Hi everyone!

Normally, I wouldn't be so quick to churn out another update, but this is something exciting worth mentioning.

JF Dubeau and Paul Inman, who both host the Inkshares-centric podcast called WriteBrain, dropped some generous words about my novel. Thanks, guys!

If you click here, you can listen to the podcast. They discuss it around the 23-minute mark, but the whole podcast is worth listening to.

JF has a novel being published through Inkshares that will be on shelves (both virtual and physical) on March 1st called The Life Engineered. He is also currently funding another novel called A God in the Shed. I have loved everything I've read in both of these books, so they're worth checking out.

Paul also has a novel publishing through Inkshares called Ageless that will hit shelves on May 3rd. Just like JF, he's in the middle of another campaign to fund a novel called Motor City Chronicles. He's a very talented sci-fi/fantasy writer, so if you enjoy that genre, both are a great read.

In the podcast, they mention another novel called Disintegration by Steve Soldwedel. This guy is going the distance for 750, and he wrote a brilliant space fantasy novel in the vein of the Alien movies. It would be great to see him get funded.

I've said it before, and I'll say it again -- there is a lot of talent on Inkshares, so if you want to expand your horizons beyond The Inhabitants (after you've already pre-ordered it, of course), it's worth exploring what's out there.

Thanks for reading.

Have a great night, and happy dreaming!

Hi everyone! As you may or may not have already seen, chapter 4 has been posted and sent out.

You can read it here, or just visit my book's page and access it through the chapter section.

Hope you enjoy it!

The 4th Raffle has arrived!

Here's the video for you to see if you've won:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yYFe_mZ4MFQ

Congrats to the winner! The next drawing will happen when I reach 80 readers.

Wow, that was brief.

As promised, here is my post-contest update.

Let me clarify up front: the end of the contest today is NOT the end of the road for me at Inkshares. My campaign will continue in regular funding mode until May 1st, so I will still be seeking pre-orders to hit at least 250 book pre-orders for a light publishing option, or, ideally, 750 book pre-orders for a full publishing option.

Even though I have congratulated them multiple times, I will do it one more time -- congratulations to Joseph Asphahani, Matthew Isaac Sobin, and Craig Munro for winning the Inkshares Sword & Laser Contest. Their novels, The Animal in Man, The Last Machine in the Solar System, and The Bones of the Past, completely deserve all the success they are enjoying.

"Published" is one of the sweetest words a first-time writer can add to his or her résumé. Every author on Inkshares craves it, but not all of them can achieve it. And it's usually not for lack of quality.

Sometimes it's difficult to get people on board with a completely unknown author. I have to admit, it's a very hard sell. Some authors are better at the sales pitch than others. Some authors are already connected in the literary world to some degree (I am not). Some authors excel at both, and it pays off big for them.

But I'm glad Inkshares exists, because it's a new route that challenges the old publishing establishment. Query letters and chasing down literary agents are part of a difficult game. Inkshares opens a direct avenue between the authors and readers to let the people decide what's worth their money.

I uploaded my first chapter back in early September while the Nerdist Contest was raging on. I was absolutely in love with the platform, but I had too much other stuff on my plate to commit to launching a campaign and entering a contest. So I sat on it for a bit, even joking in one of my updates that Inkshares should consider launching an early December contest right after NaNoWriMo. Imagine my half-surprise when they actually did.

I had no advance notice, so I found out about it December 1st -- the first day of the contest. This is not an exaggeration: I remember sitting in front of my laptop with my cursor hovering over the launch button to start the funding campaign. I asked my wife if it was the right choice as I dangled my finger over the button -- Would it be crazy for me to do this? She said, "go for it." So I did.

By the way, as I was typing that last paragraph, an owl hooted outside my apartment. In the three years of living in this apartment, I have NEVER heard an owl hooting nearby. I don't know what that means. But if you've seen my cover art, watched my raffle videos, or read the chapters of my novel, you know the significance of owls and strange coincidences is not something to be ignored.

Hmm...

Anyhow, running a campaign through the holiday season seemed like a bad idea, but I did it anyway. Do I regret it? Not remotely.

I told Matthew Sobin this today, but I thought I'd share it here, too: this was easily one of the friendliest competitions I have ever participated in. Inkshares is an amazing community in that respect. Everyone wants to help each other out. We're all in this together. Things like Cara Weston's Review-a-Thon and John Robin's constant championing of other writers on the Goodreads forum are just a couple examples.

I have learned so much from this experience so far. Everyone I've met on Inkshares is absolutely solid. I will try to repay as much goodwill as I can as I continue my journey.

As for my backers, you are the ones who are keeping me going. Every e-mail I get informing me of another order reminds me of why I'm doing this. It's easy to despair during a dry spell when facing seemingly insurmountable odds. How we react to these moments is what defines our level of resolve to continue chasing that dream, regardless of how far-fetched it may be.

I am so grateful to everyone who has pre-ordered my novel. Your names have been etched in my heart, and I will never forget any of you for supporting me. I will certainly remember the early adopters who, when I basically said, "Guess what? I'm writing a novel," they unflinchingly responded with, "Guess what? I'm ORDERING your novel."

This may all sound like a eulogy, but like I said, the campaign will continue. Nothing is ending here. There is still a lot of work to be done, and I'm ready for it.

Diligent writing and editing will continue. The raffles will continue. Everything is business as usual. This just seemed like a good time to stop and reflect.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I must get back to work weaving stories.

Thanks for reading, and have a great weekend.

As promised, I recorded my raffle video late last night, when I was at 63 readers. I have since gained two more readers, so the two of you will be included in the next raffle when I hit 70.

Check it out to see if you've won:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Cq3DmueyA4

I will contact the winner directly later to hammer out details. Congrats to that person!

Meanwhile, the Sword & Laser Contest wraps up in about two and a half hours. I mentioned a little bit about it in the raffle video, but I will send out a definitive post-contest update later when everything has officially ended.

As always, thanks for your support, and enjoy your Friday!

Hi everyone!

Very quick update:

I realize I've passed the 60-reader mark (62, to be exact), and that means it's time for another raffle! That happened much sooner than I thought, thanks to you generous people. So I will draw a name later tonight.

But let me sweeten the deal. If I reach 70 readers before I make the video, I will draw THREE names. This will perhaps take the sting out of everyone who didn't win the Powerball last night.

Those mugs are a hot item (especially when they contain hot things), so there are more chances to get your hands on one of them. Or, if drinking devices are not your thing, I still have t-shirts, stickers, and playing cards for the winner to choose from.

So please direct people to my book. Share, recommend, or do whatever it is you can do to get the word out. Or, if you're following and haven't pre-ordered yet, please consider hitting that magical button. Getting to 70 readers today would really be pretty swell!

Thanks, and I'll talk to you all soon!

50 readers means another raffle!

Come see me ramble through another raffle drawing with a slight case of bed head. I recorded this late last night (I'm a bit of a night owl -- pun slightly intended), but am posting this now since not many people would see an update e-mail late on a Sunday night.

Are you a winner? Well, anyone who pre-orders my book is technically a winner to me, but if you want to know the raffle results, you'll just have to watch:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VV2qhv81A8Y

I will contact the winner later with the details. Thanks, happy dreams, good night, good luck, etc.

So, as promised, I followed through with a raffle for all my readers.

I recorded this video late last night, announcing the first four winners. Check it out to see if you won! I will be contacting the winners directly later today.

By the way, the "peer pressure" thing I mention in the video was a joke -- I really am excited about doing this for all of you who have supported me!

If you haven't pre-ordered my novel yet and want to be included in the raffle, all you have to do is hit that 'Pre-Order' button that's calling out to you.

Anyway, I won't waste anymore time:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HTaTMRjtAjw

p.s. - I promise the next raffle video won't take as long, because I'll spend less time explaining the prizes and just draw.

Have a great afternoon!

Hello everyone!

It's been awhile since my last update, but I just wanted to throw a few items of interest out there.

First, I added a new book trailer earlier this week to the Inkshares page. I'm pretty happy with it, so please check it out if you haven't already.

I gained a few more orders this past week from some generous people, which I greatly appreciate, as always. You guys make this crazy ride worthwhile for me and energize me every time I see enthusiasm for my writing.

After hemming and hawing over the idea, I decided to jump on the raffle bandwagon. I'm not going to start drawing names until I get some of my wares in the mail that I plan to raffle, though. When those arrive, I will raffle items at every 10 readers. Each reader will have their name in the drawing. Anyone who ordered the eBook (Inhabitant level) will get one entry. Anyone who ordered the eBook & hard copy (Dreamer level) will get two entries. Anyone who ordered multiple copies (Narcoleptic level) will get as many entries as the number of books they ordered. No one can win more than one prize, though, so multiple entries just increases your chances of winning (which is still a victory!). So, by that estimation, I owe you 4 raffle drawings at this moment.

Here's the weirdest item I wanted to discuss. I had a vivid dream last night that actually inspired a new character (actually even a group) and plot line for the novel. I am currently brainstorming on how to integrate them, and I have a few ideas of how to do so. I'm really excited about this! It's one of those stranger-than-fiction scenarios that was hard to ignore: An idea via a dream for a dream-based novel. Hmm. It goes to show that my brain never takes a rest from writing.

I hope your miscellaneous holidays were wonderful, and you're enjoying your first two days of 2016.

Good night, and happy dreaming!

This past week was absolutely packed with things both related and unrelated to Inkshares.

Most of it was unrelated, which slowed work on the novel, but was mostly family-related and took top priority. Thankfully, I was able to pump out some reviews for the Review-a-Thon yesterday, but not nearly as many as I wanted.

A huge thanks to Jamison Stone, Yicheng Liu, Jeyna Grace, Joshua Griffith, Thea Tiffany Alger and Kelly Graniel, Stephen Carignan, Steve Soldwedel, and Jason Pomerance for posting reviews of my novel. All of your lovely words made this writer extremely happy!

As I said on the Facebook Review-a-Thon page, I promise to return the favor by writing reviews for all of your novels, but it takes awhile to read all of your wonderful projects, so please be patient with me. I want to give you the most honest and informed review possible. I already bounced back a couple reviews today, so hopefully that will help out your projects a little.

I'd also like to thank Cara Weston for putting the event together. The whole event generated nothing but positive results, and not only did I walk away from it with a page full of reviews, but I also won a copy of Scrivener software to help me organize my writing better! The event also exposed me to other projects that I'm glad I was able to discover through this experience. There's a lot of amazing stuff out there!

In regards to the novel, I am so happy to have bypassed the 30 pre-order mark! Boom! Thank you so much to all my supporters! You are the fuel to my wordsmithing fire.

I do have many words committed to Chapter 4 already as I've been combing through it again with new ideas. I'm constantly being inspired to explore new routes to the same story as I revisit old drafts of these chapters, and finding new ways to approach the universe I've built in my head. It is gratifying for me to deliver improved material to you and get good feedback in return. For Chapter 4 in particular, I decided to take it down a darker path than originally written. You will see when I post it.

Anyhow, I will update all of you with more as it comes along.

Have a good night, and happy dreaming!