Bodacious & Sundry #5: VFC, NaNoWriMo, Halloween, & More!

The Mad Month of Movember

Here comes a busy month!

Here are two big events worth sharing. The first, the one I encourage everyone to attend, is Virtual FantasyCon. This convention lasts eight full days, from November 1 to 8, and it is entirely on Facebook, so there’s no reason not to at least stop by its daily pages to post, read what people are up to, or visit the virtual author booths. I’m on two podcast panels, which we recorded last Saturday. The Future of Publishing will help authors in this new publishing era. Cogs & Wheels covers the history and impact of steampunk.

The second event is National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo), and that link will shamelessly take you to my page on the site. Every November, thousands of writers, both experienced and new, take on the challenge of writing one 50,000 word novel in a month. I’ve signed up for this year, too, but I’m breaking the rules. It’s supposed to be for new novels. I need to get the first draft of Bodacious Creed: a Stampunk Zombie Western finished, and I plan to use NaNoWriMo to power through as much of it as possible. I’m about 80,000 words in, and expect it to be a door-stopper at about 140,000. Of course, it’s tough to tell how long the final product will be, even with a lengthy first draft.

If you want to take on this challenge, it’s not too late to sign up for NaNo! The event starts on November 1. Before then, you can do all the character creation, plotting, and research for your novel that you want. On the starting day, you write. To reach 50,000 words, you will need to average 1,667 words per day from November 1 to 30.

Please feel free to follow my progress and to send me a friend request on the NaNo site. I welcome the accountability.

Or course, this is also “Movember,” the month of no shaving, which many men participate in to raise awareness of men's health issues. I have a beard all year long. I’m not going to stop grooming it. Sorry, Movemberites. Hopefully my beard is enough.

Scary Halloween Costumes

I have a terrific day job as a copywriter. I write blog posts and more for the self-storage industry. Recently, I wrote an article called 8 Spooky Halloween Costumes from Self-Storage Boxes for the StorageFront.Com blog, The Renter’s Bent.

I hope that some will actually create some of these costumes, which include a Minecraft zombie, Lego vampire, and a box of poison. Check out my suggestions if you have a few hours to create a fun, crafty costume before Saturday!

Short Story Reminder

I just want to remind everyone that my short story, The Obstructed Engine, is free to download for anyone who subscribes to my mailing list, The Mostly Steampunk Newsletter.

That is a screenshot of a page from the story on the right. Doesn't it look nice? Don't you want to read it? Of course you do!

Click here for more information or use the sign-up box below. This story introduces the Creedverse, the setting for Bodacious Creed: a Steampunk Zombie Western. It features two of the novel's central characters, Anna Lynn Boyd and Jonathan Johns, and you get to read about the crazy circumstances under which they met.

YouTube Channel Ideas

With so much to juggle, I haven’t had time to create any videos for my YouTube channel, Jonathan Fesmire, Steampunk Author. That doesn’t mean I’ve forgotten it, though! This morning I emailed two friends about doing the first podcast with me, so hopefully that will come together.

I also have an idea to create some 3D sketches with a steampunk theme and to narrate them for the channel. I have another channel I created about two years ago, Jonny’s Creature Shop, and you can see some of my goblin, alien, and historical sculpture work there. You actually get to watch the art take shape either from a basic head mesh or from a sphere. I plan to do the same thing, only with steampunk ideas.

The best way to stay informed of everything coming up is to subscribe to my newsletter. Plus, you get some great extras, with more steampunk stories to come!

I hope to see you at Virtual FantasyCon.

Here's keynote speaker Steve DeWinter's fun video introducing the event!