This is wonderful stuff! I love the sly Edwardian tone, and I especially like little character details, like Eric’s father being too old to care about trimming his eyebrows anymore. That’s the kind of small detail that lets you know everything about a character. 

Gah. Apparently the system doesn’t play nice with those greater-than/less-than signs. What I wanted to say about "The Traveller’s Cup" was that it’s just this much away from Quill. I think it is fascinating for the two-tier society presented, and there will probably be interesting observations to be made, fodder for the sort of intelligent discussions you can have with artists and bohemians at 2am in a deserted café; but then it’s also rip-roaring spacefaring adventures with plenty of action, fodder for the sort of intelligent discussions you can have with geeks and nerds at 2am in a deserted café.

Dear friends,

We are now three weeks into the pre-sale campaign, and just today we hit 126 orders: that’s halfway to Quill funding, and 17% to full funding. That’s pretty terrific, and it’s all thanks to you.

(If you haven’t pre-ordered already, I hope you’re making plans to do so, or at least trying to convince that one cantankerous mystery-reading friend or relative that they really want this book.)

So! Let’s talk about some of the other books funding on Inkshares!

1) JF Dubeau’s "A God in the Shed" is getting close to the end of its campaign, and I’m really hoping it makes its full funding goal. It’s Lovecraft meets Twin Peaks in rural Quebec. How can you not love it?

2) AC Baldwin’s "The Traveller’s Cup" is short of Quill by just >;;;this

3) I’ve been poking around, and I’ve unearthed a couple of interesting finds. First: "Thunder in Marrow" by Rue Lazzaro. It’s a Weird West Fantasy. Some of you may have enjoyed the Deadlands tabletop RPG, and this is much the same in the same vein. Also, there are orcs; and from what I’ve seen of the opening chapter, there might also be some interesting society-observation shenanigans happening there. Apparently, the plot concerns dead people showing up to vote in the town elections. I know. I’m intrigued, too.

4) Second: "Ragno - A Novel" by Alessandro Renesis. This is billed as a romance, and, perhaps unusually, it’s told from the male point of view. Our hero is an ordinary guy, and he finds himself in an affair with a supermodel. I know, it’s probably every straight guy’s fantasy; but I get the impression that the story starts with the affair and explores the reality of the aftermath. I wonder if the fantasy will prove to be so perfect the morning after, and it would be interesting to find out.

Until next week, dear friends; keep reading, and have fun.

I’ve been pottering around with the administration of spaces this past weekend. First off, the webpage at www.peterkin-investigates.com has been cleaned up and streamlined. I hope this will make it easier for people to find their way in.

Meanwhile, the other two novel ideas I’ve had on my profile, Best Man for Murder and Peterkin Investigates the Anthology, have been brought up to draft status. These should give you all an idea of where I’m planning to go with all this.

And because everyone wants to know about the guy they’re backing (I can’t imagine why) I have set up a Wordpress blog, at which I intend to chronicle my journey, the creative process behind Murder at the Veterans’ Club, and perhaps discuss the difficulties encountered along the way. Everybody’s experiences are different, I’m sure, but I hope mine may prove informative.

Congrats on the project. I look forward to this book.  Looks right up my alley.

Friends, it is Easter in the Western Church, and I hope everyone is having an excellent day. The weather up here is lovely, and it definitely looks like Spring out there.

It is also one week since we opened up for pre-orders! Some of you have already stepped up with your support, and I am grateful for it. I do confess to moments--no, hours--of crippling self-doubt. And some of you may already be aware of this, but I’m promising to donate $1 for each pre-order beyond the first 250 to a local women’s shelter. I have plans to add other charities at the 450 and 600 levels, but it may be a little early to think of that right now.

Now, let’s talk about some of the other books out there.

First off: Sync City, by Peter Ryan. This story has a really excellent narrative voice: Ryan’s hero is earthy, a little salty, and self-assured enough to make his toughness believable. That voice is going to grab you and take you for a ride, believe me.

A couple of hidden gems: Vendetta in Valletta, by MT-B, and Samba: Princess of Thieves, by Kevin Smith. Please take a look at them. They’ve somehow managed to slip under everybody’s radar, and I’d like to correct that.

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: The Amaranth Chronicles, by Alexander Barnes and Christopher Preiman. I do not understand why this hasn’t already hit the 750 mark: to my mind, it’s got sci-fi geek bestseller written all over it.

Of course, there’ The Traveller’s Cup, by A.C. Baldwin. Enough has been said about the space dragons (maybe too much has been said) but, as Alex Barnes notes in his review, the interesting thing about the story is the fact we have an aristocratic hero being forced to work in isolation with the underclass ... never mind the worldbuilding; I suspect we may have some very interesting social commentary on the side.

And I’d still like to see A God in the Shed, by JF Dubeau, reach its 750 pre-order full funding. Seriously, I think this will be better than Dubeau’s first book.

That’s the news for now. I’m still looking at books here, so this catalogue is far from complete. Until next week, dear friends.

We are now open for pre-orders.

Those of you outside the U.S. are strongly advised to find two or more other people, form a group, order at the "Super Sleuth" level through one person in the group, and redistribute the books among yourselves afterwards. This should help to save on the shipping costs.

We have a spiffing new letterhead. Marvellous, isn’t it?

One more week before the pre-order sales campaign goes live. It’s so exciting I spent the last six hours failing to type this up. I did manage, however, to upload another Peterkin short mystery onto Wattpad: "The Thirteenth Rule", which is set just a little later than the stories I’ve uploaded so far. 1931, to be exact. It’s also less of a whodunnit and more of a whydunnit. Enjoy.

I’d like to take this opportunity to talk about JF Dubeau’s second novel, "A God in the Shed". Honestly, I think this beats his first novel. I’ve described it elsewhere as "a little bit Lovecraft, a little bit Twin Peaks", and I’m not sure I can sum it up better than that. The characters felt real and distinct from the moment I met them, and the world appropriately familiar. If you haven’t picked this up yet, I suggest you do so.

I’d also like to mention "Judith", by Zack Budryk, which just caught my eye today. It sold me within the first four paragraphs, with the easy flow of its prose and the way the personality of the viewpoint character is deftly and effortlessly conveyed. This will be a novel well worth getting, I think.

And that’s the news for this week. When next I post an update, it will be to announce the opening of the pre-order sales campaign. Until then, ladies and gentlemen!