My dear readers,

What an exciting time! Release day for Curio Citizen has come and gone, and I have gotten so much love and support from those of you have received your copies in the mail or downloaded your ebooks! My author copies came in the mail the other day, and there is no feeling like opening a box full of books with my name on them.

I would like to take this moment to check in with everyone to make sure you have received your paperback books or downloaded your ebook. You should have received an email with instructions for ebook downloading, so please check your spam filter if you did not receive that email. Or, you can simply log into the Inkshares account you created when purchasing the book and click on the "Downloads" tab under your profile. This will take you to the ebook page with instructions. If you ordered a physical copy and have not received it at the address you provided to Inkshares, please reach out to hello@inkshares.com and they will help get your sorted.

I also want to take the time to thank you all again for your enormous show of support from day one of the contest to today. Winning this contest through your pre-orders has given me a huge boost in my writing career over the years. Inkshares provided me with the opportunity to work with professional editors who helped elevate my writing when I was just starting out. Not only did they help improve Curio Citizen, but I learned so much that I was able to get two other books traditionally published (Lodestone and The Hand-Me-Down Maiden from GenZ Publishing). I also now work in the writing field as my day job--a dream I never thought possible. I am a narrative designer for mobile app games, writing interactive stories for players to experience. I am thrilled to have expanded my writing to this new branch of style, as well as continuing my career as a novelist.

Though I have faith I would have still succeeded as a writer with hard work, patience, and dedication, without your help, my career path would have been far more difficult. By pre-ordering Curio Citizen nearly eight years ago, you all jumpstarted my author journey, and for that, I will be forever grateful.

I sincerely hope you enjoy reading Curio Citizen. Though not my newest book as far as the actual writing of it went, it will always hold a special place in my heart as one of the first novels I ever wrote. And if you do enjoy the story, please consider leaving a review on Amazon or Goodreads, as that will help my career IMMENSELY and get the book in front of a larger audience.

Thank you for giving me this opportunity, and happy reading!

Best,

Katherine

Hello, all!

Release day for Curio Citizen is fast approaching! So fast, in fact, that I forgot to update you about a slight delay. The original release date was February 11th, but due to a delay in the proofreading process, the new release date is February 25th. Thank you for your patience!

The manuscript and cover are off to the printer! The final cover spread, featuring some sweet advanced reviews, is now finished! You all will get to see it in PERSON on February 25th!!

Please remember to update your address on the Inkshares website if you haven’t already done so! Thank you!

Best wishes,

Katherine

Hello all!

Wow, do I have some news. Curio Citizen has..........*drumroll*

A COVER!

I am thrilled by this design. It’s modern, elegant, epic, and showcases everything I want readers to expect from the story.

What do you think of the cover? Let me know in the comments!

More news to come as we approach the February 11, 2025 release day! If you haven’t preordered your copy yet, you can do so on Inkshares.com, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or your preferred retailer. Think you know someone who might want to read Curio Citizen? Please let them know about this sci-fi story in the vein of Avatar, Dune, and the bestseller Winter’s Orbit.

Already ordered your copy via Inkshares? Fantastic! Please double check that your address is correct in the system so your book is sent to the right place in February.

Love to you all!

Katherine

My friends, I have huge news that I am thrilled to share...

We have a RELEASE DATE!!!

That’s right! Curio Citizen will be released on February 11, 2025!

Currently, Curio Citizen is undergoing the final touches: proofreading and cover design! It is now up for pre-order on sites such as Amazon and Barnes & Noble. To clarify: If you already pre-ordered your copy from Inkshares, you do NOT need to pre-order from any other bookstores. You will receive your copy in February! If, however, you have friends who may enjoy this book and prefer to shop from other stores, I’d be grateful if you point them the way!

Curio Citizen on Amazon

Curio Citizen on Barnes & Noble

IMPORTANT NEXT STEPS FOR YOU:

If you have MOVED since you pre-ordered Curio Citizen, please UPDATE YOUR ADDRESS via your Inkshares account. It’s been a long road to publication, and I’ve moved twice since funding, so I’m sure I’m not the only one! I definitely want all of you to get your book(s), so please take the time to double check the address you submitted to Inkshares in 2017.

During the next eight months, I will be sure to share the cover with you, which I am so excited to see when it’s ready! The Inkshares team and I will also be gathering advance reviews and ramping up marketing! But most importantly, on February 11, 2025, you’ll get to read my little space story that began as one of my first novels and has since served as an important stepping stone in honing my craft and launching my career in creative writing.

Cheers, and more to come!

Katherine

Hello all!

I have news!! A few days ago, I received the copy edits for Curio Citizen! This round of edits focuses on minor grammatical errors (I use WAY too many unnecessary hyphens, haha) and making sure formatting is consistent throughout the manuscript. This stage of edits is a big step forward, as it means that the manuscript is ready to go and all that remains is the book production itself!

I reviewed the edits and also had the benefit of working with a Spanish translator to ensure the Spanish in the book is correct. I even found a translator who is from the specific Puebla region of Mexico where Carmen’s mother was from so I could include the proper dialect that Carmen would have learned in her bilingual household. It was a fun and enlightening experience, and I think it will add to the quality of the book and pay homage to the culture Carmen comes from.

When I hear more news, I will be sure to let you all know! I appreciate your care and dedication in asking me about the status of the book, and I thank you for your patience. We’re getting closer!

Best wishes,

Katherine

To all my dear friends,

I have brief news regarding Curio Citizen. A few months ago, my developmental editor decided that my manuscript was ready to be sent to the CEO of Inkshares for his assessment and news on next steps. I spoke with him this week, and he is hoping to read it soon. Unfortunately, what has already been a slow process has slowed down even more due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Books that were supposed to be released in 2020 have been pushed to 2021, which means Curio Citizen will be delayed further. I hope that Inkshares and I can work together this year to make sure Curio is all set to go for a 2022 release, but I have no confirmation yet for whether that will be the case.

So, here’s the thing. As I mentioned in my last update, a different novel of mine, Lodestone, has been acquired by a separate publishing company and will be released this April 21, 2021. In addition, a second novel, The Hand-me-down Maiden, is now under contract with that same publisher and is slated for a 2022 release. I am beyond excited for these novels, but to be honest, I feel rather awkward that Lodestone will be released before Curio Citizen when you all so generously pre-ordered Curio over three years ago. There is also a distinct possibility that The Hand-me-down Maiden will also be published before Curio Citizen will be released.

I want to again assure you that Curio Citizen is still in production and will eventually be in your hands. I have been working very hard with Inkshares on and off for the past three years to ensure it will be its best self prior to release, and though the long waiting periods have been frustrating, I believe the novel will be worth it in the end.

In the next three months, I will seriously be ramping up marketing for Lodestone on all of my author social media accounts, especially since pre-orders have now opened in preparation for its April release. That being the case, I wanted to use this update to reassure you that Curio Citizen is still happening, despite the fact that it will likely be my third published novel by the time it is out in the world. I apologize for what I feel is an awkward situation, and I again want to thank you all with my utmost sincerity, truly from the bottom of my heart, for your support and patience during this process. I would not have made it this far in my career without your generosity.

If you are interested in following news regarding my other books and projects, I invite you to join my new email newsletter! I’m so excited to share my author-ly pursuits with you, and I promise I won’t flood your inbox! Sign up here! 

Thank you again, everyone. I will update about Curio Citizen here as soon as I have more news. In the meantime, I wish you all the best health and happiness!

Sincerely,

Katherine

Website: https://katherineforrister.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KatherineForristerAuthor

Twitter: https://twitter.com/KatForrister   (Handle is @KatForrister)

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/katherineforrister/    (or add @katherineforrister)

Best wishes!

Katherine

Good morning to all of you!

Last week, I received my editorial letter from my new editor, Sarah. I am so excited to start working on my next draft with their fantastic and intuitive feedback. Sarah had many good things to say and praised the ingenuity and uniqueness of the story, the world I’ve created, and the characters at its heart. There are still improvements to be made, as I expected, and I am thrilled to have new, specific goals to keep readying this work for publication. 

With this fresh draft, I will be delving into a few more aspects of world-building that I had only glossed over in previous drafts, namely the more intricate details concerning Paz government and the criminal justice system. Sarah’s simple suggestion regarding those two needs sparked my imagination to weave in a compelling new aspect of paz society that I think will not only address the necessary specifics, but will impact Inquieto and Carmen in powerful ways throughout the story.

In addition, I will be really flexing my writing muscles to perfect my first-person prose. "First-person" is the term used when a book is told directly from a character’s perspective. Example: "I went to the store yesterday, and an employee asked me if I needed help." Alternatively, the term "third-person" is used to describe a book that is told from the author/narrator’s perspective. Example: "The woman went to the store yesterday, and an employee asked her if she needed help."

Some of you know that Curio Citizen is the first and only novel that I have ever written in first-person. I naturally gravitate toward third-person, but I really felt from the beginning that Curio Citizen needs to be told from Carmen’s perspective. Her personal experience on Paz is vital to this "fish-out-of-water" tale, and while that is achievable through third-person prose, I think this novel will be far more powerful if the readers (you!) can experience everything exactly as Carmen does.

First-person prose can be tricky and is, in ways, a different art form than third-person. The ideal outcome would be for my voice as an author to disappear completely from the narrative, and only Carmen’s unique voice would shine through. In this round of revisions, I will be digging further into Carmen’s head to develop the natural course of her inner monologues and to describe the world as she sees it at a deeper level than what I have written in my previous draft.

After ten months of writing other books to practice my craft, I am certain I am up for the challenge for these new improvements. I am beyond ecstatic to dive back into Curio Citizen and return my focus to the heart and soul of the book--Carmen and Inquieto.

Thank you again for you interest and support! I will keep the updates coming!

Best,

Katherine