. Read it at your own pace, make whatever notes you'd like regarding strengths/weaknesses, and send them back over to me. Then receive my most heartfelt thanks for helping me take the next step on this long journey.
And if you don't want to read? Simply post your shock and horror at my ridiculous Halloween costume right here in this thread.
Not dressing up as one of The Nice Guys for Halloween ...
Not even basking in Mr. Russell Crowe's approval of said costumes ...
(squee!)No, what I've actually been doing is this:
Four years after stepping down as PEBA Commissioner and three years after beginning to write, The Ashen is Beta Gold. That means it's finally in a form that (hopefully) won't cause eyes to bleed when it's read. I owe a debt of thanks to each and every PEBA GM—current and past—for inspiring me to spend a portion of every day for 1,100 days honing my craft. The result is a 127,000-word, 462-page fantasy tale that I'm very proud of. It may not be about baseball, but its roots are very much in this league. I'm eternally grateful to you all for that.
An ending is often just another beginning. That's certainly the case here, as I'm now transitioning from revision to the final review process. And that provides one more opportunity for anyone interested to help me out.
I'm seeking a small number of beta readers for The Ashen. Beta reading is pretty straightforward. You receive an advance reading copy (ARC) of the book. You read it through (or at least as far through as you can stomach). Finally, you let me know your thoughts. Yes, it's that easy. You don't have to provide line-by-line notes or dig into nitty-gritty grammar checks (though if that's your cup of tea, by all means, go for it!). We're keeping this simple. I'd only ask three small things:
- Don't offer to beta read unless you really intend to read the book through.
- If you sign up and later decide it's not your cup of tea, let me know you've decided not to continue.
- Please don't share your ARC with anyone else.
The Ashen tells the tale of young Nico Guerrero, one of the pale-skinned Ashens who toil as servants and field hands for the privileged citizens of the Mocama Empire. And few Mocamas are more privileged than Chiqua Talaca, the imperious industrialist whom Nico and his family serve.
Chiqua cares little for his Ashen laborers, but his daughter Amita has taken a shine to Nico. He fancies her, too—a dangerous state of affairs in a world where the punishment for an Ashen caught courting a Mocama is a short, sharp drop from the gallows.
Betrayed by Amita's jealous suitor, Nico is banished to the savage west to labor for a year at Isabali silver mine before facing his hanging. Once at Isabali, he finds himself embroiled in a brewing insurrection spearheaded by the Hope Trail, a secretive organization of Ashen sympathizers and runaways bent on freeing the Empire from the tyranny of slavery.
One boy would seem an unlikely aid to the cause, but Nico is no ordinary Ashen. Though forbidden by law to bear arms, he secretly learned the art of archery from his former master—none other than Anocolo Akena, famous frontiersman and greatest archer the Empire has known.
Now, armed with only a purloined bow and a rapier wit, Nico must make his way back to the civil east, back where sundered love languishes and debts await collecting.
What to do if you want to read?
Send me a PM with your email address and I'll mail you a pdf ARC. Read it at your own pace, make whatever notes you'd like regarding strengths/weaknesses, and send them back over to me. Then receive my most heartfelt thanks for helping me take the next step on this long journey.
And if you don't want to read? Simply post your shock and horror at my ridiculous Halloween costume right here in this thread.
Has it really been 4 years? While I don't feel qualified to critique anyone's writing I will definitely be obtaining a finished copy. 
