K M Cooper · Author · added over 6 years ago · 5 likes

Greetings, adventurers!

It’s the first Monday of the month, meaning that this is #MushAnch Monday. I know it has still been only two weeks since you heard from me last... perhaps a minor oversight on my part, but hey, at least I’m being consistent!

Because it has, in fact, only been two weeks, I don’t have any updates or info--at this rate, I’m quite sure it’ll be 2019 before I have any news for you. I’ve been proven wrong before, though!

To let you in on some life updates, I’ve been doing a little freelance editing and proofreading of late. If you’re in need of an editor or just someone to bounce ideas and concepts off, please get ahold of me! I really love editing and will give you honest, constructive feedback to help you progress. Give me a shout for my rates and I’ll happily chat with you.

I’m getting ready to launch my next large-scale project, with details on that to come very, very soon. I’m so excited about this project and it’s coming together much faster than I thought it would. So you can be aware of when this is going to happen, I recommend following my Facebook page or signing up for the newsletter on my website. I’ll give you a teeny hint: it has something to do with the Practical Escapist!

As this is likely to be the last update before 2019, I want to take a moment to thank you all for your support in 2018. It’s been a quiet year for Mushroom and Anchovy, but hopefully the sleepiness is building up to a great 2019. I can’t wait to share all the exciting new things 2019 will have in store, and I’m thinking it’s going to be a really creative year.

What are your wishes for 2019? What are your highlights from 2018? I’d love to hear them. Shoot me a comment on my Facebook page or Patreon, or send me a DM through Inkshares.

Talk to you on January 7th for the next #MushAnch Monday. Have a fantastic holiday, whatever you celebrate, and all the best to you in 2019!

My your adventures be fraught with wonder and just enough peril to keep them interesting,

K. M. Cooper

PS: Here is a doodle I did this weekend. I’ve been slowly getting back into art after a lengthy hiatus. Enjoy!

K M Cooper · Author · added almost 7 years ago · 5 likes

Greetings, adventurers!

Happy #MushAnch Monday!

Guess what? I have zero news. As this continues to be a trend, and in the interest of cutting down the inundation in your inboxes, I’m going to do us all a favour and cut down the updates to once monthly. #MushAnch Monday will now be the first Monday of every month, rather than every other Monday, at least until we start seeing some forward movement. I know that Inkshares has a lot of projects and I don’t want to rush anything. That said, I also want to keep you informed and in the loop and make sure you know that everything is still being worked on.

As I will be updating less here, I’d like to direct you to my newsletter on my website, the Practical Escapist--scroll to the bottom to subscribe. I promise: that, too, will only be once monthly, but you’ll be able to hear about my various projects. Maybe we’ll do a giveaway, too. I also update weekly on my Patreon page, where I slowly trickle out blog posts, recipes, doodles, and more. I hope to resume my webcomic within the next few months, as well.

I’m considering doing some Youtube videos, but I’m not sure what would be interesting for you to watch. What would you like to see me do? What would you like to see me talk about?

I just want to take a quick moment and say thanks to you for taking this ride with me. If you have contributed monetarily, with likes, with shares, with comments, with subscriptions or follows, thank you. I haven’t been as active as I’d like this year, but I’m hoping that this has set up for a much more active 2019.

Thanks for everything, and talk to you soon.

May your adventures be fraught with wonder and just enough peril to keep them interesting,

K. M. Cooper

K M Cooper · Author · added almost 7 years ago · 5 likes

Greetings, adventurers!

A happy #MushAnch Monday to you all!

I’d like to start by wishing good luck to everyone currently participating in NaNoWriMo. Mushroom and Anchovy actually started off as three separate NaNoWriMo books ten years ago, and now it’s in the process of becoming an actual physical book for you all to read.

I may not have any news, but I wanted to check in and let you all know that my next project is well underway. I won’t go into too much detail, but its name is Mossheart. I will be sure to post updates as I go through my various channels. I am typically posting mostly through my website, the Practical Escapist, my Facebook page, as well as my Patreon page.

Things remain busy here as we try to sell our house before Christmas (eep!), but I’m still managing to get some work done. I hope everyone’s enjoyed a fantastic Halloween--we certainly did.

See you next time, adventurers. Until then, may your adventure be fraught with wonder and just enough peril to keep them interesting,

K. M. Cooper

K M Cooper · Author · added almost 7 years ago · 6 likes

Greetings, Adventurers!

It seems I completely forgot about #MuchAnch Monday this week in light of all the busy-ness going on. We’re currently selling our house in favour of moving into a bigger one in a smaller community nearby, and that’s kept us on our toes.

Also... WE GOT A NEW KITTEN. Meet Mystery, our third fur-child. Our human-child is absolutely enamoured with him, as are we!

As such, I don’t have any updates for you. I’ve been out of the house, cleaning the house, and doing just about everything but writing in and around the house. I haven’t even been cooking and, unfortunately, a whole lot of takeout has been the go-to, so I haven’t even put any new recipes on the blog--not even ones that are done!

The good news is that this should all be over soon and I should be in a new space before long. I hope so! I have plans for an "office nook", and if you’re interested, I’ll keep you updated on the progress of that.

In the meantime, please feel free to join me on Instagram @thepracticalescapist and on Twitter @ThePracticalEsc for updates. Please follow me on Insragram, because I’d love to hit 666 followers before Halloween... ;)

That’s it for now, adventurers.

May your travels be fraught with wonder and just enough peril to keep them interesting,

K. M. Cooper

www.thepracticalescapist.ca

K M Cooper · Author · added almost 7 years ago · 4 likes

Greetings, adventurers!

Happy #MushAnch Monday (on Tuesday)!

I know I said I would update you on every other Monday, but yesterday was Canadian Thanksgiving, so I hope you’ll forgive me for taking the day off. I was out camping with my husband and daughter, as well as spending time with other family members. But, here I am now!

Unsurprisingly, I have, as yet nothing yet to update. The autumn has been rainy here on the east coast of Canada so far, but I managed to sneak out last weekend to do a bit of solo camping and plan my next project. For updates on that and more, you can check out my Instagram and my new website, The Practical Escapist, which I let you know about last time.

I’ll keep plugging away on this end and updating you when I can. I know that one MushAnch Monday will be the one that I have news for you. Thank you for your ongoing patience!

May your adventures be fraught with wonder and just enough peril to keep them interesting,

K. M. Cooper

K M Cooper · Author · added almost 7 years ago · 4 likes

Greetings, adventurers!

Happy #MushAnch Monday!

As expected, I don’t have anything new to report today. Just a part of the process! But, as I’ve been saying, I’m keeping accountable with a bi-weekly check-in. So, hello!

I do, however, want to point you in a few directions where I have been very busy and active of late, and I’m posting a ton of free content for your enjoyment. My new website, The Practical Escapist, has officially launched, and I’ve been trying to keep up with a blog post and a recipe a week. A post that may be of interest deals with my lengthy silence--give it a read if you’re interested!

I hope to have some news for you soon. September came and went with a flurry of activity, and I’m finding it hard to believe that we’re just a week away from October. How was your month? Was it productive, relaxing? I’d love to hear more!

May your adventures be fraught with wonder and just enough peril to keep them interesting,

K. M. Cooper

K M Cooper · Author · added almost 7 years ago · 8 likes

Greetings, adventurers!

Happy #MushAnch Monday! I said I’d be updating every other Monday to hold myself accountable, and here I am.

I don’t have any news about the book to share today, admittedly. As I only submitted the manuscript about 2 weeks ago, I’ve yet to receive any news. Thank you for patiently waiting alongside me. I know that when I do have news, it will be worth sharing!

I’d like to hear about you. Now that I’m peeking my head back around Inkshares more often again, I’d love to hear about your projects--new, old, funding.

I have a bit of news about my other projects. I’ve amalgamated my online presence to "The Practical Escapist"--everything will be under that umbrella name online now. I have already switched over my Facebook, Twitter (@ThePractialEsc), Instagram (@thepracticalescapist), Ko-Fi, and Patreon, and I’m working very hard on my new website. I hope it will be ready for official launch by September 24th--the next #MushAnch Monday--so I can parade it around for all of you!

I’ll be sure to have a meatier update next time, but it’s good to check in, just in case. Shoot me a "hello" and let me know what you’re up to!

May your adventures be fraught with wonder and just enough danger to keep them interesting,

K. M. Cooper

K M Cooper · Author · added almost 7 years ago · 7 likes

Greetings, adventurers!

Wow, it’s… it’s been awhile. It’s been a long while. It really has.

So, I’m going to open with an apology. I had every intention of updating sooner, but after my progress was waylaid by life—I’ll spare you the grisly details—I experienced setback after setback. The third book in particular needed a massive overhaul before the manuscript could be sent off. The result is that this will make for a MUCH better finished product. This is no excuse for my silence. I hope you all understand that I simply didn’t want to come to you empty-handed after such a long wait.

I suppose the good news here, then, is that I’m not coming empty handed. After a lengthy editing process, the manuscript is now, at long last, in Inkshares’ hands.

So now? We wait for word from our friends at Inkshares.

In the meantime, no more radio silence. To keep me accountable, I will be sending updates—even if there’s nothing to update. Every other Monday will be “MushAnch Monday”. Even if I have no news, I’ll send a snippet from the book, or something else—like a doodle or comic.

For a bit of fun, I’ve been taking music that reminds me of Mushroom and Anchovy and adding it to an aptly titled Spotify playlist. If you like power metal, you may want to check it out. The playlist is called “Mushroom and Anchovy”—fitting title, like I said!

I’ve been working VERY hard to make this something we can all be happy with, and I’m pleased to say that I’m proud of the manuscript I sent off to Inkshares, at last. I think the quality of the end product will outweigh the extra wait it took to get there. I’m going to quote renowned game developer Shigeru Miyamoto here because I think this applies to books, as well:

"A delayed game is eventually good, but a rushed game is forever bad.”

Thanks for your patience, my friends, and for your understanding. I’ll talk to you very soon--September 10th, to be precise--update or not. Enjoy your Labour Day weekend, and, as always...

May all your adventures be fraught with wonder and just enough peril to keep them interesting,

K. M. Cooper

K M Cooper · Author · added over 7 years ago · 8 likes

Greetings, Adventurers!

It’s been awhile since you’ve heard from me, hasn’t it? Let’s recap:

- Sept. 9th we hit our funding goal and Mushroom and Anchovy was greenlit!

- You haven’t heard from me since (oops).

In the interest of transparency, I’ll be honest with you all: I have not yet submitted the manuscript to Inkshares as of yet, and there are a few reasons for this.

1. Mushroom and Anchovy needed a great deal more work than previously thought.

Especially part 3. My god. Obviously, I don’t want to sell you an awful book. While I’m sure the fine folks at Inkshares wouldn’t allow it to be delivered to you in such a state, I want to at least make their work a bit easier and give them something worth editing. Because... yikes.

2. November was the hardest month this year for me.

I’m not going to lie: I had a pretty difficult autumn and it has taken its toll. The winter solstice yesterday left me with some hope for the next season, which is great, because from the fall equinox til just a couple weeks ago has been brutal. I also got another part-time job and have spent much of my time lately managing my family’s rapidly changing schedule.

3. I’m still a bit burnt out from the campaign.

If you follow my social media accounts, particularly my Facebook page, you’ll likely notice some radio silence. I really haven’t been doing much. I haven’t even worked on my blog. It’s been a very introspective time for me, and outside of work, I haven’t been very social, either. The campaign was like a full-time job, and even though it ended three(?!) months ago already, it still feels like yesterday.

I had hoped to have the manuscript sent in by October 31st, but that simply did not happen due to all the factors mentioned, and a few more. I am still actively working on it, day by day, and my new date for completion is January 31st. It is my hope that Mushroom and Anchovy will be under Christmas trees across North America for 2018, and while I have no way of guaranteeing that, I’ll do my utmost to make it so.

Also in the interest of transparency, I want to mention that I do not have your money. Unlike Kickstarter and other crowdfunding sites, Inkshares does not send the money to the creators; the company uses it 100% for production. If you’re worried about my silence, please do not be. I am incapable of taking the money and running!

I do apologise for these delays, as I had hoped they wouldn’t happen. I am, however, only human. It is my sincere hope that the next time you hear from me, it will be to inform you all that the manuscript is in Inkshares’ hands.

Thank you for being patient with the process, and, as always, thank you for your unwavering support! The happiest of holidays to all of you, whatever you celebrate, and I will talk to you all in 2018.

If you have any questions or concerns at all about Mushroom and Anchovy or the campaign itself, please get in contact with me ASAP so I can put your mind at ease.

May your adventures be fraught with wonder and just enough peril to keep them interesting,

K. M. Cooper