The Pixelvania Publishing Proclamation o’ Progress, September 2024 Edition

The Pixelvania Publishing Proclamation o’ Progress is a semiannual post detailing what’s going on around here, and what might show up in the future.

Cute kitty photo at the end.

Recap

CROOKED NECK’S EARLY-RELEASE KICKSTARTER

Earlier this year, I ran a successful early-release Kickstarter for The Guests of Crooked Neck, the reasonably-sized sequel to science-fantasy epic Steel City, Veiled Kingdom (SCVK). What was REALLY exciting this go-round is that I was able to offer paperbacks to backers, which seemed pretty popular!

Here’s some quick facts:

  • Crooked Neck funded in under a week!
  • By the end, it raised 127% of its goal, thanks to 25 wonderful backers.
  • 22 ebook copies of Crooked Neck were emailed to backers (and some reward tiers got SCVK, too, for a nice discount).
  • 7 paperback copies of Crooked Neck were shipped to backers!

If you missed the Kickstarter, good news! The Guests of Crooked Neck will be released to everybody in early November. Jump on my newsletter to get notified!

FINAL FRIDAY 5 FAVORITES POSTS

Earlier this year, I began posting my latest entertainment/household/food/whatever recommendations on the final Friday of each month. They’ve been pretty fun to do, so I think I’ll keep that up! Here’s what I’ve recommended so far.

Currently in Production

FASHION FRENCHIES BOOK 2

I finished writing and typing up the manuscript for family-friendly fantasy comedy Fashion Frenchies 2: Salute a Pooch! a few weeks ago. Also, SURPRISE! I renamed it. Now, instead of Salute a Pooch! it’s called The Pooch Salute!, which sounds punchier to my ear.

I’m currently hunting for a dog-loving Friendly Reader to check for typos so it can continue to the next stage of production.

(If you want to know when it’ll be released, sign up for my newsletter.)

FASHION FRENCHIES BOOK COVERS AND INTERIORS

In the meantime, I’m also working on revamping the cover for the ENTIRE Fashion Frenchies series. While I’m at it, I’ll also be turning the first book, one of the first I ever published, into a paperback. Anyway, here are some initial drawings:

 

Ink sketch of an elderly Asian woman. She wears like, a pirate coat and all kinds of bangly jewelry. She has huge glasses like Iris Apfel.

Vivian Feng

 

Pencil sketch of a toony French bulldog.

Marty the French Bulldog

I have three books in mind for this series, and I really hope a fourth will present itself because it feels like this series should be a quartet. Possibly a Christmas story?

Speaking of Christmas…how do you feel about some sci-fi Christmas?

GIFTS OF THE GORGON

I’m in the middle of writing (what I hope will be) a short story set in the Worlds of Everlush universe, taking place soon after The Guests of Crooked Neck. In my head it’s a Christmas story, but, being set on a sci-fi world, it’s obviously NOT Christmas, but it’s a gift-giving holiday so niener. I’ve had the idea in my head for some time, and it’s turning out to be funnier than I expected, which I like!

Future Plans, Plotting, and Scheming

Once the FASHION FRENCHIES work is off my plate, I think I’ll start another project or two concurrently with GIFTS. Here are the top contenders:

  • A Capramancer Christmas sequel (“Christmas with the Capramancer”? “The Capramancer Christmas Caper”? Anyway, I’m JAZZED about this idea LIKE WHOA. Lot of fun stuff could be had!)
  • Fashion Frenchies 3: The Bald and the Beautiful. (It will be a comedic Halloween story where the Fengs foster a hairless or near-hairless cat. I’ve had the base idea for AGES. Kind of a horror-comedy, heavy HEAVY on the comedy!!, less horror, more spoopy.)
  • For serious, actually step on the Nosferatu Novel train and ride it to the end. (This is intimidating because part one, unfinished–PART ONE!! UNFINISHED!!–is over 86,000 words. Part Two has 12,000 words completed and Part Three just under a thousand words. So I think it’s gonna be BEEG. It’s also been years since I’ve looked at it. Very intimidating but I gotta do it! And painting the covers will be a bear, too, I think.)
  • To be honest, another project that’s been weighing on me is getting The Purrfect Christmas out into paperback. It could be out in paperback quite quickly, but I’ve been putting it off because I think it should have illustrations. Except I haven’t found the energy to make the illustrations. Help me out here–would you rather have it out in paperback this year sans illustrations, or wait for a full revamp (including a nice shiny new cover)?
  • I still have 2 cat horror stories rolling around in my head
  • And ancient novel, the Gardeners of Palomar, is still lurking…

That ends my news, plotting, and scheming!

The Aforepromised Kitties

Here is your reward of a CAT PHOTO

Inside a room, a grey and white cat lurks on top of a tropical-patterned lawn chair. Below him in a cardboard bowl-bed, an orange and white cat lounges.

Intern Barnaby Jones lurking above his boss, Pixel J. Cat, lounging in a cardboard bowl-bed-box. They are surrounded by kitty treasures and toys.

Until next release, I wish you good health and happy reading! – Danielle

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A stellar sci-fi book turns 4 today (Plus: a thrilling announcement!)

Wow! Today is the 4th birthday of my epic sci-fi novel Steel City, Veiled Kingdom! (Better known round these parts by its nickname, SCVK.) Hoo, BOY that went fast. Seems like I just released it yesterday!

This is one of my most popular books. If you like your sci-fi novels heavy on the wonder with a little horror stirred in and peppered with humor, you might like it, too! Click the cover to find out more.

Cover for STEEL CITY, VEILED KINGDOM: THE COMPLETE EDITION - A man in a labcoat holding a rabbit on a strange device, with a monster in the background.

Find out more about SCVK

But what’s even MORE exciting is that this book’s little brother is on the way! That’s right, SCVK’s sequel is launching soon! It’s a stormy sci-fi drama called The Guests of Crooked Neck. It’ll be releasing first to Kickstarter in 2024. Check out the cover!

Cover for THE GUESTS OF CROOKED NECK

The Guests Of Crooked Neck is a moving science fantasy about grief, pride, and being seen. This standalone novel set in the Worlds of Everlush universe takes place soon after the events of Steel City, Veiled Kingdom–but you can read it as a standalone novel just fine.

As a story, Crooked Neck is the inverse of SCVK: where SCVK was an epic adventure spanning a few in-story years, exploring all corners of the galaxy through the eyes of a single character, Crooked Neck is an intimate drama switching between three main characters that stays put in one small town for a single weekend. But both books contain colorful characters and engrossing worlds.

If that sounds like it’s up your alley, I hope you’ll click the button below and join me on the journey of launching the second Worlds of Everlush novel!

Click here to be notified when The Guests of Crooked Neck launches!

Celebrating another out-of-this-world book birthday!

Happy third book birthday to science-fantasy epic Steel City, Veiled Kingdom!

Normally when I release books, I don’t care much about the date of release. But I finished SCVK early enough that I could plan a specific date. So I made sure the book shared its birthday with the lead character, Jerimin. So happy birthday to him, too!

You’ll see Jer again soon when I Kickstart SCVK’s sequel, THE GUESTS OF CROOKED NECK later this year. Stick around…! Or in the meantime, prepare by grabbing the first book!

Cover for STEEL CITY, VEILED KINGDOM: THE COMPLETE EDITION - A man in a labcoat holding a rabbit on a strange device, with a monster in the background.Science fiction lovers, find out more

The Pixelvania Publishing Proclamation of Progress, August 2021 Edition

The Pixelvania Publishing Proclamation o’ Progress is a semiannual post detailing what’s going on around here, and what might show up in the future. It also includes reviews of shows, books, games, products, etc. you may also like. It’s only posted twice a year so as not to clog up your valuable, beautiful brain space.

Cute kitty photo at the end.

Recap

Here’s what’s been published since the last post:

Coming Soon

Read More …

Intriguing science fantasy STEEL CITY, VEILED KINGDOM just released in paperback!

Woohoo! It’s been over a year since the ebook releases, but the paperback volumes of Steel City, Veiled Kingdom are finally available for your reading pleasure! Click the banner below to grab your copies.

STEEL CITY, VEILED KINGDOM is now out in paperback! Click here to get your copy on Amazon.

Buttloads of thanks go to Colleen over at Ampersand Book Interiors, who made the pages look absolutely stunning! I couldn’t be happier with these paperbacks!

The Pixelvania Proclamation of Progress, February 2021 Edition

The Pixelvania Proclamation o’ Progress is a semiannual post detailing what’s going on around here, and what might show up in the future. It also includes reviews of shows, books, games, products, etc. you may also like. It’s only posted twice a year so as not to clog up your valuable, beautiful brain space.

Cute kitty photo at the end.

Recap/Cover Makeover

Here’s what’s been published since the last post:

Nothing! Whoa! But I do have one thing to show off: thanks to artist Christian Bunyan, THE BUREAUCRAT’s got a new cover that ups the creep factor by ten! Here’s the before and after, in case you missed it:

Read More …

Happy Birthday, Queen!

Today’s the Queen’s birthday (costar of my science fantasy STEEL CITY, VEILED KINGDOM), so I thought I’d post some of my drawings of her to celebrate.

She’s been around a LOOOONG while so I have a lot of art of her. Here’s two newer sketches of her, a detailed charcoal portrait I did of her back in The Day, and an equally ancient 8-bit? 16-bit? pixel sprite (not animated).

Of course, this is just the way *I* imagine her…your mileage may vary, and that’s A-OK by me!

(Click images to embiggen.)

 

The Pixelvania Proclamation o’ Progress, August 2020

The Pixelvania Proclamation o’ Progress is a semiannual post detailing what’s going on around here, and what might show up in the future. It also includes reviews of shows, books, games, products, etc. you may also like. It’s only posted twice a year so as not to clog up your valuable, beautiful brain space.

Cute kitty photo at the end.

Recap

Here’s what’s been published since the last post:

Cover for HELLO, WIZARD. Eerie glowing text pops off a wrinkled piece of paper against a stone background. Cover for THE CAPRAMANCER NEXT DOOR: A laughing woman wields a glowing shepherd's crook while a goat leaps through a portal overhead Cover for MIDWINTER MAGIC: A stylized glowing reindeer leaps against the blue Northern LightsCover for THE GIRLFRIEND WHO WASN'T FROM DELAWARE - A giant hand made of blue static reaches down to pluck an apartment out of a building like a Jenga block

It was fun working on Midwinter Magic and Girlfriend back-to-back, because those stories are POLAR OPPOSITES in terms of tone, one being a mythic fairy tale and the other a gruff guy’s modern horror nightmare.

I also added most my books to Book Cave’s content ratings site, in case you’re trying to decide if a book’s content (violence, swears, etc.) is appropriate for yourself or a youngster.

Currently in Production

I was already an author working from home when the pandemic struck. Routine is priceless in a work-from-home life, and I was fortunate that I’d been building one since the past year. So on the one hand, my day-to-day life didn’t change much. Writing and writing-related projects got done.

On the other hand, I’ve definitely been absorbing the extra stress around me…and the malaise weighing down the air was something I’ve also had to do battle with (as I’m sure you did/are doing!). So…sometimes not a lot of writing got done. But some did happen!

Steel City, Veiled Kingdom (SCVK) – Print Books

Still in production! They’ve been revised twice now (basically spellchecks) and are set for another round of look-overs. They’re gonna be beautiful.

The Purrfect Christmas – Illustrated Paperback

Just getting spun up on this project; right now I’m planning the illustrations. Doing a chapter book with spot illustrations isn’t something I’ve done before, but I think the resulting product will be a really fun Christmas book for families to read together.

Chrystine’s Sleep Solution

This midlength horror story is still making the rounds at the magazines. Let’s hope it finds a nice home out there!

Nosferatu Novel (previously The Horror of Hriana)

A Worlds of Everlush novel/novel sequence. This SCVK spinoff is currently on hiatus for reasons you’ll see below. I’m thinking it’ll get split into three books with awesome titles, which I’m very excited about…If that’s the case, The Horror of Hriana will probably be dropped as a series title, so that it’s a little more obvious the stories are about a vampire. Lately I’ve been itching to get back to this one.

Post-SCVK novel (working title: The Bad Host)

A Worlds of Everlush story (already at short novel length), a low-key sequel to Steel City, Veiled Kingdom. Just felt like it was time to start it.

Writing it, I feel like this:

Cat using a cat-sized computer with the caption "I have no idea what I'm doing."

Another short horror story with a cat

Currently titleless. Wrote it as a quick break from The Bad Host; need to type it and start sending it to magazines.

Future Plans (AKA Plotting and Scheming)

Love Potion Commotion! (Magic Fashion Frenchies #1) – paperback formatting AND cover refresh

This will complete my backlist titles that need to be in paperback. But I wanna do it right, so I’m not gonna start it until Purrfect is in paperback. I also have to rethink the cover so it not only fits this novel, but the second book in the series, AKA…

Salute a Pooch! (Magic Fashion Frenchies #2)

I’ve got a few chapters written, but it’s been on hiatus for some time now. I think getting Love Potion Commotion! off my plate will revitalize this one.

Crazy Rich Dragons stories

Still wanna write these!

The Gardeners of Palomar

This was actually the first novel I started writing after finishing SCVK back in 2016. I dropped it because someone said I really ought to do a sequel to SCVK (that impulse turned into Nosferatu Novel)…Anyway, I’m starting to miss it, it was a real weird one, hee!

Finish Ancient Unfinished Shorts

…including a post-apocalyptic banjo fantasy, a cybernetic take on Sleeping Beauty, and I can’t even remember what else.

A thriller novel starring Ternerr from SCVK (previously The [Something Something] Conspiracy )

This will be a Worlds of Everlush novel, spun off from SCVK. Wanna clear the deck summore (and finish my course on writing thrillers) before I take a crack at this nut!

Start a Pixelvania merch shop

Thinking it’d be fun to put some of my book covers on shirts. And maybe some cat jokes! Could be fun!

Recommended Reads, Watches, Plays, and Products

Book cover: The Twisted OnesThe Twisted Ones by T. Kingfisher

Kingfisher (AKA writer-artist-comic superstar Ursula Vernon) writes in a lot of different genres, but this book is her first horror novel—folk horror, if you force me to get specific. A woman discovers a dark secret cleaning out her deceased hoarder grandmother’s house out in the sticks. You’ll love the main character’s down-to-earth voice and there’s some deliciously creepy stuff in the middle (the HILL man, the HILL!!). I was considerably less enamored of the ending, but the first parts are so strong, I still want people to read it.

3.5/5 Pixel Snackies

TV Series Image: Samurai CatSamurai Cat

This is a live-action TV show from Japan about a samurai learning life lessons from an adorable white kitty that he was originally supposed to assassinate. 5/5 Pixel Snackies.

Oh, you need more info before you watch? Well, it’s formatted weird on Amazon (with big gaps of dead air in the first season, as though the commercials had been cut out, but the time for those commercials left in), they’re missing the movies that go in-between each season, and none of the show’s translators can seem to agree if the kitty is a girl or a boy (my vote is girl).

Despite these goofs, Samurai Cat is ENTIRELY worth watching, 110%. It’s heartwarming, it’s hilarious, it’s family-friendly, and it proves there’s nothing unmanly about being a cat guy. (If you’ve ever searched for cat-themed gifts for a man, you understand my pain.)

I saw it on Amazon Prime Video. If you’re having trouble finding out extra info about it online, search for Neko Zamurai. 5/5 Pixel Snackies.

Video Cover image: Duke Bluebeard's CastleDuke Bluebeard’s Castle (1988)

One of the YouTube comments for this reads: “…if Hitchcock had written an opera.” So naturally I had to click. I LOVED IT. It’s suspenseful, only an hour long, and, if you’re so inclined, very fun to yell comments at (“She discovered his model train room!”). And this Bluebeard smolders.

Béla Bartók’s music is mostly eerie…but in some parts it shimmers like the best parts of Strauss’ Der Rosenkavalier. Wonderful. I saw it here on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p9Aq2WWds8k

When you realize it is awesome you can buy it here: https://www.amazon.com/Bartok-Bluebeards-Castle-Robert-Lloyd/dp/B002NY7YVY/

5/5 Pixel Snackies.

Game Image: Toki Tori 2+Toki Tori 2+ (PC and other consoles)

This little-known gem deserves to be right up there with legendary environmental puzzle games Braid and Portal. You start the game with two moves: a stomp and a whistle. With these two moves, you can reach anywhere on the map, as soon as the game starts! The catch: to do this, you have to first know how those two moves interact with the other little critters in your environment…

No tutorials. It’s Inductive Reasoning: the game. I discovered it from this GMTK video. Definitely worth the buy—I spent 32 hours total runnin’ my little chicken around, and it was grade-A jumbo puzzle platforming at its best. Check out the little explanation of the map first, that’s helpful.

5/5 Pixel Snackies.

Game Image: A Short HikeA Short Hike (PC)

A friend gifted me this. It is SO relaxing, so charming, and so much fun to move around in. I wish I could climb and glide like this in real life. Alack!! I can only do it in this game—but I’m grateful I can.

This game will take your blues away.

5/5 Relaxing Pixel Snackies

Product Image: T-Gel ShampooNeutrogena T/Gel Shampoo

Come winter, my scalp always goes flaky—dry air + indoor heating = the itchies. Last year, I told my hairstylist and she recommended this shampoo. “You don’t use it every time. In fact, it’ll probably live under your sink,” she told me.

Now, because this is life, there’s an upside and a downside to nearly everything. The upside of this shampoo is that IT WORKS. I used it once every 2-3 weeks during the cold months and my flakes disappeared. Wonderful.

The downside of this shampoo is that it leaves your head smelling like the smoker’s lounge of a museum basement from the 1970s.

Is it pure, unfiltered tobacco gel I’m rubbing into my scalp these days? I’m not sure. Is smelling like an ashtray worth a flakeless ‘do? I think it is.

4/5 Pixel Snackies.

Our mascot, Pixel J. Cat

Our mascot, Pixel J. Cat, lounging in a camping chair

We moved “our” camping chairs to our patio earlier in the year.

Now they’re not our camping chairs anymore.

The Pixelvania Proclamation o’ Progress, February 2020

The State of the Pixelvania Pixelvania Proclamation o’ Progress is a semiannual post detailing what’s going on around here, and what might show up in the future. It’s only posted twice a year so as not to clog up your valuable, beautiful brain space.

The Recap

Since the last post, I’m happy to announce the publishing of:

(As you know, that last one’s been a long, long time coming!)

Additionally, I upgraded Pixelvania Publishing’s site theme and tinkered with the organization some. Hopefully, it’s easier to find any story to match the mood you’re in. If there’s an organizational category you’d like to see added, please drop me a line.

Currently in Production

Steel City, Veiled Kingdom (SCVK) – Print Books

Funny story—up ‘til December 2019, both me and my lovely print formatter, Colleen, thought we’d be publishing this behemoth as a one-volume paperback. One book. But after she received the final manuscript, she realized this CHONK of a novel was too big for Amazon’s Print-on-Demand to handle. She notified me of the hiccup and advised me to do the paperback in five separate chunks, to go with the five different sections of the story.

I agreed.

I spent all of December scrambling to get 6 ebooks—each of which needed slightly different cover designs to differentiate between parts—out by January 11th.

But none of the ebook OR print work could go forward until I created five new book descriptions, one for each of the now-separate parts. Keep in mind the original book description (currently in use for the Complete Edition) took me over a year to develop. Read More …