Alexander Engel-Hodgkinson's Blog: Way to Stay "In the Know", page 5

Soooo... my landlord had us kicked out. It took him a while, but he finally won in the end. He said he wanted to renovate the whole house, but that was obviously a lie, given how comfortably the other two guys are still living in their portions of the place. And of course, our narcissistic landlord had to try and play the "white knight" role in the end.

It doesn't matter anymore. I'll be finding a new place soon, and once I get settled, things ought to be a bit smoother.

Okay, so, since my previous announcement, I've gone ahead with renaming Dark-Boy, and I've chosen the new name: Cobalt Rogue. It seems far more suitable for this kind of story. If I knew how to post pictures here, I'd show off the new logo. On top of the new name, the current volume covers will be modified a bit.

I will be updating the current volumes soon.

Since I'm this early into the Dark-Boy series (which will probably consist of 10-12 volumes if all goes as planned), its reputation isn't all that well-known, so it may not be too late to change the name. For years, I considered changing it, even before I even published it, but as some friends, relatives, and even some recent reviewers have noted--it just doesn't seem... right.

For a number of reasons:

1) It's a pain in the ass to find on Amazon thanks to a bunch of MM romance novels (some of which don't even match the exact search, but whatever);

2) The title 'Dark-Boy' doesn't suit the current story anymore. When I first created it, I was seven, and since then everything I've created as since evolved to the point where it barely resembles my original creation. And by that, I mean the only things that survived the evolution process since the series' inception over 13 years ago were some of the dark themes, Damian's blue hair (Damian's name wasn't originally 'Damian,' either), and exactly three character names.

3) Honestly, the only reason I kept the title was for nostalgia's sake alone, which turned out to be a mistake. Now it's hard for customers to find, and it's a stupid, embarrassing, and childish title. It's briefly referred to in the story as a nickname for the title character that no one ever actually uses, so it's pointless to have it as the title. I was even accused of being racist for it once or twice. In the context of the direction our crazy little world is hurtling in, it honestly didn't surprise me that a few people would think that.

And finally, 4) Because I thought of something better. Something catchier. Something that does the series justice. Something that, currently, comes up with nothing on Amazon's search, and thus can't be hidden behind a multitude of photoshopped abs and dark man nipples on sale for $0.99. The two main candidates for the name-change are either 'Cobalt Rogue' or 'Cobalt Hellion.' The former sounds better, so that may be the new title soon.

The name-change may come in effect within a week or so. Possibly more, depending on how much time I have to make some changes.

Those of you who have/are awaiting reviews from me through swaps, not to worry! I haven't forgotten; I've just been extremely busy lately. I am reading through them and enjoying every page. Sorry for the delay, but please be patient with me! Lol.

Yeah, I hate making plans and announcing them, only to be forced to change them time and time again because of some fucking life force getting in the way. With home-searching (landlord's taking a shortcut in getting us out faster), and the fact that I'm not home for 17 and 18 hours a weekday due to school and work; I simply don't have the time to complete it this month, as I'd intended.

Sorry, guys.

I'm just over 300 pages into it. Hopefully I'll have it done by mid-summer. Hopefully...

Nothing much is going on. Hard at work with my (sadly lacking ;-;) input for an indie author anthology I'm collaborating on with ten other authors. I'm also hard at work with I Keep My True Love in the Basement/REMIX and Dark-Boy, Vol. 3: Cemetery Rumble, Part I. The gears are turning, ever so slowly.

Okay, so, starting this saturday till Wednesday, I've got a giveaway scheduled for EVERY ONE OF MY BOOKS. So if you're curious, now you have a chance to check them out without worrying about being strapped for cash (like me, lol). The link to the giveaway (which leads to my Amazon.com page) is below. Hope you enjoy. :)



https://www.goodreads.com/event/show/...

So '/REMIX' has been pushed back once more. This time it's set for a February release, and maybe an ironic Valentine's Day release if I work fast enough.

In the meantime, I'm still working on the second draft for my short story for that Amazon anthology project I'm involved in with eleven other indies, and I'm behind.

Maybe I ought to be writing that right now... almost finished anyway.

Goddamn it. >:/

There's too much sleep and schoolwork I need to catch up on to do much writing. I'm working on a short story for an indie anthology, the first draft of which is due on the 27th, so I'll be rushing to get that one in first, but it seems like /REMIX will be pushed back to December (and if my wonderful streak of luck continues, it'll be pushed back AGAIN to January).

*SIGH*

Well, the good news is, I've got a job! :D So now I can buy more movies and become more independent and shit...

The bad news is, it's created a schedule rut for me. School and work combined take up my whole days from 6 or 7 (depending on the days) AM to 12:00 AM, with only about two hours of free time in between on a good day.

Because of this, I Keep My True Love in the Basement/REMIX is going to be delayed and moved to a November release. Sorry, guys...