Big Announcement!

I am once again following the esteemable Gavin Williams' lead and have taken a new home over at DigitalNovelists.com.

Starting Monday (today), all new updates for both AEOL and Superstition (as well as archives) can be found at http://allantmichaels.digitalnovelists.com.

I hope to see you there!

Back on track

Chapter 38 of AEOL and Chapter 18 of Superstition are both up.

That puts me back on schedule. Next AEOL on Monday night.

See you then!

Check in tomorrow

I was scheduled to help a friend move this weekend. I thought that meant tomorrow. She meant today. So I spent all day doing that and just got home. I'm tired and sore, and that is not conducive to writing. Two or three chapters tomorrow.

AEOL Chapter 37

Is FINALLY posted.

I'm going to have to call the last week a wash. I will post a chapter of Superstition tomorrow, then Friday, I'll be back on schedule.

Thanks for your understanding and patience.

Lack of computer access

Sorry for the lack of updates. My computer died on Thursday night. Windows XP decided to go kaput, so I haven't been able to get online until now. The shop should have it fixed by tonight, so hopefully, an update will be in the offing.

ATM

Delays

I apologize for the delays. There's been some drama in my personal life, and it's impacting the writing. For that I'm sorry. Chapter 17 of Superstition is up. AEOL should be up tomorrow.

I may have to write off the missing chapters.

Again, I'm sorry.

Six Months

Six months ago today, Sunday, February 3, I published the first chapter of Superstition. Six months and 46 chapters later, I've completed the first story and am well into the second.

I've also posted 36 chapters of my second work, An Empire of Law. It's been a long six months, with some missed updates (which I still owe), but overall a wonderful experience. I'd like to think my writing has improved in that time.

I've gone from 2 updates a week to 5, and the inspiration has never been lacking when I sit down to write. Missed updates have always been the result of other issues infringing on my time, never a lack of a story to tell (which I've probably just jinxed by writing). My readership has grown and I've made some wonderful friends in the web writing community. I've been interviewed and I've gathered readers.

I wasn't sure, when I first started out, that I had what it took to do this. But six months on, I'm still going strong. It's nice to know I have the ability to tell the stories I've got in my head, and that you enjoy reading them enough to keep coming back week after week.

I've got other stories I'd like to write, but for now, keeping up with two ongoing projects is enough. When the second book of Superstition is done, I may take a break to try something else before returning to the world of Dashiell and Regina. Or I may not. We'll cross that bridge when we come to it.

Just know I've enjoyed the last six months and I hope you have too. While I may not enjoy the readership that some of my fellows in the community do, I enjoy all the comments you leave. Seeing an e-mail letting me know someone has left their thoughts on my work is the highlight of my day and one of the best parts of this job.

So thank you again for the last six months. Here's to an equally great next six.

ATM

10,000 hits

Right now, Google Adsense tells me I've had 9,976 hits on my pages. If traffic runs as per usual, I expect to hit 10,000 page views later today, certainly by tomorrow.

When I started this project 6 months ago, it seemed like I'd never get that many. I started writing with one reader - me. And I'm sure a good chuck on those hits are probably me updating the blog. But right now, Project Wonderful shows a fairly consistent 20-25 unique visitors a day. Which is honestly more than I'd ever expected, and the number seems to grow regularly.

So for those who drop by daily, thank you. I really appreciate it!

ATM

UPDATE:

It's before midnight, Eastern and we've crossed the 10,000 mark!

Web Fiction Guide Listings

The new Web Fiction Guide has officially listed both Superstition and An Empire of Law. Gavin Williams of No Man an Island and The Surprising Life and Death of Diggory Franklin was kind enough to give Superstition a 4 star review (out of five) along with a very honest and thoughtful critique. I'm hoping one of the other editors (or Gavin) will also review AEOL soon.

In addition, I just want to say what a wonderful site the Web Fiction Guide is. If you haven't checked it out, you really should. It's a great resource for finding new and exciting fiction, as well as providing good reviews from qualified folks.

Check it out.

Playing Catchup

My summer business has concluded. That means I'll have more free time for writing. I am currently four chapters behind on AEOL and two behind on Superstition. I am going to do my best to make up as many of those as I can over the next couple days.

But this should mark the end of the delays, with the possible exception of August 4, when I will be traveling back home. But I will try to have an update ready before I go.

UPDATE

Chapter 13 of Superstition is up.
Chapter 14 of Superstition is up. (This is Saturday's update, and thus I'm still one behind. Hopefully on Sunday).
Chapter 15 is up for Tuesday. Still owe one.

Chapter 32 of AEOL is up. (This is Friday's update - 4 to go).
Chapter 33 of AEOL is up. (Monday's update)
Chapter 34 is up. This is the first catch-up chapter. 3 to go.
Chapter 35 is up. (Wednesday's update)

Superstition Chapter 12 up

The long awaited Chapter 12 is up. The link is here. I owe two chapters of Superstition and 3 of AEOL. I am hoping to make them up in the coming days. Thanks for sticking with me through my impromptu vacation.

Wibbly Press Interview

Wibbly Press, which hosts a variety of serial novels, including Mirrorfall, Shimmer and others, has begun a series of interviews with authors of serial fiction. Somehow, I've managed to trick them into making me their first interview subject.

See my thoughts on the beginning, the process and the future, as well as a shot of my ugly mug.

The interview is here.

AEOL Chapter 31 is up

I needed the mini vacation this week, to deal with the real world and make sure that the next set of chapters comes out right.

But Chapter 31 is now up. Superstition chapter to follow later tonight/tomorrow.

Apologies

I wanted to apologize for the ongoing delays that both stories have been experiencing over the last couple weeks. I'm out on the West Coast working at a summer job that has taken up more time than I expected. As such, I haven't had the free times in the evenings to work that I am accustomed to back home.

The job ends one week from tonight. I have high hopes that the delays will end as well.

Thanks for sticking with me.

Map

For those interested in my story, An Empire of Law, I finally went and uploaded a map of the Empire.

It is viewable here.

Yet more advertising

So I've decided to sink my entire remaining Project Wonderful funds into buying one day on Tales of Mu, advertising An Empire of Law.

I have high hopes this will bring in more readers. On the plus side, about a quarter of what I'm spending is money I have raised from my own PW ads. I'd like to get that ratio closer to 1:1, and hopefully this will work to make that happen.

Fingers crossed.

Pages Unbound

I have been getting a lot of traffic to An Empire of Law from Pages Unbound. This might have to do with the fact that I am second on the "Hottest Stories" page. However, that's based on only one review. I would really appreciate it if readers would take a short time to leave a review, so that others might get your input.

Additionally, while I fully agree with the two reviews for Superstition, they were both based on the first few chapters of Book 1. I feel my writing has improved since then, and that the current ratings are something of a disservice to Dashiell and Regina. Therefore, if you have enjoyed that story, I would ask for your reviews there as well.

I appreciate any and all feedback. I really just want to spread the word to as many people as possible.

Advertising Update #5

So I experimented with having two ad boxes on Superstition, one skyscraper and one half-banner. Given that the half-banner rarely sold its space and the fact that I am now advertising on An Empire of Law, I decided to ditch the second ad on Superstition.

I don't think it would have been so bad, except that it really was only rarely filled, and since the Superstition color scheme is black, and the empty Project Wonderful ad is white, I felt it was creating an awful clash.

Additionally, I think I'm going to do some PW advertising of An Empire of Law. My Superstition ad brought in a lot of traffic, and many of you stayed. Now, I want to get the word out on my other project. So look for a banner at a webnovel near you!

And hey, if you want to give me a link in your sidebar, or spread the word to your friends, well, I'd appreciate that too.

Travelling

For those who may have noticed, the reason I have been updating later than usual is that I am on vacation on the West Coast for the next five or six weeks. I tend to write in the evenings, which meant that, while home on the East Coast, I was posting before midnight EDT. Now, that I'm out west, I'm closer to midnight PDT.

I hope this hasn't been causing problems. But for those in the Eastern United States or Canada, or for my overseas readers, you might consider the update schedule to be a day later than advertised.

But rest assured, I refuse to let my time away from home interfere with my regular updates.

Superstition Book 2

Chapter 1 of the new Superstition story has begun. Join Dashiell and Regina as they try to unravel a brand new caper!

Superstition Book 1 - Done

Well, I just posted the final chapter of Superstition - Book 1 - Something Wicked This Way Comes.

It feels like quite an accomplishment. It's easily the longest piece of original fiction I've ever written, and it clocks in at just under 17,000 words. That's about a third of a nanowrimo. I made a schedule and (largely) stuck to it. A couple of missed deadlines due to life in the real world, and a permanent shift from MF to Tu/Sat updates. But overall, I feel really proud that I accomplished this goal.

I also managed to start another novel, An Empire of Law, in the same time, and I'm 8 chapters and a foreword into that, with more to come. I've successfully updated that on time, MWF for the last two and a half weeks, and I plan to continue.

I will also be returning to the world of Superstition. I just want to take a couple weeks off, while I plot out the next novel. I wrote the first one fairly organically. I knew the basic plot - that it would be based on the witches' spell from MacBeth. And I knew I wanted to end in Arlington National. Beyond that, I basically wrote by the seat of my pants and the pacing suffered because of it. AEOL, on the other hand, was plotted from the beginning, all the way through, and already I've gotten compliments on how much tighter the writing is. So I want to take the time to plan out book 2. I think I know what the major hook will be (which of course, I can't reveal here - it IS a mystery, after all ;)), but I don't know how it's going to play out and how Dash is going to solve the case. I've given myself two weeks to figure it out. Or to come up with a whole new plot device and run from there.

I again want to thank all my readers who've stuck with me. You're the people I write for. I appreciate all the helpful comments and the sense of community many of us seem to have.

I hope you've enjoyed your time here, and I hope you'll stick around. I'm nowhere near done yet.

Thanks,
ATM

Magician's Merger

I owe Xenophon Hendrix a note of thanks for linking Superstition on his blog. The readership has increased dramatically as a result. So thanks, Xenophon!

Additionally, I wanted to say I've spent the past couple days reading through his own story, Magician's Merger. It's an interesting story about an 11 year old boy who wakes up with an ancient magician in his head. The story reads very well and the plot is a unique take on the genre. I highly recommend it.

New Book Up

My new book, An Empire of Law, has begun. This book is a low-magic fantasy, set in a world of my creation. So far, there are four chapters to read, including a Foreword.

I am not abandoning Superstition. But the first book is coming to a close, and I wanted to have something going before I ended it, so that you, the readers, wouldn't go without some of my writing. Also, I think it may appeal to a different set of readers. But of course, I'd love it if everyone reading Superstition read AEOL (you're welcome, Gavin).

AEOL updates MWF, and I will continue with the Tuesday/Saturday updates for Superstition until Book 1 ends. Then, I'll take a couple weeks off of Superstition while I plot out the next adventure of Dashiell and Regina. The nice thing about that particular setting is that it feels much more serial - it lends itself to shorter stories, but with greater possibilities over time. In fact, I had originally envisioned it as a potential TV series idea (hey, every writer wants to work in Hollywood at some point, right?).

AEOL, on the other hand, is much more geared to be an epic, along the lines of No Man an Island, or something by Tolkein or Jordon (without a book that covers four days where nothing happens (sorry - couldn't resist)).

Hopefully you'll enjoy both stories.

And, as always, thanks for reading!

Advertising Update #4

So I changed the ad box on Superstition. After looking at it, it appeared that the half-banner was being cut off. And that's not fair to my advertisers.

I tried everything I could to fix the box, but blogger code seemed to override the html that set the width of the box.

So I decided to try the skyscraper box instead. It appears to fit in with the general layout of the page without cutting off any ads.

Quick Reader Poll

So I have two quick questions for the readers:

1. Would you be interested in purchasing any merchandise with the BOI Seal?

2. If I got a paypal tip jar, would people donate?

Feel free to reply in the comments and to do so anonymously.

Thanks.

Advertising Update #3

I have just added a Project Wonderful Ad space to Superstition. Hopefully, I will get people advertising sometime in the near future. I'm just looking for a way to help pay for my own advertising. We'll see how it goes.

I have no idea if anyone even reads the main blog, so I will hold off on putting an ad box here.

And hey, I may actually get better traffic reports from Project Wonderful than from Google Adsense.

Advertising update #2

As of this writing, I have had 145 clicks on my ads, 133 of them unique. Yesterday, I had well over 300 page views out of a total of 1800 since the site started up back in February. I've also nearly doubled my ad income since launching the blitz, compared to what I'd earned up to this point.

Now, I'm no where near paying for my ad outlay, and I have no idea how many people stuck around to read more than the intro chapter, and how many will continue to come back. But I've had at least 12 repeat visitors and everyone who came read an average of 3 chapters. So I'm inclined to think I picked up some new folks (again, if you're here, I'd love to hear from you).

Because I'm running Google Ads, it'll likely be a long time before I make back the money I've spent thus far on advertising. But that's okay. I think I've advertised enough for now. Hopefully, if you like my writing, you'll send your friends my way. Or hey, if you don't like it, send them here to mock it - Google doesn't care WHY you stop by, just THAT you stop by. ;)

But overall, I've seen a return on my investment from all three places I chose to advertise, and thus I deem the experiment a success. Thanks for reading!

Advertising Update

Well, it's paying off already. I went ahead and upped my bid on Alexandra Erin's main site Tales of Mu, as well as taking an add on Sonja Nitschke's Mutants. The latter because it's also a webnovel, and it's set in a world similar to our own with a twist. So it seems like we'd reach a similar audience.

So far, I've spent $1.78, and I've had 20 new people drop in on the site. And I'll be the first to admit it's not the most exciting ad in the world. I have no idea how many people have stayed (so if you were drawn in by the ad, I'd love to hear from you), but the ad has been viewed by 2900 people on ToMu alone. So I think it's been worth it.

Entering the World of Advertising

So I've placed my first bid on ads for Superstition. I'm using Project Wonderful to advertise on Alexandra Erin's main site (link on the right), as well as her story Tribe. Tribe has a similar feel to Superstition, which is why I chose to advertise there. I picked the main site because it gets a lot of readers. Although I purposely didn't set the high bid for the main site. But the ad is up at Tribe. It's a simple ad, but hopefully it'll bring in some traffic.

To start, I am investing $10. While I won't make this back in terms of Google Ads, I'd rather just build up a stock of readers at this point.

If anyone has any suggestions for other sites to advertise on, please feel free to leave a note in the comments.

BOI Seal

So I am happy to present the seal of the Bureau of Occult Investigations, as described in Chapter 17.* Tell me that wouldn't look awesome on a door, a jacket, or some letterhead.

*Note - I made some slight changes to the seal description from the original story, to match the seal I finally came up with.

Superstition Book One Title

Has been revealed!

I hope you enjoy reading "Something Wicked This Way Comes."

Slight Delay

I'll be posting Chapter 16 tomorrow. I went to a conference this weekend, which included a bright and early flight at 6 am, so I'm too wiped. One of these days, I'll build up a backlog, so this won't happen.

See you tomorrow.

8800 Words

That's the current length of Superstition. It's not a whole lot, but it's probably the most I've ever written in terms of sustained fiction. I've done plenty of papers that were longer for school, and I've done other fiction writing that totals more than this. But in terms of one, ongoing piece, this is a personal record.

It also just drips onto 22 single-spaced pages. This is approaching novella length. And there's more to come.

Thanks for sticking with me this far. Hopefully you'll enjoy the next 8800 words even more.

New Update Schedule

Given my schedule over the next few weeks, I think I'm going to officially shift the update schedule to Tuesday and Saturday for Superstition.

Thanks for understanding.

Updates

Okay, so last week the updates were all messed up. I only got one update up, and it was on Thursday. But I put up today's, and so I'm back on track. I'll probably just write off the three missing updates, and go on from here. Sorry.

On another note, this is Chapter 13 for Superstition.

I'm not gonna lie, I wish I had something a little more special, considering the history of that magic number. But I think I am gonna aim to end the story on a chapter that is a multiple of 13. So you've got at least another 13 chapters. Or 26. Or 39. Or maybe less. As much as I think it'd be cool to end on a multiple of 13, I've gotta let the story take me where it wants to go, within the framework of the plot I've got planned.

Also, thanks to whoever clicked on one of my links. That earned me some real money. :)

Sick

I spent all day today on a plane and most of the weekend being ill. I haven't had solid food in over 48 hours. So I'm gonna aim for a Wednesday update.

Sorry.

The Real World Intrudes

Sorry all. I'm out of town in a situation with limited internet access and even less time. I'm going to have to miss Friday's update (as should be obvious, since I'm posting this on Saturday). I should be able to make Monday's. I may try to catch up on Wednesday for Friday.

We'll have to see how next week goes.

Thanks!

Travel Day

I am flying cross country tomorrow, but I'm headed from East to West, so I'll pick up 3 hours. I'm not expecting it to interfere with my update schedule, but I might be later than usual. I'm hoping not. If anything, I'd like to write the chapter on the plane, which would mean an earlier than usual update when I land.

In fact, I'm going to promise myself this won't be an excuse for missing an update.

So I'll see you all tomorrow.

Short chapter

Short chapter tonight. Three main reasons. One, I'm a bit sick. Two, last chapter was fairly long. Three, it just wrote well that way.

Oscar follow up and Readers

First of all - Tilda Swinton? Really? I liked Michael Clayton and all, but I thought her performance was not the best. Tom Wilkinson on the other hand....he would have deserved it.

On a more positive note, if comments are any indication, I have a second reader. So I have grown my readership 100% in the last week! It's the small victories that make life worth living.

So Sonja, if you've gotten over to the main blog, welcome. I plan to return the favor shortly.

Also, a big thank you to my readers. Thanks to your help, I've earned my first .01 from Google Ads. It's not much, but as I said - it's the small victories.

Thoughts on Movies

I love movies. I really do. And watching the Independent Spirit Awards last night, I realized that someone needs to make a movie that can combine the talents of Phillip Seymour Hoffman and Don Cheadle. This are two of the best actors alive and working today, and I'd really love to see them share the screen. So someone needs to get on that.

Also, No Country For Old Men will win Best Picture tonight, because everyone is sincerely afraid that if it loses, Javier Bardem's character will climb out of the screen and kill them all. Don't know why? Go see the film.

Error correction and readers

Well I've got my first reader, my first link in another's blogroll and my first rating over at Pages Unbound. Readers are key in this experiment of an online novel. It's especially important in that they serve as proofreaders.

For example, in Chapter Four of Superstition, I accidently wrote in the first person, when I'd been writing in third person up to that point. I blame a lack of sleep, and I thank reader Gavin for pointing out the error. It has since been corrected, but I would not have noticed it had he not pointed it out.

So please, if you've come across my writing and find an error, don't hesitate to comment. It can only make the writing better. And of course, I'm always eager hear any comments, even those not about typos.

Pages Unbound - Pt. 2

Well, I've been listed on Pages Unbound. Superstition is currently listed as one of the newest additions, so hopefully I'll start getting some traffic from that end. Chapter 4 was posted a bit late, but at least it's up. I just need to get in the habit of my writing schedule. I may also take the advice of several webcartoonists, and start to build up a buffer. That's assuming I can find time away from the day job. But I'm sure I'll find some free time somewhere. Otherwise, I wouldn't be trying this experiment.

Pages Unbound

Well, I've taken the first step in promoting the story. I've registered at Pages Unbound, a wonderful site designed specifically to promote serialized novels on the web. There's a link off to the left there.

I'm hoping this'll start bringing in traffic. I've also started posting comments to Tales of Mu, with links to Superstition, Chapter 1. Hopefully that'll also bring in traffic. Afterall, I've started reading a couple of projects by other MU readers after following links in their comments. Turn about is fair play, right?

Table of Contents

In addition to this feed, which will be updated with each of my chapters, I've created a Table of Contents page. That is because ideally, I will be updating two or three stories per week when I get going, and when I get new readers, they should be able to pick up with any of them, without having to hunt. Plus, it's something I'll need eventually, so I figured I'd get started. Each story will have it's own post, which will be updated as I go.

Chapter 2 posted

Chapter 2 of Superstition has been posted.

First post

I've posted the first chapter in my story, Superstition. I'm aiming to update Mondays and Fridays.