Hey all - guess who just sliced open her finger on the paper cutter as she was cutting up your names for the art drawing?!? THIS GIRL.

(No stitches, I'm fine. Just light-headed, haha... ha...)

So anyway, I'll do the art drawing video tonight and post it tomorrow along with Episode III, which is in much better shape thanks to my husband's incisive critique.

In the meantime, you want to see my sketches of my OT5, don't you? Check 'em out:

Relai -

Milo (post-haircut that happens in Episode VIII) - 

Tannor - 

Ky again - 

And Goren - 

(Fun fact: they day I was doing Ky and Goren I'd lost my eraser, so I decided to do those without erasing anything as a personal challenge, so that's why they're rougher.)

AND... bonus speed-sketch that I did last night of Goren for fun, because we all need more fun in our lives -

Aww, he's so worried about Relai!

Now go check out these cool books:

Children of the Forest by Byron Gillan - As her country sinks into chaos and ruin, Fionna Cohmwell, the last of an ancient order of mythical warriors, must embark upon an epic journey across her people’s war-ravaged lands to slay a daemon that threatens the balance of man and nature. (Ecological sci-fi/fantasy?!? Give me more of this! Also the writing is solid and the author's voice is great.)

Filtered by Gerald Lamb - "Wear your mask. The massive neon billboard commands me the moment I step out of my room. A picture of a dead school girl lying on the sidewalk drives the point home. The floor to ceiling windows in the high rise apartment make it impossible to escape the sign’s bright red cries for attention. I move to the glass like a moth to flame. My feet fall silently on the polished floors." (I'm always into post-apolcalyptic hellscapes that are more than they seem.)

:) Happy FRIDAY!

Happy Friday fellow robot enthusiasts, 

I love this. I really shouldn’t, but I do. I’m currently juggling two projects at the same time. More than two but ultimately two major projects. On one hand I’m bounding approvals and changes on ‘The Life Engineered’. Now that the final manuscript has been sent to copy editing, we’re working on covers, interior layout, cover copy, etc. It’s all very exciting. Much like an artificial life form, every piece is played out, examined and added to the final assembly, bringing it one step closer to life. 

On the other hand, I’m running this crowdfunding effort for ‘A God in the Shed’. This requires me to get in touch with as many supporters as I can and find ways of getting exposure for the project. Some of you may already have received emails asking for your support. I try to make these as personal as I can. You deserve more than just a mass copy/paste email, but it’s very time consuming. 

All of this is emotionally draining but I love the excitement and the sense of purpose. While I do worry about being a pest with requests for help and pre-orders, I’m getting to really love getting in touch with those who pre-ordered ‘The Life Engineered’. My favourite is when people both pre-order a copy of ‘A God in the Shed’ and get in touch. The one-on-one interaction with readers is always a blast. 

I’ll leave you with this cool thing that fellow writer Paul Inman (author of the upcoming ‘Ageless’ and currently funding ‘Motor City Chronicles') did for me. It’s a voice over of the prologue to ‘A God in the Shed’. I think you’ll agree that he completely knocks it out of the park. The tone, the atmosphere. It elevates the material. Have a listen, then pre-order the book and pre-order his books. 

All the books. 

 JF  

Hey Team Shaping Fate, 

Happy almost weekend! It's been an amazing week. This project has gotten some new readers, new backers, but probably coolest of all, I'm making some new friends. A lot of contests can feel kind of like the Hunger Games, but the participants and readers here have been so supportive. For example, fellow author A.C. Weston. (We double initial authors have to stick together) Check out this excerpt from one of her recent updates:

"Anyway, I realized something pretty darn significant, people: it's possible, if an author were smart and inclined, for that author to trade pre-orders with every person in this contest - each person gets one new order, but in return, whoever does this methodically would receive potentially HUNDREDS of orders in return. 

It's not cheating. Not at all!

It's just an ABSOLUTELY BRILLIANT STRATEGY. Guys!!

There are 270 of us in this contest, and if one person pre-orders every book, that's (realistically) only 5 books they'll have to actually pay for... but if everyone pre-orders back, that's 269 pre-orders for a single person themselves. That would put you in first place!

But what if we all did it? Well, everyone would have more pre-orders and everyone would be elevated. We wouldn't all win, no, but that's not the point. It would be great for everyone's self-esteem - and what if we had a 200-way tie for 3rd place or something?!?! Wouldn't that be cool? It would be CRAZY.

So, hey Inkshares Nerdist competition authors: let's all do it.

Go and trade pre-orders. With. Everyone."

Not only is that pretty awesome of her to explain to everybody, but it's true. And I started doing just that, and guess what, I've gotten a few more backers already. So, participants, spread the love! Readers, thanks as always for your support. If you can't back a ton of projects, maybe leave a nice word about what you read or what you're hoping to see. 

Here's A.C.'s link for her project "She Is the End."

Have a great weekend!

-V.R.

Today I want to let you all know about a very special guest on my blog, Jamison Stone, whose fantastic book, Rune of the Apprentice, is funding here on Inkshares. Jamison writes immersive epic fantasy set in the Universe of Numinous. I fell in love with Rune of the Apprentice at once--especially when I saw Jamison's maps!--and think if you enjoy epic fantasy, then you'll definitely want to check it out and consider backing this great project:

Jamison is my World Builders guest today, where he shares some of his philosophy about world building. You can also check out his amazing hand-drawn maps and read an excerpt from his book. I hope you all enjoy!

Here's the link:

https://epicfantasywriter.wordpress.com/2015/09/04/world-builders-jamison-stone/

Anyway,

Hey Lurks. This will be a short update, since I know you have a flood of these things to wade through, and I don't really want to write a long one today anyway, since my Spam Inkshares Followers hat is at the cleaners.