Good day sentients!

Oh it is a good day. I have so much to share... Let's start with a fresh new cover? Behold! The final layout for the cover of The Life Engineered!

Thank you Elsie and Eric who both contributed their artistic talent (layout and illustration respectively) for this. It looks amazing. Notice the little starburst there? Awww yeah...

Now for something more serious

Friends, let's take a look at the gears and wires of things. What some would call the 'inside baseball' of the situation. What follows is my publication calendar as it stands today:

You have The Life Engineered, releasing in late February/early March and then two mystery books in 2017 and 2020 (I'm so eager to be able to talk about those!). Still, this looks a little empty doesn't it? Here's what I want my calendar to look like if things go well:

If I can fund A God in the Shed I'll have enough momentum and confidence to start funding the sequel to The Life Engineered (tentatively called Arch-Android). I'll also be in a position to look at getting the sequel to AGitS funded and published as well. This leads us to what I dream my calendar could look like:

This version implies that I can spend more time writing either by doing it full time or having it allow me to work less hour at the day job. Obviously this is a pipe dream but this is a 'go big or go home' industry. You'll notice that Arch-Android gets a much earlier release and that three other books are added to the list. These might be another sequel to The Life Engineered or other projects I have in mind. I might also move the sequel to A God in the Shed earlier. I love looking at this version of the calendar. It hums at me like a  well tuned ion thruster.

Of course, to get to calendar 2 or calendar 3 I need you help. There are over 400 of you guys following The Life Engineered and each of you is amazing for your support. Many of you have already backed A God in the Shed and that is awesome. However, if we want to fast track this train to the second calendar, I need your help. The Nerdist Collection contest is a shortcut to part of that. All I need is for more of you to pre-order a copy of A God in the Shed.

I know you're getting a lot of these updates with those kinds of requests. I'm aware this must be getting tiresome. However, I'd be remiss if I didn't at least try. I have a lot of cool things planned for the future and I want you guys to be a part of it. Go pre-order A God in the Shed. It'll be awesome.

Thanks again for your continued support.

JF

A quick update, I promise.  Just wanted to let everyone know that a friend of mine has a new book out!  If you’re a fan of the Geekomancy series, pick up Hexomancy ASAP.  And if you’re new to the series, pick up the first book, Geekomancy, and enjoy some amazingly awesome urban geek fantasy.

Or check out one of the most innovative books I’ve read in a long time, Shield and Crocus.  Think superheroes meets fantasy meets epicness.

Mike’s got plenty of other excellent books but I don’t wanna overwhelm you with a tide of literary awesomeness..  Be sure to check out his website for his other titles.

And, as always, don’t forget to support 3point8.

Flock of Links:

Hexomancy: http://michaelrunderwood.com/books/hexomancy/

Geekomancy: http://michaelrunderwood.com/books/geekomancy/

Shield and Crocus: http://michaelrunderwood.com/books/shield-and-crocus/

Michael Underwood: http://michaelrunderwood.com/

3point8: http://bit.ly/3p8novel

Hi everyone! Did you miss me? I dropped out of the top 10 and I was a little bit devastated due to this pesky perfectionism thing, but!!! Here I am, still fighting! I'm hoping this will be one of those "comeback" stories people always like to hear.

What?

What's that?

"What have you been working on instead of desperately asking for pre-orders, Cara?" you say?

Well... here's just a tiny preview that's so mysterious it's not even a hint! (The husband tells me it's dumb to call it a secret if I talk about it all the time in public forums, and I say, THAT'S THE ENTIRE JOKE OKAY.)



What could that be? Could that be, clockwise from the top right, Ky, Tannor, Goren, and Milo??? COuld iT?

But what could these be for? They are so... black and white. So... colorless.

You're going to have to ORDER MY BOOK in order to receive the end result in your happy lil' inboxes. There are (clickety clack clickety clack) FIFTY THREE of you who will be missing out. And you won't just be missing out on my book or the super-cool art mystery bonus... you'll be missing out on NINE OTHER PIECES OF ART.

(FROM OTHER INKSHARES BOOKS.)

So... sounds like some of you have some ordering to do, hmm?

Also go pre-order these books immediately (Minnesota Edition):

The Elements: Descension by Lauren Drube. A lone scientist has brought demons into Dalran, igniting the great war. In preparation to fight the growing force, six rivals were raised as Elementals. The War takes all, but if they can last long enough, these six might make a difference.
(A local Minnesota author contributing to the world of fantasy! Heavy themes of racism and genocide! Works at the U of M! Plus, a team-up of six?!?! I thought my OT5 was hard to balance - six is amazing!)

Prophecy of the Stars by Melissa Berg. After finding out the truth of her past, Mahren must leave everything behind and embark on a journey through love, betrayal, and sacrifice, while her fate may already be written in the Stars, for the Prophecy states: 'She must die, so all may live'.
(You're wondering what you want to read, and you think: "Love, betrayal, and sacrifice, of course!" So first you read my book, and then you read Melissa's! She's from Prior Lake and she's a crazy-talented artist and illustrator to boot.)

Happy Monday!