Followers of the Space Sloth,

To be honest, I feel a little discouraged tonight. 

It would be really nice to get some feedback, even in the form of harsh criticism. I’m new to the whole Inkshares site and I don’t even know if I’m doing this project right. As in, I’m certain and confident in my story, but I have zero marketing skills and I just don’t know how do I sell this idea of a beautiful universe to everyone.  And does it annoy you followers when I send you the chapters? Or is it the correct thing to do? How about the e-mails?

The world I’m building here is... pure fantasy. For example, everyone understands the concept of consent, "the villains" too. I’ve grown to hate fantasy that glorifies sexual violence, abusive relationships, violence for the sake of violence, I’m disgusted by that. I wish fantasy would represent miracles, wonders, legends, all that which made us giddy when we were children! Where is that fantasy? I found it nowhere, so I begun creating it. How lovely would it be to feel that childlike wonder instead of the gut-turning grit and hearts made of stone or plastic we are being force fed by every popular tv-show.

I want my fantasy to be a delight. Something that makes you feel excited in a good way.

For the next 5 days I will be releasing sketches and concept art instead of chapters. I hope it works. As always, thank you all so much for your support. I wish you all the good in the world. May you sleep soundly tonight and dream of wonderful things.

-H.A.

Hi all,

A while ago I have made a campaign pledge to Norwood UK Charity: 2£ or 3.5$ (that equation was right before Brexit which resulted in the pound dropping in value -lol) from every order using a special referral account I have opened for them. 
I have kept the pledge for every order I got on the course of July (once the campaign was over).

Norwood UK is a leading Jewish charity supporting vulnerable children, families and people with learning disabilities. It costs £35 million a year for Norwood to provide their community services and it must raise £12 million from voluntary donations.
Norwood strives to ensure that everyone can live the life they choose, irrespective of their ability. They  provide professional help in a warm and caring environment, supporting people to be as independent as possible.
Their Family Services include children and family support, social work, an inclusive nursery, and special educational needs, while their Learning Disability Services include education, after school clubs & holiday schemes, transition, supported living, residential care, lifelong learning and health and well-being.
I wanted to thank Simon Walton, my close friend, for introducing me to this wonderful charity.

So here’s the math: 27 orders have been made using Norwood’s special referral, on top of that I got 5 orders after the campaign was over. 32 order * 3.5$ (let’s keep the dollar amount, it’s better for them) = 112$...
I expected more , so decided it is fair to double this amount to 224$, which is in today’s exchange = 140£ donation to Norwood (which is worth 175£ as I let them keep the giftaid tax relief).

That was done thank to you and your help - but if you want to learn or donate more - please please visit Norwood here.

As for "the Wolf" - I have submitted the manuscript nearly a month ago, after frivolous help from my wife and friend Micha Knopf to make sure all is proofread... I have submitted a creative brief on the same occasion and I am waiting to hear back from Angela our talented Marketing Manager & Girl Friday Production as to the editorial progress. Will keep you posted!

-Jonathan

Dear friends and followers,

Over the past little while, I’ve introduced a few of the characters from the novel. You may have noticed that all of them are male. This is perhaps to be expected, given the setting: there aren’t many female members in a gentlemen’s club, I think. Today, however, I’m pleased to introduce one of the women in the novel: Martha Garrett, wife of Edward Garrett.

Ladies’ clubs did exist, incidentally: just like gentlemen’s clubs, offering the same sort of services, but for women only. The University Women’s Club, founded in 1886 as the University Club for Ladies, is still "women only" today.

In the novel, Martha Garrett mentions having lunch at the Cavendish: that would be what is today the New Cavendish Club, founded in 1920 expressly for the ladies of the Voluntary Aid Detachment, or VAD. VAD nurses were not the same as military nurses: the latter were career women with stringent medical training, while the VADs were volunteers who might have had no prior experience. There was apparently some friction between the two at the beginning of the first World War, lessening as the war dragged on.

If the Cavendish was supposed to be for the VADs, would Martha Garrett, as a former military nurse, have been a member? I don’t know, but I’m sure she wouldn’t have let a trivial detail like that stop her.

Thank you. Thank you all so much for your support from the bottom of my bursting heart. Because of you, Flames in the Dark has rushed to the top of the Leaderboard today. I am over the moon excited to see such interest in my work. I hope we can keep up this momentum as we move on in the contest. I’m sure it will move around as the weeks pass, but my dream is a lot closer to reality. Thank you for your faith in me.