An Update

Hello everyone.

I apologize for allowing so much time to lapse since my last update. I think it's high time to write a post and assure you all I'm alive and well, and give a bit of insight into my absence over the last two years.

First, my wife and I have settled well into our new lives in the US. Although it has been a difficult transition and we still dearly miss many close friends and Bible students from our previous assignment in Asia, living here has brought us new perspective, and we're busier than ever with theocratic activities. After three years here, we finally feel like this is home.

Adjusting to a new life, new work, new ministry, and new responsibilities is the primary reason I haven't had much time or energy to devote to new books, but there is another reason that I thought I'd share today with you all.

One benefit of having written most of my books in Asia was that, being a non-English-speaking environment, a very small number of friends in my congregation knew about them. As many of you already know, I am extremely careful about keeping my "EK Jonathan" persona (which is a pen name) and my actual identity in the congregation completely separate. (While some may find this odd, just imagine how uncomfortable you would feel if you were suddenly stopped at an assembly or convention by a small crowd who recognized you and wanted an autograph or a picture.)

Unfortunately, it was much more difficult to keep this a secret moving to the US. Sadly, I have found myself in situations with unwanted attention, and each time it makes me extremely uncomfortable, sometimes even resulting in sleepless nights. Unlike being recognized for giving a talk or being in one of our videos, these books are not strictly theocratic, nor are they sponsored by the society. As such, people have differing opinions about them. This is another reason I choose to remain anonymous––I do not want to stumble any in my congregation.

At the same time, over the past few years I've dealt with multiple instances of concerned Witnesses emailing me with demands about my real identity, location, contact information, or requesting my elders' phone numbers to verify that I am a brother. While I understand their concern, I always kindly point them in the direction of the Amazon reviews, which I believe are the strongest testament to the intention behind my novels.

Of course, this type of exposure was bound to happen as the books increased in popularity, but regrettably, it has slowly eroded my desire to continue writing. 

I'm not saying that I'll never return to these stories, but the last few years have been a nice break. I'm glad to have been able to provide the stories that I did when I could, but I'm now enjoying the next chapter of my life not being EK Jonathan.

Thank you all so much for your support and kindness over the years, it means a lot!

Until next time, keep on enjoying the Best Life Ever...

Almost 40k words

 

Nice, we're past the "this-might-just-be-a-phase" point of writing this. If I get this far, I know I'll finish it, and I've got some nice momentum behind me. Please don't expect it this year, but likely 2022.

What can I say about it? Without giving away too much, it's set in a time period I've ever written about before, which has required me doing more than the usual amount of research. Forunately, being back in the States, this means I can utilize the local library and supplement the usual online research with plenty of book-based research.

Also, the world of this novel is fascinating to me! Stay tuned.

Just a little somethin' somethin'...

 

Blue is where I am, green is where I'm going... eventually. Small beginnings, as always!

Project Paradise Demo now available!

Hi everyone, just wanted to let you all know that the demo for our game is finally here! See the link below to try it out for yourself on Macs or Windows PCs. This is just the beginning of a long term project, but we're thrilled to reach this milestone! 

 

In other news, I've begun the preliminary work of research on a new writing project. As mentioned in my last post, there's no way this novel will be released in 2021, but I did want to let you all know that something is in the works. It'll be a very different story than those from previous books, but I'm really excited to get started (once I have the time)! 

Finally, I wanted to share a personal experience related to the memorial campagin that I enjoyed a couple of weeks ago. A woman and her husband were contacted via letter and invitation and called our Kingdom Hall number in response. The message the wife left was a little odd, as she expressed what sounded like concern for our having her personal information (name and address). 

Upon returning her call, I explained that Witnesses around the world had turned to letter writing and phone calls due to the pandemic. She then seemed quite relieved, and explained that she and her husband had been wondering why they hadn't seen the Witnesses around for so long. I then inquired about whether she'd received the invitation, and she said that she had, and that it looked interesting. After explaining how the memorial would be held virtually (thankfully, she's familiar with Zoom!), I also invited her to our weekly meetings, the next of which was being held the following day. To my surprise, she said that she would be there, and sure enough she attended that very next meeting! 

Following this first meeting, she wrote an email expressing how impressed she was with the children's Bible knowledge and the friendliness of those in the congregation. She also asked some questions regarding the content of the meeting, which I answered briefly along with relevant JW.org links. The next week I wrote again, explaining how JW Library and WOL can be used to prestudy for meetings. I stressed that prestudying is important due to the quick pace of the program. She agreed, and they were once again in attendance at the following weekday meeting, this time prepared with their own Bibles and additional laptops open to our website so they could follow along. 

Experiences like this just go to show that there are still some in our territory who are searching for a "pearl of high value" and who, for one reason or another, are only now finding it. 

Have a great rest of your week, everyone, and if you do play our game, be sure to leave us your feedback!

Going Forward

Hello everyone!

It's been a bit of a whirlwind here as Jason and I have been working on finishing the demo release of our computer game, Project Paradise. Going into this project back in 2019, I had only a vague idea of how much work would be involved. I knew I'd need to learn how to draw and animate pixel art and I'd have to brush up on my music-making skills, but I didn't then grasp the extent of the work required. Now that I'm in the thick of game development, I can honestly say that this has easily surpassed the effort and time involved in writing all eight of my novels combined. It is unlike any creative effort I've undertaken in my life, and because I'm not doing it full time (nor getting paid for any of it yet), balance and sacrifice are required.

Drawing character profiles in Aseprite pixel by pixel!

 For this reason, I want to make it clear that I won't be releasing any new novels in 2021. As much as I love writing these books, I simply can't make the time for game development and more writing. I know this will come as a disappointment to many of you, especially those of you uninterested in playing a video game. For that I'm truly sorry, but I will start writing again once this is finished, and I have plenty of story ideas for the years to come (unless, of course, we are on the other side of this system by then!).

Composing one of the tracks for Project Paradise's soundtrack

 

That said, I wanted to take some time here today to talk about why, specifically, I'm making this game, and why for me it is a logical forward step from the books.

From a very young age, I loved entertaining people. I don't mean that I'm a singer or a performer, and in fact I get very anxious being in the spotlight. However, I love creating unique opportunities for others to have fun.

I believe this first manifested itself in high school. At the time, the TV show Survivor was peaking in popularity, and I wanted to make my own version. Fortuitously, I'd just begun learning to use graphic design software (CorelDraw), and my rudimentary skills were put to work designing a parody "Campus Survivor" logo. I then designed and launched a simple website for the competition. Next, I hosted tryouts for competitors among my classmates and held weekly competitions during lunch to determine the winner, who won $50 as the grand prize.

This would be the last time I would host such an event for worldly people. A few years later in 2006, I designed a city-wide scavenger hunt and invited brothers and sisters to serve as team captains and choose their own teammates. The day that resulted is still one of my most cherished memories, a time when many previously shy friends really opened up, and everyone had a chance to bond. Two more scavenger hunts would follow, each one more elaborate than the first. Through the years, the opportunity to create something special for my brothers and sisters and seeing the smiles on their faces keeps me motivated.

Not long after the second scavenger hunt, I returned to my old hobby of writing. I'd loved crafting stories as a child but hadn't written anything substantial in years. I wanted to try again, but this time it would be different. I wanted to put smiles on my friends' faces as I had before. What better way to do that than with a story about paradise? Of course, the story eventually grew into a novel that made its way onto the internet and reached a much larger audience that what I'd originally intended, and since there was a demand for more, so I kept writing.

I've never tired of writing books, even after nearly a decade of doing it. Still, I've been itching for years now to explore a new method of storytelling, a new means to provide upbuilding entertainment our friends. The concept of making my own video game seemed far fetched until I actually sat down for coffee with a friend of mine and pitched the idea. We were nowhere near prepared for the project at the time, but we immediately began the process of learning the needed skills. That first conversation happened in November of 2017, over three years ago, with the development of Project Paradise starting a year and a half later.

Of course, there are always risks involved when making forays into uncharted territories. Just as with The Bloom of Youth, I realize that this shift will mean that not all previous readers of my work will stick with me for this new project. On the other hand, as someone who enjoys playing video games, I recognize how difficult it is to find games without objectionable content, and if I can provide such a game to our friends and bring smiles to new faces, I'm all for it!

  

I'll still be posting here as I find time (and worthwhile content to post), but for the time being I'll be spending more of my time on Project Paradise, both on the Devlog (an abbreviation for "game developer's log") and in the forums. Hope to see you there!

"Project Paradise", an Upcoming Computer Game

Here's our announcement trailer!

It's difficult to express just how excited I am to finally be able to share this project with you all! For the last year and a half, a good friend of mine (and fellow brother) have been working on a secret computer game (even our friends didn't know about it!).

The title of the game is "Project Paradise", and it's set just a few years after Armageddon, while the cleanup effort is in full swing. As the main character (a survivor of the Great Tribulation), you'll recruit other brothers and sisters, who will move into your fledgling colony, set up homes and workshops, and begin to offer you new services and items to further beautify the town.

We have begun early playtesting with close friends, with the goal to release a free, public demo sometime in early 2021 (January, if at all possible!). Of course, a computer game is unlike anything I've done before, and the time required for art, animation, music production, and computer programming means it is a slow and iterative process, so we have no way of knowing when the full game will be ready. In the meantime, you can visit the website we've set up for the project (www.paradiseprojectgame.com). You can also check out some of our art and music on our official Instagram (www.instagram.com/paradiseprojectgame).

Can't wait!

Final Winning Submission

 Hi all! Here's the final winning submission. Enjoy!

 

HI YA SISTER!, submitted by K.H., USA I am 70 years old and that greeting was made 55 years ago. The year was 1964 and my family, consisting of 8 siblings along with my Mother and Father, had just found a house to occupy in Lake Elsinore, CA. We had just moved to California from Michigan and had completed a one-month adventure living in tents at Lake Elsinore State Park. We left Michigan, with a good number of cars, trucks and assorted personalities, looking forward to starting a new life in the Golden State. 

Truth be told, I’d say we resembled the “Grapes of Wrath” more than anything else. My Father had no job waiting, little money to feed his family, and no definite place to live. But my Mother had a dream. She had always wanted to move to California, the land of sunshine and opportunity, for her children. I had been “raised around” the Truth. What does that mean? Throughout the years, my Mother would invite the different sisters, that sporadically appeared at our doorstep, to have a study with her and anyone else in the house that was interested. My Mother studied with many sisters throughout my childhood, and was eventually baptized in 1970. We were a family that moved often. Even as a young child, I stopped being surprised at the knock on the door two weeks after we moved into a new home. Those Witnesses always seemed to find us. It seemed like we were being stalked, but in a good way. 

 I studied with an elderly anointed sister when I was eight years old. Later on, during my teenage years, I continued to respond to my Mother’s invitation. She would yell into thin air “Jehovah’s Witnesses are going to be in the living room on Wednesday at 3:00. Anyone who is interested, show up.” I usually showed up. My Mother didn’t drive, so there really wasn’t a way for us to get to a meeting. But the Witnesses were ALWAYS there throughout my childhood. My Mother died in 1996 shortly after my unbelieving Father came into the Truth. Seven of her nine children have dedicated their lives to Jehovah. 

I was 14 years old and a freshman at Elsinore High School, on that beautiful Fall day in 1964. I bounced off the bus and walked down the dusty road to our home by the lake. I saw an older lady standing at the door talking to my Mother. I walked past them into the house, looked at the lady and said “Hi Ya Sister!” “Hello, she replied.” A few minutes later my Mother came into the house and asked me how I knew that lady was a Jehovah’s Witness. “Gee Mom, they’re all over the state of Michigan. I figure they must have a few of them in California!” In a huff I walked away. Little did I know, that through a series of starts and finishes, six years later, those “few” Witnesses would help lead me to baptism in 1970. So, for over 50 years now, I have loved saying “Hi Ya Sister!”

 

Thank you again to all who submitted stories and experiences. I enjoyed reading each and every one of them, and I plan on doing more of these contests in the future!

In other news, an exciting project that I've been teasing for a while now is nearly ready for a big announcement, so stay tuned right here for that!