Hello, Inkshare homies!
Just wanted to extend a HUGE thanks to all of you for your support thus far! The video game contest is chugging along nicely and I couldn’t have done it without your help!
Also, today is June 8th...it’s my BIRTHDAY!!! I’m 29 years young. To be honest, I miss 28. 28 is a nice, round, sexy number, with lots of swirls and curls. 29 is different and jarring; it feels like I’m in the middle of a gunfight and I’m down to one last bullet, with a giant 3-0 looming ominously on the horizon, waiting for me to empty my clip so it can swallow me whole! But regardless, YOU can help make my birthday fantastic my spreading the word about SideScroller to anyone you know who loves reading or video games or reading things ABOUT video games.
Thanks again for your support, everybody, and I’ve got more SideScroller surprises coming soon!
Cheers,
Andrew Fantasia
Story update: The Tantalus System

Tantalus is an O-type star 27 light-years away from Earth, relatively near Vega. It is orbited by 14 planets (3 gaseous, 11 rocky, named "Tantalus 1" through "Tantalus 14") and one large brown dwarf called Ixion, which orbits between Tantalus 8 and 9.
The Tantalus system was identified by Exotech industries as a promising location for new deep-space mining operations, due to its abnormally high number of rocky planets. A claimstaking probe bearing a SCARAB unit was immediately sent to the Tantalus system to evaluate the resource viability of each of the 14 planets, only to discover that all of them seemed all but completely depleted of heavy mineral deposits, making them unfit for any long-term mining investments.
Unable to return to Hegemony space on its remaining fuel reserves, the SCARAB AI selected the most promising planet to claim. It selected Tantalus 13, due to the presence of a few moderately large cobalt deposits.
As the SCARAB unit entered into orbit above Tantalus 13 and searched for the optimal location to land and begin its operations, it discovered an unexpected windfall: at the base of a large asteroid crater near Tantalus 13’s south pole, SCARAB detected a massive deposit of unusually pure platinum. It landed there, and immediately set to work building itself and further exploring the unexpected treasure that awaited its arrival.
Want to learn more about what SCARAB found there? Pre-order a copy of Tantalus Depths today, and you’ll learn more than you bargained for...
The fabulous Dakota finished my art and it’s absolutely gorgeous. Let me share it with you.
I’ve been so lucky to have her work with me on this and I’ve been extremely emotional about having this beautiful piece to accompany the novel.
Hey, readers.