Hey Everyone,

So, how's your week going? Because mine...

That's right. An Unattractive Vampire has been chosen to join the Inkshares contest winners Asteroid Made of Dragons and The Life Engineered in the Sword and Laser collection. Here is a link to the official announcement.

http://swordandlaser.com/home/2015/11/19/an-unattractive-vampire-joins-the-sl-inkshares-collection

I couldn't be be more happier. First of all, without the Sword and Laser contest, I would not have proofreading notes from a professional production team in my inbox right now. Second, I've been a fan of the Sword and Laser for years now. Seeing them use my two  sentence jokes on their video show was exciting and when I heard them laugh while saying the title of my book on their podcast months ago, I was ecstatic. Getting to be a part of their collection, a part of the Sword and Laser, well...let's just say I'm going to have to replace a slot on my list of life goals. So thank you so, so much Tom and Veronica wherever you are (the West coast).

However, as one Mstr. Yulric Dunnwolffe Bile knows, there is no rest for the wicked. And so, until there's more news, goodnight.

Also, SQUEE!

This just in...

Galleys! I have galleys! And instead of sweaty men with oars, mine have pretty, pretty fonts. I dare you not to fall in love with that chapter title. Dare you.

Also, adding to last update, I'm currently sitting in a Barnes & Noble with an open window on my laptop where you can buy my book from Barnes and Noble.

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/an-unattractive-vampire-jim-mcdoniel/1122232287?ean=9781941758649

To say I'm excited is an understatment. Again, thank you to everyone who has bought my book so far. None of this would have happened without you and your support.

Now, I have a few plugs for other books:

It's the final days of Scott T. Barsotti's Inkshares campaign for his horror thriller Single Version. He's already surpassed the light publishing goal and is very close to his full publishing goal. Put this acclaimed horror writer over the top by ordering your copy today, won't you. And I mean today. 

https://www.inkshares.com/projects/single-version

Also, Ken McCoy's Hellrazor campaign will be ending soon. Nazi occultism. Norse gods. Murder. And that's just the first chapter. Head over there and order while you can.

https://www.inkshares.com/projects/hellrazor

And if you haven't already spent all your money on books and the return of Mystery Science Theatre 3000,  how about the newcomer Dracula v. Hitler for all your non-Yulric vampire needs. 

https://www.inkshares.com/projects/dracula-v-hitler

Again, thank you all. Until next update.

Jim

Haha. Hahaha. Haha.

I'm just coming off another week of frenetic grad school assignment completion and finally have time to breath and update. And there's a lot to update because apparently, EVERYTHING HAPPENED while I was identifying nominative absolutes in Hemingway. (Show off.)

First of all, frequent visitors may have noticed that the cover has changed. 

Apologies if that is huge, I'm technology deficient. But come on, isn't it pretty? I hope you like it as much as I do, because it's going to be staring at you from your bookshelf, silently judging your life choices.

Next up, I discovered this:

http://www.amazon.com/Unattractive-Vampire-Jim-McDoniel/dp/1941758649/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1445397137&sr=8-1&keywords=An+Unattractive+Vampire

My book is on Amazon! And Goodreads! And a bunch of other sites! It's still early days still. They don't, for example, have this shiny new cover up yet. But still, I'm excited.

And finally, what probably most interests you, I finished the copy edit on time. So as far as the material (that will be encased in the glossy majesty seen above) goes, we are right on schedule and your copies will now contain a few less work repetitions and probably make a little more sense.

That's all for now. Uh...hope you all are doing well. (How do you close out one of these things?) 

Bye?

Greetings All,

News! Excitement! Third Things!

An Unattractive Vampire has sold 1,000 copies! (Noisemakers!) (Balloon drop!) (Confetti!) (Confetti clean up.)

Thank you to everyone who has bought a copy. This wouldn't have been possible without each and every one of you. You are all excellent specimens, worthy of preservation in a zoo and/or natural history museum. (I'm not an alien.)

So, why so long between updates? Well, honestly, there hasn't been much to report. The development edit is complete and the manuscript is now in the hands of the copy editor. There have been cover variations, layout designs, and promotional copy to critique and approve, but nothing finalized. (I promise I will share that with you when I can.) That combined with various recordings Season 7 of Our Fair City (www.ourfaircity.com) and the beginning of grad school and I things have been quite busy. But hey, I'm here now (on lunch, at work) so let's talk.

It's the last 24 hours of the Nerdist Inkshares contest. Tomorrow at noon, the books with the top five reader totals will be published. Top 5 out of 330. It's insane. There are so many good books and remember, just because I book doesn't win, doesn't mean it can't be published. Several of the top books are well on their way to reaching the 1000 pre-order publishing goal. So if you'd like to help some other worthy novelists reach their dreams as you've helped me reach mine, here are some recommendations:

These Old Bones by Andrew J. Ainsworth
Hardy veteran of the Sword and Laser campaign, Andy Ainsworth is currently in the top five with his fantasy tale of a young summoner's first steps toward magical mastery. Let's keep him there. https://www.inkshares.com/projects/these-old-bones

In the mood for something space-faring and action-packing? Well look no further than these books.
She Is The End by A.C. Weston        (https://www.inkshares.com/projects/she-is-the-end)
Ghosts of War by Paul Robinson      (https://www.inkshares.com/projects/ghosts-of-war)

It's almost October and so tis the time for something spooky. Why not try these?
Single Version by Scott T. Barsotti        (https://www.inkshares.com/projects/single-version)
Hellrazor by Ken McCoy                           (https://www.inkshares.com/projects/hellrazor)

Anyway, lunch is almost done and I must be off. Thank you again for all of your support and I swear...a website is coming soon.

Oh hey, I didn't see you there.

So it's been a while since I sent an update. Currently, I'm knee-deep in rewrites and editors notes. Also, there have been cover concepts to consider, promotional copy to approve, and a photo shoot for the website that I does not now, but will, at a later date, exist. Basically, I'm busier now than when I was actually writing the novel. 

Anyway, while I hack and slash through my own words trying not cry at each joke cut, here's some additional items of interest for you, the eventual readers:

I have a Facebook page! A real, "Hey look at me, I'm an author" Facebook page. You can find/like it here (https://www.facebook.com/JimMcDonielBooks) and get twice as many updates as to what I'm doing. Three times if you also follow me on Twitter. (https://twitter.com/JimMcDoniel)

Can't wait for the words I am writing? Well, you can satiate yourself with words I've already written. The audio drama Our Fair City is back from the mid-season hiatus and the latest episode "Much Ado About Andrew Snidge" was written by yours truly, containing all the best Our Fair City elements: romance, danger, molepeople, disembodied talking brain, and the Meatwall as itself. You can check it out here (http://www.ourfaircity.com/2015/08/much-ado-about-andrew-snidge) or find it on iTunes, because convenience. (Also, if you're interested in hearing me say words rather than write them, you can find a familiar voice in the episode before mine "Last Shift.")

Also, some of you may have noticed that Inkshares is at it again.They've teamed up The Nerdist for another contest. So if you're in the market for a few good books, I've got some recommendations:

These Old Bones by A.J. Ainsworth
A tale of a young summoner's journey to prove himself worthy both to the Council of Grand Summoners and to himself. This was one of the top ten books of Sword and Laser contest and now, much like Rocky Balboa in Rocky II, it's back for another go at Apollo Creed. (Apollo Creed being, for the purposes of this metaphor, a publishing deal with Inkshares.) So let's give the Rock plenty of chickens to catch (chickens being money/book orders) so that he can raise the belt and call for Adrianne at the end of all this.

https://www.inkshares.com/projects/these-old-bones

Ghosts of Wars by Paul Robinson
A sci-fi military thriller of planet hopping revenge and retribution. Another veteran of the Sword and Laser contest who has come out of retirement for one last mission. This one comes compete with really great character sketches you can check out on the Inkshares page. Let's get these two gents in published ranks, shall we? 

https://www.inkshares.com/projects/ghosts-of-war

Single Version by Scott T. Barsotti
An entomophobic pacifist tries to negotiate a city where paramilitary police rule over a heavily armed populace in the midst of a cockroach explosion.
Scott T. Barsotti has worked as a playwright here in Chicago, writing for its horror-focused theatre company WildClaw. I've seen two full productions of his scripts--an adaptation of The Shadow Over Innsmouth and the zombie love story The Revenants, as well as a staged reading that took place at The Goodman Theatre. Basically, what I'm saying is, his work is quality and I can't imagine that this would be any different. So buy a book and let's all go screaming into the night together.

https://www.inkshares.com/projects/single-version

Anyway, that's all for now. It's back to tackling these rewrites for me.

Happy Friday Everybody,

I came prepared...

It's fourth of July weekend. More importantly, it's CONvergence week! Yes, I will once again return to my old stomping grounds of Minneapolis and St. Paul (mostly Minneapolis, stomping is frowned upon in St. Paul, especially after nine p.m.) in order to attend the Convergence Science Fiction and Fantasy convention in Bloomington, Minnesota.

And lest you think I'm going empty handed...

That's right con goers, prepare to find one of these bad boys on counter tops, taped to walls, and shoved under the doors of your convention hotel room, because I ordered a lot of them and my apartment isn't that big.

I won't just be going person to person promoting my book, however. I'll also be be promoting my book to groups of persons, a practice known in convention parlance as "paneling." I will be discussing  "Building Worlds for Fiction" on Friday at 3:30 and finding ways to write jokes into the malevolent future societies that await us in the "Dystopia in Humor/Humor in Dystopia panel at 9:30 Sunday morning. Because nothing says comedy, like an AM panel on a convention weekend. There will also be stacks of postcards for all who attend.

And don't miss my fellow writers and performers from Our Fair City as they perform our live radioplay "The Archibald Funnypants Variety Hour" at 4 PM on the mainstage before the closing ceremonies. Music! Molepeople! Live foley! You might even see me onstage, very briefly.

It's going to be a big weekend. So if you or anyone you know or might have known or will might have known in an alternate timeline that was currently erased from existence are in Minneapolis this weekend, swing by CONvergence and say hi. Who knows, there could even be a postcard in it for you.

For more information about CONvergence visit http://www.convergence-con.org/

Greetings all,

Now that I've actually gotten some sleep, it's time for another update.

First of all, congratulations to fellow winners G. Derek Adams and J.F. Dubeau, whose books were chosen as the debut novels for the Sword and Laser Collection. Way to go guys.

Second, more good news came to me on Monday. Not only did I learn this book o' mine was going to be published, but I was accepted to DePaul University's Master of Writing and Publishing program. Huzzah! I'm going to be a Master Writer. (I swear, the idea of being able to say I'm a "Master of Writing" is not the reason I applied. Well, not the ONLY reason I applied.) Anyway, I better work on my triple lindy, because I'm going back to school.

Third there are a few more people who I need to thank for giving me their support:

1) Dottore Balordo of Blastropodcast: The man of SCIENCE! himself gave me a ringing endorsement in the final day of the competition. Well, at least, I think that's what it was. His actual words were, "I hardly endorphin this navel about umpires." I'm sure that will make much more sense if you just listen to Blastropodcast, available on iTunes or at www.blastropodcast.com.

2) Thank you to WildClaw Theatre for giving me a push on Facebook. WildClaw is Chicago's premiere horror theatre and their new anthology show Motel 666 actually opens  this week. So if you're in Chicago, you should check them out at www.wildclawtheatre.com.

3) Thank you to The Sword and Laser for giving me this opportunity. The Sword and Laser is one of my favorite podcasts to listen to, featuring Sci-Fi and Fantasy books and news, as well as author interviews, which I have taken a considerable amount of encouragement from over the years. Without them, this book would be doomed to languish in a folder on my hardrive until one of its brothers or sisters found success. Now, it gets its chance to shine.

4) And Inkshares, thank you for not only the opportunity, but the enthusiasm and excitment you have already given this project and that you will provide going forward. I look forward to working with you to sell the &$%# out of this book. Pardon my grawlix. (Grawlix (n): a series of typographical symbols used in cartoons or cartoons to represent swearing. The More You Know...)

5) Thank you everyone who bought a book. "Look what you did. I can't believe what you did." ~ Henry Jones Sr.

I promise I will update you all as things progress. (For example, I'll have to get myself a fancypants website now.) So stay tuned...