T-Minus Three months
(this is all part of the One Novel Three-Month challenge. Click here for more info)
The other day, I wrote a long list of things that have changed since I did my challenge six years ago. I've thought countless times of rejigging this website, while instead I just kept footing the bill for the hosting. I thought about sprucing it up, I've even written drafts of posts. But always, something (me, usually) gets in the way.
I've not been coasting, (hell, I got married and published my first book of poetry) but I feel like I haven't been cocaine-hunter-s-thompsoning productive either.
So why am I posting?
Because I did something silly.
Someone once told me that when I finished the three books in three months challenge, there was no payoff because I did not SELL the damn books. I did not write about my publishing journey. Well, the irony is I'm only as of last year even shopping around Children of the Pantheon. Yeah, it took me five fucking years and a pandemic to edit and market my novel.
But what they said cut me really deep. It made me feel like I had no follow-through. That I am a fuck up and a disappointment if I'm being honest.
Truth is, if writing was hard, putting myself out there was harder. Far scarier. I perform live, constantly, and it still makes me nervous, but I can control the audience to some degree, I'm there to see it happen, to make the energy work. But publishing, with the random comments, the rejections, the unseen judgment? The failure? It was scary. And I was exhausted from...well...writing three books in three months.
I wanted to play video games and eat Mickey-D's for three more months.
So why am I posting now? After all this time?
Because I did something silly.
My dear friend, from BallerIndustries, an indie video game company, put out a challenge. We both write a book in one month. And MARKET it for two months. The challenge is a competition. Whoever sells more copies wins.
The loser throws the winner an epic book launch party, even if they only sold 25 copies in the end. And on top of that the loser dedicates their book to them. The loser foots the bill and organizes the bacchanalia.
So this time, it’s one book in one month, and sales for two. In other words, follow through. I'm going to deliver on what I did not six years ago.
We start May 1st. I know what I'm writing about. It's board game freakin' fan fiction. Sort of. It's post-colonial literature, sort of. It's fucking rich assholes melding their minds with hawks while they play cricket and debate the latest bill on slavery in parliament, sort of.
It's kind of bonkers, sort of.
So this time, it's One book, Three months, Face off.
And you know what? One post a day, as well. For all three months. Maybe now that I'm middle aged (almost) and got a bit o' gray in my beard, I'm past my sell by date. Maybe I've been worn down by the rejections, the constant stream of critical voices both internal and external, the sheer weight of perpetual anonymity that has crushed my artistic ambition. Maybe I haven't got much of a chance and this is really just a juggling act by an amateur at the local shit show.
Or maybe I'm just bloodydamn manic.
Because if there's one thing that motivates me more than a crazy-ass challenge people say I cannot do, It's competing with someone else.
So off we go, and I humbly invite you to partake on the journey. Call it writing inspo. Or voyeurism. Or reality-blogging (as if there is any other kind). Writing is Blind Season 1. Selling Plotsettings Season 2. Too Novel To Handle, The Reunion.
Expect posts not just about writing, but about publishing. About making some dough. Or failing to. I have no idea how to go about this. I'm going to find out. For three more months.
Thanks for reading, pal. Sign up for updates. Smash that whatever. No cap. Deadass. Let's 2025 post-pandemic-pro-pronoun-produce some hacky trash.
We're off to the races.
Sub here folks, and get updates, and maybe even buy the damn thing when its done: https://www.vishnanda.com/subscribe-1
And write on.
(If you like my jam, subscribe here for updates on the book and for scones)