Hello.
Well’s Rest is available once again. Purchase it now from your local Amazon retailer. I know, I know, it has been released before in unfinished states. I’m totally okay with that. I’ve always, one-hundred percent, absolutely known exactly what Well’s Rest is and what it would look like when it was done. It is now how I imagined it to be.
So what is it?
Well’s Rest is a dark, cursed gem of mysterious origin. Its watery facets are polished and gleaming. If you hold it the wrong way it may cut you. You may be tricked by the folds of light within its angles into staring at it for far too long, consumed in mind by a strange, mad energy. You may laugh, you may scream, you may fight back, but the flowing shapes of the Obotema unfold unbidden across the landscape of your imagination and drag you into the depths of its terrible beauty.
What else is it?
Well’s Rest is, obviously, a metamodernist western set on the sea. It is grimdark, it is horror, it is action/adventure. It’s a post-apocalyptic pirate story à la Mad Max crossed with Pirates of the Caribbean. It is also a bit H.P. Lovecraft. If it were a musical genre I would say it fits in with the likes of Alestorm or Mastodon, but with a bit more psych prog flair. It is also erotica. You can find it in that section of Amazon. Yes, I did that on purpose.
I also published it unfinished on purpose. Part of it is like a Breaking the Magician’s Code type thing. I enjoy showing people the workings of my books. I think it goes to show that the processes that go into creating art are notably abstract, with intent and inspiration sometimes hard to pin down. I, for instance, don’t necessarily identify as any particular character or another, and nor should anyone else believe they are fully represented by my work. It wouldn’t be honest or fair to suggest the author wants the same thing the main character does. The author’s views may not even be represented by the art at all. It is an arcane process of subtle delineation, and sometimes changing the orientation of those separated pieces reflects more outwardly, away from the author.
The other part of it is the redemption arc of it all. The part that reminds people that if you stick with things you are able to improve your skills and get better. I know that Well’s Rest is a great book. I know this because I know how shit it has been, and how far it has come. I am proud of this book. I have always believed in it. I knew it had what it took, always. However, the response towards both the book and myself that I have had in my life has been mixed. It has been eye-opening and bittersweet. There are few real friends in foxholes.
Still, I have seen support. I appreciate it.
Anyway I’m making a book trailer out of AI slop. I found one that lets me do violence. Here’s a teaser:
Fucking sick, right? I’ve got DOZENS of these. Most of them are pretty bad. Still.
Another complete disclaimer about AI. AI is an advanced Ctrl + F. I completely ignore all of its technical corrections outside basic usage cases (captain vs. Captain, for example). I do not like using em dashes and semicolons for everything. AI gives its lower-order grammatical suggestions and I apply higher-order thinking and do a better job. It’s as simple as that. I love syntax, but for me it is the last step in the process, and the fiddliest. Also, when dealing with thematics, imagery, symbolism, breaking down any concept at all, narrative structure, pacing etc., y’know, storytelling, that’s my job. My heart is fine, I do not need a pacemaker.
Okay, thank you! Buy my book. If you’d like to read a sample of my upcoming work please head over to the Writing tab.
Have a good one.
This post was not written with any AI consult.