I want to thank everyone for jumping into this crazy contest with me in trying to get Soft Robotics published through Nerdist and Inkshares. Although we didn’t win, some super talented folks did and you should and definitely check out and order their books! As for Genevieve and her adventures, fear not! I am currently investigating other publishing avenues. I’m actually heading to Chicago for a week and traveling to Genevieve’s hometown will give me a much needed dose of inspiration on where to take her story next. You can bet you will see her very soon!

In the meantime check out my book Molding A Jurassic Universe, a collection of essays about the Jurassic Park franchise that was published by Thought Catalog earlier this year (http://thoughtcatalog.com/book/molding-a-jurassic-universe/). I also write a bunch about the Los Angeles comedy scene. Check out my latest interview with Emily V Gordon and her new book Super You out now (http://www.yaylamag.com/emily-v-gordon-on-making-a-super-you/)! And as always check out my site for any and all updates (http://www.stevenraymorris.com/), and better yet Twitter is the easiest way to stay in touch (https://twitter.com/StevenRayMorris). I also cohost a podcast about cats called The Purrrcast (https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/the-purrrcast/id1041016803?mt=2). I know you’re going to check that one out. 

Thank you all again for your support. It really does mean the world to me. Speak soon!

Steven

Greetings Team Shaping Fate! 

Well, this will be my final dispatch here, because we have reached the end of the road for the Nerdist contest. Did we win? Well, not the contest, but I feel like the whole experience is a win. I met some really great fellow authors, got to read some exciting new fiction and got to share part of Shaping Fate with you; a project that I've been working on for a very long time. I know I've said it about a zillion times now, but I'm so grateful to all of the people who followed and pre-ordered the book. Putting myself out there in this capacity was hard, but when I was met with such amazing and unwavering support, it made me wonder why I ever hesitated! 

So what now? I'm going to keep going. "Shaping Fate" and it's follow up books, (yes, it's at least a trilogy) will see the light of day. Thank YOU dear readers for giving me that confidence. 

If you want to keep up to date and haven't already signed up for my newsletter, here's where you can do just that: http://vrleavitt.com/newsletter-2/ (Don't worry, I don't send frequently)

Not into email? Here's my website, Facebook and Twitter:

http://www.vrleavitt.com 

https://www.facebook.com/coffeeandakeyboard

http://www.twitter.com/vrleavitt

I also want to thank The Nerdist and Inkshares for putting on this contest and bringing attention to authors. It means a great deal! 

Lastly, congrats to the top 5. 

• Welcome to Deadland by Zachary Tyler Linville
• The Seventh Age: Dawn by Richard Heinz
• These Old Bones by Andrew J. Ainsworth
• It’s All Fun and Games by Dave Barrett
• Rise by Brian Guthrie
  

Very best of luck!

All of my gratitude, 

-V.R. Leavitt

Congrats to the Inkshares Nerdist contest winners! Sorry for the radio silence on my end this week. I've been a bit preoccupied with my own brand new creation - I gave birth to my son on the the morning of September 29th after a very. very long labor! I'll be back at home this weekend and I'll provide  a more substantial update when possible. Thanks everyone for your continued support. I am going to continue my journey towards publication however I can and I can't do that without all of you! 

Sincerely,

Erin

WOOT!  We made it!  I am so grateful to all of you who have helped me bring It's All Fun and Games to life.  I have to say the last hours of the contest were nerve-wracking, but now that it's all over I'm heaving a great big sigh of relief.

I've been informed that we've reached the print publication goal, and that's all the info I've got so far.  As I learn more about the process of bringing the book through editing, etc., I'll be sure to keep you updated.  While there's still a little spit and polish to do, the book is probably 95% complete, so hopefully we'll be able to move into production soonish.

Now I have one more favor to ask of you.  If you shared my book and earned some referral credits, consider tossing them at The Catcher's Trap.  Ricardo's book came in 6th place, falling just 3 supporters short of me.  What I've read of his book so far is excellent, and he deserves to bring this baby to print.  There are 48 days left in the funding window, which is plenty of time to get the remaining 360 or so book sales to hit 1000 (or at the very least 130 to get to ebook).  I, for one, will be buying another 9 copies for myself with my own credits.  Let's get Ricardo published!

That's all for now!  Thank you again!

WE DID IT!!!!  Congratulations to the other four winners as well.  Great race to the finish.  Stay tuned tomorrow for the Nerdist announcement.

• Welcome to Deadland by Zachary Tyler Linville
• The Seventh Age: Dawn by Richard Heinz
• These Old Bones by Andrew J. Ainsworth
• It’s All Fun and Games by Dave Barrett

The final sections of Chapter 2 are now up.

I'm unfortunately going to have to keep this update short, since today is looking to be the busiest day of a busy week for me.

Thanks to everyone for reading, following, and most of all ordering.  Enjoy the last of the introduction to Buscidia.

Hellooooo awesome readers and supporters! It's been an exciting 24 hours since my last update, and here's even more to add to the pot. 

1. The Fable Hunt is in 9th place! Let's keep it that way by asking the person sitting next to you at work to buy 1 copy of it today! 

2. Tomorrow is the FINAL day of the contest. It ends at 12pm PST or 3pm EST depending on your timezone. It's super important to get as many individual human beings to pre-order 1 copy as possible. If you have a husband, wife or person who lives in your household that has $5 to spare, please please ask them to buy 1 copy even if you've already bought one. It's all about the individual buyers rather than the total number sold until tomorrow afternoon.

3. Holy crap 292 of you have already ordered 408 copies of my book. My heart has swollen to Grinch proportions on Christmas morning. HOWEVER there are 335 of you receiving this email so if you're one of the 43 people who has followed but not pre-purchased, please do so immediately. I am counting on you!

4. I've uploaded Chapter 4 of The Fable Hunt for you to read! It's a short chapter but it's very much closer to a whole bunch of fairy lore that you're going to love so eat it up. 

Right now The Fable Hunt is 72 readers behind 8th place, 172 readers behind 5th place, and only 17 readers ahead of 10th place. That's a lot of hurdles to keep in mind, but I know we can do it! 

In a fascinating turn of events, it was also brought to my attention yesterday that I am the only female writer in the Top 10. How amazing would it be to be in the Top 5? I will pre-purchase a copy of a book from the first 5 female writers in this contest who tweet at me today in support of other lady projects. Please send me links!

The cool thing about this contest is that if we can push The Fable Hunt into the Top 5, Inkshares guarantees publication of my book. That means after tomorrow, you can look forward to only hearing from me with awesome story updates and perks rather than me begging for you to tell your friends to buy a book. So lets work together to make it happen! Tweet! Email! Call on phones! Post on Facebook! Ask in person! Send up a smoke signal! Maybe try Morse Code? 

Annnnd that's all I've got for now. 

Rachael

Evidence that I continue to write away: