What I'm Doing This Month: June 2022

The Joy of Serialization

Hello, and welcome to the Warthog Report.

From one month to the next

Last month did not go as planned. For various reasons involving complexity and time I was unable to put out a blog post like I planned.

To compensate, there’s a high chance this month will feature two blog posts. So be on the lookout for those.

In other news, I’ve chosen to change the name of Fighters of Hybridis to Battles Beneath the Stars, to me it’s a clear upgrade.

The new title is a bit vaguer than I usually like, but it works as a reference to the dragons being born from falling stars and their impact on the world.

More importantly, you’ll be able to read the next chapter of Aodh’s story in Battle Beneath the Stars tomorrow.

I’m still playing around with the exact format for this story, so this upcoming chapter has some relatively minor format changes that I’d appreciate feedback on.

That’s actually one of the benefits of being a small substack, I can experiment more openly when there are less eyes on me.

Grandchildren of the Dragon

As I suspected and hoped, Dracula Daily has inspired a good number of new substacks to emerge.

Given the timing, I wouldn’t be entirely surprised if people confuse Battles Beneath the Stars for another of Dracula Daily’s spawn.

A majority of the substacks that have popped up are redistributing classic literature, but I’ve seen some original works.

It turns out I enjoy having serialized fiction delivered directly to my inbox, so I’ve subscribed to some of the original ones.

What Manner of Man is extremely open about its inspiration and promises to tell an epistolary vampire romance.

At the moment the author is letting subscribers vote on aspects of the story before it starts next year.

There’s not much to say about what I can’t read, but I think the voting is a fun idea that helps distinguish it from Dracula Daily.

Meanwhile The Case Files of Sheridan Bell is more Sherlock than Dracula, telling stories about a detective in a fantasy world.

If it weren’t for the note in the about section stating it was inspired by Dracula Daily, I would have wondered if the timing was a fortunate coincidence.

So far only the first chapter of the first story is out, and it got me hooked enough to subscribe.

It feels exciting to be in on a trend, both as a writer and reader. I’m not a trendy person, so I expect to stick with this even after it stops being trendy.

That’s it for the Warthog Report today. I hope you enjoyed this update.