The Hill is a Sonofabitch
A Twittorial History of ARISEN : Raiders, Volumes 1 & 2
So, as noted, erm, two days hence, a year after finishing I was interested to go back and try to understand how that all happened. Also a fair little bit of pandemic/lockdown “nostalgia” in this one. 
“Ow. My head hurts. Ow. This is hard. Ow. Screw this whole dumb line of work. Ow. My logistical outline won't remotely mesh with my thematic progression. Ow. Act 2 still blows, hard. Ow.”
— Michael Stephen Fuchs (@michaelstephenf) October 24, 2019
Let’s all do the #StoryDesign Conga!
At least I get to go out and run in the freezing rain.
“We are all apprentices in a craft where no one ever becomes a master.” - Hemingway
— Michael Stephen Fuchs (@michaelstephenf) October 24, 2019
#ARISEN #Raiders story design is Mike Charlie.
— Michael Stephen Fuchs (@michaelstephenf) October 31, 2019
(Well, I got to the end. It’s never complete. Climax & Conclusion works, though. Also, WICKED twist in the tail.)
Just in time to screw off to @vegannightsldn Hallowe'en/#worldveganday bash! – dressed as farm animals; naturally. 🐑
A TALE OF TWO ACT TWOS
— Michael Stephen Fuchs (@michaelstephenf) November 1, 2019
Some inside baseball: Raiders & Operators are companion books. THEME of one is ANTI-THEME of other. As per @clmazin's thematic structure, each is a journey for hero from believing in anti-theme to embodying theme. The protags pass on opposite A2 slopes. 🤯
I like this Koepp quote (from @johnaugust and @clmazin's Scriptnotes Ep. 422) because it makes me feel less alone. Having to do something, after completing your magnum opus, is vexatious. pic.twitter.com/ICtpVSIYrS
— Michael Stephen Fuchs (@michaelstephenf) November 2, 2019
“The quality of your writing is absolutely capped at your understanding of human behaviour. You will never write above what you know about people.” - Tony Gilroy
— Michael Stephen Fuchs (@michaelstephenf) November 30, 2019
DAY 01
— Michael Stephen Fuchs (@michaelstephenf) December 4, 2019
So excited about this book – and even more about my journey of learning how to write (and do good work) in a way that's not all-consuming, isolating, or self-destructive… but sustainable, healthy, & maybe even joyful. #ARISEN_Raiders#FindTheJoy
(And I know who to thank.) pic.twitter.com/NewU3N4mzR
First day back always a bit dodgy – you never know for sure if you can still do it. The writing tends to be, maybe has to be, loose, even reckless. So, going back to it the next day is tense. However, pleased to report a positive sighting of: COMPLETE & TOTAL ASSKICKING ACTION.💥
— Michael Stephen Fuchs (@michaelstephenf) December 5, 2019
“The terrible and fascinating truth about the human condition is that none of us really know the answer to the fundamental dramatic question… Who am I?” - Will Storr, 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘚𝘤𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘚𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘺𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨
— Michael Stephen Fuchs (@michaelstephenf) December 10, 2019
And so I'm rereading all the MARSOC bits of the series, for Raiders - just now, the airfield fight in Book Four. And it's *incredibly dispiriting* - how the hell did I do that!? How can I ever do it again!? Oh, well - it's Xmas! Happy Xmas! ☃🦌🎁 P.S. Big news on Raiders anon.
— Michael Stephen Fuchs (@michaelstephenf) December 19, 2019
Over the years, I've test driven various story-design models (Truby, Snyder, Calvisi) - but when I saw Martell saying same basic thing as @clmazin and @SPressfield, I leapt (for ARISEN : Raiders, & Operators). Fantastic guide. "Theme is everything": https://t.co/8ZyEiMdO3n https://t.co/4JBuYXcSFb
— Michael Stephen Fuchs (@michaelstephenf) December 23, 2019
“The one thing that creative souls around the world have in common is that they all have to practice to maintain their skills. Art is a vast democracy of habit.” – Twyla Tharp
— Michael Stephen Fuchs (@michaelstephenf) December 31, 2019
Got back to work yesterday to find that of the 10k words I wrote before Xmas, not one looked salvageable. Woke up today afraid (thinking of ↓) – but it seems to be a classic case of having to s&^%can the 1ˢᵗ chapter, because the story didn’t start until the 2ᶮᵈ. Moving again. https://t.co/75LzUeDDtq
— Michael Stephen Fuchs (@michaelstephenf) January 3, 2020
“The call to a creative life is not supposed to be torture. Yes, it’s hard work and you have to make sacrifices. But it’s also supposed to be fun.” - Twyla Tharp
— Michael Stephen Fuchs (@michaelstephenf) January 10, 2020
After finishing story design (also, inevitably, while on a run) I realized: Raiders doesn't want to be a single book. The JFK Marines fought through too much – enough for a new “mini”-series of 4 connected books. Stand by for news on:
— Michael Stephen Fuchs (@michaelstephenf) January 14, 2020
ARISEN : Raiders
Volume One – The Collapse
“Don't wanna be forgotten
— Michael Stephen Fuchs (@michaelstephenf) January 21, 2020
When I'm dead and gone
I just wanna be the one who
Got up and came back strong”https://t.co/6ovuDjlOfq
“As the Haitian proverb puts it: Behind mountains are more mountains. You’re always fighting uphill. Get used to it and train accordingly.” - @RyanHoliday
— Michael Stephen Fuchs (@michaelstephenf) January 21, 2020
“Because one has written other books does not mean the next becomes any easier. From book to book I seem to forget how to get characters in and out of rooms – a far more difficult task than the nonwriter might think.” – John Gregory Dunne
— Michael Stephen Fuchs (@michaelstephenf) December 29, 2019
On the other hand: “It's not your job to get your characters from place to place or to follow them around all day. You don't even need to get them into the scene or out of the scene. Your characters can [do this] themselves, without bothering the audience about it.” – Matt Bird
— Michael Stephen Fuchs (@michaelstephenf) January 21, 2020
Back to the well. https://t.co/tJw5k1k4hD
— Michael Stephen Fuchs (@michaelstephenf) January 22, 2020
“At some point, you have to want what you have.”
— Michael Stephen Fuchs (@michaelstephenf) January 30, 2020
— Tim Ferriss (@tferriss)
“Nobody ever told us it would be easy, and uncertainty is what we sign up for when we say we want to live creative lives. Will the inevitable difficulties and obstacles associated with creativity make you suffer? That part – cross my heart – is entirely up to you.” - @GilbertLiz
— Michael Stephen Fuchs (@michaelstephenf) February 3, 2020
You might be amused to know I just had a moment of sheer animal panic – believing down in the bottom of my soul that I couldn’t write even another two words of this book. Pushed through. Somehow. God, writing is so completely occult. pic.twitter.com/2DGdlVYj35
— Michael Stephen Fuchs (@michaelstephenf) February 7, 2020
Once more, with feeling. pic.twitter.com/3wYLDoI2Ot
— Michael Stephen Fuchs (@michaelstephenf) February 10, 2020
“These trials make us who we are, who we are we are
— Michael Stephen Fuchs (@michaelstephenf) February 10, 2020
We're motivated by the scars
That we're made of
We take our places in the dark
And turn our hearts to the stars”
(Beyond excited to be seeing @starsetonline live on Thursday.)https://t.co/mPxcImNq3R
"Fear doesn't go away. The warrior and the artist live by the same code of necessity, which dictates the battle must be fought anew every day.” - Steven Pressfield (@SPressfield ), The War of Art
— Michael Stephen Fuchs (@michaelstephenf) February 11, 2020
— Michael Stephen Fuchs (@michaelstephenf) February 12, 2020
Hilariously, I had to put the @freedom app on its own block list – I kept procrastinating by looking at its inspirational little stories of people using Freedom to beat procrastination. Resistance, like life, finds a way…
— Michael Stephen Fuchs (@michaelstephenf) February 12, 2020
Milestone. Much more importantly… new Fickisms inbound. SO. MANY. FICKISMS. pic.twitter.com/fp2vZMjbVX
— Michael Stephen Fuchs (@michaelstephenf) February 13, 2020
A group whose work has been indispensable to my own, and who have been incredibly inspiring to me as a jobbing artist. Privileged to see @starsetonline (with @thixotropic) tonight. Not gonna lie - shed not a few tears (they're so beautiful). Hear them, support them, love them. 🙂 pic.twitter.com/eEICPhzAJN
— Michael Stephen Fuchs (@michaelstephenf) February 13, 2020
Some days, the best you can do is delete most of the prior day’s work – and, even more painfully, try to fix the rest. Mondays are cordially invited to bite me.😑 pic.twitter.com/gv4TDCL9qI
— Michael Stephen Fuchs (@michaelstephenf) February 18, 2020
“The professional prepares mentally to absorb blows and to deliver them. His aim is to take what the day gives him. He is prepared to be prudent and prepared to be reckless, to take a beating when he has to, and to go for the throat when he can.” — Steve Pressfield
— Michael Stephen Fuchs (@michaelstephenf) February 18, 2020
And as our friends in Naval Special Warfare say: “You have a bad day in the pool, you get back in the pool.” I actually think it was always this hard – or so my friends keep trying to tell me – you just forget every time. Like childbirth. These word counts are mortifying, though. pic.twitter.com/uyjyXtsP02
— Michael Stephen Fuchs (@michaelstephenf) February 18, 2020
An amusing find today amongst my research in obscure military journals. (And timely, since I'm rereading Books 7&8, with all their “Knife to a Dogfight” and “Machine Gun to a Missile Fight” chapter titles.🙂) Trying to find the fun today. pic.twitter.com/N342HZgGOE
— Michael Stephen Fuchs (@michaelstephenf) February 20, 2020
Found the fun: 10k run in rain-scrubbed 4° air, stopping for body-weight workout at muddy outdoor gym, rain & sun resurging at end, grocery shopping on way back. (Every item in bags green, except red chard, beetroot, sun-dried tomato.) Okay, nobody else's idea of fun. Still: 😃!! pic.twitter.com/Nz7gTWAw2F
— Michael Stephen Fuchs (@michaelstephenf) February 20, 2020
“Take another breath
— Michael Stephen Fuchs (@michaelstephenf) February 25, 2020
Make another try
You think you're gonna break
You think you're gonna die
I know you think you can't
I know you think you're done
But we can't stop
Until we've won
Raise your eyes
Tell your mind
To lift yourself
One more time”https://t.co/76liU0gAro
FICKISMS COMES TO AUDIBLE!🤠
— Michael Stephen Fuchs (@michaelstephenf) February 28, 2020
Launches 03 March, pre-orders now!https://t.co/8xPcY0LD6r
“Well, I’ve got good news and bad news. The good news is I just saved fifteen percent or more on car insurance. The bad news is this place is going down… And we’re all about to f*&^ing die.” pic.twitter.com/VCdQL1kmS3
Global society all of a sudden be like:
— IAmUsulAmongYou (@i_obey_slim) March 18, 2020
"Oh my! We are all really vulnerable to pathogens!"#Arisen fans be like: "……yep."@michaelstephenf #COVID19
Please stand by for an important public service announcement, from Master Gunnery Sergeant Fick.
— Michael Stephen Fuchs (@michaelstephenf) March 24, 2020
(WARNING: Not remotely safe for work, small children, the elderly, or those with easily offended sensibilities. You've been warned! 🤬😳)https://t.co/Ly0Owa0KYg
“He'd choose to stay on the hill and do what he could to save those around him… Dying this way was a better way to die because living this way was a better way to live. ” - Karl Marlantes, Matterhorn
— Michael Stephen Fuchs (@michaelstephenf) March 25, 2020
FREE READS FOR QUARANTINE!
— Michael Stephen Fuchs (@michaelstephenf) March 28, 2020
So, in addition to having Fick amusingly curse at you, I was thinking what else I could do to help. So, I've made my books D-BOYS and COUNTER-ASSAULT free for five days, then $0.99. Hope they help!💝📚🎖️https://t.co/t4manubLpbhttps://t.co/Ao5F6JRTVF pic.twitter.com/uaHDuqigFW
“And the world is cold
— Michael Stephen Fuchs (@michaelstephenf) March 30, 2020
But it’s beautiful
I wish you were here now
I miss your soul”https://t.co/KKXnmSeaeR
— Michael Stephen Fuchs (@michaelstephenf) April 7, 2020
“Never despair, but if you do, work on in despair.” – Edmund Burke
— Michael Stephen Fuchs (@michaelstephenf) April 8, 2020
My “holiday” “weekend”. Just like the old days, back in my writing isolation chamber, just less voluntary now. And, as before, great for the work… less great for the life… pic.twitter.com/KK3mKXQ9tN
— Michael Stephen Fuchs (@michaelstephenf) April 11, 2020
“You know what? I say we concentrate on work, buddy. That's what I do every time my life turns to dog shit. I concentrate on work, and that gets me by.” – from True Lies by James Cameron pic.twitter.com/GQ1sGVMgVL
— Michael Stephen Fuchs (@michaelstephenf) April 13, 2020
“I'm not any less confused than you are; I'm not any less uncertain about my work or my worth than you are. I just got in the habit of doing it.” – David Mamet pic.twitter.com/PRRGAOSVqi
— Michael Stephen Fuchs (@michaelstephenf) April 14, 2020
Never thought I'd do it. But I've been adopting @johnaugust-style one-hour writing sprints. Previously, I'd keep working until I'd bashed out 3-5k words, or else collapsed in exhaustion. Apocalypse rules.
— Michael Stephen Fuchs (@michaelstephenf) April 15, 2020
“So are you gonna die today or make it out alive?
— Michael Stephen Fuchs (@michaelstephenf) April 15, 2020
You gotta conquer the monster in your head and then you'll fly
Fly, phoenix, fly
It's time for a new empire
Go bury your demons then tear down the ceiling
Phoenix, fly”https://t.co/M0jekaZijs
— Michael Stephen Fuchs (@michaelstephenf) April 16, 2020
(And, in addition to probably about 680mg of caffeine, today’s session called for – substantially more potent – NIИ “Just Like You Imagined”… on single-track repeat.)
— Michael Stephen Fuchs (@michaelstephenf) April 16, 2020
— Michael Stephen Fuchs (@michaelstephenf) April 21, 2020
“There's a secret that real writers know that wannabe writers don't, and the secret is this: It's not the writing part that's hard. What's hard is sitting down to write.” – Steven Pressfield
— Michael Stephen Fuchs (@michaelstephenf) April 22, 2020
(Oh god was it hard today. And I still have no idea what the trick is.)
Well, that’s it. Just between me and the 991 of you, that’s Volume I of ARISEN : Raiders in the can. It’s ⅓ longer than planned; still has a long road ahead of it; and isn’t going out til I’ve written Volume II. But it’s always very pleasant, plus miraculous, to finish a novel. pic.twitter.com/GbqM4O3D84
— Michael Stephen Fuchs (@michaelstephenf) April 22, 2020
I've been reading the Arisen series in Iso because I love ZA books.
— Sukkah Blat (@babesingoyland) May 8, 2020
12 books in now. I know why the female characters signed up, why they fight, their hopes and fears. And best of all I have no clue what their tits look like. Thank you @michaelstephenf for writing women so well.
— Michael Stephen Fuchs (@michaelstephenf) June 8, 2020
— Michael Stephen Fuchs (@michaelstephenf) June 9, 2020
— Michael Stephen Fuchs (@michaelstephenf) June 22, 2020
“…our realization that our toughest task in life is self-analysis as we try to fathom our humanity and bring peace to the wars within.” – Robert McKee, STORY
— Michael Stephen Fuchs (@michaelstephenf) June 24, 2020
— Michael Stephen Fuchs (@michaelstephenf) June 24, 2020
“The hill is a sonofabitch but what can you do? Set one foot in front of another and keep climbing.” – Steve Pressfield, THE WAR OF ART pic.twitter.com/AmEpmZEKcq
— Michael Stephen Fuchs (@michaelstephenf) June 26, 2020
A 2,700-word Saturday morning – looking out upon a world sun-dappled and cool and fresh-scrubbed by the rain – and just like that, quite unexpectedly, Volume II of ARISEN : Raiders… is in the can. 😀 pic.twitter.com/MRUfx49O3E
— Michael Stephen Fuchs (@michaelstephenf) June 27, 2020
“Who can find anything bad to say about the last day of a novel? It’s a feeling of happiness that knocks me clean out of adjectives. I think sometimes the best reason for writing novels is to experience those four and a half hours after you write the final word.” – @ZadieSmith
— Michael Stephen Fuchs (@michaelstephenf) June 28, 2020
Multiple editing passes suck much less when… you've finally banged the book into decent enough shape that it… sucks less. 🤠 – “Yee-ha!” #ARISEN_Raiders
— Michael Stephen Fuchs (@michaelstephenf) July 23, 2020
(Put another way: if you can stand to read a book four times in a row – *after you just finished writing it* – it's probably reasonably entertaining. 🙂)
— Michael Stephen Fuchs (@michaelstephenf) July 23, 2020
Okay – NOW I'm ready for our cut-rate apocalypse. "Si vis pacem, para bellum." ☠️ pic.twitter.com/7WC0etRR9Q
— Michael Stephen Fuchs (@michaelstephenf) July 24, 2020
Okay, that's it – Raiders Vol. I is off my desk, and over to the Editrice. Fick (plus Brady & Reyes, and some of the younger Marines) had me in stitches, and tears, even on the 4th and final read-through, a great sign. Mainly… the book (seriously) works. #ARISEN_Raiders
— Michael Stephen Fuchs (@michaelstephenf) July 28, 2020
“Things we write down are the fragments shored against our ruins. Writing tells us what it meant for someone to be human.” – Claire Messud
— Michael Stephen Fuchs (@michaelstephenf) August 10, 2020
Once more with feeling – and a complete and total asskicking cover…
— Michael Stephen Fuchs (@michaelstephenf) August 12, 2020
ARISEN : Raiders, Volume 1 – The Collapse
…launches…
💥 01 SEP 2020 💥 pic.twitter.com/NMaqwlMoEy
— Michael Stephen Fuchs (@michaelstephenf) August 26, 2020
Today, hex-bar deadlifts (dental emergency? what dental emergency?) to @Bobaflex's asskicking and woefully catchy https://t.co/exMSn0mJj0 – it's not "Bury Me With My Guns On"… but then nothing, nothing is… 🤟🏼
— Michael Stephen Fuchs (@michaelstephenf) August 27, 2020
💥 ARISEN : Raiders, Volume 1 – The Collapse 💥
— Michael Stephen Fuchs (@michaelstephenf) September 1, 2020
is available NOW worldwide from Amazon.https://t.co/nEGZi3juZY
Two teams of spec-ops Marines, left to die in the fall of America.
One nuclear supercarrier, humanity's last hope for survival.
And seven billion ravening dead guys. ☠️
Well, we're really just getting ramped up… but ARISEN : Raiders v1 is currently situated somewhere between Tolstoy and Tom Clancy, so that's not so bad. Thanks, everyone! 🖤 pic.twitter.com/zORKT5cc9t
— Michael Stephen Fuchs (@michaelstephenf) September 2, 2020
Well, I don't think we've peaked yet, but we're at #2 in War Fiction (ahead of Tolstoy & Clancy), #7 in Dystopian (ahead of Atwood & Asimov), and have been the #1 New Release in War Fiction all along. All down to you, the amazing readers and fans of the series. THANK YOU. 🙂👊🏼🖤 pic.twitter.com/G5xVs2UyZM
— Michael Stephen Fuchs (@michaelstephenf) September 4, 2020
So while The Collapse vaulted to #1 New Release, Omnibus One has been free, leaping into the Top 10 Free in Horror, Post-Apocalyptic, and Dystopian, and overall Amazon Top 100. Each of those downloads is a new reader. This is how I get to keep writing. THANK YOU. 😃👊🏼🖤 pic.twitter.com/cEPyxawldM
— Michael Stephen Fuchs (@michaelstephenf) September 5, 2020
Check that – we're now #1 in Horror, #2 in Post-Apocalyptic, and #3 in Dystopian! Yay! pic.twitter.com/ZXbNervzfA
— Michael Stephen Fuchs (@michaelstephenf) September 5, 2020
While I wasn't quite looking, The Collapse snuck in and hit #1. 🍻 pic.twitter.com/9fFNmSD6P2
— Michael Stephen Fuchs (@michaelstephenf) September 6, 2020
ARISEN : Raiders, Volume 2 – Tribes
— Michael Stephen Fuchs (@michaelstephenf) September 8, 2020
…launches…
💥 01 OCT 2020 💥 pic.twitter.com/55Bs58pWaM
Well, I f'd off to climb Mt. Snowdon, and came back to find the first reviews flooded in – vaulting Raiders to a 4.9/5.0-star average. THANK YOU SO MUCH. Aside from helping me and the series enormously, it's the nicest, best, & most important validation the book could get. 🖤🖤🖤 pic.twitter.com/2JAIl1uu3D
— Michael Stephen Fuchs (@michaelstephenf) September 15, 2020
ARISEN : Raiders, Volume 1 – The Collapse PAPERBACK!
— Michael Stephen Fuchs (@michaelstephenf) September 16, 2020
It's here, yay! 😃 Thank you so much for waiting. 🖤https://t.co/Uz3R82JBrY pic.twitter.com/5FU2W6R5wf
— Michael Stephen Fuchs (@michaelstephenf) September 20, 2020
Well, as long as Raiders v1 keeps clawing to its spot in the bestseller rankings, I reckon it's still launch month! So freebies carry on, w/totally free Fickisms! Yep, if it's just been too long since you spat out coffee all over your cat, now you and yours can do it for free! 🤠 pic.twitter.com/74GsQYuFYh
— Michael Stephen Fuchs (@michaelstephenf) September 23, 2020
“It seems a shame to say so, but the hardest part of being a writer is not the long hours of learning the craft, but learning how to survive the dark nights of the soul.” – Charles Baxter
— Michael Stephen Fuchs (@michaelstephenf) September 23, 2020
Not the most obvious pick for deadlifts. But so powerful.https://t.co/nZzx3VlHRw
— Michael Stephen Fuchs (@michaelstephenf) September 24, 2020
“Are you gonna die today or make it out alive?
You gotta conquer the monster in your head and then you'll fly
It's time for a new empire
Go bury your demons then tear down the ceiling
Phoenix, fly”
⏳ One week until ARISEN : Raiders, Volume 2 – Tribes 💣 pic.twitter.com/EUC7rq5Rfl
— Michael Stephen Fuchs (@michaelstephenf) September 25, 2020
And just like that, straight out of the gate, Raiders v2 is instantly the #1 New Release in War Fiction! (As was v1.) THANK YOU – as always, ARISEN readers rule! 🖤🖤🖤 pic.twitter.com/je4yxbiMCQ
— Michael Stephen Fuchs (@michaelstephenf) October 1, 2020
Yep, we've got all-new ARISEN merch – including kick-ass Raiders NSFW t-shirts, Carnage Operator long-sleeve Ts, distressed ARISEN hats, and Raiders America laptop stickers! Get yours today before Madame Marauder comes around to find out why not.🤠https://t.co/R6LCwjRNQD pic.twitter.com/N1LQsMxwBv
— Michael Stephen Fuchs (@michaelstephenf) October 5, 2020
I'm pretty sure that no matter how many years I spend writing about them, or how many thousands of times I type it, I will never lock down how to spell “Spetsnaz” – spell-check dings me every damned time… 🤠#BlackSquadron
— Michael Stephen Fuchs (@michaelstephenf) October 5, 2020
Yep, another old-school dead-tree edition hits the presses, and it does look gorgeous if you ask me. As always, I love you paper readers. 😊🖤https://t.co/eJoIjCYZxi pic.twitter.com/DhRxfK55Of
— Michael Stephen Fuchs (@michaelstephenf) October 13, 2020
“You're going to die one day, and none of this is going to matter. So enjoy yourself. Do something positive. Project some love. Make someone happy. Laugh a little bit. Appreciate the moment. And do your work.” – @naval
— Michael Stephen Fuchs (@michaelstephenf) October 19, 2020
This is it! The end of Launch Months Madness! We end where we began, with free Book One. Mainly, I want to say – THANK YOU x💯 for all your amazing support of the new series, for reading, reviewing, responding, and being so awesome. It is appreciated more than you can know.🖤🖤🖤 pic.twitter.com/lIJBD4zKuY
— Michael Stephen Fuchs (@michaelstephenf) October 28, 2020
![ARISEN : Fickisms ][ – This Time, It's Personal](graphics/arisen-fickisms-2.png "ARISEN : Fickisms ][ – This Time, It's Personal")
