Many of you have seen the great Blood Dawn fan video (if you haven’t, click here to watch it now – it’s amazing!). In this video, several Inkshares authors talk about what they love about Blood Dawn.

However, the fan video is short. In order to build excitement, Cara Weston and her husband, Alex, brilliantly picked pieces of longer videos made by each of these authors. I wanted to take a quick moment today to share links to where you can find the other videos in their full form:

Craig Munro, author of The Bones of the Past and a winner of the second Sword & Laser Contest, talks about how excited he is about the new epic fantasy world of Blood Dawn. I’m indebted to Craig for initiating the push to get Blood Dawn fully funded at 750 copies and for his ongoing support.

Matthew Sobin, author of The Last Machine in the Solar System and another winner of the second Sword & Laser Contest, recommends in his video that you buy two copies of the new epic fantasy, Blood Dawn. Here’s a couple reasons why:

#1 - You’re going to wear out the first copy from over reading it again and again and will later on have to put it in a plastic bag on your shelf.

#2 - After finishing with number one you’ll be happy twenty years down the road that you bought that second copy when it’s a collector’s item.

Michael Sebby, author of The Inhabitants: An Unremembered Life, focuses on me as a leader in the Inkshares community and what he loves about Blood Dawn – the idea of a world where art is taken away from us is thought provoking to imagine; how I immerse myself into my characters and their stories, putting so much heart and care to make the world so rich with wonder. He also talks about my maps and calls them “Tolkein quality”, which is absolutely flattering!

Joseph Asphahani, author of The Animal in Man, also shares why he’s excited about Blood Dawn in his video. One thing I found particularly moving about Joe’s video is his comment on how I can breathe life into a world and move the story forward all in a single sentence.

Tyler Sparrow, a beta reader for Blood Dawn, mentions the mysterious and rich settings in Blood Dawn, calling it a character driven story with similar plotting to "Game of Thrones". Tyler has been so helpful in his feedback on Blood Dawn -- so be sure to watch his video to get the take of a die hard epic fantasy fan on what Blood Dawn is like to read.

Finally, Paul Inman, author of Ageless, talks about why he fell in love with the Blood Dawn. Paul’s book is coming out in a matter of days (you can help him get more exposure by voting on it here), and I’ve been grateful to Paul for his support and enthusiasm for Blood Dawn right from the day he surprised me with an email where he’d recorded the opening Rena chapter.

I hope you enjoy these videos, and please, if you haven’t already, order a copy of Blood Dawn now to help us toward the 750 pre-order funding goal.

Don’t forget: you can pledge your pre-order to one of our dragons or houses for the game. Please email me: johnrobinrt@gmail.com if you’d like to do that with your order (otherwise, all unpledged pre-orders will go in a special pool for the game’s surprise twist.)

Wikipedia article: United America, a brief History

In 2060 the political strife in the USA came to a head with the impeachment of President Kenneth Lu (2017-2091), resulting in the termination of both the presidential system and, a year later in 2061, the individual States. From the ashes of this massive turmoil rose United America, split into the Five Territories represented by their elected Senators –West Coast, Midwest, South, North, and the East Colonies.

(see: Lu, Kenneth; Presidential system; USA; the Five Territories)

When the newly formed territories maneuvered for national control, the Senate was formed, consisting of a representative from each of the Five Territories. Each Senator served a five-year term, and the Senate quickly proved its efficiency with the formation of Police Academies whose peace-keeping officers brought an end to wide-spread rebellions such as the Independents and T-Partiers in 2073.

(see: Senate; Senators; Police Academies)

Right after the formation of the Academies came the rise of the Android Age in 2085, a movement heavily endorsed by the first West Coast Senator Justin Peraz (2039 –present) who is still one of the leading names in the industry; the gradual population shift and expansion of the Hundred Cities; the Strikes as caused by the android take-over of the minimum wage from 2099-2101; and the growing crime rate in the Cities starting in 2098.

(see: Android Age; Peraz, Justin; the Hundred Cities)

The Academies (New York, San Francisco, Chicago, Boston, Detroit, with the headquarters in Atlanta) offered lifetime work and a rigorous training program to counteract the steep rise in crime after the formation of United America, doubling as an extremely capable militia in the possible event of war. The military dissolved into a mere force of five hundred thousand on-duty soldiers after the end of the Middle East War in 2052, and is second to the Academy officer force.

(see: Atlanta Academy; Militia; Military; Middle East War)

The Android Age began with the ground-breaking leap in artificial intelligence headed by leading AI scientist Angela Newmenn (2029-2110) in 2035. In 2044 the first commercial androids were released from Newmenn’s company NAT (Newmenn Android Technologies), primarily used for menial labor in warehouses and factories. This revolutionary change in the job industry was quickly followed by improved, sleeker models for a diverse range of use such as teaching aides and bartenders, to personal helpers and sexual Companions.

(see: Newmenn, Angela; ACT)

As the androids took over the job market, there became new openings. The entertainment industry took over the nation, and the new demand for android mechanics was also a popular career choice. When the androids first began to replace most minimum wage workers in 2099, there were City-wide strikes across the nation by disgruntled workers, leading to a tumultuous few years until the openings for mechanics and android-worker management appeared in late 2101. As of 2113 the job market is in order of frequently-hired: police, mechanics, android managers, entertainment workers, android programmers, and the medical field, along with their sub-catagories.

(see: entertainment industry; android mechanics; medical advancements)

The largest negative for in the Android Age is the growing crime-rate. With the loss of the menial minimum-wage job and the change of Social Security into of the National Welfare Program (NWP) in 2103, the general populace can live on their monthly program funds, resulting in the rise in illegal activity such as drug sales, android hacking, and smuggling.

(see: android hacking; NWP; Social Security; smuggling)

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Further articles to come.

TODAY!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GiUbEcwQ7xU

Join me and three other epic ladies of Inkshares on a LIVE Google Hangout as we discuss our science fiction stories, answer age old questions about women’s roles as creators in the genre, and probably make at least a dozen Firefly references.

Featuring:

Me!, author of She Is the End
@acwestonwrites

Elayna Mae Darcy, author of They Are the Last
@elaynamae

RH Webster, author of Lucky
@RH_Webster

Amanda Orneck, author of Deus Hex Machina and others
@amandaorneck

Submit your questions as a post on the facebook event page here, or message any of us on twitter! Follow the action using #WomenSlayingScifi! You can always watch later, if you can’t make the live event.

I hope you’ll check it out!

:) :) :)

Greetings Space Sloth followers!

Hey all:

As part of the campaign to get Women Like Us to its publish goal, some of you might be aware there was a contest that involved one our dogs, Derric of the Beagle Freedom Project. Derric spent the first five years of his life caged up in a lab, and during this time, before Beagle Freedom Project secured his release, he was known by the numbers and letters tattooed in his ear -- BCT-8. Some others who have fostered and adopted these dogs have gotten tattoos of their own that somehow incorporate the beagle’s tattoo as a way of honoring the dog, and I’ve always loved that idea. I’ve said this before but it bears repeating: I consider Derric to be so very brave and courageous. Seriously, how many of us could survive being caged up pretty much our entire lives and still emerge to become the happy, sweet little man we have today. Anyway, Victoria Weaver, also a BFP adopter, won the contest, which allowed her to chime in on the tattoo design and placement on my person. So here it is, folks!  

All hail The Beagle Freedom Tat! Thank you Derrek (!) at Broken Art Tattoos in Silver Lake. This, by the way, takes car of the last of the Women Like Us contest loose ends! News about publication date should be coming soon, so stay tuned!

Exactly 1 week from today my first newsletter will be sent out, so sign up for it here if you haven’t already!  On the 1st of each month I’ll be sending out a new one with an update on the current progress of getting Exile, Magus in shape for another run.  In addition I’ll be including other exclusive content and sneak peeks such as maps, articles describing background information on my world and its peoples, short stories, and artwork once I can afford to start the commissioning of such.

On the artwork front I’ve compiled a list of artists I’m most interested in doing each of the 15 pieces of artwork I want for the book, but I also know there’s always the possibility of talent hiding under my nose that I don’t even know about.  With that in mind, if any of you are yourselves artists, whether that is with drawing, painting, digital, or any other still-visual media I’m leaving out then feel free to contact me if you would be interested in trying to get a bit of side-work making a piece for the book.  Even if I don’t hire you for Exile, Magus once I’ve gotten this book out and start looking at really getting Exile, Hunted ready for publication I’ll need new art for it (18 new pieces actually if memory serves).  For now though my focus is entirely on Exile, Magus’ art though.  Contact me here on Inkshares, via Facebook or Twitter, or fully direct by email (redtom.mythmaker@gmail.com) if you’re interested.

That’s all I’ve got for now.  Thanks for your time, and hope to see you on the newsletter roster soon.  Enjoy yourselves and keep reading!

[No Easter Bunnies were harmed in the writing of this update] [...but there might be a hollowed-out bunny-human ribcage or two in the latest scene I wrote for “The Animal in Man.” No joke… Happy Easter.]

Good day, animals. **

Just a quick update to let all The Animal in Man’s followers know that its author is still alive and semi-well (wife just passed her flu to me, I suspect). Some of you have messaged me directly, wondering when the book will be released. Well, I cannot say for certain, and I hesitate to confirm anything, but by my best guesstimate you will have the completed story at your fingertips no sooner than late-2016. (In the meantime, there are PLENTY of other books on inkshares to blow your mind!) I might have mentioned this in a previous update… when I got back into writing it, I revitalized my outline and discovered that this story is much more massive than I realized.

“Why not cut it into a trilogy then, Joe?” Good question! The reason I won’t do so is because it’s ONE complete story, an epic adventure that ramps up quickly and never slows down, start to finish, all within about two week’s time (I think). It is, however, diced up into three parts… Maybe three and a half.

Some of the characters you’ll meet along the way, besides our heroic and cunning fox Maxan, include:

• A white wolf wizard (seen in chapter 1)
• His apprentices, twin squirrels
• An octopus samurai (guess how many swords)
• A one-winged eagle preacher
• A rhino who charges through buildings
• A grey horned owl sorcerer who never blinks
• A thousand-year old [senile?] snapping turtle
• A grizzly bear wasted away by poison

And more… I promise this is not going to be a cutesy tale of anthropomorphic, cuddly snugglemongers. No. It’s a tale about killers. Because in case we’ve forgotten… Animals are killers.

Are we any better?

Peace to you and yours this holiday.

** (My mom was wondering why I’m calling her an animal with every update... Kind of awkward... When I call you animals, please know that I do so with the utmost endearment, and remember that the question of whether or not mankind is any better than animal-kind is one of the central questions driving the story. Animals are also capable of love, I believe, and I do so love each and every one of you.Thank you for your support and attention.

Dear Readers,

Hello Champions!