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C.J.’s Journal
Posted by CJB on March 11, 2021 at 4:12 pmGoing through old marketing materials, I found this today:
I don’t know… I think it still holds up. Is it weird that it gave me goosebumps?
Ashburn replied 9 months ago 19 Members · 92 Replies -
92 Replies
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Going through old marketing materials, I found this today:
I don’t know… I think it still holds up. Is it weird that it gave me goosebumps?
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My heart beat fast watching it. Its like a heist movie almost
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That was so dramatic omg
I was like I wanna know what happens and then was like wait … I experienced what happened …
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Yeah, it was definitely extra. And then people signed up to find us all benignly drinking memory tear and encouraging each other to try our best.
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It makes me so insanely happy to see you all creating and interacting in these journals.
The past month has been quite a trial, but I’m finally out of the woods:
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The Book of Briars is, at last, complete. And I can finally start telling the story I’ve wanted to tell for five years. Once I have a last read-through and format the print versions, I’ll be fulfilling all the hardcover pre-orders! Ackerly Green’s first hardcover!
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The Briar Society: Chapter One adaptation is also finished and will be released this Friday! (You can pre-order it here if you’re so inclined) I’m really excited about this adaptation because it’s the first one with images!
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The alpha version of the Neithernor RPG handbook is also finished and goes on sale next week!
It’s the “alpha” version because it doesn’t have finished imagery or more importantly your thoughts and input on how it plays!
We’re going to make changes to the handbook throughout the year and deliver the final version, with your input, in the fall. There will be several purchasing options. You can buy just the current (500+ page) alpha handbook for .99, a version with the alpha and all subsequent updates including the final product, for $4.99, as well as paperback + complete digital and limited hardcover + complete digital.
Not to be all sales pitchy in my journal, but that’s just what I’ve been up to behind the scenes.
We went to the Oregon coast last week since the kids were out of school for spring break, and I was running on the beach with our pup Henry and had a nasty fall. Today’s the first day I’m feeling any real improvement, and I should hear back today from my doctor if I fractured a rib or just bruised one really, really bad.
The last (and only other) time I broke something was because I tried not to step on Ruby, so yes, my dogs want me dead.
Anyway, here’s the view from the house we rented last week:
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I hope it’s not broken, but sometimes bruises are harder to heal. Take care of yourself.
What is purely selfish note, will BoB be released as a paperback?
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Once I get all the hardcover orders out (some dating back to 2017!) I’ll be sure to get a paperback version in the works. I was at one point attempting to be a proper publishing company with a delayed hardcover to paperback strategy, but I can’t be bothered with that.
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I’m sorry, but my mind immediately followed those words with “Ah! Ah! Ah!”
(I have a 4-year old, all numbers are read in The Count’s voice)
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Must. Not. Get. More. Briarverse. Related. Tattoos.
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I can’t wait to get my first. It probably won’t be for a while yet but I think the first tattoo I get will probably involve the Thornmouth logo. Also I second Fox’s why not? It’s a beautiful design.
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I’m thinking about turning my semi-colon tattoo into a quarter or half sleeve with a literary theme. The AG keyhole is absolutely going to be part of that when it happens.
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My job is so weird. I have an idea for a tattoo I want, but I have to wait for the right time because it’s a spoiler.
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Wow, I’m being read before I’ve finished my first cup of coffee.
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Three hours of tie dyeing with the fam =
I am now obsessed with reverse tie dye. Bon voyage all my black shirts.
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I spent two hours last night updating all the main category images on the forum knowing full well that only 2% of you ever check it on desktop.
Especially proud of the “CJB” ouija board. I kind of need that as a business card. OMG. I definitely need that as a business card.
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I’m on desktop, but I have “Latest” set to my default. I popped over to check them out in all their glory. Great work! I like the flame hovering over the hand for The Hall of Hobbies!
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I know the Guilds icon is a terrarium, but my brain instantly made it into a Stargate.
Ka-wooosh!
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It’s supposed to be a crystal ball but I will also accept Stargate!
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They look absolutely awesome, and yes, you definitely should get that on a business card
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I spend most of my AG time on a desktop since I sit at a desk all day long. But until today, I’ve used “latest” as my landing page. That has been changed since I need to see this beautiful page every day (okay, several times a day…
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Okay, but I’m part of that 2% because mobile doesn’t work for my brain <3
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I just happened to catch my familiar (Henry Schnitzel Bernstein) keeping watch over my magimystic sanctum:
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your office is so aesthetic, last time I had to keep re-watching bits of the leadership meeting because I’d get distracted looking at trinkets in the background
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That was my first time ever using TikTok and now I have created an account specifically for following thebriararchive.
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Oh gods I need both that stamp and the wax melty cauldron in my life!
Where did you get the cauldron/wax melt/pour thing?
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I bought the cauldron from a local shop and the pourer is from an online wax shop called Artisaire!
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So beautiful! Now I feel like I wimped out by using wax melts that go in a hour glue gun…
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From my proofing app Grammarly this morning:
You used more unique words than 97% of users!
Oh, you mean no one else is spellchecking “Tigrantula”?
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My burnout prevention “refill the tank” list of media I’ve been meaning to consume:
Books:
The Priory of the Orange Tree
The Midnight Library
Ella Enchanted (never read it!)
And Then There Were None (My first Agatha Christie)
In Deeper Waters (Gay YA Merman Lit)
The Pope’s Bookbinder
Shows:
For All Mankind
Broad City (again)
Bluey
The Vanishing at the Cecil Hotel
Finish Star Trek: Discovery Season 3
The last episode of Jupiter’s Legacy
Movies:
The Lodge
Sprited Away (I’ve never seen it!)
Made You Look
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Ella Enchanted is one of my favorite books ever! I might have to go siren to it again now.
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So, I ended up watching and reading things that I never put on the previous list, of course. Instead—
I binged The Nevers, safe in the knowledge that Joss Whedon was fired from it last November. I got more and more engrossed as the six-episode season went on, and overall really enjoyed it. The Whedonisms faded as the season went on, which was much appreciated.
I forgot I never finished The Song of Achilles and so, after finally replacing my beloved Kindle Voyager with an Oasis, which I am not sure I will ever adjust to, I read over 100 pages yesterday, which is more than I’ve read of one book since last summer. The curse is broken!
The book, of course, is beautiful and romantic. Also, I have to stop reading books about characters whose tragic backstories I already know because I still somehow hold out hope for them throughout the entire read, which is ridiculous.
While I was at the mall buying the inferior Kindle Oasis, I stopped in Attic Salt, which is my favorite shop because I am strangely its target demographic, a grown queer man who always thought Spencers needed more pastels and unicorns. I bought this novelty book specifically because it could be about The Six as teenagers:
(I just noticed there’s already dog hair on it in the photo. I suspect Ruby’s been dabbling in the dark arts.)
EDIT: Grammarly just tried to cancel me:
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I also watched The Nevers over the weekend!! I’m really intrigued to see what the second half of the season (whenever it’s released…) is going to be like.
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I really enjoyed The Nevers, especially from a costume perspective because all the ladies were so clearly in appropriate underpinnings! It was wonderful to see.
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Sneak peek of a July social media photo I just took:
It just arrived this morning, and I think it might be the single best investment I’ve made since I started writing the Briarverse books. Do you know how often I have to ask Siri what time it is in some obscure corner of the world?
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I finally had to retire my Kindle Voyage, which broke my heart even though it is 12 pounds. It’s now discontinued, so I had to get what the Amazon store here in Portland had in stock because the Kindle Oasis, which usurped my beloved Kindle Voyage, is otherwise out of stock for weeks on the site. I’d wait, but I’m going camping this weekend and need a new e-reader ASAP because how else will I avoid interaction without a library of books at my disposal?
I ended up with a champagne gold Amazon Oasis with no cellular service.
I know the new form factor is supposed to be ergonomic and easier to hold, but I would like to politely disagree while gesturing politely with my giant, spindly-fingered hands. The asymmetrical grip makes it feel like its center of gravity is off, and it’s always slowly sliding out of my hand because the grip is also very thin and shallow.
But, being industrious, and never one to complain ahem, I instead solved the problem:
I put a Pop-Socket on it!!
Also, I think I’m about ready to sail to the West because I fully called the Kindle Voyage and Kindle Oasis the Kindle Voyager and Kindle Odyssey for, well, always until I just googled both of them.
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I’m unfamiliar with this model. That ridge is a grip? That looks ugly and uncomfortable… More to the point, it looks like it’s a foldable device and it’s clearly not and it should be what are they even thinking
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