Still kicking

Hello World,

So, it's been ages since I've written anything on my blog. Things have been kind of slow and there has not been much to tell. So, scraping the bottom of the barrel...

Novels

Because of people being on vacation, trying to promote my novels in August - yeah, the irony wasn't lost on me - and September was going nowhere fast. Fortunately, things have been slowly been getting back into motion now. I've send paperback copies out to some papers and organization to fish for reviews. It's a long shot, but sometimes that's all you've got.

As for writing, my (novel) inspiration decided that it wanted a vacation of its own. So that came to a screeched halt. But now it's slowly starting to flex its muscles again. And it was not all bad....

Stargate and Star Trek

...because when the one inspiration went for some sun, the other one grabbed the wheel. Star Trek Pathfinder has been going strong, as has Stargate Universe Season Four. The last time we saw Spera and her intrepid crew, I was at Chapter 11. Now, Chapter 18 is up on Fanfiction.net and Chapter 19 and 20 are in the works.

And that's all folks,

Ruben Hilbers

Stargates and sales

Hello world,

So to begin with, the sales bit of the title. Alas, said sales have not been all that impressive. I sold some copies, but I am still stuck in the single-digit segment of the count. On the bright side, things have been happening on the Stargate side of the equation....

Stargate Nova Roma

Back in 2016, I had finished my Battlestar Xanthi fan-fiction and I was not very happy with the fact that MGM studios was not doing anything with Stargate franchise. So, just for fun, I started writing my own Stargate Universe continuation. I figured that my chances of getting noticed if I posted it on Fanfiction.net were zero (or less), so I created a blog called 128 to post it on.

The plan was to write other fan-fiction and thus create my own collection. But because other projects swallowed all of my free time, the other fan-fiction never crystallized. And lets been honest, this blog is currently still a dark, forgotten corner of the internet. And 128 is even darker and more forgotten.

So, I had zero readers. I even forgot about the story, for like....all of 2018 and a chunk of 2017. This year, however, has seen Stargate Nova Roma moving ahead again.

Moving to Fanfiction,net

Since I had zero readers, I figured that there was nowhere to go, except up. So I published Stargate Nova Roma on Fanfiction.net. I combined Season One and Season Two of Stargate Nova Roma to become Stargate Universe Season Three. The plan is for Season Three of Nova Roma to become the first half of Stargate Universe Season Four.

And, if I make that far, Season Four of Nova Roma to become the rear half. After that ?....euhm....let's just get there first. Finally, I want to discuss....

Removing some dust (and sneaky promotion)

When I was checking the traffic numbers on my Fanfiction.net page, I realized that my profile page was three years old, which is Ancient (see what I did there ?😛) by internet standards. So I rewrote said page.

And it was not the only thing that was getting dusty. My signature on the Gateworld Forums was the next to get a make-over. I update it with links to my Stargate story at Fanfiction.net and sneaked in some links to promote my book.

That done, all I needed was to update my blog and then to Twitter about it.

And that is all I wrote,

Ruben Hilbers

Developments / Onwikkelingen

Hallo Lezers,

Het is enkele dagen geleden dat mijn twee boeken gepubliceerd zijn. In de dagen daarna ben ik druk bezig geweest met het promoten van mijn boeken. Als deel van deze onderneming heb ik enkele persberichten naar lokale (Nederlandse) kranten gestuurd. Hopelijk leidt dit er toe dat medewerkers van deze kranten deze site bezoeken.

Daarom leek het mij gepast een stukje Nederlands tekst te schrijven, in plaats van het Engels waarin ik normaal schrijf. Verder heb ik de links gereorganiseerd om ze meer overzichtelijk te maken.

Ten slotte wilde ik melden dat hoofdstuk 11 van Stargate Nova Roma nu on-line te lezen is. Stargate Nova Roma is een vervolg van Stargate Universe. (Stargate Universe is een serie gemaakt door MGM, over een groep mensen die per ongeluk stranden op Destiny, een buitenaards schip)

Een fijne dag gewenst,

Ruben A. Hilbers

-------

Hello World,

It has been a couple of days since the publication of A Guy, Two Girls and a Serial Killer, along with Buried Secrets. In those days, I have been busy promoting the novels. This included sending a press release to several local newspapers.

If everything goes as planned, this will lead to employees of those newspapers visiting this site. Hence, the piece of dutch text above.

Another thing I did as part of this campaign was to reorganize the links on this blog. Hopefully, this makes them look more professional and makes them easier to use.

And finally, Chapter Eleven of Stargate Nova Roma (of season 2) is up and available. I changed the link name from 128 to Stargate Universe, because I expect it will be a while before the blog where I post it will contain other fan fiction stories.

And that is all I have for today,

Ruben A. Hilbers

Publication

Hello world,

So....the big day is here. Publication of my two novels is finally happening. Its been a long road, but now the end is in sight. As for quality of said novels, well.....I believe there is a saying that says that the proof of the pudding is in the eating. So, if you want to buys one - or both - of these books, the links are below.

And that is all I wrote for today.

Ruben A Hilbers

----

A Guy, Two Girls and a Serial Killer

E-Book #1
Paperback #1

Buried Secrets

E-Book #2
Paperback #2

Plan and Changes

Hello World,

Here we go....

Goodbye Edmond

Many, many years ago, I picked the name Edmond Dantes as my writing name. Back then - at least to me - it made sense. My internet footprint wasn't that big and I really liked the Count of Monte Cristo - I still do, it's a good book - so I went with it.

But the times have changed. My internet footprint has gotten bigger. I got a Twitter account and a LinkedIn page. I've also published several fan fiction stories since. And now, my own name is better suited for my plans. If you Google Edmond Dantes, this blog is nowhere near the top. But if you search for Ruben Hilbers, it's on the first page. So, goodbye Edmond, it's been fun.

Novels

What this means is that my novels will say Ruben Hilbers on the cover. (Okay, technically Ruben A. Hilbers. But details, details...) Also, Plan A was to publish the books at Brave New Books, which is the self-publishing section of Bol.com. There is, however, one major downside of Bol.com is that site only comes in Dutch.

When I originally published A Guy, Two Girls and a Serial Killer - under its original title of Hollywood - back in 2016, it took several months for the book to end up on Amazon.com. And it didn't even expected it to.

This time, however, I want to do better. And means there's a fair chance I'll have to change (self-)publisher. But, which one ? There are LOTS of options. So - for the past two days - I've doing research and there's more ahead. Including figuring out the Commercial Campaign. Long story short, it's going to a busy week.

That's all for today.

Ruben A. Hilbers

Getting going again

Hello world,

So....it's been a while since I've written anything for my blog. Between a period that I wasn't feeling so hot and a much needed vacation to the beautiful island of Rhodes, several weeks have passed. But now,  I'm back. So, getting down to business...

Novels

Both A Guy, Two Girls and a Serial Killer and Buried Secrets are ready to go. And the chances of publication in July are looking good. The only thing that still needs to be done, is planning the promotional campaign. I only have a small amount of money to work with, so I need to figure out how to get the most bang for my buck.

Star Trek: Pathfinder

The Pathfinder relaunch is now in full swing. The amount of e-mails has gone up to a healthy number, and we've gotten a new member. Of course, more is better. So, if love Star Trek, and you're looking for a Play-by-E-mail RPG see:  https://www.usspathinder.com/

Stargate Nova Roma

Chapter 9 and 10 of Stargate Nova Roma / Stargate Universe Season 3.5 are now available:

As tension between Earth and the Lucian Alliance come to a head, the fates of both sides and the Milky Way Galaxy as a whole will be changed forever....

That's all for today,

Edmond Dantes

Aaaaand another one

Hello world,

What did this week bring? Read on....

Another Step Forward

I spent today typing a chunk of Chess Games in Cairo into my computer. There is also forward motion on the artwork for Buried Secrets and A Guy, Two Girls and a Serial Killer. While I have no idea when exactly it will be done, I'm crossing my fingers that it will done before July. And - so far - things are looking good. At the same time...

Star Trek Pathfinder

...Star Trek Pathfinder has slowly begun moving forward. We've only been going again for three days. And the e-mail count is not that impressive yet either. But it's a start. And I'll take what I can get. And moving on to...

Stargate Nova Roma

Chapter 8 of SGU Season 3.5 is now up. Chapter 9 is in the works. Alas, I have no idea when it will come out yet. Inspiration can be fickle.

And that's it, short and sweet.

Edmond Dantes

Another week, another update

Hello People of Planet Earth,

I just thought I would change my opening for once. Anyhoo....

Write, write, write....

Work on Chess Games in Cairo is continuing. This week was writing and with a bit of luck, next weekend will be another round of typing. Also, I have one or two ideas brewing for Stargate Nova Roma. Hopefully, the typing will go fast and I will have time to put them on paper and get something out. But no promises. Anyhoo, moving on to....

....And Publish

The publishing date for A Guy, Two Girls and a Serial Killer and Buried Secrets has been kind of floating in the air. The original plan was to publish in early 2019. But then I decided to add artwork and then life got in the way.

It's nobody's fault, just annoying. A day job pays the bills - fortunately for me - but it also swallows all your time. Anyway, after some discussion and plotting, I decided to pin the date down to July 2019 at the latest. And we're walking....

USS Pathfinder

The Star Trek: Pathfinder relaunch is still in the brewing stage. But I wanted to bring it up again, so that I could advertise it, so to speak. Who knows, maybe sharing this blog on Twitter will bag us a new member. And even if it doesn't, there's no harm in trying.

And that's all for today,

Edmond Dantes

Getting going again

Hello world,

Here we go, subject Numero Uno is...

Chess Games in Cairo

My muse wasn't really talking. Fortunately, I still had some catching up to do in the typing department. (I spent most of yesterday getting it done.) Also, the experimenting with mailing this blog around is continuing. Between these two moves, I'm counting this weekend along making progress. (Yeah!)

Also....as part of the PR-plan, I got a Twitter account. I knew it would be a while before I publication, but that was the whole point. That way, I could build up some tweets before (re)launch day. Now, it's been a year and the tweet count is 190-ish, with 10 people following me. With that noted, time to move on to...

Star Trek Frontier Fleet/USS Pathfinder

STFF was a Play-by-E-mail Role-playing Game. Was being the operative word, because it went kaput in January of 2019. But now there are (the first) rumblings of it being restarted. I really hope it gets off the ground again. Because to be honest, I've been missing my FF buddies. And some recreational writing to distract from my day-job and attempts to become a professional don't hurt.

Television Shows

I recently finished a Warehouse 13 re-watch. Great show. And a great reminder of how much SyFy channel messed up over the years. Every time they had a good show, they cancelled it after its fourth or fifth season. What a bunch of jerks. (And don't even get me started on Stargate Universe.)

And that's all for today,

Edmond Dantes

What I've been up to

Hello world,

So...what have I been up to. Well....

Stargate Nova Roma

For the last couple of weeks, I've put Chess Games in Cairo on hold to dust off Stargate Nova Roma (and my 128 Blog). The result is four new chapters to the story. (Starting at 2.4 and ending at 2.7) But with March over, its time to get back to the novel.

That said, I do have an idea for my 128 (story) blog. But it will be a while before I can get around to actually writing it. So what is said idea? Read on...

Roy at War

A while ago, I discovered that Donald Duck's full name is Donald Fauntleroy Duck. To set my version apart from the main version, I'm calling him Roy. (Short for Fauntleroy.) As for what it is actually about. Well...

Donald Duck's Navy career is barely shown. And when it is shown, it usually treated as a joke. Which makes sense for the main version. He is meant to be a funny guy after all. But I couldn't help wondering what a serious/realistic version of his wartime story would look like. So the plan is to write a proof-of-concept story one day.

For now, however, moving on to....

The Novels

As mentioned above, Chess Games in Cairo has been on hold for a bit. But I'm now getting back to it. Also, I'm going to start experimenting with E-mailing my Blog around. At the moment, I don't know how that works (exactly), so I need to start doing some practicing.

As for publication of the first two novels, the experimentation is part my research for the promotion campaign. Also....a while ago....I decided that the books would be better by adding several schematics. But these are/have been taking time.

(I'm horrible at drawing. Fortunately, I found somebody who is much better. But he has a day-job, so he works on it when he can.) 

And that is all for now,

Edmond Dantes

Shameless Self-Promotion

Hello world,

So....

It's been ages, but I've been working on reviving my Stargate fan-fiction. I also wanted to dust off my NCIS fan story...but my muse is only in the mood for Stargate, so that is not happening. Instead, I'm going to start work on Chapter 2.5. It (probably) won't be done today, but I'll take what I can get.

Also, the theme was getting a bit dusty, so I changed it. On top of that, I need to take a closer look at my 128 Blog and see if I can turn it into more of proper website. Finally, a warning, my fan fiction is not short. Season 1 - which is actually Season 3.0 of Universe - comes in at 17 Chapters and just over 36,000 words. Season 2 - aka Universe 3.5 - is now at 4 chapters and 7,000-ish words.

Anyhoo, back to work....

Edmond Dantes

A Strange Combination

Hello world,

So here we are again. Things have been quiet here for a while. As for why...well, it's a strange combination of things having been really hectic - at work - and at the same time being really rather silent. Long story short, there was nothing to write (about). So this is probably going to be a rather short entry. Anyhow, moving on to....

Politics

The state elections are coming up. On March 20th, the people of the Netherlands will get to vote for the provinces. Which will not only change things at the State Level, but will also change things on the national level. You see, the people who run the States get to elect the members of the Senate/Upper Chamber (Eerste Kamer in Dutch). And losing the majority there will make things harder for the parties running the country. (Which is fine with me.) With that done, time to go on to....

Novels

Not much to report on this front. Work on novel number three continues (slowly, but steady). I'll soon have to have another typing session. But for now, I'll continue work the old-fashioned way. Call me a hopeless romantic, but I prefer pen and paper. (I also prefer calling ships 'she', but that is a story for another time.) And finally....

Stories

I really need to dust off my 128 blog. I haven't written a new chapter for Stargate Nova Roma since (September) 2017. Also, my NCIS fan-fiction story has been stuck for quite a while. But my muse simply hasn't been talking to me. Still, something for me to spend time on next weekend. But for now, novel number three to work on.

That's all for today....folks,

Edmond Dantes

Update

Hello World,

So...what's happening over here in Zwollywood? Well, to begin with I'm trying not to let my blog gather so much dust. But sometimes there is simply nothing to report, so the blog is silent. Today, however, that is not the case. Moving on to subject number one...

Politics

A quick check revealed that its been a while since I tagged a post with the label. (The last one was in April 2018.) The reasons why are simple. To begin with....Donald Trump is an idiot. (Not that this is news to anybody, but I'm stating it anyway.) I know that there some people - like Peter David - who fill their blogs with rants about Trump and the stupid things he does. And that is his right. I just don't feel like spending one more second thinking about that buffoon than necessary. Thank Heaven I life in Europe. Which brings me to reason number two...

Brexit. Ugh. I'm sick and tired of hearing about this. I think it was a bad decision that will come back to bite the people of the United Kingdom in the ass. But, it's their country...and they can do with it as they please. Any how, moving on to subject number two.

Novels

I did another day of typing on Chess Games in Cairo. The chunk of novel that I had already written is now in my computer. So now comes the hard part....writing more. Meanwhile, I found somebody to help me with the commercial campaign for novels one and two. But said help has a day job, so it will still be a while. More info as it comes around. For now, moving on to...

Leftovers

My bicycle finally got fixed. Yay ! It's good to be able to move around town at any time again. You don't realize how lucky you are to have something until you lose it. Being without my bike was really annoying.

And finally, I changed the theme of my blog. The old was growing a bit stale, so I picked a new one. Someday, I'll (think about) put(ting) up a costume theme. But not in the short term. Any how, that's it for today.

Edmond Dantes

Bits and pieces, Vol .1

Hello world,

Still alive and kicking. So, what's happening these days? Well, there's good and bad news....

The Bad News

My bicycle broke. Which is REALLY limiting and annoying. I made some calls. Alas, a part had to be ordered. Which it was, but it has not been delivered yet. Thank heaven Zwollywood has good public transportation. Otherwise not having my bicycle would be even more annoying.

Also, planning the commercial campaign for A Guy, Two Girls and a Serial Killer and Buried Secrets is going to take (more) time. So, I'm afraid patience will be required.

The Good News

Star Trek Discovery has begun. And, so far, Season Two is (shaping up to be) better then Season One. At the same time, Star Wars Resistance appears to be planting some serious seeds and getting ready for going darker and more adult. The mid-season trailer of Resistance was a good indicator that this was going to happen, but it nice to see it actually happening.

Finally, while commercial campaign is (slowly) doing its thing, I have begun work on my third novel of the August Adventures. I already wrote a chunk a while back, which I'm now typing into Word to get the manuscript started.

(And get back into the mood for writing the rest of the novel.) Also, the title is now Chess Games in Cairo. (The plan is for that to be the final title. But no promises. We'll just have to wait and see what happens.)

That's all for now folks,

Edmond Dantes

Stuff happening

Hello world,

So....January is here....yeah ! In fact, we're two weeks into 2019. And there is stuff happening. Like....

USS Pathfinder

Alas, due to circumstances, the plug has been pulled on the adventures of the USS Pathfinder. A Play-by-Email role-playing game, this marks the end of eighteen years of Star Trek adventures. I wasn't around from day one, but still....we had gone run and it was fun. And I'm going to miss the old girl.

Novels

A Guy, Two Girls and a Serial Killer has been proofread and corrected. Thus, bringing publication one step closer. But now comes the hard part....planning the promotional campaign. I have limited funds, so I need to pick my moves carefully. But pick them I will.

TV-shows

Finally, the Christmas void is behind us. And one by one, all the shows I am following are coming back on the air. And even better, it's only a couple more days before season two of Star Trek Discovery airs. I know that season one took a lot of flak, but I am hopeful that season two will be better.

At the very least, it will give Captain Pike some much needed extra/new episodes. I mean, come on....Captain Kirk gets 78 episodes and six movies - Kelvin timeline stuff doesn't count - and what does Pike get ? Three episodes. Two of which were rehashes of episode one, with just a frame story around it. That sounds a little off-balance to me.

Anyway, that's all for now.

Edmond Dantes