What the hell is this AI #scam shit? Any other #writers getting e-mail like this? Domain name doesn't exist, no search results for it, at all, vague name I can't find much about. No email signature. Dodgy as all f*. This is the first I've seen of scam mails with added context (mention of my book #worldglass)
I _know_ you’re not supposed to expect anything or be ungrateful but pushing hard all month, in isolation, to create a world in detail, adding another 12’000 words and a 10’000 word behind-the-scene blog, and all you get is two views and not even a like on your toot is soul destroying.
The harder you push for excellence, the louder the crickets seem to be at the end.
Imagine spending five months working full time on a project, tooting about it along the way, sharing your work, and nobody — not even a single other human being — is interested enough to say anything about it* or use the hashtag.
*= The actual content, rather than the fact I’m writing a book
I have to somehow face the next month of writing with that as the learned experience. I have Patreons, I have a responsibility to them and I will continue to write, but dear God, I am begging for some kind of acknowledgement, feedback, *anything*, right now. I chose to switch to a hobby somehow more isolating than programming
The second manuscript update has been released:
https://www.patreon.com/posts/may-2026-159709132
Another 43 pages; 150 pages over the free preview
Plus another 10'000 word developer diary
(download the free PDF/ePub here! https://camendesign.com/nomad)
#worldglass #writing #books #ebook #writingcommunity #fiction #fantasy
As they say, "Aww Sh!t". The unfortunate side of these 25-30 year old machines is that the plastics are failing. With me using mine so much, the door to the Compact Flash slot cracked. I used some epoxy resin to repair it, but whilst trying to wriggle the door free from being glued in the open position, the whole thing tore apart :(
Thankfully, it doesn't prevent the device from working as the sense switch for the door is in the corner where it pivots, and the stylus is on a spring-lock.
I've put close to 60 hours of writing into this device since starting the book (https://camendesign.com/nomad) and I'm pushing to get the new chapter finished for the end of the month.
I wish we had replacement cases for these, but the community is so incredibly small we can't afford to have these re-manufactured, if we could even get the design recreated correctly :/
> "But in this particular case, you’re promoting your book. You’re promoting a thing that you wrestled with and won. You’re promoting a thing that dragged you to hell and you dragged back. You’re promoting a successful enterprise in human endeavor. And beyond that, you’re promoting the idea that this beautiful thing you made, these words you ordered, these ideas you successfully put to a page, will resonate with other human beings. You’re promoting your belief that you have made a thing that will fill others with joy, grief, and/or inspiration. You’re promoting the idea of human connection, which we need so badly right now."
https://buttondown.com/monteiro/archive/how-to-be-a-carnival-barker
I tossed away 25 years of habit pumping out programming projects on the daily so I could knuckle-down to writing Nomad: Wanderer in the #Worldglass because the world is so compelling, so full of detail, and so well suited to the medium that I know it will give you something that is so much more rich in texture and humanity than the endless stream of attention-sapping sound-bites that makes up the majority of reading we do online nowadays.
There is literally no ulterior motive to the content of this book, unlike a social media feed where often the content -- no matter how positive and uplifting -- is secondary to the farming of views/clicks/ads/data, etc.
_Please_ consider giving it a brief read, it's free. You will know if it's for you from the first page; the setup of a desert world in a sand-glass the size of Earth is such a ripe environment that I dropped everything I could be doing to flesh it out for you.
#writing #writingcommunity #fiction #fantasy #literature #books
I passed 50'000 words on my book!
(Does this mean I should call it a novel now??)
#worldglass #books #writing #writingcommunity #fiction #fantasy
You’re probably real tired of these same-same photos but I am still working on the book (https://camendesign.com/nomad) despite less crowing about it. It is very nose-to-the-grindwheel stuff and abating the distractions is paramount to getting anything done, which is why this 25 year old AA-powered palmtop slams your average Android tablet to the floor.
I got my first Patreon! I'm so overwhelmed I could cry; it's the first money (£1) from something I've made in my life 😢 That anybody would even consider paying for something I made has been a never-ending doubt hanging over me
This is the book I’ve been writing using the #Psion: https://camendesign.com/nomad
It’s about a nomad from an uncontacted tribe crossing a desert to see civilization for the first time, except this is a sand-glass the size of Earth… the #worldglass
You can download the free PDF / ePub with 60 pages. If you want more, I’ve just posted the current manuscript with an additional 100 pages on the Patreon, ~45’000 words total written over the last 5 months.
Here it is, the first Patreon post for Nomad: Wanderer in the #Worldglass, a book about a journey in a sand-glass the size of Earth.
There's an extra 100 pages to read beyond the free preview, as well as "The Spoiler Log", this month's writing diary and behind-the-scenes details including future plot points: https://www.patreon.com/posts/april-2026-157007351
If you enjoyed the 60 page free preview (https://camendesign.com/nomad), then you can get the full current manuscript for £1.
(#Patreon no longer offers a pay-per-post model so it's either a £1/mo subscription, or £3 once-off payment -- sorry, the £3 is the minimum I can set!)
Kroc Camen