It’s been a while, so I thought I’d give everyone an update on how work is progressing on the novel. Some people have mentioned to me that they’ve been so busy they haven’t had a chance to read the book yet. That’s ok, I haven’t finished writing it.

In February, I received detailed feedback from the publisher on the draft manuscript that I had submitted. This is what’s known in publishing as an “editorial letter.” This was an extensive (20 page) and thoughtful critique with many good ideas. The good news is that almost all of the input is actionable. The bad news is there are many months of writing and re-writing required in order to incorporate these ideas and create a truly top-notch novel. 

The publisher asked me to create a new outline which strengthens the characters and gives more of the historical context of some events during and following World War II. In particular, I have been researching the liberation of the Mittelwerk slave labor manufacturing facility by the 104th Infantry Division of the Army and Operation Paperclip, the US Government program to recruit German scientists to the US after the war. Both of these elements feature in the background of the novel. 

So that’s been the focus for the past month. I’m glad to report that the new outline is complete. It’s quite a detailed document (approximately 35 pages) which describes all the characters and every scene. While it’s still the same noir detective murder mystery, there is a more ambitious middle section and an overall faster pace.

I’ll be reviewing this new outline with the publisher in the coming weeks, and no doubt there will be some back and forth as we try to determine the best way to tell what has become a more complex story. 

In the meantime, it’s been a long winter in Northern Michigan. The snow is finally starting to melt, but I’ll keep the snow tires on for a few more weeks, just in case. Thank you everyone who supported this creative project. I’ll keep you posted on progress in the coming months. 
—Zack

      
PS. For those who are curious about Operation Paperclip, the US government program to recruit German scientists to the US after WWII, I highly recommend the book of that name by Annie Jacobsen. She provides a detailed account of many famous scientist and doctors who were recruited to the US, including Wernher von Braun, who was instrumental in developing the Saturn V rockets which powered the Apollo mission to the moon. He also ran the underground slave labor factory which made V-2 rockets at Mittelwerk and was both a Nazi party member and a Sturmbannfuhrer in the SS. 

Hey book backers- 

The list of chapters in our final manuscript is now set. ’My Place Among Men’ grew from 15,000 words last spring to 50,000 words this spring. Heckuva growth spurt. All of those words are sandwiched in 34 chapters that are divided into three parts. Part I, Hiding, is about me growing up. Part II, Chasing, is me as a reporter. Part III, Finding, is me as a mom. That sounds like a lot of "me" but don’t worry, all three parts still put outside inside a book.

The final list of chapters is posted as ’Table of Contents’ in the read section of our project here: https://www.inkshares.com/books/my-place-among-men-0699d4

Sneak peak of final cover coming soon.

Your wordsmith,
Kris Millgate
Tight Line Media

Good morning, everyone. And welcome to those of you who just joined in the past few days.

Like I said on Friday, the campaign for Bane of All Things is now in bonus overtime. We have less than five days left. It’s a whole new spin on March Madness. I am asking you to dig deep and consider how you might bring in one or two additional pre-orders (or more if you can) for me over the next couple of days.

One way is to enlist a friend or family member. Another is to simply order an additional copy or two yourself. All it takes is an ebook purchase for US$10. Several existing supporters last week did just that -- Andrew. C., Andrew S., the team at HostedBizz.

"But, Leo," you might ask. "What am I going to do with another ebook copy?"

Fair question. Give it as a gift, share with friends and family. When BoAT publishes, you will be able to download your ebook copies in whatever file format you prefer, making it easy to email them on. And additional print copies of course make great gifts, especially when signed by the author :).

There will be prizes

Any existing supporters who this week order additional copies will have their names entered into a draw for a $50 Amazon gift card (or gift card of your choice). Those who already ordered additional copies last week will be entered into this draw as well.

And anyone who brings in/refers a new supporter this week will also have their names entered into a second draw for another gift card prize. But I am putting a caveat on this one -- at least five you must have brought me a new supporter before that draw will take place.

And there is still the draw for original signed artwork that I promised would happen once we passed 300 pre-orders. EVERYONE who has pre-ordered by the final deadline for this campaign will be in that draw.  

Together, we can make this happen!

Cheers

Leo

Hey, folks, some fantastic news to share! The clue is in the screen capture above from my campaign page -- that sticker that reads "Syndicate Pick."

What does this mean? BoAT has been selected as the Staff Syndicate pick for February. It is a huge endorsement for which I am immensely grateful. A sincere thanks to fellow author Chip Colquhoun for putting BoAT forward for consideration. Check out his novel, Ripe for Execution. 

For those of you who don’t know what an Inkshares Syndicate is, this is a group of people who contribute $10 or $20 a month to a pool and then use that to back a title in funding each month with a gift basket of pre-orders. There are and have been many syndicates over the years, for fantasy, science fiction, stories with strong female characters and other themes. The Syndicate that has chosen BoAT as its February pick is the Staff Syndicate. This is, as the name suggests, led by Inkshares staff. Anyone can opt in, including other Inkshares authors. (I am part of this Syndicate myself and cast the deciding vote on the January Syndicate pick.)

What does earning this distinction mean for BoAT and this campaign? Frankly, I don’t know yet, but with only two days left, the answer to that question is going to come soon. So, as I said on Monday, help me finish strong -- keep those pre-orders coming by ordering another copy for a friend or family member, or even better, by prodding those friends or family members to pre-order their own.

And if you have followed BoAT but haven’t pre-ordered yet, please, take the plunge!

Cheers

Leo

Bonjour mes amis!

Today is a good day because I identified the thing.

Rewind to about a month ago, me following up on the delivery of MINE draft three, and a long discussion with the publisher. It was not the conversation I expected, and caused a true Come to Zeus moment. Also, a valuable learning experience once I’d recovered from the shock and worked through the 5 stages of grief. 

I believe it was valuable enough to share with you, my friends.

If you have a book in production with Inkshares, then you’re familiar with the Author Questionnaire. Check out number two below. It’s the question that needs to be answered to take the story to the next level (a.k.a. sell that shiz!).

2) What is the hook that will really grab your reader? Please pitch the book in one or two sentences. This ‘pitch’ should be as pithy and captivating as possible.

From the commercial perspective, I am an unknown author, aspiring to be a mid-lister, and not even regarded as an up-and-comer (to my knowledge) so the reality of creating a suspenseful thriller with snippets of beautiful prose in a compelling voice that has literary aspirations isn’t enough to sell the book. What I do have is thirty seconds and a paragraph on the back of the book cover.

That’s my takeaway.

So, I called a meeting with my dev editor. I said, no matter how much it costs, no matter what it takes, I want to get my hair cut into the shape of a dick head.

Kidding. Lighten up. Been there, done that. 

What I said was no matter the outcome here, publishing wise, let’s take this story to the next level. She said, aiiight, let’s do it. Then she gave me a new insight into a core theme of the book I hadn’t noticed, but knew in my heart she’d nailed it.

Another big but, though, is how to illuminate the thing into the next iteration of the manuscript?

I put it all aside, knowing I had to trust the process which involves a cult-like faith in the creative higher power that the solution exists in the giant playground where ideas run and jump and fall off the monkey bars, breaking their arms and chipping their teeth.

Give it the space it needs, and all shall be revealed. Just don’t eat the sandbox treats.

Last night I lay in bed, feeling a weight like swimming in an ice-cold lake with concrete mukluks. Then, I got up early because something was going on and not just because I had to use the bathroom.

My process involves capturing precocious ideas when they throw rocks at me unexpectedly. This morning I went through those notes, compiled them into a document and parsed them into a solution, if not the solution.

It involves a looping cycle like the worm Ouroboros, the book’s tail eating the beginning, and…BAM! There’s the manuscript, regurgitated on the pages. 

At some point this spring or early summer, I’ll let you all know if this works, being good at completion to a deadline (once upon a time a young princess told me I had two minutes, the end).

Here’s another takeaway.

Nurture that germ that’s going to infect the reader and spread the story like a contagion across the pages, so it grows, unchecked, into…the thing...

March 1! 
I’m on chapter 30 of 42, and I am SO EXCITED about Jane’s story. 
While much of Rock of Ages is a contemporary story, there are two other points of view. Cassidy’s mother, Paloma, meets her father in Prague just after the fall of communism. When she has trouble getting pregnant, the two move back to his hometown in West Virginia.

Cassidy’s grandmother, Jane, signs on as a Government Girl  and moves from WV to Washington DC, where she classifies fingerprints for the FBI during WWII. This is the part I’m rewriting now and it is so, so fun. I’ve been nerding out big time with the research, watching old films, reading old books, looking at old comics, listening to old music. I’m kind of obsessed right now with the time period and with the craft of historical fiction writing. It’s all making me feel really close to my grandma, which is bittersweet.

I’ll post the first chapter of Jane’s story on the Inkshares story page after sending this so you can take a look! Let me know what you think. I hope you’re as excited as I am!
I hope by this time next month I’ll be VERY close to finishing this draft.
Thank you, as always, for your support and encouragement!

Update on Sleepwalkers by Christopher Henckel

Hi everyone. Thanks to all of you who’ve pre-ordered a copy of my book Sleepwalkers. I entered this book in the InkShare Mystery/Suspense contest which closed in December 2018. The judges at InkShare have recently finished reading and judging all submissions. (It takes quite a while to read 160 novels). Unfortunately, Sleepwalkers didn’t win.

So does this mean Sleepwalkers won’t be published?

Not necessarily. Sleepwalkers will not be published by InkShare. But I may choose to engage another publisher at a later date.

What about refunds?

For all of you who were kind enough to pre-order a copy of Sleepwalkers, Inkshare has made full refunds about two weeks ago. If you have any questions about your refund, please email hello@inkshares.com.

But I’m dying to read your stories, Chris. Do you have any others published?

Yes! So You Wanna Be a Desperado Demon Slayer is available in ebook from Amazon. Think of this story as Blazing Saddles as a heist.

Also, My short story, Cowboy for a day, is published in the Writing Bloc: Escape Anthology, available in ebook or paperback from Amazon. Think of this story as Don Quixote in the old west.

Any other forthcoming books and or stories?

Oh yeah! Bootlegger is a full length novel that is mostly finished. Think of this story as Dukes of Hazard meets Firefly.

Outlaws and Villains: City in the Sky is another one of my full length novels and is mostly finished. Think of this story as Stand by Me meets Stargate.

Temporal Keep is a completed novelette. It story won an Honourable Mention in the 2018 Writers of the Future Contest. I’ll publish this at some point in 2019. Think of this story as The Cell meets Shawshank Redemption.

The Illusionist is a short story I’m currently writing this year’s Writing Bloc Anthology. Think of this story as The Prestige meets Chocolate.

Wow, you’re awesome, Chris. I want to be like you when I grow up.

Stop it. I’m blushing.