The Bookie is a raw, enlightening coming of age story that follows Connor Kelly on a wild ride from the innocence of the 50s’ Bronx Streets, to the decadence of Bangkok, Belgium and the brothels of South America.

Kelly staggers through the 60’s and ‘70s, stumbles into a downward spiral of drugs, gambling and mania until a series of spiritual and empirical interventions careen him back to sobriety. By the book’s conclusion, readers learn that alcohol kills even as it enlivens. You can never beat the house, and sometimes good guys still win.

Each of the 40 self-contained chapters connects to form an inspirational paradigm for anyone who has ever bent a knee, lifted a glass or just simply lost their way.

Yesterday I was informed that The Punch Escrow will be the official inaugural selection for the Geek & Sundry collection on Inkshares! At this point I am still shocked that all of this is happening: That my book is getting published through Inkshares, on the Geek & Sundry imprint. I love you guys, I’ll never be able to give enough thanks for your help in making this happen.

As for the book itself, I’m still in the midst of the first rewrite, currently in the midst of the eighth chapter, The Sky Cries Martyr. In case you want a window into what that looks like, here you go:

As you can imagine, it’s a long and grueling, but living process. For example, even this screenshot is not up to date, as last night I got rid of the "eye cam" reference because it was redundant and slowed down the flow.

Don’t let my pursuit of perfection worry you though, I think I’m well on pace to deliver the rewrite to Inkshares by my August 1 deadline. Once I do that I’ll be able to share a more concrete publication timeline. I’m really looking forward to working with Inkshares and Geek & Sundry on making this book the best it can be. You guys are awesome.

-Tal

Hello Readers!

This is a really exciting time for both Welcome to Deadland and me! The book is in the final stages of approval (full dust jacket, internal design, eBook layout) before being sent to the printer in less than a week! I know it seems like ages ago since many of you backed Welcome to Deadland, and I want to thank you all for your patience as we’ve been working hard to get everything in place. The wait is almost over!

Some of you might have seen Inkshares’s recent tweet with a link to their properties page. The purpose of this page is to allow for book properties to be tracked so producers/publishers/etc. can see what options are still available for purchase. This can range from foreign language rights, to film/tv rights, comic book adaptations and more. Even if you’re not someone in the market looking to acquire book rights, it’s a great way to see what other formats you can expect to see your favorite Inkshares books become available in. If you click on the link above you’ll even see Welcome to Deadland  listed along with other books, and a neat surprise!

The audiobook rights have been sold to Audible! That’s right, in the near future not only will you be able to read Welcome to Deadland, but you’ll also be able to listen to it in the car, while working out, walking down the street or anywhere else!

Thank you all so much for your interest in support,

-Zac

My mom and my aunt and a few of my friends are big into the sign language community, so in a few days (weeks?) I’ll start uploading video of them signing scenes from this story, or from the short stories Boloborolo and Tamachat tell around the campfire.  Stay Tuned!!!  

Also, today is the perfect level of cloudy for walking without breaking a sweat.  I wish each and every one of my followers, and all those they care about, a marvelous day with good things and attainable hope.