Oh wow, such a long time between updates, huh? Was I dying?

Not really. Certainly felt like it at times. Next year: flu shot. Nothing like severe, body-shaking chills, fatigue, fever and medication induced hallucinations, and a throat so ravaged by coughs it took a month and about 150 cough drops to heal. So here I am, several weeks later, updating.

Right now? I’d say my life going swell. That’s not sarcasm, either. Holy cow, I feel good! I won’t say why here, let’s just say a massive ball of stress is gone, and a couple of smaller nodules are slowly being chipped away at.

Moving on to Blurred Weaponry stuff. Because I was so sick and stressed out, I haven’t done much writing recently. My current attitude means I’ll be back on track soon and will finally be able to send this thing to my editor. The new First Five – chapters, of course – are solid. Not sure if I need to spice them up, though, as 3, 4, and 5 are mostly conversational and exploratory, with a focus on tension, accusations, establishing who does and doesn’t trust whoever else, and so on.

That being said, my main page is updated with the latest version of Chapter 1 (the one my editor will see), which is now split into two named parts to be a little more attractive for readers. Chapter 2 has been added and I’ll be sending that separately to followers later today (something I’ve never done before, so why not). These shorter, punchier chapters have been a ton of fun to make, and I’m pretty happy with them and look forward to [FINALLY!] running through the remainder of the manuscript for whatever minor additions / changes are needed to match the new material.

Thanks for being a part of me slowly-creeping-back-into-pre-orders campaign, and I’ll have more to talk about soon!

Peace out,

MAV

Maybe condensing the interjections into one set wouldn’t pull away from the main scene as much.   But I am biased because I like the opening scene so much.  I’m totally pre-ordering this by the way.  

Thank you so much for the commentary! Hmmm, I thought quote marks might be enough to separate past from present in the joke-y origin story, but you’re right, it’s takes a little time to establish that and I want people hooked in and wanting more instantly. Possibly, naming the characters earlier and saying they are together, waiting for the story to be told might do it. I’ll experiment with that soon, and thanks again!

After reading these excerpts, I am TOTALLY down with this.  The Saints, the Cypher, and “up shifting” are all concepts that hooked my interest right away.  I really want to learn more about them.  I enjoy your dialogue.  It feels very down-to-earth.  It made the characters instantly relatable.  In the first scene, where Dastou is giving his backstory, I found the interjections of the other characters a bit confusing.  It wasn’t immediately clear exactly what the relationship of the interjecting voices was to the main narrative.  However, the backstory itself grabbed my attention right away.  The image of a little boy alone by the streetlamps in the rain is great.  I’m looking forward to reading more of this.  This story and its world feel unique.  This could be something really special.  

 

End of January / technically beginning of February update! Another long one, so here goes.

So far my plan of obliterating the first chunk of the book (more or less) is working out. It’s taking a lot longer than I planned, and I’m even adding stuff that was meant for book 2 for the sake of world-building. Here’s the basics of the changes for no other reason than why NOT tell y’all. In bullet-point format, for the cool kids (spelled "kool kidz" if you’re not whack).

• First four chapters have become first five. Fewer words per chapter, more down to earth dialogue that fits my style. There’s a much stronger sense of respect, teamwork, camaraderie, and / or dislike between all characters.
  
• The Counterbalance are a faction that is basically this world’s cops. Daytime is ruled by mass-hypnotism, so crime is ultra-low. At night? S*** gets dangerous and wild, and this group handles it. In each major metropolis, the faction goes by a slightly different name. Stone-State’s crew is known as the Igneous Counterbalance (IC for short).
  
• Constable Henrov Renker leads the IC. She’s smart, has a limp, and hates (HATES) Saints. Captain Hanyan Hays is already in the novel later on, but I like him and wanted to put him in earlier. These two additions have expanded the conversations that take place in the early parts of the book in cool ways.

Okay, that’s the major stuff I wanted to say. Figured to do some kind of update since my thoughts are constantly on this project. I’ll update again in about a month. Also, the older you get, the more you realize that time is the greatest commodity you have to use properly. Those of you who follow me or Blurred Weaponry and read this update have given me your precious time, and I appreciate it immensely. 

Thank you, and I look forward to sharing some of the surprises and content I’m working on soon (this update was twice as long until I realized I’m giving everything away too soon ^_^).

Peace out,

Michael V.

Best of luck on the epic cannonball style rebirth campaign. I will keep an ear out for the BOOM! :)

Small note on the last update! The new "cannonball" pre-order campaign will also be on Inkshares. I didn't quite say that right, so I figured to correct. I actually already a date picked out and everything for an advertising campaign at least half-planned (dates for ads might be moved by a few days back and forth). I look forward to a Final Fantasy XIV-style reset :)

Hi! Apologies for updating three times in three weeks, but it's back to the forge after this one, so nothing new for a bit. I've got some massive surprises cooking up that may help me get into Quill on time, so I look forward to when I can talk about that a bit more. Let's do this thang.

1: I bought / supported some books that I recommend over the last week!

Byron Gillan's projects "Children of the Forest" and "The Darkest Places."

Tony Valdez's (No relation, hehe) "Dax Harrison."

Listen... for seriously, BUY DAX HARRISON! Tony's got eight friggin' fraggin' days left and not too many pre-orders remaining. Use cash, credits, credit, throw your first born at your monitor, whatever! (Not the last one, please goodness not the last one). Just buy this thing! He's so close I'm getting shaky on his behalf.

2: Wow. Taking some time off from writing is weird since I literally get better every day even while obsessively thinking about it. Going back to polish the first three Inkshares-ready parts of Blurred Weaponry has been a trip. All I'm doing is adding spice, but it just feels so GOOD, y'all, to not have much to worry about story and only be adding touches of gleam. Is that a phrase? No? Okay, then, last but not least:

3: Review-a-thon tomorrow! Control-V! Stolen joke!

Get ready for the inaugural Inkshares Review-a-Thon, an independent event, organized by Inkshares authors!

On December 19th (tomorrow), all authors and readers are invited to leave reviews on currently funding Inkshares books using the Inkshares “leave a review” option.

Throughout the day we’ll be hanging out on Twitter in the #InksharesReviews tag as we share our favorite book projects, answer author Q&As, debate the merits of astronauts with swords versus cavemen with lasers, and much, much more!

From 6 - 8pm ET, JF Dubeau and Paul ‘such a nerd’ Inman will be hosting a Google+ Hangout livestream filled with author interviews, review readings, and live announcements of prize winners!

Prizes?!?!

Everyone who leaves a review on December 19th by 6pm ET will be eligible to win one of our fantastic general prizes:

• Sword & Laser Contest Winners Package - print copies of the six winning books from the Sword & Laser Inkshares contest!
  

• Nerdist Contest Winners Package - print copies of the five winning books from the Nerdist Inkshares contest!
  

• An immediate pre-order of the book of their choice for five winners!
  

• $30 in Inkshares credits!
  

Readers: Peruse the “currently funding” books on Inkshares and leave as many reviews as you want. You could even start up a “must-have” list of books to order in case you win a free pre-order or the $30 in credits!

Authors: Join our review exchange to leave three reviews in exchange for two guaranteed reviews on your Inkshares project and a chance at author-exclusive prizes!

Email Cara Weston at cara.c.weston@gmail.com with questions, or simply to learn more.

It’s gonna be fun.

 

EASY INKSHARES CREDITS! There, got your attention. Here goes this off-week update :) 

1: You can get a $5 credit on Inkshares the first time you point out an excerpt. Just highlight something you like in my draft chapters (the first time I did this it was an accident) and you got it. You can also be extra lazy by hitting "like" on someone else's excerpt instead. It's a great way for those who haven't done it to get credits and then, you know, buy my book on the cheap!

2: I'll finally be buying more books on Inkshares super-soon. I was out of a job a tiny bit and can finally now actually get things going insofar as returning some love to people that support me. Unfortunately, that car accident and jobless state cost me a ton of marketing budget, but I still feel pretty good about things after an extension of my deadline. Time to pimp myself smarter and more aggressively :)

 3: Edited: OOPS! On taking the advice oh Rick Heinz, I changed every single thing about my pre-read content. The draft prologue, which I really liked as a way of humanizing and doing better establishment of an antagonist, will be saved for the book itself and my Inkshares page will be used as more of a faster, punchier set of reads. All in all, a better decision and result.

4: Inkshares Review-a-thon! On September 19th, there will be a mass of reviews. Click the link attached to the picture above to go the event's Facebook page for more info. Also, here it is in case the link above doesn't work:

https://www.facebook.com/events/683611381775339/

Thanks everybody! Earn those credits, buy my book! Hit X to feel!