This week something pretty amazing happened. Inkshares sent me the back cover text and author bio for The Punch Escrow. I was also given an official publication date, which is a lot further in the future than I originally imagined, but makes sense. The book will be released at San Diego Comic Con (July 19, 2017) and will be given a big promotional push by Geek & Sundry there. We haven’t even started coming up with what sort of pomp and circumstance we’ll do, but I’m sure it’ll be fun. Anyway, the rewrite is moving along swimmingly. Some days more swimming than others. Right now with around 35% of the rewrite complete, I can’t seem to get out of the limbo that exists between 28,000 and 29,000 words, but I’m very motivated by deadlines and I’ve committed to handing in the manuscript by November 1, so I’ll get there. For those curious about the back copy and author bio, here’s what they look like (some of you who have been with me since the beginning of this campaign will note that International Transport has gotten better at marketing, they’ve eliminated "Journey" from their slogan):

Back Cover Synopsis:

It’s the year 2471. Advancements in nanotechnology have enabled us to control aging. We’ve genetically engineered mosquitoes to feast on carbon fumes instead of blood, ending air pollution. And teleportation has become the ideal mode of transportation, offered exclusively by International Transport—a secretive firm headquartered in New York City. Their slogan: Departure... Arrival... Delight!

Joel Byram, our smartass protagonist, is an everyday twenty-fifth century guy. He spends his days training artificial-intelligence engines to act more human, jamming out to 1980’s synthpop—an extremely obscure genre, and trying to salvage his deteriorating marriage. Joel is pretty much an everyday guy with everyday problems—until he’s accidentally duplicated while teleporting.  

Now Joel must outsmart the shadowy organization that controls teleportation, outrun the religious sect out to destroy it, and find a way to get back to the woman he loves in a world that now has two of him.

Author Biography Back Cover Version

Tal M. Klein was born in Israel, grew up in New York, and currently lives in Detroit with his wife and two daughters. When she was five years old, his daughter Iris wrote a book called I’m a Bunch of Dinosaurs that went on to become one of the most successful children’s book projects on Kickstarter —something that Tal explained to Iris by telling her, “your book made lots of kids happy.” Iris then asked Tal, "Daddy, why don’t you write a book that makes lots of grownups happy?" Tal mulled this over for a few years, and eventually wrote his first book, The Punch Escrow. It won the Inkshares Geek & Sundry Hard Science Fiction publishing contest, and will be the first book published on the Geek & Sundry imprint.

Ladies and gentlemen, allow me to present the ground floor plan for the Veterans’ Club.

Not shown: fireplaces. Yes, there are multiple fireplaces, because this place was built in a time before proper central heating. Possibly it has been renovated since, but there are still fireplaces. And if you’re wondering why a gentlemen’s club has what is clearly a ladies’ restroom: the gentlemen members do bring ladies in to dine from time to time, and may God have mercy on their souls if a lady has no place to powder her nose.

(I do invite comments and criticism on this plan. I confess that I have not actually made an in-depth study of the club building layouts around St James Place.)

Meanwhile! How are we doing? The third Peterkin Investigates game is still in production. I hope to have it out before Friday ... some of you may be aware that IFcomp 2016 begins on 01 October, and everyone who plays these things will be playing and judging the competition games. So I’d like to get my game out before that flood begins. I may have to make a rare mid-week update just to announce the game.

Watch this space, folks!

*Crawls out of editing cave, hissing at the light*

I LIVVVVEEEEE!!!!!

Yes, I’m still technically alive. Haven’t fallen in a deep, dark hole or anything like that. I’ve just been a slave to the editing process and, of course, my day job. 

But I’ve decided to peek my head up from the abyss to send you all an update. 

First and foremost, Beyond the Code news. Editing has been going slower then I’d like but very well. Results from my wonderful beta readers have given me some ideas for rewrites of the story. These changes will give some of the characters actions more of a dramatic punch that I really think you’ll all enjoy. 

In other news, I will be taking my first try at pushing my book at a convention. I will be at the Edmonton Expo on Saturday. I will be handing out bookmarks to anyone who will take them to try and get the word of Beyond the Code out. I hope to see any of you there. 

I also want to take this opportunity to talk about Evan Graham’s book Tantalus Depths. It’s a really well thought out world that deserves full funding and it is very close. Please, if you have not already, take the time to check it out and consider backing this great project. 

https://www.inkshares.com/books/tantalus-depths

Thank you all for continuing to support this my dream and I hope I can give you a fully realised product sooner, rather then later. 

Kelsey Rae Barthel

Greetings, Faoii.

Finally, a new interview went up today. If you want to know what I’m like when I’m not barking orders at you on inkshares, check it out:


Ugh. Look at that smile. And those flowers. Hardly becoming of a faoii general. 

That’s all for the day, faoii. Keep recruiting. I’ll tell you more as I learn it.

Lore Update:
Deep space mining has become a crucial part of humanity’s expansion across the stars, and Exotech is the undisputed leader in the field. The surveying expedition to Tantalus 13 is but one of hundreds in one of the most lucrative ventures in the galaxy.

With thousands of probes scattered across the galaxy searching for valuable new worlds to exploit, it’s perhaps inevitable that Exotech would be the ones to stumble across a find like Tantalus 13. For mining, Tantalus 13 is barely worth the effort, yet Exotech clearly believes otherwise. How much do they know about what lies beneath its surface? What is it they expected SCARAB might find there? For that matter...are they ready for it?
Find out now when you pre-order Tantalus Depths!