Flintlock epic fantasy that’s a bit dark without going all grimdark. A condemned witch and a traumatized soldier on the run refuse to become the pawns of dead gods who want to murder their parents and a living sword with dreams of genocide.
Hello my Knightmares!
We made it. THE KNIGHTMARES will be officially published in exactly 1 week. To say I am excited is an understatement. To have an audience to entertain with the stories in my head has been a dream of mine for a long time. This is just the first step of many.
HOWEVER - I need all of you to do something for me first.
Earlier today, you should have received an email asking if the address on file at Inkshares is the correct address. Please check that address, and if it is incorrect, please log into Inkshares and make those changes. This is something that will be especially important if you have moved since 2016.
It’s very easy to check your address:
It’s that easy!
I want each and every one of you who bought my book to receive it; you helped to get The Knightmares published, you deserve to have your copy delivered without problem. Again, thank you, and enjoy!
Tell everyone you know about the book! Make sure to leave a review on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Goodreads. AND STAY TUNED FOR MORE AS I ANNOUNCE MY NEXT PROJECT SOON!
Thank you,
G.A. Finocchiaro
Hey everyone! This will probably be the last email I send through Inkshares, and I have one last announcement! The Dare is live on Amazon! It will be free starting tomorrow and running through the 4th of October, after that it will be $0.99 for the ebook and as of right now I do not have a price set for the printed copies. Instagram and FB will have the updates and links to buy as well. Right now it’s all about exposure and downloads so if you know anyone who likes check-your-brain-at the door, action, suspense, escape from reality books, let them know about this one and the freebie promo! Thank you so much again for following me here and for the support on my first book!
"Today, I did a crazy thing,” I said to Joan. She’s a Dev Editor, and one of my cohorts in the Black Hats Writers Group. She got me mixed up in this Inkshares meshugas in the first place. God bless her for that.
Last year when the Inkshares Horror Contest was heating up, Michael Welch and I had a friendly rivalry going. Some even called it a bromance. (That might have been me.) Mostly, he was kicking my ass. He floated the idea of collaborating on a project. We even discussed plot ideas, characterization, and what-not in some detail.
“Hell no,” I said back then. "Maybe later when this contest is over."
When it was over, I needed to write, and so did he, and now I’m re-writing and yes, I have high hopes that book might drop in 2019. I’m talking about MINE, of course, which started out as Murder Happens. I’m still not settled on the title, but MINE works for me right now.
Today, Mike floats the idea of putting the collaboration together again because Inkshares has a new contest going. The first of this year. Might be the only one of this year. And, it’s a Mystery Contest.
“I can’t ask my supporters to fork over for another book when the one I promised isn’t done yet,” I said.
There might have been more swearing involved. Or maybe that’s a conversation that occurred in my head. Still, the excitement of the contest worked its way into my evil little brain. Next thing I know, Mike’s putting us up as a team. He even gave me first billing in the author profile. It should be him. The concept is his. But, I’m going to grab a hunk for myself. That’s how I roll. The creative tension between us will be epic. Definitely worth the price of admission, right?
Oh, wait. I need to give you a link so you can go follow the book. I’m not going to ask, beg, extort or otherwise pressure anyone to pre-order. (But, shit happens.) I’ll throw this link out there, and let you decide what to do. The URL has 666 in it. That’s righteous.
https://www.inkshares.com/books/ruining-boise-060666
There’s some serious talent running away with this contest already, and I’m sure I’ll support those projects, but hey, just call me crazy.
Full confession: I’ve been having a very hard time with some personal things lately, so I haven’t been so terribly diligent on updating everybody. I’ll spare the details (this update is going out to something like over 600 followers of The Animal in Man!), but you should be aware of a couple things:
THE ANIMAL IN MAN FINAL COVER IMAGE!
UPDATED BOOK-SIGNING EVENT DATES
The release date of the Animal in Man was pushed back from late September to October 30th due to some printer issues. Therefore, the events I’d booked had to be pushed back as well.
The Book Cellar, Chicago - - November 1st, 7:00 - 9:00 PM (4736-38 N Lincoln Ave)
Barnes & Noble Naperville - - November 10, 2:00 - 5:00 PM (47 E Chicago Ave)
I’m hoping I can see all my dear animals out en masse.
Ooh! I should make an update! That should happen!
A lot of you already know this, but in my excitement, I neglected to make an official update about it, so here I am, finally doing that.
WE MADE IT!
Proteus is now completely funded! We reached our goal of 750 pre-orders, and the whole project has shifted into production mode. I’ve already been congratulated by Inkshares staff, and they’ve sent me some of the paperwork I’ll need to do in order to launch the book into the production process. It’s really happening!
So what happens next, in terms of Proteus? Well, as any of you who have ordered Tantalus Depths are already painfully aware, the production process takes a very long time. Also, since Tantalus Depths was my first project and people have been waiting the longest for it, it is still going to take most of my attention from now until it launches, so Proteus is something I will have to be working on in the background as I prioritize Tantalus Depths.
My plan is to get Proteus into the editing process shortly before Tantalus Depths is released. The whole intent behind launching my Proteus campaign when I did was to ensure that my second published novel came out no more than a year or two after my first, and my goal is to try and release new books on a yearly or bi-yearly schedule, consistently. Inkshares has finally given me a tentative release date of winter 2019 for Tantalus Depths. It’s much later than I thought it would be, but the delay is necessary to accommodate some new ideas that Inkshares’ CEO has in mind for it. It should be a particularly strong release next year, and Inkshares is showing a lot of confidence in it, so the delay will be worth it.
In the meantime, I’m not going to be idle. I have a surprise project I’m working on that should come out later this fall, to tide everyone over as we wait for Tantalus Depths. I also plan on building myself a proper website, which I’ll be loading with all manner of content related to the universe I’ve created, the art of writing, and the community we’ve formed. Now that the burden of campaigning is over, hopefully for good, I finally feel free to devote more of my time and energy into the parts of this process I actually enjoy: the writing, the creativity, and sharing my work to the world.
For now, I’m taking a week off, ‘cause by golly, I’ve earned it. But after that, work starts anew. We’re going to do great things together.
I have some complicated news regarding my Inkshares project, which I’ve decided to cancel.
I’m going to ask all who planned to pre-order to hold off for now.
Everyone who did place an order: Inkshares FAQ says you will receive a full refund either sometime in next couple weeks (I sent an email to Inkshares, I don’t know how fast these things are) or after the campaign-window runs its course on November 14.
A NY based publisher I submitted the manuscript to over a year ago reached out to me last week and offered a contract. Three days after I started asking people for pre-orders. Go figure, right? Of course that was going to happen. Of course it was.
Me and a law-student buddy reviewed it -- everything looks good and fair, we’ve added our stipulations, I’ve reached out to a number of their listed authors to vet experiences, and everyone had good things to say -- and I plan to sign.
When faced with the choice between continuing the Inkshares campaign -- which had a very small chance of success anyway -- and taking a for-sure deal RIGHT NOW, I thought it’d be silly to pass up this opportunity. But I’d be lying if I didn’t admit to being a little curious to know if we could’ve pulled it off. . . that woulda been pretty badass.
So, it’s no longer a toss up.
After one dropped agent, one dropped contract with another publisher and roughly a hundred rejections and near-offers, this godforsaken novel WILL be published.
Although we didn’t achieve our objective in the manner that we intended, the objective WAS achieved.
People who followed and ordered through Inkshares: I have your email address, and I will let you know when this thing hits the shelves. I sincerely hope you’re still interested in reading the rest. Much love to you -- ALL THE LOVE TO YOU!
I would also like to take this opportunity to give a couple signal-boosts to other Inkshares projects that I think are phenomenal and deserve a bit more attention:
Spacebreaker: A New Threat, by John Novak only has eight followers, AND HE NEEDS MORE -- his project is basically lampooning Star Wars in the same manner as Space Balls. It’s really funny stuff, and you should definitely check it out. https://www.inkshares.com/books/spacebreaker-a-new-threat
Ereshk, by Frederick Street is sitting at 36 followers and could definitely use the bump. It’s this really, really creepy cosmic-horror-noir genre blend with a lot of promise. Do check it out. https://www.inkshares.com/books/ereshk
Strays, by William Keaton is being pitched as 28 Days meets Cujo, and, friends, this is hands-down the coolest draft I stumbled across on here. Very, very well written and it had me hooked on page-one. Strays has 19 followers, and that is simply a shame. This is the kind of thing that ya’ll should be reading.
Grayson, by Michael Sobers is sitting at 28 followers and it deserves some regard -- a hard-sci-fi yarn about space-miners stuck in interplanetary trade-drama. Think equal parts Dune, The Martian and James Clavell’s The Asian Saga. https://www.inkshares.com/books/grayson
The Burden of Choice, by Mason Force. It’s well-written sci-fi about a society run by powerful sociobioneering AI. Sitting at only 8 followers, and it definitely deserves more.
There are so many more projects worth mentioning, but these in particular looked especially in need of a boost.
Also: PrOOF -- Preservation Of Occult Figures, by Micheal James Welch, which was successfully funded and is taking orders -- sounds rad, like something Charlie Stross might have on his bookshelf.
Again, many thanks to all who followed my project and pre-ordered. You’re all amazing, and if you ever need anything from me, never hesitate to shoot me an email and ask. Find me on facebook and send me a friend-request!
And please let me know if there are questions about project: BREATHLESS.
Best regards, and remember
LIVE SLOW
LIVE WELL
KEEP CREATING
KEEP READING
--Shane