We did it! The campaign has ended, I’ve had a wonderful talk with Adam, the CEO of the publishing company, and the sequel to The Seclusion is officially in production.
Thank you, thank you, thank you to everyone who supported over the past few months!
I’m going to give everyone’s inbox(and myself) a break for a bit, but there is exciting news in the pipeline and I will keep all of you updated as I can with news and behind-the-scenes developments every month or two. While I don’t have a timeline yet, my best guess after having been through this process before is a early/mid 2021 release. Again, I’ll let you know more as I do. Try and stop me.
For now, I’m going to turn my attention to something I haven’t been able to focus on as much as I would have liked to these past couple months - finishing the story! Right now, it is about 85% of the way finished, and my goal is to have the first draft turned in to the developmental editor by the end of October or early November.
From there we will talk through how to make the story stronger. Then, we go through the old song and dance of revising, editing, revising, editing... and rinsing and repeating until everything is shiny and perfect.
For those of you who supported by ordering 3 copies or more, look out for occasional emails from me regarding polls and surveys for behind-the-scenes decisions.
Tomorrow evening I will be at the Author Reception and Signing at the NC School Library Media Association Conference in Winston-Salem. If you will be be there, let me know so we can connect!
Thank you again, and until next time!
-Jacqui
P.S. - The winner of the $100 Air BnB Gift Card is Jason Stokes who referred over ten supporters!!! Congrats Jason!
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Thank you to these final backers!
Catherine Evans, Anya Pavelle, Mike Donald, Anthony Bassignani, and Glen Cantrell
Check out some of their work below:
HELLO EVERYONE!!
Long time, no hear from. Alot has happened since I started with Inkshares to publish my first novel, Beyond the Code. I got to have book signings at big bookstores like Chapters and Indigo, I have had several good reviews from professionals, I put myself out there in the writing world and now, I’m proud to say that Beyond the Code is now available on AUDIOBOOK!! Check it out through the link
https://www.amazon.com/Beyond-Code-Kelsey-Rae-Barthel/dp/1947848097
It was a great experience and the narrator, Lisa Beacom, did an amazing job. She delivered an awesome performance that brought the characters to life and I couldn’t be happier.
Check it out and spread the word!!!
Kelsey Rae Barthel
September! I managed to rewrite a chapter every day and finished this draft on September 5! It’s up to over 141,000 words and I think (hope) my main character is more interesting, my setting is more immersive, and my prose is more engaging.
I’m rereading the whole thing before I send it back to my awesome editor, though I keep telling people it’s kind of like when you say a word over and over and it starts to sound ridiculous. It’s hard to gain enough distance after going through it so many times to imagine what it’s like to read it for the first time. So far I’ve mostly been removing unneccesary dialogue tags and the word "just."
We’ve been busy at Writing Bloc editing our Deception anthology and creating several cool episodes of the podcast. Check them out! I’m in the one on crowdfunding.
I hope you are all having a fantastic month so far. Let me know what you’re up to!
Thank you for your support!
August!
I’m still working on the latest rewrite but I’ve been able to get through a chapter a day by writing before the kids wake up and in the afternoon while they relax with a TV show. I got ten chapters edited/rewritten on the writing retreat Jared sent me on for Mother’s Day! You can read about that and my tips for planning your own DIY retreat on the Writing Bloc blog. I am hoping to finish this draft by September 8!
Speaking of Writing Bloc, there’s a new podcast episode up-- this one is on world building and features hosts Christopher Lee and Jacqui Castle along with guest author Rachel Sparks. I’m on the next one, which is about crowdfunding and should be up soon!
Jacqui Castle is currently crowdfuning the sequel to her award winning speculative dystopian novel The Seclusion, which has won a bunch of awards, and is timely and important. If you’ve got $10, consider supporting it-- you get a free copy of the first book and it helps bring new relevant literature into the world.
What else are you reading right now? I’ve been devouring novels on immigrants’ experiences:
Behold the Dreamers by Imbolo Mbue,
Speak No Evil by Uzodinma Iweala, and
I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter by Erika L. Sanchez are all fantastic.
I think that even if you really want to be a good person, it can sometimes be hard not to let hateful rhetoric seep into your brain. Fiction is a powerful way to hold onto empathy and compassion.
Thank you for your support!
