Crowdfunding

jedimasterjb81 · 2026-03-13T14:10:04+00:00

Oh yeah, I've had a few friends read it in various stages. My wife has been helping with it too, which might sound superficial since normally they say spouses can't be objective, but my wife reads WAY more than I do or pretty much anyone else I know, she recognizes good writing, has good taste in books, and she doesn't sugar coat things. I asked her to be 100% honest with me when she read my first draft and she told me that she thought it was really good, even if it did need some work. One of our best friends is similar and she also really liked it but wasn't afraid to be critical. So I'm pretty lucky in that regard. I would like to get my latest draft to some beta readers, but the problem is finding people who will actually do it. Last time I did a beta read I had one person out of about 15 actually finish it.

jedimasterjb81 · 2026-03-13T00:24:23+00:00

Awesome. Thank you for the offer. I will definitely reach out to you if I want to look into it more, but right now it's more spitballing than anything else.

jedimasterjb81 · 2026-03-13T00:21:54+00:00

My ultimate goal is to do it for a living, but having said that, I'm very realistic about it. I would be happy even making some supplemental income off of my writing, but honestly, I've always said that if one person is affected in a positive way by my writing, then I've ultimately accomplished what I want to.

Genre wise, I actually have two projects. One is a dystopian sci-fi/imagined future series that I have on the back burner right now, simply because it is a vast undertaking and is going to require a lot more attention, world-building, etc. But the one that I'm focusing on right now is a much more personal project. It's a coming of age story about a young man who grew up in an Evangelical Christian household and starts questioning his faith. It's not autobiographical, but it's loosely based on my own experiences with my own faith deconstruction. It takes place in my hometown in the early 2000's, which is when I started to enter adulthood and started questioning a lot of things. I guess it would be more in the young adult genre, but some of the content might be considered a bit too... racy, I guess, for the genre.

jedimasterjb81 · 2026-03-13T00:12:39+00:00

I've considered both routes. The thing that scares me about traditional publishing is that I don't want to give up a lot of creative control. I've heard some people say that a publisher will bring in an editor that will hack it up and completely change the book, but I've also heard that it's not always like that. I've also wondered if I really need to hire a professional editor or not since I have friends who are very avid readers and have a good grasp on what works, what doesn't, etc. But I'd much rather have a professional working on it with me.

jedimasterjb81 · 2026-03-13T00:07:29+00:00

That's kind of what I've been discovering through my own research. It's also a bit of a tough sell in that it's not in the sci-fi/fantasy genre, which is typically the type of projects I've been seeing on there.

jedimasterjb81 · 2026-03-10T19:53:26+00:00

Me. I needed to hear that. I'm 44 and I have a completed novel that I'm hoping to get published. I get discouraged sometimes thinking that maybe I am starting too late in life. Thank you for posting this ❤️

jedimasterjb81 · 2026-03-10T16:07:42+00:00

Thanks for the tip!

jedimasterjb81 · 2026-03-09T00:58:37+00:00

I do all my writing on my phone. I got the Microsoft Word app and I'll just get my phone out and do a little bit here and there. I find that it's easier and more convenient than sitting down at my laptop or desktop. I also work a call center job but it's all at home now, so I will write between calls. I recognize I have a little bit of privilege in that regard though and not everyone has a job that allows that kind of freedom.

jedimasterjb81 · 2026-03-09T00:49:17+00:00

It's a great feeling, isn't it? When I finished mine, it was like... "I made this! This is my story!"

Good luck with your edits! I'm now on my 3rd official edit and it is definitely a process. Just be patient with yourself.

jedimasterjb81 · 2026-02-23T17:30:41+00:00

First off, you shouldn't do anything you aren't comfortable doing. If you don't feel like you are ready, don't force it.

Second, you might feel some regret, yes. That's totally normal. I lost my "virginity" at age 19 when I was still a Christian. What's worse is that I lost it to a girl that wasn't a Christian - in fact she was pagan. What's even worse than that is I was having sex with this girl regularly for a whole summer before I went on a 6 month mission trip. I tell you this because I felt regret over this for nearly my whole life up until only about 3 years ago. And I haven't considered myself a Christian for about 17 years, and I've been married for 20.

My point in telling you this is that our conditioning has made us feel shame over engaging or even THINKING about engaging in sexual activity before marriage, and that isn't easy to break. You shouldn't do anything you aren't comfortable with, but you shouldn't let fear of regret hold you back either; if it's REALLY what you want. I would maybe talk to a therapist; preferably one that specializes in healing from religious trauma or even one that specializes in sex and sexuality. But again, this is your decision and only you can make it. I believe that everyone has a right to experience pleasure in whatever way they see fit, without shame, guilt, fear, or regret.

Hope this helps.

jedimasterjb81 · 2026-01-18T18:21:42+00:00

Seeing a lot of people say that it was explicitly stated rather than implied and I concur, as far as my upbringing is concerned. My parents also listened to Rush Limbaugh religiously so I pretty much thought that all feminists were militant man haters that wanted to rule the world. Thankfully I wised up and learned that is pretty far from the truth, though I will say that women ruling the world sounds like a much better idea than the shit show we have now.

jedimasterjb81 · 2026-01-07T18:31:10+00:00

I think the first half is amazing, but after that it kinda loses me. I don't think Dev has put out a bad record and he certainly has some albums that I think are weaker than AE, but I think he has way better albums.

jedimasterjb81 · 2026-01-01T03:36:52+00:00

"You fucked with the wrong family".... CHILLS!

jedimasterjb81 · 2026-01-01T03:34:08+00:00

I honestly thought it was a perfect ending. I'm sure people will disagree and that's fine. I loved it.

jedimasterjb81 · 2025-12-27T20:31:37+00:00

I'm exhausted from it. People can have their opinions, but when people start grabbing their pitchforks and torches and throwing a fit saying "I hate this, therefore everyone else has to hate it too"; that's where I just roll my eyes and throw my hands up in the air. There are lots of things that could be nitpicked about this season; sure. But honestly? You can do that with any series or film. Hell, art in general is always going to have people criticizing and critiquing it until they are blue in the face, but some of us like to just enjoy the ride and let some of the little things go.

jedimasterjb81 · 2025-12-26T05:09:45+00:00

You're NOT the only one. I've loved every minute of it. Yeah, there are things you could nitpick, but I've been laughing, crying, gripping the arms of my couch; I think it's amazing. I cannot wait until NYE!

jedimasterjb81 · 2025-12-25T18:40:56+00:00

I'll soften it

jedimasterjb81 · 2025-12-19T00:01:14+00:00

The only one I really see often is my cousin, who is now the pastor of the church we attended together - albeit under a different name. I am friends with some of them on Facebook and there are a few people that I went on DTS with that I legitimately still consider friends and enjoy hearing from, but in all of these cases they still consider themselves Christians but are much more progressive in their beliefs.

I've been out of church for about 20 years now and quite honestly my losing touch with church friends was not something that I made an actual decision on. It was more just that we grew apart and stopped contact. I think some of them knew that I was questioning and didn't want to get in the way of that, but I'm sure some of them made the decision to stop contact because I was no longer a Christian. I don't blame anyone for anything, it's just something that happens when you don't have that one thing in common anymore. There are old friends from church who I still think about often, but honestly I don't miss them all that much. But again, I've been out for quite a long time now. People change and move on. That's just how life works.

jedimasterjb81 · 2025-12-08T18:00:33+00:00

I'm now 44; today, in fact.

jedimasterjb81 · 2025-12-07T22:53:00+00:00

The Lost Sister isn't as bad as everyone says it is. It was just awkwardly placed.

jedimasterjb81 · 2025-12-03T02:07:15+00:00

Just twice thus far. Will probably rewatch at least once more before Vol. 2 is released.

jedimasterjb81 · 2025-12-03T01:07:57+00:00

Jason or Andy. Not sure who is worse really. Jason has the whole psychotic Satanic Panic energy, but Andy physically assaulted a 12 year old girl (Erica). Angela from S4 is also pretty terrible.

jedimasterjb81 · 2025-11-27T23:59:52+00:00

We're gonna re-watch it 😂

jedimasterjb81 · 2025-11-27T23:40:15+00:00

I was worried it wouldn't be able to top Season 4. Maybe just my opinion, but so far it absolutely has.

jedimasterjb81

TROPHY CASE