Larry updated his zoological findings:

Internet Zoology Time: You have all heard my Three Cooters Theory of Internet Discourse, but I need to add a corollary. THE REVERSE COOTER.

The Three Cooters Theory is that most of the time when the media starts going off about how conservatives/republicans/MAGA is outraged about something which only racists/morons/misogynists would be outraged about, and there’s hundreds of articles about this outrage, when you delve into it the actual outrage can be traced back to three guys named Cooter complaining on twitter. Then the left runs with this, acts like 3 Cooters=3million people they don’t like, and turns into a huge story so they can once again go HA HA LOOK AT THE DUMMIES.

Last time I delved into this we came up with dozens of examples of manufactured outrage.

But over the last few days I’ve seen the REVERSE COOTER demonstrated a lot. This is related to the left’s recent outrage over Sidney Sweeny’s general hotness, with comments like “This is just manufactured outrage for conservatives to clutch their pearls! The left never cared about some jeans ad!” And since half the internet for the last week has been pictures of Sidney Sweeny’s magnificent rack along with funny  stories about lefty outrage, I’ve seen that excuse a lot.

They are claiming a 3 Cooters Defense. Except that doesn’t hold up. Because when you look, there were a lot more than 3 randos wailing on Twitter. There were thousands of them, whole collections of TikTok videos, the topic trending on X, AND that was combined with real media coverage. Not of the outrage, but editorials about the evil notsee coded evils of Sidney Sweeny’s hotness being a dog whistle for eugenics, from major lefty media like the Washington Post, Salon, and Good Morning America.

The reason this one went so hilariously viral was the size/silliness of their outrage, and how the absurdity of this whine in particular sums up Wokeness in general, and the timing was perfect because normies are sick of wokeness. Boom. Viral. Memes galore.

It has been fun watching the smarter CISGs attempt a Reverse Cooter going all “nobody said that” in the same threads simultaneously where a dozen of the dumber CISGs are still screaming about raciss notsee genetics in Trump’s America. 😀

Quick update from Larry’s SM:

Because people keep asking about dates here’s what’s coming up next, approximate months to the best of my knowledge-

American Paladin KS – September (release in 2026)

Academy of Outcasts – October 2025

Heart of the Mountain audio – November 2025

Monster Hunter Files 2 – March 2026

Monster Hunter #9 – Late 2026

MH Files w/ Les Johnson – 2026

Magic and Bullets (Academy of Outcasts 2) – 2026

Gun Runner KS – later in 2025 (not sure, they’re working on art)

I told you guys I get to reveal two things today. 🙂

First up, a sample of some of Alex Wisner’s artwork for the upcoming American Paladin graphic novel.

I wrote it, Alex drew it, and his art style is awesome. I can’t wait for you guys to see the whole thing.

This will be part of the September Kickstarter, along with the novel.

And I just got the cover for the graphic novel! 🙂
Mike Spears is a drifter with a gun, a grim code, and a habit of following blood trails no one else will touch. Across the forgotten towns and backroads of the American West, storms roll in from places no map can find—“Sometimes Places,” where the boundary between worlds wears thin. When those borders weaken, monsters get through.

Spears makes sure they don’t make it back.
Now a girl has gone missing, a lost waif most would write off as expendable. But for Spears, she is someone’s daughter, and he isn’t writing anything off. The trail leads to a dying town, a masked killer, and a door that shouldn’t exist—one that opens into a twisted empire of blood, sacrifice, and ancient, hungry gods.

And the second new thing I get to reveal today, Ark Press has signed the incredibly talented Nick Searcy to narrate the audiobook for American Paladin.  

I am really looking forward to this. Nick brings gravitas, humor, and humanity to every role he plays. This is going to be awesome.

Sign up to be notified on the Kickstarter here: https://ark.press/pages/kickstarter2025correia

– Join the Ark Press mailing list for more info on me and other Ark authors here: https://ark.press/pages/vanilla-sign-up

Today I can announce the name of the new series I’m doing for Ark Press. American Paladin.

This is my take on that whole lone vigilante genre, only it’s also a contemporary fantasy with monsters and supernatural elements. It is set in the western US and the main story takes place in 2022.

What can I tell you about it so far? Well, imagine a country boy ends up as a Missing 411 case, survives, and decides to wage a one man war against the forces of extra-dimensional evil, except until he can find them again he might as well take out his anger on regular human bad guys who’d normally get away with. And when the monsters do show up again, we get to play cowboys vs. Aztecs. 😀

That series name works on multiple levels. I can’t wait for you guys to read this one.  

Ark is doing something unique for the launch. There will be regular online and bookstore distribution when it comes out, but they are also doing a Kickstarter in September that’s going to have a bunch of special stuff on it, including a graphic novel set in the same universe, written by me, and drawn by Alex Wisner (it looks incredible). Sign up for Ark’s mailing list to stay informed here: https://ark.press/pages/kickstarter2025correia

And the rough draft for Academy of Outcasts 2 is done. It’s really fun.  

I started on April 26th. So that’s basically two months. 104k. I’ve got a bunch of notes for things I need to go back and add during the editing process, so the final should be around 110k-120k, so really close to the first one (117k). I’ll start the first editing pass on Monday.

This is my second discovery written novel. I’m normally an outliner.

I’ll have to do a WriterDojo episode (yes, we’re coming back soon) about what I’ve learned about the differences in those methods, but one thing I’ll say is that discovery writing feels faster for me. Though that might even out with increased editing time.  

With twenty something outlined novels, I consider 40k a month really good productivity. With two discovery written, I’ve been closer to 50-60k. AOO1 would’ve been entirely done and edited in 3 months, but I got really sick during that one and lost basically the entire month of December so it took four.

Normally when I’m outlining I’ll have a week of just thinking and noting plot points and scenes, then putting them all in order, and filling in the blanks. My outlines are actually pretty loose, open to change as I think of things that are cooler, and written in a kind of bullet point short hand that wouldn’t make much sense to anyone other than me.

This I just go, sit down, and start writing. As I think of things I could have made better/cooler in the earlier bits, I just go back and change them, or I make notes for stuff to go back and add later. At some point a coherent overall story forms, so then there’s a sort of mental outline anyway, but each new scene I just run with whatever I’m feeling right then.

I don’t know if I could discovery write successfully if I didn’t already have a lot of practice with story telling. At this point hitting all the beats and character arcs is just kinda instinct. When something’s missing, I feel it, rather than recognizing it specifically like some kind of checklist.

Mentally there’s not a huge lot of difference between these two methods, as I’m not one of those hyper religious outliners where everything must fit and I must stick to the outline or die. Oh hell no. If I think of something that sounds funner as I go, I change the outline.

One thing I’ll say for outlining is that it works better for intricate, intertwined, plots. I could not have discovery wrote Saga of the Forgotten Warrior. Academy of Outcasts is progression fantasy, and that genre is all about fast, fun, action and adventure. However, I say that, but I’ve also got 10 full pages of world guide for it too. Main difference between this and my other stuff is that world guide would have existed first, and this one I built as I go.

And by world guide I mean a sort of master document where I put down all the little details I’ve put in print establishing how that world works, that way I don’t contradict myself. Once a book in a series is done I go back and update it, adding all the new characters, places, spells, items, history, culture, creatures, etc.

(this one ended up with a weird cultural aspect is the days of the week correspond to seven elemental realms, and 28 different locations-there’s 13 months, 28 days per month, 7 different realms- which means that I had to make a calendar for when the adventure takes place, so I know where the gate is pointed at that day… Man, I make this stuff way too complicated for myself) 😀
So do I like discovery more than outlining? Eh. I think it really depends on the genre and what I’m going for more than anything. All I know for sure is that I don’t want to be one of those writers who gets lazy and stagnant in my old age. I’m going to keep trying different things and experimenting, because that’s part of the fun of being a professional creative.