Hey, all. Happy New Year.
I hope that, despite the glut of bad news with which we were bombarded -- and the losses of more iconic people in one stretch than I can previously recall -- your 2016 was full of good news for you.
On the second to last day of 2016, I decided to draw again for the first time in about 14 years, barring those few things I’ve sketched out over that long stretch of time. It’s a work in progress, but I’m pleased with the result. To draw the four sisters from Disintegration, I derived inspiration from that famous, yearly series of photographs of four sisters that’s been floating around the Internet.
From left to right: Manon, Michele, Agnès, and Karin (Carina). If you click the image, you can see a less red version of it on my Instagram (please follow and like, and all that good social media whoring ;P ).
While I work on the cover for the book and incorporate the edits I’m receiving, I’ll be working, too, on visually realizing the characters through drawings. I’ve always thought Carina’s backstory would make a compelling graphic novel. That’s a back-burner project I’d love to someday bring to life.
The bulk of my time has been devoted to writing Integration and it’s surprising me how different a novel it is, and will be, from Disintegration. It’s so much more subtly science fiction. Not quite blink and you’ll miss it, but it’s much more rooted in (a close extrapolation of) contemporary life without the high-stakes drama of dystopic world war. It’s actually really nice to be able to describe the blue skies overhead. :D
I hope you enjoy this glimpse of the lovely ladies of the Derouard / Duvais family. If you would like to join those who are currently reading the book (and, I’m happy to report, really liking it), let me know and I’ll send you the epub of the manuscript that John Robin was kind enough to make for me.
To close, allow me to crib from one person that, thankfully, stuck with us through 2016:
Excelsior!
P.S. - Speaking of social media whoring, the facebook page for Disintegration has 69 likes. In the stilted English of my Russian cyborg Rozhenko: "Please to be the 70th" ... and beyond!
Happy 2017 to all of my supportive followers out there!
I have a few exciting developments regarding The Walls are Closing In.
News headlines in recent weeks have provided no shortage of headaches, but also no shortage of ideas, and several new scenes have been added to a manuscript that I had originally thought was, for the most part, complete.
My husband, Artist Bart Castle, has worked up the national emblem that will be ever so prominent throughout the story. A new version of the map has also been uploaded to the book’s page.
The official pre-order campaign will begin next Friday, the 13th, and will run for three months. I am going to throw myself into this campaign completely, and am aiming for the gold, 750 pre-orders and a full publishing contract, which will place The Walls are Closing In on bookstore shelves across the country. Ideas from my fellow authors, friends, family, and followers are more than welcome!
Conversations are in the works regarding blog interviews and You-Tube channel features. Stay tuned.
The book has received several new reviews and recommendations, and for that I am incredibly grateful. I will share a selection of them here in closing.
Friends, Readers, and Sorcerers All,
Happy New Year! You may have seen this in another email, but thanks to you, WE DID IT! We made our funding goal. Because of some last-minute pre-orders, we held on to third place and won The List contest! This means that SORCERY FOR BEGINNERS will be published later this year with FULL MARKETING AND DISTRIBUTION SUPPORT.
I’m over the moon, you guys. Four years ago, I pitched the concept for this book as a screenplay, but my agent said no one would buy it as a spec. If it was based on a book, he said it would be a slam-dunk sale. So I decided to write my first real novel, and nine drafts and several wrong turns later, here we are. In less than a year, SORCERY FOR BEGINNERS will be on the shelves of bookstores.
And I owe it all to you. Your tweets, your shares, and most importantly, your pre-orders got us to this place. Thanks to you guys, we donated $560 to breast cancer research, we finished in the top ten of two separate contests, and SORCERY got a real publishing deal. There’s a lot of work still left to do -- I have to address notes from my editor, Juliane has to do the illustrations, plus layout and cover design and marketing one-sheets -- but for now, I simply want to say THANK YOU. Thank you to all who supported this project over last three months, and to everyone who has supported my writing in other ways over the years. I owe you all drinks. I’d also like to send a special shout-out to all the folks in the Inkshares community, especially Adam, who believed in this book. I look forward to working with you all in 2017.
For now, may you enjoy the rest of your holiday. I wish you all the best in 2017, and no matter what else happens, I hope this book will be a little bright spot in your year. It wouldn’t exist without you.
Thanks again. Onward!
mh
My heartfelt congratulations to the winners of Inkshares’ first-ever The List contest! @James Rasile for Cape’s Side Bay, @Christopher Huang for Murder at the Veterans’ Club, and @Matt Harry for Sorcery for Beginners. Awesome books! Well-deserved!! Wow!!! :D
Well, 2016 is on its deathbed. Appropriate analogy all things considered. We’ve said goodbye to many this year, although to be honest the famous deaths of this year didn’t really register in my ecosystem until the very end. Seeing as I don’t remember a world that didn’t have Princess Leia or Singing in the Rain in it, I definitely felt something when those two passed. To have them do so within days of my grandmother passing away definitely put a more subdued end on a year filled with frustration and stress. That said, there were some things I enjoyed about this year. Here are some highlights.
So, yeah it’s been an interesting year. Rounding out the year watching the entire Harry Potter series with my daughter was another moment, including giving her book one in both German and English for Christmas. I’m so proud of her development as a linguist. Watching her interact with those in need on Christmas Eve, seeing the smiles on their faces when she spoke with them. It warmed the heart.
2017.
Looking straight at you now. What’s coming? Well, I don’t know. 2016 definitely did not go according to plan (except the release of Rise. That did happen as planned.) So, who knows what will happen but here’s what I intend on doing.
Onward!
“Unless you try to do something beyond what you have already mastered, you will never grow.” – Ronald E. Osborn
Friends, Readers, and Sorcerers All,
