Hello Everyone,
Have you seen the emails yet? You did it! Thanks to your support, Inkshares will publish Lost Generation. Your support places an incredible faith in me, and I will give all that I have to deliver a product worth of the opportunity. In this update, I describe what is next, but first I’d like to give some thanks and recommendations.
I feel incredibly lucky for the support of my amazing wife, Brenda. She was my inspiration when I doubted myself and a key supporter for spreading the word. I look forward to continued success with you in my life as we grow our family together and pursue our dreams.
Thank you, D Kirschling, when I was uncertain you used your connections to expose a whole new set of readers to my work. You were the microphone that spread the word when I needed to focus on writing.
Dan Rooney, you were a madman. You believed in my goals from day one, edited draft after draft, and always gave good feedback. You were up late with me, attuned to the heartbeat of the campaign. My work would be less without you. Take a breath and then maybe take your fiancé out to dinner for putting up with it all.
Angela Antinucci, when I first took my campaign online, you pre-ordered it immediately, no questions asked. I had not even mentioned it to you yet. The world could use more people like you.
I am so lucky to be a Sword & Laser winner, but before the project ended, I already won. The bonds and friendships that grew between me and the other writers are greater than any prize and will produce fruit for years to come. As we all fought for the coveted top five positions, nothing was certain, and some of us would not make it. As we celebrate this victory, there are several equally worthy writers that did not earn this chance. I would like to highlight them and ask that if you have remaining credits, or feel generous, that you support their dreams as well. They provided invaluable companionship in the late nights, and I hope to share self-space with all of them in the future.
These Old Bones by A. J. Ainsworth
A young summoner must travel a long and dangerous road to appear before a council of master summoners to prove himself worthy of their craft.
https://www.inkshares.com/projects/these-old-bones
Ghosts of War by Paul Robinson
A military sci-fi thriller, 'Ghosts of War' is a planet hopping tale of revenge and retribution, born out of a love of Star Wars and science fiction.
https://www.inkshares.com/projects/ghosts-of-war
Rockets by Liam Dynes
A young girl searches for a long-lost family secret in a world that has lost its capacity for wonder.
https://www.inkshares.com/projects/rockets
These writers deserve your attention and share my dream. Please consider them.
In the weeks and months that follow, you will receive status updates on the project and updated drafts. I welcome your feedback and hope you will enjoy the journey to Lost Generation’s official release. Thank you again for your support. I will take this opportunity and create something truly special.
PS. My wife has some free time from work, so I’m not proofing this. Sorry for any mistakes, but you have to enjoy life when it is available. Have a wonderful night!
Well - shit.
We're in 5th place with just over 36 hours to go. A month and a half of promotion, begging, pestering, wheedling, and putting every best scrap of the book forward have all come down to this. We have the second highest reader total of any campaign in the top ten. But we don't have the deep pockets of our competitors.
Brass tacks: It is okay if we lose. This was never about whether or not Asteroid Made of Dragons would be completed. It was never about whether or not you all would get a copy. I self-published my first two novels, and I can do the same with this one -- if we lose, I'm making a spreadsheet of every backer, and I will get a free ebook of AMOD into your hands when it is completed.
Ultimately, winning only benefits me. It's a big step forward for my career, I really want a shot at being the Sword & Laser Grand Prize - it would mean getting my writing in front of a larger audience than I've ever been able to before. It's an amazing opportunity - I completely understand why everyone in this campaign is so determined to win, so invested in succeeding by any means necessary.
So - DO NOT run out and pre-order 20 copies. If you have 20 friends you can convince in the next day, that's great. But you have all done more than you should have. The number of my friends that are sitting on 3, or 5, or 10 copies of this book staggers me. The number of my friends that have shared the campaign around humbles me - a ceaseless wave of support. And all of you backers are my friends now, by the way - I'm not just counting the personal ones. If you plunked down your money on a book as silly as Asteroid Made of Dragons - well, then you are my boon companion.
I seriously considered not saying anything at this point. The die is cast - just let the last day roll by and wait for the inevitable. But you paid yer money, as they say - it's your campaign too. We stand, Wild Mages and Squires, on the bow of a ship - and we are taking on water. If the wind is with us, we may still make port. If not, then let us dine with the sea-elves. I hope you brought your finest garments, as their dress code is severe. No cummerbunds! Sea-elves don't truck that tacky High School Chorus bullshit.
Noblesse oblige - but lightning works on anything.
G. Derek Adams
Secret #3
I don't know how to stop the asteroid.
I know how it was made, I know when it will land, I could even give you a pretty good statistical breakdown of the size and types of dragons that slumber beneath it's adamant crust -- hell, I have backstories and ridiculous dragon-names for a few like Tyrinel the Inferno, Sorrow the Sure, Bex the Assymetrically-Winged. I know the song First-Singer Teon wrote the day they cast the dragons off the planet, I know the taste of the wine that Jalyx poured for him as the Singer wept alone that night in their bedchamber.
But I don't know how to stop it from falling.
As of right now, working on the draft - looking down the long tunnel of the tale -- I just see an enticing but stubborn blank.
That's the fun, you see. I know so much about the world, about the heroes, about the Past and the Future and lightning-Now. But some things I can't see until I get there. Unlike the vast numbers of far wiser writers out there I only have the barest of outlines. Want to see it?
That's what I have. And some of it's wrong! I'm sure of it! It's just a road map, a way to keep moving forward.
I can't wait to get there though. I can't wait to get there, when that asteroid [at this point technically a meteor] starts pushing it's way through the atmosphere, and the wyrms start stirring, and and and....! I can't wait to write it and I can't wait for you all to read it.
Thank you all so much for coming on this adventure with me. Secret #3 isn't really a secret -- it's that I'm crazy and weird. But by backing this campaign I'm your crazy and weird. I crazy and weird for you.
Required Contest Update So My Anxiety Demons Will Quiet Down Briefly
Three days to go in the contest! I won't exaggerate, but we're slipping down the ranks a bit - and there's going to be a lot of movement in the next 72 hours as everyone fights to hold onto the top five slots. You've all put in your gold coins - you've all put up with my pestering -- it breaks me a little to be this mercenary, but I need your help even more this last stretch. We have to keep pushing or we're going to fall out the bottom of this contest - you know people, you know people who like books, or you know people who have 8.99. Show them the site, share the exclusive chapters with them - send them to me on twitter @gderekadams, I will patiently and shamelessly do my best to convince them. I'm still pinging everyone that's ever been on any social media/contact list I've ever had, but there's only so much time left and only so many people that I have incriminating high school poetry on file from. Take a look at the leaderboard - we are all neck and neck!
Stay with it Squires! Keep sipping lemonade Wild Mages! We can do it! AND BY ALL THAT IS HOLY LET'S JUST WIN THIS MOTHERFUCKING CONTEST SO I CAN STOP BOTHERING YOU NICE PEOPLE AND JUST WRITE YOU A STUPID BOOK ABOUT FRIENDSHIP AND DRAGONS.
[Contest ends Sunday night - May 31st - 12 PST]
Remember the sign. The circle that holds even thought it wishes to break.
Hello, supporters!
Three days remain and anything is possible! Long nights, hard work, incredible support, and dedication have gotten us to this point. The process has been incredible and exhausting and as we near the end, don't let up. If you haven't pre-ordered yet, now is a great time, and for those who have, spread the word. We spent most of the month in 6th place. It is a miserable place to be and now as we sit in 2nd, let's keep it there!
I give thanks to my wife, who has supported the process and maintained me throughout, and to all the friends and family who have stepped up and contributed to spreading the word. It's cliche to say none of this would be possible without you, but it's true. Every pre-order counts and because you believed in me, we reached this point.
I'd like to share with you a number, 232. That's the number of readers that support Lost Generation, and that is incredible. At this time, we have more readers than any other book in the Sword & Laser Contest, and it makes me so happy. Each digit is a person who decided they would support this dream, I feel your support and I thank you for it.
Feedback has been a driving focus for this project, and you have delivered. Those of you who have been reading each iteration of the draft and supplied your thoughts have made the end product much better. Feedback and quality are important to me, and you have my word that I will push myself as hard as I must to ensure Lost Generation receives the dedication and polish to become a top quality product. I owe it to myself, Inkshares, and you to ensure Lost Generation is a novel we will look back on in ten years and still be proud.
If you haven't read the chapters in a while, I recommend you check out the updated chapter one (now chapters one and two,) and view how your feedback and my commitment are helping to shape a better product.
https://www.inkshares.com/projects/lost-generation/book_segments/chapter-one-1805
This address might be my last before the contest ends. Forgive any grammar mistakes I have made, I am exhausted but happy. Please keep those pre-orders strong and cheer me on until the final hour comes. I'll bow to you at the finish line, and we will all watch Lost Generation mature and finalize together.
We won. We won again. We double-won.
If winning the first time was like meeting a unicorn, this is like that same unicorn wants to take you to McDonald's and swears that it won't eat your fries and only wants to talk about Kurosawa films and Stephen Universe.
Okay - I'm not making sense. You should be used to it by now.
Our campaign was selected to be in the Sword & Laser Collection - Asteroid Made of Dragons won the grand prize. Don't believe me?!? (Wise.) Watch this video and listen to Veronica Belmont announce the winners.
S&L Collection Winner!
Big congratulations to the other grand prize winner The Life Engineered by JF Dubeau. Only proper that Sword & Laser make two picks!
I have a lot more to say, but right now it's all melting down into plasma-gratitude. You guys did this. Your support got us here and I am so beyond excited to deliver. Once my heart stops flamenco dancing I'll start updating you - I will update you within an inch of your life. Updates on the progress of the draft, the projected schedule for writing, that artwork I want to get for you guys, pant pant, audiobook?, what HAVE I DONE. It's going to be an amazing ride, and you are the best cadre of scalawags and sorcerers I could ever wish to take it with.
Just thank you. Thank you all so very much. I am borderline guaranteed to be sobbing in my tub tonight, my obsidian heart splintering and shining forth a gentle glow the color of lilacs.
If you're not getting enough of me here - come find me on Twitter @gderekadams or at my regular blog spell-sword.com . This is the last scene of Rudy, y'all. This is the stupid, stupid end of Independence Day - let us swagger across the internet desert, smoking cigars with Jeff Goldblum. Squires and Wild Mages you are officially instructed to party down.