In the aftermath of a small-town massacre, Venus McKenzie and her friends each try to deal with the fallout in their own way, not knowing that they are being pulled in the same direction: towards the pulpit of the Church of the Sandmen.
June 2018
Hi! I’m finishing off the semester at SF State this week (20 units, and I expect all A’s except for one B), so I should be a bit more "present" in the coming months. One more semester like this (only 19 units :D) and I’ll be out!
But my personal life aside, I’m happy to report that Amazon is up to 10 reviews, sales have been good, and copies are available at most SF bookstores, and even at Pegasus Books in Berkeley! I’ll be driving about and getting copies on shelves in the coming weeks, so if you’re local to the Bay Area, keep your eyes peeled!
On a similar note, I want to thank everyone who has read Borehole Bazaar, but I also want to encourage folks to keep the book moving. Much like a penny, the value increases with circulation, not just with initial sales. If you know someone who would LOVE this story, even if it wasn’t quite your cup of tea, then please feel welcomed and encouraged to LEND THEM YOUR COPY.
That’s right. If those I wasn’t able to reach aren’t of a mind to buy a book, but they would enjoy reading the story, it’s to my net benefit that they have access, and that is where you come in: Please share your copies. What this does, first and foremost, is allows for the words to become more than just ink and glue and paper and and some pretty images. It allows the book to take a step toward becoming real. What it also does, and I kill the magic by stating this, is it potentially increases visibility among populations outside the mainstream, which in turn could drive future sales with recommendations or "cult classic" status in ten years or even encourage folks to keep their eyes peeled for Book Two, Three, ecetera all the way to Twelve.
Now, don’t get me wrong here: I’d love a proffitable sale as much as the next author. But I can never forget when I was literally starving because I couldn’t afford food, when I wore three to six layers inside my house because my roommate and I couldn’t afford heating, when we left the TV off and read by daylight or one bulb on our rescue couch in the living room together. Those days were made for free books lent by friends and acquaintances. That’s when I developed my love of well-worn pages and discovering "mystery crumbs" in the binding. I used to try and guess what they were, back then. So, if you’ve got a copy and you’re not going to read it again for a month, keep the book in motion. Don’t let it gather dust. It’s not a statue or shelf decoration. It’s a book, made all the more precious for each time its spine risks creasing.
Quick update.
The manuscript for Murder Happens is ready to submit into the Inkshares queue soon as the questionnaire and creative brief are complete. Got a couple beta readers lined up, so things are progressing toward a finished book
Wanted to share a couple Mothra’s Day specials of fine reading on your Kindle. If you haven’t tried Joan Reginaldo’s Take Your Daughter to Work Day, here’s your chance to get the 1st story in the series FREE this weekend.
Take Your Daughter to Work Day, a sci-fi Arthurian fantasy hybrid.
As well as her chilling tale of a mother who has lost her skin to a skin thief:
Dean
May 11, 2018
Hello, everyone -- I have some excellent news to share!
I got my official notification from Inkshares that "Shadow King" will move into production a the end of May/start of June!
I am BEYOND excited about this.
So, that means "Shadow King" will get reviewed by the copy editor, proofread, turned into a "real" book with a cover... and then, assuming there are no major delays or hiccups, we’ll have an official release in October 2018. As production advances, I’ll share a more specific date.
I hope you’re all as happy about this news as I am! I’ll send another update soon with more details about production and any other news I have to share.
Thank you all for sticking with me on this wild ride--we’re almost there and I can’t wait for all of you to get "Shadow King" in your hands!
More to come soon. Have a great weekend.
Best,
Susan
To all my patient supporters,
Two weeks ago I received the first round of developmental notes for AFTER DEATH from my editor Matt Harry. For the most part his notes made a lot of sense, and in discussing with him how best to address his concerns I have decided to restructure the novel.
By this I mean that I will take what is currently a three-part story, each part following one incarnation of the protagonist’s soul, and attempt to intercut the lives one chapter at a time. Our hope is that this will result in a draft that is not only tighter, but more surprising, suspenseful, and even more of a mind bender than the book already is.
This will take time, of course, and with every day that passes I am increasingly grateful for your continued patience and support.
In related news, Nerdist founder, comedian, and Talking Dead host Chris Hardwick recently plugged AFTER DEATH on his ID10T podcast! It was incredibly kind of him to do that, and I can’t thank him enough. Click below to check it out!
Not only that, but AFTER DEATH recently received this amazing blurb from J. David Pleins, Ph.D., a writer and teacher whose work has been a huge influence on my own:
"Daniel Lee’s captivating After Death weaves together time travel, zombie apocalypse, epic battles, zen musings, quantum physics, and timeless archetypes. He plays with an array of afterlife concepts — beliefs of different faiths, tales from different mythologies, icons of pop culture — and forges them into a Grand Unified Theory of the afterlife. It’s both a raucous adventure story and a deep-dive into the human soul. If the great mythographer Joseph Campbell wrote a novel, this would be it!"
— J. David Pleins, Ph.D., author of The Evolving God and Professor of Biblical History, Mythology, Science and Religion at Santa Clara University
Who could ask for a better blurb than that?
Finally, if you’re at all a fan of tabletop games, you probably know that the Kickstarter campaign for Restoration Games’ new reimagining of the classic 1980s board game Fireball Island has been, well, on FIRE. They surpassed their goal within the first hour and have gone on to raise well over $2 million!
The team at Restoration Games, aware of my obsession with the game and that I moderate the /r/fireballisland subreddit, asked me if I’d help promote the campaign by teaming up with The Brothers Murph, the former Dice Tower YouTubers with whom they have a sponsorship agreement, and letting them film one of my infamous Fireball Island Night parties.
They agreed to my terms (a free copy of the game and that I got to plug my book in the video) and the end result is below. It was a ton of fun! Click the image to check it out!
On that note, work on my revisions continues.
I’ve already learned a ton from this experience and made many new friends in the Inkshares community of authors. I’d like to give particular shouts out to my fellow Sci-Fi Contest cohorts Katherine Forrister and Ferd Crôtte, whose books Curio Citizen and Mission 51 won the Nerdist contest alongside me. Of the two I’ve so far only read Curio Citizen, and it is excellent. I highly recommend ordering a copy for yourself.
Thank you again for sticking by me through this process, and for continuing to spread the word and share the link to my book with friends. It seriously means the world to me.
If you don’t already, please follow me on Twitter @dannyboylee.
And until next time, be excellent to each other!
Hello, everyone! Those of you in Northeast Ohio... join me in grumbling about the weather. Still no word on my release date - Inkshares is busy with lots of books. But I have some updates!
I’m working steadily on my new manuscript, THE ENIGMA VARIATIONS, and I’m using it for my project for Camp NaNoWriMo. Look for a MindTech novella this summer, too, as I add to the collection for LOST MEMORIES.
The wonderful Jacqui Castle interviewed me for her blog. Check out her book, THE SECLUSION. It’s coming out in September, and I can’t wait to read it!
I’ll be speaking at the Oberlin Public Library on Wednesday, May 2, about using Scrivener in your writing. If you can’t make it, but want some tips, let me know! I love it, and I’m happy to share.
Finally, I’m blogging more frequently over at Walking Identity Crisis. Are you an expert on a topic that might fit over there? Or are you a writer, and would you like me to interview you? Since I’m a librarian, my readers love to see book reviews. Let me know!
Look for more next month... when I hope it will be warmer!!
4/17/18
Hello, everyone.
I’d wish you all a happy spring, but so far, spring seems reluctant to truly show up around here. Hopefully that will change soon!
In the meantime, I wanted to share a quick update on Shadow King...
There are now only two books ahead of Shadow King in the queue (at my last update, I think that number was seven), so things are moving along.
I’m HOPING this means a summer kick off for my project, which will get Shadow King into the hands of the Inkshares editor for the line-edit portion of development. Once we have an official kick-off, I should be able to get a better approximation of when my release date will be--and I’ll be sure to let you all know as soon as I know!
I’m very excited that we’re a few steps closer to official production! Thank you again for sticking with me through this excellent adventure. Looking forward to updating you with more news soon.
Best,
Susan