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Hello, readers. Long time no write!

By now, you should have received an email letting you know that you’re getting a refund for pre-ordering my book, Witherfist. Sadly, this isn’t a mistake. I’ve decided not to go ahead with publishing Witherfist at this time. 

Since successfully hitting funding of Witherfist in January of this year, I’ve come to a realisation. The book needs a lot of work and a lot of time before it’s in a position to hand to a publisher, let alone to send out to wonderful readers like yourself. Not knowing how long that will be, I don’t feel comfortable asking you to wait, not when you’ve already parted with your money, and so I have made the decision to request that Inkshares refund all of you. 

Whether you preordered the book because you genuinely liked the story of Witherfist, or because you wanted to support me, either as a friend or as a fellow author and Inkshares community member, I’m incredibly grateful. Having so many people rally behind this book - and me - really was amazing. You’ve all given me the confidence to share my writing with the world, and I can’t thank you enough for that.

Thanks again for all of your support. 

Please let me know if you have any issues receiving your refund.

 ~ Jenny 

Exciting news, readers: 1000 Faces - my Black Mirror-esque entry into the Nerdist Sci-Fi Contest - has been chosen as the monthly pick for the Break the Bechdel with Strong Female Characters Syndicate. This is a real honour and I’m so delighted to share with you the syndicate’s reason for picking 1000 Faces:

  In 1000 Faces, J. Graham-Jones has captured one of the most insidious fears that waits below the surface of almost every modern interaction- privacy. Kara, the protagonist, is a woman who seems to wear a mask to keep out those around her as well as all those who read her story. Jones’ voice is crisp and mysterious, masterfully easing us into this very possible future through the eyes of a woman we can’t wait to see come into her own.  

The support of the syndicate has pushed 1000 Faces into 5th place in the Nerdist contest. We’re now within 16 readers of the top 3 and victory!

Don’t forget to check out the 1000 Faces teaser trailer on Youtube, and my recent interview with Natacha Guyot’s Nexus.

More importantly, don’t forget to preorder. There are only 10 days left in the contest, and your preorder could be the difference between Kara Finch hiding behind a mask forever, or stepping out into the spotlight...

~ Jenny

20 days remain to get 1000 Faces into the top 3 of the Nerdist contest


Yes, not long left! 1000 Faces - my near-future sci-fi novel (featuring creepy digital masks like those in the image above!) - is currently only 4 orders from reaching the top 3 of the contest and securing a winning spot. Your preorder could be the one that makes all the difference! 


Remember, the books which finish in the top 3 of the contest win. That means they receive an international publishing deal with editing, development, and marketing. 

You can read excerpts from 1000 Faces right now:


I’ll leave you with some fantastic feedback that 1000 Faces has received already.

~ Jenny

***

"Great elevated sci-fi concept! Can’t wait to read this one." - Tal Klein, author of The Punch Escrow (winner of The Geek & Sundry Hard Science contest) 

"The second I read the description of Jenny Graham-Jones “1000 Faces” I knew I had to have a copy. That kind of dystopian, bleak-future vision of our world - where everyone wears a mask and all is never as it seems - is my kind of jam." - Joseph Asphahani, author of The Animal In Man (winner of The Sword and Laser: The Sequel Contest) 

"1,000 Faces does exactly what all good science fiction should do: explore and aspects of society in a new and thought-provoking light. What happens when the internet is no longer anonymous, but the real world is? I can’t wait to find out. " - Evan Graham, author of Tantalus Depths 

"If this were a movie, I imagine it stylistically looking like V for Vendetta. You can feel the character’s emotional conflict in the second excerpt. While the first excerpt gives a great look into the societal concept. I’m really excited for this one." - Ryne Drogemuller, author of Through The Ghost

Hello, readers.

If you haven’t already, please check out my new project, 1000 Faces. It’s currently 6th place in the Nerdist sci-fi contest. If it ends the contest in the top 3, it’ll get a full publishing deal. Here are a couple of excerpts from the novel:

https://www.inkshares.com/books/1000-faces/book_segments/excerpt-1-https://www.inkshares.com/books/1000-faces/book_segments/excerpt-2-

Hope you enjoy! Please preorder 1000 Faces today.

~ Jenny

Hello, readers! Just a quick reminder that my next project, 1000 Faces, is competing to win the Nerdist Sci-Fi contest.  

In a paranoid near-future where every private part of the internet is public, people hide their identities behind digital masks. Desperate for intimacy in this impersonal world, a mask designer risks everything to feel close to another human being.

Sounds cool, right? As with other Inkshares contests, the top 3 projects get a full publishing deal. I’m currently in 4th place and need your help to get a strong position in the top 3.  

Preorder today :)

~ Jenny

https://www.inkshares.com/books/1000-faces

Hello, readers! Long time no write. I haven’t been in touch for a while, and that’s mainly because I haven’t had a lot to write to you about! 

Work on Witherfist continues at a steady pace. Right now, I’m in the process of some fairly large adjustments to the structure of the plot. I’ve heard from other authors in the Inkshares community that there is a lot happening in the way of preparing, polishing and publishing manuscripts - which is really promising. Given the timescales being quoted, and my current progress with Witherfist, it’s unlikely that the book will see publication before 2018, as I’m going to submit my manuscript to Inkshares in Autumn 2017 at the earliest. 

In other news, Inkshares launched a new publishing contest this week, looking for the next big sci-fi novel. I’ve tossed my hat into the ring with an entry! Why not, eh? You can follow the book - tentatively titled 1000 Faces - and if you want to support it, you can preorder right now. 1000 Faces is set in the near future, in a society where all of the internets secrets have been revealed. To try and maintain a modicum of privacy and anonymity in public, people use ’digital avatars’ to mask their faces - imagine Snapchat filters that you wear all day! The book follows a digital avatar designer who ends up tangled in cyber terrorism, government conspiracies and a whole host of ethical chaos. It’s a dash of Mr. Robot meets A Scanner Darkly via Gattaca with an unplanned detour into Invasion of the Body Snatchers.  

As a little bonus, I’d like to share with you a piece of ’flash fiction’ that I wrote for a sci-fi writing contest earlier this year. The World In A Teacup is a story that I wrote in just 48 hours, based on a handful of prompts. You can download it for free on Amazon / Amazon UK. If you don’t use a Kindle, there are other download options available via Pronoun.

Thanks for reading, 

~ Jenny

Hello, readers! I hope you’re all well. 

This month’s Witherfist update is a relatively short one as there isn’t a lot that’s changed since the last time I was in touch, aside from the number of words that I’ve written. Work on the manuscript is coming along nicely and at the steady - sometimes galloping - pace that I’d hoped for. No news, as they say, is good news. 

One new thing that I can share with you, though, is a new piece of character concept art.  This is Oriku. She’s an assassin, and that’s all I’m going to tell you about her for now ;-)

~ Jenny

Hello, readers! 

I hope that by now, you will have had a notification in your inbox of something exciting: Witherfist has officially gone into ’production’. What does this mean? It doesn’t mean that the book will start printing and shipping immediately, but it does mean that Inkshares have committed to producing and distributing the books to you all. You can read more about the Quill imprint, which Witherfist has joined, on Inkshares blog.

So what’s happening now? Well, currently, I’m working on writing the book! In May, I’ll be giving the manuscript to my editor for evaluation. Some time after that, I’ll hand it over to Inkshares - who will, in their own time, deliver the book to you. I can’t be any more specific with when at this stage because I haven’t even begun to have that discussion with Inkshares, but I will certainly keep you updated as and when I have more to share. 

Barring any unusual happenings, I’ll send you all an update on a monthly basis. In the meanwhile, if you have any questions, please do get in touch.

~ Jenny

Long time no write, readers! I hope this email finds you all well. There are now 253 of you following Witherfist - which is especially cool since 253 copies have been ordered. There are just 10 days left during the ’Funding’ period - which means only 10 more days to purchase a signed paperback copy of Witherfist. Once the book leaves its ’Funding’ period, any paperbacks you buy will not be signed as a matter of course. 

On a related note, I have a small number of signed ’samples’ of Witherfist available. These are booklets, about the size of a comic book, that I had made up to promote Witherfist at a local convention. They contain the draft content of Witherfist that you can read right now on Inkshares, as well as a couple of pieces of artwork that I’ve previously shared.

If you have preordered and would like one of these, please get in touch with your address details. 

That aside, there isn’t much in the way of news to share right now. Work on the book continues at a good pace and I should have more to share with you in the new year.

Thank you all for your continued interest and support. If you’re feeling generous and in the mood to buy more books, please check out Fae Child by my good friend, Jane-Holly Meissner.

Thanks again,

~ Jenny

Hello, readers!  

Apologies for the radio silence over the last fortnight. I haven’t had a lot to update on since Witherfist successfully hit the light publishing goal of 250 preorders (woohoo!). There is still just over a month remaining during the funding period, which means at least one month left before we officially become part of the Quill imprint - but also a month in which you can continue to preorder signed paperbacks.

Thanks for your continued support!

~ Jenny