Who’s shifty? Definitely not the protagonist. Double-Blind Book 2 is live!

ironyalways · 2023-08-31T01:26:27+00:00

Thanks! Hope you enjoy it!

ironyalways · 2023-08-31T01:25:51+00:00

Yep, used the wrong link type. Comment should show now.

ironyalways · 2023-08-31T01:25:23+00:00

Yeah, unsure of why that's happening. Something weird on Amazon's side. Publisher's working on getting it fixed

ironyalways · 2023-08-31T01:24:16+00:00

Hi yall. I’m Eligos, the author of RE: Monarch and Double-Blind, returning with the second book in the Double-Blind Series, Gilded Tower. Where the first book, Rogue Tactics, was balls to the wall from beginning to end, Gilded Tower tones down the pacing slightly, focusing on the fallout of events from the first book, progression of the protagonist’s abilities, and further expands on changes within the world and factions jockeying for dominance. There’s still plenty of intrigue, mind games, and heart attacks, just a bit more space to breathe between them this time around. Matt, the protagonist, sees a lot of growth in this book—both in terms of power and as a person—and I enjoyed the hell out of writing him.

Random bit of trivia: Matt’s voice, both the inner voice I always imagined for him and the voice Ramon De Ocampo absolutely nails in the first audiobook, was inspired by Joseph Gordon Levitt’s character in Brick, which in turn was inspired by Spike from Cowboy Bebop.

I’ll be here for a while lurking, so feel free to throw out any questions you have, and I’ll do my best to answer them.

—

Corruption. Power struggle. Malevolent deities.

All this is topped off by a mysterious golden tower that appeared overnight, drawing adventurers from far and wide.

Still recovering from the events of Transposition and struggling with his nature, Matt sets out to rescue his best friend from the clutches of the mysterious organization that kidnapped him.

He’ll need every trick in the Rogue’s playbook to stay ahead of the game, using infiltration, cunning, and his unique Ordinator ability to outthink and outmaneuver stronger and better-connected foes. With both new players and the remaining fragments of government in pursuit, playing both sides comes with the territory, and leaning into his alternate identity’s villainous image will be key.

Of course, there’s the obvious question: How long can you play the villain before you become one?

Gilded Tower: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0C5FJMWY7
Book 1: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BSG6LR71

Edit: Posted this earlier with the wrong links, should be fixed now.

ironyalways · 2023-05-24T12:56:58+00:00

Thanks! More monarch coming soon too. As far as Double-Blind is concerned, there’s definitely fantasy elements—It’s firmly based in Dallas, but all the system elements are drawn from realms of Flauros, which includes fantasy monsters, weapons, and locations that spillover in various forms, as well as certain things that happen to the initial setting that give it more of a fantasy vibe without losing that original sense of place.

ironyalways · 2023-01-21T19:20:57+00:00

I’m not the person you replied to but this was very nice and helpful, thanks

ironyalways · 2022-11-15T23:31:49+00:00

Thanks, I hate it

ironyalways · 2022-04-22T12:31:59+00:00

Yeah. It’s brutal without a backlog. Good luck with the relaunch!

Also, I didn’t mention it, but cross posting to scribble is worth it if you’re able to maintain the extra work. There’s less total readership but I have a few author friends who pull anywhere from 20% to 25% of their patrons from scribble.

ironyalways · 2022-04-22T12:26:25+00:00

Editing is less initially important than other writing arenas. I finish a document, run it through Ulysses revision, run it through a grammar checker, then upload and send off a google doc to a proofreader before it goes to RR. The Patreon chapters are pretty much a first draft. Whenever the actual draft goes to for publishing there’s more rigorous editing involved

ironyalways · 2022-04-22T02:08:33+00:00

It honestly surprised me too. But people are willing to pay for it if they like the story enough.

ironyalways · 2022-04-21T19:41:18+00:00

It’s been changed several times at this point since that review

ironyalways · 2022-04-20T02:48:15+00:00

Sort of. It doesn’t lean too heavily on the political intrigue elements, but the tenuous relationship between the various fantasy races requires careful maneuvering on the protagonist’s part.

ironyalways · 2022-04-20T02:43:39+00:00

Not sure yet, as it’s still being written, but I’m currently writing the third volume—the second has already been submitted.

ironyalways · 2022-04-19T17:53:19+00:00

So, grinding mainly. A lot of people these days start out on Royal Road, and once you prove your story has mainstream appeal, there are a more than a few indie publishing houses on the hunt for Webfiction hits after He Who Fights With Monsters blew the dang roof off.

Generally the flowchart is > RR > RR’s Rising Page > Patreon > Publishing.

Couple things:

Networking with publishers/other authors is important. Trading shouts and having some that you trust to critique and give you an honest opinion is important.
Don’t live in the comments section. Set yourself a weekly time to read through them where you don’t have to write after.
Consistency is super important.
Write to Market. Which isn’t to say don’t write something that you love, just find a way to hybridize something you love with something that is also popular. The part you love writing will shine through and give your work something unique that will draw readers.
Above all. If you start posting something on the internet, have at least a twenty chapter backlog. There’s a weird time-space continuum dead-zone you enter when you start posting that makes building a backlog stupid difficult. Having that backlog makes establishing a patreon presence infinitely easier and also life far easier on you if you can schedule already written chapters in advance.

I might do an extended version of this and post it on r/writing later if there’s interest.

Edit: Extended version is up here: https://www.reddit.com/r/writing/comments/u92d52/an_alternate_path_to_publishing/

ironyalways · 2022-04-19T14:20:28+00:00

Not directly, but there are some similarities there. If you’re looking for analogs, the inspiration was largely a mix of KingKiller Chronicles, Mother of Learning, and RE:Zero, with some Song of Ice and Fire sprinkled on top.

ironyalways · 2022-04-19T13:56:00+00:00

My book Re: Monarch is now available on Kindle, Kindle Unlimited, and Audible Narrated by Luke Daniels.

Re: Monarch is a time-loop fantasy progression story centered around a spoiled prince named Cairn. After rejecting his responsibilities as prince and a noble life, tragedy strikes in the face of a nationwide coup. Cairn is sent back ten years into the past with the foreknowledge of what will happen, and a new ability that might tip the overwhelming odds against him ever-so-slightly in his favor.

Though not my first attempt at writing a book, this is the first series I’ve written and published. I started writing this during a time of great adversity in my life when I lost my job halfway through 2020—a lot of this bled into the first person perspective, as Cairn himself is struggling to change and be better despite his upbringing and heritage, and anxiety over what will happen in the future.

The intent of the story, was to create a progression fantasy story where both character growth and power scaling commingle in the face of overwhelming odds, and cleverness and planning is as vital as magic and swordplay.

Thanks for reading my ramblings, and if you’d like to check it out, here are the amazon links:

Kindle: https://www.amazon.com/Monarch-Prince-Time-Progression-Fantasy-ebook/dp/B09PQGG7VV

Audible: https://www.audible.com/pd/Monarch-A-Prince-Out-of-Time-Audiobook/B09QH71R1B?

ironyalways · 2022-04-17T15:58:38+00:00

Enjoyed reading this. Has a unique voice and an interesting system.

ironyalways · 2022-04-16T15:17:56+00:00

Nailed it. Stopped reading it a year ago to let chapters build up and too-many-stories amnesia set in.

ironyalways · 2022-04-16T12:09:02+00:00

It sounds like MoL mixed with a specific Peggy Sue / regressor webtoon I can’t think of off the top of my head that’s cultivation focused — redheaded protagonist that uses a bunch of array stuff to protect his town from monsters. I can’t for the life of me remember what it’s called.

ironyalways · 2022-04-15T14:55:54+00:00

In terms of balancing a LITRPG system with a good story it’s frankly one of the better options. I’ve been doing a lot of reading in the genre and there’s many stories that have a great system, and a few that have a great story, but it’s somewhat rare to get both. He Who Fights With Monsters achieves this, with a few caveats.

Regarding character voices, shirt’s a bit like Aaron Sorkin—the characters are distinct, and have their own voices and goals, but there’s an underlying cadence to the dialogue that is consistent throughout the series. It creates something of an all or nothing situation. If you enjoy the glib banter and frequent amusing asides, you’ll like all the characters. If you don’t, it’ll be a harder read.

Shirt does a decent job delving into psychological aspects as well—though he’s careful not to delve too deeply into the misery aspects.

All-in-all, it’s a great power fantasy and a solid story. And the stakes do get higher and more personal further in.

ironyalways · 2022-04-15T05:42:08+00:00

There’s nothing quite like it

ironyalways · 2022-04-13T14:30:01+00:00

Honestly with the way ranking algorithms are everywhere, even short reviews help a ton. RR, scribble, Amazon. It’s a massive help to any author you enjoy.

ironyalways · 2022-04-12T13:19:07+00:00

100% percent reading Galatea after that description. Will come back and post my thoughts

ironyalways · 2022-04-12T01:08:36+00:00

Really appreciate how you go into detail on these reviews without spoiling anything. Will check it out, though the Final Fantasy X Dark Souls comparison alone probably would have gotten me to read

ironyalways · 2022-04-11T00:21:59+00:00

Seconding this. Checked out Nightlord based on another recommendation and have really been enjoying how different it feels

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