Let’s not bury the lede: patron members of my Multiversalists community have complete behind-the-scenes access to the creation of my next work of fiction, the Shaper’s World fantasy novel Shadow of the Outsider.

What does that mean?

Why is it something you’re into?

Why am I doing it?

How can you join the Multiversalists to get in on it?

I’m eager to tell you — or, if you’re already sold on the idea and you’re not yet a patron member, join us!

What Does “Complete Behind-the-Scenes Access” Mean?

All patron members of my community of friends and fans — the Multiversalists — already enjoy access to first-draft, hot-from-my-fingertips installments of my work(s)-in-progress.

Most recently, they read along as I wrote the Daikaiju Universe novelette “Reggie vs Kaiju Storm Dragon Squidbat” from January through April of 2024. It’s one of the many perks and benefits available to my patron members.

For Shadow of the Outsider, I’m going farther, and revealing more of the creative process.

By “more,” I mean everything it’s technically possible and practical to share:

• character backgrounds
• worldbuilding essays, notes, and musings
• maps, sketches, and other illustrations and visual assets
• free-writing character studies
• outlines and scene synopses
• early drafts and “outtakes”
• personal observations and insights into the entire process in the uncut / unedited patron member edition of episodes of my podcast, Sonitotum, and in patron member-only articles
• Every word of the first draft, scene by scene, uploaded minutes after those words are written
• Anything else that comes up, or occurs to me, along the way

Right off the bat, I uploaded over 17,000 words of material, so there’s plenty for patron members to dig into from the start.

Also: everything posted has commenting enabled, because what’s the point of offering something to my community if we don’t have the opportunity to talk about it?

A Learning Opportunity for Writers, Readers, and Anyone Fascinated by the Creative Process

Since long, long before I became a professional author and creator, I have loved learning what goes into the making of a creative work.

Not only are there important lessons to be gleaned from another creator’s process and experience, there’s something about that insider perspective that adds to the enjoyment and understanding of the work itself.

There’s a lot worthwhile in the behind-the-scenes look whether you’re a reader or a writer… and especially if, like most (all?) writers… you’re both!

If you feel the same way, become a patron member of my Multiversalists community and I will share the making of Shadow of the Outsider with you.

About Shadow of the Outsider

Shadow of the Outsider is the second novel in the Outsider trilogy (but doesn’t require that you’ve read the first), the third work in the Shaper’s World cycle, and part of a larger double trilogy that is the spine of a many, many stories to be told in the Shaper’s World storyworld, a wholly original secondary world fantasy setting.

In Shadow of the Outsider, the machinations of a mad king threaten to unleash a horror that could endanger an empire, a continent, and perhaps the entire world. How is it that his hostage, a self-involved former itinerant scholar, might be all that stands in his way?

Those two sentences encapsulate the throughline of Shadow of the Outsider, but there’s a lot compressed in those forty-seven words.

There’s geopolitical intrigue. Espionage and terrorism. Magic and violence.

And love.

It’s often folly to declare the theme of a novel with any confidence so early in the game, but y’know, I think it’s pretty safe to say the whole darn thing, and everything that happens in it, is driven by love.

Come on along and see how I pull it all together. Or watch me fall on my face!

Either way, we’ll both be enriched by the experience.

Why Am I Opening Up My Entire Book Writing Process in Near-Real Time?

“Because doing it yourself means never going it alone.”

For many years, that was the tagline of my early podcasts and my website, and the lodestone of every creative thing I did.

I’ve never stopped believing that, but when it came to my actions, over the better part of a quarter century the consistency of my commitment became diluted by financial and personal pressures (that’s the short version).

I didn’t like that.

So I listened to the very thing I tell people when I’m asked what kind of stuff I write:

“I make things for people who like the kinds of things I make.”

What’s the common thread connecting the first maxim with the second?

Community.

Exemplified by the re-launch of my website at the beginning of 2024, I’ve shifted my creative focus away from chasing Amazon sales and reviews (not that those aren’t lovely) and sharply on direct sales and my relationship with my Multiversalists community of friends, fans, readers, and fellow creators.

The Multiversalists are the folks who, by virtue of being in the community, “like the kinds of things I make,” or, at least, like the way I make those things and want me to make more.

The Multiversalists are the ones making sure I’m “never going it alone.”

Why am I opening up my entire writing process — all the sloppy phrasing, the TKTKTK placeholders for things I’ll figure out later, the false starts, the wrong turns… the spoilers(!) — in near-real time?

Because it feels like the right thing to do for the people who will benefit from it.

Why Am I Charging for Access?

This question, I can answer in many fewer words:

• The materials provided have intrinsic value
• The time and effort spent preparing and presenting the materials deserves compensation from those who find value in them
• Bonus: the monthly or annual member patron fee includes much more than the specific benefit we’re discussing here

If it’s for you… it’s worth what I’m asking.

If it’s not for you… well, the question is moot, isn’t it?

How To Get Complete Behind-the-Scenes Access as I Write Shadow of the Outsider

Complete behind-the-scenes access to the entire process of writing Shadow of the Outsider is just one of the many perks and benefits of being a member patron of my Multiversalists community of friends and fans.

Patron membership starts at the Bronze level for $5.00 per month or $50.00 per year (which works out to just $4.17 per month). Because my membership platform is hosted on my own website and there’s no third party like Patreon or Kofi involved, nearly your entire pledge will go directly to me ($4.55 per month or $48.25 per year) to help offset the time, expense, and effort involved in my many creative endeavors, including the bi-weekly podcast for writers, Sonitotum.

Once you’ve become a patron member, you can log in with your username and password right on the first page of the Shadow of the Outsider WIP serial.

That’s It! You’re In. Thank You!

More than anything else, I have two interrelated desires in this life: to tell as many of the stories I have to tell before time runs out, and to have the time, energy, and resources to tell them. I believe every creator has a responsibility to bring their works to fruition and to the world. Your patronage helps me fulfill that responsibility.

Thank you, in advance.