Milestone Update: Okay, so no more hiding behind the cat as my spokesanimal. My soft launch is over and the "writer/artiste" as the kitty likes to call me is taking charge. So... despite a late start due to life events, and the-not-to-be-relived Great Campaign Reset Fiasco-whoa, what a flurry of orders! For the first time in our campaign, we’re ahead of the recommended arc that shows us on the right track to reach full publication! All thanks to you wonderful people. 70 orders (and climbing!) have come in all the way from California to the Great Lakes (did that person order from their houseboat?), with my home state of Virginia leading the way. Very humbling stuff indeed. Please keep up the momentum, we’re progressing well!
Then there’s the contest. In a normal contest, we’d be right up there with the leaders. But Geek & Sundry is no ordinary contest. Oh no. This is the Super Bowl for nerds like me and my fellow fantasy writers to win. That Geek & Sundry logo on the spine of our book is as good as gold. It’s like having Griffendoor on your sweater. So my prediction is that the winner will end up with something like 1,000 orders, no kidding. I’m pretty sure my competition is employing call centers to help them get so many backers. Anyone know that QVC lady on Shark Tank?
Well, in my quest for us to catch up to Lockwood & Company (there’s a double inside joke there for readers of Jonathan Stroud, and a guy named Lockwood is one of the leaders), I’ll be giving away a signed limited edition print of some of my artwork when we hit 60 backers. This little puppy:
Wouldn’t this look schwanky on your wall of nerdom?
And mentioning Mr. Lockwood, the guy actually has a book I’ve been following for a while and will now stupidly purchase (even though he’s the enemy through November 1st), A Beast Requires.
It looks hysterical, right up my alley. And what does the beast require? Let’s read and find out.
Best Wishes,
Hello everyone ~
Work continues on "The Children of the Forest." I wanted to take this opportunity to apologize for the extended length of silence. When I renewed my focus on this project back in February, I made the difficult decision to restructure much of the original novel. That means entire subplots, characters, and even parts of the original premise were changed drastically or removed altogether.
Since passing the threshold to enter into Inkshare’s Quill collection, I’ve been working nonstop on the novel, design of the book itself, and more. CotF has always been a passion project for me, and I want to make sure that when the time finally comes, and the novel is in reader’s hands that it’s as incredible as I believe the world and story is capable of being.
Given the extended waiting period, I’ve updated the Inkshares page with fresh versions of the novel’s opening 4 chapters. Check them out, leave feedback if you’re so inclined, and keep an eye out for more updates as we inch our way closer to the project’s completion.
P.S. ~
Oh yeah, and while I’m here, enjoy a sneak-peek at the next beautiful design from my favorite artists, Ellie Yong ~ enjoy!
Hello Cape’s Side Readers!
Here we are with under 20 days remaining! Unbelievable! Feels like yesterday I click the green button and made the campaign LIVE!
There isn’t enough space in these update messages to thank every person that has helped me along the way. The support given by friends, family, and the people here on Inkshares has been unbelievable and I am forever grateful.
With 19 days to go I wanted to do a bit of a throwback, of sorts, with a sketch from a chapter in the book. I won’t get away any specifics on it as it happens later on, but a friend of mine drew it and I really like it. I did post it in an update previously, but that was in March. I can’t believe we are already in mid August!
Labour Day is close at hand, and that is when Cape’s Side Bay takes place & the campaign comes to an end!
https://www.inkshares.com/books/cape-s-side-bay
Enjoy your day, your summer, and everything in between (hopefully pre-ordering Cape’s Side Bay fits in there)!
Hey gang! Inkshares is letting all of the Dragon-nominated books do a flash sale between now and the end of the month. Me and the rest of the published Sword & Laser Shelf is .99 in ebook until DragonCon.
You - probably- already have my book, but this is a perfect time to complete your set with my shelf-brethren.
The Life Engineered – by J.F. Dubeau
An Unattractive Vampire – by Jim McDoniel
The ebooks are DRM free of course - and sent to you in both .epub and .mobi.
This is, of course, part of promoting ourselves towards The Dragon Awards - have you, uh, have you -- voted for...for anyone..in particular...yet?
It may be hard to believe, but I’m not the most talented person in my family.
My sister has been awesome enough to create this incredible Van Gogh-inspired SCARAB poster as a limited-edition special promotion. I call it "SCARABy Night."
Or maybe not...yeah, probably won’t be calling it that again...
Anyway, from now until September 1, anyone who either:
A) pre-orders a paperback or super-reader copy of Tantalus Depths
or
B) refers someone who pre-orders a paperback or super-reader copy of Tantalus Depths will get a free copy of this poster sent to you shortly after September 1. You can also buy the poster directly from her Etsy shop until that date, if you choose to.
In order to ensure that there is zero misuse of Inkshares’ referral system, I want you to confirm your referrals with me personally through private message: Just shoot me a simple private message saying who you referred, and/or who referred you.
And please, while you’re at it, take a look at my sister’s shop, just generally. She’s extremely talented and has all kinds of great crafts and artwork. It’s well worth your time.
Hey Everyone!
I’m back from vacation! I knew I would lose some momentum because of it, but not as much as I thought I would. Thank you guys for helping out while I was gone! Now, I need to jump back into the ring and keep working towards the goal of getting into the Top 3 by November 1st, with the secondary goal of getting Quill, just in case I don’t make it into the Top 3.
I really need your help in spreading the word about The Living God. Please recommend it on Inkshares. It is the button right next to all of the social media links just beneath the title. Right now we are in 6th place. Not a bad position, but I’d like to keep pushing forward. Also, please pass the word along and see if you can get others to commit to helping the book succeed!
As an anxious person, this contest is a lot like being in a boat with holes in it. The holes are the other books in the contest, and the boat is The Living God. The more holes that pop up and start filling the boat (the more unique pre-orders other books get) the further the boat sinks into the water. I don’t want The Living God to sink. Please help me keep it afloat!
I’m so happy for all the writers in the contest and everyone striving to achieve their dream. That said, it is a contest, isn’t it? So while I’m happy for everyone in it and I wish we could all succeed, only three books can be in the Top 3 and I’d really like one of them to be The Living God. It is hard to be a caring person and a contestant, to balance civility with the desire to win, but I’m going to try and keep doing that.
Good luck to the contestants following The Living God and much love to my supporters.
