OK - well per my wont I took off on a tangent on my blog from your Twilight comment, which I really found interesting.  more here The Trope of the Love Triangle and Literacy

It’s definitely worth discussing. I think ultimately it has more to do with the maturity levels of the intended audience than anything else. We’ve also kind of created an environment where the shortcomings of characters like that have been twisted around into ideals. It’s just so backwards now...

Oh man - you mean, you didn’t like Twilight?  For Real?  I got eye strain when I was reading it (from rolling my eyes so much)  :-p  But, for whatever reason, this entire idea (weak female character - love triangle) appeals to the masses.  I have no idea why, but that is a subject worth some discussion.  As to the whys of it.

A lot of recent discussion in the Break the Bechdel Syndicate inspired me to choose this delicate topic for this week’s Friday vlog. Here I discuss my thoughts on writing female characters as a male author, and the state of female characters in general. I’m hopeful that this’ll generate some thoughtful (respectful) conversation, and serve as a marker on the road to writing better characters for us all.

I actually barely got into talking about Tantalus Depths at all this time, but that’s okay. These are topics that need discussed in their own right. 

Don’t forget to keep supporting Tantalus Depths! We’re making steady headway, and are coming closer to that coveted halfway mark in the campaign!

*edit: I accidentally uploaded the unedited video originally with all the awkward pauses between thoughts still in it. This one should be much improved.

Lore update:
This week we explore the origins of the multinational interplanetary superpower, the Colonial Hedgemony.
 

Explore the newest settled world in the Colonial Hedgemony, Tantalus 13, in the pages of Tantalus Depths. Place your pre-order now!

As per our regularly scheduled Wednesday update, I’d like to take this opportunity to bring some attention to another currently funding book on Inkshares. This time, I’d like to shine the spotlight on James Rasile’s genre-blending sci-fi thriller, Cape’s Side Bay.

This is actually the second time I’ve used an author’s update to single out this project; way back when it was just a few orders away from the Quill goal, I felt it deserved a little extra push to get past that 250 pre-orders mark. Well, it’s soared all the way to the 425 pre-order mark now, and it absolutely deserves every last one of them. This book blends Lovecraftian horror with ancient mythology, mysterious thrills with cosmic existentialism, all wrapped up in a story that takes place over a single holiday weekend, where the events that strike the heart of a single, simple town will threaten to shatter every certainty humanity ever had about its place in the universe.

Give this book a pre-order. I’m all but literally counting down the days until I can get my hands on a copy of this phenomenal book. If you like what you’ve seen of Tantalus Depths so far, you will almost certainly find Cape’s Side Bay just as much to your liking, if not more so.

We’ve hit another milestone today! Can you guess what it is?
 

That’s right! Tantalus Depths has just passed 300 pre-orders! As promised, I’m going to be making my original short story, The Perspective Machine, available for free to everyone for a short time. From June 18 to June 22nd, anyone will be able to download it for free off Amazon, already formatted nicely for your e-reader. Click the pretty cover image below to go check it out!
 

I hope you enjoy it! If you do, please give it a nice little rating over there on Amazon, and feel free to tell your family and friends to pick up a copy for themselves. And definitely don’t stop sharing Tantalus Depths! We’re getting close to the halfway mark, but there are only two months left in Tantalus Depths’s campaign, so we need all the support we can get!

Story Update:
The crew of The Diamelen is equipped with all manner of sophisticated mining equipment on their mission to Tantalus 13. One such piece of equipment is the EM probe deployment gun. It gives them the ability to see detailed three-dimensional images of the composition of the rock beneath them. On a mysterious world like Tantalus 13, these probe guns will give the crew their first glance at what lies below...and may need to see a less conventional use later on...
  

The crew are well-equipped, but is it enough for the dangers that await them? Find out when you place your pre-order for Tantalus Depths today!

I made it myself :)

Holy cow I love this cover! Who did it?