In the Shadow of Fallen Towers

[SimonM]

I have launched a new project. In the Shadow of Fallen Towers is a high-concept blend of Wuxia and conventional post apocalyptic Sci-fi available exclusively through the url below. This experimental novel is going up in unedited first draft and is open to comments. I am crowd-sourcing the review and editorial process, allowing my readership to help shape the end result. Get in on the ground floor of this innovative literary project now and help bring Wuxia to the English literary world.

Link in my sig.

[SimonM]

Chapter two is up.

[SimonM]

Chapter 3 is up.

[Dragonzbane76]

awesome i'll try and get to it and read through.

[SimonM]

Thanks! And don't forget to comment. It's a first draft and a big part of the "experimental" aspect of this book is the crowd-sourcing aspect of review and editorial work. ;)

[SimonM]

Hi there guys,

I am really hoping to get some good conversations going so, what can I say, I'm going to bribe you.

Here's what I am going to do:

Every time you place a comment on any chapter of In the Shadow of Fallen Towers ( (on the blog please rather than here, so that everybody can see it) I'm going to enter your name in a draw. After the first draft ends I will be sending a highly limited edition (there will be five of them), personalized e-book copy of the first draft to five people selected at random from my comment pool.

When the commercial draft of the book is complete I'll go back to that pool of contestants and draw one name. That person will receive a signed print copy of the book.

[SimonM]

Chapter 4 is live now. Check it out!

[SimonM]

Chapter 5 is live!

[Brule]

Simon,

How do you post a comment to the blog? Do i have to create an account? Sorry, but i just can't find the info.

[SimonM]

Click on the link that says how many comments there are already. When you have done that you will be redirected to a page with just the post you want to comment on and a box for putting your comments in. It'll give you a variety of ways to sign the comment or, IIRC the option to post anonymously. As a note anonymous comments will not be entered into the contest for self-evident reasons. ;)

[SimonM]

Chapter 6 is live for your reading pleasure.

[SimonM]

I redesigned the layout of the page a little bit for ease of navigation. Check it out.

[Zenshiite]

Just looking at the thread it seems we have had similar story ideas Simon. I'm no writer though, I have been kicking around a similar post-apocalyptic wuxia comic/graphic novel idea for quite some time.

I'll let you know when I get around to reading a bit.

[SimonM]

It is just about the best setting, other than the original, to transpose the Jianghu into.

I'm having a lot of fun with it. I have about 3 novels worth of material for Walking the Radiant Trail (including 1 complete novel I'm trying to sell) and now started on this new project.

If you are looking at doing the art for a graphic novel project perhaps we should discuss collaboration.

[SimonM]

Better late than never - Chapter 7 is live.

After 1 week I've completed 11881 words of "In the Shadow of Fallen Towers"

[Zenshiite]

It is just about the best setting, other than the original, to transpose the Jianghu into.

I'm having a lot of fun with it. I have about 3 novels worth of material for Walking the Radiant Trail (including 1 complete novel I'm trying to sell) and now started on this new project.

If you are looking at doing the art for a graphic novel project perhaps we should discuss collaboration.

It's actually an artist I'd need. I could probably more easily write a comic script than prose is my main problem.

[SimonM]

It does seem like dependable artists are harder to find than enthusiastic writers.

[SimonM]

Ok folks, Chapter 8 is up. And I've finally stopped dithering around establishing the characters and gone into a bit of Kung Fu - you know, that part of the Wuxia equation.

Chapter is a bit long but, by the end we'll have a duel, a 2 on 1 duel, and rumours of a hidden manual.

[Lucas]

try scouting some colleges, you can find some great talent and commission for those people would be considerably less since you can exploit the fact they are still students :eek: ;) :D

[SimonM]

try scouting some colleges, you can find some great talent and commission for those people would be considerably less since you can exploit the fact they are still students :eek: ;) :D

What I had in mind, (and apparently Zenshiite too) would be more along the lines of collaboration than commission, but your point is well received.

[Lucas]

its my plan ;) i write too. lol i have 3 projects im working on, one horror, one sci fi(joint project), and one sci fi/fantasy...the horror is looking very much to go the way of the graphic novel....and i need that done chhhheaaappp

i think i will start reading your online book on monday...id much rather get paid to do that than work ;)

[SimonM]

its my plan ;) i write too. lol i have 3 projects im working on, one horror, one sci fi(joint project), and one sci fi/fantasy...the horror is looking very much to go the way of the graphic novel....and i need that done chhhheaaappp

i think i will start reading your online book on monday...id much rather get paid to do that than work ;)

LOL Thanks! Got plenty of content up now to read too. :D

[Lucas]

sweet, I think maybe I'll start this weekend so I have a good start to be able to more adequately 'slack off' at work. :D

I do have a question for you. How does having your book online like this work? Are you able to make money by doing this or are you simply donating your art to the public? Do you like having your book online?

[SimonM]

Right now it's donating my art to the public only. The first draft is FULLY free and will continue to be fully free in perpetuity, as will the second draft.

It's a first draft - it still has typographical errors in it. I wouldn't ASK for money.

I do get enough ad revenue from project wonderful to cover the cost of online advertising but that amounts to about. $0.01 a day.

When the 1st draft is finished I'll be revising it, reposting the 2nd draft, revising it again and putting the 3rd draft out as an e-book and a print-on-demand paperback.

Then I might make a bit of money - if I'm lucky.

But right now I just figured - what the hell - it'll be some time before Walking the Radiant Trail sees the light of day since I'm going the conventional publishing route and I got into the whole writing thing because I like to tell stories. Might as well just tell one.

[SimonM]

Chapter 9 is up. The third chapter in the Kyle arc.

[SimonM]

Chapter 10 is up. I've now brought Kieran's arc chronologically to within a day of everybody else's through a training montage!

[SimonM]

Chapter 11 is up as Savannah carries the stricken Dave Boyd on a harrowing journey through the Long Dark.

[SimonM]

Chapter 12 is available for your reading pleasure.

[Lucas]

Right now it's donating my art to the public only. The first draft is FULLY free and will continue to be fully free in perpetuity, as will the second draft.

It's a first draft - it still has typographical errors in it. I wouldn't ASK for money.

I do get enough ad revenue from project wonderful to cover the cost of online advertising but that amounts to about. $0.01 a day.

When the 1st draft is finished I'll be revising it, reposting the 2nd draft, revising it again and putting the 3rd draft out as an e-book and a print-on-demand paperback.

Then I might make a bit of money - if I'm lucky.

But right now I just figured - what the hell - it'll be some time before Walking the Radiant Trail sees the light of day since I'm going the conventional publishing route and I got into the whole writing thing because I like to tell stories. Might as well just tell one.

word thats pretty bad ass...i might have to consider doing that just to get some fire under my ass.

[SimonM]

So far it has been amazing fun - and I've been happier with this story than anything I've done previously.

Oh, and the webnovel provides an immediacy to the occasional piece of fan-mail which is awesome for the occasional late-night ego stroke.

[SimonM]

Chapter 13 is up, and it's a doozy.

[SimonM]

Chapter 14 is up now.

I did a word count. I've written 12755 words this week (an average of 1822 a day). The total word-length of the story is now 24667 which means if I use a standard-length novel I'm 1/4 of the way through. Considering what's happened this is about right.

[SimonM]

Chapter 15 is available now.

[SimonM]

Hi guys,

Chapter 16 is available now. Chapter 17 is set on a timer to go up at midnight. It's officially the Sunday post because, looking at my time over the weekend I had time to write 2 chapters today but wasn't sure I had any time to write on Sunday.

Hope you enjoy.

[SimonM]

Chapter 17 is live now.

[SimonM]

Chapter 18 is up.

That means I managed 4 chapters over the 3 days of the long weekend. I promised a bonus chapter if I got 10 people commenting and, well, I got 5 commenters on the blog itself, 7 critiques on critique circle, 1 comment on facebook, 1 comment on G+ and a few here... I figure that is easily equal to 10 on-blog responses so I produced as promised.
Enjoy.

[SimonM]

Chapter 19 introduces Dianxue to the story

[SimonM]

Chapter 20 is up and I am now officially being (ineffectively) censored by facebook for "questionable content."

Ten to one says it's the half-page sex scene and not the pages and pages of martial arts violence that did it.

[GeneChing]

That's quite an honor, Simon. Congrats! Because we all know, facebook (http://www.facebook.com/pages/Kung-Fu-Tai-Chi-Magazine/135964689362) is not about sex. We all left that behind on MySpace (http://www.myspace.com/kungfumagazine/). :D

[SimonM]

Funny thing is that I managed to get FB to reverse the block. It all just seems strange and random and arbitrary now.

[SimonM]

Chapter 21 is live, now with a poll!

[SimonM]

Chapter 22 is live.

[SimonM]

Chapter 23 is up and Kieran and Savannah have finally met. :p

[SimonM]

In Chapter 24, continuing in the theme of meetings, Sophie and Kyle meet somebody they didn't expect.

[SimonM]

In Chapter 25 Kieran and Savannah go looking for Saul Shatterfield.

[SimonM]

In Chapter 26 Savannah meets a lost friend.

[SimonM]

In Chapter 27 all of our POV characters reluctantly join forces to escape the Defilers of the Twilight Shops.

[SimonM]

Chapter 28 is up. In the Shadow of Fallen Towers is now 49000 words long and 2 chapters short of the official 1/2 way mark in the story arc.

That means 2 things:

1) provided I manage at least 1000 words in the next 3 days I'll have hit the NANOWRIMO mark for word count.

2) I can estimate that the final length of the novel will be 105000 words based on an average chapter length of 1750 chapters and 60 chapters planned in the outline.

It's still not too late to start reading the story though. I hope you do.

[SimonM]

Chapter 29 is up. It MAY be the last chapter until Monday as I've got a convention I'm attending from Friday until Sunday and may have neither the time nor the sobriety to write much.

[SimonM]

Back from a 3 day hiatus In the Shadow of Fallen Towers Ch. 30 focuses on Kyle as he returns with Dave Boyd as his prisoner.

[SimonM]

Chapter 31 has Kieran and Savannah scrambling to save his uncle.

[sanjuro_ronin]

There are those of us that prefer to read something when it is finished and for those, perhaps NOT telling us what is happening will keep our interest more...just saying...

When will the novel be done?

[SimonM]

There should be a complete manuscript in about one month. Then about 2 months to do the first round of revisions for the final free draft. Then another month or so for the final round of revisions for the pay-version.

And I never give you enough in those 1 sentence things to really do anything but whet your interest but if you like I'll put in spoiler blocking in the future. :)

[sanjuro_ronin]

There should be a complete manuscript in about one month. Then about 2 months to do the first round of revisions for the final free draft. Then another month or so for the final round of revisions for the pay-version.

Keep us posted fuc-nuts.

[SimonM]

You know I will. ;)

[SimonM]

Chapter 32 is up. Spoiler-ish description in the brackets. <Discussions of Defilers, Poisons and Secret Societies. Savannah learns a secret.>

[SimonM]

Chapter 33 is up. Spoilerish description in the brackets <As he struggles to save Sophie's life Kyle deals with issues of loyalty and betrayal.>

[SimonM]

Chapter 35 is up, no spoilerish text today. Just a reminder that I do post a content advisory in the upper left-hand corner. :D

[SimonM]

Chapter 36 is up.

[SimonM]

Chapter 37 is up.

[SimonM]

Chapter 38 is up.

[SimonM]

Chapters 39 and 40 are both available now.

[SimonM]

Chapter 41 is up now.

I'm going to be out of town over the weekend so I've set chapters 42 and 43 to go up automatically at 1AM EST Saturday and Sunday.

[SimonM]

The auto-updates worked so the chapters 42 and 43 went up fine over the weekend, also chapter 44 is now available.

[SimonM]

Chapter 45 is up.

[SimonM]

Chapter 46 comes with an entire site-design revamp!

[SimonM]

Now up to Chapter 51. Check it out.

[SimonM]

Up to Chapter 54 now guys.

[SimonM]

Chapter 60 is in the can. Draft 1 is complete. Chapter 59 is set to auto-load at midnight EST tonight, Chapter 60 will auto-load at midnight EST tomorrow night.

On Tuesday I'll be discussing some changes to the website structure, including ways of accessing all of Draft 1 while the Draft 2 chapters are going up on the landing page, and will be doing the draw for the draft 1 contest.

On Wednesday the edits will begin!

[Dragonzbane76]

sounds like your chugging along at a good pace. :) Hope it turns out well.

[SimonM]

Yup, 1st draft is done! Nothing like a complete manuscript to give you a warm, fuzzy feeling.

[Dragonzbane76]

how much interest have you generated through the website your posting on if you don't mind me asking?

[SimonM]

Do you mean through Kungfumagazine.com?

In the last month kungfumagazine.com represented 29 visits and was my 6th highest referring site.

When I redesigned the website, there was a little glitch with my analytics and it didn't record my stats for about a day and a half, so the actual number may be a little bit higher.

[SimonM]

Just a periodic update - there are now 6 draft 2 chapters posted and the complete draft 1 is accessible through a link at the top of the landing page.

[Dragonzbane76]

Do you mean through Kungfumagazine.com?


not really but it has some affect. My meaning was of posting on the net in general. Are you getting good feed back? Has the feed back affected your writing and ideas on the story? stuff like that.

I was considering doing something like this. I've wrote a great deal on a story I have and was curious at your success and feelings on it.

[SimonM]

not really but it has some affect. My meaning was of posting on the net in general. Are you getting good feed back? Has the feed back affected your writing and ideas on the story? stuff like that.

I was considering doing something like this. I've wrote a great deal on a story I have and was curious at your success and feelings on it.

Ok, I see what you are saying.

Let's put it this way: With an advertising budget of $5 I've, in the last month, managed to have 620 visits representing 390 unique visitors. These visitors represented more than 1500 pageviews with each pageview averaging 4 minutes.

In other words, in the last month, almost 400 people read at least part of my webnovel.

[SimonM]

A little update on my quest to get a martial arts fantasy novel out into the world. I just got a request from a small press in Canada to see the complete manuscript for The Black Trillium (a successor to the Shadow of Fallen Towers webnovel project). IT's not a book deal yet but it's progress!

[SimonM]

Ok, so I just signed a contract for the Black Trillium. I've got a book deal - and a Kung Fu novel is getting published in a North American market!

[mickey]

Congratulations!!

I wish you much continued success.

mickey

[SimonM]

Hi all,

The Black Trillium will be available from Brain Lag Publishing in all major digital formats and trade paperback on June 27. Squee! Nine days!

For anybody in the Toronto area there'll be a launch party on July 11.

[Mor Sao]

cool.

Congrats!

[David Jamieson]

Hi all,

The Black Trillium will be available from Brain Lag Publishing in all major digital formats and trade paperback on June 27. Squee! Nine days!

For anybody in the Toronto area there'll be a launch party on July 11.

That's great!
Congratulations and I hope you do well!