Hello everybody,

I hope everyone’s spring is going well, just wanted to take some time and provide an update on The Battle Within and a few other topics.

Timeline

The novel is proofread, final cover blurbs have been submitted, and the book is now in the stages of finalizing the cover, so very much on track. Media engagement has begun, with pitches of articles to various outlets, and this will become more intense as we draw nearer to the publication date. Some specific dates to mark in the calendar:

24 June 17:  Book Launch Party. This will be from 2:00 – 4:00 pm at Perfect Books, a wonderful independent bookstore located at 258 Elgin Street, Ottawa. It’s located in downtown Ottawa, close to many other sites and attractions, and it would be great to see as many people there as can make it. Check them out at www.perfectbooks.ca.

27 Jun 17: The publication date.

Developments

Very excited to say that The Battle Within is now available for pre-order at a number of sites:

Chapters / Indigo: http://bit.ly/2nBw2We

Amazon.ca: http://amzn.to/2ozYKEm

Amazon.com: http://amzn.to/2mR1nWa

Chapters / Indigo has also pre-ordered a number of books, so I can’t wait to see The Battle Within in the wild. Maybe we’ll run an Instagram contest, #TBWInTheWild!

Lastly, The Battle Within is up on Goodreads: http://bit.ly/2ni6SbG

With The Battle Within being up on all these sites, a very easy way to help promote the book is to add it to your wish list or ‘to-read’ list for each respective site; more clicks helps draw more attention.

In other news, The Battle Within has received several endorsements and I’m very grateful to the early reviewers who took the time to read the book, and of course to those who provided a blurb. I won’t include the full texts here, but if you’d like to read the blurbs, please head to the link on my webpage at: http://alastairluft.com/books/

New Projects

Progress continues on my second novel, Jihadi Bride. I finished the second draft in January and since then have received some very valuable input from beta readers, so I’m very excited to improve this story even more.

I’m also happy to announce that I was accepted into the Creative Writing – Fiction, Creative Non-Fiction, Poetry program at Humber College. This is a distance studio program that will see me partnering with a member of Humber College’s faculty for one-on-one writing mentorship on a manuscript. Needless to say, it’s a great opportunity for me to improve as a writer and I can’t wait.

That’s it for now, I look forward to sharing more updates as the launch date gets nearer.

All the best and my continued thanks for your support.

Alastair Luft