Cris Game

For those interested, I'm still hard at work on the Mouse book (working title: Mouse's Tale ).  Since I've been talking about this one for a while, I thought it might be fun to share an excerpt, so - bearing in mind that this has not gone through the editing process - here you go: --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The first to come in was Buzz, the speedster. He was a young guy with dark hair and a lean, athletic frame. From the way he moved, I got the impression that walking at what could be considered normal speed was unnatural and awkward for him. Next was Esper, a natural beauty who was generally considered the most powerful telepath on the planet.  Although I’d never heard of her misusing her powers, she was definitely someone you didn’t want to get on the wrong side of. Finally, there was Alpha Prime. Handsome and statuesque, with a chiseled physique, he probably could have been a movie star had he so desired. As w...

In the early part of this century (or millennium, however you want to style it - around the year 2000, dammit), I purchased a TiVo.  At the time, I was a hardcore television junkie. I wrote in a previous blog how watching television  is a like a second job (the average American watches 34 hours of TV per week), and I was a textbook example. I spent a lot of time wrestling with video cassettes, setting timers, screaming bloody murder when I accidentally recorded over something I hadn't watched yet... For me, TiVo was almost like the second coming. It could record tons of shows, I could watch them in any order I wanted, I could get a "season pass" and record every episode of a program - it even learned my preferences and recorded things it thought I would enjoy.  Frankly speaking, within weeks I was wondering how I had ever lived without it. (Had that uncultured, uncivilized Neanderthal with the VCR and box full of VHS tapes truly been me?) Fast-forward a decade-and-half: ...

A couple of years ago, one of my early posts on this blog was How to Beat the High Cost of Indie Publishing .  In that post, I basically outlined what I thought was generally required for an author to produce a quality novel. However, while I covered a lot of the basics leading up to the final production of a book (editing, cover, etc.), I failed to address one of the important things that comes after a book's release: marketing and promotion. As most indies (and even some traditionally published authors) quickly learn, book marketing and promotion is a necessary evil. Unless you are very lucky - almost lotto-winning lucky - getting and maintaining visibility for your work is an ongoing effort. Thus, at some juncture, almost every indie will turn to one of the book promotion sites. With that in mind, I was recently doing some research into where to apply my marketing efforts for one of my novels.  (This book promotion thing has actually become a bit of a pet project of mine, ...

In keeping with my commitment to produce audio versions of all my work, I'm pleased to announce that the audiobook of Revelation (Kid Sensation #4) is available. This one actually took longer than anticipated for a number of reasons; for instance, the power went out one night while I was listening to the audio files.  (That's force majeure , man. Nothing you can do about that.) Thankfully, I was eventually able to finish, and  - like the prior audiobooks in the series - I think it turned out very well and will prove to be worth the wait. Needless to say, it's a lot of fun for me to have my work brought to life in this way.  It's not anything I really anticipated early on when I started this writing gig, but I really enjoy it. (And it helps that I have a great narrator.) Kid Sensation #5 is now in the [audio] works, with the anticipated completion date being in October. I feel blessed that the audiobooks have been getting a very warm reception from listeners, so hopeful...

The Big Announcement Hello, world! My name is James Steininger, and primary VR developer at White Lotus Interactive. Our team is thrilled to announce HTC Vive support for our upcoming game, XING: The Land Beyond . In this blog post I will discuss the thought process behind integrating Vive, and perhaps discover the answer to the question: how many virtual coconuts does it take to make a Monty Python reference? Mixed Media Photo #1 "Lost in the Jungle" in our VR Photoshoot Series. Be on the lookout for more to come! :D First, check out this brand new gameplay video we made for Vive: In case you are new to our development blog or had not heard of XING previously, let me introduce the game. XING: The Land Beyond is an immersive first-person, puzzle-adventure game set in the afterlife. Inspired by games like Myst, Portal, and The Legend of Zelda, XING presents players with a rich world to explore as they solve puzzles. XING may be enjoyed with or without a VR (virtual reality) he...