We’re up to 27 entries so far in the Great MHI Patch-Off.  I’m leaving it open until the end of August, because frankly, most folks haven’t read the book yet. I’m amazed by how good the entries are so far and also how many there have been. These are awesome guys.

In writing news, I’m at 124,000 words in The Grimnoir Chronicles: Hard Magic.  I’m in the final action sequence, but it is an epic event, from four POVs, with lots of stuff going down, so I’m not sure how long it will be exactly, but at the rate I’m going, I feel like I should have the 1st draft of TGC:HM done in the next few weeks.

I still need to come up with about another dozen fake historical quotes from people from the 1850s-1930s. I enjoy making those up, but right now I’m just writing, which is different than tweaking quotes, so I’ve got to go in the direction the muse takes me.

I’m eager to get the 1st pass done, so that I can let it sit and percolate. Usually what I like to do when I finish a book is to let is sit for awhile while I work on something else. That way when I go back and read it again, I’ve got fresh eyes, plus my cadre of the elite Reader Force Alpha will have had a chance to pick through it and tell me where I was stupid, forgetful, lame, boring, illiterate, had my head shoved up my butt, was smoking crack, hadn’t gotten enough sleep, forgot how to spell, or other such things. They’re the best of the best, and they like to hurt my feelings.

Meanwhile, another bit of my custom 5.56 Race AK project is done. Super Machinist Mike Bond has finished my aluminum forearm, so I get to pick it up soon. I will post pictures. Now all I need is the trigger group, stock, pistol grip, muzzle attachement, optics, and finish, and I’ll be done. Plus, I think I’m going to go order one of those Magnolia adapters so it can take AR mags. This should be a fun one.

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You guys are awesome.  It must be from all that patch related excitement. Not too shabby for not being released for 12 more days.

http://www.webscription.net/p-1024-monster-hunter-international.aspx The complete e-book version of Monster Hunter International is now available for download.  I understand that this is also downloadable to your Kindle.

Paper books will be in stores on July 28th. That’s only 12 days to M-Day.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P5yxFtTwDcc  Excellent video that breaks things down in an understandable way.

Recently I discovered Facebook, and I was pleased to find that a couple of folks had created Monster Hunter International patchs for teams that they invented for their home towns.

Part of the fun of creating the MHI universe was the idea that all the people like me out there in the world could imagine themselves actually killing monsters for a living. I set it up so that there were an ever expanding number of regional teams.  The main team out of Cazador had the Happy Face with Horns that you’ve all seen. Atlanta had a lop eared bunny with a switchblade. (hat tip to Sluggy Freelance). Then there were others, Smoking Elvis out of Vegas, (longtime Boingo fan) a Fire Breathing Warthog, and a few others that were also not specified as to where they were from. The newest was a Walrus with a Banjo based out of Denver. (Team Haven).

So here is the contest. Create your own MHI patch using whatever your creative abilities are, and then send it to me at monsterhunter45 AT hotmail or post it on the Facebook page Monster Hunter International, Hunter Unite!  The book releases in less than 2 weeks, so I’ll leave the contest open until the end of August, and then I’ll take a poll and let the public decide which patch is the most awesome.

The RULES: The patch has to be military style, in subdued colors like OD or brown.  It has to say MHI or Monster Hunter International somewhere on it and 1895 for the founding.  It can be any shape, and there can be other words on it if you want.  The words do not have to be in English if you want to take it out of the country. On that note, I’ve actually got a short story in the works called Monster Hunter Mesopotamia (and obviously that patch would be tan).

I don’t care if you do it with fancy computer programs or color it in crayon, but for me to post it, it will need to be a Jpeg.

Make sure you include what town/region your patch represents in your title, because that’s what they will be known as in the voting.

Entries will be due by the last day of August.

The PRIZE: For whoever wins the poll, I’ll mention your patch in MHI:2 so it will become official cannon in the MHI universe and I’ll send you an autographed copy of Monster Hunter International.  If your town is already represented by another team in the MHI universe I might have to tweak accordingly, so the geography of where it is from will have to be at my discretion.

SPREAD THE WORD: Now obviously everything I do is based on selling more books, so please tell your friends, post it to your blog, sneak messages through the prison chow line, etc.  The more entries, the better.