"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!

Another "Bloom of Youth" Contest Winner

Hi all! As promised, here's the second winning entry for the "Bloom of Youth" writing contest. Enjoy!

I was serving in London Bethel as a driver for a couple of years. One day I was driving the Bethel van sitting at traffic lights when the Bethel phone rang and I foolishly answered it. Just at the same time that another brother was driving the other way towards me. He reported me talking on the phone which is illegal (even though I wasn’t actually driving the engine was on).

The result was I was asked to leave Bethel and removed from all privileges in the congregation. This experience taught me many lessons and I feel did me a lot of good.

I am now serving as an elder in Mill Hill congregation near the old Bethel. If anybody makes a silly mistake and loses privileges I now feel I can encourage them to have the correct attitude and learn from it, then become stronger.

Submitted by D.P., United Kingdom

"Bloom of Youth" audio book finally here!

Great news! After months of waiting for news back from Amazon's Audible service, The Bloom of Youth is now available in their store! If you've already got a subscription to Audible, be sure to give it a listen. If you'd like to hear an extended sample, check out the first chapter here on my YouTube channel.

Also, I apologize for the long wait in sharing the winning submissions I received for the bloom of youth writing contest. I'm still waiting to hear back from one of the applicants (so if you submitted a story and didn't hear back yet be sure to check your email!). In the meantime, I've decided to share one of the stories today. (I'll share another one next week) Enjoy, and thanks again to all of you who participated!

My Bloom of Youth Story, submitted by M.S.

I was raised around the Truth my whole life. My mother has been faithful to Jehovah for a long time. Unfortunately my father was disfellowshipped when I was 13, so he has been away from Jehovah for 24 years.

Growing up as a teen I had influences from both my parents as well as young ones in the congregation leading double lives at school. I thought I could just lead a double life myself. And I did, or thought I did successfully up until I was 18. One of my classmates had lost her grandmother in death, so I started witnessing to her about the resurrection hope.

She looked at me and said, “You don’t really believe that, do you?”

"Yes, of course," was my reply.

She said, “If that was really true, why are you with us?”

Wow! It was like my world started crumbling. I couldn’t fool my schoolmates. I couldn’t fool Jehovah. And I needed to make a change... I decided that I needed to be either all for Jehovah or all for the world, I couldn’t do both anymore.

Fortunately I made the right decision. I have been serving Jehovah now for many years. I’ve been pioneering since 2004. (Been to Pioneer School 3 times, 2 of those times with my husband.) And I have been able to serve where the need was great up until August of this year. Now my husband and I are living with my mom in US and hopefully she will be joining us in the pioneer work soon! Serving Jehovah is the best life ever and I really wish I figured that out sooner!

"Bloom of Youth" writing contest now closed

Well, today is November 10th, meaning that the writing contest for your "Bloom of Youth" stories is now closed. Thank you all so much for submitting your stories! I thoroughly enjoyed reading each and every one (I even read a few to my wife, who loved them just as much!)

I have already contacted the three winners of this contest, and I will be shipping your hard copies of Time and Unforeseen out to you as soon as I hear back (so check your emails!). I'll also be sharing your stories here within a few days, and I'm sure many of you readers will enjoy them! As for those of you who didn't win this time, thank you again so much for participating and sharing your wonderful, funny, and sometimes emotional stories!

As I teased in my last podcast, I'm also very close to announcing some very big news regarding a project I've been working on for some time now with another brother and close friend of mine. This announcement will likely be made at the end of this month (at the very latest, December 1st). It's something that I think could not be coming at a better time, and hopefully will bring a lot of enjoyment and wholesome entertainment for many out there.

So please stay tuned!

"Time and Unforeseen" Now Here!

 

Hi all! It's November 1st and Time and Unforeseen is now available on Kindle and as a paperback on Amazon. I hope you all enjoy Will's new story!

The "bloom of youth" contest is still open for anyone wanting to submit a story for a chance to win free books. It will end on November 10th!

Pre-order "Time and Unforeseen" Now!

Hi all! Time and Unforeseen is now available for pre-order here, meaning that if you purchase now, it'll become instantly available to read this Sunday, November 1st, the release date. The paperback book will also be available for purchase shortly, which will allow you to order now and have it in your hands within a few days (hopefully around the day of its release, but due to shipping times this is impossible to guarantee).

Also, if you haven't yet submitted your "bloom of youth story", be sure to do so soon for a chance to win a couple of copies of the new book. The submissions I've gotten so far have all been good, and I can tell it's going to be a challenge to pick only three!

Finally, I've done another podcast episode for my YouTube channel, which has been very sparsely uploaded to this year (the podcast explains why, if you haven't been following the blog). Enjoy!

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"Time and Unforeseen" Almost Here + A Fun Giveaway

Hello all, and thank you, as always, for your patience!

I realize that the time span between these two book releases has been longer than usual (15 months! Yikes!), but as I've written about here extensively, this year has been a crazy one for my wife and I. We moved suddenly halfway around the world (with our two cats, too!) and are now facing towers of paperwork to allow my wife to stay in the United States (she's not from around here). Like Will Larson, I've truly been a victim of "time and unforeseen occurrence."

Even so, I'm thrilled to announce that the second draft of The Bloom of Youth 2: Time and Unforeseen is finished and off to my team of editors. I've already gotten some invaluable feedback that will help to make this book even better for its final release. It's a very different story than the last, but I think it'll resonate with many of you out there, especially having experienced the insanity that is the Year 2020.

Here's the book's description:

"Just as things appear to be settling down in Will Larson’s life, events beyond his control will once again throw his world into a tailspin. Join him on his second journey as he faces his greatest anxieties and learns to let go."

My goal is to have this book released by November 1st, just two weeks from now, but please don't hold me to that; Amazon is notoriously unpredictable with their review times for new titles! (Case in point, they've just responded to my Bloom of Youth audio book submission, citing a number of changes that need to be made before publication... *sigh*)

Also, I'm trying something new for the release of this book: A Giveaway!

Here's how it's gonna work:

To enter, all you need to do is email me (allthingsnewnovel(AT)gmail(DOT)com) a short story from your teenage years. It can be anything: something sad, something funny, something inspirational, something spiritually-centered. It doesn't have to be long or fancy. In the header of your email, write: "My Bloom of Youth Story" (Alternately, you can fill out the form here.)

Before the book's release, I'll choose my favorite three submissions and post them here. Winners will receive two free copies of Time and Unforeseen. This is an international contest open to anyone, so feel free to spread the word and let your friends know!

See you soon!

Tiny Update

 Talk about out of the frying pan into the fire! My wife and I just fled one country due to a pandemic, only to find ourselves surrounded by local wildfires, smoke-filled skies, and raining ash. I woke up this morning at 9:00, thinking it was much earlier, only to discover a view of the sky similar to the one in the picture below.

As if this year weren't already crazy enough, now we have apocalyptic views right outside our window. At this point, nothing would surprise me! It's good to know we're so close to the end; it's hard to imagine things getting any more wild than they already are.

In book-related news, I'm still waiting on the approval of The Bloom of Youth Audible audio book. As I've said previously, it's impossible to tell how long Audible will take in giving me the green light, so we'll have to keep waiting and seeing. As for the sequel of The Bloom of Youth, The Bloom of Youth 2: Time and Unforeseen, I'm still working on it but it's progressing steadily and should still be done in time for a fall '20 release.

In the meantime, I'd like to talk a little about this upcoming book, but I think I'll save it for a podcast episode!

Hope you're all staying safe and healthy out there!

Bloom of Youth Audio Book finished

Hey! Good news for those of you who enjoyed listening to the first chapter of the audio book for The Bloom of Youth! The entire book is recorded, edited, and submitted for the Audible review process. What I've found about this process, however, is that the time needed for approval varies wildly. My first audio book, FLEE, took nearly five months to go through the process. The second, The Unrighteous, took less than two weeks!

So really, it's anyone's guess how long this third audio book will take, but rest assured, I'll be letting you all know here once it's available.

Recording this audio book was quite the experience, as I did it while relocating across the globe. Due to the pandemic and sudden visa changes, my wife and I were forced to leave our previous home of eleven years and return to the United States. This means that approximately half of the book was recorded in my old office, a room in our high rise apartment, late at night when the traffic outside wasn't loud enough to show up in the audio. The second half was recorded in the home we are staying at now, which belongs to family. Living with more people and being in a new environment meant a lot of trial and error with recording times and locations, trying to find that sweet spot that would match the audio from the previous half of the book. Eventually, I managed, and I hope the transition from one recording locale to the next isn't too noticeable!

In other news, I haven't touched The Bloom of Youth 2 much in the last couple of months, but now that I'm settling in here and I've got much more time on my hands than before, I'll start chipping away at the remainder of the project. I still plan to release it this fall, so stay tuned...

Spanish verison of "All Things New" now available!

Great news for you Spanish readers and speakers out there! The first Spanish-language version of All Things New (Todo Nuevo) is now available on Amazon. As usual, there is both the digital version (for use on Kindles, or on the Kindle app for iPhone, iPad, and Android devices), and the paperback version if you prefer a more traditional format!

A huge thanks to my tireless Spanish translator, Carlos, who originally reached out to me with interest in doing the translating, and then spent the next few months pouring himself completely into this project. I'm sure many friends will be both entertained and encouraged by the fruits of his hard work!

In other news, my wife and I have completed the move back to the United States. It's a little weird to be back here after more than a decade living abroad in Asia, and stranger still to be here during a pandemic (I'm currently writing from my new office: a repurposed garage space next to a refrigerator and a washing machine––but I'm not complaining!). We are happy to be with family and finally through the ordeal of our international travels, which were much more stressful than we'd anticipated.

The upside is that since we're finally somewhat settled and I've got more time on my hands, I'll be able to hopefully get this next book finished soon. And if I can find a quiet space to burrow away for a few days, I'll be able to finish recording my audio book as well!

Hope you all are doing ok out there!

Audiobook sample for The Bloom of Youth!

The Bloom of Youth was, by far, the wackiest, most neurotic of my novels. But it was also the most enjoyable to write! While most of my books start off as a thrill to write, somewhere in the middle I find myself running out of steam or needing to rekindle my excitement about the story. This usually happens again towards the three-quarters mark, when I'm trying to tie the story all together and end all of the characters' arcs in a satisfying way. Point being, writing a novel is far from a stress-free process!

The Bloom of Youth was an exception. It was such a joy to mentally revisit my teenage years and weave those emotions and experiences into Will's story. I don't recall ever worrying about what to write next, or determining how Will might react to a certain situation. The entire process was smooth and organic, a much needed break from the high intensity events of the FLEE series and the slightly darker source material.

Revisiting Will's story in audiobook format has been similarly fun. Stepping back into his world has been a refreshing break from 2020, with its global pandemic, murderous insects, locust swarms, looming financial crises, endless series of natural (and not-so-natural) disasters, and freakish weather. Will's problems may be big in his mind, but they're nothing compared to all this, and right now that's exactly what I've been needing. So it's been fun!

Unfortunately though, for this particular audiobook I won't be uploading the entire thing to YouTube. Audible's guidelines are pretty strict, and they don't allow authors to share the full content on any other sites. (This also means I'll be taking down most of the chapters of the FLEE audiobook.) Still, I hope you enjoy this little snippet. And if so far you've been on the fence about picking up The Bloom of Youth, hopefully this'll give you a good sampling of what to expect. Enjoy!

Bloom of Youth Sequel coming this Fall, in spite of everything else

Hi all. I realize my updates here and elsewhere have been very hit and miss lately, so I'd like to explain a little of what we've been going through in our current assignment.

As with all of you, I'm sure, Covid-19 has meant massive changes in virtually every aspect of life. We began experiencing city-wide lock downs early this year, and although things are finally starting to open up and life is returning to normal, the political climate has soured considerably. This has meant new challenges.

In particular, it has become nearly impossible to get new visas as foreigners here. We have tried countless options, have called multiple cities and districts, and have followed up on every possible lead we could. Still, it's become undeniably clear that our life here in Asia will be coming to an abrupt end. While we were at first devastated by the thought of leaving behind our congregation, our studies, and so many close friends (some of whom were once our Bible students), we have found peace in knowing that Jehovah's direction for us is clear, and that everyone will be in good hands. The prayers we have made about returning home have all been answered, and many doors have opened up. We cannot help but feel like the Apostle Paul in Acts 16, who was repeatedly prevented by the holy spirit from preaching in one area, only to be clearly directed somewhere else.

So while we are sad, we are optimistic about the future, and we are eager to see how Jehovah will use us in our new lives back home.

That said, life has been understandably hectic lately. We have kept our lives simple these last ten years, and this means that the majority of the things we own are easy to part with (most things we're either giving away, selling, or tossing; we'll be traveling home with little more than the clothes on our backs and our suitcases). However, there are still many matters within the congregation, with students, with travel home, and with work that need to be settled before our July departure.

In spite of all that, I'm happy to announce that The Bloom of Youth 2:

Time and Unforeseen will be released sometime this Fall. I've been working on it the last couple of months and it's coming along nicely. The tone will be a bit different than the last book (told by a slightly older, slightly more wizened Will) but it'll still be a young adult novel featuring his characteristic humor and anxiety-stricken persona. If you enjoyed the last one, I think you'll like the sequel as well. Here's a sneak peek at the cover.

So that's the latest with us. We're healthy, and still alive and kicking, but life is sort of a whirlwind at the moment.

The Unrighteous Audiobook now available!

Hi all! Well, here's a bit of a surprise release: The Unrighteous is now available in full as an audiobook. This one was read by one of our brothers, John Eliot, from the UK. I think he did a fantastic job with it. If you're an Audible member, it's definitely worth checking out. (Here's a link!) You can also purchase the audiobook a la carte via Amazon, or on iTunes. Enjoy!

FLEE Audiobook finally here!

It's been months since I started the approval process (the files were last submitted on January 25th!), but I'm pleased to announce that my first audiobook, FLEE, is finally available on Amazon.

You may have already caught some of these chapters on my YouTube channel, but much of this audiobook has been re-recorded with professional equipment. I personally think it sounds a lot better than the old version!

So if you're a fan of audiobooks, consider checking this one out!

Small update

So, I've got some good news and bad news.

Let's start with the bad news. I've done very little work on the new book in the last month. As I posted about a couple of months back, Covid-19 has presented very unique challenges for my wife and I in the country we are currently serving in. We are healthy, as are most of our friends, but life is not quite normal at the moment and we are currently under quarantine. With so many things in the air, the book hasn't been high on list of things to do. I apologize if you've written me with emails and comments recently that I have not yet replied to. I trust you will understand.

Now the goods news. For the last couple of years, I have been working on a very special project with a close friend of mine who is also serving here in our area with his wife. We grew up together, in fact, making our friendship quite unique and close. Over the last couple of years this project has turned into something I'd never imagined would've been possible. With all of the bad news (disease, locust swarms, fires, global warming) on the media right now, I think this particular project is coming at the right time. (What free time I do have is therefore going into this project rather than the book.)

So, what is it, you ask?

Well, it's a video game, and it's for you guys--our brothers and sisters.

Can't say more just yet. Stay tuned.

New podcast episode out – I know, about time!

Bloom of Youth sequel progress slow but steady

Hi all! Hope you are doing well this first month of the new decade. I know I've been a little hit or miss lately with updates so I thought I'd  jump on here to let you all know what the latest is with writing projects and my life in general.

First off, life. As many of you are already aware, I'm currently serving as a need greater in Asia with my wife. I've been here nearly eleven years now, and as you might imagine, life in a foreign country comes with challenges (both expected and unexpected). The standard of living is lower than America (where I am from originally), and with that comes a vast difference in education, cleanliness, and mentality. One way this is most evident is in personal hygeine.

While I tend to think that sometimes in the West we go overboard with our use of antibacterials, which is dangerous in its own right, here in the East, knowledge about bacteria, germs, and the general spread of disease seems, at times, to be almost non-existent.

As an example, where we live it is common to see people emerge from bathrooms without washing their hands. Most worrying, this is even true among employees in schools and restaurants. On top of this, many refuse Western medicine, (and with it, Western standards of hygiene), feeling that their own culture's remedies and herbal concoctions are superior. Of course, there is probably some truth to all of this, and I've learned over the years not to dismiss something merely on the grounds that it is foreign––after all, that's precisely what the locals are doing!

That said, the recent 2019-nCoV outbreak has many on edge here. In the area we are in, the streets, markets, and public squares have all but been deserted due to fears of contracting the disease. Much has been done locally to educate the population on hand washing (for once, an emphasis is being made on using warm water and soap––a novel concept for many here), and today while out buying groceries I was pleasantly surprised to find antibacterial hand washing stations set up at the checkout lines. But whether or not this will be enough to stem the spread of disease... That remains to be seen.

In book-related news, the sequel to The Bloom of Youth is progressing, albeit a bit slowly with everything else going on with life at the moment. The title of the book (which may change), is: The Bloom of Youth 2: Time and Unforeseen. I'm experimenting with some different subject matter in this book, while still trying to maintain Will's comical and semi-neurotic voice. It's a fun little book so far, and I hope you'll all enjoy it.

I've also finally mustered the energy to get back into mastering the audio files for the FLEE audiobook. I know that many of you have asked for this and I'd really love to be able to list the audio version along with the Kindle and paperback versions on Amazon, so hopefully I can get this sorted soon!

Can you believe it's 2020?

I certainly can't! I never pictured us experiencing this date on this side of the system, but here we are.

I wanted to update you all on how things have been going lately, since I know it's been a bit quiet over the last few months since the release of STAND. As has become my custom, I've taken a little breather after the completion of the last novel to recoup. In addition, life has been a bit of whirlwind since August (when the book was released), with conventions and other events keeping me busy.

In the midst of all this, I was working on the audiobook for FLEE, which I completed and released as promised for free on YouTube. I later went back and re-recorded many of the older chapters and planned to put everything up on Audible so that the audiobook version could be purchased alongside the Kindle and paperback versions on Amazon, but this turned into a bigger headache than I imagined.

The software I used to record and edit has not worked well with Audible's audio proofing process, with numerous issues and errors keeping me from publishing every time I try to submit the files. In addition, Amazon's customer support has been less than ideal, with many of my inquiries going unanswered and customer reps changing constantly, requiring me to re-explain the issues in detail. All of this, you can imagine, has slowed down the process and frankly killed a lot of my motivation to pursue this particular project. I'm not giving up just yet, but I've turned my attention to other things for the time being.

Going forward with the books, I've had about five different projects on the back burner for the last year or so. On occasion I'll go back over these ideas and write a bit here and there, perhaps fleshing out a scene or two or trying to piece together a rough synopsis to give me a launching point. These books span quite a range of genres, from a historical fiction set in 15th century England centered around a small ragtag team of Bible smugglers to a sci-fi interplanetary-colonization series set several millennia into the New World. All fun ideas, yes, but so far nothing has really jumped out at me.

That is, until I sat down about a month ago and started work on a brand new project, something completely unrelated to the ideas I'd had stewing in the back of my mind for so long. This story is much more grounded in our present reality, and is, in fact, a sequel. And just so I don't encourage any false hopes out there, I'll go ahead and tell you that it's the second part to Will Larson's story from The Bloom of Youth.

When we left Will in the last story, we'd seen him grown partway to manhood. He'd learned, through a tumultuous adolescent year, to make the truth his own and take a stand for what he believed in. At the time, I was happy leaving the story at that, until I started thinking more about my own adolescence and all the other things I learned and experienced during those difficult years.

Since I'm only a fraction of the way into writing the first draft, I don't have a title or a cover to share here just yet, I just wanted to let you all know what's in store. Hope you're all having a lovely (and not too cold) January 1st.

Still can't believe we're in 2020!