’Majestas: Glory; Regia: Direction’ - Google Translate

*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

Hello, all.

I try to update as frequent as possible since these are the last few days. However one of you wrote something very interesting. I hope you don’t mind my sharing it with everyone.

"This book sounds like modern day relationship issues, yet it is an ancient story newly written by the author! Very artistic!"

Thank you very much. Yes, that’s pretty much the idea. I wrote it this way because all of us are in some sort of relationship, everything we do, there is a relationship or interaction with another person or even an object. There’s no way to exist on earth without being in some sort of relationship with something or someone. A relationship doesn’t always mean romantic love. They can exist with no love or emotions at all. Like for example; the appliances in your home. There’s no love for them on any level but yet you have an interaction with them every day. 

But I know that isn’t what the commentator meant. I wrote it this way to exhibit the fact that no matter how far back we go into human history we will find the same emotions and ideology existing today and even if you move forward into the distance future these emotions will still be there because they are what human beings are made of. As nefarious as they can sometimes be, that’s human.

Now getting back to the commentator, no, these are not modern day relationship issues. They have been around since the dawn of humanity. It just seems they are modern because people express their opinion more often and openly today than in the past.

Have a great weekend. :D

Hi All,

Long time! Many of you were wondering when the book is out, and I have been getting a lot of queries regarding. Well, the truth is that I don’t really know. Inkshares has been going through a lot of managerial changes, and structure reforms, and at the moment this means that the Wolf’s publication date is pushed back sadly only to mid next year.

On my end, I have submitted the manuscript as required, and armed with patience I’m waiting for the girls in the production department (Avalon and Angela) to assign me an editor and get the ball rolling. So keep being patient -Inkshares is doing their best in these hectic times for the company, and we can just wish them luck and stay put!

On a different note, as part of the management changes - Inkshares decided that a lot of recurring credit orders have caused the company financial harm and are thus cancelling them across the board. Sadly, as everything in life that is done on a massive scale (this is across the website and not just to this project) - more than a few cash orders have been effected too - I’ve got numerous queries for credit cards being refunded. 
I understand this is frustrating to some of you but Thad the company’s CPO and co founder explained to me personally this is vital for Inkshares’ sustainability.

Do me a favour, though the campaign is long over, and this won’t effect the production of the book, if you got a refunded order please either email me or inkshares or simply get in to your account to make sure your order is still alive.

Meanwhile, hold on patiently and keep recommending the book to your friends. THANKS! 

70 preorders!

Wouldn’t it be amazing if we could have 80 by the end of this coming week?

After the excitement of last weekend’s Gollancz Festival, there’s another fantasy lit convention happening in the UK this weekend: Fantasy Con By The Sea. Witherfist is one of the books featured in the event programme booklet, so I’m hoping that we’ll see some #fcon2016 attendees joining the Witherfist reader count.   

It’s still a while before October’s syndicate picks are made, but Witherfist has already gotten nominations in the Break the Bechdel syndicate and the Rite of Passage syndicate. Amazing!

Thanks for your continued support. If you like to read more of my thoughts on writing Witherfist, you can check out the second part of my interview with blogger and author Natacha Guyot and my chat with Jim Vines, on his blog Jim Vines Presents.  

 ~ Jenny

This is a difference sort of update! :-)

Last week we traveled up to our Ohio homeland to participate in the mass-baptism of our 6 grandchildren! It is always great fun when the family can get together for any reason, and few are much better than a joyous occasion like this!

In the picture is the newest member of the family, baby Olivia, and me!

Life is great!  :D

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!

Hello to all!

This one’s short.  Found chapter 3 is a bit repetitive and have another chapter up for y’all to read if y’like.  The first two chapters will be re-worked a fair bit, too.  I’ll send a better update in a bit.  :D