Here's Where We Hype Other Stuff We Made

Talk about things that are not making games here. But you should also make games!

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Pepsi Ranger
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Here's Where We Hype Other Stuff We Made

Post by Pepsi Ranger »

Made an awesome game lately? Tell us about it in the Game Discussion Forum. Made something else cool that you want others to see, read, listen to, or observe? Then tell us about it here.

I'll start. Last week I posted the ebook version of a short story I wrote in 2006 called "Shell Out" (I believe there's an old copy of it submitted as supplemental material in Entrepreneur: The Beginning). Well, it's been recently updated, and now it's been released into the cloud as an ebook. And you can get your copy today at...

Smashwords: http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/546745
Barnes & Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/shell-o ... 0151945875
Kobo: https://store.kobobooks.com/en-US/ebook/shell-out
Apple iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/shell- ... 0090?mt=11
Oyster: https://www.oysterbooks.com/book/cP5AYR ... /shell-out
Scribd: https://www.scribd.com/book/267471713/Shell-Out

Note: All retailers except Oyster and Scribd carry "Shell Out" for free. Oyster and Scribd operate on a subscription service, which lets you read any book for free for a monthly fee. (So, it's free-ish.)

If you do get a copy, please leave an honest review wherever you downloaded it from, and certainly talk about it here if you wish. Also check back here for announcements regarding future ebooks if you want to read more stuff of mine coming on the horizon.

And if you have news to share about something you've written, performed, whatever, that wouldn't fit well in the gaming forum, feel free to talk about it here. I think feedback on anything we've put a lot of time and effort into is good to have.

Thanks.

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Book Description:

What is the price of making dreams come true? Can they simply be bought with money, or do they require something different? Greg wants to see his dreams come true -- to furnish his apartment with nice things, to find the perfect girl to share it with, and to ultimately become a bigger success than his father had been -- but life keeps finding ways to alter his plans. Can Greg adapt to life's little wrenches and overcome impoverishing events to bring his dreams to reality? Or will he succumb to the hardships of being twentysomething and accept the life of economic misfortune that hounds him?

"Shell Out" is the humorous story of a college student's battle with those pesky opposing forces of nature that plague us all: life and desire, ambition and contentment, dreams and reality. It is the story of any of us who has ever had to fend for ourselves in the real world but weren't sure if we'd ever make it. Greg's farcical journey to tame his wallet and fulfill his dreams takes him through the common struggles of young adulthood, including figuring out how to survive a Friday night on a ten-dollar bill, acquiescing to paying bills in spite of not having a job, taking jobs that only a desperate loon would take, working toward a better life in order to win the heart of a girl, and other crazy situations. The question is, are his efforts worth it, or is he just chasing yesterday's American Dream?

For those thirty and older who wish to remember their own crazy experiences as a twentysomething, Greg's strange odyssey of economic survival is a comedy. For those currently living the twentysomething life, or those about to approach it, Greg's journey is a horror story. It's a lot like life: a scary comedy that forces us to question our choices.

"Shell Out" also comes with previews for some of my upcoming books.
Last edited by Pepsi Ranger on Tue Jun 09, 2015 11:27 pm, edited 3 times in total.
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Post by TMC »

You didn't mention that it's free! And only 20 pages, as a pdf; pretty dang short! I should get through this soon.

Do you have any other written fiction released (maybe as supplementary material)?

I'm not sure the stuff you wrote in your 'About the author' section is a good way to sell yourself. Sure you may not have much else to say, and you certainly don't want to write a bunch of insincere crap, but it hardly mentions what kind of material you write/have written.
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Post by Pepsi Ranger »

Yeah, I'll be updating that author page with the next ebook most likely.

I do have another on the line that I hope to release this weekend. I may wait to announce it until I know all of the available retailers have their copies, though. Should be within the week.

It will also be short and free.

Again, it will also be SHORT and FREE! Like the one mentioned in the first post.

P.S. "Shell Out" has now been downloaded 90 times across three platforms in just seven days. Woot!

P.P.S. The Kobo version needs some love, people.
Last edited by Pepsi Ranger on Sat Jun 06, 2015 4:51 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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Post by Pepsi Ranger »

Hey guys, I've updated the top page with a cover image, book description, and a link to a fifth retailer. Please give it a read if you haven't done so already. I appreciate any and all support.

I've also got another ebook awaiting global distribution (fancy term for reaching the other retailers). I'll post info on it soon. PROTIP: It will also be short and free.
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Post by Nathan Karr »

It's been talked about for a long time but between the cancellation of Asperchu, the indefinite hiatus of Sonichu, my recent introduction to the world of Oren Otter, and the long-awaited demise of the computer I was making my last major passion project on, I feel I have finally been nudged into drawing an adventure comic.

Last night before bed I drew a one-page introduction and a title page. I plan to make this and decide whether or not to continue making more one chapter at a time, however many pages a chapter requires.

It will have all those weird Karr-isms my art and writing usually bring.
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Post by The Wobbler »

I can't wait to read Captain Karrk versus Karrthulu.
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Post by Froginator »

Well, I'm running two webcomics at the time. Check out my DA:

http://xxredpikminxx.deviantart.com/
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Post by Pepsi Ranger »

Here are two more in case you missed them. Both are free:

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Want to read a free story about loving, losing, and the question of whether it’s really better than to love at all? Then check out “Eleven Miles from Home,” the story of a man and woman who are no longer in love, but continue to see each other for the one interest they have in common, and find out what happens when they are on the verge of losing even that.

Apple iTunes

Eleven Miles from Home on iTunes

Barnes & Noble

Eleven Miles from Home on Nook

Kobo

Eleven Miles from Home on Kobo

Smashwords

Eleven Miles from Home on Smashwords

Note that Smashwords gives you the option to download a number of formats including epub, mobi (for Kindle), pdf, and others.

Oyster

Eleven Miles from Home on Oyster

Scribd

Eleven Miles from Home on Scribd

Apple, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, and Smashwords provide downloads for keeps.

Oyster and Scribd operate on a monthly subscription service.

Please review or comment on the book’s store page wherever you get your copy. And please share your discovery with others.

Book Description:

“Eleven Miles from Home” is an unflinching story about perception, realization, and the truth behind those relationships we once thought were so great. It’s the story of two people who are forced to confront the harsh reality that they’ve missed the mark, who bare their souls over what they discover about each other and themselves, who question whether their choices are sound or should be avoided.

After discovering she had been dating a married man for months and spending the next two years rebounding in a series of bad relational investments, Rachel grabs her Jet Ski and goes to the lake to clear her head, hoping to erase her troubled mind through the whitewash of aquatic adrenaline. Richard, who discovers this woman and her sexy water machine, and who, thanks to his limited exposure to out-of-town trends, has never before seen a Jet Ski in action, insists on invading her world to find out more about this most interesting watercraft of hers, and somehow finds himself not only her new jet skiing pal, but next in line for her damaged heart. And Rachel is fine with the invasion initially, but like her relationships past, the one she forms with Richard exists on fragile ground, and their mutual respect for each other eventually dies.

But their passion for jet skiing together endures, so they continue to visit the lake as a couple, in spite of their growing off-water dislike for each other: whatever they have to, to keep their one common interest intact. And they find ways to make it work, until the day that misfortune robs them of their shared love and leaves them stranded eleven miles from home with nothing left in common but a lack of transportation and bad memories. Now, if they are to make it through the night together, they must figure out what went wrong between them and decide individually whether their relationship is even worth saving.

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Professionalism makes the world a better place, but Sammy is about to face an adversary that spits in professionalism’s eye in the latest free ebook by Jeremy Bursey. Please download from one of the following retailers if you want to see what happens when these two polar opposites meet on Nippy the Cat’s home turf.

Apple iTunes

Amusement on iTunes

Barnes & Noble

Amusement on Nook

Kobo

Amusement on Kobo

Smashwords

Amusement on Smashwords

Note that Smashwords gives you the option to download a number of formats including epub, mobi (for Kindle), pdf, and others.

Oyster

Amusement on Oyster

Scribd

Amusement on Scribd

Apple, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, and Smashwords provide downloads for keeps.

Oyster and Scribd operate on a monthly subscription service.

Please review or comment on the book’s store page wherever you get your copy. And please share your discovery with others.

Book Description:

“Amusement” is the story of one man’s battle to make the world a better place through a dedicated sense of professionalism, despite the psychedelic hell it puts him through. It’s the story of a man who wants revenge against anyone who ever said, “Whatever gets the job done is good enough,” before what’s good enough leads to tragedy. It’s the story of a soul who wants to right those wrongs caused by professional inadequacy while hopefully reclaiming his long-lost happiness in the process.

“It should always be done perfectly the first time, or it shouldn’t be done at all”–that’s Sammy’s motto. Perfectionism is his calling card, and he thinks that showing anything less is a sure sign of professional immaturity, and immaturity is what makes the world a terrible place. He’s obsessive about it. And, the last thing he would ever do is to cut corners or disobey orders from his bosses at Dinners and Waters just to save time or face. So, when he finds out his Monday meeting is being held offsite at a theme park called Happy Fun Land, he acquiesces to the change in routine (a routine that keeps him professionally-minded) because his boss expects him to attend the conference and learn how he can help make the partnership with the theme park’s parent company successful. But there’s a hitch: Sammy hates the company that Dinners and Waters wants to invest in. Hates everything it stands for. And he hates everything Happy Fun Land stands for. So, when his initial confrontation with Happy Fun Land’s parking staff turns violent (unprofessional) and makes him almost an hour late to the meeting (highly unprofessional), he realizes he is about to embark on a personal hell through a “professional” experience that could very well destroy his mind and his sense of reason.

He continues on anyway because that’s what a professional would do. However, his standards for quality performance are constantly challenged as he stumbles through a world filled with madness, manipulation, and candy, leading him ultimately to stand face to face with the most unprofessional creature he has ever met, the theme park’s mascot, Nippy the Cat, in a confrontation that could either change the atmosphere of the theme park or cost him his professionalism and his sanity.

Sammy is not amused.

Each storefront will provide links to my other books, so check back often.

You can visit my main author page (for ebooks) at Smashwords:

My Smashwords Author Page
Last edited by Pepsi Ranger on Sat Jun 20, 2015 5:28 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Post by Shadowiii »

I managed to wrastle a Wordpress into existence and made a media review site. You might find some familiar faces on there, too. And reviews of inflatable parrots and cereal.

http://sharkberg.com/
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Post by Pepsi Ranger »

I put out two more free ebooks in the last month. Here they are:

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What bridges would you burn to meet the girl of your dreams? In a cellphone obsessed world, Avery Ward is about to find out the answer to that for himself. Download my July 2015 ebook for free at any of these retailers. Don’t forget to leave a comment here or a review wherever you downloaded it from. Thanks.

Apple iTunes

When Cellphones Go Crazy on iTunes

Barnes & Noble

When Cellphones Go Crazy on Nook

Kobo

When Cellphones Go Crazy on Kobo

Smashwords

When Cellphones Go Crazy on Smashwords

Note that Smashwords gives you the option to download a number of formats including epub, mobi (for Kindle), pdf, and others.

Oyster

When Cellphones Go Crazy on Oyster

Scribd

When Cellphones Go Crazy on Scribd

Apple, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, and Smashwords provide downloads for keeps.

Oyster and Scribd operate on a monthly subscription service.

Please review or comment on the book’s store page wherever you get your copy. And please share your discovery with others.

Book Description:

Avery Ward has had limited success with relationships in his twenty-something years on earth, and they all had ended in disaster, including his most recent engagement to the straying Allison. As a student in psychology and a counselor-in-training, he feels it’s important to analyze the mistakes of his past before embarking on those same mistakes in the future; it’s the reason he’s careful about the chances he takes. So, when he sees Melissa, the girl of his dreams, at a fraternity party one night, he calculates the risk in talking to her, deciding if she may or may not be crazy. But his limited exposure to examples of such high-class beauty as she overrides any sensibility he might have about holding back, so he goes in for the conversation. And, for a solid sixty seconds, he is enraptured by her words, her voice, and her stunning physical form. Bonus: She doesn’t seem the least bit out of her mind. But, like the best things he finds in life, his moment of bliss is cut short when her cellphone rings and she disappears into the night to tend to her call. He attempts to find her again before the party ends to finish their conversation, but he has no luck. His dream girl has gotten away.

Fortunately for his aching heart, serendipity has either a sense of humor or a need for answers, so many months later, fate brings Avery and Melissa back together in a new place. But will she remember him if he tries to get her attention? And will he even have the guts to talk to her again after having such ill luck with others in the past? And can they reconnect in spite of the incessant cellphone alerts causing an interruption to Avery’s quest?

Thanks to a friend’s advice, Avery decides to pursue his dream girl no matter the risk. But thanks to the mistakes of that same friend, Avery Ward is about to embark on a journey that could cause him to lose more than just a chance at meeting his dream girl. Once again he has to assess the risk and decide if this one’s worth gambling with fate and if fate will even allow him to fulfill that second attempt at initiating love.

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We all have an interesting story to tell, but it’s interesting only when we share it with others. “The Celebration of Johnny’s Yellow Rubber Ducky,” the fifth free ebook based on one of my older short stories, is the story of seven people who have never met, but have all spent a brief season carrying around this rubber ducky while having an adventure or life lesson of their own. Look for it at your favorite retailer soon.

Apple iTunes

The Celebration of Johnny’s Yellow Rubber Ducky on iTunes

Barnes & Noble

The Celebration of Johnny’s Yellow Rubber Ducky on Nook

Kobo

The Celebration of Johnny’s Yellow Rubber Ducky on Kobo

Smashwords

The Celebration of Johnny’s Yellow Rubber Ducky on Smashwords

Note that Smashwords gives you the option to download a number of formats including epub, mobi (for Kindle), pdf, and others.

Oyster

The Celebration of Johnny’s Yellow Rubber Ducky on Oyster

Scribd

The Celebration of Johnny’s Yellow Rubber Ducky on Scribd

Apple, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, and Smashwords provide downloads for keeps.

Oyster and Scribd operate on a monthly subscription service.

Please review or comment on the book’s store page wherever you get your copy. And please share your discovery with others.

Book Description:

At the end of his coursework at Oxford, Johnny reaches a point in his life where he does not know what more to do or where else to go. Sure, he has plenty of options, but with those options comes an endless chain of questions and decisions to make, and his mind locks up when he has to participate in too much of either. Even as he takes the Tube to anywhere, he wonders if he’s in control of his future, or if fate is pulling his strings. There have been plenty of moments in his life when he thought fate had smiled on him, especially the night he’d met Claire, but those moments just showed him that it was all one big tease and the future’s real plan was to pull the rug out from under his feet.

The day after graduation, Johnny figures he should start pulling his own strings, so he considers speaking to a life coach to help him plan out his destiny. As he rides the train back to London, however, he discovers one new trick up fate’s sleeve, and it comes in the form of a yellow rubber ducky he finds on the floor under his seat. On this duck is a flash drive full of stories from people who have no connection to each other save for the one factor that they had carried the duck around during a brief season of adventure. The drive also contains an instruction: “To anyone who finds this, please take this rubber ducky wherever you go. At any point you should experience something great, I beg of you, write it down and attach it to the duck. Then, leave it for the next body to find. When the seventh individual writes his experience, keep the duck and publish the letters for all to see.” Johnny can already see the hand of fate trying to pull him back under its spell. But he takes the bait. He takes the duck with him.

Six people have already written their stories. Johnny is the seventh and final person to take the duck on a new adventure and share it with the world. But how does one live through a story worthy of closing out the duck’s epic journey? How much of Johnny’s path does fate still influence? And why does the rubber duck seem so familiar to him?
Last edited by Pepsi Ranger on Sun Aug 23, 2015 10:04 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Post by DragonChaserKev »

Writers, that's more my alley than technical stuff. Not that I write much, a lot of poetry as a teenager, stranger weird stuff. I have started three books but never get beyond 30-50 pages and it sits. I draw and paint and such, a little sculpture recently and was surprised how good I managed in 3D. I tried promoting live comedy with a few shows, did OK. Then I hired a Swedish band called Baskery and set up four shows for them, not so great, kinda small turn outs and lost money but had a great time with the band for a week. Then I tried promoting women's wrestling. Never went well, worked with a promoter in Ohio and got cheated of the video. Scum bag then closed up shop and disappeared, good riddance but sadly he's probably scamming someone else. I then went to Scotland with a Canadian wrestler and set up some matches there with some Scottish promoters. That went fine, had a good time but lost money. You can find that on youtube and facebook under Independent Women's Internet Wrestling or IWIW. I sort of gave that up as I made no money. The IWIW title belt is now the Fierce Females Internet title and being defended later today for the first time in Scotland.

Right now I'm producing an audio horror drama series called The Witch's Bedtime Tale. It is based on a 1930's radio horror called The Witch's Tale. It's not great but I am super proud of each episode. They consist of remakes of some of the surviving episodes, other old radio horror adapted, original stories and original adapted classics. You can check out free episodes here. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCuUTYb ... ZiFNTvqsXw

One day I hope to finish a book and a RPG NES game....
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Pepsi Ranger
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Post by Pepsi Ranger »

I think you win the most interesting life award. Maybe you didn't make any money doing any of it (how many of us have, doing what we love? Not I), but it sounds like you've got some great memories--even the bad ones might make you laugh someday when you think, "I actually experienced that." I say kudos to the stuff that failed because at least you tried it, which is more than I can say about all of the dreamers who never move out of their parents' basements or the "adults" who forwent their dreams to live a settled and mediocre life.

And about the writing: It's actually pretty easy to sustain 300+ pages if you know how to structure the story. I'd recommend reading a trilogy of books on structure by Larry Brooks called:

1. Story Engineering
2. Story Physics
3. Story Fix

I'd also recommend looking at Hooked by Les Edgerton and On Writing by Stephen King for additional writing strategies. I've read a lot of books on the writing craft over the years, and these are the ones I've gotten the most out of. I'm currently reading The Irresistible Novel by Jeff Gerke, and I can say so far, so good on that one.

If you want simpler, I also hear good things about the Red Sneaker Writers series by William Bernhardt, which as of now consists of six 150-page books, but they cover everything. I haven't read them myself, but I've skimmed the first one, and I'm impressed with what it covers.

There are also a few sites where you can workshop your writing if you want feedback. FictionPress is probably the best of the free sites. I also have an account with Scribophile, which boasts some really great features, and is probably the better site of the two, but I haven't really used it yet, as you have to pay monthly to get the most out of it (though there is a free component that allows you to get your feet wet), and I'm in no condition to spend extra right now. But it looks great.

I can't comment on the NES thing, but I'm sure it can be done if you keep looking for the door.

Good luck. If you finish your book and sell it or self-publish it, link it here.
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Post by TMC »

At last, someone who really knows how to grasp unusual opportunities! ;) I started listening to "Dagon", it's actually pretty entertaining once it gets to the story, and I can see why you'd be proud of it. I'll listen to the rest tomorrow.
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Post by superawesomeric »

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Post by Pepsi Ranger »

superawesomeric wrote:I downloaded Shell Out from Barnes & Noble, I'll read it soon.
Cool, thanks. Hope you enjoy it. I have a couple of others on there right now that are normally priced, but I've made available for free until May 25th (The Computer Nerd and Gutter Child, if you're wondering). If you like Shell Out, and if you're looking for one that's thematically similar, you might want to also take a look at The Fallen Footwear.

Note: Cannonball City: A Modern-day Fantasy, Year One (out now) and Superheroes Anonymous: A Modern-day Fantasy, Year Two (out May 27th) are adapted novelizations of my game The Adventures of Powerstick Man, which I made on the OHR. They aren't direct translations of the game, but they do borrow key moments from the game to tell their larger narratives. I recommend those if you want a long adventure-thriller that's fused with quirky humor and superhero references.
superawesomeric wrote:I made a "game" called T4r4D1ddl3 here a couple of years ago, and it was my first game and I'm glad people took the time to play and comment on it even though it was a very amateurish RPG in hindsight. I took a break from game making for a couple of years because it's stressful, but I recently made a somewhat simple tabletop card game that I'm trying to get feedback on boardgamegeek and maybe reddit, I'm not sure.
I drafted T4r4D1ddl3 into 2014's Heart of the OHR contest and it did very well. You should be proud of it.

It might also be a good idea to post GOLEMS on the Game Discussion forum in case some potential players aren't reading this thread.
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