Thursday, October 31, 2013

A Sound of Thunder Announces New Album, Smashes Crowd-Funding Goal in Four Days

Extra, extra! Read all about it! A Sound of Thunder's fans are fucking incredible!

Seriously. As of yesterday, we made our 1st stretch goal of $12,000. As of Monday, we made our original goal, $10,000, to finish recording The Lesser Key of Solomon. The stretch goal was added so we could do something fun (I REQUIRE FUN), so we said, hey, lets do something silly for the sake of all metal and record a female-perspective version of Pleasure Slave. Because what could be funnier than a bunch of dudes groaning as I sing about being served by them? NOTHING. So we said, hey, if people really want it, lets find out. Apparently, people really wanted it. Well, they wanted that, and all the other extras. Like... the hardcover book full of art and lyrics. The hockey jersey (my idea!!). The t-shirts. The limited edition CDs. People actually wanted this stuff and, lo and behold, people wanted us to cover their favorite songs that they were willing to shell out a thousand bucks (two people!) for a demo and THREE THOUSAND BUCKS for a professionally recorded version. Yes, someone likes us enough that they're gonna pay three grand just to hear us cover something.

Okay, I don't know about you, but that shit floored me. That and the fact that people like our products so much, the average pledge amount is a hundred bucks. So far, in a week, we've got 123 people who actually want to put money toward us playing and recording and making things. That is incredibly generous and awesome. To me, this says we've got not only fans, but a good product.. and we are the product! How's that for the best Halloween ever? Not only do I get to celebrate my favorite holiday, but my band is being financed by people who want to see us succeed. Truly, my black little heart is weeping tears of blood and mercury.

Now, after weeks of focusing on recording, we've got to get back to practicing the set so we can go on tour. The tour will last for a lot of the KickStarter so we can work on making new fans. By the time we get back, the KickStarter will almost be over and we can put that money toward finishing the album and, in my case... layout. Oh, layout. How I love and hate thee. If you didn't know, I do the layout for all of our products. CDs, records, books, everything. It saves us money and gives me the opportunity to get away with adding my own little touch to everything. I'm looking forward to all the photos of our fans we'll be adding, this time, as well as photos from the tour. If all goes well next week, we'll be recording video of us going to various eateries and posting them to YouTube, but that's another story.

Today is Halloween and today we celebrate that metal is indeed alive and well, thanks to incredible fans and a lot of good old fashioned hard work. And vodka.

Happy Halloween!!


Monday, October 28, 2013

This is Halloween!

I just had the most Halloween-filled weekend of my life! Friday - party. Saturday - party. Sunday - party... cleanup. Epic. During this weekend's festivities, it was difficult not to find myself glued to my phone since we also launched our new KickStarter campaign. After only a few days, we've nearly reached our half-point goal and LEMME TELL YA, I'm pretty shocked by how much people gave and how quickly! At this point I'm just worried it will slow down! I understand there's usually a lull after the initial boom period, so here's hoping it doesn't end too abruptly. Not only do we have to make our initial goal, but I -really- want to hit that $12k stretch goal so we can record Pleasure Slave.

And of course, just in time for Halloween, we finally introduce our new music video for I'll Walk With You! Hurray for gore!


Wednesday, October 16, 2013

SECRET EXCITEMENT

I'm not allowed to say why I'm so excited. All I can do is share my feelings with you through a single gif.


Happy speculating!

NaNoWriMo 2013

Alright, so we're halfway through October and I'm already panicking. No, not because my costume wig came and wasn't exactly how I wanted it (I can use rollers on fake hair, right??) but because next month is National Novel Writing Month and I'm starting to wonder if I can pull it off.
The last time I tried NaNoWriMo, I got as far as 42k words before I couldn't get any further. So close to the 50k goal!! I have no idea why I stopped, but I tend to do that when I write. I'll write a big chunk of stuff and somehow stop and not have the will to continue. I don't know if it's writer's block, because I knew where I wanted the story to go, or just a lack of motivation. I was having fun with that book but halfway through I began to doubt myself. I mean, sure, this is supposed to be for fun, but then I start to think if what I'm writing is just a bunch of crap and it all crumbles. This year, I've got a head start with my outline, and I keep going back and changing things because the more I look at it, the stupider it seems. So I keep going back and changing it, and wondering to myself, "when did I fall in love with my RP characters and why?" Because damn, I used to churn out stories for my RP characters like it was nothing, yet I can't fall in love with new people?

Why is this hot?? 
That's when I decided that this is exactly what I need to write. I've got to create characters I actually like, which sounds easier than it really is. I don't like Mary Sue's. I don't like it when one person is "the chosen one" (Harry Potter) and when one person is perfect and beautiful and different (Twilight, Diversient) so my goal here is to create a character that is both normal and engaging. I look to books like Wool for inspiration on that end, because I really think that the author did a good job by creating a main character that is both female AND not breathtakingly amazingly beautiful. Also, get this, she's OLDER than her love interest. She's in her thirties. When was the last time that happened?? I'm actually pretty guilty of the old man/young woman trope when it comes to romance. It's been hammered into my head so many times (hello, Pretty Woman??) that it just seems right to me, even if it might not always be. I'll totally admit that I enjoy writing that kind of dynamic. Maybe it's the teacher/student thing. Maybe I just like facial hair and some grizzled old-man lines. Who knows. I'm just sayin', most of the dudes I'm into (looks wise) have 3 things in common; facial hair, long hair, and a couple of wrinkles. Just a couple, though. I'm not into like.. Sir Anthony Hopkins-like dudes, just yet. Maybe someday. We'll see. In the meantime, Jason Isaacs (Harry Potter era, with the long white hair, I DON'T CARE IF IT'S A WIG) is pretty much #1 in my brain.

So without giving too much away, my project for NaNoWriMo is (as usual) a mixture of fantasy and horror. I'm hoping I can get down the main idea without getting too bogged down by details, as I usually do. I really do want to finish something for once. Being on tour in November probably won't help, and I doubt I'll be able to type enough on my phone to keep up, so that's gonna be my biggest challenge; getting in the  1,700 words a day I need to make my goal. I really don't want to have to write everything by hand and count out the words! It's times like this I wish I had a working laptop, again...