NEW PAGE: Bitcoin Emporium

UPDATE (8/29/2012): The Bitcoin Emporium is now simply The Emporium, as Bitcoins are no longer the only currency accepted. Through PayPal, one can also pay using standard currencies such as USD or GBP. In addition, the short story anthology (US$15.00) originally exclusive to Google+ users is now available in The Emporium. The sale is over, however. (Don't worry, though, because the 50% discount for the I&L:U scans will remain available until October!)

This blog now has an official store! However, there is a catch: the only currency accepted is Bitcoin, a digital peer-to-peer currency! (Head to the Bitcoin website to download a Bitcoin wallet if you do not already have one.)

Currently, I have three two offers available. Two of them can only be found on the Zelda Universe Forums and Google+. The blog-exclusive offer is the best one, in my opinion! Here's what it is:

• "Illusions & Lies: Undercover" (in-progress scans) - 0.6 BTC (approx. US$5) US$5.00 or 0.45 BTC
• Ever wonder where Leonard Rickson's adventure would take him next? Well, wait no longer! Incomplete since 2010, "Illusions & Lies: Undercover" is the on-hold fourth installment in the Illusions & Lies short story series. And for the first time ever, you can have access to scans of the existing story, handwritten by the author! And it's only five dollars' worth for a limited time only (regular price: 1 BTC, almost nine dollars $10.00 or 1 BTC)!

That's right! You get a preview of what will probably be finished within the next couple years (wow)! Email me at ezlospirit[at]gmail[dot]com if you are interested! (I will send you some information regarding the transaction, and after the transaction is completed, you will receive a PDF containing the I&L:U scans!)

Don't forget to check out the new Bitcoin Emporium Emporium page for more offers coming in the future!

Final "Armor" Reception ; I&L 4 Update ; ZU Nomination

HAPPY NEW YEAR! Now that that's out of the way...

As you may have been aware, "Shining Armor" was originally written as a school assignment. Well, I'm now back in school as of Tuesday, and on Tuesday, I received my story again, which was graded and had comments written by my English teacher. The grade? A-. And in my English teacher's class, this is saying something; he's a tough grader when it comes to writing assignments! In his comments, he stated that he was impressed by my writing (as usual), and he was also impressed by my incorporation of "trickster story" elements into my story. I was especially pleased with the latter, as the "trickster" elements were more abstract in my story than in most trickster stories, and I wasn't sure that he would catch them.

As promised, I will now update you on "Illusions & Lies: Undercover." I have made progress. Last night, I forced myself to continue writing it, and I made a decent amount of progress. I can say for certain that this story is pretty much devoid of any action/violence (there are violent references, though), but it is primarily to serve as a transition from the dark (and still kind of funny) atmosphere-exposition stuff of its predecessors to the next chapter of the Illusions & Lies story as a whole. Oh, and I&L 6 will also be a transition story. Just as an advance notice! I'm not setting any actual date that I&L 4 will be ready by, but I'm hoping it'll be out before February.

Lastly, I was nominated for the Best Writer award over at the ZU Forums (along with two other, completely different awards which I don't even stand a chance at getting)! The ZU Awards are held twice a year, and they span every possible aspect of the forum community, including the creative side. This is the first time I have ever been nominated for the Best Writer award, and I must admit that I have been dying for this award more than any other award on ZU (even more than Overall Member of the Season!) since I first started posting my written works to ZU. The voting process is well underway, and there are seven other ZU members in the running for this award besides me (one of them being Holden, a member who has been giving me great feedback on my more recent stories!). This is not a request for votes (even though I can't get disqualified for making one here since this is not on ZU). In fact, please only vote for me if you (besides belong to ZU) really think I deserve the award. Be sure to check out mine and the other nominees' works in the ZU Writing forum!

That's all for now! Expect some "In the Trees" feedback within a few days! And hope you are all enjoying your first week of 2011! Ta-ta!

"Undercover" Delayed ; Mystery Story to End 2010

Yes, it's true. Due to my inability to structure myself during my winter vacation, I will most likely not be able to release the fourth installment of my short story series Illusions & Lies by the end of the week, which is already a week after I was originally planning on releasing it. This is not a definite, but it is almost a definite.

However, all is not lost. In fact, something was found last Saturday while I was being Jewish (as usual) and not celebrating Christmas (because we Jews don't do that!). I was cleaning my room (wishing I celebrated Christmas so I didn't have to clean my room) when I stumbled upon a short story that I wrote two-and-a-half years ago. It was only the second short story I had ever written, and I had completely forgotten about it, giving the honor of second-short-story-I-had-ever-written to "Chosen Ones" for the two years since I wrote it. I will be typing up the story either tomorrow or Wednesday and will be publishing it to the ZU Forums the same day. I won't reveal anything about it other than it is based on the world of The Sight Chronicles. It will be my gift to you  in honor of my most successful year in writing thus far since I officially began doing so 3 years ago!

Until then! Bye!

"Shining Armor" Reception ; I&L4 Update

If you read my last post, you know that I recently released my latest short story, "Shining Armor," on the ZU Forums. So far, one person (on ZU) has responded, which I must say is an improvement from most of my stories: most of those this year have gotten no comments! Also, if you read "Shining Armor," and you aren't a member of ZU, feel free to leave a comment on this post here instead!

Anyway, so this single response contained some very high praise (on top of pointing out a typo, which I hastily fixed after reading the comment)! I thought I would share it here:

I sort of really love this. I had a big smile on my face as I read this. It's a very charming story with a bold, noble message. [...] Reading your work is always fun, and as you pointed out, originals deserve some attention, too.

-Holden, ZU Forums, 12/12/2010, here/here

I found that very, very high praise, and I will mention that that is not the first piece of praise I have received from ZU Forums user Holden either!

Anyway, if you want to read about my progress on "Illusions & Lies: Undercover," (spoiler-free), please "hit the jump," as they say!

This is the Seventh Blog Entry....

Indeed, that is true! This is actually the continuation (although you don't need to read the earlier entries) of the same kind of blog, which was in my "fanclub" on the ZU Forums. This is more noticeable and therefore more useful for people.

Anyway, work on the fourth story in my short story series Illusions & Lies, titled "Illusions & Lies: Undercover," is well underway. It's coming along pretty well, and I should be finished in about a week and a half. So if you haven't done so already, catch up in the series by reading the first three installments, which you can find links to in the Master List, which you can get to by clicking on "The Master List," located above this post and under the blog's header.

"Undercover" is confirmed to be the last story I will be releasing in 2010. I am towards the end of a different story that is actually a school assignment, which I will be publishing as an official story, probably to the ZU Forums. This will probably go up tomorrow. It is neither sci-fi nor fantasy, but rather it is realistic fiction! It will be rated G.

Well, ta-ta for now!

Update (22:26/22:31): "Shining Armor," which is the story that I mentioned in the second-to-last paragraph, is now up on the ZU Forums! A link is in the Master List now, and another can be found at the beginning of this update! Enjoy! Feel free to post a comment in the thread on ZU if you're a member, or you can leave a comment on this post here!

Oh, and if you are wondering what the moral I had originally intended on conveying was, I will tell you now: "You don't need to be a valiant knight to be a hero; you can simply be yourself."