Hello Everyone, 

I’ve got some news. The first winners of the 2020 All-Genre Manuscript Contest have been announced but it’s not over yet. Between now and May 1st, Inkshares will be looking at the other entrants and may select additional winners based on reader interaction and overall merit of the books content. One of the things that will help them narrow down the field is the new nomination feature. 

So if you like what you see with Beyond the Masquerade and want it to become a reality, let the people at Inkshares know with a nomination. 

Thank you all for your support

OK, folks, this is the news I have been waiting to share for … well, more pandemic-plagued months than I care to count: 

Bane of All Things will publish on Nov. 9, 2021!

That means you will finally have your copy, or copies, for Christmas (depending, of course, on the cooperation of the postal service, if that involves print copies).

Nov. 9 is months later than it might have otherwise been without COVID, but a month or two sooner than we thought it might be a couple of weeks ago. Thanks to the dedicated efforts of Avalon Radys, Noah Broyles and the rest of the Inkshares team, the train has left the station.

You can already see the placeholder for BoAT with its ISBN numbers here on Amazon.ca (it should be showing up on Amazon.com at any time). You have no idea how much I have anticipated the day when I could point you to that!

Sometime soon, we will get into layout and cover design. The next big milestone will be the cover reveal. The current cover is of course just a placeholder whipped up by yours truly with an Adobe Stock image.

I’ve said it many times before but can never say it enough – thank you to each and every one of you. None of this would have been possible without your support and patience.

Stay safe and keep reading!

Cheers

Leo

Hello Everyone, 

Well, the 2020 All-Genre Manuscript Contest has come to a close and Beyond the Masquerade came in a 8th place. Pretty good considering there were more then 300 entries but, unfortunately, not good enough for the prize. 

I am still proud of the position it reached and I would like to thank all of you who decided to take a chance on my work and a special thanks to the Break the Bechdel Syndicate for selecting Beyond the Masquerade. It was a big help in getting as far as it did. 

The campaign is still up and running so, if you haven’t already, give it a follow and share it around. Every little bit helps. 

Thanks again for your support. 

Kelsey Rae Barthel  

Howdy!

Well, Inkshares’ All Genre Manuscript Contest ended last night and The Crucible Tree did not place among the top three to be considered a winner. It did, however, finish in the top 10, and that is something, considering there were 374 entrants.

My sincerest thank you for all your support. The focus now is on Bane of All Things and its release later this year (publication date pending). If Bane of All Things’ sales are strong enough, Inkshares will still greenlight The Crucible Treefor publication – these are the first two books in a series, after all.

If you are someone who has not previously followed or pre-ordered Bane of All Things, I encourage you to check it out at the link below. Click that Follow button to be on Bane of All Things’s email list to receive updates on the release date, the cover reveal (the current one is just an Adobe Stock placeholder), and other exciting news and promotions as release day draws near.

www.inkshares.com/books/bane-of-all-things

Thank you again.

Stay safe and keep reading!

Cheers

Leo

Exciting News!! WE DID IT!! WILD CONVICTION held 3rd place and will be published by Inkshares! I woke up about 1 am my time and checked. I can’t go back to sleep! 

THANK YOU to each of you for showing so much wonderful support for my novel. THANK YOU for supporting my dream--my wild conviction--to be a published novelist! I can’t wait until you have the entire novel to read! 

When I was fortunate enough to meet Nichelle Nichols several years ago, she autographed a photograph of her on the USS Enterprise bridge for me by writing: Blessings to you always and in all ways. I love that and am writing that to you. My friends, family, readers of WILD CONVICTION--Blessings to you always and in all ways!  Again, THANK YOU!!  Mary (and Twilight)

Hey Everyone!

Today is the LAST day of the Inkshares All-Genre Book Contest and INFODEMIC is currently standing in second place on the leaderboard (out of 378 submissions).

Tomorrow, we will know if INFODEMIC has been selected for publication. Thank you to everyone who has supported so far. The feedback from readers has been the best part of this entire process! 

Here are a few things you can do today if you’d like to help: 

1) Become a follower. All you have to do is click the "follow" button on Inkshares and enter your email or sign in with social media. 

⁠⁠2) Leave a comment in the Discussion tab. Who is your favorite character so far? Is it Morgan, Alex, Deja, Doc Luke, or Carlos?

3) Nominate the book. To do this, create an account and click the “nominate” button to let @Inkshares know you think this book should be published.⁠⁠ 

4) Pre-order your copy.⁠⁠

Here is the link to the book page: https://www.inkshares.com/books/infodemic

To my fellow Texas friends, wishing you peace and security as we recover from the recent storm.

Best,
Stephen

Hi Readers of Wild Conviction! 

Have you received GrandMama’s "actual" letter to Twilight yet?  Inside the letter holds magic!

Because of a very difficult time in my life the last few months, I am behind on sending GrandMama’s "actual" letter to Twilight to those who pre-ordered (and want the letter). 

But I am catching up now.  I just want to remind you to be careful when you open the letter--inside holds magic!!

If you have not pre-ordered and want this letter, you can still pre-order today! The contest for publication and my pre-order campaign ends tonight.

The letter is Chapter 3 of the novel, and is not posted on my Inkshares page. But Chapters 1, 2, 4 and 5 are posted. So you can see in aspects of those chapters things that relate to the letter...if you haven’t read those chapters yet, go to READ on my Inkshares page for Wild Conviction:

https://www.inkshares.com/books/wild-conviction

You can pre-order on that page, too.

If you want to add to the great discussion with a comment or to review or to recommend or to nominate (those options do not require a pre-order), you will need to log in. But please do so today, before the contest ends.

Thank you!! Mary -- and Twilight and GrandMama

Hi All! Including today, only 4 more days until the Inkshares contest to publication ends.

WILD CONVICTION has received and has been receiving many amazing, astute, supportive, insightful comments, discussions and reviews. 

I invite you all to go to the WILD CONVICTION page and look under the words DISCUSSION and REVIEWS to see what readers are saying!  Here’s the link. You might have to log in:

https://www.inkshares.com/books/wild-conviction

And, in these final days, if you can, please engage on that page the link goes to by adding a comment of your own to the DISCUSSION or to the REVIEW. 

Or you can FOLLOW or NOMINATE or SHARE or PRE-ORDER if you haven’t already.

I guess we’ll know soon if WILD CONVICTION wins a place to be published. Wow. 

Thanks again to all who have already pre-ordered or engaged with comments and to each and everyone one of you who receives this message, my friends and supporters of my life as a novelist. 

Your friend, Mary