Category: Podcast

State of the Dread: Aug 13-19

Choose the form of the destroyer.

WRITING

Knocked out a solid 3k on SIC SEMPER TYRANNOSAURUS, a Silas Proctor adventure. I got the proof back for SHERIFF PORTER and it needed work so I also fixed that.

READING

I’m struggling, cats. But I did finish YUMI AND THE NIGHTMARE PAINTER with a review on CrackerStack. This week I’m knocking out a bunch of shorter reads that I’ve been meaning to get to.

DRAWING

Not much to offer here, I did a tiny bit of work on the HOWLING WILDERNESS thumbnail but nothing to show.

AUDIO

New Radcracker.  Subscribe on Apple, Google, or Spotify.

VIDEO

The big one was my review of LIGHT BRINGER, which hasn’t gotten as much traction as the Red Rising recap, but has also gotten far fewer idiotic comments on it, which is nice.

FITNESS

Got as low as 216, so I’m clearing out the basement as it were. Annoying that I was 205 about a year ago, and since then it’s only gone up. I’m doing research into a carnivore diet because it’s been too strenuous to make IF work with my sleep/labor cycle. I can’t afford to bonk at work.

Also I buggered up my palm so pushups suck right now, nevertheless I powered through and did 560 to get me up to 16,000 for the year. 500 per week is my floor. This week it’s my goal to weigh under 215 again.

You know the drill, go buy one of my books and then get back to work.

State of the Dread: Aug 6-12

Are you reading the Book of Mormon on the regular? One ought to.

WRITING

Biggest news here: SHERIFF PORTER is in the final stages of production. Proof copy comes this week. I was going to start drafting SIC SEMPER TYRANNOSAURUS but didn’t get my butt in the writing chair. I shall repent of my creative fatness.

READING

I literally only finished one book this week. It was LIGHT BRINGER and I have been raking in the views on YouTube with my Red Rising content. Lol. The problem was that book infuriated me so much that I didn’t really get into anything else.

I did start a thriller that I haven’t finished but is so far pretty good. I spent a lot of this week listening to music. Alestorm, which is another Napalm Records band, is pirate-themed metal, and while I’ve tried their music before with poor results, I found some other tracks of theirs this week that were cool. I also came across Beast in Black and I really like their sound.

Most of all I just listened to Angus McSix and the Sword of Power over and over. That’s my jam this summer. No ragrets.

This week I’m back on the reading wagon. I’ll finish the thriller, then read SON OF THE BLACK SWORD, and start on INHERITANCE by Paolini. I don’t plan to read a ton of it this week. It’s a primer for MURTAUGH which comes out in November. Oh, and I guess I should read that new Sanderson that I didn’t get to last month.

DRAWING

Mostly finishing the SP cover for the paperback. Check it.

AUDIO

New Radcracker.  Subscribe on Apple, Google, or Spotify.

VIDEO

I did an introduction video for the channel, just to have one on the home page. The big video was my review of ISOM #2, which got a lot of interaction from Eric July’s fans. Very thrilled with how that one turned out.

FITNESS

I ain’t doing all this math, I’m just glad the average is ticking downward. I’ve more or less dropped 2 of the 6 pounds I gained in Texas, haha. I’ll have the damage undone by the end of August.

The bigger problem is, I’ve lost all motivation to do push-ups. #PectoCracker has stalled and the engine needs to start again. Thus it is that I’m allowing myself to go back to 20-rep sets because I know I can blast them out easy, and I’ll just aggregate until I get back into the mindset of doing sets of 30 or 40. And don’t even ask me about AbCracker, I just suck. I can blame the humidity, the bigger culprit is my sleep cycle has been all out of whack the last two weeks.

Our dog escaped on Friday and my wife woke me up mid-nap to go find her. So that was a bit of an emotional thing, and I didn’t go back to sleep until way late. Screwed up my Saturday and now I’m in recovery mode Sunday. I’ll get there, it’s just annoying. Glad we found our dog and made friends with a neighbor.

Aiight, that’s enough you scoundrels, go buy one of my books and then get back to work.

State of the Dread: July 16-22

How to defend your own virginity

WRITING

I worked on the outline for SIC SEMPER TYRANNOSAURUS and I like where it’s headed. Upstream is on vacation for the rest of the summer, so nothing over there. The guys were talking this week about adding some variety to the content. I think I have a good idea for it and I’ll take a shot this week.

READING

Finished JOHNNY TREMAIN, it was great again. Also read Animorphs #36 and RAPTOR RED (see below.) I got 60% of the way through DARK AGE before I screamed many swears in my head and yeeted the book into the sun.

There won’t be a Radcracker next week because I will spend every day in the car recording segments on why the original Red Rising series was great, but that book $@#%ed up everything.

I’m now reading AMERICAN PROMETHEUS, the biography of J.R. Oppenheimer.

DRAWING

Lots of thumbnail progress on HOWLING WILDERNESS. See them all on Instagram. Got a few more thumbs to crank out and then it’s time to evaluate where I’m at on that project.

AUDIO

New Radcracker, as one does. Subscribe on Apple, Google, or Spotify.

VIDEO

Still haven’t done the Hero’s Journey episode. I did record a video on Robert T. Bakker’s RAPTOR RED, a mid-90s novel written from a dinosaur’s POV. It’s not bad.

The audio I’m recording for the Red Rising review will go toward a video for next week. Also, don’t tell anyone, but I’ve had a few more cool ideas for a weekly show. It’s not ready to take shape just yet, I’m working out the kinks organically.

FITNESS

I came down with a cold last weekend and it swept the leg on me. As such, I shelved AbCracker and only did 150 pushups, just enough to get me to 15,000 for the year.

I think I’m not going to do them at work anymore. It’s not like the sets take a long time, but mentally it’s just one more damn thing to do, and if I focus instead on going fast and kicking @$$, that’ll keep me just a little more sane. Plus I can do push-ups in the shop with my kids after dinner.

Got my weight back under 215 and spent a little less at gas stations. Chipping away at the addiction.

Get back to work.

State of the Dread: July 9-15

THE DRAGON AWARDS ARE OPEN FOR NOMINATING. I don’t have any books that released in the window necessary for nomination (July last year through June this year.) Unfortunate, but oh well. Go read this Upstream post to see what we recommend for nominations. The post does leave off ANDOR as a viable TV candidate, so I recommend putting that in for that category.

WRITING

Outside of a review at Upstream, nothing this week, due to poor schedule management plus exhaustion from a couple of bad days at work. Oklahoma humidity continues to be a revelation. From the low desert of Nevada to the high desert of Utah, I have a lifetime acclimation to dry heat, and I need to re-learn everything I know in order to thrive in this environment. Plus I’m almost 39. So.

Anyway, this week my plan is to take a night and write the outline for SIC SEMPER TYRANNOSAURUS, a Silas Proctor adventure.

READING

I finished THE CROSSING, NINE PRINCES IN AMBER, and IRON GOLD (second reading.) The 6th Red Rising book comes out in 2 weeks so I’m going to burn through DARK AGE just because I effing hate that book and I want it in the rear view.

This week I’m reading JOHNNY TREMAIN, YUMI AND THE NIGHTMARE PAINTER, ANIMORPHS: THE MUTATION, and DARK AGE. I will not finish DARK AGE this week. Oh well.

DRAWING

Lots of thumbnail work for HOWLING WILDERNESS, I’m very pleased. This week I will finish the thumbnails. After that I’m taking a break before jumping in on the digital drawings, because the funds for SHERIFF PORTER came in, and I need to work on fulfillment for the campaign.

AUDIO

New Radcracker, available on the usual spots. I talked about THE CROSSING and Pacific Rim. Subscribe on Apple, Google, or Spotify.

VIDEO

Other than a short one on Independence Day, I didn’t get a video together this week. But the channel did hit 1200 subs for the first time, and 3k watch hours. Thank you guys!

FITNESS

Only managed 750 pushups. The humidity and the 5-day schedule really swept the leg on me and it’s all adding up. The total on PectoCracker is 14,850. I really wanted to get it to 15k last week. Alas.

Also, AbCracker didn’t quite pan out. I’m not as psychologically dialed in on that, so I’ll recommit this week and see what happens. I really need to cut back on the sugar, this has been a junk food summer for sure.

Cease to be fat and get back to work.

State of the Dread: Jan 22-28

Sup. I drive a Durango. We get after it.

Writing

DONE! The beta draft of HOWLING WILDERNESS is in the wind. Getting feedback already and it’s productive. I’m not touching the draft again until after February. If you want to read the first chapter, it’s up on CrackerStack. Subscribe while you’re there, I’ve moved book reviews to that site.

This week I’m planning/outlining scripts for a new series of videos, the old Tales from the Road series I did on the podcast. It’ll cover the same material but I’m punching it up for fun. Feels like I’ve talked about that before, it’s my actual focus right now.

Also, fun thing: my friend Savannah was passing through Texas and saw this on a shelf at a gift shop, she said it reminded her of me, haha. I laugh because that’s more or less what one of my main characters looks like, from a book she hasn’t read yet.

Reading

I finished a couple of things. GHOSTS OF ZENITH by Larry Correia was great, the review is pending at Upstream. Started reading MAXIMUM BOB by Elmore Leonard, but didn’t care for the content so I punted. THE OLD GODS WAKEN by Manly Wade Wellman was entertaining, the review is on CrackerStack. Ditto for my reread of THE QUICK AND THE DEAD by L’Amour.

I’m currently reading WARLORD by Doc Spears. It’s almost exactly a rewrite of A PRINCESS OF MARS, which has me concerned, but I expect there will be a twist or revelation to justify it. Should finish it Monday, that review will be on Upstream.

Once that’s done, I’m reading THE HUNT FOR RED OCTOBER. If I finish it, I will start my third reading of EMPIRE OF SILENCE by Christopher Ruocchio. Still picking through AMERICAN MUCKRAKER when I have time. Very good book.

Drawing

Still working on the personal project, it’ll be finished this month. I’m having fun.

Video

New one here, and I’m very grateful for the responses. I had an announcement to make.

Also, instead of doing a “what I read this year” video in December, I’m going to do a monthly breakdown. As of right now I’ve finished 11 titles (thanks, audiobooks, haha) so that’ll be more manageable.

Audio

Normal thing, new episode of Radcracker dropped.

Fitness

I’m at 1500 pushups for the year and feeling awesome. The hard part is avoiding the temptation to do more too soon. Every week it gets easier to blast out a set of 20. This is my final week at 20, once Feb 1st rolls around I switch to 25, and keeping count will be more intensive. Big thanks to the bois in the Fat Chat for helping with that.

But once again I missed the second PE session with my kids. I resolve to hit that one this week. So easy to be lazy on a Friday.

State of the Dread: January 15-22

There’s a reason they call it the pectoralis major.

Writing

As promised, I finished draft 2 of HOWLING WILDERNESS. I need to make a final sweep of it just to make sure it’s formatted correctly for the betas. Once that’s finished I’m gonna do some edits on SHERIFF PORTER, that will be my next paperback release. I might not get to it this week though.

Reading

I finished HELL AND BACK, TRESS OF THE EMERALD SEA, AN HONEST PRESIDENT, and THE MAGNIFICENT NINE. That’s a Longmire book, a Sanderson Kickstarter book (which I’ll review on Upstream), a presidential bio I covered over on the CrackerStack, and a Firefly novel which will be up there shortly.

This week I’m rereading LOST PLANET HOMICIDE by Correia, so I can read its sequel GHOSTS OF ZENITH. Both are audio shorts. After that I have THE QUICK AND THE DEAD by L’Amour, and then I’m tackling a Conan collection by Robert E. Howard.

I was reading the ebook edition of a Lady Mechanika book but honestly I’m just done with that series. Vol6 was really lousy and vol7 is not an improvement. Fond memories, time to move on.

I’m still working my way through AMERICAN MUCKRAKER when I have time.

Drawing

Nothing super groundbreaking. Here’s a sketch I did a few weeks ago, which I am now digitizing. It’s just for fun and not from a current project.

Audio

The latest episode of Radcracker is up.

Video

Nothing here. I’m thinking of doing a few videos based on THE LAW OF SUPERHEROES, just for fun.

Fitness

I did another 500 pushups last week to bring me to 1,000 on the year. The goal is 25k but I’m adding 500 every month. Right now, for example, I do 5×20, but in February I’ll start doing 5×25. And so on and so on. By December I’ll be at 75 per set. It’s gonna be brutal.

One problem I’m having right now is I only do 1 PE session in my shop per week, and I need to do two. So I’m committing to that here. I’m also going to get up early on my days off and exercise out there.

Onward and upward.

State of the Dread: January 8-14

He’s a cool dude.

Writing

It pleases me to announce that I will finish draft 2 of HOWLING WILDERNESS this week. Once it is done I will contact beta readers for feedback, and I won’t touch it for six weeks.

While it is down, I will publish at least one paperback edition of an old project.

Reading

Last week I read GOD EMPEROR OF DUNE, HOGS IN THE SAND, and INTO THE LIGHT. There is a review pending on that last one at UpstreamReviews.com.

This week I have HELL AND BACK, TRESS OF THE EMERALD SEA, and AN HONEST PRESIDENT on deck. If I blast them all out, MAGNIFICENT NINE will probably happen too.

That’s a Longmire book, a Sanderson KickstarterX4 book, a bio of Grover Cleveland, and a Firefly novel.

Drawing

Toying with new Radcracker art.

Audio

The GI Joe thing is fun and cool, but I think there is still something weird going on with Radcracker. My most recent episode hit 5100 plays in 3 days. Then it stopped. The episode right before that was just about as fast. I’m entering a beta phase with Anchor on ads, so I’m not making any money off the listens. I’ll have to find another way to earn money off it.

Video

Channel link here. Didn’t do one last week. I’d like to this week, I just don’t know what about. Then again it’s about as simple as grabbing a book off my shelf, sitting down in the shop, and flapping my lips about it. Y’all know I can do that for a solid twenty minutes.

Fitness

I did 500 pushups at work, which is less than it sounds because it was 100 per day, in sets of 20. It was cool though. Follow on Twitter, hashtag #PectoCracker

This week I want to do a few more iso sessions in Fortress Fatphobia. I only did one, I’m aiming for three now.

State of the Dread: January 1-7, 2023

My wife knitted this scarf for me a couple of years ago, and since the Pottermore quiz sorted me into Ravenclaw, she added the patch. It is a lovely gift and I love whipping it out at Christmas.

Writing

I owe a Round Robin chapter to my friend Nate, so I need to get on that. Once it’s done, I’ll finish a draft of HOWLING WILDERNESS and set it aside.

I started a Substack. It’s called the CrackerStack. It replaces my Patreon, because you can do a paid subscription there and I’ll put some paywalled posts every month. Otherwise it’ll be for book and movie reviews.

State of the Dread will now be a weekly accountability segment. I’ll still share other things here.

As always, hit up Upstream Reviews for fiction reviews.

Reading

Gonna blast the absolute daylights out of a lot of books. This week I will finish GOD EMPEROR OF DUNE, HOGS IN THE SAND, and INTO THE LIGHT on audio. If I have time, I’ll read AN HONEST PRESIDENT.

I’ve also got a new Lady Mechanika graphic novel to read from the library. Used to own those in print, but I sold them all after volume 6. Long story. I’ll post about it on the CrackerStack.

My ongoing reads in print are AMERICAN MUCKRAKER and SAVING FAITH.

Drawing

I sketched this at Church this morning.

Video

My latest on the channel, which you should sub to here:

Audio

Always sub to the Radcracker Podcast. I record those in the car on the way home. Slice-of-life, what’s on my mind, that sort of thing. It’s funny and insightful and I love doing it.

Fitness

I’m in a fatchat with some gordo bros who are looking to lose weight. Very exclusive, you can’t get in, don’t ask. This week I’m doing 100 push ups per day, counting my calories, and working on stretching my useless arm so that it’s better.

Video proof of the push-ups will be in my Instagram stories every day.

Projects for 2023

Guys, I’m planning an end-of-year bash on the channel (subscribe!) where I will announce what I’m going to publish/produce/accomplish next year. Here are the categories

Reading: Fewer books, but longer ones. Average one per week or so. This will include the current four Stormlight Archive volumes, biographies on Jefferson Davis and Robert Rogers, and a huge lineup of artbooks that I’m behind on reading.

Writing: I will publish ENGINES OF MERYKA: HOWLING WILDERNESS, as well as the print/illustrated editions of SHERIFF PORTER and ANSWERABLE COURAGE.

Drawing: I’ll have my hands full doing illustrations for three books. One way to make that manageable will be to limit the amount of art I put in each one. I’m thinking eight total for the shorter books (not including the cover art) and no more than fifteen for HOWLING WILDERNESS. I’ll have to be very strict with my schedule.

Video: Production on video content will be regularlized. There will be at least one weekly video on my channel, reviewing a book or weighing in on something generally.

Audio: The Radcracker Podcast will continue, with new art and a more rigid format, so that the content is (frankly) better.

2023 is going to be a big year for me. I’m done moving, my schedule is consistent, and with my time consumption being predictable, I can dial in my meaningful creations with greater speed. I reserve the right to change any of this stuff as needed. Stay tuned.