This past November, I participated in NaNoWriMo, so that basically pushed Strange Future to the back burner. I “won”, and really enjoyed it. I feel really good about the story that I came up with, too, so I do intend on trying to do something more with it. I also started working full time, which has majorly cut back on the time I have for writing in general. Excuses aside, I miss writing, and I miss the characters I came up with for Strange Future.

I still intend on finishing up the Sequel this summer, hopefully for a fall release.

In the meantime, you can follow my exploits over at jfade.com – my personal blog. I’ve not talked much about my writing there, but do intend on doing so as I get back to it. That’s all I can tell you for now. I still get plenty of views on here, so I know there’s interest. I’d just like to thank you for that, and please, stay tuned for more–because there’s more to come!

Being Made Free at More Places:

Thanks to the awesome folks at Smashwords, the eBook version (which is free, as you all know) will soon be available for free at even more places. This includes Kobo, Barnes and Noble, Sony, and Amazon. (The current version that’s for sale there will be removed soon.) In addition to all these places, Smashwords just sent out an email notification that it will also soon be available on Apple’s iBookstore for the iPad at or close to launch day. You all might not think it’s that cool, but it’s awesome and pretty exciting. I’ll let you all know as soon as it’s up at each site.

A Few New Reviews:

Though I’ve been meaning to make a review page containing links to several reviews, I’ve not gotten around to it just yet. Meanwhile, the copy that’s up on Smashwords has gotten a couple of reviews I’d like to take the time to share:

Review from Mike Collins on March 13, 2010, 3/5 stars:

I liked it … quite a bit.

Some of the parallels between now and the future were quite funny … especially when they went to ‘International House’ and discovered the IHOP !

Review from Mark Jacobs on March 17, 2010, 4/5 stars:

A good, entertaining read; incorporating a universe of interesting ideas. It’s fascinating how the future is described in fiction depending on the author’s personal viewpoint, and their perception of who is deemed politically powerful at the time of writing. Although I realize most of this is satire, Josh has vividly drawn some aspects of a future world that is both believable and credible to even to an old Conservative like me. One minor note of criticism: I always cringe when I see a character in the future that is totally befuddled by events in the near or even distant past; i.e. Amazed that there was a time when there was no government control of reproduction (baby lottery). I think we should give future characters a little more credit. Good job, Josh! I hope to see more from you soon.

I’m not sure if either of you will get the chance to see it here or not, but let me put it here anyways: Thanks for the reviews guys, appreciate it!

The Podcast Version:

If you’ve subscribed to the Podcast version of the story on iTunes, you’ll note that it’s severely behind schedule. One of the mistakes I made was not following the advice of others to finish editing the ENTIRE podcast before posting it online. I was way too eager to get it out there, so went about halfway and then stopped. Lo and behold, life comes along and keeps me busy. That said, however, I’ve not given up on it and I’ve got two more chapters nearly done and ready to be uploaded. Look for them soon, within the next few days. More will follow. Live and learn, I guess…

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So, that’s about it! You’re now pretty much caught up on everything that’s going on with Strange Future. I’ll keep you posted on any other new developments as they come along.

Others are nearly exactly the same as ours, with the exception of one tiny detail. For instance, there is a universe somewhere that is a carbon copy of this one, except in that universe, you put on blue socks this morning instead of white ones…

If this theory is true, then it means that somewhere there is a universe where the following story is NOT a story. Somewhere there is a universe where the events described herein have actually occurred…

Let’s hope that the theory is wrong…

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