Dear friends and followers,

Things are moving along, but at a slower rate than before. The plains of 300-400 really are a desolate expanse. I’m sure things will get interesting against once we crest that 400 order mark, even if doing so does not entail any references to impressive Spartan exploits.

I will be delivering the first donation cheque to Chez Doris on Wednesday. Right now, it’s an even $70: pretty respectable, I think.

Coming up this week is a new Nerdist contest! Video games! I will have a bit of a stake in this one, so expect further news.

And of particular interest to other hopeful writers, there’s DraftShares. Check out the related thread on the forum for more details, but the basic gist of it is the promotion of projects that are still in the draft phase. Readers, you may find some of the drafts highlighted next month to be of interest as well, so keep your eyes open.

As for what’s happening with projects in the funding stage, let’s take another look around the bookshelves....

1) "Tantalus Depths", by Evan Graham. An expedition discovers the "planet" they’re surveying is more than it seems, and their ship AI somehow has a stake in it. It’s a sci-fi thriller. I’m told that the "Evil AI" is a common trope, but I think this goes a little above that with its focus on motivation. If the planet is unexplored territory, how could it have any connection to the ship’s AI? I’d like to add that I found the excerpt to have a very nice feel for the "ensemble cast", even if what we see is entirely through one viewpoint character. It goes a lot towards immersing the reader, not only in the environment but also in the social context.

2) "Teddy Roosevelt and the Lost World: a Tale of the Dinosaur Century", by Lou Yuhasz. you know, I think that title says everything I could possibly say about the plot. You know it’s going to be an adventure to make H. Ryder Haggard proud, it stars an historical figure who could give good old King Leonidas a run for his money, and it involves dinosaurs. And yet somehow it’s managed to slip under everyone’s radar.

And that’s it for now. It looks like June is going to be ... pretty full of stuff. So, until next week: have fun, and keep reading.

 Hey friends,

It’s been busy. So very, very busy. I’m not exactly complaining but I do wish I had more time to devote to all the projects I have lying in front of me, begging for attention like mewling kittens each demanding his saucer of milk. Just so you know what’s preoccupying me this week, here’s a quick rundown of my existence outside of hobbies and the dreaded day job:

1. A God in the Shed is getting close to be being sent to Inkshares for editing! What? It isn’t? Let me level with you guys. A God in the Shed has come to the attention of people who have fallen in love with it and are investing some time working with me to make it better. This is a book that was written before The Life Engineered and while I love the story and characters, it does demand a bit of tweaking before we can really get into it. This means copious amounts of notes are being considered, hours of brainstorming and pages of back and forth are being produced. The end result should, however, be a much tighter book that can open more doors for itself and my writing career. I had a fancy deadline of June 1st to hand in my manuscript, well now it’s July 15. This doesn’t mean the book release will be any further than expected however, since the lion’s share of editing will be done when the manuscript is handed in.
2. Have you guys seen the new Nerdist contest that’s starting on June 1st? Video games! I have an amazing, epic idea for a video game inspired book that I’m simply itching to write. But it won’t be in this contest. I have, in the next six months, three books to finish and I’m not jumping into a publishing contest without either securing more time or having a finished manuscript. Hell, I had a finished manuscript for A God in the Shed and even that couldn’t just be handed in. However, keep your credits handy. There’s talks of a book that has me pretty excited that I want to point you towards when the contest starts and, if there are enough pre-orders from my recommendation, I might be able to contribute a little something to the book.
3. The Life Engineered has, of this writing, 87 reviews on Amazon. 13 more to breach the golden doors and into the 100 review territory. If you haven’t reviewed The Life Engineered yet, consider doing it soon. It’s more important than you might think.
4. Arch-Android is coming... As soon as I’m done with the manuscript for A God in the Shed, I’ll be jumping all over the sequel to The Life Engineered and, with the time I’ve had to think of the story, what I hoped would be an excellent book might end up even better. I’m not one to pat myself on the back, but I kinda like this one a lot. Follow it so you won’t miss out.

Thanks for your support my friends, you’ve made a huge difference in my life, one that keeps having an impact on everything I do.

JF

Good afternoon, evening, or morning depending on where you live!

 There isn’t a lot of news to share about The Bones of the Past right now (though that should change very soon). This update is really to draw your attention to an event Inkshares is holding this week called Draftshares. The purpose of which is to draw attention to all the projects on the site that have not switched over to the pre-order stage, but are looking for some feedback and to add a little polish.

Head over to Inkshares.com anytime between May 30th - June 4th, give a few authors some constructive feedback on their work and be entered in to win all kinds of prizes (including a free copy of my book when it finally launches).

Full details (including the prize list!) are available HERE

But that’s not quite all. As the current lead of the Epic Fantasy Syndicate, I was asked to pick out five particularly interesting projects to recommend within the genre. The following books are those that really caught my eye:

 Author: Thomas J Arnold

Book: Exile, Magus

Twitter: @Thoasoold’s,

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/redthomasjarnold/?fref=nf

Author: Joe Roe

Book: Legion’s War

Twitter: @JonRoe4’s

Author: Lauren Drube

Book: The Elements: Decension

Twitter: @LaurenDrube’s

 Author: Louise Lindell

Book: The Vanguard’s Incursion

Author: M.R. Laver

Book: A Tale of Mist and Shadow

Thank you all for your patience and continued support – I hope to have some big news to share with you in the next week or so. Happy Draftfesting!

I hope you guys are ready for the weekend, I know I am! This week has been crazy, between getting stuff ready for the guest blog post and being interviewed for the Examiner.com, I’m going to sleeping the long weekend away. Oh, wait, I have a five year old, nevermind. 

We’re at 97 orders and still above the line! I’m really curious about the person that apparently pre-ordered from the middle of the ocean, do you need help? Should we send someone? I’ll send some people with the book, hang in there. 

Support for this has been amazing and I can’t thank you guys enough. We’re going to make this happen. 

Lastly, The Sleeping Man now has a website! www.TheSleepingMan.com I’m going to start doing some of the world building background stuff to enhance the online reading experience of The Sleeping Man, and as you guys are harassing people on the street (yes) it’s easy for them to find and links are there for Inkshares, etc.

Thanks again, enjoy the weekend and we definitely have enough readers to get publish so pre-order, refer, and order again! Thanks!

Sweet Dreams, 

Stephen Carignan