THE MANUSCRIPT IS IN!!!

After two months of rewriting and revising, with the help of my friends Peter Ryan and Cari Dubiel, and. of course, my wife, I’ve turned in a fine tuned 76,900-word manuscript after the first round of developmental editing. That’s nearly 10,000 darlings killed. It was probably closer to 15,000 of the original words that suffered their terrible fate, but I changed a couple of scenes and added about 5,000 words back in. It was all for the better, and I’m proud of what this book has become. 

I know I promised mid-January for turning in this manuscript, but I’m going to play the sympathy card, because I was hospitalized in January for acute abdominal pain and had my gallbladder removed and subsequently stolen. They wouldn’t bronze it and let me keep it, the jerks, they just took it God only knows where. But, I’m glad it’s out. The good news is that I got my author bio picture in the process: 

That’ll sell a lot of books on its own. Might even make it the cover of the book. Not sure my publisher would go for that, though. 

Speaking about the cover, design will start happening in a few months, but I already know one thing will be remarkably different when it’s done: the title. 

Yup, I am almost sure I’m changing the title. The book is in two parts now, and I’ve named part one "The Madness of Mr. Butler," while part two is "The Courage of Mr. Butler." As much as I love the title as it has been, it doesn’t really sound like a science fiction book, which it mostly is. I’m changing the title of the book to "The Man Who Stole the World," which, for those of you who are in need of improving your musical tastes, is a play on the title of a David Bowie song. (And David Bowie might have a cameo in the story, but I’m not at liberty to say at this point).

wink

So, what’s next? 

Right now, we wait. Matt Harry, my editor, already got back to me that he’s currently working on a few manuscripts and plans on starting on mine in a few weeks. So, it’s probably going to be a while before I can report on further progress. But, this means that this year will begin the next levels of edits on a manuscript that is actively in production. I feel great about it all. I’ve had a wonderful experience with Inkshares. 

Thank you all for your support. Your investment in me is something I think about and appreciate daily. I’m working my tail off to get you the best version of the book. Thank you for the opportunity. This is all because of you. I hug you.

In the meantime, if you wanna interact outside of email, you can find me on Twitter and Facebook, and fairly soon I’m getting my blog back up after some reconstruction. 

Hang in there, it’s all coming together!

Love always, 

-Michael

Hey, kids.

She Is the End is almost done.

My book! MY ACTUAL BOOK!!!

Thank you all so much for your support. I’m sorry the journey took so long... I think it’ll be worth it.

Hi, readers! Welcome to 2018, also known as the year this book will, at long last, be in your hands. There have been a few delays to contend with which were out of my control, but now things appear to be moving along and, to celebrate, eBooks are now on sale for $7.99! Right now Phantom Forest is the #19 best seller in its genre, but I’ll bet we can do a lot better than that in the coming months before the big release. So if you feel like snagging an extra copy for a friend, take advantage of that sale!

I’ll update everyone as soon as I have release dates, official artwork, and social media pages set up. There’s much to be done in the next few months, but it will be an exciting process! Will keep everyone posted. Till then, enjoy the promise of an awesome new year and stay warm!

Hugs,

Liz

Today’s the day!! 

Yes, today is PUBLICATION DAY!!

That’s right. Now you can go into most major book stores and ask for Beyond the Code. You can go to Amazon and order it right now. It’s AVAILABLE!!!! The long wait it finally over! 

I am officially a published author and it feels amazing, but I’m not done yet. Now I have the task of making Beyond the Code a success and you can help. If you haven’t pre-ordered Beyond the Code, you can go to any major book like Indigo, Chapters, or Coles, and ask for Beyond the Code. If enough people show interest, they might think that Beyond the Code deserves a place on their shelves. Not only would that make it more accessible to people out of the loop, it would make a dream of mine a reality. 

If you already have a copy and you still want to help out in building the books success. You can go to Amazon.ca, Amazon.com, or Goodreads and leave a review or rating to let me know what you thought. The more reviews Beyond the Code gets, especially through Amazon, the more exposure it will receive. Reviews are an authors best friend. 

Thank you all for following me clear to the finish line and I hope you love this little slice of my imagination. 

Kelsey Rae Barthel

Progress on The Seclusion is happening on all ends!

At some point in the next week or so, my editor will submit the first three beautifully-polished chapters of the book to Ingram - a book distribution company that major retailers, and most indie bookstores, use to stock their shelves.

In other exciting news, the book is starting to pop up on major online retail sites for preorder!

The goal, as of now, is to shift from developmental-edit to copy-edit by April 1st. I’ll be hard at work every day until then to make sure we stay on schedule for a fall release, so that we can get this book in your hands!

I’ve been spending any and all free time over the last couple of weeks combing through the manuscript with two primary goals in mind - 1) Add to the inner voice of the protagonist, Patch 2) Flesh out additional world-building details. I regularly have at least one reference book open next to me as I work to sneak up on each scene from a new angle. My favorite as of late is The Emotional Craft of Fiction: How to Write the Story Beneath the Surface, by Donald Maass.

Last week, in an effort to soak up new world building inspiration, I used random photos found online and my favorite quick-marketing toy (Canva) to throw together a few concept images. Lately, I have these open as I hammer out my descriptive imagery for any given scene. Below are a few if you would like to take a look:

CHILDREN’S CLASSROOM

CITY CENTER

COMPLIANCE OFFICERS (COMPOS) AND PACIFIER (DIRECTED ENERGY WEAPON)

I am guessing that over the next month I will hear from the Inkshares marketing team, and that cover design will kick off soon.

Back to edits! Until next time.

-Jacqui

Hello Dear Readers,

Just wanted to send a quick update to let you know that The Battle Within is entered in the fourth annual Kobo Emerging Writer Prize. 

Did you like the novel? Even if you didn’t, why not give it a rating on Kobo? The contest may use reviews and ratings as judging criteria and more importantly, it’s always great to hear feedback. If you want to leave a rating, just head over to the following link:  https://www.kobo.com/ca/en/ebook/the-battle-within-1

Stay tuned, the short list will be announced on May 1, 2018!

All the best,

Alastair Luft

Unless there are delays,

BB will

release in thirty days.

It’s a poem I’ve been wanting to write for ages.  Congrats to us all, and I wish everyone FANTASTIC success!!!

Hey. Hi there. 

I have news. A couple of bits actually. I shall save the best for last though.

New book title

Ghosts of War is now.....Ghosts of War: Retribution. The change was made by me to help the title stand out a little more, and it gels better with what the story is actually about (and with the titles of the series going forward). I’m quite pleased with the change. 

With that change though, means something else...

A new cover

Production Status

Very good news on this front. This last Monday, Ghosts of War: Retribution winged it’s way across the interwebs into the hands of it’s copy editor. That means it is getting a thorough going over as it moves ever closer to release later in the year. Typically the time frame is 6 months from kickoff to publication, so it should land somewhere around the middle of the year. 

I should be hearing back from Inkshares soon with some more solid dates related to the production schedule and release, and I’ll keep you guys updated where I can.

Praise for the book

I’ve been getting the first lots of feedback on Ghosts of War: Retribution in the last few weeks, here’s a few blurbs that’ll be showing up in various promo materials going forward.

"Imagine that bastard you hate. Got it? Now imagine yourself gut punching them then throwing them down the stairs, and stealing their last donut. Robinson’s debut novel takes arch-rivalvary up a notch while giving that oh-so-satisfying desire to chew bubblegum and kick ass." - Rick Heinz, Author of The Seventh Age: Dawn 

 "Sci-Fi action-adventure at its very, very best. Paul Robinson gives us complex characters facing complex conflict in a futuristic world that, although dystopian, always carries the ring of truth. There’s revenge, retribution, heroism and, sprinkled throughout, satisfying bits of wry humor. A winning combination, and a debut author worth watching." - Jason Pomerance, Author of Women Like Us 

 “Ghosts of War: Retribution is an adrenaline-fueled adventure perfect for fans of fast-paced action sci-fi.” - Robert Batten, Author of Blood Capital 

 "Paul Robinson thrills his readers in the style of James Rollins and John Grisham, and then brings them to another world in the style of Robert Heinlein. You should pick up Ghosts of War: Retribution, though be warned: it’s hard to put down. ★★★★★" - Jonathan Maas, Author of Flare

 What now?

As production finally ramps up on Ghosts of War: Retribution, I’ll be working hard with Inkshares to get it into your hands and I’ll also be continuing to work on the sequels which are now called Ghosts of War: Reprisal and Ghosts of War: Reckoning. 

As always, stay tuned for updates.