Burnout Contingency · 7:08pm Mar 1st, 2014
Hey friends and followers. Today I must speak of morbid possibilities looming on the horizon, but first, I'll share an update on my progress.
I've finished 18 out of 23 chapters of the new version of Tartarus Infernum, and that's what I am focusing all of my effort on until my surgery on March 7th. I really want to finish it before then, but if I can't, I hope you will thank me in the long run for not wasting your time with rushed productions. Depending on how the surgery goes, I may have to spend anywhere from 5 days to two weeks recovering. If you'd like to know sooner rather than later, I intend to post updates to Twitter, so you're welcome to follow me or check it periodically.
On to the macabre. As a quick preface, I am doing this because the risks inherent in my upcoming procedure are significantly higher than the previous one. Though the guy working on me is one of the most experienced colorectal surgeons in the eastern United States, there is a double-digit chance that something could go horribly wrong. In light of this, I'm updating my Advanced Medical Directive and Living Will, the latter containing an amendment relevant to anyone interested in my stories.
The Burnout Contingency is section of my will regarding everything I am working on under the pen name Sunderbraze Erros. Though right now I only have Tartarus Infernum published, I have a trove of unfinished works totaling an estimated 379,000 words. I know, I know, I'm disorganized. Anyway, in the event of my untimely demise or permanent disability, the executor of my Living Will, most likely my older brother, will take a series of steps to ensure that none of my creative works disappear with me. The actual text of these instructions are similar to an end-user agreement; rife with obscure legal terminology and unsightly to the average reader, so I'll simplify them below.
1. My executor will be granted access to any account under the name Sunderbraze and take the following actions.
2. Discreet news of my fate will be posted to my website, FIMFiction, and relevant social media outlets. To ensure there is no confusion my executor will sign each post with a unique identifier. First in line as executor is my older brother and his identifier will be CDOGG. If he is unable or unwilling to perform the task, next in line is my best friend, identifying as Regentwolf. I have a third, fourth, and even fifth backup executor, but they do not have individual identifiers. If the duty falls to one of them, they will identify as EXEC.
3. Every single one of my unpublished works will be made available without restriction. They will probably be posted to Google Docs, and a list of URLs to each of them will be made available at sunderbraze.com/burnout. The purpose of this is to provide as much information as possible to anyone who may be interested in finishing what I started. Should nobody wish to do so, readers interested in the wild future of the Equestrian Elite will at least be provided with a (mostly sensible) collection of outlined story arcs, excerpts, summaries, notes, character bibliographies, and concept designs.
4. All of my original, non-copyrighted content will become public domain. This is a tad irrelevant until I've pushed the new version of Tartarus Infernum, but once it (and all future stories) are published, a few of my original characters, concepts, locations and whatnot will be licensed CC BY-NC 3.0. It basically means anyone can use my original content without attribution as long as it isn't for direct financial gain. It's a thin legal bulwark preventing a malicious person (or corporation) from blatantly plagiarizing my ideas for a quick buck, however slim the odds of that may be. However, should the Burnout Contingency be enacted, the license will be dropped and all of my content will be totally free with no strings attached. I have very strong beliefs against the restriction of intellectual property when its creator is deceased, so the least I can do is ensure I am not part of the problem.
So wait, how the heck do I have 379k words of unpublished stuff? As I mentioned above, I'm really, really, disorganized, but not necessarily in a bad way. Sometimes I get fleeting inspiration that I know will not last, so I have to write what's on my mind while it's still fresh. This has resulted in an amalgamation of incomplete tidbits.
In drafting the Burnout Contingency I took a full inventory of it:
(Tartarus Infernum)
New revision, 18/23 chapters rewritten — 208,000 words
Appendices, 1/3 completed — 22,000 words
Deleted scenes — 12,000 words(Tabula Rasa, sequel to Tartarus Infernum)
Full text outline, 21/26 chapters completed — 55,000 words
First draft, 7/26 chapters partially completed — 23,000 words
Random scene excerpts — 6,000 words(De Abysso, sequel to Tabula Rasa)
Full text outline, 3/?? chapters completed — 4,000 words
Random scene excerpts — 1,000 words(Arcane Brilliance, backstory of Starswirl the Bearded)
Structural outline — 2,000 words
First draft, 2/?? chapters — 6,000 words(Tae Wing Do, backstory of Spitfire and Soarin')
Structural outline — 1,000 words
First draft, 1/?? chapters — 3,000 words
Random scene excerpts — 2,000 words(Generic Equestrian Elite content)
An Abridged Timeline of the Equestrian Elite Universe — 13,000 words
Equus War Z, or World War Z applied to the EE universe — 4,000 words
Equestrian Elite character profiles — 2,000 words(Outlines of the second Equestrian Elite trilogy)
Crystal Harvest, sequel to Tabula Rasa — 5,000 words
Drone Paragon, sequel to Crystal Harvest — 8,000 words
Untitled, sequel to Drone Paragon — 2,000 wordsEstimated total — 379,000 words
Yeah, it's a lot. Thankfully there isn't much unfinished visual content; I usually complete what I started in that regard. There is, however, unpublished concept art and designs for future characters, so naturally that'll be published and added to the bucket list as well.
To be entirely honest, I'd be perfectly happy if everything I typed in this blog post ends up being a waste of time!
Such would mean I still have functioning eyes and arms, and therefore no need for my Living Will and the Burnout Contingency. But as Ironmane says, it's better to have it and never use it than be caught without it. My persona may be a phoenix, but we all know I'm far from immortal, and one day my flame will certainly burn out. At least now I can sleep easier knowing my affairs are in order.
Well, the moment has passed. Back to work! Hope to catch you all soon.
I just wanted to say, good luck!
Best of luck!