QUICK UPDATE BECAUSE I GOTTA GO TO WORK:

Hey, nerds!

The COLORING BOOK IS DONE AHHH! It's so cool. I'm so proud of us. People are really creative, you know?

If you want in on some sweet coloring action, definitely pre-order my book immediately and I will email the coloring book to you. (Then pre-order every other featured book because they are GOLD, I tell you. GOLD!)

...But what now, you ask? Don't you have some sort of... coloring contest for us to compete in and win a fabulous prize?

1. Download the coloring book.

2. Color the "She Is the End" page in whatever manner you think is spiffy-cool, on paper or digitally. (I am a fan of Tron, Blade Runner, and everything Drew Struzan has ever done.)

3. If necessary, scan it into a computer or take a photo of it (maybe with your smiling face???).

3. TWEET your results to me @acwestonwrites and @Inkshares with the hashtag #ColoringContest by NOON ON SATURDAY SEPT 26th so we can all see how cool they are! You can favorite your own.

4. Look through everyone else's submissions and favorite some of those, too!

4. Whoever gets the most favorites on Twitter will win... A TRIO OF COOL POSTERS MAILED TO YOU IN THE MAIL VIA MAIL!
You'll receive:

• the official "She Is the End" promotional poster,
• YOUR OWN WINNING COLORING PAGE printed out 11"x17", and
  
• a third poster I haven't made yet (what more do you people want from me jeez) that will be a glorious trinity of my three sci-fi faves, Sarah Connor, Ellen Ripley, and Furiosa!
  

So tell all your friends! Maybe they want to kick the pants off of everyone else in this contest, eh? Maybe they just like Furiosa...

:)

...In other news, I was featured in the brand spankin' new "On the Heels" article on the Inkshares blog for the 11-20 spot books. I wrote a poem for it, guys!

"Why, Cara? Are you just a weird person or something?"

Yes, obviously. And because the question was, "What inspired you to write this book?" I was going to quote a bunch of works that inspired me, but then the quotes started flowing and it turned into something meaningful and ugh, I just couldn't help it, ok? It just happened.

Anyway, here's my poem.

***

It is a truth universally acknowledged:
somebody has to save our skins.
And nolite te bastardes carborundorum, girls,
because there’s no fate but what we make for ourselves
and dinosaurs eat man… woman inherits the Earth.
Get away from her,
you
bitch.
The enemy’s gate is down,
and you gotta nuke ‘em from orbit.
It’s the only way to be sure.
But
as I watch c-beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhäuser Gate,
through a mirror, dimly,
I know:
I can’t love and in that very moment destroy -
but I can stand there and love Charles Wallace.
(No fate.)

***

:) Now go color.

Hi, everyone! This has been an incredible week - what a jump in readers, after such a lull! Thank you, all who have taken the leap and committed to this journey with me - because it is a journey. This book won't be in your hands for a while... and that means you get to see part of the creation of a novel that many readers don't get to see.

That's the real value in perusing works on Inkshares, I've realized: we might get to be part of the first planting and nurturing and growth of the next Harry Potter, or Dune, or Discworld. And even if none of our books reach those books' kind of market success, one of them could mean just as much to someone as those books do. Isn't that incredible?

BUT enough of this sappy stuff!

I hope you new people are ready for an incredible bonus, because it's all coming together and it's going to be incredible.

It's not just an idea anymore... it's becoming real.

Seriously. You guys have no idea how cool this thing is going to be.

This Monday, every one of my readers will receive in their email the Inkshares Authors Showcase Coloring Book and Activity Pages, Nerdist Contest Edition, featuring art and activities to draw you into the worlds of:

Blood Dawn, by John Robin.

Prophecy of the Stars, by Melissa Berg (also an illustrator for the book, and the creator of our cover)

Asteroid Made of Dragons, by G. Derek Adams (winner of the Swords and Lasers publishing contest on Inkshares)

A Beast Requires, by Jay Lockwood

Witches Undercover, by Rochelle Germano

Tournament of the Stars: Arbitration, by Victor Powell

Ageless (also winner of the Swords and Lasers contest) and Motor City Chronicles: Transgressions, by Paul Inman

Rune of the Apprentice, by Jamison Stone

Shadow of the Owl, by Amanda Orneck

The Seventh Age, by Rick Heinz,

and of course...

She Is the End, by Me

You'll get to travel through mazes, challenge yourself with crosswords and word searches, search and find hidden things, create a tournament patch that might be used in Victor's book, and color characters whose adventures you'll definitely want to read. So, if you haven't already, go pre-order these books!

Hello, everyone! I have 101 followers and my book has 222 - that's crazypants! You are all awesome and I feel like I need to bring this back: 

And 200 readers - that's a fine goal, isn't it? Let's shoot for 200 by Friday!

I know this whole "sign up + I'll follow you = $10 in credits, buy my book for free" thing is all the rage these days, and by all means - sign up your mailman and best friend and chiropractor and entire college lacrosse team to get my book for free! Everyone likes a free book!

But what about you, dear followers who have already signed up and gotten their first follower and spent your first credits on other books?

What must we do, we who wander Inkshares in search of our better selves?

Recommend me some books! I have credits and I love supporting other authors. Then you'll get the referral credit when I buy and you'll have spending money to spend... on my book? Or on other excellent books, of course. There are plenty...

LIKE THIS ONE GO ORDER IT NOW!:

The Elephant in the Room, by Jack Bender. This is one of those golden books that is on the LAST DAY of it's campaign - and it is sooo close to reaching its goal. Only 49 readers away! 

Help this guy reach his goal. You can be part of his success!

Or this one:

Teal Book of Oaztaltia by Ryan Cordova - The Emerald Speaker is Dead, Long Live the White Speaker. (I'm freaking out over this book - enough with the Everything is Vaguely Medieval fantasy! Pre-Colombian North and South American fantasy, here I come!)

:) :) :)

Hi everyone! Did you miss me? I dropped out of the top 10 and I was a little bit devastated due to this pesky perfectionism thing, but!!! Here I am, still fighting! I'm hoping this will be one of those "comeback" stories people always like to hear.

What?

What's that?

"What have you been working on instead of desperately asking for pre-orders, Cara?" you say?

Well... here's just a tiny preview that's so mysterious it's not even a hint! (The husband tells me it's dumb to call it a secret if I talk about it all the time in public forums, and I say, THAT'S THE ENTIRE JOKE OKAY.)



What could that be? Could that be, clockwise from the top right, Ky, Tannor, Goren, and Milo??? COuld iT?

But what could these be for? They are so... black and white. So... colorless.

You're going to have to ORDER MY BOOK in order to receive the end result in your happy lil' inboxes. There are (clickety clack clickety clack) FIFTY THREE of you who will be missing out. And you won't just be missing out on my book or the super-cool art mystery bonus... you'll be missing out on NINE OTHER PIECES OF ART.

(FROM OTHER INKSHARES BOOKS.)

So... sounds like some of you have some ordering to do, hmm?

Also go pre-order these books immediately (Minnesota Edition):

The Elements: Descension by Lauren Drube. A lone scientist has brought demons into Dalran, igniting the great war. In preparation to fight the growing force, six rivals were raised as Elementals. The War takes all, but if they can last long enough, these six might make a difference.
(A local Minnesota author contributing to the world of fantasy! Heavy themes of racism and genocide! Works at the U of M! Plus, a team-up of six?!?! I thought my OT5 was hard to balance - six is amazing!)

Prophecy of the Stars by Melissa Berg. After finding out the truth of her past, Mahren must leave everything behind and embark on a journey through love, betrayal, and sacrifice, while her fate may already be written in the Stars, for the Prophecy states: 'She must die, so all may live'.
(You're wondering what you want to read, and you think: "Love, betrayal, and sacrifice, of course!" So first you read my book, and then you read Melissa's! She's from Prior Lake and she's a crazy-talented artist and illustrator to boot.)

Happy Monday!

The Nerdist Inkshares Top 10 article is out! The Nerdist Inkshares Top 10 article is out! Life is not a meaningless lie!

Just kidding. Still, though! It's nice. 

DID YOU KNOW that there's an Inkshares book close to reaching 1,000 pre-orders? THIS IS EXCITING. Trekonomics! Go pre-order it!!!

And... hey... want a hint of the secret cool thing we're doing because we obviously have a ton of spare time? You know you do...

Aaaand now you know whether or not Cara can keep a secret. (She cannot.)

Thank you to everyone who has pre-ordered! To those who have not: reconsider! 

And have a wonderful weekend, either way. :)

Cara

BACK IN THE TOP 10 BY A TIE!

Thanks, everybody! You're the best!

And guess what? 

I'M WORKING ON A NEW COOLER-THAN-COOL PROJECT that I'll tell you about as soon as I have something to show for myself. You'll like it, though. It's fun.

Happy Thursday!

The book itself seems to be a hilarious murder mystery sort of Jasper Fforde, Thursday Next-type thing, which is incredible and insane. Order it yesterday.

The Sleeping Man by Stephen Carignan - The last of the dreamwalkers seeks for answers in the long lost Compendium, but the greatest mystery lies within his own past.

"A thousand paces to wind, not one step more,

Firstly between two trees, dead and dying.

A diurnal wind shall the traveler wait before