Friends, Readers, and Sorcerers All,

One day more...

1. Last Chance to Pre-Order a Signed Copy!
   
2. Next Up: 

1.) Last Chance to Pre-Order a Signed Copy!

We are mere hours away from my campaign ending. Thus begins the real work of selling tons more copies and getting this thing the hype we need to truly make it a successful debut novel. 

**If you have some holiday cash to burn, would like a signed copy and haven’t pre-purchased to this point, do so today!** Last chance to get my John Hancock the easy way with your personal copy.

2.) Next Up:

A lot of you have asked me: "Well, what’s next?" 

The short answer is: I don’t know! Well, I don’t have a precise order of things, but eventually a handy timeline will appear this page showing the stages until actual publication (and hopefully, distribution!) 

What I can tell you and will provide in my next update is what I’ll be working on, what needs to be done, and how you can help. 

Until then, stay safe, enjoy the remainder of your holiday, and encourage as many people as you can to either follow Kingdom of Dreams for free or pre-purchase! 

Happy New Year!

Kevin

I’ve been here before, sitting in the quiet before the end, wondering what lies on the other side of the storm. I am the crazy person who has entered four contests on Inkshares, one of which I won with a group of amazing talents much larger than mine.  Four contests in a year. I can mark them like seasons in my life on Inkshares.

The first contest was my introduction to Inkshares as a whole. The Nerdist contest came along at a time when I was waiting for my final edit to return on Shadow of the Owl, when I had already written a book, created a cover, bought my ISBNs and prepared to self-publish. I hit submit assuming many things, not the least of which was that it would easy (not unlike self-publishing on its own).

Next I tossed Deus Hex Machina into the Sword & Laser the Sequel contest, largely because I already had a funding campaign for Shadow of the Panther up on the site and didn’t want to resubmit. I’m glad I made that choice, because while I didn’t win that contest, I did get far enough to grab interest in the project from outside and even eventually get the book a light publishing contract. The outside interest ended up pushing me to write a book while I was funding it (something I highly suggest no one ever do), writing a book I originally thought would never see the light of day. It was at this point that I promised I would never do another contest, by the way.

When the Nerdist Video Game contest came along, I was at the right place at the right time with a group of writing colleagues who wanted to try something crazy -- submit an anthology. The result was a first place win for Too Many Controllers, to which I submitted a story I had been working on for years that is currently titled "Final Boss." I am incredibly proud of that story, mostly because it represents my overcoming a huge fear of short fiction that’s hounded me since I let fear push me out of the fiction side  of my creative writing degree at USC. 

And now, The List 2016 is drawing to a close. In little under six hours I will be ending my first year with Inkshares the way I began it: Watching a contest end. I  find myself introspective (obviously) rather than dejected at the results of this contest. Sitting seventh in a contest that I was invited into is a rather big honor. I have a finished manuscript waiting until the contest closes today, one that I firmly believe is the best writing I’ve ever done.  No matter what result happens from this contest, I will be able to look back at this year with Inkshares and smile. I have one book published, two more in production once I send in DHM, and many more projects. I have found a community of disparate writers from around the world, and a strange and wonderful company that links them all together in this crazy publishing fever dream. 

What’s next up for me in 2017? I am about to write another couple of short stories in the Shadow of the Owl universe. Once I have those done and published I’ll be planning out the sequel to DHM and then hammering out the next (and final) version of Shadow of the Panther. That book needs to be finished -- it’s been restarted so many times at this point that it must assume I don’t love it. Luckily I have the outline complete on what it’s going to look like, and I think I’ve settled on a premise that will fit the fantasy of the series while still innovating within it.

Two stories, two books, zero contests: that sounds like a great year to me. If 2016 was the year of funding books, I think 2017 will be the year of writing books, and maybe even publishing a couple too.  That sounds pretty great to me.

Hello everyone!

Funding for The Living God ends today. We didn’t make that Christmas Miracle, but that’s okay. We still made Quill. We are still getting published! Today is your absolute last chance to get in on the incentives if you haven’t backed the book yet. Head on over! 

To all of you, thank you so much for your support. I could not have made it this far without you. Part of me can’t truly be settled on the idea that this is happening until the end of the day, when the campaign closes, so it feels a bit premature to celebrate. However, I’m celebrating you, the contributors. You made this book possible. It’s been in my head, and in various stages of revision for nearly ten years. I’m beyond thankful and grateful that I get to share that story with you and others! 

Hopefully, I’ll be passing it off to the final round of beta readers soon. If you messaged me about beta reading, you’re definitely on the list of people it will go to! 

I’m also contemplating a different cover for marketing reasons. I got a lot of comments during the campaign where people were under the impression it was a children’s book, so the illustration may feel too juvenile. You’ll still be getting signed posters of the illustration as promised. However, I’ll be exploring other cover designs/illustrations for the finished release. 

I still owe two or three of you covers. Do not worry, I’ll be getting in touch with you in the next few weeks. If you ordered a book and have not received a cover or I haven’t spoken to you previously about it, please send me a DM or email. I don’t want anyone lost in the fray. 

I’ll be sending a sappier thank you message as soon as reality hits me, I promise! 

Hey gang! Been a while...right to it then! But first, thanks for being the best! Seriously, I couldn’t do these awesome things without you.