A completely overhauled version of Chapter 1 has been sent to you all! Please give it a read when you get a chance and provide me with any feedback or, if you’re feeling generous, leave a review! 

Although I liked the original version, I felt parts of it were tonally inconsistent with the rest of the book, something that became very apparent during the editing process. I think it moves faster, is more concise and serves as a better introduction to Penny and how she operates. 

Thanks again!

Happy Monday Readers and Followers!

I am in the process of streamlining the early chapters of the book to be more concise and action-oriented so I can try and snag readers early on into the adventure ahead! This is one of the great things about Inkshares, you can share these early drafts and based on the feedback you get from your beta readers and followers you can fine tune it into a force to be reckoned with! It’s like one big collaboration!

We are at the 40 day mark and only at 76 pre-orders!  We can still make it to Quill, but I need your help! So, if you haven’t pre-ordered yet, pick up your copy now! 

Also, if you’ve got a hard science fiction story to tell, Inkshares has teamed up with Geek & Sundry for the latest contest! You can check that out here. 

Finally, I have a nice, short and sweet video up on the project page made with Adobe Voice! It’s a cool little app, so if you’re not skilled at making book trailers or don’t want to sit in front of a camera awkwardly rambling about your project, Adobe Voice makes the process a lot easier, makes a slick looking video and you can share it anywhere! (no, Adobe is not sponsoring me or anything...I wish)

As always, feel free to reach out to me directly. Those who asked for cover art magnets, worry not, they are on the way!

Thanks for the support!

Jason

@atomicboywonder

split0@gmail.com

Happy Monday readers and followers!

After a restful weekend visiting my best friend on the other side of the state, enjoying homemade spicy chicken and waffles and the new season of Daredevil, I’m back and ready to kick off more exhaustive promotion of my book!

First off, I want to hear from all of YOU who haven’t pre-ordered yet what’s holding you back. If you feel so inclined, please reach out to me directly at split0@gmail.com, I would appreciate any feedback. As with most of the authors here on Inkshares, the sample chapters are from a rough draft of the story and it is in constant revision. In fact I have a folder on my desktop titled "Avalon Revisions", where the latest edits of each chapter reside. So, if you have feedback or concerns related to the story, I would very much like to hear it.

48 days is still a decent amount of time to make it to Quill, but I need everyone’s help! I messaged everyone on my facebook friend’s list directly, went door to door in my apartment complex and dropped off promotional postcards at bookstores and comic book stores around town. 

In the meantime, I’m going to do the thing I have the most control over and that is continuing to craft and refine the story. The sample chapters will continue to be replaced with revised versions as I go along (Chapter 1 has already been revised and uploaded). 

Thanks again for all the support and please don’t hesitate to reach out!

Jason

@atomicboywonder

split0@gmail.com

facebook.com/atomicboywonder

Well, the Nerdist contest is over and I’m very happy for those who made it into the top three. Congratulations!

For the rest of us, the story doesn’t end here. Some have chosen to move on to other publishing options, while many have chosen to stick it out with Inkshares. I, for one, am going to stick it out for the remainder of my campaign and see if I can at least hit my Quill goal, if not more. I keep having this very positive feeling that things are going to move in a very good direction from here on out.

I have some friends who have their own podcasts and I will be plugging the book on both shows. I have passed out postcards all over Asheville and haven’t even hit the bookstores yet. I’m going to try and reconnect with some of the press outlets I reached out to a while back just to cover all my bases. 

If you were holding back on supporting me because of the contest (which I totally get), now’s the time to get your pre-order in! It would mean the world to me to at least see the book make it into Quill. It will open so many doors for me and I will be one step closer to realizing my dream of being a full-time writer. 

But, enough about me, don’t you all want to see how my quirky, retro-sci fi spy story turn out? Avalon, idyllic home of the human race has remained a neutral bastion for alien refugees escaping from across the galaxy. The Sons of Mars want to turn the system into a staging area to wage their own war for dominance. The fate of the galaxy all rests on the shoulders of a badass secret agent, a scientist completely out her element, a blue-skinned tech specialist and a somewhat obnoxious A.I. 

There’s still time to come along for the ride and make sure the "ride", as it were, becomes a reality for everyone to enjoy!

THANKS!

Jason

Hello readers and followers!

Rather than send a mass email, I’m going to use the update readers function to get the word out about the cover art magnets! If you have already pre-ordered my book and would like to receive a cover art magnet, please email me back at split0@gmail.com with your mailing address and I’ll send you one for each copy you ordered! 

If you would like a magnet and haven’t pre-ordered yet, please order TODAY and I will get one out to you! My thank you email has already been adjusted to ask for mailing info. 

Also, don’t forget that I am producing high-quality prints of the Penny portrait by Nathan Anderson for my top referrers. I will be giving those away if and when I get into Quill, so help me get there, spread the word, talk my book up to everyone you know!

Thanks again for the support! Chapter 5 should be up soon!

-Jason

Chapter 4 is now UP! It has been sent to all readers, but if you didn’t get it, I have linked it in the project description. 

Penny gets a briefing from headquarters on the next phase of what she thinks is her final mission and then we get the requisite casino scene. I hope I didn’t disappoint anyone by not elaborating on the finer points of a poker game, I know how action-packed those can be. Some things that work in a movie, don’t necessarily translate well to the page.

Also, I submitted my first chapter draft to a science fiction writing workshop and got some great feedback which helped me with my revisions. Critiques are  big part of the writing process, constructive critiques anyways, so please don’t be afraid to give me some constructive feedback on the submitted chapters and I will certainly return the favor! I will be uploading the revised first chapter sometime this coming week. I’m still working my way through all the chapters I’ve finished and giving them a once over.

Thanks again for all the support! The Nerdist contest is just about over and I want to say a special congratulations to both Christopher Leone and my good friend Michael Haase for reaching their Quill goals! I can’t even imagine how good that must be feeling!

Hello readers and followers!

I’d like you all to meet Penny Thorne, the badass secret agent protagonist of "To Live and Die in Avalon"!

Professional illustrator Nathan Anderson created this wonderful depiction of Penny and if I’m being honest, I got a little teary-eyed when I saw the finished product! As previously promised, I will be producing three high-quality prints of the above image for the top three referrers. So, if you want to help spread the word, become a part of my "street team" as it were all over the world, then get out there and tell everyone how awesome my book is and get them to pre-order! Remember to use the refer via email link on the project page so I can track the referrals!

The cover art magnets also arrived today! (best day ever, right?) I will be emailing everyone who has already pre-ordered for shipping info. I’ll be sending out a mass email, so please hit "Reply" and not "Reply to all", unless you want everyone to know where you live. If you haven’t pre-ordered and would like a magnet, then get ’em while they’re hot! I only had 250 made, so help me get into Quill, get a piece of literary history and then spread the word so you can have Penny framed and up on your wall!

I also want to say a special thank you to some of my fellow Inkshares authors for their kind words and support: Joseph Asphahani, Michael Haase, Billy O’Keefe, RH Webster, Peter Ryan and John Robin, just to name a few. Here are links to their works, if you haven’t supported them yet:

https://www.inkshares.com/books/the-animal-in-man-7699

https://www.inkshares.com/books/the-madness-of-mr-butler

https://www.inkshares.com/books/lucky

https://www.inkshares.com/books/sync-city

https://www.inkshares.com/books/these-are-my-friends-on-politics-0985

https://www.inkshares.com/books/blood-dawn

And here’s a link to Nathan Anderson’s website. I may get him to draw a few more of the characters. A portrait of the eccentric holographic A.I. LOLA would be pretty sweet, methinks.

http://www.nathanandersonart.com/

Thanks again for all the support everyone!

-Jason

BIG NEWS everyone!

I have a shiny new homepage: www.jasonchestnut.com

You’ll find links to my short stories, a new blog I’m starting as well as a nice little "contact me" form. I will be having my custom domain livedieavalon.com that I have on my business cards and promotional materials forward to the homepage from now on, which I think looks very nice indeed. 

Also! I’ve commissioned professional illustrator/comic book artist Nathan Anderson to create a full-color portrait of our hero Penny Thorne! He’s not done with it yet, but to get an idea of Nathan’s style, check out some of his previous work on his blog at nathanandersonart.tumblr.com

I will be producing THREE high-quality posters of Nathan’s portrait and will give those away to the top three referrers! That’s right, if you haven’t pre-ordered yet or you’d like to help me get the book to at least my quill goal, go out there and refer like crazy! Make sure you use the email referral link on the project page so that I can track who is making the most referrals. If and when we get to Quill I will be sending those posters out to the lucky three winners.

Don’t forget, anyone who pre-orders also gets a covert art magnet! They have not arrived from the printer just yet, but I expect them sometime this week and will contact all of my readers for shipping info!

Thanks again everyone for all the support! LET’S DO THIS!

-Jason

Hey everyone!

There is now one week left of the Nerdist contest and things are heating up. I want to just say a few words about that and then look to the road ahead on getting this book published and into your hands. 

I’ve been overwhelmed with the amount of support I’ve received for the book, but we have not been able to break the top ten, let alone the top three in the contest. The book has lingered around twentieth place for most of the duration of the contest and you know what? Out of ninety-something submissions, that’s pretty good. Heck, it’s damn good. In fact, I’m very happy for those currently occupying the top spots and glad that those books will be published without question. The Nerdist contest is what drew me here, but I’m here for the long haul, I had always prepared myself for that. There is enough room for us ALL to be winners and to see ALL of our stories become reality. Where there is a good story, there will be an audience.

Your support of my kitschy little retro superspy science fiction serial is just the first step in something I want to make into a career. You get to be a part of that and get my undying love and appreciation in the process. The experience here at Inkshares has opened my mind to all sorts of possibilities. It has allowed me to meet some wonderful writers, amazing people and be exposed to their varied storytelling styles and promotional genius. The contest may be coming to a close, but for those of us who won’t finish in the top three, the journey is far from over. Like I said, I’m here for the long haul, I’ve got tons of stories to tell and it starts right here with Penny and her adventures in Avalon. Regardless of how the campaign ends up in sixty days from now, I can say that I will never give up on being a full time writer. I have gained so much from this experience, not the least of which is the will to carry on and write and write and write and write...and share that with the world, instead of keeping it all to myself. 

I have some big things in store very soon, including the posting of at least two more chapters, a BIG surprise that I’m going to turn into a contest to get those pre-orders rolling in and those cover art magnets I promised everyone should be ready to go out this week! Keep an eye on your email! 

As always, feel free to reach out to me directly. THANK YOU and I LOVE YOU ALL! (no seriously, I totally do)

Jason

split0@gmail.com

@AtomicBoyWonder

facebook/AtomicBoyWonder


Chapter 3 is now up!

However, in the process, I accidentally nuked chapter 1 and lost all those nice comments people left. You would think I would know how computers work, because, you know, I fix them for a living. Fear not, I have re-uploaded the first chapter so you can read the first three chapters in succession..almost LIKE A REAL BOOK! (science is amazing) 

Anyways, in addition to having a whole new chapter to read, I have another annoucement to make! For everyone that pre-orders the book while the funding period is in effect, I’m offering you a nifty magnet of the awesome cover art! I only had 250 of these things made (gee, why would I pick that number?), so everyone who has already pre-ordered is eligible to get one for every copy they snagged. I will be reaching out to all my readers personally to get shipping info. I should have the magnets ready to go out by next week! If you don’t want one (or are allergic to magnets), that’s fine, I’ll still love you and hope to do another bigger giveway once we get closer to Quill. 

And we will, I know we will. Spread the word! Feedback on the uploaded chapters would also be shiny and as always, thanks for all the support!

-J

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