Happy Tuesday, Space Crew!

My spirits are high because you all are amazing. We’re holding steady in 7th place, and the orders keep trickling in. So let me remind you of what that means in regard to the whole Nerdist/Inkshares thing. 

This book won’t be published unless we kick it up to third. And for that, only pre-orders count. If you’re still on the fence about ordering, let me know what would change your mind. If you have ordered a copy, think about who else you could share this with. Maybe you have a geeky uncle or you hang around a hobby shop. I need help getting the word out. You guys are my space crew. 

This publishing deal makes me a pro author. Inkshares has a team of very capable people like any traditional publisher. If I hit my funding goal they’re going to make sure The Traveller’s Cup is a well-vetted piece of fiction. I’m doing my part now to make sure it gets into their hands, with support from all of you. 

And in other exciting news!

Another Nerdist article coming soon. If you liked the last piece on space opera inspirations, you’ll be glad to know I’ve been asked to participate in a new article. Stay tuned for details and links. 

New sample chapter coming this week. You guys have asked for more, so I think it’s only fair to give you another glimpse at what’s happening with Damaus. You can let me know if you’re enjoying getting the beginning of the story or if you’d rather see something from later on too. 

Thanks again for all of your support. 

Your affectionately indebted cap’n,
-AC

 Hi guys!  

Not much news around here, but I still wanted to touch base.  I signed all the books for my giveaways thus far, and will be sending those out later in the week (we’ve got some rain coming in, so a trip to the post office with a huge pile of books to mail is not in the cards. I don’t want your prizes getting wet.)

Elan Samuel, a fellow inksharer with a couple of wonderful-sounding drafts, was kind enough to feature me on his awesome literary blog, The Warbler! You can read the interview/feature by clicking here. What a fantastic opportunity! Thank you again, Elan! 

Find Elan Samuel on inkshares and follow his work by clicking here.

I’ll keep it short this morning. I just wanted to share the good news, thank everyone, and remind everyone that you can always email me at madmrbutler@gmail.com if you want to talk about my book/your book/someone else’s book/puppies/kittens/sandwiches/whatever and if you are interested in a pre-order swap, please let me know! 

Anyway, gotta go! My car decided to have a failure in all four brakes and the ER I work in caught fire the other night, so gotta go deal with a couple of plot twists that were out of my control...ah, author humor...ok I’ll shut up now.

Thank you for all of the support, everyone! I’m off the next three days, so I will be posting new diary entries, new chapters, and new annoying updates.

Love to all, and may your brakes stay functional and may your emergency rooms stay fire-free!

-Michael

(Special shout out to my friend Matthew...if any of you are looking to email someone any positive messages, just send your email to me at madmrbutler@gmail.com, and I will promptly forward it to him. Let’s fill this guy’s inbox with positive vibes!) 

Dear friends, we have a publication date!! You will probably get your signed copy earlier, but the official release date is November 8th, 2016.

Part of me would have loved to pull a Beyonce and just "drop" the book without announcement surprising the whole world. But until I get to Queen Bey status I will be promoting this glorious date non-stop!!

And don’t forget, if you haven’t ordered your copy you are missing out!

Have a fantastic week!

We are now at 7 DAYS REMAINING and currently 208 sales towards our goal of 250 ~

As the final week looms over my head, I’ve decided to do something a little different. This week I will be uploading 2 new chapters, both of which develop the various nations that surround Yggdrassil. Alethia, the Bad-Lands, and Nin will all receive their fair share of exploration and more. 

Within the lands of Alethia, necromancy and other forms of fel-sorcery have become the norm as the kingdom’s population continues to dwindle while its needs to defend its threatened borders persist. 

But these locations and their respective cultures are not all there is within the lands of Dearean. To the East there are the Imartii - fierce and proud warriors, with each city its own nation - while to the South live the mysterious and nomadic Picts. A strange and little-understood culture, the Picts are elf-like in appearance, and attuned to the magical quantities of the world in a way few other races possess the capabilities to be. 

Artwork rights belong to Blood Rage - will hopefully have official work done soon of these groups. In the meantime this offers a work-concept of what I’m considering for these two cultures.

As funding continues for "The Children of the Forest" I’m looking to have *2* backers receive a special reward. In two random drawings, I will select two different customers of my novel to be featured as characters hailing from either the Imartii or Picts. The winners will have the ability to pick their character’s sex, have input on their origin, and even help choose their name and appearance! More still, once official artwork is scheduled, your character will feature prominently and you will receive a free and highly detailed print!

For this reward I will only be selecting from the pool of backers who have achieved either Alethian or Wolf-Rider status - but there’s still time to get your name in the drawing. All you need to do is upgrade your purchase to the 2nd or 3rd level, and that’s it - you’re in!

This is a really awesome and unique prize that will offer two lucky individuals the chance to personalize their experience with the opening novel in the series. Winners will be selected only on the basis that the book reaches its goal of 250 sales, so act quickly, and make sure you recommend and push the book to everyone you can. 

This contest thing is hard. I must say that. Much respect to everyone involved, because I have been in contact with several people who have been involved with previous contests, and they all agree that pushing your book through a contest is extremely stressful.

And it’s true. I have had to transform myself from a guy who writes stories into a guy who also sells his stories. It’s waaay outside of my comfort zone, and I find myself apologizing every time I ask someone to buy a copy of my book. 

Typical conversation:

Me: "I’m sorry to bother you, (friend). Would you mind maybe, possibly buying my book? I’m sorry for asking."

Friend: "Oh sure! When can I have it?" 

Me: "Umm...I don’t know, really. The only way I can find out is if enough people buy it. Then I win a contest, and then I’ll get the book published, and then I might know when you get a copy...I’m sorry." 

Friend: "So...you want me to buy something that I may or may not get?"

Me: "I’m sorry. Yes, you may get a copy, or you may get your money refunded. It depends. I’m sorry." 

Friend: "Okay...is your book any good?" 

Me: "I think so...but I’m sorry for asking you to buy it before it’s ready." 

Friend: "I’ll think about it, okay?"

Me: "Okay...but I’ll have to keep bugging you about it every day because it’s in a contest...I’m sorry."

Friend: "Stop saying ’I’m sorry!’"

Me: "Okay...sorry about that." 

I hope I still have friends when this whole thing is over, no matter how it turns out.

Just my feelings for today as we’ve hit the halfway point in this thing. Good luck to everyone involved! 

And thank you to everyone for your support! As always, please feel free to contact me if you want to network, want to do a pre-order exchange, want to pitch your novel, or just want to vent about this contest. I’m here: madmrbutler@gmail.com

Have a great day, everybody! I’m off to the ER on a Monday, so wish me luck!

Love, love, love,

-Michael.

Hello readers!

My book and I are being featured on thewarblerbooks.com! I encourage you all to check that out. Elan (the Warbler himself) had some very nice things to say about the book and I’m humbled to be featured alongside some other great entrants in the current Nerdist contest. 

I’m also going to be making a new pitch video so you can all see my smiling face talking enthusiastically about this book that I’m having a blast writing. On that note, the writing is going wonderfully, I’m revising and editing the heck out of the first half of the book and hope to have another sample chapter up very soon. 

Finally, for those of you on the fence that haven’t pre-ordered yet, perhaps reading some of my other work will help alleviate that trepidation? I have three short stories up on wattapd.com, so check those out. My profile is at wattpad.com/AtomicBoyWonder. 

Thanks for the support! Stay tuned for more fun stuff coming very soon!

Hi Everybody,

Having introduced you to the world of Thomas Rivenport, I thought it would be good to acquaint you with his other half, so to speak, Diggory. Therefore, I have uploaded an excerpt from the sixth chapter of the book’s second half. Here, the poor boy Diggory attends a traveling carnival with Helen, his future wife and rebellious rich girl. Of course, they get into some trouble.

Enjoy...