Hey again! Well, I migrated the website to a new server, and all is smooth so far. I am going to be completely overhauling the look and feel of the site over the next few months, but for now everything is functioning as intended.
You can now purchase physical copies of the Subject 218 books, the EPUB versions will be a little longer, as they need to get approval from LuLu before distribution.
Thanks for being patient!
Thomas
Here we go again!
I received my first test prints of the books, and whilst I loved how they looked I felt there was some room to improve them. I have already corrected Operation: HUNT DOWN and have officially released it from the depths of my brain-closet for you to enjoy. Or maybe take Tim’s advice if you don’t like it, and burn it. I’m sure he’d really like either of those options.
You can buy a physical copy of Volume 1, or an EPUB version, on various online book stores. You can also go direct to my page at LuLu and grab it from the source, which I would recommend since they offer some great discounts on their printing.
If you notice anything I may have missed in any of my books, be it a typo or random additional space between words, please let me know; I combed over the books for nearly three months but I am not perfect, but still wish for my works to be. Future books already have a proof-reader on board now, no more waiting a year just to get a book out of the draft stage!
I am already working on getting the new changes made to Code-name: BLOODHOUND so that it too can be made available in the store. I have also renamed the series to “Subject 218” to make it look less cluttered on the covers, but it can still be referred to as either.
Thomas
Greetings viewers (and soon to be readers, I hope!)
First and foremost, I want to thank you for your patience; it’s been a rough few years, both in writing and in my daily life, but progress is finally starting to show.
The website is still hosted on an inferior server, but this is temporary and I am still looking for a better alternative. In the meantime, please expect a reduction in images on display, and files for download.
Now, onto the crux of the topic; the first books!
If you’re a regular on the site, you may have noticed some significant changes to the Novel pages…let me explain these first before talking about the actual books themselves.
Okay! Now the publishing side…as previously stated on The Tale of Tim page (formerly HUNT DOWN) it was due to be the first published book that isn’t a children’s novel, and this remained true. Both volumes of this story are available for both EPUB and physical purchase (or will be very soon), so please feel free to take a look. You can go direct to the books purchase page by clicking the title of the volume you want on the Series page.
Next on the roster are the first 3 volumes of Jinimaru Folklore, plus A Beginners Guide to Jinimaru, but they all need artwork and at the moment I am prioritising artwork for the website, so they will likely not be out until later this year.
Thank you again for being very, VERY, patient…and enjoy the books!
Thomas
It’s finally coming next year…the Guide I have been working on for the past 5 years, or 18 years if you want to be VERY precise, will be ready for digital publishing…as will, of course, the first volume of the Folklore.
Hunt Down is still ready for the final polishing it needs to be published as well, but it is missing all of its artwork…I’ll get on that right away and if I am lucky it will be ready for release before next year (I doubt it though!)
Thank you all for waiting, I just feel relieved it is finally happening.
Thomas
Greetings all, I have not updated my status for a while, huh? That’s because of a few things…
I have a Job!
I started work in August and boy, is it busy! I end up so exhausted that I barely have time or energy to make or draw anything, but that leads on to something else…
The site is getting an upgrade!
Whilst I may be super busy working, it hasn’t stopped me doing other work on the website or future content, it has just slowed it down. But now with the funds coming in I am now able to expand my server size to have a better looking site, with more items for sale in the store. This upgrade will come gradually, so don’t expect everything to come all at once.
The books are coming out of draft!
Two of my books drafts are 100% finished and are now in the proof-reading stage, however one is still missing much needed artwork (The Jinimaru Guide). As for the others, they are either 50% drafted or have only been briefed out.
I can confirm that Hunt Down is the other book out of Draft phase, and will be the first None-Guide related book to be released in the store. I am looking to get it out before New Year, but that is providing I don’t hit any further delays because of work or from missing artwork.
So that’s this major update out of the way, I hope to have something to show for you all in the next update! Thanks again for being patient.
Thomas
I managed to work out a method of reformatting my documents to EPUB, the format most commonly accepted/supported for E-Readers, after some much hard work and late nights editing code.
I can now say with certainty that digital copies of everything will be available as originally planned once again, however the Jinimaru Guide has images that are difficult to view in black and white, so whilst an EPUB form is provided for the Guide I will also be adding a PDF copy with it for people to view on their computers and colour tablets.
I will keep you all updated with the progress of the guide, and expect not only the Guide and Compiliation to be finished before the end of the year, but also Hunt Down and Donisaur.
Thomas Edwards
I have been working hard to get the Jiniamru Compilation done, now that the Guide is finished, but have recently run into a slur of problems regarding formatting for E-Readers.
The text document is formatting correctly to PDF, but when transferred to an E-Reader the formatting is lost and the writing becomes difficult to follow; until further notice there is no certainty of any of the books being available on E-Readers.
Due to the lack of colour on many E-Readers it is also highly unlikely the Jinimaru Guide will be available on it, as some images that are used to display locations on Earth the Maru inhabit do not display any clear information in black and white. I intend on having the first instalment of the Compilation available on E-Readers once the formatting problem is resolved, but again for now it is an uncertainty.
In other news; Donisaur is in it’s final draft though it is the core work, not the young children’s adaptation which will require many pictures and less complicated wording. The version that is due out first is the standard edition, and future Donisaur work will be the children’s edition.
Thank you for being patient and I will keep you updated when any major changes or breakthroughs occur.
Thomas Edwards
Well I’ve been grinding the gears in the old noggin’ and re-read the Jinimaru Guide, corrected as many spelling and grammar errors as I could, and consider it “readable” now for anyone with the attention span to do so.
As for images, all the breeds have been drawn now and entered into the guide, alongside a size comparison chart of sorts and a handful of other odds and ends, all that is really missing from the guide now is the much needed biology sketches and then all the ancient artwork that survived over the past 13 years. I’ve found fragments of what I was looking for, but have yet to find all the oldest pieces from 1998 to 2000 (I hope they are in good condition still.)
The guide aside, progress on the Compilation is crawling because hey, I keep deciding on adding even more folklore which in turn makes the compilation bigger. Because of this habit I am breaking the Compilation down into sections that will be sold separately, though the original three will be included with the Guide as previously mentioned (the Western, Pirate and Chinese tales).
Putting it into percentages, this is how the compilation as a whole looks:
Western – 25% finished, 25% of the book is going to be taken up by this one.
Pirates – 40% finished, 50% of the book is going to be taken up by this one.
Chinese – 15% finished, 25% of the book is going to be taken up by this one.
There are also four more in the works but they are on hold until the above three are finished, and will be sold as separate booklets instead of one large compilation like the others. These other stories are still in the concepts stage and haven’t even been drafted yet, but include “1880’s Europe”, “Ice Age”, “1990’s Australia” and “1990’s North Pole” as settings.
As mentioned on the Jinimaru Chronicles infopage, these books are not intended for youths and will not contain many images outside of the Guide. I will continue to post updates on this series when necessary.
Thanks for being patient!
Thomas
After long hours and many days working on the mesh Jinimaru Avatar update, the Second Life program continues to distort and ruin my meshes and textures, destroying the quality of the work and time I put into them.
Because of this massive setback I have scrapped the previous models and am now working on newer meshes with fewer polys in hope that they will turn out exactly as they should do in the Second Life world. Updates to anything related to meshes, artwork and sculpture will as always be found on our Tumblr blog.
I am also still in the process of setting up costume commissions, though cannot say when they will be available. I am still finishing off the example pieces and calculating delivery costs for specific items and combinations of items. As usual, artwork commissions are open and available; please e-mail me here for inquiries and remember you can always check out the Tumblr Blog for examples of my work.
The first written piece of work is completed; The Jinimaru Guide has all of its pages written, it just lacks artwork and needs proof-reading. It will not be released on its own but will be released alongside the first novel (the Compilation) which I hope to sell together for £15 (approx).
The Newsletter is still down whilst I work out the bugs of it sending 2 messages instead of 1, and adding the new artwork.
Thanks for being patient and hopefully should get this first work done before the year is out!
I haven’t done any real work on the website lately, but have been working on the sculptures, paintings, drawings and writing work!
So this month I am giving you a little preview of the sculpture work again, and a snippet from The Jinimaru Chronicles: Alpha (also known as the Jinimaru Guide).
Fufe is nearly done!
That’s the sculpture preview, now it’s time for a snippet from a book!
Spain, South-West America and Mexico: Zu’maru
The Zu’maru (roughly translated to ‘despised cat’) is one of 3 Jinimaru breeds with obscure behaviour and body features; the tail-tip and mane of the Zu’maru is comprised of three colours, and is one of the shiniest furs in any breed, that when light reflects from this fur it appears as if the Zu’maru mane and tail is on fire. Zu’maru also behaves more dog-like and can be heard ‘barking’, though genealogical testing has ruled out any chance of the Zu’maru being in the same boat as Ta’nuhk and can safely be called Felines.
Individuals within this breed are only seen in red, brown or orange, with spots in a slightly different shade to the base fur colour. The mane and tail-tip of all Zu’maru is a blend of gold, orange and red though some individuals may be born with full-brown manes and tails. Zu’maru also exhibit genetic abnormalities more than any other breed, such as albinism (total whiteness of fur and mane, with red eyes) and heterochromia (one eye colour that is different to the other eye).
Whilst many cultures find Jinimaru a nuisance the Zu’maru is seen as one of the most hated breed of the species due to its behaviour around Humans and their settlements. Maru of all types have been known to kill livestock for food should Humans build too close to their territory, however the Zu’maru is known to simply kill domestic animals for sport instead of satisfying its hunger, and are infamously known for attacking Humans on sight.
Fact: N’iota from the Compilation book is a Zu’maru.
~ Thomas Edwards