Dear lovely readers,
I’m writing to you here at the end of September with wonderful news: We’re under 40 orders away from reaching Quill! What’s that, you say? Quill is Inkshares’ light publishing goal. As long as I sell 250 pre-orders, you get a book! Woohoo! Can we sell 40 books in one month? You bet we can!
However, Quill isn’t the whole shebang. I’d still be responsible for some difficult things, like marketing, developmental editing, and cover art. That’s where the Geek and Sundry contest comes in. If I land in the top 3 of the contest, The Fairy Stepmother, Inc. gets the full publishing treatment! And, guess what? We’re only about 30 orders away from the 3rd place book.
I’m so excited I can hardly sleep at night! I’m reaching out to everyone I know, and even some people I don’t know (Gaaaah!). If you know anyone who loves fantasy, fairy tales, cool female characters, or even just someone who owes you one, I would be so, so grateful if you passed the word along. So many of you have been amazing at steering your friends and family my way. Thank you! And if you’re following along but haven’t ordered yet, I would LOVE to have you join in the fun!
Thanks for supporting me and my dreams! Impossible things are happening every day. (Bonus Internet points if you know the reference.)
Your friendly author,
Maggie

Dear friends and followers,
I don’t like to send these out more than once a week. However, I do have an announcement, which I would rather not keep for the weekend:
The third Peterkin Investigates game is out! In "Labour’s Letters Lost", a packet of letters--highly sensitive information, apparently, and potential for scandal--has been lifted from a private safe during a dinner party. Eric Peterkin is called in by his club’s secretary, Jacob Bradshaw, to deal with the matter as discreetly as possible, and you get to investigate the mystery in Eric’s shoes.
Enjoy!
Happy Wednesday everyone! Time for another update.
Greetings Bards!
I have just sent the opening scene of Man’s Damnation to your inbox. As always your feedback is welcomed with open arms. This scene is the book’s opening and thus sets the tone for the novel, I do hope you enjoy!
Cheers!
Christopher Lee
Hey Campers!
Right now Sunshine is Forever is sitting at 690/750 preorders. You’re probably thinking, "That’s awesome! He is for sure going to make it!" And you’re probably right, but I won’t make it without your help! If every single one of you convinces one person to buy the book this week, I will be done! There are also some of you out there who are still just following the book, and haven’t preordered yet. What are you waiting for?Preorder! https://www.inkshares.com/books/sunshine-is-forever
So what happens when I hit 750? First, I’ll send the manuscript to Inkshares’ assigned editor. We will rework whatever needs to be reworked. Once it is ready, a cover designer will redesign the cover. After that, the book with be printed and shipped directly to you. The faster I get to 750, the faster I can start working on getting the book into your hands. Help me reach my goal!
I came across this awesome explanation of Inkshares as a company: "Recently called ’The future of publishing’ by The Wall Street Journal, Inkshares is a book publisher that uses a crowdfunding model instead of agents and acquisitions editors to decide what to publish. Their community of readers can pre-order a book project on Inkshares.com, and if the project hits its funding limit, Inkshares brings the book to life by providing editorial services, design, production, national distribution, and marketing."
And in case you missed it, here are links to all of the interviews I have done about the book.
Interview 1: http://apotheosisstudios.com/blog/2016/8/24/sunshine-is-forever-guest-post-by-kyle-t-cowan
Interview 2: http://www.foxforcefivenews.com/kyle-t-cowan-tackles-depression-with-sunshine-is-forever-talks-preacher-interview/
Interview 3: https://eyesandearsbooks.wordpress.com/2016/09/07/author-interview-kyle-t-cowan/
Interview 4: http://www.alastairluft.com/blog/author-interview-kyle-t-cowan
You’ve helped me get this far, now please help me finish this campaign this week! You are all the best!
And remember, you can’t have a rainbow without sunshine!
Kyle T. Cowan
Orders, Faoii! Listen up!
October 1st is this Saturday. That means that the drawing for the $100 Visa is in just a few days. Tell you friends, your family, random literate acquaintances-- we need every soldier capable of lifting a sword on this field! The contest is drawing to a close and we’re only in 6th place. I need you to spread the word.
Less than 100 orders to go!!! We are still just on pace to get those 750 preorders by the Oct 20th deadline. I’m confident we will make it and get a full publishing deal but it’s going to come down to the wire and every order is significant. Please do continue to share with friends; conversing in person or sending a personal email is always great and if you have Facebook you can invite friends to this nifty event I created that gives a pitch for the book: https://www.facebook.com/events/336202026717097/
As always, thanks for making all of this possible for me. I’ll leave you with a photo from Illegal; I took this from my front door in Latacunga, Ecuador at the start of what is now referred to as the ’citizens revolution.’ The entire city had been cut off from the rest of the country for three days and every intersection downtown burned. Within the week the government would agree to the protester’s demands and abruptly stop all trade negotiations with the United States.
Monday Lore Update - Mother’s Grace Continued :

FROM THE BLOG DIARY OF EMILY HUNTER
Entry #3: July 19, 2013
Tonight
Tossing and turning again.
Sweating, freezing.
They are calling me.
Do I listen?
Do I dream?
Do I stop swimming against the current?
Do I lose (give) myself to madness?
They don’t stop.
They won’t stop.
They can’t stop.
I can’t fight. Or can I?
I can’t sleep. Or can I?
I can’t dream. Or am I?
Maybe I’m not crazy.
Maybe I’m not dreaming.
Yes dear? What do you need?
-E.H.
Entry #4 July 23, 2013
When I was a little girl, I had an imaginary acquaintance. This is how I knew something was wrong early.
Most little girls have imaginary friends. They play together, they go on silly adventures. They make up stories. They get silly names.
Carrot was not my friend. We didn’t play or have fun. Lots of times, she was just there.
Sometimes she was scary, or mean. Sometimes she was sad. Sometimes she would smile. But we never really played. I always pictured her with a stuffed toy bunny, which might be why I came up with the name Carrot. She also never opened her eyes or spoke, which is what made my mom curious when I was a kid. She thought I was progressive and forward thinking, like I made up a blind, mute imaginary friend and wanted to include her in my life, and I would grow up to be a caring individual who took care of people less fortunate. It wasn’t that. Carrot could see, she just kept her eyes closed. When I explained that to my mom, she stopped asking about Carrot. In hindsight, it is a weird and sort of creepy detail for a kid to make up. Not the weirdest I ever heard though. I was in a group therapy session once and brought up Carrot, and one of the others had an imaginary friend named Marley who’s scalp was made of sponges. So who’s the weirdo now, mom? :)
It was comforting to know she was there. "There." Of course, she was never really there. I know that now as an adult. Dr. Harper seems to think she was just a way for my mind to visualize inner emotions or turmoil. To deal with things my mind didn’t want to deal with, or didn’t know how to deal with. Granted, this is why a lot of kids have imaginary friends. Carrot didn’t want to play with me, probably because I didn’t want to play with me. That’s either sad or ridiculous. Maybe both.
What can happen, especially with children with my diagnosis, and with me in particular, is that these imaginary people or creatures can sometime manifest themselves into full blown hallucinations, because your brain is already using these archetypes to deal with stress. It’s likely the reason I believed in Carrot for so long (embarrassingly long) is because I started really believing I could see her. Though I never heard her, even though off my medication, I would hear things every now and then. Voices, or banging sometimes. Not really banging, more like a loud thumping, like a heartbeat. That was the worst.
I’m sure it seems weird to believe in imaginary friends as long as I did. The medications I’m taking really curtail the hallucinations, but I still have vivid dreams sometimes. And sometimes she’s in them. This little girl I made up when I was barely able to talk (something that also took some time for me) and I’d still think of her. My brain would still reference her as a way to cope with stressful situations, or emotions I couldn’t handle.
My point of bringing this up is really just fascination. They say the most a human develops in any given time is between birth and 3 years old. In that time, you grow a personality and a paradigm of life, the universe and everything. (Douglas Adams reference... thank you.) These moments in this time, the lessons that you learn and things you see shape your entire life from that point on. It’s where you learn how you fit in socially. If you’re hugged a lot, you tend to be okay with touch. If you are left alone screaming in your crib, you tend to grow up cold. Child psychology (and as you can probably tell, psychology in general) is all so interesting. At least to me.
I eventually, through certain circumstances that I’m not up to sharing quite yet, decided to take control of my life. I have it good when it comes to mental disorder. I’m still very cognitively aware and high functioning. Not everyone has it this good. So rather than be a victim of the hand I was dealt, I have done what I can to be as knowledgeable about my diagnosis as possible. I didn’t go to college, and I was home schooled after 3rd grade, so I never really took any psychology courses. I had planned on taking some classes at the community conir, but then I decomped (meaning I basically lost my shit again) and couldn’t. I do however have a library card, and I read everything I could. I got a copy of the DSM IV for my birthday (weirdest birthday request ever), and when the DSM V came out, I bought it immediately. I don’t want to be in the dark about what’s happening in my brain. I did that for too long.
And like I said, I’m lucky to be able to understand what’s happening. I’ve lived with people who cannot, and it must be hell. They’d probably give anything to be able to cope how I do. Who am I to waste it?
Okay, I’m getting tired, so I’m calling it a day.
All the best!
-Emily