Halfway there! NaNoWriMo and Taking the Field.

Standard warning – I write as Kai Parker and PJ Silva. We are one, yet we are many… Just, go with it.

Photo by Markus Winkler on Pexels.com

This Week in My World

• Taking the Field for NaNoWriMo
• First Strike Series – More clarity
• Character Collective Podcast NaNoWriMo Special Edition Episodes

Taking the Field for NaNoWriMo

Halfway through the month and we are halfway there. In fact, we are almost all the way there for NaNo but halfway there for Taking the Field. The burn has been slower than I anticipated and as is my brand, it’s looking like my word count will be a good 10% over target. But, that’s editing’s problem. Lol.

First Strike Series – More Clarity

Book 1 – Henley and Tanimen

Book 1: Henley and Tanimen – A super eager ice hockey player who just wants a place to call home and a silver spoon brat who wants to be the best.

Book 2: Thor and Marcus – An androsexual enigma who needs to pick up his grades and the science genius goalie who’s socially awkward.

Book 2 – Thor and Marcus

Book 3: Hunter and Jasper – A post-transition trans-man who thought he had everything and the angry young man on the edge of his own destruction.

Book 4: Ethram and Adam – A retired Olympian superstar turned iStrike coach and the feisty medic who won’t take no for an answer.

CLICK HERE to add Taking the Field to your GoodReads List

Character Collective Podcast NaNoWriMo Special Edition Episodes

We’re halfway through our NaNoWriMo daily update episodes. Check out the latest episode below. This week’s weekly episode was a crap tonne of fun! Yes, that’s totally an actual term of measurement, haha. Kristy and I did a write-in. For a weekend, we wrote, drank, and ate. And watched some movies and TV because it’s not like we can hang out every day, hahaha. Episode 10 of the podcast consists of four check-ins throughout our write-in. See how we did it (and didn’t do it) and enjoy the drunken escapades, haha.

Follow/subscribe for all our episodes and join us for NaNoWriMo. Click on your favourite podcast platform below:

• Spotify
• iTunes
• Anchor
• Breaker
• Google Podcasts
• Overcasts
• Pocket Casts
• RadioPublic
• Castbox

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Writer’s Update

Overview of Current Series Progress:

Series Title	Draft/Series	Project Status	Next Task	Due Date
First Strike	0.5/4	IN ACTION	Write Book 1	30/11/20
Cupid’s Guide	3/3	IN ACTION	Launch Book 3	1/12/20
Death Wish Foundation	3/3	On Hold	Edit book 1
After Time	0/3	2021	Plan
Road to Romance	1/?	On Hold	Edit book 1
Wipe Out	1/1	Sales	Hold
Write Now Book Writing (with PJ Silva)	5/5	IN ACTION	Edit workbook	31/12/20
Path to Purpose (with PJ SIlva)	5/5	On Hold	Edit Book 1

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First Strike Series

• Book 1: Taking the field is 46,201 words in and on its way.

• All the characters from the other three books have been having their input. Thor, Marcus, Hunter, and Ethram have all been introduced to varying degrees in Taking the Field.

CLICK HERE TO add taking the field to your Goodreads to read list

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Cupid’s Guide Series

• Book 1 – Cupid’s Guide to Getting F*cked Up, is available to purchase now!
• Book 2 – Cupid’s Guide to Getting Laid is available to purchase
• Book 3 – Cupid’s Guide to F*cking the Rules will go live on December 1st.

CLICK HERE to buy Cupid’s Guide Book 1: Cupid’s Guide to getting fucked up

CLICK HERE TO BUY CUPID’S GUIDE BOOK 2: CUPID’S GUIDE TO GETTING LAID

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This Week in the World of Kai Parker

I’m on my sit in Coburg North. It’s great to be back to it. With restrictions on travel lifting in Australia, I’ve already got sits books through to April with a potential sit back up in QLD in May if I can wrangle more sits up that way. It’s been awesome in Melbourne, catching up with by besties, but I do miss that QLD weather. Lol. I was intending to go international in 2021 but that will have to wait a little longer until the world get its shit together again – or something, haha.

Uni is back up and running and I’ve done… some??? Lol. Argh! Hahaha. November is hectic enough with NaNoWriMo but it’s all self-inflicted so I’ll make it work, of course, haha. And then I found a new epic distraction in DAZ3D. After a crash course during our write-in, I went nuts and created “THAT” image from book 2. Lol. Not bad for my first ever DAZ3D creations, thank you very much!

Check out pjsilva.com for updates about what’s happening over there.

Thanks for Playing

Don’t forget to check out the Character Collective Podcast and follow our NaNoWriMo journey through November. Also, feel free to leave any questions or feedback in the comments. Let me know what YOU would like me to share as a writer.

Until next time – keep on reading!

Kai Parker

NaNoWriMo Attack in Full Swing

Standard warning – I write as Kai Parker and PJ Silva. We are one, yet we are many… Just, go with it.

Photo by Markus Winkler on Pexels.com

This Week in My World

• Cupid’s Guide Books 2 Published and available!
• Taking the Field NaNoWriMo 4 books planned -_-
• Character Collective Podcast NaNoWriMo Edition Episodes

Cupid’s Guide Books 2 is LIVE

Cupid’s Guide Book 2 is now available with book 3 due for release on December 1st.

GET BOOK 1: Cupid’s Guide to Getting Fucked Up HERE

GET BOOK 2: Cupid’s Guide to Getting Laid HERE

CLICK HERE to GET Cupid’s Guide Book 2 NOW

Taking the Field for NaNoWriMo – Now 4 Books Planned -_-

Taking the Field, book 1 in the First Strike Series is now happening. With NaNoWriMo under way, the words are being made. Since the concept for Taking the Field developed, it has taking on a life of its own and blown out to four planned books… so far.

Book 1: Henley and Tanimen – A super eager ice hockey player who just wants a place to call home and a silver spoon brat who wants to be the best.

Book 2: Thor and Marcus – An androsexual enigma who needs to pick up his grades and the science genius goalie who’s socially awkward.

Book 3: Names not yet known – A post transition trans man who thought he had everything and the angry young man on the edge of his own destruction.

Book 4: Ethram and ? – A retired Olympian superstar turned iStrike coach and a fiesty medic who won’t take no for an answer.

CLICK HERE to add Taking the Field to your GoodReads List

Character Collective Podcast NaNoWriMo Special Edition Episodes

So, Kristy and I are both doing NaNoWriMo (I’m writing as Kai because I’m writing the first iStrike book) and we’ve kicked off our daily update episodes. Episodes 4, 5, 6, and 7 follow the NaNoWriMo preparation process throughout Preptober (aka October) and during November, we’ll keep up with our weekly episodes but in addition catch our daily short 5 minute special edition NaNoWriMo episodes. Listen to our latest episode here:

Follow/subscribe for all our episodes and join us for NaNoWriMo. Click on your favourite podcast platform below:

• Spotify
• iTunes
• Anchor
• Breaker
• Google Podcasts
• Overcasts
• Pocket Casts
• RadioPublic
• Castbox

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Writer’s Update

Overview of Current Series Progress:

Series Title	Draft/Series	Project Status	Next Task	Due Date
First Strike	0/3	IN ACTION	Write Book 1	30/11/20
Cupid’s Guide	3/3	IN ACTION	Launch Book 3	1/12/20
Death Wish Foundation	3/3	On Hold	Edit book 1
After Time	0/3	2021	Plan
Road to Romance	1/?	On Hold	Edit book 1
Wipe Out	1/1	Sales	Hold
Write Now Book Writing (with PJ Silva)	5/5	IN ACTION	Edit workbook	31/12/20
Path to Purpose (with PJ SIlva)	5/5	On Hold	Edit Book 1

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First Strike Series

• Book 1: Taking the field is 5200 and something words in and on its way.

• Book 2 is already peaking out its head (no pun or euphemism intended. That’s a lie, totally intended!) Book 2 covers the second six months of the demo league including the playoffs and finals. It follows Tony Horn, a bruiser known as Thor (introduced in book 1), and Marcus, a quiet goalie. Should be fun!

CLICK HERE TO add taking the field to your Goodreads to read list

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Cupid’s Guide Series

• Book 1 – Cupid’s Guide to Getting F*cked Up, is available to purchase now!
• Book 2 – Cupid’s Guide to Getting Laid is available to purchase
• Book 3 – Cupid’s Guide to F*cking the Rules will go live on December 1st.

CLICK HERE to buy Cupid’s Guide Book 1: Cupid’s Guide to getting fucked up

CLICK HERE TO BUY CUPID’S GUIDE BOOK 2: CUPID’S GUIDE TO GETTING LAID

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This Week in the World of Kai Parker

Super happy to have a sit organised! Woo hoo. We’re back baby, sort of. I’ll be doing a sit in Coburg North in Melbourne from next week for 5 or 6 weeks. It’s perfect timing to be able to concentrate on writing the first iStrike book.

Uni studies start back up again… oh dear, today! Lol. So there’s that. Not the best timing with NaNoWriMo but it could have been much worse. I am already looking forward to the two week mid session break over Christmas though, not going to lie, haha.

As PJ Silva, NUSA Earth is live on Wednesday! Check out pjsilva.com for updates about what’s happening over there.

Thanks for Playing

Don’t forget to check out the Character Collective Podcast and follow our NaNoWriMo journey through November. Also, feel free to leave any questions or feedback in the comments. Let me know what YOU would like me to share as a writer.

Until next time – keep on reading!

Kai Parker

Oops – I Slipped and Created a New Series

Standard warning – I write as Kai Parker and PJ Silva. We are one, yet we are many… Just, go with it.

Photo by Markus Winkler on Pexels.com

This Week in My World

• Cupid’s Guide Books 2 and 3 ready to roll
• Kai and PJ collaborate – but not really
• Taking the Field Planned for NaNoWriMo
• Character Collective Podcast episode 6 goes live

Cupid’s Guide Books 2 and 3 Ready to Roll

Cupid’s Guide Book 2 and 3 covers, right here folks! Book 2 due for release November 1st and book 3 will follow on December 1st. Both are edited and just need a couple of little formatting tweaks until they are ready to inflict upon the world, MWAHAHAHA.

GET BOOK 1: Cupid’s Guide to Getting Fucked Up HERE NOW!

CLICK HERE to GET Cupid’s Guide Book 1 NOW

Kai and PJ Collaborate – But Not Really

The world of NUSA is all PJ Silva, but with one little spark, came an unexpected connection. Sean is on the wolf Mars Ball team with Jackson, Weylan, and Marcy. He is a tyke (human raised wolf). Sean sends back video of his games to his older human brother on Earth who is on a sports scholarship at university. In the vain of BASEketball, one drunken night, he and his teammates invent iStrike. And so I stepped in to take over! BUT, it will have nothing to do with NUSA beyond perhaps a mention (maybe not even that). It’s completely stand-alone and in a totally different genre.

Taking the Field Planned for NaNoWriMo

iStrike now sets the scene for the First Strike Book Series. The iStrike series is something a little different for me – MM Sports Romance because those things together are funsies! Book one, as you may have guessed, is titled TAKING THE FIELD. Add it to your GoodReads list.

I’m a HUGE fan of the book series All for the Game by Nora Sakavic so although Taking the Field doesn’t have the snail pace slow burn or the constant heart-thumping pressure of ‘everyone’s going to die’, it has definitely been inspired into existence by AFTG. Tanimen and Henley are not a butcher’s son and a lovable murderer, haha. Instead, they are an Olympian’s son desperate to shake off the shadow of his father and an aged-out foster kid who doesn’t know what home feels like. Like AFTG, there is a rough-as-hell invented sport, mixed-gender teams (because, damn I love that), the college life with dorm living, and two people who somehow manage to make each other better when neither thought it mattered.

Taking the Field is my NaNoWriMo project which means, I’m writing the thing in November. It’s already nicely planned out and I’m ready to play. Follow the Character Collective Podcast (keep reading for links) for daily updates on how it’s going.

CLICK HERE to add Taking the Field to your GoodReads List

Character Collective Podcast Episode 6 goes LIVE

We are already up to episode 6 of the Character Collective Podcast. Amazeballs. Kristy and I are both doing NaNoWriMo and we’re taking you through the process on our podcast. Episodes 4, 5, 6, and 7 follow the NaNoWriMo preparation process throughout Preptober (aka October). In November, we’ll do our regular weekly podcast but also daily project catch-ups. Listen to our latest episode here:

Follow/subscribe for all our episodes and join us for NaNoWriMo. Click on your favourite podcast platform below:

• Spotify
• iTunes
• Anchor
• Breaker
• Google Podcasts
• Overcasts
• Pocket Casts
• RadioPublic
• Castbox

Want to know more about NaNoWriMo? Well, this video won’t help that much, but it’s still funny, and accurate… Do’h! After you either laugh, cry, or cock your eyebrow in confusion, maybe head over to www.nanowrimo.org for the low down.

Kessler, L 2013, “Ask Lovecroft – NaNoWriMo”. Youtube. https://youtu.be/k-CmoVXWqH4

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Writer’s Update

Overview of Current Series Progress:

Series Title	Draft/Series	Project Status	Next Task	Due Date
First Strike	0/3	IN ACTION	Write Book 1	30/11/20
Cupid’s Guide	3/3	IN ACTION	Launch Book 2	1/11/20
Death Wish Foundation	3/3	On Hold	Edit book 1
After Time	0/3	2021	Plan
Road to Romance	1/?	On Hold	Edit book 1
Wipe Out	1/1	Sales	Profit check	4/10/10
Write Now Book Writing (with PJ Silva)	5/5	IN ACTION	Edit workbook	31/10/20
Path to Purpose (with PJ SIlva)	5/5	On Hold	Edit Book 1

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First Strike Series

• OOPS! I slipped and created a new MM Sports Romance series and a new damn sport!
• Book 1: Taking the field is already planned out and ready to be written in November during NaNoWriMo.
• Book 1 covers the first six months of the brand new game, iStrike, at a university in Florida USA – it is the first half of their ‘trial demo league.’

• Book 2 is already peaking out its head (no pun or euphemism intended. That’s a lie, totally intended!) Book 2 covers the second six months of the demo league including the playoffs and finals. It follows Tony Horn, a bruiser known as Thor (introduced in book 1), and Marcus, a quiet goalie. Should be fun!

CLICK HERE TO add taking the field to your Goodreads to read list

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Cupid’s Guide Series

• Book 1 – Cupid’s Guide to Getting F*cked Up, is available to purchase now!
• Book 2 – Cupid’s Guide to Getting Laid will go live on November 1st.
• Book 3 – Cupid’s Guide to F*cking the Rules will go live on December 1st.
• Books 4 and beyond have now officially gone on hold until I get feedback from the first 3 books.

CLICK HERE to buy Cupid’s Guide Book 1: Cupid’s Guide to getting fucked up

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This Week in the World of Kai Parker

It’s been an interesting week. I hate to mention the dreaded C word, because it really hasn’t affected me as it has many others; but, it has affected my living arrangements. I’m a house and pet sitter with no fixed address. Aside from a 2 week sit, I’ve been relying on friends to house me since March and most of that time, I’ve been sleeping on an air mattress. I’m extremely grateful that I have a roof, a bed, and friends to take my ‘technically homeless’ ass in.

This week though, has been a little frustrating. I had a confirmed sit right on the beach that would house me through November. It fell through, which is fine, it happens, but the home-owner ‘forgot’ to mention it. Lol. Anyway, as is the way of the Universe, I was delivered another sit. Not on the beach, but surrounded by sports facilities – appropriate for the writing of Taking the Field, right? That all happened across four days so it was a mini rollercoaster and I survived but forgot to get the t-shirt, haha.

Hiding! Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

Uni finished up for the session so I’m enjoying a few weeks off before it kicks in again early November. I should be heading off to my sit next week so a bit of packing and admin clean-up coming my way. Yay – fun! Haha. But I am looking forward to five weeks locked away in quiet. Who would have thought that in a pandemic lockdown, I’m craving peace and quiet? Gees. Check out pjsilva.com for updates about what’s happening in the world of NUSA – because let’s face it, the rest of PJ’s stuff in simmering on hold.

Thanks for Playing

Don’t forget to check out the Character Collective Podcast and follow our NaNoWriMo journey through November. Also, feel free to leave any questions or feedback in the comments. Let me know what YOU would like me to share as a writer.

Until next time – keep on reading!

Kai Parker

Don’t Swear on your Book Cover – Well, FUCK!

Non Compliant! Ouch.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08K77PGP3

So, I can’t advertise on Amazon. Why? Because of that scratched out word on the cover of my book. Free speech, my ass! Lol. Non-compliant in Australia and USA. I set it as adults only so I’m really not sure why it’s such a big deal. I mean, it’s just a word, isn’t it?

As a writer, I find it truly perplexing because I see the letters, and I see the words, but the meaning is the deepest creation. Yes, I use words to convey a meaning, an emotion, but it is up to the reader to decipher that meaning and emotion through their own filters to determine what it means to them.

Who is Amazon ‘protecting’ here? I feel like it’s much more about political sensitivity than anything sensible or arguable. Let’s have a look at the word, fuck.

The History of the Word FUCK

I’m a writer, but I’m also decidedly lazy and enjoy procrastination, so rather than researching, I’m just going to share this well known video that hasn’t done any research itself, but is totally entertaining.

Origin of the word FUCK – https://youtu.be/8Nx0sQLl7IY (jdirt2019, Youtube, 4th Nov, 2012)

There you go. Don’t you feel enlightened now? Or at least, a little desensitized. Not that you would be reading this if you were sensitive to the word ‘fuck’ in the first place. But, you need more. So here is a delightful explainer from Wikipedia:

Fuck is a profane English-language word, which often refers to the act of sexual intercourse but is also commonly used as an intensifier or to denote disdain. While its origin is obscure, it is usually considered to be first attested to around 1475. In modern usage, the term fuck and its derivatives (such as fucker and fucking) can be used as a noun, a verb, an adjective, an interjection or an adverb. There are many common phrases that employ the word as well as compounds that incorporate it, such as motherfucker, fuckwit, fuckup, fucknut and
fuck off.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fuck

Photo by cottonbro on Pexels.com

They say to never reference Wikipedia – but in this case, I think we’re fine. Fuck just seems like a fun word to me. Fuck, fuck, fuckity fucker. That was fun to think, say, AND write. I have to wonder if someone so offended by a couple of letters put together to make a sound has anything real to concern themselves with. In these days of Covid-19, isn’t there enough to fret over? Can I say, fuck Covid? Or is that offensive to Covid?

Okay, yes, I know, we are way off-topic here. What’s Covid got to do with my book cover being non-compliant for Amazon advertising? Well, nothing at all. But I guess that’s my point. I ‘wasted’ a bunch of hours yesterday creating ads so I guess now I’m wasting more time complaining that I wasted all that time. Hey, I already admitted I’m lazy and totally nail procrastination.

So Here we Are!

Yep, we are now at this place. I can’t advertise my books that I’ve spent a huge chunk of time on. The time wasted on ads pales in comparison to the time spent planning and writing my first three books in the Cupid’s Guide Series. Harvey has drained me telling me his story and at the end of it, I have books I can’t advertise. Sure, I could change the cover, take that word out, but that word is a solid preparatory warning of what’s inside. Book one has a 165 fuck count (or something like that). Yes, there is a warning in my blurb, but if someone doesn’t read that, and they don’t get from the cover that yeah, there is a fuck tonne of FUCK in the pages to come, I’ll end up with an undeserved one-star review. So, I’m weighing up those options.

Nope, I’ll still seek the readers that will laugh at my book rather than be offended by it. Even if it means I don’t sell many copies. I’m holding onto faith that there are still readers out there that don’t take themselves so damn seriously!

Feed an Author

So, here is my shameless self-plug. I AM shameless because there is no shame in pursuing your passion and dreams even if it means you need to beg people to buy your book so that you can get a coffee and maybe, like, live long enough to write the next one, right? Exaggeration? Look, perhaps a little. But, not by a lot. Haha. So please, I beg you, buy my fucking book. Lol. But seriously, if you are up for a laugh, don’t take yourself seriously, and aren’t offended by words, then you will probs love this.

… quite simply one of the most entertaining novels I’ve read, from front cover to back. {The author’s} overtly original idea of Cupid – being embodied by a narcissistic ‘everyman’, Harvey, who has clearly lost his way – along with a unique storyline to boot, is probably the most unique take on the concept of Cupid to date. An easy, humorous, and interesting read. I can’t wait… to see where Harvey’s adventures land him and I can already visualise the mini-series.”

David Jon O’Neill (Performer, producer, and author of the Performer’s Manifesto)

Kai Parker

My First Writer’s Update – or something like that.

Photo by Markus Winkler on Pexels.com

So, yes, this is my first official writer’s update. The intention is to post two to three times a week. One of those posts will be themed along with the Character Collective Podcast. So, this week, we talked about our writing processes, and I shared a bit more on that in the blog. The second will be an update of what I am up to as a writer. What I’m working on, lessons I’ve learned, problems I’ve encountered, etc. It’s kind of a journaling process for me and I’m trusting it may help a few people out there with inspiration, or something. Lol. Any additional posts will relate to research I’m currently working on, anything interesting I’ve uncovered during my uni studies, or you know, things and stuffs I’ve discovered that help me as a writer and may help you.

But this isn’t just for writers. I AM a writer and though I love sharing my experience and hopefully inspiring others, my main goal is to share my characters and their stories with readers, so I may post excerpts, character descriptions, side stories… To be honest, I won’t even know until it happens, haha. I’m getting my feet here so thank you for coming along for the journey.

Feedback, questions, tips, etc, are all welcome. I’ll review all comments regularly so come play 🙂 For now, let’s get into my first writer’s update!

Writer’s Update

Overview of Current Series Progress:

Series Title	Draft/Series	Project Status	Next Task	Due Date
Cupid’s Guide	3/10	IN ACTION	Launch Book 1	1/10/20
Death Wish Foundation	3/?	On Hold	Edit book 1
After Time	0/3	2021	Plan
Road to Romance	1/?	On Hold	Edit book 1
Wipe Out	1/1	Sales	Profit check	4/10/10
Write Now Book Writing (with PJ Silva)	5/5	IN ACTION	Edit workbook	31/10/20
Path to Purpose (with PJ SIlva)	5/5	On Hold	Edit Book 1

Cupid’s Guide Series

• Book 1 – Cupid’s Guide to Getting F*cked Up, is ready to rock and roll with the launch on October the 1st. I’ll be submitting it off to KDP in the next 48 hours and placing my first ads on the 1st. Super exciting.
• Add Cupid’s Guide to Getting F*cked Up to your GoodReads List now for early access!

CLICK HERE to add Cupid’s Guide Book 1 to your GoodReads List

• Book 2 – Cupid’s Guide to Getting Laid and Book 3 – Cupid’s Guide to F*cking the Rules are both ready to publish, I’m just waiting on the cover designer to get back to me.
• Next I’ll be planning out book 4 and aim to have the first draft (dumbest version) done by the end of October.

Write Now Book Writing Series

• The main four books in the series are available.

CLICK HERE for links

• Just need to finalise a bonus workbook and then I’ll be boxing this up as a set 🙂

This Week in the World of Kai Parker

Well, there was that uni assignment due but I kicked it off to the f*ckit bucket two days early. I meeeeaaannn… I totally worked my ass off and managed to submit my assignment early. Haha. The reality is somewhere in the middle. Anyway, this week I was working with the added challenges of uni (why did I choose to do that to myself… again?) and the Character Collective Podcast which is still new and therefore, still providing some learning challenges. But, I did get my cover design submissions off for Cupid 2 and 3, so that’s something.

For those unaware, I also write as PJ Silva and most of my week this week has been spent in that space. Check out www.pjsilva.com for more on that 🙂

Thanks for Playing

Well, that’s it for my writer’s update this week. Now that I’ve decided to make this a weekly thing, I’ll keep it in the back of mind and hopefully have something a little more interesting to share next time, haha. Until then, catch the Character Collective Podcast on Spotify, iTunes, Google Podcast, and like, a bunch of places. Or just CLICK HERE, that’ll work too. Also, feel free to leave any questions or feedback in the comments. Let me know what YOU would like me to share as a writer.

Until next time – keep on reading!

Kai Parker