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Hello Rebels! (And a special hello to Captain Jack Sparrow who is expressing how I'm feeling in a remarkably succinct way)

TGIO Party and Editing - Today I went to the Nanowrimo Thanks Goodness Its Over party, where there was just a tonne of fun had with my fellow Wrimo's. This was a reward for all the hard work we've been putting in, and an opportunity to do some marketing for the project. The minions will be minioning over the next week on social media, getting the word out about the book. Wrimo minions, I salute you! You make me feel so special about my little project.

Over the last week Finn and I have been rapidly editing the first ten chapters of the book, with a major re-write of chapter three. We've also got a couple of alpha readers who are happily tearing through the first third of the book. My wife (the high school teacher) got out her red pen and blasted through about eight chapters in one night. I think my teenage daughter is in heaven...pointing out all the mistakes her Dad made when his mind was afire with story. It's simply glorious that we have people around us who are so supportive.

I am reminded of something I read during Nano in an article somewhere. The most important thing about writing is that you write. Don't get bogged down in editing when you are writing because all those fizzing idea's that are flowing onto the page will disappear.  You're essentially shovelling sand into a pit to build sandcastles with later. It's during the editing phase that you take that sand, remove the cigarette butts and plastic tops of bottles and all the other beach detritus and really make something special....and I think we are. Despite the funny faces I'm pulling as I re-read the text and wonder if I was suffering from Caffeine induced dyslexia. Is it perfect yet? No, but it is a great improvement I feel on where we were even a week ago. Very shortly I will be uploading our amendments to the Prologue and Chapter 1. I hope you like the changes we've made to make the story flow better. 

Sword and Laser & Prizes - When I had the price reset by the helpful Inkshares staff on the project to bring it in line with what everyone else was charging, I somehow lost the first six orders that occurred on the first day of the project. So we are officially over ten pre-orders on the project as of now and it's time to reveal the first major prize that Finn and I have agreed upon for people who are backing the project. Suffrage is the first book in a planned series. When we reach fifty pre-orders, we are going to draw the name of one of our backers and use that name for a minor character in the second book. We make no promises regarding the likelihood of said character surviving to the third book.

We also have another idea we are kicking around but isn't confirmed yet for another major prize. To my surprise, Finn's brother is very arty, as in, he makes a living from it. We are considering asking him to produce an original piece of art of an iconic scene in the book. If Finn's brother agrees, we'll get him painting up a storm and post details and a picture of it when it's finished.

Okay update over - back to the editing - stay cool Rebels and spread the word among all your scifi adventure loving friends about the project. 

P.S. - There are very cool things coming that you'll see when more chapters are added. I can't wait.